It's Raining Again!

Anybody remember that Supertramp song?  Very fitting for today in my part of the world ~ typical UK Bank Holiday Weekend weather!
I hope that whatever you are doing the rain doesn't spoil it for you.

Kate

Tartan Lovely Ness

I first saw these when LM and I were in Scotland with the TVR Club back in April ~ loved them immediately.

Recently I had an email to say the Ness were having an online sale so I thought I would just have a wee look.  I'm not really keen on buying shoes online when I have no experience of the makers sizes.  I took a gamble though and it has paid off ~ last night I walked around the house for an hour or so wearing them, looking down at the tartan gorgeousNess of them and they fit perfectly. 

 I have a dinner date with a few friends tonight and I'm trying to work out what to wear that will allow me to give my new footwear their debut ~ little things!  Speaking of dinner ~ it's a final get together for four of us who worked together before Jen disappears off to Italy for her wedding next week.  I'm looking forward to it.

Hope Tuesday is good to you.

Kate

Kind Words, Flowers & Memories

My latest temporary assignment drew to a close on Friday last week.  Fortunately I have been asked stay on for a while longer to carry out some system reviews and report my findings & recommendations.

To mark the end of my "watch" the MD organised a little thank you ~ these pretty roses were part of it.  I was very touched by the kind words and gifts ~ I've really enjoyed working with the staff there.

Now I have to admit to having a wee irrational phobia where roses are concerned.  When we were young we walked with Dad to visit Grandma & Grandpa each Sunday morning while Mum was busy making lunch and baking.  Often when Dad's roses were in bloom he would cut a bunch to take for Grandma ~ I remember one time when I was carrying said bunch of roses that an earwig came creeping out and I have associated roses with this ever since ~ silly or what?  Our Sunday morning visits were memorable for other reasons too as we were always treated to fizzy orange, cheese puffs and chocolate teacakes while the grown ups were having their cup of tea. 

As gorgeous as these roses are I couldn't keep them at home ~ my Mum has always loved roses so she now has them in her room ~ they brought a smile when I visited on Saturday, I can only wonder at what her thoughts were ~ I bet she wasn't thinking about earwigs though!

My weekend has been full of allsorts ~ shopping, ironing, opticians appointments, organising and wondering what the week ahead will bring.  GB2 has a birthday to celebrate, GB1 has exam results to collect, we have dentist appointments to attend, new glasses to collect and general busy-ness to sort things out for the return to school in September.

Have a good week.

Kate

Blog Giveaways

Sharon at Daffycat has stitched two real cuties for her giveaway based on a Bent Creek design with gnomes - a lovely scissor fob and tiny needle minder.  Beautifully stitched and finished!

Terri at Dixiesampler is having a welcome back to blogging giveaway following a bit if a traumatic time with internet/blogging related matters.  I just love the huge wooden button in Terri's profile picture ~ I need one!

It's Tuesday Stitching Group for me tonight - I should get very close to a finish!  Tomorrow evening the Lovely C is hosting a few of us from the Wednesday Quilting Group - there is usually a wee bit of hilarity so I am looking forward to it.  Quilting Group will start to meet again in early September - I think I may even get onto a quilting project when we reconvene!  I have signed up to a BOM quilt being run by Carol at Just Quilting - it's a Christmas wall hanging and I shall work on this at quilt group ~ I haven't allowed myself to start this yet as I really must get a few other things out of the way first ~ famous last words!

Smile today - people will wonder what you're up to!

Kate

 

Exchange Piece & SAL Progress

I mentioned a while ago the Summer Holiday Exchange on the Needlecraft Haven Group ~ we were to kit up a freebie pattern on a summer theme and send it to another participant.  Once we had received our kits we have the 6 weeks summer holidays to stitch and finish them ~ there will be a reveal day on the group in September and we will then learn who sent our kits to us.

This is my progress so far ~ I did tell you it was bright didn't I?

I'm not too sure why I didn't take a photograph of the package when it arrived, but I didn't! 

It's stitched on 25ct Floba with DMC thread ~ I have a plan for finishing but I can't tell you about that until later ~ I hope it works!  I managed to stitch a little more on this today while visiting Mum as she slept most of the time I was there.

This is the Best Friends SAL from Atelier Perdu ~ sadly I am way behind with this piece.  This is my progress on Part I, Part II has already arrived and Part III is due to be released very soon!

I am really enjoying this however I am finding that natural light is the best when stitching over one on 32ct fabric ~ unfortunately working 5 days a week really gets in the way.  I have a wee bit of unpicking to do ~ not something I am looking forward to ~ but I'll get there ~ eventually!

It's Monday again ~ hope you have a great week.

Kate

Ooops!

I seem to have started something new!

This is the mystery SAL from Carol at Istitchaholic

stitched on 40ct Antique White Newcastle linen with a Limited Edition hand dyed silk from Dinky Dyes called Nanna.  This was a lovely quick stitch ~ Carol provided the whole border pattern with part I, my plan is to stitch the border as I complete the subsequent parts ~ there are eight in total released every two weeks. 

The thread came in a Christmas mystery pack a few years ago ~ the theme was Pantomime and the pack contained fabulous hand dyed fabric with names like Streets of Gold & Prince Charming.  It also contained a whole host of threads ~ the Dinky Dyes ones were themed on Peter Pan, 4 in total ~ Peter Pan, Wendy, Tinkerbell & Nanna.

It's dull and overcast here this morning and I'm pleased to report that it's not raining ~ I have housey jobs to complete then I'm off to visit Mum again for the afternoon, some of the jobs may still be waiting when I return!

Have a great Sunday.

Kate

Summer Biscornu Exchange

I've had confirmation that my partner has now received the biscornu that I sent in The Friendly Stitchers Summer Biscornu Exchange.

So here is the one I stitched for Mouse ~ an internet freebie that I paid particular attention to writing down the name of the site, unfortunately it's in that "safe place" so I am unable to tell you where it came from!

Stitched on Count on Me Fabric from Jayne's Attic (no longer trading) in Rose with DMC 3608 and Caron Waterlillies Caramel.  I didn't use the whole pattern as I liked the result at this stage ~ the colours remind me of neopolitan ice cream!  And here is the back ~ I finished the biscornu with MOP buttons.  I was so pleased to hear that Mouse was delighted with her exchange piece.

You can see the biscornu that Mouse made for me here on my blog and also here on Mouse's blog ~ her pictures are better than mine.

My next post will follow quickly as I have a new SAL to show you.

Kate.

OK! Nobody Panic

Monday is nearly over and if We all stay quiet and behave it may pass by without incident ~ at least I hope so.  I still haven't worked out how Mondays can be so stealthy ~ I finish work on Friday evening and then bam! it's Monday again.
My weekend was fairly non-stop ~ Saturday having already been covered in my previous post I shall move swiftly on to Sunday

I spent the morning painting at The Crafts House and this is the completed ornament that I made.  As usual we had a few chuckles which is always good and Sandra had made a cake to celebrate Sarah's birthday ~ cake is definitely good too.

The wire hanger needs to be made a little more secure but on the whole I am very happy with my efforts ~ this will be my ornament finish for August.  Unfortunately I am still a wee bit behind as June's ornament WIP has disappeared into an incredibly "safe place" and July's hasn't been started, or chosen if I'm admitting to mis-demeanors.

I passed the afternoon visiting my Mum ~ I had collected a couple of magazines on my way so was able to read to her a little, I think she quite enjoyed just looking at the pictures too.  I managed a little stitching on my Summer Holiday Exchange piece while Mum dozed ~ I hope to have a picture to show you soon, it's bright so remember to bring your sunglasses!

While blog reading recently I stumbled upon a SAL that Carol of Istitchaholic is running ~ Part I is to be released this coming weekend and I'm looking forward to it.  I'm off to check whether I have sufficient 40ct fabric and to check out what thread I might use for it.

Remember, stay quiet and keep out of mischief ~ I'll try my best too!

Kate

Another Sunday

and that means that Monday will arrive soon!

We had torrential rain yesterday ~ I was out and about for much of the day ~ weigh in followed by a visit to see my Mum with my Sis2 who was down from Scotland for the weekend.  Managed a short visit to Just Quilting on my way home to collect some batting that I needed.  Always a pleasure to be welcomed there, the assembled ladies were doing a class making quilts from jelly rolls with Lucie and they were all looking fabulous.

The rain seemed at it's worst on my journey home and I made a detour from my usual route as part of it was flooded and I wasn't sure that little Jazzy would have managed to wade her way through the volume of water ~ she probably would have been fine but better safe than sorry.

I'm off for a bit of painting therapy with Sandra at The Crafts House and the Diary Dames this morning ~ this is Sandra's pet name for our wee group ~ Carol, Doreen , Lucie and her fantastically talented daughter Sarah and me ~ the hanger on!  Afterwards I'm visiting with my Mum again for the afternoon ~ it will be good to get some alone time with her ~ it's likely that Mum will snooze the time away but I'll have my stitching to keep me company if she does.

Hope you enjoy your Sunday.

Kate

I'm late, I'm late .........

and other white rabbit happenings.  How can it be August already?

I'm back in the unenviable position of being behind on everything again hence the title ~ I don't think I'm actually late per se, more agitated that I'm not finishing things. 

 First up is my unofficial TUSAL reporting which was due 30 July ~ yeah I guess I am late for this!  I took the photographs to take my mind off other things on Saturday but didn't get round to posting them till now.

There seems to be quite a lot considering the small volume of stitching that I have achieved for July.  I have so many things at present which I'm sure would take just moments (relatively speaking) to complete, I'm just missing the inclination.  And I'm sure you know that trying to finish something when you're really not in the mood to be doing it can spell utter disaster ~ so things have been left.

Secondly, I joined a summer biscornu exchange on the Friendly Stitchers Yahoo Group and this is the lovely one stitched for me by my partner ~ isn't it gorgeous?  There was a lovely note enclosed with it and it arrived super quick after partner's details were issued - Mouse clearly has smokin' needles.  Thanks so much Mouse, yours is almost ready to mail out, I should manage that this week.

Next is my top secret project which is coming along ~ slowly!  Part II arrived in the mail last week ~ there isn't as much stitching as in Part I but still I am behind.  No photographs just yet.

Then we come to the summer holiday exchange on Needlecraft Haven ~ I have started this but it hasn't had much time devoted to it and there are no pictures ~ these need to show me working on the project. 

Now, blog reading, groups & emails ~ waaaaay behind.  Housework, laundry etc ~ waaaaay behind.  Bit of a theme really and not one I care for too much! 

A new month has arrived and I'm hoping that I shall manage some catch up.  It will be a busy month ~ LM has a few business trips coming up, the GB's are off for a few days to a wedding.  I have applications to follow up and interviews to attend, the GB's have exam results to collect and digest and we have family matters to discuss and plans to be instigated. 

I won't tell you about the rat incident..... 

Till next time.

Kate