A Bit of This and a Bit of That

The ABC of Me

2011-01-12T16:43:00.005Z

I've seen this on a few blogs now so thought I might as well have a go.

A - Age: 47
B - Bed Size: Double
C - Chore You Hate: Grocery shopping
D - Dogs Name: Never had a dog
E - Essential Start of the Day Item: Orange juice
F - Favourite Colour: Blue
G - Gold or Silver: Gold
H - Height: 4ft 11 and three quarter inches (don't forget the three-quarters)
I - Instruments you play: None
J - Job: Self-employed quiz setter
K - Kids: 2 daughter 22 & son 21
L - Living Arrangements: Own home
M - Music You Love: Genesis are at the top of a very long list.
N - Nicknames: None
O - Overnight Hospital Stay: 7 nights when my daughter was born and 6 nights when my son was born. Normal births in an RAF hospital in West Germany where nobody went home early.
P - Pet Peeve: Socks being inside out or rolled up when I'm sorting out the washing.
Q - Quote from a Movie: 'I'm just a girl standing in front of a boy asking him to love her.' Notting Hill
R - Right handed or Left: Right handed
S - Siblings: 2 sisters and 1 brother, all younger
T - Time you wake up: Rarely set the alarm but usually between 8:00 and 9:00
U - Underwear: M & S
V - Vegetables you dislike: Most
W - Workout Style: Fell walking, swimming, aerobics.
X - X-Rays You've Had: Leg when I broke my it in 2002 and a few others as a child/teenager when I did a lot of gymnastics.
Y - Yummy Food You Make: According to my family, meat pie, meatballs, shepherds pie, chocolate malteser cake, lemon meringue, muffins, sticky toffee pudding. I like to bake and they like to eat it.
Z - The Best Place to Visit - Any hill but my favourite place is Bleaklow Stones in the Peak District.

We're in Love

2011-01-11T08:59:00.004Z

With Yankee Candles.

Whilst out Christmas shopping last December I came across a Yankee Candle shop in our local shopping centre. As the sister-in-law is incredibly difficult to buy for I picked up some candles for her as a gift, which she ended up not getting.

As is traditional in our house on Christmas Eve we had a take-away and as I didn't fancy coming down Christmas Day and opening our presents in a room that had that, you had a curry last night smell, I set one of the candles alight. Never really having had much to do with candles, unless there is a power cut, I wasn't sure it would have the desired effect, but the room was soon smelling of cinnamon, rather than curry, and the next morning no curry smell at all. Wonderful.

Now they must be good because last night we also had dinner in the living room, rather than in the dining room, and I came downstairs last night to find that husband had lit one of the candles.

It is official we are candle converts and I'm just wondering how long it will take us to burn our way through the sister-in-law's Christmas present so as that I can pick a new fragrance.

2010 Goals

2011-01-07T11:15:00.013Z

Not being a great believer in New Year Resolutions I do like to set

myself some goals for the year.

Last year my stitching goals were quite simple:

To finish Celtic Autumn.

To finish the stitching I committed myself to for others.

Sadly neither of them were achieved in fact last year saw a pathetically

small amount of stitching being done.

My main goal however was to still be happily married by the end of the year. As I explained the start of 2010 new decades are not good for me:

In 1990 my first husband was killed in a road accident.

In 2000 my second husband decided to trade me in a for a younger model.

So I set as my main goal to get to the end of this year with my marriage and family still in tact and with us all fit and healthy.

Well we are still married and quite happily despite it being a challenging year, with us both being in the first year of setting up new businesses. The health front hasn't been quite so good as the second half of the year saw me unable to walk very far but that is being sorted out now and I'm back out walking again so all in all I think we can say my main goal for the year was achieved.

TUSAL

2011-01-04T15:16:00.003Z

What it is to make a fresh start. The first posting on time for the TUSAL being run by Daffycat. I'm sure being on time won't last.

This is my old orts jar that I started last year, which shows just how little stitching I did last year. Hopefully by the end of 2011 it will be fuller.

Don't forget if you would like an opportunity to win the prize at the end of the year you must have signed up for the TUSAL by today, so don't delay.

Walking

2011-01-03T16:51:00.003Z

As regular followers of this blog will know I am a keen walker who has been maintaining a photo diary of my walks for the last 5 years. However the last six months of 2010 saw me only completing 7 walks due to injury and as this was at a point where my work live was about to get incredibly stressful the timing was awful.

Walking is my way of dealing with stress and it doesn't matter if, like today, it is just a couple of miles around our local streets I always feel better afterwards. Not being able to walk much further than the short distance to our postbox and back over the last few months has been challenging. I have missed the best autumn on the hills for a long time, which I found incredibly frustrating. More importantly I had no real way of de-stressing at the end of the day, other than a glass of wine. As I'm currently working somewhere between 10-12 hours, 6 days a week and about 8 hours on Sunday I really did need to unwind somehow. Before I was injured even if I didn't stop work until 10:00 pm I'd often go for an hour's walk, as it really helped me unwind and get things straight in my head. Not to mention the obvious fitness benefits.

Thankfully I've now been given the green light by my physio to start walking again and wow what a difference it makes. My workload is no lighter but having the time away from the desk with just my thoughts certainly helps me get my priorities sorted and makes everything somehow seem more manageable. I'd also forgotten how many ideas come to me whilst I'm out walking and the sheer pleasure I gain from admiring the world around me, like today's wonderful sunset.

Health permitting I'm determined this year to walk at least 1000 miles as a way of getting fitter. That works out at 19.23 miles a week or 2.74 miles a day, which should be relatively easy for me to achieve. Before I was injured my average daily stroll was between 3 and 4 miles long, I have measured it using Memory Map. Combine that with hill walking, where anywhere between 300 to 500 miles per year is easily attainable it shouldn't be too much of a challenge. I just hope I stay injury free.

TUSAL

2010-12-30T12:02:00.004Z

Just a quickie to let you know that Daffycat is taking over running the TUSAL which starts in the New Year. If you are interested in joining it or want to know what it is all about then follow this link
.

I've already got the dates for posting the pictures in my 2011 diary and I'm planning on not missing on one post as she is also running a competition for those people who don't miss posting a picture, with what sounds like a fabulous prize. To enter the competition you must have joined by the first new moon which is Tuesday 4th January 2011.

Framed

2010-12-28T12:04:00.004Z

I was so pleased with how these two designs came out once they were framed and ready to be given as Christmas presents to my sisters.

A Flying Post

2010-10-10T10:09:00.002+01:00

A whole month has been and gone and I've not managed one post and I'm sorry to say things are unlikely to change in the next few months. I'm not complaining as the lack of blogging is because my little quiz setting business has seen some rather rapid growth in demand over the last few months and I am now very busy.

I have managed to place one or two stitches onto some linen and have a piece that is waiting to be finished up and shipped out to its rightful owner. When I'll find time to do it I don't know but it will get done eventually.

In September we made a quick trip to the Lakes and managed to fit in two completely dry walks during 5 very wet days. They haven't made it onto my walking website yet.

Whilst I'm rarely leaving comments your blogs are usually the way I psych myself up to start work each day, which is actually what I'm doing now, so I guess I'd better get back to it.

I can at least promise you that I will be back posting properly by May 2011, as that's when the league quiz season ends, but hopefully I will get some time to post before then. In the mean time a lot of quiz leagues and pubs need me to get back to it.

Sorry for going missing on you all, I will try to get back before May but I'm not promising anything.

Summer

2010-08-23T17:38:00.003+01:00

I heard from Becky last week that she had received the gift I stitched for her as a thank you for the wonderful trimmings she sent me earlier this year.

Knowing how much Becky likes bees as soon as I saw this design

by Gazette 94 I knew I had to stitch it for her.

I adapted it slightly and turned it into a pin cushion and used

some of the details from the pattern for the edges of it.

Even though Becky isn't blogging right now she was kind enough to email me to say she had received it and loved it. As with many of the people I 'know' through blogging I often think about her and hope she is OK, so it was really nice to hear from her.

Sneak Preview

2010-08-05T12:08:00.004+01:00

I was taking some shots of something that I will be putting in the post later today. Hopefully I will be showing you that soon but whilst I had the camera out I also took a couple of close-ups of my first design.

Hopefully you will get to see the finished piece and pattern over the weekend. In the meantime here are the close-ups.

As you might have guessed the first design has a wildlife theme.

Silver Lining

2010-08-03T21:02:00.006+01:00

One or two people have been kind enough to ask how I'm getting on, so a quickish update.

After finishing the week's course of tablets and taking a week off from doing any housework I thought I was fine. However 24 hours later the pain was back and so a return trip to the doctors resulted in more tablets and an appointment with the physio, which is later this week, i.e nearly a fortnight after my second doctor's appointment.

After weeks of virtual inactivity, as my husband despite being busy with his own business, wouldn't let me do any housework or much else until the doctor said I could I have:

a. Put on loads of weight
and
b Seem to be fine.

Following the doctor's instructions I have come off the tablets a few days before the appointment with the physio and appear to be totally pain free. I'm still keeping the appointment in the hope they may be able to point me in the right direction to getting rid of my recurring back problems but other than that, after nearly a month and a half, I'm pain free. Yippee and fingers crossed it stays that way.

Needless to say there has been no progress in the garden, banned from doing it and so hopefully my seeds will (time permitting) finally get planted this week. A bit late for some of them but I'll cross my fingers and hope. Banned from washing up meant I couldn't clean the greenhouse and the required pots.

I have to admit, as great as my husband was, I was by the end of the first week desperate to be able to wash up, so I could bake, and hoover, as the house was definitely missing a woman's touch.

I'm hoping that next week I'll be able to get back out walking in the Peak District, as I hate the enforced inactivity but I haven't exactly been wasting my time. As the proverb goes, every cloud has a silver lining.

As some of you may recall I have hopes of doing some designing, of the cross-stitch variety, and so with all my spare time I started playing around with pencils and graph paper and came up with the outlines of a design. I then spent an evening trialing PCStitch Pro and eventually purchased it. I amazed myself by not only designing but also purchasing the required materials and stitching the design in 5 days time. Naturally I haven't actually got it into a finished piece yet but as soon as I have I will post it on the blog along with the pattern.

Since then I've got two more designs that I'm working on and I'm having so much fun. I'm so desperate to find time to carry on with this that I'm trying to get up earlier. By moving the alarm clock back in 15 minute stages I'm hoping I can add an extra hour or so to my day.

My Sort of Doctor

2010-07-14T12:32:00.003+01:00

Just returned from a visit to the Doctor as I have been suffering from a bad attack of arthritis for the past three weeks. It seems to clear up but then returns.

Anyway, besides the pills she has given me she has also instructed me that I'm to do:

No Ironing
No Washing Up
No Hoovering

Shame I did them all before I went to the doctors, which probably explains why I've had another flare-up.

As you can imagine there are howls of disbelief from my Husband, Daughter and Son, knew I should have got it in writing.

As for me that's my sort of diagnosis, I'll be visiting her again!!

Lambs

2010-06-04T12:25:00.000+01:00

I have heard from Rachael over at Stitchabilities that she has received the PIF that I stitched for her.

It is a freebie design by Nic at Linden Bee Designs on the A Girl As Mad As Birds blog and my first attempt at a biscornu. These always looked so difficult to do but I really enjoyed stitching it up and the finishing was nowhere as near as complicated as I thought it would be. I can see more of them in my future.

I opted not to use a button in the middle as even the tiniest button cut bits of the lambs on the front, which seemed wrong.

I used 28 count 'Angel Blush' cashel linen.

The threads are Belle Soire Silks ‘Icing’ and ‘Blue Heaven’ along with the recommended DMC for the lambs face and legs. I substituted the blue for the green as it reminded me of the colour of bluebells.

I hope Rachael likes it.

Thank You Seems Inadequate

2010-06-03T15:58:00.003+01:00

A short while ago Becky emailed me and said she'd like to send me a collection of finishing materials in response to a comment I made on her blog. Last week the postman handed my husband a rather large package with my name on it, which promptly brought about the comment 'What have you been spending my money on now?' He was, of course, joking but didn't believe me when I said I haven't spent any money.

To say I was somewhat amazed and delighted with what Becky has sent me is a massive understatement. The words 'Thank You' seem so inadequate. Becky you truly are an amazingly generous and kind person.

What Becky has sent me is the most amazing collection of finishing materials I could have ever imagined and they will certainly give me plenty of scope for finishing off my stitching with some wonderful materials.

In my next post I should be able to share some stitching with you as I actually have something in the post. Once I have heard that it has arrived I will be able to show you it.

A Question

2010-05-08T17:35:00.005+01:00

Does anyone know where 'The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pattern' has got to? I've lost track of her.

I have been stitching this month but sadly nowhere as near as much as I hoped. No pictures as it's all secret stitching.

The fact that I've not done much stitching is actually a good think as I've been busy with work as people keep asking me for samples of my quizzes for next season. Hopefully they will come back and ask me to set for them as well so I'm not complaining. I'm also busy organising the redesign of my Quizwise website, which naturally is being overseen by my husband at Foxxweb Design.

I have also been walking and reading, although my reading list is out of date and needs updating.

Below are some pictures from my latest walks, there are more pictures from them on my Peak Walker website.

This is from my walk yesterday over the dramatic ridges of Parkhouse Hill and Chrome Hill which is known locally as the Dragon's Back. This view is looking across to the moors of Axe Edge from the top of the Dragon's Back.

This is my lunchtime view form a walk around the Manifold Valley. I'm sat on Ossoms Hill looking across the Manifold Valley at Sugarloaf and Wetton Hill.

Finally is a walk I did in mid April to my favourite place in the whole world, Bleaklow. Not many people like it but I love its desolate and wild nature. This is Bleaklow Head, the highest point on Bleaklow.

School's Out

2010-04-11T15:07:00.006+01:00

At long last the quiz league season has come to an end which means that intensity of constant and numerous weekly deadlines, that have to be met no matter what, has also come to an end. On Thursday I definitely had the it's the start of the summer holidays feeling that I used to get as both a pupil and teacher. Don't get me wrong the work hasn't ended, in many ways it is just starting but the pressure is off, until next October.

To celebrate on Friday I went on a long walk around Lathkill Dale and yesterday I had my usual, you can relax now, migraine.

My favourite spot in Lathkill Dale.

Where I always sit and enjoy the sound of the water.

The limestone cliffs at the head of Lathkill Dale.

Not sure why I have the school's out feeling as actually I have a mountain of stuff to catch up on but as I promised myself a weeks holiday once the league season was over I'm trying to ignore that as much as possible. Luckily for me the weather seems to be co-operating as we have a dry forecast for the next week so hopefully I'll get some more walking and possibly even some gardening done during my week off. No chance of actually going away, Husband's far too busy.

One idea that I've seen on other blogs is the idea of collecting via email snail mail addresses for RAK's an idea that I love as I'm the world's worst at meeting stitching deadlines, probably because of the constant deadlines with my job. However I love stitching RAK's but know from experience how difficult it can be to surprise someone. When I did Jennifer's RAK I had to let her in on the surprise in order to get her address. So if you think that sometime in the future you might like an RAK to drop through your door from me than please email me. You can find do this by sending your address via the contact me buttons on either my Peakwalker or Quizwise websites. Please put RAK in the title and let me know which is your blog so as that I can get some idea of your tastes if I decide to send you an RAK. There are no guarantees that you will get something or how soon it will be but please do join in.

April Plans

2010-03-31T17:27:00.006+01:00

Before I get to my plans for April here's my third finish for the year. I've stitched this for my other sister's birthday.

Lizzie Kate: Dogs Leave Paw Prints

Fabric: 28 ct Linen Shade: Biscuit

Threads: DMC

As you might have guessed she likes dogs. She is actually coming here for dinner on Sunday but as I want to get it framed before I give it to her she will have to wait for it. Mind as she's not expecting it that won't bother her too much.

Quite a while ago I stopped setting myself stitching targets as I rarely met them. However, this month I'm going to because if you scroll down my sidebar you will see that I am way behind on my stitching for others. I had planned on making February my finishing month but was far too busy with quizzing to even think about that. Now that the quiz season is over and the pressure is off, for a bit, I'm determined to catch up on all the stitching I owe others. So if your name appears on my list of WIPs keep your eye out for the postman in April, just don't give him or her filthy looks until the second half of the month.

A Finish

2010-03-15T17:14:00.007Z

Yes, OK so it's a bit of a shocker. I know, not only am I doing a post that is stitching related but I also have one of those very rare things, on this blog, a post about a finish.

I have been working on a birthday gift for my sister Debra. I started it back in January and had nearly got it finished when the world went slightly crazy around here. Anyway with yesterday being Mother's Day I treated myself to an hour or so of stitching and finished it off.

Lizzie Kate - Cinderella is Proof
On enclosed fabric using DMC threads

As you might have guessed she likes shoes, a passion I simply don't share or understand. I'm hoping to give it her for her birthday but first I have to get round, very quickly, to stitching something for my other sister, Carol, whose birthday is the day after Debra's. As I want to get both pieces framed I'd better get a move on. Just as well things are seriously calming down around here and I'm actually ahead of the game, for once. It won't last but I'm enjoying it whilst I can.

I also have a late posting for the TUSAL

Not surprisingly there aren't many new threads in the jar but those of you with long memories might notice the new jar, it looks much prettier sat on my living room sideboard than the old jam jar did. Obviously I'm expecting the TUSAL to run for at least a decade as that's how long it will probably be before I fill the jar.

In fact just looked on the TUSAL blog to see I've missed a whole month out. I didn't realise I'd been out of circulation for that long. Note to self:

'Must pay more attention'

I must also show you the lovely PIF that Chris sent me. She sent it me so long ago that she must be thinking I'm the most ungrateful PIF recipient ever, especially after she clearly put so much time and effort into what she sent me.

She has made me a beautiful scissor case, with a beaded fob, my very first beaded fob.

From A Gift of Stitching on 28ct with DMC threads.

The back of the case has my initial on it.

Isn't it it delightful and isn't she so clever to make both the fob and card that go with the scissor case.

Finally, an appeal, if you haven't read the post below, please, please do.

Please Forgive Me

2010-03-11T09:45:00.002Z

Please read all of this blog entry.

My stitching plans went flying out of the window when my sister Debra spoke to me last week. She has signed up to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in September for charity. In order to do it she has to raise around £4000.00 and so I have written a quiz for her that she can sell on.

Sean and Louise at Love The Lakes have donated the prize which is one of their limited edition prints. It only costs £1.00, plus your stamp and envelope to enter the quiz so please can you help my sister by heading over to my Peak Walker website and downloading the quiz. You only have to part with your pound when you submit your answers.

Debra lives in Cumbria and is doing the climb to help the local radio CFM Radio raise money for their charity Cash For Kids. She trained and worked for many years as a sick children's nurse which probably explains why the charity appeals to her.

On a personal note I really want Debra to raise this money as she has had it quite tough herself over the last few years and it would mean so much to me to see her doing something she has always wanted to do. She has survived a very rare form of cancer, when she was in her early 30's, a very nasty divorce and last year as a result of her cancer treatment was back in hospital having lesions removed from her lungs. It's time she got to have some fun.

Can I also ask one other favour, if possible would you mind spreading the word as much as possible via your blogs or friends etc. In return I promise to get this blog back to where it should be i.e. stitching ASAP. I have to get stitching as one of the things I'm working on is Debra's birthday present which is next month.

Getting There

2010-03-07T21:06:00.004Z

I remember when this blog used to be reasonably up-to-date and about sewing. Hopefully in another couple of weeks those days will return but in the mean time I am slowly starting to catch up on things.

Last week I managed to get out fora proper walk the first real walk for 4 months. I can't believe how long it has been between walks, in the last 9 years that's the longest period I have gone without hitting the hills. It was great day to be out walking as the pictures on my website show.

Monsal Viaduct over the River Wye

The quiz league season is just about at an end and I am counting down the days and quizzes that I need to set. It's so close to the end that I've got a real spring in my step and I'm actually ahead of schedule, for once. Now I just need to catch up on the housework, ironing, gardening, blog-reading and then I can enjoy some guilt-free stitching time. I feel a serious case of stitcher's bum in my future soon.

Daily Quiz Challenge

2010-03-01T00:01:00.001Z

I've launched the Daily Quiz Challenge on my Quizwise website today.

The first week's questions have a mountain theme and the first question is a relatively topical one.

Pop over to my website and have a go and don't forget to send me your answer for a chance to get your name on the monthly league table.

Do You Enjoy Testing Your Knowledge?

2010-02-24T12:21:00.004Z

Next week I will be launching a daily quiz question competition on my Quizwise website. It will run from Monday to Friday with new questions posted around midnight GMT and the answer posted after 20:00 GMT. Answers will be accepted, by email, any time between midnight and 19:30 GMT.

It's a bit of fun but there will be a league for you to compare yourself against anyone else who enters.

This week will see Husband and I doing a slight redesign on the Quizwise website ready for the launch of the daily challenge.

Can You Help?

2010-02-04T10:14:00.003Z

My friend Bilbo over at Bag End has put a request out. Can anyone help her?

This is Bilbo's post from her blog.

A non-quilter might reasonably assume that given the size of my fabric stash, I already have all the material I might need for any quilt which I could want to create in future. Oh, how wrong could you be?

I so want (need?) another yard, preferably two, of this fabric. From Hoffman International, called "Fantasies" and at least 5 years old, probably older.

I've searched Quiltshops.com, eBay, Big Horn, Hancocks, Thousands of Bolts and Doughtys, plus a worldwide Google search and drawn a blank, which in truth, does not surprise me. So for the first time (but maybe not the last) I thought I'd use Bag End to ask all my quilting buddies if somewhere, somehow, lurking at the bottom of a pile, you might just have . . . pretty please . . . and I will happily pay full list for it plus postage. Perhaps if I had more of this fabric I might have the inclination to finish the blocks which need it?

TUSAL

2010-01-17T16:52:00.004Z

Here's the first update for 2010 for the TUSAL

Not bad for me only two days late.

Most of the threads are from the LHN sampler I stitched last week but some are from earlier in the month when I added some more stitches to Celtic Autumn.

I plan on buying a much nicer container for my orts and ends to go in. Hopefully I will have it in time for February's picture.

First Finish of the Year

2010-01-16T15:39:00.005Z

I have somewhat amazed myself and already completed my first piece of stitching for the year. Even more surprising it was less than one week from start to finish, an absolute record for me. Don't get too excited as I doubt things will carry on like this.

LHN January Sampler

28 ct Cashel Linen 'Vintage' Country Mocha

Threads: Crescent Colour

Backing Fabric: Frosted Snowflakes

As one of my Christmas presents my parents have signed me up for the auto-shipment of the LHN and Crescent Colours Sampler Monthlies and this is the first one, January, which I have finished as a pinkeep. I have backed it with a fabric called Frosted Snowflakes, which you can see in the picture below. I also had my first go at making a bow as instructed by the Twisted Stitcher and I'm pleased with how it worked out.

I plan on keeping this one and all of the others for myself and hope to find a small easel to display them on, changing them as the month changes.

It was a lovely stitch and I know I must have stitched it quite fast as even Husband commented on how fast it was coming along. If the rest are this delightful to stitch I am really going to enjoy doing these. Now I shall try to be good and not start on February until it is February.

I've Finally Started

2010-01-14T10:55:00.003Z

Just a quick post to say I've finally set my new blog up to encourage myself to get fitter.

No idea what direction this blog will take. Maybe I could make it a group blog and we could encourage each other along or maybe it will be deadly boring. More likely it will prove to be highly amusing for me to read next year to see what excuses I came up with for not achieving my goals.

Sick of the White Stuff

2010-01-05T21:10:00.003Z

Some of you may notice that my blog background has suddenly got very bright. It's my fight back against the white stuff.

With the exception of three days we have now had snow and ice on the ground outside for over three weeks. There is no longer any grit in the the tub at the bottom of the road, the snow is still falling and our road resembles an ice-ring. Husband has just got back from rescuing Daughter from work as they shut early so as that the staff could get home as the buses have stopped running.

It no longer looks pretty just downright slippy and dangerous and I'm sick to death of the world being white. My friend Bilbo has some lovely shots of her garden being turned upside-down over the last few days and I have to say I never knew I would love looking at mud quite so much.

I have informed Husband that if we ever win the Lottery or he becomes a multi-millionaire we are going to spend our winters following the England cricket team when they are abroad.

Bring back the colour I miss it.

I've Just Had Good Laugh

2010-01-02T11:37:00.003Z

I have just looked back at the goals I set myself for 2009 and guess what, I achieved not a single one of them!!

Nothing there that wasn't achievable at the start of the year, although where on earth I thought I was going to get enough time to do all that stitching I don't know.

This year I'm not at all sure I should bother setting myself any goals at all accept maybe to try harder.

Lets be optimistic though, she says as she has already failed to start one of her goals for 2010!

Last year I wanted to lose about 3 stone in weight and get a lot fitter, neither of which I achieved. This year I have exactly the same goal and in an attempt to motivate myself I've set up another blog that I intend to update each Tuesday where I will keep a record of how much exercise I'm doing and set myself new goals each week. I had planned on starting it last Tuesday but I had an attack of arthritis in my shoulders so my original plans disappeared. I currently have a stinking cold so my plans for getting back in the pool will have to wait. We are also having yet more snow so getting out for a daily walk is not on either, as the pavements will once again be treacherous. Not a great start is it.

Sewing wise I have only two goals:

1. To finish Celtic Autumn
2. To finish the stitching I committed myself to for others.

My biggest goal for the year though is to still be happily married by the end of the year. The start of new decades are not good for me:

In 1990 my first husband was killed in a road accident.
In 2000 my second husband decided to trade me in a for a younger model.

Which is why getting to the end of this year with my marriage and family still in tact and with us all fit and healthy is really the only goal I have for this year. I truly don't want to make it a third decade in a row that starts on a low

A PIF and an Exchange

2009-12-19T12:41:00.007Z

Over the last couple of weeks I have heard that my Xmas ornie exchange arrived safely at it's new home with Angela and I received a lovely surprise in the post in the shape of a PIF from Rachael.

Angela had sad that she liked snowmen and Prairie Schooler designs so I stitched her a design from Christmas Trees II.

Design: Christmas Trees II by Prairie Schooler

Fabric: 32 ct Belfast Linen Amsterdam Blue

Threads: DMC

Backing Fabric: Snowmen

Secondly here is the PIF Rachael sent me. It is a personalised Christmas ornie with my initials stitched on it. The design is from the Black Velvet Inscription Sampler.

As you can see it is already on my tree, although this isn't where it is living, I moved it to get better light for the photo. Thank you so much Rachael I love it.

Also thank you for all the replies I received about storing my beads. After reading them all I went into the bead shop which we have in my town and looked at the containers they had. In the end I purchased this bag which has a great set of lockable containers.

When I get a few minutes to spare I will print up some labels and move my beads into it.

Hopefully I will be back early next week with not one but two finishes to show you, both of which are for me and have a Christmas theme. I also need to take a picture of my jar for the TUSAL.

Advice Please

2009-11-23T17:37:00.003Z

I have just had my first experience using beads, which I found painless enough but it has left me having to solve a dilemma I have been thinking about for a while. How do I store the beads once they are open and know which beads are which.?

I bought a circular container where the top rotates so as the beads can be accessed in their individual compartments but that doesn't have the means to label the beads easily. How do you store your beads?

Stash

2009-11-20T16:23:00.004Z

The postman has been rather busy, visiting our house 3 times today. Most of the stuff was Christmas presents, which I have since wrapped and hidden away ready for the big day, but in amongst the parcels was one for me. Thread Bear have been extremely quick and got the order I placed late on Wednesday afternoon to me already.

There is some more linen, three lots of backing fabric, along with some ribbons and braid which I expect to use over the weekend.

Anyone who is from the UK is surely, by now, aware of the flooding that has taken place in Cumbria. I have both friends and family who I was unable to contact earlier, so forgive me if the Christmas wrapping seems a little early, but it, like blogging, was keeping my mind distracted from worrying about them. I have now heard that my sister and her family are all safe and well, with the children quite pleased that they got to miss school today.

On a Christmas note if anyone, like me, makes their own Christmas pudding and cake be aware there is a shortage of currants, apparently the crop failed in California and so Sainsburys and Morrisons don't have (m)any in stock. It appears that Tesco gets theirs from Greece and so as Son has just bought some for me I can now get my puddings started tonight.

I love the smell of the house when the fruit is steeping.

Xmas is Coming

2009-11-18T19:35:00.004Z

OK so I accept that for some of you the title of this post will be far too early for mentioning the festive season but I love it. It's the only time I year I enjoy shopping and I've been getting my Christmas plans into place now for the last couple of weeks. Mind maybe one reason why I love the shopping is that I will have it all done by the first week of December, so no crowded shops for me. In fact, if I'm honest, the postman will be bringing most of my shopping to my door as it is largely done online these days.

Anyway back to some stitching related talk. Monday was the date for posting on the TUSAL so I took this photo yesterday of my latest additions to my collection

There aren't many threads added as I was so late posting last month. The few that have been added are from an exchange piece I'm working on.

To be honest I really have had very little stitching time as I seem to be incredibly busy with work at the moment, even more so since I picked up the paid employment I mentioned a few posts ago. Not that I'm complaining. After the year we have had it's so nice that all of a sudden Husband has websites coming in on a regular basis and I'm busy with a variety of different jobs. I've had to register as self-employed but as that would have been on the cards for next year anyway it's hardly a hassle.

Do you remember me saying I had plans to start my own business well I've ended up doing just that it's just not the business I expected to be running. All of a sudden the notion we had of setting quizzes has taken off and so I'm now a professional quiz setter. Along with that all of a sudden I've found myself doing some book-keeping for someone other than Husband and they pay me in money instead of raspberry turnovers!! I'm still hoping to get my original idea of the ground but for now it's simmering away rather than being brought up to boiling point.

As part of my Christmas preparations I made sure this year that I got on the Jane Asher website early enough to order a load of edible Christmas decorations ready for my Christmas baking. last year when I tried to order them at the start of December they were out of stock. I ordered a variety of Christmas coloured sparkles as you can see below.

I was going to show you them on the fairy cakes I made and decorated on Sunday but by Monday they had gone. They clearly tasted alright.

Finally here is my Christmas Ornie Exchange from Angela P. She posted them out early and mine arrived on Friday. It really is very pretty, especially as the fabric is all sparkly.

Cranberry Christmas by Prairie Schooler

She has finished it so delightfully. I just need to finish stitching hers now and hope that the finishing materials I have ordered for it arrive in time before I need to get it in the post next week.

I've set myself a target of getting all my commitment stitching done by the end of the year. The way things are at the moment I doubt I'll achieve it but I shall try. On that note I'm off to grab a few moments of stitching time.

I Promised You A Finish

2009-11-04T20:19:00.004Z

First of all a very, very late posting of my latest TUSAL.

Most of the threads added this month come from my latest finish.

This is the first of six Santas that are a freebie design on the Gazette 94 blog. I don't know if I'll get them all done but I'm hoping to use this one as a Christmas Card for someone.

A Hard Day at Work

2009-11-02T16:09:00.006Z

Yesterday I got an email asking for another walk for a magazine so today I had to go out and do the walk. Given the weather forecast for this week I certainly wasn't expecting to get shots like these.

This was my lunch spot, looking along the River Derwent towards Chatsworth House. If you click on the picture it should enlarge where you will be able to make out the Emperor Fountain on the right and Hunting Tower above the house.

These are the reflections I was lucky enough to capture in Swiss Lake.

More pictures from today can now be found on my website.

I do have a genuine finish to show you but as the light is fading now I shall wait until tomorrow to take a photo of it.

We Have A Winner

2009-11-01T08:27:00.004Z

Congratulations to Fiona from My Stitching Corner who correctly guessed Ecru.

I sent you my email address Fiona so as that you can let me have your snail mail address. I'll get your prize into the post as soon as the postal strike is over and the backlog cleared. I don't fancy putting anything I don't have to in the post at the moment as who knows when it will get delivered if it ends up as part of the backlog.

A Finish of Sorts (Edited)

2009-10-30T13:30:00.003Z

A rare event in this household. I have actually finished a skein of thread, it's only the second time this has ever happened to me. As I sat sewing with it I thought up a silly competition.

If you can guess what colour thread I have finished I will send you a small and appropriate (to the competition) prize. Naturally this will involve something stitched by myself.

The only clue is that it is a DMC thread. Not much of a clue is it.

Someone is close and you can guess again.

I'm Afraid .....

2009-10-29T17:38:00.004Z

.... that this is one of those I'm still here posts.

Over the last few weeks I have been somewhat busy setting quizzes and meeting publishing deadlines for the magazines I write for. Just as I'd got on top of the quizzes the postal strike started so I've had to get further ahead in order to get the quizzes posted early to beat the strike. So far we have succeeded in beating the strike and getting the quizzes to the relevant towns and cities before they are needed. It has meant using the Special Delivery Service which naturally costs more but as I don't want to upset our new customers it's a price well worth paying.

After spending days slaving over the computer and reference books the last thing my eyes wanted to do was start sewing. In fact I was that fed up with being on the computer that I have only made a handful of comments on the blogs and websites I usually visit on a daily basis. I have been looking at them though as they have made a very welcome break or distraction when I was 'brain-dead' and couldn't think. You have all been my moments of sanity and inspiration over the last few weeks.

Mind I did find time to go to London with Daughter and watch the World Gymnastics Championship at the O2. Although we were up high we had front row seats and the view was fantastic. I've started saving for the Olympics already and I'm still considering getting tickets for the Europeans which are in Birmingham next year.

Now that things are back under control I've been able to pick up my needle and do some sewing. Sadly I can't show you it as it is all secret stitching, well it is that time of year!

Now did I say things are back under control, well I'm hoping it won't last. I had a meeting today that will hopefully result in paid employment, so that will make life even more hectic should I get it.

Not a Happy Bunny

2009-10-12T16:22:00.006+01:00

I have just got in from a delightful walk around Carsington Res and jumped in the shower, to find there is no hot water.

Why.........

British Gas were here earlier and serviced our boiler and guess what, they left it not working.

No hot water, no central heating, just a flashing red light on the boiler

After Husband rang them and insisted they returned today and not tomorrow (which was what they wanted to do) they are coming back in an hour. They are not leaving until it is working, even if I have to hold them hostage!!

In the mean time I'm waiting for the immersion heater to kick in so as that I can get the shampoo out of my hair!!

British Gas returned later and discovered they had left a valve shut that they closed as part of their tests. I guess that's what happens when you decide to supervise someone instead of just letting them get on with the job. In this case two heads were not better than one.

Some Stitching

2009-10-03T10:16:00.009+01:00

As I've said in an earlier post there hasn't been a lot of stitching done since I got back from the lakes but I have made some progress with Celtic Autumn.

I have started to work on the letters. For some reason I found them quite frustrating, probably because I'm now having to use my scroll frame and I had them too high up it. I can see a stand for holding the frame being added to my Christmas list. I saw the perfect one late last year but really couldn't justify spending the money on it.

I have also started my Christmas sewing. I know I have plenty of other things to finish but you know what it's like. This will eventually become a Christmas card and having started it I'm wondering how many of them I will actually get stitched this year.

I have also committed myself to a private Christmas Ornament swap with Angela at Hooked on Stitches I must get started on that soon as well. Later today I'm heading out to Alfreton to visit my LNS as I need some supplies but I also want to take the time to have a really good browse around the shop. I hope I don't spend too much!! On the way I shall have to a pass the shop in Heage where I get some of my supplies from. It's really aimed at people who make curtains and clothes but I spotted some lovely Christmas ribbon in there earlier this year so I shall go and purchase some before it sells out.

Finally yesterday a surprise package arrived for me in the post. It contained a cap keeper for my lens cover. Bilbo had read about me losing my wide-angle lens cover when we were at the top of Knock Murton during our holiday. If you want to know why I didn't go back and look for it take a look at the steepness of the hill on my walking website.

Right, time to head out to my LNS.

Don't forget to sign up for my PIF which is two posts down and closes on Tuesday.

Green Shoots of Recovery

2009-09-30T10:31:00.005+01:00

Since getting back from the Lakes I have hardly had any stitching time at all. I have a long list of jobs that I'm slowly getting through, but as fast as I do one another two or three seem to get added to the list.

Whilst out flyering for Husband last week I got the opportunity to do some delivery work for someone else and as they were going to pay me and let me drop off flyers for Husband at the same time I took the job. Getting paid for doing something I was going to do anyway was too good an offer to turn down! Over the last two days I have therefore delivered booklets and flyers to over 750 houses and I have just been too tired to do any stitching in the evening. Today is Son's 20th birthday which means there are no longer any teenagers in our house, where did the time go! To celebrate I am having the day off from flyering, but tomorrow I will be back at it as I still have another 390 booklets to drop off. It has turned out to be a good move for Husband. If I hadn't agreed to drop off the booklets I wouldn't have been flyering the area of town I did for another couple of weeks and he has already taken two phone calls from people wanting websites.

The quiz league season is also about to start and so last Saturday was spent setting the first quiz of the season. We have known we had a contract for one league for some time but this week we picked up another league contract and a local pub also wants us to start supplying them with a weekly quiz. All of a sudden I have not one but three quizzes to set a week.

All I can say is if this household is anything to go by it would appear that the recession is coming to an end and the green shoots of recovery are definitely in evidence.

PIF

2009-09-25T14:44:00.004+01:00

Before I went away on holiday I was lucky enough to be picked to receive a PIF from Chris.

In the spirit of PIF's I am therefore passing the PIF on

If you would like to be entered into the draw to receive a piece of my hand stitched work within the next 12 months then please leave a comment on this post. I will then draw the winners and reveal who they are on Tuesday 6th October. A special date for me as it's the anniversary of my first date with Husband. As is traditional we will be going out for a meal to celebrate.

If you are chosen as one of the winners then you must offer the same on your blog to keep the kindness going.

Good luck.

If you haven't seen it Patricia at Tapestry of Dreams is having a mega giveaway for her third Blogversary. It ends on the 29th September.

TUSAL & Framed

2009-09-21T16:54:00.006+01:00

A couple of days late, due to post holiday sorting out and a visit yesterday by my parents, but here is my update on my TUSAL.

As you can see there hasn't been much added as I haven't had much sewing time in the last month. The only threads added are those from my Blogversary stitching and the ones left over from the cord I made for Jennifer's pin cushion.

I also picked up my Mum's birthday present in time for her visit for dinner yesterday.

I was really pleased with the way it looked and will certainly be going back there with any future framing I have. Mind yet again it proved expensive as the frame is resting on a piece of linen that I purchased to add to my stash collection. I have also found out that they have framed St Petersburg twice before and that it will cost me over £100.00 to frame it. It's just as well it's going to be a long time before I finish it. I'll need to save up, mind I already know where in the house it is going.

Whilst I was away on holiday I read The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory. A fascinating read for me as it was set in Chatsworth House, a place I know well and Wingfield Manor, which is just down the road from me. In addition it made several references to embroidery,what more could you want from a book.

RAK for Jennifer

2009-09-16T17:55:00.000+01:00

We are just back from the Lakes after 5 great days away. We went away a day late when we were confident Daughter was OK, knowing that Son was on hand in case she did get ill again. I rang her on Monday and got no reply so I knew then she was definitely OK. Having walked in the door and just seen her I can indeed confirm she looks the picture of health again.

Not too long ago I was looking at the Gazettte 94 blog and spotted a delightful free design for a lighthouse. Straight away I thought about Sweet Pea and knew I had to stitch it for her. Jennifer has now let me know that it has arrived so I can show you what I stitched for her.

Designer: Gazette 94

Design: Grille Gratuite 87

Fabric: 28ct Brittney linen Shade - Iced Blue

Backing Fabric: Coast - Seagulls

Threads: DMC

I decided to finish it as a pincushion. I found the finish I used quite fiddly as I had to hand stitch rather than machine sew it. I also had a go at making some cord to edge the piece with, another first for me. I have to say Husband Son and Daughter came in very useful here as it took several goes and each of them ended up holding the threads at one end whilst I twisted at the other. I hope Jennifer will forgive me for the imperfections in the finishing.

I backed the pin cushion with the seagull fabric you can see under the pin cushion.

I Shouldn't Be Here

2009-09-10T14:51:00.004+01:00

Well the sun is shining outside, the weather is set fair and I should currently be pitching my tent in the shadows of Blencathra and heading out for a short afternoon stroll. Needless to say I'm not. Daughter had other ideas. Last night I got a blue light trip in an ambulance and a visit to the new A&E Department in Derby and no sleep. Not an experience I'm in a hurry to repeat. Daughter who was in a great deal of pain and vomiting doesn't recall much of it as she was completely out of it and that was before she had any morphine.

Thankfully she didn't need to stay in hospital and today is fine, moaning that she can't afford to miss work, on the phone and Internet whilst also watching TV. So, as I said everything seems normal. Husband and I simply didn't have the ability to pack the car, drive for 4 or 5 hours and then spend an hour or so setting up the tent and everything that goes in it. As long as Daughter remains OK we will instead head off early tomorrow morning and should the weather remain OK come home a day later than we originally planned.

I have no sewing to show you as I have been working on my Blogversry pieces for Conny whilst also finishing off an RAK which is now on its way to the USA. Hopefully when we get back from the Lakes I will be able to reveal the RAK to you all.

Thank you to everyone who made such nice comments about my Mum's birthday present and to all the people who commented on the LNS which was new to me. It's very reassuring to know they come highly recommended, especially when the first task I have given them is to frame something for my Mum. I was actually back there on Tuesday buying some threads to finish my RAK with. It really is too close to home for me. I can see a lot of trips to Alfreton in my future. Which reminds me I now have time to make enquiries about a photography course that is running there.

A Finish & A Great Find

2009-09-03T15:19:00.003+01:00

On Tuesday I finished stitching Gentle & Kind.

Designer: Little House Needleworks

Fabric: 28ct Cream Linen

Threads: Belle Soie Silks

It is now at the framers from where I will be collecting it from on my Mum's birthday. She will be getting it two days later when they come for Sunday dinner.

One of my design ideas is for something similar in size for my dad which he may well get for Christmas. I have the idea all mapped in my head, I just need to pluck up the courage to start putting it down on paper. I think I might be asking for a cross stitch designer package for Xmas. I've been playing with the sample version of PC Pro to see what I think of it but I'm undecided at the moment.

Anyway my great find is a new, to me, needlework shop. If anyone lives in or near Derby there is a really great shop in Alfreton that you really do need to explore. For anyone in my area I'd say it's probably better than Wye Needlecraft. If you park in Tesco's car park, which is free for 3 hours, it is a few minutes walk up the hill, on the left. The shop is called Sew-n-Sew Needlecraft and is open Mon-Sat 9:30-5:00. I have to admit that Husband found it for me and my first visit was yesterday when I took Gentle & Kind to be framed but they were really friendly and happy to talk to you. For anyone travelling out of Derby it is really easy to find. From the A38 just take the main road into Alfreton and you won't be bale to miss Tescos on your right at the second set of traffic lights.

The Expensive Thread Arrived.

2009-09-01T11:52:00.007+01:00

Last week saw three shopping sprees which added to my stash haul.

Firstly I had an order arrive from Sew & So which was less than 36 hours from being placed to arriving. I also managed to break my daylight bulb so as I was out walking in that area I headed to Bakewell and Wye Needlecraft. For the first time in about a year they actually had the bulb I needed in stock so I went mad and bought two. I also picked up a piece of hand dyed fabric which I just couldn't resist.

The rest of the picture is my Sew & So order. Elisa had recently bought some Floss-A-Way bags from there and with the Belle Soie thread being so expensive I thought they would be ideal for keeping it safe and clean. I especially wanted to keep the red thread separate from the rest of my threads as when I was using it I noticed it bleeding into the white. The rest of the order will be used for stitching family Christmas cards.

On Saturday the Belle Soie silks and the fabric I ordered to justify the postage arrived. I have to say the fabric is gorgeous.

]This afternoon will be spent finishing my Mums birthday present then I will take it to the framers and hope that it will be done in time for her birthday.

There hasn't been much sewing over the last week as I've been busy working on my walking website, along with planning and writing up walks. Last week I was asked to contribute walks to a second local magazine, which is great news, but meant I needed to sit down and work out what walks I was doing when. It might sound daft but I spent a good few hours planning which walks I would be doing for not only the 2010 editions but also some of the 2011 editions. For some of the walks I need to take the photos nearly a year in advance in order to meet printing deadlines e.g. I can't take pictures of snowdrops in December 2010 to meet the January 2011 deadline for the Feb/March 2011 edition.

I have also more or less decided to set up my own business, which is going to take some planning and preparation. As the business revolves around walking the first task is for me to get much fitter. The second is getting my website converted to php and some new sections developed. On top of that I also need to acquire some qualifications, more for insurance purposes than anything, but they will require time commitments as well.

As if that's not enough I have also got some ideas for designing my own cross stitch charts and want to get some of them down on paper and stitched up. Not sure if this will come to anything but I did come up with a name. What do you think of 'Titch Stitches'. No prizes for guessing how tall I am or what I was called at school.

I think I need the days to get much longer!!

Washing

2009-08-25T21:16:00.005+01:00

Thought I'd share two conversations I've had with the 2 male members of my family/household in the last 48 hours regarding washing.

Sunday evening Husband is collecting together his ironing, whilst I'm doing something on the computer:

Husband: Have you washed my shirt?
Me: Which one?
Husband: The light blue one.
Me: Yes ...................... pause and then think
Me: When did you last wear it?
Husband: Wednesday.
Me: No. I usually wash light blue stuff on a Monday/Tuesday with the towels.
Husband: I didn't know you were that organised.

Now I know he pays no attention at all to what I do. For years now he has been emptying the washing machine and putting the tumble dryer on overnight. Has he never noticed that because between them he and my two children have very little other than black clothes I rarely do a mixed/coloured wash!! I reckon I do 2 dark washes to every white or mixed coloured wash and that includes bedding.

P.S. I refused to iron his shirts long before he moved in as he's so fussy about them. I could iron my late Husband's shirts well enough for the Royal Air Force but apparently not well enough my for current Husband.

Earlier this evening I realise I haven't done any of Son's shirts for work over the last few days and he's at work tomorrow.

Son is a shift manager at MacDonalds which means he gets to wear a white poly-cotton shirt that generally gets covered in tomato stains, grease and black stuff from the grills (I think). As they are poly-cotton I can't wash them on a hot wash, so I have to treat the various stains overnight, before they go in the wash. He has four of them and I try to wash them in batches of three, which usually allows me to stay well ahead of his shift pattern. The trouble is he's just about to do the 5th day in a row and I forgot to sort any out last night.

Me: Dashing into his bedroom and desperately hoping that he has a shirt in his wardrobe. There is after all only one in the washing basket.

Son: I used the last shirt this morning.
Me: Well there is only one in the washing basket.
Son: They're on my floor.
Son's Friend: It's such a tip on your floor, how's your Mum meant to see them?

Thank goodness for tumble dryers as at least I can wash and dry his shirts in time, but I love the fact that it wasn't the fact he hadn't put his dirty clothes in the washing basket that Son's friend commented on, but rather the fact I couldn't see them on his bedroom floor.

Gold, Ashes and Hair

2009-08-24T10:12:00.005+01:00

Last week was spent doing very little other than watching TV and stitching. With the World Athletics Championship on most mornings and every evening I was already going to be spending a lot of time in front of the TV, but when you add to that the final test match in the Ashes series, then clearly, not a lot else was going to be done. As both of these sports are good for stitching and watching I decided to get going again on Celtic Autumn.

I set myself the target of doing her hair, so as that in the future I could combine working on the border with doing the few bits, other than the white stitches, I have left to do on her dress. I have got that far with her now that I can almost feel a Happy Dance coming on by the end of the year.

I also received some stash last week, the two snippet charts I purchased from Elisa and some books I ordered with the last of the Waterstones voucher my brother gave me for Christmas. The books are being saved for when we go camping in the Lakes in a couple of weeks time. I'm planning on stitching up the snippets as Christmas cards for my young nieces and nephews.

I have heard from Thread Bear that the silks I need to finish my Mum's birthday present need to be ordered from the States, so it may be another 2/3 weeks before I'm able to finish her present. I only have one corner of the border to do but it's unlikely it will be framed in time for her birthday.

Having done very little last week I now need to catch up with everything else I neglected to do, so as today I have the house to myself, I'm going to get all of the housework out of the way. Then I have a long list of jobs I need to tackle that will involve a lot of time on the computer. We won't mention the weeds in the garden that seem to have appeared over the last week.

Totally Useless SAL

2009-08-22T17:07:00.004+01:00

As it's the 22nd August and I joined the Totally Useless SAL, here is my first picture of my orts and ends.

The bottom layers relate to some secret stitching that I have been doing and really must get around to making up.

The red threads come from the Little House Needlework design that I have been working on for my Mum's birthday.

The final layer, of mainly orange threads, are a result of my work on Celtic Autumn. I have been stitching on her whilst I have been watching the cricket and World Athletics. Once they have finished I'll post progress pictures for her.

So Frustrating

2009-08-17T09:45:00.006+01:00

My plan for the weekend was to work on and hopefully finish Gentle & Kind so as that I could take it to be framed today. I had a weekend of watching the 20/Twenty Finals and the World Athletics Championship along with a bit of ironing and a lot of stitching planned. I managed to achieve all 4 but hadn't counted on not being able to finish the piece because I ran out of thread.

I have completely run out of the light brown and the green threads and suspect that I will also run out of the red thread before I finish all the lettering. In each case I'm a maximum of two strands of thread short. I am so frustrated.

I wouldn't mind if I'd wasted the thread but most of the time when I'd finished with each strand there was barely enough thread to secure the stitching with and no frogs that resulted in wasted thread. All I can say is that someone was incredibly tight with the amount of thread they allocated to this Thread Pack.

As it turns out I love Crescent Colours, so I don't mind buying the threads, as I'm sure I'll use them again, but from now on I'll be buying the charts, not the thread packs, whenever that is an option.

Now to place my threads order, which no doubt will mean some extra additions to my stash as I'm not paying for postage for just 3 threads.

Ouch - just ordered the threads they were the Belle Soie Silks at nearly £5.00 each. If I had a safe I'd be keeping them in it when they arrived!!

Quilting

2009-08-13T17:29:00.001+01:00

I have just heard that my RAK has arrived at it's new home. Bilbo has assured me that she likes it. As the theme of the design suggests Bilbo likes to make quilts, when she's not in her garden.

Little House Needleworks: Quilting
Fabric: Hand-dyed 30-count Summer Sunset evenweave from Chameleon
Threads: Crescent Colours

It was my first attempt at a mattress style pincushion and also my first time using hand-dyed floss.

I decided to repeat the border for the back and used some of the detail from the border on the sides.

I had ummed and arrghed for a while about what colour to use for the edging and eventually settled on yellow. Shortly after which Bilbo started her latest quilt Yellow Peril, which was very weird, or fate, depending upon how you view these things.

A New Start

2009-08-12T11:25:00.006+01:00

Late last week my order from Down Sunshine Lane arrived.

I have no plans for any of the Summer Showcase charts, although I'm sure I'll find a use for them soon. The LHN Gentle and Kind chart is planned as a birthday present for my Mum.

As her birthday is in September and I'd like to get it framed, I thought I'd better get a move on, so I started it last night. Fortunately I'm fast becoming a LHN fan and know that they stitch up very quickly, so, hopefully, it will be finished and at the framers by next week.

I also have a parcel in the post, so there will be a reveal coming up soon of some of my secret stitching.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pattern - Is on the Move

2009-08-10T11:03:00.001+01:00

Sharon has finished stitching the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pattern and so she is ready to head off to a new home. If you'd like her to visit you next follow the link below the picture.

It's Daffycat: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pattern

Stash

2009-08-04T10:32:00.006+01:00

Last week the chart for my Blogversary Giveaway arrived which meant I needed to order the fabric and threads for it. Whilst I was at it I also ordered some fabric I had spotted which I though would make the ideal backing fabric for one of my RAK's.

After exchanging a few emails and one telephone conversation with Kate at Thread Bear I was able to get a fabric that was a good match for the 30 count R & R Sheep's Straw that the chart called for, but my budget didn't stretch to. Kate had two pieces of linen in mind but once I explained that the thread I was ordering was for the same project she decided upon the 32 count Permin/Wichelt linen. I have emailed Kate to find out the name of the fabric as it didn't say what it was called on the receipt.

Having seen the fabric and thread together I think she made an excellent choice. Now I just need to get started on them or it will be my 2nd Blogversary before Conny gets them.

Before I do start on them I'm going to have a finishing off session. I have a few more stitches to add to one of my RAK's and then I shall start making them up. One of the recipients of the RAK's now knows who she is as I had to ask her for her address but the other hopefully doesn't. If I get a wriggle on I might be able to post pictures by next week.

I have also have some more charts on order from Down Sunshine Lane and yesterday I couldn't resist snapping up two Lizzie Kate snippets in Elisa's sale. So that's me spent up for August.

Graduation

2009-07-26T12:35:00.003+01:00

The last few days have been rather busy as on Friday it was not only Daughter's Graduation Day but also Husband's birthday.

The day after her graduation was also Daughter's 21st birthday. She had a big family do for her 18th birthday so this time she celebrated with her friends. She had stopped in London following her graduation ceremony and went out for lunch with all her friends from university and then travelled home to spend the evening celebrating with her friends at home. We saw her for about 30 minutes.

Winners

2009-07-22T14:47:00.004+01:00

First of all the winner of my Blogversary Giveaway is Conny. I used a randomiser to create the list and then asked Son to pick a number between 1 and 20, he picked 19 (his age) thus making Conny the winner. Husband acted as an independent adjudicator.

1 Mainlely Stitching
2 Angela P
3 Jo
4 Broken Fairy
5 Patti
6 Always Smiling
7 Daffycat
8 Maggee
9 Lynda
10 Dera Dera
11 Nina
12 Karen
13 Stitching Kath
14 Deb
15 Jeanie
16 Hazel
17 Lula
18 Sally
19 Conny
20 Lisa

Thanks to everyone who took part, better luck next time.

I have also been lucky enough to be given a Friendship award by Patti . Thank you for thinking of me.

I have to nominate 8 other peoples blogs as part of the award so the 8 additional winners are:

Barbara at Mainley Stitching - I love your mix of family life and stitching. How you ever find time to stitch amazes me.

Anne-Marie at Orts & Ends - I suspect Pantoef is about to become the new star of your blog.

Angela at Hooked on Stitches - The flat fold queen.

Nina at Between Crosses with Nina - Your stitching is beautiful.

Paulette at Plum Street Samplers - Another great mix of family and stitching. This site should come with a bank account health warning, her samplers are beautiful.

Andrea at The Craft Room - More beautiful stitching, with stitches that look oh so perfect.

Elisa at Old Ragged Threads - More inspirational stitching.

Sally at Stitchyangels Treasures - Anyone who tackles as many Haeds as you do deserves an award, just looking at the chart of a small one is enough to send my head into a spin.

As ever it's hard to pick out just 8 as all the blogs I read are great, if they weren't why would I read them.

This reminds me that I really must update the blog list on my sidebar. I have to admit I use it as my way of speeding up looking at my favourite blogs as if your blog is on there I can tell instantly if it has been updated or not. Am I the only one who does this?

One Year Old

2009-07-21T11:05:00.006+01:00

Today my blog is one year old and so tomorrow I will be doing the draw for my Blogversary Giveaway, if you've not entered sign up for it today.

Sadly as of yet the chart hasn't arrived but as soon as it does I will get stitching.

I have just taken a quick look back over the first years entries and now realise the following:

Blogging has definitely resulted in me spending more money on stitching, all the blogs I read lead me to investigate new suppliers or designers. At the start of my blog I kept my stitching in one small drawer. All my stash now occupies a much bigger drawer and I seriously need to start looking at some sort of storage system for it all. Well it's that or evict one of my children and turn their bedroom into my sewing room!!

On the other hand it has meant I've tried out, or will be trying out, lots of different ways of finishing and displaying my work.

There is no point in me joining SAL's or exchanges that have tight time deadlines as I just can't stitch to order. As much as I love stitching Celtic Autumn I can't force myself to stitch on her every week or on a set day, sometimes other things just appeal more. I've also failed with the only other SAL I joined, the piece is sitting in my drawer waiting for me to return to it, 8 months after the SAL finished.

PIF's and RAK's are definitely the way for me to go. I then have time to feel inspired and pick a chart that I think will reflect the intended recipient's taste and the time to work on it as and when I feel inspired to do so.

There is no point in me collecting too many big projects. I have now been working on Celtic Autumn and Love Songs for nearly a year and for both it will probably be another year before they are finished. I reckon St Petersburg could be a ten year project.

I haven't done nearly enough walking this year. That is for a whole host of reasons but there is no doubt the desire to stitch in the afternoon has meant I've not suddenly had an irresistible urge to head for the local hills. This is going to have to change as Husband and I are currently discussing a possible way I can finally achieve one of my lifetime ambitions, which is to make a living out of walking.

My garden is not getting enough attention, again the temptation to continue the stitching I started in the afternoon means I haven't spent as many evenings in the garden as I normally would. The evening being my favourite time to garden, not too hot and no worries about stopping to get the dinner on etc.

It's time to do some baking, I have been craving chocolate gingerbread for a week or so now and having just realised that I haven't posted that recipe on the blog. Whilst I'm at it I'll also get the Potato Gratin ready for tonight's dinner, a ridiculously extravagant way to have potatoes mid-week but birthdays and anniversarys are always celebrated in this house so my blogversary sounds like the ideal excuse for chocolate and cream.

Last but not least, thank you for reading my ramblings for the last year, it's been great getting to know everyone via their comments and blogs. I just hope I haven't bored you all too much and that you've enjoyed sharing my world as much as I enjoy sharing what you are all getting up to.

I Have a Finishing Pile

2009-07-20T10:27:00.007+01:00

Over the last few weeks most of my stitching has been the secret kind. Whilst two of the pieces are now stitched and awaiting finishing one of them was just started late last night. As it will be at least a week before I even have them ready to go to their new homes and even longer before I can show you them in full I thought I'd offer a few snapshots of the different pieces.

Some of you may recognise what I'm actually stitching but please don't let on.

A Great Giveaway

2009-07-18T19:04:00.003+01:00

Paulette is having a great giveaway for blogversary so head over to her blog now to have a chance of winning 5 of her gorgeous charts.

SAL's and Stash

2009-07-08T14:40:00.009+01:00

When I got back from my holiday I found out that Kathy is trying to get the Celtic Lady SAL going again and it was just the excuse I needed to do some more work on her. Previously I was finding that I liked to work on her on Sunday but the Wimbledon Final got in the way of that so I picked her up again on Monday. I set myself the target of finishing off one of the braid cards I had and getting the trim on the bottom of her dress done.

As you can see I actually ended up doing a little more than that, but that was because I didn't achieve everything I wanted on Monday so I worked on it yesterday as well. On Monday it was put aside so we could watch Torchwood and I wasn't sorry I did so. As I write Tuesday's episode is on the video to be watched later tonight along with tonight's episode, so no spoilers please. Thursday and Friday's episodes will also be watched together on Friday night so again don't tell me what happens, please.

Before I went to the Lakes I received my order form Thread Bear.

Just about everything in here will be used for one or other of the PIF's I am currently working on, although I couldn't resist the backing fabric which is 'just' a stash addition.

As of yet I haven't received the chart for my planned Blogversary Giveaway so whoever wins it may have to be patient. If you've not entered you've still got time as the closing date is the 21st July just add a comment to the relevant post.

I have also been working on some PIF's but no pictures yet. I must get one made-up, now that I have all the materials I need for it.

Rankin's Addictive

2009-07-06T12:23:00.006+01:00

There is no doubt about it, Ian Rankins' Rebus novels are proving addictive. I finished a second one on Saturday evening having started it whilst away on holiday. When I went to the library last week I had hoped to get the first in the series, but was unable to, so I settled for Strip Jack, which was the earliest book in the series they had on the shelves.

As with the previous Ian Rankin book it was a real page-turner and yet again I didn't work the plot out, a rarity for me. Very funny reading the series out of order though because you know where some of the characters relationships or careers etc are heading. When I next return to the library I think I shall be getting a couple more in the series, it will cut down on the number of trips to the library.

In between the two Rebus novels, or should that be trips to the library, I started a light-weight novel Revenge of the Wedding Planner by Sharon Owens. Set in Northern Ireland it was a very good read, where the direction of the story wasn't always obvious, but amusing enough to ensure you stuck with it.

I've since found out this appears to be the second in a series of books on the same theme so if I see some of the others I may well pick them up.

Last night I started a rather big book, Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. I've only read the first chapter but I think this is about to become another page-turner so I may be returning to the library sooner than expected.

How Long Can A Birthday Last?

2009-07-03T12:31:00.003+01:00

So it was my birthday on Tuesday and as planned we were away on holiday in the Lakes, just in time for the heatwave and midges!!

On Saturday evening, before we went away I was given my birthday presents and allowed to open them, as it would mean I could make good use of them whilst we were away.

Husband, Son and Daughter clubbed together to get me a rucksack. My father-in law gave me a new walking pole to replace the one I lost a few weeks ago. Earlier in the week my parents had given me some money towards my new walking boots.

On my actual birthday I was able to open my cards and Husband and I went for meal that evening at the Brook House Inn.

We came home the next day and there were a few more cards to open.

Then yesterday Son purchased a birthday cake and Husband, Son & Daughter all sang 'Happy Birthday' to me and I had to blow out some candles.

I think I've now finished celebrating my birthday!!

Blogversary Giveaway

2009-06-23T11:35:00.005+01:00

I will have been blogging for a year on the 21st July and have decided to celebrate the event with a giveaway.

Yesterday I was somewhat naughty and went shopping at Thread Bear. Now I foolishly had a look at the new charts and couldn't resist buying the new Quaker Love Letter Accessories chart by R& R Reproductions. Love Letters itself has been added to the wish list

I've decided that I will stitch one, or maybe more, of the accessories for my blogversary giveaway. Now you will probably have to be patient, as I haven't got the chart yet or started to kit anything up, but if you would like to enter the giveaway you have until the 21st July to enter.

I will pick the winner after the 21st and I might even have started the stitching by then.

The Falls

2009-06-23T10:02:00.004+01:00

For the last week I have been reading The Falls by Ian Rankin. It's one of the Inspector Rebus series and the first Ian Rankin book I've read. I have to say it is one of the best finds I've had in a long time. A book, that despite my best efforts, took me nearly a week to read and that includes several late night reading sessions. A plot that I couldn't figure out and a storyline, with characters, that had me gripped from start to end.

When I return the book to the library later this week I will be getting another in the series out, hopefully the first. I foresee a lot of Ian Rankin novels in my future. I love it when I find a new author like this, especially when it means I have lots of high quality reading ahead of me.

My First PIF

2009-06-20T09:47:00.005+01:00

I heard from Kath that she has received the PIF I stitched for her. As it was the first one I've ever done I relieved to hear it had arrived safely and that she likes it.

Lizzie Kate - Friendship Grows

Stitched on linen with DMC threads

It's a Lizzie Kate freebie called Friendship Grows. A quick search of Kath's blog had revealed that she liked Lizzie Kate designs and when I saw this design I thought of the lovely pictures of her garden that she has also posted on her blog. I stitched it on some unidentified linen that I had in my stash and backed it with the Pins and Needles fabric I bought a few weeks go.

You may well observe that there is no bow on the top of the pinkeep. This was only my second attempt at a pinkeep and after spending an hour trying to create a bow I gave up, I hope Kath doesn't mind. Something I will have to work on for any future pinkeeps.

Stitching

2009-06-19T11:32:00.008+01:00

I have some stitching to show you.

As promised a picture of Celtic Autumn.

I have started working on the border but now she is on the scroll frame I'm finding it very difficult to work on her. This is the first time I've combined a scroll frame with my magnifying lamp and it isn't working. I need to buy a stand to hold the frame. I've seen the one I want, in fact I nearly bought it last year, but I'll have to wait until finances allow the purchase of it. I suspect progress on her will be slow for a while, we will see.

In the mean time I've picked up St Petersburg again. I was inspired by Jacky who has recently been there.

I'm actually working on part of The Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood. If you follow the link I'm currently doing the blue and green dome on the left of the church. This small bit of stitching is just one of the swirls and represents about 5 hours of stitching. There are an awful lot of sections of two or three stitches in this part.

As you can see I have a long way to go. I have finally sorted out how to handle this amount of fabric. I'm stitching using a hoop and rolling up the rest of the material and pegging it hence the state of the fabric. Whilst this will work for now eventually I'm going to have to find a better solution. Does anyone know where I can buy a massive roller frame?

I had hoped to be able to show you one of the PIFs I was working on, but I haven't heard that it has been received yet. I'm starting to get worried as it was posted on Monday by Husband, although he did send it 2nd class so maybe that explains the delay.

The new boots have been out for a test drive on a local 2 mile walk but it wasn't a great day so although the pictures are on my website I'll not put any on here. I'm hoping to fit a couple more walks in next week as we are going to the Lakes a week on Sunday for my birthday.

Great Excitement

2009-06-16T13:02:00.004+01:00

I've finally bitten the bullet and bought some new walking boots.

Except for the colour they are exactly the same as my old ones, which were the best pair of boots I've had in years, so I'm very, very happy.

I actually took my old pair with me to make sure I got the same make. I was quite surprised they were still available as usually I'll find the pair I have just worn out will no longer be available.

They now need wearing in as the ankles feel very tight compared to my old pair but at least they have been stretched around the toes so there shouldn't be any blisters there. They are actually an early birthday present. I plan on being in the Lakes for my birthday so I needed to get them early enough to wear them in a bit.

Whilst I was at the shop I took the opportunity to check out walking poles and rucksacks. Lexi have actually started making a short pole again, which is fantastic. As Son refuses to give me money for my birthday I'll be passing the make and model name onto him with the money off voucher I received from an online store yesterday.

Seeing as Husband is currently taking new website orders by the day (long may it last) I might even push my luck and let him know about the rucksack I've seen. Well a girl can dream.

I have been stitching, but some of it is for a PIF and the rest is just the border on Celtic Autumn, so I'll take a picture of that when I've done some more of it.

In Despair

2009-06-13T10:45:00.005+01:00

So there I am thinking well I've been good this week, increased the distance I've swam, done more of the annoying, but effective (for walking) Rosemary Conley exercises and been out walking, more of which later. Avoided all the unhealthy stuff, eaten in moderation and what have I got to show for it? I've lost the weight I put on last week and not one bit more. Can't decide if this is good or bad, but either way it still feels like I'm doing a lot and achieving nothing.

I really could have done with better news than that after the events of yesterday.

Yesterday Husband and I went for a planned 8 mile walk in the Manifold Valley.

The Manifold Valley from Thor's Cave

As it was going to be hot I took my smaller rucksack and asked Husband if he'd carry my walking pole on his rucksack. Parts of the route were new to me so although I don't use it that much I like to have it with me in case I need it.

The walk itself was delightful until about a third of the way round Husband asks me if I can see my walking pole on the back of his rucksack.

Answer: NO.

Decision time, do we go back and look for it or carry on and hope it will be wherever it came off his rucksack. My choice, I decide we'll carry on, after all most people are honest and if anyone finds it will leave it alone or somewhere obvious. We are both confident it came off at the start of the walk so this makes the most sense.

Thorpe Cloud & Bunster Hill from Slade House

After we finish the walk we drop the rucksacks in the car and head out to where we think we lost it, on route from Wetton to Thor's Cave. No sign of it, so Husband goes back to the car and takes it down to the bottom of the Manifold Valley and I carry on walking downhill, expecting to meet him at Weag's Bridge. Get to Weag's Bridge no husband, car, walking pole or phone signal.

What do I do?

1. Sit tight and wait for the car to arrive.

or

2. Start the steep walk up the road to Wetton.

I opt for the first option and only by chance see Husband walking away from me at Weag's Bridge, he's gone down the wrong road and is parked 20 minutes away. In the end our 8.5 mile walk became a 12.25 mile walk and I've lost my walking pole. Even worse it's a compact pole that was just right for me, as I'm quite small, but of course they don't make it anymore.

Just as well it's my birthday at the end of the month, I'd already instructed Husband to tell everyone I'd like the money this year so as that I could replace my walking boots which couldn't be repaired. I was hoping it might also stretch to a new rucksack, the zips are going in that, but now I need a walking pole as well!! Hope everyone is feeling generous.

Husband is feeling very guilty, I'm just annoyed that the one person who felt they could take something that didn't belong to them had to be walking in the same place as me yesterday.

Decision Made

2009-06-10T11:10:00.003+01:00

Thanks for all the advice.

I've decided that I'm just going to stick with one design and repeat the border on the back. Of course I made that decision after I'd ordered the other LHN pattern, but I already have a potential 'victim' lined up for that one.

Elsewhere I'm sorry to say that although I've been busy stitching I can't show you anything as it's a PIF. I know how I'm finishing this one but may have to order some fabric for finishing it with. I'm going to wait until I've done the border before I make that decision.

I finished another book yesterday Teacher Man by Frank McCourt.

You may recognise him as the author of Angela's Ashes and this book finishes off his life story. It follows on from 'Tis and recounts his experiences as a teacher in New York. As an ex-teacher I found it a totally fascinating read that really does capture how lonely and intimidating it can feel standing at the front of a class, along with those magical moments that make it a wonderful place to be.

A Dilemma

2009-06-09T11:04:00.005+01:00

I have been working on a LHN piece for the last couple of weeks and I have always planned on finishing it as a mattress pincushion. However now I need to make a decision and any thoughts would be more than welcome.

I also have to be cryptic because it may well end up as a gift for someone who reads the blog. I keep umming and arrghing about this as maybe it would be unwelcome. This isn't a reflection on them, more on my shyness as I can't imagine why anyone would want something from me.

I've decided to not use any of the fabric I brought for backing it, instead I'm going to use the linen for all of it so I need to create a pattern/border for the sides which isn't really a problem.

However what I do with the back is.

I could easily create something simple for the back and make up the pincushion or I could be patient, order another LHN pattern for the back, which will compliment the one on the front. I'm tempted to wait as with both LHN designs it would reflect the possible recipients two hobbies well.

What do you think?

Stash & Books

2009-06-07T10:46:00.008+01:00

As promised a picture of what the postman brought yesterday from Thread Bear.

There are 3 fat quarters of fabric for the backing of projects. I was actually just looking for something for one particular project but I couldn't resist the blue one or the pins one. Having seen them all now I'm not sure I'll use my original choice for the project I had in mind. I hope to get that project finished this week and once it has reached its new home you'll be able to see what I decided to do.

The DMC and Krenik threads are to enable me to get on with two other projects, one for Daughter and one of my PIFs.

The linen is a pure extravagance on my part. As soon as I saw the colour on the site I had to have it. No idea what or when I will use it but hey isn't that what stash is all about. I'm considering it an early birthday present to myself.

I've not done much reading over the last few weeks but before then I finished a couple of books.

I have now read the final book in the Martin Edwards series set in the Lake District.

I have to say I thought this was the best one by a long way. A really great plot which had me enthralled from start to finish.

I have also tried out a new author Sophie Kinsella. It seems that most of her books are about a shopaholic which given my aversion to shopping absolutely don't interest me at all.

When I started this book I didn't think I was going to like it all but I have to say once it got going, which took a while, it was a great read. It kept me up until 2:30 a.m. and then I had a quick 30 minutes of reading before I got up the next morning in order to finish it. Can't see me ever reading her Shopaholic books but any others by her will probably get picked up.

Finally I have a gift from an Aunt. She was clearing out her house and found this cross stitch book which she has given to me.

It has some nice projects in it and I think I'll stitch her up something from it as a thank you.

A quick thank you to everyone who posted such encouraging comments on my previous post.I'm not giving up on the exercise, in part because I have a more immediate goal than just losing 3 stone this year. I'd like to be able to get into and look good in a certain skirt for Daughter's Graduation ceremony .

A Celebration and A Moan

2009-06-06T10:46:00.002+01:00

The celebration first.

Today is officially my Daughter's last day as a student and so yesterday two big cars went down and brought all her stuff back from her halls of residence in London. She is actually coming back home on Tuesday. None of us can believe the 3 years are over, it still seems like only yesterday we went down to visit Roehampton University with her when she was still doing her A levels.

On the way back from London we got a phone call to say she got her results, she had passed all her exams and has got a 2:2. She hasn't had the best of luck this year, getting stuff stolen at Christmas and also being dumped by her boyfriend on Boxing Day followed on from a friend dieing in October so this has effected her grade but Husband, Son and I are so very proud of her. So on the 24th July we will be back down in London attending her graduation ceremony.

Now the moan.

Now what is it the Governments current TV ads say:

Move More Eat Less to get fitter and loose weight.

So this week:

120 lengths/3 km swimming, one 8 mile walk, one 30 minute aerobic session and several walks of about an hour

surely qualifies as moving more

Not one chocolate biscuit, no snacks and generally cutting down

surely qualifies as eating less

Result

I've put 1kg or 2lbs on

My weight has actually gone up not down.

I'm incredibly pi**ed off.

Just been interrupted by the postman

Now I'm a bit happier my parcel from Thread Bear has arrived so a stash picture on the next posting .

An Old Finish

2009-06-04T10:28:00.004+01:00

As I haven't done any sewing that I can share with you for a while now I thought I'd share with you something I stitched years ago.

When I was training as a teacher we were set a task of designing and making a fabric container as part of the Design & Technology course. This was a great excuse for me to spend some time cross stitching, but as we only had a week it had to be something small. I came up with a needlecase stitched on a scrap of aida that I had lying around and used DMC threads.

It was definately the smallest fabric container produced in my group as it only measures 3 cms by 5 cms. I think the patterns for the scissors and thread came from one of the many copies of Cross Stitcher that I had lying around.

It still makes me smile whenever I see it in my sewing box.

I Ache...........

2009-06-03T15:15:00.007+01:00

............ but I really don't mind as today I swam 60 lengths which seems much more like it to me. The 10 minute walk home from the pool was a very slow one and I'll certainly sleep tonight but at least I'm starting to see the benefits of the past weeks activity.

Perhaps I should point out that as a teenager I did train fairly seriously as a swimmer getting up early and swimming before and after school, hence the ability to do what to others seems like a silly number of lengths. Yes that does mean most of them are front crawl, with head in water and tumble turns at each end ,which explains why my arms are aching like crazy at the moment. However the words of my swimming coach are ringing in my ears:

"You only get out of the water what you put into the water."

I could also apply that to walking as yesterday I went for a walk in Lathkill Dale. I knew I was moving fairly fast but it was only when I got home and worked out that the route was 8 miles that I realised how fast I was moving, I did it in just over 3 hours.

Lathkill Dale

Limestone in Lathkill Dale from Cales Dale

Last Friday Husband and I did a 10 mile walk that included two climbs, one to Shutlingsloe and then a climb up to Shining Tor right at the end of the walk.

Shutlingsloe

The last climb to Shining Tor was a real effort for me and I was really struggling as my legs really didn't want to go up, on the flat they were fine but lifting them uphill wasn't good.

That last climb to Shining Tor

The lack of hill walking was showing, time to get the Rosemary Conley DVD out. I find doing the exercises tedious but I have to admit the programme is great at building up not only stamina but also the leg and thigh muscles that are essential for saving knees going up and down hills. It seems that the combination of the DVD and some easier daily walks around my local streets is already paying dividends. Now lets just hope that the weight starts to disappear as well.

A few weeks ago Son finally removed his train track from the lofts floor and so I was able to get to my jigsaw box which I haven't been able to reach for the last few years. So last week I enjoyed an old hobby and did my Charles Dickens jigsaw.

I'd forgotten how addictive they can be and found myself suddenly having spent an hour doing it when I was only going to put one piece in. Sorry Bilbo put your definitely taking the blame for this, posting pictures of your completed jigsaws on your blog started me off on this jigsaw. I daren't start another until I've got a few jobs out of the way.

I have been sewing but I can't show it as it will be a gift for someone who reads this blog, I just haven't decided who yet.

Fitness, Neighbours and Some Stitching

2009-05-26T22:09:00.007+01:00

Considering I planned on losing about 3 stones this year I can safely say I am nowhere near to achieving it. Injuring my back at the start of the year certainly knocked me back two months but for the last two months I have been seriously lacking in the motivation required to get out of bed and down to the pool or gym first thing most mornings. I've also found that I'm even lacking the inspiration to hit the hills which has meant I have kept going in a downward spiral.

Two weeks ago I finally dragged myself down to the pool and just about made my way through 40 lengths or 1 km. Given that 50 lengths is my normal easy swim this is not good, even worse I ached all over the next day. As the first step is always the hardest last week I made it down to the pool twice and managed 50 lengths each time but I can definitely say it's going to be a long haul before I'm back to where I was this time last year.

When I'm getting over a back injury I also try to make a walk part of my daily routine. As I live in a hilly part of town I can make this easy or hard by varying the route to include as many hills as I want. Today I finally managed to get myself out for a walk so that's another step in the right direction. Two months later than it should of been but I'll let myself off that one as I have been doing a lot of walking anyway delivering flyers for Husband. Once I've got my swim up to a decent distance I'll head back to the gym which is the real test for my back and level of fitness.

I thought I'd share with you these roses, which aren't from Husband put a thank you from one of my neighbours.

I spent 5 hours on Saturday painting/staining the fence at the side of her house. As we share part of the fence with her I felt it was only right that we painted our part of the fence. As she didn't like the first colour she had already put on half of the fence I actually ended up doing all of the fence and not just the bit we shared with her but as it was a glorious day I didn't mind and I certainly wasn't expecting anything for it.

I have started a new stitching project, but I can't show you it as its a gift for a reader of my blog.

As promised here is a picture of Celtic Autumn which is the major cause of my lack of sewing this month.

She now needs to go onto a scroll frame but I just can't bring myself to do it even though I know I must if I don't want to end up crushing the metallic threads.

I've also made one small addition to my stash. Its a new Lizzie Kate design which I just had to get as nearly everyone of them is made for my shopaholic, shoe, bag, clothes and make-up loving Daughter. My idea of hell her idea of a great time.

Be Glad Your Not Here

2009-04-30T10:16:00.014+01:00

Firstly yes I'm still alive (just) and although there's not been much sewing going on I have been out walking a fair bit, whilst also catching up on weeding and reading. However since 18th April there has been no hope of any sewing being done, or much else for that matter, as the World Snooker Championships are on. The red button has been very active, unlike me, but snooker and sewing don't go together so the sewing is being neglected. It's no coincidence that this post comes on the day the semi-finals start, as there is no morning session.

Last Thursday saw husband and I heading to Sheffield, not for the snooker but to see The Specials who were on at the O2 Academy, opposite The Crucible. The tickets were a Christmas present from me to husband and whilst we both enjoyed the gig the after-effects we're not so keen on. As it was a sellout the place was packed and boiling hot. On Monday evening we both started to feel somewhat unwell, with sore throats, coughs, and aching muscles. We have concluded that we must have both caught something off someone at the gig. The last few days have seen us both suffering with flu-like symptoms. Not what you want when the news is dominated by talk of a flu pandemic!! As we are both on the road to recovery I'm assuming its not the dreaded Swine Flu. If it is then a good chunk of the UK must be contaminated by now as we can't be the only ones who left the gig having caught it.

Since my last post I have fitted in three walks, although one of them still needs to be posted on my website. Husband and I enjoyed a walk along Derwent Edge on a lovely summer-like day and both ended up sun burnt.

Ladybower from Whinstone Lee Tor

The next two walks were done for the magazine I write for, one was a local walk to Alport Heights and the second was an unusual route above Dove Dale.

Dove Dale from Bunster Hill

Alport Stone at Alport Heights

Once I have finished writing up the Dove Dale walk I will be 4 months away from needing to submit my next walk, which will give me an opportunity to get on with the walks for next years editions. This feels incredibly organised for me.

Sadly the walk in Dove Dale also saw the stitching on the sides of my walking boots give up and split properly. On average a pair of walking boots lasts me a year so it's no surprise they have started to go but it's an expense I really could do without at the moment. Thankfully our local cobbler can restitch them and at the very reasonable cost of £2.50 it works out much cheaper than a new pair of walking boots. It does, of course, remain to be seen if the stitching holds, but as my birthday is relatively soon if it doesn't a new pair of walking boots will be my birthday present. I really hope the stitching does hold as they are by far and away the best boots I have had for a good few years now.

Sewing wise I have done some more work on Celtic Autumn but I can no longer avoid transferring her to a scroll frame so I want to give her a quick iron and take one last picture of her before she goes onto the scroll frame.

For anyone who is into beads a store just selling beads opened up in Belper a few months ago and I finally remembered to go and have a look in it the other day. It has an excellent selection of beads that will suit both stitchers and jewellery makers, although I don't think I'll be buying any of the Swarovski Crystals that they keep locked away in a display cabinet. A new craft shop has also opened up further up the road but when I called in it really didn't have any stock or anything of great interest for me.

I have also finished three books over the last few weeks. The first was The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, if you've not read it do.

It wasn't at all what I expected and acts as a reminder that there is suffering and loss on both sides of any war.

I then read a very short Maeve Binchy book called The Builders. As with all of her books it was very enjoyable but so short it only took me one hour.

Having been told that The Cipher Garden by Martin Edwards was no longer in print I reserved it at my local library and have now read it.

I have to admit I didn't find it as compelling as the first book in the series but it wasn't bad enough to put me off reserving the next book in the series from the library, which I plan on picking up tomorrow along with my boots.

Right off to catch up on some housework, assuming the shakes and sweats hold off.

Prepare For A Shock

2009-04-02T10:46:00.009+01:00

Well it has finally happened, yes, I have actually been stitching. Your shocked aren't you. You thought I was never going to stitch again but you were wrong. Well you weren't alone, I was beginning to wonder myself.

I didn't get to do any stitching on Saturday as I hoped. Sunday saw a family member admitted to hospital so a trip to the QMC to help out meant no stitching but on Monday I started stitching and have done some everyday this week. As usual Celtic Autumn jumped into my hands and I have now finished all the swirls on one side of her dress.

I'd got to a really fiddly bit whereby doing 4 or more stitches in one colour in one go felt like a long row of stitches. Having stuck with it I'm now looking forward to doing some of the bigger blocks of colour although I suspect that by the time I've finished the first lot I'll be sick to death of ecru.

Today is our wedding anniversary and we are treating ourselves to a meal out tonight and I have just been given a lovely bunch of flowers by Husband. He wasn't meant to be getting me flowers as we had bought the new U2 album as an anniversary present to each other. I'll let him off as he also combined it with a sales pitch on a website for the flower shop LOL.

Everyone Has Been So Generous

2009-03-28T10:08:00.002Z

As you may have noticed my blog has been somewhat neglected over the last month but it is for a good reason. After Husband and I attended the sales and marketing course we decided to go for a new image and complete relaunch for his company. Over the last few weeks I have been been doing a lot of research and writing to helping him redesign the website. We have also designed a new logo to go with the new look and just sent the final design for the new flyers off to the printers. The next job is a new company brochure but that will have to wait for a little while.

We launched the new website earlier today so at long last I can catch up with my blog. I might even get time to do some sewing as well, or maybe that's just me getting carried away!!

Well I might have disappeared from the world of blogging for most of this month but I certainly haven't been forgotten. Over the last few weeks so many nice things gave happened to me but before I tell you all about them I must say a massive thank you to everyone involved and apologise for appearing to ignore you.

The first nice thing to happen was when Karen has given me not one, but two awards. Thank you so much Karen for thinking about me and I'm so sorry it has taken me a month to acknowledge them via my blog.

The first award which was given to me on the 26th February says. "These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these kind writers. When you pass the award along please include these guidelines. I am to choose eight friends to share this with."

The second award which she gave me on the 4th March asks you to list your top 10 blogs. Now I have to be honest I don't have a top 10 set of blogs as I like all the blogs I read equally, some of which are on my blog list and some of which aren't. Each blog appeals to me for different reasons and picking my 10 favourites is a bit like trying to say I like one child more than another, which obviously I don't. Now this isn't a habit I intend to get into but on this occasion as I know if you have commented on my blog or registered as a 'follower' of my blog I visit your blog on a regular basis please consider yourself as one of my favourite blogs.

Next Helen let me know that I'm going to be running the bank in her village that she stitching for the Me Myself and I Round Robin blog. Apparently I got the job because I was the first to apply but I thought it might have been because I promised to lend money to small businesses and not take a big bonus!!

The next treat was when Sally sent me this wonderful biscornu she stitched as a PIF for me.

She knew that I'm developing a passion for Shepherd's Bush designs and so she stitched me Woolpack Sheep and I absolutely love it. It's my first biscornu and my first Shepherd's Bush design. Thank you so much Sally.

When we had finished quizzing on Thursday the landlord of the pub gave me a heather for my garden.

Only the day before I had been thinking that it would be nice to have some more heathers in the front garden and then one appears out of the blue. It will be planted in the front garden next week.

Then yesterday morning the postman knocked on the door with a parcel for me to sign for. I hadn't ordered anything so I had no idea what to expect. It was a free copy of the OFC's Photographic Annual.

Apparently Peter who set up the OFC and a few other OFC members had decided I should have a copy. Now I'm not sure what I did to deserve a free copy, when everyone else had to pay for their copy, but it really made my day. I don't know who the 'others' are and as I only know of one OFC member who reads my blog I'm hoping Peter got my email saying thank you and has passed my thanks on to the relevant people.

So as you can see I have been completely and utterly spoilt over the last month or so and I don't know what I did to deserve it but thank you, thank you, thank you, to everyone involved.

One other thing that was shared with me was my father-in-laws cold. We invited him to dinner last week and he had an appalling cold and cough which he has very generously passed onto me. That I'm not so happy about LOL!!

Now I know I've said this before and nothing has happened, but if I whisper it may be it will:

'I'm off to do some sewing'

Don't tell anyone.

We Won

2009-03-13T10:49:00.004Z

I guess the heading says it all.

Last night with a perfect score of 10/10 we won the Beer League. We were playing away from home but rang up a team member who wasn't at the game and they joined us back at our home venue for a celebratory drink or two. Well everyone else had a drink, I couldn't as I was driving. Our home venue is on the opposite side of town from our house and Son, who normally picks us up, wasn't available as he was out with his friends.

Husband and I also attended a sales and marketing course earlier in the day and it was certainly worthwhile as we have come away with plenty to think about and do.

Right housework and Sainsburys beckon, then maybe at long last I'll get some sewing done.

I'm Still Here

2009-03-10T10:54:00.011Z

The time just seems to be disappearing on me at the moment although I was busy last week sorting out Husband's accounts and writing up a walk for a magazine.

I still haven't found any time to pick up my needle and I've managed one walk and to read one book since my last post. The walk, last Monday, was a 9 miler across Longstone Moor, through Cressbrook Dale and back to Longstone Edge via Monsal Head.

St Peter's Stone, Creesbrook Dale

Monsal Viaduct from Monsal Head

Having worked all weekend Husband joined me on it and we were tempted into the Stable Bar for a drink after the steep climb up from the viaduct to Monsal Head. It's ages since we have sat alone in a bar together chatting over a pint, so it made a real change.

Tuesday to Thursday was then spent either doing the accounts or writing up the Crich Stand walk. Friday was a catch-up on the housework and shopping day. Saturday was meant to be spent, with Husband, on a Sales and Marketing training day. Having got up early and driven the 30 miles to Buxton we arrived at the hotel to find out there was no course running there that day. When we got back home we discovered we'd been sent the wrong details and should have been in the university buildings. Anyway we are now doing it on Thursday in Chesterfield. We're both looking forward to it as we know we will come away with a marketing strategy and hopefully a good collection of ideas for promoting the business.

Thursday is hopefully going to be an exciting day for us as it's also the last day of the Quiz League and we are top of the Beer League. With the exception of the previous two weeks we have been top all season. Having regained the top spot last week we are determined to hang on to it this week so we have been truly sad spending the evenings looking up Double Troubles . To explain, the Beer League runs after the main quiz and is one round of fun questions with the losers buying their opposite numbers in the winning team a pint. Now John and I have argued that we have had to win it out of necessity this year as if we are both playing and lose it's goodbye to £10.00. The question setter gets to choose the format of the Beer League and this year he has done 10 Double Troubles in alphabetical order. A double trouble is a question with a two worded answer where both words start with the same letter, e.g Q: Where do Derby County play their home games? A: Pride Park. As we are weak on Reality TV, soaps and as I'm not playing there will be nobody with any knowledge of Harry Potter, Husband is now mugging up on all the possible answers/questions these topics could throw up. We need to get 8 points to win and as it will be our first title for a good few years we're taking it quite seriously. As I'm the Results Secretary if we get less than 8 points I will know before anyone else if we have won it or not.

The only book I have finished was Escape to London by Mary Jane Staples and set in Vienna just after Germany has invaded Austria. Sadly I can't really say that it was a great read. Whilst it was easy reading it wasn't really believable, so that ruined it for me.

In my opinion it was bit like reading a Mills and Boon whereby you always knew the girl would get the bloke in the end and for a war-time story this one was just too nice. I've since started the Book Thief and that is far more to my taste.

What a Roller Coaster!

2009-02-24T16:11:00.005Z

Firstly a big thank you to everyone who sent me hugs etc, I didn't actually feel that bad about the events I described in my last post. The last few days however have been a roller coaster of emotions.

On Friday morning Husband's car wouldn't start, after jump starting it later with Son's assistance we thought maybe it would be OK but no, the next day the same thing, so there goes £50 on a new car battery. Not too happy about that but put it down to just being one of those things.

Thanks to Husband's assistance the weekend saw me catch up with the dreaded housework and washing so yesterday it was out to write-up the route for one of the walks I have published in a local magazine. Now it's close to the deadline and it turned out that I couldn't actually walk much of the route but after an initial panic the walk was done and the relevant notes were made. Husband had spent the morning meeting with a client, who is also an old friend, and secured some more business and was about to go into another meeting with a potential new client. Another successful meeting and another website secured, so we are both on a high.

The high lasted all of 10 minutes, when I discovered that I'd lost my camera case whilst out on the walk. Now whilst it didn't have my camera in it, it did have the spare memory card, spare battery and two lens caps, so there goes another £100+. As I knew there were only two possible places it could have been lost we dived straight into the car and headed up there to see if it was still at either of them. The answer was no. Upon returning home Husband starts dinner only to find out that the oven has blown up again, just like it did three days before Christmas.

This morning after very little sleep I start ringing around police stations to see if anyone has handed in my camera case but no-one has. After knocking up a few posters we head up to the village where I lost it and armed with our staple gun but a variety of posters up around the village with our phone number on them. This afternoon the pone has rung and somebody has it and I'm collecting it later tonight. Then life gets even better, Husband gets another lead on a website from a flyer he posted out last week. Now if Husband's cousin would just come round and fix the oven again I could make the wonderful person who found my camera case some muffins as a thank you. Mind I think she will also be getting something stitched as a thank you later in the week.

You know the best think about all of this, is that when I lost my camera case, I just kept telling myself most people are honest and I'm so pleased I was proved correct.

A Week Late

2009-02-22T12:56:00.005Z

It has been one of those weeks. I have struggled to get to the computer, failed to keep up with the blogs I usually visit on a daily basis and not even had time to dream about picking up a needle. The main cause of this chaos has been the fact that Husband's partner has decided to leave the business. This has meant I have had to sort their accounts out and take a more active role in promoting the business. None of which I mind, but it does leave me short on time for doing other things. It also doesn't help that yesterday was the 19th anniversary of the day my first husband was killed and the week between Valentines Day and yesterday is never a good one. Anyway, hopefully the chaos is calming down and a more normal routine will start to develop over the next few weeks.

Last Sunday I was meant to announce the winners of my PIF, as only two people entered they are both winners and I shall pick someone else at random to receive something stitched by myself. The two winners are:

Rachael and Kath

Congratulations ladies please can you send me your snail mail addresses you can email me at angela at hillwalker84 dot fsnet dot co dot uk Please delete the gaps and fill in the dots and at as you would expect.

With everything that has been going on this week I have also been struggling to sleep so it will come as no surprise to regular readers of this blog that I have been reading late into the night and finished another book.

The latest book 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' by Khaled Hosseini is set in Kabul and is a stunningly good read.

Through the eyes of the two main characters, Mariam and Laila, you see so many different sides to Afghanistan and watch how it is destroys and then starts to rebuild itself. The story grips you throughout and has twists and turns in it that you simply don't expect. The author, who is probably better known for his book 'The Kite Runner', was new to me and so I wasn't at all sure if I'd like the book or not, but it is a great story that has you living every moment with the two main characters.

Green Shoots, Brownies and Valentines.

2009-02-14T12:18:00.013Z

A funny week, with a lot happening, that has nothing to do with the blog but stopped me doing any real sewing or blogging.

Last week I had a go at making Chocolate Brownies, it's a good few years since I've made them and having tasted them I now know why.

To say they are rich and sweet is an understatement, even Son commented on how much chocolate there was in them. I hadn't actually put in the recommended amount and had to mix dark and milk chocolate just to make up the amount I did put in. I think they would have been untouched if I'd used the recommended amount of dark chocolate.

After nearly 3 weeks of checking on them everyday my sweet peas are starting to have green shoots.

I lost all of the geraniums, which wasn't really a surprise, now I just have to avoid killing the sweet peas. As the snow is going and the weather is maybe going to start to warm up I shall turn my attention to sewing some more seeds.

The only stitching I have done this week is the Valentines' Day card I made Husband.

Broken Fairy

Be Mine

18 count White Aida

DMC threads

It's based on a design Rachael did, although I changed the lettering to some I found in one of my cross stitch books. I received a card from Husband and a bunch of flowers which he gave me on Thursday. Tonight we are treating ourselves to a take-away and a bottle of wine, a real treat these days as the last time we did this was the night before he lost his job.

Humble Pie

2009-02-07T09:27:00.004Z

Quite unexpectedly I found myself spending yesterday evening reading Gordon Ramsay's autobiography 'Humble Pie'.

I had absolutely no plans to read this book, in fact, when it was released a couple of years ago I had absolutely no interest in it at all. Yesterday however I visited our local library and took out a few books, of which this is one. I only went looking for an autobiography because the selection of novels was so pathetic. To be fair to the library it is far too small for a town the size of which I live in and is trying to move to bigger accommodation. I guess if I want to read a particular book I'd better reserve it on line first.

Yesterday evening a change of plans meant Husband was cooking dinner and as it was tea in the cricket I picked the book up just to look at it. It was such a good read that, accept for when I did the washing up, it wasn't put down again until I finished it about 6 hours later. The cricket wasn't that exciting anyway so I didn't miss much there!!

Now you might not like Gordon Ramsay as a chef, you might well find his swearing offensive, but read this book and despite that you will be full of admiration for the bloke. Whenever I read an autobiography I'm always a little sceptical about how different events are portrayed, because, obviously, your only getting one side of the story, but this book can't fail to leave you full of admiration for the author. His childhood wasn't great, he worked damn hard to get where he is today and he wasn't afraid to make sacrifices. If he's well off now, make no mistake about it, he deserves it.

As you might have guessed with my nose stuck in books I've not done any stitching this week. I'm really fed up of being stuck in the house and want to get out walking but first of all with my back and now with the snow it's just not happening. However today my exchange arrived from Thread Bear so I now have the Cirque Des Triangles chart, which I will hopefully start later this year when I've finished Love Songs.

I don't want to have too many big projects on the go at once so I shall try to be good and not start it until then. That's quite easy to do at the moment as I need to get the linen and threads first. Under our present financial circumstances they will probably end up being birthday presents which isn't until the end of June. I guess that gives me an incentive for finishing Love Songs by then.

Just in case you've missed the post earlier this week I'm running a PIF, for more details click here.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

2009-02-06T10:10:00.006Z

I wasn't sure I wanted to read this book but I'm glad I did.

There is no doubt that by anybodies standards this is a quick read. It took me an hour and a half to read it from cover to cover last night. Whilst it's in essence a collection of bedtime/fairy tales, that may have been mentioned in passing in the Harry Potter books, it is a very different style of writing. There are effectively two sections to the book, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, along with Dumbledore's thoughts and research on the history of each of the tales.

I loved each of the tales although 'The Warlocks Hairy Heart' is a little gruesome to be considered a fairy story, a fact that Dumbledore does point out. Whilst reading Dumbledore's research was interesting, I'm not sure I'd bother reading this part of the book again, although the tales themselves are so delightful that I can see them being read again and again. In fact, possibly one book to store away for the time when I possibly become a grandparent and have a young child to read a bedtime story to again.

A PIF & An Award

2009-02-05T12:02:00.011Z

I have edited this post to add the award given to me on one of the post's earlier comments.

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be picked as one of the lucky recipients of the PIF that Sally ran on her blog. As it isn't that long since I ran a PIF on my blog and in an attempt to avoid loads of them running at once Sally agreed to me delaying passing the PIF but now it's time for me to pass the PIF on.

If you would like to receive something handmade by me within the next 365 days, please comment on this post to say that you are interested. If there are more than three takers I will draw three names. If, like the last time I've offered this, there are not enough takers or there are none at all I will pick people at random to receive something made by me. I will do the draw on Sunday 15th February (GMT). If you are one of the chosen three, in return, please post the same offer on your blog.

This PIF is open for everyone!

Chris has given me an award. Thank you so much Chris it's nice to know people like my blog enough to give me an award.

Normally I'd give an award it's own post but I don't want anyone to miss out on the chance to sign up for my PIF so I'm tagging the award onto the PIF post.

As part of the award I have to list 5 of my addictions and pass the award onto 5 other people.

My 5 addictions are:

Hills - I never tire of looking at them, no matter how small they are and always want to know what the view is from the top of them.

Walking - I need to walk, when I don't get out walking I get depressed.

Books - I love the anticipation of opening a new book and the joy of revisiting an old favourite. Husband never worries about me going in clothes/shoe shops, they hold no interest for me, but he knows I can spends hours and a small fortune in a book shop.

My car - It means I have the ability to go and do what I want, when I want and don't have to rely on others.

My computer - It has brought many wonderful people into my life and enables me to stay in touch with those that matter to me.

The recipients of the award are:

Karen

Jennifer

Stephanie

Conny

Sharon

In selecting the blogs I'm passing the award onto I have tried to pick blogs/people who haven't yet received this award in order to spread a little happiness, a little further. If your not on my list please don't be offended, I love all the blogs I follow and comment on.

A Walk, A Book and A Pass

2009-02-02T19:19:00.009Z

Saturday finally saw me pulling on my walking boots and heading , along with Husband for a walk on the edges. The route was selected because I knew it was easy terrain, fairly flat and just long enough to justify taking my small rucksack. It's also a route that Husband hasn't done for a good few years as I usually do it during the week when it is much quieter. We started at Curbar Gap, headed up to and along White Edge, down past the Grouse Inn and then along Froggatt and Curbar Edges, which at that time of day (lunchtime) were probably as busy as my local high street.

Looking along White Edge from the trig point.

The good news is that after 5.75 miles with a light rucksack there were absolutely no after effects with my back so once the snow has stopped I can start getting out walking on the hills again. I avoid walking in snow as much as possible, especially once it has frozen and become very slippery. More pictures from the walk available here.

Saturday night, or should that be Sunday morning , saw me burning the midnight oil as I was reading The School Run by Sophie King.

It's a book that I read a couple of years ago and I found it just as addictive second time round. In fact when I turned the light out at 2:30 am I still hadn't finished it. I actually finished it Sunday morning before I got up, although I only had a few pages left to read and the main plots had all been resolved by then. I'm sure when I first read it it had only just come out in paperback so I think I'll now go and read some more of her books.

So what's the pass, well its my car, it passed its MOT today, with only the bulb above the number plate needing changing. A big sigh of relief as I really couldn't afford for it to fail on something expensive.

Three Bottles of Wine

2009-01-29T11:16:00.007Z

No that's not the amount I drunk last night, it's what I'm giving up in order to pay for the order I placed at Thread Bear on Tuesday, that arrived today. The drop in income that accompanied Husband's loss of job means we don't go out anymore and my one treat a week is whichever bottle of dry white wine is on offer at Sainsburys.

Now it's here it doesn't look much does it and certainly not like three weeks worth of wine. I can't tell you what it's for just yet, but hopefully all will be revealed in the next few weeks.

I have been doing some very secret stitching over the last couple of days, which I will be able to show you in a couple of weeks time. Alongside my secret stitching I have also been working on Love Songs.

If your trying to work out what I've done on it, it is the bit around the piano hinge.

I know it doesn't look like much progress but yesterday was one of those days when there were frogs and knots in abundance. I gave up in the end and had a glass of the bottle of wine that I'd opened for the mustard sauce we had with our pork for dinner last night.

Fitness-wise it looks like I'll be able to get back in the pool very soon. I had a long walk around our neighbourhood yesterday and for the first time since injuring my back had no aches or pain. I had been planning on a pulling on the walking boots and going for a short, flat walk on Curbar Edge today but the forecast sunshine is in fact thick mist and fog, so unless it clears up soon it will be the local streets again. I have to admit two weeks of very little physical activity is starting to drive me nuts, even if it was the correct thing to do.

All That Glitters

2009-01-27T12:25:00.006Z

As appears to be coming my usual habit I spent much of Sunday and Monday working on Celtic Autumn. I didn't really plan it but on both days I ended up just using the Treasure Braid on the swirls on her dress.

By last night I was absolutely sick of working with it but I have to admit that most of that part of her dress is now finished. I've also realised that it is probably easier to follow the pattern on this part of the piece if you do the gold swirls first. I shall try this when I do the back part of her dress.

A quick calculation last night of how much I have sewn revealed that I have now done just over 30% of her. It sounded a lot until I spread the whole piece of linen out today and realised how much of it is still empty.

A First

2009-01-24T16:18:00.010Z

For the last few days I have been working on the Jayne's Attic Monthly Challenge, which was to do one of the freebies from the Papillion Creations and to finish it as anything. I opted to do The Duke's Maxim and finished it as a pinkeep. As Karen has already posted the pictures on the forum here's mine, not only finished but also finished on time.

Pappilli0n Creations

The Duke's Maxim

28 count Millennium Blue Cashel Linen

DMC threads

I finished the stitching last night whist listening to Jonathan Ross. As I'm sure you can imagine, I was holding my breath when it came to putting the last few back-stitches in. If I'd gone wrong, the border wouldn't have matched up, which it does. Even better I finished it in time to not only listen to but also to watch the telly whilst he was interviewing Tom Cruise, whom I have to admit I consider rather good-looking. If I was still at the university I'm sure a poster of him would be on my wall. Anyway I digress, so back to the stitching!

This is my first ever attempt at a pinkeep and whilst it's not perfect I have to say I'm feeling quite pleased with myself. I've also learnt a lot so hopefully the next one will be even better.

Progress

2009-01-20T09:59:00.009Z

First of all thank you to everyone who has wished me and my back well. I can safely say I am really and truly sick of being sat in the chair, but doing nothing, for most of the time, has been exactly the correct thing to do. Each day has seen my mobility improving. Yesterday I was able to potter around and do some housework and baked some chocolate chip muffins and today I'm planning on a very short walk outside. I'm still spending most of each day resting, as I know that is what I need to do, but it's time to start building up the strength in my muscles again, hence the walk later today.

For the last two days I have been working on Celtic Autumn and I have made some quite good progress on her. When I picked her up again I was surprised to find it had been exactly a month since I'd worked on her. Just in case you, like me, had forgot where I'd got to there are two photos, a before and an after photo.

Before

After

I have been concentrating on the swirls on her dress and despite spending a fair bit of time working with the gold braid most of the bits that are missing from the swirls are the gold braid stitches. She is also getting too big to fit inside my biggest hoop and as I don't really want to crush the braid I'm going to have to move her onto my scroll frame. I haven't used the scroll frame since I got my magnifying lamp so I'm not sure how that is going to work, all I can do is give it a go and see.

The Beacon

2009-01-19T09:04:00.005Z

Another favourite author is Susan Hill. I first read one of her stories as part of an English Literature course I was doing and have since read most of what she has written. The book, The Beacon , which is a new one by her, was one of my Christmas presents and as it is relatively short only lasted two nights.

A great story about a farming family, which switches between the present and the past whilst exploring the relationships between the various family members.

Totally unsure about the ending, in the final sentence of the book. Hill tries to make you question what you have read and what you believe is true. Sorry, but in this case it doesn't work because to believe her suggested ending every character in the book has to have been lying. A case, in my opinion, of one page too many. A real shame because otherwise this is a great book with a storyline that makes you keep on turning the pages.

Far Too Many Half-Stitches

2009-01-17T19:09:00.003Z

My first sewing finish of the year is done and it is also my first square for SOLAK.

SOLAK is a group which makes quilts and cushions for people with a long-term illness.

I have been sewing the February Hearts Snowman as part of a SAL and it has taken a lot longer than I expected. When I started I expected it to take a week at the most, in fact it has taken a fortnight and it is only done now because I haven't been able to do anything for the last three days accept sew.

Vermillion Stitchery

February Hearts Snowman

16 count white aida with DMC threads

Now that it's finished I'm very pleased with it but oh boy did it have a lot of half-stitches. To start with everyone of the hearts on the hat is made up of 4 half stitches and there are numerous others in the design. As I opted to stitch it on 16 count aida at times it was a struggle to keep all the half-stitches going in the right direction.

Despite all the half-stitches I have quite enjoyed doing it and I've just signed up to do the September Football Snowman as well. Mind I had a good luck at the pattern first and made sure there weren't quite as many colour changes or half-stitches as there were in the Hearts Snowman.

Before I start the next snowman I'm going to spend some time working on some other projects the first of which will be Celtic Autumn.

Thanks to everybody for your kind words about my back, it is getting better very slowly and housework is still something I can't do which as you might imagine doesn't upset me too much.

I Knew Housework Was Bad For You

2009-01-16T11:26:00.004Z

So there I was getting on with cleaning downstairs, with just the living room to vacuum, when I move in a perfectly normal way, like I've done a thousand times before and all of a sudden I'm in agony and can barely move. Yep, I've gone and aggravated an old back injury. After shouting for Husband I manage to get as far as collapsing on the settee whilst he has to turn the vac off, which I can't manage.

That's it I'm now out of action for the next few days, at the very least. I can sit and sew and move around very, very slowly. Think of a snail, then imagine it in slow motion and that's the speed I'm moving at. Husband is now in charge of the house, cooking, shopping and washing. Thank goodness I'd nearly finished cleaning the house and was up-to-date with the washing. The cooking I'm not bothered about as he enjoys it and does roughly half of it a week anyway.

On the plus side I can sew and read away to my hearts content, well I can sew for as long as I can sit upright.

The really annoying thing, is that, yet again, just as I start to get a little bit fitter something goes. Even Husband commented on it yesterday, I'm cursed. Ever since I broke my leg, nearly seven years ago now, this has kept happening. I've had a trapped nerve, arthritis, wrecked the ligaments in my ankle twice and three or four cases of aggravating my back injury. Now I wouldn't mind if I was doing something stupid to cause the injuries but I don't. I start of gently, listen to my body and build up the level of exercises slowly. In most cases the injuries don't even occur when I'm exercising but doing something normal. The first ligament injury was caused by an uneven paving slab and the second occurred when I was gardening. The arthritis comes and goes, depending upon the weather and the back invariably goes when I'm doing housework.

I wonder if I can give up housework!!!

I Blame Binchy & Why

2009-01-14T12:14:00.007Z

I had hoped that by now I would have finished my snowman and be able to show you the finished piece but no I''m afraid I got my head stuck into one of my books and so spent yesterday reading instead of sewing.

Maeve Binchy is one of my favourite authors, I have everything by her and a regular Christmas present for me is her latest book. This year was no exception and my parents got my her latest 'Heart & Soul'. Now I know from experience that once I start a Maeve Binchy book I simply can't put it down and it was the same with this one. I started it Monday night in bed and only put it down when keeping my eyes open was becoming a struggle. Yesterday afternoon it leapt into my hands and only got put down when I had to go and make the meat pie for dinner. Once dinner was over it jumped back into my hands only to be put down when the final episode of Stargate Atlantis was on but then picked up again, and finished, once I knew I didn't have to worry about the Wraith attacking Earth.

If your a Maeve Binchy fan this book won't disappoint and as usual some familiar names and places from previous novels reappear. In fact now I'm going to have to go back and read at least three more of her novels just to remind myself of some of the back stories. If you've not read any of her books don't let this stop you reading the book you won't know you should know the back stories of these characters or miss out on any aspects of the book because of it.

Now will someone please tell me why every good programme on TV is disappearing from our screens permanently? First of all Stargate SG1 gets cut and now Stargate Atlantis has finished and I don't know if Rodney is going to marry Jennifer or not and it's not like we've rid the Pegasus Galaxy of the Wraith, so why? Fine they say they are going to make a straight to DVD film put life simply won't be the same without Rodney Mckay always being so brilliant at saving the team at the very last minute. Just as bad they are cutting ER as well, the one medical drama I have always enjoyed. Now I know there are other programmes out there but Lost has never appealed, I didn't think a lot about Survivors, far too predictable and I just can't get into Heroes. Thank goodness Doctor Who is still going strong. I can't wait to see what the new doctor will be like having watched the programme where they announced who was taking over from David Tennant I suspect he could be one of the best doctors yet.

Well I guess I've wittered on enough so maybe I should go and do the housework I've been trying to avoid and then get down to some stitching or shall I start another book? I had actually planned a day walking in Dove Dale but it's thick freezing fog here so there was no point in heading out of the house so sadly housework it is.

Clementine Cake

2009-01-12T17:27:00.005Z

Daughter has returned to university and we were left with a lot of satsumas that weren't going to get eaten so I used them to make a Clementine Cake with. Maybe that should be a Satsuma Cake.

Although the cake is called a Clementine Cake I haven't actually yet made it using clementines, the previous time I made it I used up an excess of oranges, either way it tastes great. Yet again it is another Nigella recipe although I have only ever seen this one on one of her TV shows and not in any of her books, and I have them all.

It's just as well I took the picture almost as soon as I'd got it out of the tin as Husband has already had a piece with his afternoon cup of tea.

Ingredients

4-5 clementines about 375g in weight
6 eggs
225g sugar (I use caster sugar)
250g ground almonds
1 tsp baking powder

Method

Oven: Gas 5 or 190C

1. Put the clementines in a saucepan of cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for 2 hours.
2. Drain and leave to cool.
3. Cut each clementine in half, remove the pips and then skin and all blitz.
4. Add all the other ingredients and blitz again to pulp.
5. Grease and line a 21 cm spring-form tin.
6. Pour the mixture into the tin and place into the oven for an hour or until a skewer comes out clean. you may need to cover the top after 35-40 minutes to stop it burning.
7. Leave to cool in the tin on a rack until it is completely cold and then take it out of the tin.

I've never tried it but the recipe I found on the internet does say you can make it using lemons, in which case increase the amount of sugar to 250g.

The First Finish of 2009

2009-01-10T10:38:00.007Z

Sorry to disappoint all the stitchers out there but this is actually the first book finished in 2009.

Once the darts had finished on telly yesterday evening and I'd caught the end of Trial and Redemption (must watch the next one it looked rather good) the TV was turned off as there really wasn't anything worth watching on it.

I had been reading The Coffin Trail which is a crime/murder mystery in bed during the last week and now that things were starting to get exciting I simply had to finish it. The book came after a recommendation from Bilbowaggins and is set in the Lake District which is why it appealed to me.

At first the book seemed rather slow to get going but as its the first in the series I guess the author was just setting the scene and introducing the characters but the ending even I didn't see coming. If there was one disappointing fact about this book it was that there weren't really any clues to help you predict the ending it sort of appeared out of nowhere. Nevertheless I have the second in the series on order although it appears to be out of print so I hope it turns up soon.

Stitching wise I have been working on a snowman for SOLAK which I will show when I have finished him. I started him earlier this week when the threads and aida I needed to stitch him arrived from Thread Bear. This is one company that I can not recommend highly enough. My dad had bought me the Celtic Autumn chart for Christmas not knowing that I was already stitching it. When I contacted Thread Bear via email about exchanging it for Cirque Des Triangles and adding some threads and aida onto the exchange they responded very promptly, even though the shop was shut at the time.

I now have the threads and aida but not the new chart, as it is being ordered from the US and I've not paid for them yet as they won't accept payment until everything is sent even though I have offered to pay them up front.

The efforts to get fit have stalled a little this week, whilst I have visited both the gym and pool once I have also had an attack of arthritis in my shoulder so neither place will be visited again until that is better. I once went swimming when I had arthritis in my shoulder and ended up with a trapped nerve that required physio. According to my doctor, the nerve was able to get trapped because the joints was swollen due to the arthritis so that's a lesson I've learnt and remembered, arthritis and exercise don't always mix.

An Unexpected Surprsie

2009-01-05T21:06:00.008Z

Although we woke to a smattering of snow on the ground today I wasn't expecting the treat I got later in the day.

One of my favourite walk is on Stanton Moor and on days like today, when the outdoors is beckoning me but it is already well past midday, that is where I usually head for. It takes me longer to drive there and back than it does to do the walk but I love it anyway. I had no intentions of publishing the walk on my website and nearly didn't take my camera but old habits die hard and so it came with me. By the time I left the house the light covering of the white stuff that we had experienced had long since disappeared but as I got closer to the moor and higher up the trees and fields got whiter and whiter, until I was worried about what state the road to the moor would be in. If it hadn't been gritted there was no way I'd be driving along it.

Although the road was clear, as it's a bus route, the moor was covered in clean crisp snow that was a good few inches thick. Now I don't, as a rule, like walking in snow but this was a real pleasure.

My route took me passed the Cork Stone (above) to the Nine Ladies Stone Circle (below)

and then out to the Reform Tower and back around the edge of the moor, where I was able to watch the sun start to disappear below the horizon.

I have already updated my website with all the photos from this walk and the walk around Chatsworth that Husband and I did on Saturday.

A New Start for 2009

2009-01-02T19:15:00.004Z

Well I knew I wouldn't be able to resist starting St Petersburg once I had it, but oh what have I let myself in for!!!!!!!

Here are the first few stitches which involve 5 different shades of blue. It is stitched using one thread on 36 count linen and these few stitches took me well over an hour to do and meant the dinner got (slightly) burnt!!

One thing is for sure I had no idea what I was letting myself in for when I asked for this kit, the material alone is 90 cm by 70 cm and takes up half of the space on our dining room table which is large by most peoples standards.

I'm going to have to find some way of working with this large amount of material. Any suggestions anyone? It certainly won't fit onto my roller frame!!

The one thing I'm not too happy about is the way the silks arrived. At first glance they appear to already be threaded onto the cards until you realise they are all secured at the bottom with tape and once you have cut this to get at the first thread you find out they aren't permanently attached to the cards so you need to secure them all in place before they come off. If they do come off, before you do this, your in trouble as there are no DMC numbers, just the icons used in the chart.

I'm glad I didn't plan on finishing it this year, I think that could be beyond me.

The Final Post for 2008

2008-12-31T13:25:00.007Z

One of the books I got for Christmas that was missing from the picture in the earlier post was the book The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas as I was reading it at the time. After two nights of reading it before we turned the light out it got to the I have to finish this stage and so yesterday afternoon was spent reading the book to the end. Now I haven't seen the film, as we couldn't get tickets for it at our local cinema (which we like to support) and having read the book I'm glad I didn't as I'm sure I'd have needed a box or two of hankies.

The book looks like it is written with young adults in mind, but it is a fascinating read and is the first book in a long time that, at the end, had me holding my breath and really and truly not wanting to read on because I was dreading what I was going to read next. I'm not going to give the plot away but suffice to say I actually had to go back and read the last two chapters again because I was so caught up with hoping my expectations weren't going to come true that somehow the words skipped in front of my eyes without really being read, although I was taking in what was happening. If this doesn't make sense read the book and then I promise you it will.