The Blogging Gap Year

For those who have been wondering where I disappeared to: nowhere, I'm still around. LOL I've been keeping up with NH Forum, as lots of my cyber-friends are on there, but blogging lost its appeal for a while. Things got busy here, as they do on occasion for most folks, and my Spiritual journey had to take precedence.... time spent on the computer had to be lessened, not only to relieve my neck, shoulder and back from the RSA type pain it kept getting, but so I could concentrate on the reading and meditational work that was, and still continues to be, necessary for progress to be made towards discovering the soul-inspired person within myself.... and that we are all meant to be. :0)

During the gap year I reached one of those milestone birthdays. My 40th passed without a problem but this, my 50th, bothered me a little.... after all, it is a half century! LOL But realisation came that it's only a number and in no way reflects how I feel on the inside - and I have looked forward to my Crone years with relish - so I figuratively grasped the change with both hands and got on with things. Of course, family and friends helped me to mark this milestone with some wonderful gifts and cards:



Once again I thank everyone for their kindness and generosity. :0) My apologies if I have missed out any cards or gifts but this was some time ago... and those menopausal brain farts insist on happening every so often. I did put details of who sent what on all the pics but, for some reason, it's not showing them - the same goes for all the pics in all of the slideshows! BTW, there are lots of pics for various events so I have posted them all as slideshows, in the hopes that everyone's computers don't get totally overloaded with a major league photo heavy blog post. ;0)

DH, DS and I had our annual summer holiday in July, once again in Undergarth cottage in the Langdale Valley - a fabulous cottage in a truly beautiful area and our most favourite place to be.... and guess who got to do some shopping and visit the wonderful Fobbles again? Then DH and I had a weeks holiday with my DSis, Aunt, Uncle and cousin in the Lincolnshire Wolds, so the bungalow pic onwards are of that and of some retail therapy I had:


Yes, that's me in the purple waterproof.... get the Robin Hood impression. LMAO DH didn't participate this year, as he'd hurt his back in a theatre Get Out a week or so before and was still suffering with, and taking pain killers for, that... archery was not conducive to recovery from said back pain. LOL Thankfully he was still able to drive and do a little walking, as well as get some much needed rest. Although he did get through two tubes worth of Ibuprofen Gel making things a bit more comfortable! LOL
Unfortunately we won't be holidaying in the lovely cottage again this year as someone gazumped us and booked it first. :0( Still, we have found a reasonable alternative within the Langdale Valley that will be something of a blast from the past - we'll be staying in a refurbished Fir Garth chalet type place.... we used to stay in these when DS was little. :0)

The major upheavals we had last year and at the start of this year were a total refurbishment of the bathroom and kitchen, back porch and downstairs toilet. The bath had a leak around it and was causing problems in the kitchen... as in, water running down the kitchen wall every time someone had a shower kinda problems. Something had to be done,as I'd got visions of someone getting in the bath one day and the whole lot ending up in the kitchen below. We'd also realised that, as time goes on, there might come a time when I would struggle to climb into the bath to have my favoured shower.... so fitting in a walk-in shower, as well as a bath (DH can't so without his soaks!), had to be done. It meant having to totally re-jig everything in there, so the whole lot was totally gutted (back to brick!) and started over. Here's yet another slideshow for you, starting with the partially dismantled old bathroom:



I did edit down the pics somewhat... if I'd posted every single one of the ones I took you'd have all lost the will to live by the end of the slideshow. LMAO

Once it was established that all the pipework etc was OK (ie: no leaks) we could then go ahead and get the kitchen refurbished. As this is the second time we've had to re-do the kitchen since moving in we decided to go the whole hog and go bespoke this time, the reasoning being that: it's an awkward shaped kitchen and the only way we could fit in everything in that we wanted to was to have it built to fit; this is going to be the last time it gets done, so we wanted it doing properly. As we wanted the same tiles through the kitchen, back porch & downstairs toilet we also had to gut the toilet and remove the cladding in the back porch. This was done in two stages: the kitchen first, then the loo & back porch a little later. Here are some pics of the various stages it all went through:



The roadworks pic is where both the gasboard and waterboard had the road up out the front - this was whilst the back porch and downstairs toilet were being refurbished.... everything seemed to happen all at once at the beginning of this year! LOL The loo has since had two cupboards fitted in there... will have to take some pics of it and post them another time.

Christmas was another time when family and friends were very kind and generous and I consider myself truly blessed:



Once again, I did label all of the pics and tried to stop the arty farty moving about of the pics but the darned Webshots slideshow bit insists on not showing labels and on keeping the arty farty bit. And thank you again my Forum friends... you know who you are. :0)

As mentioned at the start, my Development is still ongoing. I'm reading a lot of relevant books and attend the local Spiritualist Church's Open Circle once a week and a workshop once a month and have just re-started going to the weekly meditation session. Next month J, a Church committee member, will be running a 12-week course on The Principles of Mediumship - it'll cover aspects on the Principles that most, if not all, Spiritualist Churches are run on, about the do's and dont's of mediumship (ethics etc) and other relevant theory work, as well as practising our mediumship skills... at the end of the course we all get to take part in a Fledgling Service. Fledglings are what trainee mediums, like myself, are called and it's an opportunity to use what we have been taught within a Mediumship Demonstration Service, on a Saturday evening at Church. Am hoping that by the time this comes around I'll be feeling much more confident! LOL
I still go to P's workshops (a two-hour once a fortnight session and a four-hour once a month session). These prove to be different every time. P is also helping me to develop more confidence in my abilities and, if a few more people express an interest, is going to run a workshop on Public Speaking, to get us used to standing up and speaking in front of larger groups of people... this is all building up towards doing proper Platform work. She has also offered to take me through the coursework that the SNU have their trainees do, so, when I've read a couple of books she's kindly loaned me, I shall be taking her up on the offer. So that'll mean back to school and writing essays a little later in the year. She has also booked a Fledgling Service for August in Waddington Church... she wants myself and several of the others who attend her Group, to go along to that. Again, it's a ways off, so am hoping my skills have been better honed and my confidence increased by then.
Last month my acupuncturist began her once a month Meditation/Spiritual group, which I really enjoyed - unfortunately we couldn't meet this month (holidays) but next month we'll be talking about 2012 and the theories that abound about what it all means for us all, which is going to be very interesting. It's great to be able to talk about all of this stuff with like-minded people... I no longer feel like a fruit loop or a New Age hippy! LMAO
The most exciting thing to happen for me though, so far, is that I finally found a Reiki Master to train me, so myself and two other ladies from P's group are going to be undertaking Reiki I on the 20th of this month (April). I'd hoped to do the training two years ago but A, who was going to do it, had to stop doing all Spiritual work... that's when the Circle ended too. I realise now that I wasn't really ready then... but now I am. When I work at P's I seem to pick up on ailments a lot, even on people in photos who are in Spirit. For Reiki I I have to work on myself for 21 days.... this is to clear any old stuff that's holding me back, heal old wounds etc etc, so it will be a pretty intense time but also a liberating one. During that time I have to keep a journal... thankfully the Tarot journalling I did last year and at the start of this year has helped me get my head around that type of thing, so am not daunted by that. As part of the training Sh is doing a birth chart for each of us, so that's going to be really interesting to read through, and she has also sorted out the insurance we will need, so we can begin to work as soon as we have done our Reiki II. DH and my DSis are already anticipating lots of freebie Reiki sessions. LOL
I knew at the start of the New Year, with the excitement that I felt as midnight struck, that this would be my year, when everything would start to come together. :0)

As for stitching.... throughout most of 2011 that was a tad sparse but that's improved this year.... the mojo returned in full force and I've been stitching up a storm. How did I manage this? Well... I decided that the way to go was to keep the mojo interested with a string of smalls, giving lots of quick HD's - which was also an opportunity to start making inroads into the mountain of freebie designs I've got printed out. I think it now stands at 21 stitched pieces..... unfortunately they're all waiting to be finished into something. Anyone know where the finishing mojo went? ROFL I haven't yet photographed some of these and the ones I have are still on the camera, waiting to be uploaded to the computer. I shall get around to this at some point and add them to another blog post... or two. LOL

So those are the main happenings that kept me busy during this Gap Year. And if you got this far.... you deserve a medal! ROFL

A Holiday and a Birthday

Bet you thought I'd been and gone and emigrated and not told you. LOL No such luck... we've been on our annual holiday (vacation), spending two weeks in the fabulous Lake District, followed by a mammoth laundry and cleaning catch up. All the usual boring things that keep you from getting back to the fun stuff.

Am glad to say that the weather, though it had its moments, was waaay better than last year... thought we were going to grow webbed feet then. LOL Here's a pic of the back view of the cottage we stayed in:

It's a truly lovely home-from-home... but I'll not go boring you rigid by posting too many holiday pics, especially as I haven't gotten round to uploading them all to the computer yet. If I ever do get them sorted I'll post a slideshow into another post.... that way you can have a nosey or leave well alone, your choice. I can hear the collective sigh of relief as you thank your stars for that lucky escape. ROFL

It was my birthday whilst we were on holiday. That hasn't happened before and it felt a bid odd... though it was lovely to have the cards on display whilst in the cottage and then come home to find more goodies waiting for me to open. I felt like Queen Lizzy, having two birthdays! LOL As there were some lovely goodies and this post was going to be picture heavy I decided to share these via a slideshow:

As you can see, I received lots of lovely gifts and cards and felt truly spoilt. Thank you again my friends for your kindness and generosity - I loved all of my gifts and cards. :0)

So what else did we get up to whilst we were away? Well we did some walking and had quite a few trips out and about, ate some tasty meals at some lovely pubs, had a friend of DS join us for the middle weekend and they both walked the Langdale Pikes, DH and DS had a trip to Rookin House for a quad biking session, then the three of us went back the following day for archery and air rifle shooting sessions (great fun), trips to Keswick, Grasmere, Hawkshead, Coniston and Kirkby Stephen, a couple of visits to the Rhegged centre, a walk on the shore of the much depleted Thirlmere (some of the old building foundations were uncovered) and, as a birthday treat........ a trip to Fobbles.

Yes, after reading all about Fobbles on Su's blog and not getting the chance to visit last year, it was definitely on the cards for a visit this time round.... especially with some birthday cash burning a hole in my pocket LOL. It was a bit of a trek from the Langdale Valley but well worth the travelling: the lady who owns it was lovely and the place, though small, was jam-packed full of tempting goodies - so if you're ever up that way it is definitely worth a visit. If only I'd won the lottery and been able to buy all of the fabulous charts I picked out! Unfortunately I hadn't, so had to whittle down the haul from all of the ones I would like to the absolute must-haves. It was really tough going, was that, but I got there in the end. Here's the haul that made it home with me:

As you can probably guess, that wasn't all that came home... they had a nice selection of fabrics too.

Oh yes, and some lovely scissors. The stitching fabrics are a couple of 32ct and a 36ct and you can never have too much backing fabric, now can you?! ;0)

I got a few non-stitchy goodies too. As you have all probably realised by now I do have a bit of a thing about books (as well as stash LOL) and there were a few opportunities to indulge this passion too, at Rhegged, Grasmere, in a discount bookshop in Hawkshead and in the 2 Ravens in Kirkby Stephen. Here's that haul:

The bookshop in Hawkshead also had some other interesting goodies I couldn't resist, especially at the prices:

I don't really need any more Oracle cards but those Grail Code ones screamed "Buy Me". I absolutely love Pre-Raphaelite paintings and the cards are based on them. They are visually stunning, give accurate readings and also have lovely meditations to do in the enclosed guide book. It was also the only set they had... reckon it was waiting for me. :0)

One of the trips to Rhegged had DS buying me a belated Mother's Day gift and DH an anniversary gift (it was a holiday of celebrations: it was also our 26th wedding anniversary whilst we were there). These were the lovelies they gave me:

The one on the left is from DS and connects nicely with the garden and the one on the right is from DH and has a dove with the word Peace on it and also a tiny little elephant with a little flower on its flank.... a nice way of linking in with my Power Animal. :0)

The trip to 2 Ravens had DS and I indulging in our passion for crystals and gems. DS got a lovely haul of all kinds but I was restrained and just bought the one.....

A gorgeous Sheen Obsidian crystal ball.... which was an absolute bugger to photograph because of its reflective qualities (as you can see). It isn't as plain as it looks, as it has areas that have a beautiful golden sheen to them. I didn't go with the intention of buying a crystal ball but DH had a particular drawer out, I saw this and as soon as I picked it up it called to me. I tried putting it back but it wouldn't have it, so it came home. The wonderful chaoroite crystal ball was still there and the owner kindly let me hold it again. It gutted me to leave it last time and it did again... but this time I have left her my details and asked that if they sell up (the shop is on the market) before our next visit to please phone me so I can have first refusal. I am now saving my pennies. :0)

In all the time we were away I seemed to be in reading mode, as I read two books and started a third, and only once managed to pick up a needle and stitch. The mojo obviously decided it deserved a longer holiday! LOL Here's the small progress I made on the tiger:

In case you were wondering: more of his throat area has appeared and a start made on the fancy border. Unfortunately the mojo is still intermittent and I've only picked up a needle once since, putting in some stitches on Mother Earth for the JA/S&S UFO Night, infilling more of the tree background:

So now I'm all caught up with the laundry etc and another weeding session had to be done on the border... those weeds decided it was a free-for-all party while we were away and tried to reclaim the bed. I was having none of that and gave them short shrift. Since then Garden Pete has kindly brought the sacks of well rotted horse manure for me and I spent a morning this week spreading two and a quarter sack fulls of it on that bed this week:

Thankfully the well rotted manure is nowhere near as stinky as the fresh stuff, so it made the job less of a trial than it might have been. LOL The greenhouse was ordered last weekend and that has a four to five week delivery date, so we need to get the soil properly levelled and compacted and some slabs laid... we had a rethink on the base and have decided that laying a square of slabs will give more leeway for errors on squareness than bricks and we can then fill the middle with more soil (allowing water run off inside) and around the edges, to stop any tripping hazard. There's enough excess soil in other areas to do this. DH is busy at work, working late and over the coming weekend, so isn't able to do much towards getting it sorted at the moment so I am now making like a chjain gang member and breaking up the hoarded concrete and broken bricks whenever the mood takes me, to give a solid layer under the slabs. It's very good for those "wings".... and for letting off a little steam. LOL

DH and DS did have a bit of a sort through some more of the metal cabinets DH has down the side of the house last weekend, ready for more to go. DS and I spent last night sorting through all of the stuff in the cupboards, moving some of it up by the shed, binning some and bagging up other bits, ready for an amenities site trip this weekend. After all that we moved the scrap into the front garden:

One of the local registered scrap places has come and taken it away today (Friday), so that's even more of the heap gone. Yay! We need a new water pipe laying and that can't be done until the drive between the two houses is clear.... we've made a good start. :0)

I also had a small cardmaking session last weekend, ready for Julie's birthday. A cute card for a special lady:

Not too obvious from the scan but it's a decoupage card, so has several layers. Hope you're having a lovely day Julie. :0)

I had so much fun making Julie's card I followed it up by making a card for my niece:

Then made another, for my "just in case" stash, whilst still in the mood:

Unfortunately I have to end on some sad news: my FIL has been diagnosed with cancer and, because it's well established, he hasn't had any symptoms or pain, and due to his age (86, going on 87), they feel it wouldn't be in his best interests to put him through the hell of chemo. They haven't done any further investigations either, as they feel these could trigger the cancer into faster growth/spread. He's had another stay in hospital, due to the fluid building up again, but is now back home. We visited him in hospital last weekend and we'll be going over there as often as we can manage, to help out and spend time with him and MIL. We hope he will continue to be symptomless and pain free for as long as possible. Make sure you give all your loved ones lots of hugs and tell them how much you love them... because you never know what's around the corner.

Thank you for visiting - may you all be Blessed with good health and good fortune. Take care and have a good weekend. :0)

Exciting Week

Yes it's definitely been an exciting week with packages arriving every day, so the postie is my new bestest friend. LOL

It's been so exciting but why was all this post arriving? For my birthday. Yes, I was born on July 8th more moons ago than I usually like to think about....... so please dust off those rusty vocal cords, wet your whistle and join me in a little sing song of: 21 again, 21 again! LMAO Nah, I'll fess up that it's actually my 48th year. I'll warn you in advance - this is a pretty photo intensive post as I've been well and truly spoilt, which means there's lots to share. :0)

I had a lovely card from DH but no gift, as yet, as we're waiting for it to arrive: we're going halves on a decent MP3 player for our birthday's, so we can listen to all our favourite music on holidays without having to take half a ton of CD's with us. LOL There were DVD's from DS (those are also part of my Yule pressie too) and gifts from Alex:

The Album is a gorgeous stitching journal and the Star design looks like it'll be a fun stitch to do. Here's a close up of those lovely earrings:


Those are spiral motifs below little beads (possibly mother of pearl or moonstone - I need to ask next time I see her) and they go really well with my spiral triskele necklace that I wear most of the time. :0)

My DSis gave me this fab Jordash blouse:


Yes, folks, I am definitely leaning towards a decidedly hippy/Boho/slightly Goth trend at this stage in my life. Now that weight is going the confidence to wear the things I've always wanted to has arrived..... reckon I'm now of an age where I don't need to worry about what folks think - it's more important to let the real me out. :0)

So what about all those packages the postie brought? Well here's what was inside them:


They made a real pretty display. Now I was debating being really cruel here by leaving the pics of all the wonderful goodies that were inside those wrappings for another post *insert evil laugh here* but I had a lovely morning opening the envelopes and unwrapping all the lovelies inside and really can't keep the suspense going any longer.

This was the delightful surprise waiting inside the package from Julie:


Meet Wanda the Witch Bunny, a friend of Mr Stick's who will help keep me in line on UFO Night. I didn't unwrap her until today but whatever mojo she has definitely worked from inside that packaging last night because Night Watchman came out of the bag for the first time in a while. She's adorable, from the top of her pointy hat to the tip of her broomstick - you can't see it in the pic but she is also wearing a black cloak...... and has pink bloomers under that dress. Thank you so much Julie, she's fabulous and she'll have a happy life in a loving home. :0)

I am now the proud owner of another of Karen's wonderful creations:


I'm afraid I couldn't get really good pics of this, no matter how hard I tried - the digicam is no good at close ups at all. The barrel bead is carnelian and has a Buddha's face etched into the front and a stylised lotus flower and what I think is an Ohm mark on the back - below are citrine and carnelian gem chips and two of Karen's glass bead creations. I was stunned when I saw it: it is a beautiful piece and doesn't just look lovely and serene but also has the loveliest calming feel to it too. Thank you again Karen, I will love wearing it. :0)

The pretties just kept on coming. This extremely lovely pinkeep was inside the package from Sally:

It is so beautifully stitched and finished and Sally has also stitched our initials on it. Here's the pretty fabric on the back:

All perfectly co-ordinated and so very, very pretty - I really envy her eye for colour. I have got a wicker basket and when I find a nice cloth to drape the base and sides with I shall be using it to display the lovely stitched pieces I've received, including this pinkeep. Thank you again Sally, it's gorgeous and I love it. :0)

Next to be opened was a card and package from Mylene:

One of her lovely hand made cards and some great card making goodies: a booklet of decoupage card papers and embellishments. I rarely do decoupage but the designs are so pretty I shall really enjoy making cards from them. Thank you again Mylene and I hope you all have a safe journey and a great time visiting with your family and friends in Asia. :0)

This little cutie was waiting inside Rachael's package:

I laughed out loud when I saw the cute character on the pillow. As I said to her: DH and DS often think I'm quackers so it is extremely apt! ROFL Behind the pillow is the box it came in and it's covered in the same pretty fabric that the pillow is backed in. And there was a badge to wear too - how cool is that? Unfortunately wearing it didn't get me out of having to do the cooking or cleaning. LOL Thank you again Rachael - that little chap makes me smile every time I look at him and that is worth it's weight in gold. :0)

That wasn't all, as there was then a card and gift from Helen to open:

I love those pyramid cards, they are so effective, and this one is a little beauty. The chart is one I haven't come across before and it has the most wonderful saying - I shall enjoy stitching it. There's also a skein of Weeks Dye Works thread (noticed I managed to cover the label) and a bookmark that is just too pretty to use and also has a saying: Happiness isn't getting what you want, it's wanting what you've got. Powerful words. Thank you again Helen for your lovely, inspiring gifts - still sending positive thoughts and (((((((((hugs))))))))) your way. :0)

One more card and package to go, this one from Barb (no blog):

The card is made from quilled paper: each element has been twisted/rolled in a particular way to make a flower or leaf etc and then they are put together to build up the picture. Very time consuming and an extremely pretty result. :0) The box is deep blue satin and just look at the flowers and gorgeous dragonflies decorating the top. Wow! Dragonflies hold a special significance for me, as several appeared in my garden the year after my Dad passed away: I spotted one on the ivy, swelling it's wings after emerging from its larval skin; we then had as many as three dancing around the garden on every warm day we sat outside; then I saw one at Rosehill, where we'd gone to lay flowers, after asking for a sign that Dad was OK - each event was magical and breath taking - and we hadn't seen those dragonflies before then nor seen them since....... but occasionally, usually when I need a lift, there will be a picture of a dragonfly on the internet, in a paper or magazine, or even in a shop window. Barb had said that this design hadn't been her first choice to stitch (that hadn't arrived in time) but I reckon the Universe stepped in with this, don't you? :0)

It didn't end there though because when I opened the box there were other surprises inside:


This is what I found inside the tissue paper:

A sweet little amethyst angel (my all time favourite crystal), a stained glass angel that her DH had made and a Polstitches Flippin' Frogs thread. The stained glass angel is now decorating my kitchen window where she will vastly improve the view (I spend an awful lot of time in there and the brick wall of the next door house is boring!), she's also the perfect colour for the eventual colour scheme in there and she'll protect a window that I've always thought was vulnerable/a security risk as it isn't in plain view of neighbours, being between the houses. As for Flippin' Frogs - Barb has long since completed her Sea Stars whilst I have still got to frog that mis-stitched motif. LOL Thank you again Barb, and Martin, for your gorgeous gifts. :0)

So yes, it has been a wonderful birthday that was made extra special by all the lovely cards and wonderful and thoughtful gifts these special people gave to me. Thank you again for thinking of me and for sharing in my day my friends. :0)

Key of the Door...... and More

There's a distinct lack of stitching to show you at the moment, due to stitching pieces for Challenges that can't be shown until their relevant reveal days. What I can show you are a couple of recent card makes instead though.

This first one was one that DS asked me to make last week for an LTC friend's 21st birthday:


That silver mirri card looks good but it's an absolute horror to try and take a decent pic of. The main part of the card is actually meant to be a small scrapbooking page for a book of quotes but I thought it was very apt for a coming of age card. It didn't look particularly feminine though, so I glammed it up a little with the steel blue shiney ribbon. I think it was well received..... although, in typical man-style, DS hasn't said much!

I gave up on the 25th birthday card, as inspiration was sadly lacking for it, so DS had to go out and buy that one. I usually only make cards for friends and family, people I tend to know a reasonable amount about, and knowing their likes and dislikes helps me choose a theme and colours that are specific to that person - I don't know either of DS's friends so it was very difficult to come up with any ideas. Oh well, at least he may give me more info to work with next time he wants a card making!

Speaking of the weekend: on Saturday DS popped DH to the garage, so he could pick up The Tank - it's battery hadn't been charging properly and needed looking it, the result being that it had to have a new alternator fitted. DS carried on into town for his shopping trip. After dinner DH and I had a walk down the local High Street to do a little shopping and it ended up being quite a useful trip: not only did I stock up on herbal teas and a few bits from Wilko's but we also managed to find one of those plug-in cool boxes for the car....... and the price had been reduced too. I love a bargain! DS was out at the birthday party on Saturday night whilst DH popped to Broughton to meet up with his friend for a natter over a pint whilst I stayed home and stitched.

On Sunday we were up bright and early and the new cool box proved how useful it was going to be, as I used it to carry my packed lunch when we went to visit the Mind, Body and Spirit event over at Elsecar, near Barnsley. We had a lovely time there and if you're interested to know more about that please have a wander over to my other blog to read more about it. :0)

Monday was my usual jobs day, ready for Alex's regular visit, which was interspersed with blog reading and commenting - am glad to say I've now finally fully caught up with all the blogs I read. Giving myself a medal for achieving that! LOL

The next card is one I made today (Tuesday) and it's for one of DH's nieces:

The card looks a little pink in the pic but it's a lovely soft peach irl. This one came together quite easily plus it also gave me the chance to try out the tag die I bought from Crafty Devils, when I got the Crop-A-Dile. I like how pretty this tag is and will be using it for a few cards, methinks. :0)

As there aren't any more crafty pics to show I thought I'd put up a couple of pics of my DS in fancy dress get-up. WARNING: don't look any further if you're of a slightly nervous disposition! ;0)

This is him all made up for last Saturday night's party:

Unfortunately the camera has given him red eye, so he looks possessed! LOL The wig drove him batty as it kept flopping forward and getting in his eyes. He did the face painting himself - reckon he got the look of the Joker spot on too.

This one is of him dressed up as Death for the previous fancy dress party he went to:

I did the face and hand-painting this time and also helped with the spray dye in his hair. Again he's got red eye. Cue the Damien/Omen music. LOL

I did have an appointment with the Herbalist today (Wednesday), which is why I was wide awake at 5.40am this morning and couldn't get back to sleep again, but Jan has just rung to postpone it until Friday morning, due to having a dental emergency. When I have been I will do a write up on my other blog about it at some point. I now have a day to fill but there's no shortage of things to do: there's the finishing on my Monthly Challenge piece and Christmas ornies to get done, then some fabric and thread to find for the Challenge for a Finish piece. Nothing like cutting it fine to get a person motivated, is there? ROFL Then there's also the boring stuff too, like the dreaded H word.

Thank you for the thread suggestions in my last post, they're much appreciated. Helen, you're a treasure: have tried the DD thread you sent against the fabric and it's a lovely combination, one I'd never have thought of. :0)

Well, none of the other things are getting done while I'm sat here so I'd best extract the proverbial digit.

Thank you for taking the time to visit - hope you're all enjoying a very pleasant week. :0)

Belated Birthday Post

My DH has finally transferred everything, including my pics, to the new computer tower, given me a lesson on how to transfer pics from the digicam memory card to it (correct slot now found!) and I'm rocking and rolling again. Yay! So where do I start?

DH and I went to my DSis's on the Sunday 6th - DH went home in the evening but I stayed until the evening on Tuesday 8th, my birthday, when DH came over to take me home again. It was a good break and DSis took us out and I was very good when it came to helping her spend her money. LOL She bought a new fridge/freezer, a TV for her bedroom, a set of bedding, a vase and other household odds and ends. My tiny haul included some hair scrunchies, stickers and some make-up applicators (these are for cardmaking, as they're very good for chalking with!) - DH sighed with relief when he heard that's all I bought. ;0) I'm not very familiar with the roads around my home town any more (many changes since I left when I married) and my DSis openly admits that she can't navigate her way out of a paper bag......... so we went the scenic route a couple of times, which added to the fun. :0)

I had some lovely cards and gifts for my birthday and I thought I'd share a few pics. Here are the lovely cards I received from Sally and my PenPal Maggie:

A seriously cute bunny. Thanks again Sally. :0)

I also received this stunning handmade card, along with some lovely Polstitches threads, from Helen:

I hope my pic shows the glossy look of the mount and the sparkle of the metallic threads that are in the stitching. As I love all things to do with Ancient Egypt this is so me! Thanks again Helen, my friend, I love my card and gift. :0) In anyone needs to know: the figurine is Isis/Hathor.

Next up is a pic of the lovely card and gifts I received from my friend Alex:

The centrepiece of the card is made up of pieces of handmade paper made to look like patchwork with the addition of rub-on "stitches". There are also added brads and motifs - I love it and it makes me think of Alex's stitched patches. The fabric is Polstitches Stormy Skies, the Caron Wildflowers thread is Morning Mist and those black threads are different thicknesses of Mulberry Silk, ideal for blackwork. I also received some DD silks from DH (lush!), the DVD The Other Boleyn Girl from DS and my DSis gave me a gorgeous bracelet watch (the bracelet part is made up of Picture Stone) and a gorgeous handpainted Memory Box - that will be going on my downstairs altar and I shall probably keep my crystals and precious keepsakes inside.

Since getting home I've been "breaking in" my new specs. Not pleasant initially: for two days I could actually feel every single one of my eye muscles, as they ached badly, and I felt quite queasy, especially as the prisms ensure that flat surfaces do not look anything like flat but look to have a downward slope away from me. No stitching got done during those few days. :0(

Glad to say I seem to have adjusted to them now - although the downward slope sensation will not go away - and have been making up for lost time since. I can see my stitching and watch TV once more. Yay! The Monthly Challenge piece is now finished and, now I know what to do with the pic transfers, a pic will be winging it's way to Karen shortly. I also hope to be having a HD by the end of the week too: I've made Cleo my focus piece since Sunday and it's paid off well. :0)

DH and I were out and about quite a bit this last weekend, shopping and visiting a garden centre where we managed to get another pot for the other fuschia plant Dad gave us, and we got some jobs done in the garden. We also celebrated our Wedding Anniversary on Monday - that's 24 years together. As I said to DH: do you know, you can commit murder and get less time than that and you're let out even sooner for good behaviour. I thought I heard him mutter something along the lines of if only he'd realised that much sooner but I must be mistaken. LMAO. Guess I'd better make a start on a 25th Anniversary piece for next year........ I had initially fancied doing a red piece but that's more apt for a Ruby anniversary, so I'm now thinking of stitching the Elizabeth's Designs piece "Love Grows Here". Better extract my digit - initially I got the maths wrong and thought there were two more years to go, so hadn't factored this in to my stitching plans! Doh!

If I can find the wedding pic I know was on the old computer, but can't currently find on here, I shall post a pic another time......... and thoroughly depress myself on how young we both looked back then and how slim I was. ;0)

Well I guess that's enough for now, especially as I've just spotted the time - I really should have been in bed around two hours ago, at least!

Many thanks for visiting and especially for having the patience to read that little lot....... I so hope you made a coffee and put your feet up first! :0)

A Happy Birthday Day

It's a Happy Birthday for my DS Matthew - he's 22 years old today. Where has all the time gone? Nope....... not going to think about that one, it gets too depressing. ;0) I was going to post a baby pic of him but they're all packed away in the loft at the moment, so he'll be glad that's saved him the embarrassment. LOL
I asked DH to get a small cake on his way home tonight, as it's become a bit of a tradition that we have one of those Cadbury's Chocolate Gateau cakes with a candle on the top. Only DH couldn't find one so guess what he's brought home instead: a rather large (11" x 7") Cadbury Buttons cake. DH is diabetic so can only have a small piece........... guess me and DS will be having an awful lot of cake for the rest of the week, unless I can get him to take some round to his friends or something. Hhhhmmm - maybe not. :0)

It felt like it was my birthday today too, as the Carrie's threads arrived this morning. Here are the threads (Twinkle and Blueberry Pie) and fabric (Pol's Sky High) I'm using for the Long Dog Sampler Rosemarkie piece.

The Blueberry Pie thread has come out very dark but it's actually a really lush mix of purples with a hint of blue. I owe Jayne a big thank you for suggesting the thread colours - they're gorgeous and it's going to be a real pleasureto stitch this.
The other pic is of the Carrie's Tanglewood pack with the fabric I'll be using: Pol's Heirloom 32ct Belfast linen, another of Jayne's suggestions. Now all I've got to do is decide which goes on the frame. Karen: I'm not sure what size frame I'd need but I'm trying not to give in and get another one. I already have on the go: HAED Mother Earth, Egyptian Tablet and Loopylou's Mistletoe (SAL piece I fell behind with) on large frames; plus Alchemy's Copper Beech, my Christmas Card exchange piece and Heirloom's Love Is You on smaller frames. I think 7 pieces will be enough to keep me busy and out of mischief. :0)

I also had a nice parcel from Jenny, a fellow member of the Stitch'n'Stash Forum, that had the 4 hand knitted cravat style scarves, in eyelash wool, I ordered from her recently. I bought 2 bright pink ones as Christmas presents for DH's nieces, a chocolate brown one as a stocking filler for my DSis and another for me, to go with my winter coat. They are great, I love mine and hope the girls and DSis will like theirs too. If you read this: thanks again Jenny. :0)

I had a surprise visit from my DBro this afternoon, as he'd been working out this way and decided to call in for a coffee and a natter on his way home. He's doing OK, looks brighter and is feeling much better in himself now he knows his health issues are being sorted out. He's looking forward to having a couple of weekends away with his family, as they're taking their tourer to Chatsworth for the final sessions of the year. Bbbbbrrrrrr, they're hardier souls than us, as ours has already been bedded down for the winter.

BTW, I did stitch on ET last night (just in case Mr Stick was limbering up) but I want to do more tonight so won't post a pic until tomorrow.

Well I'd better go and hunt out some cake candles ready for DS getting back from the theatre.

Thanks to all for taking the time to visit and for the kind comments. :0)