A summer of stitching and other tales

 Helloooooo everyone ...bet you thought I had fallen off the planet ..lol ... nope I have been busy with work,  stitching , quilting and of course grannie duties ....

I haven't stopped working just had to change the venues a tad ... working from home for the most part and now popping into the office on set days when there are only so many peeps in there .. which is becoming the new norm.

the wee one is growing fast and is 16 weeks old and becoming a real chatterbox and learning to turn over...he is a real diva too when he is hungry ..lol he had some professional photos taken when he was 13 weeks old and they are adorable :)

I have finished one of my big WIP's ... Needle and Thread by Samplers not forgotten, this was stitched on Sparklies Before the Storm 28 count evenweave with the recommend threads ... I stitched it with one thread over two so it gives a delicate appearance ...it has been admired by many and going to be stitched the same way by a couple of my friends :) I still need to iron and attach the buttons properly then get it framed as I don't have a frame big enough for it.

I have finished the combined Stitchers Prayer and Home of a Needleworker both by Littlehouse Needleworks, its a biggie and will have to get it framed so saving up my pennies for this one ...

During this time as well it was my "real " dad and his wifes 40th wedding anniversary so I made them a picnic quilt with matching bag to put it in ... they were over the moon as the first memory I have of meeting Elaine was she had put together a picnic for us to have at Llangollen Eisteddfod music festival many moon's ago when I was competing in the choir section ....I chose bright turquoise and cream fat quarters from Hobbycraft to make it up from :)

I have worked some more on the Where Blossoms  Bloom by Brenda Gervais as well .. this was my Monday night stitch but I am going to move it to Sunday now finished with the Beneath the sunlit sky one... I am starting Blackbird b BBD and stitching along with Sally and Barb to keep me company on a Tuesday night ... and stitching on other projects in between in an effort to get my WIP's pile more down ....made a big dint in it already ..lol

also included in the photos are the two blankets I made one for baby bear and the other for our bedroom, a sewing accessory combination for my friend Linda, Frosty fully finished and given away to my friend Amanda who has admired it right from the start ... I am going to make it for me too, a fully finished stitch that was done 2012 .....eeekkkk,,, a piece from the" Stitchers Journey book by Blackbird Designs and some project bags I have made too

ok you had better grab a fresh brew and some nibbles as just found all the photos and there are a few hahahaha ...

We also had our front garden made over by DD2 and SIL to be and are awaiting the railings to finish it off. Harrogate is off this year too due to the virus so I have been getting some threads in to do a SAL with Tina of the Anniversaries of the Heart by Blackbird Designs ... we are hopefully starting it the 1st Saturday in November which should hopefully give us enough time to get all the threads as they are a tad difficult to get hold of atm ... ho hum

if you have made it this far ... yeahhh ... thank you, I am hoping to update this more, as you forget what you have been up too when you get to a certain age..21 + vat hehehehe. So I shall leave you for now , so take care one and all and keep on stitching/ crafting etc etc .... love mouse xxxxx

Jo's Christmas Blog Hop

Hellooooo .. yes it is me ... I have been writing a blog post for months in my head but not managed to get it done .....that is until Jo from serendipitous Stitching invited me to do her Christmas Blog hop .. I am day 14 of December 2019
The theme of this years hop is films ... what do you watch over Christmas ..
well at the mouse house there are usually 3 films that  I watch ... Polar Express, Muppets Christmas Carol and Elf with the Snowman cartoon as a must 
DH on the other hand is a Zulu kind of guy ...lol 
Jo also asked us to put up some Christmas Stitching soooo I will just go and bob the kettle on and get out a mince pie or two for you while I find some :)

Merry Christmas from 2018 JCS Magazine

I Believe from 2012 JCS Magazine ( I think ?) 

I will be back in a few days to update you all on the hetic life of the mouse over the year ... take care and squeak to you all soon :) love mouse xxxxx

Making Progress

Hi peeps .... yes I know its late but I have only just got the computer to myself long enough to keep you updated ...lol brews are ready and I am sure there are some cookies hiding in the cupboard if you want a dunker to go with it :)
Well this last week is a wee bit of a blur with being soooo busy with work and getting the room sorted ....I didn't go to Chris's on Tuesday as she was poorly so DH and I went down to the new mouse house to do a bit more on it .... DH painted out the storage room while I was polishing the furniture that we got moved ... luckily with it being empty * for now;)  it was easy to move ....
Saturday saw me tootling round the office supply shop for a pair of matching filing cabinets for under my work top and the nice guys let me have some for a decent price ... they loaded them up in the mouse mobile for me and when I got to the house DD2's fiance (sp) was just pulling up sooo I borrowed his muscles to get them into my room ... well you just have too don't you ...lol 
I pottered around for a couple of hours touching up the paint where we had done some work ... tried out my rocking chair and my new fleece blankie  and thought yes I can see myself falling asleep in this .... and measuring out the gap for the work top and the other big filing cabinet .... must have done a good job as it all fitted together no problem with room to spare woooo hoooo ....
I have taken some progress photos for you as promised and hopefully with a fair wind and good sails I will get my all my craft stuff over this week ... a few boxes at a time in my boot .....then I can at least sort out at my leisure ... 
I was sat stitching on Sally's RR last night doing great when I ran out of the thread for the last couple of words .... agghhhhhh .... what was a girl supposed to do except nip to hobbycraft the next morning to get a thread ....ohhh my they had lots of nice fabric on offer and other stitchy goodies ..... any hooo I digress ... I was sat stitching when I heard a rustling noise ..... I sat very still thinking I was going to see a wee head pop up out of the boxes or something when ..... a butterfly came towards me and landed on my arm .... bearing in mind this is February and it was about 11.00 pm ... well I tried to get it out as it would have killed itself going into the lights and in the process managed to actually get a couple of decent shots when it was still ... (I did manage to get it out btw) still can't believe that it was in my room and obviously been there a wee while as DD2 mentioned at least three weeks ago that one had flown in and actually I didn't believe it to be honest ... whoops .....
I was pottering round the garden today as it was a lovely day , the sun was out and the sky was a pretty blue and I took some photos of the snowdrops in my neighbour's garden and the crocus too ... while I was there my gray doves where in the tree sooo I managed to get a good photo of one of them at any rate ....heheheh 
right I had better pop some photos up for you .... and then I will be off to the land of nod ....

Full moon on Friday night 

atmospheric shot

on my kitchen ceiling

how pretty is it against the fabric

think this is the male of the doves 

ohhhh nooo she's got the camera out again 

crocus 

isn't this lovely 

here you go

looking good if I say so myself 

my treadle machine in place

Sally's RR my bit is from Libero down to aspettati

soooo there you have it folks .... can't wait to get the room fully sorted and in it either for that matter stitching away ....
I shall leave you for now and will catch up with you all again this week .... take care one and all :) love mouse xxxxxx

Birthday celebrations and some stitching too :)

Yoooo hoooo every one :) hope you are all cosy and warm with the bad weather folks seem to have been experiencing on both sides of the pond .... going to work the other day was a wee bit scary mary as they say .... but I was prepared with my snow boots and change of clothes and food and a blanket on my back seat in case we were stuck at work once I had got there .... 
I must thank every one for the lovely birthday wishes, cards and gifts too ... some decided to go the scenic route first before they got to the mouse house ..lol  Michelle  sent me some lovely fabric from Sparklies  which took ages to get here (mind you it didn't help that the post code was a teeny bit wrong ..) so it was a good job she posted early, as it arrived the day before my big day :) and a couple of cards  from friends  who have known where the mouse house is for years also had the wrong post codes on ... must be catching heheheheheh... good job my postie knows me ...lol 
Jo sent me a beautiful stitched mouse card ... which is on my mantelpiece with my other cards and I haven't photographed it yet .... whoops ...
June sent me a gorgeous stitched needlebook with a wee mouse on it and a bobbin and some scissors on it as well as pink polka dot tin full of goodies and a wee notebook and cards. Chris and Wendy got me a kit of a tall pincushion holder to make and something else that hadn't arrived before my big day and Chris had also knitted me a snood and some matching finger-less gloves which has come in very handy with the weather we have been having in a lovely soft wool ... not photographed either as I wasn't doing a selfie heheheh.... Bev's is an IOU as she has not been well and it wasn't finished .... sooo my birthday is extended wooo hooo .... from the family I got some headphones to go with my boom box I got for Christmas and a lovely flake birthday cake .....  some gorgeous flowers and pennies to spend on something that takes my fancy when I see it :)  Oooo I feel a browse around the internet coming on ...lol
My boss also got me some chocolate and wine for my birthday ... I can share out the chocolate if you want some but the wine is mine hahahah....
OOO the kettle has just boiled ... off to go and make a cuppa for every one ...
here you go and some cookies too ....
Well we have been doing some more to the new mouse house and tomorrow all being well my sink is going to be taken out and popped onto a new work top and re plumbed as the pipe from it is lead .... once that is done I can paint the shelves and after much consideration and consultation with the DH I have decided to paint the fireplace with the proper black paint rather than try and take the old crackled paint off as it is too much of a job to be honest .... and I want to get into my room and get it sorted ....
Apart from DD1's room and the top of the hallway .. all the paper is off the walls and they are ready to be sized before paper going back on .....any one fancy giving me a hand ..lol .. we have had to buy more masonry paint for DH's side of the basement and he has started to paint that today  sooo all in all things are going almost to my schedule ...lol
Stitching wise I have been busy on Sally's RR ... its going slower than normal as I am having to stitch the opposite to the way I normally do ... that and I don't want to make any mistakes(personalize) with it not being mine ... DJ has just done her bit on mine and its up on her blog if you want to bob over and go and have a peep ... its soooo cute :)
And that my dears is all the news from the mouse house this week sooo I will bob up the photos for you :)

From June beautifully wrapped :)

see all the goodies

how gorgeous is that wee needlebook ...

headphones and cake .... yummmmmm

lovely fabric from Michelle

flowers from the DD's :)

Bentley say's Hi

see the door is done ..lol 

looking better 

more the right bright white colour it should be ..lol

Sally's RR :)

from my lovely Boss ....

part of my goodies from Chris and Wendy

had a busy ole day ....

I hope that every one has a wonderful stitchy week and looking forward to bobbing in and saying hi to every one ... may take me a wee while as you have all been rather busy this last week ...lol ... take care one and all and I shall squeak to you all soon :) love mouse xxxxx

Stitchy and craft room progress

Morning peeps :) well today this wee little mouse is having a sick day and staying home with Master Bentley for company ... think its something I have eaten blugh :(
any hooo this gives me a few mins grace to squeak to you all and keep you fortified in a cuppa and some goodies while I waffle along as per usual ...lol
I have been travelling to work and seen some glorious sun rise's these last few days / weeks ... and as always never have my camera on me or able to stop to take photos to show you all ... the sun's colours have been spectacular and there has been mist swirling around in the air just above the ground level .... 
they do say "Red sky at night is a Shepherds delight and a Red sky in the morning is a Shepherds warning " but  apart from a wee bit of snow we had so far sooo good ..lol 
I went for a wee drive to the bank on Friday and there were daffodils nodding in the gentle breeze that was about .. and its only the back end of January ... in fact two days to my birthday wooo hooo ..lol .. the postie has just dropped some cards off hehheeh ... my daffies are just starting to poke through in the front yard and I have the most gorgeous wee snowdrops in the back sooo spring is definitely around the corner .....
We have been busy at the new mouse house the DD's and I along with my MIL and  wonderful BIL who happens to be a decorator ... DH has been helping but his work schedule leaves very little time to do much ...  we have made tremendous progress and my wallet is much lighter with all the new paper's, paint and other niceties to go with the new mouse house ... we even have splashed out on a corner sofa .... and it will be hopefully made and in situ in about 9 weeks ...
Most of the walls have been scraped and some remedial work needs to be done along with sanding some of them and sizing them too ....but all in all for the age of the house I think we have got off lightly ...lol ....my BIL bless him has painted my craft room for me and up the basement stairs too and hopefully will do some of the ceilings for me as well ... and he said he would help with the papering too .... I have taught the girls how to sooo we should get things ship shape in no time paws crossed .... I have taken some progress photos for you as I know you all can't wait to see the room ..lol 
Stitching wise I have finished another ornie apart from the beads .... worked on Sally's RR (no photos of this though yet) and started another ornie ... this time "He's a flake " by LHN  .... sooo I am on a roll ... two finishes and two starts ....
I have also been naughty and bought some charts from the bay of evil ...lol a couple of LHN ones I haven't got and some lovely prim ones too ... unfortunately no photos of them either ... I know I know very remiss of me ...hehehehhe...
I have just made a fresh cuppa for you all while I go and sort the photos out before settling down to some stitching ... well I may as well, while I have some me time ...lol 

I was ere by Master Bentley ...

up the stairs wall paper nearly off

the master bedroom fully stripped :)

DD1's room getting there

hmmmm can tell what they were having when I am not there 

up into DD2's room

scene of destruction ..lol 

started 

so I will finish and even with the steps too small to reach the ceiling
wall paper on is what we are going to have now :)

down the stairs to the creative room 

colour before and colour after ...

squeee white walls (door has been stained since this was taken)

First coat applied :)

view from the kitchen window 

gorgeous snow drop :)

another finish :)

and another start :)

Soo my dears there you have it ....another update from this wee mouse .... 
I am hopefully going to be much better tomorrow as the family and I are going out for a birthday meal as DH is working on my actual day and I am going out on the day with my friends Chris, Wendy and Bev for a meal too (joint celebration with Chris as her birthday is the beginning of Jan sooo we spread it out for her ...lol ...
Hope every one has a wonderful stitchy week and I will squeak to you all soon ... take care one and all  :) love mouse xxxxx