My poor neglected blog

It's been such a long time since I've posted, a long time since I've had anything really interesting to blog about though there have been times when I should have come on here and chronicled a few life events that have happened in the last four months.

Time has a habit of stealing away from me, I never have enough hours in the day to do what I set out to do but I have fun getting there. As usual the grandchildren and my family have taken up a lot of my time, either visiting or being visited, lots of playtime in the garden and lots of aches and pains when I've "played" too much.

The garden has taken up a few of my hours, as I get older it appears to get bigger. We've only planted a few vegetables this year and we've almost decided that next year the veg plot will be set to lawn; Tony doesn't have the time and I don't have the energy.

Doesn't it make it all worthwhile though when something like this opens up and greets you on a rainy morning.


 Now the proud grandma bit,

Lily has taken up ballet and she's loving every minute of it while Callum is taking after his daddy...

Sharon and Carl are in Cornwall with Josh and Becca so I'm hoping to get some more photos to show.

I'm still stitching on and off, not a lot but when I feel the urge or want to unwind.

That's all for now.......take care,

 

Goodbye Chester

It's been a sad week this week as on Saturday we had to say goodbye to my loving cat Chester. He was almost 16 and although he'd been looking his age for the past couple of months he still had the energy to race around the house when the mood took him.

 

He had to go to the vets on Thursday as he had an intestinal blockage, they sorted him out but he never really got over the procedure and by Saturday morning we knew that he wasn't going to recover so we took the only choice that was left and had him put to sleep. I miss him already as he sat on my knee most evenings or at the side of me if I was stitching, but I know we made the right choice and as much as we didn't want him to go, it was the kindest thing to do.

 

I did manage to finish my ornament for this month, it's been a lovely quick stitch to get me back into stitching. I've not had chance to finish it off as I'm waiting for some trimmings that I need to do it. It's a freebie pattern found here.

I've also done another bit on my Beatrix Potter, I really think that it's time that this UFO was finished. I was hoping to finish this pattern this month but didn't quite make it.

I've also nearly finished knitting a cardigan for Becca my granddaughter, just the button band to do so all in all not a bad month for my crafting.

Now that the girls have all left home I've made the small bedroom into my craft room, another "work in progress" but I'm getting there. It's been lovely having all my stitching and cardmaking stuff on hand instead of looking in drawers or in boxes under the bed. I even felt inspired to make some cards again and really enjoyed myself.

I can't wait for some sunshine, we seem to get rain most days or it's freezing. It's my check up at the doctors tomorrow for my depression so I hope the sun is shining so I feel ok about cutting back my tablets. If the sun's shining I can cope with anything.

Love and hugs,

A finish and a new start

 Hello one and all, I hope that you're all having a happy stitching New Year. I've been looking at so many blogs catching up on what everyone has planned for this year and it's really made me feel that I want to stitch again.

 It's been lovely having the grandchildren living here for the past six months, even though it's gotten a bit stressful at times but it hasn't left much time for stitching and my other crafty hobbies, So, now that I've got the house looking something like a home again I want to spend some time on me and my hobbies; the house needs decorating all the way through and it will soon be time to plan the garden so busy times ahead.

We have daffodil bulbs showing by a good three inches and for saying that I was late planting them they are really looking good but the garden is so wet and muddy that even if it was fine outside I wouldn't be able to do much. I can't wait for Spring, I love Winter for sitting cosy by the fire but I tend to hibernate and get to the point where I don't want to go out so a touch of sunshine is so welcome.

My first finish for 2012 is one that's been hanging around for the past few months waiting to be finished but never having the time to do it so I needed to get it out of the way before I could start anything else.

 CCN Summer Garden

I decided that my next start would be La-D-Da Bushel and a Peck, I bought this last year and couldn't wait to get started on it but other things took priority.

 I realised that I was missing a couple of the threads needed so while I've been waiting, this week I started stitching Small Token by Blackbird Designs and I'm loving doing it.

 I forgot to add a photo of a present that I had for Christmas from my daughter Sharon. She's started doing crochet at the end of last year and entered  a Christmas ornament exchange and I loved what she'd done so she tucked one away in my present. Unfortunately the girl who she crocheted the original one for never sent her anything in return so she was a bit disappointed that no one would see her handywork so I thought I'd put it on here.

The base underneath the skirt was a bell so there have been plenty of angels getting their wings this Christmas.

One last photo and this is of my birthday cards from the thread exchanges that I'm in at Needlecraft Haven and a little group called Threads of Friendship that I've been in for a few years.

Well I think that's all for now, hopefully I'll be a better blogger this year, I need to keep track of what I've been doing!

 

A Very Happy 2012

My posts seem to get further and further apart these days but the past few months have been rather hectic ones but at last after 33 years together me and Tony have the house to ourselves. It does seem quiet with no daughters or grandchildren living here but I'm enjoying the peace while I can.

Tomorrow will be another busy day, New Years Day is my birthday and we have the family round for dinner so it's almost like having another Christmas day with us all here and as Christmas this year has been a really happy time, I'm looking forward to it.

I've been sorting through all my charts and I've picked a few out that I'd really like to stitch in 2012 as well as getting a couple of UFOs finished, this year I didn't have a lot of stitching time so I'm going to make sure that I'm more organised so I have more time for myself.

I hope that 2012 will be a very happy and healthy New Year for everyone.

I'll leave you with a photo of a beautiful Christmas ornament that I received from Chris.

Isn't it gorgeous and such a lovely surprise.

It's been a while

It's been a while since my last blog post and I'd begun to ask myself if I'd ever blog again, but here I am trying to start again and hoping to keep a more positive frame of mind.

June and July were taken up with the garden which I absolutely love, getting out in the fresh air is the best medicine that I could have and although my muscles ached from all the digging and weeding, it has really paid off this year. We've had a bumper crop of vegetables that have been frozen or bottled and will last us well into the new year and the flower borders have been a wonderful sight once they got established after the dry spell that we had. It's such a shame that I'm having to dig some of them out to make way for the Spring bulbs that need planting now but I know come Spring the sight of the daffodils and tulips will brighten any cold day.

My middle daughter Kim announced that she would be moving in with her boyfriend in August and I thought that at last me and Tony would have the house to ourselves but alas that was not meant to be as DD number three, her partner, two children and dog moved back home the week that Kim moved out.

It has been a struggle trying not to interfere when Lily and Callum are crying especially when they've been naughty and want a cuddle so there have been quite a few walks down the garden to get away from it all. I'm sure my three were never as noisy as the two of them are.

The past couple of months haven't been very good health wise either getting one infection or virus after another until at one point I thought that I'd never feel well again but thankfully I am much better and thanking God for every day that He gives me.

A couple of weeks ago we took Callum and Lily to visit Josh and Rebecca and it was a really hot day so they all made the most of it in the paddling pool.

Josh Lily and Callum having fun in the paddling pool, and below taken just a week earlier is Rebecca on a cooler day.

I am trying to get some stitching and knitting in again, though time has been a bit short so no new finishes but I have enjoyed what I've managed to do and now the nights are drawing in I might feel more like sitting in the warmth stitching rather than pulling up weeds.

Well that's about it for now hope it won't be too long before I visit again

Love and hugs

A busy weekend

I thought being retired meant more time to do what I want but I think I got it wrong somewhere. I seem busier than ever with the garden to look after, knitting for the grandchildren and of course, visiting them all. My cross stitching has taken a back seat for the past few weeks mainly due to the fact that I've not been able to get comfy with my hip hurting so much, but I found that if I did my knitting I could do a couple of rows, get up and have a potter round and then get back to it. Now I don't know about anyone else, but when I cross stitch I've got my lamp, magnifier, chart and threads all close at hand and once I settle down to stitch I don't want to move again for a while. Thankfully the hip is on the mend and I'm back to stitching again. I've put a few more stitches into CCN Summer Garden and hope to get a bit more done this week.

I've also put a few more stitches in my Beatrix Potter sampler and I'm doing a SAL with my daughter Rachel. I wish she'd have a blog because she does some lovely stitching and she's much faster than me. Years ago I was bought a Lilliput Lane cottage by the children at the playgroup that I used to run, I got more and more of the cottages bought for birthdays and Christmas and in a mad fit I decided that I wanted to stitch a cottage to go with the ornament. Rachel sewed one for our 25th anniversary but my kits lay in the drawer for some time so when she said that she was going to stitch another I thought I might as well have a go too. I was going to change the fabric to evenweave but then decided to stay with the aida in the kit. It's strange working with aida again after using evenweave for so long but I thought it would match the other that I already have. I shall have to see how I get on with it.

We've had the grandchildren here this weekend so it's been a little chaotic but lovely at the same time, it must have been so quiet before they came along because it's certainly noisy now, lol.

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend,

love and hugs,

Time keeps flying by

I honestly don't know where my time goes these days, it's not as though I've been doing a lot, a creaky hip and a stinking cold aren't the best things to have when there are things to be done.

We've had a couple of visits to Chester to see my new granddaughter; she arrived  on the 13th of April and I've been waiting to get a good photo of her to put on the blog but the ones that Sharon took of me and DH were not up to public inspection, lol.

Sharon is supposed to be emailing some through to me but I think she's a bit too busy at the moment to think of getting anywhere near a computer so for now this is the best one that I have of her. She weighed in at 7lb 6oz and they have named her Rebecca Elizabeth.

Josh decided that he wanted to get into the photos too but wouldn't come out of his chair where he'd been eating chocolate buttons. He still doesn't know what to make of Rebecca and is wanting lots of cuddles at the moment, he'll be two on the 22nd of this month and is such a giggler.

Not a lot else has been happening apart from the usual day to day things like cooking, cleaning, washing and more cleaning. I even gave the living room carpet a good clean last week and couldn't believe the dirty water that the cleaner sucked up, still it's lovely and clean now, or I should say it was until Lily spilt her drink and Callum decided to wee all over the place when his nappy was taken off. Ah well, accidents happen and I'd rather have a messy carpet than not have the cuddles and kisses from my grandchildren.

I am still doing a bit of stitching though not as much as I'd like but the garden is in dire need of some TLC and with the old bones giving me pain, I can't bend down to pull out the weeds for long. I went for an xray on Wednesday so I'm hoping that they don't find anything wrong with my hip and it is just old age catching up with me. I have to see the doctor again on Friday so I shall know what it is by then.

Time for bed I think, goodnight all,

Hugs

Still no news

I'm still waiting for news of my latest grandchild's arrival but still nothing to report.

We've had a busy weekend with friends and family popping round which has been lovely and Lily and Callum certainly keep me going but that's probably what I need.

Lily bought me a lovely plant though she says that it's hers really, isn't it pretty...

and I think Stella likes it too....

Sunday was my sister's 65th birthday, she was christened Patricia but she's always been known as Pop as my gran said that she was a little poppet and the name stuck.

This is a photo of me, my dad and Pop, she's the one standing, we are at my grandad's allotment which we had to look at each time we visited. We didn't have a car so we all went on the bus and usually it was a double decker which meant we could sit upstairs looking out of the front window where we could see all around us. After the walk to the allotment we'd go back to grandma's house where she'd have dinner ready, a lovely treat. After dinner we'd sometimes walk home, visiting bluebell wood on the way. In those days you could pick the bluebells and we usually came away with our arms full though by the time we got home they were looking a bit bedraggled but mum always found a pretty vase to put them in. This photo was taken over 50 years ago and I can't believe how quickly the years have flown, so many happy memories.

It's been colder here today so I've spent the day indoors just pottering about, all the plants and seedlings are behaving themselves so no need to go out other than give them a good water later on.

Just a few pots to put away and then I'm through for the day so I might put a few more stitches into something.

Love and hugs,

Keeping busy

Thank you for the lovely comments and emails I received about my last post and I'm happy to say that I've pulled myself together and am feeling much better, it's amazing what a good talking to myself can do.

I've been keeping myself busy in the kitchen, the garden and getting back into stitching even though it's only a few stitches, I've really enjoyed it.

I love baking, it was my job at one time before I retired and I like to bake at least once or twice a week, more if I can. It always gets eaten so no worries about anything going to waste. DH loves coffee and walnut cake so I made him one.

I also had an urge to make some bread and it felt so good kneading the dough and getting rid of frustration, I must do it more regularly, and it tased really good.

Today has been spent pottering around in the garden, sowing more seeds and potting on some seedlings, it's been lovely to get out in the sunshine and plan what plant is going in which spot, I just hope they all grow. The three apple trees that we planted in March are looking healthy and it's going to be a hard task pulling the young fruit off like we've been advised to, I want baskets full of apples this year!

I decided to do a little project to get me stitching again so I stitched LHN Honesty which was quick and easy and very enjoyable to stitch.

I also managed to put a few more stitches into CCN Summer Garden, I love the colours in this.

We are still waiting patiently for Sharon to give birth, she's due tomorrow but as she was two weeks overdue with Josh, I'll just have to keep on waiting. 

Hope that everyone is having a good weekend,

Love and hugs,

This old blog of mine

Just having a moan to myself so I'll understand if you don't want to read any further.

I nearly deleted this post but it's here as a memo for me.

When I started this blog it was partly on the advice of my doctor; I've suffered from panic attacks and depression since my late twenties and she thought that if I wrote a diary of my day to day life it might help to see what achievements I've made and spur me on to do more. I started with a big notebook and wrote all my thoughts and memories down and then gradually when I got used to the computer I thought that it would be a good idea to write about my life, family and hobbies on here and I'd also be able to make it more real by adding photos. Somehow, along the way, my blog turned into a stitching blog.....not that I mind showing my cross stitch....but it doesn't record the good days and bad days like my notebook did and after reading one of my old books it's made me realise that I seemed better then than I do now.

Winter is always a bad time for me and I can't wait for spring to arrive but this year I can't get out of the rut that I've got stuck in over winter. Curling up in a cosy armchair in front of a roaring fire watching endless programmes on the telly might seem an ideal way to spend a day, but when you do it day after day and can't motivate yourself to do anything, it starts to become a habit that I can't get out of.

I don't know why I get depressed. I have a wonderful family who are my world, my husband never moans when I'm feeling down and always tells me not to worry and do what I can when I feel like it. I do have good days when everything goes well and I am so grateful for these days.

I know that I should thank God for every day that He gives me especially since losing my cousin last month to breast cancer at the age of 44, and I have so many blessings with children and grandchildren so why am I like this!

Perhaps I'll never know but at least I feel better for getting it off my chest.

Tomorrow is another day and hopefully it will be a good one.......

Love and hugs,