Lovely postie day

I had a lovely postie day today; first was my exchange piece from Exchange Heaven. The theme was a colour exchange and this is what Maddy stitched for me.

I asked for blue and greeen as my colour and this is stitched in a lovely combination of both, it looks so much nicer in real life.
I also had a parcel from Chris with some seedlings in that she had popped in the post as my rudbeckia hadn't even sprouted and she had a few extra to share, wasn't that kind of her. All in all it's been a good day though I've been dozing on and off for a great part of it, I think I overdid it a bit yesterday in the garden but at least you can see where I've been so it's been worth the effort that I put in. With any luck I can get a few hours in tomorrow and finish my planting as the weekend weather doesn't look too good, and then I won't feel guilty sitting stitching....

hugs,

Back to blogland but nothing to report

Last week should have been an easy week with Tony off work, but then I had to have Lily an extra day but I thought that as Grandad was at home she'd be no trouble, she wasn't, it was me who was the trouble.
I was so frustrated at not being able to go out and help in the garden that I was getting a bit down, but never mind, I thought, I'll play with Lily and help outside when she has a nap. This was the week that she decided that naps were out and running up and down the garden was in!
By Wednesday evening I was shattered and I'd not managed a thing in the garden; we'd played with those big lego bricks for most of the day and we'd made a big tower to show her mum when she came to collect her which was duly demolished as soon as Rachel walked through the door. Then one of those daft moments happened when although you want to cry, you try and hide it with a smile. Yes, I tripped over a lego brick, bouncing on to the door frame and ending up in a pile on the hall floor. Tony came running when he heard the bump, took one look at me lying there and when he realised that it wasn't Lily who'd fallen over he walked off laughing. He did come back and pick me up though so he's not all bad.
All day Thursday I could hardly put my foot down and I'd also jarred my wrist so I've not been able to do much at all, not even stitch as it was my sewing hand that I fell on.
It did give me time to sit and think about how life is going for me at the moment and what I need to do to get out of this ever deepening rut that I'm digging for myself. I'm hoping that the higher dose of my thyroid tablets will kick in soon as I'm still so tired and I don't want to feel like this all the time. I have made a list of what I need to change to make things better and the top of the list is to get myself more organised as, with looking after Lily, any routine that I used to have has gone out of the window.
My plants are growing like mad in the greenhouse and if I don't get round to potting them on soon all the effort of growing them will have been wasted, I just hope that the lovely weather that we've had today carries on through the week, I need to get out there...

hugs,

Happy Easter

hugs,

LHN update and BP SAL

I've managed to put a few stitches into my LHN Nature's Beauty and I'm still loving doing it. I just wish that I had a little more time to stitch but with the garden and the two other exchanges that I've been doing it's been hard to fit everything in. Sorry it's a little crumpled but my stitching hoop broke and I'm using a small one which is a bit too tight on the linen.

I also did a bit more to my Beatrix Potter SAL but for some reason I can't get the photo to upload so I'll have to try again later.

hugs,

Gift of Friendship Exchange

Thursday was the opening day for our gifts from this exchange organised by Bec and I so loved the wall hanging that Anita had stitched for me.


I don't know why but I can't seem to take a clear photo of it but it is stunning. She also sent me some threads and a chart to stitch so I'm a happy bunny.

I stitched for Tony who wanted something cute, now whenever someone mentions cute my mind goes blank as I don't usually stitch cute things so I don't know what people like. I ended up stitching a "cute" sheep and making it into a padded wall hanging.

hugs,

Another sunny day

It's been another glorious day in the garden and me and Lily have made the most of it though most of the time she's been picking up stones and putting them on Granddads bench and I've been taking them off again, still it keeps me fit.
I'm hoping that the weather holds out for a little longer as I want to get some planting done while Lily is at home with her Mum as there's not much chance of getting anything done while she's about.
She comes with me most days to check on the progress in the greenhouse and to see if any more seeds have sprouted overnight. The sunflowers are ready for potting on though a lot of the other seeds that I planted are still on the small side.

The vegetable plot is looking bare since we dug it over two weeks ago but it won't be long before it's filled up again with some lovely home grown veg.One thing that never fails us is our rhubarb patch and we always have far too much of it even to freeze so we tend to get lots of rhubarb loving friends calling round for a handful. This is only one little bit of it, it gets huge in full growth.

And finally, this is what I found in a little corner where I keep old plants that I thought were dead, I'm so glad that I didn't throw it out.


hugs,

My PIF to Susan

I saw over on Susan's blog that she has received the PIF that I sent to her.

It is another ornament from the JCS Christmas '06 edition though it is made up as a needle case in the magazine.

A PIF and a win

I noticed that Kath has received her PIF that I stitched for her, it was based on a strawberry design from JCS Christmas ornaments '06 but I'd got a bit fed up with stitching red so I thought
that I'd do blue for a change.
I hope that she liked it

I received another gift in yesterdays post, this time it was a win that I'd had on Cameo's blog.

I am determined that I shall stitch this before the year is out. This bike brings back so many memories of when I went to the TT races in 1970 on the back of one of these. I went with an ex and seven of his friends who all camped while I had to stay in a B&B or my mother wouldn't have let me go. She even sent a letter to the B&B just to make sure that I was there. I was twenty at the time in the days of mods and rockers and although I loved riding on the bike, I was still a mod at heart where fashion was concerned. I shudder when I think about it nowadays, I don't know how I had the nerve to get on the back of one of those.

I have some photos of the garden to show but it will have to wait until later or I'll get nothing done today and I've still got to find two more charts for my next exchanges.........

A couple of finishes

I saw today on the Exchange Heaven blog that Lorna had received the gift that I had stitched for her and I think that she was happy with it.
The theme was food and drink and I found this freebie to stitch which I thought was quite nice.

I received my gift from Chris in yesterdays post for the same exchange and she had stitched me "chocolate lover" which she had made into a tin topper.
Inside were some lovely chocolates for me to eat, isn't it gorgeous, I love Chris's stitching.

hugs,

A LHN start

The past few weeks or months even, have been taken up with exchanges or gifts so I decided that while I had a bit of time to spare before I start my next exchange, I'd start one of the Little House Needlework charts that I've been storing for a while. I haven't managed to do a lot as I only had the time to put a couple of hours into it but I'm really enjoying it so far.

I also had a nice surprise today when I found out that I'd won the giveaway on Carols blog, it's a chart called Rainforest Romance. Today has been a lovely day.....

hugs,