Christmas Mystery Revisited

Yes it's that time again! Time for an update on Chatelaine Christmas Mystery IV. Now I have to say that this month's piece did look quite OK-ish but once I started stitching it the greens just don't blend too well and if the beads are holly berries they are way out in colour as they are pink not red as holly berries should be. I feel quite bad as I seem to do nothing but complain since part 4 but it's just not how I imagined it would be. Anyway here's a couple of piccies to show you what it's like so far.

Close up of part 6

Whole Piece So Far

Piccies are not brilliant as they are dark but it gives you an idea of what it is like. Still waiting for that nutcracker ( not!)

I have to say that I am really pleased with the way HAED Summer ACEO has gone this time. I didn't get page four finished but I did make good progress and I think she's looking fantastic! Maybe next time she comes out I'll get page four done then it's two small bits for pages five and six. She does seem to have taken me ages but when I first started her she only came out on quick stitch Wednesdays on the HAED forum! So, without further ado, here she is!

Have any of you treated yourselves in the Memorial Day sales from USA ONS'? I know one of you has ( waving at ya Lisa!). I am ashamed to say that yes I have from DSL! I wasn't going to but have been looking at Fancy Work stuff , particularly at the charts for Whitman's Tins but I actually ended up ordering the chart for the Lavender Rose Sewing Case along with some Kelmscott Mother of Pearl Thread Rings to sew into it. I decided it was time to get more creative with my cross stitch. I look at blogs and see all these gorgeous finishes and wish I was much better at sewing plus had somewhere close at hand to buy supplies. So time to try! Lol!

We are going to see Pirates of the Caribbean- At World's End tomorrow. I booked tickets on Sunday just incase it was really busy at the cinema. We're all looking forward to it as we've loved the other two films and can't wait to see more Johnny Depp ( yummy!)

Right that's it for me for tonight. Hope everyone had a good bank holiday in the UK, inspite of the weather, and a good Memorial Day in the USA.

A FInish at Last!

At last I have a new finish! It's only a small one but it's still a finish. I started Little House Needleworks Pine Tree Hill and have just been stitching on it a little at a time. I've had a couple of afternoon's good stitching on it and put the last few stitches in it this morning. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to finish it off as yet but I might do it as it's done in the JCS magazine.

I had a win on Ebay yesterday. I wasn't actually looking for anything but came across a couple of Drawn Thread charts that I would like, one of which I had trouble finding anywhere that actually had it in stock. So I bid and ended up getting 12 Houses and Generosity for £6.06 including postage. Hopefully, as it's a UK seller, I shouldn't be long before I have them.

HAED Summer ACEO is going well this week and if I can keep this headache at bay ( funny how I just knew when I went to bed last night that I'd get up with a headache this morning!) by the end of her turn in my rotation I should have another 10 rows stitched. Next week it'll be a new start as Just Nan Spring in the Air will be up. I'm looking forward to starting that as I'm stitching it on Sassy's Fabby's May COTM.

Some WIPS!

Yes at last I'm here with some WIP piccies. My rotation piece for last week was Chatelaine Summer Afternoon, although I didn't actually get that much done due to getting addicted to Jessica's Animal Crossing game on her Nintendo DS! Having said that by last night I'd actually had enough of Summer Afternoon! It's a lovely piece but I'm onto a part with cross stitch over one, over two and half stitches which is all well and good if the chart is nice and clear. This is the only thing I have against Chatelaine charts. So, without further ado here are a couple of WIP pics.

This is the whole piece so far. Not very clear I'm afraid.
This is the part that I've been stitching on. I have decided to leave out the butterfly for now until I decide whether I like it or not!

So because I was fed-up of stitching this I should really gone on to HAED Summer ACEO last night but I decided to leave that until tonight and picked up Papillon Creations Simple Little Quaker instead. I really enjoyed getting back to this again and managed to get quite a bit stitched in just a few hours. I think the threads match perfectly so that is a relief. I'd have hated to have scrapped this when I'd got such a lot done.

I might just get this finished when I get it out again:)

It feels as though I haven't had a finish for ages so I might have to add some smaller stuff to my rotation when I've finished one of the bigger pieces. I don't want to add anything to it at the end just yet as it's long enough already really.

I have been feeling quite down for a few days. I think it's just something that I'm going to have to put with the same as I have over the past few years. Anyway I've had some good news today. I rang the surgery on Friday for the results of my bone density scan but the receptionist said the doctor hadn't marked it as normal or anything, he'd just signed it, so she suggested I make an appointment to go in and see him, which I have this morning. Thankfully there is no sign of osteporosis. The reading ( or whatever it is!) on my spine is above average although the one on my femur is a little below but he says that is way off showing signs of osteoporosis so I am very happy about that. He just suggested keeping up a good calcium intake, having a good diet and exercise. I admitted that I don't get enough exercise and he said that walking is excellant. I do walk quite a lot but I do feel that I need to do more. I need to lose weight too, not a lot, but a stone wouldn't be a bad thing. While I was there I asked him about the iron tablets and if it would be OK to just take one a day as I'm concerned that I could become anaemic again if I keep having heavy periods. He said that was fine although I needed to be careful being so close to menopause that I don't overdo it, so I guess if my periods become further apart I will need to stop taking them.

Thank you to those of you who have wished Jess good luck in her exams. She *thinks* she has done OK in the three she has done so far but time will tell when the results come through on 23rd August! She did some revising on Sam Learning yesterday ready for her English Literature tomorrow and went through her books etc.

Heather I looked up on the school website about Citizenship and this is what it says:

Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education (P.S.H.C.E.) is undertaken by everyone in the school.
Different subjects are covered each term by your tutor on a Tuesday, period 3. Sometimes there are visiting speakers and presentations given by, for example Viking FM.
It is an important subject as it is all about learning to be a good citizen in our society whilst at school and beyond.

Hope everyone is having a good start to the week. Not sure what I'm going to do this afternoon. I might stitch for a while!

More Stash!

Yep my final piece of stash has arrived today! My Blackbird Designs Quaker Garden chart arrived from Wyndham Needleworks. I must say, for all I haven't had any emails saying my order had been shipped or anything ( but I do truly believe that Lydia has emailed but they are lost in cyber space somewhere) I am very impressed. I was only charged actual shipping which I really like! One thing I hate is being charged a certain amount only to find when the package arrives that it only cost half that to send! I do appreciate that there is packaging to take into consideration. So my stash shopping is now complete! Lol!

Well I must say I am quite ashamed of myself! Lol! Karen will laugh like mad at what I have to say! On Tuesday I asked Jess if I could have a go on her DS at Animal Crossing. I just got started when the battery went flat! So last night I asked her again and ended up doing no stitching what so ever as I was too busy on Animal Crossing and then she'd asked me to feed her dogs but couldn't resist walking them, washing them, taking them for a walk and putting one of them in a show! I am so doomed! SO guess what Abi and I are going to do this afternoon? Yep play on Animal Crossing! Well if I do it this afternoon I might just stitch tonight! Lol! Karen you are right it is rather addictive!

Jess will have got her RE exam over with now. I had to laugh at her this morning as she said she knew everything she needed to know except for what was written on the post-it notes on the wall outside the bathroom! She said nobody stays in the barthroom long enough for me to stand and read them! Lol! Anyway she fetched those down and read them while she was eating her breakfast. Tomorrow it's Citizenship.

Oh and I've been tagged by Nancy but as I already did this yesterday and can't think of more I'm not going to take part:) Sorry Nancy:)

Tagged, My Order is Here and Exams!

First of all I've been tagged by PaulaHere’s how to play:1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves 2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules 3. At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 people and post their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog. Now I'm not sure if I can get 8 random facts/ habits as I have done something like this before but I will try!

1. I passed my driving test first time, two days before my 23rd birthday.
2. My first car was a red mini with a black roof.
3. My DH was my first serious boyfriend.
4. I was born in Beverley Westwood Hospital
5. I spent my first Christmas in hospital
6. When I was pregnant with my youngest DD I thought we were having a boy and was going to call him Damon ( after Damon Hill!)
7. Some of my ancestors were paupers
8. I hate snakes. I can't even bear to be in the same room if they are on TV.

I'm not going to tag anybody this time. If you see this and you want to join in feel free to do so! Lol!

My order from Mary Kathryn finally arrived yesterday. Both Mary Kathyn and I were getting worried especially as I've never had an order take so long to arrive from her before. I was going to show what I got but right now I just can't be bothered to take pics or scan the charts( I'm feeling that way out today) so if you want to see just follow the links to Drawn Thread Sanctuary and La D Da Love is Patient That is going to be all my stashing for a good while now. I've treated myself with money I made from selling some stash and have loads to stitch that I have fabric and threads for so I'll be behaving myself now! Lol! I still have Blackbird Designs Quaker Garden to come from Wyndham Needleworks. I haven't received a reply to my email so I can only assume that replies are lost in cyber space. My CC has been charged so I'll wait and see if the chart arrives soon.

It's officially exam season starting today so I'd just like to say good luck to your kids if they are doing their GCSEs. Jessica has her first official one tomorrow which is RE, then Citizenship on Friday. If I remember correctly she has three next week, then it's half term, then about one a day until 15th June which will be her last one. She did her Italian speaking exam last week and was very pleased with how it had gone. Her teacher had been spending time with all of them so they could practise in the weeks leading up and he said that she had given her best one in the exam. They are not having study leave this year so are having normal lessons and revision blocks which I can't say I'm too happy about. There are a few times when Jess has neither a lesson or revision block so she's not sure what she's doing then. I am just hoping that she does OK and achieves the grades she wants. She brought her academic review home yesterday ( no reports at this school- still not worked out why) and her current grades and target grades are all A's barring four subjects so we are really proud of her. Two subjects she's got A*s for coursework.

So tomorrow I have Abi at home as years 7, 8 and 9 have the day off. It's something to do with years 10 and 11 doing the RE GCSE but I can't remember exactly what!

Chatelaine Summer Afternoon is going really well this week and I am almost finished with the bit I'm working on. I do have lots of backstitch to do so not sure if I'll get onto the next bit this week or not. Finger's crossed but I think for a while this evening I'll be testing Jess on her RE as she has asked me to!

Winter WIP

At last I have some stitching to show. Only one piece but one is better than none at all I guess! My progress on HAED Winter ( Sara Butcher) was a bit slow at the beginning of the week but after I'd got the chart enlarged it went a whole lot better! Lol! So I am now quite pleased with the progress I've made and actually looking forward to her seeing the light of day again in a few weeks time. I have almost got the letters filled in so you can just about see them. I was tempted to carry on with this today but I think I'll move on to the next piece in my rotation which is Chatelaine Summer Afternoon.


Postie brought me my Dragon Blood silks from Vikki this morning and they look as though they will be a perfect match for what I've already used on Simple Little Quaker so I am relieved. Still no sign on my order from Mary Kathryn. I do hope Royal Mail haven't lost it. Looks like it could be taking the slow boat route!



We have funny tasting tap water at the moment! DH says it's tasted funny for about a week but I only noticed it yesterday as did Jess. It tastes a bit " earthy" although DH says it's like pond water ( don't ask me how he knows what pond water tastes like!). Anyway I went to one of my neighbours this morning to ask if her's tasted OK and she said it tasted funny too. The strange thing is that when you run hot water or have a shower you can actually smell an earthy smell. So I decided to ring Yorkshire Water, explained and was told they'd send someone out to test the water and see if they could find out what was causing it. Guess when they can send someone! 29th May! So damned typical. No doubt it will have cleared by then and taste right.

My 100th Post! Lol!

Yes it's my 100th post since I started blogging! I honestly didn't think I'd keep up so well with this blog but the people who read it and the comments I receive make it so easy to do and, of course, I have plenty of stitching on the go to blog about! Lol!

No stitching updates today as my week on HAED Winter isn't up yet. Still have this evening's stint to do but so far this week I've done 30 rows on page 3 so am quite happy. I did manage a little bit on HAED Guardian this week too but still not enough for a WIP pic. You may have to wait for that until I've finished page 1!

Speaking of HAED Caron Vinson's artwork isn't going to be retired from there now:) That announcement has left many of us on the HAED BB very happy so now I won't be buying some of her charts last minute!

I decided to email Yvonne at Papillon Creations the other day about the problems I had with the chart and floss usage. Well I received a lovely email back saying that the floss usage on the chart is for use with one strand but it isn't stated on the chart so Yvonne is going to change that. So that explains why I ran out of floss! Next problem we had was trying to work out the overlap on the chart. Yvonne could not find it on hers and asked me to send more details so I did. Lol! She still couldn't find it so we were both thinking we weren't looking at it properly! We finally worked out that I must have an older version of the chart and as an apology for the problems I'd had she sent me Eightsome Reel which is lovely. I thought that was such a kind gesture.

I'm hoping to get my order from Mary Kathryn this week. It was posted on 1st May so I hope the postal service haven't lost it. Also waiting on Blackbird Designs Quaker Garden from Wyndham Needleworks. I haven't heard if it's been posted or not so have emailed them for an update. I know I need more stash like a need a hole in my head but, hey, it's my hobby! Lol!

Happy Mother's Day to all the ladies who celebrate it today. We Mum's in the UK celebrated back in March!

New Stash!

I thought seen as I have no stitching updates as yet I would post pics of my new stash so far! Lol! First off here's the latest COTM from Sassy's Fabbys which I received on Tuesday. It's called French Yellow and I have decided that I will stitch Just Nan Spring in the Air on it as it is a big enough piece. I think a Spring piece will look gorgeous on this, although the scan really does not do it justice.

Today has been a good post day. Postie knocked this morning, all bright and cheerful ( he is normally rather grumpy!) and he'd brought my kit for Chatelaine Autumn Dusk from European Cross Stitch as well as Just Nan Queen of the Needle with embellishments from Lekker Threads. Brilliant service from both places as I only ordered the Just Nan on Monday ( which was a bank holiday here in the UK) and the kit was ordered last Friday. So here's the kit. Again the scan does not do it it justice at all. The colours of the threads, beads and crystals are just stunning. I did not buy the NPI silks with this as I thought I'd save myself some pennies and use DMC but I did get the variegated silks. This one will get started sometime in the future when I've stitched Summer Afternoon and Spring Morning and they will all be hung above my bed along with Winter's Eve. Lastly here's the Just Nan which is so pretty and I want to start it NOW! Lol! It will have to wait a while though.

I was so sad to see on the HAED board that they will be retiring Caron Vinson designs very soon. I love her art and would have liked to get a few more of her charts before they are retired but I will have to see. I have two of her designs, QS Girly Gothic and QS Moonlight, in my stash and Girly Gothic will be my next new HAED start once I've finished the two QS I'm already stitching.

I did a really stupid thing last week. I decided that before I started on HAED Winter in my rotation I needed to get the next pages of chart photocopied and enlarged so that is what I did, or at least I thought I did! When I sat down to stitch on Monday evening I realised that we ( me and the lady in the shop) had selected A3 paper but not set the copier to enlarge! Duh! So I decided to see how I went on with it at normal size but last night I realised I was really struggling especially where there are lots of different symbols. So I set off for the library this morning, chart in hand, to do it there. If it's normal copying there you do it yourself but if it's enlarging they do it for you. Well it's a very new machine in there and it took the lady three attempts before she got it right! Lol! Anyway I now have the next three pages of chart enlarged so I don't think I'll struggle as much now:)

Jessica has had her first GCSE today. She'd had her Italian speaking exam so I'm hoping she did OK. They only decided back in November that they could take a GCSE if they wanted to so they've had to cram a lot in since then. I had to laugh as they'd had a speaker the other week talking about different ways they could revise for their exams and Jess is using post-it notes with key bits written on them! Lol! So we've had them stuck on the bathroom mirror, above the toilet roll holder, on the mirror in the dining room, on the fridge door and on Jess's bedroom wall near her bed! Lol! When she starts the rest of her GCSEs on 17th May we will disappearing under post-it notes! Still if it helps her I don't care! I'm just keeping my finger's crossed that she does well, as I'm sure she will. She is quietly confident:)

Thank you to all who drop by and read my blog and also comment. They mean so much to me and it's lovely to know that people read it. Just want to say to those of you who have apologised for not liking Christmas Mystery IV that there is no need to apologise as it wouldn't do for us all to have the same tastes plus I am not that keen on it anyway LOL! I am blessed to have so many readers and I treasure every one of you.

My Stitching and Stashing!

Oh dear I've had a bit of a disaster with Papillon Creations Simple Little Quaker! I realised after putting it away on Thursday evening that I was going to run out of thread. So Friday morning I rang Jayne in the hope that she might just have some in to save me ordering direct from Vikki. She had and they arrived today but, unfortunately, they are noticably different from the ones I've used so are no good :( So I've just ordered five skeins direct from Vikki and asked if she has any of the same dyelot in. If not I will have to hope that they are very close or my whole piece is ruined. So A WORD OF WARNING. If you have this chart or are going to buy it make sure you buy more than 12 yards of thread as it does take more. This is what I've done so far and I have been careful with my thread usage. On Friday evening I was happily stitching away on the left hand side of the piece only to discover I'd made a mistake. I sat for ages, eventually making myself feel rather sick, counting and recounting to find the mistake only to discover that the mistake is within the chart itself on the overlap parts of the pages. As luck would have it I only had to remove one stitch to make it right but at first thought I'd have to frog loads. So, again, if you have this chart check that the overlap parts correspond! If it wasn't for the fact that I LOVE this piece so much I would hate it by now! Lol!

So when I ran out of thread on Sunday evening I decided to get Chatelaine Christmas Mystery IV out and try and finish off part 5, which I did. I just have the beads to add to underneath the stars. I have a love/ hate relationship with this mystery and right now I am somewhere inbetween the two. The Christmas tree does make it look quite nice but......... There is just something about it that doesn't seem quite "right"!

So onto the second week of my rotation and HAED Winter is back out. I didn't get as much as I'd have liked stitched last night as I kept getting disturbed ( Mum how do I rip songs off a CD, Mum how do I sync them to my MP3 player!) and I don't think I'll get far anyway as there are quite a lot of colour changes in this page. I might pick up HAED Guardian for a bit this afternoon as it's miserable weather here. It keeps coming showers and it's windy and it now feels cold!

I received my COTM from Sassy's Fabby's today and it's a very pretty colour called French Yellow. I am debating whether to use it for Just Nan Spring in the Air if it's big enough. I had picked out a Polstitches Dragon Shades one called Clouds but I may change my mind now!

I had a bit of a spend up the other day seen as all but one piece of the stash I sold has reached it's new owners. I'm hoping the other one will arrive today. Anyway I ordered the kit ( minus NPI silks) for Chatelaine Autumn Dusk from European Cross Stitch as it's not something I would normally buy myself so am looking forward to getting that. I will need to find a suitable hedgehog button as the one that was used is now discontinued. Also Chris talked me into buying Just Nan Queen of the Needle with embellishments from Lekker Threads as Kristina had 15 % off charts up to 7th May. Actually Chris didn't talk me into it exactly as I didn't make my mind up properly until yesterday and I was chatting to Chris on Friday. But I have to blame somebody don't I?!!! Chris says she is going to buy it off me when I'm done with it! Lol! I think I need to behave myself now and when I sell stash I'm done with in the future use the pennies for fabric etc and no more charts! Lol! I keep saying that then I find more I like when I'm looking at blogs like KarenV's I spent ages browsing through her blog last week and ended up ordering Blackbird Designs Quaker Garden from Wyndham Needleworks before it is retired. I have never ordered from them before so I hope the experience is a good one:)

That's me for today I think! Have a good week everybody!

Another WIP Pic!

Just thought I'd post another WIP piccie of Papillon Creations Simple Little Quaker seen as I'm enjoying it so much and have got quite a bit done. I hope you don't get bored seeing it! I'm just hoping I've got enough thread but it does say you need 12 yards and I bought three 5 yard skeins so I should be OK. I have already used one full skein and quite a bit off the second one. I just love the way this is turning out and am already on the look out for another one to stitch later on! I don't think I'll buy another one just yet though! I've seen one in a couple of blogs that I love the look of so I may get that later.

I have sold a few more bits this week. As I've just got Chatelaine Autumn Dusk from Jayne's Attic I may well treat myself to the kit for it ( less the Needlepoint Inc silks) as it's not something I would normally buy myself and I may as well get something like that. I already have the kit for Spring Morning which my Dad bought me so it'll nice to get the proper kit for this one too. I'm just waiting to make sure everybody has received what they bought from me before I spend the pennies! Lol!

Still not very happy with myself, especially not since Tuesday evening but I'm not going into details here.

My New WIP!

I am just so impressed by my new WIP I just had to share what I stitched last night! Lol! It is Papillon Creations Simple Little Quaker and it is my first Quaker type sampler and I don't think it's going to be my last. This is stitched on 28 count Fairy Dust Lugana using VC Dragon Blood silk. I thoroughly enjoyed stitching on this last night and can see me not getting bored with it and stitching on it all week.

My order from Needlecraft Corner arrived today so that was quite quick as it was posted last Wednesday. So I now have everything I need for stitching two more charts as well as another chart! Lol! God I hope I live to be a ripe old age or all my lovely charts may well go to waste! I keep seeing so many gorgeous pieces when I go blog walking but daren't add anything else to my wish list! Lol!

Right I have a question for you crafty ladies! Do any of you know where I can buy the chimes for windchimes ( within the UK if possible)?


I am so fed-up at the moment. I've been feeling that way for a few days now and today I'm having to wait in for DH's auntie to drop a key off for me so that my sister's partner can get in to replace her central heating boiler. I was hoping she'd come early this morning so I could get out for a walk but I'm still waiting. So typical. Just feeling so alone, unappreciated and all that jazz right now.