HURRY UP 2015 . . .

Only 10 hours to go and then I can happily say goodbye and to be honest, good riddance, to 2014!

It's been a horrible year, full of sadness with the loss of a loved one and full of worrying illnesses which are set to continue into 2015 but hopefully with a full recovery!

Christmas was lovely this year but hard without my MIL, we miss her so much.

A  few days before the big day I was struggling with my foot in the air cast and the continual swelling so medication was prescribed along with crutches and only a maximum output of 25% body weight on that foot is allowed with a warning from the Specialist that this could take 3 months to heal :(

DH and the gang have been so good sorting everything out and they were brilliant with preparing and cooking the Christmas Dinner ~ so proud of them all x

This was my only contribution but had great fun making them with DD ~ melting snowmen on digestive biscuits . . .

I feel my blogging contributions have been poor too ~ the few posts I have contributed have been full of misery but the dark days have been aplenty and I still feel I'm struggling.  I'm so disappointed to have lost, what I considered to be, special blogging friends and sad to find that a lot of previous blogs I followed now say I haven't been invited to read any longer but I guess if I haven't been around to comment to others then this can only be expected.

I'm so grateful to those bloggers that have stuck with me ~ your comments and kind messages mean so much to me x

Now . . . . stitching . . . can I present finishes 2 and 3 of the year (I would say Happy Dance but that's not too hopeful at the moment!)

Yes, I have achieved a whole 3 finishes this year, one was a sheepie pillow for someone and these next 2 have been completed recently . . .

 LHN ~ Snowy Pines (Mill Hill ice beads arrived this morning so almost there!)

and . . .

 Mill Hill Appalachian Santa ~ it's very pretty when the lights catch the beads and sparkle

Struggled a little with his beard but found my own simpler way of doing it!

I have another 2 of these little Santas in the pipeline and have just started the Holly & Ivy Santa, I find them really easy to handle and stitch whilst immobile and having everything all together in a kit makes life a lot easier!

Well, it's not the happiest post ever is it? 

But a year ago I didn't have this little fellow in my life and he certainly has brightened up every day since!  He loved his 1st Christmas, toys and treats aplenty, some a little noisier than others and I'm quite surprised to say the Christmas Tree is still standing up straight and complete with its decorations!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE

Enjoy your celebrations!

(((Hugs)))

Jane, Monty, Tilly & Oscar x

AN EARLY CHRISTMAS PRESENT AND THE 'BIG' ONE!

Time has flown by again so quickly since my last post, my apologies again, but now's my chance to catch up!

Santa's bought me an early Christmas present . . .

Starting yesterday ~ a fun-filled 6 weeks wearing an air cast boot for a fractured foot ~ funny I don't remember that being on my wish list and I'm sure I've been good all year, not very naughty and most of the time nice!

I have no explanation for the fracture just a sudden pain 6 weeks ago which I hoped would go away but one ultrasound, one x-ray and one MRI scan later this is the result ~ a phone call from the Specialist Monday evening and this lovely present yesterday!

I do feel quite miserable about it at the moment and what a time of year to be told to just rest for 6 weeks and wear this all the time other than in bed :(

This has all  followed another string of illnesses ~ inhalation of some toxic fumes at the local Supermarket resulting in a severe allergy reaction, emergency injections and a stay in hospital with a drip to flush out all the toxins, a kidney infection, yet another chest infection, the return of the dreaded Keytones in my blood ~ more drips and finally when I thought I was safe from hospitals ~ Monty and I were attacked by an unleashed dog whilst walking at the Park!!!

Hey c'mon enough is enough?

On the brighter side do you think if I leave this boot next to the fireplace on Christmas Eve, Santa may come back and fill it with something nicer than a fractured bone?

Now to the 'BIG' one . . . my 50th birthday ~ ouch . . . OMG . . . 50?

As health issues have been so prominent this year, I had begged my family many months ago for no big parties or surprise holidays etc. and it was decided instead that we would make use of this unused part of the garden (as shown to you in my last official post) . . .

WITH A NEW CRAFT ROOM . . .

To say I'm thrilled to bits would be an understatement!  I knew this was going to be built and as my birthday was in November it was started in plenty of time to be ready for my big day.  It stands next to our other Summer House (old sewing room) and it has been built to my specification which was to maximise space for storage and take in the full view of the garden.  Over several weeks we collected second-hand furniture and odds and ends which we have gradually restored and in the last month it has all come together and finally been landscaped ~ I have lots of progress photos and before and after furniture pics and in a post or two time I will share them with you ~ just one little problem at the moment ~ our garden is tiered and I have to get down 6 steps from our balcony to reach it . . . not a problem unless you have a fractured foot!

When the big day arrived, then came the surprises and off to London was first on the list ~ DH and DD took me out to lunch at a fabulous restaurant where we were joined by DD's boyfriend and then Christmas lights, shopping and a visit to Liberty's . . .

Beautifully lit up for Christmas

My favourite window

 Love the cuddly fox and knitted mouse

We got home early evening (with one very throbbing foot and at this time no knowledge as to why, so carried on regardless!) and then with my twin boys and their girlfriends I opened their lovely presents ~ lots of lovely crafty things for the new room ~ fabrics, buttons, jelly rolls, decoupage rabbits and from my DD ~ the Harry Potter Maurauder's Map, printed on parchment and framed ~ WOW! I am so lucky, lovely presents to treasure always x

AND THEN . . . came the weekend and the next surprise, up early and a bus to catch????

I couldn't believe this!  We're probably a family of  the biggest Harry Potter fans ever and hadn't yet visited the HP Studio Tour, but to top it all this wasn't just the ordinary HP Tour this was the Hogwarts in the Snow/Christmas Harry Potter Tour!

I must have been the biggest kid of the day, I enjoyed every minute of it (not so much the very throbbing foot by now!) and 500 photos were the result so let's get started . . .

PHOTO #1 . . . . only joking!  As I think everyone else has already done the Tour I'll just show you some that will look different at this special time of year . . .

 The Yuletide Bull Christmas Tree

The Great Hall decorated with Christmas Trees, Christmas fayre, presents and real flaming Christmas puddings

  Hogwarts in the Snow

So so pretty

Thank you my lovely family for such a wonderful celebration

of 50 years

xxxxx

AND FINALLY . . .

 some sewing news and as I'm sure you'll understand there's been very little of it!

I started this Christmas Carol sampler last Christmas and was doing well with it until the sad times hit us last February

but it has seen light of day again and progress had been good . . .

 I'm going to take a little break from it at the moment as it's quite a large project and I don't think it will be easy to sew it with one foot raised and resting so I've started a little easy-to-hold design . . .

LHN ~ Snowy Pines Christmas Ornament

This design will be nothing new to a lot of you, I think it was first released back in 2010, but I found this whilst transferring all my stash down to the new Craft Room so got the gang to go down and hunt it out yesterday so that I can make some use of the long 6 weeks ahead ~ no walking of any distance and no driving makes Jane an unhappy bunny and I have to say Monty is looking very oddly at my foot too!

Well, lovely followers, and I'm so happy to see I do actually still have some, that's it for now.  I promise to be back soon with lots of pics of the new room and hopefully lots more stitching.

Again, as usual, I am so behind with all your posts but will get to you soon and catch up, I bet you're all stitching up some lovely Christmas designs and I'm looking forward to seeing them.

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit me

{{{Hugs}}}

Jane

x

Pumpkin Day

Thinking of you Cathey ~ a very special Pumpkin

xxx

SUNSHINE & CUSHIONS . . .

YUK!  Whoever sent the rain clouds to England, I need your address so I can return to Sender!

Our lovely sunny days have gone walkabouts at the moment and as we are fast approaching September I'm wondering if they'll come back again this year, needless to say the days are gloomy and very very wet.

Thankfully I can go back in time on my blog to when the sun was shining and show you what I promised to in my last post and that is what to make with Tilda bunny scraps . . .

A patchwork cushion of course!

I used the good old English Paper Piercing for this project, can't remember the last time I did this method, funny how modern sewing machines have taken away all the old traditional methods but back in June (those were the hot days!) it was a pleasure sitting outside under the parasol, cutting out hexagons and using up scraps of fabric.

The finished cushion is only a small 12" x 12" but it still needed 42 hexagons to achieve the front, the back I just added a soft cream fabric and did the simple envelope finish.

And as the sun kept on shining it only seemed right that I make a second

one . . .

I chose one fat quarter of fabric for this one and cut as many hexagons out of it as I could that would have a motif on them, the rest are made up from fabric scraps again.

I'm really pleased with the outcome and what a great way to sew and soak up the sun at the same time!

It's been a frustrating couple of weeks for me recently and my personal vendetta with Mr. Sunshine is the reason for a lot of it.

Why? Well hopefully by my next post I care share the reason with you but until then . . .

WATCH THIS SPACE!

I hope the sun is shining wherever you are

Thank you for stopping by

HAPPY STITCHING

Jane

x

A NEW PASSION!

Hi everyone

Firstly I'm sending very big hugs and thankyous to my lovely blogging friends that left me such kind comments on my return to blogging land, they all really touched me and I am very grateful for your continued friendship xxx

So straight down to business . . . a new weakness passion for me . . .

The World of Tilda!

Tilda is the creation of Norwegian Tone Finnanger and she designs beautiful fabrics with which we can make her quirky angels, animals and home furnishings.  I'm not sure why I've suddenly fallen in love with this brilliant designer, I bought one of her Angel Kits some 2 years ago and quickly sold it on feeling it was too ambitious for me but a few months ago DH took me to a wonderful fabric shop where they were selling, at a great discount, a lot of stock and I found 4 Tilda books, one for each season, and that was it ~ sold!

I've been naughty and have picked up fat quarters here and there . . .

so all I had to do was choose a project!

You didn't need too many guesses for that did you?

I have to say, wasn't too convinced at this stage and just couldn't envisage this ever looking like a bunny!

Ok, that's bit more like it, ears look strange but at least it's been 'bunnified'!

Now to the best bit ~ as all as girlies would say ~ clothes and make-up!

Red & white polka dot bloomers

Flowery pinafore dress and matching sun bonnet ~ that's better!

Pastel pink satin stitch nose, black bead eyes and my own lipstick for the blushed cheeks

Love it xxx

I'm so pleased with my first Tilda creation and it's given me so much confidence to tackle some of Tone's other designs, they are a little fiddly in places but with patience they are achievable.  I didn't make it easy on myself and instead of using iron-on hemming tape decided to hand-stitch my hems instead and although the clothes should be stitched to the body I wanted mine to be removeable so they are!

Every bunny needs a new set of clothes now and again!

The weather has been gorgeous here in England, several weeks now of hot sunny weather and it's so lovely to be able to sit and sew again.

I'll show you in my next post what I did with the left over bits of this bunny fabric but until then take care everyone and thank you for stopping by.

HAPPY STITCHING

Jane

xxx

A NEW START . . .

It's been a long 6 months since my last post and I do apologize for my AWOL ~ life has been very cruel and horrible in that time and until now I have not had any blogging enthusiasm whatsoever!

I have started and restarted this post so many times and don't really know how to put into words how life has been turned upside down so to be short and sweet ~

 I lost my precious mother-in-law to cancer in early March despite having been given the all clear after a double mastectomy 2 years previous ~ it all happened very quickly but we all feel her loss every day and it's very hard to accept and at the moment talk about x

I was already ill during this stressful time but ended up with a life-threatening illness 2 days after our loss for which I was hospitalised for 5 days and after being allowed home was taken back to hospital with a heart condition, I have struggled with these experiences and have had many dark days which I didn't feel was right to reveal on my blog.

That's all I'm going to share at the moment, I have titled this post 'A New Start' and that's what I intend to do ~ as my cricket loving DH would say I shall be 'half a century and not out' later in the year so I am concentrating on getting healthy again and looking forward!

I lost a good part of my eyesight whilst ill, which I was told would return, and as I've got better, it has but I found cross stitch very hard to do during that time so my fabric stash and sewing machine have been very hard at work instead!

I've so much to show over the next few posts but this is was my 
first finish . . .

'Ollie Owl' 

The pattern has been sitting in the cupboard for ages, I had looked at it several times but wasn't sure if I could do it but although a little fiddly in places it came together quite well and I'm pleased with the outcome.

The fabric choices were my own and I attached his wings with buttons so they could swivel round rather than stitch them on and added the little heart on his tummy x

It's not all bad news though in my life . . .

Remember our new addition to the family back in January?

Well, I'm pleased to say Monty has made a good recovery from his ordeals and now at 8 months old is the most loveable and affectionate bundle of fur ever!

He's my shadow and we do virtually everything together!
xxxx

Talking of which, it's time for 'walkies' ~ exercise for me and lots of sniffs and saying hello to literally everyone we pass for Monty!

Thank you for stopping by and continuing to follow me, I really do appreciate it and hopefully normal service has once again resumed!

Take Care
Happy Stitching
Jane
x

NEW PAWS IN THE HOUSE . . .

It's been a month since I last posted so before I share my news with you I have to wish you all a somewhat belated HAPPY NEW YEAR!  Our Christmas was lovely and although we now have some very frail older members of the family I am so thankful that we were able to share the festivities with them and bring smiles to their faces x

I have done a little stitching over the Christmas break but circumstances have changed drastically in the last 2 weeks and here's why . . .

Let me introduce you to our new addition ~ 

MONTY

a golden cockapoo puppy aged approx. 10 weeks

The sad ongoing saga that accompanies his arrival is a hard one to share and for various reasons I cannot completely share it all at the moment but when DH and I went to view him some 2 hours drive away we found ourselves at very unclean, unhealthy and poor conditions and this little pup was not a happy one, nervous, withdrawn and no wagging tail.

I have read about the cruel ways some puppies are bred and all sensible advice is to leave alone and not pay money to these horrible people enabling them to continue BUT that's not me.  I let my brain rule my heart on the Saturday we first saw him and walked away but by the end of the evening DH and I had already made the decision that we would return the next day and bring him home.

And that's exactly what we did ~ another 2hr drive there and back with him wrapped in blankets all the way home with the seller providing us with no food for him, no puppy pack and no favourite toy all as advertised and since then no free 4week Petplan Insurance either!

Monty visited my own Vets the very following day for a full health check and to have his 1st vaccination repeated as we are pretty sure that we hadn't been told the truth about that either!  We had literally sat up all the previous night with him continually scratching and crying but wanted to be cuddled the whole time ~ he was slightly below weight but his heart, limbs and temperature were good but he was diagnosed with severe lice (biting ones) and his body was covered in scabs, treatment was given straight away.

The next day he passed blood continually so I took him straight back to the Vets and had to get samples for anaylsis ~ all tests came back positive and I have been  told he has acute intestine infections and because he cannot have his 2nd vaccination because he is so poorly he doesn't have any immunity to fight it, medicines alone will have to do it for him!

I thought at the beginning of the week I would lose him, he was a very poorly pup but the past 2 days have seen a great improvement and I'm hoping we have rescued him in time, I have no doubt at all that had we not bought him home that day he would have lost his life.

If you've got this far ~ thank you for bearing with me and if you still have dry eyes ~ well done!

Following advice from my Vet I have notified the relevant authorities and next week I will be giving a statement to an official, I have no interest in retrieving the monies lost, but a strong determination in helping them to rid our society of these cruel and horrible people.

I fell in love with this little fellow as soon as I saw him and I will do absolutely everything possible to give him the long and healthy life he deserves ~ we have so much to do together, so much to explore and discover, lovely long walk, lots of playtime, holidays and cuddles x

Every cockapoo has a different appearance but typically Monty has the curls of a poodle and the face of a spaniel, DH idolises him too and says he looks like a woolly lamb!

He has a sweet temperament and is very loving and for the Vet to comment on this too was lovely to hear

Training is going really well but we are not pushing it too much at the moment ~ let's get over the sore tummy first and the 2nd vaccination then we're set to go for fun, fun, fun.

Just one more thing, I'm sure a lot of you are thinking Hey, what about Tilly and Oscar? Dogs and Bunnies?

Well, one step at a time, I have not changed their lives or routine but just made sure that at the moment they are kept safe ~ Monty is well aware of them and they of him. They come inside to their cage at the end of the day and Monty sits and very patiently watches them, they both seem very settled for him to do so and come over to the wire frame and noses are rubbed together ~ one step at a time but I hope they can all live happily together xxx

Thanks for stopping by, apologies for not visiting anyone recently and a lack of stitching but I'll get there, just need a bit of time at the moment xxx