A Blaze of Glory.

Well , November certainly wanted to go out in style.
 Just look at the sunset we were privileged to see on Saturday.

And , yes the colours really were that vivid.

Done a bit of stitching. I finished two charity squares off at last .

So pleased with how this one turned out , I love it .

 This one was just waiting for the border . It took me a while to decide what to do. I spent most of Sunday afternoon/evening stitching and Monday morning unpicking and re-stitching the bottom right hand corner as it didn't line up . I am happy with it now it's done though .

And , that's about it .

I am still suffering with this rotten cold. Very fed up with it now .

And , I have still done absolutely nothing for Christmas. Very behind and so not feeling it this year . Must get in the mood, for the kids' sake if nothing else .

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath .

Gifties , thanks and pics.

Hope everyone had a good Christmas . Ours was better than expected , my daughter was ill with flu , but thankfully started to improve on Christmas Day . Of course , my son has now got it , but recovering , and I started with it Christmas Day evening . Hey ho , it could be worse .

I'd like to say a big Thank you to Jane and Tilly , who sent me a parcel of love just before Christmas . I saved it to open on the day , and what a lovely surprise it was . Jane had made me a lovely LK Christmas ornie , and sent a bunny cookie cutter . I will think of them every time I use it . Thanks Jane , and Tilly

Isn't this lovely .

Also , my exchange package from Lainey . I wasn't allowed to open it straight away as it was all wrapped in Christmas paper , so the kids said if I could open presents , then so could they ,lol . So , these were opened Christmas Day too .

Lovely lavender smellies (one of my favourite scents) and some DMC special threads.

Christmas fabby, photo ornies and some cute little buttons. Two gorgeous charts . I love the snowman before and after , and went on to the Sew and So site to price up the buttons for it . I think I will be waiting a bit before doing it , lol. And some lovely snuggly socks , which are keeping me warm as I write as my slippers collapsed last week , and no time to get some new ones yet.And a totally gorgeous snowman cube . He is so lovely. Well done Lainey on the finish and thanks again for a fantastic exchange.

On to some other gifts I received.

Kitty calendar ,two books and Eclipse DVD (yet to be watched as I've felt too rotten in the evenings ,lol)ScooterAnd Cooks Helper . Two Pocket Dragons to add to my collection . And here they are with the others. Gotta love the little guys.

And finally , some stitchy gifts .Lots of lovely WDW and GAST threads

all ready to stitch these. Though I need some more WDW now so I can stitch Spooky Row too.And these 21st Century threads are the ones I picked at the Harrogate show . Can't wait to try them out.Lastly , some lovely gifts from special forum friends.

I got lots more bits and bobs , but getting tired now. I was up pre 6am today as woke up with a rotten sore throat so got up to have a warm drink. Hence the dark photos , lol. It snowed again today , but it was the wet stuff so hasn't done much .

I will leave you with a couple of pics of the sunset on Christmas Day.

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Misty morning , lazy day and rotten night.

We got up this morning while it was still dark , again. My son seems unable to sleep beyond 6.45 am , bless.

Anyway , as the sky gradually lightened , it was also clear , no clouds ,which meant even better , no snow. In fact , we got mist in the valley . I've shown pics of the "spooky mist" before , but it is even weirder when there is snow on the ground.

And , so dawned a bright , clear and sunny day . Hurray . We actually got dripping in places , though the icicles were still hanging around.I took this hanging out of my bedroom window ,lol.

So , the kids went out for a very short while , there is still so much snow they got very cold and wet very quickly , then they came in to play/draw and do their thing. I did the pots , and some washing then some stitching. and the cats enjoyed lying in the sun.

I wrote out my shopping list , as my husband planned to dig out the car in the morning , then go and do the grocery shop .And now , it's snowing again ! Not only that , it's also quite windy so it's drifting. ENOUGH ALREADY!!!

The kids are already missing a party tomorrow, as I don't want them to have to walk on the main road when there is only a clear path for one lane of traffic. It's impossible for them to walk on the pavement as it's so deep in snow it would be up to their behinds at least .

I'm worrying about Christmas . I haven't got all the gifts for the kids yet , and nothing for my husband , though all others are sorted. Me and hubby were planning on going shopping and leaving them with MIL tomorrow and I planned a few trips out during school/nursery time this week. Obviously that's all gone out the window now . I know there are three weeks to go , but everyone is going to be in the same boat.I'm sure I'm not the only one who hasn't finished all the shopping . So , I'm wondering whether to order some things online and hope they can deliver at some point or just to wait and hope for the best .

And , we haven't got Turkey yet either.

Either way , I am decidedly fed up .

Hope the weekend gets brighter .

Take care ,

Cath

Not a lot

of stitching going on , but I do have some other pics .

I have been stitching , but it's mostly for exchanges and though the stitching is done , the finishing isn't , yet , and anyway , no pics until it's received .

It was my birthday last week , so I thought I'd show some of the lovely handmade cards I received , aren't they great.And just look what Lainey sent me . A gorgeous birthday hanger , and the JCS Christmas mag , how fab is that. I was gobsmacked ,to say the least ,and have found lots I want to do.Aside from my exchange stitching , I've also done this . I won the bunny from Cross Stitch Crazy as a prize for being Angel of the Month at the beginning of the year , but had to wait until now for someone we knew to have a baby boy. And here are a couple of pics of the views from our house of late . Lots of lovely sunsets , but I'm usually putting the chooks and kids to bed so don't have much time to take pics.We also get "spooky mist" in the valley , which I think is great . We live at the top of a hill so the view from our house is great ,and on Autumn mornings we get lots of mist in the drop opposite our house . It's weird to see the tops of trees and telegraph poles just sticking up from nowhere.

I've added a new list thing on my side bar where I will post any new giveaways that I come across , then I'll delete them when they're done . I'm hoping this will make it easier , lol.

Thanks for dropping by,

Cath

Just like Eeyore

I'm feeling rather gloomy.

My stitching bug has done a bunk , and I just can't seem to get back into it. I have lots of things that need doing ,but am going nowhere fast. Help !

Last Sunday , we decided to go to the coast for the day , and though it was chilly if you were out of the sun , it was a lovely day.

Whilst it was quite busy in the town , the beach was fairly empty. The sea was still a bit too cold for paddling though . That said , I have been paddling in the sea in November , well , you can't go to the beach and not dip your toes in the water , can you ? I know some people are opposed to these wind farms , but I'm not . OK , they are not on my doorstep , but I don't think I'd have a problem if they were. At the end of the day , it is a sustainable energy source , surely that should be more important than aesthetics ? And , actually , I find them quite calming , and very graceful.

The kids were fascinated by this starfish , and we eventually had to catch it in the net and take it down to the sea.

Karan recently had a giveaway , and I won ! Look what lovely goodies arrived for me on Friday

Fab or what ? And , today I found these in a charity shop ,which are great . But , new stash and still no stitchy bug. what to do ?

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

SNOW

We had quite a bit of snow over the weekend . I'm not too keen on the stuff now I'm older, I just want to fill the house with food and hibernate until it's gone. Not sure if it's because I'm an "adult" or because I'm a Mum , but when the weather closes in , so do I.

This is what it was like on Sunday

So ,yesterday morning , me and the kids went out and did thisTo the great interest of the chickens lolThis is their first experience of snow , but they haven't been fazed by it at all. They just hop about a bit more as it's cold to their feet , but a bit of porridge in the afternoon seems to help them cope.

After making the snowman and getting the kids inside to warm up , I went and cleared the drive , and this is the view from out front

It may or may not look like it now , as we've got freezing fog at the moment ,so can't see much beyond the hedge over the road. Today , we're staying in.

Thanks for dropping by , hopefully I'll have a last stitchy post before Christmas X Cath