I have been ver lazy with my blog lately...I just feel sometimes I havent got anything interesting to say....but today I have....
Welcome to our grandson Christian born on Sunday 12th December weighing 7lb 11oz.
We couldnt be happier although I am farrrrr to young to be a nanny lol...

 

Well finally I have got round to posting....sorry for my absence I have no excuses.
Saturday I hosted a baby shower for my daughter, I had quite a few sleepless nights worrying about it I have never been to a baby shower so had no idea what people expected.I organised a couple of games and an activity that involved craft (of course) we bought some plain babybrows and some fabric paint and asked people to decorate them, I also did some pages for Natasha's scrapbook and asked friends to fill them in with words of wisdom for the mother to be... it all seemed to go well
and everyone enjoyed the activities. I also did a bit of baking and made some lovely cupcakes which everyone was very complimentary about. All in all a great day I started off taking photographs and then things became so busy the camera got forgotten but here are a few pictures I did take.

Pressie Time

How exciting to get a parcel in the mail thankyou to Lisa over at Periwinkle (I would attach a link but I don't know how doh..... so if anyone would like to enlighten me !!) I was apprehensive about joining in a swap,what should I send, how much should I send,will she like it, what if she doesn't like it.... on and on and on
goes my little mind but in the end it was fine my swap partner Lisa was from my neck of the woods (Sunderland) so I knew we would be ok.
I'm very pleased with my parcel,each item was wrapped in lovely tissue paper and I feel very spoilt my husband and teenage son stood and watched me open it and my sons response was "I hope there's chocolate" and yes there was a lovely bar of Lavender chocolate,cant wait to try that. I love the knitted chicken and the lovely kitchen
cloths although I wont be using them to lift anything out of the oven (too nice for that) they will just hang around looking pretty.
So all in all my first swap went well and I hope Lisa liked my gifts to her.

The most fantastic Merry go round is in Milton Keynes at the moment. Its a french artwork called Magical Menagerie that has been created from scrap items and made into this beautiful fantastical ride. I adore it, it appeals to my sense of shabby chicness (my sons words lol) I cant describe how wonderful it is you have to really see it and I hope if you live anywhere near MK you can come and see it. Its here until 8th August and then it moves on. At first when you see it you wouldn't think you can actually ride on it it looks so mechanical but all the creatures have seats in them and lots of levers which make the animals do things as you go round.In the centre of the ride there is a massive buffalo (my favourite) an elephant a huge fish which has a hydraulic arm that takes it up to the ceiling. Around the outside the creatures are smaller, frogs,prying mantis,ladybird, and bugs. On the corners of the ride there is a cage that you step into and you are in the body of a wasp or fly you can operate its wings as the cage goes up and down. My other half and I had a ride on it(yes that is me on the buffalo the big lever between my legs made the buffalo's head go up and down )and we were the only two on it....... As we got off the music that was playing was the clown circus music....very amusing. I have attached lots of pictures so you can see for yourself although I have to say these pictures dont do it justice.

Well I said I would be back and here I am...... the clue I was going to give you about my surprise is not ready...typical lazy me.......so I think if you look at the picture you can see quite clearly what my news is. Nooooooooooo....I'm not pregnant BUT I am going to be a Nanny whoooooo....

My daughter Natasha is expecting and hopefully it will be here around 8th December.

My husband and I are both delighted after a few horrible years of losing people around us
this was very welcome news. In fact when she told me I sobbed like a loony....everyone who was there couldn't quite understand was I was so overcome but I make no apologies............

I cant wait and up until recently I would have said I'm not ready to be a grandparent yet but
actually YES I AM....

I have already started a small crib quilt which is coming along nicely if not a little slowly but I have got a few months yet. That was what I was going to show you as the clue but never mind you'll see it soon. We have already visited the baby shops a couple of times oohing and aahing
over all the lovely things.... even my son who is 18 got all excited in Mothercare and has already earmarked what he is buying the baby.

Help get me out......................

I just wanted to say sorry to everyone for dropping off the face of the earth for a while....actually that's quite apt as it feels like what I have done. You see I've been in a black hole ( I blame the Hadron Collider)....Every now and again things become a bit too much for me and I opt out for a while. I still have to go to work and do all the things that are expected but my heart just isn't in anything so I apologise....... I'm sure we all get times like this in our lives when things just seem so hard and I was determined that my blog was going to be full of positive vibes but I believed I owed you an explanation. I had nothing positive to say so its better to say nothing. I loose the joy in everything I don't sew I don't read I don't do anything because my heart isn't in it.

I've always struggled between positivity and moroseness (is that a word I think it is I hope you know what I mean) sometimes those bad vibes are just too strong.

I haven't even been reading your blogs.........no don't gasp..........please I promise I'm heading on upward and I'll be back with you all soon.............anyway I've had some good news Yippee...........

but I cant tell you just yet I'll be back with a big clue soon I promise.

My best garden friend

I thought I would share this action shot of my best garden friend in action.
See all the bits of tuber in the soil.... grrrr............this is what was left of my clematis. It had been lovely in previous years and it was really struggling so I did a bit of investigation and it's roots were completely destroyed by leatherjackets.....no not the ones you wear...... the little grey buggy ones..... they are the lavare of the cranefly or daddylonglegs. What a nuisance they are.........you don't know they are in the soil until the plant starts to die. Shortly after I had dug the clematis up my beautiful little friend turned up to help me clear them out....can you see the little beast in his mouth. Apparently there is not much I can do at this time of the year to get rid of them so now I am paranoid about my plants but other than go round digging them all up I will
just have to wait and see. The clematis although in a very sorry state has been saved yipee................. I put it into a pot
(after giving it a nice bath ) to get rid of any more unwanted visitors
from what was left of its roots and then it potted it in some nice
new compost and after a week it has a lovely 2" long green shoot on it.
I'm having a few days off this week (yes....thankyou) so I'm going to be in the garden and will bring you some more garden shots next week.
Now.....All bow down to the beautiful ROBIN REDBREAST.

Thankyou every one for my birthday wishes,I've had a good time with lots of nice presents and good company. I had a lovely meal with my family on Sunday, I find it so weird to think that I am the parent of these grown up children !!! I certainly don't feel like their responsible parent. I have decided
that 50 is going to be a time for me (and my other half) I'm going to look after myself more I'm going to be more adventurous,I'm going to sing more and laugh more and generally let my hair down...so watch out world cause I'm headed your way.


Now back onto what I have been doing recently.... I made this crochet garland with the help of Attic 24,although I couldn't for the life of me follow her pattern for tiny flowers and the garland that was supposed to be crocheted...well....it isn't
that's all I need to say about that !! but I'm happy with the end result I think it looks cute.
I've NEARLY.. finished this lap quilt
This material was a b........er to work with with some of it had a very fine weave and pulled out of shape very easily. It came in pack from Hobbycraft. Its taken me 12 months
to get round to using it. I incorporated a few of my stitcheries and I'm happy with the results,I have to say I was fairly patient and tried hard not to rush.. BUT.....du du duuuuuuuu.
I cut the border....noooooooo....I stitched it on.....my way.....nooooooooo
and I've made a mess. Look I'm sorry ok I know you have all tried to show me how to do this properly but I didn't...But I will.. I PROMISE, I'm going to unpick it and do it again.
This is the best job I've done so far on a quilt and I will finish it properly.

Can it be possible....no....I cant be....

fifty !!!! FIFTY !!!! how on earth did that happen lol........

What am I doing at the moment.....well a bit of allsorts really. I'm working on this sampler which is very personal to me. Its all about my parents who sadly are no longer with me,I realise that this sort of work really appeals to my non conformist attitude (ie: I don't have to follow instructions). Let me tell you a little bit about whats on there,the photograph at the bottom is of my dads garden, when I was growing up Its the most vivid memory I have of my childhood.
My dad was a brilliant gardener and he loved flowers,most of the garden was given over to the growing of flowers even the greenhouses were full of beautiful smelling geraniums,even now the smell of geraniums warming on the windowsill transports me back to my childhood.
I was very excited at the car boot yesterday to find these cards,especially the geranium card
which of course has to have a place on the sampler somewhere.
Apparently these are cigarette cards !! If you click on the picture you should be able to read the
blurb. What else can I tell you..... the air mail envelope was a letter that my husband and I sent to my parents when we spent some time in Australia ,the crochet was something my mother was brilliant at and I wish that I had taken the time to learn from her whilst she was here.
There are two earrings one at the top and one at the bottom, one belonged to my mum and the other to my grandmother,there was only one of each so it seemed right to put them on here.
The stamps are for my dad, he collected stamps,coins, cigarette cards ( he would have loved those flower ones). And of course I cant forget the Robin the symbol that reminds me of my parents everyday. So there we have it a work in progress,very personal to me,I must admit I did wonder if any one else would "get it" but even if they don't I'm really enjoying making this.
I'll show you again when its finally finished I'm trying to decide how best to display this...any ideas.

I think I'm in Love

Oh my goodness....I think I'm in Love look who's come to stay with me.
I've coveted one of these babies for a long time and last weekend we visited a fabulous shop called Ampthill Antiques Emporium.Oh my goodness what a place it was 3 floors of antiques and vintage goodies I didn't know where to look first. I will certainly be going back again, it was impossible to take in all the goodies.
I will ask if I can take some pictures next time. They had a great section of vintage clothes sadly all to small for me.
I think vintage clothes are more suited to this beautiful lady than to me.
Okay what should her name be ? should she even have a name?
As my daughter told me...your weird mum !!!
Weird me.........hah
So come on some suggestions please, I've had Fleur, Marilyn (cause she curvy obviously) Lacey (my Husbands suggestion !!!) and I need some more so please join me in naming this beautiful (impossibly thin waisted) lady.

Spring is Springing...

WELL...thank goodness for this beautiful sunny day...and boy did we need it I was beginning to think those grey miserable days were with us forever, but no...there are definitely lots of Springy signs about and that feels good. I spent Saturday going for a walk near to where we live, along the canal,through the tiny little tunnel that goes underneath the canal (how stupid am I not taking photographs) but I will next time I go. I did take one picture of this lovely church,isn't this tree amazing. Next time I promise to take more pictures...

Sunday saw us at a local Forest Centre...we were there to plant a tree in memory of my husbands father, it was a beautiful bright sunny day but sooooo.... cold as you can see from the picture.This is a lovely spot and was a favourite place for my in laws to walk.I'm sure we will be regular visitors. I made some promise knots to give to the family,I suggested they make a promise to their dad and then put the knot in the hole as the tree was planted. I also made some small ribbons to give so that they could keep and always be reminded of what their promise was.On the whole this seemed to go down well with most of the family participating. Sadly I have already broken my promise.......I dont mind sharing my promise with you, its not a secret.......my promise was to be more PATIENT, something I find increasingly harder as I get older. I do have my little ribbon though to remind me everyday to be a better person in memory of the people I have lost.

Thought I'd share this picture with you,wouldn't it make a good stitchery ? This is my wedding invitation from 31 years ago...yes very 1970's.I loved it then and I love it now and I think I will definitely make it into a stitchery,feel free to join me if you wish.

Jim Shore

I was so excited yesterday when I found that one of my favourite designers Jim Shore
Had a fabric range. Of course you probably all knew that especially my American friends....For those of you who don't know Jim Shore he does some fabulous ornaments.
A few years ago I paid quite a lot of money for a beautiful Noah's Ark and its one of my most treasured possessions. Sadly as I'm at work at the mo I haven't got a picture but here are some other pictures to give you some idea. It seems like it may be difficult to source his fabric in the UK so if any one in the USA can point me in the right direction I'd be very grateful.



So what do you think.... I just LOVE these designs.

Time to revist some projects

Happy New Year to You All..... I decided that the beginning of 2010 would be a good time to finish one or two (or ten) projects that I had started but discarded as I became disheartened.So here are one or two items that I have managed to complete.I was fairly pleased with the stitchery on this little wall hanging but it all went pear shaped when I did the border.In my frustration I shoved it away in a drawer and thankfully it was one of the first finsihes of 2010 YEAH.....
I have been working on this panel since last Christmas and sadly the photographs don't do it justice as its covered in beads, is a very touchy feely project and although it has a Christmas feel I have decided to leave it out as its so pretty.
AS usual it was the border that posed such a problem and prevented me from completing it but when I looked at it again recently I made some ribbon corners
and I'm quite happy with the result.


This cut out was HARD work I cut the tree out by hand with a scalpel !! don't ask me what possessed me but I'm glad I did although once I had cut it out I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with it.Once again it was put away and now its this lovely little wall hanging (can you see a theme here !)
So a good positive start to the New Year and so my word for 2010 is
POSITIVE
I may need to be reminded occasionally but I'm sure that I can rely on all my bloggy friends to keep me on the right track........