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........