Santa SAL

Hi everyone,

I have finally got back to my Prairie Schooler Santa's Twelve Days of Christmas SAL which I do every Sunday with my dear, dear friend Linda.  Now, for me this SAL started in January, 2012 - so it would be nice to finish the 12th day this year.

Well, I may actually be on track for that because I can now present to you......

DAY EIGHT!

Now, you may remember that I told you all a couple of blog posts ago, that finally my baking/cooking mojo seems to have come back.  Well, I am enjoying my cooking again.  Here we have a yummy Beef Stroganoff and a light and fluffy crab omelette I made for a couple of meals.

This next pic is not my cooking but last night TraderVic and I went out with some close friends to an old Wesleyan meeting house which has been converted into a sort of pub/bar/restaurant called the Wesley Anne (clever play on words, hey?)

Monday night is two for one night, so my delicious dinner of Chicken and Cheddar Pie with garlic mash and mushy peas was only $11.50! Quite a bargain!

Lastly, I leave you with two beautiful roses from my garden.  They looks so pretty with my mother's china and the sweet stitching dear Kim made for me.

That is all, off to work shortly.

hugs, 

Hallowe'en Ornie SAL_ March update

For those of you who do not know it, here are some details about the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL, 2015, which is graciously hosted by the wonderful Jo from Serendipitous Stitching.

Hallowe'en Ornie SAL 2015

Welcome to the Spookiest Blog on the Block! Each month we have a different theme. You choose your chart, fabric and threads. Share your progress as you go along and post your finished piece by the last day of the month. You can join at anytime throughout the year and choose which months you wish to stitch with us. Happy Spooky Stitching.

Each month there is a list of themes - this month's being Owls or Ravens.

THEMES FOR 2015

January - Witches

February - Skeletons

March - Owls And Crows

April - Tombstones

May - Pumpkins

June - Free Choice

July - Haunted Houses

August - Black Cats

September - Spooky Words

October - Ghosts

November - Creepy Trees

December - Free Choice

I was initially going to stitch an Owl but all the designs I found seemed just too twee to me.

Then I found this one which included a Crow from the JCS Halloween Ornament 2014 Magazine.  I had just the perfect fabric for it and off I went.

I am sorry, the photos are a bit washed out - the fabric is really quite a strong orange colour.

"Boo"

by Lindsay Lane Designs

JCS Halloween Ornament Mag 2015

p.104

Stitched using various floss on unknown 28 ct orange evenweave

Please visit the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL 2015 blog to see everyone else's spooky stitching. Or even consider signing up for next month - which is Tombstones.

hugs, 

Smalls SAL 2015 - March update

The Smalls SAL 2015 is hosted by the lovely Heather, from Stitching Lotus. On the last Wednesday of every month you sign into the sign in post on her blog, here and link to your Smalls SAL post.

Basically, we....
"Stitch a small every month. You get to decide what a small is for you. 50×50 stitches? 100×100 stitches? It’s up to you."


My Small this month is Leona Adams by Blackbird Designs, which I have rechristened "Kaye Leslie" (my two given names) and further personalised by adding my date of birth (given it all away now, haven't I?).

This has been such a lovely design to stitch - gorgeous fabric and lovely muted colours.

Leona Adams

Blackbird Designs

28 ct Mocha Linen

Suggested (with a few variations) speciality threads.

I have also been working on another special project for myself using bits and pieces of this and a couple of other designs but you will have to wait until it is done to see what else I have been up to with this lovely design.

Now, don't forget to check out everyone else's Smalls - here.

hugs,

Quick IHSW update (late, of course!)

Progress on Ebony and Ivory:

Progress on Jour d'Hiver:

I love how both of these projects are progressing, I have a mini rotation going. I alternate stitching one length of floss on each piece. Seems to working at the moment.

Thanks for visiting,

hugs,

TUSAL March update and FNSI update...

... ... well, here I am - a few day's late again!  I am so sorry, my stitching mojo is going so strong (although very erratic in what I find myself stitching) but my blogging mojo is very sluggish at the moment.  I am so far behind on my blog reading and commenting and on replying to my bloggy emails and I just can't seem to get a lot of enthusiasm to blog much at the moment.  I want to blog but the effort of actually writing the post seems to be too much at the moment!  Work is very busy, we are still busy with our family (even more now in a way due to them being scattered to the wind) and we have just had some bad news around my dear father's health, which I think is going to add another layer of complexity to my life.

Oh well, at least blogland is always there, waiting for us to return - so here I am today and I will endeavour to stop my whinging and complaining and show you some stitching instead!

Let's start with my March TUSAL update:


Home ORTs on the left, train ORTs on the right:

Here are all of this year's ORTs so far:

Now, my FNSI - two new projects (why oh why do I keep starting new projects? I have so many WIPs and UFOs already!)

Ebony and Ivory 

Ebony and Ivory

Tempting Tangles Designs

29 ct White Evenweave

Instead of the suggested Dinky Dye silk threads of Black Coral and Charcoal

I am using:

CC Nighty Nite (dark purplish-black)

WDW Grape Ice (light purple)

I must admit, I am really thrilled with my progress on this one so far - I am very pleased with both my fabric and colour choices.

My second new start is:

Jour d'hiver

Jour d'Hiver

Designer: Lilli Violette

28 ct Mocha linen

Using suggested DMC threads

I am, also doing some special stitching and finishing for my Friends Swapaway (which I am far behind on also - sorry Butterfly and Kim) but I will keep that secret for now.

Yesterday morning, when I got up this is what I saw from my back deck:

hot air balloons in the far distance.

And this morning, my rose bushes were looking very pretty:

... and I wish to plant some more in this bare garden bed.

Lastly, my baking mojo came back this afternoon.  I made some Coconut and honey popcorn (oh so easy to make) and some Coconut and golden syrup cookies (both used coconut oil, which apparently is the new big superfood).

Well, that is all for me for now!

Off to do some more stitching and some blog reading.

hugs, 

Gifted Gorgeousness_March update

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL.....

Yay! I am on time this month with my GG SAL update. Woo Hoo!

The Gifted Gorgeousness SAL is run by the wonderful Jo fromSerendipitous Stitching.  The idea is that every month we link to Jo's GG blog post to show off whatever we are stitching that is Gift-related.  It can be something we are making for someone special or a chart or threads with which we have been gifted or basically anything else we can shoehorn into the basic premise.

It is such a good idea, as we all have something we are doing in at least one of those categories, don't we?

This month I have been stitching this sweet little kit sent to me as a gift by my dear friend, Sarah from Sarah in Stitches.

I have not got very far yet, just a few sessions of train stitching.

But such pretty colours, don't you think?

See you next month.

Now, don't forget to visit Jo's blog to see what everyone else has stitched for GG this month.

hugs,