Butterflies in my garden ...

... kitty cats in my home....   what more could you ask for?

I recently replanted my pot garden near my front porch and  imagine my delight when the new blooms started attracting butterflies - so pretty.  It was hard to catch one on camera but I did manage it.

I am particularly happy with this hanging basket.  It is not a new planting, but when we went away to Taiwan for a month, my lovely neighbour was feeding the cats and watering the pots but she forgot about this one.  So, I came back to a dead-looking stick plant.  However, I have been nursing it back to health (ie watering it) and now I am about to be rewarded with lots of lovely double blooms of pink and purple!  (Why, I am so happy is that I do not have a green thumb but a black one - most of my plants take one look at me and keel over dead - lol!)

.... and of course, my kitty cats give me great pleasure and companionship.  I love the way that they ALWAYS find the best places to curl up (or stretch out) for a nap!

Furio is so clever, it was a rather cool day, so he is not only sleeping near the central heating vent (hence the clothes airing) but has found a patch of sunshine as well!

My cat Furio and my new cat socks, watching TV.

 Furio loves to find a basket to curl up in, preferable one that is raised up a bit.

... and not to forget Milo (he is much more skittish than Furio so it is harder to get a photo of him)

Stealing my sewing chair!

Milo with his cat cushion - he loves this cushion and sleeps on it in all sorts of strange poses.

Well, that is all for me today, dear friends, off to randomly choose my Friday Frolics/FNSI stitching piece.

hugs, 

Cats on a hot tiled roof.... .... and my TUSAL report ...

... this morning I went out the front to get the newspapers and when I turned around I saw the cats on a hot tiled roof - Furio and Milo!


Who me? On the roof?

Who or what is Furio stalking?

Milo, of course!

Aha! Cornered him!

Nope, just tricking you. Not interested at all!

... dear, sweet Nobu left for sunnier climes up north, to be rejoined with his true owners, the newlyweds.

Here is a pic of him with Furio, they have both taken over my stitching chair and Nobu has even taken up the craft! lol!

Now, I must show you the delicious lunch I had when I was out with my daughter - it is fried cauliflower with dips, a poached egg and some yummy flatbread.  Yum! Yum!

 ... and lastly, here is my TUSAL report, this is actually two months' worth as I forgot to take out January's Orts before I put them all together. Silly me!

The pile on the left is train/plane stitching whilst the one on the right is home stitching. 

Anyway, my stitching calls me, see you all again,

hugs, 

Postcard and Parrots...

....oooh, I have a finish but I can't show you yet! It is for the Initial Heart swap and my partner is yet to receive her heart from me but I can tell you I am very happy with how it has turned out.  As soon as I can I will post some pics.

I can show you this gorgeous postcard pattern I received from my dear friend, Chiara from The Grey Tail. Isn't it a cute design?

I also received in the mail some Snooty Parrots scissor fobs for me to put on my scissors whilst stitching my Snooty Parrots SAL.

... and lastly, here are some kitty cat photos.  So cute - Furio is all curled up whilst Milo is stretched out to Billy Oh.

Now, don't forget to join in my Grow Your Party Giveaway fun on this post here or visit all of the other partygoers via Vicki's blog here.

hugs,

Nearly my first Blogoversary - must be time for another giveaway

Hi everyone,

Firstly, I must apologise for not having posted or even kept up with my blog reading or emails for a while but I have been really ill with Bronchitis.  I have been off work for over a week and I am just coming good now.  It did mean that I got to watch a lot of TV, did quite a bit of reading and managed some stitching but I found it very hard to concentrate on a computer screen - hence very little blogging.  I have been reading the Hamish Macbeth series of books by M.C. Beaton.

 If you haven't read them, give them a try, they are lots of fun.  Here is a link to the website.


In seventeen days it will be my first blogoversary.  I cannot quite believe how fast this first year of blogging has gone.  I have had a wonderful time and I have made some lovely online friends.  I hope that all of you have enjoyed yourselves as much as I have.  Thank you for all your lovely comments and your support and friendship over the past year.

To celebrate my first year of blogging, how better to celebrate than to have a GIVEAWAY.  I have stitched this lovely design (a freebie from The Sampler Girl) for the GIVEAWAY:

 As you can see, I have taken two photos - the second one shows the lovely dusty pink of the fabric better.

At the moment, the plan is to make this design into a bag but I may decide to frame it or make it into a cushion.  It will be a mystery for now.

To enter, you need to:

1. Be a follower
2. Comment on this post only - make sure that you give me your email address if you do not have a blog
3. You will gain an extra chance if you post about it on your blog
4. The GIVEAWAY is open until midnight June 18th (my Blogoversary)

I would love to have 200 followers by my first Blogoversary - so please spread the word.

If I reach 200 followers by June 18, there will be a second winner (not sure what the prize is yet)  and for every 10 new followers over 200 (a long shot, I know), there will be another winner/s.

Lastly, please check out the great giveaways I have posted about in my sidebar - there are some lovely blogs listed there to explore. McKenna is having her first anniversary mystery giveaway whilst Melissa is having her first ever giveaway.

To finish off, as I often do, here is a Kitten photo - Furio and Milo love to cuddle up together on a cold winter's night.

hugs, 

IHSW update plus lots else

I am so pleased with my progress on Cinderella, here is my photo from Saturday morning (after FNSI progress)

and here she is after IHSW:

I also mentioned in my last post that I had been lucky enough to win a giveaway but I have more good fortune to share with you.  First, here is the lovely surprise which I received tonight when I got home from work.  It is from my Love and Friendship Exchange partner, now she is a secret partner.  So, thank you, whoever you are.  See all my wonderful goodies.  My favourite is the beautiful little pink and green cushion - two of my favourite colours.  Thank you, thank you, thank you, Oh, secret friend.

Then I have won these wonderful patterns from Joyce of Random Ramblings. Now, I thought that I had only won Blueberries but no, generous Joyce sent me four lovely Amish quilting patterns - I just love them.

Blueberry Homecoming, Raspberry Homecoming, Blackberry Jam, and I am not sure what the last pattern is called (as I am sitting typing this with Furio on my knee and I don't want to disturb him). Thank you so much, Joyce, you are so lovely and generous.

Then Nicola of Stitching by a Cornish Seashore was kind enough to gift me the pattern of And they sinned (Sorry, I couldn't get a big photo but if you click on the link you can see a bigger image)

She was also generous enough to send me some lovely Gentle Arts threads to start me off.  Now, as Nicola stitched on this I had been lusting after it, so I am so excited to have the pattern.  But I am going to have to wait until I get back from my U.S. trip before I start it. But I think that it will be a lovely piece to look forward to starting when I have those post holiday blues.  Thank you so much, Nicola, I am so excited to have this pattern to stitch in my future.

Nicola, is also having a fun competition about the weird positions pets and family sleep in.  Now, here are my two entries.  The first one is Milo who loves to sleep in my large white china bowl (which I can now never use again).  For some reason he finds this comfortable - go figure!

 The other photo is Furio the other day, as you can see, he is sleeping twisted right around - how funny is that?
Wish me luck for Nicola's competition - isn't it fun?

love to you all,

12 Days of Christmas in Blogland - It must be a record!

I think it must be a record - I have two, count them, two Happy Dances today.  In one day, I stitched these two sweet kittycat designs, which was a freebie from The Sampler Girl. (Thank you).  I made one for Furio and one for Milo.  I have tried to make the stitcheries look like each of my kittycats.  What do you think?

Furio and Milo 

Freebie Design from The Sampler Girl

Stitched on 25 count Lugano

Olde Willow Stitcheries Hand-dyed Threads

Quaker Colours

This now brings my finishes for 2011 to a whopping 6!

Now, don't forget to check out my 12 Days of Christmas in Blogland Giveaway on my sidebar.

Hugs, Kaye xoxox