AND THE WINNER IS..........

......or really that should be and the winners are........

Giveaway 1 - Kristin
Giveaway 2 - Bev
Giveaway 3 - Cindy Mae

Ladies if you could email me your address details I can get your prizes in the post! sharonjstevens @ msn .com
If you have any huge dislikes, let me know. I would rather send you something you can use!!

Thanks go to Rachael and Colin for selecting the winners!! (Luke was on a sleepover so I couldn't ask him!)

My apologies for being late in posting this.

In celebration of my first year of blogging, I am giving my blog a little makeover. Thanks to the cutest blog on the block this is a lot easier than I thought it would be. They have a great section of "how to" which meant I could change to a 3 column layout in about 5 minutes flat. There are plenty of other bits for me to change too so watch this space and let me know what you think!

OOOOOOOOH and I just realised that this is my 100th post too!

1 Year Blogaversary

I am amazed that I will have been blogging for 1 year on Thursday. I never kept a diary when i was younger and even now my diary has far less in it than it should have!

As is customary with these significant blog dates, I am going to do a giveaway to celebrate - well actually I'm going to do 3.

1 - I am going to do a drawing JUST for the people who follow my blog CURRENTLY. If you don't and your reading this it is already to late to qualify. The reason for this one is that YOU are the people who encourage me with my blogging because I know that you are interested in what I write.
2 - for all the people who have visited my blog and commented. You guys encourage me, empathise and sometimes keep me going on the right track with both life and stitching. You keep me smiling at times and share YOUR life and stories with me too. Thank you!
3 - this one is for everyone else. Whether it be your first visit after just discovering me, you have just typed in "giveaways" for a search and will never return and for anyone who just wants to enter.

Of course, you may fit into one, two or all three of the above giveaways so you get extra chances.
With giveaway 1 and 2 there is no need to respond, I will do these automatically. Of course if you think my tasted in cross stitch is awful and you really don't want to enter the drawing, let me know and I will take your name out!!

If you want to enter givaway 3 then leave a comment ON THIS POST ONLY!!

I will do the draw for all 3 on Friday night after swimming. Each person will get a piece of fabbie, thread and a chart.

Good luck to you all and thank you for all your support over the last year.

Long time, no see

Hello to anyone still out there and still visiting!! I honestly can't give a reason for not blogging for 2 weeks - the time seems to have flown by. Lots has been happening here so I'll try and remember it all to fill you in.

I received my ABCstitch order and got hammered for customs. £15!!!! The annoying bit is that £8 of that was a Royal Mail handling fee. I used up the last of my Christmas gift certificate for this order so I haven't really been spending! I treated myself to several charts and the threads to complete one of them.

I have to admit to being naughty and getting the 4 charts below but they were in the sale and were something like £2.50 each. They did get put in the "Oh look what you just bought me for my birthday" pile. (That's where I see something I like and buy it to put away for whatever the next event Colin needs to get a pressie for!)

I can now use my laptop to use the internet. This is huge news as it means that I have successfully set up our home network!! Virgin media supplied us with a new wireless router for free, upgraded our broadband speed and managed to save us £20 a month in one phonecall - not bad service for a company these days. The wireless router was dead easy to set up too.

The 8th was my birthday - my BIG 40. The children and Colin spoilt me rotten and really went out of their way to ensure that it was the best birthday I have ever had. They made me a fabulous chocolate cake with marshmallows on top and decorated everywhere downstairs with banners and balloons. They took me to Frankie and Benny's for lunch which was delicious and the staff there made it a special meal too. Some of the presents I received were a Build a Bear called Daisy (pink with flowers on), Wii balance board, DVD's, Gift certificate for DSL and more stamps for my collection.

I received my stash ambush package in the week and was thrilled to bits with it. There was a chart (Crabby all year) which I have had my eye on for a while and hummed and haaed over and 3 pieces of Silkweaver solos with a co-ordinating thread for each. Thank you Chris it was a fab package and I felt very spoilt!

In work we have now had the results of the pay and grading review which has been rumbling on for about 5 years. I can't believe this originally started in 2004! I am one of the lucky ones. As I haven't been in my current role for very long I am at the bottom of the pay scale and so have recieved a pay rise. Unfortunately people who have been there for years are finding that their pay has been cut. This has varied from about £60 a year to £2500 a year. It is really hard when everyone is discussing it at work. I am one of about 3 or 4 people that have had the rise. People are quite obviously upset about it all even though their pay is protected until 2011. Frankly, I think the council are treating everyone dispicably and it won't be a huge surprise when the best staff leave for neighbouring councils who all pay more than ours does! If this was happening to teachers there would be uproar, as TA's no one is bothered!

I think that will have to be enough of an update for now, otherwise anyone who isn't asleep soon will be!! I need to catch up with 2 weeks worth of blog reading!!

I will be doing a giveaway for my 1 year blogging birthday in the next few days - so watch this space!!

Daylight Lamp

Yesterday, I turned on my stitching lamp and all it did was flicker a few times and die on me. Arrggggghhhh, I thought. Is it the bulb or is it the actual light? Thankfully on closer inspection, the bulb was black near the bottom end. Just a new bulb needed then! A quick search online reveals that the bulbs are £14.99 each!!! I can buy a new lamp for £30, how can a bulb so much?? Still never mind, I NEED my lamp so a quick trip to Hobbycraft this morning and I am back stitching. Just as well really because the Cross Stitch Crazy month long SAT starts today.