Belatedly...and the winner is...

Well let's face it, you would probably faint if I did something on time, wouldn't you?  So follow the photos and find out the winner.

The bowl of destiny, aka my cereal bowl...

...the boy of fortune (aka Luke)

hmmmm.....I wonder....which one shall I choose?

I think I like the look of that one...

Can you read it?

No?  How about now?

Still a bit blurry?  Well how about now then? 

***** Congratulations Katie *****

Can you email me your address please and I will get your 'woody' prize in the post to you.

There was one comment that really made me chuckle so Jo, for being so 'wooden' and giving me the idea in the first place, I'm going to send you a little something too.  I'm pretty sure I have your address but will shout if I have filed it somewhere I can't find it!!

5th blogoversary

Hello...it's my blogoversary today.  5 years, where has the time gone?  Below I have copied and pasted my first ever post.  I wonder how many readers today have read it before?  None I suspect.

Blogging - I'm a blogger!!

Well where do I start? I suppose the first thing to do is to let everyone know who I am!

I am Sharon, 39, and married. I have 2 wonderful children - Rachael, 8, ( who also has Type 1 diabetes) and Luke, 6. We have 3 dopey cats - Sheba, Biskey and Smudge. We also have 4 goldfish but I don't have a clue what they are called these days as their names changed from day to day when we first got them 2 years ago.

I work as a teaching assistant in a primary school which I absolutely love. I get the best of both worlds - job satisfaction and loads of holidays. Contrary to public opinion we do not get paid these holidays, teachers do, we don't!! Currently I am in a Year 1 class (age 5 -6 years) but I have worked across just about all ages in the past.

My main hobby is cross stitching. If I live to 100 there is a vague chance that I could stitch all my stash but I doubt it. My favourite designs are Mirabilia, Amanda Loverseed's Cut Thru's and Lizzie Kate's for a quick stitch. I recently compiled a list of my WIP's and UFO's.........that was a scary job!!

I also enjoy stamp collecting, not philately - there is a difference! I collect stamps from Great Britain and butterflies from all over the world. I only started collecting again after Christmas 2007 but I am rapidly building my collection again!!

My daughter has Type 1 diabetes and has done since November 2005. This was a total bolt from the blue as there is no history of it in either family. She manages this fantastically, currently with 4 injections a day but we are currently having pump training. Soon she will be the proud owner of a pump - and she can't wait!! Rachael is under Dr Doughty at St Mary's in Manchester. Both him and Marie the diabetes nurse are fabulous and I can't recommend them enough. We only moved there in August 2007 after becoming disillusioned with our previous hospital.

Well there have been a fair few changes in 5 years but nothing major.

Let me see...well obviously I'm 44 now...lol.  We only have 2 cats now, Sheba had to be put to sleep a couple of years ago.  The 4 goldfish became 16 danios - don't worry no black magic was used :)

I'm still a teaching assistant but at a different school.  I no longer work in class but provide SEN support across school but mainly Key Stage 2.  I've also completed 2/3 of a degree in Childhood and Youth Studies now.

My taste in designers hasn't changed massively but it has broadened somewhat.  I still have little no chance of completing all my stash before I die.

Now, if you are still awake, here's the interesting bit...a giveaway.  Jo, of Serendipitous Stitching, pointed out that for a 5th wedding anniversary is traditional to give wood.  So my giveaway is a log.  No...only kidding.  My plan is to make up a package filled with some wood themed stitchy bits.  So for example there might be a chart from White WILLOW Stitching...get it?

If you would like to enter the giveaway please leave a comment on this post only.  I will choose a winner on Easter Monday but it may take me a couple of weeks to get everything together.  I'm not doing this to get new followers or anything like that so would ask that it isn't posted to other blogs.  Let's face it, the less it is advertised, the more chance you have of winning :)

Prayers worked

All the prayers and good wishes have obviously worked as Colin has just started a job with the company.  It is only a 4 month contract initially but Nick, his boss, has said that it is a foot the door.  Hopefully when this contract is up there will be some more work for him - fingers crossed.  So thank you to everyone who sent good thoughts and prayers our way.

I haven't had much time for stitching as I am currently studying an OU module which is really hard work.  It is a level 3 course, equivalent to the last year at a brick university and is Research with children and young people.  This is an area that I am not familiar with, especially the key terms.  One of the set books has turned me into a Pavlov dog and every time I even think about reading it, I start yawning.  I received the mark back from my first assignment and it was the lowest mark I have ever received (this is my 8th module), so I must need to study even harder.

Apart from the updates I have posted over the last couple of days, I have stitched on Roses of Paris and Sweet Pea Pixie.

Chatelaine Designs - Roses of Paris

Nora Corbett - Sweet Pea Pixie

I also had a birthday on March 8th and Mother's Day on March 10th.  With Colin not having a job we were supposed to be having a very cheap birthday without presents apart from the children giving ONE SMALL THING. The capitals are because despite agreeing to the rule, Colin was unable to keep it.  I was very lucky and received the Tiny Treasured Diamond kit and the chart and threads for JBW's Halloween.

Then I received nearly all the silk threads for Roses of Paris.  I have to say my favourite is the Northern Lights (magenta) which is divine in real life.

And finally...

each year they bake me a cake.  Now I'm not saying I'm a chocolate fan or anything but as you can see by the cake I do enjoy a little nibble :)

Blogoversary

It's my blogoversary soon...what can I do?  I need some ideas and fancy doing something a bit different to celebrate 5 years.  Nothing springs to mind though.

Belated (for a change) Turtle Trot update

These are the pieces I have worked on for my Turtle Trotting this month.  First up is LK's 6 Fat Men.  The new bit is the blue for his scarf in the top left picture and the writing in the box next to it.

A little bit of progress has been made on Santa's House.

I think that the outline for ATW is new since my last update but I should have checked first really.

A little progress for John Clayton's Racing one.  I ran out of DMC928 though which is a pain - I will just have to put an order in with sewandso.co.uk now ;)

TUSAL update

Here is my belated (well you wouldn't expect me to be on time, would you?) TUSAL update.  I think the time is coming when I will need to squash it down before adding each month's TUSAL's on top.

Prayers please

We have sort of had some good news tonight and I just wanted to ask for a few prayers that it comes off please.

Colin had a phone call from someone who he used to work with at a different company who asked if he would perhaps be interested in a 4 month temporary contract starting in April.  It is for a pilot project and they need to know staff are interested before they accept the project so there is still a chance it could all go horribly wrong yet.  It wouldn't start until April so he would be jobless for a month but once he gets a foot in the door he is likely to be able to stay and work on other projects.

It is quite strange because this is the company that a lot of his work colleagues went to about 8 years ago when his previous employer closed the office and made everyone in it redundant.  At the time it was a case of going self employed and with 2 youngish children we didn't want to take the risk, hence him going to the current company.  Many of his old colleagues are still there so it must be ok and posts are now salaried.

I am really keeping my fingers crossed that it comes off as it sounds like a good company and he would know and like his colleagues. So please keep us in your prayers.

Thank you xx

Updates - most of them belatedly!

Ok...well...

Turtle Trot is updated on the Turtle Trot page, so I won't do that here.
Lizzie Kate's 6 Fat Men is updated on the 6 Fat Men page, so again, I won't post that here.
My TUSAL one is actually up to date and was posted on the correct day...woohoo!
I won't do a WIPocalypse round up as it is nearly the 25th and I hope to get back to blogging, so it might as well wait for that.
Theme-a-licious is overdue for the mid month round up but it had the end of the month reveiw in a few days too so I will leave that for another week or so.

But...saying that, here's some pics of the progress so far.

6 Fat Men

Cinderella

Henry VIII

Santa's House

Confetti of Hardanger

Garden Tools

Around the World

I have to admit to having been VERY naughty.  I have joined the Stitch a Pixie SAL on facebook.  So here is my floss toss followed by progress so far.  The photo doesn't do justice to the fabric which is a piece of SMF Angel Dreams (I think.  I will have to check the bag).  I love the colours on her which are VERY different to the chart pack photo. She still reminds me of a Cancan pansy rather than a Sweet Pea though.

I have finally caved in and bought my first ever Chatelaine design.  Colin was looking over my shoulder as I was drooling over them and saw Roses of Paris.  To cut a long story short, he twisted my arm up my back and ordered me to buy it (or something like that).  I'm just waiting for it to wing it's way into my inbox now :)

We went to Paris for our honeymoon and visited the Musee D'Orsay which has one of Colin's ancestors paintings in.  I can't remember what the name of the artist is though.

Sadly there is no news on the job front as far as Colin is concerned.  He will join the ranks of the unemployed on 5th March but his last day is next Friday as he gets 2 days 'garden leave'.

And finally....is this a cat who was desperate to sit with Colin?  What you can't see from the photo is that he had a book on his lap so Smudge couldn't sit there and had to 'improvise'...bless him!

Jo's Secret Stitching Sweetheart

I wish I could lay claim to having stitched this gorgeous design, or to such lovely finishing...but I can't!  This is  the photo that Jo sent me for my Secret Stitching Sweetheart.  Please reveal yourself Sweetheart.  If nothing else you need to teach me how to make a bow like that!

If you would like to see the rest of the Secret Stitching Sweetheart blog participants please 'hop' over to Jo's blog at Serendipitious Stitching and see them all.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY 

February TUSALs

Here it is...my second TUSAL offering.  This month has a bit of Cinderella, Around the World and Confetti of Hardanger mainly.

So there you go :)