Positive Thinking SAL and a Stable

Here is the finished part 1 of the Positive Thinking SAL.  As I have told several people, I think this is the first time ever I have been up to date with a SAL.  I am doing this with the recommended Nina's Threads and having never used them before, I think I'm in love!  They give great coverage and feel soft and silky to use.

And some more progress was made on my Stable as last night was our Bothy Threads SAL.  If you want to, feel free to come and join our facebook SAL group where you can work on any design so long as it's a Cut Thru one.  Here's the link https://www.facebook.com/groups/143307482517635/ .  There are some fantastic designs being worked on and even if you don't want to join, it is well worth a look.

Lovely stitchy post/mail

 I got some lovely stitchy post today.  A few weeks ago I 'discovered' an unknown to me Nora Corbett design from the Cross Stitch and Needlework 2010 Keepsake Calendar - Snow Queen.  A facebook friend very kindly sorted me out with a copy of it and it arrived today!!!!

Just in case you're like me and have obviously been on Mars for the last 3 or 4 years, here is a photo of Snow Queen.  Now I am trying not to start it, but I keep thinking that if I got my backside into gear I could finish it by Christmas...

I have done a little stitching on something I haven't stitched on for a while.  I miscounted the fabric count on this when I started and it has about an inch on the right hand side and slightly more on the left.  I still don't know what I will do when I finish it.  Still how long I have been stitching it, I don't think I need to worry about finishing it just yet.  I plan on working on it at least once a week to get it finished.  It really shouldn't take too long :)

More stitching? What's going on?

Well having submitted the assignment and not having any studying to do for 2 weeks means lots of stitching!!!!  So first up is a bit of progress on Cut Thru Stable.  I did the light brown on the stable door.

Bothy Threads - Cut Thru Stable

And I succumbed to the latest SAL.  The world and his wife seems to be doing this one so I am not going to post the details.  If however you have been on Mars for the last couple of weeks and haven't heard about it, let me know and I will tell you about it.  There is a facebook group if anyone wants to join in. https://www.facebook.com/groups/579447708764063/  I am determined that I am going to keep up with this SAL - I'm doing rubbish with all the others :(

A stitchy update

As promised, although a day later than anticipated, a stitchy update.

But first...thank you to everyone who responded to Rachael's worries.  She read all of the comments and I have told her they will be printed off for her to read when she feels down.  I thought of putting them over her bed but will draw the line at that.  I took her to the hairdresser and we had a chat about how she felt about her hair.  The hairdresser cut it into a style that should be easier for her to manage and took loads of the weight out of it.  Even wavy/curly it is easy to see that it is a lot lighter.  Rachael is pleased with it and that is the main thing.

In the few minutes I have had in between writing my research proposal for my penultimate OU course, I have managed a little stitching.

So...there has been a bit of progress on Drac in the Box with most of of the head being stitched, all of the tombstone and some of the bat and moon.  Sorry for the really blurry photo but I am sure you get the idea!

My wired bat arrived which was a special order from Sewandso.co.uk so I will be ready to go when the stitching is finished.

There has been a little bit more progress on Cinderella and I am now down to the bottom of her dress.

 I ordered a couple of pieces of fabric from The Crafty Kitten which arrived a couple of weeks ago.  They look really pretty in real life with lovely delicate mottling to them.

As a weightloss incentive Colin is treating me to 'something' each time I go down into the next stone bracket. This time I chose Nora's Summer Faerie and some fabric.  I have to say that the fabric looks much nicer in reality and not nearly as 'blobby' as it looks here.

My final new purchase is some stick on thimbles to try.  Sometimes when stitching in hand I end up feeling like my pin cushion so thought it might be worth giving these a go.

And that is it for now.  In a couple of days my assignment will be completely finished and I will have 2 weeks of nothing but stitching before the next one begins!

New toy

As I'm going to be running the new school library is being set up I have been given a new toy.  The library will use an iPad to check out books and all books will be scanned into the system via Micro Librarian.  When I told the head that I had never used an iPad she got me one to take home and play with so that I get to know what to do with it.  So this is my first ever post using an iPad. I am wondering if it will turn out ok.  It feels very different to using a laptop and never having had a smart phone is not helping either!

Guess what? Tomorrow there will be a stitching related post from me...

Favour to ask - non stitchy!

It's a bit of a personal one this and nothing to do with stitching.  My daughter Rachael is 14 and she has been letting slip about her poor self image.  She thinks she is ugly, her hair looks like a bush, no one would ever go out with her etc.  I've told her how beautiful I think she is ("You have to say that, you're my mum!") and that she has a figure many women would be jealous of. She reckons she's a size 12-14 and I think she's an 8-10 from how clothes fit her (that's a UK8-10 or 12-14.  I think it's 4-6 or 8-10 in US sizes).

So what I am asking for is a comment on the photos below with a TRUTHFUL comment as to what you think of her. Apart from normal teenage spots etc, I think she is great!  What she doesn't seem to get is that I wouldn't tell her that if I didn't think it.  I've never been one for telling them that they are something they are not as I don't think it does them any favours in life.

She does however, need to stand up properly instead of keep slouching!!  So here is a full length photo, a closer shot and a backside one.

Mischief at Midnight

Have you seen this?  It's gorgeous!!

Mischief at Midnight

This is DEFINITELY going on my wish list.

photo taken from Blue Ribbon designs website

On my needles

Has the above blog been hacked or something?  Now all I get when I click on it is a Malayan site.  All previous posts seem to have gone.  Google translate doesn't translate it.  Definitely not going to click on anything on it, just in case!

Treasure Trail - Halkyn Mountain woods and hillforts

Today we are shattered and intend to have a pyjama day.

On Monday we (that is Rachael, Luke and me) spend 2 hours up the allotment weeding and digging up potatoes.  I had some achy muscles!  Yesterday, we went on a Treasure Trail up Halkyn Mountain.  Whilst it was a lot of fun, my geography is not good and some of the clues we struggled to find.  Thankfully, the locals are VERY friendly and pointed us in the right direction.  One clue was about a mile away from the previous one and we decided we must have gone wrong and retraced our steps.  After speaking to a couple of lovely local men we found we had been right and the steep hill we had just walked up, we had to walk down again - and then back up!

This is the view from outside one of the clues - gorgeous!

A lovely little lane that we walked down (and up, and down again!) 

We had to find a church and walked down the hill, back up and back down - before walking back up again. Interestingly, we had to find the words carved into the gate 'They that sow tears shall reap in joy'.  This was quite meaningful for us by then as we were ready for sowing tears and by the time we found the church we definitely 'reaped joy'.  

It was a very pretty church as you can see in the next photo.  This was taken down a side road where you could actually see the church as you approached.

I'm not normally one for postboxes but this one which was one of the clues was quite pretty I thought.  I loved the tiling design on the front which I hadn't seen before.

So all in all we had a great day out.  The trail that should have taken around 3 hours and 3 miles took about 4.5 hours and 7 miles!

Stitching and cooking

Yesterday, Colin and Luke went to an away game - Forest Green Rovers v Hyde (football in case you've not heard of them!)  Rachael and I decided to have a Harry Potter day.  I stitched as I watched but couldn't settle to any particular design.  First I stitched on my Stable.

Bothy Threads - Cut Thru Stable

Then I moved onto Roses of Paris.

Chatelaine Designs - Roses of Paris

 And then fancied a little bit of snow.

Lizzie Kate - 6 Fat Men

Finally I couldn't resist marking out my fabric and starting this.  What is it Jo P?  I have marked it out as it is in the fabric layout chart but it seems to waste an awful lot of fabric in my opinion.  I am thinking about restarting it with just an inch and a half between each piece as they are cut down to half an inch left all round. What do you think?

What is it?

On Friday Rachael and Luke wanted to do some cooking and baking.  I'm currently on a bit of a health kick with regards to food so didn't want too many cakes.  In the end we settled on some chocolate brownies and some buns from a Weightwatchers book I had.  Then we made some spaghetti bolognese for the freezer and finally homemade pizza for tea.  Here are some photos of the finished items...

 This is the pizza before the cheese went on.  The kids were a bit heavy on the meat.  Mine only had tuna, mushroom and sweetcorn on so not worthy of a photo!  Luke's was a work of art!