I've had a Little Adventure...

Without going into loads of detail and reasons why, I decided to take myself off for a wee break to Scotland. My heart is always drawn to Scotland. I am English born and bred but my parents and the rest of the clan are all Scottish and I have many fond memories of taking trips and short holidays up there when I was younger to stay with relatives. I especially loved it near the coast and one of my Aunts had a house that overlooked the sea and I would love to watch the big boats and fishing vessels coming in to shore. I loved the smell too. Salty, fresh, sea air. I also have fond memories of Red Cola and Macaroon bars and my Granny would make an extra effort to buy fresh rolls and jam from the local bakers whenever we stayed at her house. 

So, feeling very brave, I went off on my own. The first time in a long time that I have been on my own, without husband and children chattering and squawking and fighting and pestering. No responsibilities but to look after number one. Just for a few days. Only a few days. It would give me time to pray and seek God and time to think and time to just be me.

The journey took a little longer as there were delays on some of the motorways but eventually I arrived at my destination; a beautiful little cottage surrounded by forests and hills, situated just a mile from the beach. The place is situated along the Solway Firth and boasts some lovely beaches and spectacular views. 

The cottage was immaculately kept and boasted two double bedrooms and two bathrooms. I would definitely go back there again. The name of it is Bracken Cottage. 

I spent some of my time wandering down to local beaches. 

Sandy Hills

Rockcliffe

This was my favourite beach as it had so many rock pools and a lot of seaglass. I collected a lot of it and when my husband and kids did come for a one night visit they spent a good time collecting as much as they could find as well. 

One night I went and found this lovely shell art mermaid someone had made.

Kipford

This was a sweet little fishing village with so many shells. Gosh I have never seen so many shells.

Kircudbright

This was another small town along the coast. I took the coastal route and there were a few interesting features on the way. 

This straw man for one... He was huge. 

Then there was Dundrennan Abbey. I didn't stop. I wish I had now. 

And then into Kircudbright. You pronounce it Kir koo bree.

There were cows on the beach. 

Most of the time I stayed home and read and stitched. 

I started this book which was a GoodReads win from one of their giveaways. 

Each of the chapters is named after a plant or flower with it's meaning or what it symbolises. I came across this:

Hmmmm...... 

Stitching wise I managed to get a fair bit done. 

I finished this:

Season's Greetings

LHN

And nearly finished this:

Stitch Every Day

Hands On Designs

I made a few friends:

but generally kept myself to myself. 

I had a good time. 

Now I am back. 

Happy to be home again.

Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I appreciate every one of you. I will be back soon with a new crochet project just in time for Autumn. Stay tuned! 

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The One I Nearly Forgot!

Firstly, I would like to thank each and every one of you who took time to comment on my last post. I read each and every one and the messages about my DD truly warmed my heart. Thank you thank you. xxxx

As I was sorting through lots of stitching finishes the other day I realised I had not blogged my finish on Snow Garden by Blackbird Designs. I can't believe I didn't show this one. This was gifted to me (threads included) by my lovely stitching sister Tracy.

I went with the vintage Country Mocha fabric from Belfast linen 32 count but some of the stitches look very pale. I notice that a lot of these designs turn out quite differently from each other depending on the colour run of the hand dyeds. 

You might have noticed the initials I have used on the left hand side. These are T for Tracy, L for Lesley and T for Tina (no blog) - my best three stitching buds and you will also notice the three Ws - they look a little like birds - these stand for World Wide Web as I met my three stitching buds through the WWW! So this first piece of the AotH series is dedicated to these three sisters. Cheers to you guys!

I have been busy with my August goals completing not just one CCN ornie but two! 

A Christmas Birdhouse

Merry Merry

These were fun to stitch and didn't take long. 

Today I got this through the post. I had entered Vickie's giveaway for the Travelling Pattern and I am next in line. I have to stitch it and then pass it on to somebody else to stitch and round and round it goes, connecting us all together into a kind of stitching sisterhood. So do look out for that post when I have stitched it. 

So, that's a quick update from me. I will be  going to the Nimble Thimble meet up on Saturday and I can't wait to see everyone again and have a lovely quiet day of stitching. I am not sure what to take to stitch as part of me thinks I should take the opportunity to start something new. I have many charts ready to start that I want to stitch but I do want to get some stuff finished as well. 

I will let you know what I decide soon. 

Please help yourself to a shortbread biscuit! 

Pop back again soon! 

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My DD - Divergent Daughter

My DD or Divergent Daughter as I am now calling her decided a while ago that she wanted a really short hair cut. Pixie cut even. If you know anything about the books A Divergent Collection by Veronica Roth or have seen the films then you will recognise this hair cut as one that Shailene Woodley had done. The actress first got this haircut in the film Fault in Our Stars I believe which she filmed in between Divergent and Insurgent. Anyway, It is a nice cut and one that Divergent Daughter decided she liked most of all. I actually preferred the Ginnifer Goodwin crop but perhaps that is for another day. 

I must say, I admire her bravery. I wish I had the confidence to pull off this haircut. Maybe one day when I have lost a bit more weight. 

Before:

During......

OOooohhhhhhhhhhhh.......

Ta Daaaaaa!!!!!!!

Awwwwww. She has gone and all growed up!

Reflecting....

So very sad to find out the news that Wink has passed away. I'm a bit behind with blogging news so this was a real shock to read. Her sister wrote a post on her blog which you can read here. She was a beautiful woman and a real inspiration to so many people. It is sad that depression got her in the end. 

So I am just sitting here, reflecting; thinking about life stuff and appreciating and counting my blessings. Depression has, and still does to some extent, played a role in my life and I thank my God that I am still here today. I am grateful for the few true friends I have that have stayed with me through the tough times and whenever I have felt alone and lost. 

God bless you lovely people. Don't ever be alone. If you ever feel alone, you know you can always email me to talk or shout or cry or scream or whatever you need to do. I am here for you. For what it's worth.

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A Long-Awaited Stitchy Update and lots of News!

Stitching News.....

Well, hello there! Firstly, I would like to thank all my long time followers for not giving up on me. I am still here although life has been very hectic of late. Now that we have all broken up for the Summer hols, I felt it was about time I gave some time to my poor neglected blog and to also look at where I am in regards to stitching etc. I had been doing incredibly well with stitching goals up until June when I decided to not set any. Well, June became July and now July is quickly becoming August and I need to go back to my regime. It worked really well and I felt like I achieved a lot in the first part of this year. It is good to keep focused!

I want to go back to May and show you what I made for my stitching sister Tracy's birthday. We decided that we would make each other's present this year and add a chart of our wishlists. It worked well. I don't think I posted what I made for Tracy so here it is:

I made her a Hardanger needlebook. I used some Swarovski butterfly crystals for the centre and also added sparkly beads around each square. It really is pretty and sparkly. This was one of my first attempts at Hardanger and I really enjoyed it. I found the Dove's Eyes quite difficult to work but eventually got them. I am really pleased with the result. 

I also wanted to update you on the next CCN ornament that I made. 

I quite liked this one. I am still struggling with these designs. The next one is the Holly Jolly one and I can't see myself stitching it at all. I might even do it as a giveaway near Christmas if I have not made it by then. The next one after that which I need to do is the Christmas Birdhouse which is a nice one. I have added this to my August goals. 

I also wanted to update you on my Gorjuss progress. I have really enjoyed stitching this design. It was quick and fun to stitch and now all I need to do is the backstitch and beads. It shouldn't take me long to finish so hopefully by the next post it will be complete. It is very sparkly which is what drew me to the design in the first place. I would love to get the one with the books as my dd is an avid lover of reading - more about that later!

Next up is Moira Blackburn's Three Things chart which is one Tracy bought me for Christmas (I think?) This goes to show that I DO get round to stitching on charts that people buy me! I do I do I really really do! Anyway, I love this design. I chose to stitch this on 18 count Vintage Country Mocha Aida and I am so glad I chose this fabric. This design is huge. It is one of the biggest designs I have stitched - sampler wise. I juts don't think my eyes could have coped with the finer count of linen. I am glad I chose this fabric as it is wonderful to work on and stitches up really quickly. To be honest, I haven't touched another design since starting it as I desperately want to get it finished. I am nearly half way through it already. The colours are fab. 

Crochet wise, I have been busy making some of these tealight holders ready for the Christmas fair at school. You can find these very easy patterns from here.  They are quick to make up and look really pretty with a tealight inside them in the evenings. 

Some other news!

My good friend Sue from Sueinstitches blog has set up an online needlecraft shop called 

Peakside Needleworks

This is especially good news for stitchers in the UK as Sue is growing her supply of charts from our lovely friends in the US which are sometimes hard to get hold of here. One example is the Hands On chart Stitch Every Day which I had seen on one of the blogs I follow and loved it so much but couldn't find a supplier over here. Sue came to the rescue and ordered it in for me. 

She has a good range of charts in by various designers like:

Blackbird Designs

Blue Ribbon Designs

Little House Needleworks

La D Da

Plum Street Samplers 

and such like.

Her Hand dyeds include Classic Colorworks, Weeks Dye Works and he Gentle Art.

Sue is also planning on doing some finishing work as well in the future. I am going to get her to make up some of my CCN ornies at some point. So look out for that too. 

Please pop over and have a look at what she has in stock and more charts are going to be added. Sue has some of the best prices for hand dyed threads too and if there is anything you want, just let her know! She also has free pnp over £25 as well. 

Take a look and treat yourself!

We also have some other news.....

We have some new family members......

Meet Pepper....

And Nutmeg....

Thank you so much for all the lovely, kind messages you sent me last week when our beloved April suddenly died. I was and still am heartbroken. We felt that the best thing to do would be to get another cat straight away. We have been married for 16 years and have always had two cats at home. When Misty passed away in December and we had April left, we decided to not get another one and so when April died, there were no cats! The house felt very lonely. We got in touch with the RSPCA and went to have a look at a cat that had been there for a while but when we arrived, she had already gone! There were a lot of kittens though and so we chose these two beautiful girls. They are approx 3-4 months old - Pepper being slightly younger than Nutmeg. They are both very affectionate and playful and a delight to have around. 

I am sure there will be plenty more pics to follow. 

Thanks for being so patient with me folks. Hope you all have a good Summer. 

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