Building in progress

Who would have thought building a little cottage would be so time consuming!! I have spent all afternoon on my little construction.... the lacing of the sides around the plastic canvas took the longest. I have just finished stitching all the sides together and I have had enough for today! I am very pleased with the results, I don't think I have ever stitched any thing like this, but it is turning out ok. I have to finish stitching the roof next, then I can attach that. The base is just red felt (again laced around the plastic canvas) and then I have to attach the long bugle beads at the sides and a hanger on the top!

Here are the 2 side views -

I realised on Wednesday night though that I had made a big mistake on it.... and I blame the poor light at my house. The green back stitch lines were actually dark blue on the chart... which stood for the silver not the green.... so it should be more sparkly than it is... but I like it any way!

Otherwise I have been working on Henry still, he now has a complete head and half a hat!! Mind you I think his head looks tiny in comparison to his body, but it probably was - he was a big chap!!

I am working on his right shoulder now and aim to work towards stitching some of a wife for him next!!!!

No pictures until Sunday/Monday of him I'm afraid.... you'll just have to wait.

It is very cold here today, I went into town with mom this morning and we caught the bus!! I was frozen when I got home. Managed to get some wrapping paper and cards so can get some presents wrapped soon and start on my Christmas card writing next week!

Stuart brought a bread maker with some of his birthday money and he is cooking his first loaf now.... urm it smells nice, good job it is nearly dinner time as the smell is making me very hungry.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Ginnie x

Santa knitting.

No I haven't been knitting this is my mom's work.... but he is staying at my house this Christmas!! He is a lovely cute Santa that Mom has just completed from a pattern in a knitting magazine. She intended to do two, one for me and one for herself..... but she didn't enjoy the stitching together part. So I get this one and she may do another for herself next year.

Laura got on well at her orthodontist appointment on Monday. She will need a lot of "brace" work but he seemed confident that they could get her teeth sorted. She will be called back around February time where they will start on her bottom teeth, take 2 out due to over crowding and then fit a brace. Then they'll work on her top teeth. Her bottom lip at the moment sits behind her top teeth so it doesn't help the problem, they hope it will fall back into it's proper place when her top teeth move back! Long job and she is nervous but she really wants to sort her teeth. She is having a tough week, she went down with a sore throat on Monday too, she has battled on at school then today she had her Grade 3 piano exam, which she was also very nervous for. Now she thinks she messed it up and has failed!!!

Mom and I had a nice Christmas shopping trip on Monday, I think I have most presents sorted now... just the wrapping to do!!

No stitching pictures I'm afraid, Stuart has nicked my camera for school.... blooming cheek!! I have told him I want it back tomorrow..... Henry now has a bit of face to go with his beard and some more of his blue tunic is finished. I have also finished another placecard, just one more to do now.

Ginnie x

Back in the land of blogging.

I am finally back with a posting, it has been a busy week and I am very tried tonight but just had to get something on my blog! We didn't go to the cinema in the end on Thursday night as we realised we would have trouble parking as the cinema is at the shopping centre and Peter Andre was there that night switching on the Christmas lights!! so we gave it a miss!! I spent ALL DAY Friday cleaning, dusting, sorting, hoovering every little space etc...by the evening I ached all over, would have been an easier day at work!!! Saturday was lovely, it is nice to have a get together and see everyone you don't get to see that often. I was worried we would run out of space if everyone came at the same time but people came in spread out intervals!! Our last 2 friends left at 10pm and I went to bed not long after!!! Here's a picture of the birthday boy and his daughters!!!

This afternoon we finally made it to the cinema to see the Bond film. It was ok but too much fighting and shooting for me.... but of course that's what Bond is like I'm just not a big fan. Stuart enjoyed it though and it was his birthday treat... so that's ok.

As for any stitching I managed some on Friday night. I suddenly realised I needed to get a card done for my Auntie whose Birthday is this Thursday, I was going to do a Decoupage one but really wasn't in the mood. So I found a small All Our Yesterday's girl I had started and forgotten about and spent the rest of the evening finishing that. Here it is.

She has been feeling very down this week, she starts her radiotherapy on 1st Dec and has to go every day for treatment until Christmas Eve. She rang my mom to say she hadn't had chance to Christmas shop and would send us the money instead. I think we all just want her to concentrate on getting well again.

I also have 3 sides of the cottage done, here is a side wall and the other gable end..... one more side and the roof then I get to start the "putting together"!!!

Next week I will work on Henry again and carry on with my mom's gift (I have only done a tiny bit!) and try to do the last side of the cottage.

Sorry I haven't been keeping up with blog reading I'll try to catch up next week. Tomorrow I am taking Laura for her first Orthodontic appointment at the hospital then Mom and I are off Christmas shopping, I go back to work on Tuesday.

Ginnie x

Some stitching.

Stuart has had a nice birthday so far, we have had a lovely chinese take away, I have done some stitching on my 3D cottage and in a moment I hope Stuart is going to cut his birthday cake...... yum!

But before then here are my stitching updates. My Family Tree is coming along nicely, I managed to do all of the children and some of the backstitch on the mom, also the house in the middle now has a roof. I made a little error on the little girl's skirt, it looks ok but I must remember to make the skirts on the other side the same!

Here is a close up of the people.

And here is the first Gable end of my 3d cottage, it was fun to do. Now I am working on the one side, that has just the beads and back stitching to complete now. No photo yet though.

I may do some "Lest we Forget" stitching next or just relax in front of the TV watching "I'm a celebrity"..... although I am still waiting for the chocolate cake..... but it sounds like the birthday boy is having a snooze as I can hear snoring!!! It is hard work being 40.

Until next time,

Ginnie x

Happy 40th Birthday to my hubbie....

Today is Stuart's 40th Birthday, "Happy Birthday my dear"........he loved his stitched card and was pleased with how I had picked stuff that he had grown this year. Tonight we are having a chinese take away, then on Thursday we are going to the cinema to see the new James Bond film. I'm not a big Bond fan but Stuart is and wanted to see it, least Daniel Craig is quite good looking which will give me something to keep me interested!! Then on Saturday we are having a little party at home, just for a few friends and close family. So I have a busy week ahead! I have booked Friday off work so I can give the house a good tidy up, being a keen stitcher my house suffers!!! Oh well.

Here is a photo of me and Stuart, it was the best I could find of the 2 of us, I think it was taken 2 years ago. Stuart has put on lots of weight since we married and so hates having his picture taken nowadays. I will get some taken over the weekend though!!

As for any stitching...... I'll have to update that later or tomorrow as my photos of 'Family Tree' are still on my camera and I am at work at the moment!!!!! Just catching 5 mins to blog while the boss is at lunch.

Ginnie x

Lest we forget progress

I have spent my stitching time this week working on "Lest we forget", "Family Tree" and "3D Cottage".

Here is the progress on Lest we forget - the poppy is looking lovely. At first I was going to change the one colour as it is orange on the outer edge more than red. But now it is coming together I like the colour combination.

I forgot to take a photo of my Cottage, but I have finished the first gable end and will start a side wall this weekend. On my Family Tree I am still working on the children in front of the Mom. I will update you on this on my next post.

Just thought I'd show you a little extra one I stitched that I'll make into a card and possibly sell on Ebay. It is really sweet and the design would work for a new baby card too. Talking of new babies we have another one due in the family next year.... so more stitching. My cousin and his wife announced they were expecting their second child in May '09. I didn't do anything for their first child as I was going through a non stitching phase at the time, so I will only do a little card this time.

I have been to our local churches Christmas fete this morning. Me and my mom had a nice cup of coffee and a mince pie for £1..... and I bought a red fabric bag for £1.50 that I am going to put a piece of stitching on at some point in the future. This afternoon I am off to the garden centre to get some bird food and winter pansies as I have a new planter and bird feeder that is waiting to be filled up!!

Hope you all have a good weekend....

Ginnie x

Armistice Day stitching.

I wanted to do a special piece of stitching to mark the 90th Anniversary of the end of the 1st World War but only started on Sunday. But it is something I have aimed to do for a while and will continue stitching on it over the next few weeks along with all my other stuff. It was out of last months World of Cross Stitching magazine. Here is my progress so far:-

As with most families we have ancestors who died during the 1st world war, as I love "Family History" research too I have tried to find out as much as I can about one relative - Sydney George Thornton. He was on my mom's side of the family and was my grandad's eldest brother. He was born in 1899 and during the war he joined the Lancashire Fusiliers possibly before he was old enough to! He fought in the trenches in France and his final battle (I believe) was the battle for Cambrai, they advanced on and captured the small village of Awoingt just outside Cambrai on the 10th October 1918. But on the 11th the battalion suffered heavy casualties and I believe Sydney was mortally wounded then. He died on the 21st October 1918 of his wounds and is buried in the Awoingt British Cemetary. He was 19 years old and just 21 days later the war ended. We have no photos of him and my grandad was born in 1912 so had no memories of him as far as I can recall. It is all very sad and I want to stitch this and add Sydney's name to it instead of the small poppy motif on the right. I also plan to visit his grave at some point in the future as I don't think anyone in the family ever has.

On a more lighter note I have made a small start also on my 3D cottage. Here is just the first gable end showing the front door. I want to say a big thank you to Angela who after reading my blog offered to send me some plastic canvas she had spare to build the walls and roof. It arrived in the post today and it is just great, thank you.

I still intend to do my Family Tree this week but have put off the last Christmas gift for another week so I can continiue to work on "Lest we forget" too.

I have also been tagged by Becca and I know a few other stitching friends tagged me a few weeks ago and I forgot all about it! I am not going to pass on the "tagging" as I don't know who to pick but to end my post tonight I will leave you with a few quirky facts about myself.

1. I hate flying and even get nervous seeing planes in the sky. Consequently I have flown only once to and from Spain when I was 17!
2. I also have a fear of mice, again I can't even look at them on the TV. Yet I love hamsters and have had several as pets over the years.
3. When I am food shopping if I want something but there is only one of that item left on the shelf I tend to leave it, because I feel bad that there won't be one left for someone else if I have it! (yeah I know this is really odd!)
4. I have weetabix (or similar store's own brand!) for breakfast every morning....... nothing else fills me up enough!!
5. I am a fully qualified primary school teacher and specialist "Reading Recovery" teacher but left the profession 8 years ago due to ill health and stress! I now work in an office!
6. I feel the cold especially my feet and nearly always have socks on!!!!

That'll do for now......

Ginnie x

Postman delivered a new one!

I had hoped to blog yesterday as I had a finish to show.... but my internet was down until the evening so I thought I'd wait until today.

Firstly I must show you what the postman bought me on Friday!! It is called Safe Haven by Derwentwater. I have loved this set of pictures for ages and another one is on my wishlist but I saw this one on Ebay last week - brand new unopened - going for £1.99 with no bids......... so I bided and won....yeah. They normally cost around £17 and I got it for £4 with the postage. I am not intending to start it yet, but it was a bargain I just couldn't resist!

Yesterday we went to look around Dudley College, although the girls don't leave school for another year and a half the college had an open day and Becky had been encouraged to go and see their Performing Arts department. She is considering doing a BTEC in Dance and loves this college especially as they have a ballet element to the course which other local colleges don't. It seems a great place, with a lovely theatre and dance studios and she is so excited as she really wants to get a place there. They also do 3 performances a year and it's a 2 year course, so we'll get to see her perform loads!

Now to my finish...... here is Peek a Boo Sagittarius. I am really pleased as I have finished this one in a week. I hope Grace likes it too when she gets it on her birthday! I will get them both mounted over the next week or two.

I am so close to finishing Stuart's too. All I have left is the back stitch around the cabbage and part of a strawberry! I have stitched the number 40 but think I will leave that as it is and not back stitch around that. Here it is -

The only thing I haven't started this week is my last Christmas gift. I will try to start that next week along with continuing on my Family Tree.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Ginnie x

Peek a Boo - part 2

Thanks for all your well wishes I am feeling much better now. The doctor said it was an inner ear viral thing.... which there is nothing you can do about just wait for it to pass (can last about a week) and that I will probably find I am prone to these problems and will get it again... lovely! He checked my blood pressure and that was normal. Oh well when I get it again all I will be able to do is stitch - no housework or anything!!

I have been doing some stitching this week but I think my goals for the week won't go as well as last time. I haven't even looked at the next Christmas gift yet!

But I have worked on the Sagittarius Peek a Boo and here it is so far -

Ther is a number 13 on her top but you can't see that very well yet! Just some of the hat, the rest of the trousers, the star sign name plaque and lots of back stitch to do! Should be finished by the weekend! I have also worked on Stuart's card a bit - that has been hard as he has been at home a lot. He has just informed me he has to go to Birmingham University on Saturday - oh good I can finish his card!!!

My auntie went back to the hospital today for a check up, they were very pleased with her progress, they said the lump was only small and they think they managed to get rid of all of it. To be on the safe side she is still going to have a course of radiotherapy and some tablets.

Thanks for reading my blog.

Ginnie x

Henry has a beard!

My weekend wasn't as brilliant as it could have been because I felt unwell, since Friday I have been feeling very dizzy/light headed which isn't pleasant. To top it all I had really bad back ache on Saturday and a dodgy stomach on Sunday!!! I did manage to stitch still as sitting down was the best remedy but I was also very tired and fell asleep last night at 9pm on the settee. I still felt a bit rough at work today but feel a little brighter now. I am going to see the doctor tomorrow to check out the dizziness as I have had it before.

Even so I think Henry is looking good. You can just see where his brown beard is!! The chart asked for beads on his chain around his neck but I decided to use gold metallic thread instead. You can't see this much yet as I have only done 2 of the mini squares. I can't wait to move onto one of his wives! But for now he is going away again!!

I also managed a little more on Stuart's card, you can now see the spade, fork and the beginnings of a carrot!! In the top left corner there should be 2 cabbages but I am only stitching one and than adding a "40" above it.

This week I am setting myself some small goals again -

• Sagittarius - Complete at least half of this picture.
• Stuart's card - finish all of it.
• Christmas gifts - start the last one - mom's compact mirror
• Placecards - complete at least one more.

Tonight we have been at the girl's school sorting all the Christmas Raffle ticket books into groups of 5 for each child and sorting into classes. This went better than normal as we had loads of Year 11 pupils come along to help. I may stitch just a bit of the Sagittarius card now but I am very tired again. Hope I feel back to normal tomorrow.

Ginnie x