Happy New Year!!

Just wanted to post on the first day of the year. Hope 2007 is a great year for everyone! I aim to try and make it the year I take control of my life (in a good way) and achieve something positive.
Hope it brings you all that your heart desires!

Apples

Thought I would share a pic of my recent finish. I love these thread pack designs and have now completed two (the other one is Pear). I have Berries to do and then I will need to treat myself to some more..lol

Update at last

I've fallen a bit behind with blogging - too much going on at present I'm afraid. On the stitching front I finished Apples the CC/LHN collaboration and have returned to a WIP "Kingfisher in Flight " to do a little stitching on before Christmas. After Christmas I hope to make a new start but not sure what it will be yet.
As for other things Emma is doing OK - she has been very under the weather but went to school for a full day today - I went in to see her teacher who was rather more helpful having received a letter with practical advice from the consutlant psychiatrist. Hopefully things will improve but I've learned to just take one day at a time!
Will try and blog again soon but sooo busy at present!! Just like everyone else I guess!

Mystery SAL completed

As I mentioned I have completed the Mystery SAL 2006 from Heirloom Embroideries. I am eagerly awaiting the start of the 2007 SAL as I find Carol's designs so enjoyable to stitch and also feel that I am learning new things and improving my technique as I stitch them . Her instruction has enabled me to stitch things that I thought beyond my abilities.

Trying to be optimistic

Well we spent most of the afternoon at the hospital yesterday - the psychiatrists view is that Emma is moderately depressed ie not in any immediate danger. the advice was to see how things go with the measures the school are putting in place for Emma and get her to attend her counselling sessions and then review the situation in the New Year. If there is no improvement then we may have to consider anti-depressants as a last resort although there are other types of therapy available which she can access via her counselor or a psychologist. So I am trying to be optimistic about it all.
This means that I will go back to work on Monday but will take more time off if needed - luckily I still have lots of annual leave left.
However I still need to finish painting the hallway - so instead of messing about on here I should go and get started..lol.
I haven't forgotten about the stitching pics - will try and do them tomorrow.

Feeling drained today

after quite a stressful time. I had to go with DD and the counsellor she is seeing for a meeting at school to see if they could offer her some support as she is finding school life very difficult at present due to her low mood and other things. Well the counsellor has been off so the meeting was arranged on the last minute, she picked us up to drive to school and about 5mins into the 15 min journey her car had a puncture. We missed the meeting and then had to wait an hour until the head of year was free again. The meeting was quite productive though and I hope that it will help Emma when she returns to school next week.
We have to go and see a psychiatrist at the local childrens hospital tomorrow - I'm hoping that they will be able to offer some advice on how we proceed from here!
On the stitching front I spent an hour or so this afternoon working on "Apples" the LHN/CC design
while watching Stargate SG1 and Stargate Atlantis which I recorded last night.
Yesterday I finished stitching and beading the Heirloom Embroideries 2006 mystery SAL and also started making up the biscornu from the same designer. (Pictures to follow soon I hope!)

A stitching finish!

Today I completed "Autumn in the Square" by Just Nan which is the final piece in this seasonal series. I intend to frame these and display them as a group - but that may be after Christmas, something to look forward to after the decorations come down!

Bad time

I'm not sure if I picked a good time to start this blog as I'm going through a difficult time family wise at the moment. My DD who is 15 on Monday has some problems (which I don't really feel able to share at present) and I am extremely worried.
As a result I am not getting a lot of stitching done although I have been knitting - a hat and scarf for me (using Colinette wool) and handwarmers for DD ( wool from The Natural Dye Studio which I found on Ebay- they use only environmentally friendly plant dyes and the wool I bought is British and spun by them). I haven't knitted for years but am quite enjoying doing small things - next project is a pair of socks. They will be for me as the rest of the family laughed hysterically at the thought of hand knitted socks..lol.
Autumn in the Square is almost finished however and I will post a pic in the next few days.
On a happier note we won £100 on the lottery on Wednesday - we always split our winnings (usually just a tenner) so I have £25 to treat myself. I'm thinking of getting some LHN charts in the Thanksgiving sale at Down Sunshine Lane and I've signed up for another monthly club at Jayne's Attic for Carrie's Creations threads.

Return to blogging

Well I haven't blogged for an absolute age but seeing as a few people I know are using Blogger now I thought I would revive my neglected blog.
I'll try and post whenever I can but that may not be often!
In stitching news I made a new start today - the LHN/CC collaboration kit Apples - very pretty colours so far but it's quite small so I will post a picture when I have completed it.
Need to play around with this blog and cheer it up a bit but not tonight...lol

Cottage Dreams completed. This is a Judy Dixon design. 

My latest finish

At last I have completed Cottage Dreams by Judy Dixon. I seem to have been stitching this for ever but the result is well worth it. The colours (pinks and fawns ) are absolutely lovely. I really must get some of these designs framed and put on the walls.
Other than this things are pretty quiet. All thoughts are of GCSEs at present - I'll be glad when they are over and I can stop nagging Sarah to revise!!

Lavender Spray by SewtobeSeen designs (Judy Dixon) 

Latest news

Still haven't got into a routine of posting on here regularly. Still don't have enough time! Busy at the moment with family things, Sarah is sitting GCSEs in the next few weeks, obviously I'm concerned that she isn't doing enough revision and she is certain that she is!! Emma has other issues with school, she is the subject of some low level bullying and is reluctant to accept the help available. It has resulted in her missing somelessons and skipping school on occasion so very worrying.
Om a brighter note went with Andy while he did a zip slide at Old Trafford yesterday in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. I encouraged him to do it as I had a friend who died from CF last year at the age of 28. He raised £122.oo which I think is great.
On the stitching front I finished Lavender Breeze by Judy Dixon which I started at the stitching weekend in March. I have started Heirloom Christmas by Victoria Sampler as a SAL with a friend from a stitching group. It is going well so far and is very enjoyable to stitch.

Brownbird Sampler Copyright Bent Creek 

Long time no post

Haven't posted on here in a while , too darn busy! Work continues to be a nightmare - not sure how long things can continue like this before something cracks ( probably me ) Morale is so low, everyone is getting at everyone else and among all this we are supposed to provide a service for the patients!
However I now have 5 whole days off!!!! Should be able to do some serious stitching I hope! Going to see the "Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy " film tomorrow - hoping it will live up to the book. Then on Saturday visiting my Mum, hope this goes OK, can sometimes be a little tense.
On the stitching front I have 2 recent finishes - Bent Creek's Brownbird Sampler and Judy Dixon' s Louisa's Garden.

Stitching weekend

The stitching weekend finally arrived! After months of waiting, agonising, wondering whether I really wanted to go I finally did! And it was great!
Travelled down to MK on the train and then on to the home of the designer Judy Dixon where I met the other participants, most of whom I "knew" from various Yahoo groups. Everyone was so nice that I, who never speak to people I don't know unless I have to, found myself really enjoying the day and the company. We did a hardanger piece specially designed by Judy which was absolutely beautiful. Then it was on to the hotel and a visit to a cross stitch shop. I bought a VS design - Heirloom Christmas, my first VS.
Then it was out for a fabulous Chinese meal and back to the hotel for chat (lots of chat)
The next day after breakfast we returned to Judy's for a freestyle embroidery lesson, now this isn't me at all - haven't done embroidery since primary school but I really enjoyed it. I must be strict with myself and get it finished before I forget how to do the stitches though. We got to see lots of Judy's stitched designs and they are all fabulous. Lots more chatting, it's amazing how much there is to talk about!
Then it was back to the station at MK for the journey home.
I really had a good time and made some new friends. Looking forward to doing it again sometime.

Not been around

Well it seems a long time since I posted on here. On Tuesday March 1st we were broken into and our PC was stolen amongst many other things. So.. I was offline and very shocked. the whole house had been gone through and though there was little actual damage the idea of someone being there was horrible. I was very upset, took a couple of days off work and got the place cleared up and then decided to get on with my life.
Went back into work on Friday March 4th and worked all weekend - tough, very busy but it took my mind off other things.

Finally got aroung to blogging

Well this week has flown by and I haven't had any time on the computer at all. Work goes from bad to worse but I'm fighting back now and arranging the rosters to suit what I need to do for a change. Things have come to a head concerning one member of staff and something will now have to be done. However I still have the prospect of working 10 days without a day off which I don't think I can do so I'm going to have to rearrange something somewhere.
Stitching wise I have started to stitch a sampler from Polstitches Designs using Dragon Floss hand dyed thread. It is going to be nice I think , the colours are lovely. Other than that I have 3 of Judy Dixon's designs on the go and in 2 weeks will be going to the stitching workshop at Judy's home.
We got Sky Plus fitted today so looking forward to finding something good to watch while I stitch this afternoon. Feeing tired and fed up so want to rest before the week starts again.

Crystal Rainbow

I just finished the beading on Crystal Rainbow, a free design by Judy Dixon of SewtobeSeen designs. I really like this design and it was very easy and quick to stitch.

Crystal Rainbow by SewtobeSeen designs.