I Did It, I Did It, I Did It!!!

I finally finished Cirque Des Cercles about half an hour ago! Please excuse the creases, I'll try to get a better pic another day once it's ironed.

I started this on the 20th June 2007, took over 18 months to stitch the first 3 pages, and then stitched the last 3 in just 2 months lol. I am so proud of myself for having a BAP finish after so long, my last one was HAED Tomboy QS about this time last year I think.

It is stitched 1x2 on 32ct antique white I think, using HDF's discontinued Caribbean Splash in premium. I love the colour of this floss, but I don't think I'll be stitching anything else with it after this lol.

I will be putting the chart up for trade/sale shortly, along with the 4 full skeins of silk. If anyone is interested in either please holler.

I've still to do my interview for Helen and post pics of Cottage Garden and my recent purchase, but my eyes are tired after all this stitching today, so calling it a day for now.

Thanks so much to all those who read my blog and take the time to leave me wonderful comments. I've noticed some new readers/commentors recently, so welcome to all my new stitching friends.

I See The Moon!

As the title suggests, I've finally seen the moon! On my HAED Cabin In The Woods that is lol. I've been stitching on this every Wednesday with Sally in our SAL but sort of got the bug last week and decided I wanted to get to the bottom of the page with the columns I was stitching. So I kept going and the result is I can finally see the moon which is another landmark for me. I don't think I could stitch on a HAED all the time because I have to really concentrate and they just don't grow quick enough for me lol, but I do love them and am thinking of adding another day to work on it as well as Wed so I can get a bit more progress.

Not sure this will happen just yet though as I have other fish to fry for the next couple of weeks at least, my last page on Cirque!!! I finished page 5 last weekend I think it was and I am SO excited to be on the final lap with this. It's going back on the qsnaps later today and I'm going to try really hard to finish it this month. Not sure if that's going to be possible, but just knowing I'm on the last page feels so good, to be so close to a BAP HD!

I've stitched a bit more on Cottage Garden as well but forgot to take a pic of that so you'll have to wait til next time. I've been thinking that when I finish Cirque, as well as adding an extra day in for Cabin, I'm going to give my small/travel project a day as well rather than just when I'm out and about and waiting around. I have so many smalls I want to do and if I leave them just as travel projects they'll never get done, whereas if I spend a full day a week it should speed things up a little. Again this may need tinkering with but will see how it goes first.Helen emailed me before she went on holiday to let me know I'd been selected for an interview and sending me my questions. I will answer those in my next update as I have too many pics to show this time but she also asked to see Erin's first real attempt at cross stitch, using the kits we got her for her birthday. The first part of the set the outline is printed onto the aida and she definitely seemed to get the hang of it that way. She made me laugh as it's wool you use for the first two parts of the set and she wasn't too happy as she said she wanted to use floss like mummy, but she was pleased that she got to use a "proper" needle and not just a plastic one lol. So here is her elephant so far.

I have another pic to show of something I got when we went to Liverpool to visit BIL last week, but I think I've waffled on for long enough so will save that to show when I have my interview. Please wish me luck, I haven't had an interview in over 7 years lol!

Hope you're all having a lovely Valentine's weekend, whether you celebrate it or not. DH, Erin and I exchanged cards and then had a nice meal at home last night with candles, pink sparkling wine (pink juice for Erin lol) and we all dressed as if we were going out for dinner with a film afterwards. Erin thought the whole thing was wonderful and was so excited, so I think we may have started a new family tradition.

Stitching In The Snow

Well, yet again I let time run away with me and it's been 2 weeks since my last update. I seriously thought when I got made redundant that I'd have more time on my hands to be able to get all my daily chores done plus do the things I like, like stitching and blogging, but it doesn't seem to be working out that way lol, I seem busier than ever before!

Then this week most of the UK got hit by lots of snow and so DD's school has been closed 3 days out of 4 and my routine has been totally shot to pieces. School was open yesterday so luckily I managed to run around like a mad woman and get lots done, because it's closed again today and I'm just about to give DD a cross stitch lesson with a kit she got for her birthday last week. Below are a couple of pics of the snow on Monday taken in our conservatory, but we've had more since then and it's showing no signs of going for now.

Whilst all this has been going on I have at least been doing some stitching and I have pics of Cirque, Cabin and my travel project, the Cottage Garden thread pack. I am getting close to finishing my 5th page on Cirque and am getting so excited that I will have a BAP happy dance soon! I'm really really going to try hard to finish this in February but I don't know if it's going to be possible. Cabin is only being worked on on a Wednesday evening at the moment and I don't have a pic of it after last night but I really enjoyed stitching on it yesterday. I am tempted to stitch more on it today, but my Cirque goal is in my head so we'll see what ends up in my hands later lol. Cottage Garden only gets a few minutes here and there when I'm in the car either being driven somewhere by DH or waiting places for him or DD, but it's a pleasure to stitch. Once Cirque is done I'm considering spending one day a week on my small project so that it stitches up a bit quicker, but we'll see.

I do keep trying to catch up on all your blogs and comment, but I don't seem to be getting very far for some reason lol. I know how much I appreciate getting comments on here so I really am going to start trying to set aside some time each week to read and comment. You are all as always an inspiration to me with your beautiful stitching and finishing.

Cirque & Cabin Progress

First of all I'd like to thank all those who took the time to comment on my last post about Erin's school. I'm pleased to say that after speaking to her teacher for the third time last Monday Erin did come home with a new book on Wednesday. I am now keeping a record of when she brings things home and takes them back so if something does disappear from her bag I know when it was and have records etc to refer back to. I'm just hoping it won't happen again.

Anyway, finally I have some stitching updates and pics to show! Last year although I did stitch and had some finishes, it wasn't anything like as much as the year before and I have to say I was disappointed with myself. I tried rotating several times without much success and got very frustrated that I didn't seem to be making much progress on anything. So this year I decided to try to change things a little and see if there was a way to get the progress I craved. So since the New Year I have been more or less stitching solely on Cirque, with one day a week on HAED Cabin In The Woods, as Sally and I have started our own HAED SAL on a Wednesday, which I think Claire is also now going to join us on. I've also started one of the CCN/CC thread packs called Cottage Garden which is in my handbag as my travel project. And I have to say that so far it's working really well! Last week I finished my 4th page of Cirque which takes me to 2/3 done and I have started my 5th page and can really see that I will finish it pretty soon if I can keep going like this. And because Cabin is quite hard going on the eyes it's good to just do one day on it then be able to move on, but still know that I'm making regular progress on it. It's also surprising how much I'm managing on my travel project in a few minutes here and there while I'm waiting in the car or travelling etc. So anyway, without further ado here are the pics!
4 pages out of 6 done!
The start of the next page!

4 full pages done
Starting another page

And finally last Friday was my Birthday! I have decided to go backwards as of this year so I'm 34 now hehe. I received some great stash from DH and Erin, but I knew what it was as I ordered it myself as he failed miserably at christmas lol. Sally sent me a card and gorgeous stitched floss ring tag along with a skein of Crescent Colours, and Claire sent me a card and a lovely set of marking pins. I know I've thanked you both already but just wanted to say it again, thanks for thinking of me and your kindness (hugs). I also got other things which I won't bore you with and DH managed to get the afternoon off work so we had a lovely afternoon together and went out for a meal at my favourite mexican restaurant in the evening as Erin was at my mum's.

Well, I'd better get off here now. Tonight is Cabin and I'm hoping to get stuck into it once Erin is in bed. Hope you're all having a good stitching week and managing to stay warm in this really wintry weather we're having. Thanks so much to those who still visit and take the time to comment even though my updates have been few and far between recently, I really appreciate it and I promise I will try harder.

Soooo Angry - Need Advice Please

DD goes to our local school and is doing very well there. The school itself isn’t high in the league tables and has struggled in the last few years although it is improving, and to be honest we didn’t want her to go there in the first place. But that’s how it turned out and we’ve made the best of it, and as long as she is happy and doing well we are fine with that.
School send home a spelling book with spellings to learn each week, a reading book and a diary that we as parents have to fill in after we’ve read the book with her, and a library book of her choice. The reading book and diary are in one clear bag with her name on and the library book another. She then has a school bag which we always keep both of those bags inside, along with her spelling book and any other bits and pieces.
Everyday after school I check her bag for letters etc, new books and homework. If we take anything out it always goes straight back in as soon as we’ve finished with it.
Before the Christmas break her reading book bag and library book bag disappeared from her main school bag and DD said they had all been collected in by school. Which leads me to this week and her return to school. I’ve been asking her each day what they’ve been doing as no new books have appeared in her bag. Fast forward to yesterday and she came out of school with a label stuck to her t-shirt saying “please send me back with my reading book”!!!!! I immediately went to her teacher and said that we had returned all her books etc before Christmas. She responded by saying “well it isn’t in the classroom so will you please check”. I know 100% that we returned that book, but I said I would check and came home and checked in her bedroom and where she keeps her bag just to make doubly sure.
When I took DD to school this morning I went to see her teacher again and said that I had checked and was certain the book had been returned to school before Christmas. Her teacher again said it wasn’t in the classroom so “there must be a gremlin taking things”. I didn’t expect to hear anymore, but this evening DD has told DH that everyone got their reading books and diaries back today but she didn’t get hers “because it’s not been returned to school”!!!
I am absolutely livid and even more so that it’s Friday night and there is nothing I can do til Monday morning. I know from the school newsletters etc that a lot of parents don’t return books when they should so I understand the school’s point of view, but DD has been there for 18 months now and I have never failed to return books etc on time. I KNOW those books were returned to school, but DD is being punished for something she hasn’t done and is missing out on learning as well.
Before Christmas she was off one Monday when we got back from Lapland and so on the Tuesday I sent her to school with lunch money for 4 days in her usual bright orange envelope. That evening on checking her bag I found a note from school chasing us for her lunch money, which was in her school bag when they put that note in...... See the organisation that is obviously in place there, not?
So what do we do? DH says I should speak to her teacher on Monday morning and say that we know we returned the book to school but appreciate they say it isn’t in school, and that our main concern is DD gets a book so doesn’t miss out on learning and we want to know what can be done to make sure that happens immediately.
I want heads to roll for DD being singled out when she has done nothing wrong, but I think I will try DH’s suggestion first but if I don’t get a satisfactory result quickly I’m going to take it further with the headmistress.
Any advice would be very appreciated as I feel like this is out of my control. I don’t want to make relations between us and her teacher difficult, but I’m not prepared for her education to suffer.

Happy Belated New Year!

I can't believe it's been over a month since I last posted, don't know where on earth that time has gone, and so much has happened.

First of all mid-December we went to Lapland and had an absolutely amazing time. I've added a few photos below but don't want to bore you all with loads. If anyone does want to see more please let me know and I'll point you in the direction of my photobucket album.
Family Fun In The Snow
Husky Sleigh Ride
Snow Angel

When we returned things were manic with christmas and me finishing work coming up so I didn't get much stitching done at all, but I did manage to finish the Prairie Schooler Snowy Cabin ornament from this years JCS Ornament Mag. Now silly Lisa didn't remember to take a close up pic of it before the christmas decs went away, so you're going to have to make do with a pic of our whole tree after santa's visit lol. If you look just to the right of the centre where there is a snowman ornament you can hopefully see it lol.

Then at Christmas I officially finished work and became a stay at home mum. Although financially things are now very different, so far this is the best thing that could have happened for our family. The number of people who have commented on how well I look and how relaxed I am is silly, DH constantly has a smile on his face because I'm not permanently in tears and dreading work and therefore taking it out on them, and Erin thinks it's better than all her christmases put together. I've signed up to volunteer at Erin's school a couple of hours a week, I start one part-time course next week and another the week after and I am so excited about doing something new. Of course I'm still looking for a job in the hope I can find something suitable during school hours, but in the meantime I'm just enjoying being home and having the opportunity to learn new things and get more involved with Erin's schooling.

Stitching wise I have nothing else to show as yet. I decided at the end of last year that I really want to just concentrate on my HAED Cabin In The Woods, Cirque and last year's Papillon mystery HDYGG for a while and see if I can actually finish Cirque or HDYGG before I start anything else (other than small projects). I pulled out Cirque at New Year and so far I've been stitching solely on it. I've finished half of my 4th page and for now am just keeping going with it until I get bored, at which point I'll move onto Cabin or HDYGG for a while. Saying that, I am planning on a small new start on my Birthday next week lol. I like to have a small project in my bag for if I'm out and about and have a spare 5 mins or so to stitch at anytime, and don't have one on the go at the moment, so I'm allowing myself a guilt free new start with Country Cottage/Crescent Colours Cottage Garden thread pack to look forward to spring!

Well, I think I've waffled enough for now. I promise to try to update again before another month goes by, but my next job is to start catching up on all your blogs!

Bye for now, Happy Stitching!

It's Christmas!

First of all I want to thank everyone for their wonderful supportive comments on my blog and emails after my last post. Although I still can't quite believe it is happening, I am slowly coming around to the idea that in the end my redundancy might be for the best. Two major things I have noticed in the last couple of weeks are that I am not comfort eating anything like as much as I was, and I'm not getting horrendous indigestion everyday, so I think that could be trying to tell me something. I am still going to be sad to leave my job in a way (I'm now leaving on the 19th, not the 23rd), but I am looking forward to having some time at home to get myself together and decide what I want to do next.

Anyway, onto what this blog is supposed to be about, stitching, and some pics to show!

Firstly Amy received the ornament I stitched for her in the private exchange we did, and I received the most gorgeous ornament in return which is taking pride of place on my tree already.

Next up I've been in a stitched stocking exchange on the Tranquil Stitches BB and I've received my stocking and my partner has hers!

I've just finished off the last of my gift stitching and that will be going in the mail tomorrow, and then I can hopefully get back to stitching the ornament for our tree.

We go to Lapland a week today and I'm like a little kid at christmas with excitement! I'm also panicking trying to make sure we don't forget anything important, but I wouldn't be me if I didn't worry about something lol.

So if I don't get chance to post again before we go, I hope you're all enjoying the build up to this special season, staying warm and cosy in this cold and snowy weather, and still fitting in lots of stitching. Hugs.