Boos Mummy

Well the kids school holidays are done as well as the sun disappeared halfway through them :-(  We did get quite a bit of stuff done in the 6 weeks, though not all of it fun for the kids. New windows for the house, DH and I used quite a bit of his week off to do jobs around the house and garden much to the kids disgust but we'd been putting them off since winter.  We did go out and about so there are a few photos and I even managed to get some stitching done which resulted in a couple of finishes..yay! Photos first... Peter spent a week in summer school at Westfield School (where fingers crossed he'll go to seniors in a years time). At the end of the week they had a day trip to Cleethorpes and I took the 2 youngest with us. Apparently it rained in Sheffield but it was hot at the coast and we had a great day on the beach... Later in August Tony had a week off and we all went to Cleethorpes together... Peter couldn't resist doing a bit of Taekwondo at the coast ...

I've seen this book on and off for months now and when I saw it again in our local library decided to give it a go....I'm so glad I did!  It's not quite in the same league as Brandon Sanderson, Brent Weeks or Robert Jordan as this feels like its aimed more for late teens or early 20's but it's still a wonderful read. This is what the blub says on the back -  The Sanctuary of the Redeemers is a place where children endure brutal cruelty and violence in the name of the One True Faith. Lost in the Sanctuary's huge maze of corridors is a boy. He is strange witty and charming, and violent. But when he opens the wrong door at the wrong time he witnesses an act so horrible he must flee, or die. What it doesn't say is that the book is a joy to read with adventures on nearly every page. I felt for the boy Cale from the first, who wouldn't reading about a young boy who goes through so much abuse. We follow Cale growing not only in body but in experiences and I...

At the beginning of 2014 I still have quite a few WIPs rolled over from the 2013 challenge. My main aim this year is to finish my Castles in the Air, keep up with Around the World in 80 Stitches and work hard on Cruising the Information Highway. So where am I at the end of January with them?  Not much further on realistically *sigh*   We've had a busy month with the kids returning to school and all their clubs starting up again. DS2 went into the Childrens Hospital for dental surgery and DS1 working hard in Taekwondo ready for his grading in February and a competition. I have finished the first row of my HAED "Cruising the Information Highway" Cruising The Information Highway by Randal Spangler Stitched on 25ct 1 over 1 I did finish my Positive Thinking SAL Positive Thinking http://lesmarottesdenath.free.fr/ I also started another project, it's called "Charles" by John Clayton but to me he's "Mr Darcy" stitched on 28ct evenwe...

I've not had much time to stitch in the last month but what little time I have had the needles have been out. As some of you know we've had a few problems with DS2 but after getting help we're now on the right track so fingers crossed I'll get more time to sit stitching.  Here's the progress so far on my Darcy photostitch. I'm now over halfway there and she seems to be growing fast now. This is a small biscornu I made designed by Carla Rizzie. I used pale green linen with hand dyed threads and beads for the centre and around. It's really tiny when you see it in real life. I recently took part in the May Day Exchange with my stitching group Friendly Stitchers. This is a photo of what I received from Ally. A beautiful card as well as a lovely tin containing tiny scissors, stitch unpick, 2 gold needles and some wonderful threads that I'm saving for a sampler I want to do later in the year.  This has so come in handy when I'm sat waiting for DS1 ...

Yes my Darcy photostitch finally looks like it's getting somewhere. Since I stitched part of her eye she just seems to have taken on a life of her own. As I'm sat at my frame stitching I don't see the progress as much but standing back and looking I can't believe how fast she's now coming along. OK I'm not working on her as much as I should as I keep getting sidetracked but Thursday mornings are still reserved just for her as well as a couple of evenings a week. This is my progress so far taken Friday night. I've also been working on my Beau Bands SAL as well. For those who don't know this is designed by Abi on my Friendly Stitchers yahoo group. I'm nearly at the end of Part 2 and have Part 3 all printed out ready to go. My favourite stitch on part 2 has to be the knit stitch, fiddly but looks wonderful. Other stitching I can't show yet as it was part of an exchange and I don't know if it's been received yet. I've also been workin...

Our daughter Darcy has been ill so my stitching all but stopped for a week and I couldn't really get onto the computer for any decent time to catch up on my groups and favourite blogs. I did manage to put a little time into the Darcy photostitch which is growing nicely now. Thankfully she's all better now and Luke who also caught the virus is better. I did manage to get a lot of the confetti stitches completed on Thursday morning as Darcy went back to nursery so I sat down watching Lost In Austen and had a lovely relaxing morning. Here are all 12 months of the calendar project all stitched up....now comes the hard part, putting them together. I'm planning on all 12 being part of a quilt. I've got the material to make a frame around each one; it just needs cutting into the correct size strips and putting together...unfortunately that could take a while as with the children around even the smallest task takes twice as long. I've also bought the fabric for DS2'...

I can't believe we're nearly at the end of February already...where has this month gone? I've not done as much stitching as I usually do this month, this is mostly due to committments involving my 3 children. How 3 small people who are aged from 2-5 cause me to not sit down for long is beyond me. Between school runs, after school swimming or karate lessons, playgroups and craft groups there's no time for stitching until they're all in bed and settled...so I generally have about 2hrs a night to stitch which means my projects seem to be taking forever to grow.  Mind you  the time passes so fast, it doesn't seem like yesterday that I was wrapping Christmas presents and now the boys are talking Easter eggs LOL! I can now show you a picture of a small ornament I did for an exchange with Friendly Stitchers , this is the Calendar Girls 2010 exchange. February's girl is Mouse (aka Michelle) so along with some fabric and threads I made her a little ornament with a ...

This past 2 weeks I've been buying more stash, not much but still more which means my poor stash drawer and box is getting ready to burst.  I wandered through a local bookshop to find a stitching book that I've never come across and it's so rare to find them in our local bookstores. Firstly it was on SALE so I couldn't resist and secondly it has a couple of designs in it that I love and can definitely put them on my to-do list. Then another day I saw 2 charts that I liked the look of so into my shopping basket they went. The first is a snow scene and I'm addicted to snow scenes....much better in stitching than in real life!!  The second is about books which is another love of my life. Stitching wise I've not been doing too badly, I've worked everynight on my gift SAL so that's coming along; not as fast as I wished but still getting there. On Thursday morning while the kids were in school/nursery I worked on my Darcy photostitch, it's gro...

Well I've just finished one of my Book Challenge books. This one was called "The Dangerous Days of Daniel X" by James Patterson. Have to say it was different from what I'd normally read. I've read tons of James Patterson Books,the Alex Cross series, the Women's Murder Club series, Maximum Ride and some of the one off thrillers. I reckon this book would turn into a good young adult film on a similar vein to Starship Troopers. It has aliens both good and bad guys, bugs and fighting in ooze. An easy read, no having to concentrate or much plot following which fitted in with my week as my boys are having 'snow days' from school. I'm going to start book 4 "The Shadow Rising" in the Robert Jordan Wheel of Time series tonight, that I will have to follow the plot so I'm looking forward to it.

Hope you've all had a wonderful Christmas and the Stash Elves have been very good to you. DH and my MIL put together and bought me a Lowery Workstand for my main present which I'd been hinting loudly about since everyone talked about them on Friendly Stitchers and I went to see one in Bakewell. Although it arrived from Sew and Sew DH wouldn't let me have it until Christmas Day, it's now up and running at the side of my bed. On it is my Darcy Photostitch that I've finally started. I'm doing it on 32ct Murano and have been bought some Easy Count Guideline so decided to try it out on this project. Must admit it did take me a while to put the guideline in but now I'm stitching I can see the advantage of it as I'm not having to count or work out where I've left off stitching. This is what it should look like when stitched (hopefully!)  and this is my progress so far. I didn't do too badly myself  with the Christmas Stash Elf and closely followe...

This year I've decided to join the 2010 Olympic Reading Challenge that I saw on a blog I read  frequently. I missed last years challenge so am very glad that Vickie is hosting another one. As this is a year long challenge I've decided to go for a Gold Medal which means during 2010 I need to have read 100 books. As my family could tell you...no problem for me. If you want to join Vickie the link is in the post title. Everytime I read a book I'll add the title onto a list I'll set up. I did finish a book last night which was "The Dragon Reborn" by Robert Jordan, book 3 in the Wheel of Time series but as I'd started it in December I'll not add it...don't want to start cheating.  I'm off to the library tomorrow with DS2 for his craft club so I'll get to peruse while he covers himself in paint or glue for an hour :-) Happy Reading X