Stitching , STASH , Tusal and other stories :)

Hi every one ... you had better make yourself comfy its gonna be a long one ...lol .. Kettle is on as well as long cooling drinks available and the odd cookie or two as always ... better be quick though .....
ok where to start .... firstly the TUSAL I think ... i did take the photo on the right day ... thanks for the reminder folks but as I have to dive in when I can to get on the comp ... its a wee bit late ... but its early Sunday morning here and all's quiet (alll snoozing away inc Master Bentley) I have jumped on  whoop whoop .....
Last week I had some time off work so Wendy , Chris and I went to the Nimble Thimble on the Friday , we set off at 8.30 am and got back home at 10.00pm .... we had fabulous weather all day and the traffic down wasn't to bad either .... We arrived just after Chris from the Nimble had opened and she immediately got the Kettle on ... hmmmm do you think she knows me by now heheheheheh  and while we waited for the refreshing brew we all separated and  perused the wonderful selection of stash goodies with lots of oooo's and ahhhhh's and have we got this one etc etc etc ....
Chris (NT) had set up a table and parasol with it being glorious and we had our  picnic lunch there listening to the river tinkling by and the birds gently tweeting in the back ground ....I, as always took lots of photos and even got on one myself ...lol ....
After we had nibbled on our picnic we went back in and re looked just in case we had missed anything on the third time round hehehe .. I had gone down armed with a threads list and the rest just fell into the basket wanting to come home with me honest hahahahah......
From there we went to Whittington to the Castle Court Quilters and had a nice browse round there and came away with a few gorgeous fabrics :) Chris and I went to walk round the castle to look for the cygnets but they had gone up the river ... we did how ever see some baby moor hens ,coots and ducks.... we then sat out side the local pub "The Old Boot" until opening time and had a wonderful meal and pudding there ... in fact we sat chatting for a long time and didn't realize the time until we thought oooo we had better be getting off back home .... which we managed to do in a record 2 hours and no, I didn't speed in the mousemobile ... just the roads at that time were empty ... the views were spectacular but couldn't take any photos while driving ... not a good idea ..lol
Over the weekend I went to the garden center and got some nice new plants and also went to a Christening too which was lovely .....
Then on Monday, the intrepid explorers (Wendy Chris and I) went off again to Bakewell to the Wye Needlecraft and also to White Peak Embroidery shop and their patchwork shop too  ....  where we had another wonderful day with some more stash thrown in from all shops and a gorgeous lunch at the Lavender Tea Rooms ..... It wasn't as long a day as Friday so Wendy and Chris came back to the mouse house for a cuppa and to see all the lovely stitched goodies I have got off every one :) and also had a quick browse through my charts too ...lol
Phew .... right another drink ???? 
next is the stitching part .... I have finished Ladybugs and Bumblebees by CCN , I did alter it slightly as we spell travelling with two l's and added the word the to make it scan better  at least it does for me ...lol ... sooo hope you don't mind Nicky .... I finished DandyDreams by SilverCreek Samplers and love it ... I was trying it out in its frame yesterday and I am happy with the one I have chosen .... well it matches all the others phew .... Finished Gentle Stitches by LHN and just need to find the right sized tube to finish finish it .... almost finished The North Wind by LHN , just got a couple of snow flakes a wee bit of snow and the border to do and then that's done too .... worked on The Curly Q Sal I am doing with Sally and Lainey,started The Needleworkerby LHN as my Thursday Night stitching night piece ..... don't think I have done any more on Friendship Blooms ..lol but last night I got out Melicent Turner LHN and did work on her for a couple of hours ..... so have taken a before photo and after just to remind you of how much I hadn't done on her hehehehe .... and I also Blinged up some converse for some one at DH's work and they look really good if I say so myself .......
I have been out with Master Bentley more while I have been off and all the bluebells have gone and the floor is completely green infact you can't see the trees for the green ...lol and now the azalea's are out , huge bushes of purple flowers  which I haven't manage to get on camera as yet .... and more annoyingly I have come down with a cold and have lost my voice and now I really do squeak ...lol 
OK I shall be back in five just need to up load the photos to the computer ... have a browse through the new stash and trims .... but be warned I will frisk you on the way out hahahahahah ....

June Tusal with Henrietta mouse 

Ladybugs and Bumblebees by CCN 

view from the Nimble Thimble shop

looking the other way

towards the shop

can you guess where we are ..lol

L-R Wendy , mouse and Chris

simply gorgeous 

inside the Nimble Thimble

and again

and again

this is what we drove through to get to the Nimble Thimble

Whittington Castle built in the 11th C

at the back of the castle

baby moorhens 

homemade raspberry and white chocolate cheesecake

homemade ice cream and biscuit 

inside the pub

just love this ..lol

small stash haul from the Nimble Thimble

fabric from the Castle Quilters and threads from the Nimble

Bakewell :)

Trims from White Peak Embroidery books from Bakewell

Stash from Wye

going to the woods look :)

bit further with Curly Q

The Needleworker start

The North Wind progress

before stitching last night

after stitching last night

bumblebee surfina :)

Swan at Bakewell

 Gentle Stitches by Shakespeare Peddler finished :)

DandyDreams by Silvercreek Samplers Finished :)

and finally a wee bit of bling :)

Soooo * passes tissues round to wipe up the drool ... that's all folks ...lol, that lot should keep me going for a few months ..lol 
Hope you are all well and stitching lots too ... until next time Happy Stitching :) Love mouse xxxxxxx

lazy hazy nights of stitching :)

hi every one :) glad to see you are all still there on the other side of the screen ...:) the kettle is on for those who want a cuppa  and also some cold drinks are in the fridge .
well as you can see I have finally manged to get on to DH's computor ... he is watching a film so I had better type fast ...lol 
first of all before I show you all the finishes and yes there is more than one ...lol 
my friend Bev has joined the blogging world so could you pop over if you haven't already found her and say hello :) and  Stitching Peanut is looking for a chart ...so I said I would bob it on here to see if any one can help she is looking for the prairie schooler  oop #34 New world sampler to borrow or whatever ....

ok here I go.... are you ready for this  ... I have participated in the Friendly Stitchers  Christmas in July exchange/ challenge and I actually managed to get the three done that I had set my self .. two have already been received one to my partner Ravensong and one to Gillie  and the third is awaiting posting so I can't show you that one just yet ..... but I can show you the one I got from Raven song and she also sent me a couple of her own hand dyed threads which are gorgeous .. can't wait to try them out ... I have found a pattern I want to use for one of them :)
I have also finished the Sal with Sally Gentle Stitches .... part of the collaboration with LHN and Shakespeares Peddler , we had stitched the LHN part last year ... and I am sorry to have got round to finishing it as I have loved both parts so much so I think when I go to the Nimble Thimble on Friday I shall get the threads again :)
We have started another one with Lainey.... Curly Q and I will show you how far I have got with that one ... I have also worked on the Friendship Blooms Sal with DJ and Babs this week too ....
what is the plural of a sal then ???? one sal two sal three sals ???? heheheh 
Then I got France's RR and started and finished it in one day .... I had to stitch it the  opposite way to how I normally stitch and some one told me a trick to turn the fabric and the chart 90* and it works ..... see photos below ...lol ... I just had to pick one of my favorite colours  and stitched Seahorse no 5 
I have also got DJ's RR but haven't started it yet , I have got a few days off after Wednesday so I will tackle it then ... it is gorgeous and I want to be able to stitch on it in good day light and when my eyes are not tired :)
Bev as from above ...lol and Chris came to the mouse house on Thursday and we had a lovely night nattering and drinking lots of cuppas and did lots of stitching .... I worked on Dandy Dreams and was soooooo close to a finish I did finish it on Friday Whoop WHoop .... a few down and a zillion and one more to go hahahahah ....
oooo DH has just made a cuppa ... any one for another ????
I took Master Bentley up to the woods last weekend and took some photos of the blue bells that are covering the ground at the moment ... it had rained the night before and the smell from the flowers was gorgeous .... the birds were chirping away merrily and the cuckoo kept cookkooing  throughout the walk ... and we didn't meet a soul ..... it was sooo peaceful and there was just a gentle breeze floating around making the leaves dance gently as we pootled past.
I have also been taking some photos of the flowers in my garden ....
Vickie my peonies have bloomed so I have took a couple of photos for you :)
Today was another lovely day so we got lots of things washed and blowing on the line while in between sorting it all out, I worked on my Ladybugs by LHN and I am about 3/4 of the way to finishing it :) I have altered it slightly as we spell travelling with two L's and also I have added a the in there to make it scan better, for me at any rate .... this is one of last years crazies so I shall be pleased when it is done too .... I want to try and get some more finished but peeps keep bringing out lovely chart to stitch heheheh ....and I am off, as I said earlier to the Nimble Thimble again this Friday ... any one want anything ...lol luckily for me I have a few pennies saved up ... so there could be just a wee bit of baskitis going on heheheheh ....
reety ho I had better get these photos on for you to drool over ..lol

million bells 

from Ravonsong to me
along with a couple of her own hand dyed threads

pink bells in my garden

the man on the moon taken with my new camera :)

three finished and awaiting to be finished properly off :)

mine to Ravensong

for Gillie from me :)

bluebells in the woods

and some more

and more :)

having to stitch this way for France's RR

getting there 

and finished :)

a closer view 

Gentle Stitches finally stitched 

one rather wet Master Bentley ....

Curly Q sal with Sally and Lainey

Dandy Dreams by Silvercreek Samplers finished :)

slowly getting there 

spot the wee darlick

peonies for Vickie

another clematis by the craft room window

almost there 

Well I do hope you have enjoyed the stitch fest .... and enjoyed your cuppa ... I had better get off and get some snap done for tomorrow as back to work for a couple of days first before I get some time off ....
hope every one has a wonderful stitchy week .... take care until next time :) love mouse xxxxxx