Sunday 30 June 2013

A tale of two bloggers meeting :)

Hi every one :) what a fab weekend this has been too .... (kettle is on btw help yourselves ... my wee paws are a bit ouchie ...lol) 
As you can see this is mostly a tale about two bloggers meeting but do not fear there is some stitching and of course back by popular demand .....Master Bentley ....lol
As some of you may know Beth  has come over from across the pond with her mum and has been touring ... First France then London and yesterday she came to York .... well what was a mouse to do except clear her diary and pootle over in the mousemobile to meet up with Beth and show her and her mum around the beautiful city of York :)
I set off really early to get a parking space and managed it with no problems at all ... which makes a real change on a Saturday morning .... may be they knew I just had to have a space heheheh .... I managed to get some chores done and out of the way and had time to nip into The Craft Box and also The Viking Loom which hasn't much stitchy stuff in it that I do these days but did have some threadwoxs threads in and some lovely fabric that I just had to have ;) but don't know what for yet ...lol 
We had arranged to meet outside the York Minster and had sent each other photos of what we looked like and it worked ... we found each other really easily .... and first things first we went for some" Pub grub" where Beth had her first taste of Yorkshire Pudding .... after we had eaten I took Beth and her mum on a whistle stop tour of all the best places in town ... We went to the Shambles, the river, Cliffords Tower and saw some WOLS that were on show in a Church between the shops .... and finally back to the Minster were we had enough time to wander round most of it , where we were treated to the wonderful sound of the Minsters organ and Choir getting ready for the service ....I think the best bit in there was the Chapter house which is built with no central support ,the roof was fabulous and the stained glass windows were gorgeous ... we stopped in there for a wee while taking it all in and sitting where the bishops etc sit when they have their meetings ........ They are currently re doing parts of the minster and we saw the stone masons work shop and all the stones had different signatures on, so that they will know in future years when they have to do it all again who did which bit .....  we even went below the church and saw the foundations and the restorative work that they are having to do to it .... We didn't go on the tower tour though ..... Beth was taking photos left right and center too and you can see hers on her blog as she has updated before me ...lol  
if you are good you may spot me in not one but two photos ;)
We had a wonderful day , and the weather was kind to us in fact I came home with a pink nose and cheeks ... freckles will follow later ...lol I hope we can meet again as we got on so well .... in fact Beth's mum commented I spoke the same as I wrote heheheheh ... 
I have managed to finish the RR section that I picked to do on DJ's RR after the Toad visited on Wednesday night .. had to reverse stitch the top of the porch and it was a toad as I took a photos .... see below ..lol ..... so that is ready to be sent on to its next stitcher and I also did some work on the Sal with Sally and Lainy   and on the Needleworker too ....ok doke I had better show you some photos .... and yes there will be one of Master Bentley.....
the minster peeking at top the houses

the front of the minster

just look at that detail

the minsters garden 

two week old owl :)

the Minster rose 

toad that visited the mouse house !!!!

found this funny ....

owls that were on show in the wee church 

he looks fed up ..lol

gorgeous expression on the wee barn owl

Famous rose window of the Minster 

The fabulous ceiling of the chapter house 
The Minsters organ 

just loved how the sun was shining through these 

Beth to the left and mouse to the right 

BOOOO .... 

DJ's robin so far

this is the bit I did


so far on the Curly Q sal :)
soooo there you go ... ohhh you want to see the wee stash enhancement too ???
oh go on then ... you had better get your magnifiers out for this one though hahahahahaah
just a small stash enhancement 



Progress on the Needleworker by LHN
giftie from Beth :)


Goodies won from Chiara 

RAK from Melanie 


Stuffing tool made my Melanies DH :)
 I had a wonderful postie week as well ... first of all I won a wee giveway prize from Chiara  for guessing what a chart was she was stitching ... and it is full of lovely goodies ... from organic tea to sweeties as well as  lovely fabric and charts and silk .... not to mention the needles I found after looking at a little chart which hides the needles , and the wee buttons are fab and I have the perfect chart for the strawberry one ... Strawberry house by LHN which just so happens to be kitted up ready to be stitched on :)
and on top of all those goodies from Chiara , Melanie RAKed me with a beautiful machine stitched needle book and the lace bit inside was done on machine by her too ... and look at that bit of bling ...lol ... she also included a stuffing tool made by her DH ... that is going to be very useful ;) and all because I inspired her to go to the White Peak embroidery shop ... I said if that  was what I got for that where else could I inspire her to go hehehehe .....
and on that cheery note I had better say good night and hope you all have a wondeful stitchy week and squeak to you all later .... thanks for popping by :) love mouse xxxxxxx

Monday 24 June 2013

Hermitting = Happiness

Hi every one :) hope every one had a wondefull hermitting weekend which was actually this last weekend and not the weekend before like we had all thought but hey ... any excuse right ...lol 
The kettle is on . tea , coffee and hot chocolate for those who like it too .... and also some cool drinks in the fridge ... just help yourselves and some strawberries too .... well it is the Wimbledon season ..lol
Hope you have all turned back to your normal colour ... really sorry to make you all go pea green  but it was saved up for honest .... and the next big splash is Harrogate in November to give you advance warning hehehhe .... and I did managed to get someone to pop over to the White Peak embroidery shop and she loved it and is going back again later on in the year *waves at Melanie who is a newbie blogger on the patch ... so please if you can bob over and say hello :)
I haven't been any where interesting this week apart from work bah humbug ..lol but I have been stitching and at the end of Saturday night I put the final stitches into The North Wind by LHN stitched on an unknown steel gray evenweave with the recommended threads and I am soooooo pleased with how it has turned out .... that is the fifth bigish project I have finished in the last couple of months and long may it continue :)
I did a wee bit more on my Curly Q sal with Sally  and Lainey and had a wee hair emergancy .... I hadn't realized I had missed out the hair colour thread when I had kitted it up .... well how is it you have every colour under the sun in your craft room bar the one you want 433 eh ??? I searched high and low and found a near as dammit one from Anchor and thought whooo hooo ... the only problem I can foresee is this is supposed to be the swirls on the sheepie  along with CC Country Lane ... errmmmm don't think sooo as this will be a major YUK  with the colour of my Country lane which is nooooo where near as golden brown as on the main photo model so I think I will have to go back to the floss pile and choose one that is going to work far better methinks ....good job I am not afraid to change things I don't like ...lol 
I was at Chris's on Thursday night for our stitching night again as her wee puss- cat had a little  op and I said it would be easier if I went there instead of them coming to the mouse house .... any way out came The Needleworker by LHN my Thursday night piece to stitch on and away my needle went .... I decided to try out the Polly Wog colour which is the green leaves but I am not sure whether it will look right or not .... did I tell you I used to be indecisive but now I not so sure ...lol soooo opinions please .... when I have re looked at the photos it doesn't seem as bad as Thursday night but.....help please :)
Sunday I took Master Bentley for our usual pootle round the woods and that saying you can't see the woods for the trees is in force .... you can't see anything for the leaves .... green is every where ... sooo peaceful and lovely to listen to the blackbirds and the chaffinches and the robin chirping and tweeting away merrily as I walked through ... Master Bentley met up with a few of his friends and had a run around so he was a very happy and snoozy pup for the next few hours .....
I picked up the RR for DJ over on Friendly Stitchers  round robin group and put some more stitches into that .. it is stitched with one thread over two and I am having to stitch it sideways again to make it match in with how most other folks stitch ... it makes  for an interesting hour or two ..... any way I am almost finished with my section so I can get it posted and on its merry way to Ally :)
I realized today that I have been back at work a whole year .......  time flies when you are having fun ...lol and it pays for the stash enhancements soooo that is a billy bonus heheheheh .... 
I have also worked a wee bit on my Melicent Turner by LHN too this week and have loved working on the letters as they are therapeutic to stitch  , not toooo taxing on a tired brain at the end of the night .... I am going to concentrate on that one this week and see how far I can get when not working on the other pieces :) then I may just treat myself to another new start heheheh .... I have some raks I  want to stitch and I am in the process of sorting out patterns etc sooo you never know your luck  in a raffle if I have your snail mail address :)
ooooo I hear the sounds of the kettle anyone ready for another cuppa ????
well I think I may have waffled on a wee bit ..lol sooo I had better put up some photos for your delight heheheh
the moon on  midsummer's night 

before hermitting

pootling on with this one Melicent Turner LHN

wild hair day ... Curly Q by LHN

Progress on The Needleworker by LHN

the polli wog colour is the bit of dark green ...
 this is what I am unsure about...


The North Wind by LHN finally finished 22/06/2013

my orchid still flowering :)

I wanted to take a photo of the supermoon at the weekend but Mr Weatherman had other ideas and it was far tooo cloudy to see it ... I did though manage to take one of the moon on Midsummers night .... Its a bit hazy as there was a lot of wispy clouds going over it .... 
my orchid has flowered all through winter and no signs of stopping either :) so I thought to show you a wee photo of its blooms :)
Thanks for stopping by and hope you all have a wonderful stitchy week and welcome to my newest followers too ... take care and happppy stitching till next time :) love mouse xxxxxx

Sunday 16 June 2013

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