Hermitting Traveller :)

Hi every one :) hope this finds you all as well as can be expected .... the kettle has just boiled and my brew is at the side of me to revive me after my weekend of hermitting and travelling .... to be fair the travelling wasn't tooo far just over 40 mins to the wonderful Holmfirth famous for the program " The last of the Summer wine "  the journey was a slightly different route that I was used to as I went there after I had been somewhere else that morning ...  oooo sorry just realised... what does every one else want to drink ???
ok are you all sitting comfortably as I forgot to mention this will be a long one and there also will be just one or two photos heheheh
right back to the tale .... I arrived at Frances's early doors and was greeted at the door by Ally  who had come down from North of the border a few days before .... I took in my luggage ... two machines and two bags of stitching goodies for the weekend ... and my over night bag ... I was as usual travelling light ;) I had just got it all in and found my camera in time as we saw we had some lovely visitors to the land at the back of the garden ... a young deer and a doe came out and pootled around the land before disappearing after about 15 mins and one or two photos later ....  Frances came back in time to see them and then  we all  settled down in the conservatory for a restorative cuppa and lots of catch up chatting and watched the weather go from glorious sunshine to hailstone all in one afternoon ... that sort of scuppered the plans for a walk round the village  that day at any rate .... sooo we sat and watched the birds arriving in the garden to have some food at the feeders ... we managed to see two different robins , coal tits , blue tits , golden finches , long tail tits , black birds , song thrush and a Jay as well not to mention hearing the pheasant up in the land .... it was lovely to watch them all and I did manage to get quite a few decent shots of the birds .... (took 330 photos over the weekend whoops )
As it was hermitting we did decide we ought to do some stitching so I taught France's how to make a stitchers tray for herself as she wanted and extra big on to sit on her couch at the side of her with her goodies ... I brought her a wee needle minder with Lady birds on it as I knew she would love it :) 
Over on the Friendly Stitchers  we are doing a Travelling Pattern and I got my chart and I had also brought with me the January one  so I could get it started while I was there .... think I made good progress on it :) we are doing the Country Cottage Samplings Months of the Year ....  We have bought all the patterns and there are twelve of us doing it so far .... I picked out my charts from stash with them mmmm that looks near enough and nice on my fabric ... I have chosen 28 count Jobelan Bone to stitch them on individually so that eventually I can make it into a quilt :) well that is the plan at any rate hehhehe
So while Frances was making her stitchers tray Ally was busy stitching on Gillies  RR and she finished her bit while I was there too ... very impressed I was ...lol ... and talking of RR's mine came back home to me ... whooo hooo ... its LittleHouse Neighbourhood  by LHN and I love it .... I charted everyone's initials onto the chart so that I could remember always who had stitched which bit ... all I need to do now is the border and the wee verse at the bottom and finish off my section soooo it will be done in about another 6 months ahhahahah ...
Moving swiftly on ...lol on Sunday Ally and I did the wee tour around Holmfirth and I took lots more photos and managed to get some fab shots of the first Mandarin Duck I have seen  in real life :) we went down to the river and got mobbed by the "normal " ducks thinking we had some goodies for them ....  next time I promise ....
The time flew by so fast that before I knew it I was on my way back to the mouse house in the mouse mobile  and normality, I had a fabulous time and can't wait to go back .... once France's has recovered from having the both of us hehehehe...
I must show you the wee giftie from Anne she made me a wonderful mug cosy and sent me some Russian Earl Gray Tea  ... yummmm  .... talking of which I will pop the kettle on again for you all .....
I had to giggle the other day I scampered into town and went into the shop where I got the Fab wallpaper from for my bedroom and its ok I can still get some more for the new house .... we wanted to move into the new one  few years ago but missed out on it as they took it off the market before we could sell the one we are in now ... but this time we are in a better position and can get it and get this one ready  to pop up for sale  as soon as we can .... the new one looks smaller on the outside but is actually bigger (over four floors) and will be better for us in the long run :) once I know we are nearer to it being totally ours I will get some photos for you too peep at :)
Talking of photos I had better go and sort out the good ones for you to peep at ...

spring flowers 

my Cherry tree blossoming

La d Da progress

My wee giftie from Anne

Deer

more deer

female blackbird

My RR home :)

Long tailed tit

Blue tit

Robin 1

wee sparrow

now where is that seed 

Jay

Periwinkle

France's Stitcher's tray 

Holmfirth's stream

Robin 2

Cherry blossom in the park

Nora Batty's house

Gray wag tail

Any idea what he is ???

they were running towards us 

Manderin duck

Rosey Progress

Travelling Pattern Progress

  Well I made the photos smaller and tried to rearrange them so they didn't take up as much room and ermmm failed ..lol
Okay doke I had better leave you and go and make some snap for my dinner tomorrow and get some much needed snoozes before work tomorrow .... hope every one has a wonderful stitchy week and I shall bob in when I can to see you all ... take care one and all :) love mouse xxxxxx

The times they are a changing ....

Hi folks :) hope every one is as well as can be expected in the stitchy world  and hands up all who are singing the title ...lol 
well come gather round and pull up a pew and grab your cuppa , a coffee or a brew ... along with a cookie to nibble on too .... 
Sooo if you can cast your minds back to the last post we were going to have the window fitted in out bedroom well it has finally been done ... redecorated and a brand new carpet in there , on the stairs and also some vinyl in the bathroom  sooo my wee pad is looking a lot posher not to mention a lot lighter as we have got rid of lots of clutter ... the bedroom still has to be finished off ... I can't find a pink  ornament to go on my window bottom eeeekkkkk .... 
Well on top of that news we are now also in the process of buying an new mouse house .... essentially  down grading but its like the tardis ... small on the outside and bigger on the inside ...lol  and my craft room will be a lot bigger and hopefully once sorted lighter too ... I can't wait ... I will update you as soon as I can ... heheheh 
Ok I suppose I ought to waffle about stitching ..lol The competition run by Gaynor of StitcherAnon fame kept me on tender hooks all week ..lol and ..... my rendition came second WHOOP ... Christina came first ... not sure of her blog or if she has one as there was no link to her name ...so she may of come through FaceBook .... soo in coming second I get to choose five charts from Gaynor designs .... I now just have to decide which ones I want on my final list ... oooo the decisions ..lol  
On the stitching front I do have a finish ... on Sunday I managed to finish Miss Peepers by LHN ... stitched on some Sparklies fabric slightly rosey I think with the recommended threads and I think it has turned out rather cute :) not sure on how I am going to finish it sooooo .... 
I have decided that I am going to carry a wee chart and stuff to stitch it with in my handbag as I seem to have got more stitching done that way just recently than in my stitching chair at home as DD's business has been going very well and DH and I and a few other of the crew are still working hard for her ... (we did go to see the consultant and she has Scoliosis  of the spine , she also has to go for an MRI scan to check for damage to the lower vertebrae too and to confirm the Sherman's again too ) so it is all fun here at the mouse house ..lol
I also have managed to get a wee bit done on the "bushel and a peck " by La D Da sooo all is not lost ..lol
The weather here has decided to be kind to us and given us a few warm days and boy has spring exploded ... the daffodils have opened and are nodding gracefully in the breeze and the crocus are opening really wide to sun bathe before closing up at bed time ... and my cherry blossom tree has sprung into flower almost over night ....  and the worst thing ... is seeing folks in shorts eeekkkk ...lol  ....you can see the birds starting to make their nests and chirping away merrily to each other from veryyyy early on ....  and I managed to hang some washing out to dry on the line *VBG 
soooo what else have I done hmmmm thinking .... we went out last week to celebrate my friend Wendy's birthday ... and had a lovely time ...and not next weekend but the weekend after which also happens to be hermitting  whoop ... Ally is coming down from her pad to stay with Frances and I am going too sooooo its shall be lots of tea drinking , laughing and I hope a wee bit of stitching thrown in for good measure too ...lol
well I think I have waffled enough for tonight ... I shall go and pop the kettle on again for seconds while I sort out the photos for you :)

new bedroom wallpaper and carpet 

dancing daffodils

spring flowers appearing 

gorgeous butterfly that appeared on Sunday 

dancing in the sunshine

soaking up the rays

gorgeous colours of the crocus

La D Da bushel and a peck progress 

Miss Peepers by LHN finished 09/03/2014

the moon at tea time on Sunday with the sun shining on it 

cherry tree flowering

My rendition that came second :)

So there you have it folks the news from the mouse house this week .... all being well I shall sneak over to see you all soon so I shall wish you all a wonderful stitchy week ... take care one and all :) love mouse xxxxxxx

I love my postie and other tales :)

Helllooo every one , sorry to have been so quiet for a wee while but at the mouse house it has been all go for the last few weeks with one thing and another ....
My youngest DD has opened a sweetie shop and is on Just Eat and we have been very busy with this (it is now a family run thing ..lol) and she has unfortunately been off from her "normal " job with her back so it has been down to the rest of the small crew to do the orders and deliveries .... while she recovers and waits to see the consultant on Monday ....
Meanwhile back at the mouse house we are in the middle of renovations .... we are having a new window hopefully fitted to our bedroom on Monday .... it should have been done on Thursday but the glass was broke when it arrived at the warehouse *sigh .... sooo not only that I have been desperately trying to redecorate and we have ordered some new carpets etc etc etc .....
Blimey *mouse scoots off and gets the drinks and the cookies ... almost forgot eeeekkkk .... here you go ... 
sooo back to the title again ..lol 
Beth  when she was on her travels last year in Paris she found a wee something that she thought would be good for my birthday and it arrived safely at the mouse house the other week .... it is a gorgeous wee tiny mouse button, it is to coin a phrase tres cute :) and a lovely card with goldfinches on it :) I shall have to make something really special to add it to it :) Then not longer after that there was another parcel that came from across the pond to the mouse house from Ma Teakettle  if you cast your minds back a wee bit I won her 6 year blogaversary and my goodies had arrived .... and lets say I had a wee drool fest over them ....lol , there were 6 charts from my favourite designers .... six gorgeous threads from one of my favourite thread peeps .... some Bohin Needles , another couple of yummy threads for good luck and some floss bags too and the newest threads from DMC which are really quite scrumptious colours and have yet to get here as far as I know .... now all I need to do is kit them up and squeeze a few more hours out of the day to get them stitched up ...lol 
Then the other thing that has been keeping me quiet is .... a competition chart that was designed by Gaynor of Stitcheranon fame .... she designed a beautiful butterfly and there has been a lot of interest in the competition .... I decided to do mine in Threadworks 11011 I think lol on antique white opalescent 28 count fabbie and finished it as a cushion backed with fushia pink dupion silk with a wonderful butterfly ribbon and crystal pin ... the deadline for the entries was today and I squeaked in late last night PHEW ... sooo if you want to pop over and see the rest of the entries I think they will all be on there from tomorrow at 12.00 pm  mouse house time ... there is a poll bar at the side I seem to recall she said soo please bob over  and vote for your favourite :) 
I have also in between things stitched on Miss Peepers so can you see the progress report on that too ...
other than that I have managed to take some photos of Spring arriving ... thank goodness , it does seem to have been a long winter and we have had it quite mild compared to a lot of you .... 
OOOO I almost forgot that my goodies to DJ arrived safely as well as a wee RAK to Amy (no blog) so I can now show you those too and also the Travelling Pattern book made it safely to Peggy  so that was three big sighs of relief I can tell you ...lol 
ok I had better go and find the photos to show you ... any one else want another cuppa ??? tea , coffee , hot chocolate ??

Hope Cushion designed by Stitcheranon

Booo I am a pooch in a box ...lol 

Goodies from Ma Teakettle

spot the ladybug

almost there on Miss Peepers by LHN

next doors bloomed two days ago

mine almost there 

Cute wee mouse button from Beth :)

Rak to Amy 

stitchers tray and pincushion to add to the bourse already sent

Friendship bag for DJ

wee goodies from London sent at same time

hope you have all enjoyed your wee visit to the mouse house ....hopefully won't be as long between them next time :) Take care one and all and looking forward to catching up with you all soon :) love mouse xxxxx