Monday 24 March 2014

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

36 comments:

Gillie said...

What a lovely weekend and Ally's part of my RR finished, lol! Fingers crossed for a quick sale...

Chocolates4Breakfast (Terri Malinovich) said...

What a great day and that Mandarin duck is amazing! I hope luck is on your side with the new home. Can't wait to see pics!

Cricket-bug Corner said...

Great pictures! That duck is amazing!

Tricia T said...

What a fun visit! Your RR piece is going to be such a nice remembrance. And I love English robins. Do you think we could transplant one over here?? ;)

Margaret said...

Love the pictures! Love the stitching! Hope you get the house. I can't wait for pics!

Beth said...

I agree with Grace! Why'd you guys send over Starlings instead of your darling Robins!? Really enjoyed all your bird photos. I never managed to see a Jay...maybe next time. Lots of great stitching and a fun and probably exhausting weekend you had! Looks like some lovely spring weather.

cucki said...

Aww such fun day and the duck is so cute too..beautiful photos...
Your rr is so beautiful..I love it..
Huge hugs x

Chris said...

It sounds like a lovely weekend!You got some amazing bird pics.
Great stitching progress too :)

Mii Stitch said...

What a great trip! Sounds like you all had a wonderful time! Fist time I'm seeing a Mandarin Duck :)

Meari said...

Sounds like you had a fab time!

Shirlee said...

Lovely photos mouse!

Sarah in Stitches said...

Some great pictures, Mouse! Beautiful stitching too. Glad you had a great time this weekend :D

Dani - tkdchick said...

Sounds like you had a wonderful day with fellow stitchers!

The Inspired Stitcher said...

Oh Mouse, sounds like you girls had the best time! Love the pics. It's so neat that you saw all that wildlife there. Have a great week! Hugs

Vickie said...

You obviously had a fabulous time. 330 photos!! I love that duck. Wow!

pam said...

LOVE The RR! you lucky mouse:)

gracie said...

Certainly sounds like you had a great time and the pictures are lovely...thank you for sharing.

Maggie said...

Sounds like you had a great time :-)

Love your RR. I have that one on my sampler wall, such a lovely piece.

Love the bird photos too.
x

Jacqueline Morris said...

Looks like you had a wonderful break... I love your wildlife photos, they are really clear. I especially like the Manderin duck, wonderful colors. The stitchers tray looks useful and lovely colors. Looking at all the stitching projects... lovely, just lovely :) Have a lovely week :)

Linda said...

Wonderful stitching and lovely photos Mouse. That Mandarin duck is amazing.

Linda

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

Ey oop Nora, how's your stockings? Did you see Compo this weekend?

What a lovely way to spend time with friends. Your RR looks great all finished now.

Simply Victoria said...

Your RR piece is fabulous. Love all the bird photos.

Mary Ann said...

It sounds like you had a wonderful visit with friends, and took some great photos! I LOVE your Neighborhood RR--what a treasure!!

Mylene said...

Sounds like you all had a lovely time...beautiful pictures!!

Jo said...

Glad you had fun. Your stitching is coming along great and I love the colours on the TP. Wonderful photos, my favourite is the Blue Tit, one of my all time favourite birds xx

Pete's Pixie said...

Eeeeeh - wish I had made a cuppa before I sat down lol! Yes a wonderful time was had by all thanks to Frances and her wonderful hospitality. Got loads of stitching done and saw loads of birds - some I hadn't seen before including the grey wagtail. Got loads of stitching done too in fact I may even squeeze in a long overdue blog post before I depart Scotland's green and pleasant land for the sunny dales of Yorkshire :)

Barb said...

What a lovely week-end and so many pretty photos. Your robins look very different from those in the US.

Angela said...

Wonderful stitching, wonderful pics! I love your RR piece and that Mandarin Duck is gorgeous....I had never seen one of those before :)

woolwoman said...

sounds like a wonderful weekend with friends in spite of the iffy weather events. loved the photos of the birds and deer. cheers! Mel

Michelle said...

Lovely stitching Mouse. My friend Caron and I went on a trip to Last of the Summer Wine Country years ago on a coach and we had a lovely day xx

Thoeria said...

Now *that* is what I call a hermitting weekend Ms Mouse!! What a fun time! Want to bring your machines over to SA and do some stitching? :) Love all the pics.....and that mandarin duck is absolutely gorgeous!

Brigitte said...

Oh, what a lovely weekend you had with stitching and sewing and friends and so much more. And I loved seeing all the pictures of what you experienced at your walk around town. These birds are wonderful, we have the same in our garden and I love to watch them visit our garden.

Andrea said...

Sounds like you had a wonderful few days with your stitching buddies. Love all of the photos, you saw some great wildlife, thanks for sharing, especially those robins.

geeky Heather said...

Lovely photos and the one of the two Mandarins is amazing! That other duck looks a little like a Mallard, but not quite.

Charlene ♥ NC said...

Looks like you chicks are still gathering for tons of fun - with all that spring time nature to keep you entertained between stitches! Hope the house/move works out well for you.

DJ said...

So glad the three of you had a wonderful time. You have been busy with your stitching!! So glad your RR made it home safely, it looks fab, can't wait to see the finish... Your pictures are amazing! Love the Mandarin duck, and I've never seen a British Robin, they sure look different than their American cousins! *Hugs*