Monday 28 July 2014

A stitchers companion

Helllooo again ... I must be on a roll with the blog posts ...lol please grab a chair and a cuppa and join me in another tale from the stitching mouse :)
Well what has been happening at the mouse house this week I hear you think .... ermmm another finish??? ...lol that's right another one .... I put the last stitches into the Stitchers Companion Piece from the Stitchers Journey by BBD on Saturday evening ...when I did this for Lisa (inspired stitcher ) the other year I said to her I wanted to make mine the same into a box finish .... well I have found the box .... hehehe ... I am just hoping that mine will fit as my initial is bigger than the one charted and I had to adjust the pattern to fit ... I will show both finishes so you can compare :)... It is a lovely quick finish and I stitched it on 32 count slightly nutty (sums me up;) Sparklies fabric and with the recommended DMC threads well actually less than they said as I didn't have the right ones in the first place heheheh so I made do and I think it has turned out just fine :)
I had a wee tidy up in the corner of the craft room and rediscovered charts I had forgotten I had got which was nice .... and found some I was looking for as I knew I had them kitted up somewhere but in which archaeological layer I couldn't remember ....lol and pulled one out that I wanted to start which was Dance in the rain by Lizzie *Kate .... I had kitted this up with threads that looked near enough to the colours charted and had some 28 or it could even be 32 count natural fabric that I bought the other year at Harrogate which when I did the floss toss looked nice on it soo that was that .... and now I have got Life stitched ..... although the photo I took yesterday only shows the start of the Li...
and it was too dark to take another when I got back from the sweet shop ...
Talking of which a wee magpie managed to get into the unit (luckily not into the shop itself ) and refused to move  ... until the A team arrived we managed to get it out with a wee bit of persuasion and a fire water bag that's like a giant water pistol ... I didn't want to have to have it removed another way ... sooo pleased the plan ?? worked ...lol 
As I mentioned in an earlier waffle DH and I are off for a few days and the week after I am hoping to go down to Wales to a certain shop there and also do some more work on the new craft room ... as I am fed up of looking at boxes with nothing in them as yet and no where to actually do some finishing of things off ....and my finishing pile is getting bigger ...lol and I am itching to get things finished finished as well as started ...lol and I still haven't got that perfect Welsh Dresser yet WAHHHHHH .... lol 
The weather seems to have cooled down a wee bit at least on the night so its better for sleeping but as I got into my car today after work the temperature read 34 degrees sheesh ... I got those windows down before I got in there and cooked .... and the ride home was delightful as I was back at the mouse house in 25 mins squeeeeee ..... 
I took Master Bentley for his evening pootle last night along the canal and I was stalked by a wee squibble .... he was soo close and as always when I see something this good no camera *sigh ... there was also a wee bird that gave off a loud Tweet Tweet .. it was no bigger than a jenny wren but it sounded sooo big with its call ... it sounded like the wee chicken chicks when they were hungry ... I shall have to try and look up what it may be .... just had a wee look and it may be a Twite ??
Ok I had better put the kettle on again as you will be parched now after reading all this and then will pop the photos up for you :)
brb ....
Stitchers companion for me :)

think I had better trim this its taking over ...lol 

love this :)

my new start from Lizzie *kates Dance in the rain

Finish I did for lisa

box top

finished item ... spot the clue who off :)

nice to see you all again :)
brew up .... had to take Master Bentley for his pootle in the garden.. he likes to make sure I have five mins of fresh air before I go to bed ...lol .... well I had better go and make my snap for tomorrow and tidy the kitchen up of your cups before bed time .... hope you all have a wonderful stitchy week and I shall squeak to you all soon ... take care one and all love mouse xxxxxx

Sunday 20 July 2014

Its been a funny ole week ....

Hi peeps :) hope every one has grabbed their brews and a comfy seat as its that time of the week again .. a mouse house update :)
This week as the title says has been a funny ole week .... Monday started soooo well then in the afternoon we got called in to the back office and our lovely boss told us he was leaving !!!!!  Well you could have knocked us all down with a feather we were sooo shocked ....he left it till the last moment to tell us as he didn't want us to get upset hmmmmm bit of an understatement ....
any hooo we carried on our normal day to day working life in a daze and arranged a surprise leaving lunch and goodies for him .... apparently it took me and Emm 3 hours to go to the bank one day .... hehehe it really was only an hour and a half ... normally only takes about 30 mins ....
So on Friday we said goodbye to him and put on a spread and we had oodles of cake as he had brought some in as well ... he got us all some fun "thank you" presents ... and wrote us all a  personal card each .... and we hope he enjoy's his new post .. if not we will have him back .... :)
Stitching wise I haven't been up to doing any until about Thursday when Chris came to the mouse house I started a new start ... a wee baby sampler for my apprentice "K" aunt who is due to pod any day now ... we don't know what she is having so I have stitched everything I can from the Lizzie *Kate baby sampler until we know what the wee one is and name and then I can finish it off ... it was a lovely stitch ....
I started another start too ... as I just had to ...lol..... a wee while ago I stitched the same piece for Lisa from the inspired stitcher  and I am going to finish mine the same way ... I found my box ..lol  its the stitchers companion piece from BBD stitchers journey .. I am stitching it on a piece of Sparklies slightly nutty I think ..... 32 count with the DMC equivalents or at least most of them .... I started my initial just before I came on here to do this post .... and I hope that it will fit ....eeekkkk .... 
Yesterday we were at the Sweet Shop when it got awfully dark and then the thunder and lightning started .... wow it was fun watching it but scary at the same time ... we thought it might do as it has been sooo hot and humid here and the same sticky  hot weather we had again today but so far no sign of anything extra PHEW ,..... just feel like I'm melting ..... its midnight here at the mouse house and its still 23.5 degrees C ... feeling hot hot hot .....
Sorry I haven't been round to visit many peeps I will get round to it as they say .... and thank you for all the lovely comments you have been leaving .... in answer to some ... the photo of the moon was taken with my bridge camera .... it has a 28 x zoom and I just pointed and shoot and took a few to get the one ... 
Master Bentley has enjoyed his cuddles and his extra biscuits off you all ...No photos of the new house yet as not been down into the basement during daylight hours ....hopefully soon when I have got two weeks off I can do some more and show you progress photos :)
The Quilt idea for the CCS charts is just that at the moment ... I will have a play with some paper and draw out an idea and wing it from there hahaha ... that is what I did with Sally's quilt last year and it turned out fine heheheh ....
eeee I'm parched again sooo I will bob the kettle on for a top up ....
sooo what else has been happening .... DH has started his new job and is enjoying it muchly ... he can't wait to do his blue light training :) I went to do some training on Wednesday on Direct Payments  and was surprised at how well I did .... see the brain still works on occasions hahahahah but other that that not much else to be honest ....
I suppose I ought to put up some photos  sooo here goes ....
Lizzie*Kate Baby Sampler
all ready for the final bits :)

taken at 8.30pm tonight ... 

my new start :)

just love those eyes :)

ohhh to be a fish right now cool and under a waterfall ...lol
Well I had better finish waffling now and get my wee body up the stairs to bed .... I do have work in the morning ...but it will be very strange .... 
hope every one has a fabulous stitchy week ... and enjoyed their hermitting weekend :)
take care one and all and I will squeak to you all soon :) love mouse xxxxxx

Sunday 13 July 2014

Here I am again with some more finishes :)

Hellloooo its me again .... and the title says's it all *VBG ... soooo please pull up a chair and grab your favourite brew ... there are some cookies :)
This must be an all time record for me ... as these two new finishes makes it five in the last month ... smoking needles or what ...lol 
I am doing a happy dance to "A Bushel and a Peck " by La D Da  ... the only thing I need to do is my initials which I am going to have to chart ... I need to find a similar alphabet to the one that Lori has used as although we share the M ... I need a G too ...lol ... I stitched this one on a Sparklies  solitaire that I bought at Harrogate a couple of years ago and the colours are just plain ole DMC that looked some what near to the original chart and worked perfectly with the hand dyed fabric  .... and I stitched on 28 count over two ... I omitted the charted border as it framed without it on the picture at the front and I like it that way and it will be easier to get framed too ... method in my madness heheheheh.
My second happy dance is I started the February Country Cottage Samplings garden series a week last Thursday at Chris's while Ally was there too and finally put the last stitches in it today at tea time YAHHHH HOOOO ...  I am stitching the whole series individually so that I can make it into a quilt for my new craft room .... well that is the plan at any rate heheheheh  and while I have been on a roll with the stitching I have been putting some more stitches into my Casting a Spell by BBD .......I am going to try and get this finished and out for this Halloween ....
My Apprentice "K" has asked me to stitch a wee birth sampler for her aunt who is due to pod any day now ... we chose the Lizzie *Kate baby sampler and I ordered it and ermmmm a few extra items fell into my basket ... I blame the Prim Stitchers on Facebook for their terrible influence hahahahahha as I just had to get A Beggers Night by Threadwork Primitives , Count Twice by Plum Street Samplers  and Victorian Postcard by By The Heart ooo and some plain cream evenweave ....a girl can never have enough ....lol I was quite proud of my self for restricting  the basket to them few ... hahahaha 
Well I have been looking for a Welsh Dresser for the craft room as you know and so far no luck but I have found something I do like that would do but by the time I get back to the shop it will probably be sold * sigh .... I spent an hour on the fireplace last Sunday trying to get the paint off and I can tell you now it won't be a quick process ....lol I didn't realise but the metal surround is actually a chocolate brown metal ... and it looks quite good with what I have done sooo far which is about 10 inches on one side .... there isn't any photos at this stage ... I have however discovered our local DIY shop sells the black paste for the range :)
Today DH and I took Master Bentley to a new walk we have discovered which he loves as he can get the birds up .... I took the camera today and uploaded the photos and there are a couple of corkers .... I am still giggling at the face's he is pulling when running .... He loves it up there and settles down for the day snoozing merrily for most of it when he gets back from the walk :)
Friday  night was supposed to be a super moon ... I didn't realise this until the next day after taking some photos of it when I got back in from shopping .... and they have turned out golden yellow and brown ... almost sepia and no filters were used ...really unusual ... and tonight there was a fabulous red sky ... I did manage to take some pics but they haven't turned out as red as it was ... but you get the picture ...lol 
soooo I shall go and pop the kettle back on and up load the photos for you :)
Bushel and a peck by La D Da

Super moon

grinning as he is on his favourite walk

come you two ... hurry up

just look at his face

and this one is sooo funny

love those ears :)

casting a spell by BBD

February  ..Country Cottage Samplings 

a wee small stash enhancement

gorgeous red sky tonight 


Sooo there you have it folks ... don't think there will be tooo many finishes in the near future ... but you never know heheheheh...hope every one has a wonderful stitchy week and take care one and all .... love mouse xxxxx

Saturday 5 July 2014

A stitchy hat trick :)

Hellooooo every one :) lovely to see you all again ... please pull up your usual chair , grab a brew and a cookie and join in the fun :)
The sun has had his hat on all day today and DH and I have been busy at the new mouse house getting rid of all the rubbish that the previous owners kindly left us !  DH did most of the grafting bless him , I just passed him the light bits and the drinks when required ....
I was going to start on the stripping off the paint from the range but didn't have a glass jar to put the stripper in soooo hopefully I will find something that I can use tomorrow ..... my new craft room is fully empty and ready to start  "operation craft room" .... I have decided to block up the wall where the sash window is as it cannot be repaired which is a real shame but it does give me another wall to have something against .... like a dresser ? I have been perusing Pinterest for ideas for the new room and even DH likes some of them soooo I am on to a winner hehehehe .. I am going to paint all the walls white to maximize the light and also have a mirror on the range to bounce light back into the room .... I am really looking forward to showing you progress photos ....  I do have one of how it looked when we got it and how it looks now ... :)
Well with all the football madness that has been around I have had plenty of time to get some stitching done on an evening as I don't watch much, if at all telly ...lol and so I scored my own hat trick ...lol I managed to get three pieces finished and another almost there and a new start :)  not bad for a wee mouse who works full time ...lol It has helped that the nights are light and long and I have had the back door open to let in the breeze with Master Bentley at my feet stitching to the sounds of the birds chirping and the water splashing into the pond .... 
I finished the May Cottage  Garden Sampling's (have started the February one ;0) finished the tapestry off for one of the service users at work and also finished Rosey by Little House Needleworks  and almost got there with A bushel and a peck by La d da ..... in fact I may do some more on it when I have done on here ..... 
At the moment we are having Tour de France fever  here in Sunny Yorkshire ... there are bikes every where and roads are being closed left right and centre for the big event this weekend .... its been a fabulous day for the riders today so I hope the weather holds out tomorrow ... that I and I want to get some more washing dried ..lol 
Some good news is DH starts his new job next week he is going to be trained as an EMT ... he already is a first aid instructor and done paramedicing in the Army sooo I am sure he will fit right in and tell you to put your own plaster on hahahah... he is looking forward to it :)
I need to get out into our garden hopefully tomorrow as the plants are taking over .. the fatsia plant has grown soooo much and the grape vine has reached over half the garden ... I took a photo to show you ...  it needs a hair cut ...lol 
Other than that life has pootled on and it is rapidly approaching Christmas before we know it ...
I have booked the accommodation for Harrogate and looking forward to going and having a nosy at all the new stuff and may be buy one or two wee things for my new room hehehehe ....and next month DH and I are off on our jolly hols to the Dales ... to a wonderful cottage in the middle of nowhere sooo lots of nice scenery , plenty of stitching time and peace and quiet ... I will take lots of photos as always for you :)
talking of which I will go and find the ones to show you and make another cuppa while I am at it :)
before pictures


real Yorkshire stone floor ...
can't wait for it to be cleaned properly

May's Cottage Garden samplings

all tidied :)


this is being restored back to black and hopefully to work too :)

finished the tapestry 

oooo helloooo 

verbena in my garden 

getting there 

love this blue :)

Rosey finished design by LHN 

my new start ... done more to this no photo ..lol
Sooooo there you have it ... you are all up to date with the mouse house news :)
I have been bobbing over to peeps's blogs when I can ..  we have been having periodic bouts of no internet .... so I shall leave you all now before it decides to cut out again ..lol ... take care and happy stitching and I will see you all again soon :) love mouse xxxxx