Teeny Tiny Stitches

Helloooo every one from a rather damp mouse house as it is piddling down outside atm ... I can hear it on the garage roof soooo don't think I will be venturing out any time soon ..... I have put the kettle on and I have cookies and chocolate chip muffins tonight seeing as it is a long bank holiday weekend here over this side of the pond and some where there is some chocolate if you hunt for it ....
Well I have been a bit busy on the stitching front ,having finished Honeybee Sampling by LittlehouseNeedleworks, just need to find some charms to put on it before finishing finishing it  , done a wee bit more on the linen and thread sal and started two RR's one for DJ which is a Erica Michaels strawberry with a teeny tiny stitched alphabet in the middle of it ..over one on 36 count eeeekkkk .... but it was lovely to do once I got started on it ... and also I have been building snowmen for Chris on her RR ...
I must admit I had to pop the strawberry into a hoop to stitch on it which is something I don't normally do and I have succumbed into putting the linen and threads SAL onto a frame as it was beginning to hurt my hands and my shoulder stitching on it soooo hopefully this will see more stitching time on it ....
I took a road trip yesterday to Doncaster and met up with Jennifer my "wicked Step mother "  as she calls herself ..lol for some catch up time and some retail therapy as she was staying over for a few days ... I ended up getting some new clothes and was really surprised that I was getting into a smaller size than I have in years ... the diet is defo working ... I have lost 3stone 8.5lbs ... which is pretty good and would like to lose at least another 2 stone on top of this but we shall see how I look nearer that target ..lol ... I am doing Slimming World and loving it :)
Today Master Bentley and I went on a pootle and because I didn't have anything else to come back to apart from lunch at MIL, I took a wee detour to go and see some Donkeys ....I have seen them everyday on the drive back from the morning pootle and today decided I was going to get some photos ... well not only was there donkeys but also a wee pot bellied pig, a large sow and some other ponies and some baby coots... my first of the year ... the donkeys came over and let me fuss them and then the pigs decided they wanted to say hello too ... I didn't fuss them though ...but they were quite happy to pose for a photo
other than that I have been busy busy busy at work and was glad of a few days off to recharge my batteries ...
sooo off to go and make some more brews for you and I will find the photos too :)

Honeybee Sampling by LHN

White Cherry Blossom ... spot Master Bentley

Teeny Tiny Stitches

Do you wanna build a snowman ( LHN ornie be merry )

getting a bit further

gorgeous dainty daffodil

enjoying the sunshine last weekend

pink cherry blossom

Meadow Pipit .. looked this one up

enjoying an ice lolly as it was sooo hot last weekend

cowslips ...

the girls next door out with us for a walk

kestrel I think ....

baby coots

Sooo there you have it folks .. a wee bit more other photos than stitching but I am sure you can forgive me with such lovely subjects .... I forgot to mention that a bird photo I put up the other week was actually a male chaffinch, thanks Sandra .... teach me to double check ...lol ....
ok its time for me to go and get some beauty sleep, so I shall bid you all adieu and shall squeak to you all again soon .... take care one and all and happy stitching :) love mouse xxxxxx

A wee jaunt away to Wales and a stitching shop ...

Helloooooo.... I hope this finds you all well and that you have been doing lots of lovely stitching while I have been away for a few days .... the kettle has boiled and there are lots of yummies to eat sooo please help yourselves :)
As you know work has been uber crazy and I was really realllllly pleased to have booked a couple of days RR from it last week .... It was a stitching meet up at The Nimble Thimble  stitching shop in wales ... there was 10 of us altogether on the Saturday but I digress ...
Chris and I had decided after last years visit that it would be lovely to stay for a few days and make a break for us and I managed to book us both into Ye Olde Boot Inn in Whittington ... famous for its castle as well as the Castle Court Quilters shop too ... did I mention it was only "three doors" away ..lol and of course we just had to visit it ...
We travelled down on the Friday morning and arrived there just after dinner and got booked into the Pub and up to our twin room which had a lovely view of the ponds next to the Castle ... we quickly got sorted and had a reviving cuppa before we tootle out to the quilting shop ... we spent a lovely few hours oohing and ahhhhing before we made our purchases ... well it would have been rude not to hahahahahah..... I even took my quilt to show them and had it out on display in the big room ... if I had taken my backing fabric I could have got it cut to size while I was there too *sigh ....
After we had been there, we had a wee wander round the village and found some lovely photogenic sheep ....before meandering back to the pub for our evening meal ... followed by many hours stitching and cups of tea drunk ... Chris and I have decided next time we go we are taking mugs with us ... as the china cups just weren't big enough hahahaha
The next morning after a wonderful nights sleep and fortified by a lovely breakfast we set off to the Nimble Thimble to meet up with the other girls ...  we got there before most of them being soo close this time and we wasted no time in getting settled and having a good nosy at the wonderful goodies on display... Chris and I popped our choices on one of the chairs in the shop to go back to later and make a final decision before heading upstairs to stitch ... The spread they put on at dinner time was lovely as usual ,but this time we had it in the café next door for a change which was nice .... and as the weather had cleared up a bit by then I took the opportunity to take some photos of the garden and the river again ... "Nimble Chris" has a new furbaby too who was 10 weeks old sooo we got a cuddle off him as well as Harvey tooo .
The afternoon was spent stitching and drinking cuppas and doing a bit of show and tell .... Maggie took a lovely photo of my quilt while I  and Pat were holding it ....so bob over there if you would like to see it :)
The day was over too soon and we all took some cake back with us to have later  and of course our goodies from the shop ... I was quite good really  .. honest :)
We had a dinner later that night as we were still full from our lunch so we took time to stitch some more before and of course after too ... I got quite a bit done on my Linen and Threads Sal while there on the day but also on "Honeybee Sampling " by LHN on the nights ... in fact I can almost smell a finish ..lol
Sunday dawned gorgeous ... I awoke to the birds singing and the sun shining into our room ... we were glad it was nice as we were going to the Castle again to have a look at the book shop there and it was a pleasant surprise to have the Whittington Guild setting up their camp that day too ... Chris and I also decided to stop off at Llangollen on the way home and we actually braved walking along the aqueduct for a short way at any rate before turning round back the way we had come ... it was a lovely stroll along the canal seeing all the boats and the youngsters learning to canoe on there ...
We arrived safely back home in time for tea ....and I while I was away my lovely postie delivered a parcel from Sally my belated birthday gift from her which is really pretty and a perfect sentiment :)
Cooo I have waffled on a wee bit soooo with out further ado photos ......

Stop showing off Ethel ...

gorgeous Magnolia tree in bloom

Girls best sides please

small stash of fabric :)

this where I had got to before the break away

where I finished at the weekend end

The Nimble Thimble shop

gorgeous furbabies

you only bought how much ????

Whittington Castle

Can you spot Maggie

River at the back of the Nimble Thimble

Can you spot the dog ????

Where I got to at the end of the afternoon on this

my small stash pile ...well compared to normal hahahah

getting ready for the public ...

The Book Shop in the Castle

Young maiden of the guild

Just love this shot of them

Llangollen canal

See we did walk across it for a bit ...

My lovely present from Sally

Castle Court Quilt shop

Soooo there you have it folks , a few photos of our break away .... can't wait for the next one :) ... and now back to reality and work ...lol  well it does have its advantages it helps me save some pennies for stash heheheh ...
I shall leave you now and wish you all a wonderful stitchy week and I shall bob over as soon as I can and say hi ... take care one and all ... love mouse xxxxxx