Garden Chair

All my stitching time for the last week has gone on this, doesn't look much really does it but bear in mind the wording on the chair back is over one and I had to unpick a line because it was one thread out. Had I been stitching it just for me I would of left it but I'm entering it in the Cheshire Show (June 17/18th) and the judges are picky and I would hate it if I lost marks because of it. Same with the date on the fob, I orginally had my initials on it but the spacing wasn't right and no matter how much I played about with them they still weren't even so I did the date instead and will put my name in some form on the base.

The fabric isn't as dark as the pic shows but that's what you get for taking a pic in the evening when it's cloudy out. Left to do is the rest of the arm rolls, drawer front, parasol, seat cushion & seat base. I have to have it done by June 15th at the very latest but with any luck it'll be done by next weekend when I go away for a stitching weekend in Derbyshire with several other UK stitchers

Late Birthday presents

Yesterday I went down to my parents for tea and not long after I arrived I was handed a large white box and something wrapped in alot of bubble wrap which turned out to be one of these and the 8-10'' side Stretchers along with the 16'' & 24'' bars of one of these . I'd seen it at the NEC in March and decided that I had to save up for one over the next couple of years to make working on scroll frames easier, after I'd met back up with Mum and Dad for a brew and told them about it they texted Mel on the quiet to find out where we'd seen it and went back to buy it!!!!!
I'd seen the box as we left but they told me it was framing supplies for my Dad, my parents can be very sneaky at times

Then this morning the postman brought a padded envelope for me from Sharon who's my Floss mom. She not only sent me the chart for Peacock Tapestry but the floss for it and the silk's for Just Nan's Peacock CypherI'm totally bowled over by her wonderful gift and feel honoured to have her as a friend

Birth Sampler progress

I don't think I've posted a progress pic of this since I first started it in Jan so just prove I am still working on it.......

I know that Caleb is almost 2 months old now and that alot of stitchers would of handed it over within days of his arrival but not me, I like to be different and Heather knows that I'll finish it and hand it over at my own pace.

Tessellations update

After the huge mistake I made back in March it's taken me a while to be able to face this again and unpick the 2 cells. I gave up trying to unpick them in the end and just cut the lot at the back so I ended up surrounded by all these little tiny orts of silk but it made a pretty pile. Once I started to stitch them in the right colour and I'd reached the waffle stitches (the one's that look like a square with a diamond on top in case you don't know the stitch, love doing them sooooooo much easier than the Jessica's!) I thought I'd try doing the 2 cells that form the diamond on either side in reverse as I had the silk cut and ready to go so I'll see how it goes with those before I decide which way round each cell will be done

Flatfold Exchange

I heard from Velda that the flatfold arrived safely so I can now share a pic

I picked Heart in Hands Wee Angel for her and really enjoyed stitching it, not bad for a first effort at a flatfold

Birthday start

I did say I'd post a pic when there was something more exciting than a lilac G, more to look at would of been better :)
Not the most exciting of things to look at but it's really fun to stitch

It's My Stash is Bigger than your Stash from Forever in my Heart, I'm using the called for Crescent Colours and cream Murano.

This morning I've done my weekly hour on my UFO for the SAL and with luck I'll finish it next month, it'll be nice to clear a UFO off my WIP list and I already know which one I'll work on next. Now I'm off to finish the stitching on my Fantasy exchange project

Reaseheath Open Day

Yesterday we went to Reaseheath's Open day (the college Mel has a place at in Sept), because I was there to demonstrate spinning I didn't get to wander round much but after lunch Mel dragged me to the Zoo area of the college which is also where she will be studying.

I'd let her loose with my camera earlier in the day so she's guilty for some of these pics :)

I had to talk nicely to this guy to get him to turn his head

Ring Tailed Lemurs

Meerkats, the outdoor group

Tapier

Serval

And this is Pete the resident Peacock, you never know where you'll find him as he's the only one allowed to roam free. We found him in with some chickens and I had to talk nicely to him as well to get him to display his tail

Then he decided we should see him from behind as well

They have Otters, Llama's, Alpacha's, assorted Birds of Prey, Spider Monkeys, assorted snakes, Rabbits and loads of other animals that I can't remember

Happy Birthday to me

I'm a year older but no wiser today :)

It's been a nice quiet day with nothing exciting happening. I started my Birthday present to myself this morning and have worked on it when I've been home today, been to town and done my food shop, had phone calls off family wishing my Happy Birthday and Mum managed to sing it without laughing this year (she rings us all up and sings first thing in the morning but normally doesn't get more than half way through before she starts laughing) and I've now got an oven full of cherry scones ready for the WI coffee morning tomorrow.

I'll post a pic of my start when there's something a little more interesting than a lilac G to look at at

An almost my birthday meme

A Meme - Stolen from Suz

1) Go to Wikipedia
2) In the search box, type your birth month and day but not the year.
3) List three events that happened on your birthday
4) List two important birthdays and one death
5) One holiday or observance (if any)

Events
1568 - Mary Queen of Scots flees to England.
1920 - In Rome, Pope Benedict XV canonizes Joan of Arc as a saint.
2006 - A large earthquake (7.4 on the Richter scale) occurs near New Zealand

Births
1905 - Henry Fonda, American actor
1969 - David Boreanaz, American actor (can't think of anyone better to share a birthday with!)

Death
1990 - Jim Henson, American puppeteer

Holiday
Middlesex Day

Capesthorne Hall (pic heavy)

I spent a very enjoyable afternoon today wandering round Capesthorne Hall with around 400 other members of Cheshire WI. First up was tea and cake & a scone (really healthy lunch for a diabetic!) along with chatting to ladies from Croft WI (Warrington) about things you won't think WI ladies would talk about and normal things like recycling and bins
I didn't take many pics in the house partly because some of the rooms were dark (for good reason, one in particular has a 300 year old black silk coat in it) and partly because it was so busy

The centre section of the house

The rear of the house from the Garden

I thought this lamp shade was really pretty and unusal


This is a Roman chair that was dug up in the grounds when they were putting in a new drainage channel

The State bedroom, the wedding dress is the one worn by a member of the family who married in 2000, I overheard someone say it's by Vera Wong but how true that is I have no idea

The alter in the family Chapel

The Bluebell wood, it's almost the end of the season for them now

A bluebell :)

I've got no idea what this is but it's pretty

And a close up of the pretty flower

The gardener's out there are probably falling off their chair's laughing now because I've got no idea what the last 2 pics are of but I'm not a gardener and have a tendency to kill plants rather than grow them