Greetings!

Just popping in you wish you all a very.....

Have your very own perfect day wherever you are and however you choose to celebrate.

Big Festive Hugs....

Josie  xxxxxxxx

Friday Night Sew In......

and not just your regular sew in..... last one of 2014.    Is it just me or are years not so long as they used to be?

Anyway.... I thought I'd roll back time and work on some good old fashioned needle turn applique....

I say old fashioned because I'm fond of trying every new technique out there.   But this time there's no freezer paper... no stabiliser.. no fancy tools (quick or otherwise)  and not a glue stick in sight.
Just me and my needle and thread.   Going back to basics....

I loved it....... and  it worked a treat on these stars.   Guess what......another Stonefields block!  Do you think I'm a bit obsessed or just blinkered right now.

Think I'll be returning to the 'old' way from here on in.   Better knit myself a shawl and grow a beard while I'm at it.

I did manage to drag myself away from my new/old love long enough to finish off these blocks....

Don't think I'll be needle turning circles any time soon though.... I still love my Perfect Circles and won't be parting with them...ever!

Don't they look like planets in orbit.... luv em.    Made a couple of other circle blocks over the weekend too...

The block is called 'Square Peg In A Round Hole'...... that about sums up my life!  :o)

Well... you're up to date with my sewing progress.   Now... did I mention I while back that I was going to paint my bed.......

I did and I absolutely love it.    It was originally pine... not quite as orange as the stool I painted a while back but getting there.     It's great to actually sleep in the bed again.   I'd dismantled it and took it down into the conservatory to paint.... boy it was cold in there.   I got through sleeping on a mattress on the floor for a couple of weeks by pretending I was in Japan on holiday.   Maisie & co  thought it was great fun.   I had to sleep with one eye open on watch for uninvited guests of the rodent variety.

When the bed went back into the room.... I changed it's position.   For the first time in almost seventeen years I rearranged my bedroom furniture.  Radical or what!!     Didn't think I'd like sleeping in a different position but I'm loving that too.  

Have to show you my bargain.    I picked up this picture in the local antique junk store.   I bought it for the huge sum of £10 purely for the frame.   I intended to paint it and use it for something else. When I cleaned all the grime off the glass I decided I quite liked the picture so I painted the frame and popped it back in.  .

 
Well guess what..... it's hanging in my bedroom now and I love it too! :o))   Not bad for a tenner!  I've another 'bargin' in the pipeline.   Busy distressing it right now .... fingers crossed it won't be me that's distressed when I'm done.

That's it for now.     Big thanks to Wendy for another sugary sweet sew in.....  you're a star!!

I have to get going.   Mac and I have a new routine.   It's called TV time.  Means I go into his workshop and watch TV with him for a couple of hours before I go to bed.   Remember... he's nocturnal.... bit like a Fruit Bat.... only comes into the house to sleep during daylight hours.   The only other thing I can think of that sleeps during the hours of daylight is a vampire.... should I be worried?   Hummm......

Hope you are all having a smooth run in to the great Christmas Festivities and that you are managing to find a little time out to stitch and relax....

See you soon...
Hugs
Josie   xxx

Friday Night With Friends.....

OK... it's Monday Tuesday (couldn't get this posted last night)  but better late than never eh!

Can you believe I signed up for FNWF nice and early.  Number 7 on the list... how about that for keen.  Looked forward to the stitch-a-long all week.   Friday did not turn out to be a good day for me. Things went from bad in the morning to worse in the afternoon culminating with me having a 'funny turn' in the supermarket!    Perhaps I'll tell you more later..... if you promise not to run for the hills!

I probably would not have sewed  at all in the evening if it hadn't been for Tiggy  (self appointed sewing supervisor)  chivvying  me along.....

"come on Mum... how hard can it be"

Alright Tiggs....  perhaps prepping a Stonefields block would be nice.....

"Ok... got the pencil.. what's next?"

Circles.... lots of pretty circles!

Thank heavens for perfect circles and best press.    I appliqued large circles on two blocks earlier in the week and really enjoyed picking fabrics and preparing their smaller satellites.    

Made two other circle blocks earlier in the week too.   Would you believe it took me 2 hours to choose the melon seed fabric for that block on the left.   Embarrassing or what!  

Prepared this earlier too....

Actually I prepared two of these blocks but couldn't get a decent photo of the other one so you'll have to wait for that till the light is better in my little room......  April perhaps.  

Well... that's it for the sewing.    All was not lost and I did have an enjoyable evening after all.

Now... an overview of  'stuff'  I've been dealing with.   A flash flood.  This is the result of one and a half inches of rain falling in 45 minutes.

The road in here turned into a river.   At one stage water was deep enough and the current strong enough for me to have gone white water canoeing.    Fortunately I couldn't get the canoe off the garage roof .   If I had taken to the water I imagine I'd have been arriving in New York about now.  

  

When the water receded..... after 4 days.... this is what was left.   Tons of rock and gravel where the road should be.  I could have cried.... hang on.... I did! 

Standing there with my trusty shovel... I felt defeated.   For all of 5 minutes..... then I saw the plus side.   I'd been about to order a load of gravel to mend pot holes in the drive now Mother Nature had kindly gifted me more than I needed.. for free.    If only she hadn't been quite so generous....

The road is still a work in progress.    I finally had to admit that I couldn't move all of this myself.   Finishing the job is now down to Lawn Cutting Man who... having no lawns to cut at this time of year...  is happy to dig instead.  Phew!   

After the flood came.... pests.    Woolly pests at the front

 and at the rear.....

We were surrounded and forced into negotiation with the gang master mistress.....

who I have to say was quite confrontational.   I was getting nowhere with her.... till Maisie arrived to sort things out.....

Hasta la vista... woolly backs! 

What a trooper.....

she deserved a kitten nap after that.

Now.....about that 'funny turn' in the supermarket.    All down to stress and anxiety (mine) I'm afraid.  It shouldn't have happened.... the Doc gave me pills.   Anti Mac and Anti Mum pills!    Now don't get the wrong idea... I love both of them to bits but they are driving me nuts... literally.    

Mac's comfort zone is getting ever smaller.... he is not even venturing to the garden gate these days.   He has a dental appointment on Thursday.... who knows if he'll actually leave the house... I've cancelled two appointments on the day already.     Right now he's convinced he has radiation sickness.  Well... I did offer to line his hat with tin foil so he can't blame me!   This week I'm the love of his life.... last week Frankenstein's Monster.   Life really is a box of chocolates.....:o)    Spare a thought for any friends or relatives of yours who are caring for someone with psychological issues.... it ain't easy.  

Add to that the fact that Mum's short term memory is now around 30 seconds and you have the full picture.    It's not so much Groundhog Day here as Groundhog minute!    After acknowledging that mum needed a box of coffee for the millionth (felt like it) time in the supermarket on Friday.... my chest hurt.  So much so I thought I was having a heart attack.  Very scary.    I'm a bit of a wreck but I'm still standing....hey ho!

All I want for Christmas is a thicker skin....... I got the teeth last year! :o))

Hope you are all having a great stress free week.   Who am I kidding... Christmas is just around the corner!    Do your best.....

I'm off to crack open a bottle of wine.... first in a long time.   Well.... I'm 61 tomorrow.  What better reason to drink....bottoms up!

Hugs

See ya soon.. life permitting.....

Josie xxx