~ Trusting Eyes ~

....... My Dog ~ My Friend .......

He is my other eyes that can see above the clouds; my other ears that hear above the winds. He is the part of me that can reach out into the sea. He has told me a thousand times over that I am his reason for being; by the way he rests against my leg; by the way he thumps his tail at my smallest smile; by the way he shows his hurt when I leave without taking him. (I think it makes him sick with worry when he is not along to care for me.)

When I am wrong, he is delighted to forgive. When I am angry, he clowns to make me smile. When I am happy, he is joy unbounded. When I am a fool, he ignores it. When I succeed, he brags. Without him, I am only another man. With him, I am all-powerful. He is loyalty itself.

He has taught me the meaning of devotion. With him, I know a secret comfort and a private peace. He has brought me understanding where before I was ignorant.

His head on my knee can heal my human hurts. His presence by my side is protection against my fears of dark and unknown things. He has promised to wait for me... whenever... wherever — in case I need him. And I expect I will — as I always have. He is just my dog.

~ Gene Hill

~ Hello Again ~

It's been a while since I dropped by to say hello but over recent weeks I seem to have been suffering with what I have self-diagnosed as 'blogger's block'!! After a couple of unsuccessful attempts at writing posts I reminded myself of the little logo I have seen on several blogs which reads ~ 'Blogging without Obligation' so with that in mind I told myself I would get over it and not to worry.

And so today, with 'my shadow' at my feet ((just as I like it) I am having another attempt.

Well actually this time, I have something really special to write about and I want to share with you the wonderful time I had over the past couple of weeks with my dear friend and SAL/Internet buddy, Sandra from the UK. You may remember I mentioned several posts back that Sandra was going to be coming out to Australia and that we were finally going to meet in person. Well, she came, we did meet, time went very quickly and now she is back home in the UK and our meeting certainly left me with lots of happy memories even if I didn't get many photos. (Well, that is another story ) However, we did get at least one that I can show you so here we are sharing a pleasant afternoon actually sitting together and not on opposite sides of the world as we have been doing for years, stitching our current SAL project Blackbird Designs ~ 'Flowers for Sarah' from the 'Thank You Sarah Tobias' book.

Along with Sandra's lovely long time friend Diane, from South Australia, who I was able to meet as well, the three of us spent a great day at the recent Craft and Quilt Fair in Brisbane and all managed to come away from that with a little bit of stash and also get ourselves some fabric and threads for our planned next years SAL which Diane is going to join us in. We also visited my LNS and the lovely Patchwork Angel, dined out and enjoyed a barbeque together with our husbands. It was certainly a lovely time and has left me with many happy memories.

We had lots of 'gift swapping' and just look at what my dear friend had stitched me for my birthday.

It is a Barry Horton Shaker Box from France. Inside Sandra has lined it with dupion silk and stitched a band, pincushion and tiny scissor fob which is weighted with a coin and has the tiniest gold scissors attached. The pins have been coloured to match perfectly. Oh my goodness!! Needless to say, I was speechless. Thank you so much dear friend, I just love it and will treasure it.

Now, you will have heard it said "Wait there's more"!!!..... Well yes, there was more.....

Not only had Sandra brought DH the most beautiful book with pictures of York, as well as gifts for my little Granddaughters, this is what else she gave me. I was so spoilt. Everything is beautiful and thank you one more time Sandra not only for the beautiful gifts but for your friendship and as I was writing that I thought of the wording around what I think was the first thing I ever stitched for you which was a little Shepherd's Bush pinkeep and the wording around it was...

"Although our lives be miles apart, friendships dwell in soul and heart".

~ More Framing ~

When I recently had the birth sampler framed, I also had this framed. I stitched it several years back and still love it.

"The Drawn Thread's ~ Cloister Garden"

If I remember correctly I think I have stitched it on lambswool linen with NPI silk thread. To me it is such a 'gentle piece'.

I still have another of the gardens to frame ~ the companion piece "Wildflower Garden" but it can wait for another time.

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit my blog and for the lovely comments.

"The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God's heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth."

~Dorothy Frances Gurney, "Garden Thoughts"

~ Sweet Baby Sampler ~

I recently finished this.

It is Praiseworthy Stitches ~ Sweet Baby Sampler~ for my sweet baby Grand-daughter.

This really took me much longer than it should have as I did a lot of colour changing which to be honest I found to be a bit of a struggle. It is not that easy to try and get colours just right and I have to say I did a fair amount of unpicking. I am happy with the results now though and I hope when little Miss B grows up she will like it too.

I was looking after my two little ones the other day and I just love the honesty and innocence of the things they say. Miss Milly who is three told me "Nana you have wrinkly cheeks don't you!"

"Becoming a grandmother is wonderful. One moment you're just a mother. The next you are all-wise and prehistoric."

~Pam Brown

~ Another SAL Finish ~

Do you know what a griffin is? I didn't!! Well it is a fictional character with the head of an eagle and the body of a lion and he is winged as well!

So here is our sixth finish for the year.

" Whitman's Griffin Tin"

I didn't add much 'creativity' to my version this time and stitched and finished fairly much as the pattern suggested but Sandra added her own touches and made hers just a little different.

Here is Sandra's...

The fabric we have used to line our tins is once again a piece that Sandra has chosen and it is just the most perfect match for the tin and don't you just love those fat little scissors!!

We are now working on our seventh project and here is a preview of my fabric and threads.

Can you guess what it is? It is a very long skinny piece of linen and lovely autumn coloured threads....hhhhhhmmmmmm, wonder what it might be :))))

"I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck."

~Emma Goldman

~ Pouch Pixies ~

I love working with felt and I made these ~ well.......just because!!

I am sure my little grand-daughters will enjoy them.

So here is my little bit of whimsy.

"My childhood may be over, but that doesn't mean playtime is."

~Ron Olson

~ Remember this?? ~

In an earlier post I showed you this tiny oil can that Sandra had sent me and mentioned that we had a purpose in mind for it.

Well here is how it ended up. This is the fifth project in our SAL this year

With thy Needle and Thread ~ ABC Pinkeep.

Sandra and I both found this tiny project to be rather fiddly. Mine is stitched on 27ct linen which being quite a large weave is prone to fraying so when it came to turning him inside out that became a bit of a problem. However, he survived and is happily sitting on his perch now with his strawberry in his mouth after a 'cook' on the microwave after I sprayed some Parisienne essence on him to age him a bit. I also added a rusty pin.

Here is Sandra's version.......

I recently was able to spend a day with my friend Mary (Melbourne) who I have often spoken about and shown some of the beautiful gifts and cards she has made for me. We enjoyed a day visiting my LNS and had a lovely lunch although silly me forgot to take a photo. Thanks for taking time out to spend the day with me Mary :) Now I am counting down the days until I get to meet my other Internet stitching friend Sandra (UK). How wonderful it will be to finally meet the person face to face with whom I have become such good friends. We will have so much to talk about.

I will remember the camera this time.

I recently came across this sweet video on YouTube so if you have a chance take a look. You may need to pause my Playlist so you can hear it. Thankfully, my canine buddy continues to be well with no more 'brain tinkles' which is so good.

"Being in a good frame of mind helps keep one in the picture of health."

~ Author Unknown