~These Things Take Time~

But I do think almost 7 years is a bit ridiculous, don't you!!!!

I was planning to stitch this for my 30th wedding anniversary and now, almost seven years on, here it is all framed and looking pretty. Well at least it hasn't been a WIP all that time ~ I did finish it but it sat in a drawer for all those years until I recently had it framed. I took it out and thought, it really was pretty and did deserve a place on the wall.
Anyway, here it is, Shepherd's Bush "Twined Hearts" now happily framed and hanging up. These things indeed do sometimes take time but are worth waiting for!!! DH likes it too :)

"You must have been warned against letting the golden hours slip by; but some of them are golden only because we let them slip by."
~James Matthew Barrie

~ Sharing My Joy with You ~

Today, I became a Nana for the second time.

My darling little Milly became a 'big sister' today to baby Brenna Imogen. Here she is with her Daddy (DS) and our precious new bundle of joy. I know Milly will be a wonderful big sister to her new baby sister.

Welcome to the family my precious Grand daughter and blessings to the happy family.

"One of the most powerful handclasps is that of a new grandbaby around the finger of a grandfather. "
~Joy Hargrove

~Teensy Tiny Finish~

Here is the ninth finish in my stitch~along with Sandra. It is With My Needle Scissor fob and is part of a little series of accessories from this designer which came out in the Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament books. This is from the 2006 book. It matches the Stitchers Needleworker's Pocket and Needlebook we stitched earlier on. We have another two to go which from memory I think are the Scissor Sheath and Pinkeep. It will be nice to have a little set of matching accessories.

This is my version...

As you can see, the bunnies are very interested :)

This is really tiny and only measures one and a quarter inches square so to give it some weight, I put an Australian 10 cent coin inside and Sandra put an English penny in hers.

Here is Sandra's version...




"Don't go into Mr. McGregor's garden: your Father had an accident there; he was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor."

- Beatrix Potter, (1866 - 1943) English author "The Tale of Peter Rabbit"

~ Acts of Kindness ~

Let me tell you about a kind act shown to me recently.

I was reading one of my favourite blogs ~The Feathered Nest~ where Dawn mentioned about the lovely gift she had received all the way from Australia from Christina of Rustic Tarts and shown in her photos was some beautiful twill tape printed with the word 'Vintage'. I just loved it and I thought maybe I might be able to purchase some too if I knew where to buy it. So I sent an email to Christina asking if she would mind letting me know where it could be purchased and look what I received in the mail ~

~ isn't it beautiful. Not only has she so generously sent me ~ someone she doesn't even know ~ the lovely tape, she has also sent me this gorgeous vintage card and buttons. I just love it. Thank you so much Christina for your kindness.

I have a couple of little finishes to show you. "Two Pinkeeps" is a chart from The Goode Huswife

I am almost finished my September ornament in my stitch-along with Sandra and after several 'changes of mind' I think I am finally starting to get my baby sampler colours together.

I left this out in the hope that the birds might have liked to use it in their nests courtesy of 'my shadow' but so far, there has been no takers.

Oh well, Ben has been very generously shedding lots of it ~ just in case they might like some.

"The flowers appear on the earth; The time of the singing birds is come"

~Strawberry Blonde~

She took me around 8 months to finish (I am a slow stitcher) but here she is ~ Carriage House Samplings Strawberry Blonde.

My stitching has been a bit erratic over recent times and I feel I am just marking time until I can become satisfied with my choice of threads for my baby sampler.
September will mean a new start on my stitch-along with Sandra and this month we are doing another part of the With My Needle ornament set. That will be our 3rd piece from this set and our 9th ornament for the year. I will be sorry when we have finished our year stitch-along but we are already planning something else for next year.

My shadow was giving a 'what do you want' kind of a look when DH was trying to take a photo of him earlier today. He has had a nice walk this afternoon along the river so he is a happy boy.

I decided I would like a slight change to the look of my blog and thanks to some help from Karen
I have been able to achieve this. Hope you like my new look and thanks so much Karen.

"We long for an affection altogether ignorant of our faults. Heaven has accorded this to us in the uncritical canine attachment"
~George Eliot

A new addition to ~~~~~

my ~~flock of birds~~

I stitched this little freebie design and made it into a drawer/door hanger.

I like the monochrome look of the ecru thread on the darker linen.

This is just a little 'aside stitch' that I have finished whilst I am dithering over some colour changes I am planning to make on the baby sampler I am stitching for our new grandchild who we are going to be welcoming to our family next month. I hope I will get some inspirations for my colour soon, as sometimes I find these things just come to you and other times, it just takes time. I have also started another little quick stitch that I can hopefully show you soon.

I love wrapping gifts and try and bring a little creativity to my wrapping and tomorrow being my DD's birthday, I have really enjoyed making her a card and wrapping her gift trying to follow a theme. I hope she likes it.

Y Wishing You Everything Wonderful Dear Daughter Y

"To Have a Daughter is to Know a Special Kind of Love"

~~A Flock of Birds~~

Birds seem to have been featuring a lot in my stitching of late. This afternoon I have just finished my August SAL with Sandra. This month we stitched the La D Da Snowbird from the 2004 Just Cross Stitch Christmas book.
He makes a nice little companion piece to our Christmas Cardinal which is also a La D Da design and which we stitched earlier in the year. These little fellows are really small and only measure around 4 inches from nose to tail. I stitched mine double-sided and Sandra backed hers with black silk.

Here is Sandra's version....

Recently, I stitched another bird from the same book ~ Blackbird Designs. Sandra, had stitched this one some time ago and I always loved it so I wanted to stitch him as well.
Speaking of birds, we have been seeing some lovely birds in our garden recently. I spotted a gorgeous little tiny bright scarlet one feeding in the grevillia and think he is a red headed or red breasted honey eater. He came back for several days and I found myself looking out for him and got the binoculars out for a closer look. I had another little visitor visit the tree right outside my sewing room window on a couple of occasions. So nice of him to come to sing me a little song. We do have some beautiful coloured birds here in Australia.

I am happy to have finally finished my CHS Strawberry Blonde which also features a bird, and is now off to the framers so I look forward to showing you that soon:)

My beautiful shadow, who is never far from my sight, was grabbing a few rays this afternoon whilst I was taking these photos. It has been such a beautiful winters' day. Spring is just around the corner.

I value my garden more for being full of blackbirds than of cherries, and very frankly give them fruit for their songs.

~Joseph Addison, The Spectator, 1712