A big TA DA !

Something I have been promising for far too long, I finally got round to finishing my oldest UFO.
 Not entirely sure , but I think this was started either late 2008 or early 2009 , before I was blogging at any rate . And , now it is done .
 It didn't take too long once I got down to it. I enjoyed the last bit a lot more than the rest and I'm glad it is finally finished , so without further ado , I will present ...
   Three Little Maids .

I will hopefully be working on my Christmas UFO from next week onwards. Time to get them out and sorted.
 Thanks for dropping by ,
 Cath

Outings (3)

Last Monday saw us returning to The Chestnut Centre . You can read about out previous visit here .

We arrived just at opening time , which turned to to not be such a good things as a lot of the otters were still inside their houses . We eventually got to see a few and then headed back to the open meadow for the "meet the deer" experience as last year we loved them . It was great to see Spirit and Apricot again and to catch up with little Peach who was being bottle fed last year after being found as a fawn with an injury to her side .

 Spirit , Apricot and Peach have all been hand reared , so are very used to people and love to be fed redskin peanuts . The other deer are kept as wild as possible .

 So beautiful

 Some pics of the otters

 This guy was making meatballs from his mince before eating it , so funny to watch .

 One of the polecats .

And the Owls

  My absolute favourite .

  Twiglet was being held in front of these guys

  They were not impressed . the chick (above) was squawking the whole time we were there.

There was no sign of the fox and the Scottish Wildcats were not still long enough for me to get any decent photos . A bit of a disappointing day really , lots of time not actually seeing anything, getting wet through in a down pour whilst waiting for the deer feeding and not many good photos. We will , I'm sure go back again but maybe leave it for a couple of years .

 Stay tuned , more pics coming soon.

Thanks for dropping by ,
 Cath

Another grey and wet day .

Yesterday morning saw the last of the back stitch on the snails, so another UFO/WIP crossed off the list.
 Mind you, I didn't have to look far for inspiration. Along with the rain , came teams of snails to overpower my garden. The yellow broom was full of them.

 Need a few closer looks?

And here is the nicer version .

 This was originally going to be made into a bag , but my son has requested a stand up frame ,so got to go hunting for one to fit now.
 My daughter asked for a flamingo to start with, but she has changed her mind so often , I lost track of what I was supposed to be stitching for her . Now the snails are finished , she has asked for a tiger , and what do you know? Look what else was in the black hole of started and abandondness.

 So , this will be getting some work done on it very soon, though she is still asking for a bag (at the moment) .

 So ,a finish means a new start , right ?


 Here is Pink Owl on a Branch by Cherry Hill Stitchery. Started 28th May and finished 29th May . Stitched with the recommended DMC threads on 16 count aida .

A little flower detail .

 I loved stitching this , and can see it in so many different colours , so expect to see much more of this little owl ,lol .
 Thanks for dropping by ,
 Cath

Red sky in the morning

 Means stay in and stitch .

A beautiful sight this morning has left a very cold and windy day, and to top it off it is now wet .

 So , nothing to do but stay in and stitch . After a full day stitching last Wednesday (the kids were at an after school club so I got an extra hour too) and a few more sessions , I only had the sand left to do on Calm Seas , so now it is Happy Dance time !!!! YAY!

 I mostly enjoyed stitching it , but I'm glad it's done. Quite pleased with how it's turned out ,though it needs a good wash before taking to the framers. It is one of those that looks better from a distance though , as it is taken from a painting.
 So , what next ?
 Well, I have a square to do for LQUK, then I would like to finish off all of my WIPs/UFOs before the end of the year if I can .
 They are  LK ABC Lessons

Christmas Recipe

 and Three Little Maids , which at the moment is only Two ,lol.

 I would love to get these all done so next year can be a clean slate .
 Next year is going to be a Big project year I think , but more on that later .

Thanks for dropping by,
 Cath

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

Hope everyone has a wonderful year filled with love , fun and stitches .

First , I'd like to thank everyone for the lovely comments on my Dads' sampler . I am looking forward to stitching it , but have decided not to rush into it . I want to get Dandy Dreams finished first , I think . I don't like having too many things on the go at once , and already have WIPs ,but I'll go into that later.

I am not doing the Crazy challenge or anything like that , it would totally do my head in to have new starts every day for 15 days , even if they were small . To all those who are doing it though , I really admire you .

A quick re-cap on 2010 .

I finished 97 stitched pieces , 65 of which were squares for charity and 32 my own . Of my own projects , there was one big (Chicken Run) , 7 small-medium (the main one being Moon Struck) and the rest were all smalls.

I also stitched and stuffed a few teddies and had a go at crochet .

And , I read 89 books .

My last three stitches of the year are :

My last three Digimon characters . I have really enjoyed stitching these , but glad to have a break for a while. Thanks again Dawn for the charts .

Actually ,the last one was finished this morning , but I'm counting it as a 2010 finish so I can start with a clean slate.

I don't do resolutions , but I have a few aims and wishes for this year .

My aims are to stitch my Dads' sampler and complete my WIPs ,

Dandy Dreams

Christmas Recipe , started 2009 but I stopped stitching when my cousin was killed and didn't get back into it . I think I may fit his initials in somewhere discreet . And Three Little Maids , never been shown on this blog before . Started either early 2009 or late 2008 . Will be finished 2011 . Also, just realised I never showed my other stitch from the JCS mag

I made it into a little cushion, but I'm not totally happy with it , so may stitch it again , we'll see .

My wishes are to stitch

Bent Creeks' Hen and at least one of the Rows ,

LK ABC lessons

McDonald's Maple Leaf

Flamingos

And to at least start one of my L&L charts. There are lots more , but I'm trying not to be too optimistic , lol , and of course , some of these may not happen .

I'm also hoping to do more stitched cards and ornies and maybe some more individual exchanges with different people , so if anyone is interested in exchanging with me , please let me know .

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath