Friday, September 16, 2005

Yorkshire Dales


Earlier this week we went for a few days holiday in the Yorkshire Dales, in a little place called Ingleton. We drove down (with Mam and Dad) on Monday morning, and found our B&B. We were given a very warm welcome, with tea and cakes and a very chatty landlady called Debbie. After we unpacked our bags we decided to go for a gentle stroll up to Ingleborough Cave and have a look round it. Out of the four of us, there is only Craig who is relatively fit, so it was a very SLOW walk, but it was a lovely day and the nature trail on the way up there was interesting. We hadn't gone very far when we spotted this little fella sitting on a branch. By the time we were halfway there we were absolutely knackered but we soldiered on and managed to make it to the top of the hill, a mile and a half from where we parked the car. However, the tour round the cave would have taken another hour and another mile of walking and we were all too tired by then. So we had a sit down for 20 mins or so, and an ice cream before heading back down the hill. It was much easier going down, but we were shattered when we got back to the car. There was some lovely scenery.

Sunday, September 11, 2005

More finishes...

Jayne's Attic - Love
Calico Cat - Abstract

Recent finishes

Just Nan - Nosegay
Just Nan - Rosebuds
Hardanger Butterfly

A whole month since my last post!

Got to try and remember what I've been up to since the end of July!

Well I sat my practical driving test #1...and failed. Apparently all the best drivers pass second time round so the next one is booked for the beginning of October. Fingers crossed, I'm sick of having L plates on the car. I want to be out there, on my own, feeling the wind through my hair, road raging other drivers. Only kidding.

I recently signed up for some college courses starting next week. I'm going to be doing Introduction to Patchwork & Quilting; Mixed Crafts; Web Page Design; Audio Transcription Stage 3; and Document Presentation Stage 3.

I've been doing lots of stitching recently, including some model-type stitching for Jayne. I'll put pics of the finishes in another post.

Friday, July 29, 2005

Kate's framed work



These are the two projects of Kate's that I framed tonight.

Up Date

Not posted for a while so thought I'd better bring things up to date. I booked my practical driving test recently, but I'm not saying when it is. That way if I fail no one will know. I ain't as daft as I look.

I've finished a few things recently but they're on the PC upstairs and as usual I'm using Craig's laptop so I will have to post pics later on.

I've been helping Jayne a couple of times in her new shop, sorting stock, pricing it up and moving it about. I love helping out there, things are so much easier to find with all the stock on the walls instead of in crates in her utility room. Not that I'm complaining. Jayne's house is great now that you're not tripping over stock every step you take. She has her utility room back, not to mention the dining room, sitting room, garage and landing.

Tomorrow we're off to York with Mam and Dad, just for the weekend. I've been looking forward to this weekend for ages, even though we visited York not so long ago, back in February. We're booked into a B&B for one night and will be home on Sunday night.

Ian flew off to Corfu this afternoon with his Dad, Mick (2nd ex husband). They're away for two weeks. Ian went down to stay at Mick's on Monday, but the stupid boy forgot his passport, so we had to post it to him via recorded delivery. It took a couple days to get there, but he did get it eventually. Just as well, or we would have been trooping down to Durham to get him a replacement, and I didn't really fancy that.

I dyed my hair yesterday, intense red. After my breast cancer, and losing my hair, I had decided I was going to grow old gracefully, and never mind the gray hairs. Then I thought, sod it, I want to go out kicking and screaming. I always used to dye my hair reddish, so I bought a dye and got Craig to apply it yesterday. He says it really brightens my face up so I might as well keep on doing it.

I framed a couple of Kate's finished stitching projects tonight. I was hoping to frame a couple of my own things, but I think I'm gonna have to take them to a proper framers and get them done. All my frames are the wrong size for my stuff. Bummer.

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

WOOHOO!

I passed my driving theory test yesterday afternoon. I was so pleased that I did it, especially as I thought that I would fail the hazard perception. I'd done three practice tests in the morning before my lesson, and got 2 fails. Then I was harrassed by the time I got to the test centre as I was running late (long story). But, thankfully I passed. What a relief!

Thursday, June 30, 2005

Update June Goals

June's Goals

  • Heart Sampler - TOTALLY FINISHED AND AT THE FRAMERS
  • Marquoir SAL - GIVEN UP, DIDN'T REALLY LIKE IT
  • Alter Echo SAL - GIVEN UP, DIDN'T REALLY LIKE IT
  • Photo Chart 1 - STARTED AGAIN FROM SCRATCH...GOT ONE CORNER DONE
  • Photo Chart 2 - STARTED AGAIN FROM SCRATCH...SMALL AMOUNT DONE
  • Nutty Stitchers RR - DONE
  • New YeaRR - RECENTLY RECEIVED, NOT STARTED YET
  • Battling Beginners RR - IN PROGRESS, ALMOST FINISHED
  • Stashaholics Rule SAL - THINKING ABOUT STARTING, NEED TO FIND CHART

Bloomin' Kids

Just had a text message from Ian. He's still at Mick's as he's been helping Mick to move house this week. The text message was to the effect that Ian had left the keys in the flat and Mick had had to break the lock to get in. And I now owed Mick £50 for a new lock. Needless to say I told him where to go! Not MY fault if my youngest son is a plonker! He obviously gets it from his Dad's side of the family.

Not long now...

...till my theory driving test. I'm not saying when it is but if I pass I'll be posting on here to let you all know. I had a driving lesson this morning and I'm definitely getting better at using my mirrors, but getting worse at something else...planning and anticipation I think it was. Trevor has marked me down a point on his copy of how I'm getting on, but not on my progress card.

Kate has her first lesson with Trevor on Monday. I have to show him where she works as he's picking her up from there at 5pm when she finishes. So I'll do that during my lesson on Monday morning.

We're off out for a meal tonight, to Mr Lau's in Stowell St, Newcastle. We've never been there before, but have heard good reports about it so we're going to try for ourselves.

Gretna Green

We just came back from a couple of days in Gretna Green, staying in a B&B about 100 yards from the Old Blacksmith's Shop. Admittedly there's not a lot to do in Gretna, but it was lovely and peaceful, the kids weren't with us and it made a nice change to just relax.

We did pay a visit to the Blacksmith's Shop, bought a couple of little pressies in there, and on Monday night we went to the pub opposite, called the Hazeldene Hotel, and had a lovely meal. A bit expensive but lots of it.

Also on Monday we went to Lockerbie, well a bit out of the town, to a one horse place called Corrie, to visit Craig's one remaining aunt and uncle. He has a few cousins, three in Scotland and we think the others (he can't remember how many, 6 or 8) are down south somewhere. When we were visiting Winnie and John, we found out that Craig's Uncle Len died last year. Winnie had written to us, but she didn't have our new address so it was sent to Nottingham, and of course we didn't have our mail forwarded. I think Craig would have liked to have gone to the funeral if he'd known about it.

On Tuesday night we went to a diferent pub for our meal, in Gretna just down the road. It was a few quid cheaper, but it wasn't half as nice as the other place. A bit of a disappointment really.

We came home yesterday afternoon, via Carlisle and most of Hadrian's Wall. I picked up some leaflets for the husband of a friend, who is interested in such things, and posted them off to her today. Hope they're helpful to her hubby.

Thursday, June 23, 2005

Good Driving Lesson

I had quite a good lesson today. I didn't get as much of a bollocking for not using my mirrors...been practising! Got four points signed off so I'm well on my way to my practical test. Yesterday I was out with Craig and he had me practising reversing round corners, straight reversing (which I'm naff at as I can't stay in a straight line), and turning in the road. Oh...and reverse parking in a totally empty car park. Saves me hitting something I suppose.

Quiet Weekend

Ian has gone to visit his Dad till Sunday, and tomorrow Kate is going to Nottingham till 3rd July to stay with her best friend Laura. Peace and quiet all weekend...bliss. Now if I could only get rid of Dene for the weekend. Hmmm.....

New Stash

Got some new stash this afternoon. Polstitches has some lovely Perle threads, just released, so I had to have some. I got Mummies Curse a couple of weeks ago to take part in the bookmark SAL that Jayne organised (it's a lovely Col's Creations design in hardanger), and today I got the rest of the colours - Rustic Rhubarb, Fairy Footprints, Hugs With Stitches, Dawn Chorus and Sky High. I can't wait to start sewing something with them. The threads can be seen here...
http://www.jaynesattic.co.uk/polstitched_designs_dragon_pearls_-_perle_.htm Not that I'm enabling or anything.

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

TO MY "ANONYMOUS" RELATIVE!

I just want to apologise if you were offended by what I wrote about Mothers Day/Gran's birthday. You're obviously a cousin as you referred to our Gran, but I'm not sure which one. When us lot went to see her she DIDN'T have any other cards apart from the ones I mentioned and I didn't find out that anyone else had been till the following week. So please accept my apologies...whoever you are.

Getting lax

Been a while since my last post so time to catch up.

On the stitching front, I've decided to pack away the Marquoir and the Alter Echo samplers for the minute as I really want to concentrate on other stuff...and to be honest, I have no idea when or if I would ever get the other things framed! So I'm busy with two photo charts of my grandparents, a hardanger bookmark SAL, and the three round robins. I finished the Heart Sampler SAL and will post a photo soon when I get round to taking one.

The driving lessons are going ok, but I keep getting told off for not using my mirrors at the right times. I have booked my theory test for the beginning of July, must practice the hazard perception bit some more.

Saturday, June 04, 2005

First June Goal Fulfilled

Finished the June band on the Heart Sampler SAL the other day. Don't have a photo as yet, but will do one soon.

First HD for June

Last night I finished this Just Nan freebie called Italian Ice.

Yesterday we drove 180 miles down to Derbyshire just to go to Wye Needlecraft. What an amazing shop...I could have spent hours, and a small fortune, in there, but I managed to restrain myself and only spent £65, all on charts. I can't remember what they all are, Just Nans and a couple of Lizzie*Kate designs. Will post a list when I have the charts upstairs.

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Lots of stash!

When we came home yesterday I had a huge pile of post to open. There was a parcel from the exchange with lots of goodies in it...I just have to try and decide which ones I want and what I'm going to put back in it. Then there was a parcel from Kate's Kloths with May's Klub things in it...a parcel from Sew and So with a snowflake charm in it for the Just Nan thing I'm in the middle of...and a parcel from Tammy with a couple of L*K charts in it and some material, that she sent me to say thanks for the storage stuff I sent her.
And today I'm going to make a start on June's goals:
Part 10 French Marquoir SAL
Parts 4, 5 & 6 Alter Echo SAL
June band Heart Sampler SAL
Stashaholic SAL
Photo Chart 1 (more work)
Photo Chart 2 (more work)
Battling Beginners RR
Nutty Stitchers RR
New YeaRR

There's a...

(very bad Scottish accent)...moose loose aboot this hoose! More specifically it's somewhere in our bedroom, and last night was under the bed. There's a roll of wrapping paper under there and it seemed to spend most of the night rustling it. Craig reckons it's been here for a few weeks, but last night was the first time I've heard it. And what a racket it made...it took me ages to get back to sleep as it was rustling just as I was dropping off again. Needless to say, Craig is going to be borrowing my Dad's mouse traps again today.

Weekend in Bridlington

We had a lovely long weekend break in Bridlington. When I say long weekend it was actually from Sunday to Tuesday (yesterday). On Sunday we packed the car up early, Craig, Kate and I, and went round to pick my brother Kevin up from his house before we had a steady drive down the east coast to Yorkshire. We stopped off in Guisborough for a pee break and arrived in Bridlington at about 11am. After booking into the hotel we removed the cool box from the boot of the car and walked over to the promenade, where we sat and ate our lunch. It was glorious sunshine and we just watched the world walk by. Then we went to the pub. Sat outside that pub for an hour then we were getting too hot so we went over the road to another one and spent the rest of the afternoon in there. Kate went back to the hotel for a lie down as she was knackered after her early morning. She came back to the pub at around 4.30pm. We stayed for another couple of hours before returning to the hotel for a wash and a brush up, and a couple of drinks in the hotel bar, then we went for something to eat. We were going to go to Poppies, a carvery restaurant that my Mam nearly got arrested in last August, but we changed our minds and went to a little Chinese restaurant just round the corner instead. The meal was lovely, and fairly cheap, and we really enjoyed it. We returned to the hotel bar and spent the rest of the night in there. They had a jazz group playing, in a space the size of your average small kitchen, and there were 9 of them! One played the piano, one guitarist, two banjo players, a trombonist, a drummer, saxophonist/clarinetist, a singer who also played the trumpet and a bloke on a tuba! To be honest we didn't really think much of them so we went up to our rooms at about 10pm. Apart from anything else we were all knackered. Craig and Kevin were sharing a room on the top floor so they came to our room for half an hour for a nightcap before finishing their climb.
On Bank Holiday Monday, we were downstairs for our breakfast at about 8.15am. The hotel must have been fully booked as all the tables were full, and some of them had to be reset for people who came down later. Breakfast was delicious - cereal, orange juice, full English cooked breakfast, followed by toast and marmalade or jam, all washed down with a pot of tea or coffee. YUM! Craig, Kate and I decided to have a walk along to the shops, while Kevin walked down to the promenade to wait for us...he doesn't do walking very much. As it was a Bank Holiday a lot of the shops weren't open at that time of the morning, but some of them were so we had a look in a few. At the harbour we turned around and walked back. I'd spotted some photo frames in a shop that were on offer for £1 each, so I snaffled five of them...they'll come in handy to frame some of my needlework. We found where Kevin was sitting and joined him for an hour, soaking up the sun. Actually, there wasn't that much sun when we sat down as it clouded over a bit, but it did get sunny again later on. Late morning we went back to the hotel and back into the bar to read the papers (and have a drink of course...got to replenish the liquid levels you know!) then Craig and I decided to go for a wander. Kate and Kevin didn't want to move so they stayed where they were. We ended up just going round the corner to one of the pubs we'd been in yesterday and had some lunch there, before having a walk back along to the shops as Kevin and Kate wanted us to get some rock for them. We sat at the harbour for a while, and sat a bit more further along the promenade on the way back to the hotel.
We spent the next couple of hours sitting outside the hotel pub, just chatting and watching the world go by, before freshening up and going over the road to the Italian restaurant, where the meal was quite nice, but expensive. We returned to the hotel bar and waited for the singer to turn up. He was a rock and roll singer, mostly singing Elvis stuff, and he kept embarrassing the hell out of Kate by singing to her. Her face was a picture. By 10am we were flagging again - too much sun I think - so we went to our room for a night cap before Craig and Kevin went up to their room.
Tuesday (yesterday) dawned nice and sunny yet again, and we were downstairs for breakfast just after 8am. Afterwards we finished packing our bags and loaded the car up again before leaving Bridlington at about 9.40am. We detoured through Scarborough as two of us needed the toilet, then headed north. About halfway we headed into Guisborough again and had our lunch in a pub before heading for home again. We finally arrived home at 3pm-ish, unloaded the car and just dropped! Craig had to take Kevin back home but he was soon back.
After a few hours rest we decided to go to bingo last night. Between us we won about £80, which we were quite pleased about, so we bought a Chinese meal on the way home, ate it when we got here then went to bed about an hour later.

Friday, May 27, 2005

Keep death off the roads...

Kate has officially started driving lessons. She's had a few from Craig on the back roads, but we decided she really needed to go on proper roads so she is paying for a proper instructor. She's had two lessons now and seems to be enjoying them. Her instructor, a woman called Sam, is very patient with her and is surprised by how much Kate already knows. This week they practiced right turns and in the next lesson they're going to do left turns. As I'm learning to drive too we decided to make a competition of it. Kate wants to pass her test before her 18th birthday in November, and I want to pass mine before my 40th in January. Don't hold your breath!

Couple of finishes and new web site

Last weekend I decided we needed a web site, so I tried using FrontPage to create one, having already secured a server and an address. Couldn't figure FP out so ordered a book from Amazon which arrived on Monday. Read through it, then did the test site from the book and it published fine. Went back in to change everything and it wouldn't publish at first, had a tweak, and saved it as a back up, and it worked fine. However, when Kate tried to do her page and we published it, everything went to pot. I ended up starting from scratch, about 4 times, on both the laptop and the PC and I just couldn't get it to work properly. I was gutted as FP is so much better than the editor in Bravenet. SIGH! So I had to go back to Bravenet editor and do it all again on there, and this is the finished result. http://smokingneedles.net

As well as messing about with the web site I've met a couple of goals this week. First of all I finished part 9 of the French Marquoir SAL.

And then on the same day, while the PC was defragmenting (to save me getting sidetracked) I finished the May band of the Heart Sampler SAL.

I have now rewarded myself with a small project. It's a Just Nan freebie, called Italian Ice, should have it finished in a couple of days if I put my mind to it. Received a RR in the post today, from the Battling Beginners, so will do that next week and get it out of the way. It should be interesting as there are Krienik threads in it...but they're a bugger to sew with. Thank goodness for Thread Heaven.

June Goals

Nutty Stitchers RR
New YeaRR
Battling Beginners RR
June Band Heart Sampler SAL
Part 10 French Marquoir SAL
Parts 4, 5 and 6 Alter Echo SAL
Part 1 and 2 Stashaholic SAL
Photo Chart 1
Photo Chart 2

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

May Goals

I just realised the other day that I hadn't posted my goals for May, so here you are...

New YeaRR - DONE
Nutty Stitchers RR - not received yet
Battling Beginners RR - DONE
Heart Sampler SAL (May band) - DONE
French Marquoir SAL Part 9 - DONE
Alter Echo Sampler Parts 3, 4 & 5 - FINISHED PART 3
Photo chart 1 - few stitches - DONE
Photo chart 2 - few stitches - DONE

Sunday, May 08, 2005

Sad day!

My Gran died today aged 89. She hadn't been well for some time and had a chest infection. Rest In Peace Mary Forster Earle (nee Henderson).

Sunday, May 01, 2005

RIP Spike

Spike fell off his perch in the early hours of this morning. When Craig took the cover off his cage he was dead as a dodo on the floor of his cage and rock hard. Once he'd been wrapped in newspaper and put in the wheelie bin we went off to Heighleygate Garden Centre to get a new one. We were telling one of the staff members about what happened and the fact that we'd only had him a matter of weeks, and she gave us a replacement cockatiel free of charge. So the new one is called Charlie, is white - Lutino - and has a few grey markings.

While we were at the garden centre Craig also ordered some gravel for the bit of garden at the front. It's coming on Friday, so he's got a week to finish digging the weeds up, putting more soil in to level it up a bit, lay a weed restraining membrane thingy, then rake the gravel over it all on Friday when it's delivered. He's gonna be a busy little bee.

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Smoking Needles - The ezBoard

I'm afraid I've been really unoriginal in naming the board, but hey, at least I remember what it's called. I have a shocking memory you know. If you're already a member of the boards, just type in "bsmoking needles" in the relevant box, without the speech marks. For those of you who've got here by some other means than through my ezBoard signature, the web address is http://p097.ezboard.com/bsmokingneedles

Could do with some new members if anyone is interested...it's free!

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Busy Week...Sort Of

Monday morning saw us tootling around on various missions - I needed threads, Craig was after a breeding trap for the aquarium as he thinks the female guppy could be preggers, and I needed to post a couple of things. I posted a RR then we tootled up to Stakeford to push some money through Jayne's door for the new set of Dragon Flosses that were due out today. We ended up going into Jayne's for a cuppa and were roped into doing some work. Not that I minded as it meant I got to fondle all those lovely threads while I was sorting them out and doing a stock take. I also checked the Dragon Fabrics while I was there, and Craig did the ironing!
Jayne can be such a laugh and I'm glad we get on well.
We left at about 4pm and went to the garden centre to get my threads, the trap for the tank and a couple of angel fish before going to collect Kate from work.
Yesterday I had a quiet morning sewing. I had to design a chart for one of the RR's I'm doing as I just couldn't find anything appropriate. I hope the person it's for likes it. In the afternoon we were at the gym. I did half an hour on the treadmill and walked just over a mile, then Craig and I played badmington for half an hour, with a rest in the middle. I thought I would be aching again today, like I was last week, but surprisingly I'm not. What a relief! Mind you, I have had a nap this afternoon as I was absolutely shattered, and had a really weird dream. Tonight I'm off to bingo if Jayne remembers to come and pick me up.

Monday, April 18, 2005

New Forum

I think I just made myself a new forum on ezboards. I had no idea what I was doing but I clicked on something that said Make A Community and went from there, muddled through and eventually got something that looks half decent...I think. Obviously it needs some tweaking here and there, and some more members wouldn't go amiss, there's only one at the minute, ME! Will work on it some more though before I go inviting people on to it.

Sunday, April 17, 2005

Goal Finished

Hi Folks
Here we are on a lovely sunny Sunday. I've got some time to myself as Craig and Ian have gone fishing. Dene and Kate are still in their pits. I finished another April goal yesterday. I quite like the finished thing, but if I'd realised just how much backstitching there was to do on it I probably would have picked something different...

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Health Start

Today Craig and I had our first session at Health Start. We were recommended by our GP a couple of months ago, for this scheme which is run at the local leisure centre, two afternoons a week, two hours per session. It's basically to try and get us healthier and to lose some weight. The scheme runs for 12 weeks then you go on to the next level.
We started off in the gym. I went on the wind cycle, where you have to pedal your feet and move your arms at the same time. I expect that'll do my shoulders some good, but I bet they hurt like hell tomorrow when I get up. After the bike - where I pedalled for about a mile and a half in ten minutes, I went on the treadmill and walked for ten minutes. I don't think I even made it to a mile, but it's more non-stop walking than I've done in ages.
After we were all finished in the gym we moved into the sports hall where we had a choice of what to do. There was either table tennis, soft tennis or badmington. Craig and I decided on badmington, which neither of us have played for more than 20 years. I quite enjoyed the badmington. All in all it was a good afternoon and I surprised myself at how much I actually did. Our next session is Thursday afternoon and I'm quite looking forward to it. As far as I know we'll be in the gym for the whole of the two hours. YIKES!

Sunday, April 10, 2005

Trip to York

On our way back from Nuneaton today we decided to have a side trip to York. Jayne had been on about it last night at the club, and she recommended we have a visit to The Viking Loom for a look at their stuff.

So after a shower and getting ready, we vacated our room at the Travel Lodge and headed north. We were starving by about 9am so we stopped off at McDonalds for a breakfast McMuffin. Now this proves how hungry I must have been because I HATE McD's and usually avoid it like the plague. However, the bacon and egg McMuffin was delicious, washed down with a cup of hot chocolate. YUM!

We got to York at about 11.30am and decided to go on one of the bus tours, it being one of the best ways to see all the sights without actually having to walk.


This took almost an hour and when we got off the bus in the same place we got on we were ready for something to eat. First of all though we had a wander up to the Minster for a quick look and a photo...

I had wanted to go into The Viking Loom for a look at their stitchy stuff, but it was closed. It just means we'll have to have another trip to York when it's open.

We went to a pub called The Hole In The Wall for our lunch, and had a very nice roast pork and apple sauce sandwich. It was delicious. We then went back to the car and headed for home, eventually arriving back at about 3.30pm. We were both absolutely shattered by this time, Craig more than me probably as he's the only one who drives, so we went to bed and had a nap for an hour.

All in all we had a brilliant weekend. It was fab meeting up with all the Aion ladies, some of them again, but most of them for the first time. And the charity event was an added bonus. We'd never thought of staying over until Jayne suggested it, and I'm really glad she did. I think we'll do that again the next time we go to a GTG, and we're definitely going to make more time for US to have weekends away in the future. The kids are old enough and ugly enough now.

Nuneaton Get-Together

Yesterday we were up at the crack of dawn (5am) so that we could trundle down to Nuneaton for the Aion Get-Together (GTG). We got ready, loaded the car up and set off at about 5.45am. Traffic was fairly light at that time of the morning, in fact it wasn't too bad all the way down there, and we made it to the scout hut by about 10.30am, after a side trip to Dobbie's Garden Centre to get a couple of gift bags.

Most people turned up not long after us, and there were a few there when we arrived. There were loads of us! As you can see from this photo.
Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Four of us had taken our Marquoir samplers along to compare notes.
Image hosted by Photobucket.com
Left to right: Jo, Sarah, me and Clare.

Everyone had a great day, and again there wasn't much sewing done, we were all too busy chatting. I think the quietest we were was when we were eating lunch...oh and when Nicola's husband Keith was taking the group photos.

After clearing everything away at about 4.30pm, some of us went to a local pub for something to eat. Craig gained himself a new daughter. Heather's little girl Marion adopted him as her Dad and she spent most of the time in the pub sitting on his knee and calling him Dad. She's such a funny little thing and really cute. By 7pm we were all ready to head for home. Apart from Craig and I that is. We'd already booked into a local Travel Lodge and had been and got changed late on in the afternoon. Once we left the pub we made our way to the Abbey Social Club as there was a charity event on there that Jayne had gotten us tickets for. Everything that was raised was going towards the Meningitis Trust.

We had a really good night there. First of all there was a young lad singing, then a woman singing, and then a trio of singers. One of them was called Gordon and was Ursh's husband. Ursh is Jayne's best friend is belongs to one of the Yahoo Groups that I'm a member of. One of the trio, Matt, is a professional singer and he was really good, both with the other two and also when he did a solo spot towards the end of the night. Unfortunately we weren't sitting near Jayne and Ursh and were in the corner, which made getting in and out a bit difficult, but we still enjoyed it. They managed to raise over £1100 from the event. This is going to be put with the other £2000 they've already raised and Matt is taking part in the London Marathon. All his sponsorship money is going to the Trust too.

By the time we got back to the Travel Lodge we were absolutely shattered, so it was straight to bed for us. We didn't take much rocking!

Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Mid Week Ramblings

April already! At this rate it'll be December before I know it and I'll be panicking about Christmas. Every year I say I'm going to start early, but every single year December creeps up on me and it's one mad dash round the shops to buy everything I need. I am so disorganised. Enough about Christmas!

We invested in a second car the other day, just to use as a run-around mainly, but also so the kids can learn to drive - one they get their provisional licences - and so that Craig and Ian can work on it. I think Craig has missed not having a wreck to work on in the last year, and his almost monthly visits to the scrap yard for bits. The 'new' car is a red G reg Nissan Micra, and it's mostly ok. I think Craig has to adjust the brakes later on today.

At the minute Craig has taken Dene back to the Metro Centre to try and get his phone replaced or fixed. It keeps switching off for no reason. He's only had it a couple of weeks so it shouldn't be knackered already. Hope they manage to get it sorted.

Ian has a couple of interviews next week for apprenticeships. He'll have to have the day off school on Thursday as they're both in Newcastle. Originally one was at 10am and the other 12.30pm, but the first one will take about three hours so he's had to change the time of the second one to 3pm. I hope he manages to get between them ok, he's going to have to go on the bus and the Metro and he hasn't had to do that by himself...ever!

Craig and I are off to Nuneaton on Saturday to meet up with some other people from the Aion board. The last Get-Together (GTG) was last October and there were about a dozen of us there altogether. We took some of our work to display on tables and something to work on while we were there, but to be honest I don't think there was much stitching done...we were too busy chatting and laughing. This time there are even more people going so it should be a good laugh. I'm looking forward to meeting some new faces and putting names to them. There are even two ladies coming from abroad - Athalie from Australia who is over here on holiday, and Hege from Norway (I think). So we won't be the furthest travelled this time. After the GTG there are a few of us heading off to the pub for a meal before we disperse and make our way home.

Oh what a beautiful morning!

It's a lovely day here today, which makes a nice change, but it was even nicer yesterday. Today it's a bit windy and by the look of the window it's trying to rain, but it's still sunny-ish too.

I saw this on someone else's Blog and thought I would do it too:

Accent - Northumbrian/Geordie
Bra Size - I have no idea, but probably smaller than I think
Chore I Hate - Ironing
Dad's Name - Ian
Essential Make-Up - Never wear any
Favourite Perfume - Eternity by Calvin Klein
Gold Or Silver - Gold
Home Town - Blyth, Northumberland
Interesting Fact - I can touch my nose with my tongue
Job Title - Domestic Engineer
Kids - 3...Dene, Kate & Ian
Living Arrangements - 3 bed semi with husband and kids
Mom's Birthplace - Alnwick, Northumberland
Number Of Apples Eaten In Last Week - None
Overnight Hospital Stays - Births of children in 1986, 1987 and 1989; Gallbladder op in 1986; Abcess removal in 2002; Mastectomy 2004.
Phobia - None
Question You Ask Yourself A Lot - Why?
Religious Affiliation - None really but baptised Church of England
Siblings - Brother called Kevin
Time I Wake Up - Anytime between 8.30am - 10.00am
Unnatural Hair Colour - It's been red, ginger, blonde...and at the minute is growing back in mousy brown with lots of grey
Vegetable I Refuse To Eat - Sprouts and parsnip
Worst Habit - Can't think of one
X-Rays - Collarbone when I was about 12; left hand for carpal tunnel syndrome in 2002; chest x-ray 2004.
Yummy Food I Make - Shish Kebabs
Zodiac Sign - Aquarius

Saturday, April 02, 2005

One Goal Finished Already!

I have such a lot of goals to get through this time that I thought I'd better get a move on, and have so far finished one already. This is the April band of the Heart Sampler, and I also finished the border round the top too. Finished on 1/4/05.

Photo moved!

Thursday, March 31, 2005

March/April Goals

OK, here's an update on my March goals, and my goals for April.

March -
Finish cottage on Crystal's RR for Nutty Stitchers - FINISHED
Mail New YeaRR (Tammy's piece) - DONE
Work on Carly's piece (New YeaRR) - only just received
Mail Nutty Stitchers RR - DONE
Make a start on Suzi's piece (Nutty Stitchers) - not yet received
Complete Parts 6 & 7 of French Marquoir - DONE
Complete Parts 1, 2 & 3 on Alter Echo Sampler - FINISHED 1 & 2
Complete Feb and March bands on Heart Sampler - BOTH DONE
Make a start on 2 photo charts - BOTH STARTED

April -
Part 8 of French Marquoir SAL
Parts 3 & 4 of Alter Echo Sampler SAL
April Band of Heart Sampler SAL
Do more work on both photo charts
Start - and post - new RR (Battling Beginners)
Finish and post Carly's piece (New YeaRR)
Finish and post Suzi's piece (Nutty Stitchers RR)
Maybe a couple of small pieces so I've got some finishes!

Friday, March 18, 2005

A small finish

I finished this last night, just something small by Lizzie*Kate, and just so I could say I'd finished a project this month. I might do a few more of these and give them as little pressies.

Monday, March 14, 2005

And another!

I'm really cooking on gas now! Last night I finished the March band of the Heart Sampler that I'm doing as a Stitch-A-Long with a few friends from Aion. I'm certainly getting through my goals for this month quite fast!

Saturday, March 12, 2005

Another goal fulfilled

This week I've completed two of March's goals. First off I finished Part 7 of the Marquoir SAL that I'm doing with a few other people from Aion.

And then last night I finished Part 2 of the Alter Echo Sampler, another SAL on Aion.

I'm now going to try and sort out my Heart Sampler that I've made a complete mess of and will have to unpick.

Thursday, March 10, 2005

Riverdance

On Tuesday night Craig and I went to see Riverdance at the Newcastle Arena. It's their final UK tour and also the 10 year anniversary since it first started. The dancing was just amazing - I can't dance to save my life - and the music and singing weren't bad either. It was well worth the money that my daughter Kate paid for it. Mind you, she wouldn't have needed to have spent as much if she'd just bought us the DVD, but not half as much fun. Think I might have to put the DVD on my Christmas present list, that and Lord of the Dance.
I've just realised that I should be making a note of what my goals are for each month, sewing-wise. These are my goals for March:
ROUND ROBINS
Cottage on Crystal's piece for Nutty Stitchers - DONE
Work on Carly's piece for New YeaRR - not received yet
Work on Suzi's piece for Nutty Stitchers - not received yet
STITCHALONGS
Complete Parts 6 and 7 on French Marquoir - DONE
Complete Parts 1, 2 and 3 on Alter Echo Sampler - Part 1 complete, 2 almost, 3 not out yet
Complete Feb and March bands on Heart Sampler - frogs are attacking so not quite
OTHER PROJECTS
Grandparents I Photochart - need threads
Grandparents II Photochart - need threads
2 x Tatty Ted kits (inherited from daughter) - made a small start on one of them
I've been naughty today and ordered some more Weeks Dye Works threads. I want to get a good collection of threads, from various places, not just DMC or Anchor. I already have all the Dragon Flosses thanks to my trip to the Pins & Needles show a couple of weekends ago, and I haven't stopped drooling over them since. I'll have to stop though or they'll be too soggy to sew with. Mind you, I'm going to hate breaking into a skein to start a project.
Craig and I went to the gym the other day for an assessment. We've been referred to a scheme at the leisure centre called Health Start to try and get us a bit fitter and to lose weight. Hopefully, once we start in April, it'll help my shoulders and back problems, as well as get us fit and healthy. But don't hold your breath! LOL!

Sunday, March 06, 2005

Mother's Day

Well today was Mother's Day. I had a good morning - breakfast in bed, three cards and three pressies - vase decorated in hand-made paper, some new embroidery scissors and a huge bunch of flowers.

After dinner we trooped to the old folks home where my Gran lives as today was also her 89th birthday. There were us five, my parents and my brother Kevin. I don't think she really knew what was happening, but she opened her cards, with a bit of help, liked her pressies and her choccy birthday cake and especially the Bailey's Irish Cream that she had to drink. It was interesting to note that although she has three children, seven grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren, there were only cards from us lot, her sister Vi and her niece Mary. She didn't even have cards for Mother's Day from my Mam's siblings, which I thought was a damn shame.

Still, Gran enjoyed herself that was the main thing.

I found out about a week later that Gran did get visitors later in the day so she got more cards and presents. Apologies to my "anonymous" relative who took umbrage at what I wrote above.

Saturday, February 26, 2005

A Good Day For S.E.X.

I've had a brilliant day today! I was up at the crack of dawn to have a shower before going to pick my Mam up with Craig and Kate. We were off to the Pins & Needles Stitching Show at MetroRadio Arena in Newcastle, which started at 9.30am. We were there just before 9am and stayed in the car for a while before making our way to the doors. Five minutes later we were allowed in and we headed straight for stall P2 where I met Jayne from Jayne's Attic and her friend Ursh. They were both really nice and Jayne showed me all the threads that she had put away for me. I left them where they were and we spent the next hour walking round all the other stalls, to see what else I could spend some money on.

Before I started spending we went for a drink as were all feeling a bit parched. Then back into the fray! When we'd first arrived it was great as there was hardly anyone there and we could actually get to SEE what was on the stalls, however, after our half hour break it was absolutely heaving in the hall and we could hardly get moved. However we managed and I got some of my money spent:

7 sheets of self-adhesive mount board
The Northumberland Sampler chart (gonna use this for an RR)
Patchwork Sampler from Polstitches Designs (probably use this for an RR too)
A decorated egg thing in the shape of a bell for Mother's Day
Herb Garden Dragon Flosses from Polstitches
Hot Potatoes 28 ct Jobelan from Polstitches
Full set of 51 Dragon Flosses from Polstitches (some of these aren't out yet and they're gorgeous!)

After three hours of walking around we were knackered, and we'd bought everything we wanted, so we said goodbye to Jayne and headed for home. I've spent most of the afternoon fondling my stash.

There was a surprise for me at home when we got back. My order from Sew and So had arrived - more threads, these ones from Weeks Dye Works. I'm going to get the whole collection, a few at a time, then start on another collection, then another...

I think the kids might have to move out soon as I'll need the room for all my stash!

Thursday, February 24, 2005

Life Ain't Bad

Thursday 24 Feb
I can't wait till Saturday when we go to the Pins & Needles Show at the Metro Radio Arena. More S.E.X! Mind you, I won't have all that much money to spend, but I'm planning on buying ALL the Dragon Flosses from Jayne of Jayne's Attic. She has a stall there and I'm looking forward to meeting her and getting all the gen on the bargains to be had.

I've just made a list of all the different threads I would like to buy, eventually, and I think one of my kids is going to have to leave home so I can have their room to keep it all in. There certainly won't be room in our bedroom to store it all. Although saying that, by the time I have it all they might have moved out anyway.

Craig applied to Ready Steady Cook for tickets to be in the audience today. They rang him up and said there were two tickets in the post for us. So I guess we're going down to London on 9th March. Should be a good laugh. Craig would also like to take part in the show, cooking, and they're looking for couples to take part. I've printed the application forms out, but to be honest I'm not sure if I want to be on the show. Ainsley Harriet would get on my wick and I'd be tempted to tell him to get out of my way. He does my head in just watching him on TV!

Ian, my youngest son, has gone swimming tonight. He was at the gym last night. He's certainly making more of an effort to keep fit and it makes a change from him being stuck in front of the TV or PS2. I wish his brother would make the effort too. It's murder trying to get him off the PC. As soon as he hears us going out the front door he's there. I suppose it's better than him wandering the streets like some teenagers of almost 19, and he keeps out of trouble if he's in the house.

Mam's needle test that she had on Tuesday came back clear. I think she's relieved that her cancer hasn't come back. She was petrified that it had. So back to annual check-ups again from now on.

I've been having a good sort through my stash and have listed a stack of items on eBay today. I hope some of it sells, we need the money for our holiday later this year. If I can sell it I'll have more room for all those threads that I want. LOL!

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Blimey I have loads of sewing projects on the go at the minute. I was just looking through them all. I could do with starting some smaller things so I can have some happy dances sooner rather than later! At the minute I'm busy with: New YeaRR round robin, Nutty Stitchers RR, AOY The Carousel, Heart Sampler, Alter Echo Sampler, French Mystery Marquoir and a cushion that I started last night. I also have a couple of photo charts to make a start on in the next couple of weeks. I finished one last week which I was quite pleased with. Not bad for my first attempt.

Tonight we're off pub quizzing. It's something we do every week, but we don't stick to the same pub all the time, we like to travel about a bit. We've even been known to win...now and then. We don't like to make a habit of it though in case the other teams get jealous.

Going for a nap now. Had to get up early this morning and it's worn me out!

Hospital Visit

Well today was interesting...I suppose. I went to the hospital to get my new chicken fillet. For those of you that don't know me, I had a mastectomy just before Christmas 2004. When I left the hospital they gave me a foam prosthesis to use temporarily, but to be honest it wasn't much good. It moves around too much and doesn't stay in the same place. I was forever howking it back into position. However, this morning, seeing as we were taking my Mam up to the hospital, I decided to go and get a new one...and it's EXACTLY like a chicken fillet, well maybe a turkey fillet cos it's quite big. It feels so much more comfy than the old foam one I can tell you. Now all I need is a couple of new bras!

We were at the hospital for ages today. Mam had to see the consultant about whether or not her breast cancer has come back again. She had an op in 1998 and she's never been the same since. The consultant sent her to the radiologist so she could have a needle test done, but we had to wait forever in the x-ray department before he could fit her in to his busy schedule. Once she'd had her test we went back to the clinic where we thought we would have to wait for another hour for the results, but she was told she could go home and the consultant would ring her up later today. Hope she finds out soon, she's a bag of nerves.

Got a nice surprise when we got home. A round robin that I started about 6 months ago came home this morning. There is one square left to do as one of the ladies that was originally taking part had to drop out. I've asked Craig if he will do it for me and he says he will. Also in the post was a dolphin kit that I won on eBay the other day, so I was quite chuffed about that.

Welcome to my Blog!

Hi there. I guess I should introduce myself to anyone who is interested enough to want to know. I've never done a Blog before, and I'm sure there's something somewhere where I can do a profile, but I haven't found it yet.
My name is Jacqui and I live in Northumberland, UK. I'm 39 years old (big 4-0 next January!) and I'm married to Craig. We have three teenagers, all still living at home, two of them working and one in his final year of school...he leaves in June after his GCSE's.
We live in a small harbour town. There is a market three days a week, no cinema, plenty of pubs and lots of shops, although for a wider variety there is always Newcastle or the Metro Centre. We have some of the best coastline in England, here in Northumberland, and there are more castles in the county than anywhere else in England.
I don't work but I do have quite a few hobbies, the main one being cross stitching. I also like card-making, photography, cooking, going to the cinema, pub quizzing, reading, listening to music, and I dabble in other crafts too when I can tear myself away from cross stitching. I tend to have lots of stitching projects on the go at the same time and at the minute my works in progress (WIP's) are - All Our Yesterdays The Carousel, Nutty Stitchers round robin, New Year RR, Heart Sampler, Alter Echo Sampler, French Marquoir Mystery Sampler and sometime over the next couple of weeks I'm going to make a start on two photo charts of both sets of grandparents. These are going to be C'mas presents for my parents. I recently finished a photo chart for my cousin Michelle and if I can figure out how to get it on here...hmmm maybe not. I will get it sussed soon, I promise.
That's all from me for now. I will post more later.