New job - hurray!

Happy Valentines Day! I got a bunch of lovely Roses and a box of chocolates which we ate last night whilst watching the olympics. There's something not right about stuuffing your face with chocolate whilst watching all these elite sportsmen/women in tip top condition LOL DH is most unhappy with the BBCs coverage of the Olypmics...mostly because they never show any ice-hockey games. As a Canadian he's not impressed at the British lack of interest in his beloved national sport!

Still loving this rotation. Here's my update on CDC (turn your head to the side, i just cant get blogger to post this horizontally). I really want to finish this this year! I have a big space on the wall in my lounge where it would look perfect all framed.

I got a new job! Wooo Hooo! It is such great news. In terms of funding it is no more secure than where i was but i am just so glad to be away. Its terrible to work for a charity where people (i.e. the boss) dont turn up for work, lie, manipulate, bully, make terrible financial decisions etc etc She was not happy when i gave my notice and to cut a long story short i just have to go in for a few hours on Wednesday to wrap up and then im done! Its a great feeling! I start my new job a week tomorrow. My new job is sounding great. The boss has been emailing me lots of stuff already, including a few training courses she wants me to go on. That looks promising!

Reindeer Games

As you can see above, I received my Reindeer Games exchange from Lisa on Friday. Lisa said that its an American folk arts design of a reindeer dated from 1666 and she finished it as a no sew cube. It's lovely! She also included great gifts - a reindeer ornie, a reindeer tea towel, threads and cute christmas buttons. I love everything Lisa, thanks so much! I just hope the exchange i sent arrives okay now!

I also reached another milestone with CDC. Ive finished 2 pages now and started the third! Im right back into this again although i need to put it aside to finish Janice's RR which ive embarassingly had far too long.

In pregnany news, i have one month to go and i've finished work!! Woooo Hooooo! Cant tell you how good it feels. Im going in this week but just for a lunch and i plan to attend the Christmas night out but that's hardly work!! So good to have that stress away. I am 36 weeks pregnant now and here's the most recent bump shot taken last week at my baby shower

We picked up our pram yesterday (i love the pram we got) and DH had the job of putting it together. My job was to oversee.....obviously LOL. What can i say? I was tired!!!

Cirque is back

The last time i worked on CdC seems to have been back in February!!! Oh my, how time flies! This is how it looked back then but i had the urge to pick it up again recently and here's how it now looksIts good to see some progress on a piece that will probably take me years! I already have a space on the living room wall earmarked for this so hopefully not too many years LOL Ive also worked a bit on Baby's sampleras im getting bigger and more tired i have more time to stitch. I finish work in 2 weeks now and i really can't wait! As of today i am 34weeks pregnant. I cant wait until the day now, im impatient!

I had a busy weekend. On Saturday i spent the day with my Gran which was nice. We just stayed in, ate, drank tea and did our crafts. Yesterday, my American friend Lori had an early thanksgiving lunch and it was so good!! DH was in Liverpoool at the weekend and sped home to get there in time LOL you'd think he was never fed proper food ;-) Lori is due her second baby in 3weeks! It'll be nice to have babies the same age and in the same class at school one day!

I have a day off today so i had a lie in this morning and plan on having a lazy day. I do need to do some cleaning though, but not just yet...

Sore Ear

Thank-you for all your encouragement after my last post! In conclusion....i am running the 10k (18th May aaaahhh) and i am going to Canada (on wednesday)!! You're all very persuasive!

Another week has past since my last post. DH left for Canada and is having a great time back home with his family and friends....he's loving the snow and playing ice hockey again! I go this wednesday and im glad im going, if only for a week.

Im not looking forward to the flight because last night i burst my ear drum. I had to be spend 4 hours at A&E. Such a nightmare! My ear is sore and i cant hear anything. Im on antibiotics and painkillers. It will heal and my hearing will come back soon but it hurts!! Needless to say i wont be going to work tomorrow.

I really havent been stitching much recently, just havent had the time. I've only managed to work on my 2 SAL pieces. Ive made fairly good progress on Dear Diary

and only a tiny wee bit on Cirque

I wont be working on either of them now until i come back from Canada. Off to relax for the evening and have an early to bed night!

Winter Quaker

I received word from Mindi that she received the pillow i made her for the SBEBB Winter Quaker. I was tempted to keep this for myself and my DH really liked it too but a deadline was approaching and it had to wing its way to Mindi!It is a chart from the Gift of Stitching magazine May 2007 issue. There is a quaker chart for all 4 seasons. I chose my own colours to make it more wintery. I sent her other goodies too but didn't photograph them. Mindi's blog post about my pillow made me laugh. She said that she wants to come and live at my house coz the pillow smelt so good! It wasn't a scented pillow so maybe my house does smell good....you can never really tell what your own house smells like but i notice what other peoples smells like.

I have managed to work on my SAL pieces this week. Here's some progress pics. Firstly of CdCand secondly of Dear DiaryI don't get much time to stitch so progress is always gonna be slow. But progress is progress!

The weather is pretty wild here at the moment. We have gale force winds and snow is forecast. blaa. Luckily i have today off and dont have to go outside until later tonight. Im hoping it will be more settled by then.

Have a good weekend!

Snowfall and WIPS

We had our first snow fall of 2008 yesterday. Not much compared with what some of you North Americans get but this suits me fine. Anymore than this and everything is a nightmare. Our country can't handle snow!My boss text me the other day to say that i could have today off and just start back on Monday! I was so happy! I though it was dumb starting back on a Friday anyway.

So here's some progress pics of some pieces i've been stitching recently. The first is Lizzy's RR and im stitching LHN's Mary Heaton (from the Dear Diary Series). It was stitching on this RR that made me decide to stitch all the Dear Diary Series for myself. And here is Cirque. I had a bit of a break from it just before Christmas so this is my week 7 progress. The end is nigh for page 1....maybe next week?
Check back soon for my blogiversary!

Rainy saturday

Its 1pm and it's such a dull day we've had to have the lights on all morning. How depressing! This morning we went to play badminton as we feel that we never get any exercise in the winter. By the time you get home from work, it's dark and i just can't be bothered doing anything. But i must!! Its so easy just to come in and veg out in the evening especially when work has been busy and stressful. Unfortunately Scottish winters come with a lot of rain so outside is not particularly appealing!

Anyway, on to nicer topics....like this gorgeous Christmas ornie i received from Karen this week! I love it Karen and can't wait to hang it on my tree. Thank-you. No decorations here yet mind you! I normally put my decorations up 12 days before Christmas and take them down 12 days after. Here's my lovely gift from Karen anyway, it looks like a JBW designs one to me but im not sure
I also received the next RR to work on for the Heartfelt Friends RR. This one is Lizzy's and my, is it a beauty or what?! Lizzy is using LHN's Dear Diary series for her piece. It looks really great. Ive never seen these Dear Diary ones before but im definitely going to buy some after seeing this piece. I have already started my square and am going to stitch the Mary Heaton, Fort Wayne one.You'll probably be bored of CdC by now but as im working on it once a week for the SAL and i only normally get to post to my blog once or twice a week, it's going to be a regular update here. It's great motivation for me to see my (small) progress week by week. I've started working on the big circle, bottom right. Still on page 1 though!This afternoon im going to stitch and either finish watching season 6 of Gilmore Girls or watch Hairspray on DVD. Perfect rainy day afternoon in my eyes :)

Gifts from friends

Ive got Friday and Monday off work which is great! Not much planned....was at my Gran's birthday dinner last night and am going out with friends for dinner tonight. It is rainy outside and starting to get dark as i write this at 3.30pm. Im not a fan of winter.

Anyway here's some WIPS from this week. The first, my JBW French Country Stocking

The second is this weeks progress on Cirque for the Snowbirds SAL. If it wasn't for this SAL i don't think i would be working on this one so thanks to those that started it! Not much progress, just the top right circle.

I have also been gifted by the secret santa from Belgium! I got this gorgeous floss this morning called Yuletide Green. I love greens. Has secret santa made known her identity yet?! I think i know who it's from as ive had a gift from someone before with very similar writing but im not totally sure. Anyway, a BIG thanks to whoever you are! It was so kind of you to think of me and it made my morning!Today really was a GREAT mail day because as well as this floss, look what i got in the post from Mercy - 3 LHN charts!! They are A Stitchers Prayer, Willow Tree Inn and A Rose in the Morning. Mercy was clearing out some stash and asked me if i would like them. Isn't that just so generous?! Thank-you so much Mercy. I can't get over the kindness and generosity of all these folks ive never met but definitely consider them to be friends!! Thanks so much :)

First SBEBB exchange

I received word from Edgar that he had received my SBEBB Specific Designer Exchange piece. I stitched a LHN freebie called Miniature Garden Gameboard and finished it as a pinkeep/hanging ornament.I sent him some other goodies too and i was pleased to hear he liked them! This was my first exchange on the SBEBB and im glad i got Edgar's name!

I worked on CdC this week again for the Snowbirds SAL. We work on this one day a week but obviously as i work full-time, i normally only get a couple of hours in but im pleased with my progress. For those that have asked, im using Vikki Clayton silks called "marque des cercles."

I also have a new start to show. I started my JBW French Country Stocking. Im not sure if it'll be done in time for this Christmas though. Im using DMC115.

Ive enjoyed reading your blogs this week and finding out how you all celebrated Thanksgiving. Obviously we dont have thanksgiving over here. How on earth you all cope with all the preparation for Thanksgiving and then Christmas i dont know....the 2 holidays are so close to each other. The Christmas build up seems crazy over here, months and months of build up. I love Christmas but dont enjoy the 4 month build up in the shops and on TV!!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Cirque is aired again!

I joined The Snowbirds SAL to get me stitching on Cirque des Cercles again and it worked! I will be working on this one night a week. If it hadn't been for the SAL i dont know when this would've come out the wip box again. It is such an enjoyable stitch, i didnt want to put it away for another week!Stash alert!! Woo hoo! Ive been admiring this JBW designs French Country Stocking piece on Wendy's blog and after her last update picture, i decided to buy it. I love it. I don't know if it will be stitched in time for this Christmas though. I am going to stitch it in red, probably DMC115. I also got some dark blue linen and some quilting stash too...rulers etc. I had a hard week at work and worked lots of hours so was able to take today off with all the hours i was due back. It was great. I needed it. Work is really stressful at the moment. My boss is really useless and things are coming to head with the board of directors finally stepping in. Unfortunately it's going to be a really awkward time for me having to tell the board what's been going on. I have a feeling the worst is yet to come. However, im generally quite good at leaving work at work so i intend to have a nice relaxing weekend. Hope you all do too!

*edit" how could i forget to mention this:

Bank holiday weekend

This is a bank holiday weekend which means a day off work today! This was great as i had a busy saturday and sunday. Our friends from London came up to stay for the weekend. So i spent friday night and saturday morning getting the place tidy for their stay. On saturday evening DH was playing with his band at a big church event for young folk. They practiced a lot for this and it was worth it because they were great, i was so impressed! Anyway, we took our friends to the airport late last night and it has been great to have this extra day today to relax! DH went to the driving range with his friends and i stitched the afternoon away whilst watching season 2 of the gilmore girls (an american friend gave me the boxset - it's not on over here).

In typical British bank holiday fashion....it rained today. This was so annoying as it had been so beautiful recently whilst i've been stuck in that hole of an office at work. So my West of Scotland weekend photos were taken out of my windows LOL. Out of the kitchen window: and out of a bedroom window

this is not my garden, it's my neighbours, but i just love that blue/purple bush in their garden.

Now for a stitching update....i wanted to post a picture of Cirque des Cercles because i finished 1 of the circles (1 down, many many more to go!!)There's a bit of a shadow on the photo.

Today i decided to go back to Dolhouse. I feel like i haven't stitched on it in ages but the break was much needed. It's one of those pieces that require thread changes all the time and i get fed up of it sometimes. The break has been good though as i've enjoyed working on it again this afternoon. I'll post a picture later in the week.

Yesterday i was showing my friend all my WIPS and stash whilst our hubbies played on the Wii. She thinks it's hilarious that i love it so much and took great delight in teasing me. She's quite crafty so i thought she'd be interested but she didn't seem to like anything much at all and thought it was a boring hobby. I grew up with this friend, isn't it funny how you can be such good friends with people that have totally different interests? I guess sometimes friendships are more about the things you've experienced together in the past and that's our bond rather than similar hobbies etc.

On a completely different note...for anyone that read my post the other day entitled "a history lesson," the SNP won the election in Scotland by 1 seat :( I was so disappointed. At least they don't have a big majority. Im hoping no other party will join up with them because that way they will never pass a bill to have a referendum for Scottish independence.