Another winner

I dont do the following thing with blogs. Only because i don't know what it means and how you then "follow" a blog etc etc Basically if i find a blog i like, i copy and paste the link into my google reader and follow from there. It highlights when there's a new post. So don't be offended if i'm not your "follower," it's just because i don't know what it's all about! I don't even know if its people that actually read your blog regularly or if its just something people do, or if its to draw attention to their own blog. I dunno. Whatever. Its nice to have "followers" none the less.

Anyway, i've been watching the number of "followers" of my blog creep up and i decided secretly in my head that i'd maybe do some kind of giveaway when i got to 100. It just so happened that it coincided with my 4th blog birthday giveaway! So Cole was my 100th follower and im going to make her a gift. Dont expect it anytime soon Cole, i'm a slow stitcher lacking in free time!!

My nephew is due to be born one week tomorrow.....exciting!!!!

And the winner is

.......Barbara!! Congratulations! My husband chose a random number for me and Barbara was that 11th person. Yeah! Barbara's blog was one of the first i started reading 4 years ago and i still do to date. I love it. I do not know how she has the time to do everything that she does though!! Barbara, you sound like an amazing woman! I promise to send you something before my next blog birthday :-)

Im having a good day. It was a really nice morning and we've had a dusting of snow again so the three of us went for a walk. After our walk i made potato scone rolls yum yum then, whilst Caleb napped, i went on my exercise bike for half an hour. The pavements were too slippy to go running. Now Matthew and Caleb are out running some errands and i've made banana loaf and prepared tonights casserole. Im feeling very productive!

TV has been so crap recently that we're back into watching films again. I hardly watched any movies last year. We're on a Godfather fix at the moment. We have the trilogy lined up to watch. 1 down, 2 to go. Ive heard The Godfather II is brilliant. I really enjoyed the first one so that bodes well. Last night we watched most of Slumdog Millionaire (still half an hour left to watch)....so far, sooo good.

4 years...

I started my blog 4 years ago today. I was reading back on some of my early posts and remembering what life was like back then!

So, 4 years, go me! Im going to try and post on my blog more this year. I was pretty bad at it last year, sometimes just once a month. Everyday blogging through advent has renewed my interest though.

I have "met" some lovely people through blogging......Rowyn, Suzanne, Hazel, Lynn, Kathy, Donna, Michele, Erna, Vonna, Maggie.....to name but a few, maybe one day we'll meet in real life! That'd be great. There are other blogs i've followed for years and then suddenly all posts stopped and theres been nothing since. I do wonder about those folk....Mercy, Kim, Sue, Jamie, Lesley, Stephanie are just some names that pop to mind.

Anyway, as is tradition, i will be having a "blogiversary" competition. Not really a competition, I'll have a draw and send a wee something to one lucky person who comments on this post. No other conditions attached to entering you'll be pleased to know :-) It'll be open until i post again....who knows when that will be ;-)

Winner and Final Christmas stuff

I asked my husband to pick a number between 1 and 27 and number 17 was his choice! Margaret that's you! You have won my blogiversary competition and i will send you a gift before my next blog birthday! If you could leave me a comment with your email address that'd be great. Thanks everyone else, was fun to find some new blogs too!

Now my third Christmas exchange was with Jill and this beautiful ornament arrived the day before Christmas. It really is stunning. Thanks Jill and for all the other goodies too.

I stitched this one for Jill. A Lizzie Kate freebie

Got a busy week ahead. Monday im working, Tuesday is mum and tots at my church and body combat in the evening, Wednesday im working, Thursday another mums and tots and then Caleb starts his swimming lessons in the afternoon and then Saturday is Caleb's first birthday party so ive got food and decorations to buy, cakes to bake etc etc Busy busy!

3 years of blogging

I started blogging 3 years yesterday! Ive decided Im going to have a giveaway. Except this time i'll choose only one winner and i promise it wont take 2 years to stitch and send something like my 2008 blogiversary LOL

I was reading my Health and Fitness magazine last night and apparently, according to a 2009 CyberPsychology and Behavior study, blogging increases an individuals wellbeing. So there you go, as a thank-you to everyone who visits for "increasing my wellbeing" i will stitch a wee gift for one lucky person! Just leave a comment :)

Winners!

Wow, i was not expecting the 50 comments i got for my blogiversary contest! Thanks everyone for entering. Its been fun having so many comments to read the last few days. I decided to pick 3 winners because there were so many entries. This will be instead of doing a PIF offer this year. However, when i drew names from a hat i picked 4 out by accident and didnt know who to put back so its now 4 winners LOL

Congratulations to:
Nicola

Staci

Juls

Michele

Staci, im not sure if you have a blog? Could you all email me your addresses please? My email is cherylthomas3000 at yahoo dot com Michele was one of the ladies i sent a PIF to last year and she commented that my blog was one of the first she started reading consistently which was really nice to hear so i am thrilled to stitch for her again!

I was a winner myself this week. Merci very kindly donated this kit to the Stitch Pink Blog and i was lucky enough to win it. I received everything needed to stitch and finish it! Thanks Merci for donating it and Kim for mailing it out!

I joined Tanya's yahoo group the other day which is The Jane Austen Stitching Group. Ive been enjoying the BBC's new adaptation of Sense and Sensibility recently. They've shown 2 out of 3 parts already. Any other UK folk been watching it? I love the film Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet. So, Tanya's group have inspired another new start for me this week. Yes, another new start! Ive started stitching "At home with Jane Austen" which you can see finished here but here's my startIm awaiting the result of the poll to see which Austen book we will be reading in February. Should be fun!

We are getting bashed with gale force winds and heavy rain at the moment. I noticed we have a few tiles off our roof. I couldnt get to work this morning as the roads are flooded and covered in debris and the trains are off. Im going to try and leave again in a few hours.

Blogiversary contest

My fabric arrived on Saturday for my Dear Diary SAL with Vonna and now Laura too and i had to start immediately!! Im using a 28 ct light mocha cashel linen and i really like it. I started with the Hannah Purington chart which is one of my favourites of the Dear Diary series. I'll put it away now until Tuesday which is SAL day!Today is my one year blogiversary! When i started this blog a year ago i had no idea what form it would take. I didnt even start it as a stitching blog really, that just kinda happened. As i look back i see that so many of you have been with me from the beginning! I was so surprised! Thank-you for your friendship and your kind words. Ive enjoyed getting to know you all. I always make an effort to visit the blogs of everyone who visits mine, as a result i have about 160 feeds in my google reader!

I have loved blogging in the last year. I have met so many nice people, have learnt so many new finishing techniques, learnt lots about other people and other countries, have spent too much money on stash after seeing pieces on your blogs and have been inspired to stitch more and been kept motivated by you all. Thank-you!

As a thank-you to all my blogging friends, i am going to have a give-away. You will receive something stitched and finished by me before my 2nd blogiversary! Please leave a comment on this post and i'll have a draw in a few days time. It doesn't matter if this is your first time visiting my blog or your 100th, anyone can enter!

Your stitching friend

Gifts to me and from me!

Thank-you for all the anniversary wishes! We had a lovely Indian meal after work and my DH bought me a bouquet of all my favourite flowers! I received a gift in the post during the week from Jenn. Jenn has just stitched LHN's Gourmet Garden and knew that i liked it so sent it on to me! Jenn your gift was a great surprise and made my day. Thank-you so much, that was really kind of you. Stitching blogger friends are great eh?! Im gonna stitch this one for my kitchen one day!

Speaking of gifts. Remember the competition i had on here to decide a new name for my blog? Well, i had so many great entries but i chose "Clydeside Stitching" as i overlook the river Clyde from my place. Lesley suggested that and her prize was a wee stitched gift from me. I made Lesley a pincushion. Merci is a freebie from this siteand this was the backing fabric (not a great picture-sorry!) which also had french on itLesley, i hope you liked it and thanks again for naming my blog!

Home from camp

Im back from my week at camp and i am absolutely shattered. It was a good week but hard work and the kids were challenging. My cabin were hard going, i had the 9 year olds, most of whom came from pretty deprived backgrounds. I dealt with it all...bed wetting, head lice, bickering, fights, etc etc. It was not a relaxing holiday! The kids had a great time though, which is the most important thing and learnt more about God which is the aim of it all. I am back feeling exhausted though and have a sore throat and ear ache. Im totally resting today before going back to work tomorrow!

So i have no stitching updates for you but i do have a new blog title!! I had many great suggestions - thank you so much to everyone! I narrowed it down to 3: So many stitches, so little time (DH's favourite), Scots and Knots and Clydeside Stitching. I love Scots and Knots but i have decided to go with Clydeside Stitching because it is much more relevant to me...i overlook the river Clyde from my place and most of my West of Scotland weekend photos are of the river Clyde so i liked the idea of Clydeside stitching. Maybe i'll take a notion to change my title again in the future and will use one of the other suggestions! So Lesley, i know you're away on your hols at the moment but you are a WINNER! Thank-you for your suggestion and i will be making you a stitchy gift in the near (ish) future!

I came home yesterday to a beautiful gift in the mail from Donna! Donna, thank you soooo much. I absolutely love it. Not only did she stitch and make me a scissor fob, she also attached the loveliest pink scissors and included a snowman chart and some linen!

Donna you are so kind and i appreciate it very much! What a lovely friend you are.

So im off now to relax some more. I bought the new Harry Potter book yesterday on my way back from dropping my friend off at the airport, so i am looking forward to starting it! I also have a lot of your blogs to catch up on and lots of emails to reply to. Its so nice to be home, with a lovely shower...carpets....tv.....sofa......comfy bed.. and no 9 year olds to constantly watch over!!

Competition

Im looking for a new blog name. I haven't been able to come up with anything. Can you help? There's a stitching prize in it for you!

When i started this blog i wasnt sure what shape it was going to take. Originally it thought it'd just be for friends and family. I have a group of best friends that ive known for years. We all live in different parts of the country now but continue to meet often. These are the "bezzas" i.e. best friends. I get called bezza chezza sometimes so i called my blog that. However, my blog took on a stitching theme and i decided not to promote it to my friends because none are even remotely interested in stitching and i'll be even more ridiculed LOL. So...i want something related to me and stitching? Any ideas? I'll make a stitchy gift for the winning suggestion. You can post in comments or email me cherylthomas3000 at yahoo dot com.

Here's where im up to on Mirabilia's Feather Fairy. Im enjoying this piece.

I was off this morning so i babysat for my doggy nephew Barney. I haven't showed a picture of him in ages. He's 6mths old now and is the loveliest little dog.