Finally got round to Halloween

At last. I can add to the blog. Well this week has been mayhem. I've had one lot of grandchildren over staying at the beginning of the week as it's halfterm here in UK. I took them back home and stopped for a couple of days as their parents were at work and their other grandma was away. Then I collected my other sons children and brought them over to stay with us again for a couple of days. This all sounds easy or boring depending on your point of view. The interesting thing is that I have grandchildren who like to bake or LOVE to bake is probably nearer the truth.
Then enter Halloween Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. While with me their Mum has been busy decorating their home ready for the annual Halloween party, so I was asked if I could help out by letting my grandchildren make biscuits. They arrived with the relevant 'cutters' and hoping that grandma had enough energy and patience to let the kitchen be taken over by trainee pastry cooks. They have cooked for two days. 'That should be enough biscuits for the whole road to have a party', I can hear you thinking. The problem is they have to be well tried and tested before the biscuits can pass quality control(namely my grandchildren tummies). Any how the point is they thoroughly enjoyed messing about with flour etc.
My computor is in melt down from two young men playing on one game or another. It's a good job that there are meal breaks and bedtime. They will be going home tomorrow so we are going out for the day.
After all that I thought you may like to see my Halloween pieces. There certainly aren't as many as some of you out there but I'm working on it.



The cushion is from the 'All Tied Up' range by Pine Mountain Designs and is a quick and easy sew. The other two are fom Mill Hill 'Buttons and Beads Autumn Series. One of them called 'Haunted Hotel' has glow in the dark threads. The other is called 'Spooky Time' and is from the Autumn Series IX. I really need to get another frame but with the postal strike on I decided I'd leave it until next year.


Spooky Time


Haunted Hotel
I had hoped to leave you with a recipe but true to form it's at my son's house. Oh to have my young memory back!! Until next time. Happy stitching to you all.

Now Where am I up too?

I've been away from home for a few days looking after three of my grand children and I am now suffering from fatigue. It's good fun and I do enjoy myself with the baking and netball support, not to mention taking them to guide outings, brownies, football and hockey training, back and forth to their schools, making packed lunches, listening to their various moans and groans etc etc.(does this ring any bells ). At least it gives their parents a day or two off the racing around. Anyhow back now in my own peaceful pad, so I can do my cross stitching, not forgetting the washing and the ironing (I try to forget them but guilt taps me on the shoulder).
Back to the garden (had I left it ?) The tomatoes we planted were poor compared to last year, there'll be no green tomato chutney this year. Although with great surprise some of the tomatoes have finally decided to ripen. At least we'll be able to have them with some salad before it gets too cold.
We've done some garden clearing and fruit tree pruning, even that's come to a halt as we wait for the 'wheelie-bin' emptying day. Some new bulbs have found their way in to the ground, there are still more to plant but the weather has turned against us so the winter pansies will have to wait.

Thought you might like to see a needle work I did some time ago. Trouble is I can no longer remember the title of it or where I bought the kit, (senior moment!) but I still like it.

I'm hoping to make headway soon with some Christmas kits I've got but with trying to get my Carousel horse out of the way everything else has taken a backward step.
I really enjoy the Jim Shore Kits by Mill Hill they're fun to do and full of vibrant colours and trillions of beads. When I figure out how you get pics from other sites I'll show you what I mean (Learning curve getting a little bumpy at this point). That's it for now. Hope to discover some more of the intricacies of 'blogland' before next time. Do keep popping back you're always welcome. Just remembered The grapes tasted fantastic.

Just How Busy Can One Person Be?

I've been really busy this last few days. I seem to have had very little time to do anything--- could be because I have finally met Professor Layton!!!!!! Time has stood still, drinks have gone unnoticed (anyone who knows me will now be passing out with shock), I would have lost lbs. if my hubby hadn't rallied round and done most of the meals. I've thoroughly enjoyed the game and although I have technically got to the end I shall be going back into it to locate the 5 or 6 games I seem to have missed. I've also got the downloads thanks to a very helpful niece who has the fancy bits that are required to do such things, this means I now have another 27 games to challenge my brain with Oh Crikey ! not more lost meals. I'll be sylf-like before I know where I'm up to (I think that could be shooting at windmills).


Any how back to other things: Here is a cross stitch that I put away for years and years, probably because that background made my eyes ache rather a lot although the number of years it laid uncared for rather out weighed the eyestrain. I'm really glad I finished it and got it framed. Hope you like it too.

The weather was lovely yesterday so we spent most of the day going round looking for bulbs and some winter-flowering pansies and primulas to cheer up the garden that is starting to look rather sad. We haven't got a huge garden but we do our best the pic is obviously earlier in the year.




I'm hoping to get some more of my UFO (Unfinished Object see I've Started so I'll Finish Eventually.... ) done as other cross stitches that I am doing are becoming in danger of becoming UFOs (if that makes sense). I have some Christmas ones on the go but they seem to have taken a back seat just at the moment. But alas I've just been introduced to another game Mystery Case Files:Millionheir OH! NO! What shall I do? Oh confusion, Oh decisions, decisions. Now you'll just have to wait and see............

Just This and That.

Here goes again. I can't help wondering just how long it'll take me to do todays blog. I can tell you now it'll be quite a while. This is mainly because I get in a bit of a muddle with the more 'technical' side of things. Adding a picture on my first attempt was a nightmare, no idea why I'm evidently not switched on, must have been further down the queue when this bit of info was inplanted in the old brainbox. Anyhow to business........ You'll discover through my ramblings that I have a tendency to flit from one thing to another for no apparent reason, it just sort of happens, so please bear with me.


I thoroughly enjoy cross stitching Christmas pieces. I am not the fastest stitcher in the world, more of a plodder, but this is from a chart I came across in a local shop and thought it put a slightly different twist on Santa. It's from a series called' Santa's Time Off' by StitchWorld X-stitch. I must admit I have looked for others in the series but with no luck. It would have been interesting to see what other 'Time off' items Santa has. The pattern can be made as a picture as I have done or as a stocking.

Here's an insight into my slightly crazy family. One of my grandsons isn't keen on eating his packed lunch at school, so his Dad came up with the idea that a weeks menus was drawn up by the son.( no excuse for not eating what you've picked idea). All was going well until the day a fruit salad was on the list: It goes like this: Dad-'Sorry son we haven't got any lemons', Son' Don't worry Dad. I don't like lemons'.
Dad 'Sorry son we haven't got any Kiwi fruit', Son_ 'Don't worry Dad, I don't like Kiwi'.
Dad 'Sorry son we haven't any oranges', Son - 'It's OK Dad I don't like oranges',
Dad 'Sorry son we've only got pears and apples left'. Son -'It's no problem Dad I'm not keen on pears'
Dad 'Shall I just put an apple in your box?' Son 'Yes please Dad, that'll be great'.
At the end of the day I picked up my grandson from school and asked 'Have you eaten all your lunch today?'
Answer, ' No, I forgot to eat my apple.'

I mentioned in an earlier post that we have been trying to grow some of our own food stuffs. Useful ones only like Grapes. I figure in about a zillion years I may have enough to make a bottle of wine. At present there 's about sufficient grapes to press about enough for a very, veeeery tiny fairy with leanings to being tea-total. So I've decided the best thing to do is just eat them.
That's it for now.

Why do I say I'll do it??

Here goes for another try at this mysterious blogging. Just to show I do dabble at varying sewing activities I'll give you a small insight into some the things I manage to get tied up with BY ACCIDENT. We.e.ell my grand-daughter had bounded up to me asking if I could possibly knit her an outfit for the school play . Before I go any further I had better explain she gets knitting and sewing mixed up. Feeling in an exceptional good mood that particular day I whole heartedly agreed. I had probably expected an outfit for a flower or something along those lines. OH NO! The Production, as it became known, was Joseph and the Amazing Technicoloured Dreamcoat. OK I thought it can't be that hard to make a dancing girl outfit. I am just not that lucky. The part she got was of RAMISES, the Pharaoh, I nearly fainted. My grand-daughter had been glued to the DVD of the said production and exclaimed with glowing eyes that she knew I could make the Pharaohs outfit just like that one on the TV. At this point I must ask you all ...Have you seen his outfit? Well I hadn't so not to be defeated I still agreed. To cut a long story a little shorter I bought the DVD and remained glued to the Pharaoh part for many hours at different parts of the DVD to try and see how this costume had been made.
Measurements got taken. Material found from varying sources. Headache pills purchased. I set to making this costume that I was more than a little scared of. It took quite a while and several trying ons. A mammoth amount of head scratching to work out how I could make this thing so that she would be able to get in and out of it with the minimum of help from the teaching staff who where evidently going to be very busy dressing the other children. Once a challenge has been accepted I don't give in easily. It took about two weeks to make with a bit of tweaking here and there. The finished article I was more than pleased with and my grand-daughter was delighted. The show was great and I was a very proud grandma in deed as all the practising of the Elvis lip and certain hip wiggling plus trying to copy the voice paid off and she did a brilliant job.

I'm going on a long holiday before the next school production!!!!!!!