All sorts of everything

Changing and actually improving are two quite different skills. ~Dr. SunWolf, 2015 tweet, professorsunwolf.com

More sunshine to be enjoyed yesterday.  I added my name to the Cornwall Cottage Sampler so that is now officially complete.

We took Max for a nice walk along the creek and then called in MIL's for a chat and a cuppa.  DH cut the grass and I did some weeding of the borders.  I sat and did some of the gift stitch later in the afternoon and that is close to completion, while DH watched the Division One play off final, unfortunately Argyle didn't win :(  - Wimbledon were the better team so deserved the victory.

On Sunday  I called into The Range and picked up some more storage baskets and did some more sorting out of my craft area - I'm  really happy with the changes I have been making.  

I really need to tidy up my tool bag as I shall need that when I go to Scrapbook Magic on Wednesday, it will be my first workshop in their new location so I am really looking forward to that.

It's back to work for me today, fingers crossed it won't be as busy as usual on a Tuesday seeing as it was a bank holiday yesterday.

Just my name required now

Habit is a cable; we weave a thread each day, and at last we cannot break it. ~Horace Mann

Another beautiful day yesterday of which part of it I spent being pampered thanks to the generosity of my friends.  I enjoyed having my nails done and a relaxing facial - bliss.  I was also able to enjoy watching some tennis, really pleased that Andy Murray got through to the quarter finals of the French open.  

I also spent the evening working on the Cornwall Cottage Sampler and am pleased to report that the final motif is now completed, back stitch and Algerian stitches added to one of the motifs and the date added.  I did run out of time and so was unable to add my name.  I will work out its positioning today and get it finished so that I can have another project completed in May. 

The question I  have to ask myself now is which project will take its place each Sunday.   I'll think about it over the next couple of days while working out my June objectives.

Handmade gifts

There is no personal charm so great as the charm of a cheerful temperament. ~Henry Van Dyke

As I was away for my birthday I came home to lots of wonderful birthday cards both handmade and bought - quite a collection which I will try to capture.  I also had a wonderful lot of gifts too from friends and family.

One of the lovely gifts I received was this handmade quilt and cushions from my dear friend Moya.  Our living room is going to be an eclectic nautical theme and these will go perfectly in our room.

I also received lots of gift cards for Satori which is where I have my nails done 

which is fantastic - lots of pamper time for me.  I also received money from my parents and my MIL.  My best present though  was from DH who bought me the Cheshire cat charm with necklace I had admired the last time we were in town so he does pay attention to me after all LOL.  I hope to buy some of the other charms in this range.

Fabrics galore

Fatigue is the best pillow. ~Benjamin Franklin

Sadly it rained yesterday morning but once it stopped we hopped on a bus and had another wander around Bideford.  We stumbled across a wonderful shop full of lovely fabric, buttons, ribbon and yarn. 

The window display had lots of old Singer swings machines in.  Apparently there is someone who reconditions old sewing machines and then they get sent overseas to be used in poorer countries.

All the shopping must have tired Harlee -Jay out as he crashed on the carpet not long after he got back.  

One minute we were playing with his toys and the next he had crashed out in my arms on the floor.

Westward Ho!

The object of literature is to make man a wiser and happier being. The poet makes us happy because he tells us how we may become so. ~Charles Lanman, "Thoughts on Literature," 1840

With the sun shining again yesterday we walked to to Westward Ho!  The name comes from the Charles  Kinsley novel Westward Ho! which was set in Bideford.

Along the promenade they have laid granite sets which when read is the poem If by Rudyard Kipling who went to the United Services College at Westward Ho!

We were able to sit outside at The Pier House and enjoy lunch.

From here you can enjoy magnificent views while dining on a selection of light lunches or main meals.  You can also see the remains of the pier legs which once held up Westward Ho! Pier which by all accounts was doomed to fail.

Just along from here is a building known as The Haunted House.  It sold for £414,000 this week to a local businessman and will still need thousands of pounds worth of restoration work, but wow what a view!

On our way back to the sea front we enjoyed ice creams before heading back to our holiday home.

Barnstaple

History is not the past, but a map of the past drawn from a particular point of view to be useful to the modern traveler. ~Henry Glassie

Yesterday we took a short trip to the town of Barnstaple,  possibly one of the oldest boroughs in the United Kingdom.  Sadly like many towns in the U.K. with the influx of supermarkets some of the town looks a little neglected.  At the same time though it has lots of independent shops that you don't find in shopping malls which make for a more varied shopping experience.

We also came across The Albert Memorial clock which is know as the four faced liar clock due to the fact that each of the faces of the clock tell a slightly different time.

Tucked inbetween some of the shop's is St. Peter's church with it's  crooked spire.  This church dates back to the 13th century.

Barnstaple once had a castle but sadly all that remains now is the tree covered motto.  We did walk up to the top of the motte where you can imagine there would once have been magnificent views down the river Taw and the town itself.

We enjoyed lunch at The Driftwood cafe, very friendly, they allow dogs in and service and quality of food was extremely good.  If you ever go to Barnstaple I'd highly recommend them.

I picked up a couple of knitting patterns in one of the shop's which I thought I  would add to my to do list.

We are already halfway through our holiday, we have been blessed so far with mainly dry and sunny weather.  All too quickly the time is passing but it has been lovely sharing our holiday with a small part of our family.

Yarn bombing and cream tea

Yarn bombing, yarnbombing, yarn storming, guerrilla knitting, kniffiti, urban knitting or graffiti knitting is a type of graffiti or street art that employs colourful displays of knitted or crocheted yarn or fibre rather than paint or chalk.

Another gloriously sunny day.  We didn't venture too far away yesterday, opting to drive into Bideford.  As we walked along the river lots of the trees and lampposts had been yarn bombed.

My photo bomber was our son pushing Harlee-Jay towards Long Bridge that goes across the river Torridge.

We enjoyed a cream tea while we were in Bideford and had the usual debate on whether it was cream or jam first.  As you can see there wasn't anything left - it was delicious either way round.

We took Harlee-Jay to the park while mum and dad had a look around the shops in Bideford.  They bought him a paddling pool so he was able to enjoy playing in that in the garden of our holiday property.

Happy birthday to me

A birthday is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun. Enjoy the trip. ~Author Unknown

Yesterday was my birthday and we met up with our good friends Karen and Phillip in Padstow.

It was another glorious day, some time spent walking along the coast, throwing stones and balls for the dogs on the beach.

Feeling the sand between our toes or in Harlee-Jay's case his fingers.

Enjoying the beautiful views.

Admiring someone's hard work at building sandcastles.

And watching the adults enjoying the play park just as much as Harlee -Jay 

Another wonderful day.

Sun, sea and sand

Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time. ~Steven Wright

The Sun came out to play yesterday so we were able to go for a nice walk along the beach and then along the burrows to Westward Ho!

Miles and miles of Sandy beach to enjoy.  Let's  hope we are able to enjoy many more sunny days and walks.

Holiday begins

It was raining hard when we set off yesterday, but it did finally stop once we'd reach our holiday home.

The accommodation is topsy turvey in that the living area is upstairs and making the most of the views across Northam Burrows

We are looking forward to exploring the area with Bryan,  Vicky and Harlee-Jay, we've stayed in the area before so know our way round the local area fairly well.  So many beautiful places to walk.  All we need is dry weather to enjoy it even more.

My boy lollipop

You make my heart go giddyup.  DH took this photo of Harlee-Jay eating one of the lollipops that came with one of my Lollipop Box subscription.

We are off on holiday with his little chap for a week and his parents which will be both fun and no doubt tiring, just hoping we get some sunnshine.  I thought I'd take some home baked goodies with me and had a go at making some rhubarb muffins as our rhubarb has shot up in the last few weeks.  The recipe came from The Healthy Food guide I buy most months.  They don't look exactly like the photo in the magazine but hopefully they will taste nice enough.

I also made us a rhubarb crumble for desert yesterday evening which was delicious.

By my calculations

Arithmetic is where the answer is right and everything is nice and you can look out of the window and see the blue sky - or the answer is wrong and you have to start over and try again and see how it comes out this time.  ~Carl Sandburg

I have approximately 9600 stitches on the bottom half of the landscape stitch.  I have already stitched some of them, another 101 completed yesterday evening.  So my guesstimate is 9000 stitches left.  With 31 weeks left in this year, allowing a week of no stitching over Christmas it means my weekly stitch count is 300.  That's  not too bad a target, especially as I have already managed two thirds of that this week.

Yesterday evenings stitch was mainly the dark brown which outlines the window frames and a few odd stitches of colour.

My bargain of the week

Wouldn't it be great if retail therapy was covered by health insurance. ~Author Unknown

On one of my recent visits onto Facebook I came across a link to an offer on a set of Spectrum Noir pencils, blender stumps, sharpener and blender sander.  The whole set was £6.99 including free postage.  I've often looked at the pencils when I've been in Hobbycraft so thought this was a fantastic price to try them out.

A while back I'd bought myself The Enchanted Forest colouring book from a local garden centre.  One of the pictures is of a pond which I can try the pencils out with as the set of Spectrum Noir  pencils is the marine collection. 

While out with mum yesterday I came across these sweet Alice in Wonderland stickers in The Range - couldn't resist them to use in my planners.

It doesn't look much

An idea not coupled with action will never get any bigger than the brain cell it occupied. ~Arnold Glasow

But I managed to add another 134 stitches to landscape yesterday evening.  That means I'm a quarter of the way to this months minimum stitch for this project.  It's been neglected for the past few weeks but I'm hoping to work on it some more this week inbetween working on the gift stitch.

It is my aim to finally get this one finished before the end of this year so the stitch count might just have to go up a little to achieve that aim!  I will work out how many stitches are left and then how many weeks are left in the year tomorrow and then I  will know what the minimum stitch will need to be each week.  My biggest problem is all those other projects that keep distracting me LOL.

Wild flowers and childhood memories

I don't have any stitching photos to shown you today as the piece I am working on is a gift stitch and needs to remain secret for a little while longer.

I do have a selection of photos of wild flowers which I took yesterday while walking with Max.   The buutercups, daisies and dandelions reminded me of my childhood.  Making daisy changes as longs as possible, holding buttercups under the chin allegedly to see if you liked butter if it reflected yellow.  Dandelions we were told not to pick otherwise you might wet the bed but we always did when they had turned to seed, blowing them to tell the time.  Oh happy days!

So many beautiful things to see at the moment which makes our walk each morning more enjoyable.