What a Difference a Day Makes

Suddenly it's a new year.

Happy New Year.

I wish you all that is good for 2019.

And a drop or two of rain!!

For those who need it.

It's not just the year that has changed. Things are looking better in our garden, especially the green house.

We did have ripe (ish) fruit on Christmas day

But now, a week later I have fruit that I'm happy to make tomato salad with.

It has a much better colour and flavour than the fruits  Tony insisted on picking on Christmas Day.

The New Year has also had an impact on my stitching!

Today was the first chance I've had to sit and stitch since 19th Dec, which is when I last showed this picture. I did find time to do a little stitching that day, but for some reason, didn't take a photo.

So after about 7 hours of fun today

WOW!

What a difference.

Even allowing for the work I did before Christmas, I know I have made huge advances today.

It was lovely to just sit and stitch.

Maybe I'll get chance to do more tomorrow?

That would be very nice indeed.

I can feel the end of this piece coming close, it might be finished in time for Christmas! LOL

It was supposed to be  present for Christmas just gone!

During a break today found myself pulling out my Spring Queen project, last seen in August 2018.

I may have also spent some time window shopping at lunch time............................................

And I downloaded a free pattern a couple of days ago..........................

We'll see.......

*

Happy New Year.

Finally, a day to relax...

After I managed to get caught up on some domestics.

Now I can relax and do some me stuff.

First a Christmassy blog post.

The most important gift wasn't wrapped.

Belle had left me a whisker on the arm of the couch.

I don't really know why, but rather than vacuuming them up or throwing them away I collect them.

I treat each one I find as a gift and thank her for them.

 As far as humans go I was lucky and received some lovely gifts again this year.

Tony found this chap. I didn't name him yet, but he is on patrol on our patio.

What a handsome fellow he is.

Joe brought this wee treasure along, it was hand made by his girlfriend Lee.

 My very own hand built Fairy house. Isn't it cute.

 In the image below, you get a better idea of how small it is.

 It reminds me very much of the old Celtic stone buildings seen around the Isle of Man.

(If you're interested,  look at this blog.)

Another hand made gift I received is this lovely machine mat made for me by my friend Janice.

Each of the pockets was filled with goodies too. (There was chocolate, but it didn't survive until the photo shoot!)

As you can see, I already have a machine mat but that is ok, this beauty will still be used and loved, it fits perfectly over the arm of my sewing chair and the pockets will keep scissors and things very handy.

 My mother in law gifted me this cute wee tin.

 Even though it's currently sat in my sewing room, it's actually full of recipe cards.

I fell in love with this character on the front of the tin.

Of course I didn't just receive hand made goodies, I sent some too.

I was lucky enough to be invited to send something to dear Chookyblue. Sadly she decided not to do the SSCS this year as she just has so many other things going on and it does take a lot of her time to organise and encourage us all.

 One of the secret swappers sent out an email inviting us to repay all that Chooky does for us, by sending her a wee ornament for her tree.

What a great idea!  

I made not only a wee ornament but also a set of coasters using kiwiana fabrics.

 Here they are all bundled up with a button tree ornament.

Blue of course.

 I hope they arrived on time.

Another gift I made was for Janice. A cute little project case all made with more Kiwiana fabrics.

 I had fun trying to decide which fabrics to use, with such small pieces it ended up looking very busy.

I couldn't resist this fun fabric for the back.

I also sent along some of my recently made bunting as I seemed to make far too much.....:-)

Janice assures me it is just the right size for one of her windows.

Here you go, a work in progress shot of some of the button tree ornaments I made.

Well, that's it for now.

I'm off to spend what is left of my me day sat with my cross stitch.

It's far to warm to do anything else.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....

With only a week left until the big day, I finally managed to get the decorations sorted.

As promised last time, here's a pic of the red and gold tree, tucked into a spot in the sitting room.

There are lots of hand made ornaments on there. Some made by me, and some made by you!

Our second tree was delayed for a few days as Mr H wanted to do some deconstruction first.

An old night store heater had to come off the wall!

Here's a progress shot, with not one but two Christmas quilts in the background.

Eventually the job was done and the power point on the wall sorted out and turned into a normal plug socket. Then I got busy decorating a second tree.

There was a slight hiatus as a certain furry member of the household decided to chew on the cable for the lights!!

Eeek!

Thank goodness they were not plugged in at the time.

New lights were purchased and eventually we have a tree in our hallway, to greet visitors as they arrive.

There are one or two new additions this year.

 I made some new ornaments.

 Some speak for themselves.

 While others may need a little explanation.

These blue bows are made from Manx tartan ribbon, from my home The Isle of Man.

 These little white bows are the rescued scraps from some of last years pulling crackers and fit beautifully with my blue and white theme on this tree.

 This ornament isn't new, I've had it for a lot of years, and love the spun sugar effect.

 The fairy that sits atop this tree was given to me by DS Jiffy Jonathan. She got new wings this year. 

Her originals, are rather tiny and inconsequential, so when I saw a pair of angel wings for sale amid some other Christmas ornaments, I knew just where they needed to go.

 And finally the big 

TADA!

We have agreed that if we're going to continue to put a tree out in the hallway, we need to get a bigger tree!

And get the wall repaired and painted sometime early in the new year!!

*

On the subject of Jiffy Jonathan, I was delighted to hear that he and his beautiful girlfriend Josie got engaged the other day.

A wonderful Christmas gift.

Though I did tell him he must give me a few years to save up for a trip home for the wedding! LOL

And finally, some crafty content.

A progress pic of the Jewelled Elephant.

I got to sit for a while yesterday and stitch, and hopefully I'll find some time for more stitches today too. I really am enjoying this one.

Strangely, even though I am now beyond the half way point, I didn't yet start plotting what I'll stitch next......

That is unusual for me.

*

I probably won't find time to post again before Christmas..

So in the Manx dialect....

Nollick Ghennal as Blein Vie Noa

A break in the weather.

A break in our miserable weather allowed me to have a quick look around the garden while I was home for lunch the other day. These beautiful lillies are the only ones flowering, all the others are still tight green buds.

 Most of my peonies are finished, battered by the wind and rain, but these beauties tucked in behind a maple were protected and still look wonderful.

 There is mixed progress in the green house and veg gardens.

On my days off work this week I put up the Christmas tree.

Belle helped.

 I'll show a picture of the tree another time, for now here is the hand sewn fairy that was made by a friend of mums.

 Aaaaand just to show progress, a picture of my own stitching.

The elephant has legs and I've added more beads. 

*

That's it from me today.

Lots to do, before I head off to work.