Merry Christmas!!

Wow, December has been a whirlwind. As usual work took over my life, some nights I barely had enough energy to stitch... Our term finished on the 18th, but work seemed to increase as then end got nearer, not decrease. So I took all this week off as holiday. Saturday we did various jobs, not least getting all of our parcels and cards in the post - just before the last posting date (again). Sunday we travelled to Birmingham to see Ed's parents. The weather was NOT on our side, at one point it took us 25 minutes to drive just one mile (though the snow near Huddersfield - a snow hot spot that hit the headlines that night).

We had a lovely time with Ed's parents, and headed back yesterday. A long drive (traffic this time) followed by manic food shopping and a rather bargainous tree - £10, reduced from £40... so there is a plus to last minute tree shopping!! Today we cleaned, tidied and decorated the tree. And watched the Lion Witch and the Wardrobe, and the Muppet's Christmas Carol (our favourite Christmas movie). I'm shattered! But a lovely curry later and I've found time to blog. Luckily Ed brought his laptop home, so I've been surfing the web in front of QI. I'm spending my Christmas and birthday money on a laptop, so TV/surfing combos will become more common...

Anyway, this is what I've been stitching over the last month (it's a month since I last posted... not good!!):
First of all, a photo of the finished Waiting for Ships:

(c) Mirabilia, stitched on 28ct cashel 'Fathom' by Picture this Plus, in DMC and Krenik


I then started a new project, which I designed myself. It's Postman Pat - not my usual style, but a request from my friend Leanne, as a birth sampler for her nephew (I did Bob the Builder for her other nephew):

I'm not really enjoying it, but it's quick (and good for when I'm tired), and is my only outstanding bit of obligation stitching.

I also stitched a bit more of Dracolair's Gaelic Banner:


I took this with me to work on in Birmingham. But we packed so quickly I forgot the page of pattern I was working on, and worse still, the key. Ed was a star and suggested we went out on Monday and got me something to work on. The little independent shop in Solihull, which I have used occasionally, has closed down, so we ended up in Hobbycraft. £25 later I came home with the DMC Wild Thyme flower fairy. After just over 24 hours I finished the dress, proving I'd have been a nightmare to be with if I'd not had anything to stitch in Birmingham... I'm not good at sitting still! I did a little bit more last night and today, here she is (after just 4 days of stitching):


Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!