Surprise, Surprise!

Much to my surprise, I won a 'giveaway', 

and on my birthday too, by guessing the
colour of the border for Linda's gorgeous blanket.

Hope she won't mind my giving you a 'wee peek' at it.

It's a work of art!

The prize was a little mysterious, which made me 

even more excited. I eagerly waited for it to arrive.

I didn't have long. Inside the parcel, 

were lots of little packages, all individually wrapped.

By this time, my excitement knew no bounds.

I opened, each one carefully, to reveal.......

all these goodies..... 

2 balls of tweedy wool, wooden bird hanging ornament,

owl notebook, crochet heart keyring, notelets, buttons

and a vintage postcard fridge magnet.

I was absolutely delighted. Thank you Linda.

Before I go, I wanted to share my WIP

Can you guess what it will be? 

Yes you've got it.... a crochet mandala.

Lucy from Attic 24 has been asking for mandala wheels

for Yarndale this year. Thought I'd give it a go.

Why don't you!

Dorothy's Room: A quick hello

Dorothy's Room: A quick hello: fabulous blog....why not enter her giveaway!

Finally, It's Finished and a New Friend!

It's been a very strange week, here in our corner 

of North Yorkshire.

A mixture of sunshine and showers.

Today, it is quite chilly......

thought we'd got over all that!

Our tree peony is in bloom

and it's not the only thing in our garden!

If you look very carefully, you can see our new 

friend, Gill.

Yesterday morning, we had no thoughts of having another

dog and that evening, one turned up.

We had, I admit, toyed with the idea.

Mr C. said, one would turn up.

I, not being quite so confident, thought that I might have to give Fate

a helping hand. 'O ye of little faith', cause here she is!

We are just in the process of getting to know each other

but already, she has stolen a little piece of my heart.

Now then!  as they say in Yorkshire.

I can proudly announce that my fairisle

sweater, is finished. It has been rather a marathon

but I have learnt such a lot on the way.

 Over the weeks, I have posted little snapshots of my progress.

Well, here it is, in it's entirety, being modelled by Ethel and even though I
shouldn't blow my own trumpet, I am rather proud of it.

You are getting a sneak preview, as the recipient is
away on holiday, in Spain and won't be receiving it for another week.
I think Ethel will be sorry to see it go, as she has taken
 rather a fancy to it.

It only remains for me to wish you a
Happy Bank Holiday weekend, doing all the
things that you enjoy!

And the Winner Is!

This post is a tale of two Ali's.

Today is my birthday and the date of

my 'Giveaway' draw.

Without more ado, here is the name of

the winner.

Well done Ali, from the Crazy Daisy blog.

Email me your address and I will put the book in the post.

Hope you enjoy leafing throught it's pages.

Coincidently, another Ali, from Random Wooliness,

who I have met through the wonderful world of

blogging, sent me this,

beautiful handemade book,

for my special day.

Thank you soooooooo much,

Means a lot!

A Tale of Two Dogs!

I can't believe it's a week since we returned

from our little jaunt, to Anglesey.

Thought I'd share it with you.

Let me introduce you to, George and Milly.

It was difficult to get them to stand still long enough

for a photo call but Mr. C. did manage it.

George, is the Lurcher-cross and Milly, a Corgi.

They were the reason for our trip ........

a few days of dog sitting.

The weather was good.

We did lots of walking .....

 by the sea, in the early morning.

*  *   *   *

in the woods,

and exploring Beaumaris.

The rest of the days were spent in Clare and Alison's (our hosts).

 walled garden, playing with the contents of my 'Box of Delights'!

This is the start of something..... looking forward to 

finding out what!

Exploring the contents of Clare's shed and workshop.

It's full of all sorts of finds from the beach.

A treasure trove!

This is a bird that Clare made. I love it!

I will leave you with a photo of two pot's

of Fritillaries, which came out whilst 

we were away.

Have a great weekend everyone

and don't forget, there is still time to enter my, 

Giveaway!

First Anniversary and a Giveaway!

Yes, it's been a year since I first started out

on this blogging  adventure.

I can't believe that I have managed to reach

this milestone. It only seems like yesterday, that I 

first started to share my life and textilling adventures.

To celebrate, I am going to have a 

'Giveaway'!

Remember my blog post, from a few weeks ago

about my vintage embroidery and knitting book finds?

This will be the prize.

It dates from the 1940's and has a linen cover.

It is packed full with information on various

needlework and craft techniques.

Embroidery and Applique.

Knitting.

Sea Grass Work (never heard of it but it looks interesting).

Leather Work.

Raffia.

Hand embroidery and much, much,more!

To enter, all you need too do. is follow my blog 

and leave a comment. If you share my post with

Facebook, Google ot Twitter, that will entitle you

to an extra entry. Ethel will draw the winner out of

a hat on Monday 28th April. An auspicious day for me

as it's my birthday.

It only remains for Ethel and I wish you 

Good Luck

and a very Happy Easter!

Spring Break.

It's been very busy in our house this week.

We are off to the Isle of Anglesey.

Doesn't it look idyllic!

We are dog sitting, for a few days.

Preparations are in full flow.

In order of importance .......

My crafting materials (of course).

I bought one of those vanity cases, popular a few years ago.

You can pick one up easily in Charity shops.

 

Perfect space for tools and materials, suitable for a bit of
experimentation and fun! I've not had time for that
lately. The fairisle sweater is remaining in it's basket
AT HOME......
Next in importance, is something to read.

Over 900 pages, of escapism and magic.

Should be enough!

Oh and I suppose, I'd better pack something to wear.
Always comes low down in the pecking order.
Leaving Ethel, in charge while we are away.
Hope she doesn't get up to too much mischief.

While the cats away !!!

My next post will mark the end of my

first year of blogging.

Look out for my GIVEAWAY.

Have a happy weekend, everyone.

Sun, sea, sand .......

here we come!