I Got My Mojo Back...and Won a Giveaway!!!

After a couple of weeks of little stitching (mainly due to a swollen face), I have finally got my mojo back!  I have stitched a card for a friend (which I will post when it has been received), and I've stitched my Mermaid for a few hours:

I also won a giveaway on Pokua's blog, and received this ornament and postcard the other day:

Thank you so much, Pokua!

Another Update

This weekend has been one of those that I would love to forget...

My gran's funeral was on Friday, and that brought it's own difficulties.  It brought back lots of happy memories of when my gran and grandad used to take me out for days out in the red Vauxhall Viva that my grandad drove.  We went to Haworth one day, and went to look around the Bronte Parsonage.  My gran bought me a copy of  Wuthering Heights - I was only a young teenager at the time, and all the romanticism had my head spinning!  I also remember picnics by the roadside, and holidays in Scotland with my grandparents, parents and brother...Seems a very long time ago (probably is...!) and a lot has happened since those youthful days...At least I have those memories to keep...

On Saturday I had an operation on my nose.  I had a small BCC that had been biopsied, and so needed removing.  I had one removed from the same area about 18 months ago, so had an idea what to expect...The operation was done under local anaesthetic, and the injections were horrendous!  Needles stuck in the bridge of your nose are very painful!!!  Once they were done, I soon calmed down, and ended up having a conversation with the surgeon about how I'm going seeing Green Day on Wednesday, leading into what type of music we used to listen to when younger...Quite surreal when the surgeon is busy cutting into my face!  Anyway, this was how I looked yesterday, when all the swelling had come up:

As far as stitching goes, well, I haven't done any since about Thursday - I tried to put my glasses on this morning, but they won't fit on my nose yet...I now have a hands-free magnifying glass that I'm going to try this afternoon.  I only need glasses for close-up work...but only use them for stitching :¬)

This is my stitching so far:

This is My Big Toe Designs' "A New Day" (not a great photo...).  I'm stitching it on 28ct fabric, using WDW threads.  It's going to be gorgeous when finished, although it is bigger than I was expecting it to be!

This is a card that I made for Dusty as part of the Stitch and Stash Friendship Card Exchange.  It is a Lizzie*Kate design, stitched on 28ct fabric, using DMC threads.

This is my Mermaid of the Pearls so far.  Having frogged quite a lot of the lower section, I have lost a lot of my motivation to stitch her.  I have done a little of it, and I am really going to give it a go once the swelling on my nose goes down!  I really want to finish her...

Have a good week, and Happy Stitching!

Another Giveaway!!!

Just to let you know that Olenka is having a giveaway on her blog - click on the link to go to it!  She has some lovely designs...

Recent Events...

Last week was a busy and emotional week. 

My 89 year-old grandmother was very ill in hospital all week, and she died on Saturday evening.  Even though it was kind of expected, it was still a bit of a shock when it happened, and my youngest - Sammy - took the news pretty badly.  The funeral is on Friday afternoon, and I'm trying to sort out with Sammy's school for her to go with us, as she has a GCSE exam at the time.

My close friend moved down south at the weekend, and we had a leaving party for her on Friday night.  She has had a tough time of it recently, and decided to sell up and move back to where her family are.  I'm going to miss her, although she will be coming back up here for particular things, and her two sons are staying in Darwen.

Rachel came home from Uni on Saturday.  My other half went down to Swansea on Friday and stayed at his uncles house in Port Talbot overnight, before loading the car with Rachel's belongings (everything but the kitchen sink!) and heading home on Saturday.  It was nice to see her again, and she is home until September, as is Steven, who came home the week before.

It was my birthday on Sunday, although I didn't feel much like celebrating... I spent the day visiting my mum and dad, shopping, and stitching.  I did go out on Sunday night with my mum, aunt and cousin, although that was more of a break from the events over the week.  Rachel and Steven had bought me a Maia cross stitch kit (giraffe silhouette), and Sammy bought me an Eeyore cup and a new t-shirt.  Tom (OH) bought me a bunch of carnations and roses.

As for stitching, I've not had much time this week, but I have been working on My Big Toe Designs' "A New Day".  I couldn't concentrate enough to do any work on my Mermaid, so I stitched the easier design...I'll take some pictures later in the week and post a (more cheerful!) update.

I hope everyone has a good week, and Happy Stitching!

News of a Summer Giveaway!

Just a note to let you know that Jennifer is having a giveaway on her blog to celebrate her first Blogoversary!  Head on over there now if you would like to enter...

Travelling Stitcher and Pesky Frogs

My stitching last week consisted of working on my Mermaid, and then having to frog most of the work I had done!  I was stitching the Kreinik braid in the tail, when I realised that something was wrong...It wasn't lining up with the green stitches that I had done previously.  I checked the Kreinik with the chart, and couldn't find any mistakes, so checked the green stitches.  Nothing wrong there, either.  I then checked the pink stripe that goes across the tail, and found that I had missed at least a row of that, resulting in the green stitches being out of sync.  I had to unstitch the green and pink - luckily the Kreinik was ok - it would have been messy if I had to frog that! 

All that frogging put me off stitching on her, so I picked up LHN's 'Travelling Stitcher' that I had started at the beginning of the year as part of a SAL, and managed to finish it:

It is straight - the photo made it look a bit curved at the top...

I've got some exchange stitching to do over the next few days, so I won't be stitching my Mermaid or Witch until later in the week.  Steven is also home from Uni for the summer now, so stitching time will probably be reduced (although he does stay in bed until about 2pm!)  Rachel comes home at the weekend, so we will have a houseful!

I'm having a minor operation in 2 weeks time.  I need a Basal Cell Carcinoma removing from under my eye, needing a skin graft.  I already have a graft in that area, so they need to remove that one with the BCC, and replace it with a larger graft from my cheek...It's going to be done under a local anaesthetic - not great, but once the injections are done, I don't feel anything until the anaesthetic starts to wear off later in the day...I'll have a lovely swollen and black eye for a week or so...which will be interesting when I'm going seeing Green Day a few days after the op!

Have a great week, and Happy Stitching!