DON'T BE SCARED . . . DEEP BREATH . . .

GO FOR IT . . .

and I did!  Following on from my last post and my find of old cross stitch magazines at a Charity/Thrift shop I found a chart that I couldn't resist, a completely different choice from my usual favourite American designers and a little scary for me with colour overload so

Firstly to soften the blow to you all, here are the threads:

Secondly, here's the chart:

and Thirdly here's the W.I.P. in full flow:

This is not a difficult stitch but there are only a few solid areas of one thread colour so it's fiddley more than anything with lots of colour changes.  The suggested finish in the magazine is to surface mount the design?  They have used a white mount and a white textured frame and it really does look stunning.  My plan is to hang the finished piece up on our landing so when everyone opens their bedroom doors in the morning yawning and very dozy they are greeted with a rainbow colour infusion and are instantly fully awake (how cruel am I?)

The weather last week was lovely ~ sunny and warm and we DID all have our day out at the Zoo. We chose Marwell Zoo in Hampshire which we had been to before when the kiddies were a lot younger and  is run by Marwell Preservation Trust and dedicated to the conservation of wildlife habitats both locally and internationally.  There's a great variety of animals at the Zoo and a lot of our favourites, the only trouble was the weather was sooooo hot that the animals were all being very lazy and there was a lot of daytime snoozing going on!  Here's a few pics, hope you like them:

A lovely mover but a bit fishy!

'Mum, is it safe to come out?'

'Whatever!  I will not look at the camera'

'I couldn't make up my mind today - Gazelle or Zebra?'

'Why's the queue for the Ladies always so long?'

Why have one horn when you can have two!

'I'm a Snow Leopard ~ what's with the Sun?'

This is what he should have looked like ~ Snow Leopard' from the Gold Collection stitched and framed in 2004

'Wake me up before you go-go!'

Another sleepy cat ~ 'Too Pooped' by Dimensions stitched and framed in 2008

AND FINALLY:

Three unknown species, not known to be dangerous, but beware known to have HUGE appetites!

HAPPY STITCHING . . .