THE LONG AWAITED NEWS . . .

After what seems like an eternity of waiting this happy little eskimo more commonly known as DD collected her exam results on Tuesday and clever, clever DD passed all of them with merits as well!

Soooooo, sooooo pleased for her and with her final interview with the College next week her place and all of her chosen courses look to be guaranteed ~ well done DD you deserve your success xxx

The gang only have 1 week left of their Summer Hols and although we have not been away the days seem busy and my job as taxi driver continues.  I don't see to be able to settle to any one project at the moment so 'Washing Day' has had no progress to it at all and my little Mousecroft garden friends are still waiting for their finish BUT I did squeeze in this small stitch in the week ~

This was a kit called 'Sew Stitches of Love' by Trudie Ann Designs bought back in April at the London Stitch Fair.  I stitched it on the 16-count Rustico Aida that it came with but changed the colours to my choice and added a bunny to the bottom.  The two rusty tin hearts also came with the kit and I used the chequered fabric for the backing of the pillow.

Tilly seems to like it and an attempted nibble on the top corner seems to prove this!

The weather here in 'the not-so-sunny-England' has been horrible and not what the Summer Hols should be!  It's grey and gloomy most days and our longed-for rain not so long ago has now overstayed its welcome, the evenings have been so chilly we have even contemplated switching the central heating on - this is August we're still in isn't it? 

So when these gloomy days appear that's when items of comfort come calling!  Is anyone else like me and has something or someone (usually food) that cheers you up and gives a good warm feeling - my weaknesses are Rice Pudding with Strawberry Jam, hot custard that's runny enough to drink out of a mug and an extra cup or two of cappuccino!  I cannot bear to be bare-footed and slippers are my biggest comfort and the more pairs the better.  DH and DD went shopping the other day and came back with these little furries for my feet - how cute, I've yet to introduce them to Tilly but something tells me she may make best friends with them pretty quickly!

I see a lot of blogging friends have started, and many already finished, some Halloween stitches. I always think cross-stitch is the best at this time of year, there are some great witchy stitches and fun pumpkins to be created and sitting at the bottom of my Stash Box are quite a few which have been overlooked again and again until it's too late and back they go to the bottom of the pile.

So this is the first one I shall tackle ~ Lizzie*Kate's 'Hats Off To Halloween' and I shall use some Gentle Art colours that again always get left at the bottom of the box:

Although my stitching progress has been slow my unveiling of our gorgeous chair hasn't!  I am rubbing this all down by hand using good old sandpaper and I'm really enjoying it, as you can see from the 2 photos the original wood is lovely and light and has nice patterns in the wood grain.

years of stain and varnish

and

now:

And finally, those gloomy days shouting out to me that Winter is getting closer and closer had me hunting out my crochet hook.  Now this really is a thing of the past for me but I have seen some lovely creations on blogging friends posts recently so I thought I'd give it a go again.  I'm not crocheting individual granny squares which I know do give a better finish and a chance to play with colours, I am keeping it simple and round and round I keep going just changing the colour when I feel like it.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend, tomorrow is a Bank Holiday here in England so an extra day off and for us it will be a celebratory tea for Grandad's birthday and DD's exam results.

HAPPY STITCHING . . .

FURRY FUN AND AT LAST SOME MORE STITCHING!

Thank you again blogging friends for your continual support and from an overwhelming 100% majority it would seem that Buttons and Stitches remains my blog title, I don't think I would ever have had the heart to change it anyway but it's still so nice to receive messages of encouragement.

Well, after an initial scare with Tilly with lots of noisy breathing and sneezes, life has certainly become very busy but also full of furry fun!  She appears to have a small respiratory problem which may be caused by a dust allergy from her bedding so with special bedding now in place and lots of fresh air we seem to have improved it a little but need to keep a careful watch.

DH swears she thinks she's a puppy and by some of her mannerisms I agree - she is full of affection and we are adorned by bunny kisses all the time, she knows her veggie treats are in the fridge and will sit with her front paws up begging, knowing that it's really hard for me to resist and say 'no more' and she follows me around wherever I go.  When she's sleepy she will either flop down on her back, fully stretched out (a little scary when you first see her do it and a sudden rush to make sure she's still breathing!) or she will lay in my arms like a newborn baby again on her back.  At 7pm she goes into overdrive and so far has found her way into the washing machine, nibbled on DD's 'Hollister' hoodie and hid behind the fridge/freezer ~ I've tried finding the 'on/off' switch on her but it seems to be well hidden!  I often wonder what my dear old Buttons would think of this little rascal, he'd approve I'm sure.

'A little rascal ~ Me?'

Blotto! but just wait until 7pm

'Funny shaped carrots Mum?'

Mr. Fox has found his way back into our garden again and devoured our blackbird's nest in the Pampas grass followed by a scattering of feathers the following morning belonging to a woodpigeon.  We have barricaded every opening we think he comes through but as they are known to climb as well I think we are fighting a losing battle and when Tilly is out in the garden she is kept under careful watch and just in case a new fox-proof bunny run is on its way as I type ~ so fingers crossed!

The school holidays are now half-way through and they really have been a lazy time so far.  DD keeps busy and is out and about most days (1 week to go until exam results) and DS's go out for bike rides and footie but that's as busy as it's been so far.  DH took them all to see Toy Story 3 last week and they all loved it even though it had a few weepy moments in it ( 'No! I just had something in my eye, Mum').

If I remember rightly my Blog is meant to be about cross-stitching too so my apologies for bunny ramblings.  I have now completed 8 Mouseloft designs which I think along with  patterned fabric squares will be enough to make my patchwork cushion :

Mouseloft have loads and loads of these small design kits and I decided to stitch ones which represented our garden ~ the 2 birds are frequent visitors, both to the birdbath and the cables around us, the hedgehog visits early Spring and late Autumn and kindly digs holes in the front garden looking for grubs, the owl we hear but have yet to see, the butterflies are plentiful and love the Buddleah bush, toads and frogs dwell in the stream at the bottom of the garden, the dog visits with Nanny & Grandad and finally the bunny - need I say more?

If I need to stitch any more to make the cushion a little bigger then I will have to choose carefully - I don't think they do a fox or a squirrel (both unwanted visitors) and as from yesterday evening a bee is not top of my list either as one kindly left its sting in my left knee cap (ouch!)

A little progress on Forever Friends Washing Day ~ look harder there really is!

And a find at the LNS with an end of season sale, I really don't need another kit to add to the collection but I've always liked this one and it will look good as my title picture (one day!)

'Stitch in Time' by Margaret Sherry

DH and I had an afternoon to spare at the weekend so we decided to take a trip to the Flea Market and have a rummage in those dust covered boxes full of bits and pieces that once were probably so meaningful in someone's life.  We love wood of any kind, the smell, the look, the feel, just so tactile and DH found this gorgeous piece tucked in a corner, it has layer and layer of stain and varnish and will be a great project to sit out on the patio and strip down on Sunday afternoons, I love the little heart in the back and won't my patchwork cushion look lovely sitting in it when it's restored to its natural glory?

My find was a little smaller ~ a wacky tea-light holder, now clean, dust-free and new beading on the shade and best of all buried at the bottom of a wicker basket full of unloved toys - a lop-ear bunny very grubby and smelly but after a soak in the washing machine and a whiz around the tumble dryer now a gorgeous cuddly ~ who do you think drew me to this?

Well, that's it for now, DD has just returned from a sleepover so a bit more washing to add to the pile and tomorrow night I'm being dragged off to a football match (yes, the season has begun again, uuugh!), not sure how it will look if I sit there cross stitching but I can just imagine the boys embarrassed faces!

I have been reading lots of your blogs but not had much time to commit to leaving comments but to those of you that I know have also recently suffered losses, both pets and close relatives, a big hug to you all and the hope that you are able to remember all the happy memories you shared together.

HAPPY STITCHING . . .