MY FIRST SAL AND A NEW BUNNY

Good afternoon blogging friends, Friday is here ~ Yippee! and I can't wait for the weekend.

A huge thank you for, yet again, your very supportive comments on the loss of another loved one ~ the funeral is next Friday 20th and the plans are going very well ~ I am very confident the service will be lovely with pretty Spring flowers and beautiful readings and hymns ~ this will definitely be a celebration of a lovely lady's life xxx

Can you believe I've signed up for my first ever SAL!!!

I've chosen to stitch The 12 Days of Christmas by The Primitive Hare ~ 12 ornaments based on one of the 12 magical days of Christmas, but not the days of the popular song instead the days of the ancient Solstice celebrations/traditions beginning with the 26th December.

The SAL started with the first download on the 25th January and I only joined up last week so am already playing catch-up with 2 to get stitched but here's the first one . . .

Twelve Days of Christmas: 1st day ~ Boxing Day

I thought I'd share with you The Primitive Hare's description of each day ~

26 December: 1st Day of Berctha ~ Berctha is an ancient mother of winter, an old hag, an old fairy, an old goddess ~ these 12 days include a bunch of ancient traditions and celebrations inspired by her and by old believes.

This day, Boxing Day, is also called the Day of the Wren and generally of animals.

From John Matthews' book 'The Winter Solstice' ~ "The themes of Boxing Day have to do with death and resurrection and animals."  Animals needed to be fed also during this day, that was a day of rest.

Berctha is not only a Mother of Winter, but a mother and guardian of animals.

This is the perfect day to cuddle your pets, feed wild birds ... find a connection with them.

Animals are bringers of joy and positive vibes.

Sounds silly but I'm really quite excited by it and the 25th of each month is already marked on the calender to remind me to download each new chart.  Rather than stitch them up as individual ornaments I have decided to stitch them as one big design and as each finish is 4.5" x 4.5" I am working with quite a big piece of linen! Hopefully this weekend I will get to grips with the 27th December and will be able to show you in my next blog post.

Apart from that I have nothing much else to show you in the stitching line so thought I'd share a new bunny with you instead.  He's not new new as I knitted him last Summer but as I was missing a lot last year I never got round to showing you . . .

Isn't he cute? 

 Quite a butch bunny so I insist on calling him a 'him' and like all my creations he has to be named ~ any ideas?  I'm waiting to move him to my sidebar with all the other bunnies but as he is still nameless, he'll have to wait!

I'm no expert at knitting but was pleased with his little jumper and the little heart ~ wouldn't mind a bigger version of this for myself!

His arms looked a bit idle I added a little string of cotton reels and some scissors ~ maybe this little extra will spark some ideas for a name?

I am looking forward to this weekend, it will be family time on Sunday and tomorrow an afternoon out hunting out some more bits and pieces for the new Craft Room, my rolls of sandpaper and tins of Chalk Paint are screaming to be used and now we finally have some warmth and sunshine it will be perfect weather for some upcycling!

Happy Weekend to everybody and to all English Mums I hope you are spoilt rotten on Mothering Sunday and have a lovely day of stitching.

Thanks for stopping by

{{{Hugs}}}

Jane

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