MY VERY OWN OSCAR . . . .

I'm so thrilled to introduce to all my lovely blogging friends . . . .

OSCAR

I've wanted for so long to find my golden girl Tilly a friend to share her life with and have for some time now being keeping an eye on the local rescue centres for some'bunny' suitable.

Last Friday whilst having a lunchtime cappuccino and having my weekly check on the rescue sites up came this little fellow . . . . .

The description was brief on the website but he was a newly rescued bunny estimated at 6 months old and recently neutered and his ideal buddy would be a spayed doe ~ I know the perfect bunny!

After long talks with the rescue centre that afternoon DH and I went and saw him on Saturday morning, although the gang had seen the picture of him online I didn't want to raise their hopes so we didn't let them know.  He was gorgeous, same breed as Tilly ~ a mini lop and although rescue details are kept confidential we were told he had been removed by the Animal Welfare Inspector  from the worse scenario possible 4 weeks previous and had had the worse start to life possible for a little bunny.

Well, need I say more, heartstrings pulled in every direction, could you say no?

We went back in the afternoon, all 5 of us and home he came.

It's not the easiest thing to do ~ bonding 2 unrelated bunnies, but boy and girl combination are considered best and slow steps over the course of the next 4 weeks of gradually introducing them to each other will hopefully prove successful.  Oscar is very cautious of us and doesn't like sudden movements but in time I hope we can restore his trust in humans and give him a life of warmth and love.

Tilly, I hope we've done the right thing for you, you're the most affectionate and gentle animal I've ever known and have helped me through my loss of Buttons so well but I just can't learn your bunny talk, you'll have such fun and great bunny chat with Oscar and if my ears start burning I'll know you're talking about me!!! and don't forget to tell him Mum's cross~threads are a definite NO NO!!!

I know I keep promising my stash pics and I was almost ready to post them but this little interruption has slightly taken over so once again I'll say . . . next time!

Thanks for stopping by

HAPPY STITCHING

xxx

STITCHY RECYCLING

Happy Friday everyone, weekend fast approaching, glorious Spring sunshine and warm temperatures, daffodils and crocus in full bloom ~ just perfect!

My sore paws have now recovered from my stitchy day out with DD last Friday and the stash levels are now fully replenished!  I had casually suggested to DD that I thought as we were visiting the Show on a Friday this year to avoid the masses that normally descend there on a Saturday we might find it a little quieter and easy-going ~ how WRONG can one get it ~ it was full to capacity and hard-going and even though we were there for 4 hours when we got home I discovered from the show guide that we had missed quite a chunk of  stalls ~ Oh dear!  DH did suggest going back on the Sunday ~ I passed on that one!!!

I'll post some pics of the new stash on my next post, this one already has picture overload!

It's amazing what you have hidden away and have completely forgotten about?

I didn't want to pillow-finish my last 2 stitches and as they were awkward sizes I had been hunting around the charity/thrift shops in the hope of finding something suitable to frame them with, no luck but when DH resumed his search in the attic last weekend for my magnifying glass for my daylight lamp, he struck gold! 

Lurking in the far corner of the attic (accompanied by the odd spider or two ~ not my scene!) there's a pile of framed pictures including old cross stitch ones, most are up there because they have a horrible orangey-pine frame to them and that just doesn't go anymore with the oak finish in the house BUT . . . .

this one which is an oak finish had a Bent Creek stitch in it ~ The Weathered Garden

which turned out perfect for . . . .

Springtime Social

To balance up the picture I added a fabric trim to the bottom and added those 4 lovely coral shell buttons I bought recently

Next up in the yucky orangey-pine frame was A Country Kitchen Sampler, a Leisure Arts leaflet, which I stitched an eternity ago and had considered selling but I had personalised it with 'Jane's Kitchen' so didn't feel anyone would want it . . . .

By rubbing down the frame which lightened the wood considerably and having a new cream mount cut it has come up a treat for . . . .

Cup cakes by The Historical Sampler Company and now hanging proudly in the Dining Room!

My charity shop hunting was not a complete waste of time though and I did find this little beauty . . . .

It's actually a Key box and when opened up it has 6 hooks inside.  What appealed to me was the colours, a washed cream with burgundy red highlights around the edge and the roses on the top plus it had an aperture to the front to add a photo cross-stitch!

Now, what to stitch to go inside that aperture . . . .

Of course, a bunny or in this case a white rabbit!  I've stitched this from La-D-Da's chart called Briar Rabbit, it should have the alphabet around it and also a border but I think this is just right as it is!

I've used Gentle Art Sampler threads and have matched the colours to the quilt cover in our bedroom.

The hooks are great for holding small bangles and bracelets and I can stack small earring boxes on the bottom shelf.

On that same shopping spree I also found this little photo cube which holds a photo on the top, 4 around the sides and revolves on a circular block on the bottom . . . .

And I knew exactly what was going in this ~ my little set of Lanarte farm animals and these were stitched even longer ago and have never seen light of day . . . .

The only problem ~ I have six animals but only five spaces!!!

Who can resist a fluffy white Spring-time sheep?

Or the sweet smell of a  little piggy?

The gentle mooing of a black and white cow?

The cute quacks from a little 'Jemima'?

And the provider of our daily eggs?

Sorry. Mr. Horse you missed out this time, I have never been a horsey person but he'll still make a nice pin cushion so won't go to waste!

And finally . . . .

Can never resist a bag of buttons and these are soft cream ones and a mixed bag of pretty purples, mauves and silver ~ 25p, well who couldn't???

Thank you for all your lovely comments on Tilly's springtime fun last post, we thoroughly enjoy reading them and are so grateful to you all for sharing a bit of your day with us.

HAPPY STITCHING

xxx

THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING . . . .

Where's Mum?  Oh yes, I remember she's suffering from over~stashing and very sore paws from her visit to London on Friday!  I've just looked at her 'Guess How Much I Love You' bunny calender and Little and Big Nutbrown Hare are saying it's the First Day of Spring ~ let me go see . . . .

'Yep, there's definitely sunshine out there and a very luscious looking spring green carpet

Hurry up Mum, my nose is twitching' . . . .

'You're telling me I can eat THIS carpet?'

'Ummmm, lovely deep pile'

'I'll try a small piece first, see if I like it' . . . .

'It's scrummy, right let me see, Mum's calender also said April showers in 6 weeks time, ummmmm! don't like the sound of them, better get started' . . . .

'and just in case Dad feels the urge to cut this carpet, my winter coat is shedding and I'm left with my own pair of scissors ~ I'll do any trimming Dad, you put your feet up'

'I'm stuffed! What a perfect day, I'm going to enjoy this thing called Spring and to top it off I get cuddles as well' . . . .

'Night, night xxx'

ONE OVER ONE = NOT MUCH FUN!

After a week of struggling with my eyesight, frogging, knots, burning the midnight oil and tearing my hair out I've come to the conclusion that for me 'one over one = not much fun'! 

Bunny Gingham is complete but I HATED stitching it and I really, really struggled!

I had never stitched' one over one' before and this turned out to be real proof that I need to go back to the Opticians for probably a stronger lens for close-up work.

I miscounted so many times and kept forgetting that the squares were 12 holes each and not 10, my single strand of GAST just kept knotting and the chart niggled at me that the individual letters were not central in each gingham square so silly me decided to centre them up causing me even more problems as I just couldn't see the holes!

Perhaps life would have been easier if my hunt for my magnifying glass that attaches to my floor-standing daylight lamp had been successful but it seems to have hidden itself somewhere up in the attic resulting in me having to stitch with one hand and hold a tiny brass magnifying glass with the other  . . . . .

OK, so the finished piece is quite cute and yes! OK I do quite like it but a stripey bunny???????

Tilly's not too impressed either, me staying up until gone midnight frogging disturbed sleepy time in bunny land and I think she was worried that a lack of sleep might turn her stripey too!!!

 I really admire all of you that stitch such tiny count projects, well done you, but for me it's back to normal (and sanity) and 2 over 2 on 28count please!

BIG day on Friday, don't know how I had missed it or not remembered before but it's the big stitching and craft show up in London and as DD has a free day on Friday we're heading up to fill our boots!  Wish me luck, if it's anything like last year I shall be trodden on, bashed into with handbags, even trollies, and

look like I've been 10 rounds in the fighting ring.

Tilly and I both thank you for your lovely comments on our last post and so happy to hear you liked our video

KEEP WELL AND HAPPY STITCHING

xxx