RAINBOW BRIDGE

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies who has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; his eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

MY DARLING BUTTONS xxxx

This is the post I prayed I would never have to write and the words are very hard to find.

My darling Buttons fell ill on his birthday last Thursday and unable to get him to eat or drink I took him to the vets that evening.  He stayed at the vets both Thursday and Friday evening with no improvement and yesterday morning the Vet, after numerous examinations and every attempt to make him well again, found a lump in his abdomen, the tumor had regrown.  My Buttons had done enough fighting and had done so well that my decision was not a hard one, no more suffering.  I loved him dearly.

Buttons now sleeps peacefully.
xxxxx

THE FINISHING LINE . . .

I've been confined to virtually one room most of this past week as the decorators are here again working on the hall, stairs and landing and there are dust sheets, ladders, artex and pots of paint everywhere.
Artex, now that's a horrible word and any of you that have ever experienced it will know about the pungent smell that comes with it and remains until it has completely dried and been painted!  The decorator's tell me that the nearest comparison to the smell is cat pee but not ever having had a cat I wouldn't know but feet and cheese seem more appropriate to me!  Thankfully the weather has been lovely and hot so all windows and doors have been permanently open and fresh air reigns.

So confined to one room what should I do?  I know open that draw that contains all those finished stitches that I occasionally hear saying 'Finish Me, Please!'.

First up ~ Happy Bunny Bunny Day which I stitched a few weeks back but had no suitable fabric for finishing.  An unplanned stop at a Patchwork Fabric Shop found me debating over two fabrics which I thought might match, not sure I bought both and still not sure when making a pillow finish yesterday I used both!  The polka dot fabric is the backing and I found some matching buttons to put on the front :

Next, Heart in Hand 'Summer Bird' which DH bought a new frame for.  HIH added a bee button on their design but I couldn't find one so I stitched a trailing leaf from his mouth (as shown on their other seasonal birds) and added a small flower embellishment at the bottom of it :

Frame hunting at the local Charity/Thrift Shops found a finish for the next one.  This Wildlife Sampler was stitched so long ago I don't even remember doing it but as the hare reminds me of Buttons I have always wanted to frame it and this washed-wood effect frame matches perfectly and now hangs proud in the Dining Room :

 

Last post I had just started a Lizzie*Kate, this was a really quick and easy stitch and again has a pillow finish with backing fabric shown on the heart pegs and matching ribbon:

Lizzie*Kate 'Stitching forever' stitched on 28count white evenweave with my choice of DMC colours

Are you still there?  I've been confined to that room for a long time so digging deep to the bottom of the forgotten draw found this one and again it's another pillow finish :

HIH kit 'Rise and Shine' stitched on 28count Platinum Linen with threads provided (I think!!!)

So, lots of finishing and the sewing machine has been busy BUT I still squeezed in new stitching as well.  I've looked at 'Man's Best Friend' so many times since my last post but I just can't find the enthusiasm for it at the moment.  Hidden at the bottom of the stash box were some little Mouseloft Stitchlet kits which DH bought for me some time ago, they are too small for individually framing so I have decided to make them into a patchwork cushion and have completed 4 of them just using fabric scraps in linen, I shall make up the remaining patchwork squares in some rustic burgundy colours :

and finally a start on 'Washing Day', a Forever Friends design which will eventually hang in the Utility Room and match my own white wicker laundry basket (with so much time devoted to stitching recently my laundry pile is as big as this one!) :

Celebrations tomorrow as someone small, furry and adorable reaches the grand age of 10.  Buttons continues to do well after his tumor and tomorrow will celebrate his birthday with his favs ~ carrots, watercress and green beans (not much of a feast for the rest of us but he'll love it!!!)

HAPPY STITCHING . . .

A COLOURFUL SPICY HAPPY DANCE!

WOW!
 A very colourful happy dance - Mexican Gecko - a definite colour overload!  I need to wash and press this one as I do not work on a frame or hoop and it's a little taut so fingers crossed that the colours don't bleed - can you imagine! I did stitch it all in DMC threads so it should be okay.

Mexican Gecko stitched on 28count white evenweave in suggested DMC threads

It's been a funny couple of weeks . . . the calendar was pretty empty at the start but suddenly seemed to fill up!  As the weather was poor last week the decorator's were unable to work on their outside jobs and came here to decorate my kitchen and utility room.  I'm really pleased with the results as we have been living with pink plastered walls since the new kitchen was installed some time ago and the door frame and skirting boards were still in bare wood ~ now we have soft cream walls and white woodwork and the kitchen is lovely and bright.  I have several completed cross stitches that can now have their finishing touches and be displayed (more on them next time).

Our new oak dining room furniture was delivered at the end of last week and I'm thrilled with this too ~ this room was decorated some time ago and has also been waiting for the finishing touches and this is a W.I.P. which I know will look lovely when finished, it's called Man's Best Friend and is a complete kit by Dimensions:

This design uses lots of thread colours which are combined and also uses different numbers of strands throughout to create depth and colour shading (too much concentration  needed!) ~ I think this is probably the reason it may have been hidden for some time but now it has a reason to be finished so I hope I can get in to it again?

Last Sunday was Father's Day so we visited our respective Dads on the Saturday so the kiddies could spoil their Dad rotten here on Sunday.  Twin I helped out in the garden with weeding and mowing, Twin II was on 'unlimited cups of tea' rota and cooked the BBQ in the evening and DD gave him a lovely manicure and pedicure.  I have a very happy DD at the moment as today is her last day of exams, she has sat her German exam this morning and has a Graphics exam this afternoon and to celebrate the end of 12 years of studying a fellow friend is having a celebration BBQ afterwards.

In case none of you have heard (LOL) it's the World Cup at the moment (ughhhh!)  Having grown up with a sport-mad Dad and two brothers I'm not the keenest of fans of sport so have paid little attention to it so far but with England playing this afternoon and 3 more sport-mad men in this house, I'm told they need a very good win so I may have to suffer it, actually I don't mind Wimbledon but as I see it if I'm sitting down relaxing to watch TV then I can be cross-stitching and for me the two don't go very well together!

I'm squeezing in a small Lizzie*Kate at the moment ~ Stitching Forever ~ another one that will hang in the newly decorated Utility Room, I have also ordered Forever Friends Washing Day kit and the Postie has just arrived WITHOUT IT! (don't you just hate it when you think something should arrive and then nothing?)

Have a good week everybody, we have gorgeous sunshine here at the moment, very unusual for Wimbledon fortnight but I'm not complaining!

HAPPY STITCHING . . .