Friday 29 March 2013

Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop

Hi every on :) Jo has come up with the Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop... and as today is Good Friday we are to show our Spring or Easter stitched piece and also a letter .... this is to be collected to reveal a word  for the treasure hunters :)


                                               My Letter is             G

Here is my Photo of my spring piece :-


the next stitcher in the treasure hunt is Christine  so please go and see her and her stitched piece and her letter too .... good luck with the hunt :)

love mouse xxxxxx

Sunday 17 March 2013

Chatsworth, Stash and Stitching :)

Hi every one :) please pull up a comfy chair , grab your cuppa and goodies ... you may want to make sure the kettle is filled ready for your next one ...lol this is gonna be a long post with lots of oooo and wow and gorgeous photos ... are you ready ??? then I shall begin heheheh............................................................

As I said last week DH and I escaped for a few days R&R to the wonderful "homesford Cottage" at Whatstandwell in Derbyshire, it is a gorgeous wee place and Julie is a wonderful hostess and does the most yummy breakfasts , we missed it the first time we went past  so had to ring up for instructions ... we were soooo busy looking at the scenery ... that's our excuse and we are sticking to it ..... just don't follow the sat nav it will take you to the place... but actually above it in the middle of nowhere hehehehe . The bed was soooo comfy I wanted to bring it home but Julie wouldn't let me *sigh ..... we got to meet Dillon and lettie as a special treat as they are normally not allowed in the guests part but she knew we were mad on poochies as we showed her Master Bentleys photos :) I must say that the service was second to none and the room was well stocked with teas and hot chocolate etc and home made cookies yummmmmm .... in fact Julie and her DH are opening up a tea room just opposite the cottage and I for one can't wait to go and sample the goodies once it is up and running :)
But I digress before we went to the cottage we bobbed into Bakewell as DH had never been and I had to let him sample the delights of the Lavender Tea Rooms .... Gillie and Denise I had a scone for you ;) before I subjected him to the Wye Needlecraft shop ..... well to be honest I was actually disappointed in it .... or it could be the fact that I have been spoilt with the Nimble Thimble and Harrogate but ..... there wasn't many GAST threads or CC ones or even WDW and my list was only tiny and I only managed to get about four of them and a couple of DMC that I was missing ... I dropped on the kreinik for Ally by sheer luck and managed to find the Plum Street Sampler chart "Christmas Tea " and that was hidden in a funny place ..... when I went to pay for my goodies I found the LHN chart Alphabet birdhouse I think it is ... just stuck in the section with pins n things .... *ho hum , don't think I will be going back there in a hurry ....

However I did find another wonderful shop after we had been to Chatsworth House on the Wednesday which I will tell you more about later heheheh .... 
Chatsworth well all I can say is we dropped on with the weather those few days .... it was lovely and sunny but cold but as we were wrapped up warm it didn't bother us ....
we arrived early and had a walk up to the stable blocks where they have a restaurant and some shops so we had a quick look round before going back down to the house and we were one of the first ones in that morning and it was lovely to be able to pootle round at our leisure .... well lets face it I can't rush anyways heheheheh .... sooo armed and dangerous with my new camera I took lots and lots and lots of photos .... somewhere around ermmmm 200+ mark hehehehe .... I promise you I won't show them all ... otherwise you will be here all night and a few more pots of tea later ....
There was sooooo much to look at around the house but one thing made me giggle was the fact of them putting teasels on the chairs so that you didn't sit down on the treasures ..... 
We looked at loads of paintings and artefacts and ooooo'd at the library as it was a wonderful room and also had a baby grand in there as well ... and it looked like someone had been practising before we came into the house ..lol
as well as admiring the bedrooms and state rooms before coming out of the house into the wonderful gardens .... you can tell how cold it was as there was still ice on the water and waterfalls ....  
soooo do you want to hear about the new stitching shop then ???? ...... better make another brew then hehehe ....
The shop is called White Peak Embroidery  and the best thing is it has a tea room attached for all those partners that go with you ;) and I went in and just went OOOOOOHHHHH and can I take some photos to show all of you and Ann the owner said yes and promptly put the kettle on for DH and I heheheh .... it is full to the brim with wonderful trims (colour of rick rack that I have never seen before) silk ribbons , silks and perles and fabric and threads and lots of goodies and yes I did come out with a wee stash haul  ... did you expect anything less hahahahahah ....  she also owns the patchwork shop just down the road which I just had a very quick peek round and got a couple of FQ's and a lovely pair of new scissors ....
I even managed to get some stitching done on Wednesday night on Dandy Dreams well you don't think I went away without anything to stitch on now did you ...lol 
My RAK to Lesleyanne arrived safely so I can show you that now and also my stitchers day exchange piece arrived while I was away and I just had to giggle at the sentiment on it .... 
As it was Hermitting weekend this weekend I have been busy working on Dandy Dreams by Silver creek Sampler some more , The North Wind by LHN and also the Friendship Blooms SAL with DJ by Blue Ribbon Designs....
sooo onto the photos ..... 
our gorgeous room

stash from Wye

robin at the cottage 

driving towards Chatsworth 

the stables where the shops were


see ice !!!

look at the roof detail 

just loved this statue

check out that roof

ouchie don't sit down

just loved this doorway

and this lamp ..lol

amazing details everywhere




want one of these ..lol

just look at the patchwork of colour stone

check out the cross stitched border

one of the many bedrooms

now this one looked comfy 

the libary

love the wee gallery 

any one for dinner 

close up of the settings


see that rood detail again same as before but guilded

atmospheric shot

loved this waterfall

view from the top of the waterfall looking down 

part of the gardens

amazing waterfall to the side of the house 

from the folly again 

White Peak Embroidery Tea Room

and the shop



and again

drooling here

and here 

and a wee bit of stash enhancement from both shops ..lol
progress as of today

and again

and I have finished all the branches now but not taken photo
stitchers day exchange from Jess ... how apt is that ..lol
                                             
Master Bentley so pleased to see us home he posed for the camera :)
soooo folks hope you have enjoyed the whistle stop tour of Chatsworth and beyond ..... I am looking forward to going back to the tea rooms  ..lol and we will go back to Chatsworth again but preferably when it is a wee bit warmer round the edges .... I am back at work again tomorrow so stitching progress may slow down a wee bit ....
so what ever you are doing this week take care and happy stitching until next time :) love mouse xxxxxx

Monday 11 March 2013

I've been a stitching and a finishing + other goodies :)

yooooo hooooo every one :) I'm here ... sorry been so long in yackking to you all but I have been one very busy stitchy mouse and have finished all my goodies for folks WHOOOOP .....
The stitched with love exchange has been posted to my partner and hopefully she will love it ... my birthday give away to Calamity Jr and Dani have been posted out today as well as a RAK to Lesleyanne from the Random Acts of Kindness blog group , my partner in the stitchers day exchange over on Friendly Stitchers as received my piece to her , so I can show you that too.... not to mention I have finished off all but one   two of my finishes into something either framed or  made into a box ..... *VBG ....

SOOOOO now I can relax  (well once I know they have all arrived safely ..lol) and do something for me now heheheh .... oooo talking of which the kettle is on and we have some biccies or hot cross buns tonight :) I have worked on "Dandy Dreams " on stitching night with the girls but haven't done any work on my SAL with DJ and Babs this last week or two but that should be remedied  this weekend all being well ...lol 

I have received some lovely goodies in the post too .... a beautifully painted heart shaped box with some choccies and a thread in it from Peggy  which didn't quite arrive in time for Valentines due to postie error :( my usual one wasn't at work that day ....
I got a wonderful wee pillow from lainey  with a mouse sticking out of a tea cup with the words "Kettles on"  on it heheheh along with some lovely threads and fabric in my favourite colours :) which was a belated birthday present ... don't you just love it when your birthday is extended :)..... and then I received a wee pin pillow  "tis better to give than receive" by La d Da  and some bunny scissors ... a girl can never have tooo many scissors hehehehe from Lynn from the RAK blog group ... it has the cutest backing fabric which is perfect for it :)
HMMMMM what else have I been up too ???  ahhhh yes got my new glasses so now can see every one ...lol *waves small paw to them at the back heheheh ....
I went out to the woods again the other weekend when it was a gorgeous day and took some more photos with my new camera and DH and I are going away tomorrow to a place near Bakewell and hopefully going to Chatsworth house too ... sooo watch out battery charging for the camera as we squeak heheheheh....
It was Mothering Sunday here in the UK yesterday and I got thoroughly spoilt by my DD's , I got some wee straighteners for my fringe and some Thornton's chocolates and a lovely bag with a stitchy organiser inside and some gorgeous flowers in a tea cup and saucer arrangement and I was treated to an Indian meal too :)
Today I seem to recall is TUSAL time and boy do I have a large amount of threads this month ... just proves how much my wee needles have been flying heheheheh
so while I refill the kettle for you all I shall bob on a few photos for you to oooooo and ahhhhh at :)
from Peggy 

from Lainey

rather a good likeness ...lol 

my stitcher's day piece for Jess

one of my lovely garden friends 

from Lynn

progress on Dandy Dreams by Silver Creek Samplers 

back of lynn's pillow

goodies from the antique shop

finally finished and framed sorry photo wonky ....

my new skill learnt for finishing ideas 

flowers for me ... smell divine :)

just watching the world go by

finally framed too 

love this box finish :)

March's TUSAL
weeeeeee chasing leaves 


and jump 

come on slow coach 

spot the hare ;)
ok I think that is all for now folks .... hope every one is well as can be expected , stay safe and warm and with lots of stitching being done until next time :) squeak to you all soon :) love mouse xxxxxx