Anne Grant Is Finished

I am sorry that I have been MIA again. There has been a lot of illness again in my house. We have been all battling the Flu and some of us have had serious bouts of it. My DH ended up with Pneumonia and one of my Sons ended up in Hospital as well with it. He was smart though. He went to the Hospital where they put him on a drip straight away with the anti-biotics in it. My DH went the other way and went to the Doctors. After nearly 3 weeks off from work, 5 trips to the Doctors and Chest Xrays. He is starting to feel better. My Son spent a few hours in Hospital and had a week off work. I think he took the best option. But you know men!!!!!!!!!!

The best thing though lol, is that my DH has told my youngest Son and myself not to go giving him the Flu as he has been told to keep right away from it all. Excuse me. Who gave it to us in the first place.

Remember in my previous post I told you about a very special Stacy Nash Club that my LNS was having. This is the second piece in the series. Isn't it beautiful. I really love it. I notice though that Stacy has bought other pieces out in design. It would be lovely to have them all. I think the flowers are different though in the Pin piece that she has brought out for general release. I think she must have loved this design.
This is the 2 Pin Keeps that are out so far.

Last month was my Mother's 81st birthday and it just seem appropriate to do this special Pin Keep. This is a "freebie" that is on the Pattern Mart website and the Design is by Pineberry Lane.

I also did this one as well. I thought that the verse was lovely. This is also a "freebie" and is by one of my favourite Designers - Needlework Press. The verse is:-

The only everlasting flower is virtue;

The only lasting Treasure Truth.

Also I was fortunate to win this wonderful velvet carrot and book on the Middle Tennessee Samplers on Carmen's blog called Cardan Antiques and Needlework There was also a packet of one of my favourite little flowers called Love In The Mist, but because I live in Australia and I knew that they wouldn't get through our Customs, I asked Carmen to give them to somebody else. Carmen very graciously sent me this wonderful collection of her designs. I have been a follower of Carmen's ever since she started blogging and I had long admired her designs especially 2 of them - Jane Thomas and Philadelphia Botting. I love Philadelphia Botting's name. Probably because I have discovered that I have a GGG Grandmother called Philadelphia Stevenson which is a bit of a mouthful lol. Wonderful name though.

The bush around where I live is looking really lovely. All the Wattle is out and it is glorious. I am waiting for the winds to come to blow all the pollen everywhere. My grey car usually ends up looking yellow. I am so looking forward to the arrival of Spring. We have had some lovely weather over the last few days. But unfortunately the rain is on it's way. I'm wondering if we will get any of the cold snowy weather that New Zealand is experiencing at the moment. That is unbelievable.

Before I go, I would like to thank you for stopping by and saying Hi. I love reading all of your comments.

I'm Still Here

First up I want to apologize for the photos. It is as my DH calls a "Baby Weather" sort of day - wet and windy lol. It is one of those very dark grey, misty, wet and very windy sort of days. You get the picture lol. One of those days where it is good to be inside. I suppose you could call it bleak, but it isn't good for taking photos.

I haven't been blogging, but I still have been stitching. I have been plodding along on Ann Grant plus another sampler. Here is my progress on Ann and the end is very near. I just have to do a little bit more around the house along with finishing off the lawn plus the rest of the border and she will be finished. Ann and I have had a few moments along the way where she has nearly been in the fire, but I have pressed on with her and I will be glad when she is finished. She is really a beautiful sampler and I think I would have regretted her going in with the wood to keep me warm lol. But there were a few times when I was very tempted.

I thought that I would show you one of my Mother's Day presents from my children. It is a very special Stacy Nash piece that my LNS has. It is one of those special Stacy Nash Clubs and my LNS is the only shop to have this piece along with a few more that are coming. One is in the mail as we speak. Isn't it lovely. I did this a few days after they gave it to me which set on off on a Stacy Nash kick.

This is the Schoolgirl Pinkeep Drum. I already have it, but decided to make it a bit different by not doing the Peacock that goes on top.

I love this little piece. It is the Robin Pinkeep. I also have the Bluebird. I just have to sit down and do it.

I was also fortunate to win this lovely little booklet on Julie and Becky's lovely blog A Note Of Friendship I just noticed that there is more on the lovely story of Pandora. I have been enjoying reading this story so I should go off and read it.

Nothing much else to report. You know the old saying. No news is good news lol. My DH's leg is a lot better thank goodness, but it still lets him know that it is there.

Thank you for stopping my. I really enjoy meeting everybody who leaves a comment.

A Beautiful Day In The Mountains

I must warn you that this is a picture heavy post. I don't have any stitching to show today as I haven't been doing much lately, so I thought that I would show you where I live. All photos are clickable and will enlarge to see better.

Today was such a beautiful sunny day in The Blue Mountains. The sun was shining (instead of raining), the birds were singing and I went for a walk down to Echo Point in Katoomba. Echo Point is always busy with tourists who come up either for a few days holiday or just for the day. Katoomba is about 2 hours drive from Sydney. It is a place that always has a lot of tourist buses. People from all over the world are always coming here. It is a very interesting place to just sit sometimes and do some "people watching".

Above is the famous Three Sisters. The Three Sisters have a very interesting story:-

The Aboriginal dream-time legend has it that three sisters, 'Meehni', 'Wimlah' and Gunnedoo' lived in the Jamison Valley as members of the Katoomba tribe.

These beautiful young ladies had fallen in love with three brothers from the Nepean tribe, yet tribal law forbade them to marry.

The brothers were not happy to accept this law and so decided to use force to capture the three sisters causing a major tribal battle.

As the lives of the three sisters were seriously in danger, a witchdoctor from the Katoomba tribe took it upon himself to turn the three sisters into stone to protect them from any harm. While he had intended to reverse the spell when the battle was over, the witchdoctor himself was killed. As only he could reverse the spell to return the ladies to their former beauty, the sisters remain in their magnificent rock formation as a reminder of this battle for generations to come.

They are 922, 918 and 906 metres tall, respectively. That's over 3000 feet above sea level! The Nepean isthe area below the Mountains.

In case you were wondering why The Blue Mountains are blue, it is because it is densely populated by oil bearing Eucalyptus trees. The atmosphere is filled with finely dispersed droplets of oil, which, in combination with dust particles and water vapour, scatter short-wave length rays of light which are predominantly blue in colour.

This is the new platform that was built a few years ago for easy access to viewing this truly beautiful place.

I don't know if you can see in this photo a rocky formation that is called The Ruin Castle.

The Valley where the Three Sisters and the above photos is called The Jamieson Valley on the other side of the this photo is Megalong Valley.


If you are lucky enough when you go to Echo Point sometimes there is this lovely young Aboriginal man playing the Didgeridoo. It is a magical experience to hear this beautiful instrument being played down here. By the way he is in full Aboriginal garb. Bit chilly though on a cool day.

This is a very special monument that was erected to remember the Convict Labour who built the road through the Mountains. If they worked the way the 2 men in the front worked it would have been very hard as they are wearing chains. There are 2 Convicts, 1 Soldier and 2 Aboriginal onlookers. They built the road from Sydney to Bathurst.
All the trees in the Mountains are showing their Autumn colours. It is really pretty here at the moment.
The building ahead is part of Lilianfels Hotel, a 5 star hotel. This is the actual Lilianfels which was the home of Sir Frederick Darley who was Chief Justice and Lieutenant-Governor. The house was built in 1889. It is now a Restaurant.
I hope you enjoyed seeing photos of this truly beautiful place. This is just one small piece of it. All the towns that form The Blue Mountains are surrounded by views such as this. Each one is beautiful in its own way.

Thank you for dropping by. I hope that you have a wonderful weekend and Happy Mother's Day. I hope this day will be special for you.

Update on Queen Mary's Rug

I don't know if you remember, a few years ago I posted a few photos from a book that I have that had belonged to one of my Great Grandmothers and it was about Queen Mary

Among the photos there was a really interesting story about how Queen Mary started working on this beautiful Needlepoint Rug. She worked on it from 1941 until 1950. When she finished it she decided to give it to the Nation so that funds could be raised to help the war effort. I thought that you might be as interested as I was to see this stunning rug. I would really love to see it in person, but that isn't possible. Canada is a long way from Australia.

The above photo is of Queen Elizabeth (I think she was still Queen at this time and hadn't become the Queen Mother) and Princess Margaret looking at this amazing rug.

Here she is stitching in the Garden. Only a very regal Queen would sit in the garden dressed this way I am sure.

Today, some very kind person has sent me a link to see this wonderful rug in colour. I would like to say Thank You. I really appreciate it as I have always wondered what it looked like in all its glory. Isn't it beautiful.

The rug is in the National Gallery of Canada and because of its fragile nature apparently isn't on show.


Click onto this link to read all about this beautiful rug and how it ended up being in Canada. http://cybermuse.gallery.ca/cybermuse/search/artwork_e.jsp?mkey=3562

Queen Mary started this rug in 1941 when she was 69 and finished it in 1950.

I haven't done very much on my Ann Grant as my DH had a fall a couple of weeks ago and sprained his Lateral Ligament in his Right Knee. He has been home since than on crutches. The treatment for this injury is similar to having a broken bone which is just rest and keep off it. He fell while taking the little dog next door home in the dark. The dog had gotten out and was wandering around on the road and had nearly been run over. My DH fell in our neighbours drive way. My Son is also on School Holidays at the moment, so between the two of them, not a lot of stitching is being done lol.

Miss Ann Grant

Here is my current progress on the beautiful Ann. She is such a joy to work on but my progress is slow. I have had a lot going on in my life at the moment. I am slowly getting there on Ann that is lol.

For some reason I really love the flowers in these particular vases. I'm sorry if it has come out a little bit fuzzy. It is very overcast here today. I did try waiting until the light got better, but no such luck.

You can feel Winter's long cold fingers reaching here into Autumn. I really think with all of the rain that we have been having that Winter will be here long before it should be. I always enjoy Autumn. I love the trees changing colour.

I'm sorry that this post is short but I really have a lot to do today, so I had better carry on and do what I was doing.

Thank you for dropping by.

Miss Hannah Has Been Framed

Over the weekend I had the opportunity of framing Hannah Lancaster and here she is in all her glory. I think she looks lovely and she is hanging alongside my Sarah Moon.

I know I said last week that I was going to start working on Susan Rambo but somebody else stuck their hand up and started jumping up and down trying to get my attention. Anyway, she won, so I'm now working on Ann Grant from Shakespeare's Peddler. Ann is such a stunning creature (so is Susan btw) so I thought that I would do her before Susan. This is my progress. I just love the border. Now this is quite strange for me as I hate doing borders but this one is really lovely. I love all the reds and pinks in her.

I don't think I have ever shown these two samplers from my collection. I had to do a bit of rearranging so that I could hang Hannah where I wanted her and these have come off the wall.

The first one is a Shepherd's Bush sampler and is really lovely. I love all the little flowers in it along with the Arch. I'm sorry I can't remember it's name. I have the chart, but I am to lazy to go and find it. It is a very old Shepherd Bush Design.

This one is called Earth Laughs Sampler and is by Hillside Samplings.

The lovely weather from Friday has disappeared unfortunately. It is a bit miserable outside with light rain and overcast conditions. You can feel it getting cooler every day.

Well, this is it for me today. 2 post is a few days which is unusual lol. Anyway, I hope that you have a wonderful week and thank you for dropping by.

Happy Dance Time

At long last, Hannah Lancaster is finished. Major happy dance lol. Hannah has been in my work basket for awhile. I started this last year at the beginning of the year and was doing a SAL with my friend Tawny. It was called Sunday Stitch Along with Hannah. Anyway, she is finally finished and she is a stunning sampler. Although Hannah still reminds me of something out of the Goofy cartoons. I think it is the hair and the mouth lol. Hopefully I shall frame her over the weekend or next week.

Also another beautiful sampler and I love her the more I look at her now that she is framed and it is Harriet Burry. Harriet has the same frame that Sophia's sampler has and they look lovely hanging together.

I have been seeing these lovely little cases here and there on blogs and I said to myself - "self that is just what you need to keep your scissors and things in". Imagine my surprise while researching them that I found that I could buy them in Australia at a Wool Shop in Margaret River in Western Australia. It arrived this morning and I am looking forward to putting all my "what-nots" in it. I am sure that my DH will no longer rolls his eyes when I am trying to find what happened to my scissors. I am forever losing them around my chair.

In case you were wondering about the quilt underneath these photos. It is a selection of very old Laura Ashley material. I have had this quilt for a long time, even before my eldest Son was born. I used to have a "thing" for Laura Ashley things. I even have a lot of her books in my book collection. This quilt is usually on the end of my youngest Son's bed.

A few weekends ago, I had such a lovely surprise. I discovered that I had won this beautiful layer cake from BBD's new fabric range. Thank you Alma you really made my day.

I got such a surprise as I never win anything and I said to my DH "I have won something". He immediately gave me a Willis like answer (you know - "What You Talking Bout Willis") of "Don't you dare open it". I said, "huh" lol. He then replied, " Don't open it, we will get a virus". I immediately set him to rest by letting him know that I hadn't won something on one of those -Congratulations, You are our Millionth Viewer, that I had actually won something wonderful. He was quite happy when he realised what I had won, but then I saw the eyes rolling around in his head when I told him that I would have to buy more material, to make the basket quilt that went with the material. You would think after all this time, he would have worked me out lol.

On a serious note, I would just like to say that I am really sorry to hear of the passing of Lisa Roswell of The Primitive Needle. I would like to offer her family and all her many friends my sympathies her unexpected passing. Unfortunately I don't have any of her designs, but I knew of them through my friend Tawny. I know that she used to do the most wonderful Halloween designs. I also noticed before I heard this sad news one of her new designs called Mary Doidge and thought what a stunning sampler it was.

It is a beautiful Autumn day here in the Mountains. Unfortunately they don't last that long up here and you can feel the cold fingers of winter starting to creep in, in the early mornings. Hopefully we will have a lot more beautiful days before winter does strike. Summer wasn't the best. It was either too to hot, or plain miserable with rain and mist.

I hope that you have a wonderful weekend and thank you for stopping by.