I know why I'm suffering though - this time last week we were sat in temps of 36C - today it's 19C in Colchester, but it's been raining and horrid!
Where were we last week? Egypt! I got an email of last minute deals from Red Sea Holidays, and we decided to opt for a week of sun before the cold winter blues sets in!
This is the Makadi Palace - on the Red Sea coast. Most days we spent the morning on our balcony when the sun was not too hot. After a stroll down to the Sunset Bar for lunch, we spent the afternoon in the bar near one of the pools, before returning to our room to shower and change for dinner!
While we were away, DH celebrated his birthday. As usual I had left it late to make a card for him. This year I was stumped for ideas. A week before we left I spotted an entry on Avis's blog Sewing Beside the Sea where she'd sewn a card with a ukulele on it for her daughter. I asked her for a copy of her pattern, and I set about making it look a bit like the one my DH bought in Hawaii. Here's his 2 ukes, and here's the card I finished.
What else have I been doing? Well I finished the Hansel to go with my Gretel angel I mentioned last time and also a Mill Hill Santa which we bought in Hawaii last time we were there.
And I promised last time that I'd also let you see the birth sampler I made for my best friends' daughter. Myles was born on August 15th and I had the image stitched, ready and waiting for the details to be added. As his bedroom was to be decorated in cool beige/browns I decided to opt for a soft image, rather than the bright colours of many birth samplers. I decided to stretch it over a canvas rather than putting it into a frame. I edged the picture with a pale blue ric rac binding to give it a finishing touch (which doesn't show up very well in the photo!). I was delighted that both parents seemed to be delighted and it's already hanging in Myles's bedroom.
And finally I started to stitch the Advent animals free designs from Brooke Nolan Although so far she's posted animals 1 - 7, the intention is for the series to be completed by Christmas 2015, so even I should be able to complete that deadline! Once I have a few done I'll post in the next blog post perhaps.
In the meantime my daughter and her husband have moved house and our granddaughter's bedroom will probably have an owl theme when it's decorated. Needless to say, some of those owl patterns which have been dominant in magazines etc recently might find their way into my sewing pile! Stay tuned for the next instalment to see which make their way to the top of the pile.
'Til then take care - (and stay free of colds!)
Sandie
