Autumn/Summer?

The weather is a bit confused at the moment in England for we are having a heat wave with temperatures expected to climb up to 29 C tomorrow.  The leaves are turning brown and the sun is shining, very strange. For the past week, whenever I am able to sit down for more than five minutes, I have tried to design an oak leaf and this is my latest attempt, still needs some more work on it.  
Yesterday was the feast of St. Michael and All Angels and from now on you are must not pick any more blackberries this season as the devil is supposed to have spat on them.  But I was in the graveyard where there were some beautiful ones this afternoon, so I picked some.  Here they are ready in the pan.

And this was a very peculiar sight in the graveyard, a toadstool  or is it a wild mushroom? Anyway it was growing out of a stone flower vase, I actually had to go and touch it to see if it was real! It looks rather like a sun shade!

Hope to improve on the leaf in the next few days and will publish the result.

Christmas Decorations

At the moment there is a huge attic clear-out happening at our house, for the past 25 years items have been put up there and it has ended up being a complete mess.  With the past two Winters being very cold in England many lofts/attics need more insulation,  although some would say that filling them up acts as extra insulation!  So for the past month we have been trying to sort, clear and tidy the contents of our attic in preparation to put more lagging down.  However, the process has been extremely slow because my grown up boys have used the place as a storage for university papers/books, CDs, DVDs etc. As one lives in Singapore and the other in a small flat there is no way they are going to be able to remove these possessions in a hurry, or even at all.  Sunday morning therefore, I took the opportunity to 'facetime' my son in Singapore on my Ipad whilst sitting in the loft, he then was able to give instructions to what could be thrown out - not much so far!  
Christmas Decorations are stored in the loft and they were given a good sort out with old faded tinsel being thrown away, one of the bags which contained this tinsel I used to put my sons suit in to take to the dry cleaners yesterday.  Not realising what the bag had originally contained I removed the suit and gold stars fell all over the floor.  Fortunately there was a counter so no one saw the little gold stars that came out at the same time, I made a hasty retreat, although I still have to go back and collect the suit.
One of the Lizbeth threads that I am not so keen on, I hasten to say that the majority are fantastic, is the Christmas one, but it looks just right on these baubles.

They are not being stored in the attic, but are ready to be given away at Christmas. This is my own pattern (pattern on right hand side), although I have found that the stitch count has to be altered depending on the thread size and the shape of the baubles.

The edging so far

It took me sometime to decide on an edging pattern for the Irish linen, I started several but they either did not look right or the instructions were a bit vague.  In the end I found Mark Myers "crowning glory" and used the Easter Eggs thread, this is the result.  I did alter the ring - top middle slightly, making the picots a little larger.  The picture shows it placed by the linen, I have not started to sew it on yet. Not sure if it will be finished this side of Christmas!

It is a sad week in our parish as the Vicar is saying good bye to a car he has owned for 28 yrs, a Morris Traveller.  The reason that it has to go is that it is rather rusty underneath and would cost a fortune to repair.  He has sold it to someone who can spend the time and money to do the essential repairs.  The car has been a topic of conversation with all whom he has met over the years, many saying "our first car was like that".  Being a passenger though was not that comfortable, and in Winter it was freezing!

We will all miss seeing the car around the village and hearing the roar of the engine, but at least it will be going to someone who will save if from the heavenly scrap yard!

Lovely Thread

Sue Anna kindly sent me more beautiful Lizbeth thread and also one skein of HDT which she gave to Jane when she met her in July.   They are all going to be put to good use.   I just can't get over the colours which I believe are the new range.

Originally I purchased this piece of Irish Linen to put a border of tatting around it, as you can see it has been folded up and put away and still bears all the crease marks.   I am so spoilt for choice deciding which thread to use.  As you can see  I have placed two possibilities next to the linen, but now the next decision is an edging pattern.  I would like to tat one that is challenging, only has one round, but also has some depth to it. The linen measures 18" x 17 1/2".

The butterfly that was in my previous post has been framed.  I did have to paint the frame pink, but it has turned out rather well.

Well off to search again for an edging pattern...................