WOYWW 781 - All change, please!

 Gosh.

I missed last week - reasons themselves being fairly obvious from the previous week's post, and I was disappointed to have missed the week and the ATC swap (Helen, I still owe you an ATC and you WILL go the ball.... um.... I mean you WILL have your card!), and also to have not made it to the crop.  Turns out I ended up in Braintree on house clearance duties, but also visited Mum at the chapel of rest and did some Executor business type stuff with my sister on Saturday morning.  Saturday evening and Sunday were spent in some frantic house clearance - more on that in a mo...

Helen’s ATC

And so I logged on today to celebrate WOYWW which hithertofore (good word, that) had been hosted by the very lovely Julia on Stamping Ground (stamping-ground.blogspot.com) but found that as of the 15th Anniversary (last week), the reins have now been handed over to the equally lovely Sarah at Sarah's Craft Shed (sarahscraftshed.co.uk)

Slap me sideways and call me a gurnard.

I have GOT to stop missing weeks!

So - congratulations/good luck in your "retirement", Julia.  May your desk ever (never?) be tidy, in the spirit of WOYWW.  May your rotary cutter stay sharp, and your ink pads never be dry. A toast to Julia Dunnit!

Sarah has been a long time desker herself, so has able control of those reins.  Change being as good as a rest I'm sure, and a new path in life I suspect may well be a welcome distraction from the trials and tribulations of life.  I'd say "welcome" but you've been here a while, my lovely.  But instead, very well done for stepping up and letting JD step back - Bravo!

My crafting bug has understandably taken a bit of a hike, but I've made the effort to get some stitching done at least. I hope to get my WIPGO done this month, but not much else of anything will be undertaken.

I have at least worked on the Snowman Pirate a bit....

But last weekend was all about Mum, really.  Amongst the things we sorted out, we had a good squint at her dolls house, and now starts the task of finding a home for it.  I don't think I've ever mentioned it before, because I don't have the appropriate labels, but Mum (and my late Dad) were model makers and Dad built this amazing dolls house for Mum starting in 1994 up to his death in 2007, and she decorated and furnished it.  I won't go into massive detail here but a couple of photos will suffice.  I'm in contact with a museum local to her, and hopefully they'll take it on.  If they won't, I'm sure somewhere else will, and as a very last resort, we'll just have to open our own museum.  Not quite where I thought my life was going but there you have it. Admittedly, it does need a little work to smarten it up a bit, but we'll see where it's going to end up, first!  

The loom is fully functional, if you have the patience to set it up…

I've also been passed a partially completed piece of needlework that Mum left, which she'd been working on during the last few months, and which I sadly think will need some unpicking of the most recent stitches, and I will complete it ready for framing.  I have a matching one she'd finished before that, and it also needs some TLC.  We'll get there, though!

I think I've waffled on enough for this week.  Not sure if I'll be around next week but I'll give it a try - we travel up to Essex again next Thurs, as my beloved Mum's funeral is on the 31st.... so see you again soon.

Happy Hopping!

Morti x

WOYWW 779

No snappy title from me this week.  Not even any photographs this time.  Nor a desk.

The saddest news - on Thursday 2nd May, 2024, my beloved mother finally joined my father in eternal rest. Her passing was not unexpected, not a shock.  We had been expecting it for some time - she was 92, after all, and in September 2020 diagnosed with chronic cardiac failure.  She'd been in and out of hospital since September last year, and the last two months were spent in a lovely care home in Braintree, Essex.

The Friday before, Mum was admitted to hospital again for the sixth time in 8 months, with her heart rate and BP  fluctuating quite wildly.  Ultimately, by the Tuesday she had contracted hospital acquired pneumonia, and at 19:20pm on Thursday breathed her last.

My sister and niece were with her at the end, and she went peacefully and quietly into the arms of her God.

I feel honoured to have known her, let alone be her daughter.  She was not without her quirks, but she was steadfast in her faith, and had love for all (occasionally a somewhat judgy quip too but we won't dwell on that!) opening her heart and her door to many through the years. Grandma to all children - even those not related to her - and as my eldest niece put it when she was a small bean "Grandma from London has sweeties in her bag" generous to a fault.  

Mum was very much a creative herself.  A demon with the knitting needles, she taught herself to crochet much later in life, and took to it like a duck to water.  She wasn't adverse to wielding an embroidery needle, and stitched a few beautiful pieces with enthusiasm if slightly lacking in skill.  Mostly, she was an adept on the sewing machine.  I don't believe she ever had any formal tuition, but her entire life she made clothes for us and costumes for the stage school and amateur dramatic society she ran.  Mum rather jealously guarded her machine, and whilst she - without hesitation - encouraged us to sew and bought me my first machine, it was more than my life was worth to ever risk touching hers! Mum also painted during my childhood, reasonable works of art (though no great master) in oil and she loved Nancy Kominski's tv programmes. A genuine and happy dabbler in most things, card making included.

Mum missed my father greatly, and when the time came, confirmed to us that she was ready to go. She will be so very missed by us all.

Constance Ware (Fenn)

1931-2024

WOYWW 778 - Did ya miss me, briefly?

Ha!  I'm here.  I kind of forgot last week, and didn't have very much to show really.  So I skipped a week but I'm still here.  Heheheh

Today's gratuitous desk shot - more of the same really.  The needleminders all have been resin'd and magnets attached, and the scissor fobs made.  All bar one.  I was short by one solitary 4mm red, faceted, crystal cube.  So naturally I bought a couple hundred.  LOL.  I could have bought a single Swarovski bead for about £4 including postage but imagine if it didn't turn up, or wasn't the right size.... or was the wrong colour?  So I bought two job lots in two colours and the rest will go into stash. I'm sure I will use them before long.

Stitching wise, this month's WIPGO is now complete with 5 days stitched on this Spooky House design by Sandra Parlow, charted by Xs and Ohs. I started this back in 2022, I think, so you won't have seen it before.  Here's a shot of what it looks like currently, and one of what it will look like when done.  The windows and the moon are stitched with glow in the dark Kreinik braid (the devil's floss) and look fab for all of 9 seconds after the lights go out.  A bit of fun nonetheless.

The WOCS SAL moved along and I have completed part three - still three sections behind but I'll be cracking on with those shortly.

The May WIPGO was called and it was three numbers - 5, 13 (spare square) and 19.  For me that means I have two more - and different, for a change - works in progress to work on, The Pirate and Alluring Sorceress, and a new start. The new start will be a blackwork piece which I'll commence on Saturday for Star Wars day. :D

Speaking of May 4th, tomorrow I start a few days' holiday and will be heading up to North Wales for that stitching retreat with friends that I mentioned last post - it's suddenly come around very quickly, and indeed, our Michigan friend starts her journey tomorrow with the first of three flights.  Once in the UK she'll be having to navigate London to get a train up to Chester where I'll be meeting her.  Brave lass!

So, that's my two penn'orth for this week.  I'll say it now, I don't think I will have time to hop around the blogs this week because today is a full and extended working day, tomorrow is shaping up to be manic, and after that I'll be busy socialising (how very dare I?! LOL), so please accept my apologies for not paying you a visit.

I will be making an ATC or two, by the way, although I'll not be able to join the Crop this year, sadly, so do let me know if you'd like to swap ahead of time and I may just get myself organised enough to do them in a timely manner.

Happy Hopping!

Morti

x