WOYWW 626 - Flaming June

 Hello again, lovely deskers - welcome back to another round of WOYWW.  Deets here....   I must confess, there's not a lot to show this week!  And I'm much remiss in visiting desks, starting with the best of intentions but usually failing miserably.  This weekend we spent two days tidying, clearing the decks as it were, and cleaning ready for a visit from a family member who we hadn't seen for almost two years, since she last came to our house shortly after we moved in.

Therefore, not much to report!

Here's the desk....

And here's the only stitching I've done all week.  One finished ATC:

and the updated Peppermint Purple SAL

However, to make up for the lack, here's a lovely picture of the dogs on the beach on Monday just gone (t'was a public holiday here, for our overseas deskers), 

and the beach itself - Perranporth, here in Cornwall.  

‘‘Twas a lovely day.... scorching hot with an offshore wind which meant lots of sunburned bodies - mine included  just my legs/feet, and not too badly for me although I’ve got a heat rash on my arms which is a bit disconcerting.

And here's a shot of our peony, finally in bloom.  It's taken the last 7 years for us to nurture it to this point - Mr B had given up all hope but two days ago it popped open - ta dah!  Last year we got a bud (first time ever) but it never opened and there was a weeny hole in it so I think a bug got in and had a feast.

Lastly, figured it was time for another funny....

Happy Hopping, y'all!

WOYWW 615 - caution warning, stitched spiders ahead!

 Greetings, Desk Hoppers!  Welcome to What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday!  All the deets are here, provided by our Mistress of the Hop, Julia...  Just a quickie from me this week, so I hope you'll excuse the brevity of language throughout.

I'm back. A brief absence, but an absence nonetheless.  No real excuses, just time gets away from you.  Plus the next bout of Stitch Wars is on, and time is a premium when you need to be a-stitching... LOL

So what gives at Morti Mansions this week?

The desk is a mess.  A proper mess.  What you can see front and centre is a stack of cards we've received over the last 18-24 months, including New Home cards!  they've been left to pile up on the Welsh dresser (hutch for our American friends) downstairs until I've had enough.  At the very least they're up here to go through, decide if any require keeping (like from the olds) and which can be thrown.  And if there's anything to be salvaged from them to make gift tags or components for other cards.  Do like a good recycled card, me.

Speaking of which, I never posted the outcome of my last Rudolph day, so here you are...

and a second one

Inspiration from Pinterest.  The ornament stamps were by Stampin' Up!, and  I used a Sakura Gelly Roll pen in white for the strings and doodle border.  The tall card was made using paper and components from various magazine freebies.  Again, inspo from Pinterest.  The next Rudolph Day is next Thursday...

I made these on 25 Feb, the day after my last blog hop, and I had a stark reminder of just how long I've been a crafter.  When I made the ornament card above, and heat embossed the ornaments in white, I managed to put my thumb through the lid of the EP pot.  Now, you could say it's French quality that caused it, LOL, but I've had two other pots go that way, brittle with age.  I've worked out, based on the fact that the pot is all in French, that I probably bought it back in 2004/5. The other two were bought for me by my mother when I was 15 and heat embossing had just become a "thing", back when it was de rigeur to use a toaster and judicious placement of fingers to avoid burning oneself.

Stitching-wise, I've been stitchin' up a storm.

Siren's Lament has moved on considerably...

As has Mr Moose.  He's looking adorable.  Won't be long before I'm done with brown and can do some other colours!

I've finally picked up the Peppermint Purple Stitch-A-Long, and am almost fully caught up with it.  I say almost - a new square was released today and I've yet to stitch that, but as of last night I was up to date with all the released elements at that point.

March Mayhem has not quite gone to plan.  I've managed three of my kits so far  The big spider needs to be fully finished off yet, with snipping out around the legs and a hanger attached.  A bit dismal, that we're halfway through the month and I've only managed three, but I tell myself it's three more than before and we still have two weeks left!  The first one I did, the lovely blue background for web and spider, has about 1300 stitches in it which is quite a bit, I can tell you!  The other two have about 700 and 500, for comparison. Considerably smaller.

What other news haveth I?  Well, the re-enactment season is somewhat upskittled but provided everyone plays ball and campsites can reopen on April 12th, we have a re-enactment social weekend where we can camp and see our friends, and spend some time ensuring kit is ready for the rest of the season, such as it may be.  Many events have been moved or cancelled - certainly those in April/May/June, but the July, August and September ones all seem to be going ahead at present.

Mr B has fixed the car - we needed a new fan for the heating and air con - t'was rather horrid driving along without it.  The windows kept misting up which meant we had the windows open and in January, was not fun!  The fan cost us a whole £330 new from Renault, but fitting was free as he did it himself.  I'm not sure what labour is at Renault, but at the garage 300 yards up the road its £50 an hour, and the whole fit from removing the old to replacing the new took about 5 hours.  Quite a saving...

The offending broken fan

Anyway, this is turning into a ramble, so I shall leave you with a lovely photo from a couple of weeks ago, sunset up on Carn Brea, 

and a "and finally" in honour of our lovely Shaz.

WOYWW 113 - I'm ba-ack!

Did ya miss me?  No?  Good for you!

Thank you everyone for your kind wishes and comments.  We're not yet at the bottom of the problem - one Dr thinks it's IBS, another thinks its something else, I've tried cutting wheat out with a small modicum of success but with not entirely perfect results so we have to try and find out what else is causing the problems.  Next appointment, 17th August.  Fab. 

I've been AWOL for a couple of reasons, not least of which was a trip to Cornwall.  I think I might join in the beach brigade (just because I've been absent doesn't mean I've not been blopping, y'know!)  and add an indulgent beach shot here....

That's Mr B and Lil Miss B in the boat!

My desk this week looks like this.  All you lot with your ATGs?  Nah - THIS is what I call a tape gun!  Yup - house move is happening in three weeks, so the desk is gradually going to look barer and barer.... ulp.....

The good news is that despite being poorly, I managed to get Mum's card made, and here it is in all its glory.  She loved it, I loved making it and it was a great learning curve.  I have actually made a tutorial video for how to do the planking on plain card, though I'm not sure anyone would be interested enough to watch it!  I've yet to upload it as I'm on another learning curve with my video editing software, so watch this space.... Mum's birthday bash went really well and she made the most fantastic birthday cake - her best yet!  Mind you, with 60-something years of baking practice under her belt, she ought to be doing something right by now... LOL

Lastly for this week, but not least, was the fact that it was Lil Miss B's last day at primary school on the 21st July.  Lucky her, Dad managed to get out of school early (thank you Mrs Harvey) and arrived just in time to hear her flute solo in the leavers' assembly.  Then, at the end of the school day, members of the 3rd Yorkshire Regiment drummed and marched the year 6 children, and those that have been posted to other parts of the county, out of school.  We were very proud...



Well that's it for now.  I've got lots more news, info, craft stuff etc to post about but it's late on Tuesday, I've packed a load of boxes, and now my shower calls.  In the meantime, if you're new to this WOYWW lark, head over to Dunnit Dimensions where all will be revealed by our tour guide and general meeting point, Julia!

The end of Summer.....

Hello readers!

Sorry I've not been around for a while. Life kind of caught up with me - since I last posted we've had a long weekend in Cornwall (all fabulous, gorgeous weather and icky sunburn), spent 12 long days in Shropshire with Wolfshead Bowmen in the (mostly) pouring rain, and been to the Great Dorset Steam Rally.

I figured it was high time I shared some of this with you.

Here is a picture of a beach in Cornwall. Wa-hey. Thrilling, eh? We're the little shelter at the far end. Yes, a Cornish beach with no-one on it. Amazing for late July. Which I why I though to share it with you. It was like this for about 45 minutes after we got there, at about 12.30pm, but didn't exactly get packed. I think that was cos only locals knew about it. The reason we went there was that it was the only beach in about a 30 mile radius that was both clean, safe for swimming, AND allowed dogs.




By complete contrast, here are a couple of photos from our stay in Shropshire. Note the pouring rain. Note the rain, pouring off all the canvas. Note the mud. It was like that for about 8 out of the 12 days we were there. And all the while my back was playing up too. Ho hum. It did dry up towards the end of our time there, so it was fun in the end.....

Good Grief....

Where DOES the time go? It's simply not on, you know! Somebody stop the world, I want to get off - at least for a little while!

There's nothing particularly exciting to report at the moment, so I thought I would do something I promised a long long while back. Remember the "Time" ATC swap I did ages ago? Well - here's the long awaited picture of the ATCs I received back...



Fabulous, aren't they???


Actually, what AM I saying??? Not much to report!!! I'm sure my pal Debs would be getting huffy right now because I went and stayed with her for the weekend in Cornwall (much to DHs disgust, LOL), and this photo was one of many taken over the weekend. But by far the funniest. There's a long story behind this, but I won't bore you all - you had to be there.



What I will say is - We love you Storm!

What else of note is there to impart to you, my humble readership? Not much, I spose, but if I remember, I will indeed return, and report!

Adieu.....