A Sad And Quiet Day!!!

It's two years today since we lost my sister Maggie so I will be spending a quiet day remembering her and also thinking of my nephew and nieces as they not only remember their Mum but also are dealing with the death of their Dad on Monday.
Maggies eldest daughter also lost her beloved dog a few days ago so May is a pretty horrendous month for them.

While I am being quiet....and also resting my poorly back....I will be stitching on this.........

I am hoping to finish it today so that I can start on the one with the boots.....they are just too cute for words.
I aim to do all four pictures and turn them into a wall hanging for the girls rather than making coasters.

Andy is treating us to fish and chips tonight to save me hobbling about in the kitchen....bless him. Bending down to the oven last night was just sheer agony so I am pleased to be spared it tonight.

Right....I shall hobble off and make myself a coffee and then get on with some stitching.

Hope you are all having a good day.
Sheila-x-

One Year!!!

I can't believe that today is one year since you left us.

I think about you every day and miss you so much.

Love you always my darling Maggie.

A Day Tinged With Sadness!!!

Today would have been Maggie's fifty eighth birthday.
I have woken with a heavy heart but I will not sit around moping as Maggie would have hated that.
It will be a very difficult day for her twin as they used to spend the day together and this is the first year they won't but she is spending some time with Maggie's daughters today which I hope will help.

My day will be spent cooking.......chicken and leek pies....one for us, one for The Doodles and hopefully enough to put one or two in the freezer for Ruby visits.
Andy has gone off on one of his wanders so I also hope to get a bit of cleaning done while he is out.
Later....if I am in the mood.....I will tackle that last pair of curtains....if not I will leave them for tomorrow.

Sorry there was no post yesterday but with Andy at home my routine changes and I was out pretty much all day.
We had a drive up to Carsington Water, lunch at the pub, a visit to the garden centre on the way home and then we picked Ruby up for tea. By the time we had taken her home and got back it was quite late and all I was fit for was collapsing on the sofa.

Today we have clear blue skies and sunshine and I am hoping it will last a few days and start to dry everywhere up. I am so sick of rain and mud now.
Hope the sun is brightening your day.
Sheila-x-

Beautiful Things!!!

You may need to make yourself a cuppa and pull up a chair for this picture heavy post.

My heart nearly stopped when I found these sari borders at the bottom of the box. These will be used to embellish bags or cushions.

More sari borders.

There was a lot of lace but these pieces were my favourite.

I have some Paris themed fabric I could use to make a bag and embellish it with this.

This will also embellish a bag when I find the right fabric for it.

I have three of these and may use them to embellish some black t shirts.

I have an idea for a dress for Ruby use these as I have several of them.

These would make lovely patches on a denim jacket or jeans....even though I don't like brown.

There are a few of these...maybe bag embellishments.

Not so many of these but again....bag embellishments.

Another heart stopping find. I know exactly what I am going to do with these. There are sixteen of them so they will be sewed to a circle of fabric and then I will trim the fabric following the design to make a cloth to go over a cream tablecloth on the Christmas table.

This might become a neckline embellishment on a dress for Ruby. I have a few so might also embellish some bags.

There are fifteen of these. I am thinking of a white summer dress for either Ruby or Marlowe with these sewn around the hemline.

There was so much more in the box....ribbons, cords, fibres, zips, embroidery threads, velcro, braids....I could go on and on but I am sure you are all quite bored now.

It's going to be so nice to think of Maggie as I am working with these materials and it would make her happy to know that they are being used.

We still have some snow on the ground although it is melting slowly now.

It was quite treacherous first thing though as it had frozen over. It took poor DDIL two hours to get to work this morning so she will now spend the rest of the day trying to catch up with herself.

I have no intentions of going anywhere apart from across the yard to the tumble dryer.

Stay safe and warm.

Sheila-x-

Frazzled!!!

Well the journey as expected was a nightmare....so many confusing roundabouts it's ridiculous and thrashing down rain didn't help matters much.
We arrived much later than expected but it was good to sit and talk to Maggie's partner and get to know him better.
I had never visited Maggie's house while she was alive so it was lovely to be there and to see the room where she created so much beautiful art work.
I was given the hugest box of sewing materials which has taken hours of sorting out and there are some beautiful things and some very useful things. I'll show you the beautiful things when I get a photo of them and as for the useful things....well.....let's just say.....I will never have to buy elastic again that's for sure...lol. 
Maggie will be having a good laugh at me as I am quite puzzled by the amount of knicker edging elastic there is.
The visit did do some good and I slept very soundly last night with no nightmares although I feel very strange today...rather limp and slightly frazzled round the edges.

Anyhoo I am just pottering....again!!!
A simple tea of sausages and tomatoes with crusty bread for supper when Andy gets in at 7pm and nothing much wanting doing in the house so being a bit limp doesn't really matter today.

Hope you are all having a good day.
Sheila-x-

A Hard Day Or Two!!!

Yesterday it was four weeks since the last time I held Maggies hand and told her that I loved her before her life support was turned off.
Today it is two months since the last time I spoke to her when she phoned me on my birthday to take the rip out of me at turning sixty.
I know these kind of days are going to be hard. Last night I found myself sobbing as hard as the day it happened......all part of the healing process I am sure.

I will be pottering again today.
The heat and the crying are giving me headaches and my powers of concentration are absolutely zilch so I will just do whatever takes my fancy. I might even watch Fixer Upper on the tv instead of squinting at it on the computer screen......and that's me who never watches daytime tv.

There is illness at the Doodle House. DDIL, Ruby and Marlowe went down to London for the weekend last weekend and the first night Marlowe was taken ill with a dreadful sickness bug which London Grandma and Grandad then caught. DDIL and Ruby have somehow avoided it but it has been bought home to DS who looked extremely ill when I saw him last night. I hope he gets well soon and that he doesn't pass it on to anyone else.

I think despite the heat I will pop the oven on for half an hour and make a cake for Andy. I have some eggs that want using up so I'll use them to make a Victoria Sponge. That will be a nice surprise for him when he comes in tonight and I have no other cooking to do today as DD is taking me out for tea.

Weather is very mixed today....still hot but sunny one minute and dull the next and I think I felt some spots of rain earlier on but that won't worry me as I only have towels to dry today and they are always done in the dryer. I don't like them dried on the line as they always seem scratchy to me. I like soft fluffy towels.

Hope you are all having a lovely day.
Sheila-x-

A Request!!! Updated

Dear readers
Yesterday I received the devastating news that my dear sister Maggie collapsed with a brain hemorrhage and has been given 48 hours to live.
If you could spare some prayers or healing thoughts please could you send them to her.
She is a strong, feisty girl and I am hoping that she can prove them wrong but she may need a little help on this one.
Thank you so much.
Sheila-x- 

Just to let you know that Maggie lost her fight and and her life support was turned off at 20:35pm tonight.

RIP

Maggie Newman

05.04.1960-17.05.2017

You will be missed so much.

Fly high beautiful lady.