Goodbye January......

 

I have to confess I'm glad January is almost over. It wasn't the best of months for me :-(

Mum was in hospital for 4 weeks in total.....the surgeons didn't operate on her fractured femur for 2 and a half weeks (lots of emergencies plus swine flu cases in the theatres).

By then the whole hip replacement had to be re-done as well.....big surgery for an 81 year old. Since she's been home my sister and I have done our best to look after her and, thankfully, she's doing really well now. 

Just to make matters worse I had an operation almost 3 weeks ago (a not-very-pleasant one!!) and I'm just begining to recover now. The surgeon didn't give me too much post-op detail....probably just as well or I wouldn't have bothered ! :-)

To make me feel better I decided to do Jude Hill's Spirit Cloth Workshop.....it was so soothing just to sit and stitch. My first piece is at the top - I decided to use muted shades for a change. I'm going to make it into a cushion. Not sure why I got so engrossed in stitching leaves....

....my embroidery skills leave a lot to be desired but this was just a practice piece ;-)

The next one is going to be brighter..........lots more to do yet!

My Graze box arrived today.....have any of you tried them? Its a great idea.....you get a box that just fits through your letterbox every week with 4 little trays of healthy snacks. You state your prefences on the website but the contents are always a surprise. Last week I had olives in basil and garlic, savoury toasted seeds, almonds/cranberries/cherry infused raisins and mini garlic/rosemary/pesto focaccia breads. If you click on the photo you'll see what I got today...

The 'Apricot Torte' is so pretty.....green raisins, choc coated apricot pieces and jumbo raisins.

...even the box has pretty pictures inside! Everything is environmentally friendly, additive-free and healthy. And its not expensive either....... www.graze.com (They aren't paying me to tell you  ;-)

Finally I wanted to show you the beautiful felted heart Maggi made me for Christmas...I love it.

So, unfortunately, does Peachy; he keeps stealing it from my room. I caught him in action one evening when I just happened to have my camera handy....

He is obsessed with it and quickly learns all the hiding places I have for it. He does like Maggi; maybe he knows its from her.
Here he is searching for it in my room......

He's such a bad boy ;-)........but I love him.