For Auld Lang Syne...

It's been a long, long while my friends... and as the Olde Year fades gracefully into the New... I wanted to wish you all a Blessed and Joyous New Year filled with love... peace and contentment... prosperity... good health and good cheer... and a treasure trove of wonderfully glorious stitchy stash...

Quite a lot has happened in my life since my last post... I have been ill for a while and was in hospital... TIA's and such health related issues and heart-related issues... And then was laid off my job... Suffice it to say, it has been a year I do not mind leaving behind in the least... Of course with the exception of the precious blessings that were my gifts...  I have been lurking quietly in the shadows of your blogs for these long months... admiring all your lovelies and oohhing and ahhhing from afar...  I do hope to blog more frequently with the New Year and when I visit your blogs actually leave comments again rather than slipping quietly away without so much as a fare-thee-well... Oh, my... such long, long months it has been... and beginning again can be quite daunting to say the least and while I cannot hope to catch up in one post... I would like to share a wee bit of my life and loves with you... with the promise of more to come with the New Year...

And what better place to begin than with my grandchildren... "Grandchildren did you say... as in plural?  As in more than one grandchild?" When I last blogged my dears, it was just after the birth of my sweet and precious grandson, Wee Willie...  My only grandchild at the time...  Fast forward to July of 2010 and Voila! Two more wee ones joined my family...  Ah yes... I now have three wonderful and precious grandchildren whom I adore and cherish more and more with each day that passes... Thus without further ado... my story of the last year or so in photos...  My daughter, Brandy and son-in-law Nick's sweet son... and my precious wee grandson, Caleb Nicholas... 

Wee Caleb Nicholas

14 July 2010

And his wee precious cousin... Catalina Zoe... aka Rapunzel... her Mimi's pet name for her... ;)  I did try ever so sweetly to convince my son, Elisha that it would be wonderful if Rapunzel was her middle name and even suggested they could give her two middle names... thus still using Zoe...  Alas... he paid me no heed!  May I introduce my son, Elisha and my future daughter-in-law Heather's daughter and my precious wee granddaughter,  sweet Catalina Zoe 'Rapunzel'...  She was a preemie... born five weeks early... she and wee Caleb are just two weeks apart...

Wee Catalina Zoe...

'Rapunzel...'

27 July 2010

Catalina with her Daddy...

8 August 2010

And the two sweethearts with Mimi just before Halloween... They both got to stay with me that evening while their parents were at Elisha's 30th Birthday Party...

My Precious...

Wee Caleb and Wee Catalina 'Rapunzel'

with Mimi Lizzy ~ 23 October 2010

Brandy, Nick and wee precious Caleb...

Elisha and his fiancee, Heather...

Wee Precious Catalina and her Daddy...

Trick or Treat...

it's Superbaby Caleb...

Superbaby Caleb and his Mommy, Brandy...

Zooming by to Trick or Treat at Mimi's...

Wee lamb Catalina... 'Rapunzel'

Trick or Treating at Mimi's...

Honey of an afternoon
with Mimi and Pooh Bear...

Precious wee Caleb...

cozy afternoon with Mimi...

2 December 2010

Precious wee Catalina...

Cozy afternoon with Mimi...

2 December 2010

Wee Jamie, Danielle and sweet Benjamin moved to Winterville in  August of 2009... Their absence tugs at the heartstrings and I miss them more keenly than words can say... My precious Benjamin ~ aka 'Wee Willie' to his Mimi ~ turned one year old on the 30th of June 2010...   

 Happy first birthday

precious Benjamin William...

Wee Willie at Halloween...

31 October 2010...

Trick or Treating with his Daddy...

Sweet Benjamin 'Wee Willie'...

Christmas 2010...

Benjamin 'Wee Willie' with Santa...

Jamie, Danielle and Benjamin 'Wee Willie'...

Christmas 2010...

Wee Caleb with Santa...

Precious wee Christmas Elf...

Christmas at Mimi's...

Brandy with wee Caleb...

Christmas at Mimi's...

Heather with wee Catalina...

Oh and did I mention she is a redhead?  ;)

Sweet Catalina laughing with Mimi...

Lovely Christmas Card...

Mr Darcy enjoying the Christmas snow...

Whew... My goodness... but I do hope I have not bored you all to tears with all my 'catching up'... In truth it is but a wee sprinkling of sand in the hour glass of time... just a few wee chapters of my story in pictures... I will return with more of my journey in a few days... and this time I promise more of a stitchy 'catch up'...  And as I cannot bid you adieu and Happy New Year without at least a couple of stitching photos... I will leave you with a photo of my Christmas Day new stitch and my New Year's Day stitchy beginning... I had every intention of taking a photo of my progress on my Christmas Day project... alas, time slipped away and I forgot and it is the wee hours of the morning now and I'm sure you all are tired... it will keep until next time...

My Christmas Day stitching project and a much loved Christmas gift from my heart...

Carriage House Samplings...

Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow...

28ct Vintage Examplar by Lakeside Linen...

with NPI silks...

and Gandalf the Grey taking a wee cat nap...

My New Year's Day new stitching project is Blackbird Designs ~ Anniversaries of the Heart... I am going to stitch them all on one piece of linen... Wish me luck, my dears... that's two new BAP's... Yes, I have lost my mind... {what wee bit I had left...} The Blackbird Designs Yahoo group also started a New Year's  Anniversaries of the Heart SAL at the New Year...

 Blackbird Designs...

Anniversaries of the Heart

Snow Garden... 

28 ct R&R Iced Cappuccino Linen

with Gentle Art Sampler Threads

and Weeks Dye Works Threads...

 

 Ring Out, Wild Bells

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

~ 1850 ~

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,

The flying cloud, the frosty light;

The year is dying in the night;

Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,

Ring, happy bells, across the snow:

The year is going, let him go;

Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,

For those that here we see no more,

Ring out the feud of rich and poor,

Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,

And ancient forms of party strife;

Ring in the nobler modes of life,

With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,

The faithless coldness of the times;

Ring out, ring out thy mournful rhymes,

But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,

The civic slander and the spite;

Ring in the love of truth and right,

Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease,

Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;

Ring out the thousand wars of old,

Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,

The larger heart, the kindlier hand;

Ring out the darkness of the land,

Ring in the Christ that is to be.

 Auld Lang Syne

Robert Burns

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

and never brought to mind?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot

and days of auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,

For auld lang syne,

We'll take a cup o' kindness yet

For auld lang syne...

Wishing you all Love, Joy, Peace, Health and many Blessings and lots of stitchy stash in the New Year...

Thank you all for stopping by and leaving your inspiring words of cheer and good will... they are ever a beacon...

Blessings always in stitches...



Lizzy
xox

I am thankful for precious moments and precious memories... precious children and grandchildren... Love and friendship... Christmas and Blessings... and a New Year and New Beginnings...

Spring Blessings...

Spring is finally beginning to make an appearance... smiling jonquils scattered hither and yon dancing joyfully in green scented breezes... bright, sunny bursts of yellow beckoning, oh so sweetly for long dormant friends to join in the celebration of renewed life... and at long last dashes of sky blue, snow white, rose and lavender blossoms peek out of their winter homes turning lovely faces towards the sun... reaching, swaying... all lost in the rhythm of glorious, melodic birdsong...

And naturally, with all the flurry of colour and sweet flowering new growth and new beginnings surrounding me... how could I resist the oh, so tempting siren call of a few new stitchy projects? Sounds like a wonderful excuse... Oops! But of course I meant to say... It sounds like a wonderful reason for stitchy new beginnings to me! ;)

Thus without further ado... my lovely, new Spring beginnings... accompanied occasionally by my beloved Mr Darcy, Shelley and Gandalf the Grey...

This is the Day by Hands to Work

January ~ February Issue of Just Cross Stitch

Stitched on Vintage Sand Dune Cashel Linen

by Lakeside Linens

with Gentle Arts, Crescent Colours

and WDW threads

and Belle Soie Red Fox...

I fell in love with This is the Day by Hands to Work when I saw it on Siobhan's blog back in January and it fair screamed my name... I do declare but it was all I could hear for days and days... So, naturally what could I do but ring up my LNS and order all the stash and the magazine... And at long last the moment is finally nigh... perhaps the voices in my head will settle a wee bit now... ;) And in visiting your blogs of late it seems there are a lot of stitchers who feel as I do about this gorgeous Sampler... :)

As you may or may not know, I love Bunnies and this designer is one of my favourites as well... I've had Easter Parade by Blackbird Designs kitted up since I saw it on Vonna's blog a long, long time ago...

Easter Parade by Blackbird Designs...

Stitched on R & R Apple Brown Bindy

Cashel Linen with Gentle Arts Sampler Threads

in Brandy, Butternut Squash,

Dried Thyme and Chamomile

Weeks Dye Works in Pecan

Belle Soie in Red Fox and Cinnamon Stick

and Gloriana Fall Foliage...

I did change almost all the colours...

And I just love Tanya aka The Sampler Girl's designs and Sense & Sensibility has long been a favourite of mine... the film, the book and the stitchery... I'm hoping to stitch Pride & Prejudice once I finish this one... Or who knows, I may just order the chart and stash and start it sometime soon as well... Aye! The more the merrier... ;)

Sense & Sensibility

by The Sampler Girl...

Stitched on Vintage Examplar Cashel Linen

by Lakeside Linens

with Gentle Arts Sampler Threads and

The Thread Gather Silk 'n Colours

Medieval Mulberry...

Oh, and this next darling lovely is another one I fell head over heals in love with back in early February and honestly, I did try to turn a blind eye and deaf ear... I do declare, but it was calling my name so loudly alas, I simply could resist no longer and I feared I'd go mad if I did not give Theresa of Shakespeare's Peddler's fame a ring and have her send it to me posthaste! It arrived last week and needless to say... I'm starting it! ;)

The Weary World Rejoices

by Shakespeare's Peddler

Stitched on Vintage Buttercream Cashel Linen

by Lakeside Linens

with Gentle Arts Sampler Threads

Winter Limited Edition 2009 colours

And of course this next wonderful lovely is by Carriage House Samplings... another of my favourite designers... I don't think Kathy has a design I don't love and hopefully, one day I'll have them all in my stash... ;) {insert slightly mad cackle here} And... Oh, happy day! I'm finally putting needle and silk to fabric on this one... I have no idea when on Earth I'll finish all of these new beauties... sooner rather than later I would hope... However, it is in the journey wherein we find joy, happiness and beauty... Thus I'm going to enjoy every stitch of the journey...

The Shores of Hawk Run Hollow

by Carriage House Samplings...

Stitched on Vintage Autumn Gold Cashel Linen

by Lakeside Linen

with NPI Silks...

I started Hen Party by Little House Needleworks a wee while ago and was stitching along with dear Sally... of course Sally finished a couple of weeks ago and I'm still plodding along... I'm hoping to have the last stitch in this one this week...

Hen Party by Little House Needleworks...

Stitched on R & R Iced Cappuccino Cashel Linen

with DMC and Crescent Colour Threads...

And my Christmas ornament for March... another delightful design by Carriage House Samplings... I've got to get busy, busy, busy as there are only a couple of days left in March... Yikes!

Merry Christmas

by Carriage House Samplings

Stitched on Vintage Maple Sugar Cashel Linen

By Lakeside Linens

with Belle Soie Old Crow

and DMC 221 and GAST Blue Spruce

My dear daughter, Brandy celebrated her 26th Birthday on the 16 of March... We had yummy *cake and opened pressies at her house... I can't believe she's 26 already... I can still see her as a beautiful wee blonde angel... long braids flying in the breeze as she scrambled after her brothers... or playing contentedly with games and dolls... lovely tea parties with her dollies... I so miss the beautiful little girl but dearly love and cherish the wonderful woman and dearest friend she has become... If I searched the world over, I could not find a more wonderful and loving daughter and I love and cherish her dearly and I thank God I was blessed with such an Angel every day...

My dear daughter, Brandy...

Happy Birthday Brandy Rose...

She has been wanting a new Bible with her new married name engraved on the cover... I had gotten her a white Bride's Bible to carry with her in her wedding... and she wanted her new every day Bible to be from me as well... So, I found this lovely chestnut brown and burgundy edition of the NKJV Women's Study Bible... She loves it!

Brandy, my dear son, Elisha and their brother, Joshua...

Wee Jamie and Danielle could not come down for Brandy's birthday, but popped in a couple of days later to visit and of course I had to take a photo of the sweet father and mother-to-be...

Wee Jamie and my future DIL, Danielle...

Oh, and lest I forget... as much as I'd like to... Today... 29 March is my birthday... I think I've been rather Scarlet-minded when it comes to my birthday of late... meaning I'm not going to think about it today... I'll think about it tomorrow! ;)

Brandy baked me a delicious chocolate raspberry birthday cake...

and cooked a wonderfully, yummy birthday dinner for me tonight!

Elisha was there as well and we had a lovely time

and I was truly spoilt with lovely gifties...

Sadly, wee Jamie and Danielle could not

be there as they are nurses and work those long hour weekends...

However, they are all coming for dinner at my house tomorrow night...

Woo Hoo... I get to play Scarlet for one more day... ;)

My deepest heartfelt thanks to you all my dear friends for your continued visits, emails and kind, fond thoughts... akin to lovely, blossoming flowers on a warm, spring day your love and friendship fills my heart and soul with joy...

Blessings and Love always in stitches...

Lizzy

I am thankful for precious moments... new beginnings, dear daughters, peaceful stitching hours and dear friends...