Thursday 22 March 2012

TUSAL and a RAK





Welcome to March's new moon and this month's TUSAL.  My little jars hold a lot of lovely pinks and greens from my Easter and St. Patrick's Day stitches. Definitely very springlike. In keeping with the great weather I took the opportunity to photograph these out in the gazebo for the first time this year. They have now been emptied and join the other orts in my large collection jar. I'll have to take a pic of that one next month.

Today my DH went over and picked up the mail for me at our postal box before he headed to work. "Another parcel!", he cried as he headed in the door. I wasn't expecting anything so imagine my surprise when I opened it to find this waiting for me within.

Of course Clarisse had to get her nose right in there. She kept sniffing the parcel and I think she was trying to go after the small feather which adorned it.

So who was this lovely parcel from? None other than my fellow Canadian blogger, Anne. Anne surprised me with a very cheerful Spring RAK. Just look at what was hiding inside that tissue!


Isn't it sweet? I immediately took it out back with me into the gazebo to photograph it alongside my honey bee watering can. After all, with all those spring flowers the bees won't be far behind!
I have given up sweets for Lent so those chocolates will have to wait until Easter morning but I will most certainly enjoy them then.
Thank you so much Anne for such a delightful gift!

Yesterday my DH brought home another treat for me from work. Many of you may know that Bob works as an organist and choral director at a large Anglican church. This particular church operates a soup kitchen out of the church hall which is operated by the city of Ottawa. There are several employees who operate the Lunch Club as it's known along with many volunteers. One of the ladies who works in the kitchen heard that I liked to cross stitch. Many of the people at the church have seen me stitching to pass the time as I wait for Bob. She brought in the following chart along with what she had stitched so far and told my hubby to give it to me to finish if I was interested. As far as he knows she doesn't want it back.



It's called English Garden and originally was sold as a kit. As you can see, she has stitched this on 14ct Aida. There are no threads with the piece. They've long ago been misplaced or thrown out. I love the piece and it was so thoughtful of her to think of me. I would definitely like to stitch it but should I start from scratch on evenweave or continue what has already been started? The back of the piece is quite messy with a lot of loose ends. Any thoughts? Has anyone ever heard of this designer before?

I spent my last afternoon outdoors for awhile. The weather will turn cool overnight and the temperatures will remain much cooler over the next couple of weeks. I'm not sure just how much the gazebo will heat up from the sun. Perhaps it will still retain enough heat that I can spend my afternoons out there reading or stitching. Keep your fingers crossed!

17 comments:

  1. EEK! A BEE! Love that watering can. Your ORTs look fantastic with that cute bee.

    You received a very sweet RAK from Anne and *squee* a Clarisse photo to boot. How funny she looks checking the package out!

    My, that is a sweet design. I'm pretty sure this is the same person:

    http://www.clairemurray.com/crossstitch.cfm

    I think I'd start my own. That one looks very close to the bottom edge and horrors ~ masking tape? It looks like solid stitching so really wouldn't matter if it was done on Aida.

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  2. Claire Murray has a beautiful line of hooked rugs and home accessories. I believe she is New England-based. I know she used to have some cross stitch kits but I don't think she carries that anymore. I do have a Claire Murray book of cross stich designs that I don't think is in print any more. ?she also has a magazine called La Vie Clair that has wonderful photography - be sure to take a look at her website. I think you are quite lucky to have been given that kit to finish. good luck with it.

    Love your blog - lots of fun to read it. thank you for sharing.

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  3. What a wonderful RAK. The pillow is so cute. Dang, I love your honey bee watering can. So unique! Sorry that I can't help you with the chart. I've never heard of the designer before either.

    Hugs,
    Veronica.

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  4. Isn't it great when you get a surprise in the mail? It sounds like everyone else in the house is just as excited. What a sweet gift from Anne.
    That Claire Murray chart is really lovely.
    Have a great weekend.

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  5. Lynn what a wonderful RAK you are certainly deserving of it!

    So lucky to be enjoying your gazebo!

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  6. Lynn!!! So glad you love the gift!! I love that photo of Clarisse! Maybe she smelled Titus in the package. He was trying to help me wrap it!! I adore that bee can! The little pillow looks perfect with him :D

    What a pretty design with those bunnies. A lovely spring design!! As for continuing or starting, I would say start your own, that way there's consistency with the design. Plus it would be hard to get the exact match of colours if it was started a long time ago. Not sure who the designer is though!

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  7. What a very nice RAK! And your bee watering can is just too cute!

    I love the chart, but I believe that you should start your own with new floss. It the legend show DMC on Anchor color numbers? If not, I have seen you do great at picking your own colors! Enjoy.

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  8. CAN`T WAIT TO SEE IT DONE UP! ITS LOOKING GREAT!

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  9. Your bee watering can made me smile, Lynn. Wherever did you find it? That's a very cute little surprise you received, too. As for the partially started project, I'd start over on a different color fabric as it's so hard to stitch on dark stuff. Pick your own colors, too, even if there's no choices printed.

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  10. What a beautiful gift from Anne. love the watering can...adorable! I think i would probably have to start the project afresh if it was me who was doing it, it does look nice on the dark fabric, very vivid!

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  11. Lovely RAK from Anne, perfect colours for Spring. I'm glad to hear you've been enjoying the weather, we've had a couple of glorious days in Winchester and I've been making the most of them!
    The English Garden design is gorgeous. Personally, I would start all over again so you won't feel like you're constantly battling against it.
    Best wishes!

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  12. What a lovely RAK gift from your friend!
    And those bunnies are so cute! Since you don't know what the threads were, I'd suggest to pick your own colours :)

    Hugs,
    Tatyana

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  13. Aww, what a sweet little spring gift to receive.
    And your bee watering can just cracked me up! That it tooooo cute!!

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  14. What a lovely package! The little spring pillow is so sweet and I love your honey bee watering can. :) I love Claire Murray's hooked rugs and didn't know that she also designed cross stitch patterns. I think that I would probably start over again on the stitching. It's a beautiful design.

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  15. How sweet to get a RAK! Love that!

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  16. Great gifts! And English Garden is gorgeous!

    I have so enjoyed your blog and wanted to nominate you for the Liebster Blog Award! You do such beautiful stitching and your blog is so interesting that I hope that more bloggers will get a chance to meet you!

    Nancy
    CosyStitchingCorner

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  17. I love the little bee and the RAK is so sweet.

    That is a pretty chart- I think that you should probably start over on evenweave though- make sure the threads match!

    Have a great day!!
    Zoe

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