Stitching and stairs

I have some cross stitch photo finishes to show AND a photo of my new handrails on my stairs... no more being worried I am going to slip and hurt myself!!

Stratford-upon-Avon

This weekend I was away in Stratford-upon-Avon which was the most amazing weekend. We did Warwick castle on the Saturday, below is a picture of me being attacked by a rat!! It was a really good day out, they had jousting, a flaming trebuchet  display and warriors fighting but at the end of the day we got caught in the most massive thunderstorm and were drenched. This was extra frustrating as we had seen the thunderstorm coming from the top of the castle and hoped to beat it back to the car!

On the Sunday we went to Stratford-upon-Avon and did a walking tour (which was amazing), a tiny bit of shopping and then drove home via small roads. We really want to go back again as there seemed to be so much that we wanted to do but simply couldn't fit in/ couldn't do with the dog in tow.

Now I am back to reality, had my second lot of blood tests taken this morning for my fertility testing. The joiners are here fitting my new floor and making sure all the doors fit properly (they leveled the floor on Friday so the kitchen door wouldn't close!). I am feeling very on edge today as there is no door between here and the kitchen plus I can hardly get in and move around in the kitchen with them working. I will have to make sure that I have lunch when the workmen do! 

Oh and I have started learning English Paper Piercing, this is how far I have got so far, eventually this will be turned in to a cushion for my bedroom :D All the fabric was donated by a friend so this has only cost me the price of the thread I needed!

Jam

The past couple of days I have been experimenting with the new hob and loads of free raspberries given to me by a friend. Yesterdays experiment was disastrous, which of course came right after the fact that I told the builders how well I could make jam!! So I spent an hour boiling burnt on jam off the bottom of the pan using washing tablets!!

But today was much more successful! Here is a photo of my efforts

The kitchen diner should be finished within a couple of days, and then all that there is to do is lots of little fiddly jobs that I want doing while the builders are here... Then I can get my life back to normal again!

Must resist new crafts

I am being tempted by various new crafts, all of which are going to cost money I don't have at the moment. I will have a bit more after the honeymoon but still not enough to fuel my crafty desires. I want to do a decopatch "Mr & Mrs" for my new extension. But it will probably cost me about £20 for all the bits and pieces.

Then there is the quilting (however I am booked into a course in September for this but I still have to pay for this, it is about £100 but my friend is paying for a bit of it and I will get some cash for my birthday). Quilting seems to be very expensive so I probably won't be able to take it up even if I enjoy it. 

Oh and I have seen some pro marker pens that I really really want (not that I will probably use them very much), they look so pretty and you can colour in without streaky lines *sighs hopefully* Maybe I will come into a small fortune!? 

I think I have done so much cross stitching recently that I am cross stitched out!! Although on a very positive note my extension should be finished in two weeks :D So I can start getting on with my life again *fingers crossed* as the neighbours are being difficult over the extension (which is smaller than theirs). However things do look good on the business insurance side of things :D Just need to get the extension finished then the council can come and give me my licence!

Teeth, Tour de France and stitchy finishes

These are some of my recent stitchy finishes. I am working on them rather than my big projects whilst the extension is being completed. 

Talking of the extension nothing is happening this week, apart from at the end of the week the electrician will come and at some point the kitchen guy will finish off a few little bits and pieces. I am looking forward to a quiet week though so I can finish recovering from this tooth being taken out. Well my week was quiet until next door came over to throw another hissy fit. Something about boundaries and vent pipes this time. Still soon the building work will have finished and he will have to find something else to complain about. The architects have told us not to do anything or say anything as it is probably all hot air!

Tooth is no where near as bad as I thought it was going to be, it hasn't really hurt, just ached occasionally. It has not been amazingly happy today but then I am starting to be able to eat food that is more solid. Glad it is out and one less thing for me to need to worry about! Only problem is that I lost a filling a few days before the operation, annoying as till my mouth is healed I don't want to mess around having fillings redone. 

I am trying to read through my perfectionism book, I am realizing that my problems go a lot deeper than I thought. However I am making moves to progress in the right direction with my life. So fingers crossed that soon I will be feeling more in control of things. 

Saw the Tour de France the other day when it came through York, very impressed that I made it despite the tooth issues... brilliant atmosphere!

Kitchen progress

Just a visual kitchen update... It is all very exciting!

Missing my Tess dog

My Tess dog has been relocated for the weekend as the builders are here to lay the floor. It is going to take them longer than expected though so she has to stay for another day. The house is really quiet without her and I miss my little shadow!

I now have walls in my extension which I am uber happy about. On Monday my kitchen arrives and I cannot wait to see it go up! It is going to look so pretty, this is the picture from the website of it (although we have made a few alterations). 

I have started my fertility tests. I have had to have swabs taken and they are checking me for chlamydia too. Then I need two lots of blood taking and my ultrasound. Though they cannot be as bad as having the swabs taken! One of my blood tests needs to be on the first day of my period which may stuff up my plans to visit people and be sociable this week as I will need to make sure that I get to somewhere that can take it lol. On Friday I am having my cracked wisdom tooth out. It is sitting sideways in my jaw! You can't see as it is under the skin (apart from the teeny bit which has now broken). So they will need to knock me out and cut the tooth into four bits and then remove each section... lovely!! So next weekend my fun plans are being affected! I was going to cycle into York with the husband to watch the Tour De France but instead I will be driven to a random place on the route by my parents and left in a chair by the side of the road to watch it lol. I have had to cancel dinner plans with a friend who is visiting from the lakes as the consultant told me I would not be well enough to go :(

I will update this blog after my op as I will be on bed/sofa rest for a day so will have plenty of time.