Stitchy Time

Just thought I would share with you my latest stitchy project. I'm doing a cushion for my mum on Union Linen which feels a bit like a heavy duty evenweave almost hessian style fabric.



This is a picture from the front of the kit and what its supposed to look like



These next few pictures give you an idea of what progress I've made on it so far. I started it on 25th August this year and been slowly working on it over the last couple of months. There has been times when I haven't worked on it for a week or two.




This was the first dahlia and  border completed
including the backstitch on the main flower;
the backstitch didn't half make the difference
stopped it looking so flat







the little flower at the side will be repeated  in the bottom
left hand corner once i've completed the other dahlia





This is the start of the second dahlia;
its what I call a double flower as there are two
rings of petals. The inner ring is complete and I'm
working on the outer ring now. There is a border to
go around this as well, then a little flower to the
left of this before I make it up into a cushion.



Happy stitching everyone, thanks for reading xxxx

Decorating

After the stress of the kids I have managed to destress with a bit of painting and wallpapering. My late father taught me many years ago to decorate while I was a teenager and still living at home. He taught many a good skill that I still use today whether it be decorating or doing general DIY around the house or even just simple gardening.

My lounge has been in need of redecorating for sometime now but I finally found the time to get around to it. Started on Monday with a bit of glossing of the dado rail and skirting boards with a soft cream which has complimented the cream/peach colour wallpaper I managed to get up on Wednesday with some help from a good friend. The tin of gloss has done well as its already managed to previously gloss a bedroom and think I had about 2/3 of a tin left over when I started on the lounge. The wallpaper I bought months ago when on a visit to B&Q, now I can't help snatching a bargain up so when I saw 5 rolls of discontinued wallpaper (all from the same batch I hasten to add) reduced from £8 a roll to just £1 a roll I couldn't resist. They've sat in the cupboard in the garage for a couple of months but I've now got enough left over after doing the lounge to do the dining end of my kitchen/diner. I'm in the process of putting light terracotta emulsion on the walls as well as taking the gloss further around the room.

Yesterday I had a right numpty blonde day which is good considering I aint a blonde :P

Numpty Moment No1  Now I knew I'd painted the doorframe with the gloss and had moved along the wall to do the dado and skirting board further round, was busy concentrating away when the mobile went off in the kitchen. On me way through to answer I decided to trip over the stool that was in front of me....put me hand out and yep...you guessed numpty episode number 1 put me hand right out to grab the wet door frame!!! I didn't half calle meself  a few choice words lol didn't have anyone else to blame cos I knew I'd left the stool there AND the doorframe was wet..didn't stop me though hehehe

Numpty Moment No2  Put our tea in the oven and was that busy chatting on facebook I forgot to set the timer duh! I'd thankfully set my status to let my friends know as somedays we all share online what we're having for tea....so there I am playing on facebook thinking errr what time did i put that casserole in? Oh I know I'll check my status lol to see when it went in hehe

Numpty Moment No3  Shared the moment No2 with everyone and having a good laugh at myself as well...went to stir the casserole and as I went down on my haunches to check it I went and split me trousers argh!!! wasn't just a little bit it was a massive great big airvent lmao

Really think after yesterday that I should just go and dye my hair blonde next time the greys get too much lol

Well no that everyone is having a good laugh I'll bid you goodnight my friends. Wish you all a good weekend, mine will be a fun one as I'm having my God Twins for the day while my best friend and husband are moving house. I can't physically help with the move but I can help by taking these gorgeous little bundles for the day so that they don't have to worry about keeping them amused and trying to feed them around people going in and out with furniture etc. I'll return them by teatime by which time the main stuff in the house should be in place for them like cots etc xxxx

Daily battles...ho hum!

The morning battles are not getting any easier, from the moment I am up until 9am I feel like I'm a horrible mum to my kids...constantly asking them to do something (sometimes repeating myself several times over), constantly reminding them what the next stage is, reminding them how much longer we've got until we have to leave, seperating the fighting factions and so on.....there is many a morning I wake up and think "oh no not another school day argh!" because I know what is ahead of me before I even get up. Don't get me wrong guys I love my kids to pieces and wouldn't be without them just I am mentally worn out after being up and awake for about 60-90 minutes.....I'm so glad that I don't work because come 9am Mon-Fri I am absolutely no use to an employer as it feels like I have already taken on a days full of stress in the short time I have been up. In some respects I love weekends and school holidays as I don't have the stress of attempting to get them up, dressed and out of the door.

I know this will make me sound like an ungrateful mother but nothing could be further from the truth.

The normal routine is as thus:
7.30am Alarm goes off and I wake all 3 kids. Followed by umpteen asking of the kids to get up - they are normally all up and downstairs by 7.50am. I then spend the rest of the time reminding the youngest two kids to get their pjs off, then to put their pants on, followed by vests, t-shirts and trousers (middle child will NOT under any circumstances wear a skirt or dress even though I have tried and tried......its a sensory thing). Then we have the fight with youngest one to actually put his socks on instead of using them as either a weapon to hit his sister with or two swing them in the air like an old fashioned football rattle. Then each morning its a fight over what they're going to have for breakfast (oldest kid is fine he'll just help himself and is out the door for school now he's at senior school)....daughter always wants sandwiches with Nutella in but no butter/flora etc...youngest is not allowed to have the same as her cos its HER Nutellla and HE isn't allowed any *rolls eyes* she now thinks I've got two different jars mwahahaha or if she is really kicking off then youngest will have to have strawberry jam. Then we spend 10 minutes attempting to get school shoes on with being reminded too many times that the shoes need to be put on whilst I'm reminded by daughter that her shoes aren't shoes they are actually boots!!!

You'd think by now they'd have run out of steam but no not these two (I might well be running of fumes by now but not them, I'm sure the breakfast gives them a second wind). Can get the car loaded with school bags and front door locked but these two are normally running around the close on the pavement pretending to be trains...I might hasten to add that whilst this is happening they won't answer me until I tell them its time to get the trains into the station (the station being the car)...then daughter won't like that the car seat belt has gotten itself twisted or that son has got in and accidentally knocked her (but she thinks its on purpose)...then they can snipe at each other all the way in the 5 minute journey to school (me...I turn the radio on, turn the volume up and sing to it to try to drown their noise out...only way I can concentrate enough for the journey). Yes I know that walking them to school would be healthier and possibly tire them out enough for a small amount of time but its actually safer taking them in the car. Youngest won't hold my hand without a fight, if not holding my hand he'll run off in front followed by daughter not to be out done as to who can run the furthest first! Neither will answer me when I try and call them back because of the road...they have no sense even at 9 and 6 that there might just be a car wanting to come along the road when they want to cross, this is not for wanting of trying over the years.

Well enough of me moaning....next blog is about the decorating I've been managing to do whilst kids have been at school this week. Take care readers xxxx

Bedtime frustration

Tonight I have felt like I've been a tape on constant replay by repeating over and over and over the same instructions to the kids! This is the same feeling I have most nights so not surprisingly I dread the bedtime hour or two or three.....

It will start with me asking my youngest son to get undressed but of course listening to mum is not the cool thing to do so I have to get his attention and tell him it time to get undressed for bed. We then have to break this down into take your shoes off, take your jumper off, take your t-shirt off........ this is repeated several times at each stage whilst trying to get daughter to do the same thing!

They will both be asked to do this going into the double figure number of times.....it leaves you so frustrated but you know you can't show them that you're frustrated as they won't understand that I'm getting frustrated and irritated with it all so then you get frustrated that they don't understand you...vicious circle number one coming up lol :P

Eventually two youngest are in bed. Youngest son is normally dead to the world once I managed to get him into bed and all covered up. Just wondering how many times I'll be asking the other two to be quiet and go to sleep......mmmmm me thinks it could be quite a few but hey surprises are nice to have lol

Daughter has gone to bed with painkillers as the HMS is already starting to cause problems tonight in her legs as we have had a sudden drop in temperature today and tonight...weather forecast is for freezing temperatures overnight......something made me check the boiler and the sodding gas has ran out so gotta put the emergency credit on til the morning, b****cks!!!!!! - Emergency Credit now on both the Gas and the Electric argh!!!!

Eldest one is the one who causes me the most grief at bedtimes though. Lets see tonight how many times he comes down with one excuse or another as to why he can't just go straight to bed and damn well stay there!!! Tonight's excuse number one was that he reckons he wet the bed last night but I know he didn't tell me this morning otherwise i would have changed it after doing the school run. (he sometimes wets the bed as he has had constipation from being a small child but now we are getting enuerisis (wetting) as well..lets hope he grows out of it)

Now off to change some bedding and then hopefully sort out my front room so that I can decorate it tomorrow with some help from a friend as I've got to wallpaper one wall and if we get finished in time i might just start on the emulsion that is going on the rest of the room. Night night friends and foes xxxx

An introduction to me

Hi there everyone just thought I'd introduce myself a bit with this being my first blog.

I am 34 and a single mum to 3 kids a son aged 11years, a daughter aged 9years and another son aged 6years. My main interests are procrastinating on facebook (which somedays can take longer when it decides to go on a go slow lol), cross-stitching, knitting and crochet. I also like to sit and soak in the tub with a good book, if I have to "top-up" the bath its a good book :P

This blog will be mainly how I have coped with the day-to-day problems of my daughter and younger son, as well as my crafting as I go along. Any medical opinions expressed in this blog are not to be taken as black & white information as this is just how I see things and how I understand my children.

My daughter is currently being assessed by CAMHS to see if she has Aspergers Syndrome. She has problems with social skills and sees situations differently to others which can cause problems. CAMHS are being great with us and giving us the tools we require to help live with her outbursts and sensory issues. We've been with CAMHS since June and now (October) I can start telling when she is having problems dealing with things as her tantrums get worse. Her behaviour has improved since we changed primary schools this summer; seeing as the headteacher at her old school decided that my daughter doesn't have Autism and that I should never have contacted CAMHS as she is just manipulating me to get her own way mmmmmm me thinks he should go back to teacher training school cos he certainly isn't trained as a psychologist as far as I'm aware! On top of this going on my daughter also suffers from Hypermobility Syndrome (HMS) which she is affected by it in her knees, hips (including fluid on her left hip), shoulders and wrists. The HMS causes her to have pains not only in her joints but also to get muscles cramps especially in her calfs, thighs and soles of her feet. It is hard to see any child in pain but when you know that they have to learn to live with it for the rest of their natural lives its more so especially when the medication that they are on doesn't touch the pain that they are in. Lets just say we are not looking forward to the winter; we've already a coldish snap of weather which has resulted in her getting pains in her right leg already and we've been told by the weather forecasters that we may get snow in the next few days.....me and my daughter are both going AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! and it hasn't even landed on the ground yet as we both know how painful her day is gonna be for her :(

My youngest son has just been referred to CAMHS by his paediatrician from the Development Clinic as he is presenting with problems related to social skills side of ASD. He also has been diagnosed with some HMS in his wrists and thumbs which would explain some of his problems with his school work. His teacher has been saying that he is slow at completing his work and he has complained that his hands hurt when writing.....now we know why.

My eldest son is a bright boy (he finished primary school with Level 5b/5a for his SATs results). He is also musically talented and can remember tunes very well once he has started learning them. He plays a 3/4 violin but is able to play a keyboard which he has semi-self taught himself to do. He is very good on the keyboard at working out a tune if he has heard it and can play several tunes from memory with no music in front of him. He still has his moments though; the term I use with him at times is "for one so bright you can be so dumb", this is not meant in a derogative way its just that he can do the most stupidest of things at times!

I am currently working on a cross-stitch pattern which will be turned into a cushion cover for my mum. Hopefully it will be finished before Christmas as I hope to give it to her as a present. In future blogs I will post some pictures of it as I go along; can't find the camera cable at the moment.

Hope I haven't bored anyone so far, take care everyone xxx