Welcoming Spring

2025 Winter, for me, has been especially cold. I have always felt the cold more than other people seem to, but this year has been harder than ever.

Apart from the physical problems of chillblains and Raynaud's disease, Winter always makes me feel depressed and wanting to hibernate. I am therefore really looking forward to the warmer weather and am welcoming Spring with great enthusiasm! 

While I have felt like crawling into a warm hole and hiding, common-sense prevailed! One of my grand-daughters made me this absolutely gorgeous rug and I have used it constantly, curled up in my recliner after the evening meal, with the rug doing its work, and body warm enough to tackle my stitching.

The focus of my stitching for the last couple of months has been this version of my Garden Dreams Calendar.

The Aged Care where my hubby is a resident has been brightening up their Dining Rooms and when they saw my perpetual Calendars on my website, asked me to make two for them, one each for two Dining Rooms attached to the Wing in which my hubby is cared for!

I was especially happy with how the box turned out - a lot of work but totally worth it.

Now that Spring is just around the corner, I have made a start on the second commission. It is an adaptation of my Days of Delight Calendar. With warmer weather starting to make its presence felt, I am facing life and stitching with much more enthusiasm and delight! 

Happy Stitching!

Val

Family Delights

Hubby and I have been blessed with a large family! We have four wonderful children and 15 grand-children. Many of the grand-children are now married and we have eight great-grandchildren, with another one due any day and another due in December and another in January! If we count everyone, at the moment we are a family of 42!

There have been all sorts of reasons in the last couple of months for family to be visiting home - our home! Holidays, work, conferences, World Congress, and just plain 'visiting Grandma' have brought them to our Capital City, Brisbane. We are just an hour north, so near enough to drop in or stay for a few days.

Needless to say, it has been a great joy to see them all, spend time together, catch up on all the news, and just relax in each other's company. Being able to see all four of our children and their spouses has been wonderful, given that they are scattered around the globe! The verse from Psalms 127:3 comes to mind: 'Children are a gift from the LORD.' What a blessing!

 Only a little bit of stitching has been happening but that's not a problem. There's plenty of time to catch up before we see some family again at Christmas.

I've had a couple of commissions to work on, so hopefully next time I will be able to show you one of the finished projects!

Happy stitching!

Val