Happy Birthday to Me!

It was my birthday this week (Thursday) and thanks to some very special people, what would normally have been just any other day (another year bites the dust) turned into something quite special indeed! As I don't have any family I don't normally celebrate some certain people had other ideas this year!

My day started off opening some packages that had already arrived. First was a beautifully stitched needleroll from Val - another to add to my little collection (I am really getting into these!) together with a very pretty stitched card which I will frame once I can bear to take my cards down. After that came packages from Susan (Dinky Dyes silk threads and a lovely hand made card) and Abi (WDW threads, a sterling silver fairy charm and a great card which is very me!).

I then headed off to work where I had a desk piled high with cards and gifts from my lovely work colleagues. Amongst my gifts were a very pretty umbrella (much to nice to use in the current inclement weather conditions!), an Art Deco style mirror compact, a very pretty coffee cup and saucer, some cat shaped pomanders and a box of orange truffles, a half bottle of Spanish Cava, and (my favourite!) a half bottle of white wine, some crisp white grapes and a big hunk of Stilton cheese (Rosemary obviously knows me very well!)

On the way home from work I picked up a parcel at the post office - from Mouse - which contained aome Dragon Floss and a beautifully handmade beaded scissorkeep, and a lovely hand made card. I shall have to buy an extra special pair of scissors to do this one justice.

And it didn't stop there. On Friday I went for lunch with my work colleagues (there were 20 of us). We had a lovely time, despite having to fight out way through a ferocious hailstorm to get there. When lunch finished I was surprised by one of my colleagues, John (who has only been with us for a very short time) insisting on payign for my lunch - and then another suprise - a bottle of champagne which had been arranged by one of my colleagues who was unable to make the lunch! I had taken the afternoon off and came home feeling very privileged and pampered indeed.

This morning I picked up another package from the post office - this one from Yvonne. Inside was a stunning stumpwork card of some thistles and two hanks of the most gorgeous thread from De Havilland Embroiery.

I really do consider myself very lucky indeed to have so many lovely friends. I know a great deal of very nice people indeed who have gone out of their way to make my birthday special in their own ways. Thanks to the wonders of the internet I have met some of the loveliest people I have ever come across - and through my blog I would like to thank Abi, Karen, Mouse and Val for being such good friends through thick and thin, for laughing with me (and at me sometimes too!) and generally just for being them - sometimes I just don't know where I'd be without all of you. I have been lucky enough to have met some of you personally - Val that day will come I promise!

And on that sentimental note I'll get back to the tennis and some stitching. Thank you for reading - check back soon!

Hugs,

Ally xxx

Dreary Autumn Days

I shouldn't complain really - the dreary weather keeps me indoors and encourages me to stitch more! its been windy and wet all day - and there are autumn leaves everywhere! I'm happy dancing though because I managed to finish my latest project - a San-Man Originals Design "Sharing Letters" which is part of my exchange gift for the FS Autumn Exchange - and which just happens to incorporate autumn leaves! I've finished the design off as a needlecase and hopefully Yvonne will like it when it gets to her. It will be winging (or should that be blowing?) its way to her tomorrow! I even finished it off with a cord trim using my new Kreinik corder. I really enjoyed stitching this design; I must have a look at some more of San-Man Originals' designs for future use.

More happy dancing - Andy won his second Masters title in Madrid - and his second in a row! Very happy for him - he played exceptionally well all week, beating Federer in the semis and overcoming Giles Simon in the final. Kudos to Simon for making the final and beating Nadal on the way. Andy's next event is St Petersburg where he will defend his title and then onto the Paris Masters the following week. The last tour event is the Masters Cup in Shanghai - the last year it will be held in China - as of 2009 it will be held in London! Can't wait - I've already organised my 2009 holidays around it.

This is my second attempt at this blog entry - I was halfway through it earlier this evening when we had a power failure. The entire street was out - alarms going off everywhere too. Just as well I always have plenty of candles around. Why do these power failures always happen in the autumn/winter and at night? Luckily i wasn't in the middle of cooking dinner or anything, but when there is a power failure my telephone is useless as it is connected to the mains supply as is my central heating system. Ah well, at least it didn't last for long and dinner is now cooking away merrily.

My next stitching project will be for the FS Christmas Ornament Exchange which I am running. I'm partnered with Elizabeth in California. I haven't chosen a design yet - I'm waiting for my copy of the JCS Christmas Ornaments issue to arrive - and hopefully there will be something in there that will jump out at me and fit the bill. I always really enjoy this exchange and its lovely to see all the ornaments displayed on our photo pages - and of course the ornament is something that will be put on the tree for years to come and will remind its recipient of her FS stitching friends.

Off to rescue dinner - and then do some work on Karen's RR. Thanks for reading - come back soon!

Hugs,

Ally xx