Birthday Blog!

Well, here we are again at the start of another year and would you believe my Blog's 4th
Birthday !!

My first post was 1 January 2008 and yet looking back it seems like just the other day - where did those years go?

During this time I've learnt a great deal not only about the lovely people I've met in the blogging  and quilting communities, but also about myself.

I've experienced the generosity of on-line quilters who share their knowledge and patterns with me and everyone else.  I've learnt that there is always someone out there willing to help when help is asked for, someone to encourage you when you're doubting yourself, someone to laugh with you and sometimes to cry with you.

I've learnt to have confidence in myself and my work and not to worry too much if everything isn't perfect (!) but to enjoy my quilting time and not put too much pressure on myself.   I've learnt not to feel too alone in this little corner of Brittany because there is so much more out there for me to learn and enjoy if I just go look for it.

I know it's usual on these occassions to offer a giveaway, but I've decided instead to send a little gift to the ones who have supported me most with comments over the years, so Suzanne , Sue and Jane, please let me have your address when you have a moment.

To all my other followers and readers a great big ' Thank You' for dropping by - its always good to know that you are out there !!

Picking Up the Threads

There's no denying that the last couple of months have been a difficult time but thankfully we are now starting to see our way out of gloom and into some sunlight in many ways.

DH has been getting better bit by bit over the last 2-3 weeks and seems to have stablised and is almost back to his usual self, thanks to lots & lots of rest and his new  medication.

The very scary days seem to be ages away now, but I still have bad dreams about being in the Emergency Dept when DH stopped breathing and had no pulse for a few very, very long minutes - not an experience I want to repeat!

But enough of that - Spring has arrived, the daffodils have bloomed at last and the banks are starting to come alive with cushions of primroses - today I even spotted some violets and a couple of  forget-me-knots peeping out from under a bush.

 I only wish our weather was as cheerful as these little flowers as the year so far  has been nothing but days on end of  extreme weather conditions.  We started with the snow falls and then sub zero temperatures albeit that it was actually dry.  Then the rain arrived and stayed and stayed bringing flooding to many areas and not content with that, we were then hit by by high winds registering over 120 miles an hour in some parts of France.  Brittany only caught the edge of the storm this time and that was bad enough but further south more than 50  lives were lost and the devastation to property runs into millions. At the moment it is fairly calm, wind speeds are only 30-40 mph this week, but it is dry again!!

Got some quiltie bits to talk about that I'll keep for another post as I don't want to bore you too much,and so's not to have a photo-less post,  I'll leave you with a couple taken when we visited Monet's garden at Giverney a while ago. Springtime indeed !

Just one more thing and that's to say 'Thank You' once again to everyone for the continued messages of
concern and support throughout these weeks and I can't tell you how good it feels to be back again!!!

Comment on 'Comments'

I love it when a visitor to the Blog takes the time to leave a comment, and try to make a point of writing back when possible. Now I know a lot of messages are 'no reply' but normally there is some form of identification as to who originated it. Today I received an anonymous comment containing a link to animated greeting cards site but no clue as to who left it, not even in 'properties' .

I am a little suspicious about the message as it mentioned Jacquie Lawson cards being available. I know for a fact that Jacquie's cards are not free but only available on subscription, and given the recent scare about viruses being spread by bogus 'greeting card' messages I've decided not to publish the comment as the last thing I would want for Christmas is for my (or anyone else's !!) PC to crash!

If the message was genuine, then my apologies to the person who left it, but I do feel it is a chance I can't take - also the Blog will no longer accept anonymous comments, sorry folks !!

'Tis The Season....!

I just cannot believe that there are only a few more days left until Christmas - what happened to 2008 ????

It is almost a year since I started blogging (!) and during this time I 've had more visitors than I ever imagined from around the world, made many new friends along the way,been inspired by and learnt from other Bloggers and, as a bonus, had lots of fun as well :-)

So even though it might seem a tad early, I'd like to wish everyone a Very Happy Christmas , and what better way to do it than with this !

I will be back with some quiltie 'stuff' in a day or two (fingers crossed!!) but today I'd like to ensure that as many of my cyber friends as possible enjoy my little surprise !

Coincidences ?

Have you ever wondered about the way things happen sometimes ? I was really dreading Saturday morning and was winding myself up into a terrible tizz about things when DH appeared in the doorway clutching several packages from the Postie - now I knew that a couple of items were en route but what were the chances of three arriving on the same day ?

In no particular order (!)

From Linda in Canada, probably my 'oldest' cyber friend , a really fine tote bag from her Quilt Guild's last show plus a couple of pins. A lovely gift and the pins are my very first !! Thank You Linda !

From Annette in the UK a set of Patsy Thompson free motion quilting DVDs she'd picked up for me - no more excuses for not trying something other than stippling now! Thank You Annette!

Finally, from Brigitte here in Angers , a wonderful little quilt! Merci beaucoup, Brigitte !

So thanks to these three lovely ladies from various parts of the world , and whom I have never met , my day turned around completely ! Isn't life is full of nice ,as well as nasty, surprises !!

There is a story behind my quilt from Brigitte, which I must tell you as it demonstrates to me , yet again, the limitless generousity of all the quilters who have touched my life !

If you haven't visited Brigitte's Flickr site, then you are in for a treat when you do, as she really is a talented seamstress .Well, I was having a peep to see what she'd been up to when I spied the little quilt, which captured my fancy straight away as it represents the 4 national emblems of the British Isles !

I wrote and asked Brigitte if she could tell me where she'd got the pattern from, but unfortunately it turned out that the pattern was no more, but she would send it along to me for me to see close up, and maybe I could work from there. That offer in itself was generous, but you can imagine my surprise and utter delight when it arrived and I found a note from Brigitte saying that there was no need to return it as she would like me to accept it as a gift from her ! I wish you could see the real thing - it is a little gem and the hand quilting is amazing , I really don't know how she could bear to part with it, but I will certainly treasure it!!

Red Letter Day !

Wow!! Just published my last post and noticed that my visitors' counter has hit 2, 000 !!

I think the last visitor was my fellow ' adopted countryman' Brigitte, who left me a lovely message about quilt shops in Paris ! Ne tu inquietes pas, Brigitte ! Je n'irai pas a Paris san ma carte Visa !!

Thanks to EVERYONE who has visited the Blog - I never thought I would have this many visitors in just 6 months when I started out - Wonderful !!!