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Thursday 6 July 2017

Edward -

I thought I said no more birds; but this morning I woke up to find no less than seven swans all trying to get into our tiny goldfish pond.  I'd rather not think about what happened to the goldfish.  The whole house seems to be full of birds - to say nothing of what they leave behind them.
Please, please STOP.
Your Emily

12 Days of Christmas (Correspondence) - John Julius Norwich


Swans are beautiful to look at but can be very vicious.  Plus, they mate for life so where does the odd number come from?  Poor left out swan.

I stitched the swan using two strands and the background using one.  I really like this effect as the swan stands out much more.

Here's where I was last month:


And here's where I am now:


I've done a lot more of the left hand angel and almost completed the left-hand border too.  Just a few more green leaves and the tiny holly berries.

I stitched one of my Hallowe'en pieces this month, Happy Hallowe'en by Imaginating:


We have a little Ghostie and a leafy L too.


I'm in such complete control with my Ten-a-Day project that I decided to start another one!  Reaching the half-way point of the year on Spring in the Square I could see that I should finish it well before the end of the year.  So what better time to start Summer in the Square?

Here is Spring in the Square at 187 days:


Summer in the Square at 6 days:


And the current 30-a-day Royal Blossoms at 19 days:



Finally, thanks for the sympathy over Photobucket!  I am even having problems downloading my own photos from the site.  I had to resort to photographing the screen for one or two photos!
I am slowly working my way though 2012 at the moment.  All my finishes are on my desktop but some of my WIPs are not, usually ones where I used the scanner instead of the camera.



27 comments:

jhm said...

The seventh swan is still only a teen-ager, not quite ready for commitment.

deb said...

Look at your progress on 12 Days! So much border done, so much angel, and the lovely swan! Adorable Halloween ghostie - do you really have only the H left? Always so much fun to see what you've been working on.

You're back to 2012? You're a year farther than me, LOL. The further back I go, the harder it is to find the pictures (I'm having ZERO luck grabbing them from the site - as soon as I click on it, that ugly "upgrade your account" notice appears in place of my picture in the album!).

Goofin' Off Around the Block said...

The swan will look beautiful on the piece. My mother told me of being chased and pecked by a swan when she was a little girl and being covered in bruises. Swans are extremely beautiful to look at, but I tend to back away when I come across one. Love the progress on your Halloween piece. Have a good day! --Andrea

Barb said...

12 Days of Christmas is really looking wonderful! Of course, I love the Halloween one too.

Marie said...

Un cygne élégant!j'aime beaucoup l'ensemble de cette broderie!

Brigitte said...

12 Days looks so great, I love it a lot.
Oh yes, you can easily start another ten-a-day project as Spring in the Square looks nearly finished.
It's certainly not very funny to have these problems with Photobucket. In the early days I used a system that closed down after a while, too, then I started on flick'r but now I have all my pictures stored somewhere else but can't say what it is as I don't understand anything about it, lol.

Irene said...

Che belli Jo!! Halloween è il mio preferito :)

Preeti said...

Lovely stitching on all the projects!! I had lost pictures from my laptop twice and I have no idea how long Google will allow free hosting. May be you can upgrade photo bucket account for some duration and see if you can download/export all the photos at once after getting the access. I know it may be against principles to pay but that will save time.

Christine said...

The Mystery of the Seventh Swan. It sounds like an Enid Blyton story.
Twelve days is looking great

StitchyDragon Creates said...

The John Julius Norwich writing always makes me laugh! Must admit I had never considered the lonely left out swan and now I am intrigued ;-) Your stitching is lovely and I especially like your idea of stitching the background with one strand - very clever! You have made great progress on all these pieces, definitely enough to start another :-) Looking forward to seeing them all grow, happy stitching,
Helen

Astrids dragon said...

Oh wow, 12 Days just keeps getting better and better! I love the swan.
Yeah, it's almost Halloween, I love it!
Your spring square is so lovely, the colours are beautiful.

Kerryp77 said...

Swans aren't the only vicious birds, I got attacked by a seagull today! The swan does look lovely and I'd rather a swan that a gull any day lol. I'm impressed by how far you've gotten on the border too.
The photo bucket issue does make me think I ought to back up my early blog photos.

diamondc said...

Jo: Twelve Days is beautiful, you are making great progress.

Blessings
Catherine

OhSewCrafty said...

Beautiful swan and I love how you did the background with one strand. That may have been my favorite block to stitch... love swans and it didn't have too many annoying color changes (like the people do...) You are definitely on track for a Christmas finish.

Desiree Ehleiter said...

The swan is gorgeous! I do love that you keep adding Emily's letters. I get such a kick out of that! Your other projects are beautiful as well and as always, wonderful progress.

Bethan said...

As always, I am loving your 12 Days of Christmas progress. The border is so pretty. And you're right about how a simple change of thread number has made the swan pop x

Mini said...

I love swans. The Christmas WIP looks more beautiful every time you show it. Good progress on all projects.

Faith... said...

What a pretty swan, it looks awesome! Love, love, love that Halloween piece. I keep looking at yours and debating over it and I think I am going to have to get it! LOL

The Crafty Princess said...

Awww poor lonely Swan! He looks so regal though. And hello "Boo" very cute little ghostie that materialised on the fabric accompanied with the eerie L. Looking forward to Summer, if it's half as beautiful as Spring it's going to be incredible.
xo Alicia

Sheryl said...

Pretty stitching Jo, love that Halloween piece and gorgeous Spring in the Square design. Good idea about the use of using a different number of strands of floss, the swan really stands out from the background.

butterfly said...

Love the swan , lovely post Jo full of lovely stitching , hugs.

Leonore Winterer said...

Oh the poor Emily and her poor parents - Edward really is most inconsiderate with his gifts. I'm not sure they will still like him at the end of those twelve days! I do hope the 7th swarm isn't left out alone...maybe one of the couples just brought their kids along?
Great progress on all your other smalls as well. I can see that Spring² will be done soon, so you're right about starting another one!

Sarah in Stitches said...

Gorgeous stitching! You're making great progress on all your projects. And I love the 12 Days of Christmas correspondence - they're hilarious! :D

Tiffstitch said...

Fantastic finish on the swan, and the backstitch idea is a good one. Swans should stand out from the background. Lovely work on the rest too and of course you had to start another one! Good luck with PB.. that is difficult.

Lili said...

Your swan is so pretty, my favourite so far.
Lovely progress on your Halloween piece!

I have my blog fixed now. Just need to do the same on the Halloween blog and Christmas blog.

Julie said...

12 Days looks so lovely each time I see it, so much work in it.

Our photos said...

Twelve Days is beautiful, Suzi.
http://suzi7.blogspot.nl