Its been a year- a year of exploring, stitching and being at peace!

Hello friends, 

Can you believe its been a year I moved to Scotland ? They say time flies when one is having a good time...clearly that is the case here. 

What a year it has been ...settling into a new country, new weather , new culture and new routine . Some of my family members were curious how I was happy being at home and wasn't taking up a job after working for 20 years . I guess its easier when someone is a home body like me. I love being at home- waking up at my own time, just sitting with my cats, gazing at the rain , reconnecting with my hobbies .

Summer is has been lot kinder to us here in Scotland than rest of UK . We had maximum temp of 26deg C twice and currently we are at 15-19 deg C range . We have explored nearby places on day trips and went away to Aberdeenshire for our 19th wedding anniversary. 

Marischal Collage, Aberdeen

Fyvie Castle

Aberdeen beach front to the North Sea

Dunnottar Castle near Stonehaven, Scotland

Everything is so beautiful in the summer and I observed the transition from spring to summer thru new flowers I would see on my walks every week.

Rhododendron

Peonies

Tulips at Greenbank gardens

 

I have been stitching , though I got exhausted once and once the mojo was thrown out of the window. I will share which projects did that to me.

I had the pleasure of hosting one of my penpals at my house in May. We first connected thru Instagram and have been exchanging mails since few years. He surprised me when he said he would visit Scotland from France to meet me. I wanted to stitch  a gift for him either on the theme of letters(snailmailing) or something related to Scottish Culture .

I'n very happy to show this is what I stitched for my friend, nothing speaks more about scottish culture than Fish & Chips.

I was on a tight deadline for this project so I burnt the midnight oil few days before his arrival. At first my eyes took time to 25 ct evenweave as I have been stitching on 14ct aida in last few years. I skipped the border on the vertical sides .

Another project I have completed is for my maternal aunt , this will be finished into a small pillow for decoration.

I love daffodils , I had such a lovely time stitching this. However , I did get frustrated by the end , why would a designer use 18 colors for  a pattern of  47*47 stitches! This pattern was one of the two smaller patterns from a big design, so may be the designer didn't optimise the colors. 

I have finished another gift, which I will put in a frame today. I have few more Christmas finishes , however I'm saving them for Christmas time .

I'm travelling to India to visit my family next Sunday ...so excited to meet them after a year. I will carrying some finishes to be fully finished using my mother's sewing machine.

Hope to write more regularly on the blog in future. 

Have a relaxing Sunday my friends.

First 45 days in a new country-What I have been upto ?

Well people, Today is the 45th day of being in beautiful country of Scotland...How has time flewn by.

It was summer when I landed , so enjoyed few warm days of sunshine . The first 2 weeks were fun , we just had a bed with mattress and some utensils for cooking. Funny how we manage with bare minimum when we are willing. We bought a pair of sofas and some storage units within a week.

Our air shipment arrived on 15th August and then the house was full with clothes, furnishings and most important my hobby stuff.

My husband's colleague had rented a car in August and they were kind enough to take us around for some sight seeing /short day trips.

Sharing some pics here

Devil's Pulpit at Finnich Glen

Devil's Pulpit at Finnich Glen

I had carried two cross stitch projects with me in luggage and rest of the stuff was sent via Air shipment. The first day I picked up cross stitching was on World Cross Stitch Day. I stitched on a SAL piece I started  with a stitcher on Instagram for a Silver Creek Samplers pattern on 1st June.

I loved stitching this as Heart and pink color are my favourite things to stitch. I used Anchor variegated floss for this project.

Next weekend we went to visit the historical town of Culross. It is Scotland's most complete example of a burgh of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Sampler spotted at Culross Palace

Culross Palace

Tapestry/needle point spotted at Culross Palace

I finished the SAL piece on 24th and asked hubby to click some aesthetic pics 😅. I have been foraging thru charity shops for a heart shaped frame to fully finish this.

Another weekend we walked to a historical place in the city. Spotted this sampler there.

Holmwood House, Glasgow

That day I walked 8.9 km , so proud of myself.

I realised I stopped sharing pics of my cooking adventures on my blog, so I'm starting that now. New recipes I tried in these weeks -baked brussels sprouts, celery and broccoli soup, stir fried edamame , no pictures were clicked though.

The only one I clicked a picture is baked butternut squash rissoto:

I have started a new project, a DMC kit I will convert to a baby sampler by adding name and date on top and bottom. Lets see how this customisation goes.

Last friday , we rented a car and have been exploring places in 2 hours driving distance. Hope you enjoy the pics.

The Dunmore Pineapple

Rhu Point

Oh this has become a picture heavy post . I hope my blog friends are well and doing what they love.