A Pear in a PartridgeTree

I am back from a few days at Urchfont College in Wiltshire. A group of us meet up several times a year to explore new avenues of stitch and it is always such a great time. This time I didn't get much done as I was so tired, but the rest has done the trick and now I am raring to go. The food is always wonderful there but this time they excelled themselves and our Christmas dinner was truly delicious. We had a separate small dining room and played Christmas music on my iphone. It was great fun, especially the Health and Safety note in the crackers - a bit late after they'd been pulled. I left a little early as snow was forecast but no such luck, although it is bitterly cold here - for England!

Remember the pear in the last blog? Here is the finished piece - a pear in a partridge tree.

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My daughter gave me a family photo tree but I hadn't got around to adding the photos so this is a seasonal conversion. Looks very Christmassy on the mantlepiece.

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It was lovely using my Mulberry Silk threads on the brightly coloured carrier rods. With regard to splitting them, I usually soak them for a few minutes in cold water and then flex them. Finally I try to find a flaky bit along the edge. I don't like them too thin and the ones shown here were just peeled in half - no soaking needed.

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I left Smudge with Clive when I was away, something of a risk as he is always more wicked than usual in my absence. He usually goes down to daughter Claire, but this time he was fine and they did some male bonding. So now he no longer sits with me, preferring male company.

He is still bad, though and has developed a nasty habit of tormenting my neighbour's (very well behaved) dog until it pushes through the hedge. He then bolts through the cat flap and comes in shouting, 'Dog! Dog in the garden, go and tell it off!' Spiteful, I'd say.

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