Before we moved to Italy I could take or leave coffee. Maybe once a week I might pop into one of the well known coffee chains and have nothing more challenging than a latte. I would try espresso but I would always find it far too bitter and a flat white, especially on an empty … More Coffee Commission Completed!
Despite travelling to England – a two day journey through sun, snow, rain and hailstones – last week was a quite the week for finishing off projects. Today I wanted to share the completed Spring garland. So this is what it looked like when I asked for suggestions about what to stitch in the middle. … More Squaring the Circle
We are about to make a flying visit to the UK so I am scrambling around in my usual inefficient fashion trying to get everything ready. We have had to make this trip regularly so by now I thought I would be able to throw a few items into a small travel bag and just … More Covering my Back
On Saturday, we took a stroll into the historical centre to sit in the piazza, drink a Spritz and just take it all in. The hour between noon and one o’clock is always particularly busy as everyone has aperitivo before disappearing for lunch. Friends meet to gossip, families gather – we saw one young couple … More Getting my Colour Back
For the last week I have been preoccupied with my special coffee commission. I am happy to say it has finally been completed. I am so delighted I will no longer be getting myself into tizz with all of the far too similar shades of grey! One of the last jobs I had to do … More Weekend WIP Round Up
This blog post was originally going to be titled, “Less Thinking, More Doing”, but I decided that wasn’t quite right. I am actually quite a big fan of thinking. When it comes to creative ideas, I find it very useful to mull things over before I start. I have inherited from my Dad an ability … More A Little Less Thinking and a Little More Doing
I have been making a big push to get my Special Coffee Commission completed this week. We are visiting the UK at the end of next week and I want to have it all finished and mounted by then so I can take it with me and deliver it to my friend. I have learnt … More Moka Making
This week I have been ploughing on with my special coffee poster commission. The moka pot is starting to take shape but it is still just a lot of grey cross stitches! I hope to be able to share something next week. When I have felt the need for a break from all of the … More Weekend WIP Round-up
I mentioned last week that in recent months I have learned to love cross stitch again. I have to admit I’d previously got a bit snobby about cross stitch and had focused entirely on other forms of embroidery. I do think part of the problem was because a lot of shops that supply embroidery kits only … More Cross Patch
Before we moved to Italy, many friends who had lived abroad warned us that we would have lots of visitors! They suggested that we would need to adopt a strategy to cope with all of them. Whilst it is true that we have had our fair share of people coming to stay, on the whole, … More Taking it all In
Ambrosia Stitches 