Welcome to Pixies Paradise!

If you have FLASH installed, please visit my other web pages which are much more fun as the animation really brings them to life! However, the basic aim is the same - that you enjoy your visit and come back for more!

26 October 2008:   I am now a Grandma! After several very anxious hours, Ben was born on 1 October 2008. He weighed 7lb 4oz, with a fine head of dark hair. A really beautiful baby boy! We are all very proud of the new addition to our family. XX

Tearing myself away from admiring my gorgeous grandson, I have now added a few more Xmas designs to the gallery - very reasonably priced with safe ordering through PayPal.

21 August 2008:   Are we having some summer weather at last? Today, it is bright and sunny and the outlook for the next few days is good. I have added a link to a webcam on a Cornish beach, which is interesting if you are thinking of travelling to the area. I am also working on some embroidery, which is taking longer than I anticipated, but it will appear in time!
Have a good bank holiday (in the sun, I hope).

12 July 2008:  I visited a wonderful little shop yesterday in the heart of Dartmoor called 'Pixieland'. It has been a favourite with our family for many years.
My parents regularly brought the family up to Dartmoor from our home near Newquay when I was a child, and Pixieland always stood out in my memory as a special treat. I have since taken my own children to visit over the years and it is amazing how the 'magic' still remains.
If you holiday in Devon this year, take time to visit - you won't be disappointed. Take a look at the website to 'whet your appetite' (http://www.pixieland.co.uk)

11 June 2008: I know! - still no new embroidery designs! Sorry. Time has eluded me, I'm afraid. I've been very busy with this and that....
I finally tackled some weeds in my vegetable plot today. It was so bad, I couldn't distinguish between seedlings I'd sown about a month ago and weeds, so ended up digging them all up! LuckilyI had grown some plants from seed in the greenhouse, so could plant these out in the now spare plot (petit pois, cabbages, tomatoes).
I have never seen so many birds in the garden as there have been this year - its wonderful to watch their antics. I can identify blue tits, blackbirds, sparrows, robins, wagtails, wrens, and possibly siskins and goldfinch (according to my reference 'garden bird handbook'). Of course, not forgetting the troublesome pidgeon, carion crow and magpie!
Enjoy the good weather while it lasts...!

31 March 2008: Apologies for not posting the embroidery designs yet. They should be up within the next fortnight.
If you are in the mood to discuss embroidery, knitting, or any topic dear to your heart, please click on FORUMS in the footer menu at the bottom of the page. This is a new link and, hopefully, the discussions will get up to speed soon! Any suggestions for topics will be very welcome.

12 March 2008:  We are now well into 2008 and the weather is determined to make an impact! The worst storms for many years have finally passed, however, and with any luck things will now improve.
I am in the process of stitching out a couple of new designs and will add them to the gallery soon. I hope they will 'tickle your fancy'!.

08 January 2008:  Happy New Year!  

2007 has been an eventful year! Both sons are now married (I have added a slideshow of my youngest son's wedding - the link is just under, and to the left of, this update box).

We all had a wonderful day, despite the bad weather, and the hotel proved to be very accommodating. It was a magical atmosphere with fairy lights and Xmas decorations, and a huge log fire!

I've just downloaded an update for Embird and will be trying it out later. It is such an exciting machine embroidery program, and is continually being updated at no extra charge. I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone interested in turning their graphics into embroidery heirlooms.
Hope you all enjoyed the freebie. I hope to post some more soon.
Until next time...

08 December 2007:  My youngest son marries his fiancee tomorrow! Fingers crossed the weather won't be too bad, although gales are forecast!
I have managed to do a few Xmas designs, including a freebie, but not as many as I would have hoped. Life has been too hectic to allow time for digitizing, I am afraid. Hopefully, in the New Year......
Enjoy your Xmas sewing.

07 November 2007:  A colder day today - far more seasonal. I love Autumn with nature's wonderful show of colours, the brisk freshness of the air and the cosiness of snuggling up inside by the fire. Having just got over 2 weeks of feeling very unwell with a fluey virus, I really appreciate the current cold, dry and sunny days - a real pick-me-up! We have many small birds (and a green woodpecker!) visiting the garden, along with our usual squirrels. A joy to behold!

Preparations are well underway for my youngest son's wedding on 9 December. I hope the weather will be kind to us all. With the addition of all the Xmas decorations in the hotel on the day, it should be 'magical'. I have finished some Xmas designs, and an early Xmas present 'freebie', which will be added to the gallery soon. Happy sewing!

25 September 2007:  Hello again! PLEASE NOTE: It has been pointed out to me that my EMAIL LINK has not been working. I do apologise for this, and can confirm that it is NOW IN WORKING ORDER. PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE to contact me if you have any queries.... or even just for a chat!

Early September 2007:  After a long delay, here's another entry in my blog! A lot has happened over the past couple of months and I have been a little (well, a lot really!) emotional. The last of my 'chicks' has now 'flown the nest' and it has not been easy to accept. My emotions have been uncontrollable, and I wonder if this is the 'norm' in these circumstances? I really hope I can shake these feelings off very soon.

We are experiencing an 'Indian Summer' here, the weather being much better than the whole of the previous summer months. I have primroses blossoming in the garden, and I even hear accounts of daffodils appearing in some parts of the West Country! As has been said, Mother Nature doesn't know what time of the year it is. I have a lovely Magnolia Grandiflora tree which has only ever produced an odd flower or two since I planted it about 10 years ago, but this year it is covered in buds.
Don't forget to check out the summer offers on the embroidery page. I will soon be preparing some Xmas designs - the festive season will be here before we know it! Bye for now....

9 July 2007:  I hope the weather in your part of the world is better than it is here! We have had only an odd day of sunshine over the past 4 weeks, and the temperature is more reminiscent of autumn. Tennis at Wimbledon was greatly affected, but at least the tournament finished on time - and with a brilliant mens singles final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal (the sun did shine for one day). Roger Federer reigns supreme! The ladies singles final was a little one-sided, but who can possibly match the strength of Venus Williams?
On the embroidery front, I have added a new design ('lady paddling') to the misc section.
With regret, I have had to close the guestbook as it was being filled with spam. Those responsible must have a great deal of time on their hands.

15 June 2007:  I have now added a brief slideshow of photos taken on my son's wedding day. You can see these by clicking on the link below on the left.
(Just to update on the weather - monsoon conditions here at the time of writing!!   Is it really June?)  :(

11 June 2007:  I have added a few more Flash animations to the home page, which I hope livens it up a bit! It seems the majority have Flash Player installed on their PC, so there shouldn't be a problem (fingers crossed!). I've also added some more delicious Cornish recipes.
We have had brilliant summer weather here for the past week, only today broken by a few showers, but its still hot! How lovely it makes the garden look! I have potted up some new (and a lot of old) plants for the patio, including roses, fuchsias, pittosporum and pieris. Of course, this lovely weather does draw me outside when I should be doing my embroidery!

28 May 2007:  Bank Holiday Monday here in the UK! The weather is very pleasant today, although the weekend on the whole has been disappointing. Strong winds and torrential rain yesterday have given way to sunshine and moderate winds today.
Elton John gave a concert at Home Park (Plymouth Argyle's football ground) on Saturday when, thankfully, the weather remained dry. Gypsy Moth IV arrives back in Plymouth today to complete her 2nd circumnavigation. It has taken 22 months to cover 30,000 nautical miles, and is 40 years to the day since Sir Francis Chichester arrived back from his record breaking voyage. What an achievement!
I've been working on my website, and a machine cross stitch wedding sampler. Now back to it........! Hope you all had a good weekend!

20 May 2007:  Well, the wedding went off perfectly and the happy couple are now back from honeymooning in Barbados. The heat got too much for them over the last couple of days and they say they are glad to get back! What a difference they must find with our weather, though. On the wedding day it was hot and sunny - now its back to rain and cold winds (good for the gardens, of course!).
I have my JUNE copy of SEWING WORLD magazine and there is a really nice review of my site. I couldn't have wished for better. Thank you Sewing World! I am finding inspiration again, and will get back to turning my drawings into embroidery!
Also, thanks to Madeleine from Scotland who has signed the guestbook and commented that she likes the 'blogs'. I will try to 'blog' more often :)

April 30 2007: Mixed emotions here recently, a bereavement on the one hand and wedding plans on the other have caused a lot of ups and downs. My partner's Mum passed away after a long illness (God bless Eileen).
On a happier note, my eldest son Simon will be marrying Kelly on 5 May. I have been frantically shopping for a suitable outfit and have finally found something I feel comfortable in. Fingers crossed all will go well for the happy couple.
Made some pasties tonight - delicious, but not good for the waistline (- especially with the wedding coming up!)

April 8 2007: Just to confirm to everyone that the free design was available on Friday only. Another will be posted soon, so please check back from time to time.
After chatting about Cornwall on a Yahoo group, I thought I'd look up 'Daphne Du Maurier' as I loved reading her books in my younger days. What a good site it is. Do visit it and have a look around - I'll post the address on my 'LINKS' page (scroll down to bottom of page to find 'Links').
The sun is shining brightly here again and I will be outside as much as possible today, tidying the garden. Yesterday, I managed to plant some cabbages and broccoli (- which I hope haven't been devoured overnight by the slugs and snails!). With the huge influx of visitors to Devon and Cornwall for the Easter holidays, I don't think we will be venturing out onto the roads this weekend!

April 6 2007: Good news! my sewing room is now back to normal. The windows are finally looking good, and its wonderful to look out onto a lovely sunny day - even if I don't have time to go outside. The free design seems to have drawn a few people to my site - and I welcome you all. I hope it meets your expectations, and brings you back for more. Please let me know how you get on and what project you use it for. I'm hoping to have a forum/chat page soon, so check back again.....

March 8 2007: I've now updated the Flash embroidery and photo galleries to include a 'loading' indicator (mainly for anyone who has a slow connection) so no-one gives up before the page is loaded!. Most of my time recently has been spent waiting for a Double Glazing firm to return to correct mistakes and work not completed. It has been a nightmare since the word go, and we will not be using them again (they are a big, well known firm - though this means nothing nowadays!). My sewing room is unusable, so I am concentrating on the web site for now.

March 3 2007 update: Cornish Saffron cake recipe has now been added to the Cornish Recipes section.

March 1 2007 update: Flash pages updated again! - more photos have been added, and I've included a footer giving information on purchasing embroidery designs. Sue in Oz has asked about a recipe for Cornish saffron cake so I will endeavour to add that to the site next. Although Sue now lives in Australia, it seems she misses the traditional Cornish fare - as do most true Cornish men and women! You can't beat a good home made Cornish Pasty! and the clotted cream is to die for!......

February 8 2007 update: As snow grips the rest of the country, we have a dry and pleasant day here in Devon. I continue to work on my Flash pages and have now sorted (I hope) a bug in IE 7. I have purchased lessons from CartoonSmart.com which have helped me enormously and I would recommend the tutorials to anyone. My embroidery has taken a back seat for the moment, but when time presents itself, I will begin again!

February 5 2007 update: I've now reviewed and restructured my Flash pages as I continue to learn a little more each day!