Opening the Door to 2023

 Hello friends. It has taken me a while to get this post written. But I  felt honest and frank was best. Wishing you all goods things for the upcoming year. No new year resolutions here....as I try to navigate my new normal. I shan't bore you with soggy details,  needless to say it's a struggle each day. That said, I have to share huge love and gratitude for the kindness shown to me and mine during this difficult time. The care parcels, books at the door, cards and "just checking on you "messages. The friends and family who've sat with me through some dark and difficult days.  Sent me beautiful bouquets of flowers. Losing the love of your life and your Mum within 5 months is no walk in the park as you can imagine and there is no blueprint on how to do it despite all the well meaning advice that comes your way. It really is a day at a time!

 But would I have chosen not to have had this love in my life if I had known how much it hurts to say goodbye.....never, not for a minute. My husband has left a legacy of love. Love of family, generosity of spirit, courage, kindness, a passion for music, film and sport and a wicked sense of humour.... He was a quiet man. A lesson for all that you don't have to be the loudest voice in the room to have a full life well lived xxx

And just as life is meant to whether you are heartbroken or not....it carries on.....and so must you.....so you mark those special occasions knowing they are so worth it! Memories being made.

We had a special birthday to celebrate....our Daughter in law's 40th. It was a lovely celebration for a gorgeous person. We are so blessed to have her in our lives. And boy the cake was delicious! 

I caught up with friends when I could. 

We celebrated Christmas even though we all found it difficult and will never stop missing that special person no longer at our table. But Mr. R. adored Christmas with the family so how could we not gather together. 

I have  chosen to have a lot of quiet time since Christmas......read a LOT even for me lol!

I have also spent a fair chunk of time at my sewing machine trying to catch up on projects that needed assembly.

Where We Love Is Home is now together. I ditched the final border mainly because I embarked on the project with no clear fabric choices and could find nothing that suited the scrappy look of the quilt for the final border which had scrappy scalloping.....so I called it quits and I am happy. I am going to hand quilt this one. 

I have completed my #52tagroulette challenge and made mine into another snippet roll......love creating these. 

They are a little bit addictive! May have started another little one. I also finished my Nature Journal but I shall show it at a later date.

At the moment I am working on catching up on my Letter to My Daughter quilt. I have made progress on the assembly.....

I only have the last row to assemble.....so prep happening for that. Yay!

The Protea drawing I was working on was finished in the nick of time to gift for Christmas. I drew it for my dear daughter and added a honey bee as that is the meaning of her name.

So folks, that's me done for my first 2023 post. Looking forward to getting back to being a more active blogger once again and hopefully future posts will be full of lots of sewing and art projects.

Namaste and Blessings, 

Michelle xxx