DIY and Stitching - What a Combination!

Here is a "Before" photo of the fireplace in my front room. It was used for years (by the previous owners of the house) for burning logs and coal, hence it is well-worn and rather tatty looking! I have always thought it was rather ugly and have wanted to rebuild it for a couple of years. So I have taken off 3 days from work so that my friend and his mate, who are builders, can rip it out and rebuild a new one.

I don't really want a "working" fire as I have central heating, so want something attractive that will be a focal point for the room. I plan to put a log-basket in with some decorative logs and maybe a set with brass tongs and shovel on the hearth. I suppose I could even cross stitch one of those lovely firescreens that I see in magazines and never bother with because I have not had a proper fireplace before :-)

Below is a WIP photo of the fireplace after the first day. The wooden arch template gets taken out after the mortar has dried (overnight). I will be able to post what I hope will be the final photo at the end of the day today. There will be a large piece of oak on top (cut into shape) as the mantelpiece.

The next photo is a WIP of my Seed Sampler (hope you aren't getting bored of me putting photos on - my progress is rather slower than I would want, I'm afraid!) I have finally done a bit of the backstitching and also completed the Bee's Seeds lettering above the picture. If I can work away at it for the next 2 days while I am off work, then hopefully it will be finished by the weekend (fingers crossed!). Apologies for the rather poor quality of the photo - it wasn't until I uploaded it that I realised how bad it was :-( Will hopefully have a much better one for you later in the week.

Bye for now!