In memoriam-for my dad!

My dad died of cancer twelve years ago. He loved the sea and nature,handicrafts,cooking and making sweets.He taught me how to choose and eat the best of fish and seafood.If he was with us when I bought my summer house I know he would fall in love with it because it was his own dream to have a house by the sea. I know he would love to visit me there and go sea glassing with me.I know that he is with me when I go sea glassing!I miss him so much!
After he died I took part in a cross stitch round robin with a sea theme called Tropical Fish in his memory.
I stitched a fish on a light blue cloth and then sent it on to the next lady on the Round Robin.
If you don't know what a round robin is I quickly explain. You stitch on your piece and send it to the next person in your group who stitches on your piece the theme you have chosen and passes it to the next person in the group and so on. All members (usually nine) stitch on all of the other members' pieces.
This was my fourth Round Robin and it was started in April 1998 and finished in October 1998.
This Round Robin was organised by Joanne MacAulay in Australia who was a pen pal of mine at the time. In it participated Tina Chapple,Jilly Taylor,Berl Locke,Kim Bateman,Kathy Gould all from England and Nicky Clarke from Mallorca. Kim is my pen pal ever since and we have met once in England in 1999.
Anyway my plan was that after the Round Robin returns to me I would stitch some shells and seaweed on it and then frame it. But alas, life took on. The sea sampler was left in a drawer and only when I bought my summer house in 2005 I decided to take it out again and finish it. Again it took me too long a time. By now you must have understood I am a slow stitcher!

At first I decided to stitch a starfish and a shell. Then I added the coral and the central seaweed. Then I decided I wanted to make it look like the real bottom of the sea so I added the sand and little shells and even sea glass but still I wasn't satisfied. I decided I wanted more fish and then added the jelly fish. Finally I added the blue lines that are supposed to be the water waves and shadows of sea weed.
And at last I had it framed professionally. I wanted to put it in  a frame where I can add extra outside details like a shell or some sea glass. So my framer had to improvise. Unfortunately in his attempt he forgot that I wanted my stitched name and date to be in the picture,it should be on the right bottom corner but well he couldn't make that but it doesn't matter.
I am including lots of photos! I hope you like it.I want to thank all the ladies who helped me in this sampler in memory of my dad and apart from Kim who will see this soon I will try to communicate with the rest of the ladies as well. Maybe some of them will still be in the same address!

 Spot the stitched sea glass!

Here are also a couple of photos from my balcony plants. I admit I hadn't seen the spider web until I uploaded the photo,I love macro lens.

 I am also adding today some pages from Les Idees de Marianne French crossstitch magazine that Brigitte sent me. Aren't the cyclamens lovely?I am also partial to blue and white china.