Fall has Finally Arrived!

No, I have not given up on Sister's Garden by La D Da. I am not as far a long with it as I would like to be due to hand cramps and a very sore finger! But here it is to date! I know I got a little off track last post. That is what happens when I play in my stash

I have several empty spaces on various walls waiting for future stitches to be hung there. The main area is a blank wall. Not too big but I have it planned it. I know what I want to stitch and hang there. So why am I not working on any of it!!! When i choose another piece to stitch my mind always wonders back to the pieces I want to hang on that wall! I hate to leave a WIP to be picked up later but I just can't get these others off my mind! 

                   

The weather has finally cooled down and it actually feels like Fall. I could not take much more of the mid 90 to 100 weather!

I ordered some threads for a few pieces in my stash so I can kit them up and a little more of that wonderful fabric from My Vintage Needle Arts. My favorite sweaters were on sale so I grabbed a couple! The sale was so good it was like getting two for the price of one!

The Grumpy Ol Gazer helped me plant several new bushes. One is a butterfly bush. I noticed that one of my yellow roses is starting to die out so we planted close to that and will cut back the dying rose later.

Until next time may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart.

It's Stitching Time!

I finally have some stitching news to report!  

I was able to finish up The Apostle's Creed by My Big Toe which was an infusion project that I did during my Vasculitis treatments.  

I started on The Our Father by My Big Toe as my current infusion project. I am working on Our Father more often because I don't want it to take 1.5 years to finish like the first infusion project. I am so sorry for all the wrinkles. I did not lay them out very well.

On both of these I changed the colors around. The colors the designs called for were beautiful but I just needed some ZING! Also, I have not used all of the bottom borders because of fabric space and because of the excitement to finish them!

 

I have already picked out my next infusion project and have it kitted and ready to go!

 

I am trying to continue stitching from my stash as much as possible. I bought these because I fell in love with them and letting them sit in boxes unstitched just doesn't do them justice! I buy a few here and there but not as often.

 

My doctor and I decided to re-adjust the time frame on my treatments and since then I am finally feeling more like myself again after battling all of my health issues over the past several years.  I am looking forward to Spring and catching up on some gardening, tending to my roses, growing some tomatoes and herbs, watching my nesting birds, stitching and just "gently" enjoying life again.

 

Thank you all for not giving up on me and patiently waiting for my return. I love my blog and I love my followers! You guys are the best. Until next time, may you have simple days and uncluttered heart.

Another Friday

Thank you for the great comments on my last post about my family history search. I was asked what his relation is to me. Henry Hatton (his stage and pen name) is my GG grandfather. His father was a famous writer, novelist and play write of his day. I have read some of his work but get tired of it quickly. A lot of thee's, thou's and therefore's along with other words not commonly used anymore. I have continued my quest on this project as the mood hits me and every so often something interesting will pop up and make it worth while.

Oh, those nagging questions that have haunted me since March have reared their ugly heads once again. What to stitch? What to stitch? WIPs? Start a new piece? Why am I wasting time trying to decide when I could working on those poor WIPs sitting in my basket? I can hear their pitiful cries of "finish me, finish me". The year is half over with no finished pieces for me to show off so I think I will focus on the WIPs for now and maybe I can knock at least several of them out by year's end.

Each year, we put out several tomato plants and I usually pick another veggie plant or two to try my not so green thumb at but not this year. We just didn't. No real reasons behind the decision. Every year, I grumble to myself about the up keep of the plants but I have missed the bounty of them this season with grocery prices on the rise. Next year, we will re-join the edible gardeners club once again for sure!

We had that major heat wave move through our area of the south about a week ago! Temps close to 100 degrees. It was that humidity that did us in though. Luckily, it didn't stick around too long and after if moved on we had a weekend of awesome temperatures. Friday was pretty cloudy which kept the heat at bay and we only reached 69 degrees. I actually got chilly several times. Saturday and Sunday were equally as nice. A little more sun but tolerable temperatures and very very little humidity! But, it's back again. Ugh.

I wish I had more exciting news to write about. Winning the lottery or a free vacation to Hawaii. Something to perk up these days of summer but this year we are staying buried inside as much as possible to avoid the awful heat. Even my camera doesn't want to come out of hiding from it's cool spot so not alot pictures to share this time around.

Thanks so much for stopping by and not giving up me during this blogging lapse I am having. Until next time, may you have simple (and cool) days and an uncluttered heart.

Long Time No See!

I wish I had a lot of news to share but alas it has been dull around here lately. Actually, I'm not complaining though because many of you have read my motto that "dull is good". Mother's Day was quite which was also good. Harold and I went out for a bit. He wanted to get some tomato plants to put out (but I will end up doing it and tending to them)! I have been wanting a nice herb garden. Maybe next year. I want to get speciality herbs. Especially mints but I also like dill, lavender, thyme and parsley. Later in the day he decided to take me out to eat. Maybe because I told him I wasn't going to cook and he could make a sandwich! lol. Every restaurant was super crowded or getting ready to close early. We finally ended up going to our favorite Mexican place. Beans and rice will really fill you up quickly!

I took a stitching break for several days. Yes, my hands were bothering me a bit but mainly because I am just getting really bored with working on Independent Mind. I keep telling myself what a treasure I will have, not to give up and to keep on plugging way since I am so close to the end! As much as I want a new start, I refuse to give up on IM now because this is definitely a special piece for me since it being stitched in my Aunt's memory. I will say though that this will be the last big piece I do for a good while! I hope to have another progress picture to share next time I post.

Flowers and bushes are blooming in our yard! I am hoping to take a few days in the near future and begin sorting out some family history pages. Thanks so much for stopping by to see me again! Your visits and comments always make my day! Until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart!

Goals and Such

I can't believe it's September already! Harold and I have already celebrated an anniversary and his birthday this month! I have always felt that once the September calendar goes up, it seems like a flash and then the holidays are here!

This past week while DH was home with me, life had finally seemed to slow down a bit and I had time to think a bit more clearly. I thought about some of my goals. Not necessarily short term goals - just goals in general for the remainder of 2009 and probably on in the next year. Since I am a major list maker for any and everything, I pulled out my notepad and pen to start jotting them down. Here are a few of the things I have listed so far.

1. On the gardening front, I want to join the two existing islands to make one big island. This will not be done until after my surgery and I get the thumbs up from my doctor to do some heavy labor. (I will do this with some weed fabric and lots of bark chips) plus re- mulch some areas in the existing islands. I brought home some cuttings of plants from my Dad's yard and I am thrilled to announce that after unsure anticipation, several have new growth and will hopefully make it through the upcoming winter months! There are still several others that haven;t shown any signs of life yet but I still have hope for them. Dad's memorial stepping stone arrived yesterday and it looks beautiful in it's new setting. I, also, wanted to share a photo of my new birdbath for the garden that came from my Dad's yard. The smaller birds just love it!

2. Get busy with my stitching! I know I will find a good many new charts coming out from the show this month that I will want but I need to make myself get more serious about what I have on hand before going too ga-ga but it's just so very very hard! I have several WIPs that I really want to finish up but those new starts keep calling my name! I am hoping to have some stitching progress to show off very soon!

3. Frame up some of my finished pieces and start hanging my work! This is a must!

4. I really need to get my pictures in some kind of order! I would like to use some of my scrapbooking mini albums and do some theme albums such as one or two for Dad, one for our trips and so on.

5. Do at least one repair, make-over, clean out (such as a closet or dresser) or fix-up to the house per month. Some of the items on the house list are small and won't take long or much money. They just need to be started. After being in a house 20 years, a lot of things tend to fall apart all at once! So goes life as a homeowner.

6. Make a trip by the fabric store and pick up some more calicos, pull out several appropriate quilt patterns and get busy!

Like I said before, these are just a few of the things I listed! I certainly don't want to overwhelm myself. After all, there are 7 days in a week, 4 weeks in a month, 365 day or 52 weeks in a year. I have time.

What makes a house feel homey to you? For me it's quilts, cross stitch or needlework samplers, folkart collections, wooden bowls, stoneware mixing bowls, crocheted doilies, soft lamps lighting a room and anything old or distressed. I guess Harold and I fit in perfectly! LOL.

That's about all for today! Thank you stopping by to see me again! Until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart!

Moving On

During the weekend and after taking time out for a gallbladder attack or two, I was able to accomplish a bit. After some weeding and planting a few new things for the garden that I had promised my Dad I would create for the two of us, I found a wonderful stepping stone to add my own personalization to. This is the picture in the catalog but mine will read "In Loving Memory of" along with my Dad's name. I know it will find a happy home in "Our Garden". A lot of what is left to be done will not be accomplished until this Fall and next Spring after my surgery and I get the OK to start doing heavy work again.

I was able to finally pick up my cross stitch again. Not for long periods but it felt good to do a few stitches. I worked on My Home is Built in Glory and would like to have it finished sometime in September if all the busy-ness allows. I will post a picture when I get a little more done.

As for me, I have good days when the tears stay at bay and other days when I still cry from the time I get up until the time I go to bed. I promised my Dad I would be strong and I am trying. I really am.

My dear husband is taking a week off to spend with me. We have no special plans except for doing little things around the house and just being lazy. We do have our 33rd anniversary coming up this weekend.

Gardens and Needles

I have psoriasis. Not a fun topic but I have it non the less and a pretty bad case of it. I have had it since I was a young child and found no comfort back then when the doctors told me that my children probably wouldn't get it! Of course I am glad now, though. Any hoo, years ago I was in an experimental program for a new medication being used to control this beast. I cleared up -- completely! I wore tank tops, swim suits, dresses, shorts and more with no worry! I chose to leave the program after a year because it was experimental and some of the side effects were pretty spooky to me. Also I was not allowed to get pregnant while taking it and we wanted children. So naturally the psoriasis broke back out.

Many moons later, I go to see my rheumatologist for my aching bones and she diagnoses me as having psoriatic arthritis and puts me back on this same medication! Only now it is no longer experimental and they feel since I handled it well last time I will do wonderfully this time also. I will be clear again! I am having a blast look through catalogs at shorts and dresses and short sleeve blouses!

Oh and it is obviously helping my arthritis too! Since I began taking this medication, I have had not one problem with my hands, fingers and wrists that were always swelling and very tender to touch. I can stitch, garden and even open a jar of mayonaisse with no problems again! Yea! Two benefits!

Speaking of gardening, our tomatoes are out and a couple have some! This year, I decided to mix it up a bit and bought several Heirloom tomato plants also! And speaking of cross stitch, I have been working on my WIP alot more lately so I hope to have some real progress to post next time!

Thank you all for your get well wishes. Both DH and myself are feeling much better and hope to be able totally over this by the time our meds run out and then we schedule a trip to go see my Dad again!

Until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart! Thanks for stopping by!

A Very Long Week!

It was another short week of blogging and stitching. I had to make an emergency trip to see my father who is in the hospital. It was a very emotional week that left me pretty well drained once again but I am happy to be able to report that when I left to come back home, he was beginning to show signs of a slow but steady improvement. He is finally feeling up to phone calls so I have been keeping tabs while I am not there by calling him daily but I hope to get back up there sometime this week!

A few years ago, they joined the Arbor Day Foundation and got 10 very very small free trees (like twigs). Several died almost immediately but a few survived. One in particular was a Washington Hawthorn which had been potted and set on the patio. It is now a very good size compared to the original twig but no longer wanted so I have been chosen as the new owner since I love Hawthorns. I have the perfect place for it since we have a big bare space from the recent tree removal. I will be bringing it home on one of my upcoming visits.

I have no new stitching progress or starts to report right now. I hope to do even just a little bit before I make my next trip to see my Dad! After I got back home, I had tons of laundry to catch up on and I decided to use some of this nervous energy from the week's emotional ride to really clean around the house then plant a few pretties outside!

There really isn't any fun news to share right now but I did want to report that I am still around and have not fallen off the face of the planet! LOL. As promised several times previously, I will plan to have another giveaway as soon as things begin to settle down a bit around here.

I will leave you with a picture of one of the flowers I planted when I got home and I hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday weekend!

No Green Thumb

Brrr! The past couple of days have been downright chilly! The temps have stayed in mid 60's but the cool wind has made it feel more like it has been in the 50's. It is supposed to get back up into the mid to high 70's for the rest of the week now but the rain is coming back according to the weather forecast! Our yard has not been completely dried out since around January. There have been several times when the top of the ground dried out enough to give us hope that all the muddy spots would be close behind! Then the rain would come again!

These are the plants we picked up on Sunday. I got 3 butterfly bushes in pink, purple and very dark purple (almost black). I also got a purple verbena, 2 red verbenas and a pink salvia. Harold chose some tomato plants to put out and I slipped in an heirloom tomato plant I have been wanting to try. I still want to get several more pretties for the 'new' area and I'm sure I will add more as time goes on. Each year I say "no more plants" and each year I give in to the gardening bug! LOL. I certainly didn't inherit my grandma's green thumb but I sure love to get out there and give it my all!

I worked on Bird in the Bower a bit last night. I can't figure out if it's going so slow because of me or the design. Maybe it's a combination of both. I know I was going at a pretty good pace until I got to these trees! To coin a phrase from the 70's - "Keep on Truckin'!" LOL.

Thank you all for stopping by! I always enjoy your visits. Stay safe, stay happy and stay well!

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

What a mess of a weekend this was! It was so physcially and emotionally drainging. I just really want to erase it all from my mind!

The Good. This weekend the tree guys finally came out to remove that giant sweet gum I had mentioned in an earlier post. They had constantly postponed with one reason or another but this weekend they called and were ready to "take her down"!

The Bad. Everything started out just fine and I had shown them all the areas to avoid and be careful of. One guy was up top cutting off some of the larger branches while my neighbor and I enjoyed the nice weather outside. Suddenly we both heard a bang and crash and looked up, scared that he had fallen. He was fine but shortly after Harold came out and told me we had no power. I went to check and one side of our house had power while the other side did not. The side without included the stove, the computer, microwave, coffeemaker, refrigerator, washer, dryer, AC unit and some lights. It seems as though that big bang had turned out to be a huge branch that hit the transformer and really damaged it! Thus the mess of a day began!

The power company came out but had to make more than one trip to access the damage and then get what they needed to repair it all. It was definitely not a minor fix. The whole transformer box had to be replaced leaving our neighbors without power during this time as well! By the time the power finally came back on around 9pm, I was exhausted, took my shower and hit the bed!

The Ugly. Luckily the tree company was insured but those guys knew that someone was going to get a big reprimand and wanted to hurry up and leave the scene of their crime thus leaving us with a bigger mess than they should have! Of course, the big power truck that back into our yard didn't help matters and only made the mess a lot bigger (but that was basically the tree company's fault as well)! You can see part of the big mess under the big power truck! It will take forever to clean up especially with all the rain and mud around here lately! Yuck!

On the good side, I have more space for planting and a lot of loose soil just waiting for some new shrubs! To help myself feel better, I bought some new plants yesterday and plan to get some more this week for that new bare area! I will leave those for a later post this week!

I am still pretty exhausted from it all and have just noticed I am using the word "thus" a whole lot in this post! Last week was a real bummer as far as stitching and blogging goes! I wasn't really in the mood for either and it showed and I certainly didn't get much done over the weekend! I guess a little break every now and then is better than pushing myself to the brink of just being sick of it all! LOL.

Until next time - stay safe, stay happy and stay well!

Mother Nature's Green Thumb

Good Morning to all. I am sorry I was MIA yesterday but I just needed a break. I hope that all the mothers and everyone who visited their mother had a lovely blessed Mother's Day. Sunday was the first day in 4 days that we did not have some kind of rain and the past two days we did not have severe storms with tornado watches. I used the beautiful weather on Mother's Day to walk around the yard admiring my plants and trimming alot of them up! I will have lots and lots of blueberries very soon!

It was a regular weekend with errands and grocery shopping. One nice thing happened though. As we were checking out, the woman behind the register seemed to know my name and it turned out to be our niece who we had not seen in quite a few years! What a pleasant surprise!

I worked on Bird in the Bower a little bit but not as much as I would have liked. Maybe I can do that this week since the rain seems to back with us again for awhile!

I am so grateful for each of my readers and I always look forward to your visits! Until next time - stay safe, stay happy and stay well!