Middle of the Month

I am up super early so that I can get some things done around here before my last infusion on Monday. The days are so long on infusion days! But I do get some stitching in and I always get take out for dinner.

We had an earthquake last week! It was a 5.1 and felt over most the state! Of course the Grumpy Ol Gazer slept right through it and so did my oldest son! The Grumpy Ol Gazer grew up across the street from train tracks so it takes a LOT to wake him up! My oldest thought I was kidding when I mentioned it to him. But he looked it up on the internet and came back out all wide eyed and said "Wow, mom! That was a big one!" LOL. Luckily there was no damage and no one was hurt. Of course my cross stitch wall got a good shaking up!

Believe it or not, the quake did some good for us. We have a crack in the foundation of our house that we knew needed fixing and we also knew if was going to cost a good bit! The quake shifted the ground enough to close up that crack! It is still there but it not a wide crack anymore. Just a sliver of a crack that can probably wait a few years before fixing! LOL. Thank you Mother Nature!

I managed to get some stitching done on Bee Skep at my last infusion and some more on my days in between. When I started this piece, I thought it would be a simple, quick and fun stitch! It probably would have been if life had not thrown so many curves my way! Instead, it has taken what seems like forever and that house is becoming a thorn in my side! I absolutely refuse to let it win and become a WIP though!

Happy World Cross Stitch Day!  I was able to play in my stash a little. That is always fun. Admiring my fabrics and day dreaming about how to finish off patterns help relieve some of that stress too!

Have you ever just said "Oh, what the heck" and thrown caution to the wind? That is what I did this week. Some things I have wanted to do but knew I probably did not have time for and were put on hold suddenly came into being a reality! There is a SAL on IG for Jane Tindall 1864. I have had this pattern for what seems like forever. The threads too. With a little prodding I caved and joined in!  No promises or time lines. I will start on it once I get the Bee Skep finished up.While I was ordering a few threads, I threw a few patterns into the basket that I had been eyeing for a while! Oh, what the heck! LOL

The new range arrived. Better late than never. I am thrilled with it. It feels good to have a stove and oven that heats up properly! The old oven was on it's last legs. A 20 minute frozen pizza took 45 minutes to cook! I tried to get a picture of the range and microwave but my kitchen is so small, I could not back up far enough to get it all in!

Until next time may you have simple day, an uncluttered heart and stay well.

Staying Alive

We have been looking at paint color samples for the inside. I want an off white because our house is dark. It does not get a lot of natural sunlight so I feel we need a lighter color to help brighten it up. The Grumpy Ol Gazer wants to go with a grey. I won with a Snowy Pine (off white).

We had bags and bags of clothes and house hold items for donation. The truck finally came around and picked it all up so our bedroom feels a lot less cluttered now!

The Grumpy Ol Gazer finally got his new Bi Pap machine so he is sleeping better at nights. I thought I would too because the soft hum of the machine would just lull me into a sweet sleep but this new machine doesn't hum, whistle or even say BOO! It is totally quite!

I happened to find several quilt kits at Wash Tub Quilts on Etsy. I loved the designs and the kits help me by providing most of the fabric I will need instead of making multiple trips to the fabric store.

Barn Dance

Pocket Change

I love the new Words To Live By collection by Heartstring Samplery. Beth has hit another home run! She has Love, Faith, Hope and Justice. I know I said I would stitch from stash this year but I think this collection would make a beautiful grouping that will look perfect on my one empty wall plus they will make great infusion projects over the year! I found mine in the Heartstring Samplery shop over at Etsy.

As I promised, here are several house blocks from the exchange I was in. Talk about some talented ladies!!

We decided that we want a walkway (preferably cement) going from the driveway around back to the deck. It is so much easier to bring groceries in by the back door but that backyard gets so soggy when we have a lot of rain and is impossible to walk across!  A walkway is just what we need - like the one in front but in the back too! I will be anxious to see if anything comes of it.

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