Taking a Day

Harold told me I needed a day off. No housework, no doctors, no worries. Yesterday we decided to take a day and go up around the mountain area, see the leaves changing and just soak in the simple beauty. After several days of rain and blah weather, it turned out to be a nice day and it was just what I needed after everything that has been going on in my life lately. I actually laughed for an absolutely silly reason! The first time I have laughed since my father passed away. You can click on the pictures to see them larger.





My favorite shops were the dulcimer shop and Mast General Store. I don't play the dulcimer but always loved the music from it. I picked up a cornstalk doll and another Gee Haw Whimmy Diddle and Harold got some canned pickled Green Tomatoes he had been hunting for.





I am hoping there will be more day trips in store for us (probably later in the Spring) but for now my soul has been satisfied and refreshed with the glory of God's work and the fun crafts and wonderful foods of the local residents!

The days have been warm enough but rainy and overcast. The nights, on the other hand, have been downright chilly. I love my cozy warm pajamas so while we were out one day I picked up a new pair of luscious snuggly fleece jammies to lounge around in while I stitch on these chilly evenings! And speaking of stitching, I was able to work on My Home is Built is Glory some more. It is coming right along. Enough so, that I am ready to get everything ready to start on With My Needle. I am thinking I will work on MHIBIG on Monday thru Thursday then pick up WMN to work on Friday thru Sunday. Good deal.

Until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart! Thank you so much for stopping in again!

Giveaway!

Since I will be busy most of the week I thought I would go ahead and put up my giveaway post today.

After digging through my stash I found a design that would make a perfect giveaway! If you are interested in having your name included in the drawing, please leave a comment on this post along with your email address so that I can contact you if you happen to be the winner! The deadline to have your name included in the drawing will be early Saturday morning (Sept. 19) at 12 am EST. The lucky design chosen from my stash to be given away is ---------- Are you ready? ----------- Salina Dunwoody by Sheepish Designs!

I was able to get some stitching time in so far this weekend and pulled out My Home is Built in Glory to work on some more. I was also able to start on one of the Stacy Nash Halloween designs I had mentioned. I will post pictures sometime later this week.

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!

I'm Back

I really needed this past week. It was so nice to have Harold at home with me. We got a lot done. Oops - I mean he got a lot done and I watched since I am still pretty much on "light and easy" duty until my surgery.

While shopping one day, we ran across a new shipment of River Birch trees! Why was I so excited? Because this tree was the first item to be listed for my in progress Memory Garden! Naturally, I looked at DH with sad eyes and told him I could do without it if he thought it was too big to fit into the car. He rolled his eyes and said he would find a way to get it in the car somehow. And he did! It will definitely have a special home in my garden!

All the rails and columns on our front porch were in desperate need of being replaced. Usually we do that kind of work ourselves to save a few bucks but with all that has happened lately we decided to contract the work out and we are so thrilled with the results! We will paint it ourselves in a few weeks but we now have a porch that will probably out live us!

Harold stayed busy by repainting the hall bath. He made a major job of it all by replacing some of the hardware and fixtures but the bathroom certainly does look wonderful now! I bought a space saver for the hall bathroom about 15 years ago and we finally opened the sealed box and put it together then set it up in the bathroom! Even though I wasn't able to do a lot of physical stuff, I was able to tag along and pick out colors for paint, new bath rugs, shower curtains and such. Whew! Hard work!
There are still quite a few left chores left on our "to do to the house" list but we are getting a start! I would so so very happy if we could have all the inside stuff finished by the end of the year but that may be a little too hopeful.

I was able to spend some more time with my stitching. Not much but every little bit is another step closer to finishing! I also spent some time walking around the yard with my camera looking for some surprises. I haven't done this in quite awhile so it was an enjoyable experience with a familiar comfort attached to each step. I was thrilled to see that Autumn is just around the corner. The leaves are beginning to slowly turn and the mornings (as you can in the picture) have a definite briskness which makes me want to sit out back with my coffee and enjoy all that nature has to offer me.

We took several days to go up to see my step mother. She is like me and doing a little better each day. Since I will be unable to come back for awhile because of surgery and some other obligations, we went through a few of my Dad's things for me to bring on back home. They are mostly things I can remember being in our home since I was very little and I always admired them (even as a little girl) so it feels a little funny to have them in my home now. I'm sure that I will be going back after the surgery to help out some more.

We had a nice anniversary and went out to eat that evening. It was a very nice week and a large portion of the tension and anxiety that was such huge part of my life for quite a while finally washed away and I feel more at peace with the loss of my Dad. I know I will always miss him and there will still be hard days but for the most part, I do feel much better.

Until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart. Thank you for stopping by to visit with me and for all the support I have received during this time!

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.

Postponed

I went to see the surgeon one last time today before surgery tomorrow and he was not happy some of my lab work so surgery has been post poned for the time. I am hoping that my blood levels are off because of all the stress I have been dealing with lately and they will return to normal within several weeks which is when I will have another session of lab work. Surgery has been put off until mid-September for the time being unless something else should (but hopefully not) happen.

Thank you all for hanging in there with me.

Monday Monday

How orginal is that post title? There isn't much news to tell about at this time. I am supposed to be on rest in preparation for the surgery on Tuesday but my nerves are still so totally wound up and I have been yanking weeds up from my islands like crazy. The weeds really went wild during the three months I was so busy traveling back and forth to see my dad during his illness. I am paying for my stubbornness now because the bursitis has kicked up in my upper right arm from all the pulling and tugging I was doing.

This may be the last post for awhile since my surgery is tomorrow and I don't know what to expect afterwards. I know that my posts will be scarce and fewer than usual for awhile anyway until life begins to slowly get back to normal for me but I want everyone to know that I do appreciate you all sticking with me during this time! Your friendships have really helped me and meant more to me than you will ever know! Don't give up on me. You never know when I may pop back up!

May you have simple days and an uncluttered heart.

Thank You

Thank you all so much for your kind words during this time. It is still hard for me to comprehend that my Dad is really gone. I was able to see him and spend time with him on the day of his death. I promised him I would try to be strong. I also promised him that I would work on a garden just for us with a few of his favorite plants and a few of my favorites. I think he would like that and it will be our special place.

At the present time, I am getting ready for surgery. I will have my gallbladder removed on August 25th and then do whatever "recoop" time the doctor feels is necessary. After all of that, I will probably be going back to my Dad's house to help my stepmother sort through his belongings.

I haven't done any cross stitch in quite awhile and haven't even felt like picking it back up yet. But I have several patterns and even some quilts in mind that I would like to work on after I cross this first bridge.

Thank you all for being there for me during this extremely difficult time. You are all wonderful and my life is so much more complete because of your friendship. Until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart.

IN MEMORY

I have been out of town this past week so that I could be close to my father during his illness and his stay in the Hospice House. It was a shocking blow to see how far he had gone downhill since my last visit which had only been a week or so before that. He was definitely in pain and unable to talk and appeared unresponsive but I know he knew I was there because he gave me several signs which gave me comfort.

My father was a great man. In size as well as character. He passed away on August 13th, the day after the 40th anniversary of my mother's death. We are all still in a state of shock because this cancer and his death seemed to happen then progress so quickly. I know he is no longer in pain but my heart will always ache.

I Love You, Dad.

Taking a Good Hard Look

As I sit here updating my blog, I am waiting on a phone call from my doctor. It is my gallbladder and I will need surgery. They will have to refer me to a surgeon and so on. I need to let my doctor know that we need to speed this up some! I got word about my dad and it looks like I will need to get back there as quickly as possible!

I told Harold that we need to move some of our birdhouses to the side of our storage building. There are some stray cats that I have been having to "shoo" away from the occupied houses because they are stalking the present tenants! I love hearing all my babies chirping so early in the morning!

There is definitely not much news this morning but the day is still young! LOL. If you get a chance, Vonna's blog is a must read today! She always has a way of helping me put things in perspective about myself and my life! Now, that's a friend!

Thank you all for visiting. I know my posts have been sort of on the down side lately. I am hoping things will begin to look better very soon and I am grateful to you all for continueing to stop by during this terrible slump! Until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart!

Monday News Flash!

It was a long weekend with more tests and several more "attacks" but it also brought a beautiful rainbow after one of the many storms we had. Everyone (including the doctors) are giving me reason to believe it may be my gallbladder causing the problem but no one is saying anything definite until the test results are in. For right now I am waiting to hear if I will be sent to the hospital sometime this week. I have total faith in my doctors and God above so I am not worried about anything. I just want a solution to this problem because the "attacks" are coming much more frequently now and I really can't travel to see my dad until something is done to fix it!

I am in the midst of getting my next order together and hope to send off for it very soon! I also picked up my current WIP a few times over the weekend and got a little bit done on it but naturally not as much as I would have liked!



Over the weekend, I found a wonderful 50% off sale and these boxes (plus the sale prices) were impossible to pass up! They are in my kitchen and I will use the smaller boxes to hold coupons. I lined the rooster box with some shelf paper and am using it as a bread box. I also have another garden theme small box which I may use for some stitching storage.

Until next time, here's wishing you simple days and an uncluttered heart!

Back Home!

Thank you to all who have left comforting comments about my Dad. Yes, it is hard. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think anything like this would happen to him. I always think of him as a strong, confident, independent person and to suddenly, without any real warning, see him in his present condition is very upsetting. I received a sudden call last weekend that the doctor had said it would be a good idea for the family to come so I have been out of town this past week. Once again, his condition was very touch and go. When I left on Friday, he was beginning to show some improvement but there is still a long road ahead of us all.

And thank you for also leaving comments wishing me well also. This is definitely not a good time for me to be ill. I was able to get in to see my doctor before I left town and he seems to feel that one of my new medications was causing the problem. He has taken me off of it and so far so good! Fingers crossed!

I did not work on my stitching much this past week but I hope to find some time for it this week! I took this picture of my current progress since I haven't posted any of my work in awhile (or so it seems to me). After getting back home from a long and emotional week, I told Harold that I may not be waiting too much longer to get some new stash! I am also thinking of a new start! I know I should finish up the present one first but.........!

Thank you all for stopping by to see me! Your friendship means so much to me especially during these emotional times! Until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart!

Good News

No pictures today as you will find out the reason why as you read on.

Thank you to everyone who kept my Dad in your prayers. I talked to my stepmother yesterday and his primary care doctor didn't even know about any of this and once he found out, he really got the ball rolling and made sure these other doctors got busy on Dad's case. Both my stepmother and I feel relieved because for so long it was as though the doctors were just sweeping his case under the rug. Now they are taking action! There is still the posibility we may lose him to the cancer but we take one step at a time for now.

The reason there is no picture is that I was not home most of day yesterday so no stitching got done. I spent almost all day in the Emergency Room at the hospital. Harold was convinced I was having a heart attack and I kept telling him no, it wasn't but the pain was still really severe. They did alot of tests and found some things they want me to discuss with my primary care physician next week. Today I just feel really weak and will probably spend the day resting. Thank goodness they did enough testing because they were talking about sending me into surgery!

So for today, dear friends, I will keep this short so I can get back to resting in bed.

Christmas in July

Check out this fun giveaway!

More Fun!

Patti is having a wonderful giveaway so be sure to drop by to check it out!

I hope everyone has a wonderful and fun weekend!

Listen Up!

Go to Violarium's site and sign up for this wonderful giveaway book of cross stitch alphabets! After all, what stitcher doesn't need more charts or books!

It looks like it will be an overcast day of clouds and maybe even a few rain showers. That sounds good to me. The clouds will keep the hot hot hot sun at bay and we could definitely use some rain around here! Plus it's another good reason to stay inside and stitch after I get the basic housework done!

Have a wonderful day and until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart!

A Giveaway and Happy Places

There really isn't a lot of exciting and fun news to report on right now. I am already sick of this hot weather (although our July 4th weekend turned out nice and comfortable). Usually when July comes around, I am so ready for Fall and try to satisfy my desire for this season by surrounding myself with any and everything Fall. Of course I can't pull out the sweaters just yet but notice that I changed my blog template! Actually, I enjoy all the Seasons. I can just tolerate some longer than others. Summer is definitely on my "short" list with all the heat and humidity!

How do I start off my mornings? Why with a cup of coffee, of course and reading my stitching blogs while enjoying them. There are also a couple of other blogs I especially enjoy. Daisy Cottage and Birdnest Cottage. Wander on over and visit them!

I am going to have a different type of giveaway this time. It's not anything stitching or craft related. In the past I have mentioned how I enjoy collecting miniature books. I realized that I recently bought one that I already have. I could take it back to the store for a refund or just exchange it but what fun would that be! I have alot more now than what the picture shows and I think I will leave the book as a surprise!

Leave a comment on this post only by Friday, July 10 at 9pm EST stating that you would like your name to be entered in the drawing for this. Make sure you leave a link to your blog or an email address so that I contact you if you are the winner! The winner will be annnounced on Monday.

Good Morning!

For several months running, I have forgotten to post my goals (past and present). Oh well, for now I need to give myself a break! I will start listing and posting them again in the early Fall.

I hope everyone had a long and enjoyable Holiday weekend! We did some our usual errands and routines but nothing special (unless grocery shopping counts. Nawwww!). We cooked out, watched some movies and enjoyed some neighborhood fireworks from the front porch.

I took some time off from stitching to help Harold with repairs on the front porch rails. We ran into a few minor problems that were fixed easily enough until--------- we realized that the majority of the wood was just rotten and it all needs to be replaced! *big hard heavy sigh* The joys of being a homeowner!

In the meantime, I was able to get some more done on my recent work in progress. After all my bragging about not having any problems with my hands, I overworked them with more yardwork and stitching than usual and both hands had a bad flare up so I had to slow it down a bit over the weekend.

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

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!

More Hot Days

As I mentioned in my last post, Harold got home from his camping/astronomy trip. What I didn't mention is that he came home coughing and sick. I jokingly told him that he had better not get me sick but the next morning I woke up coughing. He decided to go in to the see the doctor and I tagged along to see if they could fit me in. They did. Turns out Harold had a full blown case of bronchitis and I was in the beginning stages of it. I told my doctor to nip in the bud now! Luckily I caught mine before I started to feel really lousy! I was going to make a trip up to see my Dad but that is on hold until I am 100% over this.

I also forgot to mention that over the weekend I got a package from Edgar with several charts. One was the La D Da chart I won from his giveaway and the other was a chart from our trade. He also sent along some tea with the scent and flavor of cookies!! YUM! He is such a sweetheart!



Here is a progress to date photo of My Home is Built in Glory. As I said, I am not pushing myself on this one. I remember working on Handanger fabric years ago and hated it but I am actually enjoying it this time and will probably be doing a lot more designs on it in the future!

This Little Piggy

I apologize for my lack of posting lasting again last week but it was definitely a full week! I tried to catch up on housework from when I was gone a mere 2 days, I discovered that I had to adjust to this new medication I am on so there times I didn't feel so great, I didn't feel sick but I sure enough ran a fever for several days and I spoke with my Dad several times just because.

Harold went on his yearly astronomy outing last week. I hate it when he is gone at night and if he had been gone because of work, I would have had no problem fussing about his absence whether it did any good or not but I just feel too strongly about the importance of hobbies so I encouraged to him to go and enjoy his trip. I did envy him because the group went to West Virginia this year and to the exact same location that Harold and I vacationed in last summer! What beautiful and peaceful part of the country! If it hadn't been a camp out, stay up all night to watch the stars then sleep all day kind of trip I might have tagged along. After years of Cub Scouts with the boys, I swore I would never sleep on the ground again and I am definitely not a night owl! I did use the time to work on my stitching a little bit and used this as a sort of mini vacation for myself as well. Pot pies, pizza, sandwiches and other simple meals for dinner! I did the essentials so life as we know it didn't fall apart but then I did more of my own thing than usual. Stitching, gardening, watching and enjoying the birds plus watching some really good movies!

Even though I did get some stitching done, I decided to take my time on this piece so I don't have much new to show. Maybe I will have a burst of energy this week and get alot done on it! Instead I will share a picture of my piggy family. I got them on a trip to the mountains also. We stopped at a gift shop and when I exclaimed over them, the owner told me that her 5 year old grandson wanted to make some money and made these from clay. I asked him how much he wanted and he said $4! LOL! I gave him $10.

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

Hot Southern Days

Since being back home again I have been busy getting the house back in some kind of recognizable order! It's amazing how 3 people can do so much damage in so little time! LOL.

I still haven't picked up my stitching since being back but I was going to take a picture of what I have done so far but the camera battery needed to be recharged. Got that done and now I can post a picture of my progress to date. I think I will pick it back up this evening and work on it some more.

There isn't much news right now. The heat is unbearable and I am happy to spend the better part of the day indoors with AC but in the early morning (before it gets hot) or in the evenings (when the sun is low in the sky) I will venture outside to enjoy a bit of gardening. I did speak with my father after returning home but things are pretty much the same. I want to thank everyone for their concern and prayers. It means so much to me.

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

Monday Review

I didn't get any stitching done over the weekend as I had planned because I got a last minute phone call from my step sister asking if I wanted to ride up and see our folks for Father's Day. I have been wanting to see my Dad since he got home from the hospital so I packed a bag and off we went! Unfortunately when I got there I found out that my Dad's health was not as good as I had thought and the news was not good. The next few months will be rocky for all of us to say the least.

I was so tired when I got home yesterday I just rested then went to bed early but I have some extra stitching time coming up later this week so I plan to take advantage of it but for today I will show off another pig from my tiny collection.

Over the past several weeks, we have ordered and watched a few movies on Pay Per View. Gran Torino with Clint Eastwood was the first. I have never been a big Clint fan especially of his westerns but this movie was great! We all enjoyed it and I highly recommend it! The next movie we ordered was The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. I had been wanting to see this. You were able to see WWII through a child's eyes which gave a whole new meaning to war. For those of you who haven't seen it, I don't want to spoil the ending but it was not anything like I was expecting! Definitely another good movie and a must see! I watched this movie several times before our viewing period expired.

Until next time, dear friends, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart. Thank you for stopping by to visit with me and I hope you come back soon!

Sound the Trumpets!

Introducing my new start! My Home is Built in Glory by Beth Twist! After thinking it over, going through my fabric stash and thinking it over some more I finally decided to use a piece of Ivory Hardanger for this design and I am sticking with the colors listed. The more I looked at this design, the more I loved it! I am a big fan of Beth's work and I always look forward to any new releases by her! FYI - there is another design by her in the group picture from Wednesday! I will show my progress after the weekend when I have had time to get enough done to be photo worthy!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and until next time we meet, may you have simple days and uncluttered heart!

Oink! Oink!

I thought I would share a picture of one of my pigs today. It is one of my many collections. On the base rests a campaign button from the Eisenhower presidency that I found at a yard sale a few years back and scored for a whopping quarter! Hey, hey big spender!

Blogging and hobbies often suffer during the summer months with school being out, family vacations, yard work and all this on top of life's every day chores.
I did manage to pull one of the charts from my stash to start on. I will wait until I have a little more done to post a picture and leave it as a surprise until then as to which one I am working on but it was in yesterday's picture! It seems as though there has been alot of startitis among stitchers lately and I just may take Kathy's advice and work on one several day then start another and so on until they all have my attention and I will probably be pulling my hair out! lol.

So until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart! Come back and see me soon!

And the Week Goes On.

As I have read other stitching blogs, I have envisioned my own theme walls! Samplers, A&E, birds and even a wall about stitching! In my last post, I mentioned that I had pulled my next new start. Oops! I did, indeed, pull the next "intended" start but then so many others began to get my attention and they all seemed to be crying "me! me! pick me!" so for right now, I am stuck in indecision. I may be using eenie, meenie, minie, moe for this pick! Oh, and these are only a few of the ones screaming for my attention! Will the last part of June be full of multiple starts?

Simple! And the older I get, the more I want this style to be a part
of everything around me. Not just in my hobbies but in my day
to day life as well. From time to time I feel the need to do some major
de-cluttering. A cleaning out of the soul. Getting rid of those things I carry around within my heart on a daily basis until the weight of it all is more than I can handle. Time to toss out some things! Being able to rid myself of hard or hurt feelings & knowing that I was strong enough to let it go & move on is a great feeling! I’ve lived the drama & turmoil side of life. Now I crave the less cluttered road. No baggage needed!

Maren at Stitchery Doo asked me what kind of bush I had pictured from the "mud pit". It is a Burgandy Barberry. I had wanted several more Rosey Glow Barberry bushes but couldn't find them available anywhere. Maybe they will be out later in the season!

Until next time, I wish you simple days and an uncluttered heart! Come back and see me soon!

Being Productive!

I didn't get a lot of stitching done yesterday but I pulled out my basket of finished (but unframed) pieces and decided to start working on them again! I got Glad Tidings by BBD framed. I took several pictures and unfortunately, the only one that wasn't fuzzy had a glare! I hope to get at least one more framed over the weekend!

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

Is it Wednesday Already?

Those long holiday weekends really mess up my mental calendar! Ok, I know I mentioned that I had some designs in my stash calling my name but I also have a couple of unfinished pieces that are begging for some attention! I really need to work on them a bit also!

I have added a few new blogs to my sidebar list! There are so many I already enjoy and I am always finding new ones that keep me captivated so in looking on down the road, I may end up having to start a blog for my list of blogs! LOL.

I recently went to a pottery store to pass some time. I saw all kinds of wonderful things that I normally would have loved to bring home but I had so many other things on my mind that I just passed by most of it without blinking an eye. I did see a cute little sheep stack that tugged at my heart enough to put in the shopping cart. Then I saw a wonderful cement duck for my garden area. It had a burnished look to it and looked very rustic. When I got to the checkout, I noticed some black smudges on my shirt. I set the duck down and my hands were solid black! That duck had been burnished with charcoal and it was rubbing off all over me! Yuck! What a mess! I paid for the cute sheep stack and told the checkout gal that she could just keep that duck 'cause I sure wasn't bringing it home with me now!

On a good news note, my Dad came home from the hospital yesterday! Two days ahead of what the doctors had said would happen while I was visiting! Yea Dad! Once he began improving, he really took off but I will never forget that horrible scare he gave us all!

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

Getting Back on Track

I hope everyone had a safe and fun holiday weekend! Thank you to everyone who sent their best wishes to me and for my father! It certainly means a lot to know my friends are thinking of us!

Each day I talk with my Dad and I am just thrilled at his progress! The dr. decided he was ready for something other than broth and is letting him begin some soft solid foods! I had to poke some fun with him though and tell him that he never let me have ice cream for breakfast! LOL. I just love hearing him sound better and more like himself each day. Of course, I am getting very antsy to get back up there and see him again! All in good time, I know!

I did manage to pull out Bird in the Bower to work on a bit in the evenings. There are several designs in my stash that are calling my name and I may be giving in to temptation sooner than I would like. I also decided I needed a little bit of pampering so I treated myself to some new floss for now.

I have been rather proud of how I have managed to cut back on my stash purchases lately. I consider floss and fabrics necessities so are never really a part of my stash diets. Of course I made a few purchases last month but I didn't go crazy like I usually do and I have very good since then. I can't make any promises about how much longer this dry spell will last though because I am constantly drooling over all these new designs that keep coming out!

Hopefully I can begin to get my life back into some recognizable order now and do more of things I need and especially enjoy! I hope everyone has a great day! 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!

Slow days

I worked on Bird in the Bower again but for some reason I feel like I am stuck on the first tree! I know I am not working on it as much as usual because I have been taking advantage of the lovely weather for gardening and there is also the fact that I just haven't felt like doing much stitching lately. Hmmmm. I don't reasons like the latter!

We have started tearing down our old deck so that we can begin working on a new one. Nothing different. Pretty much the same design and the same size. The old one lasted 20 years so if this next one will last that long, I'm happy!

I will only be feeding my backyard birds to the first week in June. As many of you know I only feed the birds from Halloween to the first week of June. This allows for cold weather and nesting season. During the winter, I only use the big feeder but when nesting season arrives I use all the feeders. We always have a lot of Cardinals around our yard but there seem to be a lot more than usual this year along with an extra helping of woodpeckers!

It has been a slow week around here for blogging so until next time - have a wonderful weekend, 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!

The Weekend Nears

So far I have only been stitching on the word portion of Bird in the Bower. It will begin to look more interesting when I get to the pictorial part of the design.

Warm weather brings out the raccoons and possums and unless I toss out some day old rolls or baked potatoes into the very back section of our yard they will come right up to the house and go through the trashcans. We have gone outside to find 3 or 4 huddled around the area looking for scraps and our neighbor has had to chase them out of their screened porch area! I love nature but not quite this much!

I have been shopping around to get a couple of thimbles for my collection. I only buy several a year so it isn't growing very fast but I am still happy with it. I have been thinking about starting a scissor collection as well. My main problem is my boys. Even though they are in their 20's, they are still like 6 year olds in the fact that they have to touch, pick up, move and play with everything that belongs to mommy! My thimble case has a glass door which sort of says "Keep Out" so there has been no problem with those yet. But scissors on an open shelf could present too much temptation for them. Maybe I could keep them in a jar inside a cabinet with glass doors! LOL.

Stitching and Stashing

I have been rather bad about my blogging lately. Either there hasn't been much happening, too much happening and keeping me extremely busy or my hands have been giving me an awful fit! I just hate how weak my hands feel when I have to open a new jar of mayonnaise (for instance)! I usually let one of my sons do it for me while they roll their eyes in the "Good Grief, how pitiful is she" way.

I still plan to have a give a way this month! I haven't forgotten! Speaking of giveaways, Edgar is having a blogiversary giveaway so check it out!

The tree is still standing for now. The guys who were going to remove it got behind on a few jobs and then we had some serious thunder storms with lots of rain so hopefully it will be our turn soon.

I pulled out Rubie Owl's Sampler by Plum Street Samplers, got everything ready and decided to start on Bird in the Bower by PSS instead. Since I stitch on Aida (because of eye strain) and not all designs are Aida friendly, I usually do a quick scan over the pattern to make sure I don't get 3/4 finished then whammo, I run into a road block (so to speak). Everything looks fine on Rubie Owl's except for maybe the owl's eyes. I am not too worried about these though. I love the colors of Rubie Owl's so much that I just don't know if I can hold off on it much longer no matter what!

I know that linen is "the" fabric to use now but there are still plenty of us Aida stitchers left. As I said before, most designs are Aida friendly but it would be very helpful if designers would make a statement on the cover of the design to let the buyer know before getting it home, opened and even started if the design is Aida friendly or totally designed to be used with linen. Just a thought.

I have been doing some online window shopping for stitching fabrics lately. I have a large container full but I probably need more! LOL. I also have a list of designs I want to get! I never got to the fabric store last weekend for the rest of my quilting fabrics so hopefully that can be taken care of next time we are out and down that way of town.

Goals and Recap

We had another extra long weekend. I am getting spoiled! I just love having Harold home! Thursday looked very overcast and gloomy the first part of the day and I had ANOTHER doctor appointment! The skies were having a hard time making of their mind between overcast and sunny the remainder of the weekend.

It's May! Time for a re-cap of April's goals and a new list of goals for this month! This may just be the month for another give-a-way since I haven't done one in awhile so keep watching!

APRIL GOALS

1. Start new stitch - YES
2. Remain smoke free - YES
3. Eat Healthy - Well, we all have our weaknesses!
4. Exercise - YES
5. Buy frames - YES
6. Weed around backyard islands - YES
7. Plant sunflower seeds - NO
8. Follow my rotation schedule better - Not really
9. Keep birdfeeders full - YES
10. Put out several new birdhouses - NO
11. Finish two pieces - No but I did finish one
12. Buy and put out grape vines - YES
13. Place order - YES
14. Add to thread stash - YES
15. Add to Aida stash - NO
16. Ok! Ok! Start on Spring Cleaning - YES
17. Put out tomato plants - NO
18. Make appointment for our eye exams - NOT YET

Focus Pieces
1. This is the Day
2. Lauren's Voice

MAY

1. Add to thread stash
2. Add to Aida stash
3. Finish at least one piece
4. Finish off at least one completed piece
5. Keep birdfeeders full this last month
6. Frame pieces and add to wall
7. Buy frames
8. Exercise
9. Remain smoke free
10. Eat Healthy
11. Weed around islands
12. Add to fabric stash for quilt top
13. Begin cutting and piecing for quilt top
14. Plant sunflower seeds
15. Begin a new stitching design
16. Make eye appointment
17. Work on This is the Day
18. Work on Lauren's Voice
19. Place stitching order

Focus Pieces
1. Quilt top
2. This is the Day

Sorry, but no pictures today! Thank you so much for dropping by. I just love your visits! Until next time - stay safe, stay happy and stay well!

Late Day Rambling

I worked on getting four more patterns kitted up yesterday but other than that there was no stitching. My hands and my eyes needed a well deserved break and I will probably extend their vacation through the remainder of the week. In the meantime, I have pulled 10 designs that are on my "next" list. My list often changes as I complete some and others are bumped to a lower spot for new designs that come out! These are not in any type of order. Just a list. I haven't decided which one will actually be pulled for the next new start. Who knows - I may have to start on more than one!

1. Rubie Owl's by Plum Street Sampler
2. Bird in the Bower by Plum Street Sampler
3. Bird Sampler by Birds of a Feather
4. A Weary World Rejoices by Shakespeare Peddler
5. Birds of a Feather by Blackbird Designs
6. Quilt Time Sampler by Little House Needleworks
7. Love Thy Neighbor by La D Da
8. Awake the Dawning Day by Blackbird Designs
9. A Whistling Girl by Hands to Work
10. With One Accord by Heartstring Primitive

I have gotten so bad about forgetting things that I have to keep a weekly "to do and get" list now. It helps so I shouldn't complain. It keeps track of places we need to go on our weekend errands, things we need to pick up, people I need to call for appointments and more.

This giant Sweet Gum in our backyard wooded area will be a thing of the past after tomorrow. Yes, it is coming down. It has been a home to birds in the Spring and Summer and shelter from the cold in the Winter but it is old and is causing worry because of how it leaning and large branches easily break off. I know the birds will miss it as much as I will if not more!

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

A Finish for Tuesday!

I finished up BAATN last night! Yea! I am really happy with how it turned out. As I said before, I made some major color changes so it would fit into my decor. I also changed the bottom flower design to a star from a Sampler Girl freebie. It had a quilted look to it and I felt it went the theme of the overall design better - at least for my taste! Now that this one is complete, I have several others I am looking to start but no more color changes for awhile! I also need to start back working on This is the Day several nights a week. So many of you finished it off already and mine is sitting here about half done! It is just too pretty to let go into the UFO pile!

I have also been trying to teach myself how to knit every once in a while. I still haven't started the classes yet but I found a website with free instructions and I am practicing. It's going slow right now but once I get the casting on down, I hope to be able to learn other stitches a little faster!

The rains are supposed to start again sometime this week and be another day after day after day type storm front! I guess we are due for some so we don't go into a drought but the yard just dried out to the point that I don't feel like I'm walking on a wet sponge whenever I go outside!

I hope everyone has a lovely day and until next time - stay safe, stay happy and stay well!

Monday Rise and Shine

Look what followed me home this weekend! It's not fancy smancy and doesn't do a lot of stand up and cheer tricks but it's faithful and loyal. How could I turn it away? LOL. Then we made a quick trip to pick out fabrics for my first quilt top in at least 5 years! Of course I forgot a few colors and other essentials so another trip to the fabric store is on my to do list for later this week! You don't hear me complaining! *big grin*

I made a list of quilt tops and table toppers that are on my "gotta do" list. I am sure more will be added as I begin looking around again! Working in a fabric store is alot like working in a candy shop. For awhile it is a dream come true but you get to a point when you just don't want to even see the stuff in your off hours! I am finally ready to shop, fondle and drool again! LOL.

Our long weekend was filled with beautiful weather! We both had doctor appointments, ran a few errands and just enjoyed the pleasant days!. I also stopped to pick up some more DMC so that I could kit up several more designs! The mail brought a nice surprise and I got Beth's new sampler! I was able to get quite alot done on my current WIP and hope to have it finished up within the next several days!

Thank you all for stopping by. I always enjoy your visits! Until next time - stay safe, stay happy and stay well!

Dropping in

to say hi! There isn't alot of exciting news around here right now. Just the same ol, same ol'. Get up, make up the bed, start the dishwasher, put in a load of clothes, check emails and read blogs while having some coffee, yadda yadda yadda!

I did get several new charts yesterday. I just love these by Plum Street Samplers! I may start on one later this weekend! *wink*

DH is taking a few extra days off so we will have an extra long weekend again and probably stay busy busy busy! I hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

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

Samplers and Quilts

I have been doing some catalog window shopping for my new sewing machine! I definitely want to start working on my quilting again. I did a lot for quite awhile but I needed a break. I have quilted since 1995 and I hand quilt. I have no problem working with smaller decorative items, wall or table topper quilts but I prefer to send out the larger quilts to be finished. My favorite part of making the quilt is putting together the top and I adore scrappy quilts!

I can easily see myself becoming a hermit so I can quilt by day and stitch by night! LOL! Samplers on the wall and quilts on the beds while dinner cooks away in the crockpot! That's definitely my idea of living the good life!

It was a boring weekend of sorts. DH only had one day off which meant we had to cut out some of our usual errands and only do the necessary ones. Luckily the weather was beautiful on his day off and we were able to get outside and catch up on some things that had been waiting for our attention! But we really worked hard that one day because the next day we were both hobbling around with sore muscles!

I did get a good bit of stitching on my current WIP. Several people have said that the piece looks very familiar but no one is quite sure what design it is so I will tell you. It is from the cover of the March issue of GOS and is Blessed are all the Needleworkers. As I said earlier, I did make a lot of color changes. I loved the original colors but they just didn't fit into my decor.

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

The Sun Returns!

There just isn't alot of news around here right now to write about! I wish I had more but some days are just bor-ing! LOL!

I didn't do a lot of stitching yesterday. Time to let those fingers and wrists rest up a bit! One of my previous hints was that this design came from a stitching magazine. I managed to finish up page 1 and have 3 more pages to go on it (although they are small areas). Can you tell what the design is yet? I did do a bit of stash shopping and will have some new patterns coming in soon! Yea!

The sun came out yesterday and I saw a lot of weeds that need to be taken care of after all this rain finally slows up a bit! The sun is peeking out again today which I am always glad to see! Maybe things can dry up a bit around here now!

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

Tuesday Yuckies

Thank you all for your concern about my hands and wrists. They are feeling better and all should be well (minus the usual aches and pains of age) as long as I don't over do!

We are in day two of yucky weather again! We really need a week to 10 days of warm weather with lots of sunshine to dry up things around here! We get some nice days and things begin to get better then the rain returns with a vengence!

I started working on a new design yesterday. For right now, I am not going to say which one of my kitted up charts it is but I will give several hints.

Hint #1 - I have already made a mistake but don't feel like calling in the frogs!
Hint #2 - I have made a lot of color changes!
Hint #3 - This design is from one of the stitching magazines.
Hint #4 - Design size is 100 stitches by 100 stitches.
Hint #5 - I have mentioned that I wanted to do this piece on my blog.

Oh my! Paula has two - yes, two - wonderful new designs posted on her blog! And they are most definitely going on my "to get" list along with the others!

Last night I looked online at sewing machines. Oh, we already have one but I hate the thought of using it. DH picked it out for me and it just has too many bells and whistles on it for my liking! It's fine for hemming up pants and making other clothing repairs but I just want a simple and easy to use machine for making my quilt tops! I found one I like but now I need to talk myself into getting it! LOL!

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

A Belated Happy Easter!

All of these new designs and sneak peeks will do me in! Shakespeare Peddler has a new design that will be available soon! Since I love my backyard birds and this looks like a medium sized design, I will definitely be ordering it! What a cute saying and so true! Diane has a sneak peek on her blog that I know will be coming to live here when it's available! I am already in love with it! And Beth has new her design available on her blog!

Several of you asked me how many kitted up charts I counted the other day when organizing them all. LOL. I didn't count as much as I just organized! I can tell you though, that there were a lot! LOL!

I let my wrists and hands rest up for several days with no stitching but while they rested I worked on getting the fabric and threads ready for another pattern to start on! I am still working on This is the Day but this (soon to be) new one has been tugging at the back of mind for quite a while now.

I hope everyone had a nice Easter holiday and weekend. Harold had an extra long holiday weekend and Ryan's birthday actually fell on Easter this year! My little boy is 23 years old now! My, how time flies! We did some of our usual errands and running around. But we didn't get as much done as we had planned. It seemed as though something always popped up that would delay our plans. We had some severe thunderstorms during the weekend with lots tornado warnings! With the ground so soaked - again, all we could do was plan our Spring projects (if the ground is ever given the opportunity to dry up)!

Since I didn't do any stitching or take any pictures over the long holiday weekend, I will share an older picture of one of my backyard visitors!

Birds Make Me Happy!

I forgot to mention yesterday that I would be having another giveaway in the near future so please keep watching! My mind doesn't work right until after that second cup of coffee! LOL!

We were in such a hurry to get things done on DH's one day off that I forgot to pick up some bird food! They finished it off during the last snow we had and even though it's been cold, nesting season is upon us! I will try to pick some up next weekend when he is off again. I will get an extra big bag to help make it up to them! It's time to start filling all of my feeders instead of just the big one that I use for winter feeding.

Besides samplers, I have a special fondness for pieces with the themes of needlework or women so I am always on the lookout for them. I fought it for as long as I could but I am also becoming a fan of primitive Halloween stitchery! I was just drooling over Lori's Halloween blog!

I promised a picture of my current progress on Thirty Birds and here it is. I am hoping to pick up Lauren's Voice and work on it a bit today.

Thank you so much for stopping by! Until next time - stay safe, stay warm and stay well!

Thursday Morning

I hate to do a pictureless post but I just don't have any to share today. I decided to take a stitching break for several days to let my strained eyes and sore hands rest up just a bit! I am reading a very interesting book instead for the remainder of the week!

We had beautiful weather the past 5 or so days. Lovely warm temps and absolutely no humidity! You just can't get much better than that! Of course, I had to pull out the allergy meds since all this warm weather is making the trees bud thus bringing the pollen out in full force! So many trees were beginning to bud before the big snow last week and we thought it would kill them off but they are just picking up where they left off! And now the temps are falling again! Luckily, we aren't going to see the 20's again but it will be a big not so pleasant difference from the past days!

This will be a short post. I had all the symptoms of food poisoning last night and am feeling pretty weak and plain tired this morning! I just can't pin point the culprit unless it was the one cup of flavored coffee I had about mid day. I seldom drink it anymore and upon checking this morning, it had been in the cabinet a little longer than it should have been! Well, my taste for flavored coffee has been zapped for a very long time now!

Don't forget to sign up for the giveaway on the previous post by 9pm EDST tomorrow.

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

Stitches and Secrets

Glad Tidings is moving along steadily but each time I hold it out to look at the progress I've made, I just don't seem to see as much as I think I should! Oh well. At least I know I'm working diligently on it! My goal is still to have this piece finished by the time DST begins so I need to get really busy! There are just so many of these leaves! I think I will be doing them just a little different than the chart calls for.

Shame, shame, shame on me! I have so many beautiful designs waiting to be stitched from magazines and freebies that I have not yet done! I could say that I will stop buying new designs and only work from all of these plus all my on hand charts that are patiently waiting in line but who would I be kidding!! I may have to cut back due to the economy but just to stop buying charts is enough to make me laugh hysterically!

I have my next 4-5 starts picked out! Now I need to go buy the threads so that I can kit them all up. But I will save them as a surprise for when I start on each of them!

Speaking of surprises, I got a phone call yesterday along with a wonderful surprise! I am so excited but am sworn to secrecy for now. I should be able to divulge everything sometime this week though!

I read Vonna's post and was in total agreement with her! I only get my hair trimmed about every 3 months and get it trimmed shorter than I like so the cut will last longer. I only buy a few new shirts and maybe a pair of jeans once or twice a year. I am very frugal about buying things that pertain to me but I want to buy my hobby supplies! My hobbies make me happy!

Until my next post, stay safe, safe warm and stay well!

Thunder, Lightening and .....

SNOW! We had one heck of an electrical snow storm last night! Over the weekend, we had two days of solid non stop rain then it turned into sleet. After a short while, it began to snow hard and heavy along with thunder and lighening! The power flickered off several times during the night but we were one of the lucky ones that didn't lose it completely! We woke up this morning to 9 inches of fluffy white stuff and more in other areas!

Over the weekend we did our usual errand runs and grocery shopping. I managed to find the time to color my hair so I finally feel like a person again! So long gray! LOL! I also worked in a quick stop to pick up some threads and while there I noticed a great sale on frames so I got several in sizes I don't currently have on hand! I managed to fit in some family history time and found several new people to add to the line! And, oh yes, I added some more new links to my sidebar! There are just so many great blogs out there to enjoy!

Harold decided I should get some new charts! I didn't ask for any but he knew I wanted some. I always want some! LOL! I ordered the following

1 Thirty Birds by Hands to Work
2 Whistling Girl by Hands to Work

There are several more I am debating on and will probably order later this week!

Thank you to everyone who has asked if I am feeling better! Yes, I am - finally! The dr. had given me some new meds and I believe these are actually doing the trick! I am really feeling like myself again!

Have a wonderful day. Stay safe, stay warm and stay well!

It's Friday!

This just hasn't been a great blogging week with being sick, doctors and lots of phone calls to make. Plus there hasn't been a lot of exciting things happening around here lately. Hopefully this will all begin to change as the weather starts to get warmer!

I asked DH and the boys if they had heard strange noises outside (at night) any more and they all replied "No, not lately". But DH does feel there was a Bobcat hanging around for several nights. Very creepy!

Last weekend, a group of deer (3 bucks and 2 does) came running through our backyard! Of course, I didn't have my camera on me!

Yesterday I worked on framing a piece I have had finished for awhile. This was a freebie that Beth offered back around Thanksgiving. Unfortunately I didn't have the best of lighting so all the pictures that I took of this were not super great but you get the idea. Now to buy a hanger for the frame and I can it to my wall of samplers that is slowly starting to take off!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Be safe, be warm and be well!