After the 4th

I am slowly getting more done on my current stitch! The Bee Skep by BBD (in the Agnes Platt Strawberry Sampler book). The bees in this chart were not Aida friendly so I will use some bees from a different design. I am using 18 count Aida in Caramel Creme by My Vintage Needlearts over at Etsy and most of the colors are from the called for list. A few changes here and there out of necessity.

For such a small piece, it is really taking me a long time to stitch it. What with the Grumpy Ol Gazer being in the hospital. Then getting him back home and settled in with home health care. A few personal issues that caught me off guard and that house! Beautiful but very painstakingly tedious! Plus I have had a few ehhhhhh days. You know, the ones where you feel ok but just don't feel like tackling any projects. I am hoping I can finish it up before my infusions begin.

I found this old WIP one day while sorting through some drawers. I can't even remember the year I started it. It had to be after 2005. I did start it with the intention of dedicating it to my FIL who had recently passed in 2005. There isn't much left to do on it so I may just take this in as my infusion project if I can gather everything I will need to work on it.  I have most of the threads except for remainder of the border so I may leave that off. I will see how it works out. If I should happen to finish this up before my infusions are over, I will probably take in Never Enough Thyme by the Goode Huswife to finish. As a matter of fact, I am thinking that I may just take my WIPs for my infusion projects for a while!

A few trips to the grocery store. I found some clementines! Be still my heart! They are very seasonal and not available year round so when I find them, I am in heaven! A few trips to the doctor and pharmacy. Pretty ordinary for us. Once in a while we may venture out to get some ice cream at the drive thru and eat it in the parking lot. A haircut every other month. Once or twice a year we may venture out to our favorite steak house for an eat in meal and go to the home center to pick up plants or other needed items that can not be ordered.

A lot of people are working on Jolly July aka Christmas in July stitches this month. I usually do at least one Christmas stitch a year but I did not get any holiday pieces done last year. This year, I only have one I want to do so I have pulled it, ordered the threads and I plan to work on it. It may not get finished for several months but I will have a good start! Her name is Mary Ann Hutton and she is by The Scarlett Letter. I doubt I start her this month but she on my Top 20 list.

My list of TOP 20 to stitch in 2020 just may roll over into next year. I doubt seriously I will be able to finish them all this year but they are among my favorites and definitely a priority! I really wonder where I will put them all!

I wear my mask like a good girl when we go out in public but I prefer to go out early in the day before the heat gets too bad. Otherwise, I do have difficulty breathing good with the mask on. I haven't said anything about the events here in the US with the monuments being destroyed and so much more. Destroying these statues will not change history or make it go away. History is there for a reason. To help us learn and grow stronger. It is not be ignored. Enough said. This is a happy blog and this is how it will stay!

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

Have a Happy

Welcome July!

Hot Summer Days

This has been our rainiest season to date! So far,we have had 16 inches this Spring and it just keeps coming!

We had a day long power outage over the weekend. The power went out at 8:50 AM and did not come back on until 11 PM. It was tolerable until about 2 in the afternoon and onward. It was terribly hot by then!

When my Sewing Club book by BBD arrived, I promptly stitched Willing Hands then put the book aside for a while. The other night I picked it back up and found at least five more "must do" designs! Uh oh!

I decided to share a sneak peek with you of my current stitch.  It has been a slow stitch but mainly because I did not work on it while the Grumpy Ol Gazer was in the hospital. I miscounted in a few areas but did not notice until I was so far along, I just decided to work around it instead of ripping stitches out. It has basically been an enjoyable stitch except for that house! Once I developed my rhythm on it, I started sailing right along! I will give you one hint. It is a BBD design!

When I had my framing appointment several weeks ago, I ordered a few items I had been looking for. Vintage Animals by Jeanette Douglas and the threads. I have Vintage Birds but needed the threads for it so the owner took care of this for me!

I have had several other happy mail days this month. One day, a new BBD design arrived and I was thrilled to see The Song They Sang by Carriage House Samplings in my mailbox!

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

Happy Father's Day!

I am starting to have second thoughts about my infusion project! I still want to stitch The Fall by Barbara Anna Designs but I am just not sure if I want to take such a big piece of fabric to infusion each week but I WILL get to it! For now,I will have go through my stash and see what I can find.

We had a nice weekend and treated ourselves to some ice cream at the local ice cream shop here. A lemon shake for the Grumpy Ol Gazer and a hot fudge nut sundae for me! We also made another grocery trip. Lots and lots of fresh fruit this time of year! Peaches, sweet black plums, cherries, blueberries, strawberries and of course,watermelons! I always pick up a watermelon when they are in season.

Did you know that there are male and female watermelons? The males are the big oblong melon and are extra juicy. The female is round, has a sweeter taste but is still juicy enough. I usually buy the female. They are in the stores earlier plus they are a little bit easier to carry!

I was going to share my current stitch but decided I wanted to wait until I was a little farther along on it before doing that. I did not finish it up in time to take in for framing but it will go to the next sale in October! The Grumpy Ol Gazer had a follow up dr. appointment and I wanted to ride along (no one other than  patients allowed in dr. offices right now) so I took it along to stitch on while I waited in the car.

I took 6 pieces in to the framing sale this week. I am thrilled with the frames we picked out and can't wait to get them back! I have an empty wall in my dining area. After painting I never put anything back up on that wall so I have a blank canvas to work with! I am thinking I would like a nature wall (birds and other critters that wander into my backyard). I may have to intermingle a few other designs with it for the sake of space. It will be fun to work on pieces and watch that wall grow!

Thanks to everyone who sent get well wishes for the Grumpy Ol Gazer. He is actually doing better than before he went in the hospital! It's good to have him back home!

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

Getting Back to Normal

What a terrible wonky week it was around here! Last Wednesday the Grumpy Ol Gazer was not feeling his best. He just got worse as the day went on. Around midnight he woke me up because he felt he needed to go to the hospital. I jumped out of bed and into action, getting dressed and calling an ambulance. We followed the ambulance to the hospital and the nurses proceeded to chase me out and told me no visitors! He finally was able to come home yesterday. It was scary for me but also for him because he has ditched a few bad habits so this hopefully doesn't happen again!

We still do the majority of our shopping as pick up but the walk in store usually has the best supply of ice cream and this is an ice cream junkie household! Ice cream for milkshakes, ice cream in a bowl, ice cream sundaes, ice cream with cobblers!

Speaking of cobblers.....  I made another blueberry cobbler last week. They get eaten up as soon as they come out of the oven! I am taking full advantage of fresh blueberry season with this delicious cobbler! Next on my list is a strawberry cobbler. This one uses frozen strawberries but the brand I buy taste like they were just picked!

We have had too much rain lately! Along with some mighty loud storms! Those rainy days do make for good stitching days but I am ready for the sun to come out for a while!

I ordered this cute design as my reward for having so many dr. appointments over the next few months. I have at least one appt. a week through the middle of August. Sometimes more than one. So I decided to spoil myself a little with this sweet design by Heart in Hand Designs.

I have my appointment for the framing sale next week! I can't wait! I have several new starts. One small that I hope to finish before the framing appointment and a larger one that I work on during the weekends. I will save them for show at a later date. I just know if I show them now, I will jinx them and set them aside!

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

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

Life is Good!

Life is Good! I finally got my hair trimmed up. The threads for Lizzie Kate's Things Unseen sampler finally arrived. The baby bluebirds have hatched!

Our hair salons are still closed but  we live almost on the state line and the hair salons in our neighboring state were allowed to open (with restrictions) so we hopped in the car to go get our hair cut! I feel like a person again!

It's that time of year again and daisies are in the store which means they are also on my table! I usually get them in time for Mother's Day but they were late coming in this year. As long as I get them, I am happy!

I have (almost) definitely decided on The Fall by Barbara Ana as my infusion project! I usually start on them about a week before infusions begin to get everything set up and started so I can just continue at infusion!

I spent a day sorting out my pattern stash. The ones I am interested in stitching were put in a special place that is easily accessible for me while the others that will probably not get stitched any time soon were put away where I can get to them but they don't clutter up the rest of the stash.

I ordered some more fabrics from My Vintage Needlearts over at Etsy. She had been out of the Beige (which I loved) and she got more in so I had to get some more of it! I would describe it as a light to medium pecan color.

I made my appointment at my LNS for their framing sale. I hope to have one or two more finished to take in by then. I will probably have between 6-9 to frame. I am looking to have at least 4 finishes for the Fall framing sale so I had better get busy! Whatever doesn't finished for this sale will be rolled over to the Fall framing sale! A lot better than last year when I only got 1 finish the entire year! LOL.

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

Just Words

I have good news and I have bad news this post.

I have been waiting on my threads so that I can start on Lizzie Kate's Things Unseen Mystery Sampler. Bad News - it is taking forever for them arrive! So I am going to start on another piece for now. The threads will probably show up as soon as I get started on a different piece! UPDATE - the threads arrived the day after I started the new stitch!

Good News. I have a new weekend stitch to work on.  Never Enough Thyme by The Goode Huswife! I have loved this design since I first saw it but it has been OOP and impossible to find! A sweet friend shared her pattern with me so that I could finally work on this! I used 18 count Aida in Khaki by My Vintage Needlearts and I used DMC threads from my stash. And no hand cramps yet with this one! I will share a picture next post!

Good News. My LNS is having their Spring framing sale between May 23 and June 16. It is by appointment only. I am hoping I can get one or two more pieces finished up to take in. They usually have a framing sale in the Fall too so any leftovers can be saved for that one.

Good News. My next round of infusions come up in late July through early August. I have been thinking about what my infusion project should be. I have The Fall by Barbara Ana Designs kitted and ready. I also have Faith by Heartstring Samplery kitted up. Or I have several other Adam and Eve designs kitted up and ready to stitch. I like the idea of The Fall. I know I would not finish it by the end of infusions but I would get a good start.

I hope everyone had a nice Mothers Day. We are still not able to go to dine in restaurants but the guys got some good take out so I would not have to cook and I got several charts and some threads.

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

A New Start

Our stay at home order for the state has been extended but all is good. My grocery bill is definitely higher! Part of my higher grocery bill could be my fault because I tend to get a little more of certain items because I don't know if they will be in stock next time or not but I never buy beyond my limited amount. And we definitely eat plenty of snack foods during this! I only go out to pick up groceries and prescriptions or if I run out of ice cream!! Ice cream is an essential, isn't it?!!

We have had several rainy days in a row this past week which is fine by me because the grocery pickup is done and nothing else to go out for. Rainy days are good for two things. Stitching and naps! And I take advantage of both!

I mentioned that I had several designs to choose from for my next stitch. The top three are Sampler Hill by Brenda Gervais, Wonderfully Made by Erica Michaels and All Joys are Thine by BBD. There is a problem with having a big stash. You tend to forget what you actually have. I did that with Sampler Hill and ordered it again. I don't mind having extra threads. Those can and will always be used but now I have an extra chart too! Oh well.

UPDATE -- I decided on my next new start and here is a picture Sampler Hill in progress. So far, it is an enjoyable stitch and I really do love the design! I am using the called for colors (although I am debating on changing several) and I am using 18count Aida in Carmel Creme by My Vintage Needlearts.

I ordered my very first Hands Across the Sea pattern in PDF file form. It is Mary Eliza McMillan 1869. I just LOVE the simplicity of it and the happy colors! I also like the bottom dedication to COVID-19. We need a new printer because our current one is broken but I as soon as we get one, I will print out the file and start stitching. No hurry right now though since I am working on Sampler Hill!!

These are not all my fabrics. I have a drawer filled with others from various places. These are just Aida fabrics from My Vintage Needlearts over at Etsy. Can you tell that I love her stuff!! I just placed another order too for some of my favorites!

While rummaging through my stash one day I noticed that several items were missing! An OOP Adam and Eve and some threads for another sampler. I am pretty sure I had ordered the threads but I could be wrong. I have several other places to look and if I don't find them there, then I will freak out!!! UPDATE -- I found the A&E chart (thank goodness!!)  but not the threads for the other sampler. I guess I will have to order them.

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

The Finish Line

I wake up in the mornings to the sound of birds singing outside my window and I think "what a weird dream I had" only to realize seconds later that it was not a dream! All of the stuff is real and still going on! I probably have that dream at least once a week.

It's finished!! A big happy dance is in order! I have been stitching away in between wiping down counters,door knobs, phones and more. I have made some more progress on Willing Hands by BBD. I had to entertain some frogs (don't they know about social distancing? LOL) and I took a day off from stitching because my eyes were beginning to cross! I made another little boo boo but after examining it, I decided to leave it. I have read that some people purposely put a mistake in their hand crafts (woodworking, quilting, ect) to help keep them humble and remind them that they are not perfect. I'll go with that! LOL. The picture just does not do justice to these vibrant colors!

I am going to put the BBD Sewing Club book aside for a while but I am not finished it by any means! This book has so many wonderful designs!

I never thought I would get excited about toilet paper or other everyday items but when I am able to find them my heart beats a little faster as I walk (not run) very quickly to claim my limited amount! LOL. If I ever see those shelves fully stocked again I may pass out from shock! LOL

What is the first thing you are going to do when life goes back to whatever our new normal will be? I am going to get my hair trimmed (I feel like the shaggy dog) and then we are going to the steak house for a nice sit down dinner! At least those are the plans in my mind! LOL

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

What Day Is It?

Looks like I am late again with my blog post! But in my defense, who can keep up with the day of week anymore? All days are pretty much the same for a while, anyway!

We are still here and taking it one day at a time just like everyone else. The Grumpy Ol Gazer will pitch in and help me clean or cook every now and then but other than that, I stitch and he does whatever strikes his mood. Working on the car, taking a nap or something else. The boys are trying to keep busy too. The oldest has been taking care of the yard, cleaning out the back building and stuff like that. The youngest has been helping with laundry and taking trash out. Of course he is bummed out that his birthday falls during the stay at home order.

We have been doing the majority of our grocery shopping online and then go by for pick up. We don't even have to get out of the car. Once in a while I go to another store for a quick trip to look for things store #1 might have been out of (while wearing my mask). What am I having a hard time finding? The stores have toilet paper but it gets bought out as soon as they stock it so it was a matter of hitting the right time! I finally did! It varies from time to time and store to store. Sometimes it is eggs or meat or paper products.

I have made some good progress on my stitch. Is the design more obvious now? It is Willing Hands from the new Sewing Club book by Blackbird Designs. I am loving it so far. I just finished the first page.If you have this book then you know that the design is divided onto two pages. I have had a really hard time putting this one down! I was so excited to start on it that I did not even look through my fabrics for the perfect match. I just grabbed a piece of Platinum 18 count Aida that was in the basket beside my chair and started!! I am using the called for colors. I plan to have it framed.

I have new charts. Old charts. Free charts. WIPs. I am determined to get as many stitched as possible during this stay at home order so that when things go back to somewhat  normal, I can take a pile of finished pieces to my LNS for framing! My reward for making it through all this without going bonkers and her reward for staying patient and believing in her customers!

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

Day After Day!

Who would have guessed a month ago that life would (or even could) change so drastically! We try to do what normal things we can but everything is basically a day by day routine now (which is no actual routine). No vacation plans this year. No plans past today at all!

Like I mentioned in my last post, I have had plenty of stitching time. Lately I have been working on a special piece which seemed appropriate for Lent. I finished it up last night! Here is a picture of Alas! And did my Savior Bleed by Lindy Stitches. I bought it as a PDF file over at Etsy. I do love those PDF files! Just pay, print out and start stitching!  I have had a good bit of frogging on this one but only on those tiny little leaves.

I was on a roll so I picked up a new start. Can you guess what design it is?

We still have pizza night once a week. Then about every 7-10 days we place a carry out order from a local place (no big chains) to help show support during this time. Exciting, huh? LOL. Our local news has started a special segment once a week that showcases interesting areas around us so that we can make a list of places we would like to visit when things calm down.

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

No Pictures Yet

I am still here. I took a little time off from my blog to get some things in order around here. I can't say anything exciting has been happening. There is only a self quarantine in effect around here and we have been doing our part. We shop for groceries online and then pick them up without having to go into the store. We occassionally have to go into a store but very seldom and we make it a quick trip. No lingering!

Luckily, the weekend before all the hullabaloo started we went to our favorite steak house which is now closed to eat in customers but does have take out. Just not the same as a nice sit down and chat dinner though.

This pandemic has taught me several things already. Patience. Everyone is doing their best and it doesn't help anyone to be snippy and lose my temper. It has taught me to appreciate everything and everyone I took for granted before. The little things that used to be so easy to find and just run out to pick up now have to be looked for day after day. The young girl at the grocery store who does my shopping and delivers to my car for pick up. I always thank her and make sure she knows that she is appreciated. And so much more!

I have definitely had time for my stitching! I have surprised myself at how much I have been able to accomplish with it lately!

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

I'll be back

I am taking a break from my blog. No, I am not sick. No family emergecies.

I just need a little "me" time to catch up on my life! Everyone stay safe and I will return later!

Short Again

We had a busy week going on. Between the two of us, we had a handful of doctor appointments plus a few errands. Luckily my grocery shopping had already been taken care of. That rash finally cleared up and I am not scratching like a dog with fleas anymore!

Our woodpecker is back. I have mentioned him before. He is the one who likes to peck on the house. Not the gutters but the house! And he pecks on the section which leads to our bedroom wall right above the bed so early in the morning we get awakened by tap, tap, tap above our heads! LOL. I keep trying to tell him that I bought a house just for him but he won't use it!!

No stitching this week. I put a special book in my stash drawer and it got stuck. I tried to open the drawer without tearing up the book and tore up my hands instead. They need to rest and heal awhile.

I have several SALs and/or Clubs that will probably be weekend work so I won't count them into the final decision and tally. Also I have several WIPs that I want to make myself work on at least one day a week until finished! Good intentions again!

I think that's enough. Until next time may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart!

Short and Sweet but No Pictures

Once again, it has been a dull and uneventful week around the ol' homestead! But as I like to say, Dull Is Good!  We did have several days of excitement! It snowed but still no accumulation! It was nice to have at least one snow this season. Of course, it never snows unless I need to make a trip to the store then everyone else has the same idea! LOL

I put Quaker Bluebirds aside after 10 hours of stitching with the intention of pulling out  A Virtuous Woman to work on. It was her turn for 10 hours of attention. Well you know what they say about good intentions! I had an allergic reaction to some new medicine the dr. gave me and I was broken out in a nasty red and very itchy rash! I put that medicine away and got out the Benadryl but I still could not stitch because I was still itching so badly! Hopefully this will be gone soon and I can give A Virtuous Woman some me time!

I did sign up for Scattered Seeds Little Wren club. I loved her sneak peeks and Tammy designs such beautiful pieces. What really won me over tho was the fact that I have a soft spot in my heart for wrens.

How are you liking the new designs for Market? Seeing anything you can't wait to get? I have only seen a couple of smalls that may end up in my basket so I spent most of my Market money on The Little Wren club instead!

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

MoJo in the House!

Hello again! I hope everyone had a good week. I can't say that anything super exciting happened around here. We had some more snow showers but no accumulation. One thing that has been a constant is rain!! Everyone around here is so tired of muddy yards along with up and down temperatures!

Infusions are over for a while, anyway. I can't say that I will miss getting up extra early and dragging myself over to the center.

I have been working on A Virtuous Woman and Quaker Bluebirds (using red). Here is an update on Quaker Bluebirds.

Last time I mentioned rotations and have thought hard on it since then. I know myself. If I have too many in the works at once, I get overwhelmed and stop all of them. If I only work on one at a time, I get bored, want a new stitch and put it aside! Right now I am working on two. I have been working on one for 10 hours then I switch over to the other and do the same. So far it has been working fine for me. No less than 2, no more than 3.  I may have found my rotation mojo! I am hoping to have at least one finished or close to a finish by the end of the month! I have even picked out the next several pieces that will be worked on!

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

Stitching Along

Last week we had weather temps in the mid 60s but we also had a tornado touch down. Luckily it missed us. Two day later the weather was 33 and snowing again!! Talk about some wonky southern weather!

One more infusion this round then I am finished until July unless somethng happens. Fingers crossed!

I promised an update on Virtuous Woman this time and here it is! I have been taking her to infusions when I go. Sometimes I get a good bit stitched and other days I only manage a small amount of stitching along side of a good nap. Unfortunately the frogs followed me to infusion! All taken care of now! I have been working on her at home some too. I am planning to frame her so I am not sure if I will tweek her any,

I also have another update on Quaker Bluebirds aka Redbirds. This piece is really hard to put down but it does seem to ge going slow

I have struggled for years with the way I stitch. I like to do one piece and get it finished before moving on but I have always envied stitchers with rotations. Vonna aka the twisted stitcher mentioned on Fiber Talk about a new rotation method that she is going to try. It sounded very interesting and not so overwhelming.I may give it a try but nothing major

How many WIPs do you have? Do you dream of starting a new start while workng on an current piece? Be honest!

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

Sort of Long and Lots of Pictures

We had some snow several days ago! It was coming down so hard and big flakes but it stopped not long after it started and turned to just cold rain! I would love one good snow before the end of the season.

It won't be long before the weather is nice enough that we can drive up to the mountains and see family again! I always love the mountains no matter what season!

Two infusions down and two left to go for this round! Last infusion was a bad day. The infusion went fine with no problems but one of gals brought me a cup of coffee (very much appreciated) with creamer that I am allergic to! I should have asked but it slipped my mind! From now on, I will take my OWN creamer so that does not happen again!

I have an update on Quaker Bluebirds aka Redbirds by Willow Hill Sampling. Unfortunately, I am not as far along as I had hoped to be by now but I am really enjoying this stitch! I had to stop and take care of some frogs but it will be worth it in the long run. I have an update on Virtuous Woman as well but I am going to save it for next time! I am taking my time on both of these. No worry. No hurry.

Can you believe that I am already itching for another new start?? I am usually a one project at a time type of gal.  I made an exception this time with Quaker Bluebirds and Virtuous Woman but I will fight those new start urges until at least one of these is finished!

I made a run to our LNS for some threads I was out of and while I was there, this sassy fellow by PSS caught my eye. I had to bring him home!

I don't buy much jewlery but once in a while I see something that just sets my heart spinning. I have had my eye on these two necklaces over at Etsy for quite some time. I finally gave in and bought them!

The recipe of the week is An Old Fashioned Skillet Meatloaf. The picture and recipe are from Pinterest. This was a new meatloaf recipe for me and it was a BIG hit!  Everyone really enjoyed it! I substituted BBQ sauce for the ketchup and it worked great.

INGREDIENTS

2 lbs. Ground Beef  (80/20 or 85/15)

1 1/2 cups Old Fashioned Oats

1 cup Ketchup

2 eggs

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce

TOPPING

1/3 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons brown sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl whisk the eggs. Add the onion, salt, pepper, 1 cup ketchup and the Worcestershire sauce to the eggs stir until blended. Add the ground beef and the oats mix well using a wooden spoon or your hands ( I used my hands).

3. Dump mixture into a 10in. cast iron skillet, press to shape. If you don't have a cast iron skillet, you can follow the same instructions for a bread pan.  Bake for one hour, remove from oven, spread on the topping and bake for 25 more minutes or until the center reaches 160 degrees.

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