Catching Up!

What a heat wave we have been having and they have been accompanied by severe thunderstorms almost every evening. Usually I am outdoors during these months, puttering around with my plants but this year I have turned into a hermit, staying indoors as much as possible away from the heat. Once in a while I venture out in the evenings just to sit on the deck and survey my kingdom (as such).

No, I am not finished with Independent Mind. I ran out of a needed color floss and that delayed my stitching several days along with a bum wrist that needed a rest. But I am stitching again and am close to the end. Very close! I should be really pushing myself at this point but it almost feels like work to even pick it up! I don't think I will do a big piece again for quite awhile!

Life has been keeping me busy (in a dull way) with doctor appointments and such so I haven't had anything interesting to post on my blog for you. These hot summer days just drain me. Physically and emotionally. I am ready for some cooler crisp Autumn days!

Getting There

I thought I would post today since tomorrow will be extra busy with the stress test. I am not really worried about the results since my doctor seems confident that everything will probably be alright and this is just a precautionary messure but DH has had several of these test and he really comes home complaining about them and how tired he is.

I thought I would go ahead and post my updated photo of Independent Mind. I hope to have it finished up within the next 7 to 10 days and the next photo will be the finish photo! Yea!

Most everyone likes my idea for HRH of doing and framing each one individually. Siobhan had an idea of making pillows out of them which I liked. I can just vision a big basket full of HRH pillows.

Thanks for stopping by! I always read your comments and enjoy visiting your blogs too!

A Little Excitement

A big thank you to everyone who has expressed concern over my last post. I'm not really worried especially since the dr. said all my tests (so far) were clear and good.

It was a short and busy weekend. We went out of town for the day on Saturday to where my dad lived. The Hospice House had a dedication for the brick walkway which some of you may remember me mentioning a while back. Harold and I had a brick put in the walkway in my dad's memory. It's a beautiful walkway (pictured to the side) which they hope to add to and an emotional trip for me to the Hospice House since this is where he passed away and I have my final memories of him here. Since he is buried somewhere else, I placed a single flower on his brick. Afterwards, we stopped by my all time favorite BBQ place. I grew up eating this BBQ and every time we would come up to visit, my dad would make sure I would get some whether we came out to eat here or just got some take out. In my opinion, it's the best BBQ in the world but I could be showing some favoritism since I have so many fond memories of this place! Next, we stopped by the cemetery to place some flowers on my mother's and infant brothers graves. The last stop was to go by and visit with my stepmother whom I haven't seen since October. So much had happened around here making it hard for us to get back up and to be honest, it is a little hard for me to go into my dad's house knowing he won't be there to greet me with a big hug.

All of our running around on Saturday meant that we were going to have to grocery shop on Sunday. Ugh. Who wants to grocery shop on a Sunday? Not me but we really had no choice or did we. On our way home from out of town on Saturday, DH's work called and left a message they needed him for an emergency job on Sunday so before we even went home on Saturday, we stopped and picked up some groceries to last a few days until we can get back out for the main shopping! By the time we finally got home we were both so exhausted and ready to collapse.

I updated by trade/wishlist (link in the sidebar) because it won't be long before I am adding Independent Mind to the list that I have for trade. The house on Independent Mind was really holding me up. For some reason I just couldn't get moving on it but I finally decided that enough was enough and I picked it up and really got busy on the house! Hopefully that will be the last stitching block in my path to finishing up this piece.

I took some time to look through all my HRH charts. I have often mentioned how much I love them but also how intimidated I am by them mainly because of their size. I had an idea about how to do them and make it so much easier on me. I would like to do my favorite blocks individually, frame each one individually and have a HRH wall of all sorts of pieces intermingled! It sounds like it would take a lot of the pressure off of me and in my mind it looks wonderful! I even have the wall picked out. The one and only draw back is that would be a lot of frames to buy! So for now I am back at square one trying to figure out a way to do these pieces that will make me happy and in the meantime other stitchers are starting and finishing their HRH designs! So far I have three ideas on how I may do them. I would love some input! Tell me what you think.
1. Just like they are shown
2. Cut the designs back to 9 of my favorite blocks (I really don't like them all)
3. Do each one individually and frame it on an HRH wall (my favorite idea and probably most expensive)

Thanks so much for stopping by! Your visits and comments always mean the world to me! Until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart!

After the Long Weekend

Since life has been dull around here lately, there hasn't been as much to write about so my posts have been fewer and farther between. The biggest excitement recently has been a check up at the doctor. No big problems or worries. Just one of those regular visits so he can keep tabs on how I am adjusting to all the aches and pains that come with old age! I think I passed the test! Since I casually mentioned to him that I had been having some chest pains he decided to do an EKG and a chest xray. Both were clear and good. He is setting me up for a stress test but feels it will turn out alright as well. He just wants to play it safe since I am having these chest pains while sitting still and doing nothing. He feels it is very likely scar tissue caused from my smoking days (which, by the way, are still a nothing more than a memory).

Every time I go pull out my stash to find my new start, I hear Independent Mind by CHS calling my name to come put a few stitches in! Still bored, yes but the prodding is helping me to make progress! I can't knock that. I will show a picture next post. I changed the chimneys and door color to red along with the center of the flowers. Now I have my red fix. I have the right side of the alphabet, the rest of the house, the date of finishing and the bottom design to complete! I am really pushing myself on this one since I am doing it in memory of my aunt. I hate the thought of letting it sit unfinished and unattended for months like so many others I have started then put down.

When I go through my stash for a new start I always get these feelings of being unfaithful to all the others that don't get picked! Especially if they have been in the stash bin longer than the new start. Does that ever happen to you? Just like with your children, you know you love them all the same but you also know that you may show favoritism occasionally without really meaning to.

Harold was off for several extra days over the holiday weekend. A day trip would have been lovely but we chose to stay around the house and I am so glad we did because on Saturday the mail brought me a wonderful surprise from Edgar! Yes, I now have a frog! A beautiful, scissor loving frog! When Harold pulled the package out of the mailbox, he gave me a "shame on you" look and said "Sherry, what did you go and order?" I promised him I had ordered nothing -- yet and finally convinced him to hand over the package so I could see the return address. I was thrilled to see Edgar's name because I knew it was going to be something really fun and special! Of course, as I squealed over it, Harold looked at it like it was some puzzle to be figured out. lol. Thank you again so much, dear friend!

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