Welcome September! Long Post

The first part of September is usually a busy time for us. We celebrated our 44th anniversary! I remember when I was in first grade we had a class on promises. Promises we made to other people, to God and even to ourselves. I was very moved by this lesson and  I made some promises to myself about my life. Over the years I have honored these promises and tried to live my life based on them. I have even added a few over the years. So far, I have not broken one promise. Pretty good for a first grader, huh? One of them was about marriage. We had a nice day and went out for a special dinner.

 

I recently got a phone call about the kidney transplant program!  There are 3-5 steps to be fully accepted. I have passed step 1. I answered the phone! LOL. Talk about being surprised and overwhelmed at the same time. I attended my first class. Very strict rules. I don't know how long I would have to wait for the organ ( or if I will ever get one) but for now I am not worried about it. I am just really honored to be considered. I will probably find out around the end of this month if I have been accepted.

 

Several days later, the Grumpy Ol Gazer will have a birthday (it falls on Labor Day this year). I used to always make him two German Chocolate cakes for his special day. One for home and one to take to work. I stopped making his cakes for several years (because of health reason and life in general)  but I redeemed myself by making one for him this year and it turned out good! He will still get two GC cakes though. He finally quit smoking while he was in the hospital several months ago. I promised him I would make a GC cake for him on his quit anniversary each year if he stuck with it!

 

It has always seemed as though once Labor Day makes it's appearance on the calendar, the rest of the year just flies by! That is fine with me this year!

 

I did not get much stitching done this week because of everything I mentioned above! We have several more appointments this month but nothing back to back. I did go through my stash again. I had fewer WIPs than I thought. That is always a nice surprise!  I decided to work on another WIP as well. I had to dig it out of the WIP pile then I wanted to order some threads. What piece am I talking about? And A Forest Grew by Rosewood Manor. I have been working on this piece for OVER ten years! Time to finish it up!

 

While going through my WIP drawer, I found so many suprises! Fabrics, threads, patterns and other stitching supplies, all unopened! It was better than a Happy Mail day because I was not expecting it! 

 

I also picked up my framing! I had taken it all in on June 16th which was the last day of the sale. Her sale was such a big success this year with everyone staying home due to the Covid virus and stitching more. I will share a few this post and some more next time!

 

It has been hard for me to do much the past few weeks (stitching, cooking, taking out trash) because of my shoulder. I don't know if it is just a persistent case of bursitis or a torn rotator cuff in my shoulder. I am rooting for bursitis so I can just get an injection instead of out patient surgery. I could not get an appointment with him until the 15th of this month!

 

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

Middle of the Month

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

Just Words

Yes, I am still working on the Mother's Tree but the hand cramps started over the weekend so I took a few days off from the needle to let my hands rest up before getting back to work.

When I put my stitching aside to give my hands time to get over the cramps, I play in my stash. I have so many designs in my Stitching Bucket List but I have ear marked 10 of them for 2020. LOL. I am not saying I will get all 10 completed next year (that would be a miracle) but those are the ones I have my sights on. I am staying busy to make sure I have every thing I will need for each sampler I do complete.I have also been concerned about storage of these finished samplers (until I get them framed) so I was able to find a cross stitch project roll protector

We had plenty of unexpected errands to keep us busy all week as well. Our weather has gone from chilly sweater mornings to wearing that sweater ALL day!

Thanksgiving is coming up and I no longer cook that big meal for several reasons. My husband and I decided it would be easier and more enjoyable to just go out. There are not many places open on Thanksgiving that appeal to our taste so we decided to do something different this year. We are going out for an early Thanksgiving breakfast (at one of our favorite places) before the crowds start and then everyone can just do their own thing the rest of the day with sandwiches and such. Easy clean up.

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

Fall has Finally Arrived!

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

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

                   

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

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

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

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

HAPPY DANCE

Creation Sampler is a finish! Yea! I can now consider this infusion project #5. I finished minutes before my I posted my blog. Below is my final picture (excuse the wrinkles). What you don't see is the second bird at the bottom and I have also added the year under my initials. I prefer to work on just one piece at a time but once in a while I will make an exception and work on two but no more.

I had planned to start a piece earlier this week but with errands and some left over side effects from the last infusion I did not pick up any stitching. I did go through my stash and kitted up designs that had not been kitted yet. I always like knowing that I can just pull a design out and be ready to stitch.

I realized that there are less than 5 months left in this year and I really have not stitched that much! Well, I have stitched but few finishes. I decided to make a plan for the remainder of this year and take it on into next year.

I pulled out And A Forest Grew by Rosewood Manor. This is my longest running WIP to date! I try to work some on it at least once a year but one of my plans will be to TRY to work on this piece at least two days a week until I finish it (good intentions). It has been stained over the years from taking it out and putting it back up. I will have to decide how to work around these battle scars.

Do you have any WIPs? What is your longest running WIP and how long how you been working on it?

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

Day After Day

It's raining. It's pouring. The old man is snoring. Bumped his head. Went to bed and didn't get up till morning. We used to sing this as kids whenever it would rain. I do love a good rain shower! It just makes everything feel new.

I spent the first part of the week getting ready for the family get together! Babies from my wild rose. Potted and given out to happy cousins!

We had a great time and it was so nice to see everyone again! Cousins can be so silly! LOL

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Creation Sampler is moving right along now that I have come to the words. There was a deer beside of Adam but I left it off so that I could put my initials on it.

I have been thinking that I may enter a cross stitch piece or two in one of the county fairs around here next Fall (2020). Give me time to get some special stitches done. I have never thought about doing this before and it just hit me like a lightning bolt! Why haven't I and why don't I do it!!!!!!

I had my last infusion for this round so I am done with that until December!

I have to play in my stash at least once a week. It is just fun to visit all the wonderful designs I can't wait to work on! I ran across Margaret Cottam by La D Da. Now how did I forget about her?? I have Part One and Part Three. Where did Part Two disappear to? OMG! After a quick panic I realized that Part Two was stuck to Part One! Whew! She will definitely have to go on the priority list! This picture is not my work. It is from the La D Da website.

After I finish my current stitching I really need to get busy working on my Stitching Bucket List. These are designs I have wanted to do for so long and I even have planned where to hang them on the walls! It is time to make them stop waiting! The hard part is that I keep seeing all of these other beautiful samplers that I want to add to my stash! I need a blindfold! LOL

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

Beating the Heat

I finally got the X-ray results of my shoulder. No inflammation. No bone loss. No damage. She said it probably bursitis or the rotator cuff. The last bursitis flare I had lasted a month.

I am still making progress on Catharine Dickenson but it is slow progress so no picture this time. It seems like each time I get a good start on stitching, the hand cramps begin and I have to put it down for a while.  I love the colors called for in this sampler. The only thing that would make it perfect for me is if it had a short verse but I still love it! I am hoping to get a good bit done on her next week -- or even finish!

My infusion round begins next week so I will be working on Creation Sampler again. It should finish up quickly.

I have been scratching my head wondering whether I should buy some new charts I ran across online. They are all older charts but for some reason they did not catch my eye until now. I have a nice hefty stash right now that will take me years to finish but.......

Florida family is coming up to NC later this summer! It will be nice to get together, see everyone and share some fond memories. I like to find something silly to make our pictures more fun. Last time I bought some clown noses from Walgreens Red Nose day to take for pictures. I am thinking about some Red Wax Lips this time!

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

Page One

What is up with the fonts on the blog? Everything looks great until I hit publish and then I have various size fonts through out the post!

I was not able to do much stitching over the week. My arm has been hurting horribly! I have tried Ben Gay, Tylenol and an ice pack. None of which relieves the pain for any real length of time. I may have pulled a muscle or I possibly slept on my arm wrong but I was able to get enough stitching done to finish page 1 of the Creation Sampler! Big milestone!

Look at what I found on Pinterest! They are free printables. You can type "Stitch All the Things" in the search bar.  I have an old 3 ring binder and some page protectors that I have been saving to make some sort of stitching planner. These will work great!

Another non stitchy project I tackled this week was printing out several pictures of my moma that I have been meaning to do and kept forgetting about. I miss her everyday. She passed away before we could advance our relationship to best friends but I talk to her every night.. These have always been two of my favorite pictures of her even though they were taken before I came along and I decided it was time to frame them! I have to mention that my Grandma made my mother's wedding dress. She even made an identical dress for my Barbie out of leftover material.  Of course I had to print out one of my favorites of me and moma together at Christmas. Now to find the perfect frames!

I was able to make a trip to my LNS for some threads. Sometimes I know exactly what I want and can order but other times I like to see how they will blend together before I buy. I went in to get the threads for 3 projects. I left with threads for 4 projects pIus a new chart!  I also bought some new fabrics at My Vintage Needle Arts on Etsy. They were a little pricey compared to what I usually get but sometimes you want that really special piece of fabric for a design and these really fit the bill! No regrets!

What do you do with a chart when you have finished stitching the design? I usually like to share or trade but there are several designers I like to collect so I hang on to these.

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

Just Words

The past week has been so hot and miserable! I was not able to go outside for more than a few minutes before I felt smothered by the humidity! Needless to say I have been spending  as much time as possible indoors! Naturally I go out to water my mints but I try to do it in the mornings before the weather gets too hot.

While I have been staying in the house, I have been working on Creation Sampler some. I also spent time organizing my stash. Every year around Memorial Day and July 4, I realize that I have never stitched a patriotic piece. I have several designs in my stash. Time to buy the threads and fabric so that I can kit these up and add them to my Stitching Bucket List.

I had fun playing in my stash over the long weekend! It is always fun to see old friends again! I also updated my Stitching Bucket List. It is a long list and some what overwhelming. I am sure there are a few that I forgot to add. Thank goodness all of these are in my current stash! Many are already kitted up and I am working on kitting up the others.

No matter how many times I promise myself to only stitch from stash, something new or even an older design will catch my eye and make it's way into my shopping cart! Why fight it!!

The Grumpy Ol Gazer had out patient surgery for carpal tunnel. OMG!  He was definitely a handful for several days but I just kept telling him that he would be happy in the long run!

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

Hello Again!

OMG!! Don't fall over in shock! Yes, I am actually posting an update to my blog! Time seems to go by so much faster these days.  I have been enjoying Pinterest and Flosstube in between stitching. I have had to put a limit on the Floss Tube videos I watch each day! I have missed my blog so much and still visit everyone else.

A lot has happened since my last post. My laptop died. The awesome zoom lense on my camera also died. I am still looking around for a replacement for both of those. I have had 8 rounds of infusions with more each year.

First of all, let me update you on some of the cross stitch I have either finished or have been working on recently. I have good news and bad news. I had an out patient surgery on my arm and I was not sure how much I would be able to use this arm or if I would even be able to stitch and for how long so I decided to pull out a few WIPs and work on them instead of any new starts until I know my limitations.

Good News. I started Feliz Navidad by BBD right before last Christmas. I would work on it and set it down for several weeks, work on it some more and set it down again. You get the picture. I picked it up to work on again and noticed I was very close to a finish so I did just that!

Good News. I picked up on Sarah Steele again. I had set her aside for a while and when I wanted to start again, she was GONE! I tore my house apart looking for her but she finally came out of her hiding place! Another WIP finish. Unfortunately, my fabric ran short and I was not able to stitch the entire design but I still love it!

Good News.I was able to finish up Backyard Birds by La D Da around the first of the year which had been in my WIP basket.

Good News. And The Prayer of St. Francis by Lizzie Kate was an infusion project.

Good News. My first start of the year was Remember Me by Sheepish Designs. I love the simplicity of it. I started working on it with the colors listed. The more I worked on it, the less I liked it. Pastels are just not my favorites. I pulled some new fabric and threads in colors I liked and started over. 

My infusion project for my last round of infusions was The Lord is my Shepard by New York Dreamer.

I have ordered a few items for my stash. Mainly fabrics and threads. I have plenty of designs in my stash but I have picked up several older and OOP patterns that I just "had to have"!  I missed out on Stitch May-nia. By the time I had made my decisions, May was over! LOL. Instead I will concentrate on my Stitching Bucket List. Who knows, after all that has been happening lately I may reward myself for surviving it all with more than one new start!

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

February's Report

The sun is shining again and temperatures have been reaching the 70's since the last snow! It has been wonderful! So many trees are beginning to bud and show off some colors. The birds are loving the Spring like days and are singing their sweet songs but now another cold snap is upon us and I am wearing my sweatshirts again. Hopefully it will be the last one for this season!

Since my last post, I worked some more on The Apostle's Creed. I have about 12 lines left to stitch. I work on it as often as possible now. I realize that I said it was a weekend only stitch but I would love to get it finished and take it in for framing very soon!

Other than the Apostle's Creed, there are a handful of others I am determined to see finished this year. Oh, who am I kidding? Each time I walk past my stash boxes, I hear muffled cries of "Pick me" "Stitch me" "Don't listen to them. I've been waiting longer!" Several of them are not currently in my stash but I HAVE to get them so what the heck! I won't let this happen every month besides I was prepared for there to be a few new designs I would just have to get!

My SFS spending update for this month is $9. I went to my LNS and picked up the February BBD Loose Feather's chart that I signed up for last year.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope to have some progress pictures to share with you soon! Have a great weekend!

Stash Fun!

After finishing up my last piece, I took a rest from the needle for several days. Gotta give these old hands a break and get them refreshed for another round! No pictures to post this time but hoping to make up with extras next post!

Harold has been working those awful quirky hours lately. It's always hard on him but it also throws a big kink in everything else around here. Dinner time changes, days get jumbled around and forgotten, regular weekly chores and errands get postponed or skimped on. Life as we know it, takes a back seat for awhile. We are always so glad when it's all over until the next time!

I have had some trouble with Blogger recently. Several times I could not post my pictures and once I could not even find my blog! It had been removed! After some harrowing moments and a lot of deep breathing, everything is running again as it should -- I hope! Has this happened to anyone else?

On to the fun part of this post! Stash! I have been a good girl for the past 3 years only buying what I absolutely need and no more than several charts a year (which doesn't count freebies I happily gathered). My fabrics and threads were beginning to dwindle. I was getting restless seeing so many designs I loved but were not in my stash yet. I finally got the green light to build upon my empire! Stash, fabrics, threads, finishing fabrics and trims and even some framing!

Several pieces are packed up and ready to go to the LNS for framing. They haven't even left the house yet and I can't wait to get them back to show them off! She always does a beautiful job and I can't say I have ever been disappointed. And of course, this splurge will have to include a trip to Mary Jo's fabric shop for finishing fabrics, trims and more. This always takes awhile because the selection is so big plus I like to visit a bit with the gals I used to work with.

I have a new project spinning around in my muddled old brain. The bench in my dining area needs a new look. The bench it's self is fine but I want to put stitched pillows and a basket or two of smaller stitched pillows on it.

That's about all the news this post. Thanks so much for stopping by. Your visits and comments always make my day brighter!

Morning After

Thank you to everyone for the sweet and special birthday wishes. I had a very nice day. DH and I had a few left over errands to take care of and then it was time for some birthday fun!





First we went out to lunch for a super sized burger. Then he took me to the LNS and I picked up several items for my stash! The Green Santa and Black Santa by BOAF and Favorite Spot Sampler by PSS. After I saw the Spot Sampler finished off at the LNS, I knew I would have a new start this weekend so I came home and got everything kitted up for it.



I had yet another realization. I love samplers, no doubt and I certainly don't want to give up on them but I also love smalls. I used to do a lot of smalls. I enjoyed stitching them and finishing them off. They are fun, quick and satisfying. I love baskets and bowls filled with wonderful things. I enjoy stitched pillows, too. I have been working on bigger pieces and only framing. Time to spread my wings again and savor it all!

This is Christmas week and I'm sure everyone will be holiday busy! Enjoy yourself and the season! Thanks for stopping by again.