Drum Roll........

Big scare this morning! DS got up extra early and decided to take Whiner out. He turned on the outside lights since it was still dark and set Whiner on the ground. Suddenly he noticed 3 big raccoons within several feet of them! He was able to scoop up Whiner and get back in the house before the raccoons decided this area was THEIR territory and attacked! He came inside out of breath but poor little ol blind Whiner was oblivious to it all.

FINISHED! That's right! I said I would complete THEIR SONGS by the end of the week and I did it! I am so thrilled with it! Unfortunately, I can't get the picture to load but I will keep trying! I did make a few variations which is ok since it is for me! I can't shout it out enough -- IT'S FINISHED!

A picture of another word in my kitchen! And some good advice to live by!

Word for the Day

I cleaned off and re-arranged the top of the fridge with my mixer, cookbooks and a great word! CREATE! I don't need to be reminded to do this each day but I just love seeing the word greet me each time I go into the kitchen!

I am going to wait until we get our new chairs before starting any new charts. Hopefully I won't have to wait too long. The thought of sitting in my very own brand new comfy stitching chair is enough to make me put all new starts on hold!

It feels like our horrible heat wave is over for now. I HOPE! Yesterday was definitely still hot but by no means unbearable and in the 100's! I am looking forward to Autumn now! Cool, crisp days. Beautiful colors on the trees as the leaves change. Even though my boys are no longer in school, I still enjoy the sound of the school bus making its rounds. Pumpkin carving time. Geese flying overhead on their way to find a warmer place to spend the winter! And sweaters!

Harold is taking some vacation time soon. No plans to go anyplace except to the dr or an occasional errand to run. Since we would like to have the house finished up by the holidays, we need to get busy!

Lazy Days

A picture of a collection I forgot to mention in a previous post. Mini Books. I really enjoy them. And they are small enough to put a nice sized collection into a large bowl. Our bookstore usually carries a small variety year round then offers a larger selection during the holiday season!

No stitching the past couple of days but I am only a matter of days away from completing THEIR SONG. I should be finished by the end of the week if all goes smoothly! And I will share one final picture sometime during the week!

There really hasn't been a lot going on around here lately so there isn't much to report on! With the extreme heat, it's been a week of lazy days to try and keep cool.

Dog Days

When I look at how far along other gals have gotten on charts I am only now beginning (or planning to begin) I feel REALLY behind! But as the old saying goes "better late than never" and I'm sticking to that!

Now that I have been stitching awhile again and making up my wish list I have found that I am partial to reproduction samplers, Quaker samplers and samplers featuring birds and/or houses. There are plenty that don't fall into any of these categories that I like but the majority do. Of course, you gotta love those quick and simple charts!

Aren't these little books adorable? My friend, Sheila, sent them to me. She says she bought them but they look yummy enough to be homemade! I have find some special uses for these! The mailman also delivered my new thimbles today! What beauties!

I did some shopping today. Out around town AND online. I picked up some fabrics and threads for AAFG plus several other charts. Everyone at the store was very impressed that I was going to tackle AAFG and asked me to bring it in when I finish! A quick run by the post office to drop off another circle journal. Plus several other quick stops where I picked up a few items for some neglected collections! Then home to shop online a bit for a few more charts! YEE HAW!

It was still hot today but not quite as bad as the past few days! That was a relief! And for those of you wondering how I have been doing on not smoking -- ALL IS GREAT! I just passed my 4 month mark without a cigarette. If you want to stop I highly recommend you ask your doctor to give you a prescription of Chantex!

Goof Up

REJOICE by Carriage House Samplings. I just can't seem to bring myself to work on it anymore. I still like the pattern and hope to finish it one day! It was one of the few charts I had remaining when I began my stitching again and it was mainly started with the intentions of keeping my hands busy until some orders with new charts began arriving. Basically I can say it served it's purpose. For now I will just say that you are on hold, dear friend but I will keep you on my Current Project List (just in case)!

I usually read a few blogs each morning over my first cup of coffee then backtrack to leave comments. This morning I got a comment mixed up and posted it on the wrong blog! My apologies for this! The best excuse I can think of is "it was early and my coffee had not started working yet"!

I spent yesterday evening studying my new AAFG chart and making the list of threads I need to get. I love that this chart is divided into sections. Otherwise it would definitely be too overwhelming!

August is looking to be a month of things to get excited about! New chairs and rug for the living area. Eye exams which means new glasses will be close behind!

Good Vibes

Blogging mistake yesterday. I said I had only 2 circle journals left to do and these projects would be complete but I forgot about one so now the total is 3 more to finish up!

I stitched on THEIR SONG some more and it is really coming along! It should be finished in a matter of days now! This verse means so much to me because of my bird feeding practices. Those of you who know me, know that I feed the birds from the end of October through the first part of June. This covers cold weather and the nesting season when they need a little extra help. From June through October there are plenty of insects and berries available to them so they can eat as nature intended. To help nature out a bit and to keep the birds around, I have planted oodles of berry bushes in our yard. They have many different selections - blueberries, blackberries, pyracanthas, barberries, cotoneaster, viburnums, Virginia Creeper and more!

"I value my garden more for being full of blackbirds than of cherries and very frankly give them fruit for their songs"

The mail man left some stitching goodies for me today! The JCS 10th year anniversary collection of Christmas Ornaments book, Jeanette Crews 51 Little Houses AND (drum roll, please) And A Forest Grew chart! YUMMY! I am already so in love with this one! I need to check my threads and make a run for any colors I don't have!

After some searching I found the doilies my grandma crocheted for me. They were really dirty (probably the reason I had put them away) but have been washed and set back out for all to enjoy! And the room is humming with good vibes again!

Picking out only a few charts from my LONG wish list is NOT an easy task! LOL! Since I am prone to frequently changing my mind I will keep the choices a secret until I actually order them! *UPDATE* I have already changed my mind 3 times since making my first choices!

I'm Melting! I'm Melting!

Another miserably hot day (it got into the 100's) and the rest of the week should be just as bad! During this heat, inside is a good place to be! Thought I would share a picture of several thimbles from my collection.

By the end of the month (if not sooner) I will have enough completed (both circle journals and THEIR SONG) that I will be able to begin a stitching rotation schedule to begin on September 1st. I could start at any time but would like to finish up the previously mentioned items before doing this.

I have finished up my WISH LIST for the time being! It is probably long enough it could be called a WISH NOVEL! LOL! I sure hope Santa plans on being REAL good to me! *wink! wink!*

A list of the first ones I have my eyes on to start are posted below. I may have toss a coin to see which ones get chosen first! There are many more which are not yet listed so not worry! The ones marked with ** still have to be purchased!
1. Willow Tree Sampler
2. Hunt Sampler by Homespun Samplar **
3. Because Nice Matters
4. Birds of a Feather by Long Dog Samplers **
5. And a Forest Grew
6.Home is.. by Sampler House **
7. Matter's Choice by Carriage House Sampling **
8.When the Calling Bird Sings by Exemplar Dames **
9. The Needle Charmer by Exemplar Dames **
10. Crowflower by Workbasket **
11. Paradigm Lost by Long Dog Samplers **
12 Acorns and Threads by Carriage House Samplings **
13. A variety of smalls

The sound of the UPS truck got my attention earlier as I am waiting on several things to arrive! He pulled up at our house. He sat in the truck. He left. Nope - he NEVER even got out! What a bummer to get me all excited and then pull a mean trick like that!

As hard as it will be I have vowed NOT to buy anymore scrapping supplies until my current stash status reaches a certain point. You know the old saying "Waste not. Want not" and I have enough to keep me scrapping for quite a while without any worry of running low!

What I did today: stitched on THEIR SONG, got another CJ ready to mail (only 2 more to do),

Mid Week Heat

Here is my progress on THEIR SONG so far. I am working on finishing up the cherries on the branch then I can move on to another section of it. I goofed on the word "blackbirds" by doing the entire word in black instead of using brown on the last 4 letters. No biggie. I like it this way!

It has been at least a week or more since we have had any decent rain and without some moisture, this hot Southern summer sun is doing a real number on my plants so I spent a good part of the afternoon making sure they all got plenty of H2O along with refilling the bird baths! Nothing like some cool refreshing water on a hot HOT day! I would love to see a good steady rain for several days! And I'm sure my plants would be thrilled for that to happen too!

We are planning to get a new rug and chairs for the living area. A new recliner for Harold and a nice cozy TV / stitching chair for me.It's going to mean some furniture re-arranging but I think it will be worth it!

The more I look at the chart And A Forest Grew by Rosewood Manor (and pictures from gals working on it) I want to get it and start on it! It's one of those "the more I look at it, the more I like it" type charts! *UPDATE* I have ordered the chart and it should be arriving by the end of the week!

Working on my stitching / project weekly rotation chart as well as my wish list! After all, the holidays really aren't that far away and it doesn't hurt to have some ideas ready!

What I did today: Stitched on Their Song, ordered And A Forest Grew.

Some of This. Some of That.

Today is my last day of such harsh restrictions! YEA! Tomorrow I begin partial restrictions and will be allowed to go out among people. I just have to be careful and continue to stay away from small children and pregnant women! That shouldn't be too hard. Also I am not to cook food for others for a few more days.

Also, after today I can work on some more Circle Journals. I have been fine with working on things for myself during this "quarantine" period but I didn't feel that I should work on something that belongs to another person!

These are the faux apples I bought on sale the other day! Don't they look good enough to eat? Also they are surrounded by part of my pie bird collection. It isn't a big collection anyway but there are a few in the kitchen. Most of my collections are a small to medium size right now. I guess because I enjoy collecting such a variety of things and the fact we are limited on space, small to medium collections are best for me! If I feel a collection is getting too large and starting to take up too much space I get frustrated and put it away or on rare occasions have been known to just toss it and start completely over! So what do I collect? Other than hobby stuff, that is!

1. Stoneware mixing bowls
2. Quilts
3. Pie birds / vents
4. Thimbles
5. Gnomes
6. Santas for Christmastime
7. About anything with houses on it
8. Cookbooks

and I am thinking I would like to collect Cross Stitch Smalls such as pin cushions, scissor fobs, needle rolls and sachets.

I really REALLY need to get busy! It seems like most of the stitching blogs I read almost always have some sort of show and tell! A part of me wants to jump in and share while another part of me isn't sure my work is up to the same standards as these gals!

The WIP that I found hidden away yesterday is Rejoice by Carriage House Sampling. I realized that I changed some of colors around and forgot to write them down on the chart! Oh brother! This is gonna be fun trying to figure out colors and match them up!

What I did today: Stitched on Their Song. Cleaned out my scrapbooking area and supplies (still have more to work on). Looked through my other charts for a new start.

A Change of Mind

Here it is the 2nd day of August! Where did the first day go? Oh yeah -- at the doctor's! LOL! Last night Harold slept beside the bed on his air mattress and Whiner slept on the floor (both of them at least 7 feet from me).

Last night I started on a freebie by Drawn Threads (The Tree Keeper). Loving the ease of it so far. As soon as I can poke my head out of this hole (meaning to step out into the world again) I need to pick up some tiny gold beads for it! I know! I know! I said that using beads on my cross stitch just wasn't my thing but this little piece really does need them. Hoping I can do this sometime on Saturday! I hate not having everything I need as I need it! But that happens when you are building your stash up again! Hopefully I will this one finished to show by Sunday!

As I was going through some supplies I found hidden away I came across another unfinished WIP! No telling how long it has been sitting there just waiting for my attention. Probably at least several years! I will be adding to my list of "current projects" and have officially become a "more than one project at a time" kind of gal! LOL!

My August stitching goals will remain fairly simple but definitely good to do!

1. Continue working on building up my stash
2. Post to some group blogs
3. Work on some finishing techniques
4. Complete at least 2 projects this month
5. Print out some freebies
6. Finish up Their Song

Glowing

Today was the big day - in a manner of speaking! LOL! Harold keeps joking around and saying that I will glow in the dark tonight! LOL! Three days of stitching, magazines and lounging about in my jammies!

When I quit smoking, my primary doctor gave me a prescription for some anti-depressants (even though I didn't think I was depressed) to help me cope if I needed it. My moods became unbearable! I was MEAN beyond MEAN and just totally NOT NICE! The doctor gave me these before we knew about my thyroid and he feels that this medication just helped to make a bad situation even worse! So I am now off the anti-depressants and feeling like a much nicer person again! THANK GOODNESS!

I picked out some small charts to stitch on over the next few days! I thought it would be nice if I could add a few more to my list of completed items for the year and get some ornaments done at the same time!

I know I said that I didn't like working on more than one project at a time. This may be changing very soon! I end up getting frustrated with the medium to larger size projects because they are taking longer to finish and I am NOT a patient person! So I need to work on these several days a week and do some smaller ones that are quick to finish on the other days! *big grin* Besides, these smalls are so neat! How can you resist them?

I am VERY tiffed at our town! We have NO cross stitch/needlework shops or scrapbooking shops! Oh we have Michaels and Hobby Lobby which carry a dabling of these items as does our local Walmart but I am talking about stores that specialize ONLY in these crafts! Totally not fair that they are all so "out of the way" from here or in some ridiculously large city that dh hates to drive in!

I totally forgot to mention that we went to the Biltmore Estate earlier this month! FUN! DH had never been and I haven't been since I was little so it was like going for the first time again because I saw things much differently than when I was a child! Today's picture is but one of the beautiful sculptures there that took my breath away!

On the Eve....

When they do the radiation on my thyroid tomorrow I will not be allowed to do a number of things for 3 days. A brief run down of all my no no's!

1. Cooking for people other than myself.
2. Doing other people's laundry.
3. Sleeping in the same bed with DH
4. Doing any type of errands or shopping
5. Being around small children or pregnant women
6. No picking up Whiner or being too close to him which will be hard since he is my shadow!

and I must stay at least 3 feet away from people. Seven feet the first day! So I am planning my hibernation! I am stocking up on magazines and craft supplies so that when the time comes, I will just stay in the bedroom and enjoy my mini vacation - of sorts!

Even after the treatment (a pill), it will take about 4 months for the radiation to eat away the bad part of my thyroid completely. So I have been told I will continue to have days that aren't so good but they should gradually happen less and less. Unfortunately this isn't an overnight cure but I sure like it a lot better than the thought of surgery!

I told Harold and the boys that there was plenty of food they could cook for dinner while I am unable to cook for them but I know my guys. They will be ordering pizza or a quick run for hamburgers for a few nights!

Harold and I noticed that it is beginning to get dark earlier now. Even though we are still on DST the days are getting shorter. Last week this time, I was able to take Whiner out at 9 pm without turning on the outside lights. Now it is totally dark at 9 pm.

Yes, I am still scrapbooking! Just not sharing a lot right now since I am doing more family than nature layouts. And I have been doing more stitching lately than scrapping. It is very soothing and relaxing for me and that is just what I need right now!

What I did today: worked on my current cross stitch, finished up a CJ to send on, laundry, watched a tv show that was recorded last night and printed out more freebie charts! Can't get enough of those!

Survey Questions

Found these fun questions on a survey in a CS magazine so thought I would answer them here!

What type of fabric do you prefer to cross stitch on? Aida vs. Linen. I tried some linen the other night because I know that most swaps and round robins do require linen or evenweave now and NO aida! Call me old fashioned but I am probably one of the few who are more partial to aida cloth! At first I felt this may cause some problems but then I realized there was an easy solution! I will keep some linen on hand to use for swaps and such while I stitch the pieces that I plan to keep for myself on aida! Good plan!

Do you work on more than one cross stitch at a time? I usually don't like to have more than one project going on at a time. It's too distracting for me to handle. But I can handle one medium/large project and a small (ornament, ect) at the same time! No problem!

Have you ever used hand dyed fabrics to stitch on? Sort of. I have tea dyed my own cloth before stitching on it. Does that count?

How do you feel about embellishments on your stitching? I love the look of beads on cross stitch but I just never do it. Not practical enough for me. Of course I do love adding buttons to help liven up a piece!

Have you done variations when stitching? Oh, this is something I have always been notorious about doing! Changing colors or even the pattern it's self by not doing part of it so that I can finish up quicker! I'm impatient that way! And occasionally I like the main part of the chart but not all the extras. Sometimes less is more! I did a Home Sweet Home awhile back and I left out about 30% of the pattern on it but you would never know it cause it looks great!

How do you prefer to finish off your projects? In a frame or another way? I would have to say both ways. I am anxious to get my "wall of samplers" completed but I see so many boxes, fobs, bell pulls, needle rolls and more that I want to do as well! And now that I have a new sewing machine, I can do a lot of fun finishes! Too many projects, not enough time!

I was told that I needed to list the charts pictured in my previous post! LOL! I might get in trouble if I list them all but here is a brief run down --

1. Merry Sunshine by La D Da
2. Their Songs by Blackbird Designs
3. You are my sunshine by La D Da
4. Season of Rest by Little House Needleworks

What I did over the weekend: Stitched on my current WIP. Bought a couple of CS magazines, subscribed to Just Cross Stitch magazine, ordered the JCS Christmas Ornaments 10th Anniversary Collection, printed out some freebie charts from The Drawn Thread, picked up several new hoops in smaller sizes and some specialty threads.

On the Road Again

Went to see the endocrinologist for the third day in a row! Days 2 and 3 have been for the iodine scan. Next week I go for the radiation treatment. According to my doctor, hyperthyroidism is much harder to control than hypothyroidism. So the point of this procedure will be to make me hypo thyroid then it can be controlled with medication that I will remain on for the rest of my life. I was also curious about the fact that I was gaining weight instead of losing which is a symptom of hyperthyroidism. It seems that it is not very common for this to happen but it DOES happen. Your appetite will increase thus the weight gain. This is what is going on with me right now. It feels like I just can't eat enough! I have gained but not too much and it should come off fairly easily after this is over but for now I sure am loving all the good food and the way everything just seems to taste so wonderful! Just glad to be on the road to feeling like my old self again!

I am anxious about our eye exams next month! New glasses! Hopefully I will be able to cross stitch on something other than 14 ct. aida and the help of my Mag Eyes magnifier! The thought of using 28 or 36 count linen is exciting! But I'm not going to push my luck! I would be happy just to be able stitch on 18 count aida again!
We recently bought a new sewing machine. Definitely different from any other one I have ever used so I need to find the time to play around with it and learn to use all the bells and whistles it came with! Then I can do some awesome pillows and finishes!

Stopped by the craft store on the way home and picked up lots more DMC thread that was on sale! Nothing like a good sale especially when you are building your stash back up! Our mail man brought me lots of new goodies this week! Enough new charts to keep me busy for a long time!

Catching Up!

Ran across a great sale and candles, faux fruit, potpourri, wreaths plus lots more ended up coming home with me!

Cleaned out my closet which is a nice way of saying that I made room for more junk! I will be so glad when we have an extra room (after ds leaves) for storage space!

I was ready to start on my next cross stitch piece when another one caught my eye! I may be putting Mockingbird by La D Da aside for awhile while I stitch on Their Song by Blackbird Designs. I hate doing that but this piece is just screaming my name to work on!

I set up our appointments for eye exams in August! YEA! New glasses are in my future and I definitely need them!

I had the appointment with the endocrinologist about my thyroid. It was determined that it is time to remove the bad part of my thyroid. He gave me the options and let me make the choice. I chose Radioactive Iodine treatment instead of surgery. Much simpler and effective. I go back tomorrow and Friday to begin treatments that will determine how much radiation I will need then will get the final treatment next week.

After that I go back once a month for several months to let them observe my thyroid's stabilization and that will determine whether I need to take thyroid hormones the rest of my life or not.

In short, I should begin to feel ALOT better very soon!!!

Long Days

This weekend we decided to set a goal for ourselves to have the house finally finished up by! I told Harold that I wanted to finally see it how I wanted instead of just dreaming about it! I picked out the colors for the kitchen am so excited to get started again! We did a good bit last summer but came to halt and never got moving on it again! Now's the time! Hopefully I will have to lot to report within the next few months!

The first thing on our agenda is to finish painting. Then re-arrange furniture, get a few new pieces of furniture, a new rug for the living area, get rid of junky clutter (which will be a job for a family of pack rats) and hang all of the pictures, samplers and signs I have made or bought recently. I know it sounds like a lot but actually we have already done a lot of the big stuff and we have most of the paint sitting here just waiting to be used. Pictures are bought and just waiting to be put up. I hope to have a lot of pictures to share showing our progress!

I have spent alot of time working on re-vamping my blog lately. Notice the side bar! Lots of additions and changes! After thinking it over, I have decided to make MOCKINGBIRD by La D Da my next WIP. Yep - another La D Da chart! I am loving their stuff and have quite a few more waiting to get started on!

The new Technique Tuesday stamps, Tool Time and Rocket Man are on my list of TO GET items. I am also anxious to see the new Mustard Moon papers and Autumn Leaves stamps start rolling in from CHA!

I finally heard from my doctor's office and my appointment with the thyroid specialist is on Wednesday! Maybe I can get a few answers then and hopefully be on my way to some sort of treatment that will resolve most of these issues I have been dealing with lately!

Twiddling My Thumbs Wins!

I am still waiting to hear when my appointment is for the specialist! It sure is taking a long time to set it up! *Update* I spoke with the doctor's office and I should be hearing something very soon. They are just trying to find the best specialist for me! So I can either pass the time by cleaning or twiddling my thumbs! It's a coin toss!

It is time for CHA and new scrapbooking goodies! I am anxious to see what all will be coming out. I will have to fight the temptation to get everything that comes out and remember that I still have oodles of unused stash from CHA Winter!

During the past several weeks, I have done enough shopping for cross stitch supplies to keep me busy for quite a while! Patterns (over 20), fabrics, threads, needles, carrying bag and more! Getting my stash built back up will definitely NOT be cheap! LOL! But in the long run it will definitely be worth it!

Now that I have completed the piece I was working on (By Her Hand) I am ready to begin another but which one!! Maybe I will wait a few days and see which pattern strikes my fancy to start on! I realize that the present year is already half over but I hope to have a nice long list of finished pieces by the end of the year for my future "wall of samplers".

Two Times in a Day

Today hasn't been one of my better days so I have been taking it easy with some stitching, catching up on some of the blogs I read and reading new blogs recently discovered!

I have made up my WISH LIST of cross stitch patterns and reformatted my blog to accommodate my stitching also! There are only about 784 patterns I want to get AND complete! LOL! I'm sure a lot of them are older ones but they are all new to me since I haven't stitched in quite a while! Thus the LONG list! I am discovering new designers while enjoying new looks from familiar names! I am currently working on BY HER HAND by La D Da.

Out of curiosity, how do you know when your blog is almost full? Do you start a new one then or just delete older posts?

Just What the Doctor Ordered

Several years ago I was diagnosed with an over active thyroid. My family doctor sent me to see a specialist who kept telling me "it isn't bad enough to treat yet. Come back next month." It seems that since then, my condition has taken a nose dive and I am near what is called a Thyroid Storm which isn't very pretty from what I have been told! I am anxiously waiting for treatment to begin so that I can get back to feeling like my old self again! Oh, I am NOT going to see the same doctor that wouldn't treat my condition earlier! A new doctor for me and hopefully one that will actually do something this time!

In the meantime, I was asked if I had a hobby. Something I could give my attention to. Something to help keep my mind focused and calm. Well, yes I have a lot of hobbies but none of them really seemed to fall into the calming category. Then I remembered when I did cross stitch. That would definitely work but then I remembered why I stopped stitching.

I had to quit this hobby eventually when my eyes paid the price for all of the close up work involved. Over the years I have tried to stitch only to get a horrible headache each time. After all, you can't keep a true stitcher down! Then Harold and I went out hobby shopping. Cross stitching patterns called my name! Oh, but what about those horrible headaches? We found magnifier called Mag Eyes. Different and better than any I have tried before!

I have re-discovered my old love and have been stitching with the help of the Mag Eyes magnifier with NO headaches! I am one happy camper! And my new goal is to keep all the pieces I finish for our home and catch up on lost stitching!

Goals and Plans

No, I didn't miss the 4th of July! As a matter of fact we celebrated with some more day trips! Fun! As soon as I get the pictures downloaded, I'll be sharing some!

Now it is time to get myself back in gear and organized all over again! I picked up several weekly planners because I had found myself bound to the computer calendar which wasn't always convenient! Now I have a planner to use at home and one to carry in my purse. I also picked up a new address book to replace our current one of 20 years! Amazing how much the new one has changed. I also picked up several organizers at www.gooseberrypatch.com this weekend! I just LOVE the stuff here!

I decided it is time to tackle that "gonna do" list! You know what list I mean. I find myself saying "I'm gonna do (fill in the blank) one day" about various things but more often than not they never seem to get done! I have made my list and I am going to start on it NOW! Not so much because they have to get done but because they are things I want to do and I hate leaving them dangling! I don't think I will share my list right now or it might seem too overwhelming and I will end up quitting before I even begin once again! But I will definitely keep myself up to date as I complete each goal!