New Look

Before. After. The larger frames are how I wore my glasses for years. I got tired of the big look and the way they felt so heavy on my face and switched to a smaller wire frame. Also with Transition (turn to sunglasses outside) and no line bifocal lenses. I may have made a mistake getting the transition lenses. I like them but just don't know if I like them enough to get again. Next time I may get separate sun glasses but for now, these will be fine. You can't see it in the picture but there is BLING down each side. Love those little sparkles! I haven't had no line bifocals in quite awhile but remember enjoying them so I am really happy to get them again! I think the new frames are going to take more adjust to than the new lenses. One minute I love them and the next minute I wish I had gotten big frames again! LOL! Not the best picture but it gives you an idea and I hope to get a better picture later!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my husband!

I didn't do as much on AAFG the past few days as I had hoped to get done. Possibly because Harold is taking some time off and we have either been busy around the house or taking off in the car! That's alright but I will wait until next week to post a picture of my progress so that by then I will have had a chance to do even more and it will look like I have really done a whole lot! LOL!

I have decided that when we finish painting the two major rooms this week that I would like to designate two walls for special cross stitch pieces! In the dining area, a forest wall. where cross stitch pieces of trees, birds (I have a lot of charts that will fit into this category) and forest critters will reside. In the living area, a Home Sweet Home wall. This wall will be home to cross stitch pieces with houses or anything homey! These will be the two walls I would like to concentrate on for awhile and should keep me busy even longer! Especially along with all my other projects! I have wonderful intentions and hope to carry through with them!

Awhile back, our local fabric shop (and where I used to work) had some cross stitch fabric on sale. Aida 14 count. Ten Yards. 60 inches wide. Rolled on a tube. $10. What a deal! It sold out in no time but I was lucky enough to grab one of them!

Painting update! The ceilings in the hall, living and dining areas are done! We really should be on the home stretch by now instead of just beginning! I wonder if we will be able to finish this up by the end of the week. Probably so. We just have the walls to paint now and then put everything back! Everyone had best help to keep the walls really clean because I don't want to have to paint again for a long time! It's too much work to take everything down, prep, paint and hang everything back up!

Today's picture is of a lone flower growing by the side of the road.

Testing the Water

I refilled the bird bath yesterday evening which I try to remember to do on a regular basis. This weather has been so hot and stale lately! So I wasn't at all surprised when I saw a group of Mockingbirds this morning taking turns getting cooled off!

Harold and I had a nice anniversary. We were bold and tried out a pizzeria we had never been to. Different and very good! He had the Greek pizza and I had the Mexican pizza!

Happy Days

Several years ago, Harold came home with a fancy new projection TV. Within the past several months, we have been seeing growing numbers of "blotches" on the screen when the TV is turned on. Greens, blues, reds, pinks and thin pin stripes all across the screen. Luckily he had bought the extended warranty. We contacted the company and after they sent out a repair man to estimate the cost, we were told it cost too much to repair it and they would be giving us a voucher to replace the TV with. Nice! A brand new TV and we have some ideas of what we would like to get this time around!

This is a great Autumn recipe or can be special enough to save and fix for holidays!

Crock Pot Pork Lion Roast
3-4 lb pork lion roast, well trimmed
salt & pepper
several dashes of soy sauce
4 to 6 apples, quartered
1/2 large bottle apple juice
3 Tbl brown sugar
1 tsp ground ginger

Place apple quarters on bottom of CP. Place roast on top. Sprinkle w/salt & pepper. Combine apple juice, sugar, soy sauce & ginger. Spoon over roast, covering entire top. Cover & cook on LOW 10-12 hrs. TASTY! :o)

Happy 31st anniversary to us! WOW! That REALLY is a LONG time! LOL!

Fresh. New. Clean!

Yesterday we ordered what will be my chair for the living area. I wanted a different fabric on it than was on it at the store so it has to be special ordered and should be in within the next 10 days (I hope). The chair that will be Harold's is in stock at the store so about mid week, we will go and pay for it so they can deliver it.

Today we start painting! I walked around the rooms last night taking things down from the walls and removing nails! I hate the thought of having to re-hang it all but knowing we will have fresh newly painted walls makes it worthwhile!

An update to my wishlist and another chart added FOR TRADE.

Don't Wear White After Labor Day! LOL!

Happy Labor Day!

I worked on the Willow Tree Sampler for a few nights again. It seems to be moving along quicker now. Maybe I just needed a break from it so I could see the progress better!

I keep finding more and more designs I want to start! For those of you with more than 3 WIP, how DO you do it? Right now my stitching schedule includes working on The Willow Tree Sampler for 3 nights and then working on And A Forest Grew for 3 nights. The seventh night is used for whatever my heart desires. Usually TV! I finally got a link for my wishlist posted in the sidebar of my blog! YEA if for no other reason than making it easy for myself!

What a big week we have ahead of us! Wednesday is our 31st anniversary. Friday is Harold's birthday. Saturday is my 5 month anniversary of quitting smoking! Plus new chairs for the living area, we will pick up our new glasses, get the rug for the living area ordered and hopefully get a little painting done around the house!

September Goals

I was busy yesterday and didn't get a chance to post my goals for Sept. Here we go!

AUGUST GOALS
1. Continue working on building up my stash -- YES
2. Post to some group blogs -- NO
3. Work on some finishing techniques -- Not as much as I would like
4. Complete at least 2 projects this month -- YES
5. Print out some freebies -- YES
6. Finish up Their Song -- YES

SEPTEMBER GOALS
1. Continue working on And A Forest Grew
2. Complete Willow Tree Sampler
3. Get new chairs for house
4. Get new rug for living area
5. At least one new stitching start
6. Stitch no less than 2 smalls
7. Paint the kitchen

A New Month

Today is the first day of September! Where did the summer months go? School has started back, the leaves are beginning to slowly change colors, the stores are stocked with autumn clothes and decor but the weather still says summer is hanging on! I am ready to pull out my sweaters and enjoy some cooler days but that's not gonna happen just yet!

Did you notice anything different about my blogging this week? I tried out a schedule with themes for each day.

Monday was Crafts and Hobbies
Tuesday was Home Decor and Tips
Wednesday was On the Road and Recipes
Thursday was Nature's Bounty
Friday was Crafts and Hobbies again (cause I love to talk about them)
Saturday and Sunday were left blank and available for whatever may pop up!

I haven't decided if I will continue this schedule or only use it occasionally. I have the weekend to make up my mind!

I plan to keep my September goals on the simple side. And will list them within the next several days.

Sight Unseen

Yesterday we went for a long overdue eye check up and picked out the frames for our new eye glass prescriptions! I went with a totally different look than in the past years. Smaller wire frames instead of large plastic ones. We should have our new glasses sometime next week! But with dilated eyes for the majority of the afternoon and then using the drops I was given my eyes were feeling very weak so there was no stitching for me last night.

I did work on AAFG for several nights previously to get a start on it. So far I am really enjoying it!

I was able to get a free back copy of The Gift of Stitching from a coupon in Just Cross Stitch. I was extremely impressed with this online magazine! So much so that I subscribed!

Nature's Bounty

There won't be much stitching or scrapping today with the TV repairman coming out and our eye check up appointment later this afternoon. Maybe I can sqeeze something in later this evening!

Time to Chow Down

Don't you just love getting rewards for spending money? Especially when it's the necessary kind like grocery shopping! The store I grocery shop at gives at various rewards through out the year. In the past I have gotten gift cards for gasoline, luggage, a gardening tool set, lawn chairs and much more! Last night I made a quick run to the store to pick up some milk and upon checking the bottom of my receipt I noticed I had yet another reward waiting to be claimed! I was able to choose a gift card from a long list of well known stores or restaurants. This weekend, Harold and I will be enjoying a nice gift card to one of our favorite steak houses compliments of our grocery store!

Easy Chicken Parmesan
INGREDIENTS:
4 boneless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2 inch thickness
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
seasoned bread crumbs
8 slices mozzarella cheese, or more
1 jar (16 oz) spaghetti sauce
Parmesan cheese
PREPARATION:
Whisk together the egg and milk. Dip the chicken breasts in milk and egg mixture and then in bread crumbs. In a skillet with a little olive oil over medium-high heat, brown on both sides until golden. Set chicken in a baking dish.
Slice 8 pieces of mozzarella cheese and put two on each chicken breast. Pour 1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce over all. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and a little more mozzarella and bake at 350° for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until bubbly. Serve with spaghetti, garlic bread and a nice green salad.

On the Road. While stopped to get some gas this horse and I were infatuated watching each other! He seemed to enjoy having his picture made too!

Progress

Here is an updated picture of my Willow Tree Sampler WIP. It isn't moving along quite as quickly as I had thought it would but it does help that the color changes are few and far between! My goal was to work on this piece for a week (and obtain a good head start) before beginning another start. It has been a week and I have achieved my goal so now I can begin another piece. And with that being said, I have made the first stitches on a new start - And A Forest Grew! A big project but what a awesome piece to have in your stitching portfolio.

After pulling out all my mini albums I am even more hooked on these scrapping delights! I have made up a list of various topics I want to use for themes on these books. We took a lot of day trips over the summer and the pictures are still waiting to be scrapped in their own mini books! I have several I want to finish up first (Being a Mom and Blessings) then I can begin on these!

Making it Home Monday

While we were out yesterday I made a quick run into the craft store to pick up some threads for my current cross stitch WIP. I meant to run right in, pick up the threads, pay and leave. 1 - 2 - 3 easy as pie. But as always my eyes were looking for those marked down prices whether I realize it or not!
And I did find a yummy bargain! A wonderful iron wall sconce complete with a glass hurricane to hold the candle. I have admired these for a few years in some of the country catalogs I shop from but never took the leap to buy one. Now I have one and can't wait to put it up after we paint! But for now it goes into the pile of things I have been accumulating "to put up on the walls after we paint" and then I will have lots of new pictures to share!

While picking up a few items from the grocery store over the weekend, I noticed a very nice wire basket. Hmmmmm. I had been thinking about getting one from another place that was smaller and more expensive. I decided to get the bigger, less expensive one at the grocery store. When I got it home I had to find a good purpose for it. It didn't take me long. I pulled out all my mini albums and piled them into the wire basket! What a great place for them and I can slide the basket in and out of the bookcase whenever I want to look at (or work on) one of my mini treasures!

RAIN! We finally got some last night. It came down hard for awhile and there was more while we slept! It did cool the temps down quite a bit which was a blessing in it's self! Our local newspaper recently had an article about a hometown man who had baked cookies on dash of his car because of the extreme temps! He had put a pan of slice and bake cookies on the dash of his car (that was parked in the sun) and left them there all day while he was working his job. The cookies were done by the end of the day! LOL! WILD!

Saturday Shopping

I totally LOVE needlepoint samplers! I would have every wall in our house covered in them if I could! But I can't afford to buy that many and I really don't want to commit myself to making that many! LOL! But I will commit myself to (hopefully) several walls of samplers. Of course I plan to intermingle some grapevine wreaths and such with them.

We went out to some furniture stores today and get an idea of chairs and prices. I found exactly what I want for the living area! Harold is taking some time off in a few weeks and we will do some painting indoors so that we can have the chairs and area rug delivered to a nice fresh room! Posted is a picture of the area rug we plan to get. It really wasn't my first choice but the more I look at it, the more I like it and it will work wonderfully around the colors in my decor. *The room pictured is in a catalog*

I scrapped 8.5x11 for so long and I have at least 3 bookcase shelves filled with these albums I have completed! I still like this size and I'm sure I will continue to create more of them (especially for family albums since I have several empty albums waiting to be used) but at the moment I am really hooked on mini albums! So many different shapes and styles plus they look great sitting out in a large bowl or basket!

With this horrible heat, I haven't felt the urge to get outside and roam the yard for picture opportunities! Even the evenings are miserable with all the left over mid-day heat still hanging around! I may be forced to do a rain dance if mother nature doesn't send some storms our way! Now, wouldn't my family just love to see me do that! They would all go running to find a hiding place while yelling "We don't know you! We don't know you!" LOL!

Weather Forecast

I ordered this new thimble cabinet. It will hold up to 59 thimbles and/or miniatures. I like the glass door feature on it that makes it hard for dust to gather on the items inside the cabinet! The less dusting, the better! And a lot of room for adding new thimbles to my collection!

The past several evenings, Harold and I have sat on the porch and watched lightening dance in the distance! Somewhere, someone is getting some good storms but it isn't us! We are hopeful these storms will move towards us and grace us with some needed rain but they haven't yet!

I have a completed project to report. I have completed my part of the DML Circle Journal and it will be on it's way home to Vicki tomorrow! She is going to have a wonderful journal and I love the paper bag album she made for this!

I am going to work on my current WIP for several more nights and allow myself a nice head start before beginning a new piece! But I did get several new charts that I am looking forward to starting on! SOON!

From Start to Finish

A new start! Willow Tree Sampler by Carriage House Sampling. I think it will be an easy one that will stitch up steady and smooth since color changes are few and far between.

I was going to wait on getting our new living room chairs before starting a new piece but -- what the heck! If I have my way, we will be going out this weekend to shop for them!

Here is my recipe of the week. With the heat still going strong, no one wants to be stuck in the kitchen cooking over a hot oven so here is a good meal made with the convenience of your crock pot.

MUSHROOM BEEF and PASTA
1 pound beef stew meat
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1/4 tsp. pepper
Hot cooked pasta
1. Combine beef, soup, soup mix, mushrooms and pepper in crock pot. Cover and cook on low 8 to 10 hours. Serve over pasta. Yield: 4 servings.

Double the Fun!

I have several charts I am willing to trade. Because of my forgetfulness I bought the same charts TWICE so these have never even been opened!

Alpha Bird by Sheepish Designs and Home is (band sampler) by The Sampler House.

Another trip to the store for some threads and I should be ready to begin my new starts!

I have been drooling over Stoney Creek's Insect Sampler and was lucky enough to order the last one today!

And a picture of my latest new thimble! It's hard to see in the picture but it is surrounded by dancing fairies.

It's the Weekend!

Weekend happenings: I finished up another Circle Journal and sent it on. Two more and I will be finished with both groups! I have already received my CJ back from the DML group and it is BEAUTIFUL! Thank you ladies for making this such a special keepsake!

Grocery shopping. Not a lot to get excited about here but it is nice to have some full cupboards again! With 3 hungry guys it never stays this way for very long!

What a long hot dry spell we are having! I water the plants and bushes but they need a good soaking courtesy of Mother Nature! The weather is calling for more temps in the 100's for us. UGH!

The mail man brought me a nice surprise! New charts to drool over! Now I get to wrestle with the decision of which ones to do first! I have decided what my new starts will be and will update the two open days when I choose what I want to do on them.
Mon - Weeping Willow Sampler
Tues - And a Forest Grew
Wed - (spot to be filled)
Thurs - (spot to be filled)
Fri - Alpha Bird (one of the new charts)
Sat and Sun - various smalls

I learned that Benison means blessing. A new word. A new definition.

I also learned that I feel better when surrounded by country/cottage decor. This is really nothing new but I did forget for a spell and tried out a different look in our home decor. Nice but I am so much happier since pulling out all the good country decor again!

It's a Challenge

It's been awhile since I shared a recipe so get out your pencil and pad cause today is the day!

Ritzy Chicken Cassarole

INGREDIENTS:
2 sleeves Ritz crackers
1 can cream of chicken soup, or cream of mushroom
1 cup sour cream, regular or reduced fat
1/2 cup chicken broth
4 to 6 boneless chicken breast halves, cooked
4 ounces melted butter, melted

PREPARATION:
Crumble one sleeve of Ritz crackers in the bottom of a 2 to 2 1/2-quart casserole dish. Drizzle half of the melted butter over the crackers. Mix chicken with soup, sour cream, and broth. Pour over crackers. Crush the remaining sleeve of crackers over the chicken mixture. Drizzle the remaining melted butter over the crackers. Bake at 300° for 30 to 40 minutes, until hot and bubbly.
Serves 6.

Since yesterday's finish I have been looking through my charts and pulling out a few to make into kits. But I'm going to be a stinker and wait until I actually start on each one before spilling the beans as to what I am going to work on!

For quite a while I challenged myself to learn something new everyday by making it a regular New Years resolution. I know it sounds over whelming but it really isn't. Read an article or watch a documentary about something. You will surely learn something new. Start a new hobby. Try a new recipe. It's amazing and fun to do. Actually most of us are already doing this whether we realize it or not! During the time I did this regularly I felt good. Physically and emotionally. I was exercising my brain while expanding my personal self. Starting today I am going to begin doing this again and I will report what I learn!

Today's picture is my bottle collection! Kind of hard to get this picture because of glare. Glare from overhead lights. Glare from the flash. Glare from the sun streaming through the window. I love to fill them or let them stand on their own!

Two in One Day

I promised to post THEIR SONGS when I could get the picture loaded and here it is!

As I said previously I did make some changes but I like it much better this way. I left off all the design at the bottom on the original chart because I felt it was just too busy for my taste but I love love LOVE the top half. And I added a birdhouse button to the bottom. My own touch. So -- I am happy!