Out like a lamb....

I was gently reminded by Von yesterday that I haven't made a new post here in too many days. She is right. She also gently reminded me that I have been missed in blogland. Ahh, thank you. That made me feel good....it's good for the soul to have good friends!!!

It's been two weeks since my last post mainly because I had not made any great progress on any of my projects that I could talk about, and life has been relatively bland the last two weeks. What does one talk about when life is good, but routine? So, I offer up this picture of the sunrise outside my kitchen window last week...March came in like a lion (with bitter wind and snow) and is now behaving very lamblike!!!

Good things coming in my life:
*This Friday I meet up with Von, Thea and 3 other Victoria Sampler cyberstitchers in Bellevue for a weekend of fun, visiting and stitching!
*My parents will be home from snowbirding in Arizona on Sunday.
*Amy's 24th birthday is the Sunday after that.
*I start a two week vacation from work on the next Friday.
*The next Sunday is Easter, Resurrection Day, and our family get-together.
*We leave for 8 days at Disneyland/California the Friday after that.

So maybe this next month I will actually have something interesting to talk about!! LOL!

Another Finish!

I have finished stitching the 2002 Shepherd's Bush ornament!!! Actually, I finished it on Sunday evening, but haven't been home long enough before tonight to get it scanned and posted. AND, I have actually started the 2003 ornament too. Not much progress yet, but at least I have started! I have really enjoyed doing several small projects and having the satisfaction of getting them done!!!

I have also discovered an online stitching magazine called The Gift of Stitching, you might want to check it out!!! I am enjoying the articles, and even better, I don't have to go to the store to pick it up!! Click on the link on the sidebar if you are interested in checking it out!

I am looking forward to receiving some smocking patterns that I ordered online. I can hardly wait to start smocking on the little dresses I got for Alana. I hope that they come soon! I really need to pull out my practice swatch and do a few smocking stitches before I start! It's been 22 years since I have done any smocking, when my oldest daughter (Alana's Mom) was a toddler! It's been a long time!!!

I always have the best intentions...

but Saturdays always seem to get away from me. I was going to stay home and stitch all day, but as you can guess, I have yet to pick up my needle and it is time to fix dinner!! I feel like I got lots accomplished, just not what I had planned!! We got our tickets bought and hotel paid for to go to Disneyland on April 21st!!! Now we are really getting excited!

This week's weather was really awful. One of the young men at work reminded us of the nursery rhyme for March, "in like a lion, out like a lamb" We have certainly had our share of Lion's weather this week. It even snowed a couple days...very unusual for March. This is the first time since 1995 that it has snowed in March!

I have made some small progress on the Shepherd's Bush ornament, I was able to put in some stitches on Thursday evening. I think I may have caught up with Von unless she has stitched today!!! I picked up the newest issue of Sew Beautiful at Barnes and Noble last night as it has some darling smocking patterns in it. I think I will actually use these patterns, so it qualified as a legitimate magazine purchase!!! (see entry from last week regarding magazines).

Well, we get to keep Alana overnight tonight, that will be lots of fun! It's her daddy's (Max) birthday today, so we will watch her while the older "kids" go out and celebrate!! Happy Birthday Max!

Wet and Wild Wednesday

We have had a wild day weather wise today. Buckets of rain and a hard wind. Winter's last gasp, I suppose, just to make sure we know that spring officially is still 2 weeks away. Amazingly, the flowering plums held onto most of their lovely pink blossoms, so the storm didn't totally chase away spring! I mentioned in my last entry that I would post a picture of my yard after the fine landscapers had finished their work. It looks bare with no leaves on anything, but oh so neat and pretty.



I came home for lunch today, and Alli was giving Alana a bath in the sink. The look on her face as she was lowered into the water was hilarious! I wish my camera had been turned on. A mixture of pure disbelief and "what are you doing". So I grabbed my camera and took a few pix. She even got her hair blow dried when she was done!


So this evening I get to stitch. Von has actually gotten ahead of me in the Shepherd's Bush stitch along we are doing, but I hope to get caught up tonight. Wishful thinking? Probably!!!

A very productive day!

After sleeping in this morning till 8 AM, I was up and out of the house by 10 and travelled up to Puyallup for the Sewing and Stitching Expo!! Me and about every other lady who lives in a 50 mile radius. Goodness there were a LOT of people there. I just browsed through the vendors, with my eyes searching for stitching things! There were only about 4 booths with stitching items, but I found some real treasures. In Martha Pullen's booth, they had a large selection of children's clothes already sewed, with banding for smocking already pleated. I was so delighted! I had been wanting to do some smocking for Alana, but didn't want to do it all from scratch. So now I just need to find a couple patterns I like. I found a very sweet bishops dress in blue, and a darling white dress.

I also picked up a Flower Frame Kit ( Stoney Creek), Surf and Sand b y Northern Pine Designs, and several patterns by a lady I had never heard of before, Mary Vandenberg of Elegant Needle Designs. The pictures on the patterns do not do them justice, they had them all made up, and they are gorgeous. I chose 6 that I liked the best. The shop owner said this was a friend of hers, very talented, but she had had a stroke and is no longer able to design. It's very sad, because she is very talented! Regretfully, Lorri Birmingham was not in attendance this year. I had looked forward to snagging some of her kits.

I also framed up Honeysuckle Rose into my clock. I am very pleased with it!

Then I came home and worked in the yard for several hours. We hired a couple guys to come do the winter clean up and spread bark on all the beds, so I did some fine tuning, and John mowed the lawn. It sure looks nice, hopefully the bark will keep the weeds down!

Then this evening, I struggled for a few hours getting my son-in-law's laptop hooked up to the router so that I could use it for email in other rooms of the house when the family was playing games. What a chore, but after several calls to the internet support people, I finally had success.

I will try and get some pictures of the yard tomorrow to post.

SPRING is in the air! It was shirt sleeve weather today!

An Early Spring!

The flowering plum trees have bloomed! I am so thrilled...its a whole 2 weeks early this year. It is always a wonderful promise that spring is actually on its way. I love spring, it is my favorite time of year! This picture is just outside my office at the credit union, so I really can enjoy looking at all that pink most of the day!!!

I am almost finished with Honeysuckle Rose (Again, thank you Anne!). I had planned on finishing it up before I posted a picture, but decided to go ahead and post it now since it is nearly done. I just have some of the light green to finish up and some gold in the center of the flowers. It calls for gold beads, but since it is for a clock center, I am afraid the beads might get in the way of the hands. I also need to figure out some sort of "Buttonhole" in the center of the design for the clock works to come through the fabric. I probably will just end up with some sort of Kloster block square in the same color thread as the fabric. I can hardly wait to get it all together!

I have decided not to make a goal list for March, as I cannot count on how much stitching time I will really end up with in any given month. But I hope to design some more on "My Child's Heart" and get at least one more of the Shepherd's Bush Christmas ornaments finished. So, is two items a list? LOL! I really should put a few more stitches into Victoria Sampler's A is for Angel, since I joined the support group that Thea has set up for the Alphabet Samplers! That little list will be more than plenty for me to do!!!

Every week I read the SBQ question, but never have the time to go back and forth to copy and paste and make a note, etc. But I think I will try it this week.

Today's SBQ was suggested by Cheryl and is:What cross-stitch magazines or other publications (as opposed to blogs) do you read on a regular basis? What do you like about them?What do you not like? What would your perfect publication include?

My answer: back in the old days I subscribed to nearly every stitching magazine that was made, but rarely stitched much from the magazine. My favorite used to be Cross Stitch and Country Crafts, and I still have every single issue in my collection. These days, I don't subscribe to any stitching magazines, tho I collect and use a lot the Just Cross Stitch Ornament issues. If I happen to be in Barnes and Noble, I will look at all the magazines and only buy one if I happen to see one that has a pattern that I am fairly sure I will stitch someday. But it is still fun to browse!
So my requirements are that it MUST have a pattern I want to stitch, and perhaps some great articles. My perfect publication would be a whole magazine of patterns that are irresistible!

Am I the only one....

who forgets about a WIP (work in progess)??? I was shuffling through my stitching closet today getting ready to pull some out some thread, and stumbled across Toccata on the stretcher bars. Oh, I had forgotten all about it! And then I was sorting through my basket looking for some fabric, and lo and behold there is Victoria Sampler's A is for Angel, totally neglected by little old me. I must somehow get these pieces back into my line of vision so I don't forget them again. I am looking forward to someday having a stitching ROOM, so things won't always get hidden in my dark closet! LOL!

Well, the birthday weekend is over. Huge sigh of relief. And as a bonus, I had the day off from work today because of President's Day. So I was able to take care of things for myself that I didn't get done over the weekend, such as doing my hair and having my nails done. Horray! Now I feel much better! So now I am off to start stitching on Honeysuckle Rose. Thank you Anne! Now I have another WIP to keep track of! LOL!

Does anyone have this?

I am longing to do this freebie Just Nan pattern (called Honeysuckle Rose, copyright 2000) for a clock insert that I have, but I cannot find the pattern anywhere. Does anyone have a copy of this freebie that they would be willing to give/lend/trade? Thanks so much.

Discontent

I wandered around my house last night, in and out of my stitching room/office, wanting to stitch, but way to tired to sit down and work on a project where I had to think (ie designing) or mess around with lots of threads and the mess in my stitching basket. Am I the only one who feels this way? I had a couple of smalls I have really been wanting to work on, but again I was too mind numb and tired to even try and think about pulling fabric and making thread choices. I decided that I need to make up a bunch of small, compact and neat kits to pull out in such a time. So I hope to get around to that sometime this weekend. If I make several and put them into appealing packaging (not sure what that will be yet) then it will be easier to stitch when I am tired.

Lizzie's birthday party with her friends is this afternoon. I really should be out picking up the house and vacuuming. She is 11 this year, and it has been amazing to watch her mature this winter. On her actual birthday on Thursday, we went up and cleaned out ALL the toys and stuffed animals from her bedroom. That would have been unthinkable a few months ago. So now they line the walls of the upstairs den...probably to either go into storage or migrate their way to Alana.

The wind has died down some today, but is still blowing enough to get the wind chill way down. The cars didn't even ice up last night, really weird considering it got down to single digits in Fahrenheit. It still looks like a gorgeous summer morning to look outside.

Here is a bit of the band I added to Alana's birth sampler last Monday. I was pleased with the way it turned out. I had never stitched drawn thread and pulled thread together, it's an interesting band. Even more, Amy liked it too.

Getting blown away

It is bitter cold here in Western Washington. The sun is shining in full glory, so it deceptively inviting to step outside and then....ouch, the wind hits with a wind chill that MUST be close to zero. Not sure it's that low, but it feels like it. The wind has come from the north and caused all kinds of limbs and trees to come down. We were without power for about 4 hours at work this morning due to a tree down. Thank goodness for that large generator that was installed last summer. The members were still able to access their money!!!

More later, But here is another picture of Alana. I'll get some stitching pix up this weekend.

It's Sunday again...

I seem to only find time to post on Sunday afternoons. This has been a very busy week, yet I feel like I have nothing exciting to write about. I had some all day training for work on Friday, and when I came home, my sweet granddaughter was there waiting for me. She spent the night with us while her mommy and daddy took a well-deserved night away in Seattle. It was fun to have her for the whole night. She did really well. I got up at 2 AM and 6 AM to give her a bottle, but she slept from 10 PM till 10 AM for us.

I missed the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympic Games, I just plain forgot it was on TV. Oh well. This week is valentines day, and Lizzie's 11th birthday on Thursday. Which reminds me, it is Thea's (Victoria Sampler) birthday on Thursday too. They share a birthday. Saturday Lizzie is having all her friends over for a party, then Sunday is special meetings at church. It looks to be another very busy week!

And I have not been able to pick up a needle all week!!!! So I will share a picture of Alana in her Valentine's outfit!

Where's the Integrity?

WARNING!! I have to rant. Sorry about that, but it's my blog, I guess I can do that. Please skip this post if you don't want to listen.

I just arrived home from taking my daughter to piano lessons and was listening to talk radio in the car. I could not believe my ears. The quarterback from the Pittsburg Steelers (Lizzie calls them the Stealers) admitted on late night TV (I think it was Letterman, I am not sure) that he did NOT cross the goal line in that controversial touchdown in the Super Bowl. He then went and told HIS COACH that he didn't make it across the line. He knew it immediately after the play. His coach knew it immediately after the play. AND THEY SAID NOTHING!!

Does anyone else see anything wrong with this picture? I would have severely reprimanded my child if he/she had done anything like that. And then to take the 6 points like they deserved it. (Shaking my head in disgust). Yesterday I had no respect for the officials. Today, I lay the blame squarely on the shoulders of this quarterback. He should have known better. And they dare to call themselves great. Sheesh. They will never, ever, ever have my respect as a team. Shame on them!!!

So, done with my rant. I hate injustice (refs). I hate lies more (quarterback and coach). The Lord says what you reap you shall sow. The world calls it karma, or what goes around comes around. Today, I am glad I am not in their shoes. Now...I need to go pray about my attitude, LOL!!!!

A TA-DA Moment...

I finished the second Shepherd's Bush Christmas Ornament tonight. I am very pleased with the way it turned out, but it seemed to take me forever to get done. Must have been all the solid stitching on the angel, I'm not sure. So Von, now I am caught up with you!!!

Super Bowl blues

Well, I have watched only 1.5 football games this year. I watched the Seattle Seahawks win the National Championship two weeks ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it. But after two quarters of the Superbowl, I have left the game and walked away. I am thoroughly disgusted with the obviously biased referees, and if that is the way that Pittsburg wants to win, by bad calls and obvious partiality, then they can have it. I can't stand to watch any kind of game (let alone the Super Bowl) in which the refs make mistake after mistake, and there is no justice or restitution for it. I am too much a person of justice when it comes to sports.

So I have said my piece and I won't say anymore. I know that 99% of you reading this have no idea what I am talking about and care even less, so no matter. In the grand scheme of things, in the light of eternity, what is it going to matter?

On a lighter note, I haven't done any stitching all weekend. Boo hoo. But I DID manage to get our taxes done, and we are getting a very decent refund. It was a 6 hour ordeal, but it is done for another year, and I can enjoy the fruits of my labor...money for Disneyland!!! WOOHOO!

I am at a bit of a design blockage in stitching My Child's Heart. I can't make up my mind which kind of band would look best below the name lettering. I have found with such blockages that I usually need to set it aside for a few days and come back to it. The top half of the design is pretty heavy with lots of hardanger and ribbon flowers, so I need to make sure it doesn't get top heavy and overpower any thing I do below. It will come to me. I'm feeling a little drained tonight after the fiasco of the football game. I think I will work on something already designed and easy to stitch. Probably my Shepherd's Bush ornaments. I am still plugging away on #2. Von how far along are you these days? Probably WAAAAY ahead of me!!!

Here's a scan of the name on the sampler. I love the way it turned out with the Weeks Dye works thread (Sweetheart Rose). Isn't that an appropriate color name for my sweetheart grand daughter?

Rainy Sunday Afternoon

The rain is pouring down here in Western Washington. Absolute buckets of water. What a great afternoon to curl up with my stitching, my warm blanket and good movie. I hope that my day works out that way. I worked some on My Child's Heart again last night, and I have just a few stitches left on the silk ribbon embroidery. I am pleased with the way it is turning out.

This morning our granddaughter was dedicated at church. It was a lovely time, and Alana did so well, not a peep out of her the whole morning. We took Max, Amy and Tera (Max's Mom) out for dinner after church, Mexican food. Yummy. Here's a picture of Alana in her dedication dress. This is the same dress that my three daughters wore for their dedications, so now it has a real family, mother-daughter history. When it is not being worn by our babies, I have it displayed on a china doll in my bedroom. I realized I should embroider all their names in white silk along the bottom of the hem now that it has such a history!

Thank You!

I just want to say a quick thank you to all of you who have so graciously offered to share your silk ribbon stash to help me out. I believe I have accumulated the colors I needed, finally, after hitting many stores. Thank you so much for your love and generosity!!! Here you can see a bit of what I did with the ribbon!!!

The Meme of Fours

This sounded kind of fun, so thought I would try it too!

The Meme of Fours
Four Jobs I Have Had in My Life:
1. Records Officer in Credit Union
2. Legal Secretary
3. Secretary for small consulting firm
4. Cashier in dress shop

Four Movies I Could Watch Over and Over Again:
1. You've Got Mail
2. White Christmas
3. Sound of Music
4. Sense and Sensibility

Four Places I Have Lived:
1. Olympia, WA
2. Boise, Idaho
3. Spokane, WA
4. Bellingham, WA
And I'd be stuck if I had to list 5!! This is it!

Four TV Shows I Love to Watch:
1. Criminal Intent
2. Extreme Home Makeovers
3. Crossing Jordan
4. Whose Line is it Anyway?

Four Places I Have Been on Vacation:
1. Maui, Hawaii
2. Oahu, Hawaii
3. Disneyland
4. Yellowstone National Park

Four Websites I Visit Daily:
1. KING5 (news)
2. The Olympian
3. Google
4. my friend's blogs

Four of My Favorite Foods:
1. Burnt Creme
2. Chocolate
3. Prawns
4. Ice Cream

Four Albums I Can't Live Without:
1. Don't listen to much music except radio

Four Places I'd Rather Be:
1. Hawaii
2. San Diego, CA
3. England
4. Florida

Silk Ribbons

My daughter, Amy, and I are stitching a piece called "My Child's Heart" for my granddaughter, Alana, and I have reached the row where I am going to put in some silk ribbon flowers. I sat down and started stitching, and we realized that the ribbons I had were much to vibrant for the muted sampler. So I went on a hunting expedition this week, trying to find silk ribbons in the muted colors I needed. Not much luck, the stores in this town don't seem to care about silk ribbon embroidery. I bought a couple of kits, even, thinking I may be able to pilfer the ribbons for this project. But I am not sure I have enough of what I need. I plan on sitting down today and then we shall see!

I am so proud of my daughter Amy! After being a regular reader here on my blog, she has decided, quite on her own, to start her own blog. So I would like to introduce "Diaper Days" (see the link at the top of the list at the right. Good job Amy! I hope that many of you will drop in and see her. She is craving some child-rearing advice right now I think!!!

I have sat down several times this week to stitch, and it seems that life keeps getting in the way! I am not making progress on anything. Does anyone else find this irritating? Or is it just me? I always have such good intentions!!

Here is a scan of a my partly finished SB ornament in the Just Cross Stitch series. I had hoped it would be happy dance for the week, but maybe next week!!

We have broken the record here in my home town for consecutive days of rain. I have lost count, but I think we are at over 30 now. Maybe I should start stitching some spring designs!!! LOL!

Home Again, Home again...

I am home from San Diego, after an exhausting day of travel. There were several delays, so it took me almost 12 hours to get home. Not fun! But San Diego is a beautiful city. I drove over to Coronado before I went to the airport yesterday, what a gorgeous place. I want to go back there and stay for a few days. It seemed like classic, golden California in Coronado, a place forgotten in time. Lovely, lovely, lovely.

It IS nice to be home again, back to all the rain. 28 straight days now of rain in Western Washington, tho I missed 7 of them. I heard that the Governor has declared a state of emergency, and the weather reports do not indicate any let up in the next few days. I wish I could transplant the San Diego weather up here!!! Flowers are blooming and the sun is shining!

I did make it back to the needlework shop that had closed for the evening. Big disappointment, it was only knitting and needlepoint yarns. I was kicking myself that I had even spent the time going back. Oh well. So I put this trip to rest....training went well, tho I have alot to process and assimilate when I go back to work. I have Monday off, thank goodness. I'm going to need the extra day to recuperate!! And, if I am really lucky, hold my grandbaby and even stitch!!!

Another Success!

I drove for about 35 minutes yesterday to get to another Needlework shop. At least it was a straight shot on the same street as my class is on. It was Needlework Cottage, clear over by the ocean. I could see the water from the front porch. Very pretty area. I picked up the rest of the Weeks and Gentle Arts threads for the SB ornaments, but nothing else. The shop was good size, but 85% was yarns and threads. Great place for knitters.

Then I drove around for over an hour trying to find the remaining shop in town. Very hard to find. I finally stopped at a Starbucks and asked a lady who looked to be about my age. She knew right where it was. Of course, by the time I got there, it was closed for the night. It was right behind a Hooter's ( !) restaurant, so just peeked in the windows to see if it were worth going back for. I haven't decided if I will go back or not. It's a tricky place to get to.

On my way home, I got slightly lost....I knew I was going in the right direction, just couldn't find the street I wanted. I passed a Marie Calendar's, so stopped for dinner. I LOVE Marie Calendar's, we don't have one at home, so I decided to take advantage of it. I had a wonderful Stroganoff dish and cornbread. I did make it home and then admired all my new threads. Such fun!

Mission Accomplished!

I made it to a real live actual needlework shop on my lunch break. First time in about a year since I have been to one. Oh JOY! I went to Stitch-a-Cross on Mission Gorge Rd in San Diego, about 12 minutes from my class, so I was able to go in an hour. It was a little like going back 20 years, as she still had models from things I had stitched 20 years ago...and of course, 99% of the models did not have patterns in the shop. Oh well. I found some Gentle Arts and Weeks threads that are in the SB ornaments...not all of them of course, but grabbed what she had, and also some Watercolours for the Name Trees. A couple of very small Just Nan patterns that will be nice purse projects. The owner told me the shop I tried to get to Monday had closed only a MONTH ago! She also told me of a shop out near the ocean that I will try to get to after work this evening. At least San Diego is fairly easy to get around in.

Oh Phooey!

They have a web page that is still active. They have a huge ad in the local phone book. They even have a map on how to get there. But when I got there, there was only an empty building with a "For Lease" sign in the window.

Another LNS has bit the dust.

I drove around and around with my little Mapquest map trying to find this place, and it isn't even there! I plan on calling the phone number today, just to double check if they have moved. Probably not, but I will try.

San Diego is warm! I love it. The palm trees are exotic. Class is going well, though I went to bed at 9 PM last night because I was so exhausted. I didn't even do any stitching!!!!

More soon!

So, I discovered that I have internet access here at my computer class in San Diego. Hurray!Now I can keep in touch with everyone.

I put a few stitches in SB#2 on the plane. I don't think I like the color, the pink in the angel dress seems much too bright. I may redo it with a blended needle. Can't remember the thread numbers, the pattern is at the hotel.

It is warm here today in SD. Such an odd feeling going from 40 degrees to almost 80 in one day. I have Bird of Paradise flowering outside my hotel window. It feels so strange. The class is going well, nothing too demanding yet. Had lunch with a couple of gals from Glendale. Figured out that there are two Needlework Shops within 10 minutes of here, I hope to get to them soon! I'll keep you posted on how things are going now that I know I can keep in contact.

Break's over, time for class again! More soon!

San Diego Here I Come!

Well, I am off to San Diego tomorrow morning bright and early. I am pretty well packed up except for the last minute things in the morning, and I still need to clean out my purse and repack into my small one. I have a couple new books, and all my current stitching projects packed, so I should be good to go. I even pulled out my blunt nose scissors for the plane. Though I understand that the restriction for small scissors has been lifted, I am not willing to take a chance loosing my good hardanger points.

I had a call from JoCelle in Aberdeen this morning. Cindy Valentine is in the area, and they are meeting up at Shipwreck Beads tomorrow at noon! I was disappointed, as I will be on my way to SD by then. JoCelle seemed very nice on the phone and we had a great conversation. The plan is to meet up in the Seattle area with all the northwest Victoria Sampler Cyberstitchers the last weekend in March. We are hoping that Thea will be joining us too! Nancy B. lives in Redmond(?) and is planning on putting together a good package deal at a resort/hotel she knows about. Should be a fun weekend.

Here is a teaser of My Child's Heart. It is an unpublished design, so can't show the whole thing, but it is a taste!!

I don't know if I will have internet access when I am gone or not, but if I am able to find some, I will post and let everyone know how it is going. I am going for computer training, but not sure if the company offers Internet access or not!!!

Have a great week everyone, and I will talk to you next week!!

A new project started

Von (On the Dry Side) and I are doing a stitch-along together, doing the Shepherd's Bush ornaments from the JCS ornament issues. Von is doing them all on one piece of 32 ct linen, while I am doing mine on eight small pieces of 28 ct linen, which I plan on piecing together into a bell pull. Here is a picture of the first ornament. It worked up pretty quickly, I did it in a couple of evenings while watching TV. I'm going to go back to My Child's Heart for a couple days, then work on the next ornament. It is fun to finish a "project" in a couple days. Most everything I stitch seems to be a major project.

I'm leaving Sunday morning for San Diego for a week, so I hope to get some stitching done in the evenings after class time (computer stuff). I hope I can keep up in class so that I won't have to do much reviewing at night. I'm looking forward to the trip, tho I will miss my family!!!

Speaking of family, Alana is 6.5 weeks old now and grinning regularly at her mom and dad. I can hardly wait to see a grin meant just for Grandma! I can't resist showing off my favorite picture of her!

The year in review...

It is amazing that 2005 will be over in a few hours. By the time most of you read this, it will be long over. I am challenged to write my Finished in 2005 list by all the other lists I see on Stitching Bloggers...so here is what I accomplished this year:

Heirloom Homecoming Sampler by Victoria Sampler
Stitched for Thea, dark colors, appears in her leaflet.
All Hearts Come Home for Christmas, by Victoria Sampler
Stitched for Thea, choose thread colors for kits
For Always Wedding Sampler, by Victoria Sampler
Stitched for Thea, choose thread colors for kits
Christmas Treasures by Victoria Sampler
Stitched the ornaments for Thea for her class
Two Christmas Stocking tops for new son-in-law and granddaughter
pattern from CS&CC, 1985
Ring Bearers Pillow, my own unpublished design
for Alli and Chris' wedding in September
My Heart's Garden, my own unpublished design
Hardanger, pulled thread, silk ribbon
Sunglow Frame, (working name) my own unpublished design
Hardanger, pulled thread

I don't even want to think about my WIP sitting in my basket. Too many, too little time! My current piece in my rotation is My Child's Garden, my own unpublished design, meant to be a birth sampler for Alana.

Considering the huge changes in my life this year, I am amazed I accomplished as much as I did. Granted, 95% of my finished pieces happened BEFORE I started working full time in August. Then there was the wedding in September, our trip to Hawaii in October, Alana's birth in November and of course, Christmas in December.

Then there is my wish list. Currently, in my "I want to start ASAP" are the Christmas ornaments in the Just Cross Stitch ornaments issues by Shepherd's Bush....the series about the Christmas story. Also, I received G is for Grandma by Victoria Sampler for Christmas from a special friend, and I am longing to get it started too, since I am a Grandma now!!!

Happy New Year everyone!

Holiday Week musings....

We had a lovely Christmas. We are blessed with an ever enlarging family, and now our first Christmas with a grandchild. It was truly good. I decided to cut back on the actual number of gifts given this year, and concentrated on one "expensive" item (in other words, worth more than $50) per person. It was fun, as we had fewer gifts to open, so we took our time, and one person opened one gift and every one ooohh and ahhhed, then the next person, etc. I video taped the whole morning with my new DVD camera, and only realized later that I had no still photos of the morning, only movies!! I may have to try to capture a few frames on the computer for the memory books. Just need to figure out how!!! Then we joined the extended family at my parents house for dinner and more presents.

So I am taking this week off work. It is so nice to sleep late, and stay in my PJ's as long as I desire. My Christmas cards are churning off the printer as I type, and will be in the mail by this afternoon. So, actually, maybe they are New Years cards...but I am getting them done!!!

My granddaughter is coming to visit this afternoon. YES!!

I am leaving in two weeks for a weeks training in San Deigo. Computer training in San Diego. A week by myself in San Diego. Paid for by the credit union, in San Diego. Did I mention I get to go to San Diego? Not that I am excited or anything! Sunshine, blue sky and three needlework shops all in the same city!!! Is that heaven or what??? I hope to have a stash list when I come back! (of course, and know alot more about the computer stuff too!!)

I did find a couple of the Name Christmas trees by M designs in the Just Cross stitch ornaments magazine. Then there was a freebie on the website too, so I have three to choose from. I just need to get to a shop and find some good darker colored overdyes...everything in my stash is too light and spring like for a Christmas design.

Merry Christmas!!!

May you all have a blessed Christmas!

I can't believe how quickly the last two weeks have gone. I had such good intentions of keeping up with this blog, and baking cookies, and watching Christmas movies and here it is, Christmas Eve, and I am just now getting around to it. There's a batch of shortbread cookies in the oven, the pies are ready to be made, and I am finally sitting down to this.

In reflecting on the last 5 months since I started this blog, I am amazed at how dependent I have become on reading the blogs of friends and fellow stitchers. I check in at least once day for a few minutes to catch up on my reading, and miss it dreadfully if I don't. To think that 6 months ago I had no idea that a "regular" person like myself could even HAVE a blog!!!

Which leads me to the conclusion that perhaps I need a companion blog to this one just for talking about my new granddaughter! I sit down to write and she seems to be at the forefront of what I want to talk about!!!

On to stitching news, I actually was able to get Alana's stocking sewed together, but as you might guess, there is presently no name on it! I have plans to sit down in a few minutes and at least get her name stitched on, even if I don't have time for any further pretty things. Two new family members this year (Christopher in September and Alana in November) to stitch stockings for!!!

I have decided this week that I REALLY like the M Designs Name Trees. I need to put them on my list this year and get some done before next Christmas. http://www.m--designs.com/personaltrees.html. I think that somewhere I have one of the little freebies that she has done, I haven't had time to go searching yet. Perhaps one of the JCS ornaments issues? I can't remember. It would be fun to be able to done one for each family name, but I don't think that will happen in one year!!! LOL!

Well, it's time to prepare for my day. My big girls and their hubbys will be with their hubby's families this evening. John, Lizzie and I will have dinner with my parents and then go look at Christmas lights. Tomorrow morning all my kids will be here for presents, then we will all join the rest of the extended family (22 of us this year) for dinner and presents at my parents home. My niece also had a baby this year, and my unmarried sister has a new beau, who is bringing his 12 year daughter, so the table is full. We are thankful. Lizzie is quite delighted of perhaps soon having a cousin just her age. She was the one and only in her age group for the last 10 years!

Merry Christmas to all. And in the words of Tiny Tim, God Bless Us, every one.

Saturday Musings..

John and I slept in late this morning, it was close to 10 before we got up...very unusual for us. But such a nice treat. I cleaned and organized our bedroom and bath, and John did the dishes and vacuumed the house. Then I took Amy, without the baby, and we had our nails done and stopped for a latte at our coffee place. It's been a good day. John and I leave soon for my office Christmas Dinner...mmmh, prime rib I think. Of course any food is good when someone else does the cooking!!!

I've been busy this week trying to get into the Christmas mode. I actually got all the stocking stuffers purchased this week. I normally don't get that done until the 23rd, so I am feeling on top of things. Just wish the big presents were taken care of now. With working full time, I just don't have time to run all over town comparing prices and making decisions. I need one store, a good list, and even better prices. I have a place in mind. Hope I can take care of everyone there.

In the background I can hear the television...Dorothy is singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow. They must have the Wizard of Oz on tonight. We bought a great Christmas DVD this week, the Polar Express. Amy and Max watched it a couple weeks ago and said we MUST see it. It is very good. We are also looking forward to going to the theatre and seeing Chronicles of Narnia. Alli and Chris saw it last night and said it is fantastic. Lizzie and I have tickets to see The Nutcraker Ballet next Saturday afternoon. It has been about 11 years since I have been to the Nutcracker, so I am looking forward to it.

Well, as Thea said in the comments of my last post, we no longer have snow, but it has been very cold. If there were any moisture to come down, it would be snow. I am longing for the warmth of Hawaii!!!

Here is a picture of John and I with Alana this week! LOL. I am a besotted grandmother! until next time....

We have Snow!

I woke up this morning to three inches of beautiful snow! It is a perfect day for staying inside, drinking cocoa and stitching.

Too bad I have to leave for work in an hour!

This is really an unusual occurrance for Western Washington. Last year we did not receive any snow at all. I hope it stays until tomorrow!