End of March, Already??? An Update

Well, another month flown by. The boys are on spring break next week, and I am, too, on Monday & Tuesday - I can't wait!! Birthdays are over, until fall. Now, if I can just get the taxes done & paid, we could concentrate on other things - like how much we are going to have to lay out for the Kid to go to Prom :( He seriously needs a job - I don't know how he'd fit it in, but he's going to have to.... Oh, and school stuff, like getting in to take the ACT and things like that.Booger's birthday would have been Thursday. I was around the side of the house on Friday with Lucy, where we have all the critters buried. When we buried Booger last year, I put a violet on him. Friday, I was surprised to see this huge plant, all in bloom, over Booger - it's the only violet we have like that right now - way too early for the rest of them. I plan to pull a couple of blooms off of Booger's violet and press them, to keep.


As Tuesday was the 23rd, when I would have been working on something in memory of Lori (like Noah's Sub), I was at the stitch in. So I decided to wait until this weekend to do that, and then Booger's birthday went past, so instead of Noah, I decided to work on Chat Noir Saturday and Sunday. I got a few hundred stitches in, almost all yellow, so you can't really see a lot of difference - except there's now another whisker started :)


I also worked a little bit on Lyne's AAFG, but it was only a couple of small bits, so not really picture-worthy. That was on Monday, after I got done running the Birthday kid to the bookstore to buy his presents, and doing the cake & dinner. At Tuesday's stitch in, I worked on Winter Gingham, and worked on during the week at lunch and Friday night after the game - and finished it at 12:30 Friday night!!! I was a little hyped up from the game - we beat the crap out of the other team, but the reffing was absolutely horrible, and they gave them 2 PKs that they shouldn't have (as well as handing out yellow cards like they were Ritalin), causing us to lose on the scoreboard. It was awful - but the Kid played great; they all did, and should have won 5-1, instead of losing 1-3. Just awful. But I was awake enough to want to stay up and finish the snowman, so I did :)

I need to locate a couple more of these Gingham pieces - I love Autumn Gingham and Pumpkin Gingham (of course I do). I probably even have Carrie's silks to sub in for those, too :) It was a fun little project. Now, to frame it, make a flat fold, or something else???

Well, with all this already done, needless to say, I didn't get a lot done on Knotgarden, which was supposed to be the main focus for the week. I put Chat away last night so I could do a little more, but I could easily have kept on with Chat. Maybe a bit more this week - we'll see. Anyway, I literally did very little on Knotgarden - finished the two topiary that needed finishing from last time, and got a start on the black gate.

Definitely not the banner week I'd been hoping for. I can't believe I might get MTM done before this one! Secret Victorian & Tuscany are literally screaming at me every time I get near the file cabinet! Oh well, ought to have less going on the next time this comes out :)

Lastly, we had our monthly meeting of PINS, the local stitching group. I was going to take some pictures, but it was too crowded to get up and move around, so I didn't. I didn't know what to take, so I just went with what's been hanging out in the travel bag, JE Imagine & DD Purrfect Summer Day. Imagine was already in the Qs, so that's what I worked on. It's close to being done, too. If I do any at lunch this week, I might be beading by Friday.


This week, I get out AD Samplar 4 Saisons, and work on tree, enough to work over to the next color, for Summer, I hope. I also need to work on Lyne's pieces. I don't know if I am going to go to the stitch in tomorrow - away game, but one we have gone to before; but since I have next Tuesday off, I'm going to the day one that day, maybe the night one, too, if I think I can stand more stitching :) That's the news from here. Happy stitching this week to everyone, and keep an eye for that bunny rabbit bearing chocolate :)

A Birthday, A Stitch-In, and the Sun Rising on Bradford Pears

Photos from the week, beginning with a Kid's birthday on Monday night - though his birthday was Tuesday, but as he had an away game, we didn't think he was going to be home at all until late. And then the boys' and girls' games got switched, so he 1) couldn't go to his filed trip to see the Bodies exhibit, and 2) was home early, after I'd already reserved my spot at the stitch in. Anyway, pictures from Monday were him trying to get the candles blown out before I could get the picture taken. Snotty kid:


Happy 17th, you brat :) That's his girlfriend, btw, who was as cooperative with the pictures as everyone else around here....

Then, the stitch-in, which went on while The Kid was winning his game (scoring the first goal, a header, making him the leading defensive scorer). Donna always takes pictures, so I thought I'd jump in, too, though neither of us did it until after Judy & Michelle had already left for the night. But since Joey was MIA Saturday when I was in there getting the MBT pics, I got him when I walked in Tuesday - he was laying in wait by the door, waiting for an unsuspecting stitcher to let him slide out....


This is Scooter's Dad...

We had a full house Tuesday:


That's Terrie there on the end at the right, and Donna with her back to us in the pink. Jill is there in the purple - she has a daughter due in July. In the green with her back to us, with the blue jacket on the chair, is Jackie, and she was working on one of the Patricia Allison dragons, Summer. I didn't catch the name of the lady here on this end. Across the table in the turquoise is Karen (I'm the Other Karen); she is getting married in June. Michelle, who left earlier, is her mom. Down on the end is Allison, who was a member of TheSamplerLife group, and is the one that hooked me up with the local stitching group, PINS. Also, she is a librarian at my branch :) Not pictured: Kristine, who was sick - hopefully not the same crud I had, and hopefully better for our PINS get together tomorrow :)

And lastly, I was early this morning (a.k.a. on time for a change), and got into the parking lot at work as the sun was peaking over the horizon, but under the thick clouds that were supposed to BE GONE. The sun lit up the Bradford pears that line the street, my view as I walk out to my car in the spring :)

The Pillars of the Earth Television Event Series | The Official Website

Link

It's so awesome they are making this into an 8-hour movie! I can't wait for JULY!!!!!

Just When I Thought It Was Warmer...

... there were flurries here this morning! Winter does NOT want to let go :( But, back to 70s tomorrow or Wednesday, I think I saw :) At least it wasn't nearly cold enough to damage anything - being 70 Saturday, it shouldn't get that cold again.

You have probably already seen my post/album on the My Big Toe trunk show - I meant to get pictures sooner, but having been sick and not making it to Tuesday stitch in for 3 weeks (?) now, delayed that. But I went in Saturday just for that - the models are so pretty, my pictures are okay, but you really can't see how pretty they really are. And JBW Designs is coming in after MBT - I can't wait for those to get here! I may have to stay away the whole month; those little charts are deceptive, and next thing I know, I have 5 in my hand (or two, anyway, Saturday, when I picked up French Country Dog and the new Papillon).

On to the week's stitching. I started out working on my current RR piece, Lyne's AAFG, on Monday night, while watching TV. And about 10 minutes into the Jack Bauer Power Hour, I saw that 96% of what I'd just put in was off - so I took it all back out again, and put most of it back. Then it was bedtime :( I didn't get back to it until yesterday, but finished putting back what I'd frogged, and got a couple of birds added:

The vine along the top there, and the blue bird & brown bird are what I've done to date. Wow, what a lot of colors I've used already! I had to reorganize the threads, breaking them down into 4 more-manageable sets, so I could find anything.

My main project this week was EGS, and again, I didn't work on it but 4 days, maybe? Maybe 5 - I can't remember if I worked on 2 things on one of those days or not... Anyway, just couldn't get into the groove again - I made a huge mistake with the chart when I was working on an earlier part, and taped pages together - but the tape I currently have won't hold highlighter for more than a day, so everything I'd marked off previously was gone or indistinct, so I had to spend a good bit of time finding points of reference, so I could fill in what was supposed to filled in, and leave blanks where there are supposed to be blanks. But I got most of the problem areas out of the way. If I can just get the middle-left column done, so I can get that backstitch in there - though, to be honest, half the bs I have done is all but unnoticeable, which is odd for a TW. Anyway, here it is:


I wasn't in the mood for this a couple of nights, so I worked on Mary Wigham for a bit, too, doing another edge motif and a small initial section. I got up at one point to stretch/move around, leaving my BeGuilted on the project like I normally do, and that damn DumbChuck got hold of it. I came back out to start again, to see sections of my floss in the blanket, under the dummy; I dug it out, and came up 3 sections short (1 1/2 yards). I have no idea if he ate it, or if I just haven't found it yet - I tore the couch apart, shook the blankets out, went & looked in the mirror to make sure it wasn't stuck to me somewhere - nowhere. He had a really guilty look on his face, and he loves to shred fabric, so who knows? Stupid dog. This is where I left off - Part 1 is now completed, and pieces & parts of 2 & 4:

The left-edge motif is BeSmurfed & BeGuilted. The little green & red initial box are the same colors the carnation is - BeRedded & BeFrogged. I love this project - that linen really is wonderful stuff - I highly recommend the French Country!

And lastly, since I had to run into the Stitch Store to take those pics of the MBT, I thought I'd pick up the small piece of gingham needed for that small that Laura RAK'd me with - there was a sale, so what better? And, since I had to rush home from the shop to leave for a game, I took the project with me, and got a start on it while waiting for the game to start:


I can't remember what this was charted for - either Crescent Colors or GAST. Well, I'm doing it in DMC, but I did flip through my Carrie's silk LEs, and picked this blue for the letters - LE Blue Jeans. Carrie's silk feels a lot like Vikki's - it's very nice to work with, but I don;t think it is colorfast, either, like her cottons. Anyway, this is a cute little project, and having the gingham pattern makes the counting easier - the chart is laid out in 12 x 12s, to match the fabric. Hopefully it'll be a quick finish - I may take it to the Stitch In this week, but may not be able to see the over-1 at night. We'll see.

That's the highlights for the week; I think being sick helped me over the hump of the adjustment to DST - when your sleep is already screwed up because you can't breathe and are taking cold drugs, what's a little more screwy? We'll see if I'm dragging this week. This week, I work on Knotgarden again - time for another gate to appear, the top one I guess, since it's already started. Maybe the final green corner next time? And we'll see what else screams at me. I have my PINS group on Saturday, so I have to think what to take then, too - I know I can't see the over-1 where we meet, so one of my other pieces - Summer Day or Imagine, probably, or one of Lyne's pieces... Until next week, Happy Stitching, everyone!

My Big Toe Trunk Show

The Stitch Store is currently hosting the My Big Toe trunk show, and I just had to take pictures to show you the models!! Having no particular religious affiliations, some of the verse & sentiments on some of the MBT pieces aren't really my thing, but the way they put samplers together is really very pretty - and they seem to use my palette :)


A lot of the big pieces were done over-1 for these models - I was really expecting some BIG pieces. The Faith there in the middle is done over-1 on at least 40 count, maybe 45!

I love the way they did this one - they did just a corner of the Namesake Sampler; isn't this cool?

Here's just part of the selection of the MBT charts that Terrie has available - there's another half to this counter and more pictures of the models here (not posting them all here, because, well, the way Multiply has been lately, I'm already pushing my luck :) ).

And lastly, Scooter :) He was bored, tired of strangers pestering him, and certainly was not going to let me take his picture willingly...

A Spring RAK

When I did my pictorial tour of The Stitch Store's Grand Opening, I took a picture of a particular model that I really liked:


Laura had commented that she had a copy she'd be willing to part with, so I said, Sure (yeah, I know it's a winter-themed cart - but it's so cute!). Well, it arrived the other day, and she also threw in a gorgeous piece of the PTP purple fabric like she's using on Boo! :



And check out the card:


Heehee! Thank you, Laura, and Katie with her idea that I could probably do Boo! again, over-1! Well, I'm not quite that ambitious, but I did ask Terrie at the Stitch Store to order me 3 sets of the Boo! buttons - a couple of smaller sections would certainly not kill me :) I expect I'll get a piece of that gingham linen when I get the buttons - I know Terrie has some :)

It's Here! It's Here!!

It's Spring, I tell ya!!! I saw it - it's really here!!!

The hyacinths I broke up & replanted last summer - apparently they didn't like the move, as these are soooo scrawny, and the only two I see so far...

My first daffodils to bloom!

My daylilies are coming up EVERYWHERE - there are between the flower bed edging and the driveway concrete...

Neighbors' daffodils & grape hyacinths.

It MUST be SPRING!!!

Ummm, I'd make the pictures clickable, but Multiply is NOT playing nicely - it was all I could do to get these in here long enough to post. But you can see the pictures here, at the bottom half of the album :)

DST - An Early Update

Happy Spring - getting up in the dark again means spring, right? Whatever - time changes should be abolished. Of all the things we feel the need to alter, I am not sure why a clock is one of them; isn't Leap Year enough? Meh, whatever...

I'm ringing in the time change with a horrible cold. I had to go pick up the Big Kid from school on Monday; he had that vertigo thing that I had a couple of times last year, though was feeling better by Monday night. But then I got it again, as I was laying in bed, reading my book Monday night, and woke up with the room spinning Tuesday. After I got DH to stay home to get the boys out of bed, I dove back under the blankets, and woke up late that afternoon, wiped out but with the room mostly stationary again. How many time do I get to have that particular virus before I build up a little immunity to it??? I knew we'd pick up something in the doctor's office a couple a weeks ago - I had no idea it'd be that crud again. So by Wednesday, I was kind of back to normal, but by Friday, it had morphed into a head & chest cold that is currently kicking my butt. So this update is brought to you by the maker's of Vick's VapoRub, Hall's Cough Drops (cherry flavored, of course), Bigelow Tea (with honey - orange blossom honey, not clover) and Benadryl. And to listen to the hacking around the hallways today, it seems to be a company thing. Great....

As for stitching for the week, I only worked on one project all week - MTM. I got the right-side town done, and got a start on the upside-down town! If I had felt better, I would have gotten a lot more done, I think! I didn't work on it at all Friday night, after I came home from the HS game that I volunteered to work the gate, soaked to the skin from the thunderstorms passing through (someday, I will learn about volunteering). Here is the overall:


And then the lower right corner that I worked on this time:


As usual, after posting my pictures, I see a bit of bs that I need to go put in, before I forget - I added some that wasn't charted, and had the other end rolled up under my clamp, so didn't see it to remind myself I had added it. I'll get that back out & add that as soon as I get home, before I get out this week's project, EGS.

As well as EGS, I plan to work on Lyne's RR this week. I probably am not going to the stitch in tomorrow night - I don't want to share this cold with anyone I don't have to (unless that's where I got it, dammit). I would like to take a Monday & Tuesday off in the next few weeks, and then attend the daytime stitch in, just for a change of pace, and because I need a couple of days off that I am NOT sick and don't have anyone sick that I have to cart around or wait on hand & foot :) Who knows what will happen between now & this time next week? Check back next week and see :) Happy Stitching!

A Week of Extremes - Welcome to March in GA

So, since last week's update, we had snow again and today, we are supposed to reach nearly 70. The kids had school called for 2 days last week (black ice the 2nd day, up in the more northern/mountainous areas of our county), and the Tuesday night stitch in was canceled, as Terrie closed the shop early and went home; she dislikes snow even more than me, I think :) I, on the other hand, worked all week, covering my boss (on vacation) and QA (in FL for a family thing). I need a couple of vacation days myself now; maybe next week...

We also had 3 games in 24 hours - high school at 7:30 Friday night (win), Little Kid's opening weekend club game at noon Saturday (tie), and then another hs game at 5:00 Saturday (loss, after being tied 0-0 through OT, losing by 1 damn PK in the 2nd sudden death shootout - after we dominated the whole game, but couldn't get a shot in!). I, the perpetual ice cube, froze at both hs games, even though the Saturday one started out somewhere in the 50s - but that breeze was COLD. We are supposed to be in the 60s all week here, finally, back where we are supposed to be this time of year. Tomorrow's hs game is really far away, so I'll be going to stitch in instead, and DH & LK will be going to practice. Friday is a home game - I'll go to that; I haven't been to a game in our new stadium yet, though we did walk the dogs all around it yesterday :)
On to the stitching...

I did a couple of small motifs on Mary Wigham this week - I had a few minutes between getting-home-chores and starting dinner, but not long enough to get the big thing out, and it was to hand, so I picked it up on 2 nights, and did a bit, including using Vikki's BeLaced, which is about the same color as my fabric :) I am going to have to use this color again, on something like a chocolate brown or something kind of grey-brown, dark. It's ecru and what looks like about 642. Here is the overall pic:

There is a picture cropped down to give you a better look at that BeLaced motif here.

This week, I also had a banner week on lady & Unicorn, due to a large area of the same symbol!!! I've been waiting for one of those on here :) The area was several hundred stitches, so I got it done between Monday & Wednesday, then spent the rest of the week, working on filling in the remaining confetti - which was considerably slower :)I have the current page about 2/3 done, maybe a bit more - it's hard to tell, with the scattering I have. Down that left side, it is just such a mish-mash - all confetti, and dark stuff, too, which is in many places hard to distinguish one dark blend from another. BUT, on the next page, I actually get to the Lady herself, so I am looking forward to that :) Here is what my chart looked like last night - the pink highlight is all that I did this past week (except a smattering along the top that is carryover from the page above it):

I think I did somewhere between 1000-1500 stitches, all told -and you can see a new critter forming there on the right - no idea, even looking at the finished picture, what it is, though; something fox-like. Here is a picture of the actual stitching, and then the overall is here:


I feel pleased with this week's accomplishment - it's good to get into a groove on this thing! It would be good to get another page done as I approach the 4th anniversary in June :) I think I can!

And that's all I worked on this week! My next RR piece isn't here yet, and I had planned to pick up Lyne's piece, but just couldn't fit it in, not when I was rolling along on L&U. This week, I am back to MTM - I can't wait to get that out tonight!! I should be able to knock out the rest of the right-side town easily, having got a little jump on it last time it was out, when I finished up the Jessica windows after my update :) I don't know what I am taking to stitch in tomorrow - maybe Lyne's piece, and/or keep working on JE Imagine. I need to remember to take my camera tomorrow, too, and take pictures of the My Big Toe trunk show - you ought to see all the over-1 projects in it! Until next week, Happy Stitching everyone!!!

The First of March - an Update

Well, the Olympic Winter Games are over, and for the first time since 1932, we were on top of the overall medal count, just over Germany & Canada. We came pretty close in the '02 Games, but this time, we did it! I slept through 98% of the USA-Canada hockey game yesterday - DH woke me up when he hollered when we scored the tying goal with 26 seconds to go, so I got to see the OT. Great game, though I would have been surprised if we'd won over Canada - the year we let them have the gold in snow boarding, they can let us win a hockey game, eh? And good luck to those who have NHL games tonight - hope you got a little rest in between :) But I am ready to get back to non-sports tv, which isn't a lot in my house, thanks to Fox Soccer Channel :( I need a week-long CSI marathon to get the stupid announcers and whistles out of my head for a bit - though I do have to give a special shout-out to my favorite, Bob Costas, for throwing in a Monty Python bit the other night, because Lumberjacks are okay :) Bob rocks!

Completely unrelated to anything, here's a crappy picture of a red tailed hawk in my back yard - I realllllyyyy need a camera that lets ME focus on what I want to focus on:

 
On to the week's stitching...

Thanks to Tuesday's stitch in and then the monthly meeting of PINS on Saturday, I finished From Nancy's Needle's Kaleidoscope!! Gee, I could have finished it a long time ago, but I kinda liked having it there for those late nights when I wasn't ready to go to bed, but too tired to work on a complicated cross stitch :) So, I guess I need to get Starry Nights kitted sooner rather than later, huh? Though I think it's a little more complex, so maybe won't serve the same function - but who cares?

 
Thank you again, Paula, for this RAK - it was so much fun to do!

I also finished up what I had planned to do on Carolyn's RR, by completing the "D" block on BRD Alphabet Zoo. It is now packaged up and hopefully off to the PO Monday afternoon, on it's way to Jodie. Here is what it looked like as it left me:

 
And lastly, my main piece of the week was AD's Samplar 4 Saisons. I only worked on it 3 days, due to games, stitch ins, and getting these two other projects wrapped up. But I did finish the Spring section (except for the leaves on the tree that isn't there yet, and the border along the left-hand side)! I expect to do a big chunk of tree next time - it's hard to get the leaves on it without the branches, especially as that's where the pages separate! We'll see, in about 5 more weeks :)


 
This week, Lady & Unicorn comes out, in between games and Tuesday's stitch-in :) Club ball opening weekend is this weekend - and so far, the forecast is for close to 60 on Saturday - let's hope that holds out - or better yet, improves :) I will be getting Lyne's AAFG from Carolyn sometime soon, so might work that when it gets here, and who knows what else? Happy stitching this week to everyone! And THINK SPRING, dammit!