Stephanie's Stitching and Musings

Picked Up an Old Friend This Week

2012-01-26T15:19:00.005-06:00

Way back in July of last year, I started this piece when I took Mark to the ER for the second time and knew he would be staying for longer than an overnight stay. However, after I got as far along as in the pic above, I realized I was one thread off and it was driving me crazy. So much so, that I was making many mistakes. I put it down, then decided I'd start all over again and frog everything that I'd stitched. I plucked out all of the blue and the red, decided I was tired of that and started stitching again, this time on the correct thread. I'd done a bit of the blue when I last stitched on it. Knowing I was going to be doing a lot of sitting in the waiting room at the hospital on Monday while Mark had his procedure, I took it along to work on. This is how far I got with it.

The white still needs to be taken out, but I'll do that when I get to it!

This past Monday, Mark had a defibrillator implanted in his chest due to congestive heart failure, a weak heart, and tachycardia (fast heart rate). He did great during the procedure and I brought him home on Tuesday. He has some limitations, but currently he's vacuuming the house. The defibrillator doesn't really help his heart work any better or more efficiently. It really helps if his heart rate gets up over a certain number of beats per second. It will send an electrical shock to his heart to try to get it back into a normal rhythm. If that doesn't work, then it will shock him (like you see with an external defibrillator on TV). Also, if he were to go into cardiac arrest, it would shock his heart back to life. If you'd like to read more, you can get some really good information from the Heart Rhythm Society.

In other news, we are picking up our new kitty tonight!! She's still sick and will have to be isolated from our other cats, but she'll be fine. I've already scheduled a vet visit for her next Wednesday for a wellness exam as well as a follow up on her upper respiratory infection. I can't wait to bring her home and get her on the road to good health!

A Little Bit of Progress Made

2012-01-22T17:13:00.004-06:00

I've been stitching on my Quaker Friendship Sampler during my lunchtime for the past couple of weeks. While I don't get a lot of time to stitch during lunch, maybe 15-20 mins, I enjoy it. It helps me de-stress from all the hectic activity at work. I also get to see a bit of progress. Even stitching for 15 mins a day brings me one stitch closer to a finish. I also worked on this last Saturday evening.

Sorry for the crummy picture, but my picture editing software wouldn't let me crop it. Also, my scanner isn't big enough to scan the whole thing in one scan, so I had to "stitch" it together.

For those of you who may be interested in this chart and my conversions (thanks to Jan at Tree of Life Samplings and Belfonte Notes). I am stitching this on 32 count Mockingbird linen which is a nice deep brown color, from R&R Reproductions. The design can be stitched in one color, or it has a suggested color palette. I am using Crescent Colours cottons. Here are my conversions:

DMC ----> Crescent Colours
840 Wild Oats (I started off with Country Lane but it was too dark for my fabric.)
931 Blue Beadboard
729 Tufted Yellow
223 Secondhand Rose
3041 Fleur de Lilac
3363 Dandelion Stem
3799 Rod & Reel

In other news, the husband's heart continues to do weird things. We thought he was doing okay, but his heart rate skyrockets to unsafe levels when he does anything strenuous or tries to work out. Husband already wears a device that tells him his heart rate, so when it gets too high, he stops what he's doing, but because of the high heart rate, he could suffer sudden cardiac arrest and possibly die. We went to see a second cardiologist this past Thursday. This guy specializes in electrophysiology (the electrical function of the heart) and arrhythmias (irregular heart beats). Looking over Husband's files and talking with the husband, this doctor also confirmed that Husband needs an implanted defibrillator. In addition to acting as a defibrillator, the device also acts as a pacemaker and will send electric impulses to the heart if it starts beating too quickly. Tomorrow afternoon, I will take Husband to the hospital for the procedure to implant the defibrillator in his chest. He will need to stay overnight for monitoring and then I'll pick him up on Tuesday. Hopefully, this device will enable him to feel better and return to a more productive life.

The other bit of excitement in our home is that Husband finally agreed to adding another kitty to our family! I've only been pestering him for a year!! After looking for several weeks on Petfinder, I found a cute little tortie girl (finally!) a couple of weeks ago. I emailed back and forth with her foster mom for several days and then we went to meet her this past Monday. She was a TOTAL love bug!! I held her up to my chest and she put her paws up on my shoulder, gave me tons of headbutts and chin rubs, and purred and purred and purred. While we talked, if she heard a strange noise outside of the room, she would run and jump up on the bench next to me to "hide". Her foster mom was very impressed that the kitty took to us so quickly. Coming soon to our home is this little cutie!!

Unfortunately, we haven't been able to bring her home because she's got a little upper respiratory infection. :{ When we saw her on Monday, she was sneezing and had a bit of congestion, but her foster mom has been taking great care of her. She's on antibiotics and will go back to the vet on Tuesday for a re-evaluation as she's still a bit congested. We've told the foster mom that we're willing to bring her home if she's still congested but not sneezing. Due to Hannah's herpes, we have to be careful with any sickness, but as long as this little girl isn't contagious, we should be okay. We've been through so many upper respiratory infections with Hannah that this should be nothing major. Her name is tentatively "Daisy", but that's subject to change.

Dusting Off the Ol' Blog

2012-01-05T17:53:00.004-06:00

I have spent the past couple of months trying to catch my breath from all the "stuff" that has happened in my life the past year. Sometimes life can just be so overwhelming! Since the end of November, 2010, the following things have happened in my life:

*My truck was stolen from my driveway.
*My grandmother passed away.
*We had to put my beloved kitty to sleep due to chronic renal failure.
*My husband was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and had triple bypass surgery. A follow-up to the cardiologist had a not so good prognosis, so we are dealing with that as well.
*The Christmas shopping season at work has come and gone and I survived

The last thing has consumed my life since April. On a good note, the husband has completed his cardiac rehab sessions (36 of those puppies, 3 times a week for 12 weeks) with perfect attendance. He now goes to the same place for 'workout sessions' as many times a month as he wants. It's much less expensive than a gym or health club, too!

During this time, I really had no desire to stitch. I'm working on getting back in the stitching groove, though. I've decided to work on my Quaker Friendship Sampler.

I realized as I was putting this piece in the q-snaps that including the current medallion I'm working on, I only have 7 medallions left until it's completed!! I can do it! I can do it!! I definitely want to finish this piece, this year.

The kitties enjoying the sun on New Year's Day! What a wonderful way to welcome in the new year!

The Problem With Butterfly Friendly Plants

2011-10-23T11:49:00.004-05:00

You might end up with these feasting on your plants:

Apparently, some little Gulf Fritillary butterfly found favor with my passiflora foetida (passionflower) and laid her egss on it! The plant is now covered with larvae in various stages, so maybe I'll get some butterflies out of it!

The Flowers are Blooming, The Birds are Singing, and Rain!

2011-10-10T19:38:00.000-05:00

Aren't the sunflowers and crows pretty?? I pulled out Sunflower Garden Sampler to work on while sitting in the waiting room during hubby's cardiac rehab sessions. I'm guaranteed at least three hours of stitching time a week while waiting. This is my first larger PS design, and I'm loving it! Not sure why it's taken me so long to get back to it.

I have also been working on getting caught up on my iStitch Mystery SAL piece. This is parts 1-4 and it's a very relaxing, peaceful stitch. I started part 5 while sitting at the imagining place this afternoon. Had to go do my part to support breast cancer awareness. ;) I got a lovely parting gift, too! LOL

We were fortunate to see some rain Saturday night into Sunday morning. It started raining early Saturday evening and continued all night long until about 11AM on Sunday. It was heavenly!! We received about 5" of rain total. There are some places to our west, where the wildfires have been prevalent, that got even more rain than we did. We'll take all we can get! My plants certainly appreciated all the rain we got.

As I mentioned previously, my hubby has started cardiac rehab. He goes 3 times a week for 12 weeks. Each session lasts about an hour and he is connected to a heart monitor. He does various cardiac exercises. Since he's connected to the monitor, if his heart rate gets too high or they notice something on the EKG, he is slowed down or stopped. One day last week, he had some kind of extra wave on his EKG while walking on the treadmill, but not on any other of the machines. They showed him the irregularity and mentioned it could be from pain. They've been watching it ever since, but he's not had any more. On Day 3 of rehab, they increased the intensity of his workout. I think that's a pretty good sign. Saturday, his cardiac rehab consisted of mowing the yard. The nurses fussed at him about that today! LOL I know he's feeling better, especially since we figured out what medication was causing the horrible rash. The doctor has taken him off that and put him on a different med. So far, so good!!

Until next time, happy stitching!!

My House is Built!

2011-09-18T21:11:00.000-05:00

I've not picked up my needle once in the past week, but this is an update on my progress on "Blessed are the Merciful" by Little House Needleworks. Working full-time, coming home to take care of all the household chores and the husband, and making sure the kitties are fed has left me exhausted and worn out. All I want to do is sleep! I'm sure part of it is also hormonal.

The husband is recovering nicely. He's been released from the surgeon with permission to resume driving in 4 more weeks and his cardiologist has signed him up for cardiac rehab with instructions to come back in 3 months. We go to his initial visit at cardiac rehab this coming week. All they will do this week is paperwork, insurance stuff, a stress test, tour of the facility, and set up appointments. The only real pain Hubs is still experiencing is pain in his left pectoral muscle. If he takes pain meds, he breaks out in a very itchy rash so the strongest thing he can take for pain is Tylenol. Living with a grumpy man who doesn't feel well is not my cup of tea, but I know that this will soon pass and he'll be back to his normal self. At least I hope so! We went to Sam's today and he did very well. He walked about half of the store and only had to sit down once we got to the check out, so I think he's doing pretty good.

Friday evening shortly after I got home from work, it started to rain!! It was such a nice, gentle rain with no hail or high winds. We haven't had any measurable rain in my part of Texas since late June/early July. Half the state is on fire and all of the state is in a severe drought. We are under water usage restrictions and can only water twice a week. The rain was a very welcome visitor on Friday night!

Even with the rain restrictions, my plants are continuing to do well. The two volunteer watermelon plants that sprang up have overtaken the garden plot. I have several baby melons. Looking forward to harvesting before the first freeze.

The pink hurricane lilies showed up right around Labor Day. I love these things! I haven't seen the red ones yet, though. I hope I haven't lost them due to the heat and dry weather. :(

Pretty Miss Hannah enjoying the morning sun in our spare bedroom. I love this sweet little girly cat!

Making Good Use of My Time

2011-08-27T12:11:00.007-05:00

Mark had heart bypass surgery Thursday, August 18th. The doctor ended up doing 3 bypasses and discovered Mark has skinny veins in his legs below his knees, so he had to take veins from both thighs. Due to the shortage of veins, the cardiologist might have to go in and place a couple of stents in some of the arteries, but Mark needs to heal first before we start investigating that option.

Mark's recovery has been fantastic, though. He did very well at the hospital with the anesthesia and pain meds. He only got loopy a couple of times and told the nurses that he'd had enough and to hold off on the pain meds or find him something else. He came home from the hospital this past Tuesday and continues to get stronger and become more independent daily. It probably helps that I don't baby him and I push him to do what he can do within his limits. He is still in some pain, but his medical sensitivities make it difficult for him to take pain meds, so sometimes all he can take is Tylenol. He has two furry nurses to help him throughout the day. Here's Hannah ensuring Mark gets his rest.

While Mark was in the hospital, I had lots of time on my hands. My stitching went with me to the hospital to help me pass the time. I got the first part of the iStitch Mystery SAL finished and started the last block on my LHN Seasonal Saltbox piece, Blessed are the Peacemakers. I got a good deal of stitching on it while sitting with Mark.

I would post pics of my iStitch Mystery SAL piece, but we've been asked to only show pics that can't be enlarged and I've not figured out how to do that, so I'll work on that and then post a pic. Instead, I'll let Tumbles demonstrate the proper way to spend your Sunday.

A New Start!

2011-08-16T19:47:00.004-05:00

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I signed up for Carol's iStitch Mystery SAL. The first part arrived in my inbox a few days ago and the fun has begun! I finally decided on use HDF's Rose silk and 32 ct. Princess Pink linen from Silkweaver. I've had the fabric forever and the thread had been sitting near my stitching spot just begging me to use it. In my opinion, it's a pretty combination. :) If you click the picture, you can see it better and see the actual shading in the fabric and thread.

Mark's surgery is this Thursday. He went for his pre-op blood work and x-rays today. He came home with paperwork and a scrubber of betadine soap! He can't shave any potential surgery sites (chest and/or legs). Thankfully, we have that part under control! LOL I have to admit that my first thought was, "What man shaves his chest or his legs??" We both feel very confident with the doctors and the hospital. We both know what to expect when Mark's exposed to too much anesthesia and pain meds and now how to handle it. (He's got a very sensitive system and hallucinates, tears his clothing off, rips out his IVs, and many other things when he gets too much in his system.) It's still going to be interesting to see how he responds to any meds they give him, but I now know what to expect and can tell the medical professionals that it's the meds/drugs and not his normal behavior. We are also know that God has given us hope and we have nothing to fear. We know that God is in control and he holds us close.

In other news, the heat continues. We didn't break the record for most consecutive 100º+ days, but we're still having 100º+ days. We on day #50 as of this writing. I'm really looking forward to October!! The cantaloupes are still loving the heat. It's just about the only thing growing in the garden.

A Finish & Answers for the Husband's Issues

2011-08-14T14:35:00.002-05:00

While the husband was having his heart cath this past Thursday, I finished the 3rd in the Seasonal Saltbox series, Blessed are the Merciful, from Little House Needleworks. I really like the blue in this piece! I've already started the final chart in this series and hope to have a pic of it soon.

Next Thursday will once again find me sitting in a waiting room at the hospital. Mark's heart cath showed many blockages, so he will be having bypass surgery. I foresee lots of stitching time in my future, especially since I don't have a smart phone to access the internet. I covet your prayers for Mark's doctors and surgical staff, a complication free surgery and recovery, and for a full & complete return to health for my man. Also pray for me as I take over all the household responsibilities and continue to go to work.

A Stitching Post (Gasp!!) With Info on a Giveaway

2011-08-10T10:53:00.005-05:00

Lest you think I've just been playing around in the garden and spending lots of time watching Kitty Rescue Center Reality TV (which is addicting if you're a kitty lover), I have proof that I've not been consumed by either of those things.

First up is "Blessed are the Merciful" from LHN. I am determined to finish this by the weekend. I just have the wording and the little flowers to finish around the border.

Next up is the Sampler Daze exchange piece I stitched for Judith. It's Bluebirds and Daisies from Blue Ribbon Designs and stitched with the called for Crescent Colours fibers. You can download the design from the Blue Ribbon Designs' Complimentary Chart page.

My friend, Jan, over at Tree of Life Samplings is previewing her newest design and having a giveaway! Hurry on over and check it out!

Mark's angiogram is tomorrow (Thursday). I'm praying for peace for both of us and a clear diagnosis of the problem with his heart. I'm also praying for no complications and a clear and easy fix for this problem. If you're the praying sort, I'd appreciate your prayers.

It's Hot!! So, I'm Joining a Mystery SAL!

2011-08-07T17:16:00.004-05:00

We've now had 37 straight days of 100º+ temps and 6 straight days of temps 105º or higher. Granted, we Texans are a strong lot and we're used to hot weather, but this is ridiculous! We are now officially in a drought. I don't remember when we last had rain. Work isn't much better as it's 80-something degrees in the store. The air conditioning just can't keep up and we don't really have enough tonnage to compete with this heat. Our corporate office is "working on it fast and hard" which means we'll probably get a new AC unit in January! Bless our customers who have filled out comment cards expressing their displeasure over the temperature in our store. To help our customers and our staff, we've set out a 5 gallon cooler of cold water with cups for them to drink while in the store. It's been very well received and many have thanked us for it.

Lest you think everything is fried down here, which it pretty much is if it's not watered regularly, here are a few things that have survived in this heat.

This is West Texas Mistflower (or Blue Mistflower) and Strawberry Fields Gomphrena. Both love this weather and do well with little watering. Once you plant either one, you never have to plant again. The West TX mistflower grows from underground runners and the gomphrena reseeds like crazy.

These are Cowpen Daisies. (Nice name, huh?) I love them!! They have been blooming continuously for 3 months. They also do well with little supplemental watering. This is one of the few native annuals that I have in my garden. They reseed well, though, and it's easy to collect seeds if needed.

This little lovely is a Scarlet Fruited Passion Flower. It's another Texas native and it's the first year in my garden. I planted it at the beginning of June just before all this hot, dry weather started. Thought I was going to lose it, but with 2 weeks of daily watering, the roots were able to get established and it's taken off. This little bee was enamored with the blooms this morning while I was snapping pics, too.

Since my outdoor activity is limited to brief periods of time and only in the mornings when it's "cooler" and there's a slight breeze, I've decided to join the Mystery SAL on Carol's blog, iStitch. I will not be stitching on 40 count linen, though. Thirty-two count is the smallest my eyes can handle! I've not decided on what color combination I'm going to use. Will need to spend some time in my stash (what a drag!) to find something that will work for me. I might use a Belle Soie silk or one of the HDF silks my friend Robin has sent me. Decisions, decisions, decisions!!

On the husband front, Mark had an echocardiogram and stress test on Wednesday. Unfortunately, the results weren't what we were hoping for, so now he has to have an angiogram. This will be done this coming Thursday afternoon. Not sure what they'll find, so I'm a bit apprehensive. I know that God is in control and I have nothing to fear, but I'm still concerned and praying it's a relatively easy fix. I'm ready for Mark to start feeling better!

A Big Day for the Tumbleweed

2011-07-17T16:47:00.004-05:00

This past Wednesday, July 13th, we celebrated Tumbles' first "gotcha day"! One year ago, we brought a very underweight, tiny, scared of people kitten into our home. He's grown into such a handsome young boy! (You can click the pics to see them larger.)

Exchange Piece Sent!

2011-06-23T17:51:00.004-05:00

I stitched this for Lani for the Wonders of Stitching exchange. Last year, many of her stitched ornies were destroyed and she was heartbroken. I decided to help her replenish her supply by stitching this ornament for her. It's a free design from Plum Street Samplers and stitched on a random piece of fabric from my stash. I used the called-for DMC fibers. It was a fun stitch!

Ditching It!

2011-06-19T11:47:00.005-05:00

Since my last post, my husband (Mark) has been in the hospital twice. They kept him overnight the Saturday night of Memorial Day weekend and then sent him home on Sunday. They sent him home with an antibiotic for his supposed fluid in the lung, thinking it was pneumonia. By the following Thursday evening, I'd had it with him not getting any better and in fact, getting worse. He was so puffy with fluid retention, was short of breath, couldn't sleep, and generally feeling miserable. Very late on Thursday evening, I gave him the choice of either going to the ER then or waiting until Friday morning. He chose Friday morning so that I could get some sleep and so we'd have less waiting at the ER.

Knowing that I'd have a wait in the ER, I decided to start a new project and take it with me. (What was I thinking?!? Was I thinking??) So, Friday morning while Mark was getting ready and while I was calling my boss to tell him I'd not be there and calling co-workers to get someone to work for me, I gathered all that I would need to start this project. Later that morning, sitting in the ER waiting for the doc to figure out what was going on, I started my project. A few days later, I figured out I was one thread off. No wonder my stitches looked horrible, my thread was all wonky, and I couldn't count properly!! Mark was eventually admitted and spent a week in the hospital. I continued to work on it thinking I could tough it out. On day 5 of the hospital stay, I decided to chunk it! I was so tired of fighting it! Here's what I got done on it.

I'm going to rip it ALL out, then start over again because I really like the fabric. It's a quick stitch when you're in the right hole! LOL I tell ya, I got so tired of ripping out stuff and being off on the count because it was difficult counting the squares. I've never had such problems. I should've just stopped when I figured out I was off a thread and started over at that point, but I was stubborn. Well! I've learned my lesson!! Count twice, stitch once.

On a more positive note, I received my Wonders of Ewe exchange piece from Robin, my non-blogging friend. She always stitches the BEST exchange pieces and sends the best packages. Always know I'm going to be so happy with any exchange piece she stitches when she has my name. She chose "May Basket" from the May Stocking leaflet from Blackbird Designs. It's stitched with a combination of fibers on 32 ct. Aerial lugana from Picture This Plus. The fabric color is a light blue and it's absolutely perfect for this project. Great job, Robin! I love it!

Not to leave you hanging about Mark...he was finally diagnosed with cardiomyopathy (weakened heart muscle) and congestive heart failure. He's been put on 2 new meds to lower his blood pressure (even though he has never had high blood pressure) and on a diuretic to be taken as needed. He has to monitor his blood pressure twice a day and weigh himself daily. He's also been put on a low-sodium diet and has to watch his sodium intake. However, he's now been told to up his sodium so it'll raise his blood pressure enough to help him feel better in the mornings. He's adjusting to the new meds and has been doing great at monitoring everything that needs to be monitored. I'm just glad to have him feeling better! In the hospital, they put him on 2 different diuretics. He lost about 25 pounds of water weight in about 3 or 4 days!!

Hannah says, "Have you seen my Cat in the Hat book?"

Of Waiting Rooms and Doctor's Appointments

2011-05-28T23:09:00.005-05:00

This past week, I've spent countless hours in doctor waiting rooms, imaging service waiting rooms, and the hospital ER with my husband. The bad news is the doctors can't figure out what's wrong with my husband and it's landed him in the hospital. The good news is that I have increased stitching time. Since it was convenient, I picked up my LHN Seasonal Saltbox piece.

Since last Friday, I've finished the border, the grass, and most of the leaves. At this rate, I'll finish this block in a few days.

Here is the piece in its entirety. Sorry for the crummy pic, but my scanner and computer weren't communicating and my tech guy is out of commission at the moment. You get the general idea, though.

To keep me from getting too bogged down in all this stuff with Mark, I have this to lighten the load.

American Pride Exchange Piece

2011-05-26T22:12:00.003-05:00

I stitched this cute little Lizzie Kate design for my non-blogging friend, Robin, in the American Pride exchange. I used the fabric that was included in the kit, 28 ct. Relic linen from Picture This Plus and GAST, CCs, and DMC fibers. It was SO much fun to stitch! This was one of those designs that when I saw it, I knew that was the piece to stitch for the exchange.

Some quick views from the garden:

Daylily 'Siloam Double Classic' has been in my garden for 3 or 4 years, but it's never done well. Last fall, I relocated almost all of my daylilies to one section in my front flower bed. These guys seem to love their new home! They've been blooming like crazy for a couple of weeks.

The purple coneflowers are also blooming their little heads off! This is the second full season for them and they're doing so well! Such happy flowers.

This is "the look" from Hannah when her royal kittyness has been disturbed. Don't Mess with the Queen! LOL

A Stitching Related Post

2011-04-17T14:23:00.005-05:00

Amazing, I know! I have tons of unfinished stuff, so I decided to finish a few of the ornaments I've stitched and send them to the Friends of Felines Rescue Center in Defiance, OH for their fundraiser/garage sale in June. By the way, if you live near Defiance, OH and are in the market for adding a kitty to your home, I highly recommend FFRC.

Spring is in full swing here, and everything is starting to bloom! I've been spending tons of time out in the flower beds planting, moving, and pulling weeds. In a month or so, it'll be too hot to do anything outside for 3 months, so I have to get it all done now.

Spring has Sprung!

2011-04-06T12:39:00.005-05:00

Four Nerve Daisies and Texas Bluebonnets

Texas Bluebonnet, the state flower of Texas and very difficult to grow from seed. I don't know how these things manage to grow wild! LOL

A pretty poppy on a windy day. Always the first to pop up in late winter/early spring.

Texas Cedar Sage

Some kind of iris that popped up in my yard! I think it's a Dixie Iris, but not sure. It only bloomed for a day and now it's gone. There are others by our foundation, but not sure if they'll bloom or not.

Brazos Penstemon, a Texas native with such delicate pinkish-purple blooms. The flowers in the top pic are a close-up of the flowers. Such a delightful flower in my shady bed.

Sweet William, dianthus barbatus, a gorgeous hot pink color and very striking in the flower bed. Very hardy to my area and blooms faithfully in the spring.

I'm Still Here!

2011-03-20T16:22:00.010-05:00

It's been several weeks since my last post, but I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. The husband and I have been busy trying to get our garden ready, I've been sick, he's been sick, I've been missing my Callie-bug, and work's been crazy. The best thing that's happened since I last posted, was that after 2 months of searching, the husband found me a new truck!!

Trusty Steed 2.0 is a 1998 GMC Sierra with 105,000 miles on it. It's a very nice dark metallic emerald green with tan interior. I would've preferred cloth seats, but I'll take the leather ones. At some point in the future, we'll probably have the seats recovered with cloth. It's got a few scratches and dings, but it's used, so that's to be expected.

I hadn't been driving the truck for more than 24 hours, when DH "borrowed" it to go get some parts for various little things that need to be fixed. When he came to pick me up at work, it' looked like this:

The lady we purchased the truck from used it only to pull a 2-horse trailer. Because she lost the key to the trailer hitch, we now have this ginormous trailer hitch on the truck that we can't remove! LOL

With the hitch on there, it makes the back end of the truck just as long as Trusty Steed was. Trusty Steed 2.0 drives better, though, and has much more sensitive power steering and gas pedal. I've almost given myself whiplash a time or two accelerating, turning, and braking. I think I have it mastered now, though.

Also in my absence, spring has sprung! Hooray! Everything is turning green in my yard and things are starting to come back to life. However, this means things are starting to grow that I can't identify. LOL It also means that the weeds are out in full force, too. I've spent the last week or so weeding my big flower bed. I've found some plants I'd forgotten about and I found some seedlings I can't identify. I also could not find 2 plants I planted in the fall that should've come back. :(

Among the early bloomers, we have purple and a very faint lavender wood violet.

Among those resurfacing, we have cutleaf rudbeckia (top) and West Texas mistflower (bottom).

The Willow Leaf Asters are back and they really multiplied!

The comfrey is blooming. I plan on planting my tomatoes near it. Comfrey is supposed to help tomatoes do well.

Things are picking up in the veggie garden, too! We've not been on top of things regarding the timing of the planting, so some of these things may not do well at all, but I figured we'd try anyway.

The onions are doing well. They should've been planted about a month before we got them in the ground, but it was snowing, so we decided to wait.

The garlic has recovered from the beating it took with all the freezing rain, sleet, snow and freezing temps.

The Romaine lettuce is going crazy! Unfortunately it's planted too close to the garlic, so I'll have to thin some out.

We finally got the potatoes planted! The husband planted these last week. They're already poking their little stems out! Of course they were almost full grown when I planted them! LOL

Lastly, the blackberries have sent out runners and are starting to grow. Not sure the husband is thrilled about that as he's not really sure he wants to keep the plants! LOL

Remember, all the pics are clickable to see larger. Thank you for reading and leaving a comment. I'll be back next time with some stitchy news....maybe...if I can stay out of the garden!

My First Finish and Progress Made!

2011-02-24T09:41:00.006-06:00

Nature's Song Exchange Piece
Stitched on 32ct. Mt. Baker Blue linen
Threads: Belle Soie silks: Blue Lagoon, Icing, and Beanstalk
Designer: Olka
Chart can be found here: Aliola's Blog,
My "He's a Flake" piece is almost finished. I changed the color of the scarf to a red because I like it better than the called for color. I'm also going to put red berries on the hat for the holly berries.

Lastly, I've done some more stitching on my incentive piece, PS's Sunflower Garden Sampler. I'm really enjoying this stitch.

Other progresses, the totato and bell pepper seedlings are doing well and we've planted our onions! Let the gardening season begin!

A New Start, Stash Prize in the Mail, and Life in General

2011-02-13T10:45:00.006-06:00

Last Sunday began the start of our new incentive stitching round. This time around, I'm stitching Birdhouse Sampler from the Garden Samplers leaflet by Prairie Schooler. It's stitched in good 'ol DMC and I chose 32 ct. Cream Brulee linen. This is how far I got during the Super Bowl game last Sunday. Unfortunately, the vine at the top right needs to be frogged. I'm going to leave it for now and see if I can't make it work.

On one of the message boards I belong to, there was an end of the year drawing for ornament stitchers and I was one of the 3 lucky winners! I received my winnings in the mail this week, and what a haul! Here is the first pic I took, with the ever helpful photo assistant, Tumbles and his big head.

And here's a better pic, minus the big headed kitty.

Thank you, Jan! If you've never read Jan's blog, please stop by and visit her. Such a generous lady and great designer! You can visit her design blog as well, Tree of Life Samplings. I am not responsible for any enabling. LOL

I have been busy stitching on an exchange piece. Unlike normal, I changed my choice mid-stream and now I'm stitching like crazy! This new choice feels "right", if you know what I mean. I need to finish so I can get it ready to mail off before we leave town for a few days.

We're heading south to visit my dad for a few days and to help him with a few projects around his house. He's been in the hospital with heart problems a few times over the past month. Well, he was in the hospital 4 times in 3 weeks with a 99% blocked artery at the site of one of his bypasses, but it took them until the 4th trip to do an angiogram to find the blockage. He then had a stent put in and now he's doing great. They told him that bypasses are generally only good for 10-13 years and he had his bypass surgery in October, 1997, so he's gotten some good mileage out of his bypasses. It will be the first time we've made the trip without Callie and with the little Tumbleweed. I have no idea how well he'll travel. I hope I'm not listening to him howl, cry, and meow for 5 hours!

Not too sure how the seedlings will do. We'll water them well before we leave and then pray they're still alive when we get back!

Until I return, happy stitching!

Snow Days!

2011-02-04T20:06:00.005-06:00

So we had 3" of sleet/ice accumulation on Tuesday. Wednesday I was given the option of working 10-5 or taking a floating holiday/vacation day. Can anyone guess which option I chose? By Thursday, I needed to get out of the house as cabin fever had set in and I had 2 appointments. Driving was still treacherous, but my hubby is a fantastic driver and off we went! *Vroom* *Vroom* The roads were actually getting better, but then this morning, we woke to this:

After being put on "hold" as to what time to report to work, I went outside and snapped some pics. Here's the view down my street. My neighbors obviously didn't get the memo that there would be no trash pick up today or they didn't check the City's internet site to find out (like we did because we missed the memo, too).

This is my garlic bed. I hope they survive since I didn't cover them.

Another street view.

Don't get me wrong. I like snow, in pictures and if I don't have to get out in it, but this morning, I had to get out in it. I also like my snow melted off by the end of the day. I don't like ice and I don't like not seeing the ground or the sun for days on end. I don't think I could ever make it in cold country. Just call me a cold weather weenie! LOL

As most everyone in the US knows, this is Super Bowl week and the big game is being held in my backyard. I cannot tell you the number of out of staters that have been interviewed who've said, "Don't you people have snow plows down here?" I just want to smack them! I want to say, "Do you have central AC in your home and run it on Christmas Day because it's hot outside?" Hellooooo!! This is Texas and we don't have snow plows because we don't normally NEED snow plows!

Personally, I think the kitties have the right idea! Hunker down and snuggle up for the duration!

Iced In!

2011-02-01T10:51:00.007-06:00

This morning, I was awakened at about 3:30 to a very loud rolling thunder. I think I said something along the lines of "Good grief!" to my husband! Since that time, we've had rain, sleet, and snow, along with very high winds and freezing temps. All of this is very unusual for my neck of the woods. Okay, maybe not all that unusual, but definitely not usually combined in one fell swoop.

This is my garden & backyard this morning. Lovely, isn't it?
That would be my garlic in that bed. To the right of the garlic is the lettuce, hopefully safe under the cover of a sheet and plastic.

Currently, the sun is trying to peek through and we've got flurries. This is so wild! I'm also waiting on a call back from my boss with the final word that we're closed. Seriously, no one's going anywhere in this weather today. Tomorrow, the road conditions probably won't be much better either. Driving on a solid sheet of ice is treacherous anyway.

So many of you wanted to see a bigger picture of my Quaker Friendship Sampler, so here you go! I really enjoyed working on this a couple of weeks ago. I've had to put it away to work on an exchange piece, but it'll be in my February rotation.

Last Thursday, I started my tomato and pepper seeds. This is the first year I've tried to grow them from seed inside. I planted them in plastic cups, then set them in aluminum pans and set them on a shelving contraption the husband brought in from the garage. The contraption is set up in my spare ~~junk room~~ bedroom.

We put a space heater under the bottom shelf to increase the warmth in that room since it's the coldest room in our house. Then, because the heater was trying to heat the entire room, the husband draped a big sheet of plastic over the shelving contraption. When we open the blinds in there in the morning, I'm afraid someone's going to see it and think we're growing the weedy plant! LOL Believe me, if we were, we'd have a much more sophisticated set up and you'd not be able to see it from the outside!

I've been checking on the cups daily and spraying them with water. This morning, on the coldest day of the year, I awoke to feed sprouted seeds! I'm so excited since this is the first time I've done this! Once they're sprouted, they'll be moved to an area with lights set up directly over them and about 1" from the top of the cups to help them grow straight and strong.

If you click on the pic, you can see it larger and see the seedlings.

These are Sioux tomato seedlings and Pantano Romanesco seedlings.

Well, I have received official word that we are closed at work today. I think I'm going to go make nice with my electric blanket and take a much needed nap! I sorta feel the need to bake to warm up the house, but a nap sounds so much nicer. :) Taking my cue from the kitties.

Until next time, happy stitching!

Some Progress on Quaker Friendship Sampler

2011-01-16T11:38:00.006-06:00

I didn't stitch for a couple of days this past week, but I did manage to get a bit of stitching in on QFS. I really like this project, but it's so tedious to me. I really have to pay attention while stitching! This particular medallion is really take a l-o-n-g (!!!!!) time to stitch, too! This is where I stopped last night.

I plan on stitching on it some more today, so I'll take it out of the snaps this evening or tomorrow and post a proper pic of it next week some time.

I've also spent a bit of time working on my LK piece, Do Not Open 'til Christmas. This is the one I started back in December, before my life went to pot. I don't think I've shared any picture of it. I stitched the border on it on Thursday while we were driving to check out trucks. A total bust, too, by the way. We're still looking for a truck. *Sigh*

In other news, my potatoes arrived this week. On the coldest day of the year! LOL They've been appropriately inspected and are now sitting on my counter trying to start growing. We'll plant them on Valentine's Day, so they need to get growin'! I ordered 10 lbs of potatoes in 3 different varieties, 5 lbs of Rio Grande Russets, 3 lbs of Purple Vikings, and 2 lbs of Red Norland.

The quality control agents were on the job, checking everything out.

Tumbles thought he'd scored a big new toy!

I'm ready for Mr. Sunshine to come back for awhile and bring some warmer temps with him. My feet have been cold for the past week and my disposition needs the sun!! LOL

Until next time, happy stitching!

January Stitching & Other Mindless Meanderings

2011-01-09T14:32:00.010-06:00

I started the new year off with stitching! I chose LHN's "He's a Flake" for my January 1st piece. I'm really enjoying it! I'm stitching him on 28 ct. Mercedes linen from Picture This Plus. I tried to find something in 32 ct. in my stash, but couldn't find a single color that I liked! Then, I changed the scarf color to CC's Ribbon Red and the tree color to CC's Steamed Broccoli. I think I'm going to stitch two 'berries' on the snowman's hat rather than use beads as in the model.

Today, I'm pulling out my Quaker Friendship Sampler. This will be my project for this week. This is the last pic I have of this on my computer. I think I've done more, but you get a general idea of where I am on it. Guess I probably should pull it out of its bag and check on it, huh? LOL

The weather has turned frightful outside. We have been hit by a blast of polar air. It started raining overnight and then turned to snow late this morning. Thankfully, it didn't really stick and it's already melted now that the snow has stopped. The wet stuff has moved off to the east and now all we have to worry about is the roads getting icy with the temperatures dropping below freezing. Here are a few pics when it started snowing. It did come down a whole lot heavier throughout the morning/early afternoon, but I didn't feel like journeying outside to take more pics!

In other news, the husband has been searching high and low for a new truck for me (us). He has narrowed down his "ideal" truck. Now we just need to find it! LOL Last night, I banned him from talking about trucks, though. Funny, he didn't have much to say to me! Here's the favorite of the 3 finalists right now. You can see more pics, if you're interested here.

It's a 1997 GMC truck, extended cab, short bed with a 350 engine, 8 cylinder, 5.7L engine. That's the same engine we had in our truck that was stolen, but this one has a bit of an upgrade on it. It's also got extremely low mileage for a 97 at only 93K!! I think it must've been someone's go to town truck! LOL I'm hoping that the weather is okay tomorrow or Tuesday for Mark to be able to drive up to see it. It's located halfway to Oklahoma from where we live!

Our household is still adjusting to Callie being gone. Hannah had to go to the vet this week for an overnight stay because we thought she might have a urinary tract infection. We didn't intend for her to stay overnight, so we didn't take her any food. When she came home, she didn't have a urinary tract infection, but she did throw up probably everything she ate the previous 24 hours! So she went on the baby food diet and ate small meals every 2-3 hours until she kept everything down. She's now back to her normal self, as you can see from the above picture which isn't really all that good!

Tumbles and Hannah are working out the hierarchy in the cat population. It's stressful for me, but something that must happen. Hannah is not a fan of Tumbles' and all Tumbles wants to do is play, play, and romp. Hannah doesn't do stress very well either. It can cause her to have a flare up of her herpes which then ends up in an upper respiratory infection. So the lucky little girl has been getting lots of extra love and attention from both me and the husband. She came and snuggled with me under the covers this morning, which she only does when it's cold and she feels like it. I got lots of purrs from her!

The other night, I got a video of feeding time at our house. It's just about the only time Tumbles voices his opinion on things. If you'd like, you can check out the video on my Photobucket page.

One thing Tumbles has mastered in the last few weeks is lap sitting, but only in Mark's lap and only in the chair! LOL Silly boy loves Mark and loves to spend his evening in Mark's lap.

Total sweetness in that picture if you ask me. I remember when Mark really didn't want anything to do with cats!

That's my week in a nutshell! Hope you all are having a relaxing weekend!

Quaker Acorn--Last Finish of 2010

2011-01-01T11:49:00.004-06:00

I put the final stitches in Quaker Acorn last night while watching the New Year's Eve shows on TV. This was a really fun stitch!

Quaker Acorn
The Workbasket
Stitched on 32 ct. Toasted Pumpkin linen from R&R
Fiber used: Mudpie--Crescent Colours' Belle Soie Silk

I want to thank all of you who posted on the passing of my Callie-girl. It's been a rough week, but I have peace knowing that she's no longer in pain or suffering. I know that many of you have walked this road and struggled with the same decision I struggled with. I still shed a tear every now and then, but I didn't cry myself to sleep last night, which is an improvement. Thank you for your care and concern.

Here's to a great 2011!!

Farewell my Sweet Callie Bug

2010-12-30T10:52:00.008-06:00

It was a coolish drizzly October day in 1998 when a strange looking cat appeared at the door of my patio. She was wet, scrawny, and screaming her head off for food. Since I was not a cat person, I was content to leave her there, hoping she would go back to wherever she'd come from. My roommate, however, was a cat person, though she was allergic to cats and she proceeded to feed the starving waif. She started off with frozen shrimp, then hopped in the car and went to the store returning with Purina Cat Chow, in the BIG bag. At that point, I knew we had a cat.

Because she wandered the apartment complex, we took her (& her friend) to the vet to have her spayed and vaccinated. Unbeknown to us, she'd already been spayed! She was also declawed, which was so surprising for a stray. We never knew anything of her past, but loved her anyway. Since she looked like a calico cat, we christened her Callie. She responded to the name, which was an added bonus.

I spent hours laying at the door, looking at this cat. I loved her face, half black and almost half orange. I was fascinated by the orange splotches on the back of her ears. I was intrigued by the color pattern of her coat. I spent countless hours petting her outside and watching her play in the bushes outside our patio fence. When the weather turned bitterly cold, we set up a nice warm place for Callie and Fraidy, the little long haired stray that hung out with Callie. We let them sleep in the laundry room that was outside, but they preferred to be in one of the boxes on the patio. We did put a covered heating pad out for them, so they did have some warmth. They also had towels to snuggle in and were well protected from the elements.

At some point in time during that year, I started allowing Callie and Fraidy to come into my bedroom (I had doors that opened onto the patio) at night. I would call for them and they'd come running. Callie loved being on the boxes in my huge walk-in closet and would spend the night there. She would hop up on the bathroom counter and sit there like she owned the place. She would knock my contact container into the sink every single morning. It was a game we played.

At the end of our lease, our rent was being raised and we couldn't afford to stay at that apartment complex. My roommate decided to move to another city in the Metroplex to be closer to her sister. I decided to stay in the area. The roommate was going to abandon the kitties, but I couldn't do it. I'd been taught that once you take on the care of an animal, you continue caring for that animal until you either can't afford to or the animal dies. I was in it for life. So, I found an apartment that had a 2-pet limit, paid my pet deposit, paid the security deposit for my apartment, signed the lease and started packing. Unfortunately, I could only round up Callie when it came time to move. Fraidy was a true feral and I never could find her. I went back every single day for 2 weeks looking for her and never saw her again.

In our new apartment, Callie became an indoor-only cat. It was too dangerous for her to be outside with no claws. Besides that, it's just too dangerous for cats outside period. She was extremely skittish and hid constantly under the bed or in the closet at the slightest noise. She did, however, bond with me and we became a pair. I'd pack her up and take her with me to my dad's house when I visited. I didn't know kitties didn't like to travel. I'd play fetch with her (inside the apt) and she'd chase the string under the bath mat for hours on end.

Callie was a very well-mannered cat. She never jumped up on the kitchen counters and she never eliminated outside the box, except for when she was sick. She would spend hours in the closet on the old bedspread I made into a pallet for her. She also liked to sleep under my bed. At night, she'd sleep to the left of my pillow and purr herself to sleep as I was petting her. To the end, she loved to sleep on the bed with me. She loved to be brushed and petted. She'd purr just when I'd start talking to her. She'd follow me around the apartment and always accompanied me to the bathroom. In the mornings, she'd sit on the side of the bathtub between the shower curtain and the liner while I took my shower. If I was singing, she'd join in. I'm sure it wasn't because I have a great voice, either! She would spend hours sleeping in the window perch in the sun. Even yesterday, she got up in the windowsill on the towel and slept in the sun. She loved playing with "the string". I had to put it away after playtime or she'd hunt for it! She loved playing with the laser toy, too. Mostly, though, she enjoyed hanging out with me.

She was the best napping buddy. If she didn't follow me down the hallway for a nap, she'd find me and I'd wake up to her snuggled up next to me. She'd get up at about 5 in the morning, go potty, then come and get in bed with me. I pretty much woke up to her snuggled up against me every morning. If breakfast was late because I'd slept in, she'd let me know. I hardly heard a peep out of her except when I had to put her in her carrier. Then she'd let me know exactly what she was thinking!

Callie turned me into a cat person and taught me what it meant to love and be loved. She was always there for me and trusted me beyond measure. She taught me so much about commitment and being thankful for the simple things, a roof over your head, a warm bed, a faithful companion, a good buddy through thick and thin, and a steady supply of food. She didn't ask for much either. She was content with a bed made from old towels and blankets, little wads of paper to play with, a good box to play in, a plastic bag from Wal-Mart (with the handles cut) to attack and play with, and lots of sunshine.

In the end, it was her kidneys that failed. She was diagnosed with Chronic Renal Failure (CRF) in 2005 after being given a shot of Metacam for her arthritis. Watching her slow down was hard, but watching her go downhill this past week, I knew it was time to let my girl go. Mark & I had made the decision months ago that when/if she ever got to this point, we'd not do anything heroic, but let her go with dignity. I spent all of yesterday loving on her. We had one last nap and she had one last afternoon in the sun. She's ready to go. I'm not so sure I'm ready to let her go, but I know it's the right thing to do. Callie is my heart kitty and I know there will not be another like her. No other kitty can take her place.

Farewell, sweet girl. Know that you brought me many years of laughter, happiness, and joy. Thank you for choosing me to be your human and your Meowmy. I love you so very much. Play and run freely in kitty heaven and don't cop that tortitude!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T15:49:00.005-06:00

Today is the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Savior of the world. I pray God's richest blessings on you and your loved ones on this day.

Mark and I are spending a nice quiet day at home today. I slept in a bit today after I got up at 6:30 to feed the kitties. We've got a ham baking in the oven and I'll make something to go with it. I'm telling you, it's a very laid-back day around here, and I love it! It's cold outside, but we don't have snow this year like we had last year, so I'm a happy camper.

My Callie-bug girl had to be taken to the vet yesterday. She has CRF (chronic renal failure), but hasn't had a severe bout with it since she was diagnosed 5 years ago. Over the past week, her disposition had changed and she'd become hissy with Tumbles. On Friday, she didn't eat much and I didn't see her drinking much. Yesterday morning when I woke up and she hadn't used the litter box overnight, I knew something was going on. Mark took her to the vet in the pouring down cold rain. Dr. Cass gave her a shot to settle her tummy and some IV fluids to keep her hydrated. Callie also got a very thorough exam and her heart sounded strong, no fluid in her lungs, no temp, all her organs were nice and soft, so no bladder infection or anything like that. She ate a bit last night and used the box, so I was happy. She's a bit better today. She's been eating some today (nothing like normal) and she's had a couple of drinks of water. She came down to snuggle on the bed with me this morning and she's been up in my lap for a snuggle. Her eyes are brighter, but I miss my perky little girl. I hope she bounces back pretty soon. We're supposed to go visit my dad next week. I'd hate to cancel because she's not doing well. However, I know a very good vet in San Antonio that I wouldn't hesitate to take her to if needed.

Mark and I didn't exchange gifts this year due to our financial situation and the fact that we'll be getting a new to us truck sometime in the next month, but my non-blogging yet friend Robin sent me a very nice Christmas package. It's always wonderful to get a box in the mail from Robin! She stitched the Peace ornament you see at the top of this post, but there were also these items in the box.

Do you see my little helper?? He had been on the coffee table and almost absconded with one of the packages! LOL Also, that cup full of water is on the coffee table for the cats. They love to drink out of it! I refill it twice a day. There's also a water bowl under the table for them, but they like the one on top best.

Back to the packages! When I opened the packages, this is what was inside!
Such fun goodies! There's the ornament, the annual Longaberger breast cancer basket, some Hand Dyed Fibers silks, a piece of fabric from Sassy's Fabric, and a hand-made project bag in purple (my favorite color) from Susan at Afford Your Passions. I have been using the mesh bags that are approximately this size, so this project bag is just perfect!

After dinner, I think I'm going to make some more chocolate chip cookies. Not like I *need* more chocolate chippers, but I want some! Hope you have had a restful, refreshing, retrospective Christmas.

Quaker Acorn Update & Christmas Exchange Received

2010-12-12T10:08:00.006-06:00

This time of the year is always exhausting for me. Working retail, it's just busier and more stressful. Yesterday I came home and told my husband that even my ears were tired!! All the noise, the people, the phone ringing, the questions, and the kids screaming just wore my ears out. I love it, though, as work goes by quicker and people are generally expecting to wait and in fairly good spirits. However, coming home exhausted means less "oomph" to stitch. I'm also spending more time in the kitchen baking goodies for co-workers to help them get through the busyness of the season.

Here's the latest progress scan on Quaker Acorns. I'm now hoping to have it finished by fall, 2011! LOL

I belong to a group of politically conservative stitchers and we recently had a Christmas exchange. Here are all the goodies my partner sent to me.

I'm in love with all those little pieces of fabric! I must find something to stitch on them quickly!!

I'm going to start a new project today, Lizzie*Kate's little pocketbook kit, "Do Not Open 'til Christmas". I'm hoping this helps me get in the spirit of things. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

And yes, I do spend half of my evening chasing Mr. T out of the Christmas tree! He thinks it makes the perfect perch for watching the world outside the front window.

Chilly Winter Exchange Sent & Received

2010-12-06T19:39:00.005-06:00

Waiting in my mailbox for me when I got home from San Antonio was this adorable little piece from Lani. It was perfect timing, too, since winter has blown in over the past couple of days.

She also sent me these goodies:

This is the piece I sent to Sally. It's the Winter Boxer Jr. chart from Lizzie Kate and I stitched it on 32 ct. Winter Sky linen using GAST and CC.

Mark was so excited I was back from my mini trip that this is how he spent Saturday evening.

I just love this man!!

Good-bye Grandma (1912-2010)

2010-12-05T19:23:00.005-06:00

My grandmother (my mom's mom) passed away last Sunday at the age of 98. She was born in 1912 in San Antonio at the old (as in the first) hospital at Fort Sam Houston. She was the oldest of 7 children and the last one to die. Pretty amazing, huh? Her father died fairly early in life, so her mother raised my grandmother and siblings on her own, with assistance from the older kids. One of her siblings died very young. She married an Army guy, had 4 children, then he died in 1957, 8 years before I was born. Grandma was left to raise 2 teenagers on her own, living on her benefits from the Army.

To help make ends meet, she took in sewing as well as making clothes for her own children. Later on, she worked at the corner drug store in the make-up department as well as the main cashier. Grandma always hemmed and mended my clothes when I was younger. I also remember visiting her at work at the drug store as well as "helping" her when I was off during the summer. The pharmacist who owned the drug store was wonderful to her and to me. I would stock gum, candy, and cigarettes. (My how times have changed!) I'd even get to operate the BIG, OLD cash register. It had a handle that you pulled down to make the drawer open. So much fun!!

When I was sick and had to miss school, I often spent the day with Grandma. During summer break, while my parents worked, we stayed with Grandma. We helped her cook, played for hours on end in her big backyard, and generally brought chaos to her normally quiet life. I can remember laying on her kitchen cabinet while she washed my hair in the big, deep kitchen sink. I remember spending the night with Grandma and hearing the train whistle blow. (Grandma lived about 4 blocks from the railroad tracks.) I remember spending Saturday mornings with Grandma while my mom got her hair 'done' at the beauty shop next door to the drug store. She would make me canned biscuits, a treat for me, since that was the only time I got to eat canned biscuits. She taught me to warm up flour tortillas and dip them in syrup. We'd go to the local Mexican bakery and buy bolillos and then come home and have sandwiches or toast them and then slather butter on them. On special days, she'd load me up and we'd go to the base PX (Post Exchange aka grocery store on post) and do the weekly grocery shopping. As a military dependent, she had access to every military base in town. Even though my grandfather was in the Army, she would go to the Air Force PX that was close to her house. This was way before 9-11 when security wasn't so tight.

When I was in high school, she basically moved in with her brother and his wife and nursed him after he had a stroke. She took care of him until he passed away. A few years later, she took care of her sister-in-law until she passed away from cancer. Then, in 1996, she moved in with my parents and cared for my mother until she passed away from cancer. All this time, she still had her own home, but would pack up and stay for a week or so then go home for a few days and come back. Finally, in 2000, after a fall where she broke her hip, my grandmother moved in with my aunt and uncle and sold her house. When they were divvying up the household belongings, she knew I wanted her table, hutch, and bedroom furniture, so those became mine.

My grandmother was a strong woman; she had to be. She was extremely outgoing and never met a stranger. Once when she was in the hospital (back when they had wards), she knew every person and why they were there by the end of her time in the hospital. If you were in need, and she could help you, she did. She was an avid garage sale goer and constantly picked up things she really didn't need at garage sales. When she'd come to visit, before she left, she'd drag us out to her car, pop open the trunk and say, "Do you see anything you need?" When you went to her house to visit, you never left empty handed. We were often told, "Here, you need this." even if we didn't! When we'd go out to dinner, she'd never eat all her food before offering it to someone else at the table. She'd also manage to snatch something off your plate if you weren't careful.

You always knew what Grandma was thinking. She wasn't afraid to tell you how the cow ate the cabbage, or tell you off if you needed it. She encouraged us to have an opinion and to not be afraid to voice it, even if no one agreed. She wasn't afraid to discipline us grandkids either. On more than one occasion, she'd tanned my hide or washed my mouth with soap. Many a time, I've gotten a pinch under the table or a yank of the hair as a reprimand. Because she wasn't afraid to speak her mind, you'd never really know what she'd say. Sometimes the most embarrassing things came out of her mouth!

Most of all, though, she loved. She loved us all, warts and all. She never stopped believing in us or encouraging us to do our best. I'll miss my grandmother, but when I stop to think of the long life she lived and all the things she's seen in her life, I'm thankful to have had her in my life for so many years. I have so many wonderful memories of my grandmother, and even a few not-so-wonderful memories of her.

Farewell, Grandma. I love you!

More Progress on Quaker Acorn & Other News

2010-11-28T14:52:00.008-06:00

Last night, the husband and I watched the movie "Fireproof". It was a good movie, a bit on the hokey side, but overall a good movie. It really makes you take a look at your marriage and how it could be better. If you're marriage is struggling, then it can help make it stronger. It was also Saturday Night Stitchalong, so I pulled out Quaker Acorn to work on.

Here's where I started:

And here's where I had to stop because I was crying too much to see the holes in my fabric!

Yesterday morning, I went into the front bedroom to open the windows and discovered that one of the chysalides had eclosed! Meaning, the caterpillar that had been hanging out in its cocoon for the past 5 months decided it was spring and time to wake up.

The husband released it on the cosmos out in the front yard. It definitely won't have time to mate, but at least it will be able to fly some. If it doesn't head south, it will die because it's been so cold here lately and there's another cold front heading our way next week.

Today is Hannah's 5th Gotcha Day. It was 5 years ago today that the husband and I visited the local animal control shelter (AKA "The Pound") and came home with a little waif of a kitty. She's grown into such a beautiful girl that brings much delight and laughter to our home.

Randomness

2010-11-24T23:46:00.004-06:00

The view behind/over the house across the street from me. I think the trees are especially vibrant this year.

The trees are in the full fall glory right now. This is the view from my front door looking across the street.

Blanketflower seedling amongst the fallen leaves of the neighbor's crape myrtle tree. I can't stand crape myrtles, but they do look pretty in the fall.

My coralberry plant finally put on all its leaves after we transplanted it. It has even produced some pretty hot pink berries that the birds seem to enjoy.

The oak tree in my backyard. I like watching the sun rise through the leaves in the mornings.

The final haul from our spring & summer garden. I sent most of the jalapenos to my brother in San Antonio via UPS. It took them less than 24 hours to get there and I sent it regular ground!

Hannah enjoys hanging out in the sunroom. I think the warmth of the sun is making her eyes sleepy. This is one of the few pics I have of her that accurately reflects her coloring.

Tumbles is maturing and learning to enjoy nice long naps. Don't you wish you could be comfortable while napping?

He's also getting jowls and chubby cheeks! He's just delightful and full of purrs and love for us, especially at feeding time.

Me and my best girl, Callie. She doesn't have alien eyes in real life!

Our First Thanksgiving Turkey

2010-11-23T19:29:00.002-06:00

When we stay home for Thanksgiving, which is most years, I usually make a chicken in the crock pot. This year, however, we decided that we're going to cook a turkey. It helped that we got a coupon for a free Butterball turkey from the electric company. It will be the first time I've cooked a turkey on my own. Never fear, I have the turkey hotline (AKA "DAD") on speed dial! LOL You see, my dad cooks a mean turkey. I've already called and gotten the instructions on making the stuffing, which Mark loves. I knew that basics of it, but not the specifics. I have a feeling I'll be making more than a few calls to dad for help.

The good news is that I'm off on Wednesday, so I'll have a day to prepare and get some of the baking out of the way. My plan for Wednesday is to bake the cake (buttermilk pound cake) and make the fruit salad. I might also need to defrost the turkey in the bathtub or sink if it's not defrosted. If I feel up to it, I might make a cherry pie for Mark. He loves cherry pie.

In addition to turkey and dressing (or stuffing, depending on where you're from), we'll be having mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, corn, and maybe homemade baked mac & cheese. The mac & cheese is a tradition in my family. I thought Mark would make gravy, but he told me the other day he could live without that. I haven't decided on if I'm going to try to make some homemade rolls or use the frozen variety, OR Mark can make them!!

Of course, in between everything else, I'll be stitching!

Saying Good-by to an Old Faithful Friend

2010-11-21T11:40:00.003-06:00

This past Friday morning, we woke up to find my beloved Trusty Steed gone from our driveway. Yes, my wonderful 1991 GMC Sierra truck had been stolen in the wee hours of the morning. I loved that truck! It represented so many things and held so many wonderful memories. It was a workhorse of a vehicle. It had a V-8 engine and a 28 gallon gas tank. Mark had just put $60 worth of gas in it the day before. Before you have a stroke at that gas amount, we only had to fill it up about every 3-4 weeks. This is the last picture I took of TS and it was really a shot of the trees changing colors.

What's funny is that the truck actually belongs to my dad, but I'd been driving it since 1994. Shortly before I moved to Fort Worth, I was driving his truck because I was hauling stuff from my apartment in Kerrville back home to San Antonio. He was driving my car, a 1985 Oldsmobile Firenza. He was working the night shift at work when it got stolen. My car was eventually recovered and repaired. For about the first 2 months I was in Fort Worth, I drove a rental car. When my car was ready at the body shop, I drove back to San Antonio to pick it up. However, my dad deemed it not road worthy to make the road trips from Fort Worth to San Antonio, so he gave me his truck to drive. While I was in Seminary, he paid for half the gas, repairs and maintenance, and insurance. When I graduated, the deal was I paid for the gas and upkeep and he paid for the insurance. Over the years, I've talked to him about selling me the truck or transferring the title, but he wouldn't hear of it. He finally put me on his insurance policy several years ago.

Mark LOVED working on that truck! He's poured countless hours into its maintenance and upkeep, tweaking this and that, being sure the oil was changed regularly, and doing much of the repair work on it himself. He's replaced brakes, several alternators, batteries, starters, windshield wipers, fuses, thermostats, and all that stuff. In 2004, the transmission went out on it, so we had the transmission rebuilt. Later that year, we invested in a brand-spankin' new engine for it and had that installed. Shortly after that, we had the AC converted to the newer type of AC system since freon was no longer being manufactured. It ran like a dream and kept us cool in the hot Texas summers.

Trusty Steed has seen over 216,000 miles and hauled countless loads of stuff. It moved me from Kerrville to Fort Worth. It moved stuff to storage when I graduated and then when I moved into my own apartment. It's moved friends. It moved us from our apartment to our home when we moved in 2005. It's hauled loads of brush and limbs to the bulk trash place. It's hauled dirt and stuff for our garden. It survived the hail storm of 1995 with little damage. It survived last year's 17" of snowfall. It was only in one minor fender bender in its entire life. It really had a lot of life left in it.

I'm not holding out much hope that the vehicle will be found, and if it is, I'm not sure I'll want it back. So, farewell my friend. Thank you for your years of faithful service. You'll never be replaced and I'll miss you.

Some Progress Pics

2010-11-18T21:11:00.005-06:00

I can't show you a picture just yet of my current stitching project because it's an exchange piece, but I can tell you it's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cute (!!!) and I'm loving it! I might just have to stitch this one again for myself. LOL

Things have started picking up at work ('tis the season!), so my body is in the adjustment stage of Christmas. LOL Last week, I came home so exhausted everyday that it was all I could do to keep my eyelids open long enough to eat dinner. This week has been a little bit better. Next week, I should be good to go! Needless to say, not much stitching has gone on at my house, but I'm getting my groove back. :o)

I had to put Quaker Acorn down to work on my exchange piece and get it ready by mailing date, but here's my latest pic. I really do enjoy working on it, so maybe it'll be finished by 2011.

I'm working on the boring border on Evergreen. I say it's boring, but it's not all that boring, just repetitious. Looking at the pic, I realize that the border really does add to the piece.

As you can see from the first pic on my post, fall has arrived in North Texas. The nights (& some of the days) have turned cooler. I had to put the blanket on the bed for the season and the heater has come on a time or two. A couple of mornings, I've awakened to find kitties snuggling in the bed with us. I had to plug in the pet bed warmers and the kitties have enjoyed snuggling in their beds with them. We originally got the heating pads for pets several years ago for Callie when she was diagnosed with arthritis. It really does help her move better during the winter. When Hannah came along and was so sick, it helped keep her body temperature regulated. Little Tumbles just likes snuggling in the heated beds.

I've pulled out my pumpkin recipes and I've been baking up a storm. We've had pumpkin bars (above), pumpkin cookies, and pumpkin bundt cake. Makes the house smell heavenly. Yummy, yummy!!

This little guy is progressing nicely as well. He's getting so big and is so funny. I re-use drinking straws and wash them in the dishwasher in the utensil holder. Tumbles' latest "trick" is pulling them out of the holder and running away with them. I was wondering why my supply was getting skimpy!

Until next time, happy stitching!

Happy Veteran's Day!

2010-11-11T11:45:00.005-06:00

Coming from a military family, I am proud of the men and women who've fought for our country in times of war and in times of peace. Their commitment and sacrifice have protected our freedoms and made our country great. To those who serve today, especially in harm's way, I offer my deepest thanks. Deployment is difficult on family and friends. Even for those who's assignment is state-side or not in a war area, life is still not without peril. To all our military men and women, active duty and reservists alike, I'm grateful for your service and your sacrifice.

Flanders Field American Cemetary and Memorial

In Flanders Fields

by John McCrae, May 1915
Poppies (©greatwar.co.uk)

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Inspiration for the poem — In Flanders Fields

Inspiration behind the poem, "Flanders Field"
During the Second Battle of Ypres a Canadian artillery officer, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, was killed on 2 May, 1915 by an exploding shell. He was a friend of the Canadian military doctor Major John McCrae.

John was asked to conduct the burial service owing to the chaplain being called away on duty elsewhere. It is believed that later that evening John began the draft for his famous poem 'In Flanders Fields'.

The Birthday Box Contents

2010-11-07T21:55:00.004-06:00

I opened the box from Robin after my lovely dinner out with the husband. As you can see, I hit the jackpot! Robin had stitched 2 wonderful pieces for me. The little pillow is a complimentary design, "Give Thanks" by The Stitcherhood and the framed piece is "Live Simply", another complimentary design from Hands To Work. I'm fairly certain that she stitched this with Crescent Colours rather than the called-for fibers. If you'd like the conversions, I have them and would be happy to post them for you. I also got 2 more skeins of HDF silks, both in the purple color scheme. Purple is one of my favorite colors!! The little spiral notebook is just adorable! Not sure what I'll write in it, but I'm sure I'll find something! Robin is such an awesome friend! Thank you, Robin for my goodies!!

I also got this for my birthday...

Mail Call!

2010-11-04T20:38:00.004-05:00

The mailman brought this box to my house today!! It's from my non-blogging friend, Robin, in Virginia. Tomorrow, I'll open it and see what kind of birthday goodies she sent me. Woohoo!

I got a few more stitches in on my Quaker Acorn piece last week before my vacation ended. I'm working on the acorn's "hat" which has a leaf motif on it. Maybe I'll have it finished by Thanksgiving! LOL

Some Progress During the World Series

2010-10-31T16:40:00.004-05:00

I pulled out my LHN Seasonal Saltbox piece to work on during Saturday's World Series game (GO RANGERS!) and Saturday Night Stitch. I discovered that watching baseball is extremely distracting! I didn't get nearly as much accomplished as I'd hoped to, considering that I sat for almost 3 hours and stitched. Mark kept looking at me and saying, "You're not stitching!" Of course not; I had to watch the game! LOL

Thank goodness the Rangers are doing well and have made it to the World Series because the Cowboys are doing horribly. If the Cowboys finish last this season, they'll at least get a first round draft pick out of it! LOL It's the first time in Rangers history that they've played in the Series, so we're all baseball crazy here. How sad is it that during the Cowboys games both this past Monday night and today against the Jaguars that fans started chanting "Let's go Rangers, let's go!" during the 3rd quarter of the game? Join me in "doing the claw" for the Rangers! This song was written by Randy Phillips of the Christian group, Phillips, Craig, & Dean.

You'll once again find me on the couch cheering on the Rangers tonight!

Colors of Autumn Exchange

2010-10-27T11:25:00.005-05:00

One of the things I've been negligent in posting is my Colors of Autumn exchange pieces. I stitched Lizzie*Kate's "Hello Fall" for Chris. I'm still not too sure about that border, but that's what the pattern called for, so that's what I stitched. I tried a couple of other colors for the border and I didn't like any of them, so I went with the called-for color. I also left off the little charm because I thought it looked kinda dorky.

I snapped this picture of my finish using my camera, which is why it's so dark. I was being lazy and didn't want to fire up the computer and the scanner. I'll do better next time. LOL I also noticed that it looks like the colors ran. Hmmm.... I didn't notice it when I looked at it. Bummer!

My non-blogging friend, Robin, had my name. She stitched this lovely piece for me and included a couple of other goodies as well, like some hand dyed silks! Please note that the buttons are actually sewn on! LOL

I adore this little piece and have stitched others like it in this series as exchange pieces. I think it's the tall houses that I like so much.

Totally switching gears now. Here's the latest on our little Tumbleweed. He's now 6 months old, has been neutered, and weighs 8.2 pounds. He's gonna be a big boy!! He's gotten his permanent canine teeth in, which means he's really growing up. He's still just as delightful and entertaining as ever and has mastered jumping on the...STOVE! (Ack!!!!!!!!!!!) He jumped up on the stove as I was preparing the alfredo sauce for last night's dinner. Scared the bejeebers out of me. He was exiled from the kitchen for the rest of the evening. Here he is playing in his toy box.

It's Fall and the Acorns are Falling!

2010-10-25T09:21:00.005-05:00

I've had limited time to stitch lately due to fall arriving and needing to get the gardens in order, but I have been stitching off and on (more off than on) on this lovely monochromatic complimentary design from The Workbasket. I'm stitching it on a luscious piece of 32 ct. Toasted Pumpkin linen from R&R and using Crescent Colours' Belle Soie silk, Mudpie.

You can be assured that if there's no activity on my blog, I'm out in the garden. It's fall planting time in Texas, so I've been planting! In the full sun flower bed, I've pulled out plants that were overgrown and invasive, moved plants that weren't in the best places and not getting the sun they needed, and I've planted some new plants I got at the plant swap a few weeks ago. I moved almost all of my daylilies to one corner of the bed and made room for some native plants that will attract bees and butterflies.

In the veggie garden bed, I've pulled out all the cucumber vines and most of the watermelon vines. Okay, really the husband did that, but I asked him to! LOL I've planted my garlic and need to plant my chives. This week, we'll be starting some lettuces so we can have fresh lettuce through the winter and early spring months. In August sometime, I whacked back the okra. It's all growing back and producing pods. Gahhhhh! I think I'm just going to yank it all out, except for the ones we're saving for seeds.

Evergreen Progress

2010-09-23T19:07:00.003-05:00

With the advent of NFL football season (Go Cowboys!) and the fall TV season, I now have good reasons to park myself on the couch and stitch for longer periods of time. I've picked up my former incentive piece, Evergreen by Blackbird Designs. I don't remember what fabric I'm using, but I do know it's 28 count linen and I'm using CCs and GAST. I still have to do the lazy daisy stitches on the one pomegranate on the lower right. It's a good thing my mother taught me to embroider and do all those stitches when I was a young whippersnapper.

Eventhough the Cowboys are off to a 0-2 start, I have faith that they'll turn the ship around and whoop up on the rest of the teams they play in the weeks to come. Stay tuned for an update on that!

Makin' Waves

2010-09-19T14:45:00.004-05:00

I've been working on my LHN Seasonal Saltbox project during Saturday Night Stitch on the Only One Ewe board. Last night, I made waves! I really do enjoy stitching on this piece and wish that I had more energy to stitch longer on Saturday nights after I get home.

Stay tuned for an update on Evergreen, my Sunday stitching project!

Long Overdue Update (Pic Heavy)

2010-09-09T16:24:00.008-05:00

Not much has been happening around here. We have had more hot temps (ugh!), humidity, and the remnants of Tropical Storm Hermine pass through. We got about 8" of rain from that in about a two day period. No severe weather here, but there were 6 confirmed tornadoes in the Dallas area. Yikes! Thankfully, we just got rain on this side of the Metroplex. I thought I might need to invest in some snorkeling gear before it was all said and done, though!

The kitties are all doing well. Tumbles has received all of his kitten shots plus his rabies shot, so he's good for a year. He goes in on October 13th for a little chassis modification procedure. He'll stay the night and we'll pick him up on the morning of our 10th wedding anniversary! He's grown by leaps and bounds and now weighs a good 6 lbs. He and Callie play well together, but he and Hannah are still working out the terms of their relationship.

I discovered this morning that my little man has a "thing" for dirty dishcloths! I had tossed a pile of dirty dish towels and dishcloths into a laundry basket containing dirty towels. I turned around and saw him diving into the basket! I immediately thought he was going to do his business in there, but watched for a few seconds and he didn't. Ran and got the camera and came back to find this:

He was rolling all over the towels and trying to bite and suckle on the dirty dishcloths! I will now have to be sure to put the laundry basket up on the washing machine so he'll not be as likely to jump into the basket!

The garden is looking horrible! While we still have a couple of okra plants still standing and 4 watermelons on the vines and the cantaloupes are coming back to life, most of the garden is done for the season. The late summer flowering plants are flowering, such as the frostweed and Turk's cap shown at the top of this post. The hurricane lilies, which usually bloom after Labor Day when hurricane season is at its peak, are blooming, too.

Hurricane Lilies bursting out of the ground. I need to snap a pic of them in bloom. Very appropriate since the rains from TS Hermine probably helped them sprout.

One of the watermelons in our garden.

Lots of things are going to seed. I've already been harvesting various seeds, but I'll be harvesting these for sure! I think I'm going to sell some of them, too, but I'm not sure on that yet.
Blackberry Lily
Garlic Chives, which I've never actually eaten, but they make a great border plant and have cute little white flower heads.

Lastly, (I saved the best for last!) I have been doing some stitching. I've mostly been working on a small exchange piece, but on Saturday nights, I've been working on my LHN Seasonal Saltbox piece. I'm currently working on the summer block, "Blessed are the Merciful".

Friday Finish

2010-08-20T18:18:00.004-05:00

Caroline
Design by Miss Crescent's Crowne
Stitched on 28 ct. Vanilla Bean linen using Crescent Colours fibers
Design can be found in the 2009 JCS ornie edition

Many of you mentioned that you would like to stitch Snapperville (or Snapperland or whatever that thing is called) next year. I've been mulling over the possibility of doing a SAL with one block done (& corresponding border) a month. How do you think that would work? Would anyone be up for that?

Also, if you've felt emboldened to dig out all the WIPs and UFOs from your stitching basket (really, it's very liberating) and you've posted about them on your blog, let me know so I can go see your pretties!

And lest you think I only have one kitty, I present to you, the ever gorgeous, Miss Callie, my lovey cat.

While I was looking through some old pics, I found this one of Hannah & Callie from 2006. The look on Hannah's face is priceless and Callie's zonked out and doesn't care that she's hogging the chair!

What's in Your Stitching Basket?

2010-08-19T11:22:00.008-05:00

I recently had to relocate my stitching basket so the husband could set up the magnifying light during my recent vision impairment. My vision is still impaired, but it's back to "normal" and I can see to stitch again without the magnifier! Hooray! So, since I had to lug the thing to its new location, I got to thinking, "Why is this thing so stinkin' heavy?!?" That got me taking an inventory of what's in the basket.

This is what I found:

My current SNS project, LHN Seasonal Saltboxes

Caroline, my current ornie, which is close to being finished if I can bring myself to liking the way it looks after I fill in the snowflakes which cause my stitches to look all wonky. I hate that! I also need to finish the garland, too.

The now left side frogged "Evergreen" which is my Sunday project when I feel like stitching on Sundays. Thank goodness football season will soon be here!

This is the September Flip-It from Lizzie*Kate's first series of Flip Its. It was my "traveling project" way back in the day, maybe 2003 or 2004 or something??? Who knows? It's a cute little piece and easy to stitch. Why can't I bring myself to work on it?

Then there's this piece:

Another great little piece that I really like, but can't bring myself to A.) remember that I have it, and/or B.) remember that it is so close to finished I could do it in less than a week. *sigh*

I also discovered this Trilogy or BC project, Snapperville, started many, many moons ago. It was supposed to be a SAL piece with a friend, *cough* *cough* but she never got around to starting it and I've had no motivation to work on it. Again, I love the design, love stitching on it, but just can't bring myself to pick it up because my ADHD stitching brain forgets about it. (That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!)

I also found this pretty piece, which I truly love, but again, find myself having difficulty picking it up. You know, gotta find the q-snaps, then put the thing on the q-snaps and all that stuff. I'm really beginning to think I need an intervention!

This one I need to finish simply so I can say, "Yeah, I've stitched a Paula Vaughan." I need that to bring credibility to my stitching and so people will think I'm one of those elite stitchers because, after all, only "accomplished" stitchers would ever dare to stitch a color chart full of quarter, half, three-quarter, and popcorn stitches that included an INSANE amount of backstitching and color changes. Right?

Ahhhh....Blessed are Those by Blue Ribbon Designs. This is truly my final WIP, which is really a UFO. Beautiful, beautiful design, but a HORRIBLE chart! I think that's what discourages me from stitching on the thing. I have to use a magnifying glass just to read the darn chart! Why do designers do this to middle-aged women whose eyesight is fluctating?!? Does this chart come in a large print version? LOL

I found these two FINISHES in my basket, which aren't really finished. This one needs to have the charms attached and I need to decide if I want to stitch the border on it after all. I've seen it done both ways, and I just can't make up my mind.

And then there's this Jeremiah Junction project that was a round robin with a bunch of wonderful stitchers from the OOE board. It's beautiful, isn't it? Did you notice, though, that there's backstitching missing on the 2 corners at the bottom? Yeah, those were the ones I stitched and I haven't added the backstitching on them yet. Should I be embarrassed to admit that I stitched this in 2005?!? Yes, it's been languishing in my stitching basket that whole time. Five years worth of whole time.

Lest you think that was it in the stitching basket, I'm hate to disappoint you. There's more! I also found a couple of calendar pages I was recording my time on from when I actually stitched enough to record my time (*cough*), a semi mutilated 2009 JCS ornie edition magazine (still in usable condition, though), a couple of charts that I was going to stitch at some point in time, two (2) gardening newsletters from a nursery in San Antonio that my wonderful Dad sends to me each month after he's read them, written funny comments throughout the articles, and used for scratch paper (I could subscribe to the online version, but that would take away his fun.), a skein (new) of yellow yarn from some long-ago plan to crochet something useful, and yet another skein of yarn, this one a pukey seafoam green that I practiced with. It must've been on sale when I bought it because I'd have never purchased something that ugly if it wasn't and if I was in my right mind! Lastly, there's a framed print in there that belongs to my husband. I think I gave it to him for our anniversary or Christmas or maybe even for a birthday gift MANY years ago. I could probably wrap it up and give it to him again and he'd never known I'd regifted it!

On that note, I think I'll leave you with a challenge to tell what's in your stitching basket (or bag or whatever you store your projects in) if you're feeling brave. I'm off to find some kind of support group for my affliction!

Saturday Night Stitch Progress

2010-08-16T16:35:00.007-05:00

I did settle down on Saturday evening to get some stitching time in for the Saturday Night Stitch stitchalong on the OOE board. Amazing, I know! LOL I'm stitching on my LHN Seasonal Saltbox project for this SAL.

Here is where I started on Saturday night:

And here's where I stopped. I finished off the strand of green, and was tired of it anyway, so I moved on to a different color. Just call me ADD!

I am on vacation this week (hooray!) with no real plans for my week. Okay, I have plans, they're just not all that definite and I wouldn't be disappointed if nothing got accomplished. I do have to go to the doc for my "annual exam". I'm sure that will be beyond exciting. NOT! However, I will need to discuss the results of my eye exam with them. Apparently my vision has "shifted" (for the better) because either my thyroid is out of whack again or my hormones are doing their aging thing. I'm voting for the latter, which I'm not real excited about, but it's a fact of life. Will be discussing those mood swings, too. Additionally, I have a massage on Wednesday which I'm looking forward to and then a haircut on Friday. My hair's not too bad, but I figured I'd get the appointment out of the way this week since it's easier for me to get in to see her when my schedule is open. Other than that, I do plan on getting my stash listed to sell. I also plan on doing some de-cluttering around here. The husband doesn't know this yet, but he's helping. Today, however, I'm having a do-nothing day! LOL

On the gardening front, everything's burning up. It's sad to look out the window and see everything wilting and drying up, no matter how much we water. We're on day 15 or 16 or 17 (feels like a whole lot more than that) of 100º+ temps. The only thing that's really doing well is the okra. However, it looks horribly limp in the middle of the day. The green cucumbers are now infested with spider mites and aphids. I think I'm just going to yank them out and start over for the fall. The lemon cucumbers and the White Wonder cukes are still producing, yet the vines look deadly. Here was the harvest from today. What the heck am I going to do with all of them??

Some random pics of Tumbles over the past week or so. Really, I know you're probably tired of seeing his cute mug, but I'm so in love with him it's pathetic!

Here he is sitting in the big window in the living room. All the kitties love this spot in the early evening. It's the prime sunbathing spot!

Here he is just chilling out, trying to avoid the wrath of Hannah who hisses and swats him on a regular basis. LOL

I snapped this pic earlier this afternoon just as he was settling in for his afternoon nap. I think Mark was talking to him to get him to look up. Perfect pic of my handsome little man! Following that, is a short video I recorded of him playing with one of his new toys. Enjoy!

Exchange Piece Sent & Received

2010-08-15T14:45:00.004-05:00

This past Wednesday was the mailing date for the Complimentary Design exchange on the OOE board. Donna stitched for me and sent me this lovely little La-De-Da piece.

Letters and Leaves by La-D-Da
Stitched on Summer Sunset linen from Silkweaver
Fibers: Pine & Cherry Bark GAST

I stitched for Jan. Jan's a patriotic nut, so I chose this little design from Prairie Grove Peddler, simply titled "USA".

USA by Prairie Grove Peddler
Stitched on 32 ct. Days Gone By linen from Silkweaver
Threads: DMC

Because I can't post lately without including a pic of Tumbleweed, here's one taken this week. He's snuggling with Callie on the couch.

A Month of Tumble

2010-08-08T15:47:00.010-05:00

It's been almost a month since Mr. Tumbleweed came into our lives and home. It's been an educational, tiring, fun, frustrating, exciting, and fun. Never having owned a kitten this young, I really had no idea what to expect. Nothing could have prepared me for how much energy this guy has! It's all about playing, sleeping, eating, and playing some more! BUT, he is such an adorable little thing and is already dearly loved. I mean, really, who couldn't love this?

He now feels secure and comfortable enough to sleep out in the open when encouraged. He doesn't normally willingly choose an open spot for a nap, but if we're sitting on the couch or something, he'll come over and lay down and stretch out.

He's learned to get behind the sheers in the living room and enjoy the sunshine, watch the birds and squirrels, and hide from the girls.

He's learning to be civilized with his "sisters". Callie is his friend most of the time, but she has her limits. He's obviously overstepped the boundary line here.

He still has a long nose and face. Will be interesting to see what size head he'll end up with. I sure hope it's proportionate to his body! LOL

He loves to have his head rubbed as he's falling asleep. He also has a HUGE purr that he shares readily for us.

He's also learned to jump on the furniture and he's almost made it out the cat door to the enclosed sunroom. He's not learned how to push on the door, but I have no doubt he'll figure it out soon! He's also almost ready to be out in the house at night, rather than stuck in his room. I'm not sure how that will work since he usually eats dry food during the night. Maybe the husband will get up for a 3AM feeding! LOL

Most of the time, peace reigns. It will be fun to see what the next month brings!

Boring Post

2010-08-04T16:49:00.006-05:00

The dog days of summer have definitely arrived here in North Texas! August is the hottest month of the year for us and the second driest month historically. Hot and dry, a wonderful combination! We've been at or over 100º for the past 3 days. I feel like I'm in the fiery furnace when I look outside!

Stitching-wise there's not much going on that I can show you. I should finish up my little complimentary exchange piece tonight and then get it ready to ship out to its recipient next Wednesday. It's such a cute piece! If Jan doesn't like it, I hope she sends it back to me! I don't see that happening, though as I have stitched several exchange pieces for her and she's never sent any of them back.

The garden continues to decline and roast under the hot sun. Unfortunately, most veggies, except for okra, don't tolerate our heat very well. We've pretty much eradicated the ugly leaf-footed bugs by using the shop vac on them in the morning and evenings. The cantaloupes have pretty much given up the ghost and the watermelons are on the way. The cukes have slowed down and I'm not sure they'll make it to reproduce in the fall, but we're trying to nurse them along. The bell peppers are filling out and producing, but the peppers get sun scald, which makes them pretty much inedible. The okra & jalapenos, however, are going like gangbusters! Here are pics of today's harvest:

Today's harvest basket was full of cucumbers! We have 4 White Wonder, 5 Lemon cucumbers, and 1 Marketmore 76 cucumber as well as a handful of jalapeno peppers.

Mark harvested the smallest of these watermelons late last week and then the other 2 were harvested yesterday and today. I think I'm going to be eating watermelon for awhile! That's okay though since ice cold watermelon is a great way to cool off on these hot summer days.

On the kitty front, Mr. Tumbleweed is settling in nicely. He's such a good kitty! We did have to take him to the vet for a tapeworm issue, but other than that, no problems with him whatsoever. I did think I'd lost him yesterday when I couldn't find him before it was time for me to go to work. We needed to feed him and put him in his room before we left. I spent 20 minutes calling and looking for the little twerp to no avail. Finally, I put some food down for Hannah and he came out of hiding when he heard the crunchies hit the bowl! This morning, I figured out where he'd been sleeping...under the couch!

He and Hannah are learning to play together. She still hisses and swats at him occasionally, but each day they do better together. He and Hannah tend to spend the most time together. I think he's trying to convince her to be his friend. They've played chase and wrestled a little bit, so I think he's close to winning her over. Callie pretty much ignores him unless he tries to get in her space and then she'll hiss at him. They have been seen running around and chasing each other, though. :o) Tumbles has full run of the house when we're home and awake. He goes back into his room at night and anytime we're not home. This is mainly because we're not here to supervise him with the girls in case something were to happen and because he's so tiny, we don't want him to slip out the door when we open it. He's afraid of the noise the door makes, which is a good thing, but since he's not chipped yet, we don't want to take any chances.

In this pic, he was going to jump Hannah, who is behind the curtain, but he was distracted by a jogger outside the window.

Here Callie, on the ottoman, and Tumble are looking out the window at something.

This is one of the best pics I have of the unique coloring and pattern to his coat. He's looking less like a brown tabby and more like a gray tabby boy.

A New Start & Thank God for Friends

2010-07-25T15:43:00.005-05:00

Since I finished up the second Seasonal Saltbox chart from Little House Needleworks last Saturday, I'm moving on to the third chart in the series, "Blessed are the Merciful". This is the "summer" chart in the set. I didn't have much stitching time last night after taking a little nap, loving on my Callie-bug-girl and my Hannah Grace-cat and playing with the Tumble bug, but I did get some stitching done.

This morning, I broke down and frogged my BBD piece, Evergreen. It's now ready to have that entire left side restitched. You know, I'm really not a fan of frogging and I usually try to "wing it" when I find a boo-boo, but this one just wasn't going to work out if I left it.

Stitchy friends really are the best! My non-blogging friend, Robin, sent me a couple of packages this week. One was expected, but the other was a total surprise and certainly lifted my spirits!

The first package, which I was not anticipating, contained a sweet card, LHN's "He's a Flake" ornie chart, a piece of Quarry fabric from Sassy's Fabrics, and some hand-dyed silks from HDF. Robin loves plying me with silks! The second package contained the Just Cross Stitch ornie preview edition. I thank God for the blessing of Robin's friendship.

And now, some pics of Tumbleweed, who's growing like a weed! He's just growing more precious by the day! He now wants to be petted and loved on when we enter his room and he's giving head rubs, head butts, and purrs. He's also made a run for it when I was having difficulty moving the screen door out of the way one morning. He liked that and now wants out every single time we open the door! However, he's really not ready for that and neither are our girls. We're hoping to start the integration process later this week, though.

Progress Reports

2010-07-21T14:28:00.004-05:00

Just to let everyone know, I have been stitching, just not much. Having a 10-week old kitten the house really takes up a lot of my time, you know! :) Also, I lost some of my stitching mojo in June, but it's slowly returning.

But first, let's start with a finish! Yes, I said a finish!

Blessed are the Pure chartpack by Little House Needleworks

Here are the first two seasonal saltboxes together. I'll be starting the next square on Saturday.

Caroline by Miss Crescent's Crowne has been my lunchtime stitching project since the beginning of June! Needless to say, I don't do much stitching at lunch or I'd be done by now, but it's been a fun stitch anyway.

Lastly, Evergreen by Blackbird Designs. Have I ever mentioned that I've never stitched a BBD without having to frog??? Well, it's true and the pattern continues with this one. I have to frog the entire left vine, leaves, and flowers on this thing because I'm missing one row of stitches!! I tried to figure out a way to work around it, but it'll throw off the entire design, so out it will come. :( Phooey! Phooey! Double dog phooey!

The Tumbleweed is adjusting well in his new home. He's still in the front bedroom, but today we put the screen door up, so he's got free roam of the room and he can see the girls and they can see him, but they can't touch each other (I hope!). He's enjoying his freedom, but spends most of his day napping under the bed. He loves to play in between naps. He's still a little unsure of the humans, but he'll come out when we talk to him, but any quick or unexpected move on our part sends him skittering away. We've decided that we'll have to continue to socialize him and just take it nice and easy with him. Some of that skittish behavior may go away or subside when he begins the integration process with our girlie cats.

His Name Shall Be Mr. Tumbleweed!

2010-07-15T21:46:00.006-05:00

We picked up our new little bundle of joy on Tuesday. I was so proud of his rescue mom. She didn't let the tears fall! I'd have been a nervous wreck! He's been a perfect little angel since his arrival, except for last night when he escaped from his cage. With the cage door locked tight. We considered calling him Houdini.

He is eating very well, using the litter box like a champ, and enduring the hisses of Hannah. When he's crying his little head off because he wants some attention or it's first thing in the morning and he's ready for his wet food, Callie goes into the room and lays down by the cage. He quiets down immediately. I really hope the 2 of them become fast friends. Hannah will be a much harder sell.

He's in our front bedroom inside a big cage that has his litter box, water & food dishes, comfy bed, and some small toys for him to play with. I also have a fleece string wand toy tied to the top of the cage and the end dangling down to the bottom of the cage. He has started to play a bit with his toys by himself, which is a really good thing and means he's becoming more comfortable in his new home. Mark is going to install a screen door on the door to the room so he can have free reign of that bedroom. We've discovered that the air circulation in that room isn't the best, so leaving the door open while he's in his cage is the best alternative at this point in time. We discussed moving his cage into the den, but we decided that he's not ready for that and neither are our girls.

Mr. Tumbleweed really still isn't sure of people and he's not a fan of hands, so we have to move slowly around him. He LOVES his new daddy, though!! I witnessed Mr. Tumbles giving Mark rubs, head butts, and general friendly lovins. He's not quite so fond of me, yet because I pick him up and snuggle him and I wipe off his feet daily. He'll come around soon enough, though. He's still a bit on the scaredy side and isn't comfortable being out in the wide open spaces of the bedroom. He loves to hide under the bed, but will readily come out to play with the string toy. However, any little noise or quick movement sends him back under the bed. He's quickly enticed out with the toy, though. We're making progress with him, but it'll take lots of patience and TLC for our little man.

Here he is playing with the string from under the bed. This was our first time to let him out to play.

He loves to grab the string and kick it with his back paws. He's so uncoordinated that it's comical to watch him.

He's got the cutest buttons on his tummy and a stripe under his chin that is so adorable. I think I'm in love!

Okay, off to feed the baby and get some shut eye. Look for frequent updates on Mr. Tumbleweed!

We're Expecting a Little Boy!

2010-07-11T11:31:00.005-05:00

A little kitty boy, that is! The husband and I have decided to expand our cat family by adding a little boy kitten to our home. We really hadn't planned on adding a third cat to our home because one of our cats is old and has some kidney problems. Stress isn't good for her, but I think we're prepared for what's to come. Our other girl has feline herpes and stress can trigger a flare up. Both of them are in good health (for them) and I think they'll do fine. However, after reading this little guy's rescue story and seeing his pictures, I knew he had to come live with us.

Here's the story his rescue mom posted on July 1st on the cat message board I read. The "bridge" she is referring to is the Rainbow Bridge.

[quote]OMG! Just did a dramatic rescue...was almost a "bridge report"

Tonight my hub, daughter and I were at the pool for my daughter's swim team practice. An hour into the session, a HUGE thunderstorm broke out so we all quickly packed up and headed home.

We were at an intersection and the water was rushing down the streets all the way to the curb. We stopped at a red light and out of the corner of my eye I saw a small kitten come out of the rushing water and grab the back tire of the suburban in front of us and climb into the wheel well! I immediately yelled at my hub, "Get out and tell them not to drive, there's a kitten on their tire!"

He ran out and stopped them and then I turned on my flashers as he looked at the tire. Now, dh is not one to ever "get involved" and he "gave up" about 5 seconds into it. I told my daughter to stay in the car and I went out. I ended up more or less sitting in the running filthy water and called the kitty and looked. It took about a minute and I saw it so I just reached in blindly, hoping for the best, grabbed and pulled him out. He responded with a lusty cry of protest.

Another car had pulled over and a young man said he was so glad we'd seen the kitten too as he'd had to circle into the parking lot and knew he'd probably be too late to save him. I said that I'd take the kitten and we loaded him up, wrapped him in my daugher's swim towel and headed home.

I called my neighbor, the cat breeder and asked if he could bunk at her house for the night. She had a cage prepared for him by the time we got there. We gave him the once over and noted no fleas or apparent diseases. He's a boy, about 10 weeks old and a plain brown tabby with an ENORMOUS low "boy voice" for his small size. He's now settled in with a cushy bed, litter tray, food and water. She'll call a friend in the morning about taking a "new barn cat" and I said I'd pay for his neuter if she will. I cannot take any more cats for myself.

Anyway, I'm soooooooo glad we were able to save the kit's life. I would have been traumatized for MONTHS had the light changed and the car moved. Now I just hope his new "forever home" is just a phone call away.

Thanks for listening....[/quote]

We've been exchanging messages for the past week and I've been working on the husband to say yes to adding him to our home. I've stressed and worried over what the new kitten will do to our girls and how they'll respond and whether or not I want to put them through the stress of adjusting to a new kitty. I've worried about kitten-proofing my house and how much more stuff (clutter!!) we have now than we had 5 years ago when we added our last kitty. I've stressed over the fate of this little guy if we didn't adopt him. So much stuff to consider and think through. Mainly, though, I had to win over the husband, no easy task! I finally got him to commit and say yes this morning, after having numerous discussions about the kitty.

He'll be coming home on Tuesday. The lady who has him lives about 75 miles southwest of Fort Worth, so we'll be meeting Tuesday morning to make the trade off. He's already had his second deworming treatment and had his first kitten shots. He's been cleared of all the bad kitty diseases (feline leukemia, FIV, and heartworms) by the vet and is estimated to be 8-10 weeks old. He's too little to be snipped, so he'll have that done when he's 6 mos. old. He's been eating well and has already gained 1/2 pound. His fur is getting softer since he's getting healthier. He did have some flea bites, but he's been de-flead. He also was a bit anemic, probably from the flea bites, but he's gotten a B12 shot for that and is expected to recover on his own just fine. He's been introduced to the mom cats at the cattery and did very well with them. When I spoke with his rescue mom this morning to make arrangements for the meet up, she mentioned that the lady who's keeping him had moved him to a bigger area with a cat tree and he was going crazy with it! Guess DH is going to have to get busy making a cat tree for our house.

He needs a name, too. He's currently called Percy, but that will change. Originally, he was being called Stormy. I like "people" names for the most part. We already have Callie and Hannah Grace, so nothing that sounds similar. If you have suggestions, leave them in the comments. Look for updates on Tuesday about his homecoming! I'm sure there'll be TONS of pics in the coming weeks and months of him, his antics, as well as with my other 2 kitty girls.

Wordless Wednesday #25 (captions added)

2010-06-23T17:42:00.005-05:00

Part of my harvest from yesterday, 6.23.10. We've got fresh snap green beans, pink eye purple hull peas (AKA black eyed peas, Southern peas, cowpeas), and some tomatoes.

Bloom on one of my okra plants. They're so pretty! I wish they stayed open for more than a few hours. Such a pretty soft butter yellow and burgundy throat.

Lemon cucumber plant on the left going hog wild and a cherry tomato plant on the right. The tomato plant is at least 6' tall!

My smallest cantaloupe. It's so fun to watch it grow day by day. It's gotten longer. The other two on the vine look fatter.

Pink eye purple hull peas, fresh shelled, and cherry tomatoes.

Daylily 'Persian Patterns'

Computer chair thief!

Wordless Wednesday # Whatever (LOL)-Captions added

2010-06-16T15:08:00.005-05:00

First harvest of okra, cherry tomatoes, and lemon cucumber.

My start on Caroline. It's stiched on 28 ct. Vanilla Bean linen from Crescent Colours using Crescent Colours fibers.

My last caterpillar doing the "comma" and going into his chrysalis stage.

My new, low flush toilet! The previous toilet was the same color as the tile on the floor and the wall. This was installed by my husband. There are 2 buttons on the top that you use to flush. No more using the elbow to flush the toilet for me!

One of the lemon cucumber vines blooming like crazy.

Dahlia flowered zinnia.

A Stitchy Post (& Some Vegetables, Too!)

2010-06-13T14:10:00.006-05:00

Robin, my non-blogging, now retired so she has time to start a blog friend received her Bent Creek exchange piece! This was the piece that I had such a block on stitching. I loved the piece and it wasn't a difficult stitch, but I just had no mojo to sit and stitch on it.

Blessings Abound
Design by Bent Creek
Stitched on 32 ct. Rustic linen using DMC and GAST threads

I stitched on my LHN Seasonal Saltbox piece yesterday evening. Here are before and after pics.

Before:

After:

In the garlic today, I harvested my garlic. We planted it last October. It survived the snows and cold weather and now I have this:

Total harvest of garlic and bulblets. We'll plant the smaller bulb on the left in the fall and it should grow as big as the other bulbs.

Bulblets that were attached to the bottom of the bigger bulbs. These are like seeds and if planted, will produce a full size elephant garlic pod in two years. This is what we planted the most of last fall.

This full size pod will be broken apart and the individual cloves will be planted in October. We'll have lots of garlic next year!

I also harvested my first bunch of cherry tomatoes! They were yummy!

My plan this week is to stitch daily, even if it's only 10 or 15 minutes. I'm starting a little ornie, so hopefully I'll have a quick finish.

Wordy Wednesday #23

2010-06-09T11:43:00.008-05:00

I know, I know. I usually do a Wordless post on Wednesday, but I'm breaking free from the rut and actually posting a wordy post today. I mean, after all, I've been very quiet lately.

The husband and I have been busy in the garden. As of today, we've harvested carrots, potatoes, and onions. The beans are getting ready to harvest, the black-eyed peas are beginning to flower, and the okra has taken off and is putting on pods. The strawberries are producing another round of berries, the watermelons have taken off and are flowering, the cantaloupes have also taken off and are flowering like crazy, the cucumbers are setting fruit, and the tomatoes are starting to ripen. The early bloomers are going to seed, bees are buzzin' and the weather's turned hot. How many days til winter sets in?? LOL

My first lemon cucumber baby!

Blackberries

Radish seed pods ripening

Borage flowers and baby strawberries (bottom)

Emerald Green Velvet okra pods

Contender green beans (bush)

In my personal life, I've been struggling with neck spasms and tight/sore muscles in my upper back. That has really put a cramp in my stitching. I was diagnosed last week with a urinary tract infection (fun!) and the medicine they prescribed makes my vision blurry. Do you know how much more difficult blurry vision makes it to see the tiny holes in 32 count fabric?!? My neck, shoulders, and upper back are getting better and I'm learning to cope with the blurry vision.

Last night, I came home from work to see my Callie-girl cat in the front window, but she didn't stand up to come greet me at the front door. The first thing out of the husband's mouth was, "She's hurt herself and won't get up. She can't put a lot of weight on her back left leg." This is my 14 year old baby girl cat. I made a little "nest" for her in the den with some twisted towels (she loves towels!), a litter box, and a bowl of water. She's doing better today, but is still very sore and gimpy. She's still limping terribly, but able to put more weight on her leg. Of course, when I called the vet, they have no appointments for today, so I'm waiting for a call back for a plan of action. I think she probably pulled some muscle doing some kind of cat thing, like jumping down out of the chair, as her muscles seem a bit inflamed and tender to the touch. It's times like these when I wish animals could talk!

Hosted on Fotki

Wordless Wednesday #22

2010-06-02T09:30:00.003-05:00

Wordless Wednesday #21 (Captions added 5/27)

2010-05-26T17:57:00.002-05:00

Black Swallowtail butterfly caterpillar on my parsley.

Same caterpillar and parsley in a plastic container on my washing machine. I'm now an excited caterpillar parent!

Daylily "Pure & Simple"

Some of the flowers in my flower bed. Purple coneflowers, Monarda (bee balm), and coreopsis.

My carrot harvest!

For the Kitty Lovers

2010-05-23T13:32:00.003-05:00

I stumbled across this site a few weeks ago. If you love kitties and all their kitten playfulness, then you'll love this site! I'm warning you, though, it is VERY addicting! Watch at your own risk!

Live Broadcast by Ustream.TV

The kittens in front of this camera are available for adoption in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina. They originally came into rescue sick, sneezy, wheezy, and flea infested. They have gotten tons better and are almost ready for adoption. Actually, three of the kittens have forever homes lined up already! They'll be going home in the next week or two.

Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday #20 (captions added)

2010-05-19T21:01:00.005-05:00

Blackberries ripening.

Wando peas. We harvested some of these on Saturday. They didn't make it into the house. :)

Maters, baby!

Rudbeckia Hirta (Black-eyed Susan) and an opening Gaillardia (blanket flower)

Fused stem and buds on one of my Black-eyed Susans. This happens at least once a growing season to at least one of my plants. It's crazy!

Purple oxalis and Pink Skullcap.

My first daylily bloom of 2010, Siloam Double Classic.

Catching Up

2010-05-16T13:02:00.002-05:00

Another crazy week has ended. Hooray! I don't think I've had a "normal" work in over a month. As someone who thrives on consistency and predictability, it's been stressful. I was looking forward to returning to a normal work schedule next week, however when my boss arrived at work yesterday he told me that he & his family would be leaving that afternoon to drive to Delaware because his mother-in-law's condition had deteriorated and she wasn't expected to live through the weekend. I felt so bad for him. So this coming week's going to be just as crazy as the last 2 or 3 weeks. At least my hormones won't be out of whack this go 'round! LOL

As you can see from the pics posted Wednesday, the gardens are looking good. We got about 1.25" of rain on Friday which will help tremendously. Now, though, we've got such horribly high humidity! Blech!

This is just gorgeous! I don't remember seeing this Mealy Blue Sage in such glory last season.

This little Blue Bedder Sage went dormant over the winter, but has come back nicely. It's such a vibrant blue and very striking in the flower bed.

In the veggie garden, the okra I planted is coming along nicely. We've had some germination issues on one end of the row, but I'll plant some more seeds today to hopefully help that. These poor little babies got whipped around in the winds the other day pretty good, but they have recovered and are growing well.

Most of the onions are starting to really bulb. These 1015s are doing great! As they get bigger around, I pull back the soil to give them some growing room.

The cucumber plants are finally taking off. This is a lemon cucumber plant that had a rough time getting started. It's doing great now.

I will be sending off my exchange piece this week, so hopefully I'll be able to post some stitching pics soon!

Wordless Wednesday #19

2010-05-12T14:17:00.002-05:00

Some Early Works

2010-05-09T18:14:00.006-05:00

I recently reconnected with an old college roommate on Facebook. I was also her notetaker (she is deaf) for many of our classes, too, so we had a unique relationship. We'd kept in touch for many years after college, but then in 1998, I moved here to Fort Worth and she moved to Georgia due to some illness and health challenges. After that, we lost contact, but with the creation of Facebook, we've been reunited. A couple of weeks ago, she shared pics with me of some of the things I'd stitched for her while we in college. These are about 20 years old and Carla has these hanging in her guest room.

I have no idea the designers of these are, but I do know they're stitched on aida (Fiddler's it looks like) with DMC threads, cuz that's just about all there was back then.

The other day, I went into the living room and I found Her Royal Highness Hannah Grace sleeping atop a stack of moving pads. I've dubbed this shot, "The Princess and the Pea".

Picture Captions and Other Stuff

2010-05-06T19:57:00.002-05:00

Since I can't share of picture of my current stitching project, I'll bore you with pics of my garden and flowers.

Last week, the husband and I planted seeds for our veggie garden. This is an okra seedling. At maturity, okra is a tall plant. Hard to believe it starts out so tiny. This year, we're growing Green Emerald Velvet okra.

We also planted watermelon. These are planted in "hills", 4 per mound. So far, we have a total of 4 sprouts out of the 12 seeds we planted. The husband planted a few more seeds in each hill today. This is Crimson Sweet watermelon.

This is a little watermelon seedling just bursting through the dirt.

We'll be growing cowpeas, or black-eyed peas, this year as well. I'm not sure if these are grown in the north, but they're pretty much a staple down here. This is the first year for these in our garden as well.

We will again be growing bush beans. The plants only get about 2' tall. They start off pretty large as compared to the okra seedlings.

This daylily has 2 bloom scapes on it! Can't wait for it to flower this year!

These are some of the plants I brought home with my from the plant swap last Sunday. I have most of them planted, but there are some still waiting to go in the ground.

Wordless Wednesday #18

2010-05-05T14:05:00.004-05:00

I Have Been Remiss in Stitching and Posting

2010-05-03T14:26:00.002-05:00

I've been so busy with outside stuff that I've neglected to update my blog. I've still not done any stitching to speak of, but the day is coming.

Prairie Phlox (phlox pilosa) is the lavender blooming plant in this picture. It's accompanied by a blanketflower. The phlox has a very nice soft smell to it that's heavenly in the early mornings and late evenings.

Blanketflowers in the late evening sun.

Coneflower (& spider web) preparing to bloom.

View of the flower bed along the driveway. I just love that vibrant pink Sweet William!

First buds on one of my volunteer mater plants!

Wordless Wednesday #17

2010-04-28T21:17:00.003-05:00

2010-04-23T22:13:00.002-05:00

I haven't done much stitching for the past couple of weeks, but I have done a bit of work on my LHN Seasonal Saltbox piece. Maybe I'll eventually get it done...after gardening season is over.

The flower garden is gearing up and things are popping up all over the place and blooming. These are the early bloomers that have started putting on their show lately.

This Sweet William, aka dianthus, was planted last spring as part of a wildflower seed assortment. It didn't do anything last year except grow, so I was so excited to see it blooming this year. I absolutely LOVE the flower color!

These are poppies that have lost their petals and are in the process of going to seed. The ones in the back have just recently lost their petals. The ones in the front have developed their "crowns". Eventually, the pod will turn brown and a little gap will develop under the crown and the top of the pod. This allows the teeny little seeds to escape in the wind or when the seed pod is crushed.

Another seed pod and poppy flower. When the weather is cooler and the sun's not out, like on the day I took these pics, the flower petals don't open up very wide. They stay closed up and look more like tulips than poppies. This has been a good year for the poppies. Last year, they got windblown and the petals got blown off just about before I could get out and snap a pic of them.

Lastly, this is a Brazos Penstemon. It's a Texas native and does well in the shade. These things stayed about 8" tall all summer and winter then shot up like they were on steroids during late winter/early spring. Now they're flaunting their beauty. I'm very pleased with them. I harvested some seeds last season and winter sowed them. I've now got babies!!

The past 2 weeks have been a total blur. We had inventory at work this past Saturday, then I had to work on Sunday doing the audits and variance reports. When that was finished, we had to put the store back together because big wigs from corporate were going to be in the area Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and might pop in. Eek! (They never showed!) Needless to say, I've been exhausted and trying to recuperate. Today, I worked a half day, had a lunch date with my hubby, then came home and crashed. Tomorrow, I work a shorter shift, and will probably come home and crash, too! LOL

In the evenings, the husband and I have been working in the yard. Instead of mowing the grass...errr...weeds, he's decided to PULL them all by hand. Ugh! I'm doing other yard work. I refuse to pull the weeds when they could be mowed, bagged, and put at the curb for the city to pick up and turn into compost. So, I've been moving plants, planting new plants, and planting up seedlings to take to the spring plant swap in a couple of weeks! Still need to get the rest of the veggies planted, too, or we'll not have any veggies from the garden this year.

Wordless Wednesday #16

2010-04-21T09:05:00.002-05:00

Wordless Wednesday #15

2010-04-14T18:00:00.003-05:00

Evergreen Progress

2010-04-13T05:56:00.003-05:00

Here's proof that I have been doing a bit of stitching in addition to playing in the dirt. Last week, I stitched on it for a few nights and then I picked it up on Sunday for my Sunday Incentive Project Stitching time.

And a view from my fertile driveway...

:o)

The End of an Era

2010-04-11T18:34:00.002-05:00

This morning at daybreak, Texas Stadium, the long-time home of the Dallas Cowboys, came tumbling down. It was a monumental occasion for any Dallas Cowboys fan.

This video shows the 11 year old boy who got to push the button setting off the explosions that would bring down the house.

This video is an amateur video taken from the rooftop of a nearby building.

Lastly, from the local CBS affiliate, KTVT, they have a series of videos as well as a write up. In the very last video, you can hear the explosions and it's amazing!

KTVT Coverage of Implosion

Wordless Wednesday #14

2010-04-07T19:40:00.002-05:00

He is Risen!

2010-04-04T08:45:00.002-05:00

May you know the power of His resurrection in your life today. If you don't know Jesus or the power of his transforming resurrection, please visit Need Him.org.

Sunday's Coming!

2010-04-02T06:20:00.002-05:00

Today is a day of darkness and mourning. This is the day that we as Christians reflect on the death of our Savior and all that His death brought us. Do not lose hope. Sunday's coming!

I hope you'll take some time today to consider all that Jesus' death on the cross means and how it can change your life if you'll let it.

Thursday Captions

2010-04-01T21:06:00.002-05:00

This is the start on my new incentive piece, "Evergreen" by Blackbird Designs. It's stitched on 32 ct. Iced Cappuccino linen using GAST, WDW, and CC (1 of each).

The taters are growing, growing, growing!

Skillet Scalloped Potatoes (yumm-o!) Recipe is on my food blog.

Wordless Wednesday #13

2010-03-31T19:26:00.002-05:00

Headless No More!

2010-03-28T11:07:00.005-05:00

In fact, he's not even stitchless anymore! I put the last stitches in my Silly Snowquake ornie on Friday night while watching The Blind Side.

Design: Silly Snowquake
Stitched on 28ct. Cascade linen from Silkweaver with DMC B5200
Design available from Erynne's Be-Stitched Blog

Tonight, I will start my new incentive piece, BBD's "Evergreen". I'm so excited! I will be stitching it on 28 ct. Iced Cappuccino linen From R&R Reproductions with WDW's Palomino, GAST's Forest Glade, and CC's Carrie Berry.

I just realized that I never came by on Thursday to post the captions for my pics! Sorry, folks!

My exchange piece from Veronica. It's Quaker Heart from Piecework Magazine stitched in WDW's Romance. LOVE it!

My Creeping Veronica aka Georgia Blue Speedwell. I planted this 2 falls ago and it's really grown and spread! I love the bright blueish-purple flowers. Apparently, the bees do, too. (Can you see the bee??)

The poppies are really growing! I'm continuing to find them everywhere in this flower bed as well as other flower beds in my yard. This particular stand is from last year's poppies which reseeded themselves.

The lettuces have been loving the rain and warmer temps. They've all grown like crazy!

We have liftoff with the Wando peas!!

The potatoes are continuing to do extremely well, too. I've got shoots about 8" tall in some of the planters. Time to start hilling them to give them a better chance of producing and to help them be a bit sturdier.

Wordless Wednesday #12

2010-03-24T16:40:00.003-05:00

Weekend Update

2010-03-21T18:02:00.004-05:00

What a weird week this has been! For some reason, this week has been a doozy! The keyboard on my computer is having some issues, like sticking keys, and my mouse is dying a slow death. My nerdy-geeky husband mentioned that "we" might have to make a trip to Fry's, *the* superstore for nerds, I mean, computer geeks here in our area. It's a sight to behold, let me tell you! I've seen some very....interesting....ummm....people...at Fry's. Nerds can enter in and not be seen for more than 3 hours and all they've looked at is 10 bazillion screws, wires, connectors, fans, and other things I don't even want to know about. Generally, when I go with the DH to Fry's, I tell him first, we get what we came for, then he only has 30 minutes to look at items not on our shopping list. After that, we're leaving! I'm sorry, no sane person, should have to be subjected to all that geekiness and testosterone in a confined space! LOL (If you're a computer geek reading this post, I don't mean to offend, so please forgive me.) To find out if there's a Fry's near you, visit their website.

We ushered winter out the door on Friday and spring arrived on Saturday bringing this:

Do you see the white stuff?? It's not much, but it's there! Yes, snow on the first day of SPRING and I don't even live in snow country! Thankfully, this was all we got and it was long gone by lunchtime today, but parts of the Dallas-Fort Worth and northeast Texas received many INCHES of the white stuff. Mother Nature also turned the fan on high and we've had winds gusting up to 40 mph!

The garden is progressing, or it was, before the weekend. The carrots have finally started coming up. The yellow onions are looking healthy and strong, and the radishes are really doing well. The potato bins all have sprouts and one even has almost as many sprouts as seed potatoes we planted! Yippee! Let's hope they've survived the freeze and are doing well.

My stitching mojo has gone out the window. Maybe it knew the freeze was coming and it flew south, I don't know. I'm really ready for it to come back, though. If you see it, please send it back to me, okay? I did manage to start my Bent Creek exchange for my non-blogging friend who really needs a blog, Robin.

My Colors exchange partner has received the piece I stitched for her. I chose to stitch the inside motif from ABC 04, a complimentary design from the blog, A Time to Stitch.

I don't remember what fabric I chose, but I do remember that it was from R&R and it was 32 ct. I used Belle Soie Cranberry fiber. I thoroughly enjoyed stitching this for my exchange partner. It was s delightfully quick stitch.

Have a great start to the week! :>)

Since Yesterday Was St. Patrick's Day...

2010-03-18T19:57:00.002-05:00

...I thought I'd share a little green from my garden with you!

First up, are my potatoes. This container has the most sprouts in it, but the others are coming along. I think the cooler weather has slowed everything down, including me!

Next are my strawberry plants. They've been blooming for the past week. These are volunteers from last year's plants. Not sure if they are supposed to work that way, but that's what we got! LOL

These are volunteer tomato seedlings in my big onion bed. We had tomatoes growing there last year, so I might let a couple of them grow and we'll plant them along with the onions.

My pineapple mint survived the winter and put out an albino cluster of leaves! What a fun plant to grow!

Lastly, the lettuce bed. Since it's warmed up some, all the lettuces have really taken off.

Wordless Wednesday #11

2010-03-17T18:35:00.002-05:00

A Little Update

2010-03-16T11:10:00.004-05:00

Just wanted to post a quick update on my Silly Snowquake ornie. I've moved him to my lunchtime rotation spot, so I only have about 15-20 mins a day to stitch on him, depending on whether or not I hop on the internet during my lunchtime at work. LOL I do think he looks a bit sad without a head, now that I look at him on my computer screen!!

Please visit my gardening blog, The Haphazard Gardener
if you're in need of some greenery in your life. It's springtime in Texas and things are a-startin' to grow, including my taters!

The Big Five-O!

2010-03-14T10:01:00.004-05:00

No, I'm not turning 50, that's a few years away, but I have reached 50 followers on my blog! How amazing to think that there are 50 people out there in the world who want to see what I have to say and see what's going on with my stitching and my gardens. I thank you for taking the time to read my blog and for leaving comments. It's nice to know there are people on the other side of my screen! LOL

It's been another interesting week. Spring has sprung for the time being here in my world. I've been out in the garden A LOT! The weirdos have come down from the non-existent hills and shown up at my workplace. Seriously! Time for them to make their yearly trek to the big city to stock up for the summer. It doesn't help that spring break is here, too, which means even more folks out and about. It does make work entertaining and busy, but really, I could do with a bit less weirdness!

My grandmother is back home!! Woohoo! According to my cousin, who is grandma sitting this weekend, there's just no telling what my grandmother will say! Unfortunately, it's usually something embarrassing! LOL LOL So thankful it's her taking care of Grandma and not me! Grandma taught us how to dish it out as well as take it, so I'm sure my cousin has some very snarky comebacks. Really, what else can you do with a 97 year old woman?!?

Believe it or not, I have done a bit of stitching this week on my ornie. Here's my progress on Silly Snowquake. I'm really enjoying the fabric color, by the way. This is a bit out of my normal color scheme, but I really like it!

Off to play in the dirt! :>)

Thursday Captions!

2010-03-11T19:52:00.002-06:00

If you couldn't tell by the pics I posted yesterday, spring is springing in my yard and garden. I took most of the outside pics just prior to posting them. I hope that for those of you still in the grips of Old Man Winter that you are encouraged to know that spring is indeed on the way!

My start on my March ornie, Silly Snowquake. He's being stitched on 28 ct. Cascade linen from Silkweaver using DMC.

My trailing Veronica 'Georgia Blue'. It's one of the earliest things to start blooming in my flower bed.

Radish seedlings! I just planted these seeds last week.

I found this bird's nest in our holly bush while walking the yard. I don't know if it's currently in use or not, though.

Bloom on one of the strawberry plants. These survived the winter in one of our veggie beds, but DH thinks they need some kind of special soil, so he dug 'em up and planted them in little pots to replant in the 'right' soil.

Have a spring-y day!

Wordless Wednesday #10

2010-03-10T18:53:00.003-06:00

Week-Ending Wrap Up, A Finish, March Goals

2010-03-07T04:55:00.007-06:00

I have been on vacation for the past week and it's been good. The weather turned nice and the dear husband and I have been out working in the yard preparing it for the spring gardening season. Between his back problems and mine, we managed to put in a full day outside pretty much every other day. On the in between days, I piddled around the house and napped...frequently! LOL You can check out my gardening blog for more garden details and pics. It's raining today, so no working outside for me, but I've got seeds to start, so I'll probably be doing that.

In between naps this week, I managed to do a bit of stitching. I finished one exchange piece, decided on what I will be stitching for my partner in the Bent Creek exchange, and also finished my Jan 1st piece, Have a Heart.

Have a Heart
Designer: Val's Stitchin' Stuff
Stitched on: 32 ct. Rainkissed linen from Silkweaver
Fibers Used: Crescent Colours and Weeks Dye Works

Also this week, my brother's girlfriend gave birth to a healthy little boy, Dusty Cash. There were some complications, but both the baby and the mom are now doing well and are at home. This makes son #3 for my brother and nephew #3 for me. Unfortunately, I don't have any pics yet, but as soon as I do, I'll share them!

My 97 year old grandmother was admitted to the hospital on Friday evening for a chronic problem that she has that causes her to start bleeding. Due to her age, neither the doctors nor my aunt (her primary caregiver) want to put her through the necessary tests to find out exactly the cause of the problem. She's received 2 blood transfusions and her numbers are now back to normal. They're keeping her in the hospital to make sure the bleeding has stopped and that her numbers stabilize before springing her to go home. In some ways, I feel sorry for my grandmother. She's been "ready to go" for so many years and her quality of life really is nil, eventho she goes to adult day care daily. She's just not happy and she's not as spry as she once was. As she says, "I can't see. I can't hear. And I don't remember things." LOL I love her dearly, though. Here she is a couple of Christmases ago with her 2 youngest (& only surviving) children, my aunt and uncle.

February has come and gone. March is here, which means new goals for the month. Here are my March goals:

1. Finish Colours exchange piece and mail on time.
2. Start BC exchange piece
3. Finish Jan 1st piece (Have a Heart by Val's)
4. Start & Finish ornie for March
5. Kit up incentive SAL projects and start on 3/28
6. Continue stitching on LHN Seasonal Saltbox piece
7. Continue to record stitching time

Numbers 1 & 3 are already completed, so I'm off to a good start!

Lastly, here's my progress on my LHN Seasonal Satlbox piece, Blessed are the Pure in Heart.

Thursday Captions & Other Chit Chat

2010-03-04T09:47:00.002-06:00

I have been stitching on this Quaker Friendship Sampler piece for 2 years. LOL I am currently working on the big green leafy motif in the middle right hand portion of the picture. I might finish this some day. My non-blogging friend, Robin (who really needs to start a blog, hint, hint!), has offered to stitch on it for me. I might just have to take her up on her offer!

Have a Heart by Val's Stitching Stuff is coming along. Actually, he's finished now, after I put the final stitches in him this morning! I'll be back later on today to post a finished pic. I've also finished my Colours exchange piece, but I can't post a pic of that just yet.

Worms from our garden!! Woohoo! Nature's little rototillers at their biggest that we've seen in our yard since we moved in almost 5 years ago. Normally, we see only the little babies, but this spring, we've seen tons of the bigger worms. The DH says it makes him want to go fishing! LOL

My first winter sowing sprouts of 2010! These are Sweet Pea seedlings just popping up. I'll plant them out in a couple of weeks.

Freshly planted onions start off the gardening season. These are red (puple) onion babies, but I also have some yellow onions (Texas 1015s) to plant. On either side of the onions are carrots and radishes. I made my own seed tape from toilet paper and buried it. Hopefully, they'll start sprouting in about a week!

Til next time!