I. LOVE. This. Cat!!

This is my beautiful Callie. AKA Callie-bug, Callie-girl, Callie-cat, Callie-poo, Sweetie-girl, Miss Beautiful, and a host of other names. Callie and I lived together for about 2 years before I got married, so we had lots of time to bond. She's such a love! She would follow me around, come visit me while I was in the kitchen, and lay on the bathroom rug while I was in the bathroom. She'd hop up on the bathroom counter, drink out of my glass (she soon had her own glass), and then come give me a head butt for treating her like the little princess she is. She would sleep at the foot of the bed or up by my pillow every night. I'd go to sleep to her purr.

Callie thrives on routine and a calm environment. She would never make it in a rowdy house with kids! Slight changes in routine or even raised voices stresses her out to the max. When we moved to a house from our very small apartment, I thought she'd enjoy having more room to roam and explore. She didn't. She stressed out. With time, though, she settled in and thrived in her new surroundings.

Then, because Callie was getting a bit on the plump side, we adopted a second cat thinking that a playmate would provide her some much needed exercise. Wrong! It brought on stress and a host of stress-induced illnesses. Callie would hide, wouldn't come to bed with me, would avoid the bathroom, she wouldn't follow me around, she would hang out by herself in the living room and avoid the family, and she would cringe everytime Hannah came near her. Eventually, Callie settled back down and life calmed down for her, but she still wasn't that precious little girl who stole my heart. Oh, she still would purr for me, let me brush her (her favorite thing), and pet her, and came to me for food, but we didn't have that tight connection we once shared.

Within the past month, though, things have changed!! Callie's been following me around. She's been giving me oodles of head butts and licks on my hand. She's coming into the bathroom like she owns the place and even jumping up on the counter to drink from my glass!! She lays on the floor by my computer chair and looks absolutely pathetic, begging for my chair. She jumps up on the bed and lays by my pillow. In short, she's learned to trust me (again) and she's claimed me for her own. I'm so proud of her!!

A Finish and a Progress Pic

This has been a good stitching week for me. I finished my ornament for February and made progress on my Quaker Friendship Sampler, which hadn't seen the light of day for over a year!! Oy!

First up, my February ornie. I stitched Let it Snow by Barbara Ana Designs. What an enjoyable stitch! So fun and such wonderful colors!! It's stitched on 32 ct. Navy Bean linen using mostly Crescent Colours threads, except for 1 GAST, Tutti Fruiti for the hat. If I stitch this again, I'll use a different color fabric so the snowflakes show up better.



Next, I worked on my Quaker Friendship Sampler, which is stitched on 32 ct. Mockingbird linen using Crescent Colours fibers. (Can you tell I LOVE Crescent Colours fibers?!? I'm a total junkie!) I finished the blue floral motif this week.



I think this week, I'll save another project from the deep dark recesses of my stitching basket, Blessed are Those!

A Valentine Finish

This is the 2008 Valentine Heart from Dragonfly Stitches. It is stitched on 32 ct. Vintage Magnolia linen using Crescent Colours' Bella Rosa floss. Once I got the hang of the pattern, it went very quickly.



My plan is to finish it into either a pinkeep or a flat fold.

I've started on my ornie for February. Might be able to finish it today if I don't get sidetracked by my crochet project! I also finished another dish cloth this past week.

Dishcloths!

I've always wanted to learn to crochet. I tried a couple of years ago to teach myself and that was a disaster! I have a co-worker who crochets and she's been teaching me. Here are my first finishes. They're not necessarily the prettiest finishes, but I'm the only one who'll be using them, so who cares!!



Close-ups
Green woven~Crocheted using ww cotton



Purple Variegated~Single crochet throughout (got those sc stitches down pat!!)


Rainbow~Single crochet throughout and a lacy edge. Stitched with peaches & cream ww cotton.




As for cross stitching...not so much going on there! LOL I've been too busy crocheting!

Another Finish!

I have been stitching the Lizzie*Kate Flip-It Blocks for a couple of years. It was supposed to be a one-year project. I think I'm on year 3 now! LOL I put the finishing touches on the September block this past weekend. I am determined to finish these this year! Only 3 more months to stitch and then the border.

First Finish of 2008!

This is my first ornie finish for the new year! I really like the way it turned out. It's a free design from Maryse's website, . I stitched it on a scrap of 28 ct. Barley Harvest linen from Woven Workes using Crescent Colours' Bandana and Toasted Marshmallow.

I am Peter

I always love it when God speaks to me! It's like a breath of fresh air and usually comes at a time when I need to be encouraged, refreshed, or renewed. There's been a lot of "stuff" going on in my life since last October and I needed a reminder of God's presence in my life to refresh and encourage me. I got that this past Sunday at church.

I know that my pastor would love for me to say that his sermon was so wonderfully crafted and engaging that I hung onto every word, but I honestly don't remember much of the sermon itself, just my thoughts from reading the passage. (Sorry, Dan!) It's a good thing we were provided an outline on which to take notes or I'd be sunk if there was a test on the sermon! That's okay, though. God was speaking to me anyway. (Yea, God!)

The Scripture passage was Luke 22:54-62, Peter's denial of Jesus.

I've read this passage many, many times, but this time a couple of things stood out to me and really got me to thinking. First of all, the third time Peter was accused of being a follower of Jesus, it was because of the fact he was a Galilean. I don't know what it was about Peter that let people know he was from Galilee, but somehow the accuser knew and surmised that he must have been with Jesus. It may have been the way he was dressed, his accent, his clothes, or maybe even the color of his skin. Whatever it was, something about Peter showed that he was a Galilean and then there was something about him that people somehow knew he'd been with Jesus.

This really made me wonder if people can see that I'm a believer. Does my behavior, dress, demeanor, speech, attitude, facial expressions reflect Christ to those I come in contact? Can people tell I'm a Christian simply be how I look and act? I would hope so, but I know that many times my actions and attitudes do NOT reflect Christ. I firmly believe that, as Christians, we are to SHOW Christ in all we do, not just walk around condemning people and telling them that they're on the short track to hell. Working in Christian retail, I see lots of Christians. You wouldn't believe what their dress, attitude, words, and actions reveal about themselves. I wonder what these same people show to the world?

The second thing that really struck me from the passage is the beginning of verse 61. "The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. ..." (NIV) Nowhere else in this passage is Jesus mentioned as a character. He's been carted off for questioning and the scene takes place outside in the courtyard, but here He is reminding us that He's always watching and always present with us. Can you imagine the shock, shame, guilt and remorse Peter must've felt when he saw the Lord look directly at him...at his heart?!

If you're like me, you don't have to have a very vivid imagination. I've seen Jesus looking right at me and known that same shame, guilt, shock, and remorse that Peter felt at the very moment I've denied or defied Jesus. I've tried to cover it up, stuff it down, pretend it doesn't exist, but then God whups me upside the head and reins me back in. He shows me the error of my ways. The high-dollar Christian word for this is "conviction". Through the working of the Holy Spirit, it is revealed to me that my actions aren't in line with God's teachings. Because I know that God is right and I'm not, His way really is better than my way, it's my job (and my choice) to do the changing. That's called repentance, another high-dollar Christian word.

My challenge this week: do I outwardly reflect Christ and do I realize when I've denied Christ and am I working on changing my ways to God's ways?

Just something to ponder...

I've Been Stitching!

I've been learning to crochet, but I'm still stitching!! I'm devoting most of my stitching time to "City Stitcher*Country Stitcher" by Little House Needleworks. My goal is to have it finished by the SAL deadline of February 8th. We'll see if I make it.



Hosted on Fotki


See that house there on the right?? I had most of the broad side of it finished when I discovered that the white stripe going vertically was off by one square!! Usually I'm able to live with those little "personalizations", but this one was really bugging me, so I ripped it ALL out! I did save the roof, and most of the white accent, but all the solid color of the house itself came out! *Sniff* I'm back on track, though!!

This weekend, I'm hoping to finish up a sweet little Christmas ornie, so stay tuned for another post!

Last Stitches of 2007

Here are my last 2 finishes of 2007. First up is my last ornie, JBW Design's Christmas Motif Sampler stitched on 36 ct linen using Belle Soie Sister Scarlet silk.



Hosted on Fotki


Late last night I put the final stitches in the Wisdom Scripture pack from LHN/CC.



Today, I've returned to my WIP, LHN's City Stitcher, Country Stitcher.

Happy New Year!

The first day of the new year has been a very relaxing day. Watched the Rose Bowl Parade and a couple of college bowl games. Didn't go anywhere or do anything special, except make these:



Hosted on Fotki


I used the recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cooks website. It was an extremely easy recipe to follow and they taste wonderful!

Over the past week, I've done some other baking as well. I made Peppermint Shortbread Cookies, which were wonderful!



Hosted on Fotki


Other than that, I've been doing some stitching and nursing this pain in my hip. The pain could go away any day and I'd be a happy camper!

Merry Christmas!

May your Christmas be filled with many blessings and good times with family and friends!

Christmas Just Isn't Christmas Without...

...homemade chocolate chip cookies!!!

Here they are waiting to go into the oven...



Hosted on Fotki


And here's the finish product...



Hosted on Fotki


Now all I need is a TALL glass of COLD COLD COLD milk and I'll be set!!

Of course, with all this baking comes memories of my mom who passed away December 13, 1996. She instilled in me a love for baking homemade goodies from scratch, not just during the Christmas season, but all year long. Nothing says lovin' more than something homemade! Most of my holiday memories of my mom involve us baking TONS of cookies together. Every year, we would bake at least 2 double recipes of chocolate chip cookies, Oatmeal "Rocks" for my dad (so dry the only way you can stand to eat them is dunked in coffee!!), Coconut Oatmeal cookies for my brother (just past raw is the way he likes them best), and peanut butter cookies. Momma was always taking cookies to someone or some function during the Christmas season. They were always well received, too!

With the baking of the chocolate chippers came the never-ending argument of how long to bake them. Momma liked them semi-raw and I liked them well done, crunchy well done. We usually compromised and made half the batch her speed and half the batch my speed, but if I was doing the baking, more would be my speed and less her half-baked speed!!

So... the Christmas season is officially underway at my house!

What a Week!

I was doing okay until Wednesday when Trusty Steed died while I was out running errands. Nothing worse than having your vehicle die leaving you stranded!! I called my husband, who's at home recovering from back surgery and not driving yet, to let him know what was going on. He's also my mechanic. (He works cheap, too!) He comes to pick me up. Thankfully, I was only a mile or so away from home and he could drive slowly on the back roads just in case he needed to stop or something. Ends up it wasn't an easy fix, so we had it towed to a shop about 4 blocks from our home. We've never used this shop, but it was a great experience. They had me up and running the next day.

On Friday, I left work early to go to the doctor about my back. Went out to the truck and Trusty Steed was bleeding! There was a puddle of transmission fluid on the ground. Had it towed back to the shop and turns out to be a different problem! Some kind of seal on the back of the engine or something. Anyway, the man who owns the shop came in and told me he'd like to keep it for 20 years he likes it so much! (It's already 16 years old!!) I told him I'd give him visiting rights overnight! LOL Trusty Steed was good to go yesterday afternoon! We're on the road again!

I love my truck!! People ask me why I drive a 16 year old vehicle. I ask them why not?? It's PAID for is the big reason, but it's got a brand new engine in it, a rebuilt transmission (3 years old), a new AC system, and now a new fuel pump! When we have to do work on it, we're out maybe the equivalent of one car payment and insurance payment. If my husband is able to fix the problem, then we're not out the equivalent of one car payment. I'm never worried about it breaking down or quitting on me. It's actually a very reliable vehicle. And I'm thankful we don't have a car payment!

On top of the truck problems lasting from Wednesday to Saturday, my older cat, Callie was sick. She went to the vet on Tuesday. She's got an upper respiratory infection (a head cold) and is on medication. She's not 100% better, but she's getting there. Also on Tuesday, I went for a sonogram on my kidneys (to check for kidney stones) and to have x-rays on my lower back. I've been having some serious back pains and the doctor was thinking I had a kidney stone. My kidneys are FINE, but I have arthritis in my back. I need to make an appointment with the doctor to discuss the "options", but I think I'll continue seeing my chiropractor. I was going to see him on Friday when Trusty Steed started bleeding...

I'm hoping this week will give me more stitching time! I put up my Christmas tree yesterday. Hope to get it all decorated this week. Look for a picture soon!!