Cooler Temps, Rain, and Flowers...in August!

In July, we had a string of 100º+ temps. I think the hottest of those days was 107º. Yikes! Not a drop of rain in over 2 months, so everything has been toasted. We had to turn on our sprinkler system to keep the yard from buring up and water the plants twice a day. Things weren't looking so good for the flowers, but thankfully, we've received a reprieve from the ultra hot temps. We've gotten up close to 100º a couple of days lately, but not exceeded that. The plants are soooooo thankful! A couple of days ago, we got about 1.5" of rain. What a wonderful thing this time of the year. We're expecting rain for the next several days as well. I'll take all we can get!

Here are some things currently blooming in the garden:

Mexican Hydrangea (aka Cashmere Plant)~This thing just keeps blooming and blooming! I'd love to actually plant it in the ground, but it's too invasive.



Texas (or Hummingbird) Sage~I started these from seed earlier this spring. I've waited and waited and waited for them to do something! Finally, they started blooming this week!! I absolutely LOVE the bright pink color. Will definitely have to get more seeds and plant them elsewhere in my beds. I also have one that's a very, very pale pink. Don't have pics of it, though.



The Mexican Petunias are taking over the daylily bed. That's okay since the daylilies are finished blooming for the year. I really like these, but they're also very invasive. They do well in this spot, though, since they can't go too far.



My French Hollyhocks are doing well. I moved this one from a different spot in the flower bed and it's really taken off. Started blooming in the heat of July, too! Love it when this thing is covered in clusters of flowers.



Finally, I've been waiting since last summer for this Blackberry Lily to start blooming. I was beginning to think it never would, but noticed flower stalks on it a couple of weeks ago. Here's one of the first flowers to bloom. They are much tinier than I had expected, but pretty nonetheless.



The Esperanza has really been putting on a show all summer. I so love this plant and am excited each spring when it comes back.



Can't wait until the cooler temps of fall set in and we get a second flush of blooms on most the plants that stop producing during the heat of the summer.

Progress Report

Last October, before Mark's fall from the ladder in the front yard and then my own back problems, I'd started LHN's City Stitcher, Country Stitcher. It's been 4 months since I've stitched on it!!! I picked it up a couple of weeks ago and have been working on it.

Here's what it looked like before this rotation:



And here's what I accomplished during this rotation:



I really have enjoyed this piece. LHN's are such peaceful stitching projects.

Latest Finish

Donna has received her exchange piece!! For the Unfinished Complimentary Exchange, I chose "Stitching Buds are the Best" by My Big Toe Designs. I used Crescent Colours fibers and stitched it on 32 ct. linen. It was a really great stitch!



Blogger wasn't letting me upload my pic, so sorry this post has taken a few weeks to get on my blog.

I'm Still Here!

I know you all thought I'd fallen off the face of the earth, but I haven't. I have, however, been nursing a very achy back...STILL! I've discovered that spinal decompression treatments paired with weekly therapeutic massage help tremendously with the muscle tension and pain I've been experiencing. I think the massage helps more than the DTS treatment, but after about 2 weeks without a DTS treatment, I really feel it. My chiropractor has also given me some stretching exercises to do and those have helped tremendously as well. After dealing with these herniated disks since November, 2007, I finally feel like I'm on the road to recovery!

Because of the pain in my back, I was unable to sit, stand, or lie down for any length of time. Needless to say, my stitching time went wayyyy down. In the past 2 months, though, I've been able to sit longer so I have been stitching again. Good thing, since I had 3 exchange pieces to do!! Here are the recent finishes I can share. I have one more that hasn't reached its destination yet, so that one's still under wraps for now.

First up is Stars & Stripes Egg by Bent Creek. This is an older chart that I think is now out of print. I stitched it for Robin in the 4th of July exchange on the Only One Ewe Yuku board. It's stitched on 32 ct. Vintage Country Mocha fabric using Crescent Colours fibers. This was such a perfect choice for her since she loves anything patriotic, Bent Creek designs, and overdyed fibers!



Next up, another patriotic piece. This is Little House Needleworks' "Summer House", an older complimentary design. I stitched this on 32 ct. Dark Cappuccino linen from R&R using Crescent Colours threads for Kathy, a LHN fanatic! She also has a summer home in Michigan, so it was a perfect piece for her.



My next piece was for the Complimentary Design exchange, so be watching this spot for an update!

After the Rain

As Sunday approached, I was excited to see exactly what was in store for us as we gathered to worship at the site of the tent. Due to work and back issues, neither my husband nor I had been able to get to church to help with the clean up effort. We had no idea what to expect. We drove up to find that the awning at the entrance to the tent, the front doors, and the back doors were the only things left standing. And, amazingly, the shavings hadn't been disturbed!!

Here we are socializing waiting for the service to begin.



Praise & worship time





Pastor Dan doing what he does best....preaching!



It's really hard to put into words how awesome it was to sit out in the open air, under the vast blue sky, seeing the beauty around us that God had created while praising and worshiping God, the Creator. I heard from Dan that more people commented on how they enjoyed being able to see the view while worshiping and listening to the sermon. It was great!

While this storm was a tragic blow to our church, it's going to be so exciting to see where God takes us from here.

And the Rains Came Down...

In the early morning hours of Thursday, April 10, 2008 a fierce line of thunderstorms moved through our area, bringing with it several tornadoes. One of these tornadoes touched down near my church which had been meeting in a large tent since last July. This was the second time the tent came down, but this time, the tent suffered irreparable damage. Not much survived, but thankfully, no one was hurt and the church banded together to clean up the mess. We had the BEST service this morning meeting under God's heavens, praising and worshiping Him. It's awesome to see God's people pull together in times of adversity and persevere to the finish line. We know that God has wonderful things planned for our church if we remain faithful to Him.

Here are a few pics that were emailed to me of the damage.

From the parking lot, looking toward the front door. (The front door is located at the end of that awning.)


Look at this mess! People were at the church all day Thursday, Friday, and Saturday cleaning up, looking for anything that could be salvaged.



Soggy bible



We met in this same spot this morning, minus the fallen wall and soggy chairs. The shavings managed to stay in place during the storm, too!



It's going to be exciting to see what God has for us next! I can't wait!!

Meet My Friend, Sammy!

Isn't he a cutie?!? I thoroughly enjoyed stitching this delightful design from Stitchy Kitty. He's stitched on a piece of blue 32 ct. linen from Silkweaver (one of their mystery colors) using all Crescent Colours fibers except for the scarf color, which is WDW's Confetti. That part got a bit boring, but I really did enjoy my time with Sammy.

BTW, the chart is a complimentary design when you join the Stitchy Kitty newsletter/Yahoo group.

Basking in the Sun

I love this design! I've wanted to stitch this design for quite some time, but it kept getting pushed to the back of my stitching to-do tote. I finally dug it out a couple of weeks ago and got it stitched. The design is by Brittercup Designs and it was a Charlotte Market exclusive kit in 2005. I decided to stitch it on 32 count Summer Sky linen from Silkweaver because the fabric was way too perfect for it. I used the Crescent Colours fibers included in the kit.

It's really an appropriate design for me since I've got 2 kitties who enjoy basking in the sun. A fun, fun stitch!

This Cat...

...is sick! This is my precious Hannah Grace. She's been sneezing off and on for the past several weeks. Since we were taking Callie to the vet last Friday for her annual check up, I called and asked if Hannah could tag along and be checked out. She loves going to the vet and checking out all the cabinets and instruments laying on the counter! (Not sure the vet & staff like it, though! LOL) She wasn't running a fever, but he did a PCR test to see if she tested positive for Feline Herpes Virus like we've suspected ever since we brought her home from animal control. Since we already give her L-Lysine daily, he gave her an antibiotic shot and sent her home with antibiotic pill treats.

All was well until Monday when she woke up congested and snotty. Ugh! We've been there, done that before, but it's still no fun when one of your babies gets sick. She has one more day's worth of antibiotics, but I have a sneaky suspicion that she'll be going back to the vet before it's all said and done. I miss my little "helper" and curious kitty who likes to play in the kitchen while I'm cooking kitty. I miss her little chirp and her meows. I miss her curling up on my chest while I'm on the computer. I miss her tormenting her sister, Callie. I miss her little perky self.

I'll be so glad when this crud is gone!

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!