Tuesday, December 20, 2011

A Little Bit of This and A Little Bit of That

Once again, I want to thank everyone who takes the time to read my neglected blog and leave a comment. It means so much to me!
Nothing here today will even come close to all of the beautiful Christmas stitching I've seen on other blogs. I'm not a picture fancier upper either - yet. Something to practice in the coming year.

A few Christmas finishes - Ignore the shadow. :)


This second tiny little thing is a very unfinished ornament


A couple of non Christmas finishes -



This is a piece I stitched for my mother so long ago, I can't even remember - so long ago, it was done on aida cloth. Bad daughter I am, my aunt had it framed for her recently.


It's funny, in reading other blogs, to see that cats everywhere seem to get up to the same mischief regarding Christmas trees. Here is Hobbs waiting her chance to chew/eat the tree.


A pretty poor picture of our tree, already partially un-decorated by the cats, and to complete the look, my basket of knitting and various cords. Believe it or not, this picture was taken in a dark room.


And finally, this little fellow is headed to Australia. After almost having an emotional breakdown in the post office, I wish I was going with him.


I haven't been feeling well lately, and I'm a little behind in my reading and commenting on blogs - trying to catch up.
Wishing everyone a happy holiday season! :)

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Oh No!!

I knew I should have been cleaning, stitching, etc.....but instead, while I ate my lunch, I found this at the Country Sampler and then I found this at Little House Needleworks Blog. Maybe for the new year??? :)

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

I'm In Love

I wonder if the moon is currently blue since I only seem to post once in a blue moon. When I first started out, I really couldn't imagine that anyone would ever visit my blog, and comments were things I could only hope to get. So it's simply amazing to me every time I receive a comment or get a new follower. I LOVE getting comments, who doesn't, and I want to thank everyone so much for all of your kindness, it really makes my day! :)

I'm in love with punchneedle!!!! This is my first try (maybe I should have chosen something simpler for my first time???). It's certainly not perfect, but it was a learning experience and I know things I would do differently next time. One thing I need to do is outline things better, especially where one dark section meets another. Actually the outlining looks better than this picture shows. Punchneedle seems to be rather forgiving to novices. :) Still, I think I'm going to need lots and lots and lots of practice. :D


The First Thanksgiving ~ With thy Needle & Thread


I managed to spend a little time with my first love when I was able to put my newest addiction down. I'm not usually a lover of alphabets, but something about this one appealed to me. The thread color is Waterlilies Kelp by Caron and in real life it is so pretty. I'm really hoping that stubborn crease disappears. Sometimes I wonder how long some of the fabric I buy has been laying around.


Simple Harvest ~ With Needle & Thread by Blackbird Designs


and this was a complimentary chart from Plum Pudding Needleart (Blessed Be) that I changed a little



Leaving you with two of my four cat loves--
It would probably put some people off (including my son) :) but Hobbs, aka the firecracker, frequently graces us with her presence at the dinner table. Reminds me of one of my favorite (tear jerker) movies, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. I love Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy together.



Here is Poopsie aka Little Miss Nasty, You Creep, etc., etc. :D seeking some warmth from the sun since someone who shall remain nameless went to bed without setting the heat to come back on ~ must have been in shock from actually reaching 73 degrees yesterday!



After reaching the end of this post, I have a headache from trying to upload these pictures. Might be one of the reasons I don't post more frequently. :)

Until next time, take care!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

F is for....

F is for flirting, flirting with a finish. I don't know why I always underestimate how long it will take me to finish something. I'm not the fastest stitcher to begin with and I seem to be easily distracted. I won't name the sampler I'm talking about, it's just the one I seem to have been working on forever. No more pictures of it until it is done. I won't work on it exclusively, because I need to feel the accomplishment of finishing something every once in awhile. No worries though, I'm still in love with it and will finish it.
F is for fire, the fingertips on my right(stitching)hand felt like they were on fire after stupidly grabbing a hot iron. Not a lot of anything got done for a few days after that.
F is for fifty, turning fifty a week ago. I always have trouble moving into a new decade. :)


I knew it probably meant being eligible for some new medical test, and I was right. How about a virtual colonoscopy, I will have to think that one over for awhile.
F is for finish, although not the one I had hoped for, a finish is a finish.


Give Thanks Sampler by With thy Needle & Thread
F is for feisty, that is Hobbs. I love this little cat more than I can tell you. She came to live with me four years ago. My daughter was working on a horse farm at the time, and found her in the field, a field full of horses. I was supposed to watch her over the weekend while my daughter went away, my birthday weekend. :) She was so tiny, she fit in the palm of my hand. I bottle fed her and wiped her little behind and after the weekend was over I knew she wasn't leaving. Actually, as soon as I opened the carrier door and she wobbled out, I knew she wasn't leaving. It was love at first sight. She can be very affectionate at times, but for the most part she is pretty feisty. She will still hiss and spit at you if you try to thwart some endeavor of hers. There isn't much thwarting going on though, she is spoiled and gets away with absolutely everything. Lately, she has been laying on the love seat beside me at night while I stitch. She seems to be content with the closeness without all of the lovey dovey stuff. :)


My husband thinks she is getting mellow with age, I certainly hope not because her feistiness is one of the things I love most about her.
Finally, F is for Fuzzypants. Angel Fuzzypants so nicknamed because she looked as if she was wearing a pair of fuzzy pants. She was a loner for many years, content to stay in the basement. About three or four years ago, she decided that she was going to be more sociable. She was suddenly a sweet and lovable cat without many of the vices common to most cats. She died a few weeks ago, after being part of our family for nineteen years. I sobbed my eyes out for days, and I still miss her companionship.


Don't worry, I promise that this won't become a blog about my cats. :)
I really want to thank everyone again for all of the kind words and encouragement about my husband's pending job loss. We are figuring things out and making plans. We will survive it just like many other people have, and good things may actually come out of all of this.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Been Awhile

I really don't know where to start, except to say my heart really hasn't been in stitching, reading, or much else. There is a very good possibility that my husband will be losing his job of 25 years somewhere around the new year. Just trying to come to terms with all that this means has been mind-boggling. When I look at something I have stitched, I can remember what was going on in my life at the time. What I was watching, reading, etc. I have enjoyed On Diligence very much and while I have made some minimal progress, I just don't want to look at it later and remember this mess.




I'm waiting for the day I can just put one big picture up and be done with it. In the meantime, I finished Come Buy My Sweet Flowers by Heartstring Samplery. I really love all of her designs.


Feelings are starting to settle down a little and I hope to be finished with On Diligence by my next post. My son told me I began this blog as a way to keep on track with my stitching and that I'm looking for loopholes now. HA HA I guess a little humor is needed :)))

Leaving you with a couple of cat pictures of Lola during catnip and after catnip




I have had a hard time uploading pictures this time, so I apologize for the different sizes. Hope I haven't been a downer. I really appreciate everyone who takes the time to read my blog and leave a comment, it means a lot to me.

Friday, September 9, 2011

Friday Stuff

It has been a bit longer than I thought. I now know that however beautiful I find the Pacific Northwest, I NEED the sun! Between all the rain and a migraine, I just want to hibernate.


This pose pretty much sums up how the cats and I have spent the week.
I have made a little, emphasis on little, progress on Diligence


I do keep getting sidetracked by stitching smaller things


This is the Fanny Cravett Sampler by HandWork. I'm not crazy about the linen I chose. In real life the linen looks browner. Oh well. I'm still enjoying On Diligence, so I just need to focus on that and get it done. I may be feeling a little overwhelmed by the border for some reason. If I want to do any stitching for Christmas, I need to start NOW. My mother and sister are so difficult to buy for. I thought I would stitch this for my mother


and this for my sister, whose name is Robin


I would also like to do some Christmas knitting, but I probably should have started last Christmas as slow as I knit.
I'm really glad I finally spent the money for this


Such pretty samplers, and I love reading the history.
My parents live in the country, and you never know what you're going to run into. Maybe literally.


These were some very friendly goats that somehow ended up on the wrong side of their fence. I guess I need to start carrying some kibble in the car. I just hope they weren't on their way to my parents' field, that's never fun trying to sort their animals from the visitors.
That's it for now, time to go be focused :)

Friday, August 26, 2011

Quick Post & Hurricane Preparation

I can't believe an earthquake and a hurricane in the same week. We have always been pretty lucky here in Delaware. Most of the bad weather usually misses us, so I guess we are overdue.

I haven't gotten much stitching done this week. My son started back to classes, and with the exception of one class, they are all morning classes. That is a tough adjustment for two night owls! I stitch a little, read a little, and nap a lot. I have done a little more on Mary Rayner and On Diligence, but not enough to show. Unfortunately, I have started two more things.

Beatrix Potter Quaker:


and The Raven by La-D-Da:


Also had a small finish:

Carolina by The Goode Huswife

I purchased the New Castle Sampler at Two Morrow's Stitches That Count in Old New Castle. I'm tempted to start it now. While I was in the store, I saw a piece that won 1st place in the Delaware State Fair. I was so in awe of it that I can't remember the name of the piece. It was done on 52ct silk gauze. I think there should have been a special prize for it!!

It seems a certainty that we will lose our electricity at some point, so I have a lot of things that I need to do today when I would rather be stitching. I also need to make sure my parents are ready for our little blow. They have outdoor animals to take care of, and they aren't quite ready to admit they have limitations at their age. I worry that my mother, who is prone to falling, will fall. Most of the time she is fine afterwards, but a couple of years ago while feeding the horses, she fell and broke her hip. I don't want any of us to go through that again.

I took this picture last week when we went to the beach. It looked kind of cute in person, but somehow the picture looks a litte creepy.


They looked like twins, and it seemed kind of sweet that they were walking together, leaning on each other.

Stay safe everyone who is in the path of this hurricane.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Stitching and a Visit to Old New Castle

First of all, I want to thank everyone again for all of your lovely comments. I've been made to feel very welcome. My husband has been on vacation the last two weeks and I feel like I'm having stitching/reading withdrawal. I find myself getting up way too early to try and squeeze in a little bit of both. By the time we get home from whatever we've done that day, I can't keep my eyes open long enough to do anything. My husband kind of vacations in a strange way~he takes Monday-Friday off but works on the weekends. Unfortunately, most of my weekend has consisted of catching up on the laundry and cleaning. It's amazing how turned upside down this house can get with three supposed adults living in it. The cats contribute their fair share to the mess also. Still I have been determined and managed to finish a couple of things

The Adam and Eve Sampler by The Goode Huswife

I'm afraid the Algerian Eye stitches may not be the best, and I cheated and omitted the row of Queen stitch. Still I'm happy with it~it's the first of what I hope will be many Adam & Eve samplers.

Be True by Little House Needleworks

I've also been trying to work on Mary Rayner by Threads Through Time a little bit. I had done part of the border and the flower in the upper left, back in the spring. The rest I've been able to squeeze in little by little over these two weeks.


I've not done well with my reading. I finished Secrets of Eden by Chris Bohjalian. Maybe it's because everything has felt so chaotic during this vacation, but I really didn't enjoy it and the ending was predictable. Siobhan, you were right, I am enjoying The Heretic's Daughter. I find I don't want to put it down.

I love to go to Old New Castle and look at all of the old houses and beautiful gardens. I'm trying to get used to this camera so the pictures really aren't that great. This garden and little house have always been one of my favorites.




Even when I'm out I can't shake cats. This one was VERY friendly.


I always seem to pick the hottest day to visit and I kind of wished this place was still open~something cold to drink sounded very appealing.


I get so caught up in looking at everything, that I invariably trip over something like this


Well, I think my alone time is coming to an end for now. Thanks again for visiting!

P.S. Thank-you to my son~I don't know if I would have been able to figure this html stuff out without his help.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

On Diligence

I'm hoping that this blog will help me be more diligent in finishing things. Sometimes I'm good at settling down and finishing one thing before starting another and sometimes (actually more often than not) I'm no good at settling down at all. As proof of this... I'm still working on Rainbow Row, which seems to be going about as slow as building an actual house. Another large piece I'm working on is On Diligence.



This is my progress so far






The Porcupine has reproduced this sampler, as well as, 'a few' others (Mary Slatter, Jane Ballard, and Hannah Lancaster) that are on my long list of samplers I would love to stitch.


I found them at Silent Stitches. I'm always hesitant to order from someone I've never ordered from before and was pleasantly surprised at their quick service. Since I'm not the fastest stitcher in the world, I have to have something smaller that I'm working on at the same time so I feel like I'm accomplishing something. This is The Rising Harvest Sampler by Pineberry Lane


I really like their designs. When I need a break from stitching, I love to read. These were recommended to me by a friend, and although they don't sound like the type of books I usually read, I think I'm going to enjoy them.


Finally, a picture of my petunias. Despite the heat and the worms, they seem to be doing pretty good. They're my kind of flower, the kind that don't require a lot of fuss.


Time to get off of this time stealer and hopefully squeeze in some stitching before everyone expects dinner.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Rainbow Row

One of the places in this country that I would love to visit is Charleston, South Carolina. While looking at the June 17th newsletter from Attic Needlework, I discovered Barbara & Cheryl. So, until I can actually get to Charleston, I can stitch it. I've started Rainbow Row.


Houses are one of my favorite things to stitch, so when I saw all of these colorful houses in a row I couldn't resist. The colors are a little different from what I'm used to, but I'm really enjoying working on this. Here is a picture of my very small start.


This is a picture of Lola, one of my five cats. I usually have plenty of help from at least one of them no matter what I am doing.