Brenda Lou's Place

Keep forgetting.....

2010-06-07T14:30:00.004-05:00

to update this thing!!!

Here's the latest on Circle of Friends. I haven't stitched on it in a couple of weeks. Need to get this one back in the rotation.

Circle of Friends by Mirabilia

And here's a finish!!!! Three more letters to go!!! YEAH!!!!

W is for Welcome by Prairie Schooler
Started on 5/10/10, finished on 6/5/10
Stitched on 28 ct evenweave fiddlers cloth

W is for Welcome

2010-05-18T12:09:00.005-05:00

We had a rainy, crappy weekend!! And as rainy and crappy as it was, I didn't get anywhere near the amount of stitching done as I thought I would.

I did see Tyler Perry's "The Family That Preys". As much as I like his movies, this one left me wanting more. It was choppy and the characters didn't seem as developed as they should've been. I was almost bored with this movie.

Took yesterday off to bring my mom to the orthopedic doctor to get her MRI results on her knee. She's going to need a knee arthroscopy. So, we've scheduled that for June 1st. Her doctor said this treatment works on about 80% of the patients. I'm hoping mom's in that number!!! She's not a spring chicken anymore so I'm kinda worried about her recovery time, but she's a strong and stubborn woman. So, I'm sure that will help her!!

Could not help myself!!!!

2010-05-11T12:23:00.005-05:00

I started off with great intentions when I decided to start working on my UFO/WIP projects, but I fell off the wagon barely 3 weeks into it :( I worked on The Phoenix for a couple of days and BoINK maybe once and I was done! I felt "startitis" rearing its head. And y'all know once that happens, there's no ignoring the voice. So, I started W is for Welcome by Prairie Schooler. I've only got 4 letters to go to finish the alphabet! That was all the push I needed to start W!! So, here's where I left off Sunday.

Has anyone seen the musical "Nine" with Daniel Day-Lewis, Kate Hudson and a slew of other actresses?? I was just amazed at the pipes these women had! And who knew that Judi Dench could sing?? It was a fantastic, ensemble cast and an enjoyable movie.

I read like a mad dog last week. I read Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. Now this was one crazy read! What an imagination!! If you like ghosts/paranormal type reads, you may want to read this. I also read Blinding Mirror by Shelley Halima. Very fast paced! Some parts were highly disturbing, but what I enjoyed most was how much I detested one of the main characters!! I don't think I'd ever say that, but Shelley wrote it very well. She needs to hurry so I can delve into the sequel. Now I'm reading Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult. I'm thoroughly enjoying this one, but how can I not?? It's Jodi Picoult after all!!!

Progress!!!!

2010-05-03T09:57:00.003-05:00

This has been one of my stitchiest weekends by far!!! I basically did nothing but stitch and watch movies for 2 days. Loved it!!!

I saw The Lovely Bones....very sad and poignant movie. I didn't read the book (could NOT get into it!!). I think I got through maybe 3 chapters and put it away. So I don't know how closely the movie followed. The ending sort of had me confused though. I saw I Could Never Be Your Woman with Michelle Pfieffer and Paul Rudd (who I adore!!!). It was directed by the same lady that made Clueless (which I LOVE!!!). The movie was very silly and had some laugh out loud parts, but I couldn't help but finish watching it....LOL Then I got sucked into The Pacific, the mini-series on HBO. Wow!!! What an intense, beautifully done show. I'm not a big war type movie watching gal so I was very surprised how much I enjoyed it. I got through the first 6 parts and stayed up late Saturday and Sunday to watch it.

Here's the latest on Circle of Friends. I'm really enjoying this one!!!

Circle of Friends by Mirabilia

And here's the 6th part of the 7 Chakras. One more to go!!!!

7 Chakras

This week I plan on working on The Phoenix. It's so close to being done. Let's see how far I get this week on it.

Present to me!!!!

2010-04-29T17:02:00.004-05:00

Isn't it just purty???? I LOVE it!!!! And I've got it hanging now. I left work for a few minutes today to go pick it up.....couldn't wait till I got off to pick it up!! I think my framer at Acadian Corner did a fantabulous job!! Michelle always does though :)

Circle of Friends....

2010-04-26T18:25:00.004-05:00

Really think this one's finally looking like something...like a dress!!!! LOL Being put on the side till next weekend.

What shall I stitch on this week????

Quiltmaker update....

2010-04-26T10:55:00.003-05:00

I was a good girl and worked on the Quiltmaker UFO/WIP all last week. Once I started stitching on it, I didn't want to stop....LOL I think I made great progress. You can see the last update of her here.

Baby stashing.....

2010-04-19T13:09:00.003-05:00

I went to my LNS Saturday afternoon to get "Whatever" framed. I cannot wait to see it framed!! It's going to look soooo cute!!! While she was figuring out what my totals were, I wandered around and this chart happened to catch my eye and just had to buy it...Mississippi Riverboat. Don't know when I'll get around to actually stitching it though.

I was a good girl and stitched some on Circle of Friends. I don't think I stitched the 20x20 section, but I was itching to get to Quiltmaker. What I think I'm going to try to do is dedicate a week to each of my UFOs (do we still call them UFOs when they're getting worked on??) and see how far I get before I HAVE to start something new or go crazy....whichever comes first!!!

Whatever...........

2010-04-16T21:31:00.003-05:00

So, when gathering up my UFOs to show to y'all yesterday, I ran across this cute freebie. For those of you that know me KNOW that it's totally me! I couldn't resist stitching it up! This one will be getting framed ASAP and I'm putting it on top of my hutch at work. It'll come in handy on those days when people start aggravating the crap out of me. I'm sure it'll be flashed OFTEN!!!!

Whatever by Lizzie Kate
Stitched on 32 ct Natural Belfast Linen
Started on 4/15/10, finished on 4/16/10

UFOs

2010-04-15T17:35:00.006-05:00

So, TDee "motivated" us in her group to show our UFOs and actually (maybe!) work on them!! Ha! Well, here are mine....

Yin Yang by Cross-Stitch Art

Quiltmaker by Lavender & Lace

The Phoenix by Landmark Tapestries

This is an MSAL by Book of Ink Circles

Angel of Summer by Lavender & Lace

7 Chakras by Cross-Stitch Art

I do hope to make some kind of headway on these by year's end. I don't think it's my fault that I have startitis and no finishitis!!!!

Quilting........

2010-04-14T19:50:00.008-05:00

is DONE!!!!!! Forgive the picture....again...too lazy to do it in proper lighting. Sue me...I'm wayyyyy lazy!!!! LOL

So, what should I work on next??? I suppose I should be a good girl and work on all the UFOs I've got circulating around me.....

Quilting by LHN
Stitched on 28 ct cream quaker linen
Started on 3/2/10, finished on 4/14/10

Nouveau flowers I.....

2010-04-13T13:19:00.002-05:00

Forgive the picture quality....took it with my BlackBerry. But I wanted to take a picture of it before I shipped it off and I forgot to do it when I was home. Box is all packed up and ready to go. Of course, I haven't made it to the post office yet! LOL It's been packed up for about a week.

I think my framer did an excellent job as always!! I'd love to get everything I stitched framed, but I haven't won the lottery yet....dammit!!!!!

New WIP & SAL

2010-04-12T10:55:00.007-05:00

My cross stitch group decided to start an SAL....not like I don't have enough projects going now! LOL We're doing Circle of Friends by Mirabilia. It's a sweet piece and just right for our group, since we're all such good friends :) We're doing 20x20 sections each week. So, I should be just about right for this week. I'm stitching it on 28 ct linen and the color is star sapphire. It's a very pale greenish/grayish/blue colored fabric. Of course, you can't tell in the picture below...LOL

I also did some gardening last week. I had well established rosebushes and hibuscus that I'd planted when I first moved into my house over two years ago. But the harsh winter we had did them in. Or so I thought. I just yanked everything out except for one rosebush. It wasn't till everything was pulled out and in the trash that my mom decides to mention that maybe I should've waited to see if they would've come back :( Anyways I bought more rosebushes and hibuscus. I find those the easiest to grow and take care of....just water and go! LOL

I did prune this one though. It was wild and out of control!!!

Cosmos...can't wait to see what these do!!!!

Hibuscus

I do need to buy one more rosebush and a couple more hibuscus to even the garden out. Other than that, my garden is done!!!!

Easter Weekend update....

2010-04-05T13:07:00.003-05:00

Well, I can honestly say that I didn't do not one thing Easter-ish this weekend. I honestly didn't do much of anything besides stitch and porch time! And it was wonderful!!

I did finish River Plantation. I loved the way it turned out!!! A friend pulled out her UFOs and got me thinking about mine (thanks, TDee....LOL). So, I pulled out Angel of Summer. Put one string in it and had enough....LOL!!! I will try to be a bit more conscientous of those poor, deprived souls and get some strings in them and see how far I get.

River Plantation by 2010 Cross Stitch Pattern a Day Calendar
Stitched on 28 ct jobelan
Started on 3/10/10, finished 4/4/10

So, then I pulled out Quilting by LHN. I love these projects! So fun and and they finish so fast!! Hopefully, this will be done by this week.

Quilting by LHN

I did do some movie watching yesterday. I saw Twilight: New Moon. I actually liked the first one much better. Bella's getting to that whiny stage that aggravated me throughout all the books. Reading about it and actually seeing it.....two totally different things! LOL But Jacob??? Wow!! He was just GORGEOUS!!! So, that made the movie worthwhile for me :) I also saw District 9. Ehhhh....did NOT like "interview style" of the movie at all!! I was sooo rooting for those aliens, too. Humans were just horrible to those poor things!!!

Weekend update.....

2010-03-29T17:50:00.004-05:00

Sometimes being a woman sucks major ass!!!!! I've been having pretty bad cramps the past couple of months right around that lovely time of the month. Well, week before last it left me doubled over in pain. So, I go to the "lady doctor" last Thursday. She does her exam and says, "Well, I don't feel anything". I'm thinking, "Of course, YOU don't!" So, she tells me that I need to get a transvaginal ultrasound to get a "better picture". Yay!!! Sigh....

I was able to my results the next day by my doctor's nurse. The doctor, of course, is off on Fridays (nice, right???) And those results.....2 cysts on my left ovary about 2 cm big. I sort of immediately freak out. So, I ask the nurse what my options are. She advises me that I can either get on the pill (NOT!!!) or they can be surgically removed. Not really happy with either of those choices so I tell the nurse to have the doctor call me Monday, which would be today.

I tried not to have that crap weigh me down too much this weekend. Which I've got to tell you is kinda hard because the "C" word flashes through my head with regularity especially when I was in major pain most of yesterday. I did, on the other hand, manage to get lots of stitching done as you can see below....

I also saw "Men Who Stare at Goats" with George Clooney. What an oddball film that had me rolling!!! Those of you that know me know that I LOVE GC. He can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned. And this movie showed how truly versatile he is!!! See this film, peeps! Promise you won't regret it. I'm also way in love with The Tudors! What a despicable, decadent, sexy fun show to watch. I've got 2 more seasons to catch up to this season. Any of y'all fans?

My doctor does call me bright and early this morning. She tells me that I've got simple cysts that are very common and nothing to be too concerned about. They form and for the most part go away on their own. So, she told me to call later in the week to let her know how I'm feeling. And if I'm still in pain, we'll go from there. In the meantime, I just get to suffer, I guess :( I've been using those Thermacare heat patches faithfully for the past couple of days. And they do help, but then you get those sucker punches and you're like, "Good God Almighty!!" I just hope that these two intruders disappear quickly!!

Update........

2010-03-22T12:37:00.003-05:00

Forgive the horrendous picture, but I wasn't in the mood to retake it! LOL There is no pink in the khaki fabric. I'm so glad to have the house finished. And I think those trees look pretty cute even though I had to frog each one twice! Why does that happen on the most simplest of designs????

I had a pretty lazy weekend. I mostly just watched movies and stitched. I saw 2012. Ehhh...wasn't too impressed. I still think Day After Tomorrow rules for disaster movies. I also saw Love Happens with Aaron Eckhart and Jennifer Aniston. I really like both actors, but there didn't seem to be much chemistry between them. I did like the story line though. What good movies have y'all seen lately that you might want to recommend? I'm always on the lookout for new movies to add to my Netflix queue.

River Plantation....

2010-03-17T16:57:00.005-05:00

When I started this project, I didn't think of all the WHITE in the damn house!! LOL Well, the white is done and now onto the cream...sigh.... Having said that, I have to admit that I am enjoying stitching it!

Monday night we FINALLY closed in the refinance. This has only been a 10 month ordeal. Between Countrywide selling my loan to Bank of America, BoA tossed my file to 3 different loan processors within a 6 month period. Really?!?!?!?! To say that I was beyond pissed is putting it very mildly!! But it's done and over with and I don't have to make a payment till May!! And I was told to not pay March. So, I plan on paying off at least 3 credit cards between now and then. Time to get out from under that choke hold!!!

I did make it to to my LNS on Saturday. I brought in the project below to get matted and framed. Mom wanted it for a birthday present for a dear friend of hers. So, while there I was perusing their sale items and bought Piecekeepers I. And the only other thing I bought was 3 skeins of DMC thread. Not bad, right???

Another one.....

2010-03-11T09:18:00.005-06:00

So, this was yesterday's pattern of the day. Bad picture, I know, but you get the gist. It's called River Plantation and I couldn't resist starting it yesterday. Yes, I've got about 20 WIP coming out of the yin yang, but I had a moment of weakness. So, sue me :)

Here's what I've got done so far from yesterday. I was hoping to stitch it on a blue/gray colored fabric, but I didn't have any. So, I chose this khaki color instead. What do y'all think??

Quilting.....

2010-03-10T10:26:00.003-06:00

So, today's Wednesday and it seems like the week's never going to end!!! Do not like weeks like this.

I've started Quilting by LHN. I'm sooo loving these patterns. Again I don't have the CC threads that came with the kit. So, the colors don't actually match, but I think they're OK. Not fond of that yellow in the middle of the quilt, but I'm so not frogging all of that! LOL

Spring is in the air......

2010-03-03T11:04:00.003-06:00

I am soooooooooooo over this damn winter! I know we southerners don't get anywhere as bad as you northern birds, but this has been a very cold winter for us. But I do believe that spring is finally upon us! It's actually supposed to get up in the 70s this weekend. I cannot wait!!!! Not getting here fast enough as far as I'm concerned.

As you see, I finished V is for Vineyard....finished it last night. I can see the light at the end of this alphabetic tunnel!!! LOL

I started Quilting by LHN. I don't have the Crescent Colour Threads that go with it, but a friend gave me great estimations. I'm sure this will be a quick stitch. Then onto W is for Welcome.

V is for Vineyard by Prairie Schooler
Stitched on 28 ct evenweave fiddlers cloth
Started on 1/31/10....finished on 3/2/10

V is for Vineyard....

2010-02-21T13:59:00.005-06:00

Here's my latest WIP...of course, the pic's about a week old...LOL. I just can't get seem to update this damn blog on a timely basis!!! I also want to get in the groove of reading your blogs on a regular basis like I was doing. I'm gonna try my damndest to do just that :) I want you to know that I read all your comments and I appreciate every single one of them!!

V is for Vineyard by Prairie Schooler
Stitched on 28 ct eveneweave
Started on 1/30/10

3rd finish of the year

2010-01-30T19:49:00.004-06:00

Managed to finish one more for the month of January. I loved stitching this one....so easy...almost like it was stitching itself.

I'm hoping to start V tomorrow while watching season 5 of Weeds. I LOVE this show...so whacky and wonderfully written!!

Gentleness by Little House Needleworks

Stitched on 28 ct hand dyed jobelan clay

Stitched with Crescent Color Floss

Started on 1/20/10, finished on 1/30/10

Stash shopping and 2nd finish.....

2010-01-25T18:27:00.007-06:00

I went on vacation to Arizona last week to see one of my BFFs. Although the trip wasn't nearly long enough, we had a great time!! She was able to take Wednesday off and we had a girly day. We were able to her LNS, Needlers Nest, and I walked out with these patterns/kits. The kits were 15% off, too. I think all of these fit me to a "T". After that we hit her favorite place, The Olive Garden, which was delish. I can gorge myself on the salad and breadsticks and never get sick of it!! LOL

Gentle Heart

2007 Collector's Heart

Sunburst

Tiffany Poppies

I had every intention of finishing "U" while I was out there, but I didn't bring any 3371 with me and it just happened that TDee didn't have any either. So, I finished it earlier this week.

I would've finished it Sunday, but I couldn't while watching the Saints/Vikings game. That game was so damn intense. No way in hell that I was able to stitch!!! It was a nail biter and I can't tell you how thrilled I am that the boys pulled it off! We are going to make our first Super Bowl appearance EVER!!!! This city was on fire after winning the NFC Championship Sunday night. People were hooting and hollering in the street, fireworks going off and "Who Dat?" chants everywhere. It was just amazing!! This city is totally pumped and we can hardly wait for February 7th!!!

First finish for 2010

2010-01-17T19:38:00.002-06:00

My first finish for 2010! And barely 3 weeks in! LOL

A friend of mine sent me this LHN pattern, but no Crescent Colours thread because, of course, she had used them. So, I had a friend of mine help me with substituting DMC for the CC threads. It's not as bright as the original colors are, but I think it came out pretty good. There was a bit of frogging to do because the color we originally picked was all wrong for the hair and arms. So, a substitution was made and there you have it.

Gardening by Little House Needleworks
Stitched on 28 ct off white linen with DMC thread
Started on 1/10/10, finished on 1/17/10.

I've been officially on vacation since yesterday, Saturday, and I'm leaving tomorrow to fly to AZ to visit with her. Hopefully, I'll come back with another finish :) I've packed U is for Unlocked and another LHN project to work on during the week.

I'll be coming home just in time to see the Saints kick some Viking ass! Watching the game last night was sooooooooo much fun. To see the Saints so pumped and playing so damn well does a heart good. After the game, my neighbors were shooting fireworks to celebrate the win. One more game and we'll be Super Bowl bound! Miami better roll out the red carpet for my boys :)

First 2010 update!!!!

2010-01-09T16:27:00.006-06:00

Happy 2010, folks!!!! I hope y'all have a happy and healthy upcoming year!!! Did anyone make any resolutions?? I don't make any cuz I never stick to them! LOL

Here's the latest on U is for Unlocked.

I haven't stitched in over a week because I decided to crochet a blanket. It's navy blue and done in all double crochet. And that's cuz I don't remember any of the other stitches!! I had to go to youtube to remind me how to do a damn slipknot! LOL I'll take a picture of it when it's further along.

Up to "U"!!!

2009-12-23T09:12:00.003-06:00

I'm so excited!!! I see a bright light at the end of this alphabet tunnel!! Only 5 more to go!!!

U is for Unlocked by Prairie Schooler

I went a stashing!!!!!

2009-12-12T11:05:00.005-06:00

One of my BFF's sent me a gift certificate for my BD and Christmas for 123 Stitch and I went a shoppping!!!

I got
Gentleness
Goodwill
Faith
Nutcracker

Thank you so much, honey!! I can't wait to start stitching these wonderful patterns!!!!

5th Chakra is done!!!

2009-12-01T19:42:00.004-06:00

Here's the 5th Chakra finished. Only 2 to go.....wooohooooooooo!!!!!

Peace Sampler

2009-11-21T17:50:00.004-06:00

Only the Blessings Sampler left to go!!!!

by Imaginating, Inc. Stitched on

32 ct hand dyed linen. Started

on 8/15/09, finished 11/21/09.

Sunflower Inn, this and that

2009-11-12T19:42:00.009-06:00

Finally, finally, finally a finish!! I don't know what the deal is with me and stitching lately. My mojo disappeared for the longest. I think I have to blame Facebook cuz of all the damn games! LOL Between Farmville, Island Paradise, all the fish tanks and egg hunts, I haven't had any time to stitch!!! LOL Slowly but surely it's coming back to me though.

I went on vacation the first part of Ocotber and had an absolute blast!!! I haven't laughed that hard or ate that good in a long, long time. And the company was just the best!! Love my girls :) You can find the pics here from my trip.

Sunflower Inn by Little House Needleworks
Stitched on 28 ct hand dyed jobelan clay with DMC
and Crescent Colours hand dyed floss. Started
stitching on 9/12/09, finished on 11/12/09.

Close up of sunflowers....yep...beads!!! No way

in the world was I doing french knots!! LOL

I'm now working on the Peace Sampler.

This is the last picture I took back on 10/13. I've gotten a bit more done in the past couple of days. I'll try to post a more recent picture this week.

Mad Men

2009-11-11T17:19:00.002-06:00

I was minding my own business at work playing on Facebook and who walks through the door??? Bryan Batt bka Sal from Mad Men. My mouth dropped and I couldn't get to the counter fast enough. LOL

He is downright precious and so, so sweet!! I told him how much I missed him on the show and that I hope he comes back. And I got an autograph for me and one for my friend, Suez, who actually hooked me on the show.

It was the total bright side of my day :)

Blogoversary!!

2009-11-01T19:24:00.003-06:00

Cannot believe that it's been a year since I started this blog! And I've been a bad blogger of late. I will try my best to do better in this coming year.

Thanks to all of you that have read and posted comments. I read each and every one of them and appreciate them all :)

Progress Report!!!

2009-09-19T18:33:00.006-05:00

I swear I don't know where my mind is! I keep forgetting to update this damn thing!! LOL This is last weekend's update.

I don't think I'll have much stitching updates for a couple of weeks. I'm getting ready to go on vacation on Thursday. I've got a friend flying in from California and we're taking a road trip to North Carolina to visit some friends. We come back to New Orleans on Sunday night and Cali girl leaves the following Tuesday. I'm so excited I can't stand it!!!! And I'm definitely looking forward to getting away for a bit.

Peace Sampler by Imaginating, Inc.

Sunflower Inn by Little House Needleworks

I promise I'll come back with lots of stories and pics of our adventure in NC and throughout the southeast :) The only hitch is remembering to post them....sigh.........

Rainy, dreary weekend......

2009-09-12T15:55:00.006-05:00

made for a very stitchy weekend!! I didn't do much of anything but stitch and watch TV/movies.

Saw Duplicity w/Julia Roberts and Clive Owen (HOT!!) and I hate to say it, but I was bored with it....LOL The only thing that kept me watching was the chemistry between Roberts and Owen. Oh, and did I mention he was HOT??? Worth those 2+ hours I'll never get back! LOL

So, I stitched on The Quiltmaker for a bit. I wanted to finish that "row" before pulling out my new WIP. I know, I know...I need a new WIP like I need another hole in my head. But in my defense, a couple of ladies in my yahoo group made me!! You know who you are! They were relentless *sigh*

Quiltmaker by Lavender & Lace

Here's the new masterpiece......I'm loving stitching this one. I worked on it some on Saturday and all day yesterday. I was dying to get to the sunflower, but I pooped out before I got there. I'm getting there tonight though!!

Sunflower Inn by Little House Needleworks
Stitched on 28 hand dyed jobelan fabric, Clay.

Sigh.........forgot.....

2009-09-06T15:25:00.009-05:00

AGAIN!!! My memory is slipping BAD!! Sigh....

Had myself some enforced vacation time this past week. I woke up with horrible cramps Wednesday, morning the 2nd at 3 am. I stayed in the fetal position till about 8 that morning. I had the chills so bad, too...so miserable. But I dragged myself to work shortly after 9. Then I got feverish and my whole body just ached. So, I left work early and went to the urgent care center by my house.

After waiting almost 2 hours, I was escorted into an exam room. A few minutes later the doctor comes into examine me. So, I explain my symptoms to him and he proceeds to give me a nasal swab. Have y'all ever had that done?? OMG!!! Just say NO! They take this long ass swab, proceed to put in your nose and go all the way up to your brain with the damn thing! Talk about painful!!! And the doc had to do it twice, cuz apparently jerking my head away from the swab isn't allowed....sigh....

About 20 minutes after the torture session, he comes back and announces that I have the flu. I wasn't surprised by his diagnosis...just didn't like it much. So, I ask him if it was the swine flu. He patiently explains to me that there is no such thing as the "swine flu". It's called the H1N1 virus. At this point, I don't give a damn what you call it. I just want to know if I have it. So, he tells me that more than likely it is what I have and that I'm not allowed to go back to work till September 8th.

Thankfully, my symptoms never progressed past the feverish, achy body and sore throat. And the worst part was the body aches. So, I got LOTS of rest and stitching done during my forced down time.

As you can see below, I finished T is for Time.

T is for Time by Prairie Schooler.

Stitched on 28 ct evenweave fiddlers cloth

Started on 8/1/09, finished on 9/6/09

I also caught up on the Peace Sampler SAL we're doing in our yahoo group.

Peace Sampler by Imaginating, Inc

And then I was a good girl! I didn't start Sunflower Inn by LHN like I really, really, really wanted too. I took out Quiltmaker instead and worked on her some. I've left her big ole skirt alone for now and I'm working on the actual quilt instead. It's going pretty fast, too.

Quiltmaker by Lavender & Lace

Happy Dance!!!!

2009-08-30T19:25:00.011-05:00

I am thrilled to have finished Friendship!! It took me forever to finish that damn orange! Don't know why...not that it was difficult or anything....LOL Maybe my eyes got tired of the orange....but whatever...it's done!!!

Friendship by 2009 Cross Stitch Pattern a Day Calendar

Stitched on 28 ct bay leaf jobelan

Finished on 8/30/09

And I can see the finish line for T is for Time! Woohooooooo!!!!

T is for Time by Prairie Schooler

Found a new TV show addiction...yeah, like I need another one! LOL It's called Sanctuary and it comes on SyFy or however they're spelling it these days. It reeled me in from the beginning. I'm almost finished watching the 1st season on Netflix this past weekend. If you like paranormal type shows, this one is right up your alley. I also saw Last House on the Left this weekend. Wow!!! Fantastic movie! Very gory though. I had to turn away quite a few times, but ohhh so good!!!

I hope to catch up on the Peace Sampler this week and hopefully finish T is for Time. I don't know why I make these kinds of statements....Queen of Procrastination here! LOL

Oops.....forgot

2009-08-29T17:15:00.003-05:00

I so forgot to post this update last weekend.......sigh..... I've been so busy at work updating tax exempt forms that I haven't done much of anything this week. So, here's last weekend's update! LOL

A little of this, a little of that

2009-08-16T18:06:00.010-05:00

As usual, I forgot to update this damn blog! Sigh..... These are last weekends updates.

T is for Time by Prairie Schooler

Peace Sampler by Imaginating, Inc.

And this is my sago palm. A friend bought me a pup (guess what's they call the "babies") that he found on the side of the street. It was totally bald and prickly and now it's starting to grow. It seemed to have taken months for the first little fronds to appear, but it's growing fast now. As soon as it gets a little bigger, I'm going to transplant into the middle of my front yard.

Progress Report

2009-08-09T20:22:00.012-05:00

I had an extremely lazy weekend! Too bad we can't have more of them :)

I'm really enjoying T is for Time. Of course, I enjoy stitching all the PS charts. They're just so easy and flow easily onto the fabric. Not having much backstitching at all HELPS a lot! LOL

T is for Time by Prairie Schooler
Sttiched on 28 ct eveneweave fiddlers cloth

Now, this next one should've been finished this past week. But as you can see, I didn't. For whatever reason, I had a tough time getting past those rows of orange. All of these patterns are similar in that respect, too. So, who knows what my issue was! LOL I'm hoping to finish it this week though. Yeah, right, who am I trying to kid!!

Friendship by 2009 Cross Stitch Pattern a Day Calendar
Stitched on 28 ct bay leaf jobelan fabric

Oh, and I saw Seven Pounds w/Will Smith yesterday. It was a good movie, but it certainly was not one of his best. The damn movie honestly left me confused and I sure as hell didn't like the way it ended. It was tragic and uplifting at the same time, but it still left me wanting more at the end.

T is for Time

2009-08-03T17:24:00.004-05:00

I remembered!!!!! LOL

T is for Time by Prairie Schooler

4th Chakra

2009-08-01T17:55:00.005-05:00

So, another work week has begun. Will someone please explain to me why the hell weekends go by so dang fast??? It's criminal! LOL.....OK...maybe not but still!

I finished the 4th Chakra on Saturday, while watching Torchwood: Children of the Earth. Wow!! What an intense, wild, fantastically awesome show!! I got hooked on the series a couple of years ago. Rumor has it that this is the last season. I hope not. It's wonderfully written and acted, captivating series. If you like sci-fi, alien type shows, then this one is right up your alley.

7 Chakras by Cross Stitch Art

And yesterday, I started on T is for Time by Prairie Schooler. I did take a picture of it, but I didn't upload it. Brain farts suck! I'll try to remember to upload it this evening.

Weekend Update

2009-07-26T12:05:00.011-05:00

Well, this past weekend was pretty productive on the stitching side of things. I managed to finish S is for Sewing on Sunday. This one worked up much quicker than the damn rabbit! Thank goodness.....LOL

S is for Sewing by Prairie Schooler
Stitched on 28 ct evenweave fiddlers cloth
Started on 7/10/09, finished on 7/26/09

Then I decided to stitch some on Friendship, but I got bored pretty fast with this one. This will be the one I work on when the boss goes on vacation next week. Hopefully, it'll be done by the time she comes back :)

Friendship by 2009 Cross Stitch Pattern A Day
Stitched on 28 ct bay leaf jobelan

So, then I wasn't sure which way to turn. I really, really, really wanted to start Sunflower Inn by LHN, but I've got so many WIP staring me in the face that I just couldn't do it. So, I pulled out 7 Chakras. I'm hoping to finish this chakra this week.

7 Chakras

I watched Doubt w/Meryl Streep on Sunday. And I hate to say it, but I was not impressed. Sure, the acting was top notch but I found myself almost bored with the movie. And then the ending...ayyy.....I could've gone through the TV to choke someone! LOL

Does anyone watch Hung on HBO? OMG! If you're not offended by some nakedness and curse words, this show is too die for! Love, love the premise! And Thomas Jane is one good lookin' man!

Stitchy Update

2009-07-19T22:00:00.007-05:00

I completely forgot to post this update last Sunday. Just goes to show that my brain/memory bank seems to be failing me faster than time is going by!! I've gotten a little bit more done this week, so hopefully I'll post a finish this weekend......if I remember, that is :(

I started Friendship earlier this week because I forgot S is for Sewing at work. Friendship is another one in the series of those chinese character projects I've been working on this year. I haven't gotten far with this one at all. So, no picture of that one yet.

S is for Sewing by Prairie Schooler

I don't have much planned for this weekend, which I'm truly looking forward to. I hope to get lots of stitching done alone with lots of TV watching. I hope to finish watching season 2 of Mad Men. I just love this show! It's classy and downright dirty at the same time! LOL

R down.......onto S!!

2009-07-10T20:07:00.008-05:00

Sigh..........I cannot believe another weekend has flown by! It's ridiculous how fast they go by! Saturday I did the Wal Mart thing in the morning and had some porch time that afternoon. Sunday was very low key. I went to pick up a couple of my mom's friends so they could spend the day together. Then I just stitched the day away while watching movies. I saw Gran Torino and Slumdog Millionaire. They were both excellent, excellent movies. They both had me in tears at the end though. I highly recommend them both.

So, I finished R is for Rabbit on Friday night. I love the way it came out. I'm not much on bunnies, but I think this one is pretty cute :)

R is for Rabbit by Prairie Schooler
Stitched on 28 ct eveneweave fiddlers cloth
Started on 6/7/09, finished on 7/10/09

On Saturday, I jumped right into S is for Sewing. I was in brown hell for a bit w/that dang sewing machine. So happy when I finished it....LOL I'm really wanting to finish this alphabet series this year. Think I've been working on it entirely too long now. Let's see how long I stick it out :)

S is for Sewing by Prairie Schooler
28 ct evenweave fiddlers cloth

Hippity Hop

2009-06-25T21:16:00.008-05:00

Here's the latest updates on my bunny. I hope to have a semi-easy day tomorrow so maybe the next blog post will say, "Finished Bunny!" LOL

As of 6/25/09

As of 6/28/09

Rabbit Update

2009-06-21T20:56:00.003-05:00

I've gotten a bit more done on Rabbit. I'm really enjoying stitching on this one, too. Now I didn't give the bunnies eyes yet cuz, well, just in case I don't finish him in a timely manner. I don't want his eyes looking at me accusingly :)

This weekend was pretty low key. My friend, Mari, came by and my mom colored her hair. Then we just hung out on the patio reading ,drinking and chit chatting. Sunday I just stitched and watched Eureka on Sci Fi. They had a marathon on. Has anyone seen it? It's such a fun and quirky show....always makes me laugh :)

I placed an order today from Nordic Needle. I'm getting a cute tote bag (you can never have enough of those!) and another pair of scissor (again, you can never have enough!). And it was all on sale! That's my kind of shopping! LOL

R is for Rabbit

2009-06-15T21:42:00.007-05:00

Here's my start on R is for Rabbit by Prairie Schooler. It's taking on that bunny shape now :) Only 7 letters after this....woohooooooooooo!!!

I don't know if it's miserably hot where you are, but my God! It's downright miserable down here. We've been in the 90s since the beginning of June with the heat index breaking into the 100s. And absolutely no rain! That is highly unusual for us. We'll normally get some kind of afternoon rain during the summer. Not so far! I'm going to hate to see what July and August is going to bring us.

Stay cool, y'all!!!!

7 Chakras Update

2009-06-07T19:29:00.005-05:00

Here's the latest update on 7 Chakras. I finished the 3rd one sometime this past weekend and completely forgot to update the blog. Duh! Only 4 more to go! Woohooooooooo!!!

As a reward, I started R is for Rabbit by Prairie Schooler. All you can see is a golden brown blob. When it starts resembling more of a rabbit, I'll post a pic.

Happiness............

2009-06-02T19:20:00.006-05:00

Another finish goes down in the books! I really enjoyed stitching this adorable piece although I got bored with it when I was about 3/4 of the way finished. Why? Who knows? I'm strange that way....LOL I stitched Happiness on hand dyed linen from R&R Reproductions (or is Productions??). The color is called Snowy Sky which is actually a very pale lavender not light gray the way it looks in this picture. I can't wait for the next one in this series.

I wasn't quite sure what to pick up next although I really wanted to start R is for Rabbits from PS! I controlled myself from starting a new project and picked up 7 Chakras by Cross Stitch Art. I haven't stitched on it since August of last year! I had started on the 3rd Chakra before I put it away though. I'll take another picture when I finish the 3rd one.

I pampered myself a bit on Tuesday after work. I got my hair cut, which I so desperately needed! My bangs were down to my chin! LOL The lady cut them a bit too much, I think, but they'll grow back soon enough. I also got 2" cut off the back. It's amazing how much better your hair feels after a hair cut! Then I hussled right next door to the nail salon and got a pedi. I was the only customer in there and the owner of the salon did my pedicure. She massaged my legs for a good 10 minutes....pure heaven I tell you!! She also gave me a coupon for 20% off my next visit. Yay!

Happiness by 2009 Cross Stitch Pattern a Day Calendar

Stitched on 28 ct linen, snowy sky

Started on 5/16/09, finished on 6/2/09

Yin Yang

2009-05-11T21:48:00.006-05:00

Why is that when you pick up a project that you haven't stitched on in so long, you wonder why you haven't freaking picked it up again way before now??? That's how I feel about this project. I started this one sometime in the beginning of 2007 for the 2nd time! I miscounted somewhere along the line the first time and I couldn't find it so I pitched it. I loved the design and the colors so much that I just had to restart it. So, I did! I was going along just fine till I discovered that I miscounted.....AGAIN. Sigh......... I got frustrated with it and just put it on the side till this past weekend. Instead of jumping right into the frogging, I decided to stitch along the right side. And I've been enjoying every second of it. Here's what it looked like before I threw it on the side. Actually there was a bit more stitched on it, but I can't seem to find that picture. I think I'll truck along with this one till I get bored with it.

Yin Yang by Cross Stitch Art

Stitched on 32 ct linen

Mother's Day 2009

2009-05-10T20:47:00.009-05:00

We had a great Mother's Day, unfortunately there are no pictures of my mother here. She detests taking pictures. So, since it was Mother's Day, I wasn't going to hassle her about it....LOL

I cooked chicken fajitas and made a butter pecan cake. Everyone enjoyed the food and I enjoyed the company. These are some pics I took of my friend, Mari, and her daughter.

Mari and me

Alexis and Toy (my cousin's dog)

Alexis and me

Alexis

Sing a Song of Liberty...

2009-05-07T20:04:00.006-05:00

I got the beads from TDee on Thursday and an hour later I was done!!! I can't believe I let this project languish for so damn long without finishing. It took maybe 6 hours total to finish the damn thing! LOL I really love the way it turned out :)

Sing A Song Of Liberty

Don't know who the designer is :(

Stitched on 28 ct linen

Started in January 2008

Finished on 5/7/09

Close up of the birdie's "bead" eye

BoINK Update....

2009-05-04T11:12:00.006-05:00

I put my UFO, Sing a Song of Liberty, on the side....for now. I'm just waiting for beads that TDee is sending me so that I can add another project in the finished column. You're the bestest, TDee :)

So, I put a few more stitches into BoINK. I'll just keep working on this one till I get the beads then start the frogging process on Yin Yang :(

UFO Update

2009-05-01T10:23:00.003-05:00

This UFO is almost DONE! I did all the backstitching in a few hours over a couple of days. The only thing left to do is the stems for the flowers and the french knots. If you know me, you know that I don't do french knots! So, I need to find beads for the bird's eye in the right corner and for the flowers. I'd hate to buy a pack of beads just for a handful, but I hate french knots that much!!!! LOL

Sing A Song of Liberty

Close up of where the stems need to go for the flowers

I think next up from the UFO pile is Yin Yang. This one's a UFO because I some frogging needs to be done....actually quite a bit I think :( So I got aggravated w/it and put it away. Here's what it looks like now. The frogging needs to happen on the left side of the dang thing! So, I might tackle that this weekend.

Garden is blooming.........

2009-04-26T18:32:00.006-05:00

I took a good look at my garden yesterday afternoon and it's doing much better than I expected. All my flowers are having "babies" :) I do need to lay much more mulch down and find some kind of "fence" so the dirt and mulch don't go everywhere when it rains. Here are some of the latest pics of my garden. Oh, don't pay too much attention to the weeding that still needs to be done in the rose part of the garden :)

Rosebud

This one's got like 5 buds on 1 branch thingie!!

More roses!!!

Just one more :)

These mistral delphiniums have impressed me

the most!! Buds everywhere!!

Marigolds gotta couple of babies on the way!!

More of a close up!!

My faithful hibuscus!

Hibuscus unfurling!

Coconut punch dianthus...full of new buds, but

dead ones, too???

Luck is FINISHED!!!!

2009-04-26T09:19:00.006-05:00

As you can see, Luck has been finished! I finished it last night and was ecstatic when I made that last stitch in the letter "K"! LOL

I hurried up and put BoINK in the lap frame. I'm going to finish up the black in the last square and along the bottom right corner before putting it back up again.

A gauntlet was thrown a week or two ago in my Yahoo cross stitch group. The deal is to pick up a UFO (sigh.......) and put a few strings in it a week till it's finished. So, I chose an MSAL that we had started in said group from last year. I haven't stitched on it since May 27, 2008! Here's a pic of what it looks like. I just need to finish some minor stitching and the backstitching (yeah, my favorite) and it's done! So, that will be my project in the coming days.

I've been fighting really bad headaches the past couple of days. And I think it's because of my glasses. I never had the script on them changed. When I wear my contacts, I don't get those stabbing headaches. I guess it's time to break down and shell out the money to get my glasses fixed to the right prescription.

We've been having beautiful, spring-summer weather the past week and it's continuing straight through this weekend. I'm thinking of going to hang out on the porch this afternoon before the dreaded, humid weather of summer really comes to stay for the next 5 months.

Hope y'all are having a great weekend!!

Luck by 2009 Cross Stitch Pattern A Day Calendar
Stitched on 28 ct confederate gray quaker linen
Started on 3/27/09, finished on 4/25/09

Luck Update....again.....

2009-04-20T10:23:00.005-05:00

OK..........I should truly have Luck finished by now! But it was such a pretty day yesterday that I just had to go hang out on the porch!! The weather was just perfect....warm and breezy! We won't have too many days like yesterday before the heavy humidity and heat descends on the city for the next 5 months or so. Next time you see a picture of Luck it will be finished :)

Did anyone catch the Hallmark Movie on CBS last night? Wow! What a courageous, beautiful woman Irena Sendler was. She helped 2500 Jewish children escape the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII. What a generous, loving heart this woman had. I don't know if these movies are replayed, but if they are, it's a movie well worth watching.

Luck Update

2009-04-15T07:53:00.004-05:00

I'm at the halfway point on Luck as you can see. This is part of a series in this year's cross stitch pattern a day calendar. It's chinese sayings/words. Here's the first one I did earlier this year. I'm hoping to complete them....yeah right!!!! LOL One day, one day.........

Luck by Cross Stitch Pattern a Day Calendar

Stitched on 28 ct confederate gray quaker linen

One more finish........

2009-04-14T07:30:00.006-05:00

I'm thrilled that I finished Q is for Quilting. I think this is one of my favorites out of the alphabet series. It was fun, quick (at least for me) project :)

Now I'm in a race to finish Luck. Then I need to go back to the BoINK SAL, which is "this" close to being finished, too.

Q is for Quilting by Prairie Schooler

Started on 3/27/09, finished on 4/13/09

Stitched on 28 ct fiddlers evenweave cloth

DONE!!!!!!

2009-04-13T08:28:00.004-05:00

Finally finished the Spirit Sampler! I kept putting it to the side because I was dreading those stupid 1/4 stitches in the bands below the pot. So, I decided to stitch those bands like the ones in Faith. So, now it's done!

My weekend was very low key. I finished the garden area where the hibuscus bushes are. I still need to tackle the part by the rose bushes....sigh....... I'll start on it sometime this week, I suppose.

I'm also almost finished with Q is for Quilter. I should be posting the finished pic tomorrow.

My Easter was quiet. I was wanting barbecued ribs for some strange reason. So that's what I made yesterday. They came out very tender, but they didn't taste like I wanted them to taste. I wanted them to be a tad bit sweeter. I think next time I'll play around with the sauce and see what I come up with. The family enjoyed it though so that's what counts :)

Spirit Sampler by Imaginating, Inc.

Freshly planted......

2009-04-09T19:39:00.010-05:00

OK, so I broke down, went to Lowe's and actually bought flowers to put in my garden. The seedlings are not growing nearly fast enough for me so I needed something pretty to look at when I pulled into my driveway. Oh and I bought a hoe for the first time! What useful tools those hoes are :)

Impatiens

Mistral Delphinium

Danthus Coconut Punch

Marigolds

Petunias

Update time....

2009-04-07T11:52:00.007-05:00

Sunday I started working in the garden. Sigh........ Why do I want one of those things anyway??? I was tired after just going to Lowe's to get the top soil and mulch! LOL Last year I had put down that black netting stuff that's supposed to control the weeds. Ummm....yeah, right! So, I pulled it all up Sunday. Well, on the front part of the garden where my hibuscus are, I did. I still need to get to the rose bush part later this week and pull it up there. But I must say that the soil underneath the black netting is pristine! Rich, dark soil.

I really didn't have anything to plant just yet especially since a damn cold front came through that night! I will be heading back to Lowe's this weekend for some pretty, colorful flowers to put down. I can't wait till my seedlings start sprouting! LOL Although the sweet peas are ready to do in the ground. I'll take pics of the garden when it's more or less show worthy :)

I know it's been awhile since I've posted a stitchy update. I haven't been much on the stitching lately, no particular reason for it. Just wasn't in the mood, I suppose. Till now!

A friend and her husband made this gorgeous lap stand for some of the ladies in our Yahoo cross stitch club. As soon as I got it, I knew that I had to try it out! Wow! The lap stand makes a world of difference! They're wonderfully made and sturdy. The wood is so smooth and it's lightweight! Just perfect.

Q is for Quilt by Prairie Schooler
Started on 3/15/09
Stitched on 28 ct evenweave fiddlers cloth

Luck by Pattern of the Day Calendar 2009
Started on 3/27/09
Stitched on 28 ct confederate gray Quaker Linen

Speechless...........

2009-04-02T17:29:00.011-05:00

Oh, my!!! These beautiful finished projects were waiting for me when I got home from work yesterday. My friend, Linda from Iceland, outdid herself on my stitched pieces. I've been waiting with baited breath for almost 2 weeks to see these beauties!! And can I tell you that it was WELL worth the wait!!

Honey, you have outdone yourself! I cannot thank you enough for these gorgeous finishes!!

Needlebook

Inside of needlebook

Close up of needlebook

Closeup of the cute button she used for the needlebook

Mattress Pinkeep

Back of mattress pinkeep

Close up of pin keep

Inside of bourse

Outside of bourse

Close up of bourse

Bookmark

Adorable beads on the bottom of the bookmark

2009-03-16T10:50:00.005-05:00

I had a very low key weekend. It's been raining almost non stop since Saturday morning. So, I basically just stitched and watched movies all weekend. And very minimal amount of housework :)

I've finally caught up with my Spirit Sampler. I've left the words off for now. I'm thinking about changing...not quite sure yet. I've really enjoyed this SAL. It's such a pretty, easy design to stitch.

I also worked on BoINK some. I was in such a feverish state to finish it that I bored myself silly with the damn thing! LOL I'll try to put a couple of strings in it every couple of days though. TDee won't let me forget about it :)

And because I was so bored, I decided to start a new project. Yes, I needed to add another log to the fire like I need a hole in my head, but I just couldn't resist :) So, I started Q is for Quilt by Prairie Schooler. I'm stitching it on 28 ct fiddlers evenweave cloth. This is the fabric that Hobby Lobby used to sell by the bolt and now is rarer than I don't know what! If anyone knows where I can get some more of this wonderful fabby, please let me know.

As far as movies, I watched 300 with Gerard Butler. I saw maybe 20 minutes of it and just couldn't watch anymore. Not even watching Gerard's sexy body could make me watch more of this movie. I'm not against bloody movies per se. I think the special effects were a little over the top and the storyline just didn't grab me, I guess. I then saw Freedomland. Now this was a very gritty, disturbing movie. The storyline really bothered me, but I know things like that still happen in this world. From there, it was Nim's Island's turn to be seen. What a fun, lighthearted movie. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. And, yes, Gerard Butler was sexy in this one, too :) Then yesterday I saw Street King w/Keanu Reeves and Forrest Whitaker. It wasn't the best acted movie by far, but I enjoyed the storyline and I loved watching the bad asses get their payback :)

Last Thursday, I treated myself to a trip to my used bookstore (UBS). I was in a mood for some lighthearted, easy to read romance novels. You know, like Silhouette and Harlequin. So, I walked out with 5 of them and I only paid $15.00! You just can't beat that. I blew through 2 of them as of last night. I think I'll read one more and then get back to the more "serious" books in my "to be read" pile.

Stitchy Updates

2009-03-03T09:33:00.008-06:00

As you can see, I've been very busy working on my BoINK. I'm furiously trying to finish it so I can justify starting something new :) You can see my previous update here . Now I know I need to finish that 1st square (TDee!!). I've got a question for y'all about that last square in the left hand corner on the bottom. Now I'm supposed to go back and fill in some of those spaces with the darker blue. Does it really look like I need to? This dang square gave me fits! And I so want to be able to say that square is done! LOL

MSAL by Ink Circles

In between working on the project by Ink Circles, I stitched a couple of nights on Quiltmaker. Not much progress, but there is definitely some :) You can see the previous update here .

Quiltmaker by Lavender & Lace

Bad Mood Chasers

2009-03-02T12:35:00.004-06:00

As you may or may not know, I'm a huge magazine freak! At any one time, I've got about 10-12 magazines in a pile to read. I haven't figured out how much money I spend a month on this habit and I don't want to know!!!

Anyways, I was reading Woman's World dated March 2nd and there's an article in here titled "Beating a Bad Mood". In this article, they list 7 things you can do to get out of a funk.

Write it down.....it essentially says to write down 5 things that went right that day, from the littlest thing to the biggest. And when you see these things written down, it'll lift your mood.
Make something grow....it says to dig into the earth and plant something. Supposedly gardening soil has certain compounds that boost your levels of serotonin in your brain.
Put on the radio......listening to your favorite music eases your depression.
Ask myself this question.....instead of saying postive "affirmations", try "afformations". Afformations are defined in this article as "empowering questions that change the subconscious thought from negative to positive".
Put your feet up-literally.........lie down and put your legs on the wall. The article says that "the increase blood flow to the brain helps clear your mind and even helps increase serotonin levels".
Do something good for someone else.....no explanation needed for this one!
Be grateful for what you're not....remember those obstacles from the past that you've overcome.

I've tried a couple of these in the past and they do work. Now that spring is around the corner, I am looking forward to digging into my garden which I've sorely neglected this winter. I'm looking forward to figuring out what I can plant in it that doesn't take too much maintenance. Now that may sound a little half assed backwards considering I'm telling y'all I can't wait to dig into it. I just don't want all my free time consumed with actually maintaining the damn thing :) My idea of gardening is a little weeding and watering.

I'm in search of new ideas, new things to do when I'm in a bad mood. What do y'all do when those icky funks hit?

Mardi Gras 2009

2009-02-27T09:53:00.006-06:00

Mardi Gras was pretty low key for me. I didn't do the wildness of Bourbon Street or all the madness of the parades in the metro area. Instead, I went to one of my favorite places.....my friend's porch. The day was just picture perfect! Blue skies, temps in the 60s with a light breeze. We just sat out there chit chatting, reading and drinking, of course :)

Now I left at a very reasonable hour about 3 pm or so. You would think I'm a greenhorn when it comes to Mardi Gras because I sure as heck didn't time that right at all! Traffic was almost a dead stop and barely moved! So, I had time to snap a couple of pictures. Now these are pics you can only see in the Crescent City.....

Truck float loaded w/riders

The Superdome

Spirit Sampler Update

2009-02-22T18:30:00.004-06:00

Here's the latest update of my Spirit Sampler. I think I'm to do date, but more than likely not :)

Weekend Update

2009-02-16T08:40:00.007-06:00

Mardi Gras kicked off this weekend. It looked like parades were going to be postponed or cancelled because of all the rainy weather we had, but the krewes lucked out. It rained off and on, but it mostly held off when the parades rolled. Today and tomorrow there are no parades, but come Wednesday, they'll be non stop till Fat Tuesday. I've lived here all my life and I've done my fair share of parades. Sometimes 3 and 4 in one night....not anymore!! Just can't hack it anymore! LOL

The only one I still like to see is Endymion. It's known as one of the "super krewe parades". They've got one of the most beautiful and spectacular parades you'll ever see. They have beautifully lit floats that are double and triple decker floats. People start staking out their spot days in advance. This year Kid Rock is the grand marshal and I'm not a huge fan of his so I may not walk down there to catch it. Oh, did I mention that my friend lives 2 blocks from the route?? So, I may not walk down to watch the parade, but I'll have the wonderful porch view and catch all the characters walking over to see the parade. I think that's more fun than the parades sometimes.

I didn't do too much this weekend, but work feverishly to finish Prosperity. I just love the way it turned out. I'll definitely be sending this to my friend, Linda, in Iceland to work her magic on :)

Next up is catching up on the Spirit Sampler. It won't take me no time considering the next 40 rows or so is stems and leaves :)

My porch view

2009-02-12T15:15:00.004-06:00

Streetcar

Porch view

I've talked about my "porch times" so many times here that I finally took a couple of pics so y'all could see what I'm talking about. And why I love it so! It's so peaceful and pretty. People are always passing by walking their dogs or jogging. They're a couple of people that look at you funny or just plain ignore you when you wave to them or say, "Hi!" For the most part people are very friendly though. Now even though this porch is not technically mine, I feel like it is :)

Weekend update

2009-02-09T10:05:00.009-06:00

Why do weekends go so damn fast??? There should be some kind of law against that! LOL

I had to work Saturday morning. It was so dead here that I got tons accomplished on my Spirit Sampler SAL. All I had left to do when I left work was the BS. And we all know how much I love to BS!! So, I was more than happy to leave it for another time.......LOL I did manage to finish the BS on it yesterday. Here's the latest...

After work I went to my friend's house to enjoy some porch time. The weather here this weekend was just exquisite so I just had to be outside and soak it all in. I was out there for about 3 hours reading and drinking some brewskis. I started reading Kiss of Crimson by Lara Adrian. Let me tell you that book just grabbed me! I could hardly put it down. This is a great book if it made me forget about my new Blackberry!!! I've been attached (or should I say ADDICTED???) to the damn thing since I got it a couple of weeks ago. These things should come with a big warning label attached to them! LOL

Yesterday I conquered Mt Washmore early in the day. Thankfully because later in the afternoon I started getting a monstrous headache. It was behind my right eye and it went down in my jaw, to my neck and into my shoulder. It's down to a dull throb today, but my neck and shoulder are still sensitive. What the hell's up with that??

I did manage to do some stitching on Prosperity. That would be by new WIP. It's in this year's Pattern of the Day calendar. As soon as I saw it, I just had to stitch it. Here's what I've done so far on it....

A finish!!!!

2009-02-04T10:36:00.002-06:00

Finally a finish!!!!! LOL Actually this would be my 2nd finish of the year, but I can't post the first one because it's a present :)

This was a quick SAL from one of the Yahoo groups I'm in. It was a freebie someone found on a blog. I stitched it on 28 ct cashel linen in carnation pink and I used GAST threads in Hibuscus. Pink is not normally my color, but I loved the way it turned out. I think I'll stitch it one more time, but this time in deep sea green colors. I've got the perfect fabby and thread to use :)

Spirit Sampler

2009-01-21T16:47:00.004-06:00

Here's my first update to the Spirit Sampler. We're supposed to be working 42x20 sections. So, as you can see I did more than I was supposed to, but that's because I need to start a secret something, something for a dear friend of mine. Once I start working on it, I'm not going to put it down. I need to get it finished and to my framer ASAP. And those that know me know that I always wait to the last damn minute to start things! LOL

Inauguration Day

2009-01-21T12:24:00.004-06:00

Yesterday's happenings were such a joy to watch. I don't remember ever being interested in watching them before. Maybe it has something to do with my age now or the new commander in chief or maybe it's a combination of both. Thankfully my place of employment allowed me a huge leeway to watch most of it on my computer here at work. I understand other places weren't as generous.

I was watching NBC Nightly News last night and Brian Williams was interviewing Doris Kearn, a presidential historian. And what stood for me in BOLD, CAPITAL letters was when she said something to the effect that "we all feel a connection to Obama. OMG!!! A so simple word.....CONNECTION...light bulb went off.....CONNECTION. Ms. Kearn hit the nail on the head. That's exactly what I feel when I see our newly sworn 44th president. He is US....all of us. He doesn't talk over our heads. He talks to US.

Barack Hussein Obama has given me the much needed faith and hope that has been so desperately needed in this wonderful, unique country of ours. He's giving us the neccessary "parental" push to make ourselves, family and people around us be who we are meant to be for our own sakes and this country's. It's OUR time make this country what it was founded to be, to make the world proud of us again. We CAN make a difference and we WILL.

We are all "connected" in one shape, form or fashion. We have to get past the "color" of our skins. We ALL bleed red. I can almost bet that not a one of us is a "pure bred" whatever the hell that means. The color of our skin doesn't mean a DAMN thing. It's how we treat and respect ourselves and each other that matters......BOTTOM LINE!

Let us take a page from our new president and step forward into what will be a new future for us and for many generations to come. This can only work if we all work together towards the same common goals.

Got a present!!!!!

2009-01-17T17:28:00.003-06:00

I got this beautifully stitched and finished present from a friend in my Yahoo cross stitch group. The pictures I took do not do it justice. It was the best I could do with a pounding headache though.....LOL Now I just need to find the perfect spot for it :)

Amanda, I can't thank you enough for such a gorgeous present. It was well worth the wait, honey.

Weekend Wrap Up

2009-01-12T13:08:00.007-06:00

My weekend was pretty low key. Saturday I went grocery shopping and that afternoon I went to my friend's house and hung out on her porch. The temps were in the 70s with a nice breeze blowing. I had a couple of beers while reading Michele Bardsley's "I'm the Vampire, That's Why". What a funny, funny, HOT vamp book! I highly recommend it. It is part of a trilogy (I think). Each book will stand alone though.

Yesterday, I conquered Mt Washmore! Doing laundry is so not one of my favorite chores, but then again what is :) I also went through a big box of books a friend of mine sent me. There must've been about 40 books in there and none that I have read....YAY! I kept most of them and the rest I'm going to give away. Dont'cha just love freebies?? So, I spent sometime rearranging my bookcases. Yes, that's bookcases in plural. You can never have enough of those, right??

I dedicated the rest of the afternoon to stitching. I put in 2 strings in my BoINK MSAL on the first square. TDee made me! LOL Then I spent the rest of the day stitching on The Quiltmaker. At first I couldn't wait to get to her skirt. Now I can't wait till I'm done with it. Yes, I know. I've got tons to go on it....sigh..... All those blues are driving me batty though....LOL

WIP Updates.....

2009-01-05T10:17:00.007-06:00

Quiltmaker by Lavender & Lace

MSAL by Ink Circles

As promised, here are my updates on the two projects I've been working on lately. Now that I've made it to the dress on The Quiltmaker I'm finding it very hard to stop working on it :) I think I'll finish working on it this week and maybe start "Q is for Quilt" by Prairie Schooler. I started the alphabet series from Prairie Schooler year before last and I'd love to finish it this year. I think it's been hanging over my head long enough :)

I finished 12 projects last year, not as quite as many as in 2007. But that's OK, I think I got lots accomplished on the big projects I've been working on. I'm not going to make any stitching "resolutions", because those go on the wayside for me REALLY fast!! And then when I don't reach my goals, I get pissy! LOL I will say that I will hopefully stitch on the PS alphabet and the Angel series from last year's 2008 Pattern a Day Calendar. And we'll see whatever else pops up:)

As far as staying on the "wagon", I honestly don't think that will be a huge problem considering the economic situation these days. Besides I've got tons of patterns at home that are begging to get done without adding more to the pile. So, I'm still securely tied to that wagon :)

Happy New Year!!!!!!

2009-01-04T10:48:00.011-06:00

Well, I've been having the cold crud since New Year's Eve night. I felt it coming on before I left the house that evening, but I ignored it because I had plans with my friend, Mari. We weren't doing anything special or outlandish. Just hanging out at her house, drinking and reading on her porch. Well, we did the hanging out part and she did most of the drinking part. I tried but I just wasn't feeling it. Somehow I made it till midnight, watched some neighborhood fireworks and I crashed! Woke up the next morning with a full fledged cold and I've been fighting it ever since. Kinda sucks when you have an extra long weekend and you spend it fighting a stupid cold! LOL I hope it's not a sign of how my year is going to be.

My Christmas was very low key. My aunt was allowed to come home for 8 hours. So, I fried some chicken and made macaroni and cheese. I wasn't expecting to cook at all and that's pretty much all we had in the fridge. It was either that or turkey sandwiches....LOL

My aunt is now home. She's still in pain but she's walking a little better, but still very slow. The staples have come out. She's got a nurse and a therapist coming a few times a week. So, it'll be a slow recovery for her but everyday she'll get a little better and a little stronger. We just have to make sure she moves around and doesn't just sit on her butt all day....LOL

I did get the most beautiful Christmas present from an unexpected source for the holidays. Mari's uncle had this gorgeous rosary made for me by a friend of his. In the box with the rosary, he wrote a little note that said he had these african beads for over 10 years and didn't know what to do with them until he had an epiphany to get them made into a rosary for me. I can't tell you how touched and stunned I was to open up that small box and see what was in it. I think it was the best present I've ever gotten from anybody.

Since, I've been pretty much laid up these past few days, I've gotten quite a bit of stitching done on The Quiltmaker and the MSAL by Ink Circles. I'll post pics of my progress tomorrow in a separate blog.

I've also watched quite a bit of movies. I've seen How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer, Rendition, The Women, Untraceable and The Golden Compass. I enjoyed these movies for the most part. The Women was a bit cliched, but was interesting was the fact that you didn't see a single man in the movie! Not as an extra, not as a voice, nowhere! Untraceable was great! Hated the ending though. I seem to have issues with endings these days :)

Oh, and counted up my book reads for 2008. I read 48 books. I know that may be a mere pittance to some of you, but that's damn good for me! LOL If you want to see the list of books I read, go here... http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/202476 and go to "My Books". Let me know if you've read any of them and what you thought of them.

Phoenix Update...

2008-12-18T09:30:00.007-06:00

My aunt's back surgery was yesterday. She came through with flying colors. We didn't get to see her till about 3 pm while she was in recovery. She looked like she'd just woken up from a nap....LOL She looked great and was amazingly alert for just having gone through surgery. My cousin stayed with her last night.

I just talked to my mom and she said my aunt wasn't doing too well this morning. She's very disoriented and keeps repeating herself. I'm sure that's because of the anesthesia and her Alzheimer's combined. She's also having shooting pain down her legs. Maybe because the nerves are reawakening??? I'm sure my cousin will find all that out when the doctor makes his rounds.

So, being at the hospital all day yesterday, I had tons of stitching time :) All the black is almost done on The Phoenix. Can you imagine how excited I am about that? I think 2 of the most boring colors to stitch are black and white....LOL

And since when did hospital food get tasty??? And the selection was varied and prices were very reasonable. So, needless to say when I wasn't stitching, I had food in my mouth....LOL And right downstairs from the waiting area was the kiosk for frozen yogurt. Don't think I didn't take advantage of that!!! LOL My tummy wasn't too happy with me last night, but I don't care I enjoyed every bite of it.

Quiltmaker

2008-12-08T10:36:00.002-06:00

I started the Quiltmaker at least 3 years ago. I put in 21 stitches and put it on the side. Well, I picked it back up again on Thursday and I'm so enjoying stitching her. I have no clue why I stopped working on her. So, my weekend was a mostly a "stitchy" one and low key. The most exciting thing I did this weekend was go grocery shopping and do laundry....LOL

I did watch Wanted with Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman. These are both actors that I adore, but this movie left me wanting! LOL I thought the premise and the fighting scenes along with the special effects were great. Now the acting and the ending were not so great. I suppose not every movie can be a great experience :)

And as far as reading, I'm almost finished with One Last Look by Linda Lael Miller. Those that know me know that I hate starting a series in the middle much less the end which is what this book is. It's the last in the trilogy....sigh.... It's so good that I couldn't put it down though. I'm so loving the heroine. She's that plucky, ballsy kinda chick that gives as good as she gets. And the hero ain't so bad either :)

Strangest place you've ever read??

2008-12-02T15:16:00.003-06:00

Every Wednesday in The Times Picayune (New Orleans area newspaper) Living section talks about books. Last Wednesday's edition had an article by Susan Larson titled "Caught in the Act of Reading". She writes about how she loves to see people read and how she tries to be as subtle as possible when she's trying to see what books they're reading.

You can read the article here....

http://www.nola.com/timespic/stories/index.ssf?/base/living-12/122759405278170.xml&coll=1

Nine times out of ten I wouldn't be caught dead without a book in my hands, car, purse....well, you get the gist. You just never know when you'll have an extra 5 minutes to get some reading in, right?

So, that made me wonder where the strangest place you've ever read was? Me? The place itself wasn't strange (my friend's porch), but I was reading during a Mardi Gras party. I can't tell you how much flak I got over that one. It's not that I was being anti-social. It's just that my book was more interesting :) Yes, I finally put the book away and interacted more with the guests :)

So, what strange places/situations have you been caught reading in??

Long Weekend Update.......

2008-12-01T08:56:00.003-06:00

This is the latest on Lady of the Flag. I can't believe how much I'm enjoying stitching her again....LOL

And I finished the Faith SAL last night!! Beads and all! Have I ever said how much I don't like beading??? LOL You may not be able to see them, but they're there!!! It seemed like it took me forever.

This past weekend was one of the most low key weekends I've had in months!! I got off of work at 1 pm on Friday afternoon and stitched the whole weekend away. I did the grocery shopping Saturday morning and conquered Mt. Washmore yesterday, but that was the extent of mundane household chores....LOL

I watched a couple of good movies, too. I saw 27 Dresses Friday night. I'm not a huge Katherine Heigl fan, but she was cute in this movie. I've been having crappy luck with my movie choices from Netflix lately. I saw Inside Out w/Steven Weber and Eriq LaSalle yesterday. What a convuluted, psychological crappy movie!! I had to watch it till the end though....LOL Then I tried watched Double Happiness with Sandra Oh. I couldn't get into it though. So, I wound up watching The Bourne Ultimatum with Matt Damon. I didn't like the 2nd one, so I had my doubts on this one, but I enjoyed it. And Matt Damon is easy on the eyes :)

Lady of the Flag

2008-11-25T07:55:00.003-06:00

I know I said that I was going to work on The Phoenix till it was finished, but I just wasn't feeling it. So, since I promised myself that I wasn't going to start anything new, I pulled this grand lady out of her prison (her ziplock bag)!! It's probably been about 3 years since I've worked on her. I know....shame on me! I didn't get too much more done than what you see here last night, but I'm going to work on her at least through the end of the week. Then maybe The Phoenix will be calling my name again :)

Finally....a Phoenix update!!!

2008-11-22T21:23:00.003-06:00

OK....here's the latest on The Phoenix. I really, really love this pattern. And it truly is an easy stitch, but I'm ready for it to be finished! LOL I made a deal with myself that I wouldn't start a new project until this one is done. Sigh.............why do I make these deals with myself???? LOL

Tomorrow afternoon I'm going for some porch time at my friend's house. It's supposed to warm up into the 60s tomorrow. Those nice temps need to be taken advantage of :) So, no stitching tomorrow, but I plan on getting lots of reading done on Lover Enshrined by J.R. Ward.

Flashback from the past!!!

2008-11-19T17:05:00.003-06:00

So, mom was cleaning out her closet today and she found all my old report cards from elementary school and middle school. I have no clue what happened to my high school report cards. Maybe she wasn't as proud of them as she was of the ones from early education.....LOL She also found all these certificates of excellence. I had no clue she was still holding onto all of this. I'm almost 40 years old!!! LOL

I thought it was kind of cool and wanted to share it with y'all.

What should I do with them? Should I save them? For what I don't know....LOL Or just trash them?

Faith SAL

2008-11-15T20:47:00.004-06:00

Here's the latest on my Faith SAL. For such an easy project I sure as heck have spent enough time frogging the damn thing! LOL

Now, I'm going to move onto The Phoenix. I've only got a 1/4 left to do and it's done. I hope to finish it in the next couple of weeks. You can see what I've done so far here....
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2849216100101290668rAunWc

Cottage Garden......

2008-11-11T07:21:00.002-06:00

is done!!! I finished it last night just in time for Heroes! The pattern's by Cottage Country Needleworks. It came with the Crescent Colour threads. I stitched it on 28 ct jobelan star sapphire fabric. It was a quick stitch, too! I started it on 11/6.

Now onto the Faith Sampler. I did put in a few stitches in it last night, but not much. I was still recoverning from Sunday's fun :)

Excellent read!!!!

2008-11-10T14:44:00.002-06:00

Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir by http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/945125.Jennette_Fulda">Jennette Fulda

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
What a hilarious woman Jennette is!!! She had me laughing out loud like I haven't laughed at a book in I don't know how long. I know this girl had a long, hard road losing that weight, but she tells it in such a way that you don't feel sorry for her. You're silently cheering her on while tears of laughter are rolling down your face.

Even if you're thin as a rail, I highly recommend it. She teaches life lessons that can be applied in almost any aspect of your life.

One more BoINK update

2008-11-07T07:46:00.002-06:00

Here's the latest update on this MSAL. And, yes TDee, I know I need to finish that first square! LOL But you know me I can procrastinate until the cows come home :)

I started "Country Cottage" by Country Cottage Needleworks last night. And if I'm a good girl about it, I may just be able to finish it this weekend. I dug in my fabric container for the perfect fabric for it and I think I found it. It's a 28 ct jobelan and the color is star sapphire. Very pretty!!

Thank you Linda!!!!

2008-11-06T09:02:00.002-06:00

I got another birthday present from my dear friend, Linda, yesterday. This is the wonderful lady from Iceland who sends me biscornus and pin cushions for my collection.

She sent me this...

http://www.123stitch.com/cgi-bin/itemdetail.pl?item=CCN06
http://www.123stitch.com/cgi-bin/itemdetail.pl?item=CCN02

Honey, I love them!!!! I'll be starting on one of them this weekend for sure!!! LOL

Our country has spoken!!

2008-11-05T10:18:00.004-06:00

What an amazing night last night. There are not enough words to describe what I was feeling when Brian Williams from NBC announced our 44th president shortly after 10 PM. Our country spoke loud and clear! It's so obvious how desperate this country is for change. And I honestly believe that Obama is the man to do it. He will unite this country together. He will shatter those ugly racial walls that have been up for more years than we care to count.

It is time to hold our heads up with pride and know in our hearts and souls that the sweet smell in the air is the smell of change and love for all!

Who's winning???

2008-11-04T16:48:00.001-06:00

Election Day 2008

2008-11-04T12:58:00.002-06:00

No matter who winds up in office today, this election is one to go down in history. For the first time ever, we will either have our first African American president or the first woman vice president.

My only hope is that this day goes smoothly. That no one makes a mockery of this historic day. That people vote for who they think is the right person based on the candidates position on the issues and not because of the color of their skin. This country has lived with this racial cloud too long. We, as a country, must move past the black, brown and white colors of our skin and embrace our differences inside AND out! Otherwise this country will never grow. My greatest fear is that this country will forever be stuck with the filth of the past.

BoINK Update

2008-11-04T07:30:00.002-06:00

Here's my latest update on this MSAL. I'm really enjoying this one. I better since I'm stitching it, huh?? LOL

Great mail day!!!!

2008-11-03T17:16:00.002-06:00

The first pic are birthday presents from Sheila and the second one is from Sandy. These are dear friends from the cross stitch yahoo group I'm in.

Thank you so much, ladies!! I love all my new patterns. Now I just need to find time to stitch it all :)

Weekend update.....

2008-11-03T10:16:00.002-06:00

Well, this past weekend was my birthday weekend and I thorougly enjoyed it. Friday I was having a crappy morning. I had taken the day before off to take my mom to a couple of appointments. So I come to work Friday and my desk is piled high with crap. It looked like I had been gone for a week instead of one freaking day! It took me all morning to take care of it all. Well, Gwen (a sales rep) where I work made me a 3 layer red velvet cake. Can I tell y'all it was to DIE for???? It totally made my day.

Saturday we did the normal Wal Mart shopping. Then it was time for lunch with the family at La Pupuseria. I ordered a cheese pupusa and the steak ranchero. It was so good and I was so full after I finished eating everything on my plate that I had no room for the dessert the owner brought out when he sang Happy Birthday to me! LOL I had a couple of bites of flan and gave the rest to my mom and aunt.

After that I went by my friend's house to enjoy some beautiful porch time. And what made it more special was the fact that I had it all to myself! I almost finished reading "Deadly Night" by Heather Graham. Another friend of mine called while I was hanging on the porch and asked me to come over. She lives not 5 minutes away from where I was so I went over there for a bit. And I hit the mother lode on Jodi Picoult novels! She gave 3 that I hadn't read yet. Nineteen Minutes was one of them and I started reading that last night.

Now yesterday my friend, Mari, was supposed to come over and cook steaks but her baby woke up a bit sick so we nixed the idea. I'm kinda glad we did because it was nice to have the day to myself and stitch all day long. I hadn't done that in awhile. Of course, I had a "crappy" movie day, too! I watched "In A Dark Place" which was pretty dumb and the ending sucked. Then I bought "The Happening" On Demand. Well, can I say that movie royally sucked!!!! I was so ticked!!!! LOL

I did get lots of stitching done on the BoINK SAL. I'll post a pic of my progress so far either tonight or tomorrow.

Birthday 2008

2008-10-29T17:36:00.002-05:00

My birthday this year is starting off with a bang!! This gorgeous biscornu was made for me by one of my dearest friends, TDee. This picture doesn't do it justice though. WE all know that a photographer I'm not :)

And another friend, Colleen, gave me two patterns by Little House Needleworks. One is this one...

http://www.123stitch.com/cgi-bin/itemdetail.pl?item=07-1010

and the other is this one....

http://www.123stitch.com/cgi-bin/itemdetail.pl?item=05-2918

Thank you ladies for such great presents :)

Weekend Update

2008-10-27T07:38:00.002-05:00

It was a gorgeous weekend in the Crescent City!! Beautiful blue, fall skies with great fall temps!! Saturday I got some porch time after work while reading "Dead Sleep" by Greg Iles. Afterwards I went to a party at a friend's house where her brother cooked us a meatless dinner. Did you guess he's a vegetarian?? LOL He made spaghetti w/pesto sauce and roasted tomatoes and garlic. He made some kind of roasted, sliced tomatoes w/mozzarella cheese on top. He also made some kind of soy sausage patties and links which I did NOT like!! Of course, I didn't tell him that. There was also asparagus which I loved. I could've eaten the whole dish of that! LOL

Yesterday was pretty low key for me. I did Wal Mart early in the morning. Then spent the rest of the day stitching. As you can see above, I made progress on the Faith SAL and the Book of Ink Circles MSAL. I also made some cheesy, chicken enchiladas. They turned out good, but next time I make them I need to kick it up a notch. They weren't as spicy as I would've liked. Oh and I'm also finished watching the 1st season of Mad Men. I'm really enjoying this series. I don't know if I could've lived in the 60s, but they sure as hell did have fun w/all the drinking and smoking :)

Angels are Done!!!!

2008-10-22T09:33:00.003-05:00

Another one bites the dust!! I finished it late last night and love the way they turned out. I'm really loving these series of angels in this year's Pattern of the Day calendar.

Today is going to be a GREAT day! Boss lady has got jury duty and I'm stitching away on my Faith SAL. If all goes according to plan, I should be caught up with this one before the day is out :)

I'll be hopefully getting some porch time this afternoon. I've only got 4 pages left to finish "Mercy" by Jodi Picoult. She has quickly become my all time favorite author. Her books are so well written full of emotion and about real issues you don't read about much in fiction. If y'all haven't read her yet, I suggest you do. You'll rant, rave and cry right along with the characters she's so richly created.

Gifts from Linda

2008-10-19T12:12:00.005-05:00

OK........Linda....I finally got around to taking pictures and actually posting them of the beautiful gifts you made me MONTHS ago!! Better late than never, right??

Linda is a dear friend of mine in Iceland that makes me these beautiful biscornus and mattress pincushions. And all I have to do is send her fabric or specialty threads or little odds and ends that I know she can put to good use.

Thank you so much, honey, for my beautiful gifts :)