Update on Love is Reflected

I'm quite sure this will not be done tomorrow, so I thought I would update now. (Besides I wanted 88 posts in 2008 and this is no. 88 so my last post for the year). I've had to do a lot of frogging on this piece but in end will be cute. I really am enjoying the piece. I have to figure out what I will do next but sort of think I will either go back to The Caretaker, or do another Love Quilts piece or start my great nieces birth sampler.

I'm so frustrated. I ordered 4 pattern books and they came yesterday. One was for a RAK and I laid it down. I went to get it 5 minutes later and still cannot find it! I am claming the couch ate it r the cat ran off with it! It's one of those mysteries. I hope it shows up!

This Friday we are having our family Christmas. It was really the only time we could do it and then it's going to be tight for some people as they have to work that day, or leave that night for work the next day. One isn't going to be able to make it because of work. The rest are out of state.

How many of you have stitching goals for 2009? I have some:
1) To finish what I start (no UF0 start)
2) To do a Thomas Kinkaide picture
3) To do a Majolein Bastian piece
4) Work more on The Caretaker
5) Do some family stitching (birth samplers and wedding sampler)
6) To stitch one Ornament a month
7) To do at least 7 pieces for Love Quilts
Is this ambitious? I hope it's realistic. We'll see how I do.

I hope you all have a Happy New Year and a great 2009. See you next year. Until then Happy Stitching!

Precious Moments Start

I hope you all had a nice Christmas. I just went to my parents house with my brother and sister-in-law for a few hours. We unwrapped gifts, then visited and came home. We didn't have a big Christmas dinner. We were going to but just didn't. It was nice and quiet and enjoyable.

Thank you for all the comments to Bethlehem. I really appreciated them. I love getting comments to my blog, especially from other stitchers, I often go to the different blogs and think, "oh they do such great stitching!" and feel jealous as I see all the errors in my stitching.

I started this cute piece the other day and is going good. It's been a while since I've done a Precious Moments piece and when I saw there was a little girl at Love Quilts who wanted Princess's as her quilt theme and it was due Feb. 1, I thought I would sign up and do this one. It'll be done in plenty of time. For some reason we just aren't getting the signups we once did at Love Quilts.

Today is a descent day right now. I may go out and walk Autumn (my brother's dog) in about an hour. I miss walking her but it's been so cold and nasty.

Well, until next time Happy Stitching!

Bethlehem is finished

I finished Bethlehem about an hour ago. It was fun to stitch but I am happy to have it finished. I did it on 14 count Oppascent material using Gentle Arts Lavender Potpori. I think the picture shows it darker than what it actually is.
Now I have gotten out a Precious Moments Princess to do for a little girl at Love Quilts.

We have been hit by the winter storms. Right now we have almost 2 feet of snow on the ground if not two feet. We are suppose to get hit by another storm tomorrow. Today is a break. That is if you call Lake Effect snow a break! It isn't snowing right now though, it's more off and on. At least we still have power. It's suppose to warm up after Christmas but this weekend is suppose to be sleet and snow. Deal with it then I guess. Yesterday just about all the churches were not meeting (ours was one of them). Also it was so bad yesterday in our county they pulled the snowplows off the roads for a while anyway. We are going to have a White Christmas! We have enough snow this year to make up for the last 2 years of little snow.

Until next time Happy Stitching!

Almost finished and Winter Storm

I'm almost done with Bethlehem. I'm anxious to get it done. I love doing it but just monotonous in parts.

We are getting hit by another winter storm. This is the first of 3 storms to hit us between now and Tues. Guess we are being guaranteed of a White Christmas. I really thought the storm was missing us as I woke up at 6 and it didn't look like it was here but it was blowing a lot. Now it's well underway. Glad my sister beat the storm and arrived safely yesterday. She will probably go home tomorrow to beat the next storm. Although the next one doesn't sound like it will be as bad as this one it's just the add on that's bad. We are expected to get 6-10 inches of fresh snow from this storm. Not as much as first forecasted but areas south and east of us will get more and some will get ice too. Not nice today hopefully it'll clear out by the SS class party tonight.

Today I'm going to my parents where my sister and I are going to do some Christmas baking and play games with mom. Yesterday we finished off our Christmas shopping before the storm hit. Nice to have it done.

Well, until next time Happy Stitching!

Update on Bethlehem

I have gotten quite a bit further on Bethlehem. It's moving along fast now that the middle section is done.

Saturday we had Johnny's birthday party. It was fun and noisy. I think there was something like 10 children there all under 10. Most of them were Johnny's cousins on his dad's side. He got some nice toys. His cake was so cute. Melissa made it as a dump truck and then John frosted it. They had a picture of Johnny right in the window to make it look like he was driving. All the hours put into the cake and how fast it disappeared! LOL! We had a taco dinner which was soooooo good!

Today is terrible outside! My dad and I were going to go to a funeral and we probably should have gone but with it so nasty out we didn't want dad to be be out in this let alone drive! I'm sure the two daughters understood. As far as the weather goes, it sounds lik we are guaranteed a White Christmas as there is a lot of snow and cold in the forecast. I haven't been walking Autumn because of the nasty weather lately and I miss her. I'm going to try to get over to my brother's just to see her. He only lives on the opposite end of the sidewalk of me which is maybe a whole block by taking the sidewalk 2 or 3 blocks going the other way.

Well, until next time Happy Stitching!

Bethlehem is underway

Not sure why the picture is so dark unless it's because it's still dark outside, but I scanned it so it shouldn't have made a difference. This is my progress after about 24 hours of stitching. I really am enjoying these pieces, but I think this is the last of these I'll do for a while. I had thought I might do 3 Kings this year but think I will wait until next year. Besides I don't have the material I want to do it on. I did Winter Silhouette and this piece on Oppascent material and want to use that for 3 kings too. I am using Lavender Potpori by Gentle Arts as the thread.

There was a big celebration in our town last night. I didn't go and am not much of football fall but 4 of our High School Teams won the State Championships a couple of weeks ago so the city held a big celebration for them last night. They said it had never happened anywhere before and might not again so the officials held a big party for them. Nice and exciting for the kids. By the news it was a huge turnout.

Today is going to be another messy day. We had a foot of snow fall on Sat. alone on top of what we already had and it snowed Sunday. Yesterday was so nice I got to walk my brother's dog, and she enjoyed it. She wouldn't go in the snow over her head so we just walked on the sidewalks as they were plowed and shoveled. Now today we could get up to another foot of snow by the time this storm ends tomorrow. South of us is suppose to get ice. I'll take the snow over the ice.

Tis the season for birthdays and anniversaries in our family. Between the 11th and 24th we have 9 birthdays and anniversaries. If our grandfather and an aunt were alive there would be 11. Plus if you count my second mom who since died, the day my first cat died, the day I got Whiskers, and the day I broke my ankle that would be 14events all in that short time. I can't believe Johnny will be two Thursday and that I will have Whiskers 16 years on the 17th. Time flies so fast. Sat. we are having a party for Johnny.

There are a number of Christmas parties to go to in the coming days too. So it's a busy time of year for everyone. This season seems to be busier then ever. Oh an update on my mom and brother. My mom is doing okay yesterday she got out of the house for the first time in a while. She still has a problem with falling easily. My brother we found out it was a severe sinus infection causing his problems and is doing better now.

Well until next time Happy Stitching!

Snow Ho Ho is Finished

I loved doing this piece. It was so much fun. I did this as a SAL with Dawn (Tea Time) but she left me in the dust. She finished her's last week. I'm not much for Santa's but this one caught my eye and I had to do it. He has a frosty secret! Since we have so much snow on the ground this was very timely!

Well- until next time Happy Stitching.

One more finish

Thankfulness is now finished. I should be finished with Snow Ho Ho tomorrow, that is if I get enough done on it today. Then I can start Bethlehem. I think I told you I decided to do it in lavender and do The Three Kings in dark blue. I don't know if the Theree Kings will be done this year or next. Depends on how Bethlehem goes.

We got hit with a snowstorm so now I'm thinking "White Christmas". We had about 5 inches fall overnight. So not too bad.

Yesterday my dad took mom to ER as her hip was giving her so much pain. She fell 2 or 3 weeks ago and broke her pelvis bone. At the time her hip wasn't hurting. Fortunately it turned out to be muscle spasms. We are so thankful her hip wasn't broken. She's been through so much through the years. We are also concearned about my brother as he falls down a lot and really his muscles seem to be weak. He had a MRI last week and hopefully will know the results today or tomorrow. I just hope it's not real serious, maybe some new medication. Last week they stayed at my parents house 3 nights as Tim was too weak to climb the steps. Sat. he did go home and made the steps alright but is staying up there. Not going down the steps unless he has too.

I can't believe this is Dec. already. We have something like 11 birthdays and anniversaries between Dec. 11 and 24! I'm not kidding! So it's a big month.

Well, until next time (hopefully tomorrow) Happy Stitching!

One last update

Hopefully I will have this done Monday or Tuesday!

How was everyone's Thanksgiving. I went to my brother and sister-in-law's with my parents. We had a delicious meal and enoyed my brother's family. I learned how to play Settlers and like that game. I love games that make you think. I actually won but my niece, Melissa guided me through it. I want to play the game again, it was fun. Especially winning the first time I played it!

Did anyone venture out to the stores yesterday? There was no way I was going to! I have most of my Christmas shopping done anyway. My niece did go out and got a few presents for Johnny and Ashton from my mom. My sister's is getting Addie's for her. Not sure when we are going to have our family Christmas. This year is going to be a little more difficult than usual to get work schedules together.

Hopefully Monday or Tuesday this piece and Thankfulness will be done. Then I can start on Bethlehem. Because I want to do the 3 Kings in dark blue I'll do Bethlehem in purple.

Well-until next time Happy Stitching!

More Progress on Snow Ho Ho

I stitched on this piece quite a bit this past week and have gotten quite a bit further. The beard is sort of monotonous because of the boring colors but it's going good. I love working on this piece.

I just got back from my parents house. Because mom falls so easy dad doesn't like to leave her alone too long. Before long I'll go and walk my brother's dog and see if he's doing any better. For some reason lately he is also falling down very easily and just is confused sometimes. He's having a MRI later on today to see what is going on. He is not a drinker so we know alcohol isn't the problem.

Anyone have plans for Thanksgiving. I'm going to my brother's house. Can't wait, I get to see baby Johnny. l Did I say baby? He's going to be 2 next month. Can you believe that! He's getting into all the mischief he can and keeps his mother on her toes!

I hope to finish off the Thanksfulness piece and post it tomorrow. It's been a while since I've had a finish!

Well...until next time....Happy Stitching!

A couple of updates

This past week I've stitched some on both Thankfulness and Snow Ho Ho. Thankfulness probably will be done early next week if not before. I have a busy weekend coming up so don't know how much stitching will be done on either piece.
I will admit the beard on Snow Ho Ho is driving me a little crazy but it's okay. It's such a cute piece.

Tonight the Conferace starts at church for the weekend. We've heard about it for 7 months now. Last week it looked like hardly anyone was coming but this week the registrations have picked up quite abit. I'm working at the registration table. We are hoping we don't get too much snow as people are coming in from all over. The worship leader is coming in from IL, and a missionary is coming in from TN.

We have received some snow but not as bad as south of us. More is coming in they say.

Well, until next time Happy Stitching!

Update on Snow Ho Ho

For not having that much time to stitch I have made quite a bit of progress. It really is going very well for me and I love stitching it. Surprising as I'm not too into Santa's but this one caught my eye and I had wanted to do it for a long time. Dawn Have I come close to catching up to you yet? Dawn and I are doing this as a SAL.

My sister was in town for a couple of days. We did some shopping, of course, but we mostly played Mexican Dominoes and Push Rummy with mom, and talked. Mom and I lost real bad twice and each one one game. Kay won one game.

Tomorrow is our annual Harvest dinner at church. The food is always great. I will come home stuffed as usual and probably eat way to much. That time of the year where we have lots of get togethers. I don't know about you but I have something to go to every Sat. in December.

Next weekend is the first annual Equipping conferance at our church. I do hope we have a descent turn out for it. The one in Grand Rapids we go to in March is huge, this one will be very small compared to that. But I'm looking forward to it. I'm going to be working at the reception desk.

It is the realities of November now. Our weather is quite dreary and quite cold! Snow is in the forecast. Brrrrrrr......
Well, until next time Happy Stitching!

Another new start

I started Snow Ho Ho the other day. I have some more frogging to do but it is coming along. I haven't had a whole lot of time to stitch on it I had hoped to stitch more on it today, and I will stitch some. I sort of came down with the flu and today is not one of my better days. I get up for a little while then lay back down. I feel like someone zapped me of all my energy and my stomach is upset. But I think the worse is over.

I am doing this piece as a SAL with Dawn (Tea Time). She is giving me a week's head start since she worked on hers a week earlier. The Caretaker has been laid down until Jan. Thankfulness is still being worked on a little at a time.

It looks like our nice 60 and 70 degre weather has left us for awhile. We've had some snow and it's suppose to stay cold through next week. Oh well....It is Nov. I just hope the weekend of 21 and 22 are descent. We are having a conferance at our church and after so many months of planning we are hoping for a good turn out.

I got tagged by Meari (Meari's Musings) to say 6 things about myself. So here they are:

1. I love to Cross Stitch
2. I love animals, but Cats are my favorites
3. I do not like Steak and I do not like Ice Cream
4. I am afraid to ride on elevators.
5. I hate to read. But I am currently reading through the Bible. This is my second time. Only this time I'm going slower and taking notes and journaling it.
6. I am very active in our church.

Now as far as tagging 5 other people, I have to think on that one as several of you have been tagged.

Well, I'm going to go lay back down. I'll post more in a few days when I feel better. Until next time.....Happy Stitching.

Update on Thankfulness

Well it is moving along. I can't wait to finish it. This one isn't going as well as Winter Silhouette went but it's still fun to stitch.

Our Indian Summer has left us now. It is back to realities of November. Yesterday was 70's today it might hit 50's. They are even using the S word for the weekend.

Where has this year gone? Already it's November. I did get some Christmas Shopping done on Wed. with my sister-in-law, Beth. Our parents and the three little ones (Ashton, Johnny and Addie) are all taken care of. Even got Johnny's birthday present.

We had Trunk or Treat last Friday. We are a fairly small church so only had about 12 cars but everyone seemed to enjoy it. I was inside doing the apple cider and donuts. It was interesting hearing some of the older kids say "We had Awanna or Adventure Club down here." Not a whole lot of people came inside but since I was basically alone there was enough. My niece, Tabbi brought Ashton and Kaylee, and Mackenzie down. Plus Ashton's dad's family all came down. I felt bad as it was a busy time for me so I didn't get to talk with them much.

Now it's time to think about Thanksgiving which our plans are made already. We're going to my brother, Kevin's house.

As far as The Caretaker goes, I did a little on it. But I may be laying it down now until Jan. Maybe I'll pick it up a little next week. I'm anxious to get some Christmas pieces going. There are 4 I would like to do this year. Usually I only do one or two.

Progress on Thankfulness

I've made some progress on Thankfulness. I'm working on it today, tomorrow and Wed. I had to wash The Caretaker today as I got jelly on it plus it was getting dirty so thought now would be a good time to wash it. I'd like to finish the page I'm working on then I'll lay it down until Jan. and do some Christmas stuff like Bethlehem and Snow Ho Ho. I'm doing Snow Ho Ho as a SAL with Dawn (Tea Time) I said I'd start mine the middle of November.

Today we took Autumn to the Vet to get her yearly shots and some flea treatment. She was out in the country last week and got fleas from another dog come to turn out the Vet said she was allergic to fleas so she's taking Benadryl now. She's not going back to the country for a little whle. (That's where Wendy lives and Tim often takes her when he goes to Wendy's to visit.)

Sat. I went to a craft fair with some friends from church. I found a pink mini blanket with a lamb for it I got either for Addie or for the baby to come in Feb., a book for Ashton, and a candle made out of stones from Lake Superior for our SS class exchange gift at Christmas. I was happy with it. While there I some friends from the church I had gone to when I lived in Grand Rapids had a booth, so I got to talk to them a little bit. I hadn't seen them in 15 years so it was good to see them again. I bought the candle from them. We were going to go to another craft fair in Grand Haven next month. The other 2 can go, I already know I can't go. I'm going to another Christmas party that day. Oh yes, getting to that time of year!

Wed. my sister-in-law and I are going Christmas shopping. I'll pick up a few more gifts then.

I am so glad that tomorrow is voting day finally. I am so sick of all the TV adds. I already voted by absentee anyway.

Well, until next time Happy Stitching!

Happy Halloween!

Isn't this kitty scary? LOL! I didn't do a Halloween piece this year, I chose to to major on The Caretaker, so went back to a piece I did a few years ago. This piece has since been given away.

Our apartment complex doesn't allow Trick or Treating so I'm going over to our church where we are having Trunk or Treat. I talked Tim and Wendy into doing it too. They'll hand out our candy, I'll be inside the church serving Apple Cider and Donuts to those who come inside. We did Trunk or Treat last year for the first time and the neighbors loved it. Several called or stopped by to ask if we were doing it again this year. I hope the members show up. Our people usually come through but a lot of them have Trick or Treaters go to their homes so they have to be there too. We'll see. I know we'll have at least 10 cars. We really aren't that big of a church. Several people donated candy and apple cider and donuts so we are all set there.

I haven't made much progress on The Caretaker or Thankfulness so I'll wait a couple of days to post updates on those.

Well, until next time Happy Stitching.

A New Start and Progress on The Caretaker

I started a new piece yesterday. It's Thankfulness by Diane Arthur of Imaginating. I am using Gentle Arts Burnt Orange Floss for it. I really like doing these pieces.


Things have slowed down on The Caretaker mostly because the page has an awful lot of confetti stitching on it. Much more than any previous page. As you can see I am not far from done on that page but believe me it will be next week before it's done. I'll probably have half of page 13 done by time this page is done. I'm anxious to get to page 13 as it will get much more of the elk on it. This is progress after 400 hours of stitching on it.

I am happy to report Whiskers is doing very well now. He got the last of his meds last night. Believe me today I gave him his treat and he woofed it down it probably tasted much better to him! LOL! He's been spending a lot of time on my lap being petted and I love that time with him. I think he wants to know he is more important than my stitching and he is.

We've had a cool and windy few days. We've had snow, and we've had thunderstorms! Think it took care of a lot of the trees! Oh well, they were getting so pretty. I just love the fall season.

Well, until next time Happy Stitching!

Stealing Oats is Finished!

Boy! Am I glad to have this done. In the end it annoyed me as I made so many stupid mistakes due to lack of concentration and had to improvise quite a bit. Plus I couldn't use the beads that came in the charm pack as my needles were not small enough so I just did french knots. It is a cute piece though and maybe a few years from now I'll redo it.

Now it's back to The Caretaker. I would like to get the page I'm on and the page with more of the elk finished before laying it down for a while. We'll see. The page I'm on has an awful lot of confetti stitching which really slows it down a whole lot.

I had planned to do Harvest Blessings and Harvest and a Halloween piece in Oct. and Nov. I don't know what I did with those three patterns. They are here somewhere! I'll probably find them in Dec. Too late then. So I got out Yesteryear to do when I need a break from the Caretaker next time.

Well, until nex time-Happy Stitching!

Stealing the Oats

I'm taking a break from The Caretaker to finish this piece and maybe do a small Halloween piece (if I find a cute small one). I should be done with this piece tomorrow morning sometime.
I did make a mistake though. I made the horse longer than what he should have been. I didn't see on the directions tht 2 stitches were repeated on the second page. Oh well....He still looks fine to me. I'm not sure what I'm doing with him yet anyway. You can see the kitten is just coming in. This piece is so cute.
Last Sunday night I got the shock of my life. I went to my mailbox at church and found an enveloped with my name marked "Food Pantry." It had a really nice note and I expected to find maybe $20 but I saw the first $100 bill and I was shocked and went to my dad and said "Dad they gave me $100 then I looked further there was several $100! Needless to say that money got turned over and now is in the bank for the Food Pantry. Plus so much food came in. I think we are going to go with Love Inc. now and let them send a couple of people a month to start and go from there. (Oh I need to call them don't I?)
An update on Whiskers here, He is doing fine. Monday was a rough day in that I couldn't get him to eat to take his med in the morning. Finally late that afternoon he ate and he's been good about taking his med ever since. I finally just said if he misses a pill I won't worry about it as he is doing well. He is almost to the end of his medication now.
Yesterday I went on a color tour with a group from church. There was quite a bit of color in spots but not quite to the peak yet. It still was a pretty trip. Then we ate a restaurant up in Grant. We went through a part of Hesperia which brought back a lot of memories for a couple of us. Mary grew up there and my grandparents lived there. We went close to the big hill they lived at the top of. Then went through some other small towns before reaching Grant. Nothing much changes up there which was nice.
Now we're all getting ready for Halloween. Trick or Treating isn't allowed in our Apt. Complex but our church is having Trunk or Treat so I'm going to be doing that only inside the church serving donuts and Apple Cider to any Trick or Treater that comes in. Trunk or Treat is where cars are lined up in the church parking lot and treats are handed out as the kids go to each car. We did it last year and the neighborhood loved it. The church had several people call and ask if we were doing it again. They finally had me put it on the sign.
Well, until next time Happy Stitching!

Quick update on Whiskers

Last night, my cat, Whiskers who is now 16, got sick twice during the night. Then when we got up this morning he just wasn't himself. He went over to his water and meowed and meowed and meowed like he was really hurting, wanted to drink but couldn't. Finally he did drink but got sick right afterwards. So I called my brother and asked him to take us to the Vet. I was in tears so afraid I'd have to put him down. Because he was so upset at the Vet and he attacked me really good the Vet felt she better put him under to run blood tests on him. It turned out he has a Bladder Infection, just the beginning of one. So I have to give him pills the next 10 days twice a day. I just hope he takes them. I hope he doesn't get more in the future. I am not going to my sister's now. I would really be upset if I went and he got worse and to take him with me would be a problem. My sister isn't happy about that but she'll get over it. Here's a picture of my little sweetheart. It's been over a year since I posted one of him.

Sunday, Oct. 19. I am happy to say Whiskers is doing much, much better. I finally walked up to the store yesterday and got his very favorite treats, (Fancy Feast) and gave him a little, he devoured it. Later ate some of his regular food. Last night I put his pill in some more treats and he ate it. Sat. he even jumped up on my bed a little rather than lay in the corner like he was. He even woke me up at 6:30 am this moning first time in days he's done that, and he asked for some treats (he hadn't done that in a few days), watched me crush the pill and put it in his food, he still ate it. I'm a very Happy Camper! Thank you for your thoughts, well wishes, and prayers for him. He's going to be fine.