Giveaways at Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe blog

Nancy at Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe is hosting 2 giveaways.

The first is for one of her Motto Sampler Kits and the second is for an assortment of her beautiful floss.

Here blog is here:

http://victorianmottosamplershoppe.blogspot.com/

A quick finish

I came across this wip (a UFO actually) the other day needing only a little stitching to complete.  Now I remember why I didn't finish it.  The woman's hair was charted with all french knots and I wasn't in the mood to stitch that many.  I picked it up this time thinking I'd sub beads but the ones I have here are too big.  Sooooooo I decided to try just stitching her hair to see if I like it.  I do!  So it's added to the finish column now.  It's called Wee Carolers by Heart in Hand.  I've sung in a choir or sung carols as long as I can remember so this design really appeals to me.

Once I finished this one, I got back to stitching on Shakespeare's Peddler's A Weary World.  I'm really enjoying stitching this sampler.

Our DS comes home today for his Chrismas break so it will start getting a little busier around here.

Christmas Memory

I happened to think of this the other day:  When our youngest DS was in much younger than he is today, he was chosen to play Joseph in our church's Christmas pageant (entitled "The First Leon"--Noel spelled backswards.  I forget the actual story behind the story--I think it was a play about a putting on a children's Christmas pageant-- but it was a cute presentation.  Of course, isn't anything cute that kids this age do?)

Anyway, DS would probably kill me if he knew I was posting this picture but here it is:

As I recall, "Mary" had a little crush on DS which embarassed him immensely.

I look at this picture and it's hard to believe it was so many years ago.  DS is now at least 6'1" and a "sophisticated" HS junior.

An unwelcome visitor at our house, ornaments, and model

The stomach flu has made its rounds at our house.  YUK!  Our son attending college is glad he wasn't around for all the "fun".  We're all on the mend but nobody feels much like eating anything more substantial than soup and jello.  On the plus side, it should be good for avoiding eating too many Christmas treats.

I participated in a small ornament exchange and all the ornaments have been recieved so I can show them now.  First is the one I stitched, a Country Cottage Needleworks design from an older JCS ornament issue:

Here's the ornament I received, a SamSarah design from an older JCS ornament issue.  My friend, Renee, and I are both avid Ohio State fans and she changed some of the colors to scarlet and grey.  Perfect!  She also sent a little purchased OSU snowman ornament (not pictured).

Here's an ornament I stitched for another dear friend.  It's a Prairie Schooler from another older JCS ornament issue (see a theme here?):

Finally, it's such a pleasure to be a model stitcher for both Diane Williams (Little House Needleworks) and her daughter, Nikki Leeman (Country Cottage Needleworks).  Nikki just revealed a recent design for which I stitched the model.  I'm sure it will appeal to many of you.  You can see it on Nikki's blog here:

http://countrycottageneedleworks.blogspot.com/2011/12/in-meadow.html

That's it for this time.  I hope you're all enjoying the holiday season!

Giveawy on this blog:

Nancy at Victoria Motto Sampler Shoppe is having a drawing for some lucious hand dyed floss in Christmas colors.  You can see the details here:

 http://victorianmottosamplershoppe.blogspot.com/2011/12/hand-dyed-floss-give-away-for-christmas.html

Don't faint!

I'm actually updating my blog in a short time from my last entry.

I'm still working on the LHN model.  Hope to finish this weekend. 

I also "finished" 2 ornaments but can't show them until after the recipients recieve them...which will only happen after I take them to the PO to be mailed.  (I'm leaving to do that in a few minutes.)

I CAN show you something, though.  I took a little time off model stitching to start Shakespeare's Peddler "A Weary World", which I'm stitching over 2 with overdyed cottons on Wichelt 32 count lambswool linen.   Not much to show but at least a start.  I'm already enjoying stitching this one.  A sampler....go figure!  :-)

DS was recovering nicely from his minor surgery when he came down with a horrid stomach virus.  He missed 2 days of school, one more than he missed because of his surgery.  He felt well enough to trek to the surgeon's office yesterday afternoon for a wound check.  lol!  2 hours in the car for a 10 minute appointment.  It turned out to be a good thing, though.  He had cabin fever so bad that I think he enjoyed the outing.

On to the Christmas season

We enjoyed our Thanksgiving and now it's on to Christmas.  It took me a while playing with the image (and remembering how to post it to the blog header as well as changing the blog background) but I'm pleased to have posted a pic of my Christmas Village by The Prairie Schooler, on of my favorite things I've stitched.

I'm not much of a shopper.  I enjoy giving gifts but the hardest part for me it figuring out what people want or need;  mailing out complicates the matter too.  I wasn't brave enough to go shopping during the Black Friday weekend.  Besides I read or heard somewhere that it's questionable whether you really save any money that way.  That's my story now and I'm sticking to it.

DS is doing much better in his recovery from his surgery.  When he started complaining about being bored, I figured he'd turned the corner.  Our most recent dilemma was arguing over whether or not he should stick to his lifting restrictions upon his return to school today;  his backpack was twice his lifting weight limit.  Finally he agreed to do it my way, i.e. following doctor's orders.  I think he was actually happy to return to school today.

Yesterday I drove to a stitching buddy's house for a gtg with her and some other stitchers.  I love spending time with this group of women.  I couldn't take the model I'm stitching (top secret) so I started "Weary World" by Shakespeare's Peddler.  That one has been "haunting" me since it's release.  I finally broke down and ordered it and the threads and stitched a bit on it yesterday at the gtg.  It's an old fashioned looking sampler--right up my alley--and I'm already enjoying it.  I doubt that I'll finish it this year but will enjoy stitching it, especially after I finish the model and can devote more time to it.

It cooled down here significantly and today is an offical soup weather day.  I think I'll boil up the turkey carcass and make some turkey soup for dinner tonight.  It's always a plus when I've figured out the menu this early in the day.

Happy Thanksgiving

It's been a day in the kitchen.  I've baked 3 pies (2 pumpkin and 1 pecan), bread in the bread machine, and have a ham in the oven along with some homemade potatoes au gratin.  DS #2 is on his way home from college and since his birthday was last Saturday, we're having a little birthday dinner for him tonight complete with birthday cake and ice cream.

Between tonight and tomorrow's feast, we'll all be growning and holding our stomachs for sure.

Band is over but I've been pretty busy catching up and even had some other band events last Sat. with DS playing with his drumline and marching at the parade in our city's holiday kick-off event followed by chaperoning the band's masquerade party.  (I went as a bag lady, Buc band edition.)

DS #3 had a minor surgery yesterday so we've been home all day today.  He's doing better but not recovering as fast as he'd like (he's wanting to be back to 100%, lol!)  He's starting to get bored being stuck with me at home (always a good sign for someone recuperating from something) so if he feels ok later, I might give him the ok to go spend about an hour (quietly) with some friends tonight.

An observation:  It's amazing how much you can get done at home when you spend all day there...well, not exactly ALL day because I had a couple of quick errands...but ALmost all day.  Maybe I should do that more often.

There will just be 4 of us here for Thanksgiving.  Our DD will be flying to join my parents for Thanksgiving, our oldest DS will be staying in GA but will be enjoying Thanksgiving dinner with friends and then watching the UT/Texas A and M game with some Texas Exes.  Since they'll both be with people and we'll all be together next month, it will be fine.

I hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving spending it with people you love.

Bittersweet time

Marching season has come to a close for another year.  While I welcome my "normal life" back, I'm already missing seeing the kids every day.  What an incredible group of young people!

I'm back to stitching in between trying to get the house back in order and finished a small freebie from The Drawn Thread for a block exchange in one of my groups.

Just checking in

DS's band's last marching contest is this Sat. in San Antonio, TX.  Our last regular season football game is tonight but we have the possiblity of "making" playoffs so there might be at least another game.

After that, my life will be back to "normal" (my version, anyway) and I should be back to having my regular stitching time.  I DID manage to finish a small model for CCN and am working on some ornaments now whenever I have the time and energy.

Also, DS had his Eagle Board of Review and is now offically an Eagle Scout.  We haven't even decided on a date for his Court of Honor let alone start preparing for it.  I'm thinking maybe this spring....

All band all the time

We're in the middle of marching competition season so when I'm not at practice, a game, or a competition, I'm out running band errands.  (I'm in charge of procuring their food and beverages.)  It's exhausting but the kids and directors are great.

Here are a few pics from last Saturday's competition.

Short update

I'm working on a model this week so I can't share about that.

It was another busy week working with DS's marching band.  What a great group of "kids", band directors, and other adult volunteers!

A Finish

I finished LK's Harvest Blessings last night.  Sorry the picture quality isn't that great.  Just in time because I have a new model to  start now.

I'm also working on an ornament for an exchange.

Diane Williams (Little House Needleworks) revealed a model I stitched for her called Autumn Band Sampler.  It was a joy to stitch and I love it so much, I'll have to stitch another for me to keep.  I love how she framed it too.  She previously designed one called Winter Band Sampler that her fans (including me!) love so much that she decided to do a whole series.  I'm anxious to see what she comes up with for Spring and Summer.  Please visit her website at www.littlwhouseneedleworks to see all her beautiful designs.

No football game this week.  I'm very tired so it will nice to have a break.

Remembering.....

Has it really been 10 years since that awful day?  I remember it like it was yesterday. I pray for all those who lost loved ones and for all us Americans whose lives were forever changed.  While we mourn all we have lost, let us learn how to live with one another in peace.

This song keeps running in my head as I watch the remembrances on tv this week:

This is my song, O God of all the nations,
a song of peace for lands afar and mine.
This is my home, the country where my heart is;
here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine;
but other hearts in other lands are beating
with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

(lyrics by Lloyd Stone, Georgia Harkness, music by Jean Sibelius)

A Little Progress

I've had very little stitching time because of  band but did manage to make a little progress on Lizzie Kate's Harvest Blessings.  I'm really enjoying using my new StitchMate stand;  I believe I'm actually stitching a little faster on it than when I'm using Qsnaps (the big ones, anyway).

Previous progress:

The band did very well last night.  They played the first movement and most of the second of their show.  TS (or whatever it's classified as now) Lee slightly lowered our temps and has provided us with an almost steady breeze which really helped.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend.  

Ta-Da!! A Finish

I put the final stitches on LHN's Virtue Sampler on Saturday.  This is my first project mostly stitched on my new StitchMate floor frame.  I can say I've fallen in love with this frame and wonder what took me so long to get one.  lol!

Next up is an older Lizzie Kate...I think it's called Harvest Blessings.  With it so hot, I'm thinking maybe thinking of fall might cool me off.  It's worth a try, anyway.

We had our first football game Friday and the band did well.  The football team won the game too.  GO BUCS!  It was so hot that day that we really worried how the kids would tolerate the heat...esp. since they wore those hot uniforms.  Only a couple had problems but we were able to cool them down.  Today the high will be 104 (I don't even want to know the "feels like" temp today as humid as it is.)  UGH!

Catch up

Things have been pretty busy around here lately.  I volunteer a lot with DS's HS marching band.  We've finished our second week of band camp.  I work with some other wonderful women who support the band by trying to keep the kids hydrated, dispensing bandaids, etc., and generally helping out where needed.  We've been under a heat advisory since the beginning of camp and the kids so far are doing pretty well tolerating the heat.  We moms have been "working out" a lot by lugging cooler after cooler of ice water out to their practice field so they can refill their camelbacks.  This week they started putting some music to their drill, always exciting to see it begin.  Go, Buc Band!!

Yesterday we drove to Austin to move DS into his college apartment.  It's almost a 4 hour drive from here so, as you can imagine, it was a long day.  We discovered in Austin that we'd left part of his futon here at home so we'll be making another trip soon.  At least he can sleep on the mattress on the floor until we can make it back.

On the stitching front, a model I stitched for Nikki at http://www.countrycottageneedleworks.blogspot.com/ and http://www.countrycottageneedleworks.com/  has just been released on her blog so I can finally share it.  I loved this one!  My kitchen has an apple theme and I suspect I'll be stitching this one again for me.  Nikki seems to really be "on a roll" lately with lots of beautiful designs.

My birthday gift from DH this year was a StitchMate needlework stand and it just arrived Friday afternoon.  I think I'm going to love this...and wonder what took me so long to ask for it.  You can read about the stand here:  http://www.cozycottage.com/

I also finished and sent another model out to Nikki this week so I'm back to personal stitching (when I have any time or energy left from band.  I'm working on LHN's (Dianne Williams, Nikki's mother) designed this piece, Virtue Sampler:

I finished the Moonwalking with Einstein book (very interesting) and started another Erik Larson book,  IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS: LOVE, TERROR, AND AN AMERICAN FAMILY IN HITLER'S BERLIN and am finding it very interesting.

Until next time, happy stitching!

Checking in

I'm stitching a model for CCN so I can't talk about what I'm stitching...except to say that I know you'll like it.

My foot is a lot better.  I reached a milestone in the past few days.  I can now tolerate wearing shoes on that foot and even went out yesterday to run errands wearing shoes.  Yes!!!!!  I still have a bit to go to be back to normal (well, my foot, anyway) but I'm pleased with my current progress.

Since I can't talk about stitching, I'll talk a little about reading.  I LOVE reading a good book.  I just finished one, The Devil in the White City  by Erik Larson.  It's about the Chicago World's Fair, the people and the development/building of it, it's "run", some of the developments introduced at this fair (like the Ferris Wheel), and also some side stories about other things going on about that same time including a serial killer.  The author has a great talent for telling the historical story and making it seem like a good novel.  (I was told there's a name for that writing style but the person telling me didn't remember what that name was.  If you know, I'd love for you to tell me.) 

I also read another of his books, Isaac's Storm  about the 1900 Galveston hurricane.  Unfortunately I read it shortly before moving to the Texas Gulf coast.  It scared the bejeebers out of me.  Larson has at least a couple other books out and I plan to look for them.

Someone in my SS class was talking about a book he's reading, Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer which I'm currently reading.   I remembered the title and author without looking it up.  This is significant because the book is about human memory....about the capacity of humans to remember things, how many of us forget things, about how memories are formed and retrieved, and about "mental athletes".  It could be a rather dry subject but the author makes it interesting...at least most of the time.

I love hearig about what others are reading...and recommendations for good books.

Soon both my stitching and reading will be taking a "back seat".  DS's band will be starting band camp the first week of Aug. and since I volunteer with them nearly every day.......  It's very rewarding though and they're a great group of kids  I also enjoy working with the other adults.  I'm just never ready for band to start yet.  lol!

It's been a while

We returned home a few days ago from spending almost 2 weeks "up North" visiting with friends and family.  We missed going back last year so it was great getting to see everyone again.  It was also great to escape the Texas coast heat and humidity for a while.

Unfortunately just before the trip I bashed my (bare) foot against a basket filled with magazines. (My parents didn't name me Grace for a reason.)  I went along my merry way and it started feeling better until I walked all over the airports on the return trip like nothing had happened.  Turns out I dislocated my (and possibly broke it).  For the most part I was doing what I should have (let's not talk about that 2 mile hike in flip flops).  It's a lot better now but I still can't tolerate a shoe.  Hopefully soon.

Timing of the trip was a little complicated since our older children who live in CA and GA didn't have as much time as we did yet both wanted to visit both sides of the family (OH and PA).  We spent a few days with my parents in OH, drove to PA where the kids flew in to meet us (on different days from one another), spent time with DH's side of the family enjoying wonderful Italian food and wine (and s'mores cooked over a fire pit in the back yard).  Then we drove the whole crew back for few more days in OH.

I also got to spend a day in Columbus to visit with my buddy, Renee.  We had so much fun and the day went by way too quickly.

I spent a lot of time enjoying the weather outside with my foot propped up and got to do some stitching too.  Here's some of my progress on:

Beds of Roses:

CCN's Red, White, and Bloom

Hopefully it won't be so long before I post another blog entry.  Happy July, everyone!

Happy Father's Day and catchup

Happy Father's Day!

Sorry for the silence but I've been working on a couple of models.  I finished the second one yesterday so I've started some personal stitching again....put a few more stitches in Beds of Roses, started CCN Red, White, and Bloom, and kitted up a couple of samplers.  (I've been craving starting another sampler lately.)  No pics yet, but hopefully soon.

I've always been rather klutzy.  Yesterday I stubbed my toe pretty badly and it's so swollen that I can't (at least don't dare) put a shoe on.  I'm trying to look at the positive...enforced sitting with my foot elevated so I just "have to" stitch today.  I'm hoping it will recover enough from my am walk tomorrow.

Since I last posted, I got a new phone.  I've joined the ranks of people with smart phones.  Mine's a droid and I'm still learning how to use it.  It's probably one of those things that I don't really need but once I use it a while, I'll figure that I can't live without it.  I think it will come in very handy especially when traveling. 

May Mayhem winding down

End of the School Year activities are winding down.  Saturday I attended Tony's gf's senior piano recital (wonderful!) and Tony's recital the follwoing day.  I'm amazed by the kids' talent but even more blown away that they play these challenging pieces by memory.

I took a few pics of T at the piano after the recital.

I worked the final marching band boot camp Tuesday night and missed the NCIS season finale. Thank goodness for On Demand!

Last night was Band-o-Rama where all the bands from 6th grade through HS play some fun music.  Some of them include costumes and kids (and directors) hamming it up.  T's band played La Cucarrcho;  many of the kids wore Mexican hats, etc., some bug antennae (including T), and the director wore a cockroach costume.  Towards the end of the piece one of the kids chased him and sprayed him with "bug spray" and the director fell on his back and started waving his "legs" in the air as he "died".  Cute!

Other excitement for the week was that we had our roof replaced.  No leaks yet but it's time.  It's hard writing out that check and I can't excitedly tell friends to drive by to admire the new roof but it feels good to have this done, esp. before hurricane season.

Hopefully T finishes up his Eagle project Sat.

On the stitching front, I'm working on a model so not much personal stitching.  I did get a bit done in my Novalee and Beds of Roses pieces.  I'm itching to start CCN's Red, White, and Bloom but I need to finish something first and gather up the materials.

Until next time, Happy Stitching!

I actually stitched some this week!

I'm mostly better from "the plague" or whatever I had.  Now DH has it...but he's starting to feel better already.

This week has flown by...in addition to all the wife and mom stuff, we've been in the process of getting bids to get our roof replaced.  Cha ching!!  We've reroofed before and I have to tell you that you should have a lot more fun showing off your new roof for all that $$ you spend to get it done.  I picked out the color yesterday.  They roofer we chose made a big deal out of suggesting the wife pick it out and told me how beautiful it would be.  I made a slight change but it's going to pretty much match what's up there now....just newer and less faded.  It will be good to have out of the way...esp. before hurricane season starts again.

Speaking of hurricanes, we finally got some rain yesterday.  It had been 2 months so we could use some more.

T and DH continue to work on T's Eagle project.  They're hoping to finish up in a couple more weekends.  We're ALL hoping they do.

In addition this weekend, T's gf has her senior piano recital.  (I think I'll go to this), T has his piano recital (I know I'll go to this) and DS returns home for the summer.

Now for some stitching:  I worked a bit this week on my bap (Village Square Sampler), Beds of Roses, a sal from the Novalee02 blog, and LHN's Liberty and Justice.

Also, Nikki at Country Cottage Needleworks just released a model I stitched for her.  You can see it here:

http://countrycottageneedleworks.blogspot.com/2011/05/button-button.html

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day out there to all the mothers and children of wonderful mothers.

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.  It's been rather busy around here with the end of the school year activities mounting up.  I accompanied my DS's band on their spring trip to Dallas last week.  The kids performed in a concert competition in a wonderful concert hall (smoked the competition).  The hall was gorgeous and the acoustics were fantastic.  In no particular order, we enjoyed dinner and some jousting at Midieval Nights (some of the girls---both teens and moms--swooned over some of the cute knights), dined at Hard Rock Cafe and had a rocking breakfast at House of Blues, toured the JFK (6th Floor) Museum, rode some roller coasters at Six Flags, and had a behind the scenes tour at Cowboy Stadium culminating with the kids being able to play some football and throw frisbees on the field.  Unfortunately one of our kids came down wrong on his ankle so we had an unscheduled visit by the EMS who took him to get checked out.  He's ok and now has quite a story to tell about his experience.

The weekend was cold and rainy and I couldn't yell at the kids for forgetting to pack/wear their jackets b/c guess who forgot to pack hers too.  lol!  Do you know how hard it is to find a hoodie at a TX amusement park?  Slim pickin's!  That's why DS and I have matching hoodies.  Poor kid!  I tried not to hang with him too much with our mother/son hoodies.  He was a good sport, though.  And...since another DS attends UT, these will come in handy another time.

The first band Boot Camp was Tuesday (I work those helping monitor the kids, pass out tyelnol, ice bags, etc. if needed, and directing traffic (so parents don't drive on the portion of the parking lot that serves as the "field".  That same night, our DS was initiated into National Honor Society.



My throat started hurting on the trip and I just couldn't seem to get my energy level back up.  Turns out I had a horrible cold or flu that really knocked me off my feet.  I'm feeling a lot better now but still pretty low-energy.  (I couldn't stitch for most of the week which is a big indication of how bad I felt.)

DS's band banquet was Friday night.  It's so convenient that he can drive himself to things like that now.  It would have been a golden opportunity for DH and me to go out to dinner but I only had an appetite for a bowl of soup.

This weekend DS and DH (and some other friendly Boy Scouts and a Scout dad) have been working on his Eagle project.  He's replacing 2 footbridges (feetbridge?) at a local Bird Observatory.  They ran into a glitch yesterday but have figured it out and got the frame for one of the bridges cemented in this afternoon.  I'd taken pizza over to "the crew" yesterday and lost my reading glasses.  I thought they were just gone but today DS found them for me.  He's joking that finding them is my mother's day gift.  Speaking of gifts....I've been offered a smart phone if I want it.  Since it's not really a necessity, I'm mulling over if I really want the extra montlhy fee on our phone plan...but I'm leaning towards getting it.

I've been stitching a bit the last couple of days...working more on my bap sampler and also started a seasonal sal piece where you get the next part by emailing a pic of the finished part to the designer.  I also started a sampler called Bed of Roses which is monochrome.  I'm using GAST Faded Roses for that one.

DS #2 has finals this coming week at college (and has a cold, darn it).  Potentially he could be home for the summer by next Sunday.  (Which means I have to clean my stuff out of his room this week.)

I hope to get time soon to "redecorate" my blog and maybe post some stitching progress pics.