Happy, Happy, Happy

OK.  I'll readily admit that one of my guilty little pleasures is watching Duck Dynasty and you can see by today's title that it's rubbing off on me just a bit.  I won't get too worried about it until I start dressing in camo.

Yesterday was my birthday and was a whole lot more fun that last year's (when we took our DS to Houston for hand surgery after he broke a bone in his hand).  DH arranged to take the day off work and planned for us to take a tour of a winery not too far from here.  DS decided to come along with us.  (He's been making a point of spending some quality time with us before he leaves for college.  Sweet kid!)

We've been to wineries in Sonoma Valley, CA and, while this winery was not like their's yet, it was very nice.  It's only been in commercial operation since 2001.  The wine we tasted was great and a few bottles came home with us.

Haak Winery

We had lunch at Olive Garden, browsed in Barnes and Noble (I bought the JCS Annual Halloween special issue), and went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond where we finally bought a nice knife set (our mutual anniversary gift for this year.  My sister thinks there's a funny story in there somewhere about a knife set for an anniversary gift.) and a few more things for DS's dorm room.  I picked up the mail when we got back in town and found a gift from my DD, a cookbook.  I also heard from lots of FB friends, my parents, siblings, and our other 3 children.

We were too full from our late lunch for much of a dinner but we really enjoyed the intensely chocolate cake DH baked the night before.  He also whipped up some homemade whipped cream.  Believe it or not the recipe came from Cooking Light.  Yum!

I share my birthday with my cousin (who just turned 40...I won't say how old I am, lol!) and I found out today that one of DS's best friend's mother also shares my birthday.

Band camp starts Monday.  The band director mentioned to the mom that took over my volunteer job that I'll probably show up at some practices to help them.  lol!  He's right although I hope to taper off after they all get the hang of it.  He knows I'm "hooked" and really believe in what the band program does with their students.  As I've said often...the music is wonderful but it's such a small part of what band is for the kids. So...part of me is a little sad that we're finished but another part is looking forward to all the things I can do since I won't be spending all that time there during marching season.

I also stitched a bit this week.

The beginnings of LHN's My Dwelling Place.  (My friend, Renee, and I will be stitching this together.)

CHS 2000 Christmas Sampler

Hinzeit's Sweet Land of Liberty (It's been a neglected wip/ufo but some people on mb were talking about it lately and inspired me to get it out to stitch on a bit.

I also have a couple of finishes.   First off is LHN's Blessed Are the Pure in Heart.  I converted the CC's called for to DMC bc this is a donation for a quilt and they didn't want any overdyes.  I'm pleased with how this came out and heard yesterday that it was received by the quilt organizer.

This little one is a freebie by Cherrywood Designs.  I'd had it kitted up for a while and finally got to it.  It was a fun little stitch and I finished it up the day I started.  It will either be a pincushion or a pinkeep.

Thank you for looking and for the nice comments you leave.

Happy Stitching!

Stitching and a Wedding

I finished my version of CCN's Surfside Cottage.  I say my version bc I decided to leave off the bottom row of flowers so it will fit into a square frame.  I knew the minute I saw this design released that I was fated to stitch it.  The beach near here is named Surfside Beach.  I found a piece of solo Silkweaver's fabric for this one and I really enjoyed stitching it.  The only way I could have enjoyed stitching it more would have been renting a beach cottage and stitching it there.

It turns out that my good buddy, Renee, was stitching hers at the same time....an accidental stitchalong.  What fun!

Now if only I can find the perfect frame that doesn't break the bank.

DS's best friend's wedding was last Saturday;  DS was best man.  What a joyful and beautiful wedding!  I only have one complaint:  it make me feel so old seeing "kids" this age get married and also DS's and the groom's mutual friends, many of whom I had in band and also as house guests, becoming adults.  How could this have happened so fast?!  Seriously, it was nice to catch up with them and really nice hearing about their successes.

DS is sometimes a goofball but he took his best man duties very seriously.  He was practically joined at the hip with the groom for the days leading up to the wedding, was the designated (sober) driver during celebrations, etc.

He even caught the garter----twice!  He threw it back the first time.  I asked him the next day if he knew what it meant and he said that's why he threw it back the first time.  lol!

A few pictures:

Happy stitching!

Back again....a small Halloween finish

I was just waiting for buttons arrived before finishing 2 of these.  The buttons arrived yesterday.  One is for a block exchange and the other is for me.  I used a piece of unknown fabric from my stash, some of the recommended colors and changed some, using close matches from my stash to keep from having to order more overdyes.  I don't always use buttons but felt this one needed them.

It's in the Sept./Oct. 2010 JCS issue and the designer is Val's Stuff.

Happy stitching!

This week

I always go into summer expecting it to be less hectic...and almost every year I'm proven wrong.

I've been keeping up with my regular morning walks despite the oppressive heat and humidity.  (You know you're in SE TX when the weather guy on the radio says it will "cool off" to the low-mid 90's next week.)

This week started out with my going to the DPS to get my driver's license renewed.  There's an option to renew by mail or online but they sent a letter to me saying I had to go in person this year.  Ugh!  I waited in line >1 1/2 hours to do 5 minutes worth of "business". Ugh!  (I said that already, didn't I?)  At least it's over and I probably won't have to do this in person again until 10 more years....unless we move before then.

Tuesday and Wednesday I had some medical tests done.  Results on both were good, as expected and I won't have to have them redone for a few more years.

Tomorrow, is DS's (#2--the 22 yo) best friend's wedding and DS is serving as best man.  We're all invited to the wedding.  With graduation and our recent trip, this week was the first chance for me to go wedding shopping.  I bought several items for their kitchen from their gift registry.  It was fun shopping for the stuff...and knowing exactly what they wanted including what color.

I DID manage to get some stitching done.  I finished the last little bits of CCN's Red, White, and Bloom:

I've been trying to find CHS' 2000 Christmas Sampler for some time now and someone graciously loaned it to me.  After unsuccessfully trying to stitch it on black linen (can't see it!), I bought some aida and it's working out a lot better:

The minute I saw Nikki's (CCN) design Surfside Cottage, I know I had to stitch it.  You see, the beach near here is called Surfside Beach.  What would REALLY be cool would be to rent a beach cottage and stitch it there..esp. if my stitching, beach-loving buddy from OH could come down to join me.  I can dream!

I was looking around for fabric for this and found this "solo" piece from Silkweavers.  It's not exactly the same shade of blue as the model but I really like how it's looking.

One thing I forgot to mention last week was that I decided to sample a deep fried Oreo at Red, White, and Boom.  I was really expecting it to be "gross" but, to my dismay, I LIKED it.  Luckily there were a lot of us there and I only had one, sharing the rest.

Happy stitching!

I'm still here

My poor, little blog has been neglected as of late.

So has my stitching.... but for a good reason.  We spent about a week traveling "back home", visiting family and friends and attending my 40 year class reunion.  (Can we REALLY be that old?!)

I hadn't been to a reunion in a long time so it was great reconnecting with people.

In addition to visiting my parents, my sister and her kids (who live in HI) were visiting at the same time.

We also spent an afternoon at what used to be my late Grandparents' farm (currently owned by my aunt and uncle).  It's a second home for them and they've been making lots of changes.  That day the project was building an arbor so my dad and DH helped my uncle.

Next it was on to Pittsburgh to visit with DH's family.  His sister and her DH sure fed us well.  We also got to visit with another of DH's sisters, their cousin, and DH's mother.

I'm allergic to my SIL's cats so spent a good time on her porch one day (enjoying their beautiful weather!).  While I was working on CCN's Red, White, and Bloom, I remembered that I was working on that one the last time we visited there 2 years ago.  lol!  I guess I should finish that one before our next visit which is very possible since I just have some little, piddly things to finish on this one.  It's a terrible picture...the fabric is really a light tan/brown color.

Next, it was back to Columbus, OH where we visited with a good friend and her family, watching Red, White, and Boom at her DH's work building downtown.  We were so close that some of the cardboard from the fireworks rained down on us.  So much fun!  We stayed afterwards in the lobby while the traffic had a chance to die down before going back to the airport motel.

After flying home to Texas, we watched fireworks again here on July 4th, then went to a going away party the next night.  We were quite the party animals for a few days.

We also rented and watched 2 Halle Berry movies since coming home, The Call (loved it) and Cloud Atlas (strange---didn't love it).

'Til next time!

Happy Stitching!