Busy Stitching

The model arrived safely to the designer.  That's always such a good feeling.

I stitched this house from Blackbird Designs' "In Full Glory" for a designer-themed block exchange for one of my groups.  (Next designer will be Lizzie Kate.)

I'm also making progress on Hetty Child:

......and here is  "Hoo Hoo" from one of the JCS ornament issues.  (I'm stitching from a working copy and misplaced the mag while decluttering earlier this week for a out of town friend's visit.)  This one if for an owl-themed block for the Halloween Ornament sal blog.  Almost finished!

As I mentioned, a friend we knew from our Michigan days was in town for work so we went out to dinner with him and then brought him here for some apple pie and Blue Bell ice cream.  It was great seeing him again;  none of us could remember the last time we saw each other.  Forgot to take any pictures.

You may remember the story about my friend's son who likes to fish on our lake.  After his last catch, he was able to report that he has 14 pounds of catfish (cleaned).  He's invited us to a fish fry this weekend.  I think I'll make some lemon bars to take.  (I don't like to eat fist so this will be interesting.)

After raining all day last Saturday causing the lake level to rise above our dock and onto the concrete bunker, we've had some beautiful spring days.  Except for part of yesterday when a brief thunderstorm came through.  This weekend is supposed to be beautiful too.

I'm reading another Longmire book.  I'm almost finished with the series and will miss Walt when I'm done.

Happy stitching!

Friday Update....Stitching, Cooking, etc.

Happy Friday, everyone!

I finished and mailed the model I'd been working on.  It's always a good feeling to get to this point.  Then I hold my breath until it reaches its destination.  I enjoy model stitching; it's like being in on a surprise.  How fun it is when the model is released by the designer!

While putting away threads and looking through my wips pile, I found a piece that only needed a few more stitches and a button so I finished Homespun Elegance's "Fall House Sampler".  I'm not sure why I put it down with so little needed to finish but there must have been a reason.

Warning:  I've been too busy (and too lazy) to press out anything for the pictures today.

Next up...a selection from Blackbird Design's "In Full Glory" that I'm stitching for a block exchange.  I haven't decided yet just how much I'll stitch of this design.  It might turn out to only be the house.

Next is Hoo Hoo from one of the JCS Halloween issues for an owl-themed Halloween ornament sal:

Last but not least, I stitched some more on my Hetty Child sampler (Brenda Keyes):

I did a bit of baking since last posting, an apple pie for Pi Day and some chocolate chip cookies for DS who's been home this week on spring break.  For St. Pat's Day, I made some corned beef with potatoes, onions, and some roasted cabbage from a Pioneer Woman recipe.  I tried making some soda bread "farls" but wasn't happy with them.  It's basically a buttermilk biscuit dough that's fried in a cast iron pan.  If I'd do it again, I'd just cut the biscuits in circles and bake them off.  For dessert, DS wanted those store-bought iced, soft sugar cookies but I also made parfaits from slightly sweetened Greek yogurt topped with fresh blueberries and blackberries.

What I really like about the St. Pat's Day dinner is making the Reuben sandwich with leftovers the next day.  Some years there hasn't been leftover corned beef but I lucked out this year.

Later today I'll be baking a banana cream pie (an early birthday treat for DH) and another batch of cookies for DS to take back to college tomorrow.

Spring has sprung here.  I always say when you start seeing those lizards on your windows here in Texas, that it must be spring.  This week, I've finally walked all 5 weekdays.  (We'd had several days where I hadn't walked because of weather issues.)  Now I just need to work on increasing my distance.

Also, we're seeing flower buds on our Meyer lemon tree.  I'm hoping this year we'll have lemons.

Happy stitching!

Rainy week

It must be spring break for the public schools here...it's been raining every day.  Poor kids! 

A friend's son loves to fish and he occasionally comes here to fish on our lake.  Despite the rain , he was itching to stitch the other day when he had some unexpected time off.  Mostly it was a light rain but suddenly the sky opened up and it started pouring.  Luckily he was dressed appropriately...I think he  had even more fun because of the rain.  Here he is with his catch of that day:

I've mostly been model stitching lately but made so much progress last week that I took one day "off" to work a bit on Hetty Child.  I'm really enjoying this sampler. 

I've become quite a Brenda Keyes (The Sampler Company) fan.  I'd already stitched her Plymouth Sampler.  It's framed now and hangs over my "stitching nest".

I've since acquired several of her books and leaflets.  Just recently purchased one of her books and a sampler (Country House Sampler) on ebay and bought another sampler (Red House Sampler) from Down Sunshine Lane.  My biggest "problem" with these is deciding which one to start next.

I finished the LHN exchange block (Wool Needebook) and sent it off to the exchange co-ordinator.  I'll be stitching another one for me although may choose a blue for the house...or maybe not.  I'd like to finish finish it into a needlebook.  As long as I've been stitching, I need to make nice one for myself.

On the cooking front...we tried out a couple of recipes from the most recent Bon Appetit magazine.  Pork Ragu' with Creamy Polenta and Raspberry-Ricotta cake.  Both dishes were excellent with the bonus that they weren't that hard to prepare.  I loved that the cake satisfied my sweet tooth without being overly sweet as many desserts can be.

Pork Ragu over Creamy Polenta


Raspberry-Ricotta Cake

Here's what ours looked like:

Seeing everyone's stitching has inspired me to buy more designs either on ebay or through the shops.  I need to slow down a little....but I probably won't.  lol!

I hope to finish the model this week or next.  I'll then start the next exchange block (a BBD design) and the next Halloween ornament.  (I've ordered supplies for both.)  I'll also work more on Hetty and then decide on the next sampler start.

Happy stitching!