Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe floss set contests:

Nancy has some beautiful boxed sets of her beautiful floss that she's offering to some lucky winners.

Mother's Flower Garden:

Halloween:

and Autumn:

See Nancy's blog for more details:

Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe

Good luck!

Prairie Schooler Stitching and a Little Relief from the Heat and Drought

I stitched 2 small PS pieces this week for exchanges.  The first is from the "September" leaflet and will be sent as a raw block for the recipient to finish as she desires:

Next up is from the "October" leaflet.  I'll have to finish this one as some kind of ornament.  Since I'm "finishing impaired", I'll procrastinate mull this over for a while before attempting it.

Nikki (Country Cottage Needleworks) released another model I stitched for her..."Give Thanks".  I would have never thought to use those colors for a Thanksgiving piece but I love it!   She also released another of her city pieces "Afternoon in London".  I love her designs!

For more info about it:  Country Cottage Needleworks


After a few weeks of intense heat and many weeks since our last rainfall (grass around here is getting dry, brittle, and crunchy) the skies opened up and the temperatures cooled down.  Our neighbor measured >5" of rain just yesterday.  (It's raining today too.)  We seem to either get no rain or tons at once.

The lake level had finally returned to an optimal level but after yesterday's rainfall it rose again another 18".  (Drainage from the neighborhood contributed to the water level.)  My poor husband spent a lot of time out in the heat last week powerwashing our bulkhead and dock and now it's covered with water again and will have to be redone after the water level recedes.

At least it's a little cooler than it has been lately.  Hopefully it lasts for a while.

Last week:

Today:

I've been craving banana pudding recently so finally gave in and made some from scratch.  It was very good...and pretty easy to make.  We ate it so fast that I didn't take a picture.  I'll probably try making chocolate pudding today.

It will be a quiet weekend so I'm hoping to get a lot done on the model I'm stitching.

Happy Stitching!

Halloween Gift Box of Floss contest at Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe

Nancy's at it again!  Click here for details:

Halloween floss gift box contest

Happy stitching!

Hot in August in Texas! Go figure!

After temps here hovering just above and just below 100F degrees, we're looking for it to cool off in a few days to the low 90's.  You know it's been hot when you can use the words "cool off" and the "low 90's" in the same sentence.  Despite the heat, I've been faithfully going on my morning "fitness walks".  DH is taking the day off and he went with me today for 3 1/2miles.  One of the simple pleasures of life is taking a shower after walking in the heat and humidity.

I've been challenging myself in meal planning to avoid turning on the oven and even the stove so as not to add more heat to the house.  I bought a nice toaster oven that we use when we just can't avoid baking/roasting something and it really helps.  I put off buying one for a long time, wondering if I'd use it enough, but I use it a lot!  For so many things, it's better than heating up the whole oven...and kitchen.

DH likes to bake (in the toaster oven) too and last week he tried a new recipe for Iron-skillet Peach Crisp.  Instead of the oatmeal in usual crisps, it used toasted pecans.  (DH used some of the stash in the freezer of some of the pecans he gathered last fall.)  He also threw in some blueberries.  We both agreed that this recipe is a "keeper".  We loved the taste and texture of the pecans.

Here's the recipe if you'd like to try it:

Iron-Skillet Peach Crisp

I tried making a tortellini salad for dinner last night.  It's more of a construction of ingredients rather than cooking.  (All I did was to cook the tortellini.)  We both enjoyed it, but decided it's more appropriate for lunch or a side rather than a main course for dinner.

I think I found the "recipe" on Pinterest.  Basically it's a layer of cut-up Romaine lettuce, some bacon bits, grape tomatoes (cut in half) and the tortellini.  Serve with ranch dressing.


On the stitching front...I'm working on a model but also started "Live Laugh Love" Sampler by Primitive Betty.

I don't think I shared the last of "my" CCN models that was released...Seasonal Celebrations-Autumn.  So here it is:

You can find more info about it here:  Country Cottage Needleworks 

Happy stitching!

Little House Needleworks August Calendar Girl

I hear Neil Sedaka singing Calendar Girls in my head when I think about this series.  ;-)

Happy stitching!

Favorite Things Contest at Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe

Nancy's having another contest to celebrate her birthday.  Visit her blog entry for details:

Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe contest

Good luck and happy stitching!

Progress Report

It's been really hot here with temps hovering on both sides of the 100 degree F mark.  Next week our hight temp is supposed to be 104.  Add in our high humidity and you can imagine how uncomfortable it is.  I'm challenged to think of meals that don't require turning on the oven...and sometimes not even using the stove.  It's a good excuse to stay inside stitching while enjoying the air conditioning.

As hot as it is thought, the past couple of evenings haven't been bad to be outside.  Last night several neighbors (and 3 dogs) sat enjoying the breeze on our next-door neighbors' porch overlooking the lake.  It was a spontaneous gathering and we had a good time just sitting together talking.  I joked with my next-door-neighbor about all the prep work she did before her "party".

I finally started stitching LHN's Calendar Girls series now that I figured out where I'll display them.  I bought an easel and will display them on our entry table.

Here's July:

I'm working on August now.

I also stitched up a little PS Halloween ornament from the 2015 JCS Halloween special issue:

I seem to have PS on the brain after reading of their upcoming retirement.  I bought almost all the new releases and made a list of others that I'd like to get before they're gone.  I'll sure miss their designs!  Thankfully I have a lot in my stash to keep me busy for a long time.  I stitched this little PS Santa for a Christmas Ornie SAL blog:

I'm also model stitching again and enjoying seeing the design come to life.

Happy stitching!