Merry Christmas!

Things are certainly starting to get busy around here.  All our children and grandchild will be here for Christmas, the first time we've all been here since I can remember.  I'm really looking forward to it.

Our church choir sang our "cantata" last night.  It was themed like a Moravian Love Feast which I knew little about, so it was a learning experience.  I had the little solo as the leader of the song Morning Star.  Many of us also baked the traditional rolls that are passed out during the "feast".

Today is the first afternoon of another group's caroling tour of area nursing homes.  We do it again on Wednesday.

In between I'm trying to get things done around the house, making grocery  lists and menus, and baking cookies.  My husband is enjoying baking lately and he's already made some biscotti, pizzelles, and today, rustic nut bars.

I'm also trying to fit in a few stitches on Lucy Redd (Homespun Elegance) as I finished the model I was stitching.

I'll close with a few food, my progress on Lucy, and Christmas stitching I've done over the years.

Merry Christmas!

Happy Stitching!

Model Release....Little House Needleworks Sugar and Spice

Diane (of Little House Needleworks) released a model I stitched for her.  My friend Vonna (The Twisted Stitcher) finished it into a cute pillow.

Sugar and Spice

Happy Stitching!

My November...So Far

We started out the month by going to the UT/WVU game with a friend.  (She and friends/family have had a block of  tickets for 20 years and for the last few years has been offering us a game or two of tickets when someone in the group can't attend.  They're great tickets...on the 50 yard line and on rows 1 and 2 on the home side near the players' bench.)  We had a great time but the Longhorns lost by one point at the very end of the game.  (I ran into a couple of WVU fans the next day and we  talked about how that game was close throughout the whole game.)

Before the game we visited with our son and the following day we had brunch with both of our Austin sons before heading home.

The next day I boarded a flight to Ohio where I first visited my parents.  Did you know that you can fly with frozen soup and pizza?  One reason I love flying Southwest is that I can check 2 free bags.  I often fly with food (or books/clothes/toys for our granddaughter when we visit here and fly back with extra stuff on the way home).  While visiting my parents I roasted a chicken and veggies, made soup from the leftovers, made chili, and baked chocolate chip cookies with my Mom.  I left with them with a full freezer.

(My Dad loves DH's pizza!  The minute he heard that I brought some...and after they'd already eaten dinner...he insisted that we heat a couple of slices and they both ate pizza.)

Next, I met my friend at the airport after turning in my rental car and we drove up to Berlin, OH (in the heart of Ohio's Amish Country) for Camp Gottastitch.  It was a weekend filled with fun, friends, good food (I love the Amish-baked cinnamon rolls at the Berlin Grande Hotel where we stayed and the pie at  the Amish buffet restaurant next door.  As you might guess, I need to step up my walking after all that food!)

It was so much fun seeing old and new friends there.  My internet buddy (or as my husband calls my internet friends, "Axe Murderers") Vonna (aka The Twisted Stitcher) was there too.  I'd known her for several years online but this was the first time we met "in real life".  She is the real deal!  I also met another friend for the first time ever who lives in Central OH.  My new stitching buddy brought her framed "All Creatures Great and Small" for a show and tell.   OMG!  She stitched it over one on 40 count.  It's gorgeous!  I've had that one kitted up with the floss shortly after it was released and for some reason haven't gotten around to stitching it.  I think I'll try braving stitching it over one on 36 count bc I know I probably can't see the 40 count.

  We all plan to attend camp again next year and already I can't wait.

I'm still finishing up a model but, of course, couldn't work on it around all those stitchers.  I took several projects with me including Lucy Redd by Homespun Elegance.  I wasn't sure I could see well enough there to stitch on 36 count but it worked out great.  I stitched a good bit of the lettering.  I'd already started it with 2 strands but I tried a bit with one strand and like it better...so there will be some frogging of the 2 strand section so I can stitch it again with one strand.

Oh!  ...and I got to see snow (flurries with just a little accumulation in patches on the grass and on top of parked cars).  I was a lot more excited about it (living in Texas) that the Midwest ladies for some reason.

Next we move on to Thanksgiving.  I went for the "big shop" at the grocery store yesterday and have been scurrying around meal planning and getting some things in the house done.  Our 2 Austin sons will be here for Thanksgiving and we've all been "consulting" on the food plans.  (They've offered to help bake/cook.)

I hope everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving and is able to spend some quality time with loved ones.

Happy stitching!

Salem Remembered and Some Family Time

I'm mostly model stitching lately (so no picture of that one) but I'm also working a bit on Salem Remembered by Primitive Needle.

We recently visited our daughter's family and then traveled with her and our granddaughter to visit our oldest son who recently moved to Colorado.  While we were there we woke up one morning to 6 inches of snow.  How fun for all of us, especially our granddaughter! 

OK...back to model stitching now.

Happy stitching!

CCN Bless Our Home Finished!

I had about half this one done and intended to finish it while I was in HI but breaking my wrist/surgery at the beginning of that trip derailed that plan.

I'm happy that I finished it last Saturday.

Without further ado:

I changed some of the colors to suit me.

I'm model stitching during the weekdays (nights) but have been doing personal stitching during the weekdays (nights).  For my personal piece, I (finally) started Primitive Needle's Salem Remembered.  A stitching buddy of mine was nice enough to loan it to me.  It calls for 40 ct. fabric but my eyes probably wouldn't allow for that so I'm using 36 count lambswool linen and the called for silks.

Honeybee, thank you for your kind comments about my header picture.  Believe it or not, I stitched all 4 seasons from that leaflet....for my sister.  I kept telling myself I'd stitch fall again for me to keep but never got around to it...yet.  (It reminds us of our late grandma who baked the best apple pies.  She'd often bake a pie for friends, families, and neighbors who were going through illnesses or other bad times.  I called it her "apple pie ministry".)

Happy stitching!

Stitching Again!

I've been diligently working on rehabbing my arm after my accident/surgery and am making good progress.  I still have a way to go but am able to use it more and more every day.

I'm happy to report that I'm back to stitching again.  (There was a time early on in this "journey" that I wondered if I ever would.)  My OT and I agree that it even qualifies as "therapy".

I'd started CCN's Bless Our Home before my fateful trip to HI with the intention of working on it there.  Obviously that was not to be but I'm working on it again now.

I'm using some mystery fabric from my stash and have changed a few of the colors.

Happy stitching!

Model Stitching

Diane Williams of Little House Needleworks designed a series called Farmhouse Christmas.  A friend of mine stitched the models of the individual parts, another friend of mine finished them into adorable pillows, and it was my privilege to stitch the model for the large piece with all the parts and a border.  It's been a popular series (how could it not be?!).  Diane recently revealed the entire piece.  I'm seriously considering stitching it again for me to keep.

...and while I'm typing about model stitching...I've been trying to do a little stitching while still rehabbing my wrist/hand and I'm so pleased that I can do it well enough that I've started working on another model now.  I have to stitch in small amounts of time and get plenty of rest but I'm calling it "therapy" because it's helping stretch me in ways I need to be stretched.  It feels SO good to be able to stitch again.  I look forward to the day that this whole arm episode is a distant memory.  (I AM improving a little every day, just have a way to go yet.)

Happy stitching!

My Unplanned Stitching Hiatus

I've just returned from spending a month in Hawaii.  The plan was that I'd stay with my sister's family on Oahu and help with summer child care.  DH an I thought it would be a great idea for him to come for the beginning of the trip and for us to visit Kauai.  It WAS a great idea until I slipped and fell on a muddy trail and fractured my left wrist...both bones.

 DH splinted my arm/hand and we hiked out.  Driving down the road at Waimea Canyon, I googled for nearby hospitals and there was one at the bottom of the road.  From its appearance, I wasn't sure about it but the next nearest hospital was at least 45 minutes away.  I told myself we'd try it and if I didn't feel good about it that we'd leave and drive to the next one.

Appearances can be deceiving!  I got the best nurse and doc there!  The doc did a closed reduction but told me I should see an orthopedic doc soon (That hospital didn't have one.) and I'd likely need surgery since it's my dominant hand.  We finished out time on Kauai after making an appointment with an ortho doc on Oahu.

These kinds of things probably happen frequently in HI so there are some great docs there.  Unfortunately, there can be long waits for appointments.  Lucky for me but unlucky for her, my sister-in-law had fractured her arm 6-8 weeks before I did.  While I worked the phones, she was seeing her ortho doc for a follow-up appointment.  According to the doc, she wouldn't stop talking about me until he promised to see me...so he did.  I saw him the day we flew back to Oahu from Kauai and he did my surgery the next day.

I can't say enough good things about both the docs I saw, the nurses, and the surgical center staff!

Sister-in-law also paved the way for my initial PT there the last week I was there.  I joke with her now that all one has to do on the whole island of Oahu is to mention her name and doors open.

While there I arranged appointments at home with a doc and PT.  (My first PT session here is this afternoon although the treatment room here won't overlook the ocean like the one in HI did.)

I also experienced many incidents of the kindness of strangers, or as the residents there like to say, the Aloha spirit.

I altered my HI plans a bit but still managed to help with the kids.  (Luckily they aren't babies/toddlers.)  No swimming, paddle boarding, sailing, or more hiking but lots of beautiful beach walks, hanging out with my HI family, and also with my aunt/uncle/cousins while they were vacationing there.

Kauai is gorgeous!  We plan a do-over someday with some hiking...just maybe not on that same trail.

I have a lot of rehab to do but I'm hoping to be able to pick up a needle soon.

Happy stitching!

Pink Sparrow Sampler Finished!

I put the last stitches into WTNT's Pink Sparrow Sampler this afternoon.  After putting it aside several times to work on other projects, while traveling, and after making many mistakes and frogging and restitching it (I almost threw it in the lake one day!), I'm doing a happy dance.

I have just a few stitches left on a model and next I think I'll start something patriotic.

Happy stitching!