I'm still alive! ;-)

Thanksgiving was all a blur, it went by so quickly.  We enjoyed having the fam here minus our DS who just moved to Denmark.  He called though and it was nice to hear from him.

We had our big dinner on that Friday and then drove to Austin, TX for the weekend.

It was our DD's BF's first ever visit to TX.  He's from Scotland (his mother is French) and he had a list of (stero)typical Texas things he wanted to experience.  We checked off quite a few.  He tried pecan pie topped with Blue Belle ice cream, was dragged taken to multiple Buc-ees (between Surfside Beach, here, and Austin), bought and tried some jerky, had authentic (and really good!) Texas BBQ, etc.  (I had him try Frito pie and Dr. Pepper cake last Christmas at a Texas BBQ place in Atlanta, of all places.)  On their last day here, we drove down to the beach so he could see some of the Gulf of Mexico.  (While there we saw a poor dolphin that had beached itself and hadn't survived.)  We teased him that by the end of his visit that he'd be wearing cowboy boots, a cowboy hat, a big belt buckle and start using the terms "fixin' to" and "y'all".

For some reason, I forgot to take pictures.  (I wonder if I can get them to fly back for a "do-over".)

On the stitching front....I finished and mailed out a model and am working on finishing another.  When I finish that one, I think I'll work on my CCN Silent Night wip.

I took my CHS 2000 Christmas Sampler for framing and it is already back home with me.  (I love my framer!!)  It's sitting on my mantel.

Happy stitching!

2 Finishes and some wips!

As I'd hoped, I finished the CHS 2000 Christmas Sampler.  I love this one!  I finally made peace with stitching on the black aida...and now wonder if I could see the holes on black linen.  Someday I'll try.  Rather than letting this "properly age" (like a fine wine) in the drawer, I hope/plan to have it framed for this Christmas.

For the last few years, I've been wanting to stitch an old BOAF freebie (Halloween Cat?  I'm too lazy to go look at it to be sure of the name but it's something like that..)  As my readers know, until this year I've been incredibly busy volunteering with the band so I never quite got around to stitching it.  FINALLY I got together the needed floss and some purple fabric and stitched this cute little guy.  (I bought enough fabric to stitch another one in case I get involved in another block exchange where this will work.)

I also made a little progress on Hinzeit's Sweet Land of Liberty.  This is turning out to be a long-term wip.  I can remember a visit to a now-closed LNS in Berlin, Ohio ("Amish Country").  DH was with me and I saw this stitched model while walking out the door after making some purchases.  I immediately sighed, turned around, and bought this design.  I'm so glad I did!  A few years later, I sang a patriotic cantata entitled "Sweet Land of Liberty" in a community group on the first anniversary of 9-11.  This piece will remind me of that.

Lastly, I made some more progress on one of the PS Woodland Santas.  This will make the third (out of 4) designs I've stitched from that leaflet.  I'll probably stitch the 4th one sometime as well.

On the empty nest front, I'm way busier than I thought I'd be, getting some things done around the house, singing in the church choir, daily fitness walks, going to Friday morning coffees, etc.  Last night we attended a community production of "Kiss and Tell".  A band mom friend and a couple of "my" band kids were in it.  Another of my band kids was in the audience.  For some reason, last year he started giving me a "high five" every time I saw him at band.  That practice continues to this day because I got another one from him last night.  :-)

Our "baby" and possibly our other college son will be home next week so there will be some cooking and baking happening here.  Our oldest DS is definitely moving to Denmark and may be spending up to a couple of weeks here before he moves.

Happy stitching!

Friday Progress

I've been working on one of the PS Woodland Santas this week.  Unfortunately I had a visit from the dreaded frog and had to frog out a big portion of Santa's coat bc I was one stitch off.  Argh!  All better now though.

I'm waiting for another skein of NPI silk to arrive (maybe today!) so I can finish CHS 2000 Christmas Sampler.  Here's my progress so far:

On the family news front, our college freshman got through his first week of midterms and is still standing even though he had a cold at the same time.  Our oldest son is now for sure moving to Denmark for his post doc fellowship.  He'll be spending up to a couple weeks with us before he moves sometime next month.  (Everything is still pretty fluid with his preparations.) I guess I'll need to renew my passport.  :-)

Everyone have a great week ahead!

Happy stitching!

CHS 2000 Christmas Sampler

It's been a quiet week so I've been stitching on Carriage House Samplings 2000 Christmas Sampler.  I took the above picture Friday but since then have finished the left side border, frogged and restitched part of the tree on the left, stitched the red in the trees that needed it, and stitched the flowers on the top border.  I'm definitely on the home stretch on this one.  I'm pretty sure I don't have enough color to fill in the top border so I ordered another skein of NPI.  I just hope it's close with the dye lot.

Speaking of NPI silks, this is probably the first time I've used them for a whole project.  I really like them;  they're very pretty and feel so luxurious.

Hopefully next week, I'll be posting the finished picture of this one.

I've made friends with stitching on the black aida...I don't even need the white towel on my lap now.  I'm thinking maybe someday I'll even try again stitching on some black linen or evenweave.  Perhaps by mounting it on stretcher bars on my floor stand might help with seeing the holes to stitch. ( When I tried it with the qsnaps, my hands got in the way of the light coming through from the back.)

I'm pleased with how this is turning out and thankful for the stitcher who generously loaned me the leaflet since I couldn't find it anywhere to buy.

We're still adjusting to empty nest.  I've started meeting with a small group of "old" band parents (including the retired band director) for coffee on Friday mornings.  A friend of mine who spent the summer in Canada with her college aged DD's is back in Texas and we met for lunch on Wednesday.

Happy stitching!

 

Keep Austin Weird

We did our best to try to help out the Longhorns in their game last Saturday by sitting on the 50 yard line right behind the team.  Unfortunately our efforts didn't help.  Aside from that ugly game (and the drunk, rude Ole Miss fans sitting behind us), we had a great time being there.  Their band was really good!

  My first love is the team of the OSU Buckeyes and at least they won their game.

We got to see our 2 UT student sons and deliver "provisions" (including home-baked chocolate chip cookies and banana bread).

Here's my wip progress for last week:

One of the Prairie Schooler Woodland Santas:

CHS 2000 Christmas Sampler (I'm not comfortable stitching on black but it's coming along.)

LHN My Dwelling Place.  (Technically it's finished but I don't like the color of the leaves from my skein of that color so I'll rip it out and try again with another green.)

Happy stitching!

Friday update

We keep crossing things off the dorm/school list and it seems like every time we cross something off, we think of 1 (or more) things we forgot to put on the list. Aargh!!  I think we're making progress, though.

Proud Mom Moment:  Our oldest DS will be defending his thesis soon for his PhD (Physics) and DH and I will get to go watch.  He's busy interviewing for post doc positions and has some promising possibilities.  Earning a PhD is a long slog and quite an accomplishment.  (I hope he won't make me call him Dr. Mike.  lol!)  We're so proud and excited for him.

I know, I know.....my youngest child graduated from HS (and band) but that didn't stop me from helping out some at their first week of summer band camp.  I helped most of yesterday's practice because my replacement had a doc appointment.  I think I can truly say I'm addicted.....although I'm glad I can go only when I feel like it this year.

I worked on the following wips this week:

CHS 2000 Christmas Sampler (I can only work on this one in small doses.  Stitching on black is challenging for my old eyes.

LHN My Dwelling Place (I'm stitching this one as a sal with my friend, Renee, and I think my friend, Sherre will be joinging us.)  I'm really enjoying this one!  I'm missing a few of the needed overdyes for this one so have to order them soon.

Hinzeit's Sweet Land of Liberty which was recently "rescued" from a drawer where it had been languishing for a few years.  (Yes, I said years!  I'm not proud of that.)  I sang in a "cantata" with a community choir that was called Sweet Land of Liberty (I can still hear the title song in my head.) the year after 911.  I thought this piece would be a great way to remember that event.  I noticed I'm half a stitch off in the bit below the right flowers....I blame the pesky teensy weensy thread that I must not have seen when I was stitching that part.

I'm also working on a new model which, until it's finished, will be my stitching priority.

It's very hot and humid here but I keep making myself go out for my am walks.  I enjoy the walk (minus the heat) and how it makes me feel but for some reason I dread getting started even after all this time.

Thank you for reading my ramblings and for the comments.

Happy stitching!

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!

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!