stitch

I only stitch on days that end in "y".







Showing posts with label Mike's visit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mike's visit. Show all posts

Saturday, May 14, 2016

I'm Still Here!

Between things getting a little busy around here and a short "stitching slump", I've neglected my blog for a while again.

Our grandbaby is doing very well and we can't wait to see her again.

DH's job is going well except that he's doing more driving back and forth than he ever has before.  So far the work from home deal hasn't materialized except for Fridays.  We're hoping soon that Mondays will also be a work from home day too.  He enjoys the work and the people there so it's all good.

Our DS who's currently living in Denmark was visiting "The States" last month.  He first went to meet his new neice in CA and then came here to TX for a visit.  While he was here, both he and I flew up to OH to visit with my parents.





This summer will be unusual for me. Before becoming an empty nester, I was pretty much tethered to our kids' activities so couldn't plan trips except for family visits and trips with the marching band.  Things have sure changed!   In addition to another trip to visit our little sweetie pie, I'll also travel with DH on one of his work trips to San Diego.  Then later in the summer I'll be going to HI to help my sister with summer child care.  (She recently went back to work and wanted some unscheduled home time for her kids who are in second and 4th grade.)  My brother also lives there (Oahu) and he has a nice sailboat.  I'm hoping we can talk him into taking us sailing at least once while I'm there.  Knowing him, I won't have to do much arm-twisting.

My frugality has caught up with me.  My smart phone is at least 6 years old and I was hoping to stretch it out a little longer before replacing it after buying new phones for other family members...and a car for our youngest son so he can drive back and forth to his summer internship.  I stretched it out a little too long.  My battery is pretty much dead and won't take/keep a charge.  Fortunately I was able to plug it into the computer to retrieve my videos/pictures and contacts.  UNfortunately,  nobody around here has the phone I want in stock and even ordering it has a "waiting time" before it will be shipped.  (Fortunately I checked all the colors and was able to shorten that time by choosing a less popular color.)  In the meantime, I'm using an old "dumb phone" we use for our home phone number.  Isn't it AMAZING how dependent we've become on our smart phones?!  I keep reminding myself of all the years I functioned perfectly well without even a cell phone.

I mentioned a stitching slump.  Instead of stitching, I was doing some reading but now I'm back to stitching and reading.  I'm behind on most of my sal groups and my Calendar Girls but I'll eventually catch up.

Here's a little small by PS.  I have an idea of how to "finish" it but haven't followed through yet.


Next up is Beach Blessings by Erica Michaels.  It's supposed to be stitched on gauze but I used 32 count linen (over 2).  Instead of solidly stitching the sand, I used a piece of fabric that looked to me like sand.






Here's another PS.  I think I'd like to try to "finish" this into a needlebook.



I'm a member of the FB group Sampler Heart which is a group of repro sampler lovers.  One of our members (Inguana Krastina) reproduced an antique sampler and is giving it (in installments) to members of our group as a stitch-along.  Here's my progress so far on that one:





DH suggested that I stitch a small wedding piece for some friends who are celebrating their 50th anniversary in 2 weeks.  I'll have to get moving on that if I want to get something done in time!

I also just received another model to stitch that I'll be starting today/tonight.

I guess the slump is over!

Happy stitching!



Friday, October 24, 2014

He Has a Head....even though it's this close to Halloween

PS Santa 2014

There's more to stitch but I might be putting this fella down for a while because my fabric arrived for La D Da's Wicked Witch which should be a fairly quick stitch.  I'm also expecting another model which will take over my stitching priority when it arrives.

Our DS leaves today for his trip back to Denmark.  He'll spend a night with our DD in San Francisco and leave Sat. from there.  He kept busy while here visiting with friends in the area.  While I was preparing dinner last night, I realized we hadn't taken any pictures so, with the pasta boiling on the stove, we went down by the lake and asked our neighbor to quickly snap a picture.  He hates to have his picture taken so we're lucky to even have this one.  lol!  Next time we see him (other than Skype) will be at our DD's wedding next May.  We're hoping to go see him in Denmark next summer.


Happy stitching!



Monday, October 20, 2014

Stitching update

First off, Nancy from Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe recently posted pictures of some of her framed finished models from this year.  Among them was "Welcome Spring" that I stitched for her.  Just look at that beautiful frame she used with it!


Nancy has some beautiful sampler designs, threads, trims, buttons, fabrics, etc. for sale which can be seen here:

Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe ebay store

Victorian Motto Sampler Shope blog

I also finished and mailed off a model for Nikki at Country Cottage Needleworks  .  In fact, I see that she's released another recent model I stitched for her called "Cookies for Santa".  I love her designs and am honored to get to do some model stitching for her.


I'm expecting another model soon but in the meantime, I'm working on the PS Santa 2014.


La D Da's Wicked Witch has been "calling" to me lately, so I ordered the fabric called for and will stitch that up, hopefully, before Halloween.  It should be a quick stitch.

Our is visiting from Denmark.  He's keeping busy trying to see as many friends as he can while he's here.  He just left with a friend to go hiking near here.  He also spent last weekend in Austin visiting with his brothers, a friend, and going to the UT football game.

On the cooking front....DH and I should probably stop watching cooking shows.  We had one on as background noise Saturday before football started and were intrigued by a recipe called "Milk Can Dinner". Apparently it started out when people with dairies stopped using the metal milk cans to get the milk from the barns to where they'd process it.  (Now they pipe it there.)  Someone got the bright idea to use them for cooking.  They'd put a layer of hot rocks on the bottom, then layer different veggies (potatoes, cabbage wedges, carrots, onions, whole garlic cloves), put in some fresh thyme sprigs and a couple of bay leaves, and top with sausage of some kind.  It was enough to feed a small army!  The recipe was adapted for use in a Dutch oven...even that recipe made a lot, so I cut it by half.  You start out by browning links of Bratwurst in a little oil in the Dutch oven.  Take the sausage out and layer your veggies in the Dutch oven.  Cut your sausages in half, then place them on top and season with a little salt and pepper.  Pour a little beer over the top, cover, and cook "slow and low" on the stove top.  I added some big chunks of green pepper about halfway through the cooking time.

It was very easy and very tasty!  We'll definitely be making it again.


Happy stitching!