Merry Christmas........................

Just wanted to wish all my Family and Friends a Merry Christmas!

The weatherman is saying that NW Arkansas should be getting snow for Christmas.

So I guess we will be all snuggled up next to the fire place staying warm. 

I will be back after Christmas with my spin on the Crazy January Challenge, what I want to acheive in 2013, update on ATS and one of the last finishes of the year.

Again thank you for visiting my blog and I hope each and everyone of you has a

Merry Christmas.

Sending prayers to Connecticut........

Happy Friday...........

I am all caught up with what happened during the time I left off blogging that I can concentrate on the "Now" part.

I have been stitching each day.  It has been a real joy to get back in the saddle.  I have been setting aside at least an hour in the evenings and more if I can to stitch and I have made a lot of progress. 

I am trying to get "And They Sinned" done.  I wanted to get it done in July but that did not happen.  I started it in July of 2006.  Was hoping to get it done this year but I don't know right now.  If I do that will be great.  If I get it done at the beginning of 2013....that will be great as well.  It will be a wonderful feeling to get that hugh project checked off of my list. 

As you can see I have a few little motiffs to do above the pond.  The grass is all done below the pond and up around the side by the tree on the right side.  I have left the date open at the bottom as to the month and year of finishing.  I did put in the date of when I started this project.  I can see the light at the end of this long tunnel.  But I am so close but yet so far away.  Doing the grass is very intersting.  I am a little bit farther then what the picture shows.  I have put in a bird on top of the thistle flower by the fisherman and have done all the grass up to the flower as well.   You can see here where I started on this at the beginning of the year.   I have barely started the last half below the grass at the top of this picture.  I think with taking a few months off.....I have done quite well. 

I have also been stitching on  "Halloweenies" by Plumstreet Samplers.  This is my "take it with me" project.  I stitch on this during my lunch and any time that I have free time...like at the pool watching B practice. 

This is such a fun piece to stitch on.  I am farther along as well on this piece then the picture shows.  I have stitched the first half of the other weenie dog on the right along with her witches hat.  I am hoping to get this one done by the end of the year as well. 

Well not much has happend this week.  Just plugging along merrily during this joyful season.  Tree and lights were put up duing Thanksgiving weekend.  My husband and I will probably go this weekend and shop for the family and then everything will be done except for getting the menu narrowed down and to whose house we will be going to.  This year just seams to be so laid back as to past years.  And I am so grateful for that as I think nobody takes the time to slow down and enjoy this time of the year, with the true meaning of Christmas.

Thank you for stopping by. 

Fall and school starting..................(Part 3)

Picking up where I left off..............................

We were sad at the end of the summer.  B's swim coach took another job down in Florida.  Don't blame him as he will be closer to his family.  Everyone of the kids just loved Coach Chris.  It was very heartbreaking to see him go.  He did wonders for Brandon on his technique's in the pool.  He is very much missed.

Now it is the end of August and school is starting.  Both of my boys love school.  They are in 5th and 7th grade this year.  Yikes.  How did they get to be this age.  First day went very well.   And since then has been great for both of them.  Straight "A's" so far for each.

Then both of them decided that they were taking up another sport besides swimming for B and soccer for R. So I am a cross country and football Mom also.

B is number 640.  In between the 2 boys.  He does real well running long distance and it helps a lot with his swimming. 

R liked football but I think his speciality is soccer. 

All this time not one stitch in anything and November is getting closer all the time for my classes with Merry Cox.
Continuing on............It was a mild Halloween and both boys dressed up as usuall. Weather was perfect and they got lots of candy. 
So now it was time to go to Mesa.  I was supposed to be going with my SIL as she was going to med school out there and had a house so it would be like a girls weekend typ thing.  Anyway that fell through as she transferred up to Portland and the house went up for sale.  So now what.............Bring husband and kids along for the ride.  DH was really not wanting to go.  I told him since we did not get a summer vacation, to chalk it up as a mini vacation.  After it was all over and done with he had a blast.  Kids went to the science museum and I had my first day of classes.  Merry taught her Le Nouvou Palasis Royal class. ( You can see a better picture of it at her website.

 The next day boys went to the Nascar Races.  They had a blast again and I was "stuck" in my class with Merry teaching
So Dear To Thy Heart.

Then the final day the boys went Geocaching (treasure hunting) and still had a great time.  And the final project was Sweet Little Blossoms.  

Merry's classes are so great.  We do the finishing part in class and over the years I have learned so much from her that I am very comfortable to do my own finishing.  She makes it so easy.  During my classes I sat with the ladies from Oklahoma as I was taking this class by myself.  No one from Arkansas was with me.  I also got to meet Cathy from Utah and Stephnie from California.  Also the Ladies from Texas was there and visited with them.  I had met the ladies from OK and TX here in Arkansas when Merry taught classes in 2007.  They are so wonderful and I had such a great time.  I am hoping to get to see them in the future and plan on getting together with the ladies over in OK as they are only 1 1/2 away.  So I defintley see some stitching time with them in my future.  Here is a pic of the lovely Merry and I.  I have taken several classes from her through the past years and I can say Merry is a beautiful person inside and out.   

So now we are back home and Thanksgiving has come and went.  Lovely dinner with my DH's family as always and now it is time to get busy with some stitching time.  YES!!! Finally!!!
I have been stitching on ATS and Halloweenie.  (Picture's to come in next post).  I also updated my side bar with projects that I want to start stitching, finish stitching on and also do the finishing as well for the 2013 year. 
And in the mean time of all of this thing called life....I do have a full time job as well.  So the next post will be current with new pictures of what I am stitching.  And hopefully I won't be on a very long hiatus of sorts. 
Thank you for stopping by and visiting.

Summer....................(Part 2)

   After Brandon broke his arm, the summer started to really heat up.
Arkansas weather was terrible...the rain stopped at the beginning of May and all the farmers were cutting at this time.  They usually have to wait til June.  So no rain May, June, July or the first part of August.  Needless to say farmers took alot of cows to the sale barns these months as they could not afford to feed them.  We only have 50 head of cattle and was able to feed plus buy 11 more from a friend that needed to sell.
We finally got rain the end of August and the grass started to green up and grown again. We also got one more cutting of hay.  We usually can get 3-4 cuttings a summer.
So we were good to go with hay through the winter.

In the mean time we were trying to stay cool along with no rain temperatures were up in the 100's and we broke some records.   We stayed cool by going to see "Montgomery Gentry" at the annual Poultry Federation Festival held each year in June.  This is one group that I have always wanted to see and we had great seats.

Next on our summer agenda was my Mother and Niece came to visit in July.  We went to Crystal Bridges Museum.  This is the museum that Alice Walton built to house all of her art that she has collected through the years.  It is a beautiful museum and I would highly recommend that if you are ever in the area of NW Arkansas that you plan on seeing this. She has the famous "Rosie the Riveter" by Norman Rockwell.  My boys just loved it as they had studied her in school.

What I think is so neat about this museum you can actually get up and close to a picture. There is nothing blocking you from the picture...but let me tell you there are people (or guards) watching your every move.  My boys were getting a little bit too close to a picture and they were right there to let me and them know about it.  It was a great experience to see.  Had a great time with my Mom and Niece.

Next on the agenda was Brandon's State swim meet in late July.  I told you about it in the previous post...so no use in typing it all again.  By the time August got here with no rain and very HOT.  We were ready to get back to school and hopefully some cooler temperatures.  Which was just around the corner.............

Stay tuned for part 3.................
P.S.  All during this time I did not pick up one needle even though I had received the 3 kits of pre-stitching for my Merry Cox classes in November.  It was so hot and just plain exhausting that all I wanted to do was come in and lay around in the air conditioner.

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving.
I sure did and I am so Thankful for all of my Family and Friends and even my stitching friends who I have met along the way.
Thank you for visiting.

Picking up where I left off..................(part 1)

So where did I leave off.............hmmm way back in May it looks like.
At the end of May were were clicking right along with the farm.  Almost all of our calves were born, I think we only had two more to go at the time I stopped posting and they did finally come.
Since we had a very mild summer kids got out of school way early.  They did not use up one snow day.  They were excited to start camping, fishing and just being boys. 

June started off real well.  The first weekend in June, B had a swim meet which he qualified for 3 events for state competition.  He was elated and so was I.  Finally going to state.  Now he was really pumped up to get qualified for a couple more events.  He was bound and determined to get them too.  
The next weekend we went camping with the cousins.  We have a lot of fun when they come and camp with us.  Lots of fishing, swimming and relaxing in a beautiful setting.  We always bring the boys' bikes with us.  I had a bad feeling of the camp site we were at because of a big hill and the kids would all fly down real fast.  I knew someone was going to hurt.  Lo and behold it was B.  He wasn't really going fast, he just looked behind him to see if his brother and cousins were coming.  When he did this he let go with one arm and lost his balance and down he went.  He let out a scream like I have never heard before.  My husband I ran to where he was.  He said his whole left arm was numb.  We walked him back to the camp site.  Was looking at his arm and putting ice on the spot just below his wrist.  He could still move his fingers.  So we were going to wait and see how it was going as it was around 6-7pm in the evening.   He was doing fine so need to rush him to the hospital quite yet.  He said it felt much better with the ice.  So for now all is well.  Went to sleep that night got up early the next morning and B said he could not move his wrist at all, and when I looked at it...his forearm had a dip in it.  I knew then that he broke it.  So we packed up and headed to the ER.  Sure enough he broke his inner bone one his forearm.  Can't remember if it was the ulna or radius. I get them mixed up. 
Doctor said he would have this one for 4 weeks...all the while I was thinking in the back of my mind....He just qualified for state...How is he going to swim.....YIKES!!!!  So here is B with his pretty "Orange" cast. 

When we got home he smiled for the camera and then sat there for a minute...and said "You know Mom I really screwed up".  I said "How"? And B said "Because now I might not get to swim at state".  Then tears started to well up in his eyes.
I told him not to give up.  He was only going to have the cast on for 4 weeks and state was in 7 weeks.  So he would have 3 weeks to put in a lot of hard work to get prepared.
Well during the time with the cast we were able to wrap it up and B was able to get in the pool and work on his legs with his kickboarding.  So he was not entirely out of water for that 4 week period.  Then the cast came off, Doc gave him the ok to swim and off he took.   He actually did well at state.  He had an 8th place in his 100 Breaststroke and two 5th places, one in 50 free and the other in 50 Breaststroke in his events for the entire State of Arkansas for the 11-12 yr olds.   I say that was pretty good with having a broken arm and he even dropped time in all 3 events and got a "A" time in his 50 Breast. 

I was still stitching on my nieces piece for her birthday until the broken arm incident.  After that my stitching came to a complete stop trying to deal with getting B settled in with learning how to take a shower and all sorts of different things.  I did get my niece a present but the stitching one will have to wait for another time. 

To be continued..............................................................
Thank you for visiting and hope you come back for part 2.



                                                        

Found Stitching Mojo!!!

Well I have found my stitching Mojo again.  I think it was lost between the heat of the summer and all the kids activites with starting school.  I actually found it around the end of September but was so busy still with kids activites and getting ready to go to Mesa here in November, that I really have not had any time to post on my blog.  I am going to do a quick "Hello" and "That I am back" reply and then get home and take some pics of what I have been stitching on and just in general what has been happening this summer, kids and stitching at Mesa with Merry Cox. 

So.......I will be back with a new look (for the holidays of course) and lots of going ons........

"Stay Tuned"........................................................................

I am needing help.............................

I have lost my stitching and my blogging mojo.  I don't know where it went to.  I was doing so good at the beginning of the year then once it started getting warm here in Arkansas I don't feel like stitching or doing much of anything.  Supposed to be in the 90's by the weekend. 
Maybe it is because school is getting out tomorrow May 23rd, which is way earlier than last year.  This year we did not have any snow days and last year we had to make up 10 days.  So it seems like everything is rushed.  Maybe after we get the kids settled in with their sitter things might even out and I can find my stitching mojo again.  
I did get the May Needleroll finished and sent off to my Aunt.  She just loves it.  I also started on my niece's gift.  I could get it done in one weekend if I just put my mind to it.  I might just do that this weekend as we don't have any real plans.

Anyway......if anyone has seen my mojo please let me know how and when I can get it back.   Thank you for visiting.

Back to normal...(whatever that is)....also Late WIPocalypse update.

Sorry, I didn't mean to stay away for so long from my last post. 
We are now getting over the coughing, croupyness (is this even a word?) of spring allergies.  R gets them much worse than B.  So bring on the Zyrtec and kleenex and wait for all of the pollen to subside.   I have had a touch of allergies but nothing like my boys.  It has gotten to me this year and I have not had the desire to stitch  or do anything but try to see through watery eyes and a runny nose. 

I  got new cabinets in my sewing room.  After not having any cabinets on a blank wall for 11 years I told my husband that I needed them.  So we found some for free that we painted white and they work perfectly.  This past weekend was the time to get organized and everything put in its place.  What a task and I am glad it is done. 

I am so late for my WIPocalypse post.  I think today is the last day that I can have my name included in the year end drawings.  So on to the good stuff.............
I finished DT Alpine Garden on March 21, 2012.  So glad to get this one off of my WIP list.  I think I started it about 4 years ago.....just happy that it is finally done.  Sorry pictures are so dark.  I am going to be working on picture taking in the future.  Love the Columbine section at the bottom.

I have also started a birthday present for my Aunt.  It is VS May Needleroll.  (Don't worry she doesn't read my blog so the secret is still safe.  Her birthday is this Saturday the 5th.  I am farther along then what the picture shows.  This is not on my WIP list but just something quick and easy that I had for a birthday present.  I have not ever made her anything so I think she will be tickled pink (or green) when she sees this.

After I get this project done I have one more birthday present that I want to do for my niece.  I got a little kit as a Christmas gift exchange.  It is not something that I would usually stitch for myself.  I kept it thinking of something I could do with it.  Then thinking of what to get my niece for her 12th birthday....I could easily stitch this little kit up and have it done in time for June 21st.    I will post pictures on my next update.

I need to look at my WIPocalypse list and see what else I need to stitch.  I might just focus on some finishing pieces.  I am way behind already this year.  Oh well.  My boys are only little once and then they will be gone living their own lives without their Momma around.  So I better cherish the time while I can. 

Thank you for visiting and just so you know I am all caught up with reading all the blogs on the right hand of the screen.  I just wish I had time to post to each and everyone of them.  You all inspire me so much.    Have a good week.

Where have I been?..................

I did not anticipate this much gaps between posts but I have been very busy since my last post.
Lets see.............
Springbreak was the 19-23 for our Kidos.  We did not go anywhere.  I only took off that Friday to spend at least one day with them. They went and played at Grandma's during the rest of the week.
  But on that first weekend of spring break we worked our cows.  What does working mean you say?  Well you herd them (prod, push, a few choice words and anything else you can think off) into the corall.  Then you get about 10 or so into a smaller working pen.  Which in turn you move them in the lane to get weighed (People don't usually weigh their cows, but my husband wants a weight) and then on into the head shoot which catches their head between a gate so you can work with them.   We give them 3 shots, Lepto, Black Leg, and Pink eye.  (Those pesky flies just love to lay eggs in cows eyes, which in turn gives them pink eye and if not treated will make them go blind.)  We also worm them and check for anything else.  If they have not been tattooed in the ear we do this and the little ones that were born this spring we put in an ear tag.  Then we let them loose.  I am very new to this farming thing.  My husband has been around cows all his life so he pretty much knows what needs to be done.  I am learning though.  We did our bulls the Saturday afternoon on the 17th and the cows on the morning of the 18th.  The reason we did this is we have them seperated into to two pens and needed to move 3 more bulls that were ready to be weaned off.  It was easier to ge the bulls rounded up, work them, get them back into their pen, then get the cows with their little bulls, work the 3 bulls and then haul them over with the other bulls.  That way we did not have to cull them out from the 5 bulls.  Got them all done until this fall when we go through the same ritual of gathering them up...but I don't know all about the vacinations they will need at this time. 
We had a rainy spring break Monday-Thursday.  Not much we did...just hang around the house.  Then on Friday we spent half of the day rounding up one cow and taking her to the vet.  She was not due to have a calf until the end of May beginning of June.  Well needless to say she aborted about when she was 3-4 months and the fetus was in the birth canal.  So the vet took care of her and now she will be able to breed back in June. 

We finally got our taxes all wrote down and taken care of.  Took them to our CPA to have her do the figuring.  Having a farm and itemizing everything is such a big pain....but I guess it has to be done.  I told my husband we need to set down every month with our receipts and put them in the appropriate categories on our spreadsheet.  That way it won't take so long to get them ready for the tax lady. 

Have had 3 baby calves so far in the last two weeks.  We have two more that are due any day.  You think they will be having their calf the next day and sometime it is a week before they come. 
All 3 are very healthy, and playful.  Momma's don't like for you to get close so this is as far a I could get with taking a couple of picture.

This second picture the little calf has a leaf stuck to his behind. People are asking me what is that.  I have to tell them a leaf. Don't know why but he is ok.  I did not get a picture of the 3rd little calf...have not had the camera with me.  Spring time is fun with all the new little babies running around.
We also got our boat and camper all ready for this summer of fun.  We are camping this weekend and it is opening day of the Youth Turkey hunt and my two boys are so excited.  I am also....I have no girls so while the "guys" are either hunting or fishing when we camp I can stay at the camp site and stitch, read or what ever my little heart desires.
I say we camp but a 5th wheel camper with all the amenties, microwave, tv, vcr, etc is not really roughing it.  I gave up roughing it a couple of years ago.  I like a bed and ac very much during the summer.  So between the farm, taxes, getting the camper and boat ready I sure have not had a lot of time stitching.  (Oh I snuck in some reading time.  I just had to read the Hunger Games before we go see the movie.)
Speaking of stitching....I did get DT's Alpine Garden finished.  I have not taken pictures yet and I thought I would save them for the WIPocalypse update which is coming up this Friday.  I am stitching on a birthday present for my aunt. She doesn't read my blog so I will post pics of this next time.  I am stitching VS May Needleroll for her.  Her birthday is May 5 so I should be able to finish this and get it sent in time.  Then it is on to another birthday present for my niece who will be twelve.  Will show pics of this project next time also.  I also have put in a few stitches on SB's Winter Moon.  Trying to get that pesky moon section done up.  Has a lot of fill in, so it is kinda at a boring point.

Take care and thank you for visiting.  I promise I won't have a long break in between posts like last time.

Happy Stitching.

Hermit Weekend..............

WOW...this year is flying by fast.  We are heading into the 3rd weekend of the month and it is time for the International Hermit and Stitch Weekend.  You can click on the little icon to the right and read all about it.
I don't know how much I will get done this weekend and I probably won't be a hermit as the spring weather is beautiful.  Last weekend I weeded my flower bed and this weekend I might plant a few if not as least go and shop for the flowers.  Then there is the garden spot to till up.  Have not done that yet.  Plus we have to work the cows this weekend.  Get ready for hay season here soon.  Man sounds like I won't get any stitching done.  NO I plan on stitching even if I have to stitch in between the cows and the flowers.

I plan on getting the wings done and the flower on the box with "Flowers in the Fall".
I also will work on DT Alpine Garden.  I have gotten the middle done which was very time consuming as there were alot of one color stitches scattered everywhere for flowers.  I am backstitching the trees in the middle and then can start on the next section.  I am on a down hill slide with this piece and if all goes right I could have it done by this weekend.
I do want to put a few stitches in ATS.  I was supposed to do a motiff each night, but that has not been happening.  I have one word for not doing this... "KIDS".

Well will you come and join the Hermit Stitch Weekend with us?
Thank you for visiting.

P.S.  B had ended up in 2nd place with his "Pi" contest.  He got to 94 and drew a blank.  I think the pressure got to him.  The girl who won 1st place got up to 102.  So close.  But great fun was had by all.

Happy "Pi" Day................

We are celebrating "Pi" day.  Not the pie you eat but the number. 
My 6th grader is celebrating too in his advanced math class.
Last week his teacher printed out a whole sheet of the number Pi with a zillion numbers after the decimal point.  She told them that this is a contest to see how many numbers they can memorize after that silly decimal.  All I can remember is 14, but B has memorized over 100 numbers.  I am like WOW.  How are you able to do this.  His teacher told them to break it down into sections.  Like 5 numbers and go from there.  He is excited as he said alot of the kids have given up so he might win.  I asked him what do you win.  Get this............ A "Pie in the Face".  I said you want to win that.  He said yes it will be cool.  Then he went on to say that he would get a whole pie to eat too.  I said ok...bring home the pie to eat and just lick off your face.
So we will wait and see how he did.  I for one can't remember my own phone number what 7 numbers (thank goodness for stored numbers). 

Hope you get some stitching done and some "Pi" eating time as well.

Sunshine one day....rain the next..............

I guess mother nature was teasing us with sunshine an 70 degree temps.  Today it has been rainy and in the 50's.  She is saying..."I am not quite done with winter yet."  I guess we can't really complain about the winter we have had.  Very, mild.  I mean no snow.  Maybe an 1" or less this year.  Last year we had 35" of snow with 24" in one storm.  Our average here in NW Arkansas is 10".  We exceed that and this year nothing.  The only bad thing is the bugs.  We did not get a good hard freeze to kill the bugs.  All I can say is YUCK!

I did stitch yesterday on the La Vie En Rose class piece.  All the stitching is done.  It was just tent stitch so went by very fast, and now just waiting for the finishing to start.  I don't know if I will do the finishing at this time, or will put in on my list of "To Do's".  I will have to see how much time I have.

I guess i will start on the Friesland Thread Winder Keeper.   I want to have it at least started before the finishing class is scheduled to start.  

But for now....I guess I will stitch on DT's Alpine Garden while I watch "The Walking Dead".  I don't know why this show fascinates my husband and I but this is the one show we sit down every Sunday night and watch together.  All other shows we usually Tivo and watch later.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.
Thank you for stopping by.

Beautiful spring day.................

What a beautiful spring day here in NW Arkansas.  Sun is shining, birds are singing, trees are blooming...aaahhhchooo.  Yes allergies, this time of the year.  Not so much me, but my two boys have the sniffles.  The little one more than the older.  Usually a round or two of Zyrtec seems to do the trick.
Very productive day today.  Weeded the front flower bed.  Getting organized to start planting another vegetable garden.  We haven't planted one in a couple of years.  Between the deer, bunnies, and groundhog...we didn't get much of a harvest.  And no, none of the crystals you sprinkle or spray around your garden to keep rodents out works.  We are going to do a fence.  The deer usually don't come down that much into the yard, they just stay on the out skirts.  So we will see what we get this year.
Now doing laundry and settling down to stitch some this afternoon.  I think I will start on the LaVieEnRose class from Jackie.  It should be a quick stitch.

Well I am off....have a great Saturday.

WIPocalypse March Update and TGIF...........................

Hello fellow stitchers...It has been a rough 2 1/2 weeks around our house.  Right after the last post my 2 boys and my husband all came down with this funky virus, bug, flu thing.  My husband was out of town working when he became sick.  My youngest was getting sick in church on Wed. the 22nd and he missed that Thursday and Friday of school.  There goes the perfect attendance he was so trying so hard to get this year.  My oldest got sick right after school on Friday.  I thought Yea.....he will have two days to recouperate and be back on Monday.  So he won't mess up his perfect attendance.  WRONG.  He missed on Monday.  My husband came home from his work trip and litteraly just died.  Went to bed around 6pm Friday night and did not really wake up til Sunday morning.  In between he had a bad case of the stomach bug.  So on Saturday, all 3 "boys" were in bed and I was stitching away watching the TV all to myself.  I did have to get up occassionally and tend to the needs of the sickly.  It seemed though that my husband was the worst of them all.  I don't know if he was actually worse but he sure belly ached the most.

After the "boys" got well, my husband I celebrated our 13th (have been together for over 20yrs. as we dated over 8 years before we got married) anniversay on February 27th at Big Cedar Lodge up by Branson, MO.  Love the private cabins and the atmosphere is wonderful.  We honeymooned there and decided to go back.  We left to come home the morning before the tornados.  It was sad to see the flea market that I had just been in reduced to rumble.

I have been stitching on my WIPS and did get one of the projects "Finished" on my list.  Swan Lake Mending bag.  So glad to have this crossed off my list.  I stitched just a little bit on ATS.  I don't have a picture as it hasn't changed much since the last time I took one.  I am also working on DT's Alpine Garden.  I started this a couple of years ago and just flung it aside.  I had stopped at the section before the Mountain Violets. I am hoping to get this one done by the end of March.  Then on to another one in my list.   (Sorry the picture is dark, I took this on my Iphone and the lighting was not real good.)

Today starts my on-line class through the Shining Needle Society with Jackie DuPlessis of It's Fine-ally Finished.  I am taking the class La Vie En Rose.  (On her site click on Teaching Projects and scroll down to see a picture.)  This should be a fast stitch as it is tent stitch and there is not really much stitching at all.   I know, How am I supposed to get anything done on my WIP's with me taking new on-line classes and then going in November to the Attic for Merry's classes.  All I can say is.................well...................

I also have not started on my other on-line class with Amy Mittern, "Friesland".  We are supposed to be getting the finishing kit after March 25.   I am hoping to maybe start on it this weekend.  I like to take my time and not rush and that is the beauty of doing classes on-line. 

But I guess....I am not bogging myself down as I am so excited for taking another class on-line...Tricia Wilson Nguyen's "Cabinet of Curiosities".  I have always been fascinated with needlework caskets and would love to have one for my own.  (If only I could win the lottery).   It will be an 18 month course.  I have all of these different ideas realing in my head about what I want to put on my casket.  I do not want to over do it with other things as this is what I want to really focus on during this time.   Tricia has already given us little tidbits of information about how the casket class has come about.  You can read up on it on her blog here.   The class starts on May 1st.  So the count down begins. 

Here's a shout out to the Razorback Aquatic Club.  They have their state meet this weekend and I hope they do well.  My son is on this team and he made a qualifying time for state on the 50y breaststroke, but they are not offering this at state.  So we will have to wait and see how he does for long course season this summer. 
GO AQUAHAWGS!!!!

Well I guess I should get going and do something productive today.  Don't know what but something.................
We have had a very mild winter here in NW Arkansas.  Not even one snow day for the kidos.  They will be getting out of school on May 23rd, unlike last year June 10th.
 It has been in the 70's here lately.  But a cold front with rain came in yesterday and it was cold enough that we had rain, hail, sleet and snow.  The sleet and snow didn't amount to anything but was a surprise as we have not seen it this winter.

Thanks for stopping by to visit and hope we all get some stitching done.  I also want to let you know that I do read each an every blog update that I have on the right side of my blog.  I might not respond to everyone but just wanted to know that you all have really inspired me to keep my blog up and to stitch a lot more.  I don't think I would have done as much stitching as I have so far this year if it wasn't for checking the blogs.  Thank you. 

P.S.  Remember to set your clocks "Forward" for Daylight savings time.  I know my husband will be happy that the time will be changing as it means extra daylight time to work on the farm.

Hermit Weekend.............

Just a little up date on my hermit weekend.  I did the finishing on Swan Lake Mending Bag by Merry Cox.  This was an online class that Merry offered in June of 2010. I have had all the smalls done for over a year now.  I take it slow on my finishing and I do not rush.  I have been looking at this bag all pinned up for about 6 months now and decided that it was time to get this done.

So I jumped in sewed the bottom of the bag to the receipe card and then sewed the bag to the outside of stitched piece.  Added the cording.

I then proceeded to make the coil handles.  This was not as easy as it looked.  I needed to take the coils and then tack them to the bag.  It took me 3 hours just to do both handles.

Next step was to stitch the pocket and needle pages to the inside panels.  And Viola....finished.  I was so happy to finally get something done.

Onto my next project of finishing is Merry's "Flowers in the Fall".  I have a good start at the finishing on this project so I am hoping to get this one done soon.

Thank you for stopping by.  Take care and happy stitching.

Another finish...............

Hello stitching friends.  I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day.  Made it through the parties at school and then my husband and I will celebrate Valentine's Day around our anniversary, Feb. 27th.  That way it is one big celebration.

This weekend is the 3rd weekend of the month and it is the International Hermit and Stitch weekend.  I did not check in at Random Ramblings  blog, but I am stitching in spirit this weekend.

I did finish SB Tiny Flag.  I am a member at large with the Swan Sampler Guild out of Salt Lake City, Utah.  I have met some of these ladies when I went to the Attic and they are so sweet.  I hope someday that I will be able to go to one of the meetings or classes/retreats that they offer.   For the month of February they were going to stitch SB Tiny Flag.  I had the kit and decided to join them from afar.  I started this on the 7th and finished it up just a little while ago.  You could either frame it or make it into a pin cushion.  I decided to do the pincushion.  So this will go into the pile of finishings.

I have just been plugging away on ATS....I have finally reached the bottom.  So excited that I do see me getting this done by July.  This will be nice to get this BAP done and off my list.

I will be working on Alpine Garden from the DT next.  Hope to get this one done by the end of March.  I will save a picture for next time.

On a different note.  We have a farm and had to buy a tarp for the top of our stock trailer.  I noticed that when I was helping my husband tie it down he was doing some kind of knot.  As I watched him a little bit...I said "Hey"..........."you are doing hedabo".  He said what?  I said Hedabo.  He laughed and told me what kind of knot it was...I laughed and told him that in the stitching world that is known as Hedabo.  I even showed him one of my projects that had a hedabo loop for the closure.  He said yup that is it.  Here is my husband's "Hedabo" stitch.

My little Shadow (min. dachshund) has a friend out in blog land, Ms. Limo.  I always show Shadow Ms. Limo and she seems interested in getting to know Ms. Limo a little bit more.  I know Ms. Limo has not seen a picture of Shadow, so I will share one of her wanting to jump up on my lap and blog with me.  Merumo...to bad we did not live closer..we have a fabulous dog park for play dates.

Well take care everyone.  Thank you all for visiting.  On to some finishing for the rest of the weekend.

WIPocalypse February Check In

Wow...can't beleive it is February already.  Were did January go? 

I finished two things on my list of WIP's.
They are WMN's "Quaker Needlework Treasures" which I have shared a photo below.
I am not sure what it is stitched on as I started this project a couple of years ago.
But the fiber I used was WDW Deep Sea.  The stitching part is done but will have to put this on my list of "Finishings". 
I also finished SB "Friends", which you can see a picture of it here.  This was not actually a WIP.  I started this in my CJC starts, but wanted to get it done for this year.  It went by very fast.  I used the fabric and fibers that were in the kit.
I am working on "ATS" hot an heavy right now.  I have started stitching at least one motiff a night so I can get this done by July.
I thought I would have  "Something Blue" done by this weekend, but my family just does not understand my need for stitching time.   So now my goal is by February to get this one done. 

Other stitching news....
Last Friday I signed up for the Merry Cox classes at the Attic in November.   She is my all time favorite designer.  I have taken several of her classes in Minnesota, Williamsburg, Arkansas and in Arizona.  She is a fabulous teacher and I have learned so much from her.  If you can take a class from her do so...you will not be disappointed. 
I am taking all three clases.  They are Le Nouveau Palais Royal , Sweet Little Blossoms, and her new piece that she just taught at Christmas in Williamsburg this past December So Dear to Thy Heart.  Merry will be teaching her Palais Royal set twice as I suspect the demand for this class is going to be pretty high.  (I signed up for Thursday's class, as my plan will be to fly back home on Sunday.)  Merry brought this to show the last time she taught at the Attic in 2010.  Let me tell you...it is stunning in person.  Everyone right then and there all agreed hands down that she needed to teach that one the next time she came.    There will be prestitching for these classes, and my WIP's will have to be put on the back burner for awhile until I get these done.  As you can see by the list of projects that I still have to do the finishing on, most of them are Merry's pieces.  I do a little bit in class, but I like the comfort of my home and my things for finishing.  I do have pieces that are done and I will save them to show for another time.  

I want to say thank you for stopping by.  As a newbie blogger it is so nice to read comments and personnel emails.  What a great thing this internet is to connect so many stitchers together so we can all share our passion of the needlearts.
Til next time..keep those needles a flying...........................

Happy Groundhog Day!

Well it looks like Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and that means 6 more weeks of winter.
If our winter here in NW Arkansas stays the same for the next six weeks it would be awesome.  We have had temps in the mid 60's.  Very mild and spring like weather for us here.  Love it.

I finished "Friends" by Shepherd's Bush.  This stitched up real quick.  I am going to order the mats and frame from Rensel Studios.  I just love the way she does the SB Mats.

I am 3/4 of the way done with "And They Sinned".  Down to the grass portion.  I have decided to stitch one motif each night.  I want to get this done in July then it will be 6 years in the making.  Started in July of 2006, and want to finish in July 2012.  Was hoping that I would have gotten it done last July but that did not happen.  I saw where Margaret has been stitching on this and it has really inspired me to want to get mine done.  Thank you Margaret.

In between the motif stitching I have started back on the WIP "Something Blue" by Brightneedle.  I am hoping to have this finished by this weekend.  (Pictures will be in next post.)

I also am going to play catch up this weekend and do the finishing on Merry Cox's "Swan Lake Mending Bag".  I don't have to much more and it will be finished.

Thank you for visiting.

Crazy January is Over.........

I am so happy that the CJC is over.  Last year I got bored with my new starts that half way through the month..."I said to heck with this" and just stitched on what I wanted.  But this year I persevered to the end.  So I have 15 new starts for the year.  Not that I will get back to them any time soon.
So here are the last few starts for January.
25-26 of January I started SB Friends.  I stitched the Friends on the start dates, but have stitched on this since then as my work project.  This is stitching up fast, so I hope to be done by this weekend.

27-28th of January I started Merry Cox's Sampler Band Shaker Box and Accessories.
I have to tell you a little about this one.  I am a big fan of Merry Cox.  (As you can tell by the list projects of hers below that I need to do the finishing on).  My husband and I were in the southern part of Missouri, around the Branson, Table Rock area.  If you come to our part of the states...it seems like there are antique shops everywhere in the boonies. Well there was one shop that we would pass all the time and I told my husband if we have time I would like to stop.   We stopped and as I was looking around I spied a little shaker box that had $20 on it.  I thought was a steal.  So as I was picking it up I noticed this chart that went with it.  My heart was beating fast.  I could not believe it.  Was I actually looking at a kit for a Merry Cox project.  Why yes I was.  This is dated back to 1995.  WOW.  I couldn't let this little shaker box be alone any more and I was happy to give it a loving home.

Then last but not least (I was so happy that this was the end), 29-30th new start was VS Silk Wisteria.  I only stitched on this one day as I was tired of new starts and wanted to get to work on my WIPs.

I was excited as I received my kit for Amy Mitten's new on-line class, Friesland Winder Keeper.  I love the blues and greens of this project.  I will be starting this maybe sometime this weekend.  This will be a work at my own pace project.

Well my WIP's are calling me, come stitch on me.  I hope to have a couple of projects done by this weekend.

Thank you for all the kind comments.  It sure makes me want to stitch, and keep up my blog.  Til next time.  Happy stitching.

A time for Celebration..............

It's time to CELEBRATE.  I have reached a milestone with this blog.  I have posted 6 times this year.  Needless to say if you look at my archives over the past 5 years...yes 5 years, the most I have posted in one year is 5 times and in 2009 I did not post anything.  So this is a time to celebrate.
I did just that this past weekend with the International Hermit and Stitch weekend.
It started out real well on Friday night.  I stitched on SB Charmed Hearts which was one of my CJC projects and then stitched on WMN Quaker Needlework Treasures.  Saturday was not all that productive....11 yr. old has swim practice and then that afternoon we sold some wood, which the people wanted it delivered and after that went out to dinner, did not get much stitching accomplished.  Then Sunday was the day......I was able to get WMN's Quaker Needlework Treasures done.   This is the WIP on my list that I wanted to get done this year. The finishing will have to wait til next year as I got my list all lined up on what finishing I want to do for this year.

So I am still plugging away on the CJC.  Only a few more days and then I will be stitching on my WIPS.

On the 13-14 of January I stitched on SB Come Terry.  Not much is done as we had a swim meet.  I only got part of the shoe done.  At least it is a start. Sorry the picture is so dark.  (I am using my Handycam for pics and just getting the hang of the lighting.)

Next for the 15-16 I started DT Acorn Sampler.  This was a fun one to start.  Love the queen stitches already.  Might have to add this one to my pile for this year.

Next on the list for the 17-18 was WMN My Treasures.

Then the 19-20 I stitched on SB Charmed Hearts.  I started sorting out the color's on the color card that SB gives in each kit and come to find out....I was short 4 colors.  I bought this kit about 10 years ago...so I looked in my stash of Au Ver Soie d'alger and needless to say I had every color around the colors that I needed.  Oh well...instead of contacting SB I am just going to go out an buy me the skeins that I need.  But I did start on the vine part as I did have both the light and dark greens.

I guess I was in a SB mood as the 21-22 was Snowy Morn.  I don't know if I like the fabric of this one.  It is dark but as I am stitching on it, the piece of linen seems to be lighting up.  So I think it will be ok.

And the last one for now is the DT Toccatta II 23-24.  I don't know if I will get a chance to stitch on this one tonight or not.  Helping my oldest with his homework.  

So there is only a few days left of January.  WOW can't believe 2012 is trucking right along.  I had on my list that the 25-26 was going to be Amy Mitten's online class (as this was the start date) Friesland but when I got to reading the info again, it said she would be mailing out the kits on the 25th.  So I better put something in it's place as I don't know how fast we will receive our kits from Canada.  So I will be stitching on SB Friends.  

Thank you for visiting.