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.