It's Been a Long Time............................

Ok this is the third time I have tried to type this update.  Something is wrong and I don't know what, but I keep deleting my posts.

Lets see if I can keep this one.

Nothing drastic has happened in the last year or two.  I count my blessing everyday for this.
The only thing is that the boys have grown up considerably.  B is attending his first year of college at the University of Arkansas and R is a Junior in high school soon to follow to the University as well.

On a stitching front.  I have lots that I have stitched and not stitched.
I am doing the finishing for a Merry Cox class that I took in 2012 at The Attic in Mesa.
"Sweet Little Blossoms"  I had all the stitching done but not the finishing.  Merry offered this class online through the Shining Needle Society.  I am auditing the class in hopes it inspires me to get it done.

I worked on the pin keep this afternoon.  Got it done.

So now it is on to the needlebook.  Hopefully will have pics to show soon.

I can only do a little at a time as I get overwhelmed with the finishing.

I am stitching on Ode to Jane by Jackie du Plessis.  I took this class a year ago at The Attic in Mesa.

Jackie taught this recently across the pond and a few of the ladies already had theirs finished.  It inspired me to get mine out and work on it.  It will be beautiful when it is done.

I am going to try and update on Sunday's and Wednesday's to see if I can keep track of what I am doing and help me get somethings stitched.

I am adding to my stash come this January.  I am going to the January Symposium 2019 at the Attic (there seems to be a common denominator here can you guess what it is? lol).

I was one of the lucky ones who got in.  It usually fills up with in the first minute.  I was also one of the lucky ones to be in Jackie's class "Fit for a Queen"  She will only be teaching this one time.  Limited to 43.  So happy I got in as I love queen stitches (my favorite) and this piece is almost entirely queenies.  January can't come soon enough.  

Well thank you for stopping by. 

Until Wednesday, happy stitching.

Thomasina

Lovely Weather for Middle of November

NW Arkansas has had a beautiful fall.  We are just now starting to have crisp cold nights.  Day temps have ranged any where from 60-85 degrees.  And the other night I think we had our first frost warning of the season.   I brought in my Pineapple and Hibiscus plants so they will be roasty toasty for the winter.  I looked out my window in my sewing room and I had roses still blooming in November.  Wow. 

I have been stitching but it seems like I am jumping from one project to another and not really accomplishing anything.  Kinda feel like I am in a slump but not really as I really am stitching.  I think what it is, is that I have so much that I want to stitch on and finish and I get so overwhelmed as there is not enough time in the day.....that I just don't want to stitch at all, but look at everyone's else's finishes, wishing I had mine done. I need to get back onto a rotation and stick with the plan. 

May be this will help....or will it.  On Tuesday I am starting a Jackie du Plessis online class with the Shining Needle Society called "Pinks for Pearls".  I just love the soft pastel colors of this project.

I got my kit in the mail yesterday and can't wait to get started. 

Will post progress pictures.

I have taken several online classes with Jackie and 1 class in person.  It seems lately that I am on a Jackie stitching kick.  I won a retired project by Jackie called,  "Cotton Fields".  I had asked her when she was here in Arkansas in August if this was still available.  Sadly "No" she said.  Then I saw it on eBay and won.  It is so cute and all over one.  I have stitched the little tray and now am working on the scissor fob.  

I am also working on The Gifts' Presentation Tray of Jackie's'.  See what I mean about being on a Jackie kick.  I just love the color of this.   It is a pink hand dyed silk.  It will be gorgous once it is done. 

That's it.....once it is done.  I have several projects that needs the finishing done and it seems like I cannot get to the finishing.  I know I need to set aside time but it seems like the boys still need me for somethings.  I guess I shouldn't complain....one day they will not be here.  In less then 2 years B will be off to college and in another 2 years R will be following right behind him.  B won't be going to the University of Arkansas as they do not have a men's swim team, so he has set his sights on other colleges.  One being ASU in Tempe.  Oh that would be awesome as I can visit him and Jean Lea at The Attic.  B said he might even stay in the Phoenix area after college.  He loves the area and so do I.  R on the other hand wants to go to MIT.  So one kid on the east coast on a1 kid on the west and me in the middle.  I guess that will work. 

Anyways.....cross county season has ended for R and short course for swimming is beginning to hit full swing.  B is doing well coming off of his shoulder injury.  He is right on his times and getting stronger all the time.  Needs to drop about 5-8 more secs in his breast strokes and then he will be ready for a Div. 1 college.  He is ready right now for a Div. 2 college.  We will see who wants him. 

Well I guess that is about it for now.  Need to get back to stitching on something.

Have a great week fellow stitchers. 

Happy 1st day of September!

How can it be September already. 

Summer was a blink of an eye and school just started yesterday right? 

 We are now in the 3rd week of school.

Well we are in full swing with cross country meets and soccer practices for Ryan.

He ran a 15.1 this past Saturday at the practice meet.  He is so happy with that time as he was trying to get between 14-15 minutes.  Last year was the first year he ran and he started out with almost 18 minutes.  So starting out this season with a 15 minute time was great.  His goal is to try to get under or right at 13 minutes.  I think he can do it.  He is working real hard. 

Brandon on the other hand started back swimming with his club.  They were on a 5 week break from long course season which ended the last week of July.  He couldn't wait to get back to swimming and see what he can do this upcoming short course season.  We also had the first meeting and swim practice for high school.  He loves to swim high school as it is a little less stressful.  His goal this year is to try to get his sectional cut times and maybe his junior nationals cuts. 

This picture is Brandon doing the breast stroke (which is his favorite) at the State Meet in July.  

As for me I have started back stitching.  It seems like I don't get much stitching done during the summer.  I need to really change that.  Maybe next year as Brandon is driving and can drive himself to practice then I will have my lunch hour back instead of driving kids here and there. 

I have done a little bit more finishing on "Petite Treasures".  I have lined the tray, and have done the little button bag.  It is so tiny.  I just love it. 

 

 

 

I am working on the scissor case and then the larger bag that the tray and all of the accessories fits into.  I hope to have them done this month.  I have been working on a bit of finishing each night.  Whether it is just cutting out silk or ironing on pellon.  At least something and then it seems like I am getting things done.  Plus boys are doing homework and leaving me along for me to concentrate.  Which is what I need when I am doing some finishing. 

 

In the past I have been doing a rotation with 5 projects (with the exception of the Summers) and it seems to really work well. 

I choose 5 projects and break them down into an acceptable amount of stitching that I can get done in a month. 

Here they are......lets see if I can make these goals for the month of September.

1.  Come Tarry by Shepherd's Bush  --

      Goal:  Down to the hill row.

 

 

2.  May Your Hands/Shady Bower by Thistle Threads  -- 

     Goal:  All of the borders and the verses on the accessories.

 

 

 

3.  Little Paradise Sampler in the SANQ  -- 
     Goal:  The house and the right side with the tree and grass.

 

4.  Thine is the Trick and Treat by Prairie Moon  -- 
     Goal:  The bottom left side motifs.  Spider web and above the Oct. 31

 

5.  Grateful to Thee by Merry Cox  --

     Goal:  Stitch needlebook,  sides of box, little square for scissor holder, and square for needle threader case.

I have also finishing goals.  These will range from finishing projects to framing.  I have tons that need to be framed so maybe if I put that in my goals I might be able to get some of them done along with the smalls.

I would like to at least finish one project a month.  If I get a project done faster then I will go on to the next one and so on.  Here is my list.  I will add more once I get projects done.

1.  Petite Treasures by Merry Cox
 

2.  Table skirt around craft table.

3.  Frame Halloweenies by Plum Street Samplers.

4.  Birds and Berries  by Merry Cox.

5.  Frame monthly Shepherd's Bush Fold.

6.  Refurbish an old night stand for my stitching.  

 

 

 

I will try to get pictures of some of these finishes that I want to do next time around.

I think this will give me a good start for the month of September to get back to my rotation.  And Hopefully my blog will help me stay on track.

I am leaving you with a picture of our cows.  Yes we have a farm and we raise registered black angus cows.  Sometimes it is a pain and sometimes it is fun.  The fun part is in the spring when they are having their babies. 

 

This is LuLu.  She is 3 yrs. old and we got her as a bottle calf.  Sometimes she likes to be petted, sometimes not.  Just depends on what kind of mood she is in. 

 

 

 

 

These two are 4057 in front and 43 in the back. 

 

 

 

Well that about wraps up the first day of September.  Hopefully I can meet some of these goals.

Til we meet again my stitching pals.











All I can say is "WOW it sure has been a long time since I have posted......."

My Dear Friends,

I can't believe that life has gotten away from me once again.  Can't believe that it has been a year and a half since I have last posted. 
A lot has happened since then.  Some good and some bad.

Let's just start with the bad and get that out of the way.
2013 clicked right along.  Stitched was going good, job was going great.  Both boys ended up with straight "A's" (So Proud!) and started summer off.  It was a good summer.  B made State again with 3 events with his competitive swim team.  So summer was great.  Time to get back in to the routine of school, and work.  Two weeks after school started, and the Thursday before Labor Day weekend B broke his right wrist this time.  It happened during while he was swimming.  Long story but needless to say, his coaches were horrified that this had happened on their watch. 
We went to the emergency room and we knew his pinky was dislocated.  You could definitely tell.
They x-rayed his wrist, but the Dr. said it looked fine.  I had asked and both coaches and our Pres. and Vice Pres. of our club had heard the Dr. say it looked fine also.  It was just a sprain.  Thank goodness.  Three weeks into healing, B had a bump on his inner wrist that was not going away.  Took him in to our Pediatrician and he thought it might be fluid or scar tissue that he might need a little bit of physical therapy.  I said ok, but he was have the hospital fax over the diagnosis of the accident.
He read it to me and said the final result was a broken wrist and actually he broke his pinky as well.
I was MAD. No crazy MAD.  I couldn't believe that no one had called us back to let us know when the final report had been made.  So three weeks of healing and the bump was one of his bones sticking out.  So off to the orthopedic surgeon.  We have one thanks to the year before B braking his left arm.
I had gotten the x-rays from the hospital so they could see what it looked like the day of the accident.
He had to have surgery to try to push the bone back into place and then cast it.  So off we went. Dr. came back in right after surgery and said the bone had healed and he was going to have to rebreak and possibly pin it in place.  YUCK.  We would not know about pinning until after the surgery.   Surgery went great and no pinning.  So after about 4 months September - December with several casts on and off and then physical therapy we were able to start swimming again.  It really took a toll on B from school work as he is right handed and to not being able to swim.  So now he is extremely careful about what he does. 
Anyway Christmas came and went with out a hitch and then winter set in for Arkansas.  The last two years kids did not use one snow day.  This year they had 13 snow days and we made all of them up too and got out on June 4th.  We went two Saturdays, used a couple of teacher in service days and also used the Monday and Tuesday of Spring break for make up days.
Kids both made straight "A's" this year as well.  So glad I have good boys who want to go to college and make something of themselves.  Can't wait to see what the future has in store for them.

That was really all the bad news for the past year. It was enough I thought.
On to the good news.  My Husband and I celebrated out 15 year wedding anniversary in February.
We planned on going to Hawaii in June.  Kids were going to go stay in Wyoming with my Mother.
My husband was out of town in meetings and he had texted me that he was awarded a 7 day 6 night trip to Maui, Hawaii all expenses paid.  WOW.  It was in May that we had to take it with 288 other people that were awarded this trip as well in different departments through out the company.  My SIL ended up coming and staying with the boys and loved it.  They don't get to visit with her a lot as she lives in Little Rock.  She has no kids of her own and is not married, so my kids are just like her own.  It turned out great as I my mother could not come down to stay. 
I guess they have been giving these trips away for a long time and it was just this past year that my husbands division was given the opportunity to be apart of this.  His numbers were the best and he got the trip.  It was so beautiful.  We even got to pick one activity to do each day free of charge.
So we went on a rainforest/waterfall hike, deep sea fishing, catamaran/snorkeling adventure, helicopter tour, and tour to the summit.  It was a trip of a life time.  I have to get my pictures together and post them.  We stayed at the Four Seasons Resort.  Let me tell you....I don't stay in that kind of hotel with the kids.  They spared no expense with this trip for us.  We even had a luau, and a recognition dinner that was spectacular.  LOVED everything about our trip.  We do want to go back and take the kids to Honolulu as we were not able to get to Pearl Harbor and the big island with the active volcano.  Hopefully in about 3 years we are planning that. 

So here we are, summer has finally come around and I have been stitching a little bit.  Work has been hectic as we got a new tracking system for our jobs and it has been nightmare.  I am just taking it one day at a time.

For stitching I did get PlumStreet Samplers  Brother's Keeper finished in March. 
I just loved stitching this. 

I used the sampler threads that it called for but I can't think of what I stitched it on. 
I am stitching on a Sampler Maria Dale age 6 out of the 1st Sampler & Antique Needlework Quarterly magazine.  It is all one color. I will have pictures to show you here next time around and maybe a few of my Hawaii pictures as well while I reminisce about how I wish I was back there lounging on the beach drinking a mai tai.

Til then thank you for visiting and hopefully I won't stay away for that long.
Happy Stitching
P.S. I am so happy that the 2013 banner won't be staring in my face when I come visit my blog to read all the blogs that I follow.  Yeah!!

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.



                                                        

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.

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.