Germs, you have worn out your welcome!

We're slowly recovering here from some sort of NASTY virus--like a bad stomach flu on crack or something. I ended up in the ER Thursday night and even after multiple bags of fluids, was still not hydrated enough for them to be happy! Dan and Tory seem to have gotten milder, yet still nasty cases of it. Tory had to miss her first softball game :( But I am posting a picture of her at the last practice!


I also finished this round of the Spot Sampler RR. This one belongs to Melanie. I'm really enjoying these spot samplers!!



Otherwise we are all on the mend, and things are being set in place for my job to start on Wednesday!

Peace to you!

Presenting Moonlit Orchid

I finally finished it! Took far too long, but I am thrilled with the result. I converted the DMC to NPI silks, and the mill hill beads to Delicas. It is however late, and I am off to bed! Do make sure to click on the picture, the bigger one is much easier to see :)



Thank you for all the well wishes on my job, and also I am so thankful for everyone who reads and comments. It means the world to me!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

Wow, it's been a whirlwind few days! No I haven't finished Moonlight Orchid yet, though I plan to do that today!! I did finish a few scrapbook layouts that I was working on, and did some work around my house. My BIG news however is... I GOT A JOB!!!!!!!!!!! I got a GOOD Job!!! Making good money, that I can physically do, and that I have the perfect skill set for!!!! *Dances around like Snoopy!!*

So this will cut my stitching time down drastically, but that's okay! I'll be able to help my family get stable and maybe fix this house to sell it!!

Whoooo hooooooooo!!!!!!!!!

Moonlight Orchid WIP

Because Jamie keeps bugging me... *grin* First picture is the last time I worked on it, way back in the fall, the second picture is where I finished up last night.. The second picture is much closer to the real colors..

I missed it!

Having been a Just Nan addict for some time, I don't really understand what was going through my mind the day I passed on ordering the Queen of the Needle Needlecase through The Silver Needle some time ago. I am regretting that so much these days now that the new sampler and ornament have come out.

I keep hoping that somewhere, someone will have bought it, stitched it and would now be willing to part with their chart! LOL Not likely I'm sure, but one can dream!

I need a boat!

Wow the floods in New Hampshire! Honestly I'm not sure if I'd rather the moisture had come as snow or rain--at least with snow there would have been a gradual shift! But a Nor'easter decided to slam into the East Coast and stay for a few days. We had over 5 inches of rain in a little over 24 hours--wild! Dan and I ended up in the back yard, in icy water up to mid calf, digging a drainage ditch so that all the run-off and melting of the 5 inches of ice/snow that was already on the ground could possibly stay OUT of our basement! We're just about at the bottom of a hill, and all the melting from the woods behind us was ending up at the back of our foundation. We'll have to figure out a better drainage system sometime this summer! I have to say I'd rather fix my yard then deal with inches of water in the basement again!

Tory is on her second day of no school due to the flooded roads. I think my husband may have made it to work today--he was having to go miles out of his way though! The road damage around here is worse then even the Mother's Day floods last year. I wasn't here for those ( I was in PA loving on my godson for the first time! :) ) Hopefully T and I can survive another day inside! It's not actively raining now, which is great! I've nearly got my laundry caught up, since I had Dan to fetch and carry the heavy stuff yesterday!

I pulled out an older WIP yesterday to work on--I just didn't want to work on *anything* and really was fighting the urge to start something new. With 44 WIPs, I really don't need to start anything!! I pulled out Moonlight Orchid from Patricia Ann Designs. I converted this lovely piece into NPI silks and had forgotten just how beautiful it was. I had had to pull out the flowers once because my conversion just did not work, but I'm quite happy now!! I got several bands finished last night, and did some work on the everlasting border--smyrna stitches covering just 2 threads (TINY), and in between Algerian Eyelets and Rhodes Squares. Not a problem except it is all done in #12 perle cotton. I HATE perle cotton! So I'm working on the border a little at a time ;)

That's all for me today--off to fold clothes!

Wonderful Weekend

What an amazing weekend I've had! It's been so wonderful that I am not even going to let the nasty weather in NH get me down. I am more relaxed and all the down-time has really given me new energy!

We dropped Tory off with our friends, along with 2 HUGE tubs of my old Beanie Babies. I was quite obsessive about collecting so I had hundreds. They have a little girl and a year old boy that were able to pick out as many beanies as they wanted! We couldn't check into the hotel until 3pm so we went to the bookstore. We spent about 2 hours wandering around there, picking up a few odd books and a thank you card for our friends. We then went to the hotel and checked in. Dan's brother and sister had given him an Escape Romance Weekend for his birthday. When we got to our room there was champagne and chocoate and a vase of roses. The king size bed was piled with pillows and was quite comfy! The package came with a gift certificate for dinner as well. We settled in and spent our time before dinner just reconnecting and chatting. We then got ready and headed out to the resturant.

We picked Radici in Portsmouth, and our reservation put us with the later crowd. I have to say this was the most amazing dining experience I've had in ages. No kids, no time constraints, no pressure. We had appetizers--a roasted artichoke heart dip, and braised short ribs over baked polenta. The ribs literally melted in your mouth, and the dip wasn't bad. Dan liked that one more! We had an imported Italian water since neither of us really drink at all ( I don't like wine). Then it was time for dinner--for Dan Gorgonzola penne with wild mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes, for me Osso Bucco. There are not words to describe the deliciousness of this. I was blown away by both the amount of food, and the incredible flavor of it. We of course did sharing, nibbling off of each other's forks! Dessert was last--death by brownie for me, and tiramisu for Dan along with a cappucino. All in all it took us over two and a half hours to eat, and I think it was the most romantic part of the weekend.

We went back to the hotel and snuggled in together, watching (and not watching) some television! We slept ourselves out--I woke up around quarter til 9 to my husband getting breakfast for me to have in bed. It was so sweet! Lots of talking, giggling , and snuggling later we realized we had to pack and head to reality.

Wow what a reality!! It's another storm for NH, bringing snow, sleet, freezing rain and the promise of more to come for *days*. Right now I don't mind :) I think it's time to go snuggle with my daughter and husband and watch a movie. Spaghetti sauce in the crockpot and the warm down comforter is calling my name!

This-n-That...

Not much of a post title, but it was all I could come up with this morning! :) My back has been giving me problems again, but I didn't let it stop me yesterday! I went to the free "Mom's Crop" at the Local Scrapbook Store. They let you use all their tools for free, and of course that just is an easy way for me to decide--oh I need THAT! I can't justify buying a cutting system yet, but I have asked for one for my birthday! I'm enjoying scrapbooking, it's giving me a creative design outlet that is 'quick'. I can get a finished result in as little as an hour, plus I get to go through and relive some of my most favorite moments in our lives!

Leave it up to my daughter to remind me at the oddest moments why I love being a stay at home mom. She came up to me this morning, so I could wrap her scarf around her neck for her. When she does it, and puts her coat on, it gets all bunched up, so it's easier if I help her. After I did it she said " Momma, I couldn't do that without you." My reply "of course you could honey, it's just easier if I help you." She thought about it a moment and said " Momma, you make almost everything easier! I love you so much." Until she has children of her own, she will never know why my eyes misted up and why I'll never forget it. Being a mom is so challenging, but it's moments like that--they make it all worth it.

I'm also thrilled to report that when she plays the clarinet at home for practice it actually SOUNDS like music now!!! Lemme tell you that's a relief! We're both itchy for softball season to start--although there's STILL SNOW on the ground!!

In stitchy news, I finished the JN RR and packed it off. I got most of what I wanted to do on the Spot RR done--checked in with the owner, and I'm going to be able to put on the peacock I wanted! It involved beads so I wanted to check :) I don't have to mail til the end of the month so I have lots of time! She sent LOTS of fabric! :)

DH and I are going on a romantic getaway this weekend!!! It was a gift from his brother & sister for his birthday and I can't wait! Friends of ours from the Church are going to watch DD--they have a little girl who is 3 who just adores her! So from Saturday at 10am until Sunday at 6pm we are just two people without computers or maybe even cell phones!!! :) We need this so much. I don't even think I will take any stitching!!

Wow, longer post that I thought it'd be! Have a beautiful day!
Peace

Happy Monday!

Great weekend around here--nice and relaxing. We kept Easter low key this year, focusing more on quiet reflection. It was nice! We did Sunday brunch at a great place in Concord after church, so no cooking for me! That was even nicer! Tory was invited to color eggs at a family friend's home Saturday night which was nice and fun!

Stitching wise, I finished the Just Nan RR I had and will be mailing it out. It's hard to believe this RR is nearly over!! I can't wait to get my Christmas RR back though. From the pictures I've seen it's GORGEOUS!!

Busy day today with chores and laundry, so I will leave you with pictures of the kid for Easter!

Stitchy update :)

Well I finished and assembled another of my own designs last night--unfortunately I can't show it to you. I'm also not all that sure I'm thrilled with it :(

But I can show you WIP pics of two of my current WIPs!
Autumn Faery Spirit by Passione Ricamo. Stitching on Snickerdoodles Belfast from Sugar Maple Fabrics:


Cirque de Circles by Ink Circles. I love this piece! I'm using Russian Sage premium floss from Vikki Clayton, 1 strand over 2 threads. The fabric is Meadow Mist Reflections from Silkweaver.


Have a peaceful and blessed week!

Goals...

Welllll, March wasn't as productive as I would have liked it to be..

1: Finish last shop model--deliver them by March 15! Delivered 1, second one clarified and no deadline--picked up last JN Square model--no deadline!
2: Start Ink Circles Cirque de Circles SAL March 4th Yes! Not much progress though!
3: Get Mira RR ready to go! Yeap!!
4: Stitch 5 hours on PR Autumn Faery Spirit Yeap!!
5: Stitch JN RR/Spot RR and mail on time! Yeap!!
6: Meet all exchange/mailing obligations! So far so good!

Goals for April:
1: Stitch & mail JN RR and Spot RR on time!
2: Stitch 5 hours on Autumn Faery Spirit
3: Stitch design and mail by April 15 for exchange
4: Meet all mailing deadlines on time.
5: Stitch in PR stitchathon!!

That's it for this month!!

Happy April!

Well March went out with some wind and chill and April is here and cold and wet! And with April comes something from my husband--I'm sneezy, coughy, grumpy, chilly, achy and a few other dwarves! I'm so tired and blah--but it's a virus and it'll go away soon! We also had a great weekend. It was Palm Sunday at church, and once again it was a great service. Our friend Jamie was up from NYC and on Saturday we went on an adventure of batting cages, mini golf and a driving range! Pictures to follow!

I also got a stash order in the mail from ABC Stitch. I am so excited that I got the Just Nan Lady Scarlett's pincushion! I also got some limited edition Dinky Dyes and The Cat's Whiskers designs. I'm so excited!


Here's some pictures from our weekend! Enjoy!