The sun makes an appearance!

Yes, it's true. The sun is still out there! It's been so long since we've seen it around here we were beginning to wonder. I'm off today and so have been enjoying the sunny day but don't let it fool you. The temperature has been extremely cold and there's a bitter wind out there as well. Today's temp is -16C which is 0 degrees F.

I finally had a finish on Sunday. USA Tree is now complete. I had a bit of trouble when I started in on the second half of this. It's supposed to be a mirror image and things didn't seem to be working out. I counted and recounted thinking the problem was mine but it turns out that it was a problem with the pattern. I had downloaded this pattern from PatternsOnline and upon closer examination I discovered some errors in the pattern. Hence all my trouble. So I made a few minor adjustments to the left side of the tree which I'm hoping are not noticeable. I think it looks pretty good. I've decided to finish off this piece as a flatfold. I haven't got any fabric right now which is appropriate so I'll put off finishing this until the fall when the Christmas fabrics are released again. I'll be giving this one to my sister as a gift next Christmas. Today I'm alternating between Warm Winter Wishes and my Christmas Joy ornament. When I get tired of stitching on one I pick up the other.

The mail today has brought me more stash! Some of this I have been waiting since December for! Hazard a guess as to which online supplier is the culprit? I think a number of you know who I'm referring to since you've also had some recent problems. This particular ONS has great prices but never seems to have anything in stock. I've decided to deal with them again only when I'm not in a hurry for anything.

The stash that arrived included Stitchy Kitty's Snowman Trio, LK's 2007 Special Edition Christmas Kit- Ho,ho,ho and a lovely little ornament from Stone & Thread called Snowflake Mitten. This one is so cute . I can hardly wait to start it! I think this will be the next ornament I start on. Just gotta find some fabric. I'd also ordered some Mill Hill snowflake treasures for the HS Cat in Snowman's Clothing. I've yet to find some fabric for this one. You'll recall that when I started it recently I discovered a fault in the linen which was definitely going to show up in the piece. On my next visit (next Tuesday) to my LNS I'm going to check their waste fabrics. These are smaller pieces from the ends of the bolts or pieces which customers have had cut and then returned. They package them up and offer them for sale. They're great for use as ornament cuts. The other new chart shown is one I won on ebay. It's by A needle and Fred and is called I Love My Carbs! It comes with the floss required which is mostly GAST and a couple of Crescent Colours.

This little piece speaks to my heart.

There's nothing I love more than my bread! Since last week I've definitely been trying to curb my carb intake. It helps that I've given up all the bad ones (cookies, cake, chips, etc) as my Lenten commitment. This seems to be the only time I can actually stick to things. Once I've passed the first month or so without them it seems much easier to bypass the breads, potatoes, and pasta. I'm not a big fan of drinking water either so I'm making a concerted effort to drink more which will help flush the little nastys( can't check the spelling, Blogger spell check isn't working) from my system. Wish me luck! I've booked a trip to Ft Myers for the end of next month so I'm hoping to have shed a few pounds by then.

Tomorrow is CdC night for me. Can't wait! In the meantime I'm looking for another start. It occurred to me that I have a family wedding coming up for which I might have the time to stitch something. I've got 2 choices available which are small enough that I could have them finished in time. They're The Trilogy's Wedding Spots or one by Big Toe Designs called The Wedding. I'm rather partial to the latter although I don't think I'd use the required colours. If you're reading this Sheryl - what do you think? Which would Stephanie prefer? Sheryl is my cousin and is the mother of the bride-to-be. I'm open to other opinions as well and if you have any other suggestions, let me know.

I'll leave you now with some pictures I took this weekend after waking up to find hoary frost on everything. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about and think the whole thing sounds a little perverted, I'll explain. Hoary refers to anything resembling gray or white hair or down. This type of frost results generally when there has been fog overnight which freezes on everything. It turns even the simplest dull twigs into things of beauty. I took a little drive around the neighbouring roads to take a few shots before the temperature rose and melted it off .