Tuesday 11 May 2010

Two weeks and counting....

Until I return to work. I've got a taste these past few weeks of what it's like to be at home and knowing that I have only one year left until retirement makes for a very looong year yet to come.
When I return to work I'll certainly miss my time spent stitching at home. Our Tuesday night group is on hiatus at the moment which is just as well since my DH is preparing a lovely meal for me here tonight in celebration of my birthday. Just the two of us and afterwards we're visiting with some friends. I'll see my boys later in the month. Number two is visiting with us later this week and my youngest is returning home on our holiday weekend this month. I've been told I'm being taken out for dinner at that time for a combination Mother's Day/birthday celebration. My oldest son is just too far away to visit and I did spend some quality time with him there just a week ago.
So since I had no family plans this past weekend, I did the next best thing. I spent it stitching with friends! Dani had a stitchy weekend planned at her place which is about an hour's drive from me. This was to have been my month to host but with my surgery and all Dani filled in. I'm on for July now. It was great fun! I caught up with Dani, Rebecca, Kathy, Beatrice, Christin, and Bonnie and made a new stitching friend, Lori. Lori moved to Ottawa from Calgary, Alberta a year ago and managed to connect with Dani through blogs. She was thrilled to meet other stitchers in her area.

It was great to spend time with these lovely ladies again. There is always so much talk, laughter and of course, eating. I fell off the wagon with my overeating all weekend. I was only able to spend the Saturday stitching but I'm so glad that I did. I got to see all their projects firsthand that I'd been following on their blogs... Rebecca's tulips, Bonnie's Kaleidoscope, Beatrice's China Blue, Dani's Celestial Dragon, Chritin's Giggles and Kathy's Mirabilia RR. Check out their blogs for some amazing stitching! Me, well I plugged away at Nantucket Summer Sampler as well as my Cat Sampler but I have very little progress on either. I made more progress on Sunday evening than I did all day Saturday! I think I spent way too much time catching up, lol. Since my surgery I'd spent too much time as a recluse and it was just nice to get out again. Here's some pics from all our fun. A big thank you to Dani for hosting such a great weekend.










































From the top are Rebecca and Beatrice, Christin and Bonnie, Dani and Lori and finally Kathy with Rebecca listening to her vacation story. As you can see, Christin had to share her lap with Shadow who seemed to think that he should be occupying that chair!







Over the past couple of days I've had to frog and restitch the name and scrollwork on my Cat Sampler three times! If you remember, I replaced Colette's name on the sampler with the name of my cat which then meant that I also had to redesign the border on either end. The first time I stitched it, I wasn't happy with some of the letters in the name. So redoing them meant moving everything. The second time I screwed up because I started in the wrong place. Frog out, start again! Now it's finished and I'm not totally happy with how it looks but I'll be damned if I'm going to frog it out once more and restitch! Do you sense a little frustration here? Me and my bright ideas! Next time I'll leave it as it's charted.

I've spent most of today moving on and stitching the top part of this sampler. Pics to come next time, maybe even a finish. Although NSS is calling to me, my next LHN ornament has arrived and I'm heading off to find fabric for it in my stash. I'd like to get a good headstart on it before I return to work. With all this time off work I'd hoped to do a lot more finishing but I've been lazy about getting to it. Finishing is just not my forte and I've been putting it aside whenever I think about it. I'd just rather be stitching.
I hope all the Moms out there had a lovely day on Sunday and continue to have a great week. With lots of stitching included of course!

12 comments:

  1. Damn frogs. I say we stamp them out! I hope the rest of this piece is frog-free, including the finishing!

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  2. It was so much fun catching up with you on the weekend. Nasty frogs...they seem to go everywhere.
    Your piece is soooo sweet! Clarisse must be impressed!

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  3. What lovely photos from the weekend. And the photo of me - yep - never stop talking do I LOL
    It was great to see you on the weekend and catch up. I have missed you!
    Take care
    And Big Birthday Hugs and Kisses

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  4. Wow! It looks like you had an amazing time!! Thanks for sharing photos!! And Happy birthday!!

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  5. Hi Lynn,

    Gee, I hope that Clarisse
    appreciates all the hard
    work and the aggravations
    that you've endured just so
    that she can have a sampler
    dedicated to her furry self.

    If it's any consolation I
    think that you've designed
    and stitched a very nice
    name change there which
    suits the rest of the design
    nicely.

    I'd better make sure that
    Phoebe doesn't see this
    picture though, else she'll
    be wanting one of these for
    herself.

    I remember when I was off
    work 10 years ago for the
    exact same reason as you.
    Three blissful months, once
    the surgery and first few
    weeks of recovery were passed,
    to enjoy being at home. The
    time just flew by as I recall.

    I cannot understand people who
    claim that they could never
    stay home, claiming that they
    would be bored or something.
    Good grief!! I have a list a
    mile long of all the things
    I'd be doing if it weren't for
    work.

    On the other hand, work does
    pay for all the stash, both
    stitching and books.

    The stitching weekend at Dani's
    looks like it was lots of fun.
    Wish I could have joined you
    there. Hope you'll be at
    Kathy's weekend this year
    Lynn!!

    And Happy Birthday Lynn!!!

    Cheers!!

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  6. I love how you put in Clarisse's name, it looks great. The year to go for your retirement will take mo time at all, I am having a hard time believing that we are already in May. Looks like you had a wonderful time at Dani's, thanks for sharing the pictures. Happy birthday Lynn.

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  7. Happy Birthday and what a fun weekend you and your fellow stitchers had. There is nothing like spending time doing what you love to do with the people you love to be with sharing the same passion. Love all of the pics.
    Be always in stitches.

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  8. Oh, I hate frogs- I really like the way it looks now though.
    The weekend looked lovely- so much fun to share a hobby with your friends!
    Have a lovely week!

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  9. Happy Birthday! Sounds like you had a great week end with all your stitching friends. It is our stitching night tonight and I am so looking forward to it. Have a great week.

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  10. Happy Birthday and keep looking forward to that retirement. You'll be able to get alot of stitching done then. Maybe? Its nice to have friends to stitch with.
    donna

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  11. Lynn I was sooo glad you could make it out! Sorry I nabbed up May, but its not very often that Todd abandons the house and I can have all the girls over!

    Your sampler is looking adorable!

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  12. It sounds like you had a great time, Lynn! Lucky you. :) Thanks for sharing the pics. Love your progress on Clarisse's sampler--sorry about the frogs!

    Happy birthday!

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