More giveaways

It never ceases to amaze me at how generous stitching bloggers are. I have stumbled across two more very amazing giveaways. Check them out at Lynn B and Belinda's blog. Belinda is giving away some gorgeous project bags and tool pouch. You have to check out her fabric....lovely!

As you can see from this picture, Lynn has created the most amazing Marie Antoinette box. These are two very talented ladies and I thank them very much for the giveaway offers.

I only hope that one day I can achieve some finishes that are as beautiful. I'm not very talented when it comes to sewing and I just drool over some of the finishes out there in blogland. So I decided that when I retire next year I'm going to look into taking a sewing course if there are any available in my area. I took the basics many years ago when I was in high school but my mother didn't sew and I didn't have access to a sewing machine and consequently lost the skills I'd learned. I have no desire to make clothing but I would love to do pillows, projects bags, etc.

It's an overcast Sunday here. There has been some rain and the temperature is a bit cooler than it has been. I worked an evening shift yesterday which is something I haven't done in years. I was originally hired as full time evenings but that lasted only a year before I moved up to the day shift. Several evening shifts became available this summer as the result of a fellow employee resigning. We are short staffed and don't have anyone to replace him so as a result everyone was expected to pick up some of his shifts even if it meant you had to work a double. Double shifts are just getting too hard to do in the healthcare field so I was lucky enough instead to pick up an extra weekend shift in the evening. It was busy enough and when I returned home at midnight I was too keyed up to sleep right away. So I pulled out my Halloween Cove and started putting in some stitches.

I had a little setback with this one earlier in the week when I discovered that I'd stitched the one small pumpkin up a row from where it should have been. I thought about leaving it and working around it but figured I'd probably screw up even more as a result. So the frogs took up residence for a brief period of time and then I restarted at that point. I have made some headway though and it is coming along. I've just started stitching one of the ghosts now. I do love the raven on the branch. This is a really fun stitch which I'm really enjoying! The pattern calls for the use of 3 strands of floss over 2 but I really dislike stitching with 3 so I'm only using the 2 strands. I suppose it would look much better if I'd used the 3 on the tree but by the time it's framed and up on the wall it won't be quite as noticeable.

Speaking of frogs, isn't this fountain of frogs great? It was in the gardens of Butchart Gardens, Victoria, BC when I visited there on vacation this summer. I loved it as soon as I saw it however I do wish they were spouting water at each other rather than in my direction!

Other than HC, I haven't got any other stitching to post at this time. I'm gearing up for vacation in a week's time and I'm trying to decide which projects to bring along with me. I'm hoping for lots of stitching time on the dock at the cottage. I have waaaay to many that I want to start now but of course that's not possible so I have to limit myself. Having 4 or 5 new starts would frustrate me to no end since I just don't have enough hours in the day to devote to them.

Okay so the rain has returned in earnest now and I'm feeling the temperature drop as I write this. I've been writing this post over the course of the whole day. Time to get supper underway so that I can sit once again and cross that x. I'm trying a new recipe for Tomato Basil Pasta Salad with grilled chicken. My mouth's watering as I think of it!

A small finish

Well it's taken me long enough but I've finally finished my LHN ornament Winter Sheep. After returning home from work on Saturday I got in the mood to Christmas stitch, dug it out and finished it lickety split! I've just placed the cardinal button on it for now. I had this one in my stash but I've got another slightly bigger cardinal button on order that I will use once it's arrived. So now it's on to Red House in Winter. I'm looking forward to stitching this one.

Although I worked the weekend I managed to get in quite a bit of stitching. It was one of the quietest weekends I've worked in a long time. Everyone's vacationing I guess and staying away from the hospital. So I put in some time on Summer Lineup. I started to put in the french knots for the watermelon seeds but got very frustrated and it didn't take long! Knots are not my forte and there are quite a few of them in this piece between the watermelon seeds and the dots on the ladybugs so I went online and ordered a pack of black Mill Hill Petites. I feel much better now!

At last night's stitching get together I decided to concentrate on Halloween Cove for awhile. I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped. Several of the ladies who hadn't been there for some time made an appearance and there was a lot of catching up and ooohing and aaahing over current stitches as well as much enabling going on as we browsed each other's new stash. So this is where I am at this point. I hope to concentrate on this one a bit more now.

Just as I headed out for my weekly stitching I received a phone call that my latest stitch was ready for pickup at the framers. I was so excited to see it and I wasn't disappointed. The frame is really lovely . The pictures just don't do it justice. It's a dark red mahogany and is a perfect match to the red floss in the stitching. I've taken a closeup so you can see the detail in the frame.

One piece of news I have neglected to tell you about since my return from vacation is that I was the winner of a draw on Diane William's (LHN) blog. Diane was giving away a copy of her soon to be released new design The Family Sampler. I was so excited when I read her blog post and found out my name was one of 5 picked. Can you believe it? She had to draw names two more times because winners didn't respond within the posted time. I'll tell you it sure didn't take me long to respond! I LOVE Diane's designs and am really looking forward to seeing this one arrive in my mail. Thank you Diane!

I was just about to finish off my post tonight when my BFF Pam (no blog) dropped by for a visit and showed off her latest finish. I met Pam many years ago when I moved to my village and joined one of her decorative tole painting classes in an effort to meet new friends in the area. Pam and I became fast friends and I have shared my love of stitching with her. She informed me tonight that she always could spot a designer of a piece of tole work by their style and now she is starting to do the same with cross stitch thanks to my enabling, lol! I love her latest finish and asked if I could post a pic on the blog. Here it is - Like Home by La D Da.

Special birthday wishes are headed out to three of my stitching friends. Wish a Happy Birthday to Christin, Beatrice and Kathy who have all celebrated birthdays within this past week. Ladies, I hope you have spent your day doing something you love! Hopefully it included stitching.

Happy stitching everyone.

Giveaway!

Fiona is celebrating! She's just reached 100 followers and in celebration she is having a giveaway for some lovely goodies. I am always amazed at the generosity of stitchers. They are a very special people. I hope to repay them in kind when I've retired next year and can stitch up a storm. Anyway I hope you are having a good weekend and I'll have a stitchy update with pics in a day or two.

My First RAK!

Yesterday was my first day back at stitching with the Tuesday group so I didn't head home after work or check my mailbox at that time. Instead I checked it on my way home during a rather torrential downpour. "I must be crazy to stop during this storm and check the mail now", was my thought as I made a mad dash for the post office door, jumping puddles (rivers!) and fumbling for my key. But to my delight there was a lovely surprise waiting for me. I recognized the name on the return address at once and wondered if this could possibly be a stitchy treat for me. Yaaaay, it's my very first RAK!

Dear sweet Sharon, otherwise known as Daffycat, stitched this lovely pin pillow for me! It's stitched and finished so perfectly. Just look at that little crow on the back. He's adorable! The pillow is also filled with lavender which I just love the scent of. She could not have known, but Autumn is my favourite time of year so this is absolutely perfect. It also reminds me of cooler days ahead as we suffer through another bout of heat & humidity. Thank you so very much Sharon! I love it and will proudly display it with my other stitches.

As I mentioned, it was the return to my weekly stitching which I desperately needed after a 2 week drought due to vacation and visits. Here's what I managed to accomplish on my Summer Lineup. I probably could have gotten further except for all my chatter as I got caught up on everything I'd missed. I am enjoying this little piece. I love the bright colours in it. When I tire of it, I'll return to my Halloween Cove.

Here's the reason I didn't cross one x this week.

That's right, the grandchildren were back!! The whole family was here including my youngest sister who hadn't been up to our place in 8 yrs. Although I had to work, we managed to cram a lot of activities into our evenings and had a ball. While I was at work, my sister and the boys took the girls to the park and for ice cream at the local snack shack.

Evenings were spent BBQing and going into Ottawa to check out the Busker Festival and the new light show on Parliament Hill. Through it all the girls were real troopers, not complaining a bit and trust me we did a lot of walking! Now they've all headed back to their respective homes and we are left with the aftermath - noseprints on windows, cat fur everywhere (from the girls chasing Clarisse), a laundry basket full of towels (courtesy of my boys), alphabet magnets all over my fridge and a wading pool full of grass. I miss them already!!! Clarisse however, does not and is extremely happy to have her house back. She was not amused!

Happy stitching everyone!

Pitiful progress

So, as promised, here's a photo of my pitiful stitching progress during the past week. I didn't put a single stitch in either Halloween Cove or my LHN ornie. The only thing I stitched on during my vacation was Summer Row and even then I only stitched on the plane there and back. I'm using a Silkweaver piece I had in my stash but it's aida. Does it ever feel strange stitching on this again. I can't remember the last time I used aida and it just feels so stiff even though this piece of fabric is softer than some I've used in the past. Any further stitching won't take place now I'm sure until later next weekend.

Since we've arrived home from Victoria we've been getting the house clean and ready for my family who start arriving tomorrow. My sister arrives first followed by the arrival of all three sons and my granddaughters on Wednesday. As I mentioned in an earlier post, my mom was also to have visited and this would have been the first time she met her great granddaughters. Unfortunately, she is ill with vertigo and has been advised not to travel at this time. I know she's very upset about the whole thing not only because she won't see the girls but also because two of my sons are unable to travel to her 80th birthday party later this summer and she hasn't seen them for some time. I told her that we'd try and work something out in the fall or at Christmas when she could see them then. I'm also at work all week and won't be able to spend as much time as I'd like with the gang but I'm only allowed a certain amount of time off during "prime time" and I will be seeing my sister and Mom again in August.
So it looks like stitching will be on the back burner until after everyone departs next Saturday.

I have some more photos now to share from our fabulous trip to BC. We had been told to make sure and make a reservation for tea at the Empress Hotel while we were there. Reservations actually had to be made months in advance since this is a very popular spot in Victoria. The hotel has been serving afternoon tea for over 100 yrs! This is a luxury hotel maintained in the style of the bygone era of the early 1900s. One must dress for tea!

Here's a link to show you the menu which is served for afternoon tea. There is also a selection of six different teas to choose from. I had a pineapple-orange blend which was really nice! A friend of ours from the organist convention joined us for the occasion and we were all quite surprised at exactly how full we felt after eating the little sandwiches and pastries. I think it's because everything was soooo rich!

The hotel really was lovely and it was the perfect spot to start off our trip following church on Sunday. I've also posted a picture of the hotel to show you just how massive it is. Definitely not on our budget!!

One of the other highlights of my trip was a visit to Butchart Gardens. The gardens are a National Historic Sight of Canada and contain 55 acres of floral gardens. I could have spent a whole day there but only had about 2 hrs during out tour to try and cover all the garden. But cover it I did! I think there was only one small area that I missed and I managed to take close 75 photos while I was at it. The flowers and foliage were spectacular. The rose garden alone was breathtaking. As you walked through a portion of the garden, you passed through rose-covered arches from which hung baskets of muticoloured flowers. And the perfume from the roses was incredible! Take a look and see what I mean.

The pictures really don't do it justice and I wish that I'd had more time to just sit quietly for awhile and take in the beauty.

Our last night in Victoria we took a stroll along the waterfront and took this picture of the province's Parliament Buildings. The harbour really is a lovely site even at night!

All in all it was a fantastic trip. I'm already wishing we were back there again.

Once home I found a message on the phone's answering service from my framer that one of my latest pieces was now ready. I had two in for framing and wasn't sure which one it would be. As it turns out it was LK Prayer Connection. You'll recall this one is to be a gift for our new rector at his induction service this fall. I think it looks great! My other piece, Forget Me Not, won't be ready until mid August. It appears they've fallen a little behind in their schedule.

So now I'm back to reality once more but not for long since I have another 2 weeks scheduled for the end of August. By next week I'll be back to my regular stitching routine and should have more progress to report. Hope everyone is enjoying their week!

Beautiful British Columbia

I'd heard so much about Victoria, BC , what a lovely city it is and what a lovely province British Columbia is and they are so right! Victoria is a gorgeous city! For those of you who are not Canadian and are not familiar with it, Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia. It's located on the southern most tip of Vancouver Island which is about 100 km or 60 miles away from the city of Vancouver on the mainland. It's only 25 miles from Port Angeles, WA by ferry or 60 miles from Seattle. And most important of all, it has a needlework shop! More on that later in the post.

This was a working holiday for my DH so I spent a lot of the time exploring the city on my own. Most of the venues were withing walking distance. Our first evening there we took in a ferry tour of the harbour which gave us an idea of the layout of the city and a much better view from the water. That's yours truly in the pic, waiting for the next tour. What I didn't realize about the harbour is that there is an international airport there for the seaplanes and it's the only international airport where landings were suspended because of a whale on the runway!

Speaking of whales, DH decided to play hooky on the Monday afternoon so that we could take in a whale watching excursion. We'd taken one of these excursions in the past when we were visiting the east coast. Although we did see some whales at that time, we didn't get in very many good pictures. This time we had somewhat better luck. I say somewhat because we were not successful in sighting any orca whales however we did see a gray whale and a humpback whale.

This is the humpback, which performed very nicely for us, diving in and out of the water.

Next we ventured a little further up the coast where we spotted the gray whale. It really does look like he's covered in barnacles. This one performed by blowing for us although it might be difficult to see in the picture.

After the whale sightings, they took us around a group of islands where seals go to rest and nurse their young. I couldn't believe the number of seals hiding out there. Several of them looked like they'd had more than their share of food lately! We were also fortunate enough to spot an eagle taking a rest on one of the markers in the water.

It was a great day even if we didn't see the orcas which showed up in a large pod the next day of course!

Every one of our days on this trip was packed full of events and concerts and didn't generally end until about 11:00 pm each evening. Day 2 and I'm whipped already!

The morning following the whale tour I had a couple of hours to myself so I set out to explore the shops downtown by the harbour. I managed to get all of my gifts for family in an hour or so and then set out in search of a needlework shop called The Button & Needlework Boutique. It didn't take me long to find and I happily spent the next hour or so browsing the shop and its charts.

I bought a few things including Hedgehog which is a Countryside Miniature kit, LHN Simple Joys and the necessary floss, BTBN Summer Hill as well as a Canadian flag button. For a reminder of my visit to Victoria I bought a lovely needleminder handcrafted in Victoria from Rosewood.

I've been searching for something that I could stitch for Bob and I found the perfect chart, Eye of the Eagle by The Stitching Studio and based on the artwork of Sue Coleman who is a BC native. Bob is really interested in eagles and was thrilled when we saw one on the whale tour. I just can't guarantee how long it will be before I get started on this one!

I'd say it was a successful visit though wouldn't you?

I have a few more pics of my trip that I'd like to share with you but I'll leave them for the next post. By that time I should also have my latest piece back from the framer's and I'll have an update on what little stitching I accomplished on my holiday.

I'm happy to be home but I must say I sure miss the beautiful, comfortable weather we had out west. They have no humidity!!!

Heading to Victoria

I'm afraid you won't see too much from me in the way of stitching over the next week or so. We are currently packing and getting things ready for our trip to Victoria, BC. We leave tomorrow morning and I'm so excited! I've never been to western Canada. As a child my parents travelled throughout the western US with us but didn't venture north into Canada. It was cheaper to travel in the US at that time.

My DH is an organist and is attending the Royal Canadian College of Organists annual convention which takes place in Victoria this year. While he is attending workshops in the mornings and some afternoons, I will be sightseeing. I've already booked for a tour of Butchart Gardens and we have reservations for high tea at the Empress Hotel on Sunday. I'm also hoping to book one of the ferry harbour tours. I'm sure I won't have any problem filling my time!

In the late afternoons and evenings we will be attending concerts of choral and organ music. Definitely not for everyone but I have a growing appreciation of organ music and I was already a fan of choral music.

On the last day of the trip we travel over to Vancouver and spend the day there. I'm taking the laptop with us but I'm not sure how much time I'll have for blogging, commenting or stitching for that matter! I'm sure I'll stitch on the plane flight though.

We're no sooner home than my sister and Mom arrive for a visit followed closely by the arrival of all three of my sons and my granddaughters. It will be a full house!! Can't wait!

So if you don't hear from me for the next little while you'll know why.

On the stitching front, I've started two new works. The first is By The Bay Needlearts Halloween Cove and the second is The Trilogy's Summer Lineup. Halloween Cove is being stitched on Wichelt 28ct Storm Gray Lugana and for Summer Lineup I'm using up some of the fabric in my stash and stitching on Silkweaver's 16ct Days Gone By Aida. It's been a very long time since I've stitched on Aida of any kind and I'm not sure yet if I'm liking it. This particular aida is not as stiff as some, which is better but it's yet to grow on me. I just hate the idea of ordering more fabric when I have so much at home I could be using. Too early for a picture yet.

I got started on HC on Tuesday evening with my stitching group. I'd just started stitching one of the pumpkins when Chantal mentioned to me that the colour didn't look anything like those in the picture. The jack-o-lanterns in the picture are orange and the one I was stitching was a medium copper-rust. I hadn't even noticed at this point, I was just enjoying the whole stitching thing!

Had I purchased the wrong floss in error? Nope, DMC 920 was called for and 920 was what I was stitching with. The girls thought it wasn't really a bad colour but I agreed with them that jack-0-lanterns should be orange. Several of the ladies had a multitude of floss with them and we poured over the various oranges to see which would look better. I decided on DMC 720 which then made me wonder if it had been a misprint to begin with. In any case, 720 it is and I'm much happier with my pumpkins.

I think I will probably stitch either my LHN ornie or Summer Lineup on the plane trip since both of these pieces are smaller and easier to work with. Summer Lineup is really a filler while I wait for other orders to arrive. I'm really waiting for the arrival of Shakespeare's Peddler Garden Magic Sampler. If this shows up in today's mail it's going with me. If not SL it is!

Speaking of my LHN ornament, here is my progress up until this point. I'm afraid I'm not making very fast progress at this. My heart just isn't into the Christmas ornaments at this point.

Rain today has brought a cooler temaperature which is a relief and I've been told the the temps in Victoria right now are a much more comfortable 20-22 degrees C as opposed to the 28-30 temperatures here. I can do with a bit of a break from all the humidity. I hope everyone is getting in lots of stitches whether it's your summer or winter break. Take care and I hope to check in from beautiful British Columbia next!