Off to a good start

The year is definitely off to a good start. Last evening marked my return to the Tuesday night stitching group. I'd taken a bit of a break - a combination of weather conditions, fatigue and work overload. It was so good to be back and when I arrived I was pleasantly surprised to see that Dani had joined us for the evening. It was good to see her again since it's been quite some time since we've stitched together. I'm hoping she'll join us again in the coming weeks. My attendance will still be sporadic until spring although I'm hoping to join the group at lease once a month.

My visit with family in Windsor was a good one, although hectic. We had only 3 full days to catch up with everyone. We ate out for lunch and supper all 3 days that we spent there! I'm glad to come home to a home cooked meal again. I did manage to make a pitstop on our way there at Thread & Eye Needlework Shop. They had some buttons on hold that I need for one of the LHN monthly ornaments. I also picked up a new Qsnap and some small cuts of linen. After all, one can never have enough fabric!

One of our evenings out visiting involved a trip across the border to Michigan to visit my sister. We don't usually exchange Christmas gifts anymore but this year she spotted something special for me that she just couldn't pass up. It seems she was shopping in a Hallmark card store and couldn't believe her eyes when she spotted this ornament.

There are many of you who won't recognize this but if you

were born in the 50's or 60's you might remember the Chatty Cathy doll by Mattel. She was on the market from 1959 - 1965 and was second in popularity only to Barbie. I loved my Chatty Cathy doll. I had the original blond blue-eyed version and my sister had a dark haired one.

When you pulled the string on the back of the doll she would recite one of 11 different phrases. Well, this Hallmark version of the doll also has a string on her back and thanks to little watch batteries within her recites the same 11 phrases in the exact same voice.
In the photo below there is a picture of us and our cousin with our dolls. I think this was either Christmas 1962 or 1963. That's me on the left, my cousin in the middle and my sister (who doesn't look totally thrilled!) on the right. This picture sits on my dresser and my granddaughters discovered it during their visit at Christmas. I had just finished discussing it with them and telling them which one was their Grandmaman. What a coincidence to receive this nostalgia gift shortly afterwards. Thanks sis!

After returning home from our visit, I found the next gift waiting for me at the post office. On New Year's Day Angela drew two names for her end of year giveaway. She'd stitched 2 lovely pillows and I was fortunate enough to have my name drawn for one of them. How great is this, starting off the new year with such a fantastic gift?! Since my name was drawn first I chose this sweet LK finish.

Isn't it pretty? I love the fabric she used and her stitching is great. I was surprised at the size of the pillow too. It was much larger than I thought it would be. Although the holidays are over, I've left it out on display in my living room. I just can't put it away yet! Thank you so much Angela. I will proudly display it each Christmas.

Although my visit with family was a hectic one, I did manage some progess on my North Wind.

This is such a fun stitch. I took it with me last night to my stitching group but I'm afraid I didn't put in too many stitches. Far too much catching up to do! I also made a start on A Cat in Snowman's Clothing but I don't have enough done for a picture yet. Shortly though.

DH has just left for his first choir practice since the holidays and once again I'm spending a quiet evening at home. I fully intend on pulling out my stitching but quite often I find myself nodding off, needle in hand. Am I the only one who does this?

I hope everyone is having a super week. I know I'm certainly enjoying all the Crazy Challenge pics on the blogs. Keep 'em coming!

TUSAL - January

So I've finally joined the TUSAL. Follow the link to check it out. Sharon's enthusiasm for the giveaway basket was just too much to ignore! Hanging on to my orts has never been something I bothered doing before this but I'll give it a go. I've dug through my cupboards and so far all I could find for my orts was this small ( it looks much bigger in this picture!) hurricane. I removed the candle from it and dumped my meager orts within. I can't imagine filling this but we'll see.

The weekend has been a washout as far as stitching is concerned. Work was absolutely crazy and my stitching didn't even come out of its bag. We're leaving bright and early in the morning for our trip to Windsor. There are just some flurries forecast but you never know what you'll run into. Thanks to all of you for your well wishes on our journey!

With any luck I'll be able to get in some stitches during the car ride.

More updates on my return. And maybe some new stash too!!

A new year and a new start

I hope everyone had a happy New Year. Ours was very quiet. In fact I rung in the new year by myself since my DH laid down for a cat nap around 8:00 pm and was still sleeping at midnight. New Year's Day we spent the day cleaning up a bit and later some friends joined us for supper. A most enjoyable evening indeed!

As of this writing my tree is down and most of the Christmas decorations are packed back in their boxes until next year. I usually leave some things up until Epiphany but on Tuesday we are heading to Windsor to visit our families for a few days. I know that when I return work will be waiting and then I won't have time for anything.

I made up my mind in early December which design I wanted to stitch next which was Rosewood Manor Spring Quakers. I was only waiting for the fabric to arrive. When it arrived, the week before Christmas, I was disappointed. I ordered the specified fabric which is PTP Valor and found that it was far darker than I really wanted. So I've decided to go with Queen Anne Lace instead. Of course I didn't have a large enough piece in my stash so I used some of my Christmas money to purchase some on ebay and I'm awaiting its arrival. In the meantime I had 2 other pieces kitted and ready to go. Eenie, meenie, miney, moe..... I chose LHN The North Wind. Waiting in the wings is A Cat in Snowman's Clothing by Hillside Samplings. I had a problem finding a link to the latter. I think it's been out of print for awhile.

So here's a photo of my new start so far. I've chosen a 28ct Dove Gray Monaco to stitch it on.

I'm working the displaced weekend right now so I'm not getting in as much stitching time as I'd like. Perhaps in the car when we head out on Tuesday.

I've been enjoying all the wonderful pics being posted of your choices and new starts for the Crazy January Challenge. Although I'm not participating, I'll be eagerly checking in to see your progress pics. I'll post some more updates when I return from my trip (which includes a visit to Thread & Eye in London!). I hope to put in some stitches on Cast All Your Cares again too. Have a great week !!

One more post and one final finish

Just had to post a pic of my final happy dance for 2010. I finished it an hour ago and still have time to work on those ornaments for my granddaughters. The white in the piece shows up better IRL.
Tomorrow it's on to a new start. Stay tuned for pics.

Happy New Year

Final Post of 2010

So it's finally here, the end of 2010. I can't believe it has passed as quickly as it has. I'm assured by my Mom that time will continue to pass this quickly from now on.
You can see from the picture above my latest progress on Jardin Prive's Christmas. There hasn't been much done because there hasn't been any time to stitch with all the festivities. I'm so close to a finish on this one!

I worked at the hospital on Christmas day this year and we had our family celebration on Dec. 27th. Whenever I have to work on the holiday like that, my sons always spend Christmas Day at their father's home instead. Their stockings, along with my granddaughters', were all lined up waiting for them to arrive. When they did, it wasn't long before those stockings were emptied and the floor beneath the tree littered with torn wrapping. Most of the gifts beneath the tree now belong to the little ones and I fill stockings instead for the boys. They've always told me that their stockings were the part they enjoyed the most on Christmas. Things change and those stockings are now filled with toiletries, paperback novels, socks, gloves and gift certificates rather than candies and small toys.
It was great to see my granddaughters having so much fun.

Santa was pretty good to me as well. I knew that he was bringing a Kobo ereader to me but what I didn't know about was this fantastic teapot. My DH knows how much I love anything that's a cat and I also enjoy a good cup of tea. He stumbled across this teapot during our visit to Muskoka at the Blue Willow Tea Shop in Gravenhurst. As I waited for him at the table before our meal, I do remember wondering what the heck was taking him so long to park the car. Unknown to me he had spotted the teapot, waited while they wrapped it, paid for it and hid it in the car while I was perusing the menu. Gotta love him!!

I also received some money with which to purchase some stash from my MIL. She had already discussed this with me before Christmas and I ordered some items in advance to place beneath the tree. Here's what I can't wait to get started at stitching for next year!

In early December I took in one of my previously finished stitches to Michael's ( 60% off framing!) to have it framed. It had already been stretched but I still figured it wouldn't be ready before Christmas which they assured me it would not. So imagine my surprise when they called on the Monday before Christmas to say that it was ready for pickup. I was very thrilled to have BD Blessings Be Thine hung on the wall in our entrance in time to greet Christmas guests and family. I love how it turned out!

I'm hoping the JP Christmas will be my final happy dance for 2010. As for my first start of 2011, well that remains to be seen. I'm still going through my stash and trying to decide on a new start. I know that many of you have joined the Up For a Challenge blog where you pick 15 unfinished stitches and complete them during 2011. I honestly have only a couple of UFO's around, none of which I particularily want to finish. Then there's the Crazy January Challenge where you pick 15 new starts and start one each day beginning with Jan. 1st. Then you take the rest of the year to complete them. I haven't even got the time to pick out 15 new starts let alone start them. That's way too much on my plate as long as I'm working. So my plans for the New Year are to merely find myself a new stitch to get started on and enjoy myself stitching it. I hope to complete more ornaments during the next year but I'm not going to hold myself to it, lol! My upcoming retirement might allow for more stitching time but who knows what the future holds?

I hope that all of you and yours have a healthy, blessed and prosperous New Year. I thank all of you for the many visits to my blog along with taking the time to comment. And I look forward to checking in on all of you in the coming year to see what your new stitching plans involve.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Christmas favourites

So today I headed into Ottawa to attend church for the first time in weeks and where did I end up? The mall! This was after our church service and it's the last place I expected to be on the final weekend for shopping before Christmas. Why did I endure such torture? Because yours truly forgot about an order for a gift. I'd ordered this gift a month ago and it only just arrived. I received the phone call on Saturday and knew that the only time I'd be in that neck of the woods was this weekend. It actually wasn't as bad as I expected it to be but there are still some crazies out there. People get nasty at this time of year!

Friday evening I attended what is quite likely my last Christmas dinner with my coworkers. Less than half of the staff were in attendance which was a bit of a disappointment. In years past we have had a party with music and large numbers of people but the past couple of years have seen a decline in the attendance. Our lab director has always paid for the meals for all the employees attending but as of this December he will be retired and the good old days will be just that. It was a lovely meal but a short evening for sure. We were back home by ten and that's after a 45 minute drive.

I spent Saturday evening stitching on Summer's ornament but ended up frogging out a portion when the mirror images of the tree branches didn't match up. I didn't realize just how difficult it would be to frog out stitches done over one. Or maybe it was just the fabric I was using. In any case I put it aside after that and haven't touched it since. I've decided there is a good chance these won't be complete in time for the big day but I'm not upset. No one is the wiser and I would rather take my time at them and do a good job rather than rush them, cursing all the way. The girls are still young and there's always next year.

I promised a few more pics and so here are some I took of my favourite ornaments on the tree.

The first is one of my Dad's picture which hangs on our tree every year since his death 16 yrs ago. What I love about this is that there is also an ornament of a Coke bottle which hangs beside it. Anyone who knew my Dad knew that he was addicted to Coca Cola. Even when he was hospitalized he had family members sneak some in to him. When he died we made sure he was buried with a can of Coke beside him!

This is followed by our new ornaments... a snowman and a cupcake. I loved this little snowman so much that I purchased two more for each of my sisters. A friend gave me the Jim Shore ornament of Santa and baby Jesus. It's really beautiful and although I received it last year, this is the first time it has hung on our tree. Then there is the little penguin which always reminds me of my oldest son. He's loved penguins from the first time he saw them and would beg us to take him to see them at Montreal's Biodome. Now that my sons are grown, they are in the process of dividing up several of the ornaments which they made as kids to put on their own trees.

Not long after Bob and I married 9 yrs ago, I was looking through his photo albums and spotted a picture of him with Santa. I then dug out mine to show him. We put them aside to show the kids. In the meantime I found Christmas frames for them and decided to display them along with the pictures of my sons that had been taken with Santa when they were younger. We have had more comments on these pictures then any of our other Christmas decorations. Last year my granddaughters spotted them and were confused when we explained that one of them was their Papa!! Mine is the only black and white photo of the group and was taken with my sister when we visited the Christmas wonderland at J L Hudson department store in Detroit. I'm the one on the right. Don't you just love the outfits?

Dan & Chris together and my eldest son Jeff in the other.

I'd like to take this time to wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May 2011 bring blessings to all of you. I want to thank you for taking the time to drop by my blog and for all of your kind comments. I love hearing from each and every one of you!!

A little stitching and celebrations

I can't believe that so many days have passed since I last posted. Time is getting away on me and I'm starting to panic as Christmas approaches. There don't seem to be enough hours in the day for me to accomplish everything that needs to be done. Add to that the fact that I'm always sleep deprived and you get the picture. I enlisted my son Daniel's help this week in order to get the house decorated. As you can see, the tree is now done!I also wanted to spend some time with Dan since he is celebrating his 26th birthday tomorrow. My husband Bob also saw a birthday pass on Sunday so we had a joint celebration yesterday. It was the only day that all of us could get together. With Bob being an organist and choir director, this is an extremely busy time for him and we haven't seen much of him lately. I had hoped to try a new dessert for them that I found on Carol's blog but there just hasn't been enough time so I bailed out and bought them a chocolate fudge cake from the local bakery. The neighbours came over and joined us too so there isn't much cake left now, thank goodness. It's just too tempting!!

I've made a small amount of progress on Jardin Prive Christmas. The top line with the word Christmas and the church is the latest stitching on this one. When I stitched the church, it called for the windows to be left so that just the fabric beneath showed but my fabric was so light that you couldn't tell there were windows there. That's when I decided to backstitch the windows to make them more visible. After stitching in the top of the piece I decided to put it aside in favour

of my M design name trees. I ordered these last year (or it might even have been the year before ) to stitch for my two granddaughters, Oceanne and Summer. Oceanne's tree is stitched save for the beading but I hadn't even touched Summer's yet. Time to get my butt in gear if I want these done for this year. I'm still not even sure that will happen! In any case here's a pic of Summer's tree up until now as well as a pic of Oceanne's tree. If you look at Oceanne's tree sideways you'll be able to see her name within the branches.

Ooops, I've run out of time! I'm heading out with my son for dinner and possibly a movie.

I have lots of other pics to share with you so I'll try and post again within the next day or two.

Enjoy your evening!