Closing In On A Finish

 I want to take a moment to welcome a new follower to my blog, Mary.  It is always wonderful to hear from another in our "stitcher sisterhood".  I never thought when I started my blog to do anything more than to share my stitching, recipes and life to stay in touch with family and friends throughout the World.  The added benefit has been meeting and sharing with so many other women of like interests around the World.

I'm closing in on a finish of Be Thankful by County Cottage Needleworks.  I've changed the color on the flowers in the top border from the bright orange in the 1st picture to a more subtle color in the bottom picture.  I just felt the intensity of color of my first choice just didn't look right so went to my LNS and chose a color better suited to the other colors.  I think the bottom picture gives a truer version of the colors of fabric and threads.  I'm much happier with the piece now and can't wait to put the last stitch in and leave it with the framer.  I have already picked the frame for it and will snap a picture of the corner piece when I leave it to be framed.

I've already picked out my next project to start and it is Little House Needleworks - Sarah Street - Faithfulness.  I have to again thank my dear friend,  Harriet for the pattern.  She stitched it up and so graciously passed it on to me knowing I wanted to stitch it.  I've changed a few colors in the piece and am using an oops fabric from a friend who dyes fabrics.  I like my oops fabrics so my piece is just a bit different from all the others out there.  Here is my fabric and threads all ready to go.  The fabric has pretty light base and it has a subtle spring green running through it.  I'll have to try for a better photo but the threads look amazing on it.  Below picture are my thread selections.

Called For                                                                     Lorrie's Choice

Toasted Marshmallow - CC                                          DMC 4160

Clay Pot - CC                                                                WDW Aztec Red

Cobbled Peach - CC                                                     DMC 3779

Hickory Sticks - CC                                                     DMC 4000

Sea Shelley - CC                                                          CC - Sea Shelley

Whatley Woodlands - CC                                            CC - Whatley Woodlands

Wild Berries - CC                                                        CC - Wild Berries

Sage - WDW                                                                WDW - Sage

Moss - WDW                                                               WDW - Moss

Maple Syrup - GAT                                                     WDW - Cocoa

I had my ultrasound done this past Tuesday and everything came back normal - no fibroids, tumors.  It is good news.  Still doesn't resolve my issue so have been referred to a GYN and will see if there is anything to be done.  Up side is that taking my iron supplement 2x a day I'm starting to see my energy level increase.  Didn't realize how utterly rundown and tired I was until I started having more energy as it was such a gradual process.  You will laugh as I absolutely hate doing housework but I was overjoyed on Thursday to have enough energy to clean my house from top to bottom.  I never thought I would enjoy doing housework but loved every single second of it on Thursday.  Even though I hate housework there is nothing I enjoy more than relaxing in a clean house so I do it anyway.

I have to share my hubby's latest amazing find.  You know you see things on tv and you wonder if they are as good as they advertise - usually not.  However, in this instance I have to say it is fabulous.  This little thing is called a pocket hose and hubby found it at our local home center.  He put a "y" on the faucet and the regular hose is on one side and the pocket hose on the other.  When you turn the water on, this hose fills up and extends into a long hose perfect for watering our flowers.  Added bonus is that it is so lightweight and easy to move around.  Once done turn off the water leaving nozzle open for water to drain out and it shrinks back up to fit in this small flower pot.  Watering just became a whole lot more fun and easy.

It is getting close to time to enter my stitched pieces in the Iowa State Fair which I always enjoy.  This year I am again going to enter in the Photography competition.  It is much harder to get something  picked to be exhibited in the photo salon as there are thousands of entries.  This year I've 2 or 3 photos I'm thinking to enter.  Again this is definitely out of my comfort zone as I'm very amateur in this field but you never know so why not take a chance.

Don't forget to go to A Stitcher's Snippets Cooking as I've shared my favorite marinade recipe for chicken and beef.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

I received this lovely handmade card from my son earlier in the week and it made my day.  I think it is his most beautiful creation yet.  The wrinkles you wonder - just part of who my son is and love it all the more for them.

I will warn you this will be a long post as it has been 10 days since my last and much has happened.  I'm dealing with a medical issue right now and am in the wait process for the next step to solve this issue.  In the meantime my doctor has instructed me to double up on my iron supplement so hopefully I will have a bit more energy until I get to the end of this whole process.  It has been a 1 1/2 weeks and it does seem I have a bit more energy but can tell when I do too much through the day.

We went out last Monday and purchased a new grill as ours had seen the last of its' good days.  We had replaced parts in it the last couple of years but it is now beyond part replacement.  Here is hubby putting it together.  Unfortunately, where the propane tank sits the hole is too large and a replacement shelf is being sent.  It is going to require disassembling of the grill to change out that shelf.  Grrrr!

On Tuesday Bill took the day off and we headed to the local greenhouse to purchase the plants for our decorative flower pots we like to put on our porch and decks.  We ended up planting 8 planters before we ran out of some plants.  I made a trip back to the greenhouse on Wednesday for a few more as well as a couple of heirloom tomato plants and a rosemary plant.  Finished planting everything yesterday.

Occasionally we are getting a day warm enough to put the top down on the Camaro and take a drive which we were able to do on Tuesday as well.  I do enjoy those days when the guys get home from work and we can just take a drive and stop somewhere for supper along the way.  A relaxing way to spend a few hours and I don't have to cook!  This coming Tuesday they are talking 90 degrees so maybe we will get a drive sometime this week as well.

Friday was the annual book selection and potluck for the book club I belong too.  I snapped a picture as the ladies were starting to arrive.  We had a really good list of recommendations and it was tough  narrowing it down to my 8 picks.  Each person gets to vote for 8 books as we have 8 different discussions during the year.  Ended up with a tie for book 8 so had to have a vote off.  You can see from this plate of food we had many wonderful salads, breads, desserts to chose from.  I took baked beans and you will find my recipe at A Stitcher's Snippets Cooks see the tab in the header.  I will add a tab in the header for our book selections for the coming year as well as all the other nominations which become our summer reading list. 

Now on to stitching updates.  On Friday I received my millenium scroll frame from the U.K. and am looking forward to putting one of my big projects on it (trying to decide which one as I've a few to choose from).  If you are thinking about one of these, I will share that I received an email and they've had such an influx of orders it is taking much longer than the 28 days they ask you to allow for the making of your item and shipping.  You pay a bit for the shipping but my item was received in 4 days time from when shipped and I received which is pretty amazing.

I'm making good progress on Be Thankful (Country Cottage Needleworks).  Keith and I made a trip to Stitch n Frame yesterday to find a new color.  The original color for the flowers was an ecru colored over dye but using 1 strand over 1 on 25 count you could not see the flowers at all.  I chose another color I had on hand but feel it is just a bit too vibrant for the rest of the colors.  I will be taking these stitches out - thankfully there are not many - and replacing this color with WDW Amber.  Will let you know how that works out.  While there I purchased the new colors put out by Crescent Colors and Keith picked out this lovely pattern by Imaginating.  He knows my love of snowflakes and winter so this is just spot on for me to stitch.  I also want to thank Mary and Teresa for the stash enhancement.  These are both items I wanted to stitch and they so graciously passed them on from their stash.  I can't wait to get started on them both.  So little time for so much stitching I want to do!

Well, off to finish my laundry and making of my homemade chicken and noodles.  Decided since I was cooking it was going to be a favorite meal of mine today.  Bill is out golfing and Keith and I have been watching the Harry Potter movies being rerun on television - that is until he abandoned me after lunch to do his own thing.  It seems they are allowing me some time to pick up my needle and do some stitching this afternoon - what a nice Mother's Day gift!

Where Did My Warm Weather GO?!

This fickle weather here in Iowa.  We went from cruisin' in the convertible on Monday ......

to rain, sleet and snow and blustery winds on Thursday.  I hear this is to continue through tomorrow.  In my lifetime this is the first time I can remember getting snow in May.  April yes.  May NEVER!  I'm afraid it is going to be one of those summers where we go straight from winter weather in May to hot August weather in June and stay there all summer long.

While out on our drive on Monday I took a photo of this tower located in the NW part of town.  Can you see the butterfly in the design?  This was made using thousands of small tiles in various colors.  I understand it is a sight to see at night when it is lit from the inside.  I need to take a drive out after dark some evening just to see it myself.

I'm still making progress on Be Thankful by Country Cottage Needleworks.  I've not had much time to work on it this past week but did put a few stitches in last night.  I'm thinking tonight will be a great night to stitch.

With it snowing outside it is hard for me to believe it was time to complete my entry form and pay my fee for my entries at the Iowa State Fair Fabric & Threads.  Registration opened yesterday and I like to get it done early so I don't forget.  I also ordered my discounted admission tickets.  Let's hope it is not still snowing in August - LOL!

 I ordered these little "matchbook" needle books a few days ago and received them in the mail.  Aren't they just the cutest.

I made a delicious pork chop recipe for supper last night.  Super quick and easy to put together and then into the oven for an hour.  Head on over to my cooking blog for the recipe.

It's A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood!

 

Woke up to an absolutely gorgeous day here in Iowa although blustery.  The temperatures were very warm, the sun was shining, birds singing and flowers blooming.  I can't look at the "hens and chickens" without thinking of this funny story from when my husband and I were dating.  His younger brother was dating a young gal who was a bit - well you'll figure it out when you hear the story.  We were visiting my hubby's grandmother and were out back where she was showing us her hens and chickens.  The young gal thought they were a neat looking plant.  Hubby's grandmother asked if she would like to take some hens and chickens home (can you see where this is going?).  She thought about it for a couple of minutes and responded she better not as she didn't think her mother would let her have any pets.  Thought that might make you smile.

I was pleased to receive a call yesterday from the frame shop that they had finished framing my Isabelle Vautier piece.  I'm so pleased with how it turned out.  This is such an unusual frame.  They actually have it in several colors and I have been waiting for the right piece to come along to use one of the colors.  The frame color and the dark rose floss are a perfect match.  As the overall size is so small, I think I will display on an easel on a table top.

I've also made some progress on Be Thankful by Country Cottage Needleworks.  I had to do a bit of "frogging" and change a color but am back to making progress.  I'm stitching this on a 25 count over 1 piece of fabric called Dense Fog.  The flower color was an off white and just would not show up on the fabric at all.  I decided I was not going to go down the same path as Beauty in Simplicity where I changed the house color like 16 times before I found one so opted to pick a Fall orange color that would definitely show up.  I actually like it better than the whitish color so it is all good.

Like the rest of you with Google Reader shutting down I've been trying to decide what my solution will be to keep up on everyone's blogs.  I put them all on my Flipboard App and this is working out pretty well but came across this Blogshelf app today I think I might like better.  I've subscribed to a dozen of the blogs I follow to give it a test drive to see what I think  I'll keep you posted.

Made a new recipe this week called Bacon Egg Spaghetti.  You wouldn't think it but it was delicious.  Head on over to my cooking blog to check it out.  A Stitcher's Snippets Cooking.

A Finish!

It has been a busy week since I last posted and have accomplished much.  I heard there was colder temperatures in our forecast during the past week so decided to pull out a couple of skeins of yarn in my stash I've been wanting to make into scarves for myself.  I'm always quick to get them done for everyone else but tend to put things for myself on the back burner.

 I pulled out a skein of Circulo Sensual in burgundy which is the softest yarn I've ever had the pleasure to pick up.  Kind of has a feel like chenille.  I knitted this up in an hour on Wednesday and it was cold and blustery on Thursday so was able to wear it this season.

On Thursday I pulled out a skein of Circulo Tecido Trico "yarn" in floral.  You can see by the photo that it is actually fabric with holes punched through it.  The fabric is whisper thin (reminds me of the old headscarves my grandmother used to have) and is super lightweight.  It took a bit longer to knit as there is a whole different skill set for knitting with fabric and getting a rhythm going.  It is a bit awkward at times. It did knit up into a most beautiful scarf and am thinking I will be purchasing another skein in a different pattern JUST FOR FUN!

Hubby was not feeling well on Sunday so it was a quiet day at home.  In between taking care of he and my son's needs I started crocheting a ripple afghan for a baby gift.  I'm starting in plenty of time as the due date is not until September.  I love to knit/crochet baby blankets in white yarn that have confetti of blue, pink, green and yellow in it.  Works for boy or girl quite nicely!

Thanks to Jennifer over at FeathersintheNest sharing her knitting project.  I went online and purchased 2 skeins of Litoral Aslan Trends yarn in Vintage to make the shawl pattern they offer for free online.  The yarn arrived in 2 days time and received it Saturday - YEA!  Unfortunately, I needed size 17 circular needles and my set only goes up to 15.  Never fear I went to a local shop today and purchased the size 17 so will get a start on this sometime this week.

I wouldn't want you to think all I've done over the past week is knit/crochet so I will update you on my stitching projects.  We had movie night on Friday night (Django - a little too gory for me) so I stitched while watching the movie (helps to avoid watching the gore).  I was on such a roll that when hubby and son went to bed I continued working until 12:30 AM when I put the last stitch in my Isabelle Vautier piece.  Remember the stitch count is 244 H by 90 W.  Thought to take a photo with the dollar bills and quarters to give you a visual for size on 25 count over 1.  It is very petite and quite lovely.  Keith and I went to my LNS to see if there was a frame that would be perfect for it.  Big sigh as after an hour and 16 frame combinations it was just not to be.  I like to use them whenever possible as they do such excellent work on mounting.  I then went to another local framer after lunch and I had a frame in mind when I went in and the owner had the same frame in mind when she saw the piece.  It is a frame I've admired for a few years but never had the right piece for it.  Amazingly the dark rose DMC is a perfect match for this frame and can't wait to see it all stretched and mounted.

Now I've moved back to Be Thankful by Country Cottage Needleworks.  I'm hoping to get to spend some quality stitching time on it tonight after chores are done and everyone settles down to their respective evening activities.

I also managed a trip out to the Planned Parenthood Book Sale and yes - purchases were made.  I picked up a nice History of Cross Stitch Samplers book, a couple of must have patterns and magazines as well as a few books to read for pleasure.  

Hubby is feeling better today and was already scheduled off work for a golf tournament - lucky for him the rain stopped, temps have warmed to the 60's and the sun has popped out.  Son is at his vocational workshop so I started my week with lunch with my BFF.  We went to our favorite restaurant the Rolling Wok.  They serve Thai, Chinese and Vietnamese food.  My friend had an adventure today when she tried Pho.  It is a Vietnamese soup made with beef stock into which are noodles (rice) and slices of beef or chicken.  Holy cow they bring a plate of things like bean sprouts, fresh basil, parsley, peppers on a plate to put in as well as a 1/2 dozen or so sauces to add to this soup.  You would not believe the size of the bowl it comes in and she got the medium size.  You should have seen the large!  I wished I would have taken a picture.  She did enjoy the soup but decided it was best not to order again - took too long to eat - LOL! 

Tonight on the menu here for supper is Pepsi Pot Roast.  It is a recipe given to me by my husband's Aunt.   Feel free to head over to my cooking blog for the recipe at A Stitcher's Snippets Cooking.  You can also click on the Recipe tab in the header at any time as the link is posted there as well.

This past Sunday night was our date night when we had tickets for the Bon Jovi Concert.  One word sums up the concert and our evening out - AWESOME!  We started the evening at a restaurant called Legends which is by where my husband works.  We parked the car in his work parking spot and left it there for the evening.  We got to the restaurant in the nick of time as 10 minutes after our arrival the line was out the door and people were having to wait for a table.  We both enjoyed tortilla wraps for supper - YUM!  

From there we headed to the skywalk for our 20 minute walk to the arena - unfortunately my walk was in heels.  Did not actually regret that until the hurried walk back to car to get home at appointed time for the respite provider to leave - 3 blisters on bottom of my feet  OUCH!  The plus - we didn't have any traffic to fight after the concert by parking so far away.

We arrived at the gate to find they would be opening doors 30 minutes early - YEA - but that the concert would be starting 30 minutes late - BOO!  Amazing seats and the time passed quite quickly watching the arena fill.  People watching was fun!  The concert was over way too quickly. We are used to concerts where there is an opening act, a break and then the main act who performs for about an hour with a 15 minute encore.  This band played their hearts out.  No opening act and they performed for a solid 2 hours, left for about 5 minutes and came back out for another 30 minutes for encore.  It was worth every penny we paid for our tickets.  I would have to say this was our best "date night" ever.  Will be pretty hard to top.   My pictures are not the best as only had my phone to take photos with - all night long I wished I could have had my Nikon along.

 I did not finish my Isabelle Vautier piece over the weekend as I had hoped but did make some more progress.  Instead hubby, son and I went to the garden center and bought a few Spring flowers for planting.  We do love our flowers at this house and love the little punch of color they added.  Keith and I had a trip to Rich's for chai teas on Saturday and again yesterday.  Knew we would be out late Sunday and Keith would never go to sleep until we were home (a mom knows these things) so had him take Monday off.  I was so right!  It was a really nice and relaxing day together.

I did finish reading Gwenhwyfar by Mercedes Lackey.  I believe the genre is considered Sci-Fi/Fantasy.  I really enjoyed the story about King Author and his 3 wives all named Gwen.  I began reading Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight last night.  I find this book so compelling that I'm already 1/3 of the way through it.  I think it might be my recommend for book club for next years discussion consideration.

Wet Wednesday!

 We've gone from this beautiful, warm sunny day on the left to a week of rainy, cool and dreary days.   In the "pro" column we do need the rain and can already see the benefit to my flower beds where the earth is no longer cracked from being so dry.  In the "con" column by the time I had returned home from running errands my jeans were wet 6" up from the bottom.  Just wicking up the water as I walk.

I just had to post this picture of the tree out back.  Each morning when I look this tree has been stripped a bit more of its' bark.  I figure it must be an animal and it seems to only attack it during the overnight hours.  Any ideas!?

I've borrowed my mom's recipe box and recipe binder from my dad.  A few years ago I published a book of mom's recipes and gave them to my sister-in-laws and niece for Christmas.  I knew I should have purchased mine at the same time but figured I would add a few more recipes and pages to it before I did.  Fast forward a software upgrade which deleted the book and now I must start over.  I am now trying to decide if I want to create it through iPhoto again or if I want to just create a new blog of the recipes and print a book like I do with this blog.  In the "pro" column for iPhoto it keeps the recipes in family.  In the "con" column the price will be higher and I can't configure it as easily.  In the "pro" column for the blog it is so much easier to format and add photos and the price is so much less.  In the "con" column the family recipes would become public.  Decisions, decisions.

Decided it was time to give a more thorough update on my Isabella Vautier piece called Il'etait une Fe'e.  I'm using a dollar bill to give you a visual reference for the stitched size.  The stitch count on this piece is 90 Wide by 244 Height.  I have currently stitched 3/4 of the way through the design.  I am stitching this design on 25 count Spun Silver fabric and believe it is Jobelan.  It only takes 2 colors of floss and I am using the called for DMC 3733 and 150.  I do have a frame in mind for the piece that I think would be perfect but in order to use this frame I think it would need a wood fillet in a color of one of the flosses.  My framer has never used fillets so don't know if they would be willing to order for this piece or not.  Mmmmm!  I think I will email and ask the question and if not maybe I can order from somewhere and they would install.  I would use one of the other framers in town but I will admit to being somewhat picky about my pieces being mounted straight (I enter in the State Fair competition) and this is the only place I get this 100% of the time.

I shouldn't admit this but started book number 5 yesterday.  I'm actually making rapid progress through them all.  I will say they must all have a very different topic in order to keep them all straight which these all do.  If not, having 5 books going at the same time with the same topic would be just asking for trouble.

Tonights supper - a pot of white chili.   Perfect for a cold rainy day!  You will find this recipe along with a Chicken Pot Pie recipe I tried on Sunday and the family adored under the Recipe tab.   

UPDATE:  I started a cooking blog for recipes and my adventures in the kitchen.  It is A Stitcher's Snippets Cooking.   I decided I would collect my favorite recipes from mom here to make into a book.  After I get those finished I will continue adding my own.