One day left of this rotten month! Woohoo! Can I make it? I'm ready to hunker down in my warm house and stitch so hopefully I can. Maybe I should put a bottle of wine beside me just in case ;o)
I'm sorry I'm late in posting this so I will accept the ten lashes with wet noodles. LOL! Here are some goodies that arrived in the mail last week -
I 'finally' received my Nordic Needle catalogue! I love paging through that thing. I have a magazine holder full of them and have kept every one throughout the years. Okay, so call me a hoarder. I know DH will after he reads this ;oP
The other items came from Mary Kathryn at eHandcrafts :o) She is so sweet to deal with. I had received my annual GC from my Secret Santa again this year so I was able to splurge and buy the two new patterns that I dearly wanted! When will I fit them in? I have no idea but I will, I promise!
Speaking of Secret Santas...she 'finally' revealed herself this year and I was completely surprised to find out that it was my good friend Judy! Well, not surprised that she would do something like this because she's such a generous person but because she kept her secret so well hidden ;o) I have her to thank for years of scrumptious stash and she is the reason Sabrina is in the making as we speak. Every time I work on Sabrina I think of Judy. Thank you my dear, dear friend!
I've noticed that I've gained even more Stalkers over the past few weeks. Where are you guys coming from???? LOL! I welcome you all and am very glad to see you here. Make yourselves at home :o)
We interrupt this Blog to bring you the following news...
Today I stopped by the grocery store on the way home from my acupuncture class to pick up some paper towel. It seems that it's a little difficult to clean a house without it ;o) As I was wandering the isles, my eyes fell upon this -
Can you imagine the tiny squeal of joy that slipped out of my mouth when I spotted these? Intrigued by the new concept (plus the fact that there was a 0.50 off coupon), the box just leaped into my cart and off I went with a huge smile on my face :o)
There have been quite a few comments regarding the fact that I have not posted my annual Cadbury ECE entry. And why not since I'm an ECE fanatic and they've been out since January ;o) Hello! But as I have been saying, I've been 'trying' to be good this year. Joining an exercise class has changed me. Well, not completely. I mean, I 'am' human after all. I can't just go cold turkey!
When I told DH this his first reaction was "You're not eating 54 of those things again this year!" LOL! I know he reads my Blog ;o) But really, I am being good. If that darn fat would only settle on my ass instead of my waist, I would scarf down 54 ECEs in a minute! Alas that fat feels it's more comfortable around my mid-section >:o( Our aerobics instructor has been getting us to work on our abs and obliques and if I'm going to suffer that torture, I want a flat tummy by George!
But I did succumb to this new temptation...and it was all I could do to eat a proper lunch before diving into one ;o) Who else is going to give you a revue of them though? To be honest, they are more like a glorified filled cupcake. The Goo is more like icing than the Goo found in the actual ECEs. They're not bad though and I'd give them three and a half stars out of five.
Anyway, it's a good thing my instructor doesn't read my Blog because then the cat would be out of the bag. I wonder if McDonald's will be doing an ECE McFlurry this year...
I'm sorry it took me this long to get a progress picture up but I wanted to make sure it looked like I did something ;o) LOL! As you can see, I've been working with white. White, white, white! Ugh! Might as well get it over and done with. Maybe I'm just feeling sorry for all of you with lots of snow and so I figure I'll surround myself in the white stuff too!
I haven't gotten to a point where I can bead yet but here's a close up picture of what has already been done -
I took the pictures too late in the day so they are a bit drab :o(
I was hoping I would have some stash to share with you but there was nothing in the mailbox today. Drat! Maybe tomorrow...
As promised, here is a picture of my progress on Chilly -
I was able to get him in better light today and this will give you a better idea of his true colours :o) He still seems a bit bland to me though. Maybe it's been all the white that I've been stitching lately. Ugh! White, white, white. Boring, boring, boring! Chilly's white. Sabrina's white.
I haven't heard from Jenn lately so I'm not sure how she's making out. I hope she's had the heart to start over. I'm doing really well sticking to a schedule. Chilly takes up my Tuesday to Thursday slots ;o) The rest will be for Sabrina until the end of the month. Don't worry; I'll post a picture of her very soon!
I want to thank everyone for their kind words. D was a very special person, not only within the family but in his community as well. He is definitely going to be missed by a lot of people.
I'm still trying to catch up on emails and my Blog reading so just hang in there, I'll be around soon ;o)
I'm so happy to share another completed project with you and this one is even finished-finished ;o) As you know, February is not my favourite month so in light of this, I decided I would 'try' and have a more positive attitude. Since we don't really celebrate Valentine's Day at our house (because every day is Valentine's Day here!), I could never recall ever stitching something for this so-called holiday
So last week I dug around in my stash and came up with a kit by Pine Mountain Designs. This is February Is Sweet -
Really, quite cute :o) Yes, I'm three days late (I have a good excuse) and yes, I did cheat because it came with the pre-finished pillow sham. LOL! But...I did make my own pillow insert! This in turn will work with any other similar sized Pine Mountain Designs kit I acquire down the road.
I did change one thing; instead of using three strands of floss, I used four. I find it covers better on 10 count fabric. I only ran out of one colour (DMC 963) but that was an easy fix. There are two things that I detest about these kits though...one, it's almost impossible to use Q-Snaps so I have to stitch in-hand. My joints 'do not' like this :o( Two, the 10 count Tula that they use; it seems to be too soft and stretchy and because I can't use my Q-Snaps, it takes extra effort to get my tension just right.
I officially had this project done on February 15 but due to an unexpected death in the family (my side this time), DH and I had to take off to NB again :o( D was one of Dad's cousins but I had known him since I was a little girl. I would visit their farm with my grandparents and play with the cows. I remember one time I was in the barn and stuck my head through a feed window. The cow on the other side decided that was a good time to do the same thing! The next thing I know, the head of the cow comes up, hitting me under the chin and sending my head up, cracking on the top of the window. There were stars in the sky and tears in my eyes let me tell you! LOL!
Despite the unfortunate circumstances, it was nice to see most of my relatives from that line of the family. But two funerals in two months are enough for me :o( See, February was half over and it all went splat! Like most of you said, at least it's a short month. Unfortunately not short enough for me! At least I wasn't the gentleman that had been to four funerals in two weeks and still had one left to go to. Oye!
Well, DH and I just got home from the Antarctic so I have a lot of catching up to do! It's SO nice to be back in God's country again ;o) Stayed tuned because I'll have updated pictures of Chilly and Sabrina coming up soon.
I was really excited to do another SAL; this time with Jenn :o) We decided to stitch one of the snowmen from Stitchy Kitty's Snowman Trio chart. I picked Chilly.
I was 'supposed' to start on February 1 but I just couldn't put Sabrina down so Chilly never began until a few days ago. I'm very pleased with my progress though and thought I had better post a picture before Jenn thinks I've backed out! LOL!
I'm stitching Chilly on 28 count Bluebell Jobelan with the recommended threads. For some reason I thought he'd be more vibrant than he is but then again, the photography of the models are usually off. I hope I'll still like him when he's complete.
I know Jenn ended up having to start over and I can only imagine the frustration after seeing the amount of stitching she had already done :o( I hope you'll get that determination back Jenn!
Oh vey! Since the first of the month, my stitching has been all over the place. I have been very bad ;o) First it was Sabrina and then I started a new small project (pictures to come later on). I was 'supposed' to start my SAL with Jenn but couldn't resist catching up with Nia on our Christmas Rules SAL. LOL!
Here is Block Two -
And here is the whole piece to date -
Sorry about the terrible pictures but it's been pouring rain this morning and now I see that it's turned to snow :oS Oh goody! I'm still not capturing the colour of the fabric. Maybe next month...
I also want to share with you a new friend of mine who arrived by mail yesterday :o) This is Pumpernickel -
Isn't she adorable???? This was the bunny that Julie made for me after I won her Blogaversary giveaway :o) Pumpernickel took a liking to my ivy so you can't see the lovely dark green petticoat that's underneath her orange dress. I just LOVE her! Thank you SO much Julie! I'm sure that Pumpernickel and I will have many adventures together ;o)
Btw, my mailing address (not physical address) has changed. I sent out an email to all of you who I thought had my address already. If you did not get that email, plmk and I'll send you my new address :o)
Last night DH and I celebrated an early Valentine's Day :o) At mid-day, we met up with our friends T and K, and drove into the Big City. We parked the car downtown and then set out on foot to find a place to eat. It didn't take long before we came upon a restaurant called The Economy Shoe Shop. I'm not kidding, that was the name of the place! LOL!
It was a pub-style restaurant with lots of charm and character. I'd have to say that the food was delicious because we were there for three hours! After a combination of Shoe Shop Nachos, Vic's Barcelona Bread, Smoked Meat Sandwich and NY Cheesecake, I was stuffed :o)
Now it was time to head over to the Halifax Metro Center for the main reason we were there -
I knew the concert wasn't sold out but was pleasantly surprised to see that it was approximately 90% full. We had a good view of the stage but unfortunately my phone didn't take great pictures and plus, I can't figure out how to get them off of it. LOL!
The girls opened with Cook With Fire and as soon as Ann began singing, one thing became apparent...that woman still has PIPES!!!! Wholly cow, can she ever belt out the tunes! It's been a 'long' time since I've been to a live concert but I have to say that Heart sounds just as amazing in person as they do on CD. If possible, maybe even better :o)
They were promoting their new album Red Velvet Car but preformed songs from all throughout their career; Dog & Butterfly, Dreamboat Annie, Magic Man and What About Love?. The most amazing part of the concert was the finale when they roared into Crazy For You and then right on to Barracuda! Just phenomenal! This will give you a taste of what we saw and heard (not my videos!) -
To end the show, Ann and Nancy came back out for two encores :o) Amazing! All in all, it was an awesome night...great friends, great food and great entertainment :o)
It's hard to believe that eleven years ago tomorrow, I was in the doctor's office hearing the words breast cancer for the first time. What's even more eerie is not only is it the same 'date' but the same 'day' of the week. Approximately 12 hours from now I could relive the whole thing over again in real time. Weird!
To give myself credit though, I have gotten a lot better over the years. At first I used to be a mess about a month before and a month after. Then it was a few weeks before and a few weeks after. Slowly it transitioned to just a few days before. This year seems to be a little different though as I have been unsettled for most of January. I'm really hoping it will pass once I get over the hump. They say that things get easier with time and yes they do but the fear that accompanies cancer never fades :o(
At least I can say that I do have eleven years under my belt :o) And thanks to a wonderful bunch of ladies, to celebrate my tenth anniversary, you helped me raise almost $900 last year for the auction at the Attic Needlework! I was so pleased with the success of it that I have decided to continue our efforts again this year :o) If you would like to join in on the fun, please email me and I will send you an invitation to join our group. To check out our Blog, just scroll down the right side of my Blog and click on our new logo (thanks to Nia!).
Before I go I thought I would share with you a lovely picture that I took this morning -
Yes, I should have kept my big mouth shut! Our lush green paradise has been converted to a white desert and we are still digging out :oS I really shouldn't complain though since this is the first real snow we've had all winter. If my winter is going to consist of just a few months instead of four, then I'm happy with that ;o) LOL!
WOW! There were 80 entrants in total although one of you had your name in there three times...Alberta! I guess I wasn't watching too closely ;o) Just kidding!
I put all of your names in at Random.org and the big green bag full of stash goes to...Stitchinowl!
Sorry I have the list divided into three parts but I couldn't figure out how to get the whole thing onto one and have the date and time show at the bottom.
Again, I want to thank everyone for participating and I only wish that I could give out prizes to everyone. You've really made Blogging enjoyable for me. You're all winners in my book ;o)
