Gratitude

I sit here tonight barely able to describe the fullness of my heart. I have the most wonderful family and friends. My home is warm and filled with gifts. My husband is working tonight, but my in-laws came for a dinner and I made this recipe from Picky Palate: This is her photo below.

Also had some simple Texas Toast garlic bread, and a salad. The best part is the being together. We had a nice evening, and it made me realize once again how blessed I am. I spent yesterday with my sister and her family, along with my mom and Jim. Just a perfect afternoon and evening. We get so caught up in how tired we are, or how we don't want to drive here or there, or the buying gifts, etc. But you know what? To be in the company of those you love and who love you-well, there's nothing like it in this world. And to have my son there with me is so wonderful. Maybe next year Mr. Witchy Stitches will have Christmas off.

I hope anyone reading this blog or stopping in has a wonderful night. I hope you have family and friends surrounding you. And I hope that it will always be so.

Haunted WIP, T-giving recap, Wildlife

I have nearly finished this little freebie by The Snowflower Diaries. And to think I had BIIIIG plans to finish it by Halloween. The fates must chuckle loudly at my cross stitching plans. Here is a near finish:

 

It'll be nice to finish her and move on to my next thing. I love Halloween, but I'm done. LOL.

Thanksgiving was so wonderful. The pizzelles were a hit again. My brother in law fixed another famous meal. My son absolutely LOVES his uncle's smoked turkey. Everything was so great. My in laws came too and thankfully my husband was able to be off for this holiday.  My son's grandfather hit a deer on the way home and luckily he was still pretty close to my sis's house.  They went and got him, but his car needed some major repairs.  He was so lucky he wasn't hurt or worse!

Sharing this holiday with family is really a special thing for me. My nephews are so cute and funny-they really keep us entertained! So, about brothers-there's always something going on behind someone's head, isn't there?

 My sis and her family were so thoughtful and got my boy a cake to celebrate his acceptance to college!  We laughed at the writing, but it's not the writing that counts.  By the way, have you been to Cake Wrecks?  If not, go now, because I've never laughed so hard at some of them.  This one however, seems just right to me.

We got a new Christmas tree and had it decorated a couple days before Thanksgiving. It fits perfectly in our little home.

 

Before I go, I want to show some of the birds that we share our back yard with. And one VERY NAUGHTY SQUIRREL. Love them.

 

Well, we have some sleet and freezing rain happening here today, as you can see from the photos.  Looks like the people north of us are getting hammered!  I do wish for some of the white (not icy) stuff soon.  Our weather has been crazy the past week.  A few days ago, it was nearly 70 degrees.  

Hopefully I'll be finishing up my WIP soon and will have a new start to post.  Stay safe and until then, 

Happy Thanksgiving 2013!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving today! Below is a design I've always wanted to stitch, but I never did buy it for myself! Might have to hit up some online places to see if I can make a score!

I've been doing a little stitching and a little crocheting. Not gonna report on the stitching yet (just call me Mrs. Slowsky), but I've managed to crank out a few little things in the hooking category.

We managed to decorate our new tree, but I wanted to add a few things, so I'll post that a bit later, hopefully with a stitchy finish! When I was younger, we used to have our entire family gather at my grandparent's beautiful home for Thanksgiving. After they were gone, things changed, but it's been beyond wonderful creating new family traditions with my family. One of those things is making Pizzelles. My great Aunt used to send them every Christmas to my Gran and I'm carrying it on with my family. My nephews love them, much to my delight. I make them several times a year. By far, the best recipe I've found is HERE. If you haven't tried them, they are a very light and wonderful treat. Perfect with morning coffee!

We received some WONDERFUL NEWS this past week.  My son was accepted to the college he really wanted to attend and he was awarded a Dean's Honor Scholarship for all four years for a very good amount.  I never even proofread his app or his essay-this is ALL his accomplishment.  I am so proud of him. He has worked so hard for this. 

Well, I'm off to spend some time with my much loved family. I hope you are doing the same.

The Witch is Back....from the framers, that is. Plus stash and WIP pics!

I got my beautiful witch framed and picked her up last weekend. They do such a nice job at In Stitches. I think the frame is perfect for her. As much as I love Halloween, she'll stay out of the main area until next year.

Spooky Hollow by WTNT

While I was at the shop, I just had to pick up Away We Ride and Paper Snowflakes.  I got the last copy of Away We Ride, and why did I feel so good snapping that up anyway?  :-P

I already owned Poinsettia House, but I wanted to get the gorgeous floss while I was there. I think this might be my next project to work on!

Isn't that pretty? I love it. Here is my progress on that sweet Snowflower Diaries Haunted House from last time.  I've been busy and my plans to finish that before Halloween didn't exactly pan out.

I hope everyone had a great Halloween and is gearing up for Thanksgiving. This was the first year my son didn't dress up! He had homework to do and was busy playing online with a friend. Maybe next year (says a hopeful mom!). :) It is time for hot chocolate, sweaters, twinkle lights in windows, and short days. Also for cold, crisp clear nights that seem so much better for seeing stars and appreciating the beauty of the night. I feel so lucky to live in a state where we experience the four seasons so wonderfully. Sometimes we have a dud of a winter with some 70 degree days scattered in there, but sometimes we have a really great winter with snow and cold. Winter just seems suited for stitching and I really plan to get more done than the earlier part of this year.

We also celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary last week!  Boy, where did that time go?  Crazy.  Not a feat to be taken lightly!  I can't say enough good things about my husband, truth be told.  We have had up times, down times, and up times again.  It's been a ride for sure, but we laugh most every day and for that, I'm so thankful.  Life is really good right now and we're enjoying it fully.


Take care, and until next time...
 

Happy Halloween!

A Haunted Stitchy Start and a Scarf Update!

Thank you to those that commented on my previous post about Baxter. Dogs are wonderful. And people are wonderful too. I so appreciate your kind words.

I have started a sweet little (freebie!) Haunted House and ghostie girl from The Snowflower Diaries. I wanted a little spooky something or another that I could maybe FINISH before Halloween gets here. You'd think I could find something in my array of stash or magazines, but no. And I couldn't believe that I was missing two floss colors and had to run to JoAnn's last night to get them. Two floss colors. That trip cost me $43. :) But I tell you, stitchy shopping is like a shot of B vitamins to me. Here is the chart cover of the finished design...

How cute is that?? Now, here's my wee stitchy start...

Oh, my heart is elated! It feels so good to be stitching something, anything, again! I've been out of the loop for so long, and needed a small, cute design to get me going. This should do it, I do believe. Now for my scarf progress. I started that dang scarf probably 10 times, because I messed the pattern up. But being persistent pays off.

The yarn is Garden Serenity by Deb Norville in "Gems" colorway. Love it!

Is everyone having a spooky October so far? The light is waning and Fall is here and it's wonderful. Leaves on the ground, and I'm searching for a great pumpkin cake recipe. Here's one of my resident skellys to get you in a spooky mood...

See you very soon with a hopefully near finished Haunted House and ghostie girl! Till then,

Halloween is coming....

So, another Halloween/Samhain season is on it's way. We've had a really hot spell and now the weather has finally simmered down and it's really feeling Fall like. It's refreshingly cool. We're decorating the yard. Nearly done, but we still have some finishing touches to add.

We stuffed a new guy for our porch this year. We've always had a skeleton man on the porch and he's been upgraded to werewolf now! I really like him. We did a pretty good job if I do say so myself.

 

 
We had to say goodbye to our boy Baxter this past Saturday. He's been featured here before. I can't tell you how much we miss him. He was the epitome of what a "good boy" is, and had all the qualities of a true gentleman. He hated thunderstorms and loved pillows. Baxter, you were the best.

For the first time in 25 years, we have only one dog now. The bond you have with your animal is an amazing thing. You are their whole world and they let you know it. It doesn't matter if you're gone for 8 hours or 5 minutes - the zeal with which you are greeted is the same.

My Spooky Hollow, by WTNT, is at the framing shop, ready to be picked up.  I can't wait to see it.  I hope it looks OK without the border.  I didn't get a mat, and it's in a primitive type frame, so it should be good!  I'll be sure to post again when I pick it up, perhaps this weekend.

Well, I hope you all are enjoying good weather, and productive stitching.  I am STILL not stitching anything, but I am working on a beautiful new crochet scarf.  Here's my progress so far.

It's gonna take me a while, but it's worth it.  The original pattern can be found here:  Cluster Stitch Scarf and boy, is it beautiful!  All I could think of when I saw it was "It Shall Be Mine".  :P

Until next time, peace to you and

 

Remember. Honor. Never Forget.

Remember them. Honor them. Never forget them. NYC. The Pentagon. Shanksville.

Stash and Other Things

I have some stash I'd like to share and a couple little projects, not necessarily cross stitch related. Here's the stash:

I also picked this up recently.

Spooky Hollow by With Thy Needle and Thread

 I just love all of these. I hope I can make some time to stitch soon. It's been busy around here lately, getting my son back to school and all the routines that go with that. Just when I thought I'd have a little break, I think I'll be starting work tomorrow instead of next week. Yes, I'm grateful every year for my job, but I had just a few more things I wanted to do, craft-wise! Wah. My mom had a birthday and I made her a couple things. One was a scarf, the other was a beaded scissor fob.

If the scarf looks similar to the one in the previous post, that's because it is! Just a different yarn. It turned out really lovely, and she seemed to like it. The scissor fob was fun to do and I'll be doing lots more of those I think! If you haven't tried it, please do. It is so easy and there are some great to follow tutorials out there, like this one from Focus on Finishing - Beaded Scissor Fob Tutorial.

I've been enjoying my moonflowers again this year. I just love the magical way they bloom in the evening-usually after 5 o'clock pm. They have a lovely, light fragrance. The next morning, they shrivel up and drop from the vine, so it's imperative you go out and enjoy them each night.

Last of all, I took Spooky Hollow, from With Thy Needle and Thread, to the framers at In Stitches. That lady really knows what she's doing, let me tell you! I should have it back in another month or so. Just in time to display it for Halloween hopefully! Thank you for taking the time to stop by and read.