Happy New Year!

A Happy New Year! Grant that I May bring

no tear to any eye When this 

New Year in time shall end Let it be 

said I've played the friend, Have

lived and loved and labored here,

And made of it a happy year.

  

--Edgar Guest--

See you next year! Until then,

Christmastide update, Stash and Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. Hard for me to believe that Christmas is next week. I've tried really hard not to stress. It's not working real well. Well, I dyed another piece of fabric because I wasn't pleased with how little the snowflakes were showing up. I changed the color to regular DMC white instead of the cream color that the pattern called for. I think it looks better.

OK, there is NO pink in the middle of the fabric above. I have no idea why phone camera photos show up like that. It's very annoying!

This is a much prettier gray color. I'm definitely continuing on with this piece.

Some stash that has come in recently from one of my facebook groups. I really gotta get a handle on this, lol. I think I bought Prairie Flowers twice recently. Wouldn't be the first time!

I just LOVE all these patterns so much. I don't think I'll live long enough to stitch them all, but whatever.

Thanksgiving was good. It was nice to have my home filled with family and friends. We all had a good time and everything turned out perfectly, if I do say so myself. My husband helps with a good deal and considers himself the sous chef. I can't argue with that.

I pulled out some of the vintage Pyrex my husband bought me last Christmas. Oh how I love that set. I look forward to collecting more as time goes on.
Have a great day and thanks for popping in. Until next time,

Pineberry Lane Christmastide progress and photo wall update

I changed over to aida. Story of my life these days. I liked the linen, but wondered how in the world I was gonna count up and over that many. Oy. Not sure I'm liking it all that much, but I'm going to continue a bit more and see how it goes.

The dye left little blots of dark color around in a few random places, but it makes it look old, so that's ok! I love the snowflakes-so pretty.

I ordered prints (I had too many to choose from) and we finally got the photo wall up. I'm pleased. I really hated that big blank wall for the past couple years. This was just what needed to be there!

The next couple of days will be spent trying to figure out what is left for me to get for Thanksgiving dinner and hopefully be able to get it! I've been reading about brining the turkey. Anyone have any advice on that matter? It seems to come out fine just the way I cook it, but apparently soaking it in brine for a day and then letting it rest for 30 mins to an hour after cooking is THE thing to do. I don't ever remember my gran doing that, or my mom for that matter.

Gimme your best turkey hints, if you got 'em!

May you all have a wonderful holiday with your families and those you love. Hang on to them. And tell them. We never know what life will bring us at any time. So if you are healthy and have those you love around you, then you definitely have things to be thankful for. I know I do.

Until next time,

New Pineberry Lane Start and Anniversary

Looks likeNovember is well underway and Thanksgiving will be here before you know it, right? UGH. Why do the holidays have to fly by?

This year, I have committed to slowing down, buying less for Christmas, and enjoying the holidays instead of stressing the holidays. Who is with me? I want to bake, leisurely drive around to look at pretty lights, do some holiday crafting, and baking, and read. I'm hosting Thanksgiving and Christmas and I just need to remove the stress of buying.

Part of that is going to be continuing to stitch and crochet! My new start is Pineberry Lane's Christmastide! I love the name, and I love the colors. I picked up a piece of Zweigart white linen in 32 count at Hobby Lobby today and brought it home and dyed it. I didn't want it quite as dark as the Rook that the designer used, but it's still in the same family, just a bit lighter. It's showing a bit more brown that it is here--it is a gray.

I saw a stitcher with another blog do one of the reindeer in red and I thought it was SO adorable. I might have to copy that idea! I just wanted something wintery and Christmasy to work on while the weather is cold and the holidays are looming. This really does the trick for me!

I'm using the DMC floss instead of The Gentle Art ones, mostly because I am impatient and didn't want to wait for them to ship! And if I could stomach the weekend traffic, I'd go the 1+ hours drive to my nearest cross stitch shop, but not on this Veteran's Day weekend. No way!

We celebrated our THIRTY THIRD wedding anniversary yesterday! I cannot believe it's been so many years. You know, I really am living the life I wished for early on in my life. We just enjoy our daily lives. Nothing super special, just relaxed pace of life most of the time and our home is filled with love. What more could a person want? We've been fortunate, for the most part, and I'm grateful to go through life with someone who takes care of us like my husband does. He also takes care of his parents and my mom and sets a great example for our son. Again, what more could a person want?

Wherever you are, from wherever you are reading this, I hope your weekend is wonderful! All the important men in my life (except my hubby!), have been veterans.

See you soon with some progress on this and maybe a finished pocket on the Oct 31 in the previous post! We'll see how adventurous I get this week and how busy work is!

Until next time,

Pineberry Lane Oct 31 finish!

I finished this one last night. Just a few days beyond Halloween, but a finish nontheless!

This was a really fun stitch! Don't know if I'll make the pocket for it, but I'll either do that or frame it. It'll be ahead of the game for next Halloween!

We were threatened with tornado warnings and severe thunderstorms on Halloween night, but amazingly, it held off until after all the kids (over 700!) were done TOT'ing.

And Halloween wouldn't be complete without some Halloween food. I made turkey chili, mummy dogs, and skull cakes.

The weather is turning proper chilly and I love it. I love all the seasons, and I'm so fortunate to live somewhere where there is a clear demarcation in the seasons. Fall is my favorite and it's in full swing!  See you soon with a new start!

Until then,

Stitchy update and before and after home improvements!

Here is just a quick stitchy update on my Pineberry Lane spooky stitching:

I'm having fun with this one!

Meanwhile, my husband worked on bringing a vision to life for our house. We had a huge blank wall that I had been curating ideas of what to do with for two years now. It's been realized finally!  We went from this:

to this:

I could not be happier! My husband worked so hard on this for me. He hand picked the boards, stained them with the stain I picked out, polyurethaned and waxed them, and painted the Ikea brackets a satin black. Love that guy. We want to do a picture gallery above it. I purchased the frames, and it should be done as soon as I order the pics and figure out how I want it configured! I'll update after that.

The weather has finally cooled off and it's been so nice. I need to get out and start walking and taking care of myself again. It's been too long, and I've gotten out of my habits that helped me get into shape. Life is like that sometimes. Time just seems to fly and I just want to enjoy it as I go along. Make time for the little enjoyable things in life, like dinner with your family, listening to the rain, walking in the crisp air, savoring the fall flavors of apples and pumpkins. Get out there and enjoy life!

Until next time,

I caved! New Pineberry Lane start!

Yep, I caved! I saw Pineberry Lane's new design, October 31st, and had to start it. You know, 'cause I don't have enough designs to choose from, right??

I dyed a piece of fabric, but it might be too yellow-y. I think the colors will pop off the fabric nicely however. I've never stitched on a yellow, so this should be fun!

We've been decorating here and there for the holiday and we kicked off our celebration with a trip to King's Dominion Halloween Haunt.

They have great decorations and shows and we love it every year. They do however, need me in charge of their music this year.

Hope your Halloween season is well underway! We are looking forward to some very cooler temps soon (beginning tomorrow or so), and I'm so ready!!

Until next time friends,

Notforgotten Farm Flag Folk and Stash!

Back with just a little bit of progress on Notforgotten Farm Flag Folk.

I have to confess-I would like to be stitching something spooky right now. I may have to start something new and put this on the back burner for a bit. I don't know. This is enjoyable however!

Now on to some stash! I hope I haven't posted these before. And I really am putting them here to keep track of myself. I have purchased duplicates a few times (haven't we all?), so this helps!

I have wanted these forever!

How adorable is this spider??!

These Cedar Hill Designs are gorgeous!

A couple of these are re-purchases. I had them, sold them, and wanted them back. UGH! That is the stitcher's curse I tell you!
It is still so stifling hot here. I cannot wait for cooler weather. I couldn't enjoy a hot apple cider if you paid me. Happy Autumn, and until next time,