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,