Hey! Hope your holidays have been merry. Ours were, for the most part. My son got everything he asked for - considering it was only two items...

But mostly what we got for Christmas was sick. My son brought home a stomach virus, and he spent Christmas in bed, so we missed the family get-together this year. Then, once Christmas was over and the day after was in full swing, I came down with the virus as well. Ugh! Missed a day of work and am still not 100% three days later. Looking forward to the new year!

As for my stitchery, I have been working on another angel ornament, but because it's a snowman and all I've done so far is white, I won't bother with a scan. I haven't worked on much else, though I've been meaning to do backstitching to finish my snowman sweatshirt I've been working on for too many years... You can see my last scan of it below on the November 25 entry.

Otherwise, I have been getting my calendars ready for the new year and playing games on King.com... Happy New Year!

Just a short note as the season is winding down. No cross-stitch, no photos to share, just a wish for a very merry Christmas to everyone!

Goodness, is it December already? I have been quite busy with Christmas related projects, none of which involve cross stitch and few involving the Internet, so I haven't even been around lately. My "manual labor" project is winding down, however, so perhaps soon I'll be here more often, and get to stitch some!

Last night we put up our Christmas tree, finally! I gathered all the angel ornaments I've made this year, and I took a photo, including one I did previously. Here is the picture of all eight:

I still have five more kits; perhaps I'll make more next year!

It's Sunday, the last day off for the long holiday weekend for me. That's okay, because it's not long till Christmas now. Yikes!

I've already (thankfully) started my Christmas projects, but I've also managed to finish my last angel before Christmas. Here she is. The pattern is from the December issue of the Cross Stitcher magazine.

No new projects now for a month or so, though I hope to work in some cross stitch here and there (helps keep me sane!). I plan to work some on my snowman sweatshirt I've been working on during the Christmas season the last three or four years. Here is last year's progress, though I do have a little more than this done.

Time for a cross stitch update. I finished my latest angel on Monday, so thought I'd share. Here she is:


I had said this would be my last angel while I take time to work on Christmas stitching, but I found another pattern in the December issue of the Cross Stitcher that I had to do, so I've been working on that.

I haven't, however, done much work on Day without Stitching. I've been working on the words, and they're coming along slowly. Here is today's progress:

I will probably put it away soon and work on my regular wintertime snowman sweatershirt that I've been working on for like five years now... The way it goes when I only work on it about three months of the year...

Time flies... whether you're having fun or not... That's true for me right now. It's school conference season and time for other outdoor activities before the weather changes. Winter - that's when I do my best cross stitch, or at least my most prolific. Right now, not so much.

I have been working on what will be my last angel, because I'm needing to do some actual stitching for Christmas. It's another design from the 2003 BHG leaflet Treasury of Christmas Cross-Stitch Designs, small wreath. Here is today's progress:

I haven't been doing much stitching on my other work in progress, A Day without Stitching. Here is my current progress, not much different from my last progress, which was three weeks ago:

Happy Friday! Fridays are my favorite days, because the week is over but I still have two days off to come...

Well, I finished the angel I spoke of in my last post, and have given her to my friend, so here is the photo of it.

The pattern is from the March 2006 issue of the British Cross Stitcher magazine. I added the Santa hat embellishment myself... It is a Christmas ornament, after all.

Oh, and in the process I also finished the jingle bells angel, and here she is as well.

With the time I spent on the dachshund angel this week, I didn't work on Day without Stitching at all, so no scan of it this week. I'm sure I'll do some work on it next week...

It has been awhile. I've been doing lots of things, other than posting here - that includes solving some Internet connection issues. Also includes cross stitching, so here are my project updates.

First, I have finished the stitching on the jingle bells for my latest angel ornament. With many quarter stitches, it was harder than it looks to finish! I will be stitching one for a friend next, so won't be posting pictures - until after she gets it!

I've also done more work on Day without Stitching. It's coming along, as my stitching nears the bottom of the design. The spaces for personalization will remain empty, as they will be done last.

It's the weekend, hurray! Fall has arrived, it appears, here in Arkansas. The leaves should be changing soon. October is my favorite month of the year.

It's Saturday, a good day to review the week, and take stock of what I have accomplished in it. Guess that includes my cross stitching as well. I made some progress, though admittedly a lot of it was just today. (My son was at a birthday party, and I was watching a movie, "The Music Man," and cross stitching.) Here is my current progress on Day Without Stitching:

I have also worked enough on my next angel to share progress. It's Jingle Bells, from the BH&G leaflet Treasury of Christmas Cross-Stitch Designs.

Yesterday I received some leaflets I won in an eBay auction, including an older Garfield the cat leaflet, and I believe I will be stitching a design from there next. Christmas is coming soon now, and it's time to plan for that.

Have a good week!

Hello, it's Sunday here in Arkansas. I finished my kitten angel last night, so here I am to show her off today.

Also done some more work on A Day without Stitching, though not very much. I just haven't been sitting around cross stitching lately, I guess...

Now I'm beginning work on my next angel ornament. (I did mention I had order a dozen from Herrschner's, didn't I?) The design I haven't really settled upon yet, but it will come from the leaflet Treasury of Christmas Cross-Stitch Designs, which I got with a hard bound cross stitch book from BH&G several years ago.

Happy Monday! (Yeah, right...)

I thought I should write an update and post my latest project pictures, before they were so outdated that I needed to scan more. Here is my progress on the angel kitten and A Day without Stitching, as of Saturday the 15th.



Angel kitten is ready for backstitch, which I have begun, and I have been stitching the flowers on the leaf row on A Day without Stitching. A cool weekend, and more time for cross stitch than usual. Oh, and watching the Emmys last night...

It's been awhile since I have written, and I've made progress on (and started) my projects, so here I am tonight. My work in progress, A Day without Stitching, is coming along, albeit slowly. Here's today's progress:

I have also started another angel. This one is Angel Kitten, which comes from BH&G 101 Christmas Cross-Stitch Designs, a leaflet I got free with a hardback book several years ago. I haven't stitched enough to really see the design, but here it is:

It's the weekend, but it's been raining here for the past couple days. We've gotten over three inches so far, and it's still raining. Hoping tomorrow will improve!

Good morning! I thought I should write an update, since it's been awhile. Guess I've been cross stitching more than computering... I finished another angel ornament, but she was an easy one. The design is from another Better Homes & Gardens Christmas cross stitch magazine, this one from 2003.

I also started the Sandra Cozzolino "Day Without Cross Stitching" design I wrote about before vacation. I hadn't stitched much till about the last week. Here is my current progress on it:

Now it's Friday, end of the second week of school. And the beginning of a three-day weekend. The weather's going to be gorgeous, and we aren't going to be staying home. We are going to enjoy the end of summer and get outside, play, and visit our family. Hope you have a great weekend too!

It's Thursday, and it's been almost two weeks since I finished the cross stitch projects I have posted pictures of before. I have done enough of my new projects to post pictures of them. But first I thought I should post the finishes, so here they are.

I finished stitching the angel almost two weeks ago, and I finished the angel ornament last weekend. I finished the cat before we went on vacation, so I could take a new project along.

My son started back to school this week, so we've been pretty busy with those back-to-school things. It's been a long week! Looking to the weekend...

Hello! Whew! My son and I just returned yesterday from Branson, where we stayed in the Branson Windmill Inn four nights. We chose it despite the negative reviews because it fit our (narrow) requirements - indoor pool, less than $50 a night, two beds. Plus, we had stayed in the Cobblestone Inn, which is now part of this motel, in 2005, so were familiar with the place.

In my opinion, the good outweighed the bad, but it depends on what is important to you. The room was clean, except the carpet could've used a thorough shampoo, and the maid service was early, so that the room was always made up when we returned. We went to White Water each day, and spent the hot afternoon hours in our room. We only wanted to swim in the pool one night, and it turns out it was closed, so we used the outdoor pool, for a while.

The good, to me, included the fact that there were very few people staying there. Three of the four nights we were there, the rooms on each side of us - and below and above us - were unoccupied, so there was no TV at midnight, no doors slamming, no sounds like someone is moving furniture above us, and no jockeying for a parking spot. Access was good as well, with access to Tanger Boulevard to Wildwood to Gretna, as well as to 76 between the Track and Kids Kountry, which are next to the motel.

As mentioned, we went to White Water each morning for a couple or three hours, till it got good and hot; then we would return to our motel room for the afternoon, going out and about again about 5:00. We did mostly shopping. And as for food, alas, we did the fast food tour of Branson - McDonald's, Wendy's, A&W in the Factory Merchants Mall, Domino's pizza at White Water. We did eat on Wednesday night at Ruby Tuesday, but there was no local flavor on this trip. Comes with traveling with an 11-year-old who is quite set in his ways...

By Friday, he was quite tired of the same things in Branson, so we took the short trip north 35 miles to Springfield. There, we visited Toys R Us and the Battlefield Mall, before heading on home, down Highway 60. We stopped for gas and then in Monett, MO, at Wal-Mart for foodstuffs needed when we got home, and were home by the evening.

Now it's the weekend, and time to think about school starting next week. He's starting sixth grade, so that means middle school and all things new. Well, except for his friends, and that's something he's definitely looking forward to.

Hi, my vacation has begun. Well, being off work has begun; our actual vacation doesn't start till Monday, when we go to Branson for a week. So today I'm starting to get ready. You know, set up hold mail, hold newspapers, car checks, etc., etc. And school starts the week we come back, so we have to get ready for that as well...

On the cross stitch front, I finished the cat and rose last night, and am almost finished with the poinsettia now - stitching anyway. (No new scans yet; had to wash.) I have been diligently backstitching today. I want to start a whole new project to take with me on vacation. At this moment, it will be "A Day without Stitching" by Sandra Cozzolino, a design that's been in my "to do" stack for a while now. Or maybe Sue Hillis' "Grandmother's Legacy." Depends on my mood when I get ready to start - and what fabric I have...

Meantime, I'll write again after vacation!

It's August! That means it's hot and humid in Arkansas, and it also means that my vacation is less than a week away!

I have done more cross stitching since last I wrote about my current projects, and here is my latest progress.

The kitty is taking shape on the cat and rose design; her right eye is done, and left eye is close. Only ears and backstitch to go after that. And I am down to working on backstitching the pink poinsettia; you can tell what a difference it makes! Will I finish one or both before vacation? I may have to start something else then. Hmmm...

Not that I'm rushing time, but it's finally time to start counting the days till my vacation! I haven't had a vacation day since May, and I am ready, believe me! This weekend, I finally chose a hotel and made our reservations for a week in Branson. Yeah, it's our third summer going to Branson, but it's close, inexpensive, and my son likes it. Close, as in under 80 miles. Inexpensive because we have White Water season tickets, so we go every day. And my son likes things to be predictable and unchanging... I can deal with it. Mostly because I like Branson.

And I like vacation. Only 9 days away!

Hello! Today I thought I would start with a picture I took this afternoon of my first sunflower of the summer. It doesn't seem like it's been long enough since I planted them for some to already be blooming. Well, some of them didn't "take" and I replanted, three times in total. So I should get sunflowers for the rest of the summer!

I admit, I love the sunflowers. They are easy to plant, take little work to grow, and are beautiful! This is the second summer I have planted them along the back border of my backyard. Because it's been rainier than the last couple summers, I haven't even had to water them, yet.

Perhaps next I will stitch some sunflowers to last year round, after I finish the cat and rose... (which is going rather well, by the way.)

Happy Monday!

Okay, okay. So that's somewhat an oxymoron, at least to me. Suffice to say, I'm glad the day's almost over...

Here are my two current cross stitch projects. I've found one of the main issues with stitching two flowers in shades of pink is that they require some of the same colors, and I've found myself needing the same color on both at the same time. So it's on to the green leaves on the poinsettia, even though I'm not finished with the pink flower yet. As for the rose (which will have a cat's face involved, one day), I'm working on the backstitch there.

(Batteries are a bit low in my camera. The fabric on both is actually white, and the pink flower are about the same color.)

Poinsettia pattern is from the 2003 Cross-Stitch Christmas magazine from Better Homes & Gardents. Rose (with cat) is from Leisure Arts publication 2821, Cats Galore (originally published in a For the Love of Cross Stitch Magazine)

I'm only home a few more minutes for lunch, then back to work. I would rather stay home and stitch...

Maybe it's because I haven't had a day off since May, unless you count when my son was sick three days in June, but even that was a month and a half ago. Our vacation is coming up though in August, and I'll be off a week and a half. Right now, we plan to go to Branson. Wish it were next week! (Not really; life's too short already without wishing it away...)

I've been into stitching Christmas ornaments lately. This angel is my last finish. I'm working on another with a poinsettia now.

It's Saturday in July...

In Arkansas it's hot and humid, as can be expected. I need to mow the backyard today, so I'm waiting till the sun's down a little more. Seems bigger when I'm mowing than when I'm playing...

It's the weekend! We were out all weekend last week, so this weekend has been stay-at-home time. A trip to Wal-Mart has been all we've done. Tomorrow we'll probably go even less. Still a whole month till vacation, August 12-17, probably in Branson - that's the plan right now. Then it'll be back-to-school time.

Off to cross stitch some more, and listen to KLRC. (I've added a link to their web site, where you can listen to them too.) Have a great day!

Happy today!

I am in a mood. It's only Wednesday. What a long week this is! Well, tomorrow's payday, which will be nice, but only till I start paying bills... Such is the life...

I signed up for this blog months ago (years ago?) when it wasn't even Google. I wrote some heavy stuff, didn't like it, took it off, and never came back till tonight. I update my good old Geocities site occasionally (link is "My Home Page" at right), but not much for sharing online these days. Not as easy to do as it was in the "good old days" which for computers and the Internet was 1998... :)

Must be off. I want to stitch before bed, and the kitty pattern I'm working on in the living room is calling me...