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...