Stash in the Mail

This is what I won on Maryann's blog! I haven't gotten anything cross stitchy in the mail in years! Long ago, I ordered 3 kits from The Stitchery catalog: a baseball collage for my son, a ballerina for my daughter, and an antigue store for me. I started the baseball piece, but never finished it (one of my UFOs), and the other 2 have never been opened! DS's room had a sports theme, complete with sports equipment stenciled around the top of the walls. (I did a lot of stenciling in my house - I still love what I did!) DD's room had a ballerina theme - ballet shoes stenciled around the top of the walls. DS's room is still sports-themed, so I quess I could finish that piece and put it in his room, but DD and DD's Dad don't want any changes to his room. DD's room has been painted purple (even covered my beautiful stenciling! Does she realise how much work that was!!?) and DD has long passed the ballerina stage! Anyway, maybe I'll do those for grandchildren someday! I still plan to do the antique store. But back to my spring sampler, it came with Crescent Colour threads. I've never stitched with these threads; so I can't wait to stitch this! Again, thank you, Maryann!

The picture above shows my progress on Patchwork Garden. I'm really enjoying this! I don't have all the colors I need. I'm going to do my weekly shopping in a few minutes and will pick up what I need. I'm going to have to put this aside for a while and work on the guardian angel.

DD's Dad and I had our first "disagreement" since he has been here. DD was in one of her moods yesterday (she said she was PMSing - her excuse for any bad behavior on her part!). She didn't want anything we had at the house for lunch. She wanted me to order subs from Wedgys. We are very tight on money right now!! I told her we were not ordering anything until I start subbing again. She pitched a temper tantrum (yes, she's 18, but acts like she's 3!). Her dad and I were both saying, "No!" Then her dad gives in and says, "How about something from Taco Bell or McDonalds?" I couldn't believe it! I told him we shouldn't give in to her when she pitches fits! He went ahead and got her a hamburger and fries! I was furious!! When he got back, he knew I was mad! He wouldn't look at me and quickly went outside and piddled around. I gave him the silent treatment the rest of the day! I plan to have a "discussion" with him today about what happened. By supper time, we were talking again, just not about what happened. DD has to learn that she can't pitch fits to get what she wants!

Well, better go and get ready to do my weekly marathon shopping! Today is DD's Dad's birthday. We're going out for Chinese food tonight. It will be our monthly eating out! Eating out on birthdays is a family tradition! Have a day full of happy moments and may God bless you!

"New" Old Stash

Here's my progress on the Guardian Angel for Sophia's quilt at Cole's Quilts. This is going more quickly this time than the first time I did it. I'm enjoying it, too. I don't usually like doing the same pattern twice.

DD's Dad was cleaning his room yesterday, and he found a box of old cross stitch magazines that I had forgotten were in DS's room. After I did my cleaning, I had a ball looking through the mags. It was like I had never seen them before! So that's my "new" old stash!

And the piece above is what I am going to start today! (I have a big stack of pieces I found that I want to do!) But this one really caught my eye! It kind of reminds me of the Seasonal Samplers by JanLynn. It's called "Patchwork Garden," and it was in the Aug., 1998, issue of Cross Stitch and Needlework. I'm going to do it on white 18 count Aida. I'm one of those rare people who still likes stitching on Aida! lol It will fit perfectly in an 8" by 10" frame! I have too many started already, but I can't wait to do this! It looks so springy and summery! I'm going to take turns working on this and the Autumn Sampler.

Well, nothing but stitchy news today! Better go and fix lunch! Have a day full of happy moments and may God bless you!

P.S. - I was reading through my last few posts and realized that I failed to mention that DD's Dad finally got DD's car fixed. Yay! Yay!

I Won! I Won!

Mary Ann (Just Stitching) had a drawing for the spring sampler chart above and all the threads to do it. I entered my name and won! I am so excited! Mary Ann is a very special internet friend. She was the first person to leave a comment on my blog, and she also stitches lots of beautiful charity squares! Thank you! Thank you, Mary Ann! I can't wait to get it!

I did the little piece above yesterday. I did the spring one and had it hanging on my wooden perpetual calendar. I've been wanting to get this one done to hang there! I'm going to try to finish it as a tiny pillow sometime today. It's a freebie here. (Click on "Special Offers.") It was a quick little stitch! I couldn't see the finished picture very clearly and I thought the watermelon slice was a flower. I was really surprised when I got it finished! lol I love watermelons!

I got this much done on Autumn Sampler. This is really a challenge, and I really enjoy stitching it! I'm going to start my next charity square. It will be the guardian angel I did before. She will go to Cole's Quilts for Sophia. Then I will stitch her again for Allyson, also at Cole's Quilts. I have now stitched and mailed 20 squares. I have thoroughly enjoyed every square I have done. I'm sure I'm getting as much out of doing them as the recipient gets out of receiving them!!

DD's car is still on the blink! DD's Dad is trying to get it fixed as soon as possible! I'm just letting her use my car. I don't go out much, and I would rather stitch! lol

Tried a new recipe last night - a salmon pie. Surprisingly it was very good! All 3 of us loved it!

DB moved into the house he is renting. He doesn't have any furniture yet! He's sleeping in a lounge chair my mom gave him! He has all of his furniture and stuff in storage in Florida. It will probably be a while before he can afford to have it sent up here. He collects deer things, so I'm going to quickly stitch him a little deer magnet for his frig! lol I'm planning to do a deer pillow for him for Christmas. I did one for him in 1999 and it was the only thing he didn't put in storage. He brought it up here with him! It really touched me that it meant that much to him!

That's about all the news for today! Gonna get busy stitching! Have a day full of happy moments and may God bless you!

PM Princess Finished!

PM Princess is on her way to Love Quilts for Mikayla's quilt! I really enjoyed stitching her! They will really be surprised that she's there before the deadline. lol I'm going to do a quick little summer piece and work a little on Autumn Sampler today and start a new square tomorrow.

Just as everything seems to be going smoothly, DD's car konks out! Ah - such is life! lol DD's Dad is out there working on it. This means I will have to take DD to work and pick her up until her car is going again. I was planning to go visit my mom today, but visits with her are day-long events. I visited with her the other day and stayed 4 hours. Yesterday she said, "You came for a 'little' visit the other day." Mom is so good at "guilting" me. lol

DB has found a house to rent! Yah! Yah! Mom is having to pay the 1st month's rent and the deposit, but it's worth it to get him out of her home!! He is driving her crazy and Mom has bad nerves!

Better go! I'm still in my gown and housecoat! Happy stitchin' everyone! Have a day full of happy moments and may God bless you!

Housework - Bah! Humbug!

I'm working on the backstitching on the PM Princess. I would have finished it yesterday, but all 3 furbabies wanted to sit in my lap all day yesterday!! I think the 2 older dogs are very jealous of the new puppy. Whenever she's in my lap, they have to be there, too! I got so frustrated trying to stitch! I really wanted to finish this! I really like the colors in this piece.

I didn't stitch very much on Sat. I did housework all day -vaccumming, sweeping, dusting, washing clothes, etc. Plus I did a lot of cooking! I got very tickled at Sugar (our black toy poodle). After I had vaccummed the den, Bebe, the puppy, brought in a leaf and was playing with it like it was alive - poking at it, etc. When she finally lost interest and went to do something else, Sugar picked up the leaf and took it back outside! It was like she was saying, "Don't mess up Momma's clean floor!" Sometimes I think Sugar could talk if she tried hard enough.

Both of the poodles amazed me a few days ago. Bebe is still small enough that she can go through the slats on the wooden part of our fence (across the front). She usually doesn't unless we go out to get in the car, and she is outside. However, the other day both poodles kept going to the front door and barking and whining like they usually do when DD or DD's Dad has come home. I knew no one was at the door. Then they went to the door to the garage and did the same. I asked them what was wrong, and they came to me and went back to the door (which means, "Come with us!"). I finally realized Bebe was not with them. I opened the front door, and there was Bebe - out of the fence and on the front porch! The poodles were trying to tell me that Bebe was outside the fence! I'm sure they were thinking, "Boy! Humans sure are SLOW!" lol

Better go and get busy on PM Princess! Have a day full of happy moments, and may God bless you!

New Stash and an Update

Above is an update on the PM Princess. I've really enjoyed stitching her and haven't gotten back to the Autumn Sampler. I guess my cross stitch genie was happy just to get it started! lol I hope to finish the PM Princess in the next few days. Next I have to do 2 more of the guardian angel I did before and she takes quite a while to stitch; so I doubt if I will get back to AS any time soon. I'm one of those stitchers who usually stitches one thing at a time. Although I have several UFOs. lol The next 3 pictures are my most recent stash acquirements.


I got the book above with a 40% off coupon at Michael's. I love these "Wannabe Bears." My kitchen is decorated in red, white, and black. I collect cows - hence the black and white and I just love red! I'm going to stitch these on some towels I have.

I got the one above with a 40% off coupon at A.C. Moore. I got several of these striped towels on sale a while back, but haven't come up with anything to stitch on them. I love these patterns. I'm stitching towels for my (estranged) mother-in-law and sister-in-law for Christmas. Even though my husband and I have been legally separated for 16 years, the 3 of us still give each other a little something at Christmas! They really loved me!! lol And I really loved them! You don't stop being friends just because you're not in the family anymore!

And the book above was on a 50% off table at A.C. Moore. I can't buy anything if I don't have a coupon, or it's not on sale! lol Anyway, I love alphabets. I especially like stitching things for DD that have her name or initial on them!

Things have gotten better here and at my mom's house. I think I failed to tell my internet friends that DD's friend, who was staying here, went home. DD had a talk with her and told her I was in too bad a shape to have extra company and that we just don't have the room! And Mom and my brother are getting along better since he started working and isn't there ALL DAY LONG!! They're looking for an apartment for him. So peace reigns again! (at least for a while! lol)

DD still likes her job and finally got her application in at Tech. She's all set to start college courses in a couple of months! Yah! Yah!

I am still on the diet and continue to shrink! I try 1 or 2 new recipes every week and so far we have liked all of them. DD especially liked the French Onion Soup we made yesterday. She LOVES Fr. Onion Soup!! She made some more this morning at 1:oo!! And of course I had a mess to clean up this morning! lol

Well, better finish cleaning up that mess and get to stitching! I'm going to visit my mom this afternoon. Have a happy day and may God bless you!

More Charity Stitching

I worked all day today on the PM Princess for Mikala's quilt at Love Quilts. I didn't work any on Autumn Sampler today. I really got into the PM piece and couldn't put it down. I'm going to work a good bit tomorrow on AS. This PM girl is much simpler than the last one I did with the 2 girls with flowers!

I didn't really stitch all day today. I had a very bad anxiety attack last night. I started having them after my son died. At first I had them all the time. Now I don't have them very often, but every few days, it will all hit me again and then it's just like I am reliving the morning the detectives came to tell me that my car had been pulled from a lake and that a body was in it and did my son have any birthmarks or scars on his body so they could determine if the body was my son or not? I can't breathe - it feels like someone's hands are around my neck choking me. And it also feels like a knife has been thrust into my chest. I start screaming and crying and can't stop until I take my anxiety medicine. The next day after one of these attacks, I'm usually sick to my stomach all day or I have a migraine. Today it was my stomach and it was bad! As long as I stay in bed or sitting down, I do okay, but if I get up, I double over with my stomach hurting! So I was able to stitch as long as I was sitting. I couldn't cook so we ordered delivery for lunch and dinner.

On a brighter note - DD went to her first day at work in the bakery department of Ingles and she loved it!! She had to put the cookies on a big cookie sheet and put them in the oven. She also practiced cake writing. She said they're very laid back in that department and she liked the other 3 ladies she will be working with. She can't wait to go back tomorrow! I am so happy for her!

Better go. I need to get to bed and hope that tomorrow will be better! Have a happy day and may God bless you!

Started "Autumn Sampler"

I just couldn't wait any longer! I started the Janlynn Autumn Sampler last night. Autumn is my favorite time of the year! I love the cool temps. and the colors! I'm going to work mostly on the charity squares that are due soon, but I will stitch on this a few minutes each day!

I'm working on this apple lady motif first. She's in the middle. This is definitely going slower than my charity squares! I love it! I really needed to do something that would challenge me! And this will do the job! lol

This is what I got stitched last night and today in between cooking and cleaning! There are a lot of different colors in those apples!

Mom didn't get over to my house yesterday; I went to her house instead! She's having a rough time with my brother there!! He's not easy to live with! He doesn't have a car, so he drives hers all the time. She's very particular about her car, and she misses being able to go places because he's always gone with it! She's scared to death that he's going to wreck her car! He also wants to stay up late and she can't go to sleep until he goes to bed! He smokes and she has bad asthma and even if he smokes outside, he still brings it in when he returns! He drinks - bad - and my mom and dad never had anything alcoholic in their home!! He's very sullen and hateful and doesn't want anyone to talk to him. He's also going around the house, pointing out what he wants to get when she dies! He seems to think he's entitled to all the antiques and items that are worth a lot! He hasn't been up here - helping to take care of Mom and Dad all these years!! My dad was always having health problems from the time he was 29-years-old. My brother wasn't up here everytime my dad was in the hospital; he wasn't going through all that stress and worry with us. Then when Mom was in her 60s, she had a heart attack and several other health problems. So if we weren't at the hospital with Dad, we were there for Mom!! Why does he think he should get everything?!! Plus, Mom gets so depressed because it's like he can't wait for her to die! He has no money so Mom is having to give him money everyday!! She's so stressed out with him there! It will be at least another month before he will have enough money to get his own place! I'm not sure my mom will live through another month with him!! I don't know what to do! I'm so stressed out and still grieving for my son!! I can't handle any more stress! Mom and I both have terrible anxiety attacks! I don't have room for him here at my house, and my sister is in very bad health, and she and my brother do not get along at all! We really didn't want him to come up here to live, but he came anyway and just expects us to take care of him and keep him up! Boy! I'm really on a rant! Aren't I!? Well, enough for today!

I tried another new recipe today - Honey Chicken. It was very good! Better get back to my stitching! Have a day full of happy moments and may God bless you!

Good News

This is my progress on the PM Princess. I worked on her a good bit today.

We are so excited - DD got the job at Ingles! She will be working in the bakery department. She will be baking and learning to decorate cakes. She's very excited because she will make a good bit above minimum wage. She starts on Mon. God has really been answering our prayers.

We decided to celebrate her getting the job and went out to eat tonight. We got Mexican food. We had a great time!

I'd better go; my mom is going to visit tomorrow and I need to get to bed. Have a great day and may God bless you!

New Start

This is the next charity square I am doing. It is "Life Is ... Precious as a Jewel" in the book Precious Moments: Pretty as a Princess by Designs by Gloria and Pat. She will go in Mikayla's quilt at Love Quilts. I have until Aug. 1st to do it, so I should be finished early. They will really be surprised to get one from me early! lol

Here's my progress so far. I like stitching these PM girls. I'm not going to stitch the border around it. It would be a little too big if I did. I am going to get ahead on these squares so I can do something for myself! I would like to start the Autumn Sampler piece! There are so many things I want to stitch. But I do love doing the charity squares! There's just not enough time in the day to stitch everything I want to do!

Things have gotten a little complicated around here. Another friend of DD's has left home and decided to move in with us. No one invited her or told her she could; she just spent the night one night and hasn't left. I finally realized that she is planning to stay here. I wish I could take in every stray dog and child, but I can't!! I am an emotional wreck, and we are barely paying the bills and keeping food on the table for the 3 of us right now! I told DD that her friend can't stay here; she needs to go back home! DD is going to talk to her today about going home to her Dad!

Some good news - DD has an interview for a job tomorrow! Yah! Yah! It's at Ingle's and she's not too crazy about working in a grocery store, but I think she finally realises that we are not going to give her money and that she had better take any job she can get!! She will continue trying to get a job in a daycare while she works at the grocery store.

She and I had a long talk this morning and she announced that she wants to be a teacher - kindergarten. I am so happy!! Although teaching is a hard profession, it is a very rewarding profession! Plus almost all of my mother's family was and is in education! It seems to run in the family!! Right after my son died, DD dropped out of school. She would come over to my school and help me in my class sometimes. She would actually teach some lessons. She was great! She really is a natural! She even taught me a lot of the math I had to teach - graphing stuff that we never did when I was in school! Even if she changes her mind, at least she has a goal she will start working toward!! She's finally thinking about the future. (For those who haven't been reading my blog since I began - DD got her GED last March and had a very high score. She is going to take college courses at Tech. and transfer to a college in the future.)

Better go - have to fix lunch! Have a day full of happy moments and may God bless you!!

Happy Dance!! Fireman Teddy is finished and on his way to Timothy's quilt at Cole's Quilts. I was determined to get him finished yesterday, but the dogs were not cooperative. All 3 furry babies wanted to sit in my lap at the same time ALL DAY LONG! I stayed up until 2:30 this morning to finish him! I'm going to start another square today. It's one of the Precious Moments girls - a Princess. I'll show a pic tomorrow.

Alberta, thanks for mentioning my blog on your blog! I tried to leave you a comment, but either blogger or my computer wouldn't let me! Alberta's blog is Busy Hands, Happy Hearts.

Not much happening around here right now - just stitching! Have a day full of happy moments!

The picture above is of my nephew Rusty and his wife Mandy. They are the proud parents of our newest little one in the family, Thomas. I finally got over to visit my mom and my brother on Friday. I still hadn't seen the new great-nephew and given him the cross stitch I did for him. It's the Thomas in the frame. So Mom and I finally caught them at home and went over to visit.

Isn't he adorable!? He looks alot like his dad. He let me hold him and even smiled for me. He's a chubby little fellow.

And this picture was taken on the 4th. He's 6-months-old and so cuddly! They really liked the picture I had stitched for him! I was afraid they might not realize how much I had to pay to have it framed, but then Mandy said that she knew having it framed was expensive because she used to work in a frame shop. She said it was a very special gift, because "it came from the heart." We had a great time visiting them and playing with Thomas! I can't wait to go back to see them again!

I had a great visit with my brother. He looked very good. I'm so glad he will be in Greenville now!

I haven't done much stitching the last few days. I've been too busy with family! Today DD, DD's Dad, and I spent all afternoon playing Sorry - Card Revenge. I actually won TWICE!! I never win at games! We have always loved playing board games with our children! Almost every Sunday was spent playing something with them when they were young.

I had some board games in my class at school that we would play at recess time when it was raining and we could not go outside. I was shocked to find out that almost none of my students knew how to play board games. They didn't know how to roll the dice, count the dots on the dice, move their piece around the board, or even how to take turns. I couldn't figure it out and then one of the teachers in the lounge said, "Kids don't play board games these days. They play video games!" I think it's sad that parents don't play board games with their children!

Well, I'd better get busy on the fireman teddy. I'm almost finished with his boots. Then I only have the little dog and his bowl to finish and then I can do all the backstitching! I also had problems with blogger not letting me put on a title! And I'm still having problems leaving comments on some blogs. So don't think I'm not reading your blogs if you haven't heard from me in a while! Everyone is doing such beautiful things! Have a happy day!

Sea Life Happy Dance!

I finished this up on Wed. I didn't put in all the fronds that were on the pattern. I was short on time and it would have taken forever. I really don't think it needs them. It's on its way to Samantha at Love Quilts.

After finishing the Sea Life piece, I picked up this WIP again. This is also a charity square. I started it a while back, but they pushed back the due date, so I put it up and worked on some that were due before it. This fireman will be in Timothy's quilt at Cole's Quilts. It's due on the 15th. I have said it before, but I would encourage anyone who has time, to stitch a square or 2 for these charity quilts. It is so rewarding!

DD's Dad and I had a good time cooking out on the 4th. Those were the best burgers we have grilled so far. We ate outside and the weather was perfect! I tried a new WW recipe last night - oven-fried chicken. You dip the chicken pieces in buttermilk and roll them in crushed corn flakes and flour. Then you bake them instead of frying. It was very good! DD's Dad said he liked it better than fried chicken. We will definitely have that again!

I'm going to try to get over to see my brother today. I've had a migraine the last couple of days. It started while we were grilling our burgers on the 4th. But I refused to let it ruin our cookout. However, it did knock me out of commission yesterday! My brother has already gotten a job. He is a carpenter and builds beautiful cabinets and custom furniture. He is very talented. I'm glad he's going to be living up here. We haven't seen him more that 2 or 3 times a year for the last 30 years! It will be nice to see him more often and "let" him build me beautiful things for my house! lol

Better go! I'm making chicken salad for lunch. Have a happy day and may God bless you!

Happy Fourth!

Happy 4th of July to everyone!! We are celebrating with a cookout tonight - just hamburgers- and a watermelon! We had invited my mom and brother, but Mom doesn't feel like it. And DD has been invited to her friend's for a big family get-together and she'd rather do that. SO it will just be DD's Dad and myself. But that's okay with us. We're both pretty tired.

You can see my progress on Sea Life above. I have most of the backstitching finished. I am going to finish it today and mail it tomorrow. It's going to be late, but the quilter usually waits 2 weeks to sew the quilt, so maybe it will get there in time. I really like this square and enjoyed stitching it.

Bebe, the new puppy, is into cross stitching, too. She loves to get my threads and play with them. I have a round sewing basket that I keep my current project in, and it sits on the floor by my chair. I have had to move it up higher to keep it away from Bebe. She also loves the outdoors and loves to bring part of it inside - sticks, leaves, dirt, etc. But she's just so adorable, I can't get mad at her! She sleeps on my bed now, along with the other 2 furbabies. It's pretty crowded! lol But we all stay good and warm!

I'm joining 8 other stitchers to do a quilt in memory of the firefighters who died in the fire in Charleston. We are each doing a square. It will be sent to one of the fire chiefs and hung in a fire station there in Charleston. I'm so glad these ladies included me - it's a group of us who stitch for Love Quilts. I really wanted to do something in memory of these firemen!

DD's Dad has gotten another offer to enter a bid for a job. We're real excited! He went to Hilton Head over the weekend to check on the house he built there. We hope it will sell soon. I really missed him while he was gone. I got very depressed and had a bad spell Monday. My brother arrived from Florida on Sat., but I haven't felt like going to see him yet. Most days I stay at home - it's just hard making myself leave the house! I hope he understands.

Well, better go. I need to fix lunch! Have a happy day and may God bless you!

Lots of Family Stuff Going On

I've really been working a lot on this square! All I have left now is the backstitching! I'm not sure what I'm going to stitch next. I'm not going to do the other square that was due today! I've just signed up for too many charity squares.

DD's Dad went to Hilton Head (almost 5 hours from here) yesterday to check on the house he built there and is trying to sell. I have really missed him. I've gotten used to him being around. DD stayed home yesterday to keep me company. That really surprised me! I guess she knew I was going to miss her dad. He's supposed to get back today.

I'm trying to get more organized. Friday I sat down and planned my menus for all this week. I can never decide what to fix for dinner. I'm going to try 2 new recipes this week. I made my grocery list from my menu list, but I took DD with me to get groceries and she talked me into buying a lot of stuff we didn't need. The bill was way too high! Next time I'll go alone.

After I planned my menus, I went ahead and cooked my chili for hotdogs on Fri. and froze it. I also cooked all the chicken for the recipes that call for cooked chicken, and I froze that, too. I'm very excited. I feel like a load has been lifted off of me, because I'm always trying to decide what to cook. DD also tends to veto things I suggest each day. She's a real control freak. So I made her approve of all the choices and made her understand that she couldn't change her mind. Now I don't have to think about what I'm going to cook and wonder if I have everything I need to cook the dishes. This will really help me out when school starts in August. On days I substitute, I come home so tired I can't think of anything to cook. I'm planning to make some dinners I can freeze so I will have them ready for days I don't feel like cooking! We have got to stop eating out. It's too costly and doesn't help me on my diet. And on the subject of my diet, it's going great. My clothes are getting baggy. I can tell that I am getting around better and I don't get as tired as quickly!

My brother has moved back to our town. He has not lived in this town since he was in his 20s and he's 52 now. He is not married and doesn't have much. He's staying with my mom until he gets a job and gets his own place. He builds custom wood furniture and usually works at a cabinet shop. I hope things turn out okay. He's pretty difficult to get along with and doesn't like children at all. My kids would always ask why their uncle didn't like them. I tried to explain to them that it wasn't because of them, he just doesn't like kids in general. He and I are SO different! We really get along great and I guess that's why - we're so different, we're never jealous of each other or anything! It's the same with my sister. She and I have never had a fight, even when we were children. We're all 3 very different!

We're planning to have my mom and brother over for a cookout on the 4th of July. We're going to have hamburgers. We also have a watermelon to cut up! My brother has only been to my house twice in the 15 years I have lived here! He always stayed at my mom and dad's house when he came to visit.

Well, that's about all of my news. I hope everyone has a happy day and may God bless you!