Getting to work!

I set up my work table with a counted cross stitch project last night.  It's been years and years since I have done any of this type of work, even though it was one thing I enjoyed doing very much.  I have three fairly large pictures in various stages of "un-done-ness".  One is a Norman Rockwell (Bottom of the 8th, or 6th, or whatever inning).  This one I started for Gary's office.  Another one is a scene of a Victorian house and garden - it is lovely, and almost finished, but I really don't have any place in my home anymore where it will fit!

The third is a beautiful picture of a young woman, dressed in a deep red coat that has a hood with wide fur trim all around the face.  She has bright blue mittens and scarf, and is holding an arm full of roses.  In the background, you can see a homestead farm.  There is snow on the ground (which is stitched with a pretty blending filament) and snow falling, which is stitched with beads.  When I first saw this pattern, I thought of my Mom.  The woman in the picture resembles my Mother as a young woman, and I actually have a black and white picture of my Mom in which she is standing in the snow in a pretty winter coat, and the open prairie is behind her.  The picture is called Winter Wonderland - but I have renamed it Erna.

This is the picture I'm going to finish first... because I still love this picture and also because the red of the coat is the exact color of my living room accents... and I actually have a spot in mind to hang it.

So for an hour and a half last night I stitched away quietly in my workroom under my good stitching light.  Only 1 problem.... I can't see!  Apparently my eye sight is not what it once was, because I was focusing and re-focusing the whole time.  So tonight, I'm heading to the dollar store on my way home from work for a couple of pairs of stronger reading glasses.  Then I'll be all set to get this project done. 

I think I am going to enjoy this change of pace, and hopefully this time, I'll finish the piece and actually get it hanging on the wall...

Is Fall Coming?

Have you noticed that the days are getting shorter?  The sun is later to rise in the morning, and earlier to bed in the evening.  Have you noticed that your body wants to mimic the sun?  I sure have.  I'm yawning my head off at 9:30 each evening, just counting the minutes till it's 10 and I can start to get ready for bed - and at 5:30 AM - well I'm just not interested in getting out of bed - it's still dark, and even the Robin that usually sits outside my window and sings, is still quiet.

Seems to me that summer is speeding by pretty quickly.  It's been nice and hot, so I know summer is here, my gardens have been beautiful, the birds have been plentiful, the mosquitoes minimal, but I can't help getting the feeling that fall is just around the corner.

Bite your tongue, Dale - some places haven't even really had a summer yet.  My friend in Edmonton tells me about their "summer" which has been cool and wet, and I feel for them, but I still get a feeling that fall is just around the corner.

I have been thinking "fall" thoughts.  I have a craving for cabbage rolls (I usually make a huge batch in September) so this is a little premature... I've been looking a stew beef!!    I have been designing Christmas Cards in my head (last year I didn't even send any out!)  I'm thinking of knitting new mittens and scarves and hats for the winter(it's going to be back in the 90's in a few days time!)  I'm thinking of projects I can work on during the long dark winter evenings ( reminder, reminder - UFO's!)

Thank Goodness most of this is just "In my mind"... reality will present itself soon enough...

Still... I wonder if I should start them mittens... might take awhile to complete, after all...

Another Monday is Upon Us.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend.  It cooled off considerably here in Manitoba.  Last week we were so hot, and on the weekend we were reaching for sweaters... but still, in all, it was a nice break for a change.  On Friday I opened every window in the house, and washed all my floors.  The house smelled so nice and fresh, made me glad that I had finally accomplished something on my list of "To Do's".

The cooler weather inspired me to root around in my craft room to see what sort of UFO's lingered there.  I found some x-stitch pictures (3) that are in various stages of completion.  One of them, I'm not even sure I want hanging on my walls anymore, that's how long it's been since I worked on it... But the other 2 I will finish.  What I really want to do is start the new on that I just bought a few months ago.  It is Norman Rockwell's, The Doctor and the Doll.

Years ago, I had purchased the paint by number version at LeeWards!  I painted it, but for the life of me, I have no idea what ever became of that painting.  I do know that I have been searching for this print forever, and a few months ago, I found the x-stitch version on the Internet, so I ordered it before it disappeared again.  I want to start it, but I sat myself down and had a stearn conversation with myself, and in the end - I decided that I would not start it without first finishing the other pictures that I have started.

So until further notice - I will be X-Stitching!!!  You all will remind me of this, please when I switch lanes in a week or so???

I am taking a weeks vacation (next week) so hopefully I can actually make some headway on these UFO's.

So Happy Monday everyone, enjoy the day, wherever you may happen to be.

What to do first?

It's been awhile since I did any real serious blogging.  Every once in awhile we are required to sacrifice one thing in order to do another, and so when faced with time constraints, it seems my blog is the first activity I relinquish.

Wouldn't it be great to have enough hours in the day to complete all the things we think we have to do?  I'd love that, but truthfully, I'm sure I would still do things the way I do now - which means I'd waste a whole lot of time just thinking about the things that I should be doing.

The trouble is that there is so much I want to do.  Too much really.  I want to garden, I want to change my house around - inside and out.  I want to craft - now here's a real problem area for me... crafting... OMG it gets me into such a funk!  What to do first?  Crochet, knit, stitch, sew, paint, bead, make dolls, dress dolls... well you get the picture! 

I don't want to clean and do laundry, but those things have to be done so add them to the list.

I want to play my piano, I want to watch House Hunters International, and Storage Wars, I want to listen to my Ipod (well this is one thing I can always find time for....)

I want to play with Molly and Chip.

I want to sit in the sun and read a good book.

I want to sit in the shade and write a good book.

I want to communicate with my family and friends.

I want to get back to working on our family tree.

I want to refinish some furniture...


So what have I been doing all this time?

Well not much of anything, really.... I've been resting, because it's going to take a heck of a lot of energy to get through the list of things that I want to do!




Please continue to keep Amy in your prayers, tomorrow will mark 2 weeks that she has been missing.

The latest on Amy

There has been little change in this case, however there is now an eye witness who saw Amy with a man at the site where her car was found abandoned. 

http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-witness-claims-to-have-seen-missing-woman-man-along-clear-creek-20110713,0,2172294.story

The search continues

Friends and family of Amy have set up a facebook site for Amy.  If you have time, please log on and check the information there.  If you know people in the Denver area, please share this information with them. 

http://www.facebook.com/helpfindamy

The search continues for this wonderful young woman who has gone missing.

Please Help Us!

My cousin's daughter, Alyssa, is a young engineer living in Denver Colorado.  Her friend Amy Ahonen       has been missing since late last week.  The last time Amy was in contact with anyone was Thursday July 7th.  There has been a missing persons report filed, and the police, friends and family are desperatly trying to figure out what has happened to Amy.


 This is the news report from yesterday.


JEFFERSON COUNTY - Members of the Alpine Rescue Team spent the day on Monday walking alongside a swift-moving Clear Creek in hopes of finding out what might have happened to a 38-year-old woman from Denver.

"We really don't know where she might have gone," Alpine Rescue Team spokesperson Bill Barwick said.
The Denver Police Department says Amy Ahonen was last seen at her Denver home on Friday. The interior decorator did not show up for work that same day.

That night, a patrolman with the Colorado State Patrol, tagged Ahonen's 2005 Jeep Liberty in a turnout area of Highway 6 about 15 miles of Golden. Ahonen had yet to be reported missing at the time, so the state trooper simply marked it as unattended and left.

Saturday was Ahonen's 38th birthday, a fact that left Ahonen's friends deeply concerned when they were unable to reach the woman who they describe as friendly and sociable.

On Sunday, they called the Denver Police Department. Not long after that call, Denver Police noticed that Ahonen's car had been "tagged" by the State Patrol and notified the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.

When deputies arrived, they found the SUV still there and no sign of Ahonen. Members of the Golden Fire Search and Rescue Team spent a few hours on Sunday night looking for her, but their efforts were cut short by nightfall.

On Monday, Barwick and about 20 members of the Alpine Rescue Team responded to the area. Of chief concern, said Barwick, is Clear Creek, which remains swollen from recent rains and continuing snow melt.

"That water is moving very fast," Barwick said.

If she fell in, he conceded, that it would be very difficult to quickly find a body.

Barwick says Ahonen's keys, wallet, and cell phone were found inside the Liberty leading him to believe that she didn't plan on walking too far that day. He also says the car was left unlocked.

While the parking/turnout area is close to a couple of trailheads, it's not an obvious place to park for either. Immediately to the north is a steep cliff that would be difficult, although not impossible, to scale.

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said on Monday there are no immediate signs of foul play.

"There was nothing left at the scene that led us to any sort of conclusion," spokesperson Jacki Kelley said. "The scene itself told us literally nothing."

Kelley says no note was left behind.

"There's a need for us to keep all possibilities on the table. There are a number of options and scenarios that could be at play here," she said.

Kelley also says a bloodhound called to the scene did locate a scent that led down to the creek, but added that the weekend brought with it a lot of heavy rain to the area. Bottom line, she said, it could mean very little because of that.

The Denver Police Department sent out a missing persons report on Monday seeking assistance in its investigation.

If you think you have seen this woman, please call the your local police or the Denver Police.


Thank You...

And please keep Amy in your prayers.