How Embarrassing!

Imagine my embarrassment when I tried to log into my own blog spot this morning, and couldn't remember either my log in, or my password!  I could have kept this to myself, of course, but as embarrassing as that was having been absent from here for so long is even more embarrassing.

Have I lost my readers?  Probably...

Was that my intention?  No!

What's my excuse?  Laziness and beautiful summer weather calling me outdoors away from the computer?  That one doesn't work?  Hmmmmm.....  Okay, maybe just laziness.... okay - okay...

But wasn't it a beautiful summer?  It was here in Winnipeg.  We had endless heat and sun and blue skies; NO mosquitoes, and I had Friday's off every week to add to my weekends.  It was perfect, and it ended way too soon, as all really good things seem to do.

It's back to "normal" life now, and really that is pretty darn good too - all things considered.

I have been busy working on many projects and as usual not completing any with great speed.  I have almost completed Corri and Henry's wedding gift - which I can't describe here, because she may stop by and read about it - but I will post a picture of it just as soon as I've given it to them.  Their wedding was last weekend and I missed that too - but that's a whole other post.  Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Fehr... may you have many many years of wedded bliss ahead of you.

I have almost completed the first of two swaps with my friends on the Craft Buddy site.  Again - I cannot tell you what I am creating - but soon I'll have a picture of that as well.  The first swap is a fall swap and it is to be mailed before mid October.  I will be able to make that deadline - no problem.  The second swap is a Christmas ornament - that due in December - no problem!  For both swaps I have decided to work out of my comfort craft - meaning I sure hope I don't mess either item up!

In the meantime I have offered to knit shawls for the Prayer Shawl Ministry at church, have also become involved in a Cancer group at church, and am toying with the notion that I might love to return to singing in the church choir.

And there is a new baby due in the family in November... that is seriously exciting!!

I'm back my friends.... hope you come back too...

Decision Time

Yesterday I received forms in the mail for an up coming Christmas Craft Sale.  I have known that they would arrive soon, but truthfully it seemed a bit early to be thinking about such things.

I worked this particular show last year, and frankly, I was very disappointed in the turnout and as well in the quality of merchandise that was being sold.  Some tables were very much flea market material... which is upsetting when you have spent hours and hours of work on new items, quality items, and the table beside you is second hand junk.

So no - I don't think I will waste my time and money on this particular sale this season.

I will look around at other sales, but really I'm thinking that I will give the whole exercise a rest this year.  Craft sales are not what they used to be.  So many of the really good crafters sell on-line and no longer have the need for craft sales, it's too bad really - because they are missed in these once lucrative sales.

I think instead of working for a sale, I will put my time and energy in to some very special Christmas Gifts for friends and family.  I have some great ideas for gifts this year, but all of them require some time, so I need to get focused and get busy.

I have found some great inspiration on several blogs I follow and especially lately on the Leisure Arts blog.  If you have a few minutes, check it out - there are some neat ideas and many many different crafts of interest on there.
http://leisureartsblog.blogspot.com/

Can you smell the flowers?

Last week I was on vacation.  We didn't plan anything special, but instead decided what we would do that day when we got up in the morning.  We did manage to do quite a few things but we also rested and relaxed as well.

The weather was fantastic - endless sunshine and warm, if not hot temperatures.  Who can argue with morning coffee on the patio, lunch on the patio, and afternoons spent stitching under the umbrella... on the patio.  One day I followed the sun around (on the patio) all day... and got a pretty decent sun burn for my efforts.

I tackled my perennial gardens with a garden fork and a lot of sweat equity.  There are now major holes throughout the garden where overcrowding used to exist.

I got to spend some time with my girlfriend, Denise... who seems to be busier in retirement than she was when she was working!!  And Hubby and I spent a wonderful afternoon and evening with Denise and her spouse, lazing around their pool, and eating a fantastic meal.

I wish you could see their pool area - especially the flowers...

Well you can - I took pictures...  it's beautiful.... check it out!

Doesn't this make you think of paradise?  It does me...

But vacation has to end, but not so summer... at least not yet.  There is still many warm and sunny days to be had, and I still have Friday's off to enjoy them.  That means more morning coffee on the patio, and a lot more stitching... on the patio.

Get out there and enjoy the summer... and don't forget to smell the flowers along the way!

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.