Almost done ...

Finally there's an end in sight with the kitchen remodel. Sure has been a long couple of weeks but finally the new countertops were delivered and installed on Tuesday and the kitchen refacing started on Wednesday and was done by Friday ... well almost done. The plumber came to hook up the new sink and we found out the sink was a bit warped, and we needed 5 holes instead of 4 because of the way the dishwasher vents. We've order a new one and hopefully it will be here early next week .. it had better get here fast! I think I have missed having a kitchen sink more than the counters or the stovetop. We are really pleased with how the refacing and the countertops turned out. But I'm not taking any pictures of it until the sink is in :)

Now with the kitchen done it was time to move everything back into the kitchen. Perfect time to reoganize and throw things away, don't you think? I was looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time .. dammm we have to much stuff! Well, Chris and Monica came over Friday night to check out the kitchen .. we were visiting and talking about the new kitchen and I mentioned that I was going to spend all weekend putting the chaos back together. Monica said well why don't we start tonight and so we did! lol .. we really had a fun time .. Chris and Terry installed some new pull out racks while Monica and I cleaned out the cabinets and started putting things away. They left about midnight (yes we are all pretty much night owls! lol) and we had about 3/4 of the kitchen put away. And yes, I got rid of a large amount of stuff, but only 6 coffee cups! lol

Since we got so much done Friday night, I took a few hours and went shopping with Monica. I just had to get a couple of new things for the kitchen *smile* I got some new red and blue towels (we decorate with primary colors in much of the house). I also got a new kitchen spoon holder and a cool brushed stainless steel fruit bowl. After shopping I spent the rest of the day finishing up putting the kitchen all back together. I really am in love with it and can't wait until the sink is installed! I promise to take lots of pictures soon.

I didn't get much stitching done last week .. couldn't seem to concentrate on anything much. I did work on my biscornu design, but ran out of silk before I got it done :( I've order more, should be here this weekend. It's a really pretty color, Dinky Dyes Ocean Grove. I've really enjoyed the design ...


And I got some stash in the mail .. has anyone seen this before? Stash Keep by Homespun Elegance. I just feel in love! It's a lovely made tin box that opens up. You stitch the design on top .. I'm going to use the suggested color, Moss by Belle Soie ... here's some pictures ...





Thank you for all your comments, I really do enjoy them! I hope everyone had a great week and a wonderful weekend .. can't wait to read blogs and see what you all were up to!

I'm grateful for new things ...

Monday Monday ...

I just love the Mama's and Paps's ... I've had this song in my head since this morning, just work up with it! lol

We survived the snow over the weekend. Most was gone by late Saturday night, but it remains very cold here, I think the high will be 50, with a low of 35. I'm sure Spring is out there somewhere .. at least the flowers are trying to bloom.

I spent Saturday cleaning house in the am with DH, some laundry and grocery shopping and then settled in for some stitching. I worked on L*K double flipits, finished Remember last week and Give this weekend, and started Listen. I'm really enjoying this project. I think I'm going to give it to Chris and Monica .. maybe as an anniversary gift in September. I also worked on my biscornu, hopefully I'll have it done next weekend. I need some time to learn to put it together and the exchange is due 5/10. No pressure here! lol I also worked on my new Bent Creek start. I couldn't get a good picture of it last night .. I'll try again .. I just love the fabric and the colors :)



Sunday we went out to breakfast with the kids. DH and I were going to run some errands after dropping Robert back at the house .. but DH and I started fighting on the way home, over something sooo stupid .. I got pissy and said I didn't want to go anywhere .. changed into my comfy clothes, put laundry away and stitched. I also rented a wonderful movie .. Martian Child with John Cusack. Has anyone seen it? OMGosh it was good .. I just love John. I don't think I've seen a movie with him in it that I didn't thoroughly enjoy. I'd recommend it to anyone. Sunday night one of my favorite shows was back .. Brothers and Sisters .. anyone else watch this? I love it and last night was a great episode!

I really enjoyed all the comments about snow in April .. this is really out of the norm for us! But the skiers and snowboarders are really enjoying it! lol

I had a couple of comments about the pin tins in my last post .. she's an ebay seller .. her ebay store is Calico Cottage Crafts. She's really nice, responds back quickly and I was very happy with the products .. however, she's in Australia so shipping is a bit costly. Didn't wany anyone to be "surprised".

I'm grateful for productive stitching weekends ...

SNOW!!!!

OMG it's April 18th and we have over 3" of snow on the ground!!! And it's suppose to be this way all weekend! Here's some pictures I took this afternoon ...

Here's our Japanese maple tree in the front yard .. it does look cute covered in snow ...

and here are our cars in the front yard ...

poor little garden gnome :(

I have to admit it is beautiful!

The pups ...

Maddy is my snowbaby .. she loves it ...

She even likes to lay in it! lol

Well looks like this will be a good weekend for housecleaning, movie watching and stitching. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend :)

I'm grateful for snow??!! ...

Stash and starts ...

Hope everyone is having a great week! Mine has been fairly uneventful, which is nice for a change! lol .. we are surviving the kitchen mess and have confirmation dates for the installation of the countertops (4/22) and the refacing (4/23) .. I'm sooo excited, and a bit nervous about how it's all going to look. Chris and Monica (DS and DSIL) invited us over for dinner last night. Chris cooked Swedish meatballs with noodles and I brought a salad. It was very yummy .. he's actually a pretty good cook! lol .. and it was nice to visit with them.

I've been very very very bad in the stash buying department .. you'd think I actually had money to burn! lol .. but of course I couldn't resist a sale :) Down Sunshine Lane (Amy) had her 5 year anniversary last week .. here's a few things I got ...

I was thinking these houses would be cute stitched all together or would be fun to stitch for someone in the Fair and Square exchanges.


I'm becoming as addicted to Little House Needleworks' designs as a lot of you are! I love the fob :)


I was bored during lunch the other day and was surfing ebay. I found a lot of really fun pins for pinkeeps, yep I order a few .. especially when I saw these nifty tins .. and look, one tin has pearly finishes on the pins, but the other one has a matte finish .. I'm thinking they will give a real different look to a pinkeep.



Now for the starts ... being Spring, well at least that's what the calendar is telling us! omgosh we are supposed to get in the high 20's this weekend! lol .. anyway, I've been itching to start Earth Laughs by MDesign for a while now .. I just love the colors and the fabric for this one! Can't wait to start it this weekend :)


I'm going to start this one too this weekend, or tonight! lol .. This is from a retreat I took 2 years ago. The designer is Bent Creek (two sisters). They recently published this design for the public, so I figured it was time I get mine stitched! I'm participating in a SAL in the Bent Creek/Trilogy/Heart in Hand Yahoo group and thought this would be perfect. Look, I'm using a couple of the floss holder I purchased from Monique .. aren't they cute :)


Thanks everyone for their support and comments about my female issues. I have my hystocopy scheduled for next Tuesday .. oh goodie! lol

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

I'm grateful for my adult kids ... they are my joy :)

Updates ..

Quick update on the kitchen .. the sink and stovetop left yesterday and the countertops were removed today. We put an old closet door on top of the island. So other than no water I think this will work out ok for a couple of weeks.




Now a health update on me. My dr. called with the ultrasound results today. Nothing earth scattering yet .. I do have a couple of fibroids that they want to get a better look at. In a couple of weeks I get to have Hysteroscopy .. aren't I lucky! lol Thank you all over your concerns and comments .. I really appreciate it :)

I've been stitching on the L*K double flipits this week and started stitching my first biscornu for an exchange on the Pals board.

Hope everyone has a great friday .. we are supposed to have awesome weather this weekend .. 65 on friday and 70 on saturday! woo hoo :)

I'm grateful for feeling better ...

Kitchen remodel - Part 2

I'm not really sure if this is really part 2 of the kitchen remodel .. it's more like year three of the house upgrade. We've lived here 22 years. We built the house back in the 80's .. even though my husband designed the house, it was built with builder grade stuff so after about 20 years everything started needing to be upgraded or replaced. So three years ago we painted the outside and redid most of the front yard. Last year we replaced the roof, replaced all the carpets, put in some hardwood in the entry way and replaced all the flooring in the kitchen and bathrooms. We've also been replacing appliances when we can. So far the frig and oven/microwave are new. Thursday they come in to take out the countertops and the island countertop. They will be replaced with granite (got a good deal at Home Depot) but not for two weeks. They take the countertops off to make templates to cut the granite. Tomorrow my dad is helping DH remove the sink and the stovetop .. soooo for 2 weeks we'll be eating off paper plates or doing the dishes in the bathtub .. I'm voting for paper! lol I wish I'd taken more before pictures ... I'll have to go through some older, non-digital pictures to see if I can put together a before look .. but here's what it looks like right now ... the refacing of the cabinets will take place after the new countertops are in place ... I'm really getting excited to see the finished look :)






DH took this picture of the laziest cat in the world ... or at least the laziest in our house ... Beau guarding the tv remote! lol

Thanks for all your concerns. I'm feeling much better this week, finally! I'm taking some extra iron and had my pelvic ultrasound this afternoon. I should have the results back in a couple of days.

I did stitch a bit this weekend, but seemed to do more frogging than stitching ... owell .. I should have pictures to post towards the end of the week. I did find this awesome blog of freebies that I wanted to share with you .. I love these birds for each season .. too darn cute!
http://mausimomsfreebies.blogspot.com/

Hope everyone is having a great week!

I'm grateful for feeling better ...

TGIF Everyone ...

I have to say it's been a long time since I've looked soooo forward to a Friday. Not because we're doing anything special this weekend .. I'm just really glad this stupid week is over. Not to go into lots of gory details, let's just say I'm a 54 year old woman still going through the change .. working on day 10 of a pretty horrible cycle. Tuesday night I had a new experience that scared DH and I, had my dr on the phone off and on for a couple of hours and consumed lots of ibuprofen. Thank goodness for my dr ... I just love that woman :) I did go into her office Wednesday to get checked out further .. doesn't seem to be anything serious other than menopause, but I get to have a pelvic ultrasound next week just to rule out anything else. Ah the joys of being a woman! lol

Wednesday, after my dr. appt, I was feeling pretty sorry for myself so I stopped by our local Barnes and Noble .. needing a little pick me up, I was hoping I could find the Big Book of Cross Stitch Designs that Staci and Becky have been talking about on their blogs. Of course I was very interested in the cute red bird! B&N had the book and I must stay it's a lovely book .. filled with all kinds of wonderful designs .. here's a few examples ... lots of variety ...












Look at what else jumped out at me while I was wandering around B&N .. I just love the colors and I couldn't pass up this coffee cup ... it's perfect! and who doesn't need another little storage bag ... or 4 or 5 ...


lol ... I just couldn't resist .. they are red after all *smile*


I did get some stitching done this week. I finished LHN's Schoolgirl Lessons. What a lovely pattern this is. I stitched it with the recommended Rose Of Sharon Soie Belle Silk. Gosh I love this silk .. it feels sooo great stitching with it. I don't know what kind of fabric I used, it was just a piece that looked good with the silk. I'm not sure how I want this finished, but Vonna and I were talking about this design mounted on a blackboard .. she really does have some awesome ideas!


I'm participating in a SAL that the LHN Yahoo group is having. I'm stitching Sunflower Sampler. I love the fabric called for on this design ... it's 28 count Little Boy Blue Linen. What a delightful fabric to stitch on.


Not much going on this weekend for us ... which is just the kind of weekend I need. Hope everyone has a great weekend.
I'm grateful for a supportive family ...