Another finish YIPEE! I finished JWB's Reindeer Sunday night .. this was a fun stitch, but kinda frustrating at times .. lots of stitch 4 stitches, cut and move on to the next 4 stitches .. but I love the way he looks .. so regal! Will be a nice addition to my reindeer collection *smile*

Thanks everyone for the encouraging words about my finishing I did over the weekend .. I can't wait for them to arrive .. I do hope they like them.

Nancy, that you for the information about the Teacup/Coffee cup pinkeep .. now to keep my eye out for it .. maybe it'll show up on Ebay someday :)

Sue, I love your idea about stitching all three coffee designs on the same piece of fabric .. decisions decisions, and thanks for coming to visit.

Sally and Cheryl, I understand that LHN is doing Tea designs as well as Coffee .. how fun will that be!

Well tomorrow is a big day around here .. more remodeling .. Wednesday and Thursday we're are having more new floors put in .. this time it's the kitchen, laundry room, powder room and Robert's bathroom .. new vinyl floors. And on Friday the new Frig arrives! OMGosh this is a big deal with this family .. we bought this frig back in 1978 and it's still working! Of course I don't think there's a plastic piece inside that isn't broken. We are finally winding down on the remodeling inside .. still have a deck to replace, DH and Chris worked on tearing the decking off last weekend, we know have half a deck and some very confused dogs! lol .. actually all the animals, 4 and 2 legged are confused these days! lol

I'm off to stitch .. something easy .. I'm tired but want to stitch, so I think I'll work on Good Things .. it's pretty mindless, but cute!

Thank you for the comments and nice to see new faces posting ... I do love this blogging family of stitchers :)

I'm grateful for a DS and his friends .. they helped move tons of things today to get ready for the floors ...

Doing a little happy dance this wonderful Sunday evening .. the highlight of the weekend was that I finished both the PIF and my exchange piece .. and I'm quite happy with them .. I hope the recipents like them and I sure hope they don't fall apart when used! lol *smile* I'll post pictures after they have been received. The rest of my weekend was not very exciting, but productive. My stitching room had been pretty trashed after serving as a catch all room while the hardwood floors were being installed upstairs .. the last of the "junk" was finally moved out and so I took a lot of the day Saturday to put the room back in order, major organizing and a good cleaning .. the one big trouble with having a lot of collections/nick nacks is they do have to be dusted from time to time *smile*

I think I'm going to settle in for the night .. I'm going to stitch on JBW's Reindeer and watch Lifetime .. I really have been enjoying some of the new summer shows. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

I'm grateful for small accomplishments

One of my passions/addiction is coffee .. I love drinking it, I love collecting coffee cups, but now I have more to add to my addiction of coffee .. have you seen this yet?



OMGosh!! it's wonderful and it's one of three coffee designs that Little House Needleworks is doing .. I just put myself on auto for these design (with Down Sunshine Lane). I've already stitched Spot of Coffee (just need to frame it) and have Coffee Menu in my stash .. now with these other new coffee design .. I might have to rework my kitchen wall to display all these yummy designs .. I'm in coffee heaven! lol

This week has been pretty good for stitching .. I started L*K's "Good Things" .. it's a very fun stitch. I also put a few stitches in my Pals sampler and finished stitching one exchange and one PIF .. now I just have to finish them .. which is the thing that takes the longest for me .. I am soooo finishing challenged .. it takes me a long time to get the confidence to cut the stitched piece .. I'm always afraid I'll cut too much and not have enough room to finish it .. I'm taking the day off tomorrow, I have a dr's appt in the middle of the day, so I think I'll try finishing tomorrow .. have all day to take my time .. hopefully I'll be happy dancing by the end of the day with two finishes lol ...

Hope everyone has had a great week, including some stitching time. I'm off to watch Burn Notice .. very good show!

I'm grateful for my passion of coffee ...

Woo Hoo! I received my first ever pinkeep .. it was a PIF from Cheryl and I just love it! Red if my favorite color :) and I love the design ... it's "The Three Emblems" by Papillon Creations, a freebie Cheryl found .. isn't it wonderful *smile* .. thank you so much for stitching it for me Cheryl!

Happy Birthday Robert! My baby turned 19 on Thursday the 27th .. it's hard to believe he's all grown up .. this is one of my favorite pictures of him .. taken on his 11th birthday .. I'm so proud of him. He's grown into a nice young man, with a great sense of humor, very nice friends and still enjoys being with his family. He's off school for the summer, but his attending a community college in our area and wants to major in Sports Journalism ...


and this is Robert in one of his casual graduation pictures ... I hope for all your dreams to come true Robert .. in everything you do .. love you, Mom ...



I've been stitching but it's going slowly .. my rotation is all shot to hell .. mostly because I don't seem to be stitching everyday, which doesn't fit well if you are trying to rotate projects .. so right now I'm just concentrating on a couple of PIF's I want to finish and get mailed and the PALS sampler that I want to get finished before the Fall Fling in October. And my stitching room is so disorganized right now and it's on my nerves .. I really need to spend a day cleaning and getting it back in order so I can find things .. never enough time for it all! lol

I hope everyone is having a great weekend .. and getting lots of stitching done :) I do love the comments and visits from all of you .. thanks for taking time to check in with me ...

I'm grateful for my boys ...

I was tagged by Kim to list my "Last Seven" So here it goes...

1. Last dollar I spent: $15 - monthly coffee club at work .. I was a couple of months behind!

2. Last time I ate fast food: Saturday night .. DH and I had taco salads from Taco Time and watched The Good Shepherd

3. Last thing I ate: A Rainier cherry while I was cleaning up the kitchen after dinner

4. Last song I sang to: lol .. I sing ALL the time! I think it was Little Big Town's "Little More You" .. awesome group by the way .. 2 guys/2 girls and their harmony's are incredible!

5. Last time I bought clothes: Oh that's easy!!! Friday night my good friend Lisa and I went shopping, dinner and a movie .. let's see, I bought some new underware, two shirts, and a cute gray sleep pants/shirt. Oh and we went to see "Evening" .. has anyone else seen it? Very good movie .. just curious what others thought ...

6. Last time I felt envy: That's a tough one .. I really try and not feel envy .. but we all do, don't we .. I think the last time was Friday night at dinner when Lisa was telling me about the cruise she and her DH are taking in August .. they are going to Alaska for 10 days! ok .. I admit it, I was GREEN! lol

7. Last time I paid bills: Sunday .. online

I'm going to tag a couple of ladies .. I really do like reading tags and getting to know you all a little better .. but I know some of you don't like to be tagged .. so if I tagged you and you don't want to .. no worries, you definately won't hurt my feelings *smile

I tag ... Sally, Michelle, Lizzy, Sonya, and Vonna

I'm grateful for blogging ..

We're having a heat wave, a tropical heat wave .... and we aren't liking it at all! lol .. most of us that live in Western Washington are total wimps when it comes to temperatures over 90 and the last couple of days have been just like that .. hot and sticky and icky .. and most of the homes here don't have central air because we get soooo few really hot hot days .. so after a couple of night where it's cooled down to like 75 outside and 85 inside we haven't had a good nights sleep and I'm cranky because I want to stitch but it's too damm hot to put a needle in my hand *grrrrr* .. today was cooler, a bit overcast and in the 80's .. the weekend is supposed to get even cooler .. maybe I can get some housework none or some yard work and definately some stitching! ok, enough whining here lol ...

I did finish Heart in Hand's Flags on the 5th .. just need the star button .. I love these quick stitches *smile*

Sure glad it's almost Friday!! I hope everyone's had a great week .. and thanks for leaving comments .. I do love hearing from everyone *smile*

I'm grateful for cooler nights ...

How cool is this! lol .. try it here

Happy 4th of July to all my

stitching/blogging friends

This is a picture of downtown Seattle on a 4th of July .. I didn't take this one .. pulled it off the internet .. but I wanted to share a bit of my city with all of you. I hope you all have a wonderful day with friends and family and stitching of course *smile* Don't eat too much! lol

I'm grateful for holidays ..

Sunday Sharing .. I got some new stash last week and I want to stitch it all right now *lol* .. this is Sunflower Sampler by Country Cottage Needleworks. Love the soft blue fabric .. this will be a fun design to stitch.I love my new scissors .. Glory and Maria .. now I have to find scissor fobs for each of them. I will be really fun in October to use the "Boo" needle minder from Kelmscott Designs, I love Halloween! I splurged and got the new limited edition Colors of America (GAST) threads, wonderful colors and of course I had to have Seattle Sky *lol* The new Lizzie Kate's are really fun .. I'm going to do all four of the season Banner Boxer Jr together on one piece of fabric (hopefully this winter) and I think "Good Things" might be a fun PIF stitch, don't you? and I had to get "Just One More Stitch" by Simple Stitches, since I say that all the time! *lol*
Here's a few of my WIPS .. this one is from L*K's Coffee Crazy leaflet .. I'm doing it over one and really enjoying it .. don't you love the qsnap hugger, it's one of Kim's .. I love them!

This was designed by Blue Ribbon Designs to Celebration Cross Stitch Pals 10 Anniversary. There is a Fall Fling that I've attended the last couple of years .. it's in Myrtle Beach, SC in October and we have a blast .. lots of laughing, stitching, shopping and even a stitching class or two *smile*
and here's JBW's Reindeer .. this is taking longer than I thought .. but I'm enjoying watching the reindeer come alive :) The weekend was pretty nice .. I got my hair cut and colored on Saturday and then spent the day doing laundry and stitching .. later DH and I went to dinner and a movie .. we went and saw Knocked Up. It was much better than I expected, even DH enjoyed it. Today was spent watching the nascar race and stitching .. Chris and Monica helped organize a big Subaru carshow/camping trip ... Robert and one of his friends went and had a great time.

I'm really looking forward to this week .. we have the 4th off and then I'm taking the rest of the week off on vacation .. will be wonderful to work two days and then have the rest of the week off *smile*

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

I'm grateful for new scissors *grin*

Sunflower Sampler is done :) I really love this piece .. I'm going to order the frame for it .. it was a really fun stitch. I have another finish but I can't show it yet .. it's one of my PIF's .. actually it's my first one! only 4 more to go *smile* I was going to commit to a new rotation for the my stitching with all the house stuff going on, I decided to just work on whatever catches my eye and not worry about rotating right now .. not sure I'll really be stitching every night .. so tonight I'm starting JBW's Reindeer .. looks like a relaxing stitch with only one color.

Well, we got all the furniture in the house moved out of the carpeted areas .. here's a picture of part of the kitchen nook area .. if you look closely you'll see a kitty sleeping .. that's Subie and that is one of his favorite things to sleep on, the piano bench .. we were laughing that he actually went looking for it. The cats are a bit disgruntled tonight though .. now that all the furniture is moved out, all their favorite sleeping spots are gone .. and they are not happy about it! The dogs however, are in 7th heaven .. they are at my Dad's with his dogs.

I am grateful for my furbabies ...

Here's an update of Sunflower Sampler .. I'm sooo close to finishing it .. thought I would finish tonight, but my eyes got so tired I decided to stop. I have the inside of the sunflowers and the little black birds and then it's done *smile*

I sure was glad to finally see Friday .. this week was definately not a fun one at work! Sooo, now it's the weekend and what a busy one it will be .. this evening we went and celebrated Father's Day with my FIL. Tomorrow Terry and I are heading to one of our local farmer's markets in the morning .. we are going to buy some stepping stones for the front yard for our anniversary. The rest of the day will be spent packing up the house and moving furniture (the carpet is scheduled to be removed next tuesday and new carpet installed wednesday). Saturday night my brother and I are taking our dad out to dinner. Sunday will be a mix of moving furniture, watching the nascar race and the boys are cooking dinner for their dad. Not sure I'll get any stitching done .. might try and finish Sunflower Sampler during the race.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
I'm grateful for the dad's in my life ...

Happy Anniversary To Us ... WOW, were we really that young? Terry and I are celebrating our 32rd anniversary today .. Flag Day .. we'd never heard of Flag Day when we got married .. thought all the flag were waving for us *grin* 32 years is definately a long time .. I'm 53 years old, so that means I've been married over half my life .. I won't say it seems like yesterday, but it sure doesn't feel like 32 years. Yes it's been hard and it's been easy and everything inbetween but I wouldn't trade it for anything .. we have two awesome sons, friends and family that have supported us throughout the years .. laughed with us and cried with us.

We can't take all the credit for lasting this long .. we had great role models .. Terry's parents were married 56 years before my mother in law passed away, she's been gone 2 years now. My parents had been married 34 years (it was my mom's 2nd marriage) when she passed away, she's been gone 10 years now .. we learned so much from them .. thanks moms and dads *smile*

I am grateful for 32 years .. here's to 32 more :)

This is Sunflower Sampler by Heart in Hand .. I started this last week .. I had to change the color of the sunflower pedals, my Schneckley was just too brownish, so I'm using Amber instead . I'm stitching this in hand .. sometimes I just like having the fabric in my hands instead of a plastic frame .. kind of a comfy feeling.

Here's the framed anniversary sampler I was working on last month .. I just love this frame! My friends were very surprised and very happy with this gift .. Lisa couldn't believe I remembered her colors and used the varigated blue and the red roses .. it I really enjoyed stitching this for them, even when I was apprehensive about changing colors *smile*

Today was a typical monday from hell at work .. so I think I'll go climb into bed and read for a bit ...

I'm grateful that this monday is in the past ...

Weekends and a new blog look ...

Thanks Sally for the blog link .. it was fun finding a new look .. still needs a little tweaking, but I'm happy with it so far *smile*

I received the prettiest scissor fob from Marie in the mail on Friday .. it was for the scissor fob exchange on FGBB .. and all I can say is WOW, this is one of the nicest fobs I've ever seen! She also sent me some lovely lace, a needle holder and a wonderful pair of scissors .. thank you Marie for stitching such a pretty scissor fob for me *smile*


Most of the weekend was spent trying to put the upstairs back together after the hardwood installation last week. Robert is about 80% moved back into this bedroom .. hopefully I'll get my craft room back soon .. that's were he moved most of his stuff. Saturday night I went to the Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) with my friend Lisa .. the night celebrates the 125th birthday of Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971), the 20th century's greatest composer for dance, with four ballets by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and Molissa Fenley .. it was incredible as usual! I have really enjoyed the PNB this year and Lisa and I are planning what we want to see next season.

Today (Sunday) was pretty lazy .. watched the Nascar race .. it started late becauase of rain and ended early because of rain. Spent time stitching and playing online games (pogo.com). I'm working on Sunflower Sampler (HIH) .. I just love this design .. I'll take some pictures of it tomorrow. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend too .. and thanks very much for taking the time to visit my blog and leave me comments .. I really enjoy reading them *smile*

I'm grateful for new things .. blogs and scissor fobs ...

Happy 10th Birthday Buddy!

About a month ago we received a birthday invitation, well actually our dogs, Maddy and Chip, received the invitation .. they were being invited to a surprise birthday party for Buddy, the host was Max (the other chocolate lab that lives with my dad). The party was on Sunday .. omg what a fun time .. there were 9 dogs in attendance, 7 were labs (most of them chocolates) and one golden retriever and one mutt (Cole) that looks like a pure black golden retriever. We were very lucky that our awesome weather stayed around for the entire weekend. Dad, his girlfriend Jean, and his neighbor Cheryl put the whole thing together. They came up with two games for the dogs to play .. one was bobbing for bones and one was an obstacle course .. there were balloons for them to pop and water to play in and of course there was birthday cake .. meatloaf made in the shape of a cake, frosted with blue colored mashed potatoes! It was the most clever party I think I've ever been too .. and everyone had a great time .. and the dogs were all great together! Of course there's pictures .. just a few pictures .. roflmao .. I haven't finished putting names and titles on all of them yet .. but if you want to see some very funny pictures, grab a cup of coffee or tea and click here. Oh and I'm the one in the pink shirt, khaki pants and pink sandals *smile*

I have been stitching, but can't post any pictures yet .. two are for PIF's that are almost ready to mail and the other is for an exchange .. but I did finally charge the camera batteries and will have some pictures to post tomorrow of some stash that arrived yesterday!

The remodeling is coming along .. slowly .. but it's happening. The hardwood floor is almost done, should be finished tomorrow. We got an install date for the carpet .. June 19 - 20 .. not happy about it but ohwell .. life goes on.
I'm grateful for dogs ...

Hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend! We did :) The weather here was pretty strange .. saturday it was 70 and beautiful, sunday it rained like it was never going to stop, and monday it was 70 again and clear skys by the afternoon .. so we did yardwork on saturday, stayed in our comfys on sunday and watched some of Indy and all of the nascar race and rented Deja Vu (great movie .. a big confusing at times, but really good). Monday I putzed around, sorted some stash, laundry, took a nice walk, and then we went to dinner and to see the 3rd Pirate movie .. I really enjoyed this one! much better than the 2nd one. One of my favorite lines from the movie .. Nobody move, I dropped my brain! lol .. I soooo relate *grin*

We've spent the last couple of weeks picking out carpet and hardwood for our house. We've lived here 20 years, original owners .. and the house is slowly falling apart! Last year we re-landscaped the front yard .. 20 years growth took over the front! and we had to replace the roof. Now it's time for the inside .. we decided to hardwood the upstairs entry way, hallway and Robert's bedroom. This house is a bit odd, it was built on a slope; when you enter you enter on the bedroom floor, then walk downstairs to the living areas .. anyway, my craft room (which was Chris' room before he moved out) was hardwooded (really it's inexpensive lament) last year when I redid that room. We decided we liked the look of my craft room floor .. so decided to bite the bullet and hardwood the rest of the upstairs. The carpet upstairs will be ripped out on thursday and the hardwood will be installed on friday .. Robert is soo excited! already planning his "new" room :) The carpet won't be here until around the 15th .. so we have a couple of weeks to pack up the house and get all the furniture moved. I am sooo excited about having new carpet!!! I'll take pictures when everything has been installed :)

On the stitching front .. it's been slow going for me .. not sure why .. I did stitch over the long weekend though. Can't show and pictures yet cause one is for an exchange over on FGBB and the other is one of my PIF's :) Just have a few last minute touches and both will be ready to hit the mailbox. Tonight I started another PIF *woo hoo* lol .. and seriously thinking about what I want to stitch next.

Thanks everyone for the comments you left about the anniversary piece .. I can't wait to get it back from the framer! Hoperfully it'll be this week :)

I'm grateful for long weekends :)

IT'S DONE!!!! Woo Hoo! I didn't even iron it before taking a picture .. I was too excited to get it done and see how the frame looked with it .. and ya know what, I love it! and you all know I've been weird about changing the colors and all .. but I'm really really pleased with it .. now off to the frames tomorrow!

Ohhhh now I get to look through all the projects and see what to work on next .. hope I can keep from starting something new! lol .. I have way too many wips :)

I'm grateful for finishes :)

It's been a great weekend so far .. had lunch with my dad and his gf then took his two dogs and our two dogs to the off leash beach .. it's been overcast here but not cold .. out time at the beach was soo much fun and the dogs have been sleeping all evening .. think we wore them out!! lol DH fixed a yummy enchilda dinner and we watched Bobby on in demand .. it was a wonderful movie!

Tomorrow is the nascar race .. it was rained out saturday night .. then I get to go and pick out my mother's day present .. flowers for the front hanging baskets *smile* and then dinner with the whole family .. I'm really looking forward to that .. and not having to cook! lol

I didn't get any stitching done last week .. did put a few stitches in the Anniversary piece this evening while watching the movie .. hopefully more stitching tomorrow and I should have it done! and then I can move on to something else .. my rotation has gone to hell in a hand basket lately .. and I really want to get back to it .. hopefully this next week! Maybe I'll start posting my rotation more consistently and that might keep me on track? or will it? lol

I have a picture of my new dishes .. thanks for the suggestion Michelle .. it is fun seeing all that color! .. soo here's the new dishes ... check out all the different sized bowls! lol


I hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day with family and friends .. and here's hoping all you mothers get time for some stitching too!

I'm grateful for comments on my blog .. I love them :)

I'm finally stitching again .. feels great! I was a bit worried about the names/date .. but I think it turned out really nice .. I'm so close to being done .. have a bit more of the silver rose to do and a few roses and it'll be done .. the frame for it arrived last week .. it's awesome! My goal is to get it done this week and off to the framers .. wish me luck!

Had a nice weekend .. the weather here has really been nice for spring time. Saturday was just the usual house stuff, cleaning and laundry .. watched Running with Scissors, very strange movie, but really good. Sunday we went to breakfast with Chris and Monica (my oldest DS and Ddil) and then went to Macys .. I got new everyday DISHES!!!! Woo Hoo! lol .. I have had new dishes in over 15 years .. the reason we all went to pick out dishes is because we decided on Fiesta ware and I wanted everyone to pick out their own place setting .. omgosh we had a blast! I got red, of course lol, DH picked persimmon and I can't remember exactly what the kids picked out but I know have a lot of very colorful dishes in my cupboards lol

Thanks everyone for your comments .. yes I am feeling better and so far no one else at home is sick.

Adana .. yes we did have a vistor at work .. what was it a couple of weeks ago now? Unfortunately we didn't have any advanced notice .. I didn't even get to see it on TV :( For those who don't know what I'm talking about .. I work for Boeing, in Everett, WA .. if you watch The Today Show, Matt Lauder does this "Where Is Matt Lauder" janut around the world every year .. this year he started here, at Boeing .. I heard it was a great piece.

Hope everyone is having a great week and getting lots of stitching done!

I'm grateful for color in my life :)

Happy May Day! I have some very fond memories of making May Day Baskets when I was little and going around the neighborhood hanging them on front doors. When my boys were younger, we would take those green plastic strawberry baskets .. weave ribbons through them .. fill them with flowers and deliver them .. I remember lots of smiles and thank you's .. nice memories :)

I've been here but very quiet .. came down with that horrible headcold/virus going around .. I'm soo tired of coughing! I haven't done any stitching lately .. just haven't had the energy or focus. Hopefully I'll get myself back in stitching mode soon! I received an order from DSL and ohhhhh I love everything I ordered! lol .. and of course I want to start them all right now! I'll take some pictures tomorrow of my new stash so you can drool along with me :)

Thanks everyone for your comments ... I just love reading them! I've decided to do the roses in garnet to tie in the names/date that will be in garnet also .. the frame is on the way for this piece, so I really have to get it done!

lol Ruth .. I'll never be like you .. this changing all the colors around has made me a nervous wreck! lol
I'm grateful for bedtime ...