A New Start and Prom pics

Good Morning!!

Hoping to make this a fairly short post. I finished my Erica Michael's Papillon project but it's at work so I don't have a picture to show you. It's bee-u-ti-ful though. I started a new project, Golden Ice and this is my progress so far. Probably you will have to click on the pictures in order to actually see some of the stitching. Black is crap!! It was much easier back in the day when my eyes were better. That's why I decided now was a good time to do this, if I wait any longer it's not going to happen.


This past weekend was Prom. It was a beautiful day for it, mild temps, not too windy. Amy looked beautiful in her dress and had a great time at the dance in spite of still being sick. Yep, that's right. She got sick long about Tuesday and is still not quite up to par. The group she and the boy went with decided not to go to post prom this year. Last year they had it at Dave and Busters, the kids all had a blast and were looking forward to it again this year. Except some idiot parent complained that there is a bar in Dave and Busters. So the parent association decided to have Post Prom at a local bowling alley instead. Which also has a bar. Seriously. I wouldn't kid about something like that. I'm still trying to figure that one out. So out of the 600 kids that attended prom, 120 tickets were sold for post prom and only about 60 kids actually showed up. So 540 kids were out on the streets doing God knows what because some parent didn't approve of Dave and Busters. So to the parent that complained and the parent association that made the brilliant decision to have post prom at a bowling ally, I say......Way to go! Anyway, here's Amy before the boy arrived.

With the boy:

the 4 girls in the group:

That's all, I don't want to bore anyone!

Last week Abby was also sick. She had gone to visit the new boyfriend over the weekend and on Monday night informed me that she had developed a sore throat and wasn't feeling well that day. Tuesday morning after she left for school, I received a text from her asking if I would make her a Dr. appt. Tuesday afternoon, I received another text.

Abby: I am really sick
Julie: Define really sick
Abby: Like the strep throat, tonsillitis, abscess on my tonsils, shot in my butt sick
Julie: Oh, that doesn't sound good.
Abby: My butt really hurts!
Julie: Best go home and go to bed
Abby: But I don't feel bad
Julie: You are contagious. Go To Bed!

That evening when I arrived home from work, she was in tears because her throat hurt so bad and was so swollen she couldn't swallow her own spit. I hate it when my kids are sick. Got her started gargling with salt water, gave her pain meds and tucked her back into bed. It took 2 days before she was feeling better but by Friday there was no containing her. She felt better could swallow again and needed to get out of the house so off she went to school and out with friends that night. I swear, she was giddy with delight at being able to leave the house!

I need to get my day started so I wish you all a wonderful Tuesday, thanks for stopping in and commenting!

Take care,

Julie

Confessions, WIP, and a framing disaster!

What a wonderful weekend! The weather was gorgeous, I stitched with friends, went grocery shopping and worked outside. Okay, I confess, mostly Dan and Adam did the work but I supervised and that counts as it was like supervising dumb and dumber at times. What person in their right mind would be standing on the top of a ladder, a ladder that is leaning against the tree you are trying to cut down mind you, and while standing on the top of that ladder, be trying to start the chain saw???? The ladder is swaying all over the place as Dan is tugging on the pull cord, the saw part of the saw is kicking up and Adam is standing right underneath it looking up at his father. Can anyone say "Accident waiting to happen?"" I must have yelled at him at least 4-5 different times that he needed to get down off the ladder to start the saw. One would think that after I yelled at him about it once that he wouldn't try the same thing again but he did. MEN!! No common sense whatsoever! The job did not get finished though. The chain saw gave up the ghost before the boys could cut the trunk down. God only knows how long it will take for the trunk to disappear. This dead pine tree, the second one of three, has been in the process of being chopped down for a year now. The last tree is just starting to show signs of the Pine Mold that will eventually kill it. I don't plan to wait that long. The dead pine needles are wicked evil sharp and the dogs are constantly bringing them in the house. No this is a project that needs to have a definite end and soon!

We added an extra stitching session at the shop this month since we were at retreat on our normal Saturday in March. We'd had several ladies ask if we would mind and of course we didn't but in a strange twist of fate, the ones that requested it were not able to make it. We missed them but it didn't stop us from having a good time.

Mary shared a finish with us. LHN The Library. Just beautiful. I must confess this is in my to do pile. I need to stitch this, sooner I hope rather than later.

I am still working on my Erica Michaels Papillon project but can see the end in site.


Being sick, and boy was I sick, put me a bit behind in my stitching. It was just too much effort to pick the needle up. Not to mention to keep my eyes open. Tuesday, I slept most of the day away in my chair. And I have to confess I don't remember the drive I made taking Amy to school that morning. Not a good thing! By Thursday though I felt like I could rejoin the land of the living and I went to work. And what I found when I went back to work was enough to bring me to tears. A soldier just back from Afghanistan had shipped a shadowbox stateside before he came home. The shadowbox did not make the trip in good condition and he brought it in to us to repair or re-do if necessary. As it turns out, this was a very good thing. The shadowbox had a folded flag, a certificate, and a couple of medals in it.


This is after I cleaned up all the broken glass, doesn't look too bad, frame is beat up pretty good and the joints were all loose, fillets are all scraped up, one medal has fallen off the other was rattling around in the back of the frame but all in all, not a complete disaster.

My first clue that things were going to be bad was the backside of the frame. It was cardboard held on with packing tape and a few staples. My antennae went up. I cut the tape and peeled the cardboard back to find more packing tape....wait for it....keep waiting....holding the triangular flag in place!!! You could barely see the flag through all the packing tape. The soldier had explained to Mary Ann how much this flag meant to him. Had it been left in the frame with all that tape, it would have been ruined. Maybe not next week, next month or even next year, but mark my words, it would have ruined the flag. Unless.....and this is a good possibility too, the tape dried out and then it would have fallen inside the frame and would have had to be re-done anyway but damage would still have been done to the flag. The next thing I found was hot melt glue. Really? Hot melt glue? Who framed this thing anyway? This explained why the medals were falling off. Hot melt is not a good option in framing. Ever. Add to this, acid mats, regular glass and a certificate that was taped all the way around to another piece of cardboard which was causing it to ripple ( the taping all the way around, not the cardboard) and you have a recipe for disaster! We needed to start this project from scratch. I put together a quote and we called the guy, explained everything that was wrong and the consequences of leaving it that way and gave him the price. As I suspected, it was going to be more than he could afford. He said he would have to wait until he was paid his extra pay for being in Afghanistan before he could afford it. He was clearly upset. I asked him who had done the framing in the first place. It was framed on base in Afghanistan. All I can say is I hope that isn't how they do things in all the base frame shops. Anyway, Mary Ann talked things over with her partner and they decided to give the guy a break on the price. He was so happy and grateful and so shocked by what he saw in the picture. I think he'll be happy with his piece when I am finished with it. I hope so anyway. Here's what I found in the frame when I opened it up.

And people pay good money for something like this.....makes me sick to see it.

Well folks, I need to eat my breakfast, brush my teethies and head to work. I want to thank everyone for all the get well wishes last week. I was feeling the love! Thanks also for stopping in, reading and commenting.
I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Take care till next time!

Julie

Easter illness, library paint and a new start!

Good Evening!!

I hope everyone had a terrific Easter weekend! I was supposed to have the whole family over for Easter yesterday but when I woke up Sunday morning I was pretty sure that wasn't going to happen. I was sick. Fever, stuffy and runny nose. Sore throat, headache. Yep, I was most definitely sick. This was going to be a major problem for the rest of the family as I was making the majority of the food due to the diabetics and celiac members. I knew no one else would have the makings for Easter dinner in their cupboards. Guilt was eating away at me. Maybe I should just drug myself up and not tell them I was sick. No, that wouldn't work, then I'd feel guilty when everyone else got sick. My first call was to my mom. I'm sick mom. She said oh, that's not good. What are you going to do? Well gee, that's why I'm calling. Do I cancel or give people the option of coming anyway? After a bit of discussion, it was decided I should call my younger sister and see what she said. She answered the phone and I said I'm sick. She responded with, we won't be there then. I can't blame her, her kids are healthy for the first time since winter started. Next I called my brother. His wife answered. I told her I was sick but they were still welcome to come if they wanted, I'd wear a mask. She hemmed and hawed and finally said, I'll call you back. She called back and said, no one wants to come. Called my older sister after that. She was worried about the 2 gluten free peanut butter pies she had made. How were they going to eat both of them? No problem, Abby will come pick one up and she'll do it with a smile on her face because she loves loves loves peanut butter pie. Big sis declined to come also. I called my mom back. No one is coming I told her. Well, your father and I don't need to get sick so we aren't coming either. Good lord, you would think I had the plague! So now I had a marinated pork roast and a large ham, potato casserole, double batch of oreo fluff, and more strawberries than I could eat in a month because I had planned strawberry shortcake for dessert. Big sis dropped the pie off and I pawned a large bag of strawberries off on her. Dan took the pork roast over to little sis and she cooked it for mom and dad and big sis' family. Brother and family did their own thing. So I guess it turned out okay for everyone but this makes 3 holidays in a row that we have been unable to get together. Kind of strange for us.

In the process of getting ready for the Easter that wasn't, I've been nagging encouraging Dan to get the new cherry trim up in the library so I could re-hang the drapes and get them off the floor. He finished this task at about 10:00p.m. Saturday night. I took pics this morning so I could share the new paint color with you all.


I haven't decided whether I will change the drapes at this point. Most likely after getting the quotes today for a new garage door, I will be keeping them.

I started a new project last week. Erica Michaels Papillon. 40 count gauze. Teeny tiny continental stitches. I'm not gonna lie. This is hard!! And it doesn't photograph well at all but here is what I have done so far.


I saw this stitched up at Market and it is gorgeous when done and there is a definite learning curve to it! It's getting easier now but there was a lot of cursing at first!

Amy went to Lincoln today to shadow a journalism student and sit in on a class. She said she learned a lot and it was worth the trip. Dan left for Arizona today. His parents are ready to come home and we didn't think his dad should be driving and his mom didn't want to so he will be on the road driving them home all week. Abby is on her last week of the Council Bluffs/Mercy Hospital rotation and then she will change to Immanual Hospital in Omaha. Adam is busy with work and his diabetic class. He's doing pretty good with following his meal plan. He's still cranky though. Can't say as I blame him. I'd be cranky too and it's nothing compared to how Abby was when she was diagnosed with Celiacs.

Well, my fever is up so I need to go take some meds and then I'm going to go plop my behind in my chair.

Have a great evening, thanks for all the comments on retreat. We really had a great time!

Take care!

Julie

Retreat part II and some finishes

Happy Saturday!

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and Dan is hard at work putting the new trim up in the library. What more could a girl ask for?? How about kids that are actually helping with the cleaning, the poop scooping and the grocery shopping. Yep, I have that too!! It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood folks and I am loving it!!

When last I posted, Mary had decided to stay at the retreat and everyone was up either eating breakfast or stitching and chatting. Poor Doreen was supposed to have been with us on Friday night but her plane was delayed coming home from California so she arrived early Saturday and then 3 other stitchers arrived to stitch with us just for the day. Here's the whole lot of us:

Front Row L to R: Julie, Merrilyn, Sue
Middle Row L to R: Stephanie, Mary, Lois
Back Row L to R: Mary Ann, Doreen, Sandy, Karen, Carole, Deb, Patty, Connie

Sue and Sandy stitching the day away!

As the day progressed, stitcher's started to finish their WIP's and cheering and clapping became a common occurrence.

Mary finished her Ink Circles project:

I finished Quaker Diamonds:
Merrilyn finished a Just Nan:
Mary Ann finished a Sweetheart Tree:

Carole finished a Lizzie Kate:

And although Patty didn't finish or even work on this project she did share it with us and I thought it deserved a picture too:

I thought she said it was a Carriage House Samplings but I don't remember for sure. What I do remember for sure is she is stitching it on 40 count linen!

We had Nora our innkeeper take small group pictures of everyone with our projects, both finished and those in progress.

Supper time came all too soon, some ordered out for Chinese and others opted to have a croissant sandwich.

Doreen celebrated her birthday on the Thursday before retreat so we had a cake for her. She's 29. Again.

The day ended slightly earlier than the previous night. Most were tucked into their beds by midnight. Sunday morning everyone was up early. Gotta get that last hour or so of stitching in before it was time to check out at 11:00! I think everyone had a great time and several expressed the desire to do it again in the fall. It was sad to see everyone pack up and head home but I know it won't be long before we do it all over again!

After I finished up Quaker Diamonds I started Antique Locks and Keys by Shakespeare's Peddler. I didn't care for the fabric and floss that they used so I picked something more to my taste. I chose Belle Soie Briar Patch for the floss and for the fabric, I chose Brash, one of the new fabric colors from Picture This Plus
This piece stitched up quickly and I finished it up the day after retreat ended.


I plan to have Dan make a frame for it with a wide bottom so i can hang keys from it, an idea I will happily admit I got from my friend Connie! It was brilliant of her!!

I also want to share a finish by Mary Ann. She stitched up Lizzie Kate's Chicks Rule before we went to retreat and then I finished it into a flat fold. I think it turned out pretty darn cute. We used it for the centerpiece at retreat.


And that pretty much finishes our adventure. We arrived home tired but happy with the weekend. Mary Ann and I talked all the way home about what to do to make it even better next time. The chair situation was BAD!! We'll have to have everyone bring a chair or perhaps rent some more comfortable chairs. We will book both houses next time as several who were unable to go this time would like to go next time. We have a couple of other ideas we're pondering too. We are working on something else for next April but I'll keep that to myself until we know what is going to happen for sure.

I hope everyone has a Happy Easter tomorrow!

Till next time, keep the needles flying!

Julie

Back from Retreat!!

Hello!

I've been back since Sunday but have not had a chance to sit down and do a decent job on a blog post so I just didn't post at all. Retreat was a blast! Well, there was one minor little uh oh but for the most part, everyone had a great time. Mary Ann and I arrived at the Roger's House about 2:30.


We checked in, chatted with Nora, our innkeeper, about what our needs were regarding a stitching area and before we knew it, the rest of the group were there! Things were going swimmingly until Mary arrived. As you come into the house there are 3 stairs leading up to the main floor and she missed the last step and fell. She says she heard and felt something pop as she fell and then her leg started spasming. At this point in the story I feel I must tell you that I have a confession to make. I'm a sick sick person. Here's poor Mary, writhing on the floor with pain and what do I do??? I take a picture!! I know, how rude of me. There's Connie massaging her spasming muscle, Carole bending over giving words of encouragement and Julie with camera in hand recording it for all time. I should be shot.

Mary was able to get up into a sitting position after about 45 minutes and from there we helped her to a chair. We all thought it was just muscle spasms and were hoping with ice and then heat that she would be okay by the end of the evening. Unfortunately this was not the case and after one last trip down the stairs to the powder room at about 10:30 that night it was decided that as long as she was already down the stairs we should take her on out to the car and to the ER. The first report from the ER was not good. The Dr. thought she might have fractured her pelvis when her hamstring muscle pulled away from it. Happily this theory was incorrect, turns out she had a severely sprained hamstring and they sent her home with Percoset, crutches, an order to not do any stairs and to see her family Dr. as soon as possible. The no stairs was going to be a problem. Just getting into the house required 5 stairs. There was no way she was going to make it up there. So.....here she is in a beautiful B & B, a gorgeous room just waiting for her and she has to sleep on the sofa.


She was a trooper about it though and before long was fast asleep. In the morning, Mary's sister was going to come and pick her and her mom Lois up and take them home. It's amazing though the recuperative powers of a drug induced sleep. Mary felt much much better in the morning and was able to move around more easily so the decision was made to call off the sister pick up and Mary and Lois were able to stay for the entire weekend. She never did make it up the stairs to see her room so next time Mary you can have your pick of rooms. You deserve it for being so brave this weekend.

Mary and Lois discussing the fall.

While Mary was off getting drugs the rest of us stayed up to wait for news on her condition. We stitched and chatted but all the while we worried about what they would find. It was after 2:00 a.m. when they got back to the house and close to 3:00 a.m. by the time we got her all tucked in and we could seek our own beds. Most of us were a bit wired and stayed up reading before we went to sleep so it was a very short night. I got up, showered and was headed down the stairs by 8:30. I thought I was going to be one of the first up but as I came down the stairs I could hear what sounded like a bunch of magpies chattering away! Turns out, I was one of the last up! Carole took the prize for very last one up though. We were getting worried about her so Merrilyn went up to check on her at 11:30ish and she was up but barely!

I think I will end my post here and post a part two tomorrow or the next day. It's a beautiful evening and I want to get out and take a quick walk. I hope you're enjoying the story so far, stay tuned for part 2!!

. Have a great evening!

On my way to Retreat!

Just wanted to pop in quickly and let you all know I am taking off for a weekend of friends, food and stitching! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I'll have lots to post about when I get home so hang tight.

Also, FYI I chose #3 and Dan has it all painted but I don't have time to take pics right now. I'll do it when I get home.

Take care!

Julie

Distracted!!

Good Morning!

It might be afternoon by the time I am done posting this but I assure you, I am starting it in the morning. I have good intentions but you know how that goes. I hope everyone had great weekend. I can't say that I got a ton done this weekend. Laundry and grocery shopping were the top two items on the list and they did get done but the rest of the list kinda went by the wayside. It's like this. I got distracted. I was at the shop Saturday till 4:00. Then Dan picked me up and we went grocery shopping. So far so good. We got home, unloaded the groceries, put them all away, I cleaned out the fridge and then made supper. Still on track. Ran the dishwasher, watched an episode of Fringe and threw together an egg casserole for breakfast Sunday morning. By this time it was 11:00p.m. so bed was calling me. Loudly. Sunday morning dawned bright and clear, I bounded out of bed anxious to start my day, okay, I'm lying. I rolled out of bed, hit the shower with my eyes still closed, did my hair and minimal makeup, sorted the clothes and carried the first load down the stairs. Threw them in the washer, turned on the oven, cleaned up the kitchen a bit, put the casserole in to cook and then sat down to read blogs, check email and play some games on facebook. I'm still on target at this point. First load of laundry gets done, I throw it in the dryer, go upstairs to get the next load, tell Dan breakfast is almost ready and he needs to get up so he'll be ready to head to Lowe's as soon as we eat. Wake Adam up, everyone eats, I throw another load in the wash and off we go to Lowe's. It's only 10:00 at this point. I'm doing good on the laundry and as soon as I return from Lowe's I'll start the cleaning. This is where things started going awry. Our mission at Lowe's was to pick out paint for the library. I adore the current color of the library. It's rich and cozy and very library like until you see it next to the woodwork and then it's like a sour note in a beautiful piano piece. Kinda ruins the whole thing. So in my head I have chosen a rich cozy very library like Olive green. It would look great with the woodwork, there is already olive green in the rug, and olive green in the dining room so this should be an easy pick. WRONG!!! That's the problem with having a vision already in your head. Number one, you rarely can translate exactly what is in your head and make it work in reality. Number two, people look at you funny when you say, I can see it so clearly in my head, they start wondering if you listen to voices in your head too. I try to ignore them most of the time. The voices I mean.....What's that? Nothing! I heard NOTHING! You didn't hear anything did you?

Anyway, I digress. To get back to the point......I plucked 10 different paint chips from several different brands of paint, weeded them down to 4 and had them mix up sample pots for me. Came home, gave Dan 4 paper plates and numbered the samples 1-4 on the cans and the chips. He started painting splotches on the wall while I started another load of laundry. So now my wall looks like this:

I sit down on the couch to study the samples. #1, like it but with the green in the dining room it's too yellow, #2 too bright, #3 is okay but not making me go ahhhhh, #4 too blue. What do you think Dan I ask? He liked #1. Hmmmm, yeah, I like #1 but look at it with the colors in the dining room. Now what do you think? He states that he doesn't think it has to work with the dining room. I state that I really think it needs to since they are open to each other. So there we sit. Pondering paint. While the day dribbles through our fingers. Back and forth we go. Finally at 2:30 I tell him to go sand and stain a piece of woodwork so I can see it with the woodwork on the wall. thirty minutes later he's back.


Okay, leaning toward # 3 from the left. But I'm not really feeling it. It just doesn't make my mouth water. Soooooo, off to Home Depot we go. Another hour later we are back with 2 more samples. Slapped those on the wall.....


Love the richness of the one on the end but hate it with the dining room. #5 is waaaay too bright. Crap. It's now 4:30. I was still sitting there wavering back and forth between the colors I liked and what went the best, watching the light changing in the room and hoping it would suddenly make one of the samples be what I saw in my head. Amy comes in and says, "You making anything for dinner?" WTH?? Does she not realize the decision I'm trying to make? How dare she interrupt my decision making process. I'll make dinner when it's time I say. Before 8:00p.m. she says? Of course I respond, don't be silly. Well you better hurry up then cuz it's 7:00p.m. now! WHAT!! Are you kidding me??? I've been sitting here staring at the wall for hours??? How did that happen? Dinner, dishes, the rest of the laundry later and I said screw it. I'll think about it tomorrow and went to bed. So......now my house is a freaking sty. My walls are blotchy. I didn't get much stitching in and I still haven't picked a paint color. Dan asked me this morning if I was picking up paint or if he was. I had to tell him I'd let him know. I wonder if he'd mind re-doing the dining room......

Till next time, thanks for stopping in and commenting. Love those comments!!

Julie