Thank You Staci!!

Good Morning!

Yesterday, when I got home from a hard day of work, I found a package with my very own name on it waiting for me. I don't get packages very often so this was a momentous occasion! I planned to open it slowly and savor the experience, but like a kid at Christmas, I ripped that puppy right open and got straight to the good stuff! I won a give away last week from Staci at Snippets and Stash and I was pretty sure that inside that innocent looking padded manila envelope, I would find my goodies. I was right!! This is what Staci sent:


There are 5 different kinds of trim, a pretty piece of fabric, a pair of very sharp scissors and a little note from Staci thanking me for stopping by her blog. Like that's a hardship, I love reading her blog! When Staci told me that I had won the give away I shared with her that the little pair of scissors would be only my second pair of scissors used for stitching. I'm sadly behind in the collecting of scissors. I still need one more pair before I can officially call it a collection though. So, Thank You Staci! I love my gift and now I get the fun of deciding what to use it for! Decisions, decisions......

The rollercoaster, flowers, a finish and an update...

I have a friend, a fairly new friend but still a friend. I'll call her Deb cuz that's her name and I wouldn't know what else to call her. :) Deb was at Last Saturday Stitching this past weekend and she mentioned that she reads my blog. She also said, not exactly of course, cuz I'm old and can't remember exactly what she said but it was something to the effect that the titles of my posts catch her eye and depending on what the title is she always wonders whether it's good news or bad, should she read the post or not. So tonight when I sat down to write I was trying to think of a good title that would catch Deb's eye and make her wonder. So did I? Huh, huh, did I? Did I make you wonder Deb?? I hope so!

My red hibiscus bloomed this week. The buds are
so cool and alien looking and then the flower blooms
and it looks like this. Next year you all need to remind
me to put a tomato cage around these bad boys, the buds
are so large and heavy that the stalks are laying on the ground.

You are probably wondering what the roller coaster has
to do with the flowers. I'll tell you. Nothing. They have nothing to do with one another. I just wanted to share them with you.

Right now I feel like I am riding a roller coaster. When I came home from vacation and got back to the shop, Mary Ann informed me that they were not going to renew the lease and we would have to be out of the shop by Aug. 31st. This was a bit of a shock to me as I thought we had until the end of October. I was somewhat prepared for the end of October. I was not prepared for the end of August. Mary Ann was quick to explain this didn't necessarily mean we were closing permanently. Just re-organizing. They hope to find a less expensive building to rent or perhaps they would work out of their house. They have even considered moving in with the guy next door at the vacuum cleaner store. He's open to it. He's been wanting me to come work for him for months. The problem is....while I like him fine I don't think I can work for him. One minute I think I can and then he opens his mouth and says something and I just know I would kill him if I had to work for him. On the other hand, it's a job and I really need a job. But it's vacuums. There is nothing creative in selling vacuums. Especially the way he expects you to sell. On the other hand, if Mary Ann could move the framing and cross stitch into his shop I could still do the job I love. As long as vacuum cleaner guy wasn't there telling me to make sure I keep the 20.00 bills out of the 10.00 bill slot in the cash register. So depending on the hour or minute, I'm out of a job, I'm selling vacuums, I'm working out of M's house, or we are all in one place together....you get the idea. I'm up and down all day and all night and I don't like it. The ride is making me sick to my stomach. And I can only imagine how Mary Ann feels. Sometimes, I wish I had never found a job that I love so much. It's my dream job. It wouldn't be so painful if I hadn't had this job. But it's also one of the best things I have ever experienced in my life. It will be very hard to go back to serving lunch at the school or to learn how to sell vacuums. I was hoping you wouldn't mind saying a quick prayer for all of us. I'd appreciate it. Okay, Debbie Downer is now leaving the building!

I wanted to share with all of you a finish by Mary Ann. Less than a year ago, M. didn't stitch much. she
had stitched some in the past but not for quite a while. Since we started the stitching group and added the cross stitch supplies, M has been stitching almost constantly. I'm so proud of her! Last week she completed her first large project. Cirque de Carreaux by Ink Circles. I finished the framing of it today. I had a hard time finding a frame I liked to go with this piece. Nothing was exactly what I wanted. I came close with a dark blue frame but it still wasn't right. So we went out of the box on this one. I took a black frame and gave it a deep purple wash. I hadn't ever done that before. Even at wholesale, this frame was expensive and I didn't want to ruin it. I'm glad we took a chance because we both really like how it turned out. I'm not sure you will be able to tell in the picture though. The before looks more brown than it really is. The after looks a tad more purple than it really is.

And finally, an update on my Live, Love, Laugh piece. Almost done now. I just have the border to do and a couple of random black stitches.


And now my friends, it is past my bedtime and I am tired so I will bid you all a good night and a pleasant tomorrow! Thanks for stopping in and double thanks for leaving a comment so I know someone is reading my drivel!

Road Trip, Stash and a wip update

Don't ya just love spur of the moment road trips? Tuesday afternoon Mary Ann (my boss and friend) decided that we needed to take a break and have some fun. We have been somewhat frustrated with trying to get fabric in the shop. Seems everything we order is backordered! So she looks at me and says, why don't you give Picture This Plus (PTP) a call and see if they have enough stock on hand to make the 4 hour drive worth our while. I called Marilyn from PTP and she said come on down so Wednesday morning, Mary Ann and I hit the road for Abilene Kansas! We had such a good time! I have never been to Kansas. I don't get out of Nebraska much so this was a nice adventure for me! I thought there wouldn't be much to see, as I have always pictured Kansas as a flat and somewhat barren state, and maybe some of it is, but the parts we drove through were quite pretty! One town we went through called Marysville was very quaint and I would have enjoyed puttering around but we didn't have the time this trip. I saw quite a few beautiful things on our way down. This view for instance was gorgeous!


I'm a little confused though by the definition of creek. When I hear the word creek, I picture small little running bodies of water that you can almost jump over or at the very least wade across easily. Places where you catch minnows and things like that. That is the kind of creek I'm familiar with. That's the kind I played in as a child. This is the state of Kansas' idea of a creek.


Seriously. Are they kidding me?? That's a creek?? Looks more like a big ass river to me. And this wasn't the only one we saw. There were 2 of them. Then we'd come across what they call a river there and I'd be like that's a river? I can spit across it. That can't be a river. I think someone has been driving around and switching up the signs in Kansas. Deliberately. And with malice aforethought! Just trying to confuse this almost 50 year old woman. And it worked!

I also saw this cute, old, obviously not lived in anymore house. For some reason it called my name. So I had to take a picture of it. Do you know how hard it is to get decent pictures from a moving car? I'm surprised they turned out as good as they did!


We got into Abilene at about 11:30. The plan was to do our shopping and eat some lunch, get back in the car and head home so I could make my hair appointment at 6:30. I should have known better. I'd show you a picture of the outside of PTP but I was so excited to get inside I completely forgot to take one. It was like walking into heaven. Not only is there a cross stitch store, they have a book store too. And it was awesome! Hence the excitement. We got to meet both Marilyn and Sherry while we were there. Marilyn showed us the back room where the magic of dying the fabric occurs. Way cool! We got to see all the beautiful colors of fabric in person which I have to admit made me salivate. They have tons of stitched models to look at and all kinds of specialty thread too. Well worth the 4 hours in a car one way. We picked the ladies brains a bit and they were very happy to allow us to do so. We also got to see some upcoming secret things but my lips are sealed. I'm not saying a word. No siree.

Here is a picture I had to beg and ask pretty please to get. Neither Mary Ann or Marilyn wanted to have their picture taken but I bullied begged and batted my baby blues until they agreed, reluctantly but they did agree.

Did I mention they dye their own fabric here? Beautiful fabric. Lots of beautiful
fabric. Sadly, my eyes were so much bigger than our pocket book. We still managed to come home with quite a few different colors, but I left twice this amount on the table. Mary Ann just kept saying, we can come back again Julie. I kept saying, I know that but I want it all now! (said with a definite whine in my voice) Our stash....


By the time I had whittled my wants down to a manageable pile it was already almost 1:30. We still had to eat lunch. Which we did, right there in the store as they have a cafe upstairs in the bookstore. Finally we had to pack up our purchases and head for home. Almost. Marilyn had suggested we stop at another shop in town. The name escapes me at the moment, I think it had the word creek in it, but it's a candle and decor store. Very nice place and I wish we had had more time to spend there. It was after 3:00 before we left town and I had no hope of making my appointment. See these gray hairs on the top of my head? Get used to them, they will be around a while longer now.

We motored on down the road and were making pretty good time until......


It was a loooong train. I think the engineer was a bit worried about my intentions when I took out my camera. I saw him watching me carefully. Like maybe I was pulling out a rifle or something. I waved at him and he eventually waved back. As a child I used to wait anxiously for the caboose to go by. As an adult, I wait for the graffiti go by.


Just 2 examples of the many many cars full of grafitti. I'd rather see a caboose.

One other sight we saw on our adventure was this:

Doesn't take much to entertain me does it? I suppose that is kind of pathetic if I stop to think about it but I prefer to take pleasure in the simple things. I'm not disappointed then. We got home about 7:30. Not bad but still a 12 hour day. I was tired. So I didn't do any stitching. But I still have progress to show you on my Live, Laugh, Love piece. See! Isn't it pretty? I'm still loving this piece.


Well, that's all folks. Thanks so much for going to Kansas with me! Can you imagine how long this would be if I went to Hawaii?? I don't even want to think about it!

Have a nice night everyone! See ya next time!

I Did a Bad Bad Thing....

Do you remember my saying on the last post that I was trying not to start anything new? That I wanted to get a bit farther on the pieces I was already working on?? Ummmmm, yeah. I lied. I'm not even terribly sorry for doing it. And to top that off, it's a chart I didn't even have on my immediate to do list. But I'm loving it! It's stitching up really fast. I started it Saturday night, stitched some off and on Sunday and some today. Now before I show you the picture I do have another confession to make. I kinda messed up on it. I was reading the directions where it said use one strand of floss over 2 threads and the first time I read it I thought it said one strand over one thread. Then I thought, that can't be right so I went back and read it again and sure enough I had read it wrong. But and there is always a but....somewhere between my reading the correct directions and my cutting the fabric and sitting down to stitch my brain farted and backed itself up to the point where I had read the directions wrong. So I'm happily stitching away today on my teeny tiny little piece when my brain must have farted again and suddenly it came back to me and I realized I was stitching the dang thing over one instead of the over 2 it was supposed to be. I won't repeat what I said at that point, it wasn't nice. Now, the anal part of me wanted to immediately rip it all out and start again but the sane part of me said are you freaking kidding me?? You.will.not. After some mental arguing, the sane side won out and I am leaving it as a teeny tiny delicate little picture that will fit on my bookcase in the library. I don't have the wall space for another picture anyway. Right? (You all nod your heads in agreement here.) There, I feel better now that you all agree it's the right thing to do. So without further ado.....


I'm stitching this miniature beauty on 35 count Straw Weeks linen and using silk threads from Carries. The colors I chose are Rusty Nail, Soot and Plankton.

In other news, Dan and I made some progress on the room in the basement. The moldings and doors are all painted and we are fixing to start painting the walls probably tomorrow night. After that we have to rip up the old floor and lay the new. I'm getting excited about it.

Amy left for journalism camp today in Lincoln. She will be gone till Thursday. Before she left she asked me what her father and I would do without her here and I told her we would probably have wild monkey sex on the living room floor every night. Her face was priceless! Wish I had had my camera at that moment!

I better wrap this up. Dan and I are alone and....just kidding! Our neighbor across the street is a fairly recent widow and a couple times a week Dan and I go over there to watch TV with her. Tonight is The Closer night.

Have a nice evening everyone! Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

Change sucks!

Good Morning!

It's a beautiful morning here. The sun is shining the birds are chirping, the rabbits are snacking on other people's gardens....I know, that's not very nice of me but it's been a rough week here and I have to find what little bits of happiness I can at the moment. Please don't hold it against me. I promise to work on being more charitable later. Really. I mean it. :)

My stargazer lillies started blooming this week. Aren't they gorgeous? I love the colors!


A couple of other lillies started blooming also this week.



My pink hibiscus is putting on a show before her sister the red hibiscus out shines her. These blooms are literally the size of dinner plates and they will bloom the rest of the summer. So beautiful!


I don't know how you all handle change but I have a hard time with it. This has been a week of all kinds of changes. Some good, some bad, some downright awful. Some that are coming and some that have already happened. But I gotta say, I don't like any of it.

I had to make the tough decision to put the shack up for sale. I can no longer justify the expense involved for a place I only get to visit once or twice a year anymore. The shack is my soul restorer. That one place I can go to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. A simpler slower way of life. I always come home from there feeling much calmer and ready to face the daily struggles of life as we know it. I hope you all have a special place like that.

We came home from vacation last week as you know and eventually I had to go downstairs to take some meat out of the freezer. I was trying really hard to pretend I was still on vacation so I hadn't done much in the way of cooking right after returning home. Anyway, I discovered water all over the floor of the furnace room when I went down there. Not a good sign. I've found over the years that pretty much anytime you find water in your basement, it's not a good thing. We determined that the water was coming from the indoor part of the air conditioner unit. Monday, I called the heating and cooling repair person and he came out and gave me the news that the drip tray had rusted through. Well, I thought to myself, that doesn't sound too bad. Then he dropped the other shoe. They no longer make a drip tray to fit this old unit and while they might, and that would be a big might, be able to rig something up, the labor involved would be enormous. He also explained that since it is old, the A-coil could go out at any time. So we had two options, pay $1000.00 now to replace the drip tray which might or might not work since they have to rig it up and potentially another $1500 or more in the next couple of years to replace the entire unit when the A coil goes, or just replace the entire thing now for $1500.00. We chose option B. Replace it all now and be done with it. They are coming this morning to change her out. I'm glad it's cool enough to be without the a/c today!

The next change taking place was our son announcing he may have to move to either New Orleans or Alaska!
I know this doesn't sound terrible, and for Adam it would be a great adventure. But for me it's a great sadness.
Our whole family lives in Omaha. I'm talking parents, and all my siblings and all their children also. He would be the first one in 20 years to be living somewhere other that Omaha. Heck, I'm still adjusting to his moving out 3 years ago! You don't want to see me if he moves hours away. For now, I'm pushing the thought to the back of my head. He doesn't know for sure he will be moving so I will try not to worry about it until he does know.

There is another big change coming in my life but I can't talk about it yet. I'll share when I'm able to.

Abby has some change going on in her life as well. She had applied to Radiology school and while she didn't get an immediate spot she was on the alternate list for both Alegeant and the University of Neb. Med Center. She got a phone call last week to let her know there was now an opening for her in the Alegeant program. To say she is terrified would be an understatement. She is so afraid she will fail. She's also upset because she will have to wear scrubs all day and the shoes aren't cute! (eyeroll) I had to chuckle at that one. She was in my room till midnight last night trying to sort things out in her head. Is it the fear of something new that is holding her back? She's comfortable at UNO. She knows her way around and while she doesn't know everyone on campus she at least knows most of the faces. If she goes to Radiology school, she won't know anyone, she says she gets lost in hospitals and what if she doesn't get good grades? My girl is smart but only when she puts her mind to it. She can also get a brick wall to talk to her so I don't think it will take her long to make new friends. As for getting lost in hospitals, it's just like any other building. Within a week you'll know it like the back of your hand. I'm not sure I convinced her that she could do if she really wants to but I guess we'll find out cuz she left my room saying she was going to send her deposit in today.

Amy got her AP test results back this week. She was only able to take the history test because she had a vicious migraine the day they gave the english exam. She got a 4 which gives her college credit pretty much wherever she ends up going. She was happy. Dan and I are proud. Adam was disgusted. He took it when he was in high school and failed. History was his favorite class.

I've stitched a little on my Chatelaine this week. With all the other things going on I haven't really been in the mood. I'll share the bit I have done though.



And I pulled the floss and cut the fabby for the Inspiration chart.



Yummy!

Not sure when I will start it. I'm trying to get further along on the ones I'm currently doing before starting another.

Did any of you watch So You Think You Can Dance this week? It was amazing for the most part. I was only disappointed in one of the dances. It's so hard to see anyone go now. Such talent these kids have!

Boy, when I get to talking I don't know when to stop! Sorry for the length of this post. I'd like to say I won't do it again but I'd be lying.

Have a great day everyone and thanks for visiting!!

Vacation, an update and an excuse

Howdy!!

I hope everyone had a great holiday. We had a good time! It was great to be out of the city and to see family that we only get to see once a year. We had 9 adults and 4 dogs in our little 750 sq. ft shack so it was close quarters at times but we managed. I don't know what we would have done without Dan. He spent the entire time keeping Ben (the 3 yr. old) happy. They played in the dirt out front.


They watched the parade together.


They did the slip and slide together. Ben didn't quite get how to do it. He would do the army crawl down the length of the slide.

Dan finally took to throwing him down it. Gently and with love of course!


They made roads in a dirt pile at the end of our street.


They swung on the tire swing that belongs to the nice lady a couple houses down from us. I think she must have felt bad for Ben playing in the dirt pile all the time so she walked over one day and said she'd be happy if he would use the swing as her grandkids are all too old to use it anymore.



They launched a giant water rocket together....




They even made ice cream together.....


In fact, poor Dan had to read Ben his bedtime stories too. The only time Dan was without his shadow was at night while Ben was sleeping, when using the bathroom, and when he went to the stock car races with Adam, Abby and Sydney! Don't know what we would have done without him!

Meanwhile, the rest of us kept busy with Katie and various other activities, like playing dominoes and going to the swimming pool. Getting a soda from the old fashioned soda fountain. Shopping at the neatest gift shop and also the scrapbook store. Reading was on the agenda also. Stitching however, was not. At least not until the last day I was there. I'll explain why in a minute, first let me post my progress. Before I left:


After:


close up:


And here comes the excuse part of the post. The first day we arrived at the shack I was trying to open a window in the bedroom. The windows are big and heavy and you have to prop them up with a stick to keep them up. I got that part done just fine but I was in an awkward position and I was trying to get the storm window up and then I saw a spider in the window, panicked and bumped the stick keeping the heavy window up. It came down and smashed my hand. HARD. My holding the needle hand. For a while we wondered if it might be broken, lots of swelling and black and blue, very painful to move. But most of the swelling is gone as is the bruising and I can use it again so I think it was just badly bruised. Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

I could go on and on about vacation, but I'm sure you must be tired of reading about it by now. I'll take pity on you and go do something constructive with what is left of my day. I'm going to leave you though with a few things heard during our vacation.

I don't know what it is, but I don't like it! ~Sydney
There's a big ass spider in my purse, BIG ASS! ~ Amy
Lets not panic! ~Ben
I'm ruined! ~ Ben
It won't eat me, I'm an expert!~Ben
The girls need to be pumped!~Mel
I'm gonna do something loud and ugly to your nightmare! ~ Ben

Have a nice night everyone! And thanks for the comments on my last post. I love comments.

Finally back!!

The computer is finally working a bit better. Adam still has some work to do on it. I'm really going to have to do this post quickly. It's after 8 and I am leaving on vacation in the morning. Now ask me if I've packed. NOT! Haven't even started. I have shirts to iron. Laundry to finish. Stitching to pack....you get the idea. But I couldn't leave without updating the blog and saying goodbye! The shack is calling my name though so I better get this done and start doing what I need to be doing!

I promised in my last post to share some pictures from Last Saturday Stitching. We had such a good time. There were 11 of us this week. The food was good, the company better. Those that couldn't come were very much missed and hopefully we will see them next time. Here's a pic of the entire group. You can click on the picture to make it bigger


Starting with the lady in red, that's my boss and friend Maryann. Maryann is working on an Ink Circles design. To her left in the white T-shirt is Mary, she was working on Just Nans Floral 15 Biscornu. That is one gorgeous pattern! She also brought her finished Red Thread Sampler in to be framed. It was beautiful! Then we have Mary's mom Lois. Lois is one of our oldest stitchers. She was finishing up LHN Traveling Stitcher. You can just see Linda's head peeking out from behind Lois' head. She was stitching little tiny house things but I'm not sure what she was going to do with them and I don't remember now who they were by. ( its almost a week later, we've established before that my brain leaks like a sieve! I'm doing good to remember their names! LOL!) Stacy is up next. She's the baby of the group. Let's see, what was Stacy working on... I remember! She's working on a spool tree for a Christmas present. That blank spot with the big ass mug in front of it is me. I love my mug. Deb is to my left, she's our newest member. I can't think of what she was working on. She brought in a beautiful piece to be framed also. Stephanie was sitting next to Deb and I can't remember what she was working on either. It's entirely possible that I never saw what she was doing. Carol is the one smiling. I don't think I saw what she was working on either. You can just barely see Nancy, she is the least experienced stitcher and is very insercure about her stitching. We keep telling her she is doing just great. And she is! Nancy is stitching a little poppy design. Finally we have Doreen. Once again I don't know what she was stitching. Doreen was so impressed by Marys Red Thread Sampler that she had us order the charts for her.

Below is Stephanie, Carole and Nancy


Doreen and Maryann


Lois and Linda


Up next is the picture stitched by one of my favorite customers. Pat brings her stuff in, lays it on the counter and says "Call me when it's finished!" This is a double edged sword. It puts it all on me which is fun! But it puts it all on me which is scary. I always worry she won't like what I choose or that I have spent too much money. So far so good though. I really like how this came out. I hope you do too!


Finally I have my Chatelaine wip to show you. I have been taking a break from the Princesses for a couple of weeks. This was before stitching on Saturday.


The After:


Doesn't look any different does it. That would be because I only put 4 stitches in. That's right, 4 stitches the entire 6 hours. F-O-U-R. I'm a failure.

Do I redeem myself a little if I show you this? I've done this since Saturday.


Not tons done but remember, I'm getting ready to leave on vacation and I've been busy! Well, it's now 9 and I am no further along with my packing. While I would love to try and make this a more interesting post, I just don't have the time. I hope you understand. I will be gone until the 11th. Unless my nieces and nephew drive me nuts and then I will be home sooner. I'll take some pictures to share with you, but don't expect much. When I say shack, I mean shack.

Thanks for hanging in there through this long and somewhat uninspired post. I will try to do better when I get back. You all have a great 4th of July and I will see you when I get back.

TTFN!!!