A Sneak Peek, an update, and an apology!

Whew! Where is the time going? I need and extra day in the week I think to get everything done that needs doing!

I am so sorry to have disappeared into the ether but it just couldn't be helped. Between getting the shop set up, broken cars, decorating the house and setting up the village, there has been no time to do much of anything. Thank God the Huskers decided to win against whoever it was ( can you tell I'm not really a football fan?) which meant they would be playing the night I was planning the open house. I had to re-schedule the open house to the 12th which gave me another week that I desperately needed. I'm still somewhat panicked but I think I will make it by Saturday!

A brief rundown of what has occurred:

I did not host Thanksgiving. No way was I going to be ready for that. We celebrated Adams birthday just the 5 of us plus Abby's boyfriend. It was nice, the house was a wreck but the food was excellent if I do say so myself and I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

Abby's car broke down right after Thanksgiving and given that it is 15 yrs. old with 165,000. miles on it and needed over a thousand dollars worth of work done to it, we decided to retire it and get Dan a new used car and let Abby drive "little red" as we call the elantra. Took a while to find the right car and get the best financing but finally we found what was acceptable to Dan, and he is now the proud driver of an Altima. Or at least he was until yesterday when he was backed into in the parking lot Michaels. He's okay but the car took a good hit.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving was of course the last Saturday of the month so we needed to have the shop put together for last Saturday Stitching. I think it went well but you would have to ask the stitcher's to know for sure. The shop is still a work in progress but it's getting better and I can at least frame things now.

Here's a couple of pics from Last Saturday:


Stacy finished her project while she was there. She doesn't get to stitch very often as she is a mom to 3, a wife, a student and she has a job outside of the home as well! We'll just call her Wonder Woman from now on!


We've had quite a few framing jobs come in so I am working hard to get everything done by Christmas. It's amazing how rusty I am in only 2 months. I'm getting used to the smaller work space but it is a challenge I gotta say. The first job through the door was a football jersey! Really, a football jersey. Nothing like jumping in with both feet! They aren't hard, just time consuming and large!!

Not much stitching is getting done right now but here is a shot of what is done as of last saturday stitching.

I'm working on the back stitching and it's slow going on the flowers. The charts in color but the backstitching on the chart is in black and it's really hard to see.

And finally, the other reason for my absence is the village. It's sucking up huge amounts of time but is finally shaping up. So as a reward for your patience, here is a tiny sneak peek to tide you over till it's completely finished and I have time to take all the pictures.


That's it! All my excuses for being an absent blog owner. I hope you can hang in there another week or so and let me get through this open house. We so enjoy sharing the village with everyone but man it's been a long road setting it up this time. Dan has been adding all kinds of new stuff which is part of the problem. Anyway, that's it for now. I hope you stop in and leave a comment so I know you haven't disappeared into the ether too! Good Night and God Bless!

What a week!

Quick post.

I am slowly getting the shop set up and looking like something more than a jumbled disorganized mess.

I wasn't having Thanksgiving but now my sister's entire family is sick and they will not be better by Thursday which means I either have it here or it gets canceled. Only problem with canceling is Dan's parents will still want to come down and Abby invited her boyfriend plus it is Adams Birthday with Abby's on Friday. To top that off I had the guys bring all the Christmas boxes up before I got the call from my sister. They won't be gone by Thursday. What a mess!! I could handle having just my little family of 5 here and cooking for them. They wouldn't expect a clean house given all that is going on but the in-laws are a different story all together.

To top that off, the Huskers won on Saturday which means they will play in the division 12 championship game scheduled for Sat. the 5th at 7p.m. That is when I had the open house for the village scheduled. I now have to pick a new date for that and unfortunately, there isn't a good option. Poor Dan, he has gone to so much work to make the village a wonderful place to visit and now it might not be visited by many. Oh well, it'll all work out I'm sure.

Adam and Amy both got home from their trips in one piece although Amy was sick again on the plane and I did end up taking her to the Dr. She had a sinus infection. She is better now though. They did not win a pacemaker award but they did get 8th place in the best of show catagory and 6 of them, Amy included, earned personal awards also. Adam thought Vegas was a wonderful place where time has no meaning and the girls are all beautiful. I'm glad he had a good time, he deserves it. Beyond that....I don't want to know.

I am making some progress on my stitching but I need to get some things done this morning before heading to the shop so no picture. Today I tackle the work area. I have about 6 framing orders already that need doing but right now there is no doing them till I make it workable.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday and I hope to do a better post next weekend. I also see I have reached that 50 followers number so I need to work on the giveaway too. I haven't forgotten.

Happy Thanksgiving and thanks so much for stopping by!

A very sad day.....

Hello!

It's a very sad day for me. I was planning to show you a scissor fob that my friend Merrilyn made for me. It was a beautiful beaded fob in shades of green. I even went out and bought a pair of scissors just to go with it. And then, at some point between bedtime last night and breakfast this morning, that no good, very bad Morkie, who attracted to sparkly things, got a hold of it and ate it! Not all of it, I caught her before she did too much damage but the fact remains, it can't be used any more. I'm going to hope that if I throw myself at Merrilyn's feet and promise to pay her for her time, she'll take pity on me and my darn dog and re-do it for me. And if she does re-do it, I'm going to make sure it's put up higher and not on the magnet that is on my Ott light. Apparently, it's not a Morkie proof place! Bad dog! Very bad dog!! I feel awful about the whole thing. I'm sorry Merrilyn! Here's a couple pics of the damage.


In other news.....Amy left for DC and the fall journalism convention on Wednesday. Her schools news broadcast was nominated for a Pacemaker Award. Only 10 schools across the US get nominated so it's a big honor. If you are at all interested, this is the show that was nominated. Anyway, the plane made it there in one piece but Amy is a little worse for wear. As they were descending into DC, the ride got bumpy and she was struck by sudden nausea and a horrible headache. She spent the rest of the day (DO NOT READ THE REST OF THIS SENTENCE IF YOU ARE AT ALL SQUEAMISH) vomiting and having the dry heaves. Can air sickness do that to you? That's what I am hoping it is. The report I got today from her was that she is very sore from being sick but feeling better.

Adam is leaving for Las Vegas tomorrow night. He and some buddies are going for the weekend. This means I get to worry about 2 of my kids flying this weekend. I'm a terrible worrier. I won't rest easy until they are both home safely Sunday night.

The schnauzer's gave Kallie their cold. She's having a terrible time with the sneezing. About half the time she does the reverse sneeze thing where it sounds like she can't breath or is having an asthma attack. Totally freaks Gracie out which stresses the reverse sneezer even more. What possessed me to have 3 dogs? I must have been out of my mind!

In village news, the layout is finally decided on and now construction will begin on the landscaping. this will be a long process. My group of friends that I write the racy village stories about are chomping at the bit for a new chapter. I'm not sure if I should give in or make them wait till the village is done. It's kind of like Brigadoon, the village goes to sleep after the holidays and doesn't wake up for 9 months. Therefore, there wouldn't be any new stories to tell till the village is all done right? So I'm thinking they are just going to have to be patient!

I finished Give Thanks. Have yet to decide what I want to do with it though. It measures approx. 2 x 2 3/4 inches. Is that too big for a floss tag? Again, I haven't ever seen one so I am not sure how large they are supposed to be.


That's about all I have for today, I probably won't blog again till next week as Adam is taking my camera with him to Vegas. Plus, we have to have the shop all ready to open up for business on Monday which means I am going to be very busy this weekend! So have a great weekend everyone! Thanks for stopping in!

Insanity and Stitching

Hey there! So sorry for the lack of posts this past week. Been a busy one around here between sick puppies and trying to get the new location for the frame/cross stitch shop in move-in condition. Hmmmmm.....I'm not sure I mentioned the new shop before. It all kind of happened quickly. I'm having a sense of deja vu though. 6 years ago when I started with what was then American Reflections, we were located in an area called Tara Plaza. A bit over 5 years ago, we moved to a new location and dropped the American part of the name. Now we are back at Tara Plaza, not in the same bay though. Much better location, more foot traffic, there is a quilting store a few doors down and we are located between a popular Mexican Restaurant and Curves. The downside? In order to afford the rent in today's economic climate, we have to share a bay with a vacuum cleaner store. All I'm going to say about that is.....this should be interesting! So if you are in the area, please stop in to say hello. We officially open a week from today on the 16th. Not sure we will be completely settled in at that time but we'll be happy to help you with whatever you might need or if you just want to chat, we can do that too!

Last week Kallie was sick. High fever, lethargic, not eating....$300.00 later and they still didn't know what was wrong. We knew what wasn't wrong though which was good. She's all better now but this past weekend, the schnauzers both came down with something. Lots of sneezing, watery eyes and running noses. They are still eating and drinking just fine so I don't think it's anything serious. I checked in with the vet this morning though just to be sure and she told me what to watch for. I hate sick puppies almost as much as sick babies. They can't tell you whats wrong or how bad it is.

I have been doing some stitching. I stitched the October pinkeep from Maryse This is the first pinkeep I have stitched and the first I have finished. I'm not sure it's done correctly as I have never seen a pinkeep in person but I like how it turned out. What do you think?

I also started a second little project, probably going to end up being a small pillow? I don't know. I've not made one of those before either. But I think I should give it a try. It's a freebie pattern I found at The Stitcherhood website. It's called Give Thanks. Not too far on it but it shouldn't take long.

and finally I have worked on Signs of Fall too. I'm in the home stretch on it as long as you don't count the darn backstitching. I'm not a happy backstitcher. I appreciate it and what it can do for a picture, but I don't enjoy the process. I think it stems from poor backstitching directions on some of the earlier charts I did waaaay back in the day.


Yesterday, Abby and I did some gluten-free bread making. Ah yes, the famous QVC TSV arrived on our doorstep last week. Our maiden voyage was unfortunately, not a successful one. I'm not sure what happened. I used a recipe that everyone on all the blogs raves about. Best sandwich bread ever it says. The texture was good but the taste was A.W.F.U.L!!!! I don't know if my flour was maybe rancid, or perhaps I didn't cook off all the manufacturing oils when we ran it through a cycle empty or what happened but it went right into the trash. I'm going to go buy all new flours and try again I think. After that disaster we tried a recipe for mozzarella sticks (not in the bread machine of course) that did turn out well. You couldn't even tell they were gluten free! First mozzarella sticks Abby has eaten in over a year and boy was she happy. I really am disappointed about the bread though. Oh Well, Better luck next time!

And finally, Dan and I have been working on the base for the Christmas village. I didn't get a shot of it before he started to put the foam on but I think you can get the idea.


This puppy is 18 feet long and 5 feet deep. Saturday morning I went downstairs to see what progress Dan had made and found a note from him that said one word. Insanity. Yep, that pretty much says it all!

Till next time, have a great week and thanks for stopping in and as always, commenting is much appreciated!!

They are KILLING ME!!

I need to be saved from myself! Everyday it happens. Day after day after day. 364 days a year. I can usually restrain myself, walk away and not look back. But this time of year it becomes more and more difficult. I'm like an addict. At the same time everyday, there I am. Waiting and wondering what it will be this time. Salivating while I watch. Yesterday it was the Click Free. The day before that it was a Breadman Bread Machine. Today, it's makeup. I'm not talking frivolous stuff here. I'm talking good stuff. The kind of stuff that makes your life easier. Or makes you look like you have had a great nights sleep. Or saves your life by backing up your computer with one little click. I want it. I want it all! That's right, I'm talking about QVC and their Today's Special Value. Starting in October every year, suddenly I become this insane person that has to tune in to see what the TSV is. And the worst part is I can no longer walk away from it. Oh no, I have to pick up the phone and say, hey, send me that, it's such a great bargain, a wonderful item, meant just for me and 6000 other addicts just like me! I want need that clickfree gizmo so bad I can taste it. And the makeup, Mally says it will last for 5 days if I want it to. Think of the time that would save me. Think of the stitching I could get done if I didn't have to spend hours doing my face everyday all in an effort to make me look well rested. And the bread machine, OMG the time and money I could save with that!! Well, actually the bread machine probably would save me time and money. Have you ever tried to make gluten free bread? It's a wee bit on the icky sticky side. And to buy a loaf is incredibly expensive. So I have to confess that as hard as I tried, I could not talk myself out of it. This baby is on it's way to my house and will arrive on my doorstep before I know it.

Okay, in my defense, Abby has been asking for a bread machine so she could try her hand at making her gluten free bread. The store bought stuff is pretty awful and very expensive. I could say I was giving it to her for Christmas and then you might say, She's not an addict, she's a loving caring mom, just trying to help her daughter out. I'd be lying if I told you that though. It's not a Christmas present. What mother worth her salt would ever think of giving a 22 year old a bread machine as their Christmas Present. Not me!! Nope, as soon as it arrives, we're making bread. Just as long as it's not at 11:00 p.m. central standard time. I have a date with the TV at that time! Hmmmmm, I wonder what the TSV will be tonight?? Christmas items? Clothing? Electronics? Jewelry, oooooh yea baby. Jewelry would be good.......

Almost Halloween!

Happy Tuesday!!

I got home from packing up the shack late Sunday afternoon. It was a sad weekend but I am at peace with the decision and am ready to move on to other things. One thing that happened while I was packing up has probably scarred me for life. I was cleaning out the pink bedroom's closet. Dan had a basket in there full of tools, screws and crap so I was sorting it out and tossing that which wasn't going to come home. There was a gray piece of fluff that was in the way of my picking up screws and nails so I picked it up to toss it and discovered the dang thing had legs! It was a mouse!! A dead mouse but still a mouse. Ew, EW EW!!!
Got my heart pounding I tell ya.

Can you believe that Halloween is just a few short days away? I don't think I am ready for November to be here. Fall has been non-existent in this part of the country as I believe it has been in most places. I still have a dead pine tree that needs to be removed, a garage door to replace, a sliding glass door that needs to be replaced, and hostas to cut back.

The largest project however is the building of the village. We have a large Christmas Village that we set up every year and then we host an open house so people can come and view the village. I also write risque stories about the villagers that live in our village with my friends as the stars of the stories. It's a regular Peyton Place I tell ya. Last year after Christmas, one of those friends called to say that she was at Goodwill and they had buildings there. I had to go check it out of course and brought home 6 buildings. This wouldn't have been a bad thing for me to do except our village was at capacity. Our dining room was full and it wasn't going to expand to accommodate the new additions. On top of that, I bought a new ON30 scale train for Dan's Christmas present. It wouldn't fit through the HO scale mountain. A decision was made that the village was going to need a major remodel and a new location. This remodel should have already been underway. It's Not. I had trouble deciding on a location. The family room would have been great except then we would lose the use of it for almost 4 months. The basement would work but we are hardly ever down there. I don't know about you but if I'm going to spend weeks building the darn thing by gum I'm going to want to view it on a regular basis. So you can see my dilemma. Use the family room and go downstairs to watch tv or use the basement and make a conscious decision to go downstairs every day. The other problem with the basement location is the open house. We'll have people on both levels which means one of us will have to be upstairs and one downstairs during the open house. Not a big deal but something to consider. After much flip flopping, (think a fish that's been thrown up on the dock) and frustration on Dan's part, we decided this week to go with the basement location. Losing the use of the family room for 4 months was the deciding factor. So, first thing Sunday construction will commence. I'd start Saturday but I'm hosting Last Saturday Stitching this Saturday and it's going to be a mess down there for a while.

I did some stitching this weekend in between packing. Here's the update on Signs of Fall as of last night.

I have to go pick up Amy's senior pictures today and run to Sam's Club. I haven't been there in almost 2 years so I thought maybe now would be a good time since I'll be over halfway there. When I get home I plan to unpack the rest of my car from this weekend. I still haven't finished that little chore. Maybe if I'm feeling really ambitious, I'll scoop the back yard. It's been so wet that I haven't done it for quite some time and I'm sure it needs doing.

Have a great day, thanks for stopping by and extra thanks for leaving a comment if you do!

I have new Stash!!

Good Morning!

It's a cold wet dreary day here in Nebraska. I am not enjoying it at all but at least it is NOT at this time snowing. They have mentioned it might do that tomorrow. I hope not as I am headed up north to pack up the shack and sign the closing papers. I'll be glad to have this done but very sad to be doing it. In a perfect world, I'd have enough money to make it look like I wanted, and enough time to go up there more than once a year. BUT, this isn't a perfect world so I'll just keep all the wonderful years of memories close to my heart and bring them out when I need a little bit of soul soothing.

Mary Ann came over a couple of days ago and she brought my stash that I ordered. I should be cleaning the house since my in-laws are coming at 1:00 today, but instead I am procrastinating. I took pictures of my stash. Just.For.You. And to waste more time since I don't feel like cleaning!!

First up is Quaker Diamonds by Rosewood Manor. Love, love, love this chart and the threads are gorgeous! I've never stitched with Valdani threads before, I hope they are worth what I paid for them. I'm itching to start this one but I promised myself I wouldn't until after I finish Signs of Fall and another project for my daughter.

Next up is Christmas Sampler by Stoney Creek. I think this is so pretty. There is another Christmas Sampler just out by Sheperds Bush that I think I have to have too.

I first saw this next chart on Margie's blog, Three Cool Pugs and Me. I thought it was such a cute stitch that I had to get it. Not sure when I'll get to it but it'll be here when I'm ready!

This next one by Lizzie Kate is so dang cute! I can't wait to stitch this one and finish it up cute like the picture! I can see all kinds of ways to display it, can't you?

And finally, I thought this new one by Sweetheart Tree was too cute to pass up. Not sure if I will turn it into an ornament or what but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

I think I will leave you with the view from my front door this morning. The fall color is gorgeous right now, wish it was warm enough and dry enough to go out and enjoy it! Well, I have procrastinated long enough and they will be here before I know it. Have a great weekend everyone and I'll see ya when I get back! Thanks for stopping in!