Where Did the Time Go?!?

Life's Little Tangles

Hello! Sometimes I get so frustrated! I WANT TO update my blog regularly! It seems like EVERYTIME I start to update something happens, yet again! GRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

The thing that just made all of that better is a post I saw on Facebook from one of my friends. Thank you, Sherry! Here is what she posted:

For every time I've stumbled, there is a time I've flown.
For every time I've messed things up, there is a time I've grown.
I know my Lord in Heaven is watching over me.
At times He sends His angels, at times He lets me be.
For life without some trials would be quite plain indeed
And I wouldn't learn the lessons He knows that I will need.
So I continue to endeavor and live my life with grace
Knowing angels are by my side and ready "just in case". Author unknown 

It is amazing to me sometimes how God works...using people and things to calm your spirit and realize who really is in charge!

Thanksgiving Turkey

In the nearly two months since my last update, we have had happy things, sad things and even scary things happen. I would have to say the scariest was my puncture wound. I was in the backyard, getting boxes and putting them in the van to take to the recycling center. I ended up puncturing the back of my right calf. Being that it was my right leg, the paralyzed side, I could not feel the wound occurring. I felt a scrape on my left calf, but didn't think much about it because it didn't hurt badly. A few minutes after, I look down and notice my white shoes are red!!! I don't know why because I cannot SEE any wounds! I turn on the water, rinsing my shoes and the blood spots on the driveway and within a short amount of time its back. Finally, I go in the house and wake Jack. He sees my legs and calls 911 and puts a pressure bandage on my leg. My blood pressure in the ambulance was low. I ended up with eight stitches that needed to be kept in for 14 days on my right calf and my left calf was able to be glued shut. Jack tells me that if CSI had come in our kitchen he would have been drilled about where was the body?! He said I lost at least a unit on the kitchen floor before he put the pressure bandage on.

Hope Ornament

The sad thing would have to be that because the way my insurance is now in order for me to receive a new shoe on my brace, I had to get a brace on each foot. The good thing about that, on the other hand, is that Jack and Rachel have been telling me I was occasionally dragging the foot not braced. The place that originally did my brace suddenly informed me they no longer take my insurance when its time to get new shoes. I found a place that did take the insurance, then found out about how the insurance would only cover the shoe with the brace on it. This means I'd have to buy, outright, the unbraced shoe.  I received the new braces a couple weeks ago. I am getting use to having a brace on my left leg. Everyone is telling me I am walking better. That is a good thing! :)

I would say the happiest thing is my niece's fiance first coming home from Afghanistan, then after his

Danielle and Nick

 "down time" he and my niece were married. I am so very happy for her! Congratulations, Danielle and Nick!! They will be moving into their own place, off base, in the next couple of weeks. Right now they are packing up all of Danielle's things to move her.

I have done a pretty fair amount of stitching as well. I have stitched on "Life's Little Tangles", I am not done with page two, but if I were to fill in these blanks, it would be done. I know for me to finish this project, I need to stop finding other projects to stitch as well, but as my DH says, I am going along just fine and then I see something. When seen, I say, "Shiny!!" (I want!) That is me! As a result, I end up with more than one project to stitch. Some might say more than I could EVER stitch.

Currently, I have:

1) "Peacock", which for the time being is safely tucked away
2) "Life's Little Tangles", whose pattern is still on my pink metallic board
3) "Thanksgiving Turkey", which I would like to get done in time to put on the wall this Thanksgiving (LOL)    and 
4) "Hope", my first ornament this year

Very Helpful Resource

I'd venture a guess that I will finish "Hope" before anything else since what I have left on it is all the same color. "Thanksgiving Turkey" only has four colors but it is a bit bigger than "Hope" as well.

I wanted to stitch some Christmas gifts this year. I thought small things or ornaments would work. I received the Christmas Ornament edition of  Just Cross Stitch and have a few picked out. I also have a couple other publications which have ornaments I would like to do. I bought a few coasters to make up as Christmas gifts, as well as a bracelet. I figured a couple of the "ornament" patterns would be perfect for the coasters. I bought a total of four.

I did buy some goodies to help we with my stitching of the projects. Those things have arrived!Yippee!! :) Two of those things are these books. I also bought some things meant to help me complete the ornaments. I am jazzed!

Another thing I have done, related to stitching is wrap all the threads my sister gave me last year. I PRECUT THREADS. I saw some of the cards she used at Joann's the other day, so I may end up redoing the binders. If I do though, the cards will be in numerical order, the way I can understand. I know I need to learn which colors are what number, but I haven't done that yet.

Another Helpful Resource

had wrapped the unused skeins she gave me months ago, but hadn't done anything with the threads she had in these binders. All of the thread was cut into lengths. I chose to not leave them like that because my sister had them sorted by color, not number, unless it was a card for a project. I decided to put all of those threads on bobbins. I am going to put these threads in their own box(es) and then label the box(es)

Flower Garden

My oldest daughter (Sarah) turned 21 yesterday. I remember when she was shorter than my arm, resting comfortably on my arm. Now she works two jobs, is going to college full time and is a Mommy herself! Her daughter is 14 months old.

This past week Jack and I did some beautification of our yard. This planter is in the south lawn of our front yard. Besides the mums you can see, we planted tulip bulbs and daffodil bulbs in the spots where there are no mums, in the hopes of having a pretty planter this spring. We have more tulip and daffodil bulps to plant, we just need to figure out the best spots.

What An Interesting August!

Kit I Started in the Hospital

Hello Everyone!

I have had an interesting few weeks! Some of you may not of seen my short blog update a couple weeks ago. I ended up in the hospital for a full week because of an abscess in the lower half of my left knee. About thirty-six hours after the surgery to remove the abscess, they released me from the hospital. They made three vertical incisions. They didn't stitch them closed because they want the incisions to heal from the inside out. A nurse from Home Health Care comes twice a week and looks at it and bandages it. As long as I have her coming, they pay for all my bandaging supplies.

As to how the abscess happened, that is a guessing game. It could have been when I tripped mowing the lawn or when I was on my hands and knees in my bedroom removing carpet. There is not really

More Kits Adana Gave Me!

an entry wound. Either way, I went into the Emergency room for the second time in three days on July 31. They started IV antibiotics on me and decided to put me in the “observation unit”, which was suppose a twenty-four stay. After I was there for twenty-four hours I was supposed to either be released or moved to a different unit. I was there after the twenty-four. Shortly after I was there for forty-eight, they moved me to a different unit. So they moved me on Sunday. Thats when other doctors started getting involved. When Jack and Rachel were visiting me Monday, Jack told one of the doctors that pumping me full of antibiotics was going to do no good if they couldn't find the

Life's Little Tangles Before This
 Times Stitching

source. He told him they need to do an MRI or CT scan. The doctor agreed. I had an MRI later that day. It showed a couple of abscess areas in the lower part of my knee. Shortly after I was moved upstairs, a stitching friend (thanks Adana!) brought me several kits to stitch. She even

Even More From Adana!
 Only thing not pictured are the scissors

bought me some scissors, bless her heart!!:) On Wednesday someone from Orthopedics came in and talked with me and showed me the MRI findings. They sent the x-ray machine in because the MRI was showing that I had a “foreign object” in my knee that had caused the whole thing. The x-ray showed nothing, so it was concluded the MRI was “over analyzed”. They did the surgery Wednesday evening and I went home on August 7. Jack and I think the "foreign object was so small, it came out with the puss from the abscess unseen. 

I went to see the surgeon yesterday. He likes the looks of how I am healing. He okayed me to start doing small things, but nothing on my knees, of course! I see him again in two weeks.

I looked at “Peacock” and thought about stitching on it, but didn't. I did however stitch some on “Life's Little Tangles” and “Noel” one of the kits Adana gave me. I ran into an issue with "Noel" pattern when I made the mistake of doubling up pearl cotton size 12. Silly me was reverting back to normal DMC where most of the time you make it two strands thick. Boy did I feel dumb on that one!

Life's Little Tangles Now

I thought I needed more white. I got some white from the maker of the kit, Turns out I had just enough. But I ended up ordering the green DMC 503 pearl cotton from 1-2-3 Stitch. I need to watch a video on how to do a particular design (spider rose). I think I found one on You Tube. I am suppose to do this with DMC floss not ribbon. Most of the videos show it with ribbon, but I found one with regular floss.

When I ordered the 503 Pearl Cotton size 12 from 1-2-3, my adoring husband, asked me if I

Order From 1-2-3-Stitch

wanted/needed anything else! We found out if we added DMC 310 and B5200, both pearl cotton size 12, that it would not increase the shipping cost at all! So we did that!!

Chance and Sarah went out of state and picked up Chance's daughter so she could have her one month a summer with Dad visitation. She is a beautiful young lady. Very well behaved. Jack and I immediately loved her! She dotes on her baby sister like she is a pro! They arrived here the day I was released from the

Dahlia's Smash Birthday Cake

hospital, which also happened to be Dahlia's first birthday. She celebrated her birthday at Chance's parent's home. She had a purple frosted smash cake she had fun with!

Brianna and Dahlia Cuddling

She was wearing one of the dresses Papaw bought her for her birthday during her celebration.

Our washing machine died in early June when our basement flooded because of a very fierce storm that our drainage system in the basement couldn't keep up with. The water heater died as well, but Jack was able to fix that. The day I got out of the hospital, on the way home, we stopped by Home Depot and bought me a new machine. We talked that we were washing at the laundromat and drying at home but we were spending more on the laundry this way than if we just replaced the machine. Even though it made things tough, we just took the

Dahlia After "Smashing" Her
Birthday Cake

leap of faith and did it! Father God has seen us through this trial. We are okay!!

Another time Father God had His protective hand on Rachel and me was yesterday. We were heading down a state highway, 55 mph, when the front right tire and wheel came completely off the car!!! Rachel was driving. She has her learner's permit. She managed to get the car over enough to the right that cars could safely pass, but not so far that the tow truck couldn't pick it up. She came to as safe a stop as any professional!! :) You could see the terrified look on her face but she did great. We did not crash, did not get harmed, and the car got home unscathed. Jack says the whole thing happened because the tire that came off was a bit bigger than the other three. No harm to the tire either. What we are going to do is put the tire back on long enough to get to the tire place and then get the proper size tire mounted!!

Well, that is it for now. Happy stitching,everyone!

Hospital Time

Hello, Everyone!

I have stitched very little this week. What I did stitch was on the left peacock on "Peacock" sampler.

Most of my time this week has been spent as a patient in the hospital. I hurt myself last weekend and the wound became infected. I originally went to the Emergency Room on Tuesday. They gave me an IV antibiotic and sent me home with a prescription to fill. They told me to give the antibiotic forty-eight hours to work. If no improvement, then come back. 

Wednesday was a bit better, but Thursday and Friday my leg looked worse. Jack took me back to Emergency Room Friday. They admitted me. Originally for just a 24 hour observation. Then  the swelling area grew so kept me a second night. Now staying a third night. The swelling went down, but not away. The redness decreased, but didn't go completely away. Still in pain.

Didn't bring my stitching with me to the hospital. My husband brought me my iPad when he came to see me today.

My leg still hurts a great deal!

I am sure that next update will be more positive. Happy stitching, everyone!!

Very Fast Summer

Hello Everyone! This summer has been flying by! In early June I went to SUTO (Stitching Under the Oaks). I had an absolute blast! I met so many stitchers and had a wonderful roommate in Anna 😂 I am very glad I went!

Since the retreat I have been stitching on “Life's Little Tangles”. I was not happy with leaving it as it was before I started concentrating on stitching on the retreat project. I now have it at a place that I will be able to pick it up easily and not be lost. A part of me wants to keep stitching on it. Another part wants to pick up the SUTO project. The picture here of "Life's Little Tangles" has the width of pages one and two completed

Life's Little Tangles

I am excited and nervous to start stitching the “Peacock” sampler again. It has a great deal of stitches in it that I've never done before. Some of the threads are silk, some are normal DMC (cotton) and others are pearl 5 and 8. Part of it had a metallic kind of thread. It also has a hardanger section. Before the retreat, I had used cotton DMC, some metallic thread, and in one project I used glissen gloss. Before the retreat was over, I tried to do a little of each stitch in class. Thea also gave us a CD, so if we needed to watch it being done again we could. She also gave us the material to turn it into a bag for our WIP's.

I am very excited...Joann's has opened in our mall! :D Rachel and I went opening day, and “window shopped”. I was ecstatic! I saw everything I need to do do cross stitching. I also saw some cute stamps and that made me think about maybe making some cards, especially since I've seen the end result of others doing cards. You never know, you may be the recipient of a handmade card! 😉

We are in the process of getting things organized here. I have all the music related stuff tucked away and the stack of stuff needing to be shredded done. I also have all of the wallpaper off the north wall in what was the dining room that can be reached by me without a ladder. I still need to do the south wall. It won't take near the length of time as the north wall, because it has a very large window. The east wall has paneling, so we are leaving it be. The west wall Rachel tore down Now, instead of a Living Room and Dining room, we are creating a Great Room, I believe is the term.

I also tore up the majority of the carpet in Jack's and my bedroom. When Jack was having to use an electric wheelchair (AKA Jazzy) it tore a major hole in our carpet in the bedroom. I have fallen a few times because of catching my foot on the carpet. There is a hardwood floor underneath, but the reason we covered it to begin with is there are various issues with the hardwood floor, such as paint splatters and needing sanding and resealing.

I am still going through tests, so I don't have final results, but the CAT-A of my brain showed I do not have any aneurysms forming. That is the good news. On the other side of the coin it showed I have what they term as a “small” benign tumor in my brain. I am scheduled to talk with my neurologist anyway on Friday. The main doctor office said he will discuss with me the options and then I may see the surgeon.

My granddaughter, Dahlia, is growing a great deal. She started walking about two days before this video was taken. That was a couple weeks ago now. Her first birthday is August 7. It took her a bit longer than I remembered my girls taking, for her teeth to come in, but once they started coming in, watch out! Now she had seven teeth, I think.

Let's Talk SUTO!!

Completed Peacock Sampler

Hello, Everyone!

I apologize for not writing for so long. Things have been on the crazy side for me. Also, typing for me, has become interesting. My left arm jerks a great deal now, because of whatever is going on with my neck and spine, so typing proves to be very interesting. The thing I find interesting is that it will jerk when I type, but not when I stitch. Why? I don't know. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact my arm behaves when I stitch. Just curious though. Jack and I may have solved this problem (the jerking arm) as far as me being able to do anything via the computer. LOL I mentioned to Jack my frustration at the jerking of the arm. He thought about it and came up with the idea of me using his remote keyboard and mouse. So, Jack hooked up the remote keyboard and mouse to my laptop. Typing this out that way works very well. I was thinking about it too. I jokingly said, “I wonder if I dictated it, if Rachel would key it out, since she can type a lot faster than Dear Ole Mamma! I wondered aloud if there was a free on line dicta-phone. Guess what there is! Even better, it is a natural part of the computer programs already on my computer!! I will have to do that next time though, because it requires some sort of microphone, which I don't have right now.

Me on  Boardwalk at steps to beach

I did get everything I needed for the SUTO retreat. Sarah and I went clothes shopping so I could have some much needed summer type clothes. I flew down a few days early. I stayed with my friend, Jennifer, for the couple of days before the retreat. The Florida trip was a lot of fun! I enjoyed myself a great deal!! Before the retreat, Jennifer took me to the beach area and she took some pictures of me on the boardwalk.

Thea was the teacher and she taught us some stitches I'd never heard of. The project is beautiful!! Part of it is hardanger, which is also new to me. The biggest section of the project that I have done thus far is in just regular over two cross stitch. The smaller parts I have done are some of the specialty stitches. This project also has me working with threads I never have before, Pearle Cotton both 5 and 8. Also silks and blended threads as well as regular DMC.

I took a picture with Thea, but its way to foggy/fuzzy for the blog. BRATS!! The most expensive thing I bought was a magnifying light/lamp, that I put over my project so I can see the holes easier and don't have to bend my neck at all!. It has proven to be very helpful. I had the magnifying, light up lamp sent directly to the house..

Progress on Peacock Sampler

I also had to have almost everything I received during the retreat sent to the house via UPS. I received everything from a scissor fob, to scissors, (BTW both of those were in the theme of the project...Peacocks) to needle minders, to kits, counting pins, markers, and so much more! I also bought a few things from Karen, the gal who brought part of her store, so if anyone needed anything it was there. I bought some beads , material, a needle minder, before I found out I was receiving two. That's okay, I now have three, so if I have three projects going, I have three needle minders! I also bought several packages of beads. Then there is what was being given away. I ended up bringing no less than five thread storage boxes and more patterns and the thread that came in the storage boxes. Some of us brought things to exchange with each other I made a bookmark, which I neglected to take a picture of. I also included a little case to keep small stitching supplies. In the exchange, I received a framed cross stitched angel. The angel, on her right finger(s), has a blue bird of some type. There are flowers on either side of her at the bottom. Underneath her SUTO 2015 is stitched. I have her atop my roll top desk, where I can see her all the time. Thea also gave us a DVD of how to do the project, step by step. Yippee!!!!!

I am getting so excited about Joann's coming to the mall! They open in mid-July! We have been without a cross stitching friendly store in town for a long time. I've had to go 70 miles [round trip] to get anything but thread. And honestly, the store that carries DMC cotton thread charges beyond the pale for it. I'll pay it, when absolutely necessary, but when they charge nearly double what everyone else does...

Life's Little Tangles

When I came home from the retreat, I was in a stitching mood. My Peacock sampler was still on its way here. I decided to try and get some of the 100 stitch blocks complete on “Life's Little Tangles”. I wanted to try and finish out certain 100 stitch blocks before I put it down to start again on the retreat project. There were a couple of squares, on “Life's Little Tangles” that has under 15 stitches. Others had quite a few. I am getting there; I can say I see my progress. I don't know how long it will take me to finish the Peacock Sampler from Thea, but I don't want to leave myself at a point where I'd be completely lost when I picked it up.

I am also very excited about the fact that I have made a new stitching friend. Hey, Hey, Connie! The other day I went over to her house and we chatted and stitched. I really enjoyed myself. When we talk we talk about family and stitching and everything in-between! We have become fast friends. I started a pattern that is quite easy, that I'll only stitch when we are together. It's small in comparison to some of my other stuff, but it should be a simple pattern to sit and stitch and chat! She started telling me about this pattern she was getting in parts, being that it was the chosen pattern for a Stitch A Long.

I want this pattern very badly, even if I have to buy it! I love the clothing and things of that era.

Rachel's Cake

Reminds me that there use to be much simpler times:

Someone shaking your hand sealed a deal; meant more than, “hello” or “good-bye”

Someone saying they will do an act did it

Children didn't even consider mouthing off to their parents

The Bible was followed, not ignored

Neighbors actually watched out for each other

I could go on, but I'm sure I have made my point. I've mentioned before how much I would have loved to live in the 1800's era. Someone pointed out to me that if an accident had happened that made me disabled back then, medical science wasn't as advanced as it was in 1963. this is true. However, the argument could be made, rightly so, that automobiles were not part of the picture until very close to or into the 1900's. Since I am disabled because of an automobile accident, would I have even become disabled? Another thing to ponder.

June is a big birthday month for our family. Both of my parents, my older sister and Rachel have birthdays in June. I am pretty sure at least one cousin does as well. Rachel's is a kinda special one. She was 16.

Sarah posted a picture of Dahlia Mae standing by herself for 10 seconds a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to show it to you, but it won't let me load the video. :(

Stitching and Winding Anyone

Completed 'Heaven'

Hello, Everyone!

Whether or not I have completed a lot will probably depend on your point of view. I completely finished “Heaven” last night. I had been struggling with it a bit because the project wasn't centered within the q-snap, thus, I was having issues getting the furthest left stitches complete. I was trying, but wasn't getting very far. What I ended up doing was, I stitched one strand of each color from right to left, so everything on the right side was completely stitched. Then I moved the material from left to right, so I could easily stitch the left side of the pattern. Then I moved the pattern to the right enough that I could easily reach the left side of the material. Picture of where I was when I was done with right side)

I also started a project, thanks to Mark in ILCS needing a thread for a project he is doing. :) Mark was asking about a particular DMC number, so I went hunting yo see if I could find it and discovered how many skeins of threads I had that needed wrapping! A bunch!!  That's okay, because I have been meaning to do this for a long time. Anyway, what the project was is organizing my cedar chest and threads so I know what I really have. I purchased another couple of thread boxes because I know I have so many extra threads now that I knew I was going to need at least two more thread boxes. I ended up wrapping every single skein into bobbins. Some of these threads were from a company in New York that went bankrupt in 1972! Their factory has been turned into yuppie condos, but still has the company name on the entrance.

I worked on this exclusively for about five days. Thus far, I have two boxes filled to what I want. I want to leave some “wiggle room” in the event I get more of the color that is in that box. The two boxes I am “done” with are labeled, “Box one of Extras Blanc to 353”, and “Box two of Extras 355 to 598”. I stopped, not because I was done...I am far from done. I stopped because I wanted to work on “Heaven” some more. I really wanted to finish it, which I did! (YEAH!!!)

Now I can get back to “Life's Little Tangles”. If another small project “pops up” it won't be that big of a deal. You know how projects just seems to pop out at you?! I started receiving the “Just Cross Stitch” magazine this year. They have some adorable bird houses and some what looks like some pretty quick spice plant stitches for the kitchen. Then there is Wes and Jess's wedding. Then, of course, there is the project that I will be working on thanks to the retreat I will be going to in early June in Florida!

I am getting so jazzed about the retreat. I paid it off a few months ago and bought my plane tickets as well. In the next few days I will be going shopping for things I need for the retreat. I have been stitching for a very long time and have never done anything like this before. I doubt I'll ever be able to do it again. But I am sure of one thing...I will have loads of FUN!!!!

I have been given some of my Mother's Day presents already. Jack and Rachel bought me two Boston Ferns. They are beautiful! We have them hanging in front of the house right now. When I was out and about today, getting new glasses, Jack called me and asked me to pick up a little cash for him to use on Sunday. The bank was literally right across the street from where the glasses place is located.

Well, that's about it for now. All the Mothers or Mothers to Be have a wonderful day! Happy stitching everyone!!

I Got Some NEAT Things!

Perfect Coffee Cup

I am excited! The stitching friend who is in charge of helping put the retreat together that I am going to showed me a coffee cup she purchased on line. She gave me the link she used (thank you, Jennifer). Ever since then, I have been trying to get it myself! With no luck! Grrr! Well, at the beginning of April my loving husband (thank you, Jack, I love you!) found another place that sold it. The

Cross Stitcher Adict?

sight that Jennifer gave me, never got back to me. Brats!!Anyway, He ordered it for me!!! Yaaaaay!! It was on back order (must be a popular cup LOL) but it finally arrived today! I love it!!! Now if I get the shirt I want, I'll be all set!!! I shared this shirt on my time line on Facebook and then on each of my kids time lines, saying I want it for Mother's Day, so we will see if I get it! Keeping fingers crossed!!!!

I did something a few days ago (4/11) that I had never done before. I don't know if I will ever do it again, but who knows? Jack may need me too! We had been having car problems. Jack realized that one of the problems was the battery cables were corroded, thus needed to be replaced. To take the old ones off a couple of Rachel's male friends (Jesse and Coby) helped him. When it came time to put them back on, one was at his job and I can't remember where the other one was. At any rate, he needed help tightening one of the cables from underneath the car. Jack is not a skinny guy, so he cannot get underneath a car without it being on jack stands. Anyway, I got underneath the car and was able to tighten the cable for him with him holding the tool in place from the top of the car. Most people, say, slide underneath and back out on the same side of the car. Which would have you come out from under the car the same side of the car you went underneath. Anyway, I had to be different. Because my right side is paralyzed, I could not do that. I slid underneath the car on the passenger side, stopping where Jack told me to. I worked the ratchet, then slid out, coming out on the driver's side of the car. I cannot slide going to the right because of my paralysis. Turns out that the car also needs a new starter, but at least I can say I helped a little bit in the fixing of the van. :)

The new starter arrived today (4/15) via UPS. Jack was able to put it in without help, though it argued with him big time. He did put it on jack stands this time and chalked the back tires. He was getting very frustrated. Rachel offered her help when she could see how frustrated Dad was, but he would not accept any help. Her philosophy was, “grease can be washed off”. He was able to finish it within a few minutes of Rachel's offer. The van was completed in time for Rachel to go to church. I started to take her, but got nervous about it so didn't, The red warning light indicating “battery” was coming on. We never left the driveway. It wasn't staying solid, but it was coming on. I turned off the van and came in. I told Jack what was going on. He thinks the battery might just need some extra charging, so we will put the big charger on before I have to go to work tomorrow. Lord willing, Jack is right, and a short amount of time on the battery charger will take care of it. 

Heaven as of Now

Jack looked at the car this morning  (4/16) and discovered a wire going to the alternator had come loose yesterday. That was why the battery light was going on and off. He tightened it and then put the car on the charger. The car is running perfect!

I have had good days and bad days with my pain because of the discs in my neck. I have only been stitching on “Heaven”, since my last post. I showed yet another

Where I Keep my Supplies

stitching friend (Kim, your the best!) my progress since my Resurrection Day post. She says I am making great progress. I need to stop being so hard on myself. I need to keep in mind that because of my disc problems, I am going to have to take breaks more often, thus things will take longer. Such is life! When I started stitching the bank if flowers at the top, I started to just do one flower at a time, working from left to right. I was feeling like I wasn't getting very far, very fast, so I decided to work a color at a time, left to right on the green. Then, when that was done I decided I would work on the pink and salmon shades of the flowers, right to left. What I am doing is working with the length of the color right to left. Why I am doing this is because the material is not exactly centered on my q-snap, thus it is hard to get to the furthest left. I am having to constantly adjust the part of the q-snap on the far left to get to the part of material I want. That has become a major pain!! By working a length of thread of each color, I am getting enough stitched on the right side that I won't have that problem anymore. I'll be able to just move the material enough that I can complete the stitching on the left side! I'll do that with the rows that need to be put on the top to match the rows at the bottom as well. I started taking a good look at this project, and realized Kim was right!! I am making very good progress on “Heaven” . At last post, I had none of the bank of the flowers and greenery done. I also only had the straight lines on either side of the word, Heaven. Now the leaves on those lines are done, all of the greenery in this bank of flowers, and the flowers are coming along nicely. The three on the right only need the darkest color [salmon] and then they are done. Then I have the four rows of stitching, exactly like the four on the bottom on the top. Then I can frame it and give it to Micki! She told me the colors of this project will go perfect in her bedroom! Yay!!

I have been seeing several people talking about how they store their stitching stash. I

How the Inside of a Numerical Box Looks

thought I'd put in my two cents into that. :) LOL Anyway, I had been storing everything in a couple of those white plastic containers that almost look like file cabinets. I bought them at Walmart, and it does do the job and has worked for a long time. But, when a house cleaning client I had (RIP Patty) gave me a cedar chest, I figured that would be the perfect thing to store my stuff. Patty was ill and knew she was dying. She gave the cedar chest to me about a month before she died. We had become very good friends. She actually had two and asked me which one I wanted. Hers, or the one that belonged to her mom. Then she told me her son wanted the one that was Grandmas, so it was obvious which one I'd take. I cleaned her place once a month, on average. Sometimes, though, I'd just go over

How I Label my DMC

for a cup of coffee. Okay, get back on task, Lyn.

The little box you see atop the cedar chest is what a call a WIP box. I pull the bobbins I need for a project and put them in that box. I have about four of those. I put a note on the inside of the lid with the name  of the project. That way, I can keep them straight. I do have one big box that I use for my project threads of my big projects. Lets face it, "Life's Little Tangles" 90+ colors would not fit in a little box!

I put all of my cotton DMC on bobbins. Sometimes, I write the number, sometimes I use the stickers DMC sells. I prefer the paper bobbins, because I can write on those. That isn't true for the plastic bobbins. I do have some of those. I will admit they do last better, but how can a person identify the floss, if they DON'T HAVE the stickers? I have bobbin boxes that I store my cotton DMC in. I label these boxes numerically. I think I have a total of five boxes that go from the lowest number to the highest number. One bobbin per number in the numerical boxes. I have some cotton DMC on those same kind of bobbins, in these same kind of boxes, but they are my extra of those colors. Those boxes are still, more or less, kept in numerical order. I don't have them marked like I do the ones that have one skein of each color. If I am low or out of a particular number, if I need it, I go to my overflow boxes. If it isn't there, I go to the bags of floss that still need to be wound. Never ending job, as you know. If the color isn't there, then I will buy the floss.

I don't like to wind the metallic threads. What I do with them is put them on the bows and slip them into this plastic sheet meant for them I try to keep them more or less in order. I have them in a binder

My beads are in a smaller container, similar to which I keep my cotton DMC. I want to get more beads, but since I don't do a great deal of beading, I don't have a lot of beads. What I generally use beads for is where french knots are suppose to go. I stuggle with those.

I have some material that is not in use. I have some. I either keep it in a large ziplock (air tight) bag or in whatever it came in, if it is air tight. Of course I'd love more material. I'll get it, little by little. With the cedar chest, I have the room!

My stitching supplies, such as needles, sticky bob, soft pick, etc., are also in the cedar chest. I need to organize that part better.

Well, I think I should be signing off before I turn this into a book! Happy stitching Everyone!

I am EXCITED!!

Rachel Summer 2014 (Left)

I have some good news! In several areas! I have so much good news I do not know where to start!

Dahlia Yesterday 6.5 months

I guess, I can start with Rachel and her braces. She has never been happy with her teeth. She had a small gap between her two top front teeth. Almost every picture she has taken over the past several years, she has refused to smile in such a way to show any teeth. I was able to get her an appointment with an orthodontist. At first they said her problem was not enough that the insurance would help

with the tab. We don't have the kinds of funds that we could just hand over that money, so it looked like Rachel would have to live with her teeth the way they are. When I explained to the orthodontist how important this was to Rachel's self-esteem, they resubmitted the request. It was granted this time. They were put on in mid to late January. She will have them for one year. Her next appointment is in mid March. She can already see the difference. She has

Rachel Today

worn glasses for years but hates to take pictures in them. I think she is beautiful either way.

Sarah, Chance and Dahlia moved out the beginning of February. They had been hoping to get a two bedroom, one bath home in a small town 15 miles west of Danville. Population 200, before they moved in,  They had been looking at this house and really wanted it. Sarah worked with the banker and was able to get a mortgage to buy the home. She also started nursing school in January and Chance landed a well paying job in February. This one he got on his own, not through a temporary agency. Jobs you land by yourself always seem to last longer.

Life's Little Tangles early February

Life's Little Tangles Today

I have been struggling for house cleaning clients. A little over a week ago Jack and I talked about me putting myself on care.com. It is alot like Angie's list. A three month subscription was very reasonable. We figured it was worth a shot. Every other venue of advertising had not generated much of anything. Within a couple of days, I received an e-mail from a gal. She wanted me to come to her house and  discuss what she wanted completed. I did that yesterday, as well as actually cleaning her home. She and her husband were very impressed. They now want me to come every other week. So, placing my name here has already more than paid for itself. Yay!!!

Jack is getting around so well now, he no longer needs the Jazzy. He uses a one prong cane to get from one point to another when the distance is quite far. At places like the grocery store or Walmart, he will use one of their electric carts, but at home 95% of the time he just walks. He uses his rollator in the kitchen, when he cooks or does the dishes because of how much time that requires for someone to be on their feet. For those of you who have not heard the term "rollator" and are wondering what on God's green Earth that is, it is basically w rolling walker with a seat, so if the person using it gets tired, they can sit a spell.

I have paid for the stitching retreat in full and actually purchased the airline tickets so now its really official. I am going to Stitching Under The Oaks!!

I have been stitching a fair amount (some might say alot). Since the beginning of the year I've been concentrating on my HEAD, "Life's Little Tangles". The picture on the right of LLT was taken something like February 2 or 3. The picture on the left was taken tonight.

 For the past few weeks I have had some pain issues in my arm. Not sure why, but I have an MRI this week. Maybe that will give some answers.

I have come up with a system that helps me if I have to stop at a point within a pattern, that is not what could be called a "natural" stopping point. The far left side of page 1 of any HAED, at the top "Section 0". As you move to the down you have "Section 10", "Section 20", and so on. As you move to the right in the pattern you have your columns. As you move down you also have rows. So, for example if you are working with DMC 3371 and you have to put your project down for a bit you can make a note. Using color 3371 at Section 60, Column 34, Row 68. That way you can tell right where you are, or at l

Numbers on Box 1

east I can.

Threads in Box 1

Something else that was recently discussed was the way you store your threads. I was asked to discuss what I do, showing pictures. When I talked about this on group I said each compartment held 5 full bobbins. I misspoke. Each compartment holds 6 full bobbins. I am not happy with the picture of the numbers on Thread Box 1, but the way it goes is white (blanc) is in the upper left corner; then ecru; then the numerical ones start. The lower right corner has the highest DMC number in that thread box box two will start with the next DMC number. I have a total of 5 DMC threads with just one bobbin of each color. I have "overflow" boxes as well, but they are not quite as organized. Box 1:  Blanc- 543, box 2: 550-829, box 3: 830-3328, box 4: 3340-3849, box 5: 3850- B5200 plus the other numbers that start with 52. I have my metallics in clear cases on stitch bows, I hope this answers the questions of those who messaged me
about how I did things.


Happy stitching everyone!

Way Too Long, Way Too Crazy!

Baby Raymond's Bib

I know it has been WAY to long (almost a full two months) since my last update and I apologize for that. These last couple of months has had my head spinning wondering which side was up!

Framed Dahlia Announcement

I made a local friend who was due to have a baby. He was born healthy and is doing great - beautiful baby Raymond - on the Friday before Thanksgiving. I decided I'd stitch a baby bib for him. I didn't start on it, largely because I didn't have a bib to stitch on, until after he was born, but I was able to get it done in just a couple of days.

I noticed I had made an error on Dahlia's Birth Announcement. I had put the year as 1-4, instead of 14. I corrected that and added the time she was born. Then I framed it and gave it to Sarah for Christmas. She loved it.

Dahlia's Footprints

Chance made something neat for us and his mom. He and Sarah put paint on the bottom of Dahlia's feet and then turned the feet into butterfly

Rascal Sneaking a Peek

wings. I do not know how Peggy, Chance's mom, felt about it, but Jack and I LOVED it!! We went ahead and had it framed.

I also completed "Stop That Cat". I want to frame it and put it in  my bathroom. When I saw this pattern, I thought of our cat, Rascal, immediately. he definitely lives up to his name regularly! I finished stitching this project on New Year's Eve.

 In the picture of Rascal (right side) he is looking underneath my bedroom door that leads into the kitchen, watching Sarah's cat, Mindy. He and Mindy do not get along at all, so when she is roaming the house, he is in our room. When he is

Completed "Stop That Cat"

roaming, she is in her cage. If we don't do this we will learn the definition of "Cat fight" in short order. It really isn't fair to either cat to have to be locked away for any length of time, but, that will end when Sarah and her family move out. These two do this to

"Heaven"

each other on a regular basis, so in a way this is funny. When Rascal is locked in our bedroom, Mindy will sit on the kitchen side of the door where he can see her under the door and taunt him (that's whats happening in this picture). If Mindy is in her cage, in Rachel's room, Rascal has been known to sit atop her cage. Rascal is 2. Mindy is more like 8 or 9.

I ave also made a fair amount of progress on, "Heaven" for my friend since second grade, Michele. Mickie (AKA Michele) knows about this. I  have made great progress, especially since my goal is to have it done by her birthday in mid June!

Because of putting my stitching efforts into these two projects, I did not stitch on my HAED. I plan on it though, now that I have one of my projects completed.

Speaking of June, I have exciting news! In summer of 2014 I was invited to attend a stitching retreat in Florida, called, "Stitching Under the Oaks" in June of 2015. After Jack and I talked about it, I said, "yes, I want to go!" I have NEVER been to a stitching retreat in all my years of stitching. I have heard alot about them and they sounded fun. I was honestly a bit nervous about saying yes, because I was unsure if we could afford for me to go. God is good!!! He provided!!! My parents sent me some Christmas money. I had paid alot on it already, but was hitting a snag at the end of the year. We were told of some finances that would be coming my way because of an auto accident I had been in June 2013. The other person was at fault, got the ticket, etc., but her insurance was trying to say I was 50% at fault. She had a stop sign, I didn't. So my parent's Christmas money paid for the remainder on the retreat, save $39, and the settlement paid the rest plus my  round trip airline tickets!

If you're wondering why I haven't talked about my house cleaning business lately, it because things slowed to almost a halt. there has been nothing to report. Hopefully, I will be able to go "client hunting" soon.

Take care everyone! Have a Happy New Year and happy stitching!!