My Needles Were Hot!

Hello, Everyone!

I know, once again, it has been way too long between updates and I apologize for that. It seems like since my last post alot of things have been occurring.

Captain kissing me

Chance was laid off of his job and is trying to get the GED taken. He has passed everything except one subject. He is getting some tutoring to help him with that subject before he takes that portion over again.

Our dog, Captain has had severe arthritis for the past couple of years. We were giving him

Captain before his appointment

glucosamine, to help with the pain, but we started noticing that it wasn't working that well anymore and that he was going outside only twice a day to do business for a few days. He had been losing his hair too. We have no clue why, but nothing the vet did helped that stop.  We talked about it and decided it was time to put him down. He was a Labrador/SharPe mix. He would have been 11 on December 21. I asked the vet how long does his bread usually live. He told me 11-13 years. So he was close. You could tell by looking in his eyes he was ready to cross the Rainbow Bridge. I was a mess for a few days afterwards, because Captain was really my dog. He slept at my feet, was fed and watered my me, gave me kisses and hugs, and so much more. He protected this house against a burglar a few years ago. Needless to say, a very faithful and loving pet.

Rachel and Kristian at the Military Ball

Rachel went to the Military ball with her boyfriend. They have been going out a couple of months. He is a member of the Junior ROTC and is hoping to go into the Marine Corps when he graduates from high school. She and I shopped for a dress a couple days before the ball. She tried on the dress she was planning on wearing, but realized it didn't fit right. We went shopping at a store called Debs. They carry everything especially meant for teenage girls; from jeans to formal wear. Homecoming was a few weeks before the Military ball, so the formal dresses were drastically reduced. We bought her dress with a 70% discount. I thought that was a great deal.

I broke my fourth toe on my left foot, Not sure if it happened when I dropped a cookie sheet on it, side first. When I dropped the cookie sheet I was drying the dishes.That same night, about an hour later I stubbed that same toe in a strange way. I guess one could have started it and the second completed the break. I went to the clinic the day after. They x-rayed it and showed me the films. The break is what he called an oblique break. It starts just below the top knuckle on your toe and goes down and sideways at the same time.

Stop That Cat

I had quit smoking in September 2011, but ended up starting again in February or March of 2012. I have been wanting to quit again. I set a last date to smoke (November 3) and put the patch on the morning of November 4, when I first woke up. I can honestly say there have been a few times that I really craved a cigarette. I have not given into that craving though. I am starting week three of the "Stop That Cat!" for the slower times. That didn't happen very often though. We had a pretty good turn out in the polling place I worked. Honestly, the only real slow time was the last hour. We only had two people come in then. We had five people within 15 minutes of the poles opening though.
patch. Yay!! Why quit the day I did? Because it was election day and I was an Election judge. Therefore I didn't really have time to smoke. And when I did, I had brought along

It snowed a couple of inches here this past Saturday. We'd had flurries a couple of times before then, but nothing that stuck. This time it stuck. It has not gone away yet either. I heard it may be gone by this weekend. I hope so. I have a good friend who moved up to Baldwin, Michigan at the end of spring. She was estatic that they got five inches of snow. She loves winter. Me? I tolerate winter I

Heaven

love late spring and early fall, before it gets horribly hot or cold.

Since I have broken my toe, I have been doing alot of stitching. I have stitched on "Stop That Cat" as well as "Life's Little Tangles".I have also started "Heaven", the project I am doing for my best girlfriend, Micki. Micki and I met in second grade and we have been best friends ever since.

I am pleased with how much I was able to accomplish on "Heaven", in

 Life's Little Tangles

justa few hours work. My thought was to give this to her for her birthday this coming June. I gave her mom my piece "Amazing Grace" for Christmas a few years ago.

I stitched on "Stop that Cat!" for a couple of weeks. I frogged  the lettering I had done, "What's yours?" because I realized I had done it in the wrong color. Oh well, its not like the works take a long time to do! :) I am glad that I am getting to work with the colors of the cat now. I know I have maybe 600 stitches left on the "roll" but I need to take a break from white on white.

I also have stitched on my HAED, "Life's Little Tangles". I think I have made great progress, or at least good, for about two weeks of work. I think in that time I have stitched about 2,000. I have been able to spend a nice amount of time stitching especially in the week since my toe broke

I have also done something that I don't get to do very often. I bought some stash! I bought some from a fellow stitcher as well as 1-2-3 Stitch. I have not received any of the things yet, but I'll fill you in on what I bought next time. I also sent in the post card to start receiving the magazine, "Just Cross Stitch". I am excited!!!

Well, I need to be going. I'll talk with you again soon. Happy Stitching!

Pictures, Pictures and MORE Pictures!!

Hello, Everyone! 

Creation Cat

Rough Day Cat

Some of you may remember that I stitched three different cats for my friend and sister in Christ, Jan. Dan, Jan's husband, was our pastor for a long time. About a year after he retired, which means he resigned from full time preaching, and started sub preaching, we found a different congregation.. When I stitched them, she and her family lived a few miles from us within Danville. A few months ago they moved up to West Central Michigan. :(   Her husband took a Pastoral Call there.  The congregation he is now the Shepard of is quite a bit smaller, which is what Dan was looking for, so it was perfect for him.Anyway, she sent me pictures of all the four projects in their new home. I thought you might want to see what they   

Love Spoken Here

Attitude Cat

   look like framed and hung up. Actually, Dan is holding, "Creation Cat" because the couldn't get a straight shot of the picture when it was on the wall. The fourth project is called, "Love Spoken Here". I don't think this picture is on the wall in this picture, but you can see the picture, framed, well.

Lori's Patterns

 I had mentioned a couple posts ago that my cousin, Lori, in California, had sent me an envelope full of cross stitch WIPs and supplies. She cannot stitch anymore. Not sure why, but she asked me if I
 could use them. I said of course! She sent me all of her things.She had
started both the girl in pink and the postman. I didn't take pictures of her WIPs, but there are plenty of pictures to see this time! Wow!!

About a week later my sister, Tracy, who lives in Idaho, sent me a BIG  box of  cross stitch supplies without

Material from Tracy, Baby Bib
 pattern, & Thread Chart

 even telling me the box was on its way!! Tracy is a huge reason I began cross stitching to begin with, so I was very surprised. The first cross stitched item I owned was one Tracy had made me when I was single and living in an apartment by myself. It said. “Home Sweet Apartment”. She sent me all kinds of adia, various colors as all kinds of other supplies. I called Tracy to thank her and also asked

Packaged Material from Tracy

why she sent me so much. She said she has slowed down on her stitching. She basically just does things like baby bibs now and other small things like that.

Then last week I received yet another box! This time it was from my Uncle Bill, Lori's dad. Uncle Bill is the grandfather of the young man whom I did the wedding sampler for earlier this year. He had Lori ask me if I'd be interested in the project my Auntie Faith cannot finish. Auntie Faith was diagnosed with Alzheimer's several years ago. She

Kits from Tracy

hardly knows anyone much less remembers how to do needlepoint any more. The project is needlepoint, not cross stitch, Uncle Bill was uncertain if it was complete, but, if it hadn't been completed, I believe I could have done it without any problem at

Auntie Faiths Project

all. The only color yarn he included was the cream color background. It is beautiful flowers. Uncle Bill included in the box he told me once I finish it to keep it because he has no where to put it. I will proudly find a place to hang this! This box didn't just have the project my Auntie made – stitching is all done – needs to be stretched and framed, but my uncle also sent me some beautiful tablecloths, a book called, “Gifts for the Heart”, but a watch, a radio  you  listen to with headphones, a macrame purse, and other types of memento
 items. He actually said in the letter if I didn't want any of the items to give them away.  Silly man! Why would I give away things from my

Bag of Threads

Uncle that he thought I may appreciate? He was right! I appreciate them more than words could ever say!

Tracy and Lori both sent me a bunch of DMC thread that needs to be put on bobbins. For the time being I have put ALL of the skeins. In one bag, Tracy had hers in the bag. I haven't counted how many skeins I ended up receiving, but I think its at least 200 skeins! :)

Tablecloths from Uncle Bill 

The tablecloths on the left are so pretty! There are several. Cream, white, green, red, and a cream one printed with gold thread! The picture on the right is of most of the extras that Uncle Bill sent. I know the book isn't part of the picture, but I cannot remember if there is anything else not pictured. It has a

Auntie Faith's Extras

package to put together a Bell Pull.The width looks just right to make Auntie Faith's project a Bell Pull, so that is what I am going to try. It should be interesting, since  I have never done a Bell Pull. I pray putting the hardware on it isn't hard! I may be asking either Dawn or Richard for help on this one. Be prepared, fellow stitchers, for some silly questions!

I also found out how to get the 2014 Christmas Ornament magazine from "Just Cross Stitch". That arrived a few days ago. Thank you, Sara, one of my Facebook friends with a cross stitching store! The  magazine also had a card in it for me to sign up for the normal bi-monthly magazine at more than half off! I am considering that, given I cannot find the magazine in

Stop That Cat

any store in my area!

I have only been stitching on "Stop That Cat", but I will start in on "Life's Little Tangles"  again now. Here is a picture of my progress on it. I feel like I have made good progress since my last post. There is just so much white, sometimes its hard to see the progress. What I can tell you about my progress is that the right side of the project is completely done, except the backstitching. I go no further on top. The few stitches of 762 you see at the top of the actual roll of toilet paper is the top row of the project. The darker gray (318) you see at the bottom is the bottom of the right side.

Threads on Cards

The left side has a  paw going a couple rows further down, but that is the lowest the pattern goes.

I believe I found the material I want to stitch "Heaven" on. I just need to make sure it is the right count material.

One more picture of something Tracy sent me. It was even more threads on white cards within a tan binder. The cards are from DMC and have room to put the number of the thread. She sent me 5 such binders full of thread! I feel so blessed with all these RAKs! I have no clue what to do with all of this new stuff, but I am sure I'll figure something out!!  :)

Take care, everyone and have a great week!

Progress!!

Hello Everyone!

I am proud of myself! Since catching up on my e-mail, last weekend, I have taken time every day, except yesterday, to be on my computer at least long enough to go through my e-mail. On top of that, I am actually getting my blog updated in the time frame I wanted. When I came home from work after church, my in-home care client needed lunch, I announced I wanted to update my blog today. A
couple hours later, my computer was surrendered to me!  :)

Stop That Cat

I have not stitched on "Life's Little Tangles" this week at all, However, I have stitched daily on "Stop That Cat!". I was originally wanting to stitch all of page two. A small amount compared to page one, but that was not to be. (GRRR!!) Here is a picture of what I did get done. Page two actually starts on the far left side of the "s" in "what's". The very bottom right of page one is the 11 stitches of DMC 318. I had started to stitch the 318 on the lower left part of page two and then my skein of 318 disappeared! I had to put my stitching down unexpectedly for several hours yesterday and then, vanish! I had originally gone into the kitchen, for what was to be a couple of minutes, to take my two o'clock meds and I get conned into washing a round of dishes by Rachel and then asked by Jack to do a multiple store run.

Rachel had asked for "help" cleaning the kitchen. She was washing the counters very well, so I did a round of dishes, which, honestly, was probably 95% of them. Then Jack asked me to go to the grocery store and get some things he needed for dinner. He cooks most of the time, so I can do runs to the store. It ended up being multiple stores because the first store didn't carry an item he needed. We had meatloaf, homemade mashed potatoes and gravy and homemade biscuits.

Anyway, when I finally started to sit and stitch again, I picked up the pattern and couldn't find my 318! I decided to fiddle around with something else in my bedroom and then when I did start stitching I did another strand of white. The cat has white in him and of course toilet paper is white. Doing this on white is a bit hard. It will be backstitched in black (the toilet paper, so it will be able to be seen, but  I was thinking I should have used a shade of blue.

I found another skein of 318, but for some reason it was lighter than the one in "Stop That Cat", so I decides I'd have to track down the original skein. I ended up looking through my stitching area completely and then found the missing 318 skein.Yippee!! It had attached itself to a blanket. The black/brown DMC on the far right side is the furthest to the right the pattern will go. I will stitch more on this project this week, but not sure how much. I do want to stitch on other things as well. We'll have to see how it goes.

It dawned on me this week, not sure what took so long, but I realized I have really been at peace, inwardly, for the past couple of weeks. Absolutely nothing would or could upset me. I think I was originally stressed out so much because I was trying and trying to get together with a gal here in town that I had considered my best girl friend for years. Shortly before my 50th birthday, she stopped calling me. I'll be 52 on January 1. I finally realized that if she wasn't putting forth the same kind of effort I was to get together (every time I asked, she'd say, "soon", but we never would) she wasn't the friend I thought she was. Also, another gal in town, whom I considered a friend allowed her daughter to put Sarah down major time. Sarah may have become pregnant before she was married, but so is this girl!! I haven't spoke with her either, for the better part of two months.

Jack is doing well. He got 'skin' put on his prosthetic leg. Now its hard to tell he has on a prosthesis if he's wearing pants. You can only see where the prostheses starts if he is wearing shorts.

I had a scary episode last week. I woke last Sunday at my normal time and my left arm was shaking badly and wouldn't stop. After awhile, I woke Jack and a few minutes later we called 911. The shaking lasted for over seven hours. The hospital ran tests but had no answers. I saw my regular doctor the next afternoon and she ran some tests and got me into a neurologist. One problem we discovered I have is that my upper back, just like my neck, now has Degenerative Disc Disease. Also I am starting to form a hump on my back, similar to the one my grandmother had (maternal). I do not have osteoporosis though.

Well, I better get going. I want to stitch some more tonight! Have a great week everyone!

The Chaos of September!

Hello, Everyone!

Life's Little Tangles Restart

Well, once again it has been near a month since my last update. BRATS! I really do want to start posting more often again.

I have been stitching a lot on "Life's Little Tangles". I cannot remember how fast or slow I did it last time I started, but it seems like I am stitching slower. Maybe it is my imagination. I don't know. What I do know is that I love using the red guide thread on this project!! In this picture you can see on the left that I have some stitches under the completed sections. Page 1 ends one row under the bottom stitch. Page 1 also ends one  column past the short brown line on the right. With me using the red guide thread, I feel like I can more easily count and it will be easier to move from page to page.

Jack mentioned to me that if I finish "Life's Little Tangles" by the beginning of next summer I'd blow them away at the fair. He may be right, but, I have other projects I want to do as well, thus I don't want to ignore them either. I don't want to put too much pressure on myself. This project is 24 pages, 450W and 373T. If I don't finish it by summer of 2015, maybe I can try for the summer of 2016?! Jack is supportive of me either way! I love him so much!!

I have stitched a bit more on "Stop That Cat".I also frogged a bit of Dahlia's birth
date on her announcement. I noticed that I'd put a dash symbol between the 1 and the 4 on the year

Stop That Cat

she was born. It won't take much to fix that. It will  .end up giving me enough room to put the time, like Jack and I had discussed.

I also have a pattern that talks about friendship that for the longest time I've been wanting to do for my girlfriend since second grade. Micki and I have been through everything together. She still lives in Fresno, California, where I was born and raised. After our first year of marriage Jack and I moved from Fresno to Bakersfield, California. The next year we moved to Illinois, largely because of the cost of living in California. We have been here ever since. Micki comes out to see us periodically. We have also gone to Fresno on occasion. Honestly, Micki has been able to come here more than us to there. I think a big

Dahlia May 5 wks old

part of that is because she never married. She is very shy and has trouble introducing herself to people. She is a wonderful person with a huge heart!

Sarah and Chance are in Pennsylvania on business for Chance and to show Dahlia off. They left early Thursday morning and arrived at his mom's house Thursday evening around 9:30, Illinois time. About a fifteen hour adventure. Not too bad, considering they had to stop periodically so Sarah could nurse Dahlia. This picture of Dahlia was taken last week. She was 5 weeks old. The outfit she is wearing a friend of my sister-in-law in Tennessee crocheted for her. She looks adorable in it! I'm not sure if you can tell, but Dahlia has blue eyes. They should be home on Tuesday or Wednesday. I'm not sure which.

The way Chance's hours are at work, it turns out he didn't have to take any time at all off for this business trip. Sarah is working again, but very minimal hours. She's hoping to go full time again before long. They are looking at a home in a town a few miles out of Danville. It is a very cute home, very reasonably priced.

Rachel is still going strong with the fire department. This morning she had to be at the station early because they were going to burn a condemned home as a training exercise. They finished the burn about an hour ago and now they are going out to eat.

Rachel is also doing well in school. Her Dad and I are very proud of her. She had ended up with a couple of low grades on her progress report, but did what was necessary to bring them back up. The first actual report card comes out in mid October.

Jack recently had a birthday. He received a refurbished laptop from his sister. His other laptop died months ago. Considering Jack writes on fan fiction that was very bad news. He recently started a new story that seems like it will be v ery good. The lap top arrived yesterday. He got right to work on it. He is so happy! Which of course makes me happy!!

I have signed up to attend "Stitching Under the Oaks" in Florida late next May. I have it about half paid for now. Lord willing I'll be able to finish paying it off soon. They request you have your portion paid for by March, which makes sense.

A couple weeks ago my sister, who lives in Idaho and cross stitches as well, sent me a huge box full of all kinds of stitching supplies. I was not expecting this at all. I knew she was sending something for Dahlia, but I had no idea about this box that has everything from various colors of adia; in several sizes, and way to much else for me to break down everything. I may see about taking a picture and posting it, but trust me, this box is huge and stuffed to the gills!

During the few days that Sarah and Chance have been away, I was able to be at my computer. On Thursday I caught up on my e-mail. I was very behind. Yesterday Jack "defragged" my computer and I cleaned my desk completely. No more clutter at all! I am very pleased. at the accomplishment. True, I was at it all day yesterday, but it looks so much better! Here' is to hoping it stays that way!! :)

Well I should be signing off now. I have a kitchen to clean and a load of laundry that needs to be started.

Everyone take care and thank you for reading my blog. I appreciate each and every one of you. Feel free to leave me a comment. I try to respond to each one!

Happy stitching to those of you who stitch!

Will It EVER Slow Down?

I'm beginning to wonder if life will ever slow down enough for me to post weekly, like I WANT to,

McGlasson Sampler Framed

or if it'll stay this hectic forever!!

Rose Bowl Ribboned

The couple I made the wedding sampler for sent a picture of it in it's frame. I like how it looks in the frame. Most importantly though, Brittany and Randy love it! I do wish I'd been able to get more of the wrinkles out before framing it, but Jack told me that that is one of the ways you can tell it was hand made for them, with it having a couple of wrinkles.

I finished Rose Bowl in time to enter it into the Georgetown Fair. It was in the beginning of August. As you know I did this for my Daughter-in-Law, Denise. I was making it her birthday gift this year. I felt like I had time to enter it into the fair since her birthday isn't until the end of August. I wasn't sure if it'd place because my cats managed to put a couple of small snags in the material and there was a small spot that didn't appear to come completely out. Nonetheless, I ended

Dahlia Mae less than 24 hours old

up in sixth place. I am not complaining, at all. I am proud of my work and Denise opened her gift early and loves it! I think I am probably my own worst critic. Everyone who sees it loves it. I doubt anyone besides me can see the flaws I am talking about. But isn't that all of us?

Dahlia's Announcement

My granddaughter, Dahlia Mae VanRyan arrived into this world on August 7, at 12:07AM (after 46 hours of hard labor). She was 7lbs 10oz and 20 inches long. She didn't want to open her eyes very much at first. When she did open her eyes, it was just one and that wasn't very long at a time. She opens them (both now) for longer periods of time. She currently has dark blue eyes. Chance has blue eyes, but they are a lighter

Sarah and Dahlia

blue. Sarah's eyes go between gold and hazel, depending on her mood, just like her dad. I stitched a baby announcement for Dahlia. I don't have it framed yet, but it is done. Jack suggested I put the time she was born under the date, on the same  squares thus far. I may see about doing that. Then my signature. I just realized as I was posting this picture that I accidentally put a hyphen between the 1 and the 4 of the year. I will frog that and put the time in smaller numbers to the area to the right of the date. I am actually very proud of the kind of Mommy Sarah is being to Dahlia.


I have restarted "Life's Little Tangles", again. You may remember when I was stitching this last time I have been working on it about a week. I think I have made pretty good progress. I have stitched about 1,100. I decided I'd used the red guide thread this time on it and I like how quickly it seems to be coming along.  I would say I've been

Life's Little Tangles

Stop That Cat

stitching on this about a week. Jack says if I can get it done by the time next year's fair rolls around I'd "smoke the competition". The first place ribbon in this year's competition went to a project of the Titanic.  It was gorgeous! It had every square stitched. So will "Life's Little Tangles". This picture isn't the best quality, but you can still see it pretty well. Hopefully my next picture will be better quality.

Also, here is a picture of "Stop That Cat" thus far. I have been putting most of my stitch time towards "Life's Little Tangles" so have not made much headway on this one, yet. I know the quality of this picture isn't the best, but hopefully you can see what I have completed.

Rachel started her sophomore year of high school this week and Sarah returned to Subway, small shifts for now. She will start looking for CNA positions now that the baby is born. Chance has been told he will be made perm at his job, but nothing has been signed yet. Jack was given a different prosthetic leg by the VA. The one he had before had become way too big because of his weight loss. This prosthetic actually has a bending ankle and middle of the foot.

LOTS Going On!

Redone front porch with one of my Mother's Day plants

Boy, have the past couple of months been busy!

Sarah's plant to me

I ended up not stitching at all during the month of May. We were working on home improvements at that time. Jack completely rebuilt the front porch with help from Chance. It greatly improved the look of the house. Jack also put new linoleum in the bathroom and replaced the toilet. We discovered that there was a leak underneath the toilet that was rotting the floor beneath, and Jack had to replace a portion of the base of the bathroom floor. We were also doing a great deal of yard work at that time. Jack and Rachel got me matching hanging plants for the front porch for Mother's Day. Sarah also got me a plant. I originally put her plant in the kitchen window, but it struggled there, so I moved it out to the ramp, outside the backdoor and now it is doing GREAT! It has gained alot of height. It lost its light purple flowers, when it was in the kitchen window, but I know it'll bloom again. :)

As May ended, so did school. Rachel finished her first year of high school and was looking forward to summer. Softball season started. Games two to three times a week, depending on the week. Rachel's team went undefeated during the regular season, which ended last week. Most of their games were won by a very decisive margin. They are in tournament now. They won the first game of Tournament 0-16 and the second game they won 7-8. The championship game is Saturday morning @ 10:00. The Tournament is what they call "double elimination", so Rachel's team, Jorgenson Electric, would have to be defeated twice on Saturday to be in second place, but honestly, I cannot see that happening!

Rachel in some of her gear

Rachel has also become a cadet with a local fire department. She is very enthusiastic about this. She feels like she wants to be a paramedic or fire fighter as an adult. She plans, after high school to go into the Coast Guard, to learn even more about helping others. In June she attended something at the University called, Illinois Fire Safety Institute,(AKA, IFSI) to learn how to handle certain types of fires and situations. She was gone for four days. It is evidently one of the best training situations in the United States.

Jack also finished remodeling the seats of the boat. He and I actually did the sewing together. He was using his machine and I was using mine. the bench seat I showed you a couple posts back is 48" wide. The two seats we sewed in June we put on swivels, so they can completely turn around so if you want to fish from a different direction or one person watches the person on the skiis or tubing, so if they lose their grip, the boat can/will stop and pick them up. We finished everything on the boat just in time to watch the Fourth of July celebration on Lake Vermilion, called, 'Thunder on the Lake". It is the fireworks show of all fireworks shows!! Absolutely gorgeous!!

Diaper Cake at the Shower

Sarah's baby shower was this past Sunday. The group was smaller than we
expected, but it was still alot of fun. We each created a saying on a white onesie. The one I made said, " I (heart) Mimi sew much! I put a couple of x's and drew a picture of a needle and thread. Jack made one with black

Yummy Cake

lines to make it look like a prisoner jumpsuit and put the phrase, "I just did nine months on the inside". These boots on the cake are real, and trust me, Dahlia will be wearing them!

 Sarah had her final ultra sound this week and one of they things they determined was a guestimate of her (Dahlia's) weight. They believe at the time of the ultrasound she was 6lb 1 oz. Sarah isn't due until August 10, so she will probably be somewhere in the seven pound range when she finally makes her appearance.

A couple weeks ago Sarah stopped taking care of her in-home care client until after the baby is born. She is still working her other job, but has cut way back on her hours.  She tires quickly now, which is understandable. After Dahlia is born, and a few weeks old, she plans on trying to get on with someone using her CNA skills. She passed the State test for that after she found out she was pregnant. Needless to say, I am very proud of both of my girls! :) 

Completed Rose Bowl

I did start cross stitching again in early June and finished "Rose Bowl" a few days ago. I did take pictures of my progress as I went, but didn't have time to update my blog. Stitching is so calming to me. I think I'd rather do cross stitching than anything else I can think of!

Someone on one of my Facebook groups posted a picture of a shirt that is for sale. I WANT IT!!! It says,"I cross stitch so I don't choke people". Choke people is in bold letters as is cross stitch.

Baby Announcement

The day after I finished "Rose Bowl", I started Dahlia's birth announcement. I think it will be a quick stitch for me. It is a kit called, "Balloon Ride". It has three animals in a basket that has a 'ribbon' for the name of the child and three balloons attached to the basket.  I already have two of the three animals stitched. Since Sarah is so into horses, I wanted to stitch a birth announcement with a rocking horse or the like, but couldn't find one. This picture is a 5x7. Sarah loves it. That's the important thing!

McGlasson Wedding

I also sent the framed wedding announcement to my sister, since she was attending the wedding. She took a picture of the project, but you cannot see the frame. I am hoping for a picture of what it looks like in the frame.

I am very jazzed!!  I have been members of a group on yahoo for several years. The owner of the group has a stitching retreat at the end of May, beginning of June every year. I will be attending next year!

Well, I believe that gets you all caught up on my life the past couple of months. Please take care and have a wonderful day!

Spring Has Sprung!

Rose Bowl pages 1-2-3

Hello, Everyone! I have been wanting to update for the longest time. I wanted to have page three of "Rose Bowl" completed before I did, though. I put the final stitches in early this morning, before I went to clean a home. Life kept getting in the way of me doing a lot of stitching this month, but it was mostly good things.

Spring has arrived here in Central Illinois! My tulips are blooming, and my mums are coming back and the grass had two be mowed twice and is ready for the third cutting. I mowed it solo the first time, the Saturday before Easter. Last Saturday it needed mowing again. I did the backyard and Rachel did the front yard to earn the funds to get part of her firefighting cadet uniform, but more about that later. She is suppose to do the entire yard solo this week, town earn funds for something else related to the fire department as well.

We completed a class to officially become members of our church. Jack and I are excited about this church. You can definitely feel the Holy Spirit there! We sang a song Jack wrote and we had sung on the semi years ago all over the nation. The song fits the Good Friday service so well. The song is called, "It was Love". It talks about how Jesus was held on the cross by His love for us. Everyone that has heard it loves it. Jack played his guitar, a bass player joined in as well as a drummer.

My house cleaning business hit a rough patch. I lost one client due to death, a second due to retirement, a third, temporarily, because they need to help their daughter and yet a fourth is moving out of Illinois, to Michigan! That would be a 6.5 hour drive to do their home! Another client has, for a bit, cut their days. I will get them back to full hours in a couple of months. How long it takes to get back the client that I lost because of them needing to help their daughter, depends on how quickly the daughter finds a new job. I am praying it is soon! I did start recently helping to take care of a woman, around my age , whom has cerebral palsy like me, except hers is much worse than mine. I am mostly effected in my right hand and arm. My client is amazed that I can cross stitch and sew. The other day, when I was there, she had me repair a hole under the arm of one of her shirts. When I was done, she told me that her mom would be surprised that a cerebral palsy victim was using the sewing box her mom had put together to do minor mending.

Sarah was able to get a nice 2007 Saturn for a very reasonable price. She was very happy. She had been looking for a different vehicle, before her pick up frame broke, but the breaking of the frame escalated the need for the vehicle sooner. She had been wanting a newer vehicle before the baby makes her entrance into the world.

Sarah's pregnancy is going well.

Chance ended up applying for a job with someone else, since he still had not heard from the first company and ended up going to work two days later. It is a 40 hour a week position. I am very happy for him because I know he was getting down about being unemployed
.
Back to Rachel and the volunteer cadet firefighter program. They meet every Wednesday evening and every other Saturday morning. She expressed interest in becoming a volunteer cadet firefighter and we told her as long as she kept her grades up  that it was not a problem. So far, she is doing very well in the program.

Rachel has her first practice of softball season tomorrow evening.

We went fishing as a family not that long ago and had a blast! We found an area off the lake that Jack could get to with his rotator and we set everything up. We were there a good part of the day. We had some nibbles and Jack almost pulled one in on my pole, but we ended up without any fish for the day, but you know what, that';s okay. We went for the relaxation and family time togetyher and fun. We had all of that and more!!

Well, I must be going now. Please take care.

Test Day

Rose Bowl

Hello, Everyone!

I titled this update "Test Day" because this is my first attempt at posting my entire blog using my iPad. A very good friend of mine here in town gave me her old iPad about three weeks ago, when she bought herself a new one. My blog update a couple weeks ago was partly completed on the iPad and partly on my lap top. I wanted to see if  I could do this completely via the iPad.

As you can tell, hopefully, in have made a decent amount of progress on "Rose Bowl"  in the past couple of weeks. If I had to guess, I'd say I'm 50% done with page three. The only section ten area that is close to going as far to the left as you can see, is the first ten rows at the top and then the first three of the next section of ten. After that, the furthest stitch is probably forty-seven from right to left. The narrowest section of ten is only fifteen wide, from right to left. I have fifty-four rows that go from the top of the completed ten by ten square(s) to the bottom row.

I am hoping to get "Rose Bowl" done sooner than later. I was originally giving myself until August, my DIL's birthday, but I believe I need to push for at the latest the end of April. There are two reasons for this. My son and DIL, who live in Central California, are buying there first home. I, needless to say, am very proud of them. I was thinking this would look great in their new house.

Sarah at 22 weeks

The second reason has to do with my daughter, Sarah, who is expecting her first baby. She is  weeks along, this week. I need to do a birth announcement for her baby. We know she is having a girl. She and her fiancé have decided on the name Dahlia May. We think Sarah's iron level is low, as is still very tired all the time. She still, occasionally, has nausea, but not nessecarily in the morning or associated with a particular food. The doctor has put her due date as August 10.

Broken frame

Father God had His protective hand on Sarah Thursday evening! She had put her in-home care client to bed and was on her way to Subway, the job she has had since she was sixteen. Three miles from Subway she hit a famous mid-west winter pothole.  This made her truck frame snap right behind the front right tire. Sarah had heard a grinding sound as she drove the rest of the way to work, but didn't know what caused it until she pulled into her parking spot and looked under the truck. I cannot help but think of the Country Music song, "Jesus Take the Wheel". This song is about a driver asking Jesus to take over the driving of her vehicle. Once the frame of a vehicle breaks, it cannot be safely driven, yet, Sarah made it to work! Sarah's ex-boyfriend looked at it sitting in the Subway parking lot. He is a mechanic. He agrees that it is a miracle Sarah made it to work that night. Her dad, Jack, picked her up from work that night. Today Jack went to one of the local junk yards and sold "Lucy", Sarah's truck to one of them. They will pick up "Lucy" @ 7:30 tomorrow morning. Hopefully, between what Sarah has in the bank and what the wrecking yard will give for the truck, she will be able to purchase a different vehicle.

Two Sundays ago I baked cherry chip cookies. Your typical chocolate chip recipient, except with cherry chips. I'd never done that before, but, someone gave us a bag of them, so Jack requested I try it. I made a single batch - equally fluty-eight cookies - and they were GONE in under four hours. I think I had four! I'd have to say they were a hit!

This past weekend we signed Rachel up for the softball season this summer. She is very excited. She has been talking about softball a great deal. The other thing she talks about a great deal is that she recently started becoming a cadet fire fighters.

Too Long, Again!

Rose Bowl pg 1 & 2

Hello Everyone! Once again I took a long time between posts, but I can honestly say it was not completely my fault! As it turned out, I put the cart before the horse, so to speak. As it turned out, Chance has not started with the new job, as we thought he would. He was told it would be seven to ten business days and then he would receive either a rejection letter, stating why he did not receive the job, or a phone call telling him when to come in to get his schedule. Neither has occurred. He has called a few times but naturally the person he needs to speak with is unavailable. Because of this, he spends the majority of his day on my laptop. I am okay with this though, because I've been staying very busy, between my stitching and my house cleaning.

I completed the top half of "Rose Bowl" a couple of weeks ago and started on page three. My best

guesstimate is that I've stitched 1,000 squares thus far. The progress with page three included is my second picture of "Rose Bowl". I seriously doubt that pages three and four (the final page) will take me anywhere as long as the first two pages  were to complete. Pages three and four are mostly the "bowl". Other than up by the flowers, the "bowl" is only about 300 wide, until the bottom. Then it is wider again, maybe a total of 500 wide.

I was an election judge for the spring election last week. I have been doing this for at least 10 years. We had a poor turnout - 89 out of 603 for the precinct I worked. I brought my cross stitch with me in case things were slow. I am glad I did!

In the month I have been away, I also laid out my material, cut out the pattern and started to sew it together  and I hit a snag. The pattern was suppose to come with English and Spanish instructions. That would be fine, if both were there. NOT. It had all the Spanish directions, but only the first four steps in English. The illustration pictures were with the English directions, naturally, so there was no way I could go beyond step four!! I called the maker of the pattern and told the woman my problem. A few days later I had my pattern instructions in English! :D However, now my snag is time.

About three weeks ago I received a call from a woman who was needing someone to help her with cleaning a rental. She used me three days that week. I netted a nice amount that week. She was very happy with my work and told me she would use me again when another rental became available. She actually resides in Texas. The weekend before she called, I was hired by a couple, cleaning there home twice a week. The weekend after I did the rental home, I was hired to clean a couple of homes. An elderly woman lives in one. Her son and his wife live in a home about 300 yards away from the mother. It will be a once a month job, but, it is an eight hour job at my higher rate, since I am using my supplies.

I am very proud of my better half! The bench seat you see to the right here is one that Jack

Jack's Boat Seat

constructed all by himself! he bought a used Singer sewing machine in excellent shape for only $35. He had me test the machine before he bought it. He told me the only sewing instruction he ever had was when he was a teenager for about an hour. We bought the marine vinyl from Joann's in Champaign, as well as the thread. The padding we bought at our local LNS, where I purchased my sewing machine. Jack put the whole thing together by himself. The only thing I did was give him instructions on how to sew a curve so it wouldn't pucker. This will be the new back bench seat of our boat. The wood was in horrible shape on the ones that were in the boat. He plans on making two swivel bucket seats. one for the driver of the boat and the passenger next to the driver. He ordered the hardware for those seats today. Tomorrow afternoon, after our final membership class with our pastor, we will be going to Champaign to get the material.

Well that is all for now! Happy stitching, Everyone!

I 

Good and Bad Week

Rose Bowl Feb 19

This week has been a combination of good and bad.

The Good:

1) Even though we had a bad storm of wintery mix Monday, the weather is now warming up. The storm didn't actually start until we were in Champaign, but when it started, it was bad!! I had to go to Champaign to have my new shoe on my brace Monday. I was glad Jack was with me.  He has driven winter type weather much more than me, being he drove semi for 25+ years before being medicaled out. I have probably driven as many miles forward over the years as he has backward. When he stopped driving truck he had 3.5 million safe miles. No accidents of any kind in the semi.

2) We could be in the 50's before the week is out. I am so ready for the snow to go away!!

3) I did get in some decent stitching time on "Rose Bowl" I am guessing I have less than 1,000 to finish page one.

4) Jack and I had a wonderful time on our Anniversary. He got the sewing machine I had put on layaway out, had the church wrap it, and gave it to me that night at the dinner. I have bought a pattern, material and needed supplies to make me some navy blue slacks. I have been wanting a new pair.

5) Chance did get the job for which he was applying!

The bad news:

1) My friend, Patti, for whom I was going to stitch the butterfly, passed away in her sleep Monday night. Cause is unknown. Her visitation is tomorrow and funeral is Friday. I am still going to stitch the blue  butterfly, but instead of it going to Patti, I will give it to her family as a kind of memorial to her. Maybe I could have it done by what would of been her birthday next year? That date is January 9.

Well that is about it for now...when I list the good vs bad this way, I can see it has been a better week than a bad week.

Have a great week, everyone!

I Have Stitched and Put a Machine...

My New Sewing Machine

on layaway at the local LNS store! I have been wanting a new machine for quite awhile because my current machine has been not working for quite awhile. Jack and I have been discussing what could be wrong. He was thinking it had something to do with the timing but didn't know how to fix it. I had delayed in taking it in because I was uncertain of the cost of the repair. I finally bit the bullet, so to speak, and took it in to ask about a diagnoses and or repair cost. Bill, the man who does the repairs, said if I just had it diagnosed that it would be $20. He also told me that if it is the timing on the repair the cost would be just $35. I spotted this Elan machine, very basic, which is all I need, for $154. He told me I could put it on layaway, so he is fixing my Bicor machine and I put the Elan on layaway. I am excited! I can also get

as many lessons as I feel I need with the Elan for free. I am not sure how long it will take me to pay it off, but just knowing it is there makes me HAPPY!

I have stitched a bit this week as well. I wanted to be further than this, since my last posting on

Rose Bowl

February 5, but I ended up with a high fever for 72+ hours, and could do nothing but lay in bed. I had zero energy. This started Thursday afternoon. When I awoke late Sunday morning, shortly after my Pastor prayed for me with the congregation, my fever was gone and my energy was back, and I was back to normal activities. It was hard for me to believe I had ever been ill. God works in mysterious ways for sure!

Yesterday I started working out at the YMCA again. I had to stop in January of last year because of massive pain in my left shoulder and upper arm. The doctors, after a few months, figures out I had a torn bicep muscle. When I was properly diagnosed, and prayed for, the treatment didn't take very long and my arm and shoulder were back to normal. I went on the elliptical for 35 minutes, including cool down time, and went 2.25 miles and burned 305 calories. Not bad for not working out for the better part of a year, if I do say so myself!

Jack and I have our Anniversary this week. We were married Valentines Day, 1988. This year will be celebrating our twenty-sixth year. We are very happy. Yes, we have had our ups and downs, as any marriage does, but we learned the key along time ago. Put Christ in the center of the marriage and let Him take care of any issues. We plan on attending the Sweetheart Dinner at church that night. They are serving a five course meal. We signed up and told them it is also our Anniversary.

Blue Butterfly

I am toying with the idea of setting aside Rose Bowl when I finish completing page one and either starting my Blue Butterfly or "Stop That Cat". I cannot show you a picture of the latter project because I downloaded the project and there is no picture, just the pattern and color numbers. I also want to get "Life's Little Tangles" guide threads in, so I can restart it soon. I want to use guide threads for the butterfly as well. I don't think I'll need guide threads for the cat project.

It looks as if Chance, Sarah's fiance', has landed a job! We are very happy for him. He has been out of work since early November and has been looking very hard. He is suppose to have his third interview with a new store in town. From what we have been told, during the third interview the company gives you your name tag, debit card - their way of payment, and sets up an orientation date.

I am also excited to receive, in the next couple of weeks, the CD of Sarah's graduation from high school last May. We were unable to get them at the time, which had upset me, but at least we can still get them!


Finishing wise, I still need to frame "Wedding Bells" for my cousin's son and his bride-to-be. The wedding is in June, so I still have time to pick out the perfect frame, get it framed and sent out to my cousin with plenty of time to spare.

Well, that's all for now. Everyone please take care and have a wonderful week! Stay warm!! We are below zero again tonight, but starting tomorrow it is suppose to start warming up. Yeah!