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!

The Rose Bowl

Rose Bowl week 1 February

Hello Everyone!

I know, once again, it has been a long time since I have posted. This

Rose Bowl week 1 January

picture of my project for my Daughter-in-Law, Denise, has been stitched exclusively this month. I am completely done with page 2, the right side of the picture and probably have 1,500 - 1,700 stitches of page 1. I have made a great deal of progress on this project. I guess that is the advantage of being snowed in most of the time. I have been stitching as much as I can.  Pages 3 & 4 are mostly the "bowl" part, which is not nearly as wide as the flowers. If you look closely under the full flower on the right side of the picture you will see some yellow-gold thread and under the flower on the left you can see black thread. This is basically the width of the "bowl". I consider it more a vase

Rose Bowl week 2 January

than a bowl, simply because of the shape. At the bottom of the picture there is a couple of pedals and leaves.

I have other projects I want to do, some big, like restarting "Life's Little Tangles" and stitching the blue butterfly, both HAEDs. The butterfly is quite small for a HAED. As a matter of fact, it will fit in an 8x10 frame. I also have a project with a saying about friends that I want to do for my girlfriend since we were quite young. We met in second grade. We were in the same class and became best friends for life, quickly. I also want to stitch a project for my bathroom of a cat playing with a toilet paper roll, called "Stop That Cat".

I have some news that is exciting to our family. Sarah found shortly after Christmas that she is expecting her first child. She is due in late July or early August. This means I will have a grand child living near me that I can spoil. It also means that I need to stitch at least a baby announcement. Honestly, the main reason we are excited is because we were uncertain Sarah would ever be able to become pregnant because of surgeries she had as a pre-teen. She and the young man have been talking about getting married for quite some time.

Jack and Chance, Sarah's boyfriend, made Jack and I a new bed platform, headboard and foot board. The platform we had broke. We had a feeling it was going to, so we'd been planning this for awhile, but we ended up waiting until it had broken. It looks very nice!

Well, I need to go shovel snow...we got probably a foot of it starting yesterday afternoon. Have a great day everyone and stay safe in this weather! :)

BOY was Decermber FAST!

Chance's Wolf Pillow

Hello Everyone!

I pray you had a wonderful Christmas and will have a blessed New Year! :) I am so amazed how quickly this month has gone by! It seems like yesterday was Thanksgiving, when we had Sarah, Chance and friends from our old church here for dinner and tomorrow starts 2014! I also have my birthday tomorrow!

I have done a great deal of stitching this month. I finished the wolf. Rachel and I went to Hobby Lobby with the project and

Rose Bowl 3

looked at material. We both liked the forest green color material with the wolf, and a friend did the putting together for me, as my sewing machine has been on the fritz for awhile./ The back of the pillow is solid green and the front has the green on all sides. I would guess it is about 11 or 12 inches on all sides. I gave it to Chance as a Christmas present. He loves it! :)

I have also made a nice amount of progress on "Rose Bowl". I felt like I was making decent progress
 before Christmas, but one of my gifts (thanks, Mom and Dad) was an Ott light. It is a standing Ott light with an arm which has a clip to hold the pattern and an arm with a magnifying glass. The lamp can either be used as a floor lamp (the way I am using it) or a desk/table lamp. Actually, they sent my Christmas money, I went to Joanns and bought this, then had

Ott Lamp and Stitching Area

Jack wrap it and tag it to me from my parents. I feel I got it for a very good price. It was normally $269.00 before tax and I was able to purchase it for $104.38, including tax!! Most of the time when I stitch I sit with back against these pillows and legs out on the bed. There was a lamp attached to this table that I bought a couple of years ago, but taking the lamp part off, which we needed to replace the shade of anyway, and using the Ott light instead works great! Jack tells me this light doesn't bother him. Most of the time I am stitching, Jack is on the other side of the bed reading his fan fiction or doing something else on his computer.

I also purchased two HAED patterns. One rather big and the other will fit in an 8x10 frame. The bigger one is "The Lord's Supper" and the smaller is a "Blue Butterfly". One of my clients loves butterflies and I figured this would cheer her up! I also purchased a hard bound book of Christmas  cross stitch projects, everything from ornis to wall hangings. Not to mention I want to restart "Life's Little Tangles".  I definitely have my stitching plans ahead of me!

The client that I am planning on stitching the butterfly for gave me a cedar chest last week. She said she has no use for it and wanted to know if I could use it. I said of course! I was thinking of trying to organize my stitching supplies better with the use of this cedar chest.

Sarah finished her CNA classes with a week of working at a nursing home for her clinicals part and then the final in the classroom. She passed both with an A, which does not surprise me. Now she has to take her State Boards. The next test for that is February. She can work in the capacity of a CNA for 90 days without taking the State Boards

.Well, I need to be going...I want to spend some time with Jack and stitch! :)Happy New Year Everyone!

What a Week!

Hello, Everyone!

Things have been going pretty well for me since my update last week.

On Thanksgiving Day, Sarah and her boyfriend came over as well as some good friends from our old church. Jack cooked turkey and ham, made macaroni salad, mustard potato salad, mashed potatoes w/ sour cream instead of milk, pepper gravy and giblet gravy. I made homemade bread and pumpkin pies as well as chocolate pie, banana cream pie and a pistachio cool whip dessert. All the desserts were sugar free. Our friends brought over green bean casserole, butternut squash, German potato salad and sodas. We also served jellied cranberry sauce. All the food was delicious!

Jack and I watched the first NFL game. Green Bay and the Lions. We enjoyed the game. The Lions earned the win for sure! We always enjoy a good football game. I grew up watching all kinds of sports and Jack played football when he was in school. We ended up not watching the second game

I cleaned a client's home Friday morning. Saturday I spent the better part of the day on the computer, finally catching up on my e-mails and really facebooking for the first time in a long time. Church on Sunday was very good. Rachel and I went; Jack has had a bad cold and hasn't been able a to do to much as result.Rachel took care of the woman Sarah takes care of most of the week with her CNA duties before church and I took care of her Sunday evening so Rachel could go to church. Rachel is earning money to buy Christmas presents by doing this. I took Rachel to the mall Sunday afternoon and she bought whatever she is giving me for Christmas. Last week she bought what she is giving her friend. Rachel spent Friday night at a friend's hose and went to the movies. Once again, I cannot remember the name of the movie. That kind of thing escapes me. Aggravating!

Chance Wolf 2

I was able to stitch the day away on Monday! :) I made a big dent in the wolf project. I feel good about my progress! Here is the Wolf project at last post and then this post. The last time I stitched on the Wolf was before I went to the doctor this morning. I finished the wolf's face and neck. Using my red guide line thread, I started working on the rest of the wolf. I am currently finishing all of DMC color 640. Then I will complete the next color of the wolf until I have him done. Then I will move on to what is left of the branch and the back stitching. y plan was to give this to Chance for Christmas, but I am unsure how I will finish this. I started wondering if I had enough edge

Chance Wolf 3

to frame it a couple days ago. I wondered about turning it into a pillow. I have the stuffing, but my sewing machine bit the dust a few months ago. Maybe I can take it to the gal who does minor sewing repairs for me and see if she can help me turn it into a pillow. I may be able to find a frame, We'll have to wait and see.

I am excited about a couple of things stitching related. I have been looking for a magazine cross stitch related for quite awhile and have had no luck. A couple weeks ago I found one in the magazines at the grocery store, and only one! They had tons of quilting, crocheting/knitting, and scrap booking. This magazine is called, 'Cross Stitch and Needlework'. Inside the magazine was a coupon for 50% off a one year subscription. I snagged it and mailed it off! :)

The other thing I am excited about is that I went ahead and ordered a couple of HAED during their half off cyber sale! I put the check in the mail yesterday when I was going around town paying various bills. The smaller of the two is called, 'Blue  Morpho'. It is a beautiful butterfly. One of my clients, who has become a friend as well, loves butterflies. The second one is, 'The Last Supper'. I want to stitch that one too, but before I stitch either of them, I will restart, 'Life's Little Tangles'. My plan this time around with it is to put the red guide thread on the material used for the project. I have a feeling it will stitch much faster with that done first. I will put the guide thread ten stitches apart, the same way the pattern is gridded.

Rachel, her friend Bree, and went to Lowe's last night. Rachel and Bree picked out a beautiful tree. We put it in the stand last night and got it standing straight. We will probably decorate it later today.

The past few days it has been rather warm for December here. Today here it was in the mid 50's. Usually this time of year our highs are in the mid to lower 40's. Tomorrow though it is suppose to take a nose dive by the late afternoon and they are calling for snow tomorrow night.

Well, I must be going now. Take care everyone and happy stitching!

The Stitching Continues...

Hello, Everyone!

Wedding Bells pg 2

Wedding Bells pg 1

I have been stitching alot but not on the computer much. I did finish the 'Wedding Bells' for my cousin's son and bride-to-be. I am excited about it. Now I need to figure out the perfect frame for it. Sarah's boyfriend, Chance, took pictures for me. In the pictures that showed the entire project in one picture, you couldn't really read the metallic thread, So I had him take closer pictures of the project, which means it is divided into two pictures. The top half of the project is actually the second picture and the bottom half is the top half of the project. M ycomputer was being silly. GRRR!! In my pictures on the computer, the pictures were showing right side up, but when I went to post the pictures, they were on their sides instead of right side up! Thanks to Jack I was able to get them to post the direction I wanted. I am uncertai.n what he did, but whatever it was, worked. That is all that matters!! :)

Rose Bowl

I have also made a nice amount of progress on 'Rose Bowl'. I am aiming to have it done by next summer. My daughter-in-law's birthday is in late August and I figured it would be a good gift for her. She loves roses and she seems to like my stitching as well. The pattern called for it to go on white 28 count evenweave, but I was thinking it'd look nice on a pale pink, so I bought some 28 count even weave in a color called "Angel Blush" With all of the roses being red, I think it will look wonderful, when its done. This pattern is a total of four pages, however, pages three and four have minimal stitching because the 'bowl' actually looks more like a vase, to me. The beginning of the bowl (vase) is the yellow/gold color in the middle at the bottom of what is stitched.

A few months back I asked Chance to look through my patterns and find one he liked and would like

Chance's Wolf

me to do for him. He saw a wolf in a book I had recently been RAKed with. I am hoping to have it done by Christmas. Since the picture was taken two days ago, I have finished putting the white and ecru on the muzzle and worked on under his muzzle a bit. I still have the rest of the branch in the upper right corner and his shoulder/chest area.

Sarah is nearing the end of her CNA training at the college. She has been receiving top grades the entire time and has even started working for a private party doing CNA work. She still has her job at Subway, where she has been for over two years.

Rachel is doing well. She plays the euphonium in the high school band and recently joined the pep band. She is very talented. She played the piano for several years and then when she went to middle school (what was called junior high when I was in school) she started playing the euphonium. She plays the piano in jazz band at school as well.

I have good news to report on my dear husband as well. Some of you may remember that three years ago Jack had to have his left leg amputated due to diabetes. The prosthetic leg he was originally given was very painful to him and made the stump swell whenever he wore it, so he wore it rarely. The good news is this summer he talked with the VA hospital, since he is a Veteran, and the have made him a prosthetic leg that is very comfortable for him and he uses it frequently. He recently finished his therapy. He walks most of the time with what is called a rollater (a walker on wheels that has a seat to sit on in case the person gets tired). He has also walked half way down a flight of stairs and back up and used a four prong cane to get a few places. He has also started losing weight since he has been moving around.

We are having Thanksgiving dinner at our home. I made two deep dish pumpkin pies late this afternoon. Jack will do a big part of the cooking tomorrow. We have invited over some good friends of ours as well as one of my clients who has no one to celebrate the day with. She and I have become friends. I am looking forward to the day.

Take care, everyone and have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Happy stitching to all.

My Stitching Has Increased!

McGlasson Wedding

Hello Everyone!

I hope everyone is doing well. The doctor has managed to get m y joint pain under control, thankfully! I still have the bicep pain that I have had   since a  fall I took in mid-January. I spoke with my doctor again about the pain and she has scheduled an MRI for me tomorrow morning at seven in the morning. Since my joint pain is under control though, I can stitch without pain! :) Since stitching is my therapy, so to speak, there is no way I would have stopped it anyway, just slow it down. I have managed to do quite a bit of  stitching lately.

The picture in the top left corner is my wedding present to my cousin's son and his wife on their wedding day in June 2014. I'd say I am at least 90% done with it. What I have left is the last section at the bottom that is of blue ribbon and bells  and a couple of small flowers and the bottom border line. I also need to backstitch page two and fix the "A" in RANDY. It somehow came loose at the top.

Rose Bowl Start

Another project I have been stitching on is the Rose Bowl for my Daughter-in-Law. A stitching friend who lives in the Philippians sent this to me. My DIL loves roses and I thought it would be perfect for her. When I ordered the new piece of  fabric to restart "Life's Little Tangles", I ordered a piece of light pink laguna material called 'Angel's Blush' and am putting the red roses pattern on it. Before I restart "Life's Little Tangles" again I am going to grid the pattern 100%, not just a page at a time. I actually started working on the roses just about three days ago.

I have not stitched very much on the wolf in the past few weeks, though I did get a bit done. I cannot show you it though in case the recipient pulls up my blog.

I have some good news regarding my husband! Three years ago he had to have the lower part of his left leg amputated because of a diabetic ulcer. The prosthetic leg that was made for him was very painful, so he used it very minimally. Recently he decided to try and go through the Veterans Affairs hospital to see if they could help him with a prosthetic that would fit better. They have been working with him, and the last time he saw them, he tried on the leg they made and actually took a few steps...pain free. He goes again in a couple of days and if everything goes right, he may leave this time with a working leg.

Sarah and Chance

Sarah has been doing very well in her classes and is now CPR approved. She has been making top grades in her class. Needless to say, we are very proud of her. Her hours at her job have increased, which makes her happy. The picture to the left is Sarah and the young man she has been dating since early February. He is a very nice young man and has done Sarah a world of good.

My younger daughter, Rachel,is doing well too. She asked Christ into her heart and she is keeping busy with school.

This summer Rachel went to San Antonio, Texas with the church youth for a youth convention. She had a great deal of fun. She was gone an entire week. While she was gone, Jack and I went camping for a couple of nights. That was the first 'us' trip we have had since our Honeymoon in February 1988. We had a blast!

Saturday night Jack and I had a candlelight dinner while Rachel was at a friend's. We decided we are going to start doing that more often.

Happy Stitching everyone!