Happy Friday!

SO glad it's Friday!  It has been a very busy week.  Not much stitching done, and not sure I will get much done over the weekend, as I am going to my Mom's for the weekend to help her with landscaping chores and any other little projects she needs help with.  I do this every month, and it's a nice visit.  I am lucky to be able to see her so often, my brothers and sister live far away and are lucky to be able to see her once a year.

Mischief and Mayhem continue to be cute beyond words!  Every evening Mischief jumps up into my lap and snuggles in for cuddle time.  I'll wrap his blanket around him and he will "make biscuits" and suck on his blanket like a baby.  I took some video of it last night.  I'll try to upload it next week.

Still waiting for my fabric for "Family Sampler" to arrive.  I was hoping it would arrive yesterday in time for me to prep it for stitching, but alas, it did not.  If it is at the house when I get home today, I'll bring it to Maine with me, but who knows if I will be able to get it started.  I plan on stitching it on Sundays and Wednesdays until all my Christmas stitching is completed, then it will be my focus piece.

Hope everyone has a GREAT weekend!

WIP

One of my active WIP's is Cat Lessons for People by Lizzie*Kate.  I am making it in honor of these guys:

Mischief and Mayhem, born on May 29, 2010 and adopted by us on August 3, 2010.  They are a delight!  Here is my current progress:

Please excuse the hoop marks and general wrinkleyness (yep, I made that word up!).  I am going to put their names and birthdate at the bottom, and hang it in the laundry room.  This is where they spent the first few days with us.

This is the first photo I took of them!  Look how fuzzy and small they are! 

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

FINALLY!

I got my Just Cross Stitch ornament issue on Tuesday, and I wasted no time going through it and picking out the ornaments I want to stich.  A few thoughts, though:

• Why would you put the color key on a different page from the pattern?  Not facing pages, that I understand, but opposite pages?  That's the quickest way to get me to NOT stitch it!
• LHN never fails to deliver a great design, but the Lizzie Kate this year was a disappointment.  Seems to me I have seen it done before.
• Why do they insist on the recipes?  First of all, it is a STITCHING magazine.  Second, I don't know ANY stitcher that would bring that magazine anywhere CLOSE to food.  Quickest way to stain it and/or ruin it.

I'm going to stop the complaining right there, because I really do think it's wonderful, even more so knowing that the designers provide the charts for free.  Can't wait to get started!

Grr...

I am so FRUSTRATED!!! Ahh...... glad to have that off my chest. Work...BAH!

Last night as Scott and I were having dinner, Mischief came into the kitchen dragging his blanket (which we have NEVER seen him do!). He dropped it by my feet, layed down on it, and proceeded to "make biscuits". It was the cutest thing I have ever seen! I wish we had the camera! Scott and I just looked at each other and laughed.

Life with 15 week old kittens is certainly full of laughs and love. I am so glad we got them, and even more glad that we got 2 - they love to play and chase each other, scuffle and sneak up on each other. They are so much fun to watch, a ton of work, but the unconditional love they provide makes everything worth it.

Today we went to a birthday party for my 2 nieces, who turned 7 and 6. It was nice to spend the afternoon with family!

Now I'm home, playing with my babies and getting dinner ready. I worked on Cat Lessons this weekend - no progress pic yet - the memory card is full of kitty pics! I tried to kit up Time for God but I'm missing a few colors - they must be with other projects.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Katurday - woo hoo!

So now that I have finished my first ornament of the season, I really think it's time for my mail person to PLEASE deliver my JCS Ornament issue already!!! Mail already arrived so I guess I'll have to wait until Monday. But, I DID get something in the mail that I wanted to make as a Christmas gift, so I guess I'll get started on that. Here it is Guess I'll get up to the studio and start pulling it together! Enjoy your Katurday!

An actual stitching finish!

I have had a few finishes this year, but am just now getting my act together to start taking photos and updating my blog.

This is "Mine" by Brittercup Designs, from the 2010 JCS Ornament Preview Issue. The photo was taken with my blackberry, so it is obviously crappy. Hey, I'm working on it!

A super cute giveaway!

Make sure you go over and check out Dawn's blog! She is having a really darling giveaway!

Can't resist!

I have been a bad, bad blogger! But this wonderful giveaway has forced me out of hiding. I have had this pattern on my wish list ever since I saw Edgar stitching it, and now Carolyn is offering it as a giveaway! How super generous of her! Go check it out! Now, back into my cave I go!

First post of the decade!

Happy New Year to my friends and followers! I have been lurking behind the scenes so far this year, taking care of house stuff and focusing on setting up my craft room, but this giveaway has prompted me to come out of the woodwork in an attempt to win this awesome giveaway Jennifer is having at her blog! Check it out and take a look at the darling furbabies she has as well! I am looking forward to spring when are are finally getting kittens!

I have a few goals in my head for the coming year. First, to cut down on grocery spending and reduce the amount of waste. This will require me to be more creative in my meal planning, and to help me out with that, I have been keeping track of what we have been having for dinners every night on a calendar my mother gave me. It will also give me the opportunity to use the cookbooks I got for Christmas (although I had to resort to the internet to get the recipe for banana bread - didn't want to waste the bananas!!!)

My second goal is to get back to stitching more. I haven't picked up a needle since we started the move in October - there was just so much to do with packing, organizing, moving, unpacking and organizing! The house is slowly but surely starting to come together, which is good, because our housewarming is in February, but I miss the stress reliever of stitching.

The third goal? Be healthier. It is astounding to me how I take advantage of good health, considering the importance of it, and I know good health is not a guarantee in life, so I should be mindful of that.

I think that's enough for now. Later this week I think I'll add a sidebar that calculated how much we are spending on groceries - that will be interesting (and maybe a bit scary?) to see.

Here's to a happy and healthy 2010!

Happy New Year!

What a whirlwind!

I hope everyone had a great holiday! Scott and I started Christmas morning at home. It was so nice to wake up in our own home, have a nice quiet Christmas morning, then get on the road. We spent the afternoon at my BIL Gary's and then drove to Maine to have Christmas with my Mom. It was a very long day! The next morning, as I was making breakfast, Scott ran down the stairs yelling that there were turkeys in the back yard. Indeed, there were 4, but they were moving fast and I had no time to take a photo. We sat down for breakfast, and I looked out the window, and saw this:

I have never seen an owl in nature (only at zoos), and this one was in the back yard, not 10 feet from where we were sitting! He was gorgeous, and I was mesmerized. He stayed there for quite a while, and I got video of him turning his head around! Awesome!!! I think this is a sign - that I will have peace and tranquility in my life in the upcoming year. Here's hoping!!!

SNOW

We got a TON of snow on Saturday/Sunday! Luckily, I was home for the day and had a great time shoveling, making Christmas gifts, wrapping Christmas gifts, making fudge and straightening up the house. I will bring my packages to the UPS store (I love that place - no more looking for the perfect size boxes!) and send everything out tonight. Hopefully it will all be there in time, but if it is not, I know my family will understand. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!

DO NOT USE FOR STORAGE!!!

We had a bit of a fire last night. We bought our house from a little old lady who lived there for 80 years. She had a relatively new stove – purchased in 2006 and by the looks of it the oven had never been used. Scott was coming home around 7:30, and since it was so cold and late, I thought I’d just put a frozen pizza in the oven – you know quick and easy.

So, Scott got home and I started preheating the oven. After a few minutes, we noticed a peculiar smell. We figured it was because the oven had never been used. A few minutes after that, the smoke alarm went off, and I look in the window of the oven, where there was a spectacular fire!!! I knew there was nothing stored in the oven – I checked. I also knew it would be a bad idea to open it until the flames went out. I’ve killed some Tupperware in my time…

So the flames go out and I open the drawer under the stove. The drawer that is used for storage. You know, you put your cookie sheets or frying pans down there. The drawer that I hadn’t bothered to open yet because there was just so much more pressing stuff to do. So I open the drawer and find a broiling pan, on top of which is a black pile of ash. If I had to guess, I would say it had once been the owners manual. I pull out the broiling pan and put it into the sink. Pounded into the metal bottom of the drawer is a very important message. “DO NOT USE FOR STORAGE”.

I blame the little old lady.

Pizza turned out pretty good, actually!