Saturday, March 9, 2013

So much to say...so little time...

Well, here it is...another week gone by and I'm doing another drive-by post.  Hope everyone is well and happy out there in blogland!!

I know I sound like a broken record, but so much is happening these days, I hope I remember everything to post here!  I am doing a drive by today as I have a wedding to run to later today.  I'm not ready, don't have proper shoes (do you think anyone will notice anyway?), and not even sure if my pantyhose has runs, but they'll have to take me as I am today, there wasn't enough days in the week this past week.

So without further ado, I started out my week on a very high note.  Gillie was in town, so Astrid and I took her to our LNS and then had lunch.  Lunch was at a favorite of Astrid and mine called Peace a Pizza.  They have the most amazing gourmet pizzas and salads.  My favorite is the Nutty Goat salad, and if you are what you eat...well...the name speaks for itself!  LOL 




I did VERY well, as I decided to put myself on a stash diet and escaped without a thing in my hand.  Gillie used my punch card and subsequently filled it for me...that meant money off my next purchase.  As I sat eating lunch one thing I saw kept ruminating in my brain...and since our cars were parked in front of the LNS, I was drawn back into the store to pick up the pattern, fabric and threads.  Now my fingers are itching to start it, but I will put that on a back burner until later in the month.  I have so many wips and ufos floating around, I really REALLY need to work on finishing a few things before I start new ones...right?  RIGHT?  Oh, what the heck, maybe I'll start it tomorrow.  LOL  Here is my recent acquisition...




Later, while driving Gillie back to the light rail, we decided to just drive into Baltimore instead.  I am still giggling over our escapades that day, as Gillie, using the GPS on her phone, took us to parts of Baltimore I've never seen before.  Then we ended up in a parking garage (did I mention I hate those things?) which closed 5 minutes before we were ready to leave.  I was afraid I would have to spend the night with them...so was grateful when the door slid open when I was ready to exit the garage.  We had a lovely meal together, thanks again Gillie and WT for the wonderful dinner and entertainment conversation.  I only wish my DH had been with us, I know he would have enjoyed spending the evening with you!  I was so grateful that you followed me back to the car and that I didn't have to walk in there alone.  I do feel terrible that we had to say such brief goodbyes on the side of the road where I dumped you, and that you didn't have too far to walk back to the hotel.  
  
So...Tuesday I had to run and put the car in for a check-up.  DH got the mileage wrong, we thought it would only be an oil change and tire rotation...WRONG.  It needed it's 90,000 mile check-up....along with changing and topping off some fluids.   What was supposed to be a 1 hour quickie, turned into a 6 hour, $600.00 marathon.  I had the money for the original service, but had to scrounge for the rest, and was soooooo thankful I had bought my stash enhancement the day before because it will probably be a while before I can satisfy my cross stitching urges again!  LOL  Since I chose to sit with the van, I had only brought a little crocheting to keep me occupied.  My hand cramped up after the first hour or so...but I managed to double the length of the thing, and finish off an entire skein of thread.  It will be a while before I have the urge to crochet again!  LOL  Here is a picture of my progress on that.



Wednesday I worked on a SAL I had started a long time ago.  I was supposed to stitch, send a picture and get the next part.  Since it's nearly a year later, I don't know if I'll still be able to get pieces.  I sent the picture, and am waiting, hopefully she'll still allow me to finish.  Wish me luck!!



That same day I worked on Winter's Majesty a wee bit and finished a snowflake.  It is done with Marlett, what a pain to work with!!!!!!!  I'm glad there is only a wee bit to work with it on, and I will take it in small doses, but I must say I do like the effect!!




Why did I get so much stitching done on  Wednesday you ask?  It was the snow day that never snowed!  Well we did get a dusting overnight, but the weatherman said it would be a 24 hour snow dump event...Gillie, who lives in an area where they get extreme snowfalls, will never let me live this one down!  LOL  The kids were home from school and my guys were home from work...and all it did was rain all day.  I cancelled a lunch date I was supposed to have, as she was home with her kids as well.  *grumble*

Thursday I worked on my Red House Sampler from the Sampler Company.  Love this one!!  It's stitched on 40 count over two and now that the roof is done, hopefully I'll see more progress as I work on this.  For some reason the roof seemed to take ages!!



Friday Astrid came over to stitch here.  We thought it would only be a short while, but she realized she was looking at her calendar wrong and she was here until nearly dinner time.  We seem to get caught up in different things...so I'm afraid I didn't get much stitching done on our One Nation SAL. 




We did manage to put up some pictures I brought home from the frame shop.  On Gillie's persuasion I went to my former workplace and rescued some cross stitch pieces I had hanging there on display.  Astrid helped me find places to hang two of them...only three more to go!  




I tried out a recipe I had seen on facebook, but I think I had the wrong Pillsbury biscuits...as they were nearly crispy critters when I rescued them from the oven.  I don't mind charcoal...but felt a little guilty that that is what I fed Astrid for lunch.  Thankfully, DH had baked banana bread the night before so that was our desert.  I only have one thing to say, I hear charcoal is good for the digestive tract, so you can thank me later for helping your digestive health, Astrid!  LOL  I thought I would take these on a retreat we are going to in a few months, but I won't be taking them until I get the ingredients right.

While talking to Astrid about making things for other people, I was telling her about the dragon/castle thing I had made for my son.  I framed it, then brought it home and he refused to hang it in his room.  The date says I finished it in 2004, and it's been hiding in his closet ever since.  Astrid encouraged me to bring it out in the light of day and it's now hanging in my dining room.  Not sure if it's a fit place to have hanging there, but I like looking at it now.  My son doesn't seem to mind, and it only took a few hours for him to realize it was there.  LOL  He's the observant one in the family.




I squeaked in a wee bit on Quaker Diamonds too.  I have so many lovely designs on the go right now it's hard to choose which to work on, and I'm dying to stitch on all of them....so rotation is the way to go I guess.  Here's my progress.  Yes, I'm doing this over one!



I may not have been able to go to my LNS today to see the new Nashville releases, but I did find something staring back at me on my facebook page.  I've added this to my wish list...cause I know after the car repair fiasco it will be a while before I can add this to my stash...but isn't it lovely?  Oh the joys of the internet!!  This is Quaker Snowflakes from Rosewood Manor and I found this on this site...http://www.anitalittlestitches.com/valdani.htmlhttp://www.anitalittlestitches.com/valdani.html




So...I guess that's all the news.  It's such a beautiful day today, I wish I could soak in the sun for a wee bit.  Maybe if I catch a few minutes before the wedding I will do just that!  See you next week!   

 

5 comments:

Mii Stitch said...

Wow, that's a great post!!! I read about your little trip on Astrid's blog. Looks like you really had a lovely time & that Nutty Goat salad sound yummy!!! :D Enjoy the wedding!

Susan said...

Sounds like you all had a great time. Very nice stash acquisition - I hadn't seen that pattern before - who is it by (I tried really hard to read it, but my old eyes wouldn't let me). You were fortunate to have missed the snow - I'm in central VA (a couple hours from Baltimore) and we had almost 5" with very high winds. Very nice progress on your pieces. I agree with you on the Marlett.

Anne Sans Tete said...

You've been very busy! Your work is lovely. What is Marlett? Tried to google it, but not much came up.

Carolyn NC said...

Sounds like you all had fun! Wonderful stitching, too!

Astrids dragon said...

Always fun getting together and so great to meet Gillie too!

I keep looking at your mitten and I'm liking it more and more - might just have to make that one!

So glad you put the awesome dragon up, he was lonely in the closet. Nathan saw it and luckily didn't ask me to make it for him - he's still waiting for SpongeBob!