Monday, July 28, 2014

Better late than ever...TUSAL

Seems lately I'm on a dead run to catch up!  LOL  But I guess it's better to be late than not to post at all...

So here is my picture of my ort collection this month.  Yep...I did get a lot of stitching done!  Yay me!!  LOL




I got a little more done on Royal Garden...just a tad...but it takes so long to do so little, that my brain needs a break in between!



I decided I wanted to work on something with big holes, something fun and easy to do, so pulled out this buttons and beads kit and started working on this owl.  Isn't it fun??



I finally finished this Little House Needleworks In the Meadow pattern.  I just love this, and I think I'll count it toward my "Christmas stitching" for next month!



The latest pattern from Maryse just popped into my inbox, so I've been stitching on that today.  I love keeping ahead of my SAL's!!  Hopefully I'll finish either tonight or tomorrow.



Over the weekend the Orioles had a blood drive at Oriole park.  We showed up a bit early and had lunch at Dempsey's.  I love this restaurant, not only is the food great, but the atmosphere is so much fun!  We ate near the beer taps, so I just had to take a picture.  I think it's hilarious that the taps have Dempsey's head on the beer that is brewed for his restaurant.  I haven't had any, so can't tell you if they are good or not, but I will say this is a popular spot, so something must be done right!




Ben signed me up for this blood drive.  I gave a double red.  I guess you could call it fortunate that I'm the right blood type to give a double red.  They separate twice as many red blood cells out, then pump the serum back into you.  So...yes, you are a bit anemic when you are finished, but you aren't as dehydrated, so in a way you feel better.  You just have to take it easy for a few days afterward.    I do feel privileged to give, as DH cannot, he was in Europe during the mad cow outbreak and they won't allow him to donate.  But after signing me up, then Ben couldn't donate as he was sick last week.  Somehow this just doesn't seem right!!  Oh well, I have two Orioles tickets and a t-shirt to show for my troubles.  Anyone want to join me for a game??

And on that note, I'm off to get some stitching done.  Happy Stitching!!

 

Friday, July 18, 2014

Royal Fever...

I have been working hard to catch up on all my "must stitch" projects so I could treat myself to a little Royal Garden stitching.  If you click on the first picture it will become larger so you can see it closer.  

I absolutely LOVE this piece.  However, it is painstakingly slow...and tests my patience...and stretches my abilities...and teaches me...and is slowly driving me mad.  But I still LOVE it!!  I thought maybe you would like to see some of the stitches close up...and understand why I can only work on this a little at a time.  I think after today...after working with fibers 90 inches long...and working out kinks in flat fibers, while untying knots, and swearing after finding I've been ONE canvas thread off trying to count little tiny specialty stitches...it will be neatly put away for a day or two.  Seriously...my arms ache trying to hold the canvas and draw 90 inches of thread through the canvas!!  But I know in the end it will be worth it.  Now mind you, I didn't work on all these stitches today, just the woven teardrop, the crescent with a tail, and a couple of the sword Amadeus stitches, a few oblong rhodes and square rhodes.  












But honestly, isn't that enough for one day?  I'm off to find something that's a little less "cerebral" to stitch on for the remainder of the day.

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Catching up...

I don't know if it was the super moon...



or the little R&R trip we took...



or the crazy storms that rolled through...



but something in the universe aligned right and I was able to catch up on all my SAL's!  How on earth did THAT happen??

The picture above was taken yesterday...when they were warning a tornado was possible, and that sent us to our basement to wait out the storm.  Scary stuff!!

Here I am, midway through the month, and I feel so accomplished.  Not only am I caught up on all my SAL's, I even have my Christmas ornaments stitched for the month!  Now, if all goes well, I'll be working on Royal Garden tomorrow.  I was able to pick up the threads I needed over the weekend, so all is right with the world!!  So...let's start with the SAL's shall we?

Here is Au Point du Croix...I was two pages behind yesterday morning!  I finished the first page yesterday...



and the second page today!!  I should be good for a couple of weeks now!



Here is Marquoir Francaise...by the time I started working on this one I was THREE pages behind!!  It took me a couple of days, but finally I have it caught up too.  I'm not clear how her schedule works, but hopefully I'll have a week or so before I have to work on her again.






I finished up the snowman ornament, and the gingerbread man too!  These were my two ornaments for the month of July.



I was on such a role, I pulled out this little baseball glove for my son.  I think I'll hang it on the tree this year as a surprise for him!



We were able to squeeze in TWO Orioles games, I won't bore you with all the details...but we whopped the Yankees the first night, and they returned the favor the second night!  It sure was a lot of fun though!

 

This little Corvette was on display at the ball park.  They convinced my son to take a seat.  The look on his face was one of pure desire...maybe when he's rich and famous he can afford one of these beauties...





It's a special year for the Orioles this year!  They were looking pretty good before the all star break, let's hope they continue to do so well!!



With a little luck it won't be so long before the next post.  Till then, take care!

 

Monday, July 7, 2014

And just a LITTLE cross stitch...

I haven't had much time to stitch, but I have put a few stitches in here and there...

Here is Marquoir Franciose...but now I'm THREE pages behind...I really  need to focus...



And here is the only Christmas ornament I've been able to "finish" this month.  At least I'm not really behind in these!!



I did get to the Stitching Post to pick up a few things I've been waiting for a sale to pick up.  Here are my recent purchases!



And last but not least, here is a little treasure that Astrid found for me at the annual sale at her church.  VIOLETS!!  Now you know why I LOVE that girl!!  Thanks again, Astrid!



Off to watch a movie with my son.  Hope you are having a great day!  *Hugs*

R & R

After our goodbyes, we decided to finish out the week as we had originally planned.  When our son goes away on his trips, we usually treat ourselves to a little trip somewhere.  A few years ago we went to Sight and Sound near Lancaster, Pennsylvania to see Jonah.  This year we went again to see their production of Moses.  I love going to this theater.  You are always in for a treat!  I wondered how they would make you feel like you were crossing the Red Sea, and sure enough, I felt like we were right there in the middle of a miracle!  If you ever get the chance to go see one of their productions, I will say you won't be disappointed.  It was amazing!!


You can't take pictures inside during the production, but you can outside and in the lobby.  Here are a few of the "props" to get you ready to see the story.






I still can't figure out how they turned Moses' staff into a snake, but sure enough they did!  Truly amazing!!

We stayed at a lovely Best Western Plus a few miles from there.  The staff was wonderful, the rooms cozy and comfortable.  I hope we can go back and stay there again for the next performance!





Look what I found there?  We went into a lovely quilt shop, it makes me want to dig out my sewing machine and make a few things!!  My husband cringed a little bit, then calmly and quietly led me out of the shop.  LOL  I love him dearly, and he probably did save me from myself a little bit.

I always get a kick out of seeing these signs in Northern NY.  You see them almost as often as you see deer crossing signs...




I nearly forgot to tell you about the torrential downpours we experienced on our way to Lancaster.  It looked beautiful from a distance, but crazy to drive through, and at one point I thought we were going to have to swim the rest of the way!  We arrived safely though, thank heavens!!








I have collected a few sunset pictures from our trips to NY...I'm going to show a few here for you to enjoy.  The sunsets in Northern NY are so beautiful...