Hi there!! I seem to be continually running late. Will I ever catch up??
I have a few pictures to post, two from Hermitting weekend which was last weekend. I stitched on One Nation and finally finished the star field. I've only been working on this piece for two years...do you think I'll ever finish?
Now that the star field is done, I'm hoping the rest will roll along, but I'm afraid I'm suffering from but first disease. I will work on One Nation...but first...
I signed up to participate in an exchange. I'm not showing any pictures as it is a surprise. I started working on it on Monday night, got to the halfway point on Tuesday, then TRIED to work on it today .... but first...
I had to have a stitch date with Astrid. Thanks again for the gab fest, for lunch, and for trying to watch an episode of Downton Abbey. Let's try again soon!! As always it was a blast and long overdue. I hope NEVER to go away that long again, and if I do I'm taking you with me! LOL
Mouse's RR arrived this week too. I am going to get stitching on that SOON...but first...I need to finish the stitching on the exchange piece.
Speaking of Mouse, I got a wonderful surprise in the mail when I got home from New York. She mentioned she was going to mail something to me the day I was making arrangements to leave for New York and I wasn't sure how long I was going to be away so asked her to hold on to it until I knew more about where I would be and when. When she heard I was on my way home she mailed it out and it was waiting for me. What a lovely surprise!! She made two more pieces to go with a bag she had made for me last year, a bag with a cross stitched piece attached that said Friendship, a lovely feather pen from the Tower of London, a neat postcard from London, and a magnet needle minder! I love the buttons she used on the pillow and the little bag. Thank you, Mouse! I love all of it!! You are so creative!!
I had another surprise in the mail today. My cousin, Judy, sent me a little pink bunny peep. She has a purple one, along with my other cousin, M. They like to photo bomb using their purple bunny peeps and post the pictures on facebook of places they've been. My cousin, D, thinks the rest of us are silly and has been seen strangling one of the purple peeps. Judy has so kindly decided to let me join in the fun...so you'll be seeing posts on facebook of my pink bunny peep (who still doesn't have a name....if you would like to help me think of a name, I will post it here when I've found the perfect one, and I may have a little surprise for you if you have the winning name!) Apparently my son has the same feeling about our little peeps as cousin D...I will have to keep her in a safe place away from strangling hands!!
I thought I had left the snow behind me in New York, but I've learned the snow fairies have followed me back to Maryland. It looks lovely reposing on the branches of trees...it's not so much fun to brush off cars, drive in, or shovel. I hear there is more on the way...*sigh*.
And that is all I have to say on that subject...or any subject for that matter tonight. I hope wherever you are, you are warm, safe, and happily stitching! I leave you with a picture of the true master of our house. He reminds me of the Dos Equis man...I'm trying to think of a funny caption and then I will post it on facebook....any ideas?
I've heard from a few people wondering where I was. Thank you so much for thinking of me!! My husband and I always joke about New Year's Resolutions. He never makes them because he always breaks them...I was so good up until the 3rd of January, then everything got thrown out the window with a single phone call.
My Mom is 76 years old. She has had some health issues, but recently she had a back x-ray and they discovered an aneurysm. It was too small to operate, or so they said, so they said they would watch and see. Less than a month later, it ruptured. Normally she would not have survived. Rarely do you see someone recover from a ruptured aneurysm, and I had a cousin who died within moments from one. I have always been afraid of them, and learned through this experience that they tend to be genetic within the female line. She just happens to live within sight of the volunteer rescue squad headquarters, 2 miles from the nearest hospital where she was a nurse for 25 years and is still friends with a lot of folks who work there, and 3 miles from a helipad. She made it to the hospital in a matter of minutes and within a short period of time, flown to a renown hospital in Burlington, Vermont. She just happened to fall into the hands of their best vascular surgeon who had to do some creative thinking and surgery, and saved her life. I am so very thankful. Here she is with me a couple of years ago.
When I heard the news, my immediate thought was to get to Burlington as quickly as possible. BUT...there was an ice storm happening there at the same time. So I took Amtrak...it was a 12 1/2 hour ride. And I stayed in a hotel near the hospital for a week while I waited for them to discharge her. It was a very long week!! Then I traveled back to norther New York with her and stayed for a month until I felt she was ready to stay by herself. It was good to spend time with her, but my oh my it was demanding physically and emotionally. It was a very long month!! I came home yesterday, on the train...another 12 1/2 hour journey. I am so very tired at this moment.
I really liked the hotel that I stayed in...but I could see this sign from my hotel room window...I couldn't help noticing the irony....Warning, no life guard on duty...swim at your own risk. LOL!!
Needless to say, I didn't get much stitching done. I took a few different projects because I was hoping to get a lot done. I did ALMOST finish Birds of a Feather that I started the first of January, and today stitched the last few leaves of the tree. Here it is!! Thanks again, Alice, for the pattern, it was truly a joy to stitch!!
I was able to keep up with my goal of stitching two Christmas ornaments a month. These are so fun to stitch, and quick too!! Here are my two for January!
Just after my last blog post in January I finished the Positive Thinking SAL I was stitching. Here is a picture of it. I loved stitching this, love the saying, and hope to get it framed soon. Wish me luck!!
I took some crocheting to do on the train which was easier than trying to stitch (I did try but we were swaying so much it was futile!!) and lighter to carry when heading out each day to the hospital. I worked on a scarf and a shawl alternately, but didn't finish either of them. Believe it or not, I was busy at the hospital (except when Mom was sleeping) as I gave her most of her care, trying to give the nurses a break. They liked coming into Mom's room periodically to laugh and kid around with us. I have to say we were both giddy considering that she was still with us, we were happy she had made it through! I haven't taken pictures, but will when they are both done.
I'm sure you've had snow wherever you were during the past five weeks...but I thought I would go crazy as the snow continued to fall day after day while I was there. Here are a few pictures taken on different days while I watched it pile up...so glad to be where you can see the ground in some places and the weather has turned warmer. It hit -24 degrees with a wind chill of -40 one morning...brrrrr!!
I missed my boys so much while I was gone, but they took good care of each other. It was a very happy reunion yesterday!! They decorated the house with streamers and balloons throughout the main floor. I had to laugh, as they both had to keep ducking to keep from running into the streamers. It's nice to feel so loved and missed.
And that is that. Hopefully I'll be back to stitching, meeting up with my friends, and working at keeping some of my goals that got thrown out the window in the first week of January. LOL Such is life, it's always one big adventure. I'm learning to be flexible as I get older, but it isn't easy teaching an old dog new tricks. Till next time...happy stitching!
