Love gourds!

Hiya!  Thanks again for your kindness regarding my sister.  She got a call today to set up home health checks, because they feel she will have another episode within 30 days.  Now we are more concerned than before.

I wanted to show you what I found online at Fanatic's Country Attic.   Primitive gourd spoons and bowls.  Love them. Be sure to click on My Spirit of Seven in her sidebar to see her rescued pets.

 

 

 

 

  

With or without dried beans.  Those are dried turnips that come with the spoons.  I restrung the gourds to hang lower.

 

 

As for stitching, this damn bird has been a real chameleon.  He's been rust and gold and beige and pink and I haven't been pleased with any.

 

  It's a small sampler and this guy seems to be where the eye focuses.  I don't want it to be gaudy, yet that's what I see. 

There are no other colors that appeal to me with the blue, so 928 was substituted for 407 and I am using the 950 as charted.  Instead of 2 shades of blue and 2 shades of pink, he will be 3 blues and 1 pink.  I think I can live with this. 

I'll be really ticked and embarrassed if I remove that third blue and put the charted pink back.  Any bets?  As I look at the photos here....hmmm. The other motifs are bright but small and I like them.  Maybe it's the bird's pose that's bugging me but something is.  He's not the only thing.  One more intense flash at the wrong time and there will be a wicked rant post of all the minor yet annoying nuisances that have really chapped my hide in this last week of 2013. 

Which means it's the last weekend of 2013 already.  Enjoy it ~ stay safe.

Thanks for visiting.

Thank you!

Greetings to all.  Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness and prayers.  I just got a call that she will be released today.  Tests showed no change in her heart and all other results were good.  She put out over 3 liters of fluid in 24 hours!   They feel that danger is over and will check into her aortic valve problems with follow ups.  Whew.  Thank you all again so much.  She's 75 and every scare adds another gray hair which will be quickly covered with dark brown #28.

She was fine at dinner here on Christmas Eve.  We had our traditional meal of smelts, pierogis, nalesniki filled with cottage cheese, cole slaw, spinach salad.  Christmas day was the turkey breast that was frozen twice and transferred from Thanksgiving.  We hadn't planned on hosting another dinner but the breast was thawed (second time) and a real monster so we ran over to Carole's house and picked it up along with the preparations, cooked all afternoon and had a traditional Thanksgiving meal. 

 I made an extra recipe of the nalesniki (crepes) for Mark's friend and they filled some with the cheese filling and the rest with jam.  The right temperature and pan and you can crank these beauties out in no time.  They freeze very well and can be filled and rolled with a variety of goodies.  So thin you can see through them.

 

I only made three cookies and this one used to take hours.  Now, I use Pepperidge Farms frozen puff pastry.  Slice into strips, roll to twice its length, wrap around the form, bake.  Easy!  The filling is only three ingredients, piped from a plastic bag with a tiny corner cut.  Did you ever have Barry's Bakery's French twists?  Frozen puff pastry, egg white wash, load with cinnamon sugar, cut, twist, bake, eat. 

 

 

This is the wrap I prefer, found at Walmart, because it stretches and clings great.  Their regular stuff doesn't but this "professional strength" works well.  And there's an added bonus.  I save the empty roll for wrapping linen pieces.  No folds.  These tubes are so sturdy and strong - no bending or caving ever.  I've never come across a tube this sturdy from other products.

So there you have it.  Waiting for the call that she is discharged and ready for pick up, relaxing the rest of the day.  That includes some stitching on Random Thoughts. 

Squeaky hasn't been here in a few days, and the others were afraid to come in for their evening snooze with company here.  Last night they did after everyone left, and as I picked up Missy at midnight to put her out, she drew blood again.  This time from my chin but it's minor and not noticeable.  It was not intentional, her legs were flailing trying to get away from me.  None of them have ever hissed at me to stay away, or deliberately grabbed me.   It's always been from an attempt to tame their wild little ways.  Except for Bud, not sure that will ever happen.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.  For those suffering through a loss and experiencing great sadness, I hope there was a little glimmer of joy in memories.

Thank you again so so much for your prayers.  They were appreciated and answered.

Thank you for visiting!

Prayers for Christmas

Wishing you joy, peace, and love this Christmas Day.

Asking for your prayers please. 

 Early this morning we rushed to the hospital. 

 My sister is again in congestive heart failure.

She is able to breathe now but this is her second episode and it came quickly.

She is responding to treatment but they don't know how long that will last.

Hopefully she will be home in a few days and the next time will be many years from now, but we've been there before and know better.

Count your blessings not only this day, but every single one.

 

Merry Christmas

 

Merry Christmas

A little sampler as my gift.   I truly appreciate each and every one of you.

Wishing you a joyous Christmas.

I hope you like it!

Stitched on 30 count linen over two threads, aged and stained.

 



 

Two things

Hi everyone.  The last weekend before Christmas.  I just came back from shopping.  Again.  I am a coupon addict and if someone is giving me $10 off, I can't pass it up.  Even if I don't need anything, which is defeating the purpose of saving $10 because it really cost me $20. 

The first thing I want to show you is this little sampler I am working on. I had planned on doing a free chart as a Christmas gift for you. I appreciate your friendship and wanted to do something for everyone instead of a giveaway with one recipient.

Why didn't someone tell me how the holiday was sneaking up? I thought Christmas was Friday ever since the calendar fell off the wall and October ended up as the current page. I think I will have it done for you as long as I don't remove the stitches over and over because I change my mind on color.

 

The second thing (I've posted about them before), is my favorite tree light string.  My others have been burning out and I was pleasantly surprised when I searched online to find them at Home Depot! 

 

 

 

 

 

They are bigger bulbs, bright, faceted, iridescent, not LED, and sparkly as heck.   Not good for small feather trees, but I have them on the others.  I learned over my 62 years that most items will not be available in the future, so buy what you like when you see it.  Put it away and one day you will be happy you have them.  On sale for $6.30 including online.  GE crystal lights.  Probably of no interest to you but I'm happy to have found them again.  The 40 and 60 watt incandescent bulbs are no longer being made so I stocked up with what was left. I may have the sockets changed on outdoor lighting to the candelabra base.  Just don't like the big white bulbs or the light they throw. Several of my lamps have clip on shades which I can't use on the curly CFL and I'm very afraid of breakage if the shade should be bumped.  I'm sure everyone knows this but just in case, here's the protocol for a broken fluorescent because of the mercury gas....

If you drop and break a CFL, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency advises that you should get the children and pets out of the room immediately. Then you should open a window, close the door to that room if there is one, and leave for 15 minutes. The agency also recommends that you use a broom and wet paper towel to clean up rather than a vacuum -- unless you intend to throw away the vacuum.

 

I'm really sad today.  One of our young does was hit by a car recently and walking on three legs.  She was doing well and eating, I called her Molly.  She was a little shorter than the others with a wider sweet face.   I was very concerned because she hadn't been with the others for over a week.  We didn't know her body was right up our road off the highway in a yard, covered by all the snow.  The rains have washed away the snow and we saw her yesterday, obviously hit again.  And my MN cousin has been moved 130 miles from her relatives to another facility.  Still very upset and not understanding why they will not allow her to go home, lashing out at her sister.   I just can't imagine why they feel she is bad enough to warrant this.  Assisted living will not take her because she would not be voluntarily moving there, and would be a flight risk.

 

This afternoon I will get a heat pack on my low back (have no idea what happened there) and sit and stitch until this new design is completed.  Until then, stay safe, take a few minutes for YOU today, make sure your calendar is on the right month, and enjoy the season - not the snow - the season.

Thanks for visiting.

 

 

 

Nothing stays the same

Hello people.  The charts are mailed and Vanessa, please contact me soon so I can take care of this before the weekend.  If not, I will draw another number tomorrow (Thursday) night for book 58.   I was so surprised at the number of no-reply.  I tried to answer a few comments and all except one went no where! 

I found the jingle bells all neatly stored in a divided container so I finished the gift, but then decided to add some color with frayed homespun instead of the hemp wrap.  Then I changed my mind and put back the hemp, and decided that jute would look better.  I spent more time fiddling with changes than actually stitching.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Random Thoughts (an appropriate name for my projects),

I stitched the bird with the 407 and 950 as called for and then removed all of it and used 434 and 436.  I like rusts and browns with blue, but now I may go back to the lighter shades.  Drives me nuts.  I'd like the motifs a little brighter but this bird looks too tropical.  Again, I waste more time with changes and decisions than stitching.

 

Then I took a tree stitched on 19 count linen that I decorated with buttons years ago (now removed), dipped it into a walnut dye and glued the rusty star to the top.  I never thought of decorating a fridge before, but I like it.  Today.  I just used shipping tape and then folded it over.  This was a nice old design that could be easily adapted to a theme or individual.  With the large weave you could tie ribbons, tiny ornaments, charms, anything lightweight. 

Kind of fun to stitch for a young girl and see how she changes it as she gets older.  My nephew's son told me the other day that the best gift he ever received was from me one Christmas.  I don't like buying toys because I've seen excitement followed months later by boredom and it is discarded.  So I got him a small metal lock box with his name engraved (found at an engraving studio) along with two keys.  He had two siblings that always "took his stuff" so this was private, only for him, and no one could get inside.  He still has it!  This year I bought his girlfriend's little boy a pair of miniature (but real) binoculars to check out the woods behind his grandpa's.  And a bank that keeps a running total of the change so you don't have to count all your nickels.  He'll probably frown as if they were underwear.  Found them both at Kohl's.  Love that store. 

 

Two cats and a tree.                                       Three cats and a tree.

 

What dirty little brats they are. That pad is so filthy after just one session. I had a heck of a time trying to put them outside. Would be easier if they would let me near!

Now I have to think about dinner. By the time I decide, it will be too late to eat.

Enjoy your day ~ thanks for visiting!