Happy New Year Everyone

Happy Holidays to Everyone

Happy Birthday to ME !!

Today is my 53rd birthday, OMG where have all the years gone. It seems just like yesterday I was graduating from high school and going into the "grown up" world. My Mom was going to take me to see The Holiday, but there was a mix up with the time when I was to meet her after her dental appointment so we didn't make it. She says she'll take me next week. For dinner we had pizza from my favorite place. We always get money for our birthdays and I believe I will be buying the IPod Shuffle, the stores are all sold out now, so will get it in the New Year.

I belong to a Cross Stitching Birthday Club and received the most amazing gifts, from fabric and floss to leaflets and kits. They are all great, but one is calling out to me to stitch right away. It is "I will always be a Wildflower by Sam Sarah. I think I have the perfect fabric and will use DMC, so will be able to get started on it right away.

The ducks at Trout Lake don't seem to mind the ice. First one shows them at a side of the lake where it was starting to melt and the other is in the middle of the lake.

These two pictures show the damage the snow storm caused. There were 6 damaged trees like these ones.

I received some stash this week. I bought some Prairie Schooler little cards on e-Bay. I have already started one. The picture shows the cards I got and two Kelmscott Designs Needle Minders,which I bought from Stitching Bits & Bobs.

Yesterday I was looking at the magazines in our local grocery store and found this Cross Stitch Pattern-a- Day Calendar. Of course I just had to get it, not like I need another calendar around here, but hey some of these patterns are adorable. I know for sure I won't be stitching all of them nor will it be on the day it shows up, but I will do some throughout the year and following years !

Finally I was able to upload the picture. I think I enjoyed stitching this as there is only one color to use and it is a cute pattern.

I ventured out in the snow today. The main roads are good, it was just a matter of getting out of the lane, which was not too bad. My Mom and I went to the library, she got a couple of books, not sure which ones and I got Before Sunrise by Diana Palmer and Crewel Yule by Monica Ferris. I have never read/heard anything by Diana Palmer so am taking a chance. I have heard good things about Monica Ferris books, and since they are about our favorite craft it should be good. We then went to Tim Horton's for lunch. After that we went to Chapters and the mall and picked up a few gifts. Then we went to see The Nativity. It is a nicely done movie and reminds you of what Christmas is really about.

On a stitching note, I got Christmas Motif Sampler II by JBW Designs done. The picture does not do it justice. Well it seems I can't upload a picture, I'll try tomorrow.

Well I may be stuck in the house this week due to the snow storm, but I did shovel the sidewalk to make sure the mailman has no excuses for not bringing me all the lovely packages I've been getting this week.

I got the LHN Thread Packs of "Pumpkins" "Love and Faithfulness" and the PS 2006 Santa. I have all the Santas since they first started coming out and have not stitched one, I plan to remedy that in 2007.

From Sassy's Fabrics I received Tan Marble and Toffee both in 28ct. evenweave. I joined the COTM at http://www.sassysfabbys.com/, so will be receiving a package every month. Toffee is the COTM for November.

Then I got from Down Sunshine Lane, Britty Puppies II by Brittercup Designs, Christmas Motif Sampler I and II by JBW Designs and Gold Wreath & Hearts and Angelic Hearts by DSL, which you can see by the photo I have already stitched.

I won a couple of auctions on e-Bay of Prairie Schooler Patterns, which are Birds & Berries, St. Nicholas II, Johnny Appleseed, The Four Seasons, Christmas Alphabet and Nutcrackers.

Lastly I received a "Letter of Savings" for my birthday month of December from Needlecraft Corner, so I can do more stashing !

WINTER WONDERLAND

Who would believe just yesterday I was complaining about all the rain we were having. The

picture with Tiger, who is looking for her ball, is taken in the back yard. The other is a view of the front, from an upstairs window. I really don't mind the snow for a few days, especially if I don't have to drive in it. Although this looks like it is going to last all week with snow showers almost daily. This is a great time to start decorating for Christmas and an even better time to get some stitching done.

It is always a good day when you receive mail stash and was doubly so for me today.

I got Two Blue Houses and Music & Books, both designed by Little House Needleworks, with a Little Prairie Schooler card of abc123 from http://ehandcrafts.com/

I got Two Red Houses; City Stitcher*Country Stitcher and Acorns & Pines from http://www.123stitch.com/ They are also designed by LHN.

Now I just need to wait for my fabric order to arrive, which I'm not in a hurry for as I won't be starting any of these till 2007. Okay maybe the PS one as it is small and cute.

Heart and Home is finished. This was quick and enjoyable to stitch.

This is a photo and you will notice how much nicer (I think) it looks than the scan in my last post.

Vancouver, British Columbia is known for having a lot of rain, but these few days have been unreal. It started raining last evening and poured buckets all night and day long. With the rain we also had sever winds, knocking trees down. The ferries to Vancouver Island were cancelled due to the winds. Hundreds of homes have been without power. I saw two accidents on my way to work this morning and it seemed to take forever to get home. I saw people standing at bus stops get drenched from cars driving through puddles on the road. It finally stopped this evening.
Sounds like a perfect day for sitting by the fire and stitching, but no I had to work ! Such is life.


As for stitching, last night I started this Little House Needlework called Heart and Home from the 1999 leaflet Joy in the Journey. The colors of the scan do not do this justice, it is much more vibrant.

We have been having so much rain this month, some places are flooding, like Trout Lake, our favorite place to walk. Tiger like a kid sees a "mud puddle" and has to play in it.

I finished Joy To The World, there really wasn't
much to do, about 20 backstitches and 8 cross stitches.

In Flanders Fields By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) Canadian Army

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow Between the crosses row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.

I have finished Pear Tree Inn designed by Little House Needleworks. The picture doesn't do it justice. As with a lot of my stitching lately, there is a "stitcher's creation" which is not really noticeable and there would have been far too much frogging to fix it.

I was searching thru my stitching drawers and found this UFO by Prairie Schooler that I started so long ago I can't remember when, guess that is why it is called a UFO. I think I will work on it now and see if I can get it done for Christmas this year.

Do you remember your first cross stitch? I do and I also remember the frustration of doing it. It was rather a large project, took a few years to do, but back then I only stitched during the winter months. My brother had bought this kit in Europe, I had never seen anything like it. Up till then I did needlework, you know the painted canvas kind or rug hooking. To this day, some 25+ years later, it still hangs in a place of honour in my brothers house.

Well so much for my ambition of keeping this blog up too date. I've had a rather busy week and I worked today and again tomorrow. Come the weekend I am going to get down to business and put some photos up of my WIP, which I have listed as only one, but in fact there are more :) I spent some time this evening trying to change my Yahoo Avatar, only to find out that once it is changed and saved on Yahoo it automatically changes it here. Now how easy is that ? I'm off to bed now as I need to get up at 5 A.M., thank goodness I only work 6 days a month and it is spread out.

Well as you can see I tried to start this blog back in September and in two days it will be November. I think I am going to set aside 15 minutes everyday (hopefully) to write something here and show what I am working on. Presently I am in a SAL stitching LHN Pear Tree with my Yahoo group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lhnxgroup. I should be finished by the end of the week (again...hopefully). I did buy a new camera on the weekend, so I no longer have any excuses for not posting photos of my work. Okay this is all for now, I'm off to stitch !

I read blogs every day and enjoy doing so, so thought I would give writing one a try.

I live in Buranby (Vancouver) Canada with my 7 year old Red Heeler mix named Tiger.

I love doing cross stitch and have for as long as I can remember.

You can see some of my work here http://community.webshots.com/user/imrogo