Giveaway - Spreading a Little Christmas Cheer

How about a little Christmas giveaway.

JBW Mittens - I liked it so much I bought two.
A Needle and Fred - Three Stockings - This was in the giveaway from Patti. I stitched it and loved it.



Leave a comment on this post and I will draw a name on December 5th. It would be nice if you became a follower but it is not required.

Finally A Stitchy Post

Hi there everyone.

Well, I am as unpacked as I am gonna get lol! I have only lost my calendar and my husband's new boating license in the move. I don't think that is too bad but I'm not sure he would agree.

I was going to post about my stitches as I crossed the country but decided to hold them for a future post. I want to share with you the wonderful gift that my stitching friends at home gave me before I left.


A couple of years ago I started a RR that did not work out. When it was returned to me, my friends decided they would help me out and stitch for me. It has taken quite a while and I did not see my RR in all that time. My friends would not tell me who had it and who stitched on it.

Ann of Knowledge and Needles had a retreat in November. I was able to spend Friday evening with everyone before I left at oh-dark-thirty on Saturday for the trek to Arizona.
My RR was returned to me at that time.

I owe a large debt of thanks to my wonderful friends - Beatrice, Dani, Judie, Angie, Ann and Barb for the amazing job they have done. To Katrina, who was the first person to stitch on this RR and who has not seen it since - thank you for sticking with it.

I think I will change the names and put them under the lighthouse each one has stitched and put something else in that area.

There are still 3 lighthouses and all those little boats to go around as a border. Oh well, someday it will be finished.

Thank you again to my wonderful stitching friends for the gracious gift of their stitches and time. I love you all!!!!

Sunshine and Warm Weather

Another brief note - we have arrived safely in Arizona. Once I unpack and hide (LOL) all my stitching supplies from the boxes, shake out the dust and fill the cupboards, I will sit down and blog away. My google reader has over 300 posts so it will take me a while to catch up on everyone.
Will do my best.
Still no news on a date for son's surgery!! Just keep those prayers coming!!

Hugs to you all

Southward Bound

Just dropping by with a brief note.

My mom's cataract surgery went well and she is rapidly on the mend.

We discussed what to do with our son this week and the decision was made that we would head south to your winter home in Arizona. We will fly home to be with our son when the date has been set for his surgery.
We are at present 30 miles west of Des Moines, Iowa in a hotel for the night. I have stitched my way along and will have some things to show you when I can.

See you on the sunny side.

Check out my new kitties

Another week has come and gone and we are still here. Our son called his endocronoligist and was told that they have contacted the surgeon. He is to wait for the surgeon's call. We have no idea how long that could be.
Our grandsons had a wonderful Halloween. Here they are dressed in their outfits.

Jackson is Ironman and Hunter is Venom - bad Spiderman he calls it.

Jackson was fascinated with all the things in his bag and kept running back to show us how full it was. Hunter was more interested in the decorations and costumes around the neighborhood.

Our son went deer hunting for the first time this week. He did indeed shot Bambi. Although I am not impressed with hunting, it was nice to see him smile and chatter about his big week.

Our week with the grandsons went like this - Monday - Jackson home sick with fever and lethargy, Tuesday - Hunter home - threw up, fever and lethargy, Wednesday afternoon and Thursday - Mommy home with fever and lethargy. They have all recovered now except for coughs and sniffles.

DH spent three days putting together a chest of drawers from IKEA and he and I had a few choice words when he tried to show me what went wrong. He finally drove the thing 40 minutes into town and made them put it together. What fun!!!

And me, I did laundry, dishes, tidied, made meals and stitched lots!!

I concentrated this week on Fairies in the Garden and got a lot done. Since I took this photo I have almost completed the backstitching and that will finish up this page. If you look closely you will see two fairies near the bottom of the page.



Oh, and the kitties- here they are in the kitchen having a plateful of corn.




Hunter making sure he gets every bite.



And Jackson is having a cat nap LOL.


We are headed back to our home area tomorrow. We will stay with my parents for a week. I will take my mother for her cataract surgery Thursday and her follow up appointment Friday. At the end of next week, we will look at things again and decide whether to stay or go.

Until then, I'll keep stitching and you stitch along with me. I am not sure what my focus will be next week. Will have to see what calls the loudest from my stitching bag.

In my bag - nope, bags

First of all, thank you all so much for all your wonderful notes, comments and hugs!!!! They are so needed and so appreciated. Nothing new is happening. No call from the doctor this week so we have moved on to stay with our two grandsons again. We want to see them enjoy Halloween. Our son is going deer hunting next week and we want to be here to help our DIL with the two boys. They are sweet fellas but they are a handful lol.

Anna had a meme on her blog about showing the contents of your stitching bag. I made a comment that I wouldn't show mine as I had two large bags. Well, sweet Anna, dared me to . My only excuse is that they are packed for travelling.

Bag #1
This is my first big bag and the one I used to carry all the time.

A box of candy wreaths
A bunch of magazines - Cross Stitch mostly
WIP and UFO list
Q snaps
Mailing envelopes
Box of my favorite cookies - everyone needs sugar now and then
Lighthouse ornament made for my by my friend Ann
Book of suduko puzzles
Pattern - Verandahs of South Battery - to remind me I need the fabric
A takeout bag from the Lone Star Restaurant - my favorite - Dani and I ate there last week
A house biscornu to make up
The Friendship Sampler RR pattern
Piece of beautiful blue hand dyed fabric I spotted at Knowledge and Needles and couldn't resist
Paper crocodile Jack made at school
2010 Cross Stitch calendar
My stitching friends Address Book
Thanksgiving Turkeys the boys made at daycare
A turkey stuffing bag - don't ask lol
kit ready for Desert Mandala - no threads - they are in AZ waiting for me
My neighborhood to finish when I get to AZ
scissors, fob and case from Chris

Bag #2 - Who can turn down a big bag that has room for photos of the grandkids!!!


My HAED kit - Peacock Lagoon
My Mirabilia kit - Royal Holiday
My Christmas stocking kit
Bedouin needlecase kit
Fabric and accessories for Postcards of Canada Wallhanging with redwork
Ann's neighborhood to stitch on
Gingher scissors with fob from Carol S.
4 new JBW designs
Red threads and beads - because
Calendar - schedule
Fairies in the Garden kit
Piecemaker needles and ort box
Beatrice new business card for her singing group "Noteables"
a Lizzie Kate pattern
and two little blue bags

One little blue bag holds pens, pencils, highliters and a pencil sharpener.

The second bag holds

A ruler
long needle - not sure why
magnetic wand
Sulky thread for gridding
needlecase holding Star DeTailor
2 needle threaders
2 paper clips
2 thimbles
2 Thread Heaven
2 - #28 Piecemaker needles
1 Piecemaker beading needles - don't recommend - they break too easy
Post it tabs for magazine browsing
Measuring tape
Small cutter
Needlecase with needles
and an ort box.

And there you go!!! Now, you know why I am embarrassed.

I have done a lot of stitching these past two weeks. With not being in our home, I don't have a lot of house work or other chores to do. When I am stressed, stitching helps so much. And so, here's what I have done

HAED - Peacock Lagoon - we now have a moon minus a few confetti stitches


Mirabilia's Royal Holiday - nice progress even with using Whisper



My Christmas stocking - the second stocking is complete. One more to go.



And a new piece - I'm working on a quilted wallhanging called Postcards from Canada. There are 25 blocks. I have completed the first 10.

That's it for now. Happy Halloween!!!!!! one and all.

And life throws another curve

We arrived at our oldest son's house on Friday for a visit before heading south. After dinner, our son told us he had heard from his endocronologist again. The endo sent his MRI to another doctor who found the tumor (about 5 mm) and they decided it had to come out sooner than later. They also informed my son that his thyroid has grown back. The thyroid is one of the few glands that can regenerate. They told him it will also have to come out in a seperate surgery. The endo is contacting a surgeon to do the surgeries. We have cancelled all plans for now. We will stay home until our son hears from the surgeon and we have some indication of when things will happen. Our house is closed up so we will be living with our two sons alternately for the foreseeable future.
My son, DIL and granddaughter are all being very brave. DH and I are trying to be brave too.

Please keep up all those prayers. We need them!!