HALLELUJAH

My friend got her test results back today. The tumor was benign and she is cancer free. She is very happy and so are we all. WAY TO GO, BEATRICE! (she reads my blog LOL). Here is my progress on the mystery project. First photo is early this afternoon and second is late this evening. Mailed off my Gratification RR today and got news that 3 Sweetheart Tree RR pieces are on their way. I also have Dani's GRR piece sitting here waiting for inspiration. Her theme is "Knot Another Round Robin" and she wants knots. Any suggestions out there? In my spare time, I painted and rehung all the shutters on my house and painted my bench to match the shutters. The bench had not been taken apart for many years so undoing the bolts was quite tricky. Now, I have to put it back together. That should be interesting.

What a busy weekend! First, Dani, http://tkd.chick@blogspot.com came for the weekend. We ended up with an impromptu BBQ with DH's golfing buddies and their spouses, so she got to meet the neighbors. Saturday, we were off to visit Ann and Christin at Knowledge and Needles. Well, there is a wonderful new chip wagon on our way, so after a couple of phone calls 5 orders of fries and 1 of poutine were brought to Ann's. Ann and I tend to run into each other by the chip wagon near her house at any given time. We had a nice visit with Ann and met Christin's mom and aunt. We then went to visit my friend, Beatrice, who had major surgery last week. She is doing great. Still very tired but looking better each day. Dani and I managed to get some stitching done. then she was off to dinner at Ann's and DH and I went to a "Welcome Back" party in our neighborhood. Many of our neighbors (ourselves included) winter in the south. Sunday, we had more visitors then Dani was off to see Christin and her family. Managed to get in a little stitching time in the afternoon, then 9 for Sunday dinner. Here is my new stitching piece. I am not going to tell you what it is. I will let you guess as I go along. It is not a complicated stitch so should not take a long time.

Happy Dance

Today, I have a couple of reasons for a Happy Dance. My friend came home from the hospital yesterday. I visited her last night and she was looking wonderful lying on her couch at home. She is feeling a little better each day. I spent the afternoon stitching with the gang from Knowledge and Needles. If you read Ann's blog you will see us all in our banana yellow t-shirts. We are quite the bunch. We even had a guest from Ottawa - Christin. She has done a wonderful job of enabling us all by showing off all her finished works. And, last but not least, the baby sampler is finished. It needs a good pressing and I will have to wait until late July to add the necessary information. On to the next project, hmmmm - what will it be?

Baby sampler progress.

Got some work done on the baby sampler yesterday. It is coming along nicely. I figure another couple of days and it should be put away to await the date and name. Went to see my friend yesterday and she is doing very well - a little tender but cheerful.

Spiced Pretzels

I don't have a photo to include today. Been a little distracted. My best friend was operated on yesterday for thyroid cancer. She came through the surgery with flying colors. We now wait for test results to see if there is any further treatment required. She and I have been best buddies for 30 years and I could not imagine not having her in my life. For those who are interested here is the spiced pretzel recipe

1 lb. pretzels

3 tbsp. or 1 package Hidden Valley Ranch Dip (dry)
1 tsp. garlic ( I used dried )
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 cup canola or olive oil (I use canola)

Mix the powders with the olive oil and pour over pretzels. Stir. Micro 2 minutes, stir, micro 1 minute, stir, micro 1 minute and stir. Let sit until cool. Store in airtight container. You can adjust your spices till they are to your taste.

Baby sampler and RR

Did not get a lot of stitching done but here is my progress on Baby sampler #9 and a photo of my Instant Gratification RR piece. I have been tagged by Dani. After some discussion we have decided I am the tail at the end of the tag, since I don't know 8 people who have not already been tagged. So here are my random things.

1. I am not a natural redhead (did you already guess that?)- more grey and white

2. I am a big sci fi and fantasy fan

3. I am a beginning quilter

4. My favorite authors are Ann McCaffrey, Bertrice Small, J.K. Rowling, Diana Gabaldon and Christoper Paolini

5. I am a great list maker. My family call me "The Queen of Sticky Notes"

6. My favorite food is pizza and I must have it at least once every 1 1/2 weeks

7. I am hooked on spiced pretzels and keep a 2 lb. container handy at all times (recipe available for the spices)

8. My DH and I travelled for two years in a fifth wheel and covered 80,000 km. in Canada and the U.S. I have 4000 photos to prove it LOL.

Baby sampler start

Well, another day, another baby sampler. Here is a photo of one recently completed and then one of the new one I just started. I counted this morning and this is #9. Note to self - when copying a pattern from a magazine make sure you get the symbols too - makes it a lot easier to stitch LOL. I also do a little swedish weaving. Finished an afghan yesterday for a wedding in June. This is going to a cousin so no wedding sampler - something simpler instead.

Hmm - photos are not ending up where I want them. Will have to work at that. Will have to make them smaller too when adding more than one I see. I guess that's what happens when you are new at this. Please bear with me as I work this out. How to have a bad day - accept delivery of a new gas stove and they can't get the oven to work and now we are waiting for the "specialist". Accept delivery of a new table and 6 chairs and the finish is peeling off the chairs as you unpackage them. Accept delivery of a new sofa bed and there is an 8 inch gap at the top of the bed, there are grease stains on the front of it, some fabric is hanging down from underneath and you have to be 6 feet tall to sit on it and have your feet touch the floor. The table and chairs were returned last night and the sofa will be going back ASAP. Now, will have to start hunting all over again. @#$^#@$%^#$%^&( Get the picture!

Miribilia's Winter Queen

Here is my other large project over the past year. I started Winter Queen in the early 90's. Got very tired of the blue skirt and put it away until 2005. Picked her up again in 2005 and worked on her quite consistently other then stopping for baby and wedding samplers (LOL). Finished her in Arizona this past winter. Isn't she a beauty! Michael's did a wonderful job of framing her. She is home with me so I can show her off at Knowledge and Needles retreat in August, then she will reside in my winter home in Arizona.

Last night, stitched on Dimensions "Circle of Love". Not much progress there - just a couple of leaves.

Well, here I am in the land of bloggers. I made a promise that when I finished Celtic Banner I would enter the world of blogging. Well, here it is my finished Celtic Banner - 32 weeks of a SAL with Beatrice and Barb. You can see photos of the three of us with our banners at Ann's Knowledge and Needles Blog. Next to do is finish a banner strip for an Instant Gratification RR I am in. I did my first RR last year - a Sweetheart Tree RR and loved it. Since then, I have completed one JCS 2006 RR and am currently doing a General Ornament RR and will start at Neighborhood RR in July. My friends chuckle at the number of wedding and baby samplers I have done in the last few years. Our family is all of marrying and childbearing age and that is happening faster than I can stitch. I will share some of the photos later.