The Score for The Week Photos 0 - Stitching 0

Hi folks
This has not been a great week for me stitching wise. I seem to have lost my stitching mojo. I have done very little stitching this week and just seem to want to sit and vegetate in the evenings instead of stitching. My mind and hands seem to be in neutral.
I worked on one small piece of stitching for a gift and got 1/2 way through only to realize I had made a major error that was not repairable and had to pitch the entire piece in the trash and start again!!
I am also a beginning quilter and have been working on a pieced flamingo. Well, after cutting and piecing it, it was time to put the front and back together. - Result - they don't line up. So, next to my mystery piece in the trash can is one pink flamingo!!!!
My camera has gone to the manufacturer for repair and I have not heard that it has been received yet so I will have to wait to see if and when it will be repaired. So, no photos.
Well, maybe I will answer the tag and there will be something at least mildly interesting for you to read. I will not tag anyone since this tag has been around the blog and back again

Seven weird things about yourself.

1. I love sci-fi, fantasy movies and series. I love Star Wars, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter - anything that takes me into that magical world of witches, wizards, dragons and impossible dreams.
2. I am an ex-smoker of 8 years who would start again tomorrow if it would not kill me. I am going to buy myself a package of cigarettes for my 80th birthday since by then I will have lived plenty long enough.
3. I LOVE pizza and try to eat it at least once a week.
4. I am a list and note maker. My family call me "The Queen of the Sticky Notes".There are notes and lists everywhere you look - all over my computer desk, beside the phone, beside the calender, on the end table in the living room, on the fridge - I think you get the picture.
5. I love my fleece sheets and feather duvet.
6. I read and collect books by Anne McCaffrey, Diana Gabaldon and Bertice Small.
7. Someday, I want to meet a dragon.

Well, there you go - now you know all my little secrets!!!
Take care everyone and I sure hope my stitching mojo returns soon. I have lots of WIP's that are just sitting looking at me.

Fair and Square Received and Stitching update

I got a lovely email from Rowyn this week telling me she had received my Fair and Square exchange. This has been my first exchange and I really enjoyed it. For her I chose a medallion from Paradigm Lost by Long Dog Samplers. I did it on 32 count Antique White Linen using DMC 4240. I embellished the squares with Mill Hill Beads 02026 and added a couple of Swarovski crystals. I used the center of the same medallion for the second square.You can see a photo of the complete exchange on Rowyn's blog. While cruising, I did some work on Noddy and Friends. This is not my favorite stitch as it is on 14 count aida but it is coming along very quickly and there are lots of quarter stitches to help it flow fast.

I managed one day on Paradigm and was able to finish the motif on the bottom right and add the little crab. He is sooo cute.

Yesterday, I dug out my Little Book of Stitches and managed to get some work done on that too.

This snowflake I did going on the bus to San Diego and back again. It is done with DMC 729 and Kreinik Blending Filament 002. I found this pattern in an old magazine and not even sure which one . The page had been torn out. This is my ornament for February - so we are 2 for 2.

Now, the good part - yeah right - my camera is broken and it is being mailed to Canon today for repairs. The flash will not work. Electronic equipment and I are not doing well these days!!! So, no photos for a while until it returns.

On land and Online

Well, can you believe it!!! I have returned. My computer has been reformatted - fixed (sort of). I just have to find and reinstall all my software programs and try and remember what they were!!! At my age, that is tricky.

We had a wonderful, awesome, incredible cruise of the Mexican Riviera. We were spoiled, pampered and coddled every step. I wanna grow up and live on a cruise ship. Where else can you get your bed turned down every night and a chocolate on your pillow. Someone makes your bed every morning, picks up your room, delivers your breakfast, caters your lunch and dinner, entertains you every night and wants to know if there is anything else.

Our cruise set sail on the 8th in the early evening. We spent a day at sea (pool time) then sailed to Cabo San Lucas, then another day at sea, then La Paz, then Ensenada and then back to San Diego. Here are Leo and I dressed for the formal dinner. We don't dress like this any more so it was nice to get all dressed up. Retirement and formal wear just don't match.This is our cruise ship, the Carnival Elation tied up outside of Cabo San Lucas.This is the beach at Cabo San Lucas - much too crowded for me. This is the watermelon ship at the Grand Buffet at midnight on our third day out. The food was spread for miles and most was too beautiful to eat.

Our room steward was a sweet gentleman from India and he left us an itinerary, chocolates and a beautiful towel creature on our bed every night. The swan is my favorite.This is a beautiful sand sculpture on the beach in La Paz. There is the most wonderful walkway along the sea for miles here.

This is the view as we pulled into Ensenada. The weather was not the best here and the town was not the best either. I walked off the ship, took one look around and got back on and stitched the afternoon away.

I hope you have enjoyed my photos from the trip. I did a little stitching so I will post that the next time.

I have missed everyone and will look at all your blogs over the next few days and catch up on all your adventures. I am happy to be home and back online!!!

Crashes and Cruises

Well, everyone my computer is still down. I tried to install a scanner and the drivers crashed my entire computer. I have to have my entire hard drive reformatted. I will not be up and running again for several days.
DH and are are off on Friday for a 6 night 5 day cruise of the Mexican Riviera with 17 of our closest friends. This will be our first cruise and we are so very excited (me more than DH). I will be offline until the 15th. Internet is very limited and expensive on the cruise ship. Hopefully, by the time I return, my laptop will be back in operation.
Take good care everyone. Keep those stitching fingers busy. I look forward to seeing all your amazing progresses once I return.

A few Wrinkles

Well, folks we arrived safely home late Tuesday night. Our little grandson Hunter had the flu Sunday and Monday, so guess who came down with the flu Wednesday and Thursday. I am now back on my feet, BARELY and DH is down.
To add to the wrinkles, this morning my computer crashed for the second time in two weeks. The repair man is coming tomorrow. If I seem to have vanished for a bit, I will reappear once I am back online. I miss everyone and I want to know what you are all doing.
See you soon hopefully.

Have you ever done this?

Have you ever done this? Your sitting around talking with some friends and they are admiring your cross stitch. Out comes the words" My daughter has a cross stitch that she started years ago and she never did finish it." Before you think out of your mouth comes the words - "Tell her to bring it to me and I will see if I can finish it." Well, the piece shows up. It has been in a bag for years, the fabric is all yellowed and the needles has rusted into the fabric and there are about 40 stitches done on the whole thing. You are good friends with one of the people involved so you say - "leave it with me - no guarantees of when but I will finish it someday". I ended up buying a new piece of fabric - 14 ct. aida (not my favorite) sorted the umpteen colors and threw it in my stitching trunk. Well, it started calling my name so here is my start on this "little" piece of cross stitch that is 13" x 20."

I did get to spend several hours with Dani today. We met for breakfast and then returned to her house for some quality stitching time. Thanks Dani - it was great to see you again. See you in April.
Here is my Paradigm progress for this week. I finished Page 1 and I am now on Page 6. The large motif on the right is finished and the snail is just too cute.

The children returned from Cuba on Friday looking tanned and relaxed. We were happy to return responsibility for the children back to them. We are returning to Arizona at 6 a.m. on Tuesday morning. I will not post until later in the week.

Pictures, pictures and more pictures.

Well, I lost my entire post of a few minutes ago so we will try this one more time!!

I got my computer back from the repair shop today. $170 bill for a new power jack. Of course, the warranty expired three weeks ago.We have had nothing but problems with this laptop since we bought it and I will NEVER buy this brand again.

Since my last post was photoless I will do my best to improve it this time. Here we go.

First up, photos of Beatrice, Adriana (Beatrice's mom) and I at our Sunday stitch and visit. I just love these two people and was delighted to be able to spend some quality time with them. On the back of the couch behind us is part of Adriana's latest work - an angel full of Kreinik and beads and she is 92!!

Next up, Cathy B.s Neighbourhood. Cathy asked us to stitch something representative of where we live. Since I spend 6 months of the year in Arizona and have for the past 6 years I decided to stitch something representing the southwest. My block came from a Cross My Heart booklet from 2000 called Shades of the Southwest. I added the saguaro cactus and the mountains.

I worked on Paradigm last week and am within a dozen stitches of finishing page 1. That means there are only 9 more pages to go!!!
Since I was on a neighbourhood roll and I had two in my possession I decided to keep going. Next up was Erin's neighbourhood and she wanted a woodsy, rustic theme. For her I chose my pattern from the Page A Day Cross Stitch Calendar - January 10th to be exact. Since we are presently in Canada babysitting our grandchildren in the midst of the snow I really liked this one. I added the Canada Goose and the Beaver from Thea Dueck's Canadian Cross stitch to add a little Canadian flair. I really enjoyed this stitch and I hope Erin likes it too. I have also included a photo of her neighbourhood to this point too. Since I was done with this so early, I sent it off to Annemarie and when I let her know she says she is already looking at patterns!!!

Last, and never least, I thought I would include a couple of photos of our grandsons. One photo is of Poppa and Jackson reading the newspaper and the second Jackson, Hunter and Poppa are playing with PlayDoh. There are no photos of me since I am holding the camera and therefore am not ever in the photos.

It has been very interesting - a lot of fun, a lot of laughter and totally exhausting looking after our two grandsons. We took them to their swimming lessons last Saturday. My organizational skills revived themselves very quickly making sure we had all the necessary ingredients for a successful trip. Jackson is a little fish in the water and spends more time under the water than on top. DH had to go in the water with Hunter as he is in the very early stages and is rather tentative. Tuesday was "Visit with the Doctor" day. Hunter was due for his needles and Jackson was due for his 3 year old checkup. We left the house, ran into a snowstorm, drove into the city (very slowly) promptly got lost and arrived at the doctors 1/2 hour late. The appointments were successful. Both boys are in great shape!!! Thank goodness the parents weren't around. We may have gotten fired.

Looking after the two boys has revived my earlier days. I am back to organizing backpacks for daycare, meals, laundry, play time, snack time, nap time, bed time and any other time in between. I have picked up 40 sippy cups, 100 little trucks and 1000 legos and assorted toys. I have changed 20 dirty diapers, given 14 splash filled baths, kissed 10 boo -boos and held my hands over my ears only 40 or so times (well, maybe less). Through it all, it has been an experience I will never forgot. The parents return Friday afternoon. We love our grandsons dearly but will happily settle back into the roll of grandparents. It is much more relaxing and much less responsible. I am too old to be so responsible.

Now, to a new problem. Somehow, I have the same photos at the bottom of this post and have no idea how to delete them - end result - too many photos $)%T^&@J

Please stick with it to the end and leave your comments. The comment sections is wwwwaaay down - just keep scrolling. I really enjoy hearing from everyone. Sorry about the blooper.