Tuesday, March 30, 2010

SUNDAY'S COMIN'



BECAUSE THIS IS HOLY WEEK, INSTEAD OF SHOWING PHOTOS OF STITCHING, I AM POSTING THIS OUTSTANDING EASTER MESSAGE. LISTEN TO IT, BELIEVE IT'S WORDS AND CELEBRATE THE MEANING OF EASTER.

Friday, March 19, 2010

BLOWIN' AND GOIN'!

I still have that naggin' Louisiana Crud. Better, but still coughing and blowing my nose. But I think it's on the down side.

So....here are some pretty good Jane Austen sequels. I did buy that awful zombie thing, read a few pages and thumbed through it enough to know that Charlotte Lucas Collins turned into a zombie and Rev. Collins did himself in when she turned.  But these two are great!

Believe it or not, JANE BITES BACK by Michael Thomas Ford was pretty good. It's set in modern day. Jane owns a book shop and only drinks a little blood at a time. But she's not above using her skill to seek revenge! Her shop assistant is adorable, Jane has a suitor, and, just when things are going great, a lover from the past shows up.  No clues from me, but I will tell you he was (and is) famous. There are  more books in the series to come and I'll be in line for them.


Colleen McCullough (as in THE THORN BIRDS) wrote a really good sequel called  THE INDEPENDENCE OF MISS MARY BENNET. So far I think it is my favorite of them all. Mary is the nerdy of the sisters. Always annoying everyone with her attempts to sing and with all the holier-than-thou comments. Well, she certainly grew up! After caring for her crazy mother for so long, the lady dies and Mary is off on her own. She's very independent and that's an understatement. She lives alone--a no-no-- and eventually is kidnapped. Rescued, of course. And, after swearing off men and love, finds Mr. Right and all ends well. A really good book.


So, that's how it goes.

And yes, a bank teller really did ask me if my boys had the same parents. And to make up for the gaff, she gave them lots of suckers. Even today, at 36 and 40, they don't really resemble each other too much. If you are on Facebook with me, go to my page and link to Michael's Disney World photos. They are really good. He bought a megacamera last fall and it definitely is paying off. There are, so far, four days of photos. The Tree of Life in Animal Kingdom is especially beautiful.

I'm staying in today and stitching and framing. I've stocked up on Peeps, have plenty of Coke Zero and kleenex. CSI:Miami and Las Vegas play all day and tonight is Criminal Minds night on A&E. Ah, having the Crud may not be so bad!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

A MILLION THANKS, DONNA!



I love awards and she has presented me with this one. Tickles me to death, especially since I'm not feeling my
best. Louisiana Crud. One of the requirements is that I choose 10 blogging friends to send it on to. Well, I can't  choose. I love them all: Ann, Elisa, Julie, Siobhan, Edgar and on and on. So.....all you guys take this for yourselves. You all deserve it. Now for 10 things about me you may not know:

1. I used to have red hair. Now it's not a  very becoming shade of gray, so I dip into the old Loving Care.

2. I've played the piano for 58 years. Started lessons at the age of 5. I'm actually trained as an organist, but my church doesn't have one. So I play keyboard. And am getting ready to retire. I played in church for the first time when I was 12. I still have the piece of music.

3.  I am an only child. And none of those comments about being spoiled.

4. I've had a needle in my hand since I was a small child. Used to make doll clothes from old scraps. And I made paper dolls from the Sears catalog.

5. Although my boys have the same parents, they are totally different in looks. John is fair with blue eyes and Michael has dark hair and brown eyes. Once had a bank teller asked me if they had the same father. I told her I THOUGHT so. Stupid question.

6. Like Donna I'm into smalls. And word trees. I do have a couple large projects started and am waiting for the fabric to get here for Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow. Not that I've finished the other two.

7.  The only thing I really want right now is a puppy. A Shih Tsu. My sweet little Rose left me over a year ago and I'm ready now to add to the family. I miss the companionship and I envy Siobhan her Duffy.

8. Like most of the members of my mother's family, I have heart disease. I take my meds like a good girl, but at my age I've decided I'll live my life the way I want to, eat what I want, and if I decide to do so, will sit on my fat butt all day stitching.

9. I'm a complete washout working with children. But truly love working with Senior Adults. I go to Sunrise Assisted Living every Thursday and sing with the residents and have an all around good time. One of the guys does an imitation of Elvis. Too cute!

10. London is my favorite city. If I could, I'd hop a plane and be on my way! I love the Abbey, St. Paul's, the Buck (last visit over I took a tour of it. Didn't see the queen, though). I love everything about England. And my favorite historical person, the one I admire most, is Elizabeth I.

Well, that's it. I feel a bit narcissistic! But anyway, thanks Donna!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

THIS AND THAT......


I've not been too good about writing on my blog lately. Lots of reading, lots of stitching! The books we'll leave for another day-perhaps tomorrow. I've enjoyed a couple of Jane Austen sequels and I'll tell you about them later.

First comes the TUSal. The colors this month are quite bright. And there's a couple of broken needles, price tags and floss labels.

Now for a look at my little girlfriend, Giselle. She visits just about every day, sometimes all day long. She has her own bed, as you can see. She's a little love. And always returns to her "real" home at night. A big thanks to my neighbors for sharing her with me.



Tomorrow is the wearin' of the green day.I'm going to wear my green knitted St.Pat's beret. My most memorable St. Pat's was several years ago. We were in New York and, wow!, what a day! The parade, bagpipes, lunch in a real Irish pub, wonderful Irish food and Guiness, which I admit I like. David calls it "motor oil"!  The line down Fifth Avenue is really painted green. The greatest thing was attending Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral. It is a beautiful church anyway, but on this special day there were green carnations everywhere and a most spectacular painting of the saint himself. I do have some Irish roots along with my Scot blood, so it's a special day to me.

One of  my dreams is to be in Dublin for March 17th. One day, Lord willing and the creek don't rise, I'll make it.

Monday, March 8, 2010

RAINY DAYS AND MONDAYS ALWAYS GET ME DOWN.....

And that's why God created Zoloft! We had a few days of sunshine and pretty weather. Now it's dull outside and rainy again. Trying to be positive, I think it's a great way to spend the day----stitching, of course.

Here are some finishes and an oldie-but-goodie that has reappeared.

This is a freebie from Plum Street Samplers.She has several "hares" for various occasions. This is my first. It's done on 28 ct. antique white Cashel. I used a combination of my color choices and hers. I bordered it with yellow ric rac. I didn't get a photo of the back, but it's an Easter fabric. Shame on me!  I'm going to do the Father's Day hares next.




I'm continuing on with my word trees. The first two were from M Designs. Now I'm working on personalized trees from Nouveau Encore. I have the charts for my whole family and am starting with the granchirrun. The backs, thread colors--all have some meaning to the kids: Bradley loves the Astos, Grace loves purple and Hannah Montana and Ann is just a bubbly, happy, colorful little person. The three older kids are next.


And for the oldie. The other day I heard a little voice calling to me from my stash closet. "A Summer Ball" was calling. I'm now having difficulty putting it down! It's really shaping up.

I'm going to do a  few changes to my blog. I'm going to remove some things and add some things. I'm looking for the right background and pictures. I really don't want to spend my time changing the look of it every other week.

Well, that's about it. Going back to my stitching. Too late in the afternoon for a nap. Maybe I'll work on the new LHN ornie. Or maybe Laura's word tree. Oh, I know!!!  "A Summer Ball".

Ta, for now.