Wednesday, March 30, 2011

WHAT A NIGHT!


I love this Sweet Baby. She is so good natured and such good company. Never really any trouble. Always ready to play. And gives good Puppy Kisses.

Well, Linzie doesn't like thunder and lightning. Uh uh. No, no. Not at all.
 She usually stays in bed with me while I read and then moves to her own little bed when I turn out the light.

Last night we had a MAJOR thunderstorm. Lots of noise and bright lightning. Well, when all hell broke loose, she moved quickly from her little bed back to mine. She rooted around, twisted, moved some more and finally ended up on my pillow with her head touching mine.

I'm glad she trusts me that much. I didn't get a lot of sleep but it was worth it, I guess. I don't know why I would mind her sleeping so close to my head. She is always resting right next to my heart.

Monday, March 28, 2011

SPRING HAS SPRUNG: A FEW PHOTOS

I love these silly things! They fly in in the morning and out in the afternoon. Okay-I know they are poop machines, but they are beautiful.

This tree is across the street from the entrance to my subdivision.

My neighbor's house.  So organized.

Azaleas: the Queen of Southern Flowers

Again. Our beautiful azaleas.

I pass these beauties everytime I go somehere--in or out.

Another house in my neighborhood.

At the entrance to my subdivision.

Wisteria. So pretty. We don't have lilacs here--too hot. So we have wisteria and crepe myrtle.

Flowers in the garden at Sunrise Assisted Living.

One of the things I love so much about England is the total love of flowers and gardens. We have beautiful gardens here, but they aren't quite the same. Maybe it's the difference in the climate and the kinds of flowers we can grow. Either way, they are God's smiles on earth.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

PRAYERS ARE ANSWERED!

I stopped by my LNS, Cross Stitch Corner, to pick up some charts and material that I had ordered. Am I glad I did!

I told you in my last post that Diane's husband Charlie had had a major heart attack last Friday. Well, there sat Charlie in the old flesh and blood. Some bruises-who can go through all that without any- but looking absolutely wonderful. He had a couple of stents put in and spent a couple of days in ICU. PTL that he is well and doing great. Here's Charlie!


And while we're here.....Here's a shot of Diane-on the right- and our righteous Yankee, Kate Byrne. Two great stitchers and two even greater ladies. Love you both.


Now for the goodies:

Charlotte's Sampler is here. I'm going to study it a bit to see how I want to do this project. It's by Cherished Stitches:

And the anglophile in me couldn't ignore the wedding. I'll be up at the break of dawn on April 20th and I'm going to stitch on this during that time. It looks like an easy stitch. It's from Kelmscott and I think a pinkeep is in order!


I've finished the Spooky SAL project. I'll post photos later.

All of you take care and enjoy the spring weather!!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

WE'RE HOME!

We made it home from Houston. What a great time! Everyone was great--well, a couple of colds--and I want to go back!

Here are a few photos. We took lots and most of them are on my Facebook site.

Friday night we headed to the Wacky Mongolian Grill. Super! We all enjoyed the food and the company. Here we are:
Grace, John, Laura, Bradley, Michael and Ann. Sorry about the back shots....


Saturday we made the trek to the Johnson Space Center. WOW! To finally see the places where history was and is made. We saw the REAL mission control. The Saturn V rocket. Just about everything. We need another trip to take in the rest of it.

This is a shot inside the cockpit mock-up of the ship. At least I think it is a mock-up. So much in a confined space! Okay. I look a little-surprised? I think maybe I was expounding on the state of the world. Jeez! I'm a little larger than life. Gotta get it together and do something about that.


There was a guy there called the "Snake Man". He wanted volunteers from the audience who had handled snakes before and were not afraid of them. Well, Michael was on the stage before I knew it. Sheer mortification. It was a ball python and at one point crawled around his neck. Some of the staff had to help him remove the nasty thing. I made him wash his hands when he left the stage. SO nasty.


Linzie did great-sort of. She didn't like Marley and she wanted to play with Annabell, who wanted nothing to do with her. She's sitting on her pillow on my lap chillin'.


I've almost finished my Spooky SAL in memory of Lisa Roswell. Probably today. I'll take a snap when I get a chance.

Spring has definitely sprung here . Flowers everywhere and wonderful, mild weather. Typically we will have another cold spell before Easter. Bring it on!

Thoughts and prayers go out to Charlie Guillory. He's the husband of Diane, the owner of Cross Stitch Corner, my LNS. He had a heart attack yesterday and had a couple of stints put in. Both of them are special.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY TO ALL OF YOU.

ERIN GO BRAGH!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM.......


The crazies from Baton Rouge are coming!

Looking forward to some R&R in Houston with John and his family. We're hoping to pay a visit to the Houston Space Center. Maybe some stitchy shopping at 3 Stitches. And Linzie is going to meet her furry cousins, Marley and Annabell.

We're leaving tomorrow and returning on Monday or Tuesday.

At last.....a few days away from Baton Rouge. Hopefully some great TexMex food and a trip to HEB.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

SPOOKY SAL AND A NEW BOOK


I'm going to participate in the Spooky SAL in memory of  Lisa Roswell. It's to last for the month of March. Here's what I chose. It's "Hoodoo Voodoo". She designed it after a trip to New Orleans and since I'm just a few miles away I thought it would be perfect. It's stitched with WDW threads and I chose a Belfast fabby called "Valor". It's small and I started stitching on it last night. Shouldn't take long.


Here's my latest reading finish. It was a free download for my Kindle. It was wonderful! I've included a link to a bit more information. Having lived through Katrina and it's aftermath, this one really hit home. I'm looking forward to reading more of her books.
http://www.agatepublishing.com/book/?GCOI=93284100441920



 Today is Ash Wednesday. And the end of Mardi Gras and king cake! I'm Baptist, so I'm not really required to give up anything for the next 40 days. But it's a good practice and I'm trying to decide what to leave behind me for these few days. I don't think it will be stitching or reading. That would make me difficult to live with and really rough on my family!!

Going to Houston this weekend to see the kids. I'm really looking forward to a few days off. And a few days with my adorable grandchildren. We're hoping to go to NASA on Saturday. Linzie is going with me and meet Annabell for the first time and to visit with Marley. We had some pretty rough weather last night and the two of us didn't get much sleep. I feel an afternoon nap coming on!

Friday, March 4, 2011

TUSAL, FINISHES AND A SAD GOODBYE


It's that time again! This month's collection of orts is here. This time there's some fabby scraps and ribbon bits. I'm going to change my ort jar. This one is too narrow and besides, I like it and don't want it to be broken!!


Spring is on it's way! I snapped this last Sunday on the way to church. Not sure what it is, just that the flowers are pretty and happy. Daffys are popping up and the Bradford pears are just beautiful. I heard a rustling in the bushes in front of the house a couple of days ago. A sure sign the crawlies are waking up.....


A few finishes: Salem witches has found it's way to a chair! It was too big for a knob knocker, so it became a chair knocker. I added the fringe at the last minute because I just saw it and liked it.  The fabby came from my Halloween stash: second only to my Christmas stash!



This is an oldie from BBD. It's "Flea Market". It's stitched on three different fabs and then stitched together. Next to impossible to get into the frame completely straight.  I found the frame at Goodwill. Brought it home. Sprayed it Americana Red. The sanded it a little so that the original gold color would show through.


This is a little piece that I did a lousy job in putting together!! It's "Partridge in a Pear Tree" and I don't have the chart handy to see who designed it. It is recent. I'm probably going to work on it a little more. I tea-dyed the front and back fabby. I hope the designer makes more pieces in the series--if there is a series.


I couldn't let this time pass without saying a farewell to a fellow stitcher and designer. Lisa Roswell lost her life last Monday in the flood waters of the Huron River. She was the designer of the Primitive Needle and the Queen of Halloween! She was so young--only 51--and was an oncology nurse. All our thoughts and prayers are with her family as they lay her to rest today. God Speed, Lisa.