Of Mice, Cats, Birds, and Stitching, Too!

I'm not sure if I have mentioned this before, but we live in rural area. Now we are not too far out of town, but we are surrounded on all sides by fields and wooded areas. And we live in a old house. Field stone foundation, plaster walls. An old house. Which of course, means we get mice. Especially when the weather starts to turn cold. Now this year we seem to have alot of mice! I don't know if this means that we are going to have severe winter of not(I sure hope not!) We keep setting traps and we keep emptying them. We also have two cats! They apparently aren't doing their job! I have a story to tell you about that!

The orange cat we have, Copper, is very old, and I don't think he hears or smells that well any more. The princess, Periwinkle, I don't think she really knows what to do with a mouse! Until this fall. Actually, even then! Let me explain. I had gone into my kitchen to move my dishwasher back into its place. (I do not have a built-in) She was staring under the stove, but moved as I moved the dishwasher. A mouse runs out from under the stove and she chased it a little. Now by this time I am shrieking and screaming! My DD runs into the room wondering what is going on! I yell "There's a mouse!" So she is screaming, I am screaming, and Periwinkle is sitting under the table wondering what in the Blazes is going on! So all three of us end up chasing this mouse, which results in us chasing it out the door! Now, one of two things is likely to happen after this. The mouse runs out of this house never to be seen again, thanking his lucky stars that he got out of this nut house! Or he was back in again in under 15 minutes, having found a safer place to hide!

Now all this brings me to our new member of the family! I have been leaving a couple teasing hints on a couple of my groups, so without further fanfare, here is Chloe!!

A couple weeks ago, during DD's last horse back riding lesson until March, I was sitting watching her ride. I usually bring in a blanket to help ward off the chill. And since it is barn, there are always cats and kittens. I was holding a little black one but this one kept biting my nose. The owner was joking around and saying that we needed one. I replied that we had two and that they weren't helping with the mouse situation. "These ones are great mousers!" She said, selling it for all it was worth. Hubby walked in during this and said that if I wanted another one, we could get one! But that it had to stay outside! He and I looked around and found this little cutie! Long story short, (Ha!) we brought her home!She is our Great Mouse Hope! She is a lovely little tabbie with gingery/orange spots on her back and one on her tummy! We spent a couple days trying to find a name for her. We liked the idea of Radar, as she has big ears, but it wasn't quite right, but her full name is Chloe Radar Joyes! My DD came up with Chloe! As soon as we heard the name, it just clicked!
She loves to sleep on the satellite receiver, I think because it is warm! She is very playful and affectionate. She does come in and plays and sleeps, but we put her out for night in a back room that has a bed, food, water and a litter box. Eventually, she will be outside. We are planning to get her fixed when she is old enough, as we don't want more babies and it seems the responsible thing to do.
Now on to the stitching! Here is my latest installment of Castles in the Air, Part 16! Now as I am stitching this for my Mom, she has the choice of the floral or the fantasy version. So far she has picked the fantasy version. I am working on the next section right now, Part 17, the mermaid!
Here is the close-up of it!
During my DD's rowing workouts, I have been working on The Victoria Sampler's Gingerbread Stitching House. But I realized that I have never posted pictures. Here is the one side, stitching completed, except for beads and cutting (which scares the daylights out of me!)
And here is the next side. I like to have something to work on while I am there. And this is small enough to be portable. I love working with the silks! They feel so nice and I find that they do not knot much at all!
This is a sweet little finish from Brooke's Books from The Gift of Stitching magazine from the 2007 December issue. Now I just need to make the border on another piece of fabric with the year and the baby's name! I used some 28 ct evenweave that I had in my stash and tea dyed it myself. And as this was a last minute idea, I did not have the beads, so I improvised with some metallic floss that I had in my stash!
Just a couple minutes ago, I found out the the recipient of this little ornament has been born!! He was born about 10:30 am, Sunday November 28, 2010 and weighed in at about 8 pounds! I do not have all the particulars yet, but DD and I will be going to visit them tomorrow in the hospital! We cannot wait! The new mom is like a little sister me and we could not be more excited!

This next finish is from my DD!! She finished this one for her teacher! I have a little bamboo wood frame for it! Her teacher is a self-described choc-o-holic!! DD did this all herself, except for the french knots! Now she has been nosing around my stash looking for something else to work on!

Here are my bird shots! I took this one last week, and I think it is a blue bird! But I can't tell for sure. Maybe someone could let me know if they know what it is.

And I finally got some pictures of the bluejays I had seen around! There are two different ones here.

And for my parting shot, I saw all these cuties lined up on my hook and thought they were pretty neat!!

I hope that I haven't bored you with my ramblings, but we have been pretty busy around here, running around. I hope that the weather is good where everyone is and I hope to update again soon! Off to do some laundry and hopefully stitch in between loads! Be happy and safe!

Warning: Long Update! Lots to share!

Happy Fall! How did that happen? I have been so busy lately! DD is rowing 4 nights a week, plus Saturday mornings. Then horse-back riding Friday nights. The only time we are home is Sundays. I have to admit that I have been feeling adrift with all the running around, and I have yet to find my feet. I seem to be missing two hours everyday because of all the running around. But I am still finding some time to stitch everyday.

I would like to send a big Thank You and a HUGE squeezy HUG out to Sherri K. from one of my groups! She asked to borrow a magazine to stitch a small chart, and then returned it to me when she finished it. And with it she sent a project bag that she made for me! And it's even pink! It was very unnessesary, but much appreciated! Thanks again, and I'm sorry it took me so long to update my blog and mention this! (I did email her to thank her, lest you think I'm rude.)

Now on to the project updates!

Here is my Part 15 of Castles In The Air. I LOVE this project! I think I love Blackwork! It just turned out so well! But the fluer de lyes on the top of gate were supposed to be metallic thread, but as the colour I chose is gilt, I felt it wouldn't show up as well. The black seems more dramatic to me.

Here is a close up of the gate.Next is my progress on Stoney Creek's Moonbeams and Stardust Witch. The first was taken about two weeks ago and the second one was taken this morning.

My DD has a finish to share from the 2010 JCS ornament issue. I'm a little embarassed to admit that I haven't even started one from this issue yet. She beat me to the punch! LOL! She has done a great job! I am very proud of her stitching! She is now working on one for her teacher for Christmas! Even with all the rowing and homework she still finds time to work on her stitching!

I have been on a pattern buying spree lately! I love ebay!!And yes, your eyes do not decieve you! That is the elusive Best of Fantasy Vol 1! I finally found someone who would ship to Canada! I am so excited!! The Diamonds in Squares pattern and the Christmas one I bought from a Canadian seller. The Diamonds in Squares pattern is for the little chair I bought for my dressing table in my bedroom. I want to re-do the seat, which is very plain. I think it will be lovely!

Lastly, here are some wildlife pictures. The first was taken at my house and the second was taken at the small lake where my DD rows.

If I don't get a chance to update before Halloween, I hope everyone has a safe and happy one! Chat with you soon!

Babies, Witches and Pear Trees!

Holy Cow!!! Where did the summer go? I have no idea, but I can tell you that I will be happy to have some cooler temps! This last week was brutal and nasty in SW Ontario! I stayed indoors whenever possible. The temp went up to 33 degrees Celcius! Hot and muggy. But I feel bad for the people on the east coast of the United States and Canada. That Hurricane Earl looks like he could be rather nasty! My thoughts go out to all the people in those areas.

Another thing I can't wait for is "Back To School"!! YAY!! Back to a routine again! My DD, Samantha is not happy to be going back! But, she will get used to it! And she will be able to see her BFF, Brooke everyday, a good thing! The sleeping a little later, the no routine is nice, but it's also nice to get back in the grove!

I made my goal of finishing the TIAG Baby Sampler by the end of August, and I did so right on August 31! LOL! And here it is. Now I know that it is not complete without the writing, but as the baby is not born yet, it's a little difficult! Rest assured, that as soon as I find out all the info, the writing will be done! I also must confess, that I have done over one thread stitching before. I did a little red bird on VS Gingerbread Stitching House. But that was on 28 count linen, and not 32 count. I don't like 32 count, I have discovered. I had to stitch in the daylight with a magnifier. But all is well now!

Right after I finished the baby sampler, I needed something small to work on, so I pulled out a small project that I had kitted up from the 2006 Just CrossStitch Ornament issue, by Little House Needleworks, called Pear Tree. I finished it in about 2 days.

Have started a new project! But what about your TW Spring Carousel Horse, you say?!? Well, of course I will get back to it. But I really wanted something new to work on! I will stop working on the new project, just as soon as the new part of Papillon Creations CITA comes out. Then back to to spring horse! Here it is!

The Moonbeams and Stardust Witch from Stoney Creek! I have had this Magazine since 2007, and just fell in love with this witch. She is lovely! But I have substituted Accentuate and Kreinik metallics for the Rainbow Gallery threads. I had them in my stash, so why not? This is my progress of the last two days.

I don't have any new animal photos for you. There has been some trees being felled, so some of my birds have left. I hope that when the dust settles, that they will come back! Anyways, have a lovely last long weekend of summer! Keep stitching!

New Stash and Baby Sampler Update

I like to get away a for a few days, but I love coming home. It always means doing a pile of laundry, tidying up again, and putting away luggage, but I get to sleep in my own bed! I am a creature of habit, and I love my bed!! It is a four-poster, three-inch foam masterpiece I call my "Happy Place"! What does this have to do with stitching, you ask? Not much, except as a place to display some stitched cushions. Oh, and if I sleep well, I can more stitching done!

DD and I went up to Hubby's grandma's cottage on the lake last weekend. It is always a fun place to visit. And cottage does not do it justice! It has two floors with four bedrooms, one and half bathrooms, livingroom and kitchen! Plus satellite TV! And the lake is about 75 feet away! This is my idea of roughing it!! LOL! I don't do well camping, obviously!! Anyways, we got up there about noon on Saturday, after stopping at a local corner store run by the Amish (this store has everything from cheese and deli meats to hardware and fabric and china and books and toys). Then we stopped at local produce place and bought all kinds of farm fresh fruits and veggies. Yum! DD swam and went for boat rides and stayed up late! The Sunday we were there was hot and muggy and grey, really kind of dismal. So Gram and I stitched the afternoon away, watching movies! She does needle point! We oohh'ed and aahh'ed at each other's work. A friend of hers, named Evelyn had some fabric that she wanted to get rid of as she can't see well enough any more to stitch, and she asked Gram if she could use it. Gram said no, but that she knew of someone who could, ME!! So I got some lovely new Aida, waste canvas and a little hardanger! Aren't I the lucky one! Thanks for thinking of me, Gram!

On Monday afternoon, after swimming, DD and I packed up and stopped Hubby's Aunt Bev's for a little visit. Now she always spoils us! DD got a new purse and after seeing what DD has been stitching, Auntie Bev gifted her with a small stamped cross-stitch kit and a fairly large needlepoint kit! DD is loving the needlepoint! She says that it goes much faster that cross stitch as she only has to do half the stitch! LOL! But she will have to put it down for a week as she goes to horse-back riding camp! I will post more on at a later date!

As for me, I got a bunch of scrabooking supplies! Some paper packs, chipboard accents and a new circle cutter! Yessiree, I was spoiled!! Thanks Bev! And if you get a chance, stop by her blog and see what she is creating! She does such beautiful scrapping! http://beeceecreativity.blogspot.com/

I have been working exclusively on the Told In A Garden baby sampler. Here is my progress picture. It is coming along quite nicely! But I didn't work on it much last night as I watched a movie "The Young Victoria". It had ladies stitching in it, so someone was stitching! I thoroughly enjoyed that movie, but then I like period movies. And as it had a couple subtitles, I needed to pay attention!

I am a little nervous as the face and hands are done over one thread, and I have never done that. I think I will save that for last. My mother told me that she was giving me a challenge! Thanks. Hopefully, I can work on it more next week while DD is at camp. But Hubby is due home today, after almost two weeks on the road! He was stuck out in California last weekend while we were away. This has been a long trip for him, so I hope he is home for a little while. We have really missed him!
Hope everyone has enjoyed the update! Be well and enjoy the last of the summer!

An update, a new start, and a few finishes

Well, August is here and I have finished my goal for the month. I have worked on and finished parts 13 and 14 of my Papillon Creations SAL, CITA. I love how the blackwork looks like wrought iron. But I made a small change. I didn't think the metallic thread I am using would look good for the fleurs de lye atop the pillars so I went with black floss. To me it just stands out more.

Here is the left side (sorry it's so wrinkled, had it in my Q-snap frame and folded to reach it better).

And here is the right!

Now it's finished and waiting for Part 15 to be released mid-September.

And that gives me time to work on my surprise baby sampler. I started it on Friday night and it's coming along. I plan to work on it more this afternoon, but here is a progress picture.

It is very delicate looking. But I think it will be a fairly quick stitch, as I hope to finish it this month. So then I can get back to my Spring Carousel Horse.

My DD Samantha has been stitching up a storm lately. She has been looking thru my magazines and charts and picking out projects to work on. Here are the ones she has finished in the last 2 weeks.

More of the Egyptian motifs. Again sorry they are blurry, but I wanted to get in close so the background didn't interfere.

And this last one, she did for her best friend, Brooke. And she added the writing on the bottom all by herself. She is becoming quite accomplished! Now all we need is a nice little frame for it. She has been doing a lovely job on all her stitching. I will keep you posted on her work. She loves it when I put her projects on my blog.

Last weekend, Samantha and I went up to Peterborough to visit my sister and her hubby with my parents. We had a lovely time just visiting and shopping. This weekend we are just taking it easy and relaxing, as next weekend we will be heading up to Hubby's family's cottage. It's always nice to visit family! Till next time, keep stitching!

Back From the Finisher! Thanks Mom!

Don't know if anyone else feels this way, but I'm not sure where the month has gone. July is almost done! Where did it go? We haven't really done anything yet, no real vacation or getaways. I guess we'll just have to pack in more in August.

Changed my blog design to something new that suits my personality! Yes, it's pink! My fav colour! I love pink! I have a wonderful raspberry pink Coach purse, and a couple pink cases for my iPod (just in case I feel like light pink, or dark) and my iPad case is hot pink! Even my cell phone is hot pink! Yes I love my pink!!

I have a couple of things back from my finisher! Thanks Mom! LOL! She may take a while, but the price is sure right! First is my DD's Unicorn pillow. Mom did a fab job on the sewing! DD is very happy with her new pillow!
The second is my TW Designworks bookmark! We decided it needed a ribbon, so we found one is Mom's stash. I think it works well!

Here are the update/progress photos of my Spring Carousel Horse. I have finished the top left corner. It's not coming along as fast as I would like, but it's progress nonetheless. I have to now put it down to work on CITA Parts 13 and 14, which I hope to have finished by this weekend. According to Papillon Creations website, the next part won't be out until the middle of September, so I will have plenty of time to stitch the TIAG Baby Sampler. Of which I hope to be done by that point, other than the lettering, which I won't be able to finish until the baby is born in December.

A closer shot to see a little more detail.

I bought myself a little treat while Hubby and I had taken a trip to Brantford. We went to http://www.countryaccentsneedlework.com/ and I bought some silks and threads and this little needle holder. I have been better about not using my teeth to hold the needle while changing thread. (Very bad habit, I know! I'm working on it!)

Then we had dinner at Eastside Mario's. It was a nice treat to just go out together. DD was at my Mom's for a couple of days.

I have a some animal shots for your viewing pleasure! First, here is a picture of a cute little rabbit. It was just scared to death. The wheat fields around the house were being combined last week, and Hubby was cutting the lawn. Poor little thing had no idea where to go!

Next, are a couple of my birds! A couple of downy woodpeckers and

a little hummingbird!

That's all I have for now. I hope everyone is enjoying the summer! Will update again soon!

Canada Day, Stitching, and Wildlife

Happy Canada Day!!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day! And to my neighboers to the south, Happy Fourth of July!! This is a picture of my flag flying in the breeze this morning. It took a couple of shots to get this one as it kept twisting. But it turned out all right in the end.

Here is my CITA update. It's coming along very well.

Part 13 is printed out and ready to start on Monday. I need a few more days to work on my Spring Carousel horse. I will post an update on her next week!

Now, these wee finishes are from my DD, Samantha. She has a real interest in Egypt and I found these for her in an old issue of the British CrossStitcher. And it's her first venture into beads! I think she has done quite well! They're going to be made into a little pin cushion for her.
She is also in the process of working a little sphinx head, but didn't want me post it until it's finished!
And she also loves little dachshunds, and couldn't resist stitching it as well. (Again, another British CrossStitcher chart!) Not sure yet what we are going to do with this one yet, but I'll keep you posted!
As I mentioned before, my DD's and my birthday are at the end of May, beginning of June. But we purposely held off DD's friends birthday until now so we could all go and watch the new Twilight Saga Eclipse movie that has just come out! We have been so excited for the past couple of months, waiting impatiently for it to hit the big screen! It's finally here, and we're going tomorrow to see it with her best friend and her mom! We're going to grab our favourite pizza first (Rico's Pizzeria in London makes the BEST pizza in the world!! Thin crust and their garlic bread pizza is to die for!!) and then watch the movie! DD and I are Team Edward all the way! We have both read all the books, including the new novella, "The Short, Second Life of Bree Tanner". So we are primed!! LOL!!

Here are a few wildlife shots that I managed to capture.

The first one is of a fawn we've seen wandering around the farm a week or so ago.(Way on the left side of the photo!) I ran after her to try and take a picture, and that's why it's not great. I apparently run only for fire and fawns! LOL! The second was taken this morning out the window over my kitchen sink. He was singing away while eating. I just love cardinals!

And last but not least, this one is of my precious Periwinkle! She is quite loud and very opinionated, and sleeps with both my DD and me. Sometimes, both of us in the same night. She likes to play musical beds. And if I don't feed her as soon as I get out of bed, her shrill meow tells me to hurry up! She hates my Hubby, I have no idea why. She glares at him! She doesn't realize that he brings home the bacon that buys her food! LOL!

I hope everyone has a lovely start to the summer and gets lots of stitching in! Will check back in soon!