April Tidings!

Hello all!  It's my monthly update!  That seems to be the frequency of my posts.  I'm not sure why that is.  I would like to post more, but things get in the way!  Like housework, illness, you know, life!  I think it's a woman's lot in life!  I feel guilty that I haven't posted, but feel guilty if I post and haven't got my housework done!  It's just a vicious circle.  How about I'll do my best?  Does that sound alright?

This is a finish for Brooke's Books Yahoo group challenge.  Unfortunately, I didn't get it done in time!  DD, my Mom and I had gone away for a few days early March Break up to my sister's in Peterborough to visit, shop and hang out!  Very close family friends, Deb and Wendy with her little guy Korbin joined us for a couple of those days.  We had fun, visiting shopping, drinking wine, playing Korbin and my sister's new puppy!  But after getting home, I got a wicked head cold!  I don't wish that on anyone!  So I wasn't able to get it done on time, but made this one a priority to finish up as soon as I was well!

I used some linen that I had on hand and beads and metallics from my stash!  Quite pleased with it, actually!  I have a couple ideas for finishing it, so when I decide and finally get it done, I will post!

Next is my update for CITA!  Part 20!  Only 4 parts to go!  I don't want to gush again, (but I will!) but I am loving how it is turning out so far!  This month's version is a wonderful bee hive!  With lots of specialty stitches!  This one is really stretching my stitching muscles!

Here is the close-up!  There was the Herringbone stitch, Lazy Daisy, Rhodes Berry, Ray stitch, Partial Eyelet, Spider Webs, Fishbone stitch, and the Chain stitch!  I had never done the Chain stitch before, and it's not as hard as I thought!

Next up is my Ornament of the Month for April!

This one is by LHN, Gingerbread Tree from the 2010 JCS Ornament Preview issue!  This one was so fun and fast to stitch up!  It only took two days!  I started it at my DD's rowing practice.

DD has really kept me hopping, with rowing, basketball, now volleyball (which is over next week!  Yay!) and we just started horse-back riding lessons again!  And she was sick last weekend!  She called me up from school last Friday afternoon saying that she wasn't feeling well!  She was right!  She had fever, chills and a rash on her wrists and inner elbows!  There was some bug going around at school, and what a bug!!  I kept her home an extra day Monday to be on the safe side.  And she is back to her normal self!

I also took our kitten, Chloe into the vet's to get spade this past Wednesday!  I just picked her up this morning!  Boy is she glad to be home!  And I really missed her!  She's always following me around the house!  The only thing is, she went into her first heat a week before her appointment!  I made the appointment, and the next day she was in heat!  Figures!  But after three days, she was done!  My DD was worried that she was really sick!  Having to explain to my 12 year old was so funny!  By the time I had finished my explanation, she had this really disgusted look on her face!  It was priceless!!

Here are a couple of my recent bird pictures!  I zoomed in on them from inside my house to the trees!  I just love watching the birds!  I get so excited!  My DD just rolls her eyes!  But my Hubby will point them out when he's home!

Let's hope that Spring is finally here!  We had a lovely day here in Southwestern Ontario yesterday!  Light breezes and sunshine!  It was glorious!  It is still warm today, but overcast!  I would really like the sun to shine for more than a day at a time!  Because I really need to get outside and clean up the lawn!  I have huge amounts of sticks and branches and stones to pick up off the yard!  I hope that Spring had arrived where you are, and that you can get out and enjoy warmth!  Have a lovely weekend, everyone and chat soon!