It's Autumn Already?!?! (VERY Picture Heavy!)

Where did the summer go?  I remember July was HOT!!  And August, well it was nice, so I was enjoying the nice weather!  September was beautiful, but we've been having a lot of rain here in SW Ontario!  So that is why I haven't been blogging!  That is the story I'll be sticking to!  But I have been stitching!

I have started a new BAP!  Mirabilia's Cinderella was screaming at me, so I started it!  This is my progress so far!  I just love fairy tales, and Cinderella is one of my favs!

This is July's ornament of the month!

And this one is August's!  I felt like a change from Christmas ornaments, so decided to stitch a Halloween one instead!

I am a little behind in the ornament SAL, as I still have to do September's and start October's.  But as I have two exchanges coming up that call for some ornament-type stitching, I will use the exchange pieces as ornaments as well!  Killing two birds with one stone!

Hubby picked up a new camera for me in the middle of July!  My old camera is still a good one, but it took really bad close-up shots!  My new Nikon 3100 is SPECTACULAR!!  This camera is a digital SLR with manual and automatic functions!  It takes amazing close-ups!  So here are some new close-ups of my Victoria Sampler Gingerbread Stitching House!

I also finished my LHN Gingerbread Trio over the summer!  This one was so much fun to stitch!  And you know I love my gingerbread men!  LOL!

Now on to my SAL's!

First up is my Tree of Stitches!  I finally finished Part 7, Jerusalem stitch!  Oh crap!  I forgot to take a picture of Part 8, Flower stitch, which I also finished, plus the beading up to that point!  Oh well, next time!

I started a new SAL! (you know I can't help myself!)  This one is The Great Escape by Abi Gurden from The Stitch Specialists Yahoo group!

I used some pink linen I had in my stash, but then I splurged and bought Hand-Dyed silk floss!  It is so yummy to stitch with!  I just love fondling silks!!  LOL!

Part One-The Montenegrin Stitch!

Just this morning Abi released Part Two, which includes two new stitches, the Feather Stitch and Basque Stitch!  I have never done the second so this will be a real learning experience!

And just this week I started  another SAL!!  And finished it!!  This is called The Little Lace Hardanger SAL, an older one from The Stitch Specialist group!  Again designed by the wonderful and talented Abi Gurden!!  Sorry folks, it is no longer available!  I used 22 count Hardanger fabric from my stash, Caron Watercolours and Wildflowers in Flame and Mill Hill Petite gold beads!

I can't believe that I actually did it!  I have to admit that I was scared to death to make that first cut!  But I am so proud of myself for doing it!  And I am so pleased with how it turned out!  I am going to make into a needle roll!

I also started a Chatelaine, as I joined the sister group TSSChatelaine SAL group!  This is my progress so far!  Mini Rose Mandala freebie!

I only have a couple of animal pictures this time!  Here is our sweet little bebe, Chloe!  Doesn't she look innocent?  Not so demon-like here!

That is what we thought!  Until one early evening, when I sent out DD to see if she could coax Chloe in the house!  DD followed Chloe into the bean field to discover this poor baby rabbit she was mauling!  Now as far as I know, no rabbit was harmed during this adventure!  The rabbit was playing possum!  I ran out with my camera to take a photo, then DD and I went in to eat supper. By the time we had finished eating, the rabbit had disappeared!  I hope the rabbit made a clean getaway!  LOL!

It has been busy here at the Joyes house!  We have had a new roof put on, my washing machine broke and has had a new switch put in, so it's back working!  And just this week, my vehicle broke down!  

Wednesday, this week, after school, I took DD to rowing.  And when I went to run some errands, it wouldn't start!  Thank heavens Hubby was home!  Although he was out cutting the grass, and I couldn't get him on the phone,  I called my neighbour who ran over to tell Hubby!  Hubby showed up and checked the fuses and looked around under the hood!  Then we called CAA and had it towed to the dealership!  It was the starter!  So they fixed that!  Then as I was driving it home yesterday, from the dealership, it started making a horrible clanking noise!  So Hubby checked underneath and discovered a universal joint is bad!  So in it goes to the dealership again this afternoon!  Sigh!  Hopefully it will be fixed later this afternoon!

Tomorrow I am heading to my LNS for an open house to sit and stitch!  I hope to pick up my silk floss and the new JCS Halloween book, plus whatever else takes my fancy!  Will let you all know what I pick up there!

Thanks for sticking with me for the update!  I know I've been long-winded!  Hope all are having a wonderful fall or spring in the southern hemisphere!  Chat soon!

Stitching, Cats and Big Red!

Hi all! I had intended to post an update on Monday, but it didn't get done! I have a real good excuse this time! Honest!

My internet provider was down for part of day. So, you see it really wasn't my fault! Then the power went out for a few minutes. I waited all day for the internet provider to get things worked out. I called them a couple of times to see when the problem would be resolved, and waited very patiently and politely. (With my old provider, I was snarly and miserable, because we always had so many problems, dial-up, phone lines, it was endless misery!) Then Hubby came home after picking up his load, and for supper before taking off for California. My internet was still down, so Hubby called for me to try and see what the issue was. He spoke to a really nice girl and they were trying all kinds of trouble-shooting, only to realize that I had forgotten to push the reset button on the huge surge protector!! (see above mention of power outage!) Now again, in my defense, I wasn't here when the wireless router was installed (Hubby did that!) and don't remember if he mentioned that fact. Well, now I know! The look on his face was a combination of resignation and exapiration. I am used to that. Technology and all its accompanying cords defeat me.

On to the updates, and better late than never, right? Here is the second side of The Victorian Sampler Gingerbread Stitching House. I am LOVING working with silks!! But I have to make sure that my hands aren't rough! The silks really catch on every little thing!

This is the very first biscornu that I ever stitched, but I never finished it! I couldn't figure out why it was so hard to sew together! I had a tutorial up and was following the instructions, but it still was very hard to do! I put it away to work on at a later date, and promptly forgot about it. I was between projects, and starting to go thru my stash and found it again. So I decided it was time to put it together. As I looked at it I realized that I had only used one strand of floss for the backstitched border around the design. No wonder I was having trouble whipstitching! Trying to get the needle under one strand was a exercise in frustration! After I removed the one strand and replaced it with 2 stands of floss, things went much better. As a matter of fact, I finished it that night! A UFO done!

Here is my first ornament for an ornament SAL, going for the whole year. We do one a month, and at the end of the year, we should have 12 ornaments finished! I have the stitching done, but not the actual finishing. I think I need to chat with the finisher, aka Mom! LOL!

I had a picture of my Spring Carousel Horse, but it was blurry when I looked at the photo on my computer, so that will have to wait! I only finished a few leaves, so there wasn't really that much to report anyways.

Here are some pictures of my kitties!

Chloe is very playful and likes to get into michief!! The only plant that I have and haven't managed to kill, she tries to eat!! It is my gardenia plant!

Here is Princess Periwinkle who is not at all happy with the new one! She is my baby!

Here is Hubby's buddy, Copper! This is the usual scene! All he does is sleep and eat! And snore!! Typical male!!

Now for my GRAND FINALE!! My Dad and I love to watch the birds, and he has taken special delight in telling me that he has a woodpecker at his place that I don't! He has named him "Big Red"! Everytime I was over there, I'd ask where this woodpecker was, and Dad would inform me that he had already been there! I accused Dad that he was lying! LOL! Well, I now have my own "Big Red"!! I have been trying for two weeks to get a shot of this shy giant, and Monday managed to shoot him!! Here he is!! The red-bellied woodpecker! (I'm not sure where his red belly is, but m bird book informs me that this is his name!) He actually looks like he was spray-painted with flourescent paint!

I have come to the end of the update. I am working on Part 18 of Castles in the Air, and hope to be done today. Then I would like to start Brooke's Books Winter House Challange, until February 1, when I need to work on another ornament and EMS 2010 Flower SAL afghan. Hope all is well with everyone, and the weather is good where you are! Till next time!