Happy Monday update

Here it is another Monday afternoon. Where does the time go? Summer is almost over. Thank goodness. It is not my favorite season. Heat and humidity, mosquitos and other bugs. Yuck. I love fall and spring best. Cool nights and temps in the low 70s. Awwwww. Instead on those days that the hot sticky weather or the blasted blood sucking mosquitos chase us indoors I try to get some home computer time in. But as you can see in the photo above Rory likes that chair too. Probably surfing facebook for his buds.

This past week was a good one on the stitching front. Lots of progress made on my newest wip, the Sampler Lady for the LHN yahoo group SAL. After this photo I finished up the skirt and the trim and have start the blue top.

I have also been working on another LHN pattern but it is for an exchange so no photo on that one.






I have officially finished half the border on La-D-Da's Lauren's Voice. If I get as much done on this one I just might have it finished by the end of September. I hope so because I am itching to start the patterns I showed you in my last post.


I haven't made as much progress on BBD's Awake the Dawning Day but I did make some.

It seems that the BBD nights in my rotation just happen to be the nights that Rory wants more of my attention. That usually means he is in my lap. Not an easy thing to do since he is now 24 inches tall at the shoulder and about 45 lbs! Not exactly lap dog size!





Until next time.........................

Love and stitches
Kathy
and lick from Rory too

Happy dance times two and other things

I had a pretty good stitchy weekend. With not one but TWO finishes! The first one was the Rose Sampler from Little House Needleworks. I used the recommended fabric and fibers. This one will go on the thread pouch the was designed by Impie, Hattie and Bea for Little House. I will do the finishing on this, as well as the Traveling Stitcher that I finished a couple of months ago, soon. I have been doing these as a SAL with my dear friend Deborah so I have to wait for her to finish her stitching. I know she's almost there.

After I finished the Rose Sampler I was straightening the pile of wip's that are sitting on the end table and came across the one above. It was all finished except for the hair! So I figured I had better get this done. It took all of 15 minutes. If that. Now that's what I call a quick finish! Again I used the recommended fabric and fiber. I love the sentiment on this. And it kind of goes along with anther project, La-D-Da's Lauren's Voice. I made pretty good progress on this one this week. Half of the border is almost done. And I hope to have that plus this week. Normally I work on a project for three nights and this one was getting Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. But last week saw a minor mishap with my BBD, Awake the Dawning Day, which should have been my Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Somehow I got a smudge of chocolate on it. I did get it out but to let it dry properly I didn't work on it. And then Thursday night was my LHN's sit and stitch. BBD needs concentration and LV is so easy to work on. So LV got two extra days last week.

Since I finished my weekend piece, Rose Sampler, it was time for another start. I am joining in on the Little House/Country Cottage Yahoo groups SAL. I always have good intentions and rarely ever get to do one of the SAL's. I am a week late starting but I am going to change my rotation so that I can get this one done in time. My choice for the SAL? Little House Needlework's The Sampler Lady. You see the theme of the SAL if Little House women. Diame Williams had mentioned that Sampler Lady would be the perfect choice. Since I had it kitted and waiting in my "to do someday" basket I said. Why not?

So here is progress photo number one. Not much but it is a start.

Speaking of rotations? Do you use one? Or are you a one project at a time type stitcher? If you do rotate how often do you rotate each piece? For that matter, how many projects do you have going at once?

To answer my own question. Yes, I usually have three (and sometimes more) projects sitting on the table near my stitching chair. Except for the weekend all my stitching is done in the evening. I usually do three nights on two pieces and one night and the days of Saturday and Sunday on the third piece. I find that I actually stitch more and never get bored with a piece when I use this rotation.

And now I will show you the next project that I am anxious to get started on. And you know what, I just might break the rotation done even more so I can start this one.

Hey, it's my rotation!

Then there is this piece that I absolutely fell in love with.

I just have to stitch faster so I can finish another project and get this one in the rotation. Isn't it fabulous?

I am sure that as soon as I get the necessary fibers that I will just have to get a start one this one.

Last but not least for this post is, of course, Rory. He has actually been a good boy this week. No cat food stealing, no table climbing. Oh wait, could that be because I have been good at putting up the baby gate thereby avoiding temptation? Probably. But it has also been very warm and humid so no one has had a lot of energy. Until 10 PM and bedtime. Sigh.

Until next time....................

Love and stitches

Kathy

and licks from Rory too

This and that and lots of photos

A busy week and a busier weekend means lots of photos and lots of news.

The biggest news, well, to me it's big, is that I finally got my hair cut. SHORT! I have worn my hair in a bob of various lengths, from chin to shoulder, for the last eighteen years. And always longish before that. For the past few weeks I have been thinking about getting my hair cut short. I am oh so tired of the morning ritual of blow dry and curling iron. For what? My hair is so straight and fine with little to no body that the minute I would step out the door it would go flat and blah! I am just so tired of it. So Friday I called the hairdresser and made the appointment. All she said was "It's about time!"

Wash and go is FABULOUS! I am so loving this new do. I have never had the courage to go quite this short but, oh man, is it freeing. I've been doing a "no more curling iron" dance all weekend. Here is another view of my shorn locks. Now to decide is I want to color it again or maybe just let it go natural. The hairdresser was trying to talk me into a dark auburn. Now that would be a change. Too drastic I think.
Last week was a fabulous week for stitchy mail.


First up was a belated Birthday gift from Vicky. She sent me some DMC, a really pretty card and, from my wishlist, Cherry Tree Inn from my favorite designer, Little House Needleworks.







Then I received the sweetest RAK (random act of kindness) from Emily. She sent me floss, including some specialty floss, all in colors of my Rory, some Praire Schooler patterns, some adorable patterns from her page a day calender and best of all an older Leisure Arts pattern book with an Irish Setter pattern! And, wonder of wonders, believe it or not, it is one I DON'T have.
Thank you so very much Emily!





The third fabulous thing that mailman brought was my exchange from the Little House Exchange blog group. Sara from Italy was my partner. And she sent this beautiful little scissor pocket to me all the way from Italy by way of Illinois. She is currently touring the US on vacation and mailed my package to me while she was here. Now that's what I call one way to save on postage.














Front and back. Isn't it pretty?

To continue with the stitching portion I will now show my current WIPs. They are coming along and, who knows, I may even have a finish this month.

Now for the Rory portion of my blog post. He continues to grow and I swear he is an inch bigger every morning! This past week though he has been misbehaving and driving me crazy. He has decided that he wants and has to have the cat's food. Now Rosie has a spot for her food bowls in the bow window in the kitchen. And this window is behind the kitchen table. Well, Rory has figured out that if he gets on the chair than the table top is next and it's a step or two to her bowls. I have yelled, hidden around the doorway and made lots of noise, scolded, tried distraction and nothing is working! He even tries it when I am standing there watching! And then on Sunday when I was vacuuming and before I could turn around he jumped up and cleaned her dry food and treat bowls. So I have been keeping the baby gate up when we are in the house. So far that is the only thing stopping him. Now the part where he managed to clean her bowls? Well, we payed the consequences all night Sunday. And we won't go into the crappy details here. Let's just say I didn't get a lot of sleep and do NOT want a repeat of that. Rory was fully recovered by late yesterday afternoon. I just hope I can keep him away from the cat food for a long, long while.

So until next time...........................

Love and stitches

Kathy

and licks from Rory too

WIP's and ribbons

I hope you all had a good weekend. I have to say mine was busy and productive. I even got a bit of stitching done.

For the moment my stitching on exchanges is finished so I can get back to my regular (okay, kind of regular) rotation. I am currently concentrating on three pieces. BBD's Awake the Dawning Day, LHN's Rose Sampler for the limited edition thread pouch and La-D-Da's Lauren's Voice. I just love the sentiment on this one.

My rotation consists of S-M-T I work on Lauren's Voice, W-T-F it's the BBD piece and Saturday and Sunday daytime is the Rose Sampler. So unless something else yells loudly from my to be stitched basket I might even have a finish by the end of the month.

Sunday was Rory's big day. His first dog show. On Saturday I spent a few hours grooming and bathing him. He actually did pretty good in the bath. I only got a little wet. Okay I did have to change afterwards. Sunday we drove to the place the show was held. So far so good. We walked around and I showed Rory off to some setter people I hadn't seen in years. According to the schedule Rory should be going in the ring at 12:30. Unfortunately that didn't happen. Delays and a judge who decided to change the schedule meant that we stood around waiting until almost 3PM before we went in the ring. By this time Rory was a bit tired from all the new sights and smells. He stacked for the judge very well but then decided he wanted to play rather than gait properly by my side. Now he does this nicely in our Tuesday night handling classes and when I practice at home but........... Oh well, he's just a puppy and it was supposed to be fun.

Oh, he did win his class. First place puppy AND he won Best of Breed. Wooooooo HooooooRory and I and his ribbons

Oh wait. Rory was the ONLY Irish setter entered.

Too tired to even play with the ribbons.

I don't care we still came home with the ribbons. As time goes on I hope we are able to add to the collection.

Stitching and a dog show, yup, I had a pretty good weekend

Until next time..................................

Love and stitches

Kathy

and licks from Rory too

Finishes, weekend plans and TGIF

I'll start with the last. TGIF. Yup, it is Friday for me. Tomorrow is a company holiday. A bonus day off called the company Birthday holiday. Nice, huh? I know I will be very busy getting normal Saturday chores done. Things like grocery shopping and other errands. I am also planning a mega laundry day. You see I am running out of towels. Why, you ask? Well, I don't have a clothes dryer and I hate line dried towels. So that means taking them to the laundromat to dry. And I usually put that chore off as long as possible. Like once a month. So that's tomorrows big deal.

Last weekend I sent off two exchanges that are now at their new homes so I can show you photos of them. I am really pleased with the way they turned out.
The first is my Lizzie Kate Exchange that I sent to Susan. I stitched Good Things over one on 25 count using a combination of DMC and Weeks Dye. I finished it as a scissor fob.

The second one is an ornament for the July Ornament exchange on the BBI yahoo group. This one went to Louise D. (I don't think she has a blog.) This pattern is by Homespun Elegance. Sttiched on 28 ct linen using DMC, Fuzzy Stuff and Weeks Dye.

The rest of my weekend plans involve Rory. Of course. Saturday I need to groom him and give him his first full bath. Why? Sunday is his first dog show!! Now don't get too excited. It is only a puppy match show and there are no points involved. But it is his first show and I hope the experience will be a good one for us both.

Showing a dog is a team effort and I hope I don't trip and fall or otherwise make Rory look bad. I am a little excited and a lot nervous. (I have to make sure I don't let Rory know that.) It has been a while since I have been in a show ring. A number of years ago (like 20 something!) I did do some showing with another setter of mine, Kara. (She never won much and really didn't like it. But I loved her anyway.) My next setter, Maggie, was supposed to be a show dog also but that didn't work out. She did do some therapy work instead. And now it is Rory's turn. It has long been a dream of mine to show Irish Setters. So if you think of it could you send good thoughts our way on Sunday around 12:30 PM eastern time? I would be in your debt.

Other weekend plans? Well, in between the above and other yucky stuff like cleaning house. I hope to find a few moments to stitch.

So until next time have a wonderful weekend and wish us luck.

Love and stitches

Kathy

and licks from Rory too.

PS. Rosie is feeling much, much better. So she sends meows to you all also. And will go back to the table top to get away from that pest Rory.

Just another Monday update

It's Monday again. Wow, that was a fast week. And over all a pretty good week. The week started with a surprise in the mail. Some may have read either here or here, that Carolyn and I were lucky enough to meet face to face when I was in North Carolina for a family vacation at the beginning of July. She had mentioned that she was making a little something but hadn't had a chance to finish it before our get together. Well, it arrived this past week and it is ADORABLE! I love it and isn't is the cutest reminder of our short visit and my first trip to the Outer Banks of NC?
On Friday I came home from work to find another package on my front steps. I was in a bit of a rush to let Rory out and catch poor Rosie. I had to get her to the vet since she had been sneezing and Thursday night had started coughing. Not a good thing for a cat. I didn't have a chance to open it until rather late that night. I couldn't figure out what I might have ordered and forgot about. Well I hadn't. It was RAK from Carolyn! The BH&G Christmas book with the pattern of Lo How A Rose E'er Blooming. I had been wanting this ever since I saw it stitched first on Vonna's blog and then on Edgar's. Thank you so very, very much Carolyn.


Another lovely package in the mail this week contained my exchange in the Lizzie Kate exchange. My partner was Cindy Mae and she stitched me one of my favorite LK pattern's, Live, Laugh, Love. She used pastel colors and made it into a pillow. I love it!! Thank you so very, very much Cindy Mae. It will look perfect in my Mom's old room which is lavender. Oh, and doesn't have a goofy, clumsy four footed chewing monster sleeping in that room. LOL Because the pillow would also be perfect in my room which is pink. But I do think it is safer in the other bedroom. Don't you?

Aren't stitchers just the best people on the planet?

I did have two finishes this week. Both are exchanges. One for the Lizzie Kate Exchange Blog (and I believe that it is now open for second round sign ups) and the other for a yahoo group, BBI, ornament exchange. I am pretty pleased with the way both of them came out and should be able to post photos as soon as they arrive at their new homes.

I did manage to get a little stitching for myself in this weekend. I started Lauren's Voice by La D Da. I have been aching to get this one stitched ever since I won it in Sherry's giveaway back in June. I didn't get that much stitched, only the word Your, but it is a start. And speaking of Rory. He continues to make me smile. I only wish I could really capture some of his silliness on film. Such as trying to catch an airplane or a helicopter. Yup, while he will often freeze and "set" a bird he absolutely wants to catch one of those noisy HUGE ones up in the sky! He will run from one end of the yard to the other, up the deck and, if he could up on the roof following one of those noisy "birds." And Canadian Geese? Well, they have a flight path that goes directly over my house. Quite often just after sunset they will fly over on their way to where ever. Have you ever heard geese flying overhead? They honk and call out to each other continually and they are NOT quiet about it. And Rory? If he happens to be in the house I better get up and open the door fast! Well, he goes ballistic trying to jump up and catch one. It is just too too funny.

Until next time.......................

Love and stitches

Kathy

and licks from Rory too

PS. The vet says Rosie has a respiratory infection and I should continue with the two antibiotics. Her sneezing has eased a bit, the coughing has stopped and she is eating. So she will soon be well.