Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!!

In just a day and a half it will be Thanksgiving. A time to reflect and give thanks for all the blessings in our lives. Just a couple of things that I am thankful for: my silly, goofy, handsome boy, Rory, and the friendship of so many of you here in the blogging world. Your comments always make me smile. I thank you all for each and every one. You brighten my day and lighten my heart.

Thanksgiving is also a time for families. I sit here trying to think of what to write and remembering so many Thanksgivings from my past. The smells of desserts baking as I made umpteen pies, cookies, brownies and cheesecakes. (I would bake for five days to prepare the goodies for the holidays.) Peeling potatoes, sweet potatoes and the turnip and the smell of Mom's chestnut sausage stuffing and the turkey cooking. The warmth of the kitchen and the laughter as we got the meal prepared. All that work for the best tasting meal of the year. Thanksgiving at our house was all about family. As we grew older and my siblings married and began their own families it was Thanksgiving that often brought us all together. Dessert at our house was a must. And then there was the year when we had 35 sit down for dinner! As time went by more of my siblings and their families moved away and our Thanksgiving dinners became smaller affairs but Mom and I always made the same meal and still celebrated. This marks my second Thanksgiving without my Mom. Last year I spent part of the day with my Aunt and Uncle (Mom's baby brother). It was difficult and I will be honest and say that it wasn't an easy day for me. And when I walked into my Aunt and Uncle's home the delicious smells were what put me over the edge. I do miss my Mom everyday but more so on the holidays that we both loved.

This year I am doing something different for this holiday. No turkey cooking and filling the house with its yummy fragrance. (I did cook one this past Sunday. Just for the leftovers.)

No Black Friday shopping. (I have done that in the past and had a blast! Especially the ones I made my Mom get up at 3 AM so we could be at the mall by 4!)

Instead I am going to be at a dog show!! (No, not the one on TV after the parade. That one was taped last Sunday. Oh, I know who won already. LOL) Four days of shows. Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I'm bringing my turkey leftovers for turkey sandwiches and Rory and I are off tomorrow (Wednesday) evening. Here's hoping that Rory shows well and maybe even wins a couple more points! My dog show friends will be there too. I am really looking forward to it. We should have fun.

My stitching news for this posting is that I have been working on two exchanges and a few more ornaments for gifts and my LNS grab bag that's coming up in a few weeks. So no photos yet.


I did receive a few lovely things in the mail. A small giveaway/thank you from Maggie O. It is an ornament frame. Isn't it neat? Thank you Maggie. I'm still trying to decide what ornament to use it for. I also receive my winnings from a giveaway that BeckySC had. Thirteen different charts! I am all set for next years Halloween exchanges and stitching. Thank you Becky! Next up is a small thank you/rak from Alison. She had me as her exchange partner and she must have really liked what I sent her because she sent me this in return! The handmade tree is just beautiful and the fabrics (there are two more I forgot to include in the photo) will really come in handy. Thank you so much Alison.


And last but not least are two exchanges. It turns out the April was my partner in both the Seasonal exchange and the HoE exchange. She sent both in the same package! I'm not sure which is for which so I took photos of them together. Thank you April.

It wouldn't be any kind of holiday if I didn't make Rory wear something silly. I couldn't find a pilgrim hat so I figured he could be a native American. Complete with his trusty Indian pony. :)

(yeah, yeah, I know it looks just like a Cabbage Patch kid horse. That's because it is! And don't ask me it's name. My nieces have played with this for years and Heavens knows where the papers are.)



So that's all the news that's fit to print. At least right now. So until next time......................




I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving filled with love and laughter.
Rory wishes you one filled with all kinds of good things to eat.
And Rosie just wishes you peace and quiet! Love and stitches,
Kathy
and licks from Rory too

PS. Rosie is in one of her favorite places. Rory's crate! Esoecially when he is not in it! Silly kitty.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Finishes and exchanges

Rory wants to know if he can help. Notice the toy on the cutting board.
Time flys when you're having fun. Well, that is what they say. And fun or not time always seems to fly by at this time of year. I always say I'm going to have all my Christmas gifts ready by Thanksgiving. Every December I say that. And guess what? Here it is two weeks until Thanksgiving and I haven't really started. Sigh. Maybe next year.........
At least I am up to date on my exchange stitching. I so enjoy these exchanges.
First up is my exchange for the Seasonal exchange blog. I stitched a Prairie Schooler design and finished it as a small pillow. I just love the way this one turned. I have to make one for myself one of these days. My exchange partner was Alison and she seemed pleased with it. So without further ado here are some photos of what I sent her.

Next exchange was the Fall exchange on Hooked on Exchanging. For this one I stitched one of Little House Needleworks Season charts, Season of Plenty. What a joy this one was. (I stitched this one a few years ago, in my aida only stitching days. I am definitely restitching them on linen. ) I also finished this as a small pillow for my partner, Leigh. (She has a cute photo of her kitty inspecting the package.) I am loving this method of finishing. My only problem with it is making sure I sew in a straight line. Not an easy task for me. But it doesn't look too bad now does it?

My third exchange piece was for the Lizzie Kate exchange blog. Sadly it was the last round of exchanges for this blog. My partner this time was Diane. And not only did I send to her but she sent to me. First set of photos are the two pieces I stitched and finished for her. I started with the new LK from the current JCS Christmas issue. It was so tiny that I decided to stitch something else. So I picked up the latest of Lizzie Kate's Tiny Tiding and stitched up "Dear Santa, I can explain". And Diane stitched LK's Turkey time and finished it as a pinkeep/flatfold. It is just perfect! I love it. (Notice that Rory likes it too. So much that I had to move it way up high!)

In other stitching news I have been stitching a bunch of ornaments. No photos since they are all for either exchanges or Christmas gifts.

Since I last posted Rory and I have only had one dog show. After my fall a few weeks ago he acted a bit skittish but we still did well. There is a fun fundraiser and photo shoot this weekend at the local dog training academy. It will be good for him and maybe help bring back his confidence. And I have some interesting Thanksgiving plans! Four whole days starting on Thanksgiving of dog shows! That will be a different way to spend Thanksgiving.



All this stitching and finishing and talk of dog shows is sooooooooo exhausting!










Until next time.......................
Love and stitches
Kathy
and licks from Rory too