Neighbors and Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a delicious Thanksgiving. Enjoying family, friends and making memories to cherish tomorrow. My holiday? Mostly quiet. I had dinner with my Mom's baby brother and his family. Though I have to admit that for the most part the day was difficult. It could have been worse but Rory did help take my mind off missing Mom. But it was when I got to my Aunt and Uncle's that I really lost it. The smell. I was so missing the smell of roasting turkey and stuffing. I hadn't spent a Thanksgiving since I can remember where the cooking smells didn't fill the house. Yes, I missed Mom and was remembering our dinner last year but it was the smell that I think I missed most. So, guess what? I went out Friday and bought myself a turkey and the trimmings. And Sunday became my personal Thanksgiving dinner with Rory and Rosie begging for turkey scraps. And as you can see Rory was very interested in that smell too. I am enjoying my left overs and can't wait to make myself some turkey soup and potpie. My two favorites with leftover turkey.

Now for our "Rory story". And a tale of neighbors.

We all have them. Many of us enjoy friendships with our neighbors. Neighbors are supposed to watch out for their neighbors. Help out in times of trouble and, well, at least be polite. Well, my neighbor on one side is that and more. The sweetest couple and "Aunt" Pat is one of Rory's favorite people. But the other side??????? They are one of those kinds of neighbors. Quiet people but strange. (There is a designer who has a pattern the has these two houses side by side. The one house is pretty and the other a disaster. I really have to get that one!) 60 feet (Yes, I measured it!) of their yard borders my back yard. It is the only section of my yard that doesn't have 4-6 foot chain link fencing. This area is a flimsy chicken wire type fence. It was always sufficient for my previous dog. Besides that the whole area has bushes covering the fence.

Can you tell where this is heading? Yup, Rory has crushed and broken enough of the bushes that he has a path along side the fence. The better to run and play with the neighbors dog and to keep an eye on those pesky feral cats that the neighbor feeds and encourages to make their home there. Where? Under all the sheds the neighbors have in their yard. As well as the decking around their pool, the decking with the hot tub, the gazebo, and most of the the HUGE pile of mattresses that are partially covered with a collection of blue tarps. Yes. I said MATTRESSES. As in what you sleep on in your bed.

I hear you know saying "What?"

Well, see for yourself.

Why you ask? I am not really sure myself. I did see one of the owners trying to pole vault and using the mattresses as her landing pad. (I had to quickly run inside the house. Holding in my laughter was too hard to do!)

This pile of junk has been sitting there for at least three or four years, They just keep adding and/or changing the tarps. (The neighbors dogs also like to climb the mattress mountain and tinkle on it!) The cats like to live under it and when they pop out of hiding my Rory goes ballistic. Barking and jumping on the fencing. Yup, He found out he could push on the fence and jump the 3 foot section with ease. He did this twice and there I was spending hours on Thanksgiving morning patching some areas, adding height with some of my garden fencing and wire. Pounding additional fence posts into the ground and making this 60 foot area "Rory proof." It is holding for now but as soon as I can I will be getting some stockade privacy fencing for this area. The other bonus that will mean is not having to look at the yucky blue mountain every time I go out my kitchen door.

So what kind of neighbors are yours?

Except for Rory's cat chasing, fence jumping antics he gave me some concern over the weekend. He wasn't acting his usual self. He didn't want to eat a couple of mornings and was very quiet. Spending as much time as he could in my lap. On Saturday he started sneezing and coughing and running a fever. I ran him to the veterinarian yesterday. He has kennel cough, a doggie version of a cold. Unfortunately it can get serious and turn into pneumonia especially with puppies. He is now on two different medicines and after just one day he was a little more his old self this morning. We figured that he picked it up at the dog shows. So once he is better I am hoping my fence repair will hold. I did get some stitching done. Finished my two exchanges and got them in the mail. Finished two Christmas presents and started a couple more. No photos until they reach their new home.

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

Love and stitches,

Kathy

and licks from Rory too.

Happy Thanksgiving and Update Part Two

I actually have some stitching to show you. See I have been stitching. Well, a little bit anyway.

The first finish is the ornament I made for my giveaway last month. It is in its new home now so I can post a photo. The pattern is by Homespun Elegance. I used DMC and Crescent Colors and stitched over one on 28 ct celery gingham. I think it turned out well. Gabi, who won it, likes it too.

The next finish was for my Lizzie Kate exchange. It too has arrived at its new home with Conny. I used two LK patterns for this one. ABC Crazy for the initial and Stitching Friends for the rest. Stitched over one on a piece of 28 ct linen.

I have two more exchanges finished and hope to be able to show you those soon. And the rest of my stitching will have to wait until after Christmas.

Between now and then I have way too many to get done. And just like every year I ask myself the same question. Why do I always wait until the last minute to get moving on my Christmas stitching? Every January I say I will start early. And every November I start to panic because I procrastinated. Will I ever learn?
/div>

In two days it will be Thanksgiving here in the good old USA. A time for family, for reflecting, for giving thanks for all the good in our lives, for counting our blessings. Something we really should do every day and not just at Thanksgiving. And even though this Thanksgiving will be strange for me, the first without Mom, I am still thankful for many things. Today I have been trying to catch up on some of my blog reading and have read a number of posts that have moved me to tears. One of my favorites is the one posted by Vonna, The Twisted Stitcher.

I am thankful for all the love and caring that I have been blessed with from all my online friends. You have all helped me through some rough days. I am thankful for the cherished memories of Thanksgivings past with my Mom. I am thankful for my sisters and brothers and my many nieces and nephews. You are all beautiful. And I am thankful for my Rory who has brought me so many smiles and puppy cuddles in the dark days. Even if he insists on "helping."

May each and everyone of you have a delicious and blessed Thanksgiving surrounded by those you love.

Love and stitches

Kathy

and licks from Rory too.

Weekend Update Part One

Waiting at ringside.

Rory and I are home from our travels. I am at work and just plain tired. Catching up will take a few days.

Four days of shows and getting up very early! (3 AM on Thursday and Sunday.) It was four days of learning for both of us. Rory behaved really well. Did everything in the ring that I asked without any silliness. We came home with two second place ribbons and two third place ribbons. (Right now I have his ribbons on my refrigerator and it is starting to fill up.)

While I had hoped for better I am hopeful for the future. One of the judges did say that in three or four months Rory will be one to watch. That made me feel good. Especially after one of the judges who was really nasty. That is one I won't go back to. It was wonderful talking with old friends and making new ones.

Rory is glad to be home and looking forward to playing with his little friend. Only thing is Rory is getting so big that poor little Sandy can't reach his face unless Rory lays down on the ground.

I am looking forward to my evening in my stitching chair. I found that there is just no time to stitch at a dog show. Nor is the motel a good place. Especially when at the end of the day you are just so tired you can't keep your eyes focused.

And finally I got a decent photo of Rosie, who stayed home keeping her eye on things. Actually when I told her we were getting ready to go this was the expression on her face. Do you think she was concerned? I don't think I really want to know what she was thinking.

Most of my stitching has been for gifts but I do have a couple of photos to share. Unfortunately I forgot them and will update again with those tomorrow.

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

Love and stitches

Kathy

and licks from Rory too

A fly-by posting

I have been running at full speed for days now. Cleaning house. Playing with Rory. Going through clothes. Training class with Rory. Packing. Practicing with Rory. I wanted to let you all know that I will be back on Monday with a looooooonnnnnnnnnngggggggg post filled with (I hope) lots of photos. I am leaving very early tomorrow morning for a four day dog show weekend. Yup, I will be running in circles with Rory on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday!

I have been stitching but it has all been for Christmas gifts or exchanges so no stitchy photos. I know that two of my exchanges have reached their new homes so as soon as I download the photos I can post those too.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. See you all Monday.

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

How was your weekend?

I hope you all had a lovely weekend filled with lots of sunshine, smiles and stitches. Mine was rather lovely. Perfect Autumn weather. (finally a weekend of no rain!) Saturday was a lazy day and I had no energy for anything. Sunday I got up early, thanks to my four-legged child, with energy to spare. After doing the laundry and vacuuming the house Rory and I headed outside to enjoy the sunshine and play.

Normally I wait until all the leaves are down before I rake. I hate raking twice especially since raking aggravates the carpal tunnel in both my wrists. (Yes, I try to remember the wrist braces before I do the raking.) But it was so nice and I really wanted to take a photo of Rory in the leaves. I love how his coat matches the leaves. So I pulled the rake out to get some of the leaves into piles.

Oh, yes, I had help!

I have a pretty large yard and will be doing lots of raking. Do you think I can get him trained to actually rake the leaves in a pile? Right now he just carrys the rake around.

Here are a few other photos of the colors around my yard.

The only stitching I have to show today is the Lizzie Kate exchange piece I received.

It is gorgeous and I absolutely love it!

Melissa stitched me a two sided, folded ornament. It is really neat looking and I just can't wait to hang it on my tree. The finishing on it is really unique. I hope you can tell from the photos that it is lined with fabric as well as double sided. Isn't it fabulous? Thank you Melissa.

Thank you for all the lovely comments about my PS (yes, it is a Prairie Schooler design) ornament that I stitched. I love reading the comments and especially those about my Rory. They warm my heart and mean so much.
I know I said I was going to start on LHN Winter Wonderland but I haven't quite finished my last exchange piece. Almost but not quite. Maybe today.

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

Love and stitches

Kathy

and licks from Rory too.

A Fabulous RAK and a finish

Just a quick posting because I HAD to share this with you all. My exchange stitching is almost finished. One more to go. And then I can sink my needle into the above. Everything I need except the DMC and I have that. My dearest friend, my BFF, Deborah sent this to me. We have been doing a SAL on the other LHN accessory pieces (finishes of the Traveling Stitcher and Rose Sampler thread pouch) and she wanted to do this one as well. Okay Deborah I will be ready to start this one on Sunday so get your needle ready.

I can now show you one of the ornaments I stitched for my giveaway winners. Dawn just emailed me that she received hers. It sounded like she liked what I sent.

I think Rory is asking for help from above. I have been looking over show schedules and it looks like we may be busy this winter. A four day cluster of shows is coming up in two weeks. (While he seems to like the show ring he definitely doesn't like riding in the car.) Either that or he is just watching another plane fly overhead.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend. Until next time................

Love and stitches

Kathy

and licks from Rory too

We have a winner!

Actually two. I had wanted to use two different bowls to hold the slips of paper but this yellow one that I use for dyeing fabric was the only one large enough. This photo show it with the slip for drawing one. It looked about the same for drawing two.






So without further ado here is my helper getting ready to draw name number one.

Did you find one yet Rory?

The winner of drawing one is DAWN! Congratulations Dawn. I will be sending you an email for your address.

Once I dumped those slips of paper we moved on to the second drawing. I tried to get Rosie to draw this one because she watched me cut up all those slips of paper but once I was ready but she ran and hid.

Winner number two is GABI! Congratulations!

I was overwhelmed with the response to my giveaway. You all are so wonderful and so many said such lovely things both in the comments and on your own blogs. You all moved me to tears. I only wish I had something to give everyone of you. I feel bad that I couldn't but if I did that I wouldn't have any stash left.

I did stitch this weekend. Finished and mailed one exchange. Finished both the little ornaments for my giveaway gifts and am working on another exchange. Since these are all surprises I will save the photos until they arrive at their new homes.

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

Love and stitches

Kathy

and licks from Rory too.