Tricks and treats ( and a giveaway too!)

Happy Monday! So far this week has started off great. I just got an email telling me that I'm the winner of the 17 th day of Halloween giveaway hosted by Annette (on odd number days) and Missy (on even numbers). WOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO Now that's the way to start off the week.

The weekend was pretty quiet. Catching up on things like sleep and laundry. And finishing up an exchange. One more to go. Speaking of exchanges, my exchange from HoE Halloween exchange arrived Friday. Marie was my partner and she stitched me the cutest Halloween tree design from this years JCS Halloween magazine. She finished it into an ornament and also included a few extras. Three pieces of Halloween fabric, two trims, the pumpkin pattern by JBW (not pictured) and a skein if DMC. Heck, she spoiled me rotten. Thank you so very, very much Marie.

My partner that I sent to in the same exchange was Lily. She received hers last week also. I really like the way this one turned out and may have to stitch this one for myself one day. It is an older freebie. Sorry I can't remember who.

I also stitched up another little Halloween freebie and turned it into a little pillow ornament.

The weather was just beautiful on Sunday and with all the Halloween stitching and exchanges I guess I was in a Halloween frame of mind so I used the bright sun as an excuse to try on Rory's Halloween costume and take some photos. What do you think? (Besides that I am some kind of nut case!) Do you think he should be a doggy pirate? Or maybe something else?

Well if you made it this far I will make it worth your while. So how about another giveaway? This one is in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. DMC's Think Pink needlework accessory kit is my Think Pink giveaway.

How about another giveaway? Yes? For the second giveaway I have an extra copy of both the JCS 2010 Halloween issue and this years Christmas issue. So if you haven't gotten yours maybe you will be lucky enough to win them

Here are the rules:

1. Leave a comment on this post.

2. State which giveaway you want to enter. The Think Pink or the magazines. You MUST state which giveaway. If you want to be included in both you will need to leave 2 comments. If you don't say which one that I won't include your name. Sorry.

3. Please make sure I can contact you. If your email is not attached to your blog profile than leave it with your comment.

That's it. Easy Peasy. I will choose a winner next Monday morning so you have until midnight Sunday to post your comments.

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

Love and stitches

Kathy

and licks from Rory too.

Whew and a winner!

What a weekend. I'm not sure I will ever recover or catch up on my sleep. But it sure had its ups and downs.

Bright and early, well not so bright at 3 AM, I got up Thursday and was on the road to dog show number one for the weekend. We arrived and Rory looked great, behaved and won his class. We walked around and he was petted and fussed over by many. This happens a lot and he just loves it! Well, who wouldn't love be the center of attention. Early afternoon we were back on the road heading for Connecticut and the next dog show. I even managed to stitch a little that night!

Friday, a relaxing morning with no fuss, Rory had a great time visiting old friends at the show. He was a good boy in the ring but the judge didn't pick him this time. I was a bit disappointed since she had liked him and gave him Best of Winners back in July. Oh well, win some - lose some. We stayed long enough to watch his cousins do a little winning and were back on the road home at 12:30. We took the ferry across the Long Island Sound. Something that Rory just loves. Again more attention and people stopping to pet him. He is such a ham but amazes me at how gentle he is with the children. I don't have children myself and most of my younger nieces and nephews all live states away therefore he really has very little experience with children. I know Irish setters are supposed to be good with children and my others were but they had little ones around all the time. Rory just seems to be a natural!

Friday night after we got home and Rory ate I went over to the hotel my brothers, sister, niece, nephews and sister-in-law, niece-in-law and future niece-in-law were all staying for the wedding on Saturday. Saturday morning was busy as I quickly cleaned the house before all of the above came over to visit with Rory and I. Washed the kitchen floor, (my kitchen floor is white and if you look at the photos in the previous post you can well imagine what it looked like after a week of rain!!! Don't EVER have a dog and a white floor!! LOL) vacuumed and did a little dusting. After that it was time to dress and get ready for my cousin (also my God-daughter) Erin's wedding.
Blue skies and warmish temps. What a picture perfect day! For a picture perfect wedding. The reception followed and everyone had a fabulous time. I was going to try to leave early but being with family and friends was too delightful.

Sunday morning began at 3AM when my alarm went off. Rory and I were back on the road for the 3 and a half hour drive back to Connecticut for the last dog show of the weekend. After only two hours sleep I was doing pretty good! (I got home from the reception at 12:30 AM!) We were about 40 minutes away from the show when my front tire blew. It was a pretty scary few minutes and a longer more tense wait for the State Trooper and then the tow truck to come change the tire. I would have and did try but just could not loosen the lug nuts for the life of me! And I have the nicks and cuts on my hands to prove it! Rory and I should have been at the show site by 7AM. So he could run a bit and I could groom him, wash his belly feathers and blow him dry. His ring time was 10! Instead we got there at 9!! Talk about running around and being stressed to the max!! We did make it in the ring on time but I was shaking with stress and nerves. And guess what? Rory did fantastic! He moved great. Stacked (stood at attention) for the judge and got second place in his class of 6. Much better than Fridays results! We then just relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the show.

We were on our way home by 2:30 PM. Again took the ferry. I love it since it saves driving around New York City and all that traffic. And this time even more since I was driving on the bike tire spare. You know those half size tires that they now put in cars? I drove all the way praying that we would make it home. You aren't supposed to drive far on them. I really didn't have much choice since it was Sunday and I didn't know any places open there that would be able to sell me a new tire. The prayers worked and we made it home in one piece at 6PM. I fed Rory and promptly sat in my chair and fell asleep. Rory woke me at 9:30 and after a quick trip outside we both went back to sleep.

So that brings us to today. I found a tire place and got the tire fixed. Now I can drive without the fear of the tire going flat. I did some laundry and played with the photos from the wedding and weekend. Still no stitching!!
Oh and now for the news you have all been waiting for. I had the random number generator thingy do the work for me. (Rory is just too tired to pick out a winner.)

The winner is.....................................

Jennifer!!!!!!!!!

Now I am off to stitch. Have to make up for the past few days and still have an exchange to finish. Until next time..............................

Love and stitches

Kathy

and licks from Rory too.

A quickie update and a giveaway reminder

Before the madness begins. This weekend, which starts tomorrow for me, will be a whirlwind. I will probably be exhausted but it should be a fun filled weekend.

Today's chores include grooming a very muddy, dirty Rory, giving him a bath and blowing his coat dry. (We have had so much rain in this past week that my backyard is one giant mud puddle!) Then I have to pack both for myself and for Rory. Tomorrow at 4 in the morning (actually more like the middle of the night!) we are off to a dog show. This one is pretty special since it is only held every five years! There are 3,091 dogs entered!! Can you imagine? It should be an experience to say the least. Sometime tomorrow afternoon, once Rory is finished, we are heading to Connecticut for another show on Friday. This one is an Irish setter specialty. More than 75 Irish all in one place.

Friday will be crazy. After Rory shows around 11 - 11:30 we head back home. A few of my siblings are coming up to my neck of the woods for a wedding on Saturday. Plans are to meet Friday night for dinner and whatever. Saturday is my God-daughter's wedding. Sometime that night I hope to find a few hours to sleep since I'm back on the road at 4AM for another show on Sunday.

left: chasing the garbage truck in the rain and mud is hot work!

I don't see much stitching on tap for this weekend. But thanks to the generosity of my super wonderful cousins I am now hooked up with a new lap top and high speed internet!! I am taking my new laptop with me so if the wifi works I might be able to post an update. And come Monday if I am very lucky when I get to work I can close my office door and hang up a Do Not Disturb sign.

Don't forget to leave a comment if you want to be included in my pre-blogaversary giveaway this coming Monday. Leave the comment on the previous post. NOT THIS ONE if you want to be included. Also don't forget to leave your email is it isn't in your profile. I will pick the winner on Monday October 11.

Have a great weekend everyone!

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

Love and stitches

Kathy

and licks from Rory too.

My return and a giveaway

Wow, has it really been almost four weeks since I posted? Yes, I guess it has. I'm sorry to heave been away so long but work was absolutely nuts. (Deadline is over until next time.) And not having a computer at home meant I couldn't even catch up on the weekend. But that is going to change. After this Monday I should be up and running due to the generosity of my Texas cousins for the new laptop (well, new to me!) and to Optimum coming to install the new Internet line. WOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!


One good thing about not having a computer is I had more time to stitch. And stitch I did. I am signed up for four exchanges between now and early November. All but one is stitched. So that means three finishes that I can't show you yet. I can show you the last one I sent out. This was my floss keeper for Exchanging with BeckySC blog. The pattern is by Stitcherhood. I call it a stitchers companion since you can use it to hold your floss, needles and scissors. Or even a small pattern. My partner loved it. (So did I and really didn't want to send it away! Guess I will have to make one for myself one day.)


And this is the one I received from CJ. (her blog.) Isn't it cute?













Other stitching. I finished stitching another LHN ornament, Peppermint. I just love this one. And actually like it without the little charm/button that came with the pattern. I started and am almost finished with Peace, another LHN ornament. I am really making progress on my BBD Moonlit Garden. Sorry but the photo I took just doesn't want to post here. Weird, I can't figure out why. Oh well, I include a better one next time.





Next up is the darling Halloween biscornu I won from Barbara, To Stitch or not to Stitch. It is just adorable. I love her finishing. And she is having another giveaway right now!






You may have noticed the photo at the beginning of this entry. Well, in stitching a Halloween design for an exchange I stitched up a couple of extra things. Since October 27th marks my second year of blogging I thought I would hold a couple of giveaways to celebrate. This is the first giveaway.

The rules are simple. Leave a comment on this post saying you would like to be included in the giveaway for my little Halloween pillow ornament. Make sure your email is either in your comment or part of your profile so I can email you if you win.
That's it. No special things to do except let me know you are interested.




And of course it wouldn't be a complete blog post without some photos of Rory. By way of explanation of his "new toy." I used to have an old laundry basket on the deck outside to collect and keep his outside toys in. Notice I said used to. The basket had been sitting there for months and all of a sudden Rory decided it was more fun to play with the basket rather than the toys. He dumped the toys and proceeded to throw the basket and chew it to pieces. Thank goodness he didn't want to eat any of the pieces. Watching him chew off pieces and spit them out was a hoot. And the basket sure kept him busy. These pictures are from a couple of weeks ago. The basket is now completely flat and heading for the garbage. Now to figure out something else to keep his toys in.






This weekend should be a fun one. After two months of work and deadlines and staying home Rory and I are back on the dog show road. The three this weekend are close to home. Hope we have some more good news next after the weekend. Wish us luck.

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

Love and stitches
Kathy
and licks from Rory too.

PS Silly me. I forgot to put a date on the giveaway. Entries close on October 10. I will draw a winner on October 11. Don't forget to let me know in your comment that you want to be entered.

Finishes and Smoking Needles

Hearts Left Behind by Hester's Needle

stitched with HDF on HDF Jackaloupe 32 ct linen

I have really been in a stitching mood. My needles have been smoking! I have not one but two finishes to show you! And there is another which I can show you at a later date. It is an exchange and hasn't arrived at its new home yet. Things have been quiet on the home front. No dog shows for Rory so my weekends have been quiet. A good thing. Especially since I know it won't last.

The biggest finish is Hearts Left Behind by Hester's Needle. An OOP chart that was generously lent to me by Missy at Deep inside Missy. Missy , I can't thank you enough for letting me borrow this. This piece did take me longer than I thought to stitch it. Many tears as well as sweet memories filled my heart as I stitched. Well, all except the lazy daisy stitches that are the leaves of the willow trees. Those produced a bit of unlady like language. But over all I loved stitching this in memory of my Mom, my best friend. I miss her so much.

Oh, I did make a change. I reversed the two lines with the name and date. The pattern calls for an all numerical date (10-5-29) and then the second line to have your initials plus the year. While my dates may be a little squished I felt it made more sense than the other way. What do you think?

Next finish is a Lizzie Kate piece. This saying is so me! While I don't mind vacuuming and straightening up I abhor dusting. I hate it! Do you hear me? I HATE TO DUST! Heck, I will even wash windows, clean the bathroom or wash the floors instead of dusting. So now you see why this one is so me? I used the fabric provided with the pattern. But I know I will stitch this one again and used something else. The pattern comes with a 27 count Northern Cross linen which I didn't like. But since I had started it on that piece I figured I might as well use it.

I am so looking forward to this three day weekend. Of course if Hurricane Earl gets close enough than I will make it a four day weekend. But as of right now Earl has been showing a path that will pass Long Island with minimal force. They are saying a tropical storm warning. 20 to 30 mile an hour winds and light rain. Sigh. Not a bad enough storm to warrant me calling in. Oh well. I do hope that those who are closer to Earl's path stay safe and dry. And more importantly keep their electricity so they have lights to stitch by.

I have two pieces that I am working on. One is BBD's Moonlit Garden that I started earlier this year then got side tracked with other things. Since this is a fall piece it is perfect for stitching on now. Here's hoping I can get a big chunk of this one done this weekend.

The second piece is one of LHN's ornaments. It is adorable and is stitching up so quick. I should have this one done this weekend.

Like I said earlier it has been rather quiet here but I can't end a post without a mention or a photo of you-know-who. So here is what Rory has been up to.

Sorry about the dark photo but I couldn't resist this one. Rory keeps trying to beat into my stitching chair. And sometimes he succeeds.

Rory and my great nephew, Devin. Rory insists that he is a lap dog.

Rory enjoying a good book. Oh, it really is. One of my favorite noir mystery authors and a good friend.

Rory in his new portrait from the photographers at Petco. I love how this one turned out.

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

Love and stitches

Kathy

and licks from Rory too