Monday is a day of rest.

Where to begin today? It has been a very busy last few weeks. Between work and preparing for Rory's first dog shows there hasn't been a lot of time left for my stitching and blog reading. But now Rory's first show is behind us. My deadline is over at work. So now I can now get back to my stitching and other more important things. It is Monday and time to catch my breath and get ready for the next round of madness.

Saturday was a perfect fall day. Temps in the 60s, sunshine and a light breeze. 12:45 PM was showtime for Rory's debut. He stacked (stood for exam by the judge) up beautifully. I'm thinking this is a good start. Then it was time to gait around the ring. But not Rory. He decided to bounce and jump like a rabbit. He still got his ribbon but ........... Sunday was pouring rain all morning. So we arrived at the show early so we could practice a little and he could dry off before ring time. This time he did beautifully. No points but then his competition was a 3 yr old adult. He came close and the judge had some good things to say. I was pleased with both Rory's performance and the judges remarks.


Now let's see how he does next weekend. Yup, we have three shows next weekend. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. AND all three are Irish Setter specialties. Which means Rory will have a bit more competition. He will also get to see his breeder and one of his sisters who is also entered in the show. These shows are in Connecticut so the drive will be a little longer since I am in New York (Long Island). And poor Rory hates riding in the car. Poor baby tends to get car sick more often than not. (He did on Saturday coming home from the show.) Short trips seem to be okay but this is 3 hour ride. So if anyone knows of any tricks to help a carsick pup I would love to hear about them.


Stitching? Did someone say stitching?


I haven't gotten much done this past week. Too much stress or nerves (mine!) or something. I did manage a little more progress on the Sampler Lady. Not enough to take a photo of. And no progress on my BBD piece. But I do have one photo to show. I participated in an exchange the Little House Needleworks exchange blog. And this is what I stitched for my partner, Denise. I finished it as a flatfold and love how it turned out.
I would like to thank all those who left comments for me. I truly appreciate them. Each and every one. Also, thank you to those who rooted for Rory and me. Keep those good thoughts coming since he has a busy weekend coming up. Now I'm off to try and catch up on email and blog post. Well, I'll try anyway.

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


PS. If anyone is near the Tolland County Agricultural Center in Vernon, CT, and wants to see me run in circles this coming weekend stop on by.

I'm still here.

I've been hibernating. No, actually my computer at home was down and it is my deadline time at work. So I have been working hard and working weekends. But this Friday it will be over for another six months. Thanks goodness I only have two deadlines a year. I don't think I could handle the stress of more. And it is getting close to my Mom's birthday. The first since she passed. I try not to dwell on it but there are times I just can't help but sit and cry. Of course it isn't for long. How can I when this silly guy comes over, climbs in my lap and starts licking my face? That sweet goofy face will make me smile every time.
I have also been working hard with Rory on his training. His first real confirmation show is this coming Saturday. the 26th. I'm getting nervous and have to do my best not to let it show. It should just be fun for him. Win or lose. It doesn't matter. Just as long as he has fun. The picture above is him doing one of his "tricks". This is his interpretation of playing dead! I love it. Oh, and he will also say his prayers and we are working on high five. Of course we do those silly tricks after we have worked on the basic obedience and show handling. The tricks are for fun and he loves doing them.

On the stitching front I haven't been getting a lot done. But since it has been three weeks since I have posted this will look like a lot. I am hoping I might even get BBD's Awake the Dawning Day finished. I only have some words and the specialty stitches to do.

As for Lauren's Voice (see my previous posts) I didn't take a photo because even though I am so close to finishing I was working on the last side of the border and find I am off too much to fudge it. For the life of me I can't find the mistake but I can at least make it less noticeable. So I probably have a few hours of frogging to do on that one.

Another piece I am working on is the Sampler Lady by LHN. Here is my progress on that one as of yesterday afternoon. This one is being done as a SAL on the yahoo group for LHN. I probably won't make the deadline which is the end of September (Yikes! Only 9 more days!) but I will give it a try. I am going to concentrate on this one for the next week and see where I am on the weekend.

I did finish one piece over the last three weeks but it is an exchange so no photos until it reaches its new home.

Before I go back to work I wanted to share one more "Rory Story" with you all. I hope you will find it as amusing as I do.

About a quarter of a mile from my house is a baseball stadium for a minor league team known as the Long Island Ducks. They love to hold displays of fireworks during the summer months. So quite often on a Friday or Saturday night at 9 or so loud booms will disturb the night. Well, they have been rather quiet since July and I don't think Rory has heard them until a week ago. Monday night we go to bed at 10 (I am up at 4:30 am) and turn off the lights when BOOM! Rory starts barking and charging the bedroom door. So I take him outside so he can see what all those loud noises are. We get out there and you can, of course, hear the fireworks and see them as well from my back deck. Rory goes ballistic. Barking and jumping up at the sky! I swear he is trying to catch the colored lights!! He's goes from the deck to run to the corner of the yard and back to the deck barking and jumping the entire time. I start laughing. I can't help it. This goofy nut wants to catch the fireworks! I so wish I could get a picture of that antic. Oh and the Ducks had more fireworks on Tuesday and again this past Saturday. Here he is watching a plane yesterday afternoon. Anything that moves in the sky and especially if it makes noise. I am hoping that when Rory is in the ring next weekend a plane will fly overhead and he will stand beautifully to watch it.

I want to apologize for not being around much the past three weeks or commenting on the blogs. Heck I haven't even been checking many and I am going through bloggy withdrawal. That will change next week. I promise. I miss you all and really can't wait to see what everyone's been up to. I also want to thank you all for all your support and wonderful comments. I treasure each one. And even if I don't say it often enough, Thank you and Bless you all.

Now I better take some excedrin and get back to work. Keep your fingers crossed for Rory and I this coming weekend and I hope we will have good news to share.

Love and stitches
Kathy
and licks from Rory too.

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.