Haiti

The disaster in Haiti has been much on my mind since it occurred.  A sister of a friend of mine is in Haiti.  I don't know why she is there and my friend has no news of her as yet and I know it is causing her much worry. 

I have been reading and trying to find a good place to donate a little (I emphasize little at this point) and I keep coming back to the organization Partners in Health.  Those of you who may have read Mountains Beyond Mountains are already familiar with the work of Dr. Paul Farmer.  Here is a link to a short op-ed piece for the NY Times by the author, Tracy Kidder: Country Without a Net.

There is just too much sadness in the world.  I hope we can all find just a little bit of joy today. 

Cat in the frying pan

Now that I've captured your attention, let me explain lest you think we are having cat for dinner.  Let me introduce Noodles.  She was Hawaii born and bred and had a need for warmth so she would camp out in this old cast iron pan over the pilot light.  This photo was taken about 25 years ago in the duplex DH and I shared not long after we started dating.  Noodles lived a long life of 20 years.  She was deaf and we actually had to have her ears trimmed away because of ulcers.  Her skin was very sensitive and she loved the sun!

I bought a scanner for the family for Christmas so that we can convert pages and pages of slides that we have and came upon this pic.  We plan to scan lots of old slides from Mark's parents and put them on cd's for everyone.  It make take awhile, but if we scan a little everyday it should be doable. 

I sat down to post last night and ended up spending way too much time fiddling around with the blog.  Tried a 3 column template but some of my gadgets didn't work right so went back to minima.  All that wasted time!  I like my new background though. 

Life in retail is slowing a bit but people are still returning massive amounts of merchandise.  People overbuy, then pick and choose what they want to give as gifts and then return the rest later.  It's always kind of a letdown in a way when we go from crazy busy to the slow times of January and February.  We are all scrambling for hours so that the paychecks aren't too pathetic, though they are even when we have lots of hours LOL.  I finally have weeks with 2 days off in a row and one week with 3 days off!  I have ambitious plans to paint a room and do some other household type stuff.

I was so tired during the holiday madness that I didn't stitch much.  I'm working on Prairie Schooler's 2009 santa now (the one with the skates!).  I'll post pics when it actually looks like something recognizable. But I did manage to finish up an ornie for my wonderful friend Lee.  Here is the pic that I stole from her website since I completely forgot to photograph it before mailing it.  I had a lot of fun stitching this, especially since it was going to Lee.

DH is a nut.  We scrambled to replace our daughter's totaled car so that we wouldn't have car sharing issues and then he decides he will walk the almost 4 miles to work.  Yesterday, in the snow, he rode his bike.  Go figure.  We did find a good little car (a Honda CR-V) for Claire but now she is really timid about driving in all this snow.  There is always a bit of anxiety when choosing a used car.  We came upon this nicely priced CR-V at the Honda place just up the road.  It has many miles on it but they had put lots of money into it to bring it up to snuff and and it is bright and shiny.  Hope that Honda's reputation for long lasting cars proves to be true.

Thank you for visiting!  It really means a lot to me.

The knitted garden

While I was browsing around Joann Fabrics the other day, I came upon this book called Jan Messent's Knitted Gardens. I was charmed and even went as far as suggesting it to my family as a possible Christmas gift for moi.

This is the kind of thing that totally captures my attention but unfortunately I doubt I have the attention span or patience to actually do any of this, but a girl can daydream, can't she?

Just look at those monks tending their cabbages! Aren't they adorable?

You can find more pictures from the book here. Ms. Messent also has books on a knitted farmyard and enchanted castle. So sweet.

Black ice, books and a good afternoon

Had a fine afternoon last week when Lee dropped by before picking up her daughter at college. We went for lunch at a local downtown restaurant and then poked around the Gallery in the Vault next door. Neither of us bought anything but I was a tiny bit tempted. There are shops like this in our downtown but I rarely go in them just because I know I will never buy anything. I don't yearn much for stuff anymore. I suppose if I had the money I would buy a different house and decorate it to my heart's content, but the focus now is on college funding (new parents out there...think wisely and save) and retirement. These kinds of places are great for buying gifts though.

Lee brought us some yummy yummy buckeyes, knowing that my husband is a peanut butter freak. We have all indulged. We keep slicing off little bits so that it doesn't feel like we are pigs. Lee...there are still 2 left! Thank you for the treat!

My poor daughter had a car accident on Sunday. She has only had her car (her first car, paid for by herself) for 1 1/2 months. She was driving home from spending the night at her friend's house and hit a patch of black ice and lost control and slid into a pole. The airbag went off so I guess the impact was pretty hard. She's OK but the car is totaled and she is very sad. It was hard for her to stop crying that day and every time she thinks about it she gets upset. I am thankful that she wasn't hurt and that she thinks she was only going maybe 25 miles an hour.

We have already heard from our insurance company and thank goodness I had gotten the collision insurance and it turns she is getting back more money than she paid for the car. Now we just have to decide if another car will be a possibility. Just a few more gray hairs for dear old mom and dad.

I love the work of the writer Abigail Thomas. I found this cute story by her at the Oprah website. I picked up her book A Three Dog Life last summer on the discount table at Borders and was so glad I did. Sometimes you just find someone that puts your own thoughts into words and it feels so good to know there is someone else out there that thinks and feels like you do. Here is her website.

Taking a breath

Thanksgiving has come and gone and that means that Black Friday has come and gone. The phrase Black Friday sounds so ominous to me, like it should be a day of mourning or something. I did mourn when I had to get out of bed at 12:45am in order to be at work by 2am. That means I got maybe 1 1/2 hours of sleep, shorter than a good nap. I was home by 11am and justifiably wiped out so I slept a good part of the day. I worked 8 days in a row and have a brief respite today with way too many things to do! I don't want to complain about having the hours, but man, I feel burned out.

I am trying hard to at least be helpful and pleasant dealing with customers, but suddenly there are many many needy shoppers out there, asking us to do what seems impossible at times. And the phone calls, OMG. I have to answer the phone while waiting on customers, but first I have to find the phone beneath the piles of returned merchandise. I am sure I sound impatient and rude when I ask to put someone on hold while they are in the middle of a long winded explanation about how they bought something but forgot to get the gift receipts and could they now get the gift receipts? Yikes!

I am stitching a little and still so excited and inspired about it. This is my recent finish which I was furiously working on at Camp Gottastitch. Ran out of 3 colors of thread and had to wait for 1 color that I had forgotten to buy in Berlin at the little cross stitch shop there. Hoping I can get this "finished finished" and sent to my mother for Christmas.

Birds of a Feather Bitter Flower
32 count BOAF barn owl linen
WDW and DMC

Speaking of my mother, she sent me a touching birthday gift last month. This is a letter sent to her by her mother after I was born. I was so touched by receiving this letter. I had no idea mom had saved all of her letters. My father dragged my mom around from state to state when I was young. I was born in Texas and my grandparents lived in Minnesota where my parents were born and raised. I wish we had stayed in Minnesota or in Iowa, which I really liked. There really is something to be said for having roots and family nearby.

Last but not least by any means, here is a snap of this cute Prairie Schooler ornie that was given to me by Lake Stitcher Lee. Thank you ever so much Lee! You are the best!!!

Lee summed up camp pretty well, but I have a few things to add.

1. Do not forget camera.
2. Do not pack every single blessed piece of stitching, fabric and floss.
3. Do not eat for a week before going.
4. Do not worry about what you will stitch when there because they will give you plenty of kits to stitch.
5. Do not worry about not fitting in, because it is so easy to fit in.
6. Do not get all squinty eyed when being photographed because it looks silly.
7. Do not worry about passing Amish buggies on the road. Just take your time and pass with care.
8. DO NOT FORGET CAMERA (did I say that already?)
9. Do not worry about where you will sleep because you will have your own double bed and it is better than a hotel.
10. Let me see, can I think of anything else to not worry about or to not forget? Don't think so!

It's time to stitch!

Camp Gottastitch tomorrow! Yippee! I so need this after a busy week at work and a long day at the election polls. No time for chatting! Gotta pack for 3 days of blissful stitching. Sigh...

Trees trees and more trees

I promise I won't gripe and complain this time! I actually have begun to like yoga a little. I just need to get more bendy. I was thinking Pilates would take care of the jiggly belly but it's going to take a heck of a lot of Pilates to do that! I was just kind of annoyed that they changed the class format without telling us.

We had some of our trees trimmed this week to hopefully fend off any major disasters this winter. We have had our fair share of close calls this year. For a few hours of work it cost $1075! And that was a low estimate! Here's the truck with the cherry picker right outside our sunroom.

This is one of the most beautiful trees on our property soon to be in its full fall glory. It's a ginkgo and beautiful as it is, it does shed some pretty stinky fruit now and again.

Stitching progress has been slow. I do wish I could stitch in the car because we have spent many hours on the road checking out colleges for DD. It was worth it though because it has opened her eyes to the endless possibilities and at the same time has helped her narrow down her choices.

Ouch!

A few weeks ago I signed up for a Pilates class at the place where I exercise. Somewhere along the way it got changed to something called Pilates "Fusion". Pilates on Tuesdays, yoga on Thursdays. I did not want yoga...I signed up for Pilates. Now there is a very tender spot in my back from all the weird twists and turns from the yoga class. You want me to do what???

The instructor was telling us what to do as we did it, without the benefit of watching her first. Do you know how hard it is to watch someone while trying to maintain the downward facing dog pose? When it came to the yoga style push up I pretty much said no, I can't do it. I eventually tried and did manage to get a little way down. I don't know if I'm going back because I can't afford to hurt my back right now. I think I will take a Pilates class somewhere else.

I've been trying to keep consistent with my stitching, but there were a few days this week that I didn't pick up a needle. That's OK, I'm making progress on Bitter Flower and looking forward to the next project and maybe an ornie or two.

I gave up one of my responsibilities at work this week. I made a mistake (not a big one in my eyes but it made a few people unhappy) and the criticism that followed put me in a funk. I don't like to be a quitter, but my goal right now in life is to focus on family and home and finding peace in life...I don't need the stress. Retail is very stressful right now. They have us doing multiple tasks at one time and at the same time maintaining that ever cheerful and helpful demeanor. I can do that most of the time but when I have to work 6-7 hours without getting a break, that kind of puts me over the edge.

I have always felt very insecure in my working life. Even being well educated doesn't always prepare one for the real world environment. I never have felt worthy enough to go back to a job in science and therefore have taken the jobs that are the easiest to come by. Low pay and not much satisfaction.

Thank God for my dear husband, who has stood by me through all my ups and downs and has been in the same job for 30 years. I know he itches to retire but is sticking with it until our kids are out of college (unless we win the lottery!). He never complains, even when it's 90 degrees outside and he is working 7 days a week. A good man.

Thanks for stopping by!

Will we ever see the sun again???

It's been nothing but rainy and or cloudy for days here. I love fall but please, this is a bit too much. Tomorrow there may be sunshine, but then the forecast is rain or cloudy. We need to get the outside painting done!

Painting aside, the weather is great for getting cozy with the cats and stitching, but not for picture taking. I've been working on BOAF Bitter Flower. The WDW overdyed flosses have been a pain this go round, especially the brown and green. They don't even have any variation in the color. I could have used DMC. Now I see that I'm running out of floss and need to find somewhere to pick it up. There is a sale at a store in Canton but I don't see how I'll have the time to get over there.

Speaking of sales, and as you know, I love a good sale, but when I began to price things at Traditional Stitches, I found that I wouldn't really be saving much, if any. I really had the itch to buy stuff! Since I work in retail, one thing I know for sure is that the lowest prices of the season are not necessarily the lowest prices of the season (LPS) and that there is always another sale right around the corner. I have plenty of stash to choose from anyway. There are a few things from market that have caught my eye, but there are tons of older charts that I want to stitch also.

I realized this morning that there is a needlework showcase in Akron this weekend, combined with a craft show. I was quite impressed by the needlework the last time I attended this show. It's held at Stan Hywet Hall, a lovely house on beautiful grounds. We are supposed to go on a college visit this weekend, but we have been considering not going, so I may have a free day.

Are there any stitchers in the Akron area going to this show on Saturday? Drop me a line!

College visits: DD is a senior and we put off the college visits until this fall. Now we are tightly scheduled with visits. It's fun, but stressful planning it all. DD is interested in nutrition, food science and dietetics. If there are any readers out there involved in these fields, any feedback on careers, education, etc. would be helpful.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stash enhancement possibilities, pumpkins and bridges

I just love a good sale. See what's happening at Traditional Stitches. Can I resist? I have through Thursday to find out!

Fair week is over. DH and I only went for a couple of hours one lovely evening. Just enough time to check out the needlework, vegies and artwork. Dinner was french fries with lots of vinegar and salt. I resisted everything else, but I really really wanted some cotton candy!

DD had some of her drawings from last year exhibited. Her Brooklyn Bridge drawing is right under the word Wooster. Her art teacher selected it for a year long exhibition at the Board of Education building which was so very nice of her.

That's a big pumpkin Charlie Brown!

The family that grew this pumpkin is well known in this area for their prize winning pumpkins. This is small in comparison to others they have grown.

Nobody loves me...

Finished this cute stitch the other day. You know how when you are nearing the end of a project and you suddenly find a stitch that you missed here...or there...or you find some other kind of mistake? I know that there are a few little boo-boos but I'm not going back to change them. I am just fine with them.

This was part of Annemarie's "Lovelorn Sisterhood" and I have sent the chart on to Jan in Maryland. Have fun Jan! I'm not crazy about exchanges or round robins, but I think I could get hooked on these traveling charts.

A week and half ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Lakestitcher Lee. She and her DH were in town to see their daughter who is attending college in our town. Hi Lee! Hope we get to meet up again soon, maybe before we go to Camp Gottastitch in Charm Ohio. I won't mind if the weather is bad, but it will only be early November, so maybe we'll have a nice fall weekend. I was thinking that a beachy stitch weekend (or more) would be nice someday.

Someday I want to fulfill my dream of a real beach vacation, warm and sandy and relaxing with lots of good restaurants and coffee shops nearby. This has never come to pass in our family. We have always ended up in Maine at my husband Mark's family place on a lake. Not that I don't like it or appreciate it, I'm just needing something else. Like sun. I wish I had a digital photo to share. The camp is totally surrounded by trees and it would be sacrilege to cut some down. We get a few hours of good sun in the morning and by 1 or 2:00 we are pretty much without direct sun. Brrr...

Thanks for stopping by!

Too much milk

This is so sad. A large dairy farm in our county is shutting down production by killing their cows. Our country is over importing milk apparently. What a rough business to be in.

http://www.the-daily-record.com/news/article/4652849

Framing frustrations

Do you know that when you hit enter in blogger, let's say after entering the post title, your post is published? I think I just did that.

I made it a goal of mine last year when I began to stitch again after a long hiatus, that I would actually "finish finish" my stitching. I think that was one reason I quit stitching. Because nothing ever made it to walls or the tree or where ever. I have been successful in getting a few ornaments sewn up and stuffed and I am quite happy with those, even though my progress has been limited and very slow. I finally decided that I would try to frame a few pieces and scrounged around for some pre-made frames. A few of those might work. I ordered 2 frames from pictureframes.com, refreshed my memory on framing needlework and set out to buy acid free foam core board. Can I find a single sheet of it in our town? Of course not. I think I will have to call a local framer and beg for one.

I had gone to Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago planning to order frames. The guy gave me a song and dance about how you couldn't order just the frame, they want to do the entire thing and said something about adhesive and other scary things. I walked away. I think I will try Michael's at some later point if I can find the time to drive out of town. I may have to go there anyway to get the foam board.

Anyone have any thoughts on the use of regular old foam board? Am I committing a sin if I use it?

Family and more family

We've just heard recently that my mother in law is in the beginning stages of renal failure. She apparently is dehydrated but has little interest in drinking more water. MIL is 90 years old. My poor husband has been working 7 days a week for the past few weeks and won't catch a break for another 2 weeks or so, but he is hoping to get back home (it's 750 miles away) asap. He is so lucky that his brother is nearby to keep the ball rolling on doctor appointments and everything else. MIL still has her house but has lived in a senior residential home for years.

It could prove to be a rough fall. Our calendar is packed with college visits for DD and crazy work and school schedules. DD is planning to work every day after school at the after school program at our ice arena. This will be her 3rd year doing this. I just hope she doesn't get burned out with her studies and pressure to get into college. I will be watching her back every second. Our son will be entering his 3rd year of college and will be concentrating on art. I desperately hope (does that make sense?) that he has a good year.

I was quite concerned about my own mom after seeing her last month. I don't get out to NJ very often anymore for various reasons, so when I do see her, I always see a big change. She is tiny and frail and barely eats. It's almost as if she is not eating on purpose. Someone talked her into getting very expensive dental implants and it just hasn't worked out for her. Therefore, no teeth. She barely goes out anymore but reads, reads and reads some more! No one seems to go to the library for her...I just can't figure that out. My sister is not a reader and I don't think she has a clue as to what to choose. I am hoping that mom will use the book delivery service the library has. She just needs to follow up on it and not just talk about it.

Thanks for listening everyone. I just felt like writing a bit today about what is going on in our family.

Why no websites?

Ever since the start of internet bulletin boards and newsgroups, I've thought that the internet and needlework were a perfect combination. What frustrates the heck out of me is the lack of internet presence by some needlework shops. There are 4 shops within a 45 minute radius from my house, and 2 of them have no website or blog and 1 of them has some decent information (but no email newsletter) and has a "blog" that has no feed so you can't subscribe. The other one doesn't even list the hours. It's like they started to design a website and then gave up.

5 years ago I was seriously thinking of opening a LNS in our town. 2 yarn shops, lots of quilting fabric places, but no needlework. When I found out how much it was going to cost me to open and maintain, I was scared away. The internet was going to be an important tool in this business, with access to Hoffman Distributing and other distributors readily available to customers. My idea was that even if I wouldn't be able to carry each and every fiber, fabric and chart, it would be easy to locate and order, at least the majority of merchandise.

If there are any shop owners out there that might happen upon this post, could you clue me in as to why you wouldn't want to have a website and newsletter? I just can't figure it out...

Just a test

I noticed that the fonts were all different sizes on my blog after my last post. I have deleted my old template for the time being. Just wanted to see how this font shows up. Don't know what I did! I know most people read blogs in their reader, but it is still fun to see how creative people can be with their blog layouts. Also, a link doesn't work though I'm sure I did it right! Frustration.

Man, my life is just one thrilling moment after another. I decide, if Lee can post to her blog today with her busy week, I should be able to also.

So...I take some photos of my latest stitching. They all upload to Photoshop yellow as the dickens. Reinstall camera software, look for drivers, still yellow. Somehow the yellow goes away but something is still wrong with the uploading from the camera or card. Then I go outside to take some garden photos, get a little depressed and anxious. Should be weeding and moving plants around but it really is too hot and muggy.

Look at paint color again on the trim we are painting. Yesterday I had decided color was OK, now having doubts again. Too gray maybe (supposed to be taupe). We already bought 3 gallons at $35/gallon so need to be sure. DH doesn't like it, he says it is gray but it matches the newer screen door and the new Anderson windows in the bathrooms.

Then try to upload to Blogger and it takes a frickin' 10 minutes to upload so I put a load of towels in to wash after shaking out a few poor spiders that decided to take up residence there. I don't like to kill spiders. I rescue spiders and bugs and release them to the outside. All those years of working with bugs has made me unafraid of them for the most part.

So, now that you know my life truly is boring, let me show you what I've been working on these days.

The colors are kind of wonky but charming and I wonder why it says "I'm going down the garden" instead of "going down to the garden." I would like to finish this up this week so I can mail the chart off to the next stitcher in the Lovelorn Sisterhood.

A few garden pics:

This is a 60' long perennial bed that I am going to reduce in size so we can expand the vegetable garden. I have really neglected it in the past few years and it is sorely in need of some TLC. Not much is blooming as you can see. We're going to put out what we want to save and start fresh. It's too hot to transplant now, so this will have to wait until early fall. The bed only looks curved because of the photo, it is about 8 feet wide and straight.

This is what asparagus looks like long after harvest. We have several rows which gives us plenty of good eating in the spring. The stuff in front is lettuce that has bolted.

Messy messy garden. Lots of tomatoes, zucchini and green beans (and weeds). The decrepit looking fence at the back really belongs to our neighbor though DH has replaced most of it once already.

Some "old" needlework and "baby" corn

I rescued these pillows from my mother's attic while we were there on a visit last week. I must have done these in the early 70's, when I worked at the LNS. Crewel embroidery and needlepoint were the hot items then. I didn't do too much of either and I don't remember that we sold any cross stitch at all! We may have had some stamped linens. I knitted a lot in the old days as well as crocheted a little.

I've been meaning to post some pictures of our garden (really DH's garden) but I haven't snapped any yet but I did want to show some of the summer delights that we are treated to every year. DH is a corn breeder and they always plant some plots of sweet corn for everyone to share. We had this cute baby corn the other night in some stir fry.

I am so spoiled! I love my corn very young and tender, no starchy big kernels for me! We'll start having corn almost every night very soon!

Whew...July is almost over!

My stitching time has suffered terribly lately! Stitching on our trip out East was too difficult...poor lighting, no magnifier, too many relatives. What I had intended to work on was this:

I'm third in line for this humorous piece for a sisterhood that Annemarie organized. It feels so right. I'm working it on Belfast clay linen, a very appropriately named linen for this I thought. Once I get a few more stitches in it I'll post a photo. It was passed on to me by Kathy, who included a lovely piece of pale pink Silkweaver fabric and a skein of WDW Bubble Gum.

What did we do and see out East? Here are a few photos to share with you!

The MET...Metropolitan Museum of Art. I love that the hot dog stand got captured in the corner. With a sandwich going for $11.50 at the cafeteria, those hot dogs were pretty appealing. I did fork over $3.50 for the tiniest espresso I have ever seen. I really needed the boost.

This was a sculpture on the rooftop of the museum. Pretty neat. Note the cloudy skies.

As forecast in the previous photo, it did begin to rain. We should have done the MET last and wandered first! My poor planning. DD took shelter under her umbrella in Bryant Park, behind the NY public library. We were hoping to go inside, but it had already closed. We didn't want to see the books, we just wanted to see where Carrie Bradshaw was supposed to get married.

Bright lights, big city. Time Square in all it's neon glory, though it's not neon anymore but huge electronic billboards. Charlie Gibson is broadcasting the news in the middle. There are 2 blocks closed off where one can stroll or sit in lawn chairs (yes, lawn chairs).

This picture has nothing to do with us, but I was intrigued. This couple was getting photographed by 2 photographers at Grand Central Station. We were pretty sure it just a regular couple, not models. The wedding party was also there. I love the old train station.

Finally, a snap of DH getting his feet wet at Island Beach State Park in New Jersey. The lifeguards had a fit when he went out too far.

The rest of our time was spent with 4 of my sibs and my mother. Our trips out there are pretty short. It's just hard on me to be in NJ for very long. Not what I call vacation really and I'm always glad to get back home. I am always amazed by the cost of living out there and grateful for how easy it is in our little town in Ohio.

Thanks for stopping by and if you read all of this you are a very patient person.