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.

A tribute

Towards the end of the memorial service for Michael Jackson today, my husband and I left for a much smaller but just as meaningful memorial service for an acquaintance of ours who recently passed away from a sudden heart attack. It was held at the local YMCA where he had worked for 35 years. Jim was only 59. He died waiting in line for a Judy Collins concert which was a surprise gift to him from friends. The parking lot was full, cars were lining the curbs on bordering streets and we could tell that there was a large crowd. The Y had even closed early for this service. I'm not sure how many people were there, but there had to be at least 200 and there weren't enough chairs to seat everybody.

Jim was a very unique person and well known by many in our small town. The microphone was passed around to those who wanted to say something about Jim and we heard stories that had us laughing, crying, reflecting and for myself, wishing that I had seen Jim more. My husband and I hadn't seen Jim for awhile, in part because he wasn't walking around town as much and we didn't work out at the Y where most people saw him on a day to day basis. I know my husband had wanted to share hip replacement stories, since Jim had had both hips replaced which made him give up running, something he loved.

I barely knew Jim really, but one didn't have to know him for a long time to sense what a special person he was. He had no money, but there was an article about him in the newspaper. He didn't hold public office or own a large business, but there were people from many walks of life at his service today. He was kind of homely and very tall, a gentle giant many said today. Jim always had a wide smile, a caring word, but not the fake kind of caring...you knew that he genuinely wanted to talk to you and to get to know you. He had a fabulous sense of humor. He loved loved loved baseball and was a huge Indians fan and even had a room devoted to all things baseball.

Jim lived a simple life. I learned today that at one time he had given away most of his possessions. He gave often and readily, never expecting anything in return. He was the most popular house and pet sitter in town, which I'm sure he did for extra income but also because he loved animals. I had to laugh at a comment made by his roommate...Jim was a vegetarian who didn't eat vegetables unless they were cut up into tiny pieces on his favorite pizza!

Funerals and memorial services are always a time for reflection. I leave with a feeling that I will change my life, be a better person, figure out what is really important. Today I left with the feeling that it won't be hard to be a better person. What maybe doesn't come all to naturally to me could really be so easy. Reach out to someone every day, speak a kind word, be sincere, give just a little of one's self in some little way. I know for myself that sometimes this is harder with those closest to me and with my family. I just need to remember Jim Boyd, picture his funny smile, hear his voice, and maybe I can remember how to be a better person.

She's a goner

The sweet gum tree was taken down this morning and now the logs are waiting to be hauled off by a friend of ours. We'll have the stump ground out soon. It's amazing how much light there is in that area now. The tree man said that now our neighbor's trees will take the brunt of the wind so I'm hoping they don't have problems.

The area under the other tree in the photo has always been heavily shaded and it gets very weedy. I have tried to establish shade loving plants there. You can't see in this photo that there are ferns, Solomon's Seal, Lily of the Valley, Epimedium, bleeding heart and some other plantings. I'll continue to plant shade lovers there.

In front of where the tree was is a patch of grass that was supposed to be another part of the herb garden. I'll post pics as we progress with this. Right now everything looks to shabby to show!

I cleaned out the hard drive on our computer yesterday! I've been putting it off for ages! It took a long time to back up files and reinstall Windows, but it was very easy and went off without a hitch. Gone are all the kids games, ancient files, garbage from the internet, etc. I could barely use Photoshop without it crashing since the drive was so clogged up with debris.

A clean drive is a happy drive...

Karma or just good luck?

This is so weird. I mentioned our sweet gum tree in my last post. Last fall it lost a good chunk during a very bad windstorm we had here in Ohio. DH wasn't sure he wanted to take it down. I've wanted to take it down ever since we've lived here. It's just in a bad spot and those little prickly balls are all over the place!

I was at work last Thursday night and someone mentioned that it looked like a hurricane out there. Thanks Amy for saying that, because it prompted me to call DH and ask him to please park the new used Subaru in the garage. Naw, the wind isn't blowing hard DH said. He's always in denial about storms...grew up in New Hampshire and thinks everyone is just a baby about the weather.

A short time later I get a phone call at work. You won't believe this! The tree fell! OMG, where was the car I ask? I put it in the garage. Who was smiling down on us that day?

We had just had an estimate to take the tree down and were in the process of getting more when this happened. Needless to say, this will happen very soon! There is one large branch hanging over a very beautiful purple beech tree and I don't want any harm to come to that tree.

It was quite a week for emptying our wallets. Our 4 year old Fisher Paykel washing machine went a little nuts and started to behave $240 later. We bought another car (son's money, but insurance to be paid by us). Then the tree. Keeping the fingers crossed for more good karma!

An ending and a beginning

Prairie Schooler "Spring Has Come"
32 count Wichelt lambswool
DMC threads

I finally sat down to put the last "few" stitches in Spring Has Come. It seemed everytime I thought I had stitched the last stitch I noticed another one that I had missed. It's those dreaded single stitches that get to me so it takes a little discipline to get them in.

But it's done and now I have to figure out how I want to display it. I have the rest of the season charts, but don't think I'll get to another one anytime soon.

I started BOAF Bitter Flower which I want to give to my mother. I haven't given her any needlework since I did a bargello pillow in the 70's. I hope she still has that pillow up in the attic somewhere. Think I will rescue it on my next visit.

Birds of a Feather "Bitter Flower"
32 count BOAF Barn Owl
WDW threads

Sorry about the yellow cast to my photos. It is bright and sunny outside, but I took these inside on our sun porch, which is not really a sun porch because of all of the trees surrounding our house. DH wants to remove a few trees ($$$) but the tree guy that came over the other day said that would be a mistake. There is one broken sweet gum that really needs to go and a lot of deadwood to be taken out of the elms and maples.

I have gotten back into gardening after neglecting our yard for the past couple of years. I just feel so totally overwhelmed by our yard sometimes and there are so many projects to be done that are costly. I realized yesterday as I pulled weeds that I have probably lost a fair number of perennials because they were crowded out by the asters and black eyed Susan's. I am trying to revive the herb garden as well and when the sweet gum goes, I'll be able to expand it.

We also need to paint and repair trim on this old house, so we are never lacking for things to do! I know I am lucky to live where I live, on such a nice large lot with a lovely brick home, but it really gets to me sometimes that we are always so behind. At least that's how it feels to me. I need a million bucks so someone else can do the work! We tried renovating our kitchen and ran into a number of problems, now it is half finished and I'm ready to call in the troops. Yikes! If it's not one thing, it's another...

How are you?

Tense me

Not much stitching going on these days but I sure do think about it a lot! My to do list(s) just keep getting longer and I'm just not crossing stuff off fast enough. The stitching is always on the list, but it just ain't happening!

I just have to talk about something that we got into at work today. When someone asks you how you are, is it OK to just say "fine" or "good" or must we always answer with "GREAT!" or "TERRIFIC!" even though we really feel just OK? If something is bothering us, and it is because a parent is sick or has passed away, or another loved one is having problems, or we are sick ourselves or having money problems, should we always put on the game face and say that we are terrific?

One of my co-workers, who I really like, is on a mission to change me and my attitude, and I think my attitude is really just fine, thank-you. I know he was just kidding about this (I think) but it kind of got to me. I don't go around saying how depressed I am or how sick or tired I feel so I'm not sure where this is coming from. Maybe it's just my crabby looking face! I'll go on the defensive if he keeps bugging me about this. Or maybe I'll just tell him what he wants to hear...

Loving, sweet me

Though I haven't been stitching myself, I have enjoyed seeing everyone's beautiful works. I will get back into it shortly. I've been shopping for a car for DS, college shopping for DD, gardening, had a yard sale, and now we need to start painting the trim on our house as well as find someone to take down some trees and maybe put in a patio (I hope, I hope!).

Thanks for stopping by! Let me know what you think about the "how are you" thing.