Paradise Lost Update

Happy Monday! At least after today, there isn't another one for another week - LOL!

Not much to report on Paradise Lost. Unfortunately, we had to go out of town for a funeral for a dear friend's mother who lost her battle with leukemia. She has been a fighter all of her life - a breast cancer survivor, struggling with lupus and migraines and then leukemia. Miss Pat was one of the neighborhood "Moms" to my husband when he was a child. She kept him and the other boys in check! If she said she would "jerk a knot in your butt", she meant it! LOL! But, she is now pain-free and celebrating.

So, I didn't get as much stitching accomplished as I would have liked to but I did make some progress. I finished ALL the leaves. There are no more trees in the Garden of Eden and that in its self is reason to celebrate! I did get the flowers, the bee and the crazy flower-toting bird stitched. It's steadily coming along!

I do have a new book that I hope to start reading this week. My hairdresser recommended it and my husband finished it this week. I have already been warned, it's a tear-jerker but it's good and happy at the same time. You can see the cover on my right side bar.

Well, until we chat again......have a great week!

What's Up Peeps!

It's Easter weekend and I remember as a child, hoping the Easter Bunny would put a package of those sugary, chewy, yellow morsels of candy goodness in my basket. I don't "think" I really liked them or had them at the top of my candy list but having Easter Peeps in your basket made it extra special. That, and of course, a chocolate Easter Bunny. How many of you ate the ears first? LOL!

I do hope each of you will remember the true meaning of this weekend. The day that all of our sins were paid for - the greatest gift we could ever receive.

Unfortunately, I do not have any stitching updates for the week. This week has been extremely busy at work and my goal each evening was to eat, take a bubble bath and visit dream land at a decent hour. I am happy to report, I succeeded that goal almost every night. My plans for the weekend are to do some makeup stitching and the project for the weekend is........get ready for it...........Paradise Lost! Yes, I am bringing it back on the Q-Snap. Hopefully, I will have a great picture to share next week.


Until then, I wanted to share a picture of a pattern that I got in the mail this week. It is called "Soar" by With Thy Needle & Thread. This sampler was "inspired by a family of eagles living in Iowa that captured the hearts of America". You can read all about the eagles, see web cams capturing the hatching of the little eaglets, etc by visiting Brenda Gervais' blog. This pattern is available only for a limited time - until the eaglets leave the nest - and portions of the proceeds benefit the Raptor Resource Project. I am hoping to stitch this up soon but seems like the Weeks Dye Works linen in Onyx is on backorder. Which means, I may have to do a little experimenting...thinking about dyeing my own fabric!!! Why not? It may work and it may not but it doesn't hurt to try. I'll keep you posted if I decide to. It's Easter weekend.....we're suppose to "dye" stuff - right?

Until we chat again, have a great weekend. Spend time with the ones you love and thanks for stopping by.

Hugs and Stitches!!

Introducing Miss Cindy!

I don't know who put the sign up that says "we take in sweet homeless kitties" but I can't find that sign and I have a new tenant. Please meet Miss Cindy Lou-Who. She showed up around January as a little "neighborhood" kitty. We tried to find out who she belonged to because we noticed she had taken up residence under our storage building. No one claimed her. We fed her and just let her be until we discovered she might be a Mama Kitty. I don't know nothing about birthing no kitties! (I know how Prissy felt now!!). The vet took care of getting her fixed and she is now part of the family - outdoors only! She still sleeps under the storage building and comes around every afternoon for a little loving and some dinner. She's a sweet kitty and if I can find her a good, safe home, I'll lovingly adopt her out. Until then, she's well taken care of and no longer "homeless". Now, to just find that sign......

Prairie Schooler Finish

Here is a project that I finished earlier this year and never posted a picture of. Some of you may remember me stitchng on it during the Christmas stitch-in in Manning, SC. It is Prairie Schooler's Garden Sampler. This was such a fun and easy piece to stitch. I changed up the design by stitching the blocks vertically. I plan on making this into a bellpull for my kitchen. The picture doesn't show it very well but the fabric is a light colored sage green. I am very pleased with the end results, I just need to get busy finishing/sewing it up.
I wanted to also thank each and every one of you that visit my blog and leave comments. You keep me motivated to share my stitching and the happenings in my little corner of the world. Your comments mean the world to me!

Thanks and until we chat again.........

Sneaky Peek - Christmas Ornament

I know you are probably saying to yourself, "it is just now really starting to feel like spring and she's stitching a Christmas ornament???". Well, in June, I am attending a stitching retreat in Indiana with two great friends and I CAN'T WAIT! Jan Alexander, the designer for Tree of Life Samplings is hosting this great event with her special guest, Vonna Pfeiffer (The Twisted Stitcher). It's going to be a fun weekend and I'm already giddy with excitement.

One of the events planned for the weekend is a Christmas ornament exchange. I love stitching ornaments and I love seeing all of the different creations stitchers come up with. This is a little "sneak peek" of the ornament I have started for the exchange. I have an idea for another one so I may bring two - maybe three - who knows - It's fun!! You'll have to wait until after the retreat to see the ornament finished and ready for tree hanging!

Have a great weekend everyone! We are expecting thunder storms again tonight. Please keep us in your prayers that we won't have any damage like we did earlier this week.

Until the next blog post........Be Happy!

Weather Update & Quaker Diamonds

Our power at work finally came on late yesterday afternoon. We still do not have phone, internet or email service and according to the county, that's going to take time. Will probably spend my afternoons at the library doing some computer work there. Didn't realize how many of my job duties "require" the internet. Thought I would share another photo of some of the damage that was done during the storm early Tuesday morning. This picture was taken right beyond the earlier picture of the car I posted. As you can see, lots of trees down, tops of tree "chopped off" and power/cable/phone lines everywhere.
On a lighter note, as promised, here is an updated photo of Quaker Diamonds. Since I've had a little "extra" stitching time on my hands, I've been able to zoom right along. Happy with my progress so far.
Well, need to run. I've got some diamonds to stitch! LOL!

Auntie Em!!

Last night was a night! We had a line of storms come through with some serious winds. This is what I saw this morning on my way to work. Down power lines, broken trees and limbs everywhere, just a big mess. This picture was taken right by the driveway at work (you can click on photo to enlarge). As you can see, there's a car sitting on top of this pile of trees - unreal! The police had re-routed me and when I came in from another angle, the police stopped me again. He let me go this far so I could check on the office. Luckily, no damage there - just no power. About 50,000 customers in the area are without power. So, no work for me. I'm back home and will spend the day stitching and thanking the dear Lord that the damage wasn't any worse than this. I have power and only debris in my yard. I'm a very lucky girl, indeed!

Coming soon......an updated photo of Quaker Diamonds.