Saturday, April 27, 2013

And sew it begins...

It's that time again!  Time for another blog update.  So...let's start with the Friendly Stitchers Round Robin...



I've finally finished the portions I've decided to stitch before it heads out the door.  I have gathered all the essentials and a few non essentials, I just need a mailing envelope and she's ready for her journey.  I can't wait to receive the first piece in the mail as I'm itching to start stitching on these!!  I AM breathing a sigh of relief though, I will only have to follow a pattern on the next one and not try to make changes on my own.  I don't know about you, but I did indeed agonize over every changed stitch!  LOL  All in fun though, no stress really!  Thank you for all your kind comments on the previous post, it's nice to know people like the changes I've made!




The only other piece I was able to work on this week was this Wedding Sampler.  I am slowly winding my way to the bottom left hand corner.  The bride is probably getting ready for her wedding today as I type.  She's such a lovely person, inside and out!  I only wish nothing but the best for her and her new husband!  Now...to finish before they make it home from their honeymoon.  I guess this one will be going to St. Michaels with me!!



I'm still reeling from a movie my husband and I went to last night.  Olympus has fallen.  The blood and gore was disturbing to say the least, but the action kept me on the edge of my seat.  It certainly kept us talking after the movie!  I rarely miss a chance to see Morgan Freeman on the big screen, and as usual he was superb in his role in this movie, but the real heartthrob, Gerard Butler has become my new hero.  Oh my...I'll have to watch for him again!  What is it about a man with dark hair and blue eyes?  I learned later that he actually saved a boy from drowning during the filming of one of his movies.  He's a real bona fide hero!!

My Amaryllis has blossomed again!  I love the color of these blossoms.  I'm just bummed that my Mom had to miss it.



Ok...so some news from the health front.  I've been experiencing some irregular heartbeats for a while now.  I was sent to have this evaluated and treated and they discovered that my heart muscle is weak, and my blood pressure is slightly elevated, so I will begin taking medications for this as soon as I pick up my prescription.  I've been told that this may not be a permanent thing, they will evaluate my heart in a month and determine then if the medication has helped and possibly take me off the meds then.  Thankfully they have discovered this while there is still time to repair the damage done to my heart.  I have to say I have been so blessed with the medical professionals taking care of me.  They find things before they get too bad and they can fix things without too much of a hassle.  I'm grateful to live in a day and age when they have the medications needed to take care of the problems I've had.  So...I'll be around to bug you guys that much longer!  LOL  I have had to wear a heart monitor for two weeks now.  I still have two weeks to go, but I asked today if I could take the monitor off for the St. Michaels weekend and she granted me permission.  I could have hugged her if she had been in the room!!  It's one less thing I have to pack!  I have to admit, this thing has been a pain!!  Apart from remembering to plug the cell phone in each night, change the battery in the monitor every other day and change the adhesive strips once a day, I have begun breaking out in sores on my skin.  This has NOT been a jolly experience!!  Four days without this silly thing is going to be a breath of fresh air!

And on that note, I'll say cheerio!  I have a beautiful day staring me in the face and I have to figure out something fun to do with my day.  Take care!

Monday, April 22, 2013

Round and round and round we go...

Hi there fellow bloggers and bloggettes!   My what a few weeks we have had.  I don't know about you, but with all the upheaval I'm beyond exhausted!!  Where to start?  Hm....how about with some good news?

Ok, so, I was invited to participate in a Round Robin a few weeks back.  Ask my DH, I agonized over the pattern and finally decided to use Orchard Valley Quilting Bee.  It had the right number of divisions, and they were small enough to finish within the time period.  I got my fabric, floss and pattern and began stitching.  While I was thinking about how I would work this, I had a brain storm.  I know, grab your umbrellas, it could get messy!!  LOL  I started out stitching with two threads, but realized soon that it would be too bulky on 36 count fabric.  So... the frogs visited...and visited...and visited.  Well, ladies who are participating in the Round Robin, I hope they don't visit you while you are working on this, I'll try to keep them here, but hopefully will boot them to the backyard as I'm pretty fed up with them!!  LOL  



As I was staring at the pattern, I thought, wouldn't it be fun to change the name of the pattern to Friendly Stitchers Round Robin.  The only letter not present was the S....so I fudged, frogged, and frazzled my nerves until I had sorted out the letter.  Then after looking at it at length again I though, what if I made the bee a bird?  I cannot tell you how much I fussed and fretted until finally I found a pattern that would fit in that little space.  BUT...the colors weren't just right...so I fumed and fudged some more until I found colors that would sort of work.  The bird isn't the shape of a robin, but the colors make you think it could be...so there it is.  I have a few other ideas, about how to incorporate the names of ladies who will be participating into the pattern, but I may have to put that on hold until the piece comes back to me.  I hope the other ladies like what I've done.  I hope, now that I've finished running up and down stairs in my house trying to sort out colors and designs, that I can finish up what I've begun stitching before it's time to pop that baby in the mail.    Here is what I've done so far.  Tell me what you think, I really would like to hear your feedback!!




I had to put another project on hold while I was messing with that, this is a wedding sampler for my Physical Therapist who is getting married next Saturday.  I didn't finish in time, but she has an idea of the size of it, and we decided she should find something (a shell, starfish, sand dollar) while on her honeymoon to put in with the finished sampler while she is on her honeymoon.  Hopefully I will have it finished by the next time I see her in two weeks.



I had a lady from my church ask me to teach her to crochet.  This is a daunting task I must say as she is left handed, and someone I don't know real well.  We've had to cancel twice so far as things keep getting in the way.  I decided to have an afghan on the go so she could see how things work, and started this one for a lady who's baby is due in October.  If my life ever slows down I just might be able to finish something!!   I wish you could feel this yarn , it's as soft as it looks!  This is my "riding in the car" project.  It's seen quite a few miles!  LOL




I worked on it on my way to see  Mercy Me in concert.  Being friends with Astrid is such a blast.  She finds the neatest things to do!!  Here are a few pictures of the bands we saw.  I've been humming "I can only imagine" ever since.  What a wonderful group they are!!





I nearly forgot to mention the tea that Astrid and I had together.  I thought I had posted about this earlier, but apparently I lost the one I had saved.  We enjoyed our Ginger Peach tea, little finger sandwiches, fruit and desert, then walked the streets of Ellicott City and visited a few antique shops.  It's always fun to visit with Astrid, she's so much fun!!










I've had a few visitors to my back yard.  What fun when spring decides to rear it's head and show the softer side of mother earth.  Here's some pictures of the delights in my yard.







 


The countdown has begun for my annual trip to St. Michaels.  A few things are packed, but I still haven't decided which projects to take.  I hope I can take a few that are almost finished so it will feel like I accomplished something!  We have added an extra day to our weekend, hopefully my chuckle muscles will be able to hold out the whole weekend.  I can't tell you how much I look forward to this each year!  I'll fill you in when I get back!

And on that note, I'll bid you a fond adieu until we meet again!  *Hugs*

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Spring has arrived!

Yes indeed, spring has sprung.



I love this area in the springtime.  It's the first time in a long while I've been able to get to DC to see the cherry blossoms, and it was nice to ride in to town with a friend who knew the way.  The lovely Miss M joined Mr. and Mrs. Lee and myself in our escapades as we enjoyed the lovely 80 degree weather, the lovely sunshine, and the hoards of tourists.  It was worth hauling my sleepy buns out of bed at 0'dark thirty!










With the lovely cherry blossoms comes Opening day at Camden yards.  I won't bore you with a lot of pictures and details.  Just suffice it to say, it was worth braving the cold winds that day to see the Orioles win against the Twins and see Chris Davis hammer a grand slam home run to come from behind and win the game.  I hope this season is as exciting as last season!







I've not had much time for stitching the last three weeks.  It's been crazy here at DJ's Digs.  Between all my misadventures with baseball games, tip-toeing among the cherry blossoms, I've had some  medical tests and procedures that have taken up quite a bit of my time.  What little stitching I have had time for, I've been breaking my neck trying to finish a wedding sampler for my Physical Therapist.  I may (or may not) finish in time for her wedding, but don't plan to frame it until she returns from her honeymoon, where she hopes to find a souvenir to place inside the frame.  Can't wait to see what she comes up with!!  Here is my progress so far.



I've not had time to stitch on Friendship Blooms, the SAL I have been working on with Mouse and Babs.  I did finish up this little teapot in the last two weeks.  *Hanging head in shame*  So much to do, so little time to stitch.




I've decided to participate in a Round Robin with Friendly Stitchers Yahoo group.  I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew.  Here is a picture of what I plan to send off.  I have all the materials, but haven't had time to get started on it yet.  I need to get my buns in gear, as I need to send it off in a couple of weeks.  Wish me luck...and please send for the men in white coats if you see me start to go batty.  It's going to be a busy year!!



Off to meet up with Astrid and see what kind of adventures we can have today.  Hopefully I'll have a little time to get stitching tonight!  Stay tuned, I may (or may not) have pictures of our adventures today!  *Hugs*