Happy New Year!

I have news to share, and finishes to post, but I haven't found the time with the holiday.  So tomorrow, after a leisurely breakfast, I am going to gather my photos and tell you a story. 

Until then I wish all of you a Very Happy New Year!  Everyone be safe, be happy and above all Love!!!!

PS:  may no frogs be in our future! 

Merry Christmas!

I know I have been soooo bad!  I am still here!!  Just soooo busy.  I promise that tomorrow I will update you on everything that has been happening,  and sooooo much has happened!!

But I had to wish all my friends the merriest of Christmas!

Some pics of my home....

Oh NO (vember)!

I did it last year, but I won`t be doing it this year.  I`ll try but I don`t think that I`ll be able to do it every day...if you don`t know what I`m talking about....then you don`t know what November means in the blogosphere! It`s a month of blogging every day of this month...and I suspect that I am going to spend lots and lots of time blog hopping reading all of your posts. :)

I had a little halloween finish that came out of the JCS halloween 2012 issue. There were so many more that I wanted to stitch but as mentioned before...bad timing.  Next year.



           Mandy Cat in Witchy Hat by Handblessings from JCS Halloween 2012 issue.

So tonight it`s just me and my stitching....Hubby is out hunting..he`ll be coming home tomorrow afternoon and then we`re going to a gala dinner and dance/silent auction.  So that should be fun and fancy.  I`ll take pics.

Happy posting everyone!

Another day at the office

Happy Halloween!!!!!!

A Finish

Hubby was away this weekend on a little hunting trip, so I got a change to do some stitching.  I finished Maxim & Zoya...which I love!  It's going to make a perfect part with Sergei.  Now I just have to find the perfect fabric for Olga and Boris to go with them.  We'll see....I have to do a floss toss. 

 Maxim & Zoya by Plum Street Samplings stitched on Lavendar Swirl

I've started a little halloween piece that I hope to get finished before Halloween, I think I shoulder be just under the deadline...no kids to take trick or treating...so stitching will be the ticket!  There were actually a few pieces that I wanted to stitch for Halloween, but I think that I'll only be getting the one done, and will have to budget my time better for next year.  I did do a bit of decorating around the room though...I can never resist a little holiday decorating!!

A picture of the "boys"...my baby brother and my hubby...and from the smears on their outfits you can see that they were successful...I will just spare you from the other shots that were on the chip.

Ort report, happy dance, a little WIP

So much to report this time!

First my long neglected ort glass...I got to top it up a bit this month.  Seeing as summer didn't see too much action in the stitching department. And to celebrate a happy dance that I am also reporting this post is my Hungarian dancing girl.  Doesn't she look striking beside all those orts?

My happy dance....Finished 6 Fatmen last night!  Even added the little snowflake embellishments.  I loved stitching this with the other ladies that were part of the Monday night SAL.  I am so pleased with how it pops on this Colonial Blue fabric.  I still have another piece of the same size that if I choose to one day stitch the 6 Snow Belles I'll do it on that for a matching piece.  We'll see how that goes and if time allows. My problem is that I have sooooo many projects that I want to stitch and |I know that I will never get to them all.  So I go with what feels right at the time. 

6 Fatmen by Lizzie Kate - Stitched on 28 ct Colonial Blue Lugana

In saying that...there is a work in progress that I had forgotten about until I opened one of my project boxes.  So I'm concentrating on this piece to get it finished before I start something else.  I should have plenty of time because hubby is going bow hunting this weekend, and I signed up for IHSW as well, another thing that I haven't done all summer.  So between purging some stuff from yet another closet, I will be doing some power stitching.

I cheated a little :)

But just a little.  I figure that I haven't stitched all summer, and since I had finished Suzannah that I stitched normally on Sunday, that I would pick up my 6 fatmen and stitch then on Sunday and Monday.  So that was my cheat...not a bad one...right? 
And with it came a finish.  I finished the "Snow House" square with my extra day. I'm happy with it. I'm actually happy with the whole project.  I just love it on this fabric.

I've been thinking a lot about what my next projects should be.  I am still waiting for my local stitching shop to send me my copy of the JCS christmas issue.  I'm hoping it gets here before christmas!  Geesh I hate waiting.  So I'm going to try to focus on the rest of my 12 days of Christmas by PS.  And a couple of more ornies that I have my eye on from a couple of books that I have.  But none of those are set in stone, it's on an as time allows basis.  I have my eye and my heart kind of set on doing Elizabeth by Mirabilia.  I've got all the threads for it already.  I still need to get the beads .... and choose the fabric.  I don't know if I want to go neurtral...or whether I want to do it on something dark and dramatic.  I feel a floss toss will have to take place soon.

They are forecasting a snow/rain mix for us tonight and with the way the wind is blowing and temperture is dropping, I think that it may come to pass.  booo hoooo...but they are also saying that it's going to be nice and autumn warm this weekend, so whatever we do get isn't going to have much of a last impact.  It did encourage me to go outside though yesterday and take some pics of the amazing blooms on my dahlia bushes this year.  Flowers on steroids....that's what my neighbours are saying this year! LOL

Knock, knock.....Who's there???

ME!!!!!

I know, I know...it's been since July that I have posted.  I cannot believe it...but you know what's even harder to believe than that?  I haven't stitched since then either until this past Sunday during the Emmy awards!  And it felt WONDERFUL!!! And what a way to bring it all back..with a finish..finally.  Suzannah is finished!  All four girls are done and we have had an amazing SAL every Sunday with these with Kati.  Now I know that she still has some to do to get to her finish, but in no time she will be done too.  We are going to carry on with our Sunday SAL's we are just working out the details as to what. 

So....here she is!  I am going to dig the rest of them out as well and take a pic, but I'm going to see if I can find some great frames for them too.  I know what I want...and I've send them long ago. I'm hoping to find them or something similiar and get them done.

Suzannah by Carriage House Samplings stitched on 32 count gold spinner/silkweaver

Then last night I sat down again and worked on our Monday SAL of the 6 Fatmen, and finished another Fat Man! woo hoo!  So must say after weeks of not stitching it was a successful two weeks. And got a really really good start on then next square too!

My ornaments have been sorely lacking, so I have to get a move on with those as well and set them up in the qsnaps and start working on them. I was planning on stitching the 12 days of christmas (Prairie Schooler's) one day a month, but I fell behind on that as well.  Plus I have yet to recieve my copy of JCS Xmas issue, so who knows what I want to work on out of that.  Soooo much to stitch not enough time!  But I will forge thru and get them done :)

Camping season is over!  Whew!  Although the weather is actually still nice enough to do some more, but you never know here when winter or a cold blast is going to sneak up on you, so we thought it best to put the campfire out for the season and start cleaning out and winterizing the trailer.  Sad...cause we had an amazing summer, travelling to BC for 3 weekends out of the summer, and then going to our favorite spot by the lake most of them time, and also even went up to the mountains for one weekend....lovely, lovely country we live in and explored.  With family some weekends...with friends others....and a few times even just me and the hubby! (I'm not going to lie...those are some of my favorite times camping..looking up at the night sky, unobstucted by buildings and street lights...just holding hands and listening to the crackling of the fire)  mmmm mmmm I love my hubby!

Did lots of reading while camping too....read the Hunger Games series.  Very good!!! 
Flipped thru magazines..tried new recipes...all on the grill.  Some were great!  Other's got thrown into the fireplace and we pulled out the wieners instead!  LOL  But hey..it was great!  I think we were home for 1 weekend and that was only because hubby had to work that weekend. 

I've missed hermitting, I haven't contributed anything to my TUSAL either...I have lots and lots to make for!

So my house...needless to say is a disaster! So what do I do instead of breaking out the Swiffer duster....and the Dyson vac....I stitch!  Now.... do I have my priorites straight...agree or disagree??  LOL

Petal Power.

Well I thought that I would have a happy dance by now with my Suzannah SAL with Kati, but it has yet to be...perhaps this weekend.  But at least I'm closer to the end.  just have to fill in the petals now. YEAH! 

Not much movement on my Fatmen SAL either! But it's coming along.  I have run out of the white so I have to make a run to Michael's and pick some up.  A trip to Michael's is never a bad thing!

I have been so busy this summer so far. Our summers are so short here in Calgary, that when it does arrive we try to pack as much outdoor activity into our lives as possible.  We have been doing day road trips....then camping...doing yardwork...there was Stampede.  Oh it's just been a whirlwind..and I LOVE IT!  So all that takes a little time away from my stitching and some posting as well.  But I hve been stalking all of your blogs and keeping up with you all...even though I haven't been commenting.

SAL updates

All of them.....geesh!  I'm late on all of them.

So....let's begin...first before anything else, here's is my TUSAL for June. I am really late on this one.  Time gets away from me this time of year.  Things start to stir with Summer plans and road trips and yard work (however not much of that has gone on in the last few days....rain, rain, rain!) but today looks like the last of the rain.   AND  exciting news....the window and door installers were here yesterday and I have new windows and doors!!!  Finally!!!! We ordered them end of April...but because the weather in June has been so crappy they were weather delayed.  The sun peaked out for us yesterday though and they are in and they are gorgeous, and it looks like the house and the room got a face lift.  I love them.  When it's sunny out I will got and take pics...I can finally go out and do the planting under the windows as well because we've been holding off on that as we didn't want them to be trampled.

Second SAL update is Susannah!  My SAL with Kati.  She is getting close to the end too.  I was hoping to finish up the vine this Sunday but I just couldn't stitch anymore....this is actually a two week update because I didn't get a chance to post last week.  Just the vine and the flower left now.  WOO HOO!!!  Don't know if I'll be doing any stitching this weekend, with it being the long weekend.  It's all going to depend on whether we are going away....or going camping...or staying home.  It'll be a surprise...for me anyway.  LOL

And my last SAL update...which also includes my next finish...is 6 Fatmen.  Finally finished the 3rd block.  It was a biggie...but a goodie!  Snow Friends is so cute.  I LOVE the owl, and the birds and the bunny, and lets not forget the colour of that jacket!!! Love it!!!  So my next block is going to be the one called "Snowed In"  this is also going to depend on what is happening this weekend and whether I need to do a pile of laundry...or just enjoy a nice hot shower and relax.  Or I could be stitching all day...It'll be a surprise...again LOL

And finally a new start!  There are so many things I want to start, but this one has been calling me since I got it. It's the companion piece to Sergei....this is the start of Plum Street Samplers - Maxim & Moya.  Love the colours on this one.  It's stitched on the same fabric as Sergei the Violet Twist.  I really love this fabric and wish that I had more of it...but with hand dyes you never know what you're going to get if you order it again...but it might be worth a shot cause I really love this fabric.

I still have to do my June square for 12 days of Christmas, 6 geese a laying....I got the border stitched but that's it.  Perhaps tonight I'll put needle to fabric and get it done.   And I am dying to start another Mirabilia!  I even dreamt about it...now you know how sick a puppy I really am.  I spent hours in my sleep one night, going thru charts and fabrics and floss trying to decide which one to do.  Didn't get very far because I still don't know which one I want to do, but I am definitely leaning towards Elizabeth. But I really would like to do the In My Garden seasons as well.  Decisions...decisions.

At any rate...that's my story....those are my updates...This is my post.  :)

OH!!! And this is my dog  :)

Happy Father's day!!!

In my heart forever!  Miss you every minute.

Fatman Update

Hubby took the camera to work with him yesterday so I couldn't do an update yesterday...but here they are today in all their glory.  Still working on that 3rd block..it's a big one.  You don't realize it until you get into it, and then it's like never ending.  But he's coming along...still looking smashing in his begonia coloured jacket I must say..he does strike a pose..doesn't he?

Thank you so much for all the well wishes for our anniversary.  It seems like it was just yesterday...still...after all these years.  He still makes my heart skip a beat when he winks at me. 

Well ladies that's it until we get back back from our little rendevous!  Have a great hermit weekend...boo hoo...missing it this month.  But hey....my alternative is pretty good. :)

L M N O P...

...q r s ...t u v   yep come on...I know you're all singing it...it's ok...me too.  LOL

I had a great stitching day yesterday...and got lots done on Suzannah (our Sunday SAL with Kati)...she's got more letters and I think that it looks great!  Rounding the corner now on her I think...not too long now and she'll be finished.  Not sure how much time I'm going to have this coming Sunday with her though..we're going away for the weekend.  It's our 9th anniversday on Friday and hubby and I are going away for a little romance...we were going to go camping but the weather isn't co-operating, so I think we're going to go to a little mountain retreat with some hot springs and enjoy each other!  Sounds like a plan!
Plenty of time for camping later when the weather is warmer.

Working on the fatmen tonight...off to shower and have dinner and settle in with my jammies and my snowmen :)

Snowman Fun!

Just a quicky note, cause it's beautiful outside at the moment, between days of rain supposedly...so I'm going outside to do a little yardwork, fill the birdfeeder and pick up dog poop!  Ahhhh the divine life of a Barbi J!  LOL  Jealous huh? 

But I thought that I would share the progress that I mad on the fatmen before it's almost time to stitch on them again.  I love the colours (yes ladies...in Canada this is spelt correctly) of this square!  It's so hard to stop stitching on them after just one night a week..but I'm being good and getting them off the q-snaps before the end of the night so I'm not tempted.

And to end the post....a lovely shot of the Queen of Shiba's herself....Lulu! 

Now off to pick up her little dollops of joy!  LOL

Letters for Susie...

I didn't have an update last week because I didn't do any stitching at all last weekend.  I tried but I just didn't have any stitching mojo in me.  I did manage to get it back this weekend and worked on and finished 5 golden rings.  Which was a little blurring in the picture for some reason, so I will be retaking it.  I love working on these Prairie Schooler ornaments.  These are my first PS's but once they are all done, I know that they won't be my last.  Love them!!!

Then there's Suzannah....ahhh my poor mouthless girl...she has some solid ground to stand on now...and some letters as well.  I was debating on whether I should do the flower side or the letters, and Sharon...just for you...I did the letters!  LOL

Tonight with the Stanley Cup playoff on, and the Bachelorette..I should get some serious stitching time in on my 6 Fatmen! Although I'm so comfy in my chair right now it feels like I could just sit and veg all evening too! 

How I wish it were Friday...*sigh*

IHSW report/SAL updates

Two posts in one! :) 

After finishing Sergei on Friday, I didn't do any stitching at all on Saturday.  Thank you to everyone that gave me input on Pinterest.  I decided to take the plunge and now I'm happily pinning!  I found it a great place to keep my recipes that I find...and excitingly...like I see some of you do...it's a great place to "store" the stitching freebies our there!  I LOVE THAT!  Plus I will keep my various wishlists there as well.  It's a whole new world!  Anyway...enough about that!

Sunday was SAL day with Kati...Here's progress on Suzannah.  Not much, but it was something.  I'm hoping that next Sunday will give me more time with her.

Then on Monday I finished my second square on of Fatmen SAL.  Love him!  And finally...I have been eyeing this little birdhouse since the first time I saw this chart as a whole and now I got that one done too...it's so cute..it makes me smile.  I loved stitching it.

We're having thunderstorms tonight....which I love, so I'm going to sit and enjoy and pick up my 5 golden rings and stitch that up. 

May ort report & Mid-hermit happy dance!

Ok so I normally don't post mid hermit, but becuase today is New Moon, I thought I would get my ort report in...and I clipped this beautiful tulip out of my flowerbed this morning and had to share it...knowing that I had to take a pic of my glass I thought that it would be perfect.  Poor thing looked awkward in the bed with it's overgrown curve, but standing alone....my goodness...isn't it glorious?  I love bulb flowers...tulips, iris, lily of the valley (which I can never grow and am dying to!), any lily....love love love.

Friday night's hermitting resulted in a finish for me!  Sergei in all his red glory!  He's so handsome!  I'm going to kit up Maxim & Zoya next.  I love how he turned out on the Violet Mist fabric.

A little Sunday morning hello my Miss Lulu.  Could you not just squish her?

Ok....so now I have to ask...How many people use Pinterest?  I see it all over the place...I don't even know what it is...but I'm thinking that I'm missing something by not signing up!