The Bad Thing

The bad thing about rarely blogging is that THEY KEEP CHANGING THE WAY BLOGGER WORKS!  Dang, do they think I'm smart or something?  I have to re-learn it every time.  It's a good thing they have little pictures on here or I'd never figure things out.

 

So!  What's new in your life?  Mine?  It's the same.  I get up.  I go to work.  I run about the shop filling orders, placing orders for more threads and canvases, answering the phone, helping the folks who come in, paying bills, and then?  I go home.  I eat dinner.  I watch t.v. and STITCH.  I go to bed.  And I do it again.  And somehow I enjoy every single minute of it.  :-)

 

You know what would be fun?  If you and I were to change places for a day or two.  Yeah!  You come and run the shop for a day!  Wouldn't you like that?  But what do YOU do?  Do you (ick) drive somewhere every day and work in an office?  Eek.  I used to do that.  Do you stay at home and (yikes) CLEAN THE HOUSE and cook meals and maybe even GARDEN?  I might be able to garden.   Do you get up and go to McDonald's and hang out drinking coffee and talking to complete strangers?  I could do that.  Do you run around doing volunteer work and good deeds for others?  I could do that too - if they weren't HARD good deeds.  Do you go on long vacations to faraway exotic places?  For SURE I could do that!  But really - do you sit at home and stitch?  Because I REALLY REALLY could do that.  Just let me know.  And if this works out, maybe I can start charging people for working at the shop in my place.   Just give me a call to sign up for that exclusive fun time!

 

Talk to you next time!

 

 

MORE COMPUTER TIME PLEASE...

Yes, that's going to be my resolution for 2014.  Make more computer time.  Sounds a little stupid? 

You might note that I last blogged ONE AND ONE-HALF YEARS AGO!  Being over 30 (HA HA HA) I thought that doing an email newsletter and keeping a shop running was enough!  But according to those with more marketing experience than myself, I must immerse myself in Blogging, Facebooking and Tweeting. 

Well I can tell you this.  Tweeting is NOT happening.  First of all, I like to write too much.  Secondly, I'm not really sure how to do it!  I'd rather just keep the tweeting between me and Pipsqueak, my little parakeet. 

Okay, I've been TRYING to FB some more.  But I keep forgetting that too.  Plus it's not as much fun as a personal FB page.  The business one is just so dry! 

So let me just warn you.  If you're unwise enough to subscribe to my e-newsletters, friend me on Facebook at Homestead Needle Arts AND read this blog,  you might end up reading duplicate information.  NOT MY FAULT!!! 

After all, just how interesting do you think my life is?  :-)

HUG ME

Crumb!  I haven't posted in so long they've gone and changed EVERYTHING on Blogger.  Oh well, how hard can it be to re-learn it?  :-)

Homestead Needle Arts is having a HUG ME BAGS TRUNK SHOW this month, June 2012.  These are Made in America bags that you can rely on to carry your stitching (or knitting) for years to come.  Lots of nice fabrics, most zip shut, some have see through plastic pockets sewn into them.  Nice!  They sent a few fancy frame weights with ribbons, ort boxes that include pin cushions on the box lid inside, darling totes with tiny bows, bags big enough to carry a Christmas stocking on stretcher bars, your floor frame and more...you can see all the styles at www.hugmeco.com and choose your favorite fabric and style.  We all love bags I think.

I've been - um - cleaning?  De-cluttering?  Downsizing?  I'm not sure of the right expression.  I opened my stitching room closet to find tons of totes.  Billions of bags.  All of them empty and hanging in the spare closet awaiting projects to fill them.  That's what I like to see.  I don't deny myself a new tote or two if I like them.  While in New York last month I bought a new tote at the New York Library featuring their lion statues in a kind of outline.  Hard to describe but, hey!  I can always use a tote.  Sure enough, I've brought supplies into work with it, and work back home in it.  Eventually it will find some project or two in it.  And a book.  Those seem to go with a good tote.

Happy stitching!

Rude Begets Rude

Gentle Readers...I haven't posted in THREE MONTHS! Horrifying! Knowing such, I asked a friend and fellow stitcher to help me out. She did and we'll refer to her as Name Withheld to Protect the Stitcher...this is so very well put that I wish that I had written it!


Rude Begets Rude

I was asked to be a guest blogger for this episode - and I really didn't know what I would write about until something eye-opening happened this weekend. I'll start from the beginning - so bear with me.

I am fortunate enough to be able to stitch with some wonderful friends and talented ladies on the weekends, and it is an honor when they bring in finished pieces, or works in progress for show and tell. So Saturday, we had five pieces that were shown. Pieces that were remarkable in their fibers, their execution, their finishing, and mostly as testaments to the love of needlework. Each project was deserving of comment and compliment and there were ooh's and ahh's aplenty. With one notable exception.

So-what do you do? Ignore it? We mostly do Don't rock the boat, be the bigger person, turn the other cheek. But we didn't on Saturday. We devised a plan to hurt.

In talking of the plan we were laughing and joking, and really didn't mean it to be mean...but that's what it would have been. Mean. And I am ashamed to say that until someone spoke up, I didn't see that I was planning to be just as rude and hurtful.

Needless to say, sanity has been restored -but it has left me wondering. When someone is rude, how do you handle it? Is it rude to tell someone that they are being rude?

Miss Manners would probably fall back on the "if you can't say anything nice...keep your mouth shut" line, but that does not work in this type of group. We are peers in our unique group. Needlework is more than just a hobby for us; this is an expression of our art. And while we each have enough of a sense of self not to need validation, we do look for appreciation and recognition from our peers.

Why do we choose the projects that we do? We find something in the design that speaks to us. From the whimsical to the heartfelt to the awe inspiring. What speaks to me is not what speaks to you - that's cool. It's like love - not everyone can love a bubble-butt with a lazy eye.

Every project I see, I learn from. From use of colors and textures, to interpretation of design and execution in finishing. These pieces are part of the needleworker. Whether it's a charted piece or a painted piece, we give time and energy to our working of the piece. So, as a fellow needleworker, if I could find NOTHING to say (like that would ever happen), I would celebrate the work, the time, the energy, the joy of completion of the needleworker. All pieces are wonderful because they continue the heritage of needlework.

So I think I feel sorry for the person who has nothing to say. You are missing out on the best part of these groups - celebrating the art: of the craft, of each other, and of ourselves.

An Artist is Born! (cough, cough)

Today I took a painting class. That wasn't the really stunning thing though. The really stunning thing was finding out that I qualify for Senior status. Oh yeah, me. As if. I'm sorry, I'm not being mean. There's nothing wrong with being old, older, elderly or ancient. However, I have it on good authority that I'm MIDDLE-AGED!!! Now I find that 50 and older means you can take SENIOR CITIZEN CLASSES at Continuing Education places! Well, okay, I won't complain. It's NOT like I GOT A SENIOR DISCOUNT or anything because I DID NOT! I was NOT offered a senior coffee, a ride from the parking lot, a helping hand across the road nor a cookie. I WAS made to SIGN IN at the senior center as a non-member (phew!) and forced to donate 50 cents because of my non-member status. Okay, they didn't force me but those little old lady eyes scared me into it! Anyway, onward to the class. I'm sure this is furthering my education in art so I learned to paint following one of those guys that shows you how this works on his canvas and you replicate it on your own. What I found out is that: 1. Being a JUNIOR senior is fun (yes, I came up with that idea myself, again, see paragraph one.) 2. Senior citizens have sharp senses of humor. 3. Guys hang out at these places, giving us old ladies a sense that there could be men in the future should our spouses leave us high and dry. 4. I was the only one who had to exit the room quickly at one point because I was laughing hard and I was NOT wearing Depends. I'm not saying anybody else WAS, I'm just saying that I feared for my underwear! 5. Having a day where somebody else is in charge of the teaching is a really good thing! 6. Yes, I will do it again. If you see badly painted canvases entering the shop, I can tell you one thing - they're NOT mine! Stitch on!

Where did the time go?

Dear Stitchers,

Hope you weren't holding your breath waiting for a post from me! After all I noticed it's been 6 months so you probably figured I stuck myself with a needle and never recovered. SO not true! Life got in the way or something like that.

But here I am to tell you ... ARGH! I have too many projects to stitch! (Take a deep breath Theresa. You can do this. You must do this. All these stitchers are depending on you to show them the way!)

Let's put it this way. I'm in the midst of Rainforest Crunch with my ANG Chapter...well not really the midst. I think I'm on the 4th block. Last night I realized it's going to be a really tight fit because some smarmy shopowner took it upon herself to take the 11" piece of canvas that wouldn't sell when you need 12". Then she forgot to take that into account when she started 2" in and 2" down. (sigh)

Next, I'm on star #2 of Oh My Stars. One of the girls in the group (okay, woman but doesn't girls sound better?) - FINISHED HERS. How unfair is that? We just started in February supposedly. I mean not to be rude but come on! It's just not polite to make your local shopowner look like a loser. ;-)

Next I'm still STITCHING THE "THING" of the month and the ad for it is coming out this WEEK or so in Needlepoint Now. I guess that should make me finish them, right? I'm happy to say I think I have 2/3 of the 11 pieces done. What's 2/3 of 11 anyway? Okay, maybe a little less than 2/3. Whatever.

So saying, NO PICTURES TODAY. You don't want me to repeat my computer problems to you. Let's just say I have all that kind of thing going on too. I suppose I could take pictures with my phone and then figure out how to upload those but that would require more thought processes than I can handle today.

Today I'm trying to price all these new canvases that just found their way here. Good night, it's 3/17 and these are from the January market! And I have MORE orders not here yet. Don't ask ME what happened. Soon I'll have to start calling and asking what happened to my order. After all, June is just around the corner and I'll go there and not order all over again. Yes, I said "NOT ORDER". I say it before every market. Then I go and see all that beautiful stuff and something shuts off in my head and...there I am again.

Enjoy your stitching and don't even THINK of gardening yet!

Reading, Stitching and Zombies

There was a stitch in today at the Homestead and we were talking about books. Who among us does not love to read? Out of the 5 of us there, it turns out 1 of us does not love to read (gasp!) The other 4 of us do! (and you gentle reader? Obviously you do!)

Anyway, the 4 of us were vehemently - well okay - agreeably but loudly - discussing books and happily confusing each other by talking all at once when ONE of us thought that SOMEBODY was referring to those books called something like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Our famed and favored eldest member struck that one down with a simple "I don't like zombies" much like you or I would say "I don't like vegetables" and went hurriedly on to explain what book she was reading. My stitching neighbor and I went into paroxysms of mirth over her zombie comment and I had to ask if she like vampires to which the answer was "No I don't like any blood suckers." What? Do they really exist? Besides mosquitoes I mean.

I suspected at this point I had had FAR TOO MUCH CAFFEINE AND SUGAR but honestly, now that's it's late at night and the caffeine and sugar is gone from my system, some much more serious questions come to mind like

... do zombies stitch? And if so, at Halloween do they stitch people in various normal poses? And what about vampires? It seems to me that vampires are a vast untapped market for needlepoint customers. Does anybody out there know a vampire itchin' to be stitchin'? Don't even tease me about werewolves for pete's sake! How would they hold a needle? Honestly, I'm not THAT stupid!

So saying, I must sign off and go dream about...a normal life. :-)

Back from Vacation

Wow! I returned from my wild west vacation to find that my background was "missing" on my blog page. I don't know why since the html code was still there. Nobody said I was a programmer, I'm just a user. Uh-huh. My sister is kind enough to call me a super-user but...still...I just follow the instructions.

So I took off the old and put on the new autumnal background. I hope you like it. I changed out the window at work today too. I took down the cherries and put up the acorns and fall leaves. I took the floral and cherry canvases out of the window and put up Christmas and snow. I know. The "s" word. That was brutal. I would have put autumn and Halloween in the window but last week I put all of them way far up on the walls and I wasn't going to pull any of them down to stick them in the window. Besides, people should be stitching their Christmas already. Finishing deadlines LOOM BEFORE US!!! I'm starting to get the panicky calls from stitchers asking about the deadline. I tell them Christmas comes every year but few are amused.

I suppose you want pictures but today you're stuck with me rambling. How's this? I got some bright pink window paint and painted 200,000 Miles on the back window of my car this morning AFTER I had it washed. This is so that THE WHOLE WORLD would know that my car rolled 200,000 miles. As you must know, I'm also having a 2 day sale to commemorate this momentous event. Sometime around noon it started raining. Portions of my bright pink lettering flaked off and became one with the rising floodwaters of the parking lot. Other tiny bits of pink ran down to make my car look like it had a mild case of measles. (sigh) I drove it home sadly as no strangers honked and waved to help me celebrate my so far once-in-a-lifetime event. Then I wiped off the rest of the tiny dots as much as possible so that they wouldn't melt overnight causing my blue car to look like it had now contracted a case of oozing Barbie-itis. Yes, you get to read here ALL the excitement in the life of your local shopowner.

But seriously. Now I will park my behind in my chair and continue to work madly upon next year's Project of the Month which Shall Remain a Secret Until its Revealing. That could be some time away at this rate. I like them though. That's all I can say. Oh that and it's fun. :-)

Don't Hate Them Because They're Beautiful

Remember that commercial where the girl didn't want you to hate her? Was she beautiful? I don't know but I always thought it was funny...like anybody would say that.





But in the case of these TREES, I thought it was realistic. I got them back from the finisher on Saturday and thought I should POST them so you know I really DO stitch things. I asked her to make them 3D and standing on bead feet. She put those adorable ribbon doo-dads on the top. What do you think?


For those of you wondering what they are, they're the first four trees from this year's Tree of the Month Club. I have a couple more stitched but not sent out yet and I'm bringing two on vacation in case I have any stitching time. :-) These have actually been fun and I hope to get them all finished. I can see them all on my fireplace mantel at Christmas but you know darn well they'll be in the shop so that people can see them.

Back to cleaning! Theresa

THE ROOM...

Whoever had this Stupid Idea to clean up The Room? Was it me? Are you sure? Because I found stuff I didn't know I had. Maybe one of my friends snuck some of their stash in there. Which is entirely possible...but knowing them, not really probable. Anyway, I think I should have a HUGE stash sale.

The problem is see, I have cross stitch kits and fabrics. I have tons of fat quarters and some yards of fabrics for quilts I've never made. I have TONS of yarn for - well apparently for projects that never got started. I have BLOBS of books...I have a hard time letting books go though. Then I found this storage box with all this fake fur in it and a bunch of bear parts and patterns. I guess I was going to make my own bears! What? How long ago did that illness take over? I have like THREE different patterns in there! Which I got as far on them as the purchase. What a surprise (sarcasm).

This is NOT the first time I've purged. It may not be the last. The good news is that I don't buy like I used to. I mean fabric. Or cross stitch. Or TOO much yarn. I'm not saying boo about needlepoint. :-)

So here's my question - who wants to buy my stash?

Needle Case

What am I working on (besides the sewing room?) This is an adorable needle case from Birds of a Feather. It sat in the shop and stared at me for long enough! I have a thing for anything that reminds me of French Provence and for some reason this one did. So I grabbed it - for a shop model of course - and four colors of Vineyard silk. Of course it's all in continental so they'll be no snagging when it gets handled.

The silk feels like butter when it's stitched. The colors are bright enough that you'd never lose this in your stitching tote. The inside has four felt "pages" already sewn in for your needles. When you're finished you just stitch down the already attached cotton lining and the zipper is attached too. Yup, a pre-finished product. My favorite.

Speaking of pre-finished, I can't wait until the new leathers from Lee Needle Arts come in. It will be a while as they only had demos at Market of their new leather pillows and their newest purse. They also have an e-book cover - of course I ordered one! What's an e-book without a nice leather Lee cover? :-)

That's all for now! I just wanted to post a picture so you didn't think I was slacking!

The ROOM OF SHAME...

Dear Friends,

Yesterday and today, I've been locked inside the "sewing room". Only God knows why it's called that...I don't sew in there. Neither do I cross stitch, quilt, crochet, knit, felt, needlepoint or do anything at all related to sewing in there. Mostly I throw stuff in there on the floor. Sometimes there's room on the table where the sewing machine is and it will make it there. If there were room on the bookshelf and it were a needlework book it would make it there. But room on the bookshelf ran out eons ago. So instead there's a pile of charts and books on the floor. So that is what my post is about today. The ROOM OF SHAME...

Let me take you on a little tour of my room. When it started out it was really lovely. (I SWEAR!) My husband saw it as a wonderful place (woman cave) for me to go and - um - I don't know WHAT he was thinking. You know, men have their room with all their tools and stuff? And they build things there? (I guess that's what they do.) I think he thought I would do the same. Well that's boring. How can I talk with him if I'm up there? So I just haul out my current project and plant my behind in my chair and talk or watch t.v. with him, right?

Back to the room. It has a HUGE Sauder armoire (one of those put it together yourself things) to the right when you walk in the door. In there I put all my quilting stuff. Yes, I used to quilt. I used to collect fat quarters. I think I thought I would make something of them. My favorite thing to do was applique quilt. Big surprise there, huh? Hand stitching has always been my favorite. I loved the quilting part. If it was machine piecing, forget it. My points never matched up. Somebody once told me it all comes out in the quilting. They lied. The bad thing about the armoire is that it's kind of dark in there so I can't see the fabrics. That's just as well though. I do NOT want to know what's in there any more. But soon I'll be clearing it out. I can't stand it. I have too much fabric. I started bringing it to work a while back and giving it to people to use for ornament and stand up backings. But that didn't make much of a dent.

To the right of that is a short black 2 drawer file cabinet. Hey when they're cheap you don't worry about matchy-matchy. I got it for free so that's cheap! In there are loads of old Brighton EGA newsletters - which I should probably toss, and personal writings - which I should probably toss! But I haven't in case I ever write my memoirs. HA HA, that's a huge joke. Well it is for me.

Next in the corner is an "antique" sewing machine. I bought it at an auction. It's in a cabinet. I'm ready to sell it because my mother-in-law gave me hers which is MUCH better looking and she actually used it! Then to the left of that and underneath the window is one of those 8 foot tables. My sewing machine actually DOES sit on this and I have been known to run a few seams on it. But it's been easier to bring in downstairs to the kitchen table because that's not filled up with "crap!" The 8" foot table seems to catch everything. The unfinished projects. The things I need to do something else on. The stuff I haven't put back yet - the floss, the beads, the tool somebody borrowed, the button box, the ribbon box, the perle cotton box, the box of fun threads, the spool of thread I didn't need, the Elizabeth Bradley kit I was working on, the punchneedle piece I meant to do for my sister last year...you know the stuff I mean, right?

Then on the left wall is a tall (white) cabinet with doors (thank God) where all the inactive cross stitch projects are hiding. One year I weeded out everything except those I'm really going to do. Ha. To the left of that is the tall bookshelf which surprisingly hasn't crashed to the floor yet. To the left of that is another white (hey this side of the room is matchy-matchy) doored cabinet hiding my shameful stash of yarn!

And on the fourth wall in the far corner is a closet which I cleaned out today (after I reached it, that is). I had NO IDEA I had stashed yarn in there too. Good thing Threadbear has a yarn garage sale yearly. Phew. What was I thinking? Of course it was about 10 years ago. You know, back when I had time to knit. :-) I found some cool things too though, like my Girl Scout sash with those badges you earned for completing something. I can't remember what they were for now but it looks pretty cool! And my elementary school stuff. And my high school stuff. And my 10 year high school reunion. We never had a 20 year. Or a 30 year. I guess I'm not the only Queen of Unfinished Projects. :-) Or they're all really afraid to see what everybody looks like. :-) Oh and my wedding stuff was in there too! So it's pretty much the "historical closet.

Then continuing down the left wall, we have a tiny 2 drawer dresser that has more quilting stuff in it - square blocks that haven't been made into quilts of course!

The reason I started this whole mess is because the Homestead Needle Arts Garage Sale is coming up and I thought I was going to put in some stuff this year. Well, I still am. I just didn't realize how much stuff I have that IS NOT needlepoint. What a shame. And that is why it's a Room of Shame...let alone all those unstarted and unfinished projects!

The Story of the Little Turtle

The Story of the Little Turtle by Yours Truly...

Once upon a time, a shopowner took her dog out back of the shop to play ball. In the midst of playing said ball, the shopowner discovered a very small (1-1/2" size shell) turtle on the concrete. The little guy wasn't moving and didn't even pull his little arms and legs in when he was picked up. By the shopowner not the dog.

So the shopowner and the dog went back inside the store with the Little Turtle. The shopowner took a small pink paper plate and put 2 tablespoons or so of water on it. She placed the Little Turtle half in the water and half out. She figured he was dehydrated. The Little Turtle didn't move for ...

quite...

some...

time.

When he began to move and attempted his first escape, the shopowner scooted his Little Turtle butt back onto the plate and then got a little plastic cup and put more water on the plate as it appeared some of the water was missing. Meanwhile she waited on customers.

Later when she turned around she found that the Little Turtle had managed to crawl off the plate, shinny down the legs of the table (okay, he might have hurtled himself off the table) and the likely turtle ran over to the Mill Hill bead wall, apparently looking for a good time - possibly a tight fitting bangle bracelet for his Little Turtle arms.

The shopowner thought to herself "Well! This won't do! I can't have a Little Turtle loose in the shop where an unknowing customer foot or a big golden retriever paw would do Little Turtle in!" So she found a very much LARGER plastic bowl with TALL sides, did the water trick again and put the Little Turtle in it. It just happened to be a heartshaped clear plastic bowl usually used for candy at the shop. (Yum. Little Turtle germs.)

After the work-a-day was over the environmentally sensitive naturalist (not nudist!) shopowner took the turtle for a ride in her Pontiac for 35 miles. She would have been happy to place the Little Turtle in a pond closer to his Grand Blanc habitat but not being a Grand Blanker(?), she had no idea where the nearest pond that she could access might be. She sure knew that there were 3 large ponds and a REALLY BIG LAKE near her home.

The crazy - um - Env. Sens. Nat. shopowner (see above) took a picture of the Little Turtle so she would always remember him (no really, she wanted to identify his type later), and let him out of the bowl gently into one of the large ponds near her home. (This is not the pond by the way - background was changed to protect Little Turtle from both fans and stalkers.)

The Little Turtle looked quizzically up at the shopowner as if to say "What? You're not going to make me into a tasty Little Turtle soup?" The shopowner said "Go Little Turtle. Go eat something and keep growing. Have a good life. Maybe come visit sometime. I like to look at turtles. And if you ever meet a hare racing for a good time, just remember you always win." So the Little Turtle walked out of the bowl into the leaves and the pond that was to become his new home until he decided to move again.

The End

P.S. No turtles, golden retrievers or customers were harmed in the writing of this story.

Needlepoint Stuff

Okay, who here wants to be the one to remind me to post every week? I really need somebody to remind me. And please don't tell me to pick a day and do it that day every week because I usually don't know what day it is. Really. I mean I know when it's Tuesday because I teach that day and I go to work after the weekend but other than that I usually don't know. I didn't used to be this way but the days blend into each other when you enjoy what you do. In fact sometimes people remind me it's Saturday and I'm supposed to leave the shop at 4:00. Really.

Would you like to see some pictures? Here's a few. I finished the April tree but only started the May one two nights ago. That's bad. After all, we're already a week into May.

Next, I finished a frog frame weight. I was ready to send him (her?) to the finisher when I thought maybe I should add some ruffles or a 3D cherry to the back. In real life it looks like somebody on LSD stitched this but I wanted it to be a very HAPPY frog. After all, it has to hold my stitching.

Next, this darling came back from the finisher JUST PERFECT! It's a tree topper and in between it's a very mini pillow. How cute is this?

That's all kids. Don't forget to remind me to post next week! Theresa

What Was Between My Legs Last Night

Isn't that a great title? :-)

Okay, here's the story and this is NOT an April Fool's Day joke. Star and I were on our daily walk. This is our second daily walk in a row! Having gone QUITE FAR (at least a mile) we were both pooped which is likely a good thing considering what happened next. We were homebound, a mere 3 houses from our abode when SUDDENLY ...

Two hell-bent on running squirrels came out from the 3 story high pine trees lining the road heading
>
>
>

STRAIGHT TOWARDS US!

Star had just finished checking the latest p-mail at said neighbor's mailbox and went into full doggy "I see a squirrel" mode whereas I was stunned into a complete statue. We probably looked about the same except I have less hair and am taller. With a shorter nose.

May I say that we live in a completely squirrel-balanced neighborhood? That is to say, we have every ethnicity of squirrel in our area. We have the grey squirrel, the brown squirrel, the black squirrel and the half size but three times ferociously nasty red squirrel.

Apparently the grey squirrel heading straight down the muddy dirty road towards me had done something to really upset the black squirrel chasing him. I had NO TIME to take cover or even time to think of a command to yell at Star. I did note she was on FULL ALERT. I also had time to have a major flashback to the time I was attacked in our shed by a red squirrel ...but that's a story best told on another day.

I was SURE they would swerve but AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH, the grey one ran RIGHT BETWEEN MY LEGS brushing my left pant leg as he went, apparently having a greater fear of the black squirrel than of me or Star! The black squirrel, not to be outdone - or outraced apparently - began to swerve and then realized he was losing his prey and ran BETWEEN Star and I.

Star and I turned as one to watch them run into the woods behind us and continue their fight in some unknown (and unsuspecting) tree. "Wow" I said to Star, "that was wierd." She looked at me and I'm sure she agreed. Then I told her what a good dog she was. Heck, she could have had some nice squirrel meat in her mouth but I think something told her those two were Trouble. (Note the capital T).

So that's what was between MY legs last night. What were you thinking? :-)

Theresa

Reading

Dear Readers,

Do you have a passion for reading as well as stitching? Do you sometimes sit in your favorite comfy chair and wonder - stitch or read? Read or stitch? Do you ever base your answer on whether you want a snack or not? (Just wondering!!! Sometimes I do!)

Anyway, in my web wanderings for some book or other, I stumbled across this website and I've used it most frequently in the past month so I thought I should pass it on to you. It's called Swap Your Used Books - PaperBackSwap.com and it's all about swapping books. They DON'T have to be paperbacks. In general, they just have to have an ISBN number.

I am seriously hooked! I have TONS of books. I have more than I can probably read in a year or two but no matter. I still get more from the library, find a new series, get started on a new author and off I go again. I like to haunt used bookstores as much as needlework stores. I LOVE to buy off the bargain shelves at Border's. I will pay full price for a paperback but it KILLS me to buy a hardback at full price. I'm a one time reader so once I read it, I pass it on. I have several friends that swap with me and in fact, I used to have a "leave a book, take a book" shelving unit at the store. Lots of people didn't like my tastes (mystery, thriller) and personally I'm not into romance (ugh!) Well, unless there's some really good x-rated stuff in it. Then I'd just read those pages and skip the mush. Well honestly! Who can believe all that stuff anyway?

So! In this swapping thing, I've found a new way to recycle my books. Hey, I even shipped out Don Quixote. I think I had it from high school. Basically the whole thing is free but you pay to ship your books to somebody else and they pay to ship theirs to you. You get a "credit" for the books you send and you spend your credits on the books you want. Remember, the post office still has media mail so we're not talking a lot of money here. There's also something called Box-O-Books (these people even TALK like me) where you swap a "box" with another reader that you both agree on. To be in that "group" it's a mere $8 a year.

Oh and they also do videos, books on CD/tape, etc. I haven't looked at all that yet. I think there's still only 24 hours in a day. :-)

Halfway to Dead...

Today is my birthday and I'll let you guess how old I am. Try not to be brutal! :-) I love birthdays. Yes, I'm one of THOSE! Birthdays are a celebration of NOT BEING DEAD! Let's face it, you were hardly aware of your actual birthday so what are you really celebrating? BEING ALIVE! YAY, LET'S HEAR IT FOR BEING ALIVE!

Anyway, today, I'm halfway to dead OR I have half a life worth living left. Either way, I'm glad to be here. I sure don't FEEL old. Oh, except like the day after I do too much yard work or something. Then I think "What the heck? When did I get old?" Oh yeah, and those grey hairs. What's THAT about? I think it should all go grey or white at one time. This constant highlighting is driving me nuts, let alone costly. Don't you think you should just wake up one day and look at mirror and go "AHHHHHH!" because your hair turned overnight? That would be fun. All your friends would do a double take. Let alone your husband. Everybody would whisper behind your back "Wow! Did SHE get old or what?" Anyway, LOTS of people have picked on me this week for being old. Here's a nice shot of what halfway to dead can look like...

Thanks SO MUCH to Jennifer for taking this picture with her phone and sending it to me. Who wants to see this one on my website home page? :-)

Here's the April tree. Yes, I'm really stitching, not just ruminating on life and birthdays...

There are white Mother of Pearl stars I have to still sew on the blue area.

I'm really very thrilled that it's still March and I have the April tree stitched. Some kind soul pointed out to me that I hadn't stitched the two rows around the edges of the last 3 trees. What a drag. Who would like to do that for me? :-) I think I will take a little time out and go back to stitching on my Galaxy. A girl deserves a little stitching time on her own project, don't you think? Cheers! Theresa

I'm Back!

Hello Gentle Readers...

Who used to say that? Miss Manners? I think so.

After an extended absence, I'm back. For those of you who don't know, my dad was diagnosed in November with a variety of cancers and passed away on March 13. His funeral was held on March 18 and 19 in Alabama where he was buried near his late girlfriend. Personally I think my dad was too young to go but I had no say in the matter. Rather than send sympathies I asked people to purchase themselves flowers or a plant because my dad loved to look at flowers. So please be sure to treat yourself well. I'm pretty sure we all go 'round only once.

For some reason, I have The Spring Cleaning Fever! You might think this is because it's spring but I'm one of those people that only gets The Fall Cleaning Fever. So today, I'm rushing about the house, taking down curtains and washing them (twice because they still look dirty!), scrubbing floors, dusting things (don't you LOVE Swiffer dusters? - I absolutely HATE to dust, such a waste of time) and making a stab at all things dirty in general. I sat down here for a rest because my back is killing me after all the vacuuming.

I just finished vacuuming Star and I'm not kidding. The poor thing sees the vacuum coming out and she comes running. Since she was a puppy I taught her that the vacuum is NOT to be feared. The vacuum is our friend! Obviously, she took this lesson to heart. She likes to be vacuumed and what person hasn't thought "why not just vacuum the source of all this hair?" DON'T WORRY! I'm terribly careful about her ears, etc. I pretty much just do her back and sides and she seems to think it has something to do with grooming. If I get the vacuum out and DON'T vacuum her I get the doggy evil eye. That is NOT a pretty thing coming from a golden retriever. :-)

That's why I thought she'd be a natural for the Bissell box dog and asked my whole Homestead email list to vote for her one week. I have to tell you only 21 people voted for her and she didn't win. :-( Maybe I should have included a picture of her being vacuumed. To tell you the truth, I don't have a Bissell vacuum, but I do have a Bissell carpet cleaner. I won't use that on her though, it's hot water! :-) Anyway, maybe BISSELL SHOULD READ THIS AND SEND ME A FREE VACUUM TO TRY ON HER! What do you think about that?

I took 3 projects to stitch on in the car while I was gone. Not a lot of stitching got done, I should tell you right up front. I did stitch a little on the April tree which is a red, white and blue number. Lighting in the hotels was pretty poor and for some reason on the road I couldn't concentrate. In fact, I pretty much looked out the window. Spring has begun in parts of Kentucky with daffodils at the side of the road.

Maybe I'm in the cleaning mood because I have a semi-big-ole birthday rearing it's ugly head at me this week. In case you're wondering, I'm halfway to dead. You figure it out, I don't want to mention it. All I know is I keep realizing I haven't done a lot of what I wanted to do in life. So this August I'm going to Yellowstone. That's right! Me and my hubby. ROAD TRIP! If you're really lucky, I'll take the computer and post pictures along on the way.

Okay, that's it for now! Check back another day for more in my exciting life! Theresa

Some Stitchin'

Time for more pictures - in case you thought I was slacking!



The heart is the February Rainbow Gallery Heart and was finished a while ago but I kept forgetting to take a picture. I haven't done the REAL finishing work yet. But it's stitched and that's what counts here.

Next, my progress on Galaxy. I'm thrilled with this piece and this time, decided to work downwards instead of across. Mostly because I finally chose my silk. The one to the bottom that you can see I'm still stitching is done with Gloriana silk. It's called Rosebud and is really pale.

I think that overall my Watercolor choice is not dark enough but too bad. I like the colors in them. :-) And I REALLY like the colors I chose to go with them. So far anyway! I can't wait to put the star in that starts in the corner with the bright green! This piece is GREAT fun.

Off to stitch some more!

Now That's a Plow!

There I was grocery shopping and minding my own business while the 8" predicted fell. Apparently Meijer's has contracts with owners of John Deere products for more than just produce. This puppy cleared more than 2 lanes at once. I hope YOU don't run into this one on a county back road!