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It's been awhile...

So, so sorry...I have let myself get swept up in other things lately and my blogging, stitching, and even reading have suffered.. I know I keep saying it but I really need to set a timer when I get online. I think there is a timer on my cell phone; I need to start using it!  I'm hoping to do some stitching when I get done with this post- just have to do a bit more cleaning in the living room and I'll be ready. 

I have been stitching on "The Alamo" at least a bit each week.  I will post a pic at the end of this post, as it is on my phone.

The fall leaves are nearly gone now, but here are a few photos of them while they were here-

 

The week before Thanksgiving was kind of crazy. One night Rob and I were getting ready to go to bed and Rob's heart started beating very fast, and he started having chest and arm pain.  We took him to the ER and they tried to get his heart rate slowed down and stabilized.. it slowed down a little but was still beating fast, so they admitted him to run some more tests.  He was in for 3 days and they found out he has atrial fibrillation.. so he will have to stay on medicine now to regulate his heartbeat as well as medicine for cholesterol and high blood pressure.  He is doing well since. He is back to work and feeling better, thank the Lord.

 

Every year our town has a little celebration downtown to officially turn on all the Christmas lights on the downtown streets.  I took David(Hanna had judo) and we went for a little while. It's always so neat to see all the lights turn on at the same time. I have videotaped it before but I forgot to this year.  Here are a few pics though. Ok, well, more than a few.

The quilt shoppe in their new location- see all the fabric inside?

The magnolia tree in the traffic circle/roundabout

This gives you an idea of how big the tree is!

City Hall

 

a downtown view

 

As you can tell by my son's hat, Krispy Kreme was there. We were a little disappointed because they usually give out a doughnut to each person who wants one but this year they only gave a donut hole to each person. Sign of the economy I guess. But they did hand out coupons for $2 off a dozen doughnuts.  Which reminds me, I have to use that before it expires.

 

I had been wanting to get Ginger a "Mr. Bill" toy for quite some time.. I hit the jackpot when I found one on clearance at Target for $2.  She loved him, but as always he didn't last long.. he was made pretty sturdy overall but she still managed to get the stuffing out of a foot. And the foot was not sewn off from the rest of his body so I couldn't just take the stuffing out of the foot and let her keep playing with him.  :( But here she is with him while she had him.

 

 

We got our Christmas tree up, not as early as usual but up nonetheless.. the kids helped me decorate it. In fact they ended up doing most of it cause Rob and I ended up going grocery shopping. :/

 

 

There is an angel on top of it now, her wings were broken and I had to glue them back on.

 

I have some other big news (no I am not pregnant. lol) .We are trying to get pre-qualified to buy a house.  I had a couple of errors on my credit report that we are trying to get fixed.. I am really so impatient to get moving (no pun intended). Now that I have house fever I just can't stand waiting to get out there and find one.  We have rented our current place for probably about 15 or 16 years. It is entirely too small for our family  now and I am so anxious for some more space, and to do some of the things with our living space I have not been able to do here due to lack of room.  So please say prayers for us, that we will get approved for enough to get our family a nice home and find the perfect one for us.  It has been a long time coming.  Thank you. ♥  And that is one of the more recent reasons I have not blogged.. lunch breaks are spent making phone calls trying to get this credit issue worked out, and when I am online I am scouring realty websites looking for that perfect place. 

 

And last but not least, here is the Alamo - I think I have done a bit more since I took this, I can't remember.

 

I really appreciate you all sticking with me even though I am so sporadic in posting sometimes!! I will try (again) to post more often!

 

 

 

 

Sandy, stitching, and other stuff..

Hello everyone!  First of all, I am praying for all those in the path of Hurricane Sandy, and those who have evacuated but whose homes are still in the path.   We have been fortunate, just had a little wind and very little  rain. I heard from a friend in CT on facebook- she had to stay at her house for some reason and a window blew in and her roof was starting to leak, last I heard.   I can't even imagine. We have stayed at home during hurricanes but none that bad- back in '99 when Floyd(I think it was) came and it flooded near our home we got out in time.. but I remember being at a friend's house who lived on higher ground and wondering what I was going to come home to. Again we were blessed as our townhouse has a crawlspace underneath, and the   flooding did not even reach to our top step.

On to happier things- I celebrated my 40th birthday this past weekend! My husband and I went out the night before without the kids. We are planning another celebration when my parents visit next weekend as my dad's birthday is the 2nd of November. I am just hoping they are able to make it as they drive through the mountains of WV and right now there are blizzards there. I am hoping they will be able to find another route that is safer, and still make it out.

For my birthday my father-in-law and his wife sent me some beautiful flowers. After I trimmed the stems and put the plant food in the water they started opening up- here are a couple of close-ups.

I finished my little prim ornament I was working on this past weekend. There was a border around it, just a one-row border, but I decided to leave it as is.  This is a Sheepish Designs ornament from the Nov/Dec 88 issue of Just Cross Stitch, stitched with GAST Old Red Paint.

I was so glad the year worked out at the bottom, since I had to change it from 1988 to 2012.

I'm going to start my "stash for sale" page on here(see tabs above). Please check back often as it will probably be slow going adding everything. 

I did get a few pictures of the fall colors that are starting to show here and there- these were taken at our park and library.

Well, that's about it here- praying for all of you dealing with Sandy !

Tracey

I fell off the "stash diet" wagon...

But only slightly and for a minute!  I saw this pattern by The Primitive Hare and I had to have it .  I doubt I will have stitched for this Christmas but maybe next.  Now it's back on the diet. :)

I had hoped to finish my ornament last weekend, but didn't quite make it.  I think I am going to finish it sometime this week.  I thought about working on it tonight but I need to get working on the LK sampler. Not that I can finish it by Halloween or anything...sigh... It's my own fault.

I have been moving along on The Alamo bit by bit. I didn't have a chance to work on it this morning but hopefully tomorrow.  Here is my progress as of yesterday.

Ginger turned one year old on the 18th! I can hardly believe it.  We didn't do much for her birthday but we tried to make her feel extra special all day. :) The day before an order from Petco came in with  antlers and a new Kong for her, so at least she got presents. :)

Getting old is hard!( hee hee..)

An un-stitchy week

I'm afraid I don't have much stitching to show this week- only got a few stitches in on The Alamo but I do have a picture of my progress- have maybe made a little more since this was taken-

I don't think I ever did post one last week.

 

I started a new project over the weekend, since I finished my snowman. It's a little Sheepish Designs ornaments from an old Just Cross Stitch- I guess it might be considered an early ornament issue- from 1988! I was hoping to finish it this weekend as well but didn't have as much time to stitch as I had hoped.

 

It's called "A Primitive Christmas Heart." Who would've thought they liked primitive back in the 80's? That's when I first learned to cross stitch, in the 80's.. but I was young and stitching cutesy things. :)  It's actually a little aggravating- in the cover photo on this issue there is an old sampler on the wall in the background behind the Christmas tree.  I really like it but it's not featured in the magazine.  It looks like it was originally stitched by Susanna Neat in 1820.

 

I went to the library book sale this week; one of my favorite things twice a year. I usually only buy paperbacks because I don't have much room for hardcovers and the paperbacks are cheaper. :) The prices have gone up a bit- they were 5 for 1.00 and are now 50cents per book but still a great deal! I got a few books, and some for the kids.. the ones I got are Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor, The Lacemakers of Glenmara by Heather Barbieri, Ghost Shadow by Heather Graham, and Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman. A couple of them were actually already on my Goodreads to-read list so that was nice!

 

 

Ginger will be one this Wednesday- I can hardly believe it!

                                                                   Crazy girl!

 

Everyone have a great week! Thanks for stopping by. :)

 

Tracey

 

 

 

A finish(sort of) and giveaway goodies!

As some of you saw in my last post, I was blessed to win one of Nancy of Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe's givaways- for the Treasured Friend bag- here are the contents!

I posted a couple of pics cause it was hard to fit everything on my lapdesk- then I realized I was still missing a spool of thread! It is so lovely Nancy, I love everything!  Thank you again!

 

I do have a little finish to show you- I said "sort of" in my title because I need to get a button for it yet-poor planning! Just a little cardinal button.. but here it is so far. :)

I had to use some substitutions here and there, and I did french knots instead of buttons for the mouth, mostly because I didn't read the directions carefully and had stitched them before I realized they were supposed to be beads. I probably would have done it that way anyway because I don't think I have any tiny beads that were the right color.  This is Snow Dreams by Designs by Cathy Jean for Victoria Sampler- from the 2009 JCS Ornament issue.

 

I am impatiently waiting for my mums to open up- the ones that opened in the spring haven't come back, but I do have one pot thats getting ready to open!

 

There is a farm stand not far from my house that sells big pots of mums cheap- I am hoping to get some more soon.

 

I have been going through my stash-I am going to add another tab/page to my blog soon with stash for sale, will let you all know when I get it set up. I am hoping to get rid of it more that way vs. ebay- ebay is so time-consuming and not very cost-effective unless you have something really rare to get rid of.

 

The semi-annual library book sale is this week- I can't wait! I really have no business buying any more books- I still have so many from past sales that I haven't read, but you really can't beat the price, and the money is for a good cause! That's Thursday- it seems so long from now! ha! Although if it goes as fast as this weekend it will be here before I know it. It's been a nice weekend- all of us home all weekend which is unusual- usually Hanna is at some friend's house or another- yesterday a local church had a clothing giveaway/swap- you can bring stuff that you don't want anymore or just come and get some clothes if you need some. I brought some items that I don't wear anymore as well as a couple of things of David's. Hanna usually passes hers on to friends.  I found a few nice things- a cute pair of shoes, some dress shorts, a really pretty skirt- and a "Life is Good" long-sleeved shirt with a cup of coffee/cocoa on the front, which is perfect for me! I love their shirts but I never want to pay full price.. haha. Also found a Transformers shirt for David and some pj's..and Hanna found a few things as well.  We also went to Starbucks and to get a toy for Ginger. Pet Supplies Plus sent us a postcard for a free toy for her because her 1st birthday is October 18- 9 days before mine! So we got her a little toy frog.  He lasted most of the weekend but I noticed earlier she was into something and it was his stuffing. So bye-bye frog.

We then came home and I got some laundry and dishes done- Hanna and I made some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies- which were delicious- they are almost gone already. The recipe was on verybestbaking.com.  It had a glaze and no chocolate chips but we didn't have the ingredients for the glaze, so we added the chocolate chips and Hanna made her own frosting from a different recipe and website, but we left it on the side cause I thought they were just as good if not better without the frosting.  So she frosts them as needed. ;)

 

Ginger and I have been walking more now that the weather is getting cooler- and today I found a piece of pinecone that looks like flower-

I had some more of changing leaves but blogger is being weird again so I will have to share them next time. :(

Have a great week!
Tracey

 

 

Ugh, can't think of a post title tonight..I am ready to start a new week! I didn't get much stitching done last week- made a bit of progress on The Alamo- I think I've done a little more than this since I took the photo but it's been coming along bit by bit. I usually work on it in the mornings but it seems I was running around a lot in the mornings this week. At night, I'd get on my computer and have trouble getting off again. ;)

I did do some stitching last weekend at the quilt shop on the LK Mystery Sampler- but found when working on the 2nd row I had made a mistake in the first row and there wasn't a way to just let it go without everything being off, so I spent part of the time there pulling stitches out and re-stitching them.. so nothing new there.

Another giveaway over at Victoria Motto Sampler shop- this time for hand-dyed floss!! Click here to enter!
You  may have to scroll down just a little bit! :) And I'm super excited, just went there and found out I am a winner of one of her other awesome giveaways!

This was a sad week for me- a good friend of mine from high school died of cancer.  She was only forty years old and a mom and wife.. she survived breast cancer last year but the cancer returned in her liver and lymph nodes. It was very aggressive and she fought hard, but lost the battle this last week.  Now she is no longer suffering and will be with her Heavenly Father. She was a very special lady.  Please pray for her family- her name was Jen.  Now go and hug your loved ones and make sure they know how much you mean to them!

Here's to a happy and stitchy week-
Tracey ♥

Another lovely giveaway from Nancy!

Nancy of Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe is having another beautiful giveaway! Please click here to enter, and please tell her I sent you!

Will post again soon..
Tracey

Progress..

Well, I lied and I didn't mean to- I said last time I would post again soon. Sorry about that! First some stitchy pics- I have started working on The Alamo in the mornings- I have some wait time between when DD goes to school and when DS goes to school- so I've been working on it then, when I am more awake. LOL It's coming along slowly but surely-

It looks a little random- when I am using one color and finish an area, I try to find other places using the same color so I don't have to keep switching colors. :)

I haven't posted a pic of this one yet- it's from a Just Cross Stitch ornament issue- it's Snow Wishes by Victoria Sampler-Designs by Cathy Jean.

Not much longer on this one! :)

 

I've been listing more items on ebay- I have a box full of patterns to get rid of and I have been so lazy about posting them.. but if you keep checking I'll have listings from time to time..right now I have a Lavender Wings pattern "Stitcher" and a Charles Wysocki leaflet- most of them will be oldies. :) My ebay seller id is hannasmom1198. :)

 

We had some crazy weather here today- I knew there was a chance of rain but when I got to work it didn't look like it was going to anytime soon, so I left my windows cracked.  Then I happened to look up a little while later and it was pouring rain. Then it cleared off...then it clouded up and rained again, and it went on like this all day! We were actually under a tornado watch until 5pm, thankfully none came. :) When I left work it was pouring down rain and by the time I got home it was hardly raining- and I only live about a mile from my office! I sure am thankful for the rain though. I am impatiently waiting for my mums to bloom. :)

 

I have posted my progress on my LK sampler on a 2nd page(see tabs above) so that way I won't ruin it for anyone who doesn't want to see it before they stitch it. :)

 

Oh! I don't know if I mentioned it- but we did some pet-sitting for our neighbors- they had a family emergency and had to go to Alaska on short notice- so the kids and I would go by a few times a day and let the dog out, make sure they're fed, etc.  We couldn't keep them at our place cause they have a male dog and whenever he sees Ginger he goes crazy! And they have cats .. and DH and DD are allergic. So anyway they've been back for a little while, and they brought us some goodies-

Some homemade goodies as well as chocolate rocks for the kids, and two mugs- I love mine- it of course is the one on the left, and some Alaskan coffee- Santa's blend- can't wait to try it!

Well, the washing machine calls.. will post again soon! (this time I really will. ;) )

 

Some gorgeous giveaways!

 Nancy at Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe is having some wonderful giveaways.  If you sign up for any please tell her I sent you!

A completion, a splurge, and Ginger of course!

First off, I am feeling so accomplished as I pulled out an old finished piece(I think I finished it last year..)and framed it.  I had started to once before a long while back, but stupid me sewed the button on before I ironed it, wasn't even thinking, ironed it and broke the button. I had a hard time finding another blackbird button small enough. I think I even emailed Bent Creek about which button they used in the kit but got no answer.. so without further adieu- Blackbird House by Bent Creek!

I love this piece. Though I admit really it is not completely complete- was having some trouble with my craft glue so the back is bare and there is no hanger on it yet.  I may have to run to Michael's this week and get some new glue.  I always lose the little plug for my craft glue and it gets all rubbery.

 

We took the kids to Raleigh this weekend and went to one of the malls there- Hanna and I went to Forever 21 - I love this store because they have so many different styles and I really feel there is somehting there for so many age groups. I saw a lot of the 80's styles had returned, some of the cooler ones thank goodness.  I splurged and bought myself at hat, even though it is not cold enough here yet to wear it. I couldn't resist- I am pretty sure it was the last one and as soon as I saw it I knew I had to have it, especially when Hanna said "It looks like Breakfast at Tiffany's!" And she did mean that as a compliment, as she likes the movie too. It wasn't really super expensive, but I am ever the bargain shopper so it was a little splurge for me.

I can't wait til it gets cold enough to wear it!

 

Even Ginger got something new this weekend. I had to get her some food and when we went to Pet Supplies Plus they had a bunch of toys on clearance. I know she is always trying to get the kids' stuffed animals so I got her one. I knew she would tear it up so I figured I might as well get one on clearance. Here she is with her new buddy.

Yes, it is a tomato- and it makes a sound that sounds something like pig snorts.  This was taken on Friday. She has already torn off an arm and I had to amputate one of the tomato's legs today as she was working on it and I didn't want her to eat the stuffing. He also has a small hole in his body that I am going to attempt to patch.  My 7-year-old son David is very concerned about her and things she gets into that she shouldn't- so when the hole in the body was torn he tried to throw it away. Ginger looked so forlorn and tried to get in the trash closet- luckily it was just on some paper trash so I took it out and will try to mend it. We'll see.. I wish they made sturdier stuffed animals for dogs.

 

I started a new book this weekend- Shadow Valley by Gwen Hunter. This is the first book I've ever read by her and so far it is really good. I can tell it's going to be one of those I don't want to put down.

 

Well that's about it for this evening.. will post again soon. (I really will!)

 

 

"Sweet Little Berries" finished!

 

Just a quick post before bed to share this photo! Stayed up tonight to finish, so glad cause I am picking up part two of LK's Mystery Sampler tomorrow and I haven't even started part 1!

 

More soon..

 

oh and don't forget to look at my previous post, Parsley is having a giveaway!

A surprise giveaway!

Parsley at Seasons of my Mind is having a mystery giveaway!! Go check it out! :)

Wordless Wednesday(almost)

(picture taken by my 7-yr-old son this morning with my phone)