Some finishes

I haven't posted any for a while- been lazy about taking pictures.. lol. I have one I can't post yet because it's something for my mom but here are the others I've finished. Two more Designs of the Needle ornament kits for my MIL (I think I still have 5 or 6 left to stitch!) and "Snowy Paddy", an old Sampler Girl freebie. I finished him a couple of weeks ago but not in time for St. Patty's Day, darn it. I'm thinking about making him into a banner-type hanging, not sure yet.

Some more beach photos

See previous post also!

"A little sea-bathing would set me up forever"

Couldn't resist using that Jane Austen quote for this post! My in-laws were here this past week and we went to Atlantic Beach on Saturday. Although I don't enjoy laying out to get tan, and I don't know how to swim, I love the beach. It has a way of putting any stress or anger in the back of your mind and giving you such peace, even when there are alot of people there. Now maybe if it would've been jam-packed with people I wouldn't be saying that, though it was fairly busy the day we were there. It was my son's first trip since he was a baby. At first he wouldn't even wade into the water but after going with him he did. It was so fun watching him walk in the water and run back out because he was so cold. My daughter could look for seashells all day. She kept filling her bucket and when it got too heavy, dumping them on the blanket and going back out for more. She didn't want to leave when it was time to go, though I don't think any of us really did. Here are some photos from our day.

Ghost Moon by Karen Robards

Ghost Moon by Karen Robards

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was a great book! This is the 2nd book I've read by Karen Robards and it was great. Kept you guessing til (almost) the end, and from then on it was action-packed. I can't wait to read some more by her!


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Some of the ornament kits..

Here are some of the ornaments I've stitched for my MIL. I haven't assembled any of them yet because I'm trying to get them all stitched before she visits at the end of the month. :)

An angel or a mistake??

Something very strange happened today- it is too good to be true really. I got a notice in the mail from a company we have a loan with that a phone payment for a rather large amount had been authorized. I was freaking out because I didn't authorize the payment. I called the loan place straight away and she said "an older man" called a few days ago and wanted to make two payments on our account. She said we are the only people on their books with our last name. I have called almost everyone I can think of that could have possibly done it, and everyone says they didn't (and seem honest about it.) It's so strange! I am nervous it was all a big mistake. I guess I may never know! What a blessing if it isn't!

New Stash!!

I finally made it out to Lazy Daizy in Raleigh- I LOVE that store!! I got there 20 min. before they closed and picked up a few things. Sadly, they are no longer carrying The Sampler Girl's designs, which I was hoping they would have, but I did get the last one they did have, which happened to be one I wanted! So here is a pic I of what I got- if you can't see it well it is In the Kitchen With Jane Austen by the Sampler Girl, Cecilia 1896 by Lisa Cowell, Serenity Waits by Plum Pudding Needle Art, Shell Gatherer by Liz Navickas Designs, a skein of Gentle Art Buttermilk (needed for the Jane Austen pattern- I didn't think I had any but found later that I do. oops), and a skein of now-retired Weeks Dye Works Butterscotch. I also got a Pine Mountain Pillow kit for Hanna that's not pictured here. It was half off. Hooray!

A finished bookmark!

I can post this now because I gave it to my friend Lauri tonight. :) The design is from the Leisure Arts book "Quick as a Wink."

Watch Me by Brenda Novak

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is the first of this trilogy that I've read, though it's the most recent book. It was really good, kept you guessing as to "whodunit" which is always a good thing! I plan on reading the other two, and probably the fourth that comes out later this year, though the crime committed in that one looks particularly disturbing.


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My heart aches for some stash...

Cross stitch stash that is! It has been much too long since I bought anything new. I was just looking at downsunshinelane.com, one of my favorite online stores at some of the new items. Sigh..... And there are some Sampler Girl designs I want too. I hope I will have a little tax money left after bill paying to buy some new things or I just might cry!

Islands

Islands by Anne Rivers Siddons

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was a really good book. Although not a real page-turner, it kept you engrossed enough to keep wondering what would happen next. I do like a book once in a while that is entertaining to read but I can put down if I need to. The chapters were very long though which made it hard to find a stopping point! Overall I enjoyed the book and was somewhat surprised by the ending, which is almost always a good thing. :)


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New finishes

Finally I have finished something! An ornament kit my mother-in-law wanted me to stitch for her, and San Man Originals' "Bless the Feast."

Angels on Earth

Sorry I haven't been posting more.. I haven't stitched as much recently (working on that though) and money stress has been weighing me down. Things already were not great, but now dh's overtime has been cut and it is hurting bad. My week has looked up though, thanks to some great friends. First a friend here, who is always looking to lend a hand, and who watched my dd at the last minute this Thursday so I wouldn't have to pay daycare.
And to some very special online friends, who when they found out of our troubles not only offered support, but real help as well, and we have never even met face to face. All of these friends are angels on earth! I truly believe God has sent them to me. You know who you are, thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Snow day finally!

The first "real" snow of the winter. The kids loved it! Unfortunately they were out then in too quick to get pics of them.

What would you think of this?

Ever gotten a back-handed compliment? ( I think that's the right expression.) Today a customer of mine, who is usually very sweet, came in. She is an older lady and I hadn't seen her in a while. She asked me if I had gotten a complete makeover for Christmas! And I asked, "Why, do I look different?" And she said"You look nice, almost- and here she mouthed a word I didn't make out. When I looked confused she said "pretty." I look almost pretty? What the -? Nice, huh? So I wondered part of the day what, in her estimation, would take me from "nice" to "pretty." Oh well, people have said worse to me since I moved here. lol

Just spreading the word..

cause everyone needs a little help in these hard times! Some women at my kids' daycare recently told me about something called Angel Food Ministries . If you need a little help with that rising grocery bill, here it is. And you don't have to fit any income guidelines to participate! And some of the money goes to a good cause!! Check out the website and see if there's one near you- it's really a great deal, or seems to be! We're going to try it soon! If anyone has already used this program, I would love to hear your experiences!

Meow!

I finished this a few days ago for DD. I asked her if she wanted it framed, in a pillow, etc, but she hasn't answered me yet! It feels so good to finish something!!! The design is "Meow" (who would have guessed?) from the book "Cats Galore" by Leisure Arts. It's done with DMC thread on Sugar Maple Fabric I believe, not sure of the color but I think I have it somewhere. lol

Yep...

I totally LOVE this new template, I think I will keep it forever. So get used to it. lol

Out of the mouths of babes..

Last night the kids and I went to church for the Epiphany service. We went up to communion, the kids don't take it yet but Pastor gives them a blessing. Well when Pastor leaned forward to bless DS, the chalice of wine leaned forward too. DS said "Mom what's that?" I really don't remember what I said, I probably shushed him or told him I'd tell him later. Then he waits a second or two and says "Mom I don't like beer!" So all of us in the near vicinity are trying not to laugh, and he says it again "I don't like beer!" It seem he always waits til communion time to crack us up with something.. sigh..

I loooooove this Hobbit template!!

While waiting on laundry, I was messing with this template. I found it on several blogger template sites but it wouldn't work right. Finally I found one that converted it to the new blogger format correctly! I will have to mess with widgets, etc. tomorrow. I was just so tired of all the templates on blogger! lol

I'm back!!

I tried wordpress for a while but I think I'm gonna give blogger another go. Too many extras wordpress won't accept, plus most people I know are on blogger. I may import the stuff from wordpress, but it looks like kind of a process so I may just leave it for now.. maybe one day when I'm looking for something to do..lol.
OK, gonna go mess around with my widgets, etc. now..

Come see me at Wordpress

I'm trying them out- http://xstitchmama.wordpress.com

My sushi scarf!

See what my Mom made me? It's a scarf and when you roll it up it looks like sushi! cool huh? I love it!

Dead Until Dark

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I thought this was a great book, and the series on HBO is following it really well, though they have added a couple of things.. anyway, I had read some other reviews that said Sookie was too naive, etc, but I disagree.. I think she knew a lot more than people gave her credit for. Sure she did naive things from time to time, but don't we all? I'm looking forward to the second book (gotta wait my turn at the library.)


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Another great read!!

Deadly Night by Heather Graham

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Loved this book!! It's fast-paced and quite different from the suspense novels I usually read. I will definitely be reading the other two in the series. A great read if you like suspense that involves the supernatural.


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Eat, Drink, and be Scary

Stitched up this Sampler Girl freebie last week. I'm hoping to add some fall and Halloweeny buttons if I can find some..

Ren Fest pics

Here are some picture from the entrance and the inside of the festival!

Back from Maryland

My brother-in-law and his wife invited us to Maryland this past weekend for the Renaissance Festival. It was so much fun! This Ren Fest is amazing, I'll post some pics soon. The festival runs from Aug. til sometime in Oct. and there are permanent structures there for it. There was so much to see and do!! We are already planning a trip for next year and we are hoping to make costumes and dress up. They have a website . Check it out!! It's worth a drive, even if it's a few hours.

My Secret Garden

I finished this over the weekend, and just now getting around to posting it! The lighting in my house isn't so good, I wanted to take the picture outside to take a better picture but the weather hasn't been cooperative. So here it is. I am thinking about framing it in a shadow box and maybe putting some minatures of some sort to the sides.. don't know when I will get around to doing it tho. I may ask my dad to make the shadow box.

Finished Pride & Prejudice (again)

The book this time, who is like an old friend!! But I did realize one important part they left out of both the recent movie and the BBC version. The conversations/relationship toward the end between Elizabeth and Mr Darcy. The BBC version touched on it as did the newer version, but I think in both films we really miss the affection between these two. Now that I've gotten my Jane Austen fix, off to a novel a bit more "shocking" as they would say back then.. lol

Another Christmas finish

This is a Prairie Schooler freebie from ages ago. Instead of DMC I used Weeks Dye Works fibers in White Lightning, Aztec Red, Cadet, and Molasses(I think- don't have the list in front of me.) The flesh color is still DMC. I stitched it on 32 ct MCG textiles grey linen.

Ornament/card finish

I haven't decided what I'm going to do with this one yet.. but I finished it earlier this week. It's from a Just Cross Stitch ornament issue, the designer is Angel Stitchin. :-)

Final thoughts on P&P

I was pleasantly surprised by this! While still not comparable to the A&E Pride and Prejudice, there were things I still liked about this one.. I mentioned some in the previous post. Upon further watching I found the Bennet home not so near to poverty as I orginally thought. The actor playing Mr Darcy did grow on me but still does not hold a candle to Colin Firth. ;-) I thought it silly that Mr Darcy came to Elizabeth in her bedroom to give her the letter as such a thing would have most certainly been frowned upon back then, and Lady Catherine waking them all from their beds to fuss at Elizabeth? I found that far-fetched as well. However I did like the engagement of Jane and Mr Bingley, I liked that they showed her acceptance. Mr Collins was funny as always though I thought his portrayal very similar to the actor in A&E's version.. I liked the actress playing Mary Bennet better in this one as she wasn't quite so homely, and I liked where she and Mr Bennet hugged after he embarassed her at the ball. I also liked the end, where you see Lizzy and Mr Darcy at Pemberley after they were married, I thought it was sweet, even if we did miss the wedding. Ok that's my thoughts! Would love to hear what you think, you deserve a listen after my rambling.. lol

Random thoughts on the newest (I think) Pride and Prejudice movie

With Kiera Knightley that is.. I confess the first time I started watching this, I never finished.. compared to the A&E version there was so much combined and cut out I turned it off. But I'm in an open-minded mood tonight and actually have the TV to myself so I decided to watch it on Oxygen. I missed the beginning but not much.. it's not as bad as I thought. Of course the acting is wonderful, except possibly for Matthew McFadyen, if that is the actor playing Mr. Darcy. I find him not near as good looking as Colin Firth and his portrayal rather blah. I like the actress playing Charlotte Lucas a bit better, she's not quite so serious all the time and I can picture her being Elizabeth's friend more than the actress who played her in the prior version. I was rather disappointed that the characters of Mr and Mrs Hurst - Bingley's married sister and her husband, were totally eliminated from the movie. Judi Dench is great as Lady Catherine, although I like the "other one" also. You rarely see Wickham in this one either, at least so far. I still have a bit of the movie to go..The actor playing Wickham is much better looking in this one, he reminds me a little of Orlando Bloom. I was surprised at how poor the Bennetts house looks and how grand Netherfield looks.. although I can picture Bingley living in such a home I thought the Bennetts, while not having near as much money were not so near the poverty level.. their home looks like it is not well kept and rather dirty in places. I also thought it kind of curious, that at the ball where Mr Darcy first asks Elizabeth to dance, almost all the women are wearing white gowns. Maybe it's something I don't know about the time period. Overall I'm not as disappointed as I thought I would be, though I still like the A&E version better. Maybe I will post some more later, when I finish watching! (or tomorrow, as it's getting late..)

Another great suspense read!

The Stolen by Jason Pinter

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Oh.my.gosh. This book was soooooooooooo good! I had never heard of Jason Pinter before. I got his book from my Mira book club and it sounded good so I read it. I HATED to put this book down.

Daniel Linwood disappears as a young boy only to return to his family almost 5 years later with no evidence of abuse or neglect, and no memory of the years he was missing. Henry Parker is a reporter sent to cover his story. Intrigued by certain things is his interview with the boy, Henry digs deeper and finds Daniel isn't the only child who has been taken and then returned a few years later unharmed. I won't spoil the story.. just read it and find out the deeply hidden and disturbing secrets behind the disappearances.


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Never Argue With A Woman

I got this from my friend Chris. I love it!!


One morning the husband
returns after several hours of fishing and decides to take
a nap. Although not familiar with the lake, the wife
decides to take the boat out. She motors out a short
distance, anchors, and reads her book.

Along comes a Game Warden
in his boat. He pulls up alongside the woman and says,
'Good morning, Ma'am. What are you doing?'
'Reading a book,'
she replies, (thinking, 'Isn't that obvious?')
'You're in a
Restricted Fishing Area,' he informs her
'I'm sorry,
officer, but I'm not fishing. I'm reading'
'Yes, but you have all
the equipment. For all I know you could start at any
moment. I'll have to take you in and write you up.'

'For reading a
book,' she replies,
'You're in a
Restricted Fishing Area,' he informs her again,
'I'm sorry,
officer, but I'm not fishing. I'm reading.'
'Yes, but you have all
the equipment. For all I know you could start at any
moment. I'll have to take you in and write you up.'

'If you do that,
I'll have to charge you with sexual assault,' says
the woman.
'But I haven't even
touched you,' says the game warden.
'That's true, but
you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start
at any moment.'


'Have a nice day
ma'am,' and he left.


MORAL: Never argue with a
woman who reads. It's likely she can also think. Send
this to four women who are thinkers. If you receive this,
you know you're intelligent.

Tea With Jane

I finished this yesterday.. any ideas what I should make it into? I don't need a tea cozy cause I don't have a teapot.. at least not yet..

Hanna and her new do

Actually she got it cut a couple of weeks ago but I forgot to post!

A book review: The Ocean Between Us

The Ocean Between Us by Susan Wiggs

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was a great book, especially for anyone from a military family. Grace and Steve are married. Steve is in the navy and is gone for months at a time. They have 3 teenage children, two of which are coming upon their high school graduation. The story is about them and another couple (I will not spoil the plot by telling you about them) and basically how Navy life affects their family and the decisions they make. It was an excellent book.


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Two things finished this week!

A San Man kit I received as a gift a while back- pillow included (I only WISH I made pillows that well! And a magnet for a friend who hopefully won't check my blog for the next few days. I did cut it a little more evenly after I took this picture, but I was at work so I didn't take another pic.

The gift I made for Mom and Dad's 40th anniversary

I can post it now cause they got it yesterday!

Quick blog before work...

Sorry I haven't blogged much, I have been stitching away to get a couple of things finished.. now they are done but I can't even post them here yet, because they are gifts...one you will get to see soon but the other may be a while. I have started a couple of new things, and am still working on my Christmas ornament on Mondays. The two things I just started shouldn't take too long so hopefully I will be posting them in the next week or so! I will blog more later, I have to finish making my lunch and get the kids off to daycare so I can go do my morning walk. I didn't walk at all last week and I feel like a blob. lol

My new glasses!

Whatcha think?

More glasses!

OK, trash all the ones on the previous blog, cause I like all these better. I am really leaning toward either the first or last one, but I thought I'd post the middle one too, even tho I look like I'm stoned in that picture. lol Appointment is next Wed. I have never been so excited to get my glasses in my life!! :-D The one pair is kind of crooked, but I couldn't get them to straighten out.

Two Little Girls in Blue by Mary Higgins Clark

Two Little Girls in Blue: A Novel by Mary Higgins Clark

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Wow. Mary Higgins Clark does it again! This was a page-turner. I finished it in just a few days. While I'm not sure about the whole "twin telepathy" thing, at least not to the extent they had in the book, it was still really good. I sat up last night and finished it because I couldn't put it down, I HAD to see how it ended!


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a fun site for readers

Has anyone heard of GoodReads? Here is my page: Hi,

http://www.goodreads.com/friend/i?i=LTM2MDU4ODYyMDI6MzU2%0A

Not much on there yet, I'm just starting out. :-)

one for Christmas

My days are off from having today off(not that I'm complaining) and I almost forgot today was my "Christmas stitching day". I remembered just in time and finished this one by the Sampler Girl. :-)

AWESOME books

I got this great book at the book sale at my library back in April. It's called The Disappearance by and author named J.F. Freedman. This book was so good. I think it was over 400 pages and I read it in a week/week and a half. I read it every chance I got- at lunch, in the line to pick up Hanna from school, at long stoplights(shh don't tell). It's a suspense book- kind of Law and Order meets CSI- heh. I highly recommend it.
Next I read Summer's Child by Luanne Rice, which when I started I didn't realize was a prequel to another book I read by her, Summer of Roses. Both of these books were great as well. Matters of the heart and suspense as well! Good summer reading!!