The House is Empty today

After having my son, his wife and their three children around for almost a week, the house feels empty today. It is even emptier because my husband is off at a meeting.

The kids appeared to have a good time. They did everything from visiting the Air and Space Museum to hunting Easter Eggs at their Aunt Vicki's house.

We were 17 for Easter dinner. I am sure glad I didn't have to cook it all. I brought a honey-baked ham, and a spinach salad. My son did a macaroni and cheese dish that was so rich it could afford a chauffeur. My daughter-in-law made bacon-wrapped breadsticks. They are fantastically good, and simple to make. Just wrap a thin breadstick in a slice of room temp bacon. Then coat it with a combination of brown sugar and chili powder. Bake.

My daughter and her family were just back from a trip to Arizona. She did rolls and deviled eggs. She also had some dips and crackers/pita bread. My sister-in-law and her boyfriend brought potato salad and green beans with ham. My niece and her fiance brought cupcakes for dessert.

Everything was SO good!

One of the highlights of the LI family's visit was that all three of the grandkids decided to embroider. The little boy had the most trouble with the actual stitching because his eyes are 20/50 - corrected. He had a hard time finding the little holes in the Aida cloth. His little sister lost interest after a very short time, but kept picking it up. However, the star of the needles was the oldest granddaughter. She kept at it between everything else. When she left here, she had a sizeable bit of work done.

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of any of them with needle in hand. I was busy helping out, and didn't grab the camera. Husband never thinks to take pictures.

I spent today putting things back the way they were before. And finding lots of Easter grass everywhere. I still don't have all the grass contained.

I'm going to go back to stitching tonight. I'm tired of cleaning.

Oatlands meeting tomorrow. I think we are continuing on with the Mystery Band Sampler. I'm actually caught up to where I should be. Miracle of miracles.

Two Turtle Doves, Three French Hens

I have finished both of them!

I just have A Partridge in a Pear Tree left for the challenge.

The birth sampler I chose is not going to the intended recipient. She lost the baby. I'll have to find another use for it.

My local grand-dog is coming for a visit tomorrow. We will have Dash (a border collie) for a week. The Long Island grands and their mother are coming on Wednesday. Our son can't get away until Friday, so we won't see him until late Friday. They aren't going home until Monday. A very long visit this time. Also, a very complicated transportation method. Barb is driving down to her sister's in Maryland this weekend and bringing their parents. Her sister, her sister's family, and their parents are leaving on Wednesday for North Carolina to visit her brother. Jon is driving his in-law's car here. They will pick it up sometime Monday to drive home.

We will be heading to our daughter's home on Sunday for Easter Dinner. Although it means no leftovers for us, it is an awful lot easier on me that way. So, if I don't get back before .... Happy Easter to you.

Oh, have you seen the embroidered eggs that were featured in Mary Corbett's Needlen Thread? If not, here is a link. http://album.aufeminin.com/album/see_105544_55/Photo-d-expo.html
And have you seen the carved Easter Eggs? Here is a link to them. Carvingeggshells.pps




Both are worth seeing. Happy Easter

50th Anniversary

I had thought that I would personalize the Pam Darney Red Bird sampler for my son's anniversary. But, in the end, I did it for our 50th Anniversary. The anniversary isn't until in June, but this way, it is done and I don't have to rush around finishing.

I took it to the framer's. I had a terrible time picking out a frame. I finally ended up with a relatively plain frame with a gold fillet. Hopefully, it will look ok.

I also took my grand=niece's piece. I really like the frame we decided on for that ... a turquoisey frame with a bit of gold next to the picture. The color of the frame is almost the same color as a color in the sampler.

Pictures for both after they return. I still don't have a shot I like of Rhapsody in Red. I keep getting too much glare. I'll try again.

My Newest Grand-Niece is HERE!

Well, truthfully, she has been here several days. She was born March 28th. A beautiful, healthy young lady.


Here is the birth sampler I am giving her parents. I have blocked out her name, but it is truly there. I have it laying on a navy blue cloth, and you can tell that it is. The fabric is a bit more 'airy' than I thought it would be. I changed a LOT of the threads - I didn't have all the fibers the chart called for, so I substituted things I had in similar colors . I did go ahead an purchase the Gloriana for the girls skirt. I didn't have a multi-color in pastels. Now I have a lot of that floss left over. I need to find another project for it.




I haven't worked on my 15 projects for a number of days now - finishing up this. Before I personalized this, I was working on my Pam Darney Red Bird. I don't think I am supposed to finish that one .... I've run out of green thread, again. This time, it was entirely my fault. Somewhere along the line, I have misplaced a length (all 12 strands) of Olive-ine. I am going to go ahead and finish up with the Elizabethan Green. The olive thread has enough dark patches that it will work. I substituted a bolder red for the red in Autumn Arbor. I felt that one was way too brown a red for me. I still have three ornaments to stitch. Heading for the home stretch.

Stump Work

At the Oatlands EGA meeting today, Betsy taught a stump work project. I have succeeded in avoiding this type of embroidery for years, but decided to give this a try. Now I wonder why I have been avoiding it. What we did is pretty much crewel with padding and a few twists. I haven't finished the project yet, but have made a nice start.

I have been working on my 15 projects. The past several days have been devoted to the Red Bird Sampler by Pam Darney. I have made some nice progress there, and have decided it will be an anniversary present for my son and his wife next year. But, it might wait until 2013 ... their 15th anniversary. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

My nephew's wife is still awaiting the birth of their baby. She is getting fidgety, and has said that if it doesn't come by the 25th, she is going to be induced. I remember those last few days ... by then you are terribly tired of being pregnant, and can't wait for the baby to be born. Stella is taking her time.

I'm Late, I'm Late For a Very Important Date

Well, perhaps not a date, but late.
I planned to post at least every 3 - 4 days. Most of the time I don't make that self-imposed deadline. Probably a good thing I am no longer employed because this retirements stuff takes up too much time. I have been retired 14 years, and every day has so much to pack into it that I still wonder that I had time to actually work.

You would think that by now I would have learned to organize my day better, but, no. Days are pretty haphazard. I stitch when I feel like it, and work other things around the stitching.

I have filled up the memory card for my camera and need to make a trip to get a new battery ... either that or take pictures off of the memory card. To take pictures off, I need to make big decisions. . . do I really need 36 shots of my granddaughter at her baton twirling competition, or would 10 do? Do I really need all of the pictures of my progress on the 15 Projects challenge? Probably not, but until I am through with the challenge, I am keeping them. And since I am not deleting them, and I am NOT deleting the granddaughter's pictures, well ... see you at the memory card selection.

Oh, and I have now finished 7 swans a swimming, with no place on the card for a picture.

I can't believe it has been that long since I was here ... 5 days.

I finished 8 maids a-milking. Here it is ... but I don't like the picture I took. This was the best of the lot and it is a bit blurry around the edges.

I have been working on a couple of things outside of the 15 challenge projects. I have started the miniature (on 40 count gauze) tapestry - Sense of Hearing. I am also working on an Ink Circles project - Cirque de ... the English version is Diamonds, but I forget the French. Instead of making it a one color project, I am filling the insides of the diamonds with some bright colors, magenta, turquoise, emerald green .... now I need to decide on colors for the smaller areas. I keep wanting a yellow or gold, but haven't hit the right one yet. I am still working on finishing the toys for the Toy Chest, and have started another Betsy Morgan project, Flowers for Betty. Right now I am still outlining the pieces.

My oldest grandson turns 11 this month. He is a pretty good baseball player, and has joined a new team in his new area. We got him some baseball equipment for Christmas, so we continued that for his birthday. He will get a gift certificate to use at a local sporting goods store. He still wants a catcher's mitt, and they need to fit his hand, not mine. [He and his family don't check on this blog, so I can post this here BEFORE his birthday.]

We will celebrate our 50th anniversary this year. I don't fell like it could have possibly been that long. We are talking about visiting Victoria Island, in Canada for our gift to ourselves. We were there for a few hours as part of our trip to Alaska some years ago. It wasn't long enough, and we have been looking for an excuse to return.