February Funk

Well it has been a busy week. I don't have any stitching to show.

I am hoping that this upcoming week will be a little kinder to me.
I am going to try working on M.A. Tipper for the rest of the weekend and will start March off by working on a spring exchange piece that I need to stitch. I still have to decide on a pattern.

Tomorrow it is off to my second job from 10 to 6,then dinner and some Oscar watching. I need to make myself go to bed early this week. I guess that means now.
Goodnight and thanks for stopping by.


Chris
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

An Update

Hello Friends,
   I hope that everyone has had a great week. Thank you for all your kind comments about Lex and my M.A.Tipper sampler.
   Things were pretty busy this week so I did not get much stitching done. I did receive 2 new sampler books to add to my library. The new Whitney catalog is fabulous as always and the other book has some great samplers in it too.
  I worked Monday night at my 2nd job until 10pm, Wednesday I had dinner with 2 friends from my 2nd job that I haven't seen in about a year and Thursday night was EGA. It was my turn to be stitcher of the month and talk about my stitching. So, I brought a long a couple of my Southern samplers and talked about why I like stitching samplers. My friend is borrowing them for a lecture she is giving on Southern Samplers. There is no Powerpoint available so she will have stitched examples in stead. So my girls are on tour :) Lucky them :)

 I also received these 2 magazines this week. I like both the samplers that are charted in SANQ and this issue of Just Cross Stitch has a couple of great designs. I really like the Blue Ribbon Designs chart. The last 2 issues have been really good.

Today I drove to Raleigh to meet a friend for lunch and this is where we ended up. I guess it is the cool place to eat BBQ. As you can see it was packed. The interior was nice and upscale but the menu was all types of BBQ. We started with a cast iron skillet of pumpkin cornbread, more like a dessert than a starter. Then onto BBQ. I had brisket and my friend had chopped with a side of greens and fried okra. You don't get more southern than that! Afterwards we went to see The King's Speech. I LOVED it! Colin Firth and Geoffry Rush were amazing. I hope that they both win. I think Christian Bale was pretty amazing in the Fighter too.
After the fun I hit Trader Joe's to stock up and then headed home.
   The beginning of the year I downloaded the Lose It app for my Ipad. It helps you set a weight loss goal and lets you track your food and exercise. The result is so far I have lost 10 pounds. It has taken some time but is not really drastic. So I will continue my slow and steady journey. actually finally let some of the girls talk me into a Zumba class on Friday. It was a lot of fun. I may have to find a class in Asheboro.
  I really need to go stitch now. I have signed up for a spring exchange and will be taking a little break from my Bristol sampler. Maybe I will start to hunt down a chart that I want to stitch soon I have a couple of options in my mind but I think I need to search more.

Have a good evening and a great Sunday!

Chris

Moving on

Thanks everyone for your kind words about Lex. She was a big personality. I am trying to move on.

So I guess a weekend recap is in order. Rich and I managed to get a hike in. It was a beautiful day here, in the mid 50's. We ran up to Greensboro to make our monthly trip to Costco(remind me not to go there on the weekends in the afternoon!). After that we went up to Guilford Courthouse and did some hiking on the Nathaniel Greene trail. This trail is pretty soft and takes you along the side of Lake Brandt. After that we stopped at the local PetSmart to get information on the cat adoption program. I am not ready yet but soon I am sure that we will adopt a couple more cats. They had some very sweet cats available.Then it was off to the movies. Rich and I went to see The Way Back. It was a little long but an amazing story. Next week I am looking forward to seeing The Unknown.

Today I went for a walk before going into work 10 to 6. It was one of those days where you couldn't make much headway. UGH. I got home to a fabulous pesto and tomato pizza that Rich made and then a some TV and stitching.

Not much progress this past week but I am continuing to work on this.

I have not received my new SANQ yest but I am anxious to see the samplers that everyone is talking about. A giraffe? I may get distracted!

I did get my sweet exhibit guide for the exhibit at The Polk House Museum in TN. I was hoping to make it out to the symposium but I just won't be able to.

I have a busy week ahead, both jobs Monday, dinner with friends on Wednesday, EGA on Thursday, and lunch and a movie with a friend on Saturday. So... lots of talking about stitching coming up...but not much stitching :)

I am starting to go through some of my stash. Stay tuned.

Happy Valentine's Day to you and Yours!

Blessings

Chris

Goodbye Lex

Today we had to say goodbye to our dear friend Lex. She and her sister were adopted by us about 7 or 8 years ago. They were 7 years old at that time and had been in a cage at our vets for 3 months until we brought them home. I don't know what her life was like before. Lex and Sable were not lap cats and did not like to be held. Sable was the dominant of the 2 and she used to jump Lex and hiss at her. After coming to live with us they both settled into their own routines. At bedtime Lex would always come and lay beside me while I read before turning off the light. Sable would sit with Rich. Last spring we lost Sable. Her heart was failing. Since then Lex has enjoyed being a single cat in the house. Since last October she has decided she really liked being a lap cat and would spend time with me in the evening. She had been having some arthritis trouble. The last couple of days she really took a turn for the worse. She did not eat or drink and found a place to curl up in. Rich took her to the vet today and he didn't even want to Xray her because her heart may not take it. So we made the tough decision and she now sleeps next to her sister out by our garden. The house seems so empty.

Sunshine

Finally a nice clear sunny day. The past 2 have been very dreary, rainy and cold. This is the stream that borders our property. Most of the time you can't hear it running and then when we have a big rain it roars by the house. I do like the sound of the stream when it is running.

Rich spent Friday and Saturday working on cleaning down trees on the property and burning them. This is the tree that came down before Xmas at the top of the driveway. the ground was too soft for him to get the trunk out.
  I spent the weekend cooking and stitching. I know that there is some housework that I should be doing.
For lunch yesterday I made the Pioneer Woman's Cauliflower soup. YUM!  The recipe make a big pot of soup. It was perfect for a cold day. I will definitely make this again.

Poor Rich, I am making him eat all these different things. When we first got married he would never have eaten this!

Then since I had some half & half left I made a batch of scones. I think that they didn't come out well but Rich is happy, I shouldn't be eating them anyway. I will have to search for another recipe.

This morning we woke up to a clear sunny day so we went for a hike. I am still trying to hike once a week. I would like to do more but my schedule doesn't allow it.The days are getting longer so I will try and go for a walk after dinner soon. The upcoming week is not so hectic. I am working my other job on Monday night and have Dr's appointments on Monday and Friday. I am getting scanned for orthodics on Monday and Friday is just a maintenance check. So I should get some stitching done during the week.

Thanks everyone for your comment's on M.A. I am making some progress. It is nice to stitch some other motifs. The verse is coming up soon, so more letters :)

I hope that you are all having a great weekend.

Peace

Chris

A change in plans

I woke up this morning to freezing rain. Yuck ! I was supposed to leave and drive up to Williamsburg to be there to have lunch with a friend. So, erring on the side of caution I decided to stay home. I had not signed up for a class, I was just going to visit and hang out. It has been nasty and cold all day so I am very happy with the decision except for missing my friends. Rich would have driven up with me but I knew that he had been planning to burn this weekend. We have 5 acres and most of it is wooded so we end up with lots of downed trees over the year so once a year he has accumulated a large pile that he then burns. The poor guy has been outside all day in the rain. I made a quiche for lunch and Rich actually ate some. He really doesn't like eggs that much. I am still using up leftover ham from last week. It was nice and hot meal for a cold rainy day.

Things have also been a little stressful here over the last couple of weeks but I am looking forward to the fact that some things have finally been resolved and hopefully we can move forward. I think Rich and I are both tired from stress. So hopefully we can recharge over the weekend. Spend some time together, maybe see a movie, go for a hike.

I have worked a little more on M.A. Are you guys tired of seeing red? I really don't want to pick up anything else because it will be easy to get distracted from this sampler. All of your kind comments are keeping me motivated. Hopefully I will make some more progress this weekend. I am going to look through some of my stash too.

That's it from here. Stay safe and warm!

Chris

BUSY!!

Hello Friends,
   I hope that everyone is home safe and warm. I know that this has been a tough winter in many places and now there is new big weather event going on. I hope everyone gets some time to stay home and stitch :) There has only been some drizzle here in NC. Sunday it was almost 70 degrees and beautiful.
  I have been absent because things have been pretty hectic here. Let me back up to Saturday. I worked at my part time job 9 to 6, came home had some dinner then dragged Rich out to the mall. I had to get my free item from Bath & Body Works for their Facebook fans. If you follow them on FB they have giveaways some weekends. Last weeks was a candle and I also needed to pick up some Valentine's Day treats. After coming home I tried to stitch some but could not get the fabric situated right and kept catching the top of it. I was frustrated since I am finally into some of the designs versus the alphabets.
  Sunday Rich and I got out early and went for a 2 hour hike, then it was up to Greensboro to meet my friend and have some lunch and then go to the Greensboro Coliseum to see the Men's Long Program in the US National Championship. All I can say is WOW!!! it was amazing to see all those skaters.

There were so many wonderful performances. Congratulations to Ryan Bradley. He seemed to be having such a good time and not taking himself too seriously :) After the Men's competition we also had tickets for the skating extravaganza. It was so great to see performances from all the top skaters in ice dancing, women's and the pairs. One of the most amazing performances was from a group of synchronized skaters from NYC. Did you know that there was such a thing? It was a team of about 24 girl's from 15 to 18 and they compete all over the world. It was beautiful. I didn't get home until after midnight but was it worth it!
  Monday was a long day, both jobs. Leave the house at 7am..get home at 10:30 pm. Today I worked at 3 different locations in the county. It was kind of fun to catch up with some people that I haven't seen in awhile. And tonight we went to see The Mechanic. You gotta love Jason Statham :)
Bottom line is...no stitching. Hopefully tomorrow night and some Thursday!!
  I am going up to Williamsburg on Friday to meet up with some stitching friends at Jeanine's Gathering of Embroiderers. I am not taking any classes so I am planning on meals with friends, hitting the outlets, some stash acquirement, going to see The King's Speech, stocking up at Trader Joe's before my ride home and I am sure much more. There will be some updates from the road :)
  I am looking forward to the Nashville releases. The new Prairie Schoolers are out, I need those. What other designers are you excited about?

Well, I need to get some sleep so that I can manage to concentrate and do some stitching tomorrow :)

Sweet Dreams :)


Chris