New Mexico

Hello Friends!

   Thank you for all your kind comments on my travel. I left home on Friday since I was going to have to travel on Sunday anyway. I wanted to see some of the museums in Santa Fe. I got a great deal on my hotel. When I got in on Friday afternoon it looked like this...

So no museums for me on Friday night. That was ok. I had a nice relaxed evening. I had picked up a couple of things at Trader Joe's.

This is what I had for dinner. What a great salad, I think it is my new favorite.

The next morning was clear so I headed up the road. This is through one of the National Forests. I took my time and was very careful.

This was my destination.

Wow!

Just beautiful and so nice to see it in the snow

See the bridge in the background.

A cold day to be out selling jewelry. She assured me it would be worth being outside and there would be a lot of people visiting the bridge.

It was just a gorgeous day.

I am sure that the skiers were very happy!

My next stop was the Kit Carson Museum.

What an amazing life. Definitely worth the stop.

What a sweet sewing bag. Mrs. Carson probably only had one pair of scissors, unlike the 20+ that many of us have.

The house was built in 1825.

Then it was time for lunch.

I had some chicken enchiladas with both red and green chile sauce, Christmas style. The sauces are amazing. Eating Mexican food on the east coast is just not the same, I have been spoiled.

  After that I headed back to Santa Fe.

There is stunning scenery everywhere.

I could have spent some time looking in galleries and other museums but decided on an early night, the snow made things messy.

   This morning the day started like this..

Just beautiful. I packed up and headed back to Santa Fe.

I stopped to see Camel Rock Monument.

What a way to start the day.

After that I headed over to The International Folk Art Museum, but I am going to do a separate post on my visit there.Too many beautiful things to share!

I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend! Thanks as always for stopping by and your kind comments.

Chris

First Finish

Hiya!

  How was this week for you? Did you stitch a lot? Start a new project every day?

I finished the last bonus chart from Lizzie Kate's Very Scary. I hate that these linen colors are not showing up. This is a bright orange from Weeks.

  I cooked some more of the Hello Fresh kits.

This was our favorite, cheesy stovetop shells with roasted carrots. Yum!

It was comfort food that was needed due to the crazy cold weather change. It feels so much colder when it was 50 degrees warmer a week or 2 ago. Brr!

  So my travel schedule is starting to pick up. It was so hard to pack... I have a new suitcase... I have been home for a month wearing jeans, pajamas and workout clothes...so why can't I find that scarf that goes with this dress?!? The struggle is real!

   That is all for now. The next 3 weeks are going to be busy!!!!

    Thanks for stopping by!

Chris

First Day 2016

Happy New Year!

  Rich and I went to a New Years party at a friends house. It was nice catching up with this group. Once the ball dropped we got out of there as soon as we could. We have an hour drive so we got to bed at 2:30am. Way too late.

How did you celebrate?

Rich and I went to a different trail head in the Uwaharries. We didn't get an early start, otherwise we may have gone to a different park.

The rain was gone but it was still cloudy. 

This was a nice trail. It is fun exploring different areas. Many Sate and National parks host First Day Hikes.

How did you spend the first day of 2016?

The sun was out today so I got a picture of my 2015 TUSAL jar and my selection for my 2016 jar.

I chose this as my First Day start. It is M. Quertier by the Scarlet Letter. It is one of the SALs for the Scarlet Letter group for 2016. The kit has been in my stash for a long time. It is on the 35ct linen that was in the kit with black silk.

Here is my start. Not much but it is a start. I really enjoy stitching Quaker samplers. I feel a great amount of accomplishment when I finish a motif and I also enjoy monochromes.

Here is the aftermath of my fall last Sunday. I think it is on the recovery side and will start turning green and yellow.

So not a bad start to the New Year.

Here is wishing my readers all good things in 2016!

Chris

2015...The Stitching Year That Was....

The end of the year is a time to look back...

The best things that happened in 2015 were paying off our house.

Also being able to take care of Rich

(also the worst thing) during his surgery and recovery.

I had the chance to visit a lot of new places, see friends old and new, I got to hike in different places, try new foods...

I also made a change from reading books on my flights to listening to audio books and stitching so I finished a bunch of Bent Creek kits that were in my stash.

I also finished the Margaret Randolph Sampler from The Scarlet Letter that I had started a couple of years ago as a travel piece.

Nancy Johnson was started in 2014 and finished in 2015.

I really enjoyed stitching the Lizzie Kate Very Scary mystery sampler.

Here's to lots of finishes in 2016!

Happy New Year! 

Wishing all the best to you and yours.

Chris

The Holidays

Hello Friends & Folk!

   So Christmas has gone and now we turn to the new year. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas full of good things.

   Here in North Carolina we had lots of rain.

Ugh! We weathered these storm fine but there were so many who lost homes and cars as these storms moved across the country. 

   I was hoping to hike most days during the holiday break but the rain hasn't allowed that.

Yikes. Rich and I did go out and hike on Sunday when it stopped raining. I fell crossing the stream. Now I have a huge black and blue on my right upper thigh and bruised and skinned knees. 

  Rich and I had a lovely Christmas dinner at my Mom's. 

Then we drove around the Sunset Hills neighborhood in Greensboro to see all the light balls that are hung in the trees.

This picture has the full moon in it too.

  I have a few small finishes to share..

This is Scary from the Lizzie Kate Very Scary Mystery. I have started Spooky.

This is a Bent Creek kit called the Snowman. If you would like this chart I will pass it along. If there are multiple people I will draw a name on Sunday.

  I also received a box of stash Christmas week. I ordered from Needlecraft Corner in Baltimore. They give you an extra discount your birthday month so I make a list...

I bought the Fabric and floss for 2 of the Halloween pieces by With thy Need and Thread. I had picked up the charts at the Attic. I am so excited about these projects.

   Drema at Needlecraft Corner sent a couple of presents along...

The sweet Shepherd's Bush fob which I am using to bling up one of the floss rings that I am using for a current project.

The waxers are a Christmas present. Look at that gingerbread man! Thank you Drema! You made my day. 

  Since I have been home I ordered another box of the meal kits. Rich and I are both enjoying them.

  This week we had...

Winter Risotto

Tuscan Seitan Bolognese.

And Turnip and Pear soup garnished with radishes, pepitas and chives and a dollop of sour cream.

They were all very good. It is fun using different ingredients.

Today I made Quinoa Vegetarian Chili in the crockpot. It was really good. I am so glad that Rich is enjoying these different meals.

   I have been catching up with lots of friends since I have been home. It usually means lunch or dinner out. I am so thankful for the chance to catch up with everyone. Rich used up all of his time off for his surgery so I have been free to do this. 

  I am not sure what our New Years plan is. We have been invited to a friends for a party and we usually do a First Day hike. Not sure where we'll hike. There are lots of parks hosting group hikes.

   So I think that we are caught up.

Wishing you and yours a Happy New Year and all the best in 2016!

Chris

Merry Christmas!

With love,

Chris & Rich 

Binx & Beau

December

Hello Friends!

  How has the month been treating you? I hope that it has been stress free and filled with some fun.

  After my trip to Connecticut I went to Texas and had a lovely night catching up with a friend from my days at Lechters. We had amazing Fajitas at http://www.culinaryhouston.com/2014/03/fajitas-mama-ninfas-original-recipe.html

in Houston. Unfortunately I didn't take any pics. 

  On Sunday Rich and I hit up some local holiday markets to do some Christmas shopping.

The first stop was the Greensboro Curb Market. These pigs made me laugh. The artisan was a hoot too.

I spotted some minions.

There were wonderful pottery, tea, and other food vendors. It made it easy to cross some shopping off my list.

  Since it was a beautiful day we headed over to Saxpahaw, NC for their holiday market.

This market was ok. The Greensboro market had more interesting vendors for me.

Everything here is situated in an old textile mill that they have repurposed. Since it was lunch time we went upstairs to The Eddy for lunch.

Everything is locally sourced. They bake their own bread and rolls, make their own  ketchup. This was a wonderful burger. I hope to have the chance to visit there again.

The Haw River trail is nearby so after lunch we took a little walk. It was a really lovely day.

   I was able to catch up with my friends from when I worked at the health department in Greensboro. We attended the production of Beautiful Star at Triad Stage in Greensboro.

It was such a nice evening.

   The next weekend started a week of vacation for me. It started off with the Piedmont Heritage Sampler Guild's Christmas party.

We meet for breakfast since it is such a busy time of year. Our hostess, Elizabeth, always has her beautiful Christmas decorations out. She is an amazing stitcher and it is always so inspiring to see her stitching.

Louise gifted us with this lovely design. Louise's design company is Cherished Stitches.

It was such a lovely morning. I am thankful to have been home and to have caught up with this group.

  I also caught up with my friend Susan.

  Look at this amazing ornament that she made me! What a treasure. Thank you my friend. She also gifted me with this year's Walker Shortbread snowman tin. The one on the left is this year's and the one in the right is last year's. I love these guys! Thank you for everything.

  Monday I had 2 Doctor appointments, took my Mom shopping, ordered new glasses and got a haircut. It was so nice to have a day to take care of all of this stuff.

   On Tuesday I headed up the road to Williamsburg with the Louise (Cherished Stitches) and Robin (Threads Of Memory) for a couple of days in Williamsburg.

I love walking around Williamsburg and looking at the decorations.

They are so lovely.

One of the houses was celebrating the new Star Wars movie. There was a Yoda, Chewbacca and Princess Lea wreath. This is the light saber one. I have not seen the movie yet. We may go after all the excitement dies down. How about you?

  Louise made me this treasure for Christmas.

It is a gorgeous pinball. It is amazing! Thank you Louise!

The goal of the trip to Williamsburg was to take it easy and relax and we accomplished that. We walked around the antique mall and had tea at the tearoom there.

Lovely.

Yum!

We went to Haus Tirol to do some stash enhancement.

And we stitched!

I made some progress on Mary Allen.

It was a perfect getaway.

  I received another wonderful package from Marly over at Samplers and Santas.

Look at these beautiful boxes. One for Rich and one for me. Thank you my dear friend. Rich and I are both so happy. Rich has put some of his treasures in his.

  I go back to work tomorrow and it is going to be a struggle! I will then be off from the 24th to the new year. 

I am going to leave you with this festive picture of Binx.

Thanks for catching up with me. I hope that you have a wonderful Christmas week filled with friends and family!!

Chris