Stitchy weekend

Half of my family is away this weekend - leaving me with one small, easy to care for little boy. :-)

So, some serious stitching has already been under way. I had some good stitching friends over last night and we chatted and stitched until 11:30 - I am so lucky to have found women who share this love of stitching. We try to meet every Wednesday during the littlest hooligans' nap time and sometimes we are lucky enough to sneak in an extra bit of time during the week as well.

I have made a serious start on my 3rd enormous Landmark design, "Shushi". Here is the top left corner. I have completed the black row at across the entire top of the design and am really enjoying this project. Tonight I hope to get a large chunk of that right corner filled in.

I have so many BAP's on the scroll rods right now that I really, really needed a quick and satisfying project that I could actually finish. This Mill Hill Bead kit - "Noel" christmas ornament is perfect!! I like working on the perforated paper and it is such a cute little design that it is hard to put down. I started it on Wednesday night and hope to finish it up this weekend.

Happy Friday everyone!

Caroline

Pattern to give away - LHN's Holly and Berries

I meant to post this ages ago. If there is anyone reading who would like my used copy of LHN's Holly and Berries design leave me a comment and I'll pull a name out of a hat. It is such a cute pattern and I really, really like the box ornament way that I finished it. I may even still have a copy of those directions kicking around. (No promises on that though LOL, not with my organizational skillz.........) I'll wait a week before choosing someone. so...... that would be next Tuesday, June 8th.

Part 4 finished!

Papillon Creations - "How Does Your Garden Grow?" - specialty version - 4 of 12 parts now complete :-)

Long time, no post....

So - it's been awhile. A long while.....

Life is bumping along, children are growing and animals are shedding. Ginger - the puppy is now 6 months and house trained, but still jumping up on all of us despite our best training efforts. We had her spayed just this morning, and she is now back at home, resting in her crate.

I've been stitching a lot - so I'll post some update photos on WIPs over the next week. Most recently is some progress on Papillon Creations "How Does Your Garden Grow?" which is the design for my LNS stitch along.

From now on, unless I'm posting a beauty shot of a finished project, I'll just use my iPhone for pictures so as to update more often as it's pretty easy to do it that way. So, the pictures won't be great but at least I'll keep a better journal of my progresses.

My brother and my SIL had their first baby and I'm the aunt of a beautiful baby girl. We'll meet the newest hooligan tomorrow. Very exciting! Life really is good sometimes, isn't it?

Happy Friday - I wish you all serious cases of stitchy butt this weekend.

TA-DAH!!

So - I waited until now to post because I felt silly posting more update photos here of the same old same old.....

I am so thrilled that this is finished. It needs a good steam bath to fluff up the stitches and it will look better once stretched but IT'S DONE!!

Makhi by Landmark design - started Feb 2009 and finished Feb 2010. mbroider asked how big it is (and I don't think I've been asked that before!) It is stitched on 16 count aida and is 187x187 stitches which makes it about 12" square. This is the second Landmark design that I've finished of 10 that I purchased 2 years ago.

I finished Kazakh early last year.

I have started a third just today - I'll try to post the details tomorrow. I adore these patterns and hope to one day hang them in the stairwell.

Ginger, our puppy is starting to settle in and it has been wonderful to see our older dog becoming more playful again. The pooping continues, but I seem to be learning her schedule ;)

Do you think she'll grow into her ears??!?

Good night all,

New hooligan in the 'hood and Makhi again

I can see the finish line on this behemoth. I estimate another month for completion - barring any distractions like......

like this!!! This is our newest hooligan - Ginger. She is 8 weeks old, mostly shepherd with a little lab thrown in for good luck. I am smitten, and Madi - our most senior hooligan of the canine kind has taken to her like peanut butter in a kong. She needs to stop pooping on my floor though - it's really kinda gross. Any tips for house training? Madi was pretty easy - this one, we walked outside for an hour and then she came inside and pooped all over the floor. Discouraging, no? Good thing she's cute.

Good evening,

Caroline

Trust Your Instincts

There has been a man hanging around the school yard at drop off time that I always just assumed was a grand parent since I only ever saw him at drop off time in the morning. Something was bugging me, but I always brushed it off. On Monday, that feeling got a little stronger and I mentioned this man to my daughter and described him carefully. On Wednesday I saw him again with his cute little dog and knew for sure that I had to go and say something even if I was wrong - it didn't matter. What was wrong? I have never, ever seen this man with a child. When I started thinking about it - I knew that I met him on the sidewalk at least two years ago because hooligan #2 wasn't around and I wasn't pregnant. I remember the meeting because he had the sweetest little white dog I've ever seen. Seriously - I'm a big dog person, little dogs not so much. This was a lovely little dog and I commented on it - never thought about it again until everything else started bothering me. I tallied up all the times I had seen him.... nope - never any kids with him. Now alarm bells are ringing wildly...... In two years he has gone from just walking on the sidewalk to now walking his little dog almost right up to the school doors and I think this all started because I noticed he had a routine and that routine seemed to becoming more and more frequent. This morning we confirmed that he was driving his car to the school, waiting until the children were a beehive of activity arriving at the school and then he got out of his van with his little dog and slowly walked up and down the school side walk. When the children were all inside - he got back in his van and left.

Long story short - the police have his address, he has no record - but he will be banned from school property and police will be called if he is ever seen on school property again.

If something doesn't feel right, it probably isn't.