Here is my progress on my first HAED - Little Fairies at Play.  I am stitching it on 18ct.  It has a total of 146,700 stitches and so far I have completed 2,700.  I have the first page (out of 28 pages) about 1/2 done.  I am really enjoying stitching this one.  There is alot of confetti stitches.

We celebrated Christmas with my family on Christmas Eve for Breakfast.  It is a first as usually we do breakfast on Christmas Day.  But my brother is a pastor and Christmas Day being on a Sunday this year would have been to busy to stay for long.  This is a picture of me with my Dad, Sister and Brother.  It was a warm (well 40 degrees is warm in December) and sunny day.  I went for my 2 mile walk once I got home and then played games with my DD and her Fiance all afternoon.  Then back to stitching.

  Today I will be going back to my Dad's house to play games with my sister and my kids.  I need to bake a pie yet before I go over there.

TUSAL

 Here are my orts for December.  I had alot of stitching time and my small glass was overflowing.

This is all of my orts for the year in my frog box.  I enjoyed participating in the 2011 TUSAL.  I have signed up for the 2012 TUSAL.  I have a different container (much larger) that I will add to each month and not have to empty out until the end of the year.  At least that is the plan.  Maybe I will stitch so much I will need a second container.

I stitched this one up this week.  Started it 12/11/11 and finished it up last night 12/16/11.  It is from the June 2011 issue of Cross Country Stitching.  This is my last finish for 2011.  That makes 7 finishes this year.  I guess I will have an extra day this week of stitching on my HAED.

I worked on Wintertime this past week and it is close to being done.  It should be one of my first finishes in 2012.  I have been making a list of the projects I want to do in 2012.  Trying to pick out some small and medium ones but a lot of larger ones did make my list.  I am trying to have several kitted up and ready to go as slots in my rotation open up.  I can see three that will finish up in 2012.

I did start a new small one on Sunday to take the place of Freight Train that I finished up.  Hope to have it finished by the end of the week depending on stitching time.

My DD will be home Saturday for 3 weeks.  Looking forward to doing things with her when she is here.

Here is Autumn Angel by Joan Elliott.  I had to move my scroll rods this week.  There is alot of blending filament in her wings which is not showing up.  It makes for slow stitching.


The weather forecast for this coming week is cold with snow.  Ugh.  I am already counting down the days until spring and it is not even officially winter yet.

I am still slowly losing weight.  I only gained 1lb during Thanksgiving.  I still manage to walk outside a few times a week.  I am also walking on the treadmill after work in the exercise room.

This week I worked on Butterfly Fairy - Day.  I got alot done.  My DD and her BF were home for 4 days.  I cooked alot of large meals as he is a big eater.  We had beef and noodles with mashed potatos (I have been told this is the German way); Thanksgiving meal at my brother and sister-in-laws (very good and I spent the whole day there with my side of the family); chili and Saturday we cooked out on the grill -hamburgers.  I also baked brownies, chocolate chip cookies and chocolate cake.  This also resulted in alot of dish washing.  :)  They are back at college now and will return in 3 weeks for Christmas.

TUSAL

I have a full container this time.  Stitching slump is over.

 This is the HAED I have started.  Little Fairies at Play by Mary Thompson.

I started it 11/13/11 and got about 1100 stitches in.  I am stitching it on 18 ct.  If I were to put in 100 stitches a week it would take me 5.5 years.  Since I only stitch on this once a month, it could take longer.

I am officially done raking leaves for the year.  I have 32 bags waiting for pickup.  Even if more fall down, I am done.

I am still walking 3 miles a day.  I have lost a total of 12lbs this year.  I just need to keep it off until warm weather comes around again.  So hard to do with all of the Holiday food looming.

I put the last stitches into Freight Train by Patricia Gaskins last night.  There was alot of backstitching on this one.  I started it on 8/30/09 and Finished it 11/12/11.  I have another small project already kitted up to take its place in my rotation.

Today I will finally be starting my HAED.  Watch next week for progress pictures.

I spent 4 hours raking leaves out of my front yard.  We had a big wind come thru Wednesday and blew all of the neighbor's leaves into my yard.  Then the wind came back last night and it is still very windy today.  Yup my front yard is full of leaves again.  I have 27 bags of leaves sitting out for pickup.  At least I know I am not raking the same leaves over and over again.

I made a lot of progress on Wintertime this past week.  I have also been raking alot of leaves and my tree is still full.  Today is supposed to be our last sunny/warm day so I will get out and rake some more leaves this afternoon.

This week I am doing the backstitching on Freight Train.  I am off Tue and Wed so maybe I will get it done this week.

I worked on Autumn Angel this past week.  I got quite alot done as I had to move my scroll rods.  I think my stitching slump is over!

Last Sunday my son and I went to the movies to see Johnny English Reborn with Rowan Atkinson.  This was my son's pick as he has enjoyed Rowan as Mr. Bean.  It was an ok movie.  Today I am going with my sister to see the remake of Footloose.

I only read one book in the month of October.  I guess I was in a reading slump as well.


I have 7  vacation days scheduled for November (not counting Thanksgiving).  Some of those days will be filled with yard work.  I do hope to squeeze in a visit to my lns.

TUSAL

Not many orts this time as I have been in a stitching slump.  But I think I am coming out of it.

I think my stitching slump is over.  Here is progress on Day.  It feels good to be back stitching.  I am still slowly cleaning out the clutter of my house.  I am still trying to walk 3 miles a day.  Now that it is rainy and colder I will try to walk on the treadmill at work.  I have lost 5lbs so far and do not want to lose that progress.

Here is a picture of a toad I found while walking last week.  I took it with my new blackberry that work provided all of us.  I now have to take calls and stay up on my e-mail when I am not in the office.  But I can also use it for personal use.  Since I did not have a cell phone it is nice to have.

 Well again not much stitching was done this week.  I just can't seem to get motivated.  This week I should be working on my new start HAED but I am just not feeling it.

I have been cleaning my house still.  I found an old video tape - Pure Country with George Strait.  I think I will watch it sometime soon and then move it out of the house.

With the beautiful weather we have been having I have been walking 3 miles a day - one at lunch and two after supper.  This has resulted in losing 3lbs.  Any weight loss is a good loss.

 Not much stitching was done this past week.  Still in a slump. But I have been busy.

 I finally called to get my dryer vent cleaned.  I have not had a working dryer in 6 years.  That meant I had to clean out my laundry room.  I threw a bunch of stuff away.

Organized the rest.  Scrubbed the floors and walls.  Saturday I did laundry in my new/clean room for the first time - start to finish.  I usually just washed my clothes at home, hung them out to dry in the summer and then hit the laundramat in the evening to dry what was left.  Since I am on a cleaning roll, I have also begun to clean my kitchen.  I filled my garbage can again yesterday so no more throwing out until after Wednesday - garbage day.

It is supposed to be nice out today so I will be mowing the lawn and working outside.  I am just too restless to sit and stitch.

 Progress on Autumn Angel as of 9/24/11.  I am in a stitching slump and have barely picked up my needle.

 Progress on Day as of 9/17/11.  Again not much progress.

And here is my daughter and her fiance.  I visited them at college this past Saturday.  They are looking at picking a date in 2013.

My computer at home has been broke for 3 weeks now.  So I am posting from work. (shhh don't tell).

TUSAL

Not as many orts as usual as I have hit a stitching slump.

 Instead of starting my HAED this rotation, I started and finished Pray Often from Cross Country Stitching August 2011.  I started this on 9/4/11 and finished it yesterday 9/10/11.    Most of my projects are large/long term that it is nice to do a small one every once in a while.

On Saturdays, my sister and I often go for a walk around my Dad's neighborhood.  Yesterday the weather was nice and off we went.  We passed a house having a garage sale and it looked like they did not have the usual stuff (clothes, kids toys etc).  So we stopped to have a look.  They had a huge collection of teddy bear figurines, frog figurines and different craft items.  I bought these scroll rods and floss box for $2.50.  Couldn't pass it up.  I didn't buy any more frogs as I am running out of room to put them.  Now I can have even more projects going on scroll rods.  I plan on buying the velcro to put on the rods and material so I don't have to try and put the material thru the splits.

I have been up watching the 9/11 memorial services on CNN.  There are no words to express the emotions this brings back.

I have been working on the backstitching on Freight Train.  I have finished 3 cars and have 3 to go.  The end is in site.  Hopefully next time it is up in my rotation.

I did start a new project on Sunday and hope to finish it by this Saturday.  I picked something small as most of my wips are large.

TUSAL

Here are my orts for the TUSAL.  At the bottom are the bright oranges and greens of Garden Seed Packets that I finished earlier this month.  Then there are lots of shades of grey, blues, white and black as it seems my other projects have more muted colors.

 I got this cute frog ring to add to my frog collection yesterday at the mall.  They had a huge selection of gaudy rings for $2.  It is too large to wear as it catches on everything.  But it was so cute I had to have it.

I worked on Wintertime this past week.  It is moving right along.  Tuesday my work sponsored a night of bowling.  My son and I bowled 4 games.  I am not a good bowler (best score was 104) but we had alot of fun. 

 This week I worked on Autumn Angel by Joan Elliott.  I stitched alot on the wings which have pearl blending filament in them.  It does add sparkle.  This is one of her older designs.

 We stopped at Half Price books yesterday and I got another book with Joan Elliott patterns.

 Here are a few that caught my eye and will be added to the to do list.

I think I will always have at least one Joan Elliott piece in my rotation.  Now I also need to add a TW into my rotation as I have alot of her designs that I want to stitch.

Dropped my daughter off at college on Monday.  She has a bigger room this year.  Very nice especially compared to the dorm rooms at Cedar Point.  Tuesday I took my son back to school shopping for some new clothes. And then it was back to work for the rest of the week.  School starts tomorrow so our summer routine ends and the school routine begins.

More progress on Butterfly Fairy Day.  I really enjoy stitching this one.


Picked up my daughter from Cedar Point on Friday.  It was a long day of driving.  Saturday we did laundry, grocery shopping, and had a cookout so the grandparents could visit with my daughter before she heads back to school.  Monday saw me on the road again but a shorter drive to Ball State to drop my daughter off.  She has a really nice room this year (especially compared to the tiny 3 person dorm room at Cedar Point).


I am off tomorrow also and will take my son school shopping.  He is still having problems eating solid food.  Then back to work on Wednesday.

I finished Garden Seed Packets by Joan Elliott late last night/early this morning.  I really love the colors in this one.

I did buy longer dowl rods to make my own scroll rods.  I just need to get some of that velcro to put on the rods and my material.  Hopefully I will have everything ready to go the next time this slot in my rotation comes up.

My son has a really bad overbite and Wednesday he got braces on his upper teeth and a Herbst device installed.  He has not been able to eat solid food since then.  He is such a skinny kid already.  But his overbite looks so much better already.  I also registered him for school on Friday.  He has 2 more weeks of summer before school starts again.

Friday we will be going back to Cedar Point to pick up my daughter.  Then 2 days later we take her back to college.  I will be spending alot of time in the car.  I am going to have a cookout next Saturday night so the grandparents can all visit with her before she returns to school.  So this will be another busy week.

 I finished all of the cross stitching on Freight Train.

 A close up of the caboose, the last car I finished.

I still have alot of backstitching to do before I can call this one done. I did manage to get a good start on the back stitching on the engine. I hope to have this one done before the end of the year.  I need to start looking thru my stash to find a project to replace it.

I also went to my lns yesterday to get the fabric I need for a new start.  I am anticipating  finishing  my Garden Seed Packets next week.  I am going to try and make my own scroll rods as I need larger ones.  I am looking to get 36 inch rods.  Off to Lowes to look.  I feel that I stitch faster on scroll rods.