ewwww

Hope you are all staying warm. It's been cold here and I have a dusting of snow on the driveway. The news reported the blizzard didn't pack a punch like "they" thought - it's only 3 feet of snow falling - and how is that not a punch? I haven't done much except homework and housework since school started so I don't have any fun pictures or restaurants to show you. My husband has been traveling a lot and has eaten at some fun places but I didn't save the pictures. I do have one more square done on this wretched fruit bellpull and a start on the third square (apples)

I do have two truly terrible stories to tell you - fun right? ("truly terrible" is a matter of perspective - worse things are happening in the world as I type this but these things were pretty gross) Sunday morning I went downstairs with a huge basket of laundry and I almost stepped on the dead but not eaten mouse and vomit the cat left me- how sweet. Now when I come downstairs in the morning I carry nothing and turn on every light as I go - can you imagine if I would have stepped on or in ..... yuck. I did screech like a girl when I saw the mouse laying there - blah!! I bought an Aspen Bistro portion control pet feeder which does not work. I set it up for two meals 1/4 a cup each. It only feeds him about a tablespoon so I set it up to feed 1/4 c three times a day but I think he is still not getting enough food. He is always messing with it. I guess it will have to go back - bummer.

See the water thing - that's new too but two days after I set it up it smelled like sour milk which may be why he is throwing up. I washed it and put in fresh water and he knocked it over - so it's also going back. I was hoping this system would work for when I travel but I don't see much of that in my future so the old system will work. He is obnoxious when it comes being fed so I was hoping this would keep him from staring and meowing at me from 2 in the afternoon until 5 when he gets fed - annoying.

he doesn't look like a mouse killer

Finally - story two!! (Sorry I veered off course there) Monday morning in front of the school - in the near dark - I swerved to avoid hitting what I thought was a dead cat - I DID NOT hit it - the whole car filled with the strongest skunk smell I have ever encountered - like it was in the car with me!! The banana I was eating turned into a skunk banana and I gagged!! I rolled the window down but it was in the air outside too - must have just happened. All day all I could smell was skunk The girl next to me in my first class said she drove by it too and that was all she could smell - hope it wasn't coming off of me!! When I got home I parked in the garage - wrong - I could smell it in my kitchen so I had to move the car outside - when you open the car door  - it's unbelievable. I hope I don't smell like skunk when I go to school tomorrow - e gads.
Look at the size of this Red-Bellied Woodpecker that has been coming around - not as big as the Pileated but still impressive!

I know it's hard to see it but you can see the tilt of the feeder!

As for school - I don't want to jump the gun but it may be getting a little easier. I feel like I understand things a little better and I'm learning their computer system so it's not all foreign to me now. I'm afraid if I say it's easy then I might be missing the point and fail my classes - yikes!
Stay warm folks and thanks for stopping by

Grab an umbrella

because I may be a little storm cloud!! It won't be a lot of rain but there may be a little!! On my last post - way at the bottom I mentioned that I was going to start school January 12th. What an eye-opening experience that has been!! I am in school from 8-430 on Monday and Wednesday. There are huge gaps in between classes which I need to learn to use to my advantage because I ended up doing homework Tuesday and Thursday from about 8-530. Most of my problem is the online portion of the school. Each teacher sets their stuff up a little differently and figuring out can take most of my homework time. This week I only have one day of classes but I still have a little homework every day. I know I will get the hang of it and it will get a little easier. The nursing program is very competitive so I have to get straight A's in my prerequisite classes. Which brings me to my second problem - I used to think I was a pretty smart cookie - not so much. The placement tests and the homework assignments make me realize that I am not so smart. I can do this!!!! I am going full time - I quit my job on the 9th. Scott will be under more pressure because he is bringing in the only income. Bless his heart for being so supportive, plus he likes that he doesn't have to do the grocery shopping any more - who can blame him -that is one craptastic chore! He leaves for Vegas soon - I will join him at the end of the week for a few days - that will be fun!!
For Christmas I got a suet feeder which is bringing around a lot of woodpeckers - fun!! There is one I have been trying to get a picture of - a Pileated woodpecker - it doesn't come around too often and when it does I am always shocked at how big it is!! A cardinal is 9 inches tall and the Pileated is 17 inches tall!! They are pretty shy so every time I try to get a picture it flys off

I have a finish!! This pattern called for some specialty stitches but a rice stitch with two strands of thread on 32 count is just a blob so I skipped some of the stitches. I really love the way my tea dye turned out!

It seems odd that there are only 3 bands. There is suppose to be a crazy zigzagy thing at the bottom but I didn't like it. I think it's funny looking but Scott says it looks fine. I am now working on another WIP (proud of me right?) Teresa Wentzler's fruit bell pull

I have been working on it since Friday and I have to say blended needle popcorn stitching still sucks. You can't see it but the whole border is done.Send good vibes my way so the popcorn stitches don't make me run into traffic!!
My last storm cloud is this.... I really want two patterns from L'Atelier Perdu but she closes sales of her patterns. Someone sweet talked her into selling me one of the ones that was closed but she wanted $60 for this simple series of three patterns. Really? I didn't have it at the time so I have been trying to buy it elsewhere but it is not available very often. I had the chance on ebay but was outbid. When did cross stitch become so outrageously expensive? $60 for three simple small patterns - no thread or fabric. I had just purchased the mouse house from Just Nan for $50 but it was all the fabric and embellishments. I guess it's mostly the stuff from overseas. I love Renato Parolin, L'Atelier Perdu, and the other designers from over the pond but I think that I won't be buying any more of their stuff. Especially now that we only have one income. I remember when $20 would buy a piece of fabric, skeins of thread and a pattern. Good thing I have collected so many patterns - that will keep me busy for a few years at least!!
See, those storm clouds weren't so bad.... You probably didn't even get much on you.

moo cup from Cost Plus World Market

 He's so handsome in his crushed velvet paisley jacke !!

cold morning!!

I hope you are all staying warm!! Thanks for stopping by!

  

stitchy stats (edited)

Hello - Happy New Year!!!
This is a stitchy post from 2014 - old news haha!  I finally managed to get the Noel by Renato Parolin done - I was scared to death to do the finishing!! They turned out ok - I had some problems with the back but that side hides on the wall - right? I had trouble getting the points to fold so that the backs would look OK. I made the backs smaller so they wouldn't go right to the edge - maybe they should have - I don't know. Scott cut the triangles - thank goodness or they'd all be crooked but I pinned them so they may be crooked after all - ha!

they are huge!!

N and E have red backs the other two have green

I added gold cord

 I realized that I started the year off with one of his patterns and mostly finished the year off with one of his patterns!! I am actually finishing the year off with Four Season Band Sampler by Sally Hesketh it was in JCS 2011 April, June, October and November issues.

I am not even sure when I started this project but it is almost halfway done. It has been nothing but a pain - the first time I started it the fabric was cut wonky. I got a bunch done on the crazy top and realized that if I kept stitching it would stitch off the fabric sideways - neat. So, I started over but I decided to take the abc and the zigzaggy thing off - maybe because the fabric I had on hand was a little too small for the whole thing and I had already done the zigzaggy thing once on the wonky fabric....One section is one off - had to take some out to make it the band not be one off because I'm pretty sure you would notice that..... It's cute and I hope the rest of it doesn't give me so much trouble!!

 

For 2014 I had said I would do a WIP and then a new project but it didn't really work out - and I added a new WIP!! BOO on me!! So I had 11 WIPS total - I finished 4, got rid of one and added one so I have 7 WIPs to do. Three are Teresa Wentzler - those are so time consuming that they go to the bottom of the WIP pile.  One is a Brookes Book angel - not sure I want to finish that one. I love her angels and I really love the perforated paper but what to do with them when they are done??? I have one Christmas one done and she just lays on my craft table - so I don't know if I want to make any more of them.

 So really I have 6 WIPS - 5 when this band thing is done!! That's not too bad - since I am excited to work on the patterns I got for Christmas!!
I recently bought a floss app - Cross Stitch Thread Companion but I don't think I like it and am probably asking for a refund. I love the part where you can scan in the bar codes on your new skeins. I love that you can put how many you have (even say you have a half a skein) and how many you need and then it makes a list for the store!! I hate that it is missing most of the Kreinik colors and to add them you have to put in the number - pick a color and put in the color name. I don't have time to do all of that.They answer the emails quickly but are not helpful - like I said when I  added Needle Necessities (yes I know they are no longer BUT the app said you could add any threads you wanted so I added a Needle Necessities category in mine - added all the numbers and when I went back the numbers were all gone!!) - they responded "The app is not advertised to do anything with needles" *sigh*     I had Floss Checklist by opeware but some floss colors were missing - when I looked online he had thrown a nasty fit about people saying stuff about his app so I was afraid to tell him that the colors were missing haha I emailed the company and they never responded. So the whole point here is - do you have a stash app and do you like it. It is time consuming to keep adding my DMC stash to apps just to have them not work out.
We stayed home New Year's Eve - always nice to stay home! We went letterboxing on the first day - good way to start!
On Jan 10th I start school! I'm going to try to get into a nursing program but for now I'm doing prerequisites! Scary and exciting!
Well I guess that is all my I stitchy {and other} news. Hope your 2015 has the best stitching ever!! No frogs or wonky fabrics ( plus health and happiness)!! Thanks for stopping by!