I hear....

grumbling in the distance - by the end of this post - you will too! Hello.... hope you are having a good week - wait, it's only Monday.... Yeah, staying home does tend to make you confused as to what day it is. I should have remembered since it was just the weekend. We took Ryder out to dinner at the Oceannaire for his 23rd birthday.

The food was good - the first time Scott and I ate there the food was amazing - this time it was just "good". We heard Mario Andretti was there too - 100th anniversary of the Indy 500 is this year - the city is very busy!! He could have danced on my table and I wouldn't have known who he was though. You know your kid is growing up when he asks for clothes for his birthday - so we bought him some shirts and boots. We also took him with us to see Captain America. The movie was good - 3D is always fun.We even went to the mall - it was a good weekend!! I don't have much to post about this time. I thought a shorter post would be good. I do have a finish - Brenda Gervais - One Starry Christmas Eve

I didn't put the pots or the reindeer. I think the Santa is adorable alone. I did use different colors - as usual I used what I have instead of buying. The belle soie silks are $7.29 a skein and there are 13 of them on this project - ouch. There is a DMC alternative list but I like the variegated look so I used the Classic Colorworks that I have on hand - of course if you want to know what colors I used just email me and I will tell you. My red fabric isn't the called for count because when I bought it 123Stitch only had 36 and 40. So 36 was the winner. I love it - So very cute! I am working on another Brenda Gervais in Santa's spot in the rotation. I got quite a bit done.The white of the sheep isn't showing very well - I always have that problem.  

Boo and Baa-bbie

 I love the felt she added to the flowers - love Brenda Gervais designs!!! I'm pretty sure she is annoyed with me though - I've emailed her several times - yeah I'm that person.  Anyway, I rotate on Sunday so I am actually back to the Teresa Wentzler Fruit bell pull as of last night. Oooh the popcorn stitching - ahhhhh.   Here is the grumbling you heard like thunder in the distance- and up on my soapbox - today's rant is about ebay and other places that sell "used" patterns. I love to acquire patterns - I think we all do. Which is why most of us have SABLE (stash amassed beyond life expectancy). when I sell my patterns on ebay or the other place,  I look up the lowest price on the internet (usually 123 stitch)  and put my starting price at half of that. I am completely irritated that on ebay - and another facebook pattern selling spot that I frequent - people list prices at the highest price - or the price they paid. Yes, we make working copies so our patterns are basically brand new but still. So, I look at what is for sale - I see the price they want and then I find it on the internet - all the patterns I wanted so I don't have to buy one from here and one from there and pay extra shipping. I then buy them all at once - for cheaper - brand new - from a shop.I am basically using the facebook pattern group to see all the different patterns because I certainly can't buy them from there - far too expensive. I feel like my patterns are special and wonderful too - I still sell them for cheap. Ok Mabel - get off the soapbox the quarter is for the beer (that was for my husband - he will appreciate the mix up)  Our house has been on the market 4 days and no showings - Scott says I'm impatient. (he actually said impossible - I am both *shrug* whaddya gonna do?) Oh I almost forgot to talk about the yogurt mom and I made when she was here!! She gave a yogurt incubator last time I was at her house. We were supposed to make some and never got around to it. I used THIS recipe. As usual I was yakking (you think my posts are long you should be here with me -yak yak yak sheesh. My grandmother used to pay me to be quiet. I told my husband he should try it) I used a half a gallon of whole milk and one container of plain Oikos yogurt. I went to put it in the little containers that come with the incubator and I had a half a pot left over. I used a regular stainless steel sauce pan. So I put a lid on the rest - turned on the oven light and put it in the oven for 12 hours - poured off the whey and refrigerated it - it was fantastic!! Both the pan and the incubator yogurts turned out the same! Good to know. I'm adding pictures of the flowers that I planted - and the rose bush. Well, I better get out of here before this gets any longer. Hope you have a great week - thanks for stopping by.      

Now we're cookin'

Today the realtor comes to take pictures and list the house. Now that we've done all this work I'm sad to see it go - but after we've done all this work I am glad to see it go. I'm excited not to have to work so hard on the place I live! So, as soon as I said we never have visitors Ryder came home from school. He has been struggling and needed to come home. Some regular sleep and a few home cooked meals will help get him on the right path. (a bonk on the head might help too) Then my mom came to visit!!  We had so much fun - except the part where I made her work her little fingers to the bone! The first day she was here I took her shopping and then hiking! We actually letterboxed but it was also a 1.8 mile hike. It was fun! The next day I made her help me redo the rocking chair she brought me. It was originally a wedding gift to my grandparents. Then mom redid it for my baby room when I had my first kid. Then it ended up in storage. Now it's back with me

before

during - that's my mom - isn't she a cutie!

after

We used quilt squares my grandmother made - there were only two that matched. I don't know why there were only two but it worked out perfectly. It's a little poofy on the bottom but that wont last long. We had a good time working on it - and only spent $15 on supplies!! Then the next day I put her to work in the garden! She weeded two rows between the bushes and a huge area in the front. We put down black mulch - we only had to go back three times for mulch darn it all!!

I also planted two planters full of flowers but I didn't take a picture. Monday we went letterboxing again but didn't have much luck. We had lunch at a cute tea shop - that was fun!! It was great to have her here and I really appreciate all the help. She left this morning - boo.
 I haven't' stitched much - here is my updated Tiramisu

The Bothy threads kit came - I opened it and accidentally laid it on the sticky strip on the packaging and ripped off part of the pattern - **sigh**

all the way across - grrr

I've emailed them to see if they can send a picture of just that spot. The fabric is lovely and I can't wait to work on it!!

color is brighter in person

The rotation is currently on One Starry Christmas Eve by Brenda Gervais (converted to Crescent Colours)

I have to say I was pretty impressed with the tree removal guys. We had the big tree out front removed - they had to come take some limbs off it first. It was scary because I live on a steep incline. The tallest bucket truck in Indiana (their claim not mine) came out and did as much as they could but couldn't reach the highest limbs - I'm tellin' ya - these trees are monstrous!

The picture doesn't really show you the crazy incline - he said it was scary because of the incline and being on a hill made it seem like he was higher. I really wanted to see the thing come down but I missed it - bummer. They have been logging for 40 years. They have 6 deaf employees - at first I thought they were just signing to each other because it is so loud but one of the guys was talking to me without using his voice - I was impressed.
I want to say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to Shelly at An Arizona Stitcher she sent me her copy of the Cross Stitch and Needlework magazine I was looking for - Thank you Shelly I hope one day I can return the favor!!
Well, I better get ready for the realtor - I hope selling goes quick and easy - exciting!!

awe

this little piggy..

Wanted to put it's house on the market! Today I have workers at my house fixing the walls from the tree falling. We are still waiting on the roof to be repaired and we still have the  HUGE dead tree that needs to come down. Like I said in the last post, we never did much to the kitchen because we were going to remodel it. Above the stove there used to be a microwave - really dumb because there wasn't much clearance between it and the stove. The guy who sold us the house had used that cabinet refinish junk on the cabinets and left it here - so we did that to the microwave hole haha

before

after

Doesn't look bad at all! This weekend Scott and I raked the entire yard and then mowed it. The yard here is huge and bumpy - exhausting!

This is an old picture and snowy - but see how big and steep that yard is? Seriously, almost killed me!

I caught a frog in the yard and this guy. I touched its tail with the rake and it coiled up - I think it bit itself on accident! pretty ferocious! It is now under the porch - as long as it eats mice I'm ok with that! Yard work was just one more thing that had to be done before we could list the house - want nice pictures after all. So, the house is almost ready to go on the market - if we could just get the other people to come do their stuff..... The only stitching I have to show is one week worth on Pleasant Unity

I have taken out almost as many stitches as I have put in. Luckily I am done working on it for 3 weeks. I am anxious to finish it because I will put Bothy Threads - Mad Hatter's Tea Party in it's place.

picture from the internet

 I found the kit on etsy for $36 - with shipping - great price!! Seller is Hixxysoft. Currently I'm working on Glendon Place Tiramisu.
When contemplating packing I look at all the framed things we have on the walls. I love all of it of course. We do have a fun wall called The Wall of Shame. Scott found a folder with all these certificates we had gotten - from as far back as elementary school! We bought a bunch of cheap frames and hung them all up

some of them are awesome!

locks of love - Scott donated hair

Q clearance - ohhhhh

Scott got good citizenship in 1975-1976

Scott was the singer in this band Die Smiley

a bat we adopted at Carlsbad

I love looking at the wall - it's fun.
Does anybody have September 2008 Cross Stitch & Needlework that they are willing to sell to me? I know it's hard to find because of the Nora Corbett in it (which you can buy at Herrschners) - but I need it for the door hangers series. It looks like this....

Well, I guess that is all I have to talk about. Hope you are having a nice Spring. Thanks for stopping by!