It's my party

and I'll cry if I want to. Packing a house is stressful and tiresome. It doesn't help that this butthead

has been eating tape and barfing all over the house. Guess I will be locking him in the laundry room at night. He seems to be handling the packing without freaking out. I still bought some drugs to take him in the car.

those eyes are pretty dilated!!

We did a test run - I should have taken him in the car that day but I didn't think of it - duh!!Oh well - it's not like I am leaving him if he doesn't tolerate the car and I just needed to know how he would react to the drugs.
A week ago Saturday I was helping Scott mow the lawn and I mowed over a ground dwelling yellow jacket nest. I got stung 4 times - 3 on my ankles and one...wait for it.... under my arm. I've never been stung by a yellow jacket before and hope to never have it happen again. It burned for about 24 hours. It is much more painful than expected. I iced, I used hydrocortisone nothing made it feel better. I tried a baking soda paste - nope. Online it said to try aluminum based deodorant - that seemed to work but maybe it had just run it course by then. Once the stinging stopped I was fine - no itching or swelling - nothing. 8 days later I started to feel like crap - Scott thinks it's allergies. I have been taking Claritin for months because I am allergic to Indiana but I have a sore throat and general malaise (making packing so much more fun). Suddenly all four stings swelled up, got hot and itchy,

I am miserable!!! I picked up some Benedryl cream and iced them again. That seems to be helping. This morning I am much less miserable. You know where I've never gotten stung before? My stitching chair!!  I think I will never go outside again. I have mowed my last lawn at any rate.  
I had a birthday. Just like Scott's birthday we didn't go out to eat or have cake (whole 30). Scott bought me some wonderful gifts!!

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 3 new patterns - Autumn at Hawk Run, Home for the Holidays and center point sampler A new Shagwear wallet - those are so cute!! That lovely bracelet from Lizzy James and the coolest needle minder from Stitching Kisses.

It is the Stark crest from Game of Thrones - love love love it!! She sells all the house crests. My husband is a wonderful guy!! Thank you Scott Burch - you are the best husband I have ever had!! My mom gave me money which I immediately spent on the once a year sale at Picture This Plus . I bought a piece of fabric for the Joyeaux Noel picture out of Home for the Holidays that Scott bought me!! Thanks mom!! (she doesn't read my blog but I will throw that out there anyway!!) Not for my birthday, just as a gift - because she is fabulous - my friend Sharon sent my two needle minders from Heaven and Earth Designs and a gorgeous piece of blue fabric.  I am a a hot mess - I took a picture of it and then deleted it when Scott put all my pictures from my phone to the computer. (plus this should have been on my last blog post but I am a jerk and forgot!!) Then I packed the stuff - so no picture. Thank you Sharon, you are awesome!!
I finished the cherry block on Teresa Wentzler's fruit bell pull - woo hoo - one block to go.

I mixed up the blocks because the original had two green blocks together - pears and apples -you can see on this picture I took off the internet,

funny that my picture is plums and cherries too haha

On mine the pears will be last. That is the only stitching I have to show this time. 13 years ago I made a working copy of this pattern - I should have redone it when I pulled it back out. I could hardly see the backstitching and was frustrated. I pulled the original and wow - so much smaller but clearer. So I made a new working copy and threw away the old. With one square to go - duh!! At least that one will be easier to see. I will check the other two Teresa Wentzler WIPS I have before I start stitching them!
We stopped the whole 30 - too hard to cook with the kitchen packed. We will start up when we are settled. We will celebrate out birthdays and the sale of the house after we sign the house away - yay!! 
Ok kids - that kitchen isn't going to finish packing itself! Two days until we pick up the moving truck - and the moving guys come over to load it (best thing ever)!! This Friday we sign on the house!! Thanks for stopping by and I will see you when I see you Ü

Hello!

Hello!
Guess it's been awhile since I posted. Time flies and I lose track of it! We've been busy. We had our inspection. We had a gas leak that needed fixed right away - so no water for 2 days. We managed showers before the hot ran out and I boiled water to do dishes (like a caveman haha). It was fixed by dinner the second day - whew! We had to have the wax seals replaced on two toilets - those were the only repairs they asked for! They had a survey done and the appraisal came back "fine" (whatever that means) - and that's it! We have been packing - it's good to go through and get rid of stuff you don't want to take with you but it draws the process out! Glad I still have two weeks to pack!  I have our moving truck booked and movers coming to help load it!
I have two brothers Chris and Brian - there is at least a 15 year age gap between us. They live in Tennessee - a few weekends ago they came up to see me. We haven't seen each other in 25 years - I guess I should say they are half brothers because it's weird that I haven't seen them in so long otherwise.  Brian brought his wife and daughter. It was really great to see them and I hope to see more of them!!

Stephanie, Savannah, Brian, Scott, me, Ryder and Chris

Chris, Brian and Ryder

  It's weird how much Ryder looks like Chris - just weird!
My dear sweet husband had a birthday - July 9th. I bought him some music he wanted and made him some lair balls from Nomnom Paleo since we are still on the Whole 30 diet and can't have cake. They are good - would be better if I hadn't gotten stale macadamia nuts - grrr. Speaking of the diet - it's going OK - some days I would just like to have some sugar and cream in my coffee. That is really all I miss. I think everyone should try this for 30 days - it is eye opening! If you do be sure to follow the book closely because there are mood swings that you need to know about beforehand. You don't have to do it forever like I need to - just do it for the 30 days and see what foods bother you. If anybody does decide to do it - email me because I have some tips to make life easier - it's still hard at first. I have struggled with high triglycerides for YEARS - no matter what I try I still have them in the 300s - yep HIGH!! I did whole 30 for 33 days and then had a blood draw - not because of whole 30 -  it was just time for blood work to renew a heart medication I take. My triglycerides dropped from 364 to 167 - in 33 days. That alone makes it worth it!!  We will be moving right at the end of this 30 days so I will be off it for a few weeks while I get rearranged and then I hope to be on it for a few months to really get the full benefits!  

I have a finish -

The Drawn Thread - Simply Autumn. It was a quick stitch and cute. My lighting stinks as usual. I did change two colors to stitch from stash. I got all the frogging done on my Amish picture and added some stitching before it rotated out.

I finished the cherries on the Teresa Wentzler fruit bell pull before it rotated out

I finished some more on Tiramisu before it rotated out - and let me say how thrilled I was when all the circles matched up - with the luck I have had with the Amish project I fully expected a huge gap.

Last night I started Patriotic Poppies by With Thy Needle and Thread - so cute!!
 I forgot to blog about participating in The Great Backyard Bird Count way back in February - it was fun. You can do it once or a million times - no pressure. I would stitch where I could see the bird feeder and if a new bird came to eat I would start my minutes so I could get all the birds I usually see. I hope to do it again next year!!

oh rats - I didn't write my name on there!

look at all those red birds! Cardinals, American Finch, Red headed woodpecker

Ryder spotted this guy in the yard

That is all I've been up to - really. Packing and stitching and family and plumbers and inspectors and cooking. I hope you are all having a nice summer. I plan on posting one more time before the computer gets packed. Thanks for stopping by!

the good, the bad and the stitchy

Ok, which should I start with? I say the good - we got an offer on our house!! Yay!! Now we begin packing in earnest. We've gotten rid of some stuff but not really packed. The next month will be so busy that I am not sure I will be posting much but if you want to see pictures I will post them on my Instagram. I really love that app - I have over 100 followers - something I could not manage to do here. Guess people would rather see pictures than "hear" me blather on about stuff! Anyway - IG is cricketbug33. Another good thing is I got to watch a bird family build a nest, have eggs, hatch them and see the babies fly away. The one ugly spot about it - Ryder smokes but him being outside at all hours of the night has prevented the raccoons from stealing the eggs from the nests on the porch. This is our first and only batch of babies. It has also kept the deer from eating all my flowers - but still, smoking is so bad.



parents feeding



one baby head



getting ready to leave the nest

There were three babies and I got to see two of them leave the nest. They were all sitting out there with just their heads poking up and Scott went out to move the hummingbird feeder and he said - "what are you guys lookin' at?" and they all ducked down - it was super cute!!

I am skipping the bad and going to stitchy - that way if you don't want any part of the bad you can leave after the stitchy. I have a finish



Boo and Baa-bbie With Thy Needle

  I really love this piece. I have Patriotic Poppies - it also has felt flowers on it and I can't wait to start it. I changed the threads - stitch from stash. EXCEPT I didn't change the sheep color - I even ordered the right thread and it hardly shows up - I think I have that problem on every project. blah! I finished the plums on Teresa Wentzler's Fruit Bell Pull





 and started the cherries



I finished page 3 which was the halfway point on Tiramisu and started page 4



Oh I have another finish - it's not ironed - sorry 



Barbara Ana Designs - Autumn Tree 

It was in Cross Stitch and Needlework Nov 2013 issue but you can also buy it online. Now I am on Pleasant Unity by Stoney Creek - I am hating this project. I have a frog sitting right in the middle of that thing. It's an easy - even boring pattern but I am ready to throw it away. With all the things going on on my head I just don't have the patience to deal with this mess. I am plugging on though - I guess I like the torture of stitching it twice.  



BAH

And now the bad. My daughter got married last Sunday and didn't tell us. We found out because her wife posted pictures on Facebook. She had stopped talking to us awhile ago because she says I'm a racist, she had posted this incorrect data on her blog and when my husband told her that wasn't fair nor was it true she opened a new blog so we wouldn't know what she was posting and only answered in one word answers when we would text her. She's been trying to find an excuse to stay away from us for years. We see through her bs and she doesn't want her version of her life story to have any truth shining on it. Her wife - Lindsay invited her parents. I was surprise because Taylor - or as she is now called - Vivian - railed against these people for years, saying they are unclean, drug addicts, kleptos and mean but I guess she could be lying about them too. So, I am going to close the door on the past it's apparently what she wants. Easier said than done. 

So that's it - the good, the bad, and the stitchy. Now I have to pull myself out of this funk and pack a house which is not as easy as it sounds - the packing part is fine but the funky part is a little harder. Hope you are all enjoying the ridiculously hot heat we are now having - uhhhhhhhhh I am a sweaty disgusting mess. Stay cool babies and thanks for stopping by!!        

                                          

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!