I Don't Know What the World Is Coming To...........

My heart is just saddened by the tragic events at the Boston Marathon.  Wow.  I just don't know what to say!  It just boggles my mind why anyone or any group would want to harm folks out to just have a nice time.  Innocents.  All of those victims and their families.  Just innnocent.  Senseless death and harm.  Certainly, the Devil is having a field day here in the good ol' USA.  I usually don't voice my conservative opinions here but I will say this as a Christian...we've turned our back on God here, in our schools, at our work and in our families and I guess I shouldn't be surprised at the state of our country and our world.

So, my heart and prayers are going out to those who were harmed or killed and to their families left to pick up the pieces.

Enough.

Connie, you will be pleased to know that I am rockin' True Virtue.  I stitched the verse and I'm tickled pink at it. You are right, she is a piece that is just a joy to stitch and I don't know why I put her down.  Well I do know, JCS is not known for doing a terrific job of proofing their patterns and the color key had the wrong symbol and one color was left off the color key.  I stitched the entire top of rice stitch grapes using the wrong color.  And I have to frog them all out.  ALL. OF. THEM. I got discouraged so I banished it to the "Land of Misfit Projects".  And I did stitch an entire alphabet in the wrong color (my mistake this time and no, I'm not frogging it, it looks just fine).  I'm a little hung up on the 4 sided alphabet, I'm going to have to do some research on how to properly stitch the letters (if you've got tips and hints, please share!).  So I'm going to wait until most of the stitching is done and then stitch the satin stitch border, the algerian eye vowels and the 4-sided stitch alphabet.  And probably the queen stitch flowers too.  I want to put the sampler on a roller frame to do this band and the border so I can have even tension.
 I did have a visit with the frogs this weekend on True Virtue but not so bad that I couldn't take care of it.  Now, I had a major frog infestation with WTN&T's  April Word Play.  I am using a piece of linen that is made up of thick and very thin linen thread.  I accidently crossed stitched one of those threads together with the other two (Instead of going over 2 threads, I went over 3).  And I was 75% done with stitching it and I caught the error.  I actually pulled a "Marly" and burned it in my fireplace.  I couldn't face ripping out the bunny in the wagon and the center section of words plus the bee skep, at least 50% of the piece.  I was so mad and burning it was a fitting thing to do in my opinion.
Health-wise I am not much better, the pendulum has swung the other way.  The autonomous toxic nodule covered my entire left lobe of my thyroid, it measured 4'' by 3" inches by 1" covering most of it.  The radioactive iodine killed it and most of the lobe. And my right lobe hasn't woken up yet from being suppressed for so long.  I've gone from subclinical hyperthyroid to hypothyroid. And I'm tired all the time. So, the doctor has prescribed a dose of synthyroid that's going to take the edge off the hypothyroid symptoms but will still allow him to monitor my hormone levels to see if my right lobe has come around.

Well, don't forget to follow me on Bloglovin...and I hope that the weather gets better soon so I can take some pictures.... I know this gets boring but I did want to check in.

Take care kids,  thanks for coming by!

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A finish times 2! :)

Hey everyone!  I hope you all have been good and are having fun.  I am most definitely ready for Winter to go away.  It hasn't been bad snow-wise but it sure has been cold.  And I most definitely hate cold.  Especially days on end where it didn't rise above the mid-20's during the day and stayed in the single digits at night. 

It's been an interested couple of months.  In January, we lost our hot water heater (well, not exactly) and along with it we replaced our furnace with a new propane furnace.  We heated our home with fuel oil and the price of oil was over $4.00 a gallon.  Each fill up was just under a thousand dollars.  It was getting pretty expensive to keep it up on one salary. To make a long story short, we called the hot water heater guy out who informed us that it wasn't the heater at all but we ran out of oil.  He recommended that we replace the heater anyway because it was ancient and half filled with sediment.  So we called out the furnace guy who gave us a pretty good deal on replacing both.  Hot water rocks!  And we should cut our heating costs a little bit because propane is 25% cheaper than fuel oil.  We shall see.

I found out that I have a toxic nodule on my thyroid which besides sucking out all the iodine my body produces, it sucks the life out of me.  So later this month, I will take a dose of radioactive iodine and hopefully (crossing my fingers) it will kill the toxic nodule and won't harm my thyroid.  I just want to feel better.  I have zero energy, am completely irritable and I find that I am just not myself because of it.  Say a prayer that this works. 

The boy child has deployed for 6 months and Jenna and little Alena are in Japan.  It was very hard for him to leave them.

Alena is 3 months old already.

 

 

 

On the stitching front, I have been busy! I want to show you that I can finish things, so here's what I've done this last month.

 

 

I broke out the sewing machine and got my creative on!  The pillow came out a little longer than I hoped (I am math challenged, so the David tells me) but it looks cute as a bolster on the bed.  This is a With Thy Needle and Thread pattern,

 

 And With Thy Needle and Thread's February Wordplay which doesn't Blogger doesn seem to want to right itself.  Sorry.

 

 

I also finished December's Wordplay and started on April's version.  I also worked on Baby It's Cold Outside but didn't take a snap because it's really wrinkly.  And I stitched 2 LHN Christmas Ornaments, the Saltbox house and Snow Cold. 

 

So that's what's going on in Joanie's World.  I want to say hey to my new followers and a thank you to all of you who visit.

Stay tuned for a March giveaway...you know there's a pot of gold at the end of the stitchy rainbow...just sayin'.

 

 

 



The winner is....

Hey everyone!

I really wish I could give all of you these patterns.  I always feel bad that there only is one winner when I do this.  But, I feel really good sharing them with you.

So the winner is....
PJ!

Email me at mikes1mom@gmail.com  with your address and I'll pop the patterns in the mail to you pronto.

I've decided to do this each time I finish up something or when the mood just hits (I'm thinking of going wild and crazy around Valentine's Day).  It's just something I want to do this year.  Share.  Be grateful that I can.  Makes me happy.  :)

Till next time,

Blessings,

Joanie

Happy New Year!

Just a quick note to wish all of you a very Happy New Year!  It's quiet here at the house,  I'm beginning to take down the Christmas tree and gearing up to go back to work after a glorious 11 days off.  Wow, did I need the break.

I got to stitch a lot and I promise that I will take pictures of what I've finished.  I finished Prairie Schooler's, Merry Christmas Eve on Christmas Eve.  I've started Baby It's Cold Outside and I've finished December's Wordplay.  Oh, and I finished Letters For Santa too.  Vacations are wonderful, aren't they?

I've been thinking of next year and what I'd like to accomplish.  I think that I'm going to play it by ear, this year, I focused on Wips, which I think I'm going to continue to do.  I really will finish, I Sigh Not for Beauty and True Virtue.  I thought it would be fun to stitch Christmas designs and ornaments all year or focus on Prairie Schooler Santas.  But I love the other seasons, especially Halloween, so I'm not sure I can keep stitching snow in the middle of summer.  And I also thought I'd work through all the LHN ornaments (I have like 16 of those).  Plus, I have a grand-daughter to stitch for now too.  Oh, there's just too many things to stitch, so I'm just going to just "go for it".  No pressure.

 I bought a lot of stash this year, only things that I truly love though and that's a big step for me.  Gone are the days of buying just to say I have it.  I have more patterns than I will ever stitch in my lifetime so a little restraint is a good thing, no?

Finally, before I go back to taking down Christmas,  I want to pass the two With My Needle patterns on to someone. I want to share them with someone who doesn't have them. So comment on THIS POST ONLY if you would like my very gently used Letters for Santa and December Wordplay.  I'll draw the name on January 2nd.  Letters for Santa is a bit worn on the folds but the pattern is serviceable.  Just sayin'.

Last year, I chose a word to focus on all year. That word was TRUST. I have to say, that I learned alot about myself through that word in 2012, I realize that I am not as trusting as I believed and when my faith was tested, I found that I lacked sorely lacked trust. I've improved and the journey isn't over. But the word for 2013 is GRATITUDE. I take so much for granted and I also found that I'm not grateful for what I have or the blessings I've received. I've found through some soul searching that I feel "entitled" and that's not the attitude I want to cultivate. So, my focus word in 2013 is "gratitude" and by default "thankfulness".

One thing I know from the bottom of my heart is that I am grateful as well as thankful that I have wonderful blogging buddies who brighten me when I'm down, inspire me when I am low on creativity and share with me a love of stitching. You have enriched my life and for that I am forever grateful and most thankful. 

SO, it's on to 2013.  A bright new shiny year.  Here's to new beginnings!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

 

 

 

 

Wishing you all the peace and joy of this blessed season celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior!

 

Enjoy your family and friends!  And may your stockings be filled with stitching goodness!

I am very blessed to call all of you friends.

 

Joanie

Winner, winner, chicken dinner

First, I apologize that it's taken me 2 days to post the winner of my Thankful giveaway.  I'm stressing over a work project, it's all consuming and fairly frustrating.  I ended up working 2 of my 4 days off, only to have my boss not be overly thrilled with either my progress or my work.  His procrastination is my emergency. 

Anyway, the winner is................
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JEANNE! 

Please email me at Mikes1mom@gmail.com with your address.. I'll get the package out by the end of the week....remember work???

Thank you so much for all your good wishes, wonderful stitching and for brightening up Joanie's world. 

Joanie