Where did the time go?

Last time I looked it was January 1st. How did we get to January 7th already? Not that I am complaining, mind you. It's 7 less days of Winter that I have to deal with. Actually, Winter seems to have left Upstate NY for a few days at least. Today at lunch, it was 64 degrees on the Avenue. 64 degrees!!!! Wowser! And tomorrow, it's going to be a balmy 68! Break out the shorts and the flip-flops. I feel like I am cheating the oil man since the wood stove keeps the house toasty without the rumble of the furnace coming on. I can deal with this weather, oh yes, yes, I can. But of course, this is January afterall, and Winter will be back and it will only feel colder after this spell of warm weather. It's a tease, just a reminder of what it feels like in March. Late March. And I'll take as many days of warm as I can get.

I got an email that Carol of Garden of Stitches received my SBEBB Frosty Friends exchange. When she posts a picture, I'll snag it and post it here. My camera was decidedly unco-operative when I tried to get a picture. I stitched her a little freebie of a snowman looking in a window pane 1/1 and I mounted it on a 2" wooden block. This little stitched piece was the "O" in the word SNOW. I painted the blocks blue and the lettering white. I over stroked glitter paint to mimic snowflakes. It came out so cute. The best part of the exchange was I painted a small box to hold the blocks. I painted a picture of the snowman I stitched on the boxtop lid.

And for me, it was a great mail day!!! I received my Frosty Friend exchange too from Dawn (Flossgal). It's too cute and I adore it. Dawn made me a pinkeep and included snowman potholders, a cute snowman pattern, ribbon and fabric. I'll attempt a picture hopefully before the weekend if I can get home before dark. And if the camera decides to co-operate.

I also received a surprise from Sue (Liv N' Laf). She made me a beautiful beaded scissor fob and sent a great pair of scissors along with it. She included a big bar of Ghirardeli peppermint chocolate which I promptly ate half for dinner. Yes dinner, and I washed it down with a bag of microwave popcorn. Nutritious and delicious!!!
Sue's gift was a great pick me up on a grey (albeit warm) flannel January day and I am so grateful for her friendship. What a sweetheart!

On my stitching front, I've been concentrating on 3 projects, my Stitcher's Wallet, Sarah Tatum and Time and Seasons. I am chugging along on all of them. I am getting close to a finish with the Stitcher's Wallet as I only have 1 full panel to stitch and the alphabet to stitch on the 4th panel. Hopefully, in the next month or so, I will have a happy dance. Sarah and Time & Seasons are large projects and it takes awhile to see much progress. I am almost done with the first page on Sarah and I am working on 2 large motifs. I have stitched most of the upper border and left border on Time and Seasons. I am up to the letter T and have finished 3 of the motifs on the grapevine border. On the left border, I have most of the flower vine stitched. I love the colors on Time and Seasons even though I am not real thrilled with the silks as they twist after a few stitches and then don't sit correctly.

We also got word that the lawyers have filed all the paperwork for our lawsuit with Mr. Contractor. He owes us 70K which of course, we will never see a dime. The paralegal went to his house and she told us it's obvious that it's been abandoned. The furniture is there but there isn't anyone living there. And our lawyer boards his dog at the same kennel that Mr. Contractor boards his dog. Apparently, our lawyer was told that Mr. Contractor dropped of his dog to be kenneled sometime in November and abandoned the dog there. I can't believe that someone could do that. But David, my rational DH, said that Mr. Contractor knew that the dog would be taken care of so it wasn't like it was left to fend for itself. The kennel will eventually turn the dog over to the Humane Society and hopefully, it will be adopted by someone who will love it.

Anyway, I am off to bed. Thank you so much for visiting me and thanks, dear friends, for the beautiful fob and snowman pinkeep. I will treasure them.