Back Among the Living - Almost

HI! I am sorta back with you! After a weekend where I spent most of it on the sofa attached to a box of Kleenex, I seem to be on the mend. Not 100% but maybe 80%. This thing that I had/have is truly yucky. It's the worst cold/viral thing that I've had in a long time. I took my last sick day today so unless I want to go to the doctor, pay for the visit, and lose a days' pay, I'll be back to work tomorrow. At least I won't be sneezing and blowing my nose a gazillion times a minute. And maybe my co-workers would like that a lot. If I had my druthers, I would stay home another day, just so my fellow workers wouldn't grumble about the "Walking Sick" as we like to call those who come into work ill, spreading cheer and germs to anyone within a cubicle range. But I'll be at work tomorrow. Somewhat bright and somewhat early.

BUT my dear friends, ALL was not lost while I was snuffling and wheezing about the last few days. I stitched when I felt like I could. I even have pictures to prove it! See?

This is my progress on True Virtues. It's a slow stitch for me. I don't know why. But I am plugging a long Connie!


This is Bea on January 30th.

And this is MORE of Bea as of yesterday!

Only 11 more motifs to stitch! But, there is a snag. I am running out of AVAS 4216. There is just enough silk to stitch the sampler without a lot of waste . And I am very wasteful when it comes to thread. I use long leads when I start to stitch and end with long tails so that I can weave them back into the stitches. So now I am short. I purchased some thread today along with a ton of other things, gosh I was very bad and I am blaming my badness on this cold thingie, so I'll be back in business soon. I have enough thread to stitch a few more motifs so I won't have to completely put Bea away. I bought new Blackbird Designs and Plum Street Samplers, Love Notes, and all the patterns from Primitive Traditions to stitch Ann Colby's, Quaker Nantucket Basket. I shouldn't have but I am telling myself that my brain was foggy because my head was filled to the brim with snot.

I know that you are wondering why I am stitching Bea like the house is on fire. Well, I have this quirk. When a project gets about 3/4 of the way finished I really get motivated to finish it off. I get obsessed to get'r done. At the expense of all other stitching. And another reason to finish off Bea is that come March, all the WIPs are going into hiding, as well as, all the patterns that I want to start. The Wedding Sampler will take all of my attention if I want to finish it before July in time for the Bridal Shower. If Bea is around then I will be tempted to stitch on her and not on the Wedding sampler.

And now that I've brought up the Wedding sampler, I have mixed feelings about stitching it. I really want to stitch something spectacular for the Cadet and the lovely Jenna but I am not sure that it will be appreciated. I know that the Cadet will like it and he'll know that I put a lot of effort into it because he knows that needlework is my absolute passion but will Jenna feel the same way? Should I care? It will break my heart if they shove it into a closet to hang *someday*. What if she doesn't *get* it and sorta passes it off with a nod to "that's nice"? Part of me wants to stitch it for me to hang next to my wedding sampler. But part of me wants them to have something that I made specifically for them and because I want to commemorate their special day. I think that I feel this way because she is so very shy around me and I have a hard time reading her reactions. She never tells me if she likes or dislikes anything so I am left guessing.

So, what do you all think?

Well, other than Bea (which is about 3 weeks of work) and TV which is a Sunday's worth of work, I've also stitched my piece for the Prairie Schooler Exchange. Can't show you yet but it's really cute!

And there you have it! I want to thank all of you who left me comments wishing me to get better. I really appreciated them cause it made me feel loved. THANKS!

And to all who drop by, thanks to you too! I am glad that you care enough to read my thoughts. I wish all of you a wonderful evening filled with stitching!

I Am a Walking Incubus of Disease

This week at Chez Snot, I have a terrible head cold:

I feel like this:

Terrible

And all I've done is this:

Lie Around and Whine

Not a lot of stitching going on here, folks.

I'll be back when I feel human again.

Thanks for stopping by. Don't forget to wash your hands when you leave.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone who stops by Joanie's World! I know this is the day for Love but I think it's more of a day of Blessings. There is so much love and abundant blessings if we just open our eyes and hearts to the things around us!

Today, I wish you blessings!

And thank -you's for stopping by. I AM BLESSED AND LOVED BY EACH OF YOU THAT COME BY AND READ MY THOUGHTS.

I'll have stitchy pics and maybe some other pics later!
Now, I am off for my second cup of coffee!

Well, I did it again

Whatever I did to change my backround, I ended up exactly with the same thing that I did when i tried the last time. I am frustrated and I don't have the time to mess with it cause I have to get Olivia to the vet for her surgery appointment and I have to go to work.

Say a prayer for my little girl, she's going to be spayed today. She's a tiny thing and I hope she does ok.

On an unrelated note, please say a prayer for the Cadet. He wrecked his truck yesterday coming home from work. He fell asleep. Not a ton of damage and he wasn't injured. Thank God. All he has is wounded pride and he's just sick about the damage to the truck.

I haven't stitched a lot this week, I didn't work on Bea (can you believe it!) but I frogged the roof off the house on Where My Heart Blooms and I worked on I Will Stitch You in My Heart. For some reason that little pillow is taking a LOT of time to stitch up. I am on the home stretch now and I've made a few modifications. You'll just have to wait and see.

Well, gotta run. Sorry about the boring backround on the blog and that lovely photobucket image that's running up and down behind the scenes.

Grr-rr-rrr!

It's FIXED!!! YEAH!!!

Edited: I don't know what I did but I fixed whatever went wrong with my backround. Thanks for your suggestion, Barb!


While messing with my template in an attempt to change the backround on my blog, I deleted a gadget that I shouldn't have...now even though I've tried to replace my backround with a new image, all I get is the WHITE SCREEN OF DEATH and a photobucket image that's riding around in the backround.

Can someone help me fix this blasted thing? ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS PUT A VALENTINE"S BACKROUND ON MY BLOG!!!

Now it's messed up and I don't have the skills to fix it.

Please, please help me!

Are you sick of Bea?

Are you tired of my progress pictures?? Too Bad!! HA HA!!

Bea after this week's stitching.

I finished that passion flower motif, the carnation motif on the right side and I made a dent in the cornucopia. I am really pleased as to how she is stitching up but I am still undecided if I like the thread color. I know, I know, I am boring you with this back and forth, love the thread, hate the thread nonsense. I DO know that I will be stitching Bea's companion sampler with NPI in a brick color - 125, 126 or 127 on the same color linen. And to be perfectly honest, when I purchased Bea and had the option of purchasing the hank of 4612 AVAS, I should have taken myself down to the LNS to check it out. But as usual, I couldn't wait to start her AND I knew I couldn't wait the 6 weeks to get a hank of another color. So I should quite my belly-achin' right?

I started Hands to Work sampler found in the latest issue of JCS. It's called This is the Day.

I am stitching it on the recommended linen with the recommended thread. It's on 36ct because I refuse to railroad my stitches right now. It's working up fast when I can push Bea out of the way and pick it up.

Below is the amazing Siobhan's finished sampler (I pilfered it from her blog, Notes From Blue Hen Hollow)...I hope you don't mind Siobhan but I wanted everyone to see what it looks like finished...

Gosh, I love this sampler and it fits right in with my samplers with houses obsession. Most every sampler besides the Quakers that I am so devoted to has houses in them. Ever since I stitched my beloved John Foster (oh John Foster, how I LOVE you!) I've been searching for more samplers with houses prominently featured.

And kids, LOOK at what Paulette from Plum Street Samplers is offering!

I am going to be first in line to purchase these little gems! And take a run to her blog, Plum Street Samplers, to check out the sampler she's featuring on her blog banner! I can't wait to be able to plunk down some hard earned cash for these lovelies! And while you are at Paulette's blog, take a minute to read it. What a great blog.

Well, my break on the computer is now officially over. It's back to the drudgery of cleaning bathrooms and doing laundry. But I am looking forward to numbing my behind later stitching, stitching, stitching! I hope you'll do the same!

Have a great weekend and leave a comment to say HI! Thanks for dropping by Joanie's World!

Can Anyone Tell Me The Species Of This Bird??

On the little chickadee feeder attached to the kitchen window. The feeder is small, the "bird" is BIG! We were amazed at the audacity of this "bird" cause David actually tapped on the window to get him off but no way, he wasn't moving an inch. Even the cats jumping at him from the window sill didn't faze him.

I wonder what species he is? My partner at work told me he was a member of the species"Fat Bastard Get Off My Feeder!"

What do you think he is?

Oh, have more progress pics of Bea, I finished that passion flower motif, another on the right side and made a nice dent in the cornocopia. :-)!!

More later, I am off to the dermatologists then to work!