The end of the year.....went too fast, didn't it? I had a great Sunday - spent 9 hours stitching, eating and chatting with stitching friends. Perfect way to end the year. My wish for all of you for 2014 is stitched on the ornie I did for an exchange (see, I have been stitching). Be well my friends. Find some time for yourself. Linda

Yes.....after a year, I am still here. My friend's death and the fire in our house sure knocked me off my stride for the past 12 months. The house is fixed and much furniture and furnishings have been replaced. Most of my stash was lost, but I have been acquiring new items and done some stitching. And now I hope to get back to blogging as well. Time will tell. My dear friend Lee (Lake Stitcher) has a great post about blogging or the lack thereof. Did I write, no. But I was prompted to start writing again by a question I saw on the 123 Stitch Message Board - and it was....What is your best kind of stitchy day? For me, it was Halloween this year. I was fortunate to be at a B & B with 4 internet friends for a 3-day retreat. We had arrived the day before and on Halloween, we had a truly wonderful day. We slept in a little and then had a delicious breakfast and lingered over coffee and tea in a beautiful dining room. And finally we went into the living room and picked up our stitching. It was rainy that day but we were cozy inside in comfy clothes - chatting and stitching and being lazy. We never left the B & B. In the evening, our InnKeeper cooked us a delightful meal with a beautiful table setting and soft music and we felt so pampered. We stitched and talked into the late evening and I remember thinking when I went to sleep that the day had been just perfect and fun and relaxing. With so much junk going on daily around us, I'm glad to remember Halloween 2013 and a special friendship with Lee, Carol, Barb and Pam. And now it's almost Christmas. DS and his wife are spending some time with us before Christmas and he's going to make his chocolate pound cake in my new Kitchen-Aid mixer (an early present from DH) and he wants to make me Shrimp and Grits (I'll let you know). Good times just being together with family. I'll be back with some photos of special ornaments received this holiday season. My resolution is to stitch more, blog a little more and enjoy my friends and family even more. Merry Christmas. Linda

My friend

Lambert F. Minucci
1924-2012
Rest in Peace My Friend

The good, the bad and the ugly

An update is more than in order. The good - I went to a terrific holiday party last night and had a wonderful time with 29 other stitchers. We had good food, good friendship and celebrated the joy of being together with an ornament exchange and a fun Chinese auction. The bad - the ornament that I had stitched, but not finished for my secret exchange partner was destroyed in a fire on November 16th. The good - neither of us was hurt. The bad - the house was severely damaged by fire, water and smoke. It will take upwards of 6 months for us to get back into our home. It was not completely destroyed (brick walls and roof still intact) but it's ugly. Ugly includes the destruction of all of my stitching stash and finished pieces except for one bag I grabbed from the living room and a bellpull I stitched in 2004 that I was particularly fond of. There may be some soot damage at the top - but I'll keep it anyway. The good - we found a terrific rental right next door, so are parking our cars in our own driveway and the mail can continue to come to our mailbox and we can keep an eye on the work at the house. Some days it seems surreal, other days.....it is what it is. More good - our son and his wife will be able to spend Christmas with us and that's really important. And now for the final ugly - it's a sad ugly. You all know that I do taxes for a living and also do estate settlement and help my older clients who can't take care of their financial matters. One of my sweet widowers, who is 88 and just 8 years a widower has fallen gravely ill. Today I am making arrangements for hospice care for him. I am sad that he is alone and ill and I am praying that I can find a good place for him to spend his last days in dignity and peace. If you are so inclined, please say a prayer for Lambert. Everything else is just stuff. Linda

42 years - really?

Yep - today is our 42nd wedding anniversary. Life seemed more calming then or maybe it was because I was younger and had more patience. After months of reading other blogs and getting some stitching done myself, I'm here to share a few pictures and blow the dust off my blog. I envy those who post more regularly than I do and fully relate to those who say that time escapes us all too fast. I also celebrated my 65th birthday earlier this month and am sharing some heart-made gifts from my stitching friends. (I'll let the pictures speak for themselves). Thank you Lee and Carol -I'm blessed to have met you both through blog-land.

Do something nice for yourself today. Linda

March weather?

Like many others across the country, the weather is a huge topic of conversation around here. Been in the 70's for almost a week and more to come. Windows open - flowers blooming - and still 4 weeks of taxes to go. It's not right. On top of all of this, I have asmatic bronchitis and missed 3 1/2 days of work last week and just not putting in the hours that are needed. Yoys and double yoys.

Couldn't even stitch last week - just sat in a chair coughing my head off listening to mindless TV. By Friday night I was ready to shut down the office and be a retired Enrolled Agent. ::sigh:: my clients would hate me. But thoughts of stitching and reading are clouding my mind. So tell me I'll get bored if I quit working - and that I can't disappoint my wonderful clients. And please please tell me I won't sound like a croaking frog for too much longer.

Do something nice for yourself.

Linda

Found the picture

So here's the picture that I thought went poof - it's the Stitcher's Companion from a BBD book called........rats - can't remember and it's at home. Oh well...here's my contribution to the Stitch Red for the Heart on the Fair and Square exchange.

For those who use the 3-2-1 cake recipe, last night I made spice cakes - DH loved them and they are easy to make. 1 pkg spice cake, 1 pkg angel food cake. Mix well and put in a plastic storage bag. When ready to bake, I used a coffee mug and added 3 tablespoons of the mix and 2 tablespoons of water. Mix well. Cook in microwave for 1 minute on high power. Inverted them into a little sauce dish and added some fruit. DH even asked me to make him a second one.