Knowledge and Needles

Flatfold

2012-02-10T07:36:00.002-05:00

We had a little workshop here last Friday and made Flatfolds. I hope those who finished theirs at thome will bring them today so I can add their photos in a future post. This was my effort and I am very pleased with the result. The pattern is called A Sheltering Tree by "All through the night" designs

And this is my progress on "White lilies on red" by Mystic Stitch. I have to admit that my other stitching is falling by the wayside and I am somewhat addicted to this piece. Joyce warned me and I didn't beieve her ! These pieces are easy to do and the results are incredible!

January Retreat

2012-01-23T15:40:00.001-05:00

Another retreat is in the record books and it was a good one. We had three new participants and it must have gone well because they want to come back next year!

The first bunch of pictures is a sampling of some of the fabulous stuff that was on display. I don't know the names of the patterns but I do know who stitched what, I think.

Liane's work

Another one stitched by Liane

This one is Clare's

These 4 were stitched by Cheryl

This Ink Circles and the wine one below are Kathy's stitching, as are the incredible wolves, which were done over one by the way!

Leslie, Jeannine and Diane

Brenda, Kathy Fran and Clare way in the background

Fran and Cheryl

Sharon

Liane

Anne

Clare

We stitched a lot, ate well and there was way too much laughing going on a good deal of the time! What an excellent way to spend a weekend!

Back at stitching

2012-01-15T12:19:00.001-05:00

After four days last week with no stitching whatsoever I finally got back at it on Wednesday. I had not been feeling all that well and all I wanted to do was read and sit by the fire. However by Wednesday I got back in the groove and managed to work on, and by the end of the week, finish the second section of Jardin Prive.

After that I wanted to work on something that did not require the magnifier and that would give me a little instant gratification so I did this ornament from an old British Cross stitcher magazine. Although it is on 32 count I still thought it too large so I did it again with varieated thread on 25 count along with another ornie for the same magazine. Unfortunately when I went to photograph those two this morning I found that my batteries had died in the camera and I have no extras. Those pics will have to wait.

I did have battery power on Friday though and snagged a photo of Cheryl and Fran's versions of Ink Circles "Mother Maya". Isn't it amazing how colour and fabric change the picture?

Lisa's finish

2012-01-06T08:57:00.001-05:00

Lisa has done a fabulous job on this cat who looks just like her's!

In keeping wtih what seems to be the trend this year I am diligently working on my works in progress...all seem to be large so the progress is slow. Here are four pages of White Lilies on Red from Mystic stitch.

Paddy is recovering extremely well from her ordeal on Christmas night. Thank you all for your kind thoughts and good wishes.

Twisted Sister

2011-12-29T09:07:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,
We had a lovely Christmas right up until 10 PM that night. The day was spent with family in Caledon , stopping off In Mississauga to pick up Dan's Dad, his wife and his care-giver. We all had a wonderful time and were happy to have 4 generations of Balych guys in attendance. I took a photo and will post it at some later date.

We got home to Brighton around 9PM after a long day on the road and celebrating with the family. By 10 it was obvious that Paddy was in extreme distress. Our Vet (bless her) got dressed and came to the house on Christmas night. She immediately sent us to the Emergency Pet Hospital in Kingston for Paddy to have surgery on her twisted stomach (hence the name of this post). I can joke about it now that she is home, shaved and scarred but alive. She would have died had she not had the surgery.
The people at the pet hospital were wonderful...stablizing her to make sure she could withstand the surgery and she got the best post operative care. They even took to calling her Sweet Paddy by the next day...That dog can win anybody's heart.
Paddy is the one on the right in the above picture. See all that lovely hair on her belly? It's gone now!
Anyway she is home, on drugs but they will end today and is sleeping a good deal of the time. No strenuous exercise or long walks (it's too cold anyway) and no dancing around or jumping on things or people. Her diet is restricted to soft food for the time being...she is missing her doggie cookies but if that is the worst she has to suffer then she will have to cope.
We are just grateful that she is still with us. The name of what she had is gastric dilatation-volvulus which was followed by a rotation of her stomach. It is not uncommon, especially in large deep chested dogs and unless caught, fatal. In the course of her surgery they tacked her stomach to her abdominal wall so at least it will not rotate again. This tacking is sometimes done when a dog is being spayed and what a good idea...obviously it was not done on Paddy 9 years ago.

It was an emotional and tiring Day and Christmas 2011 will be remembered for a long time as the day the spent primarily on the 401 until 3AM on Boxing Day morning! We picked her up on Dec 27 and are very grateful to have her home with us.

Let's hope New Year's Day is somewhat less eventful!

More lovely gifts

2011-12-20T14:09:00.001-05:00

Look at the beauritful gifts I have received lately...This pillow was stitched and put together by Janice.

This delightful ornament came from Wendy

and this fun one was made for me by Kathy.

Could anyone have nicer friends ?

Updates

2011-12-12T14:38:00.001-05:00

This is the beautiful table runner the Friday Stitchers made and surprised me with on Friday. It is a reminder of all the lovely birds who come to the feeder we can see as we are stitching. They took me completely by surprise.

Am I not fortunate to have such wonderfuul and generous friends? More photos can be viewed on Fran's blog

Next comes my meagre progress on Jardin Prive. I do not see a finish on this piece by Dec 31!

I am delighted however with this finished product. I only hope David likes it as much! My Christmas tree, which I put up yesterday is in the background. I feel much more in the Christmas spirit now!

This is where I am with White Lilies on Red...my Mystic stitch project.

And two pairs of socks finished...the green ones are a pair in spite of the fact that they appear to be two different shades of green...all from the same ball of yarn!

And these gems are the result of my first attempt a short rowing the heel! I am not sure if I will pursue that method or stick with what I am used to.

Isn't this going to make a cute sock? It is fun to watch the pattern emerge.

Finitiative

2011-11-30T09:37:00.001-05:00

Finitiative is one of Bernie's words...meaning actually finish finishing some projects. I exercised some finitiative this week by finish finishing these 8 ornaments and grafting two socks! I am pretty proud of myself!

Here are a couple of shots of Paddy and Mollie being fierce , then relaxing after playing together before bed the other night.

I was on my way to visit Joyce this week, a little later than usual, when I was slowed down on the back road by a flock of about 2 dozen wild turkeys. They usually spend the early morning hours across the road in my neighbours field but then disappear for the rest of the day. That day I found out where they go...most of them were across the road already but about 5 or 6 decided they needed a more leisurely crossing, knowing of course that I would wait for them...which I did...and where were they headed? Why to Sharon's back yard of course for their mid morning brunch of whatever treat she sprinkled out for them.I was wishing I had my camera with me but alas I did not. Trust me it is very cool to see these wild animals up close and heading for their next meal!

My ship came in...

2011-11-25T11:50:00.001-05:00

Well not my ship exactly but I am benefitting from it. I had numerous orders outstanding to Zweigaart and every time I called , I was told the fabric was on the boat from Germany. It has finally arrived along with some of my orders...

Don't these fabrics look great??

There is more to come but I am happy just to have these for the time being...Cheryl, your 32 count ice blue is here; Sharon...the 40 ct sand: Barb...your 32 count opalescent white...Military Sharon..the 22 ct for your HAED!

And Wendy...finally Penny will have her bib. She can now compete with her male cousins in the bib department!!!

I'll get it to you...maybe as soon as this weekend!

Ironing beer bottles

2011-11-23T11:44:00.001-05:00

Dan asked me why the iron was out on Tuesday evening...my reply...I was ironing neer bottles and here they are...all ironed. They are currently at the framer. They and a beer calendar are my present for Christmas to my step-son David. I think he and his friends will have fun picking out their favourites and guessing which beer is which. Tracy from Ink Cirlces who designed this fun piece thoughtfully provided a two page list of which is where!

I have had a very productive morning. I briefly considered going back to bed when Dan left at 7 am but decided to get busy instead. It snowed overnight and there must have been a fair bit of freezing rain as well, since the trees were coated with gorgeous icy crystals. No doubt the roads were too, so I chose to stay in today and bake.
Yes you read correctly...I baked a whole batch of my Mother's white sugar cookies AND made a batch of chocolate fudge. I am astonished to say that both forays into baking world turned out beautifully. I don't think I have had a batch of fudge turn out so perfectly in many years. Of course the fact that I do this only once a year for Christmas, and due to my broken finger I didn't do any baking at all last year...the whole business is something for me to be proud of!
My brothers, who don't know how to make Mom's cookies, will be pleased at our family Christmas celebration next week and so will the grandkids when we have Christmas there on Christmas Day.
Alas stitching ladies...all this good stuff goes to family and since everything turned out the way it should have, I have packed the recipes back in the recipe box till next year. I can't jinx myself by trying another batch of anything! (Now that sounds more like me doesn't it)
Oh yeah...I vacuumed too! I am sure I'll be back to normal soon though.

22 to go

2011-11-16T16:30:00.001-05:00

77 Beer bottles stitched...22 to go!

At our Knowledge and Needles stitching retreat this weekend we enjoyed another great ornament exchange. I was the fortunate recipient of Dani's gorgeous Ink Circles ornament. I will treasure it!

I was also very fortunate recently to receive this very appropriate gift from Barb...yes those were her trees featured on Dani's and Bonnie's blogs...She is an amazing stitcher and finisher!

Retreat

2011-11-15T13:11:00.001-05:00

Alas I have no pictures for this post but you can see photos of our retreat on Dani's blog, on Beatrice's blog and on Bonnie's blog.
They were the ones taking pictures and they are all hands down better photographers than I am. (Better get some retreat pics on there Bonnie!) I think Beatrice will also have some on her facebook page.

We had a lovely time and got lots of stitching done. I stitched 11 beer bottles. This afternoon, now that the bathrooms are clean, the house is vacuumed (we have anew vacuum cleaner so it wasn't as onerous a task as usual, but I still hate vacuuming) and my Christmas baking is started I am going to tackle the next 11. So far I have 66 of the 99 done. Pictures will be along this week...I promise!

Backstitching!

2011-11-09T07:54:00.000-05:00

What a difference a couple of days of backstitching makes

Michael Powell Wedding Sampler for my nephew and his fiancee

BEFORE and AFTER

Getting caught up

2011-10-28T10:03:00.001-05:00

Okay, I have been working on various things but alas blogging has not been one of them...so to get all caught up...here are my current projects...

I bought this yarn at the Creative Festival on Sunday. The festival was something of a disappointment for me as a cross stitcher but I had a lovely day out with my friends and as you can see did not hesitate to shop for other non-cross stitch items. Notice the great blue that is coming up . I can hardly wait to see where it ends up in my sock.

These socks are progressing...as well. Why I can't seem to do two socks the same in a row is a mystery.

This one was fun to knit and I am sure the mate will also be fun to do once I get around to it!

My White Lilies on Red is slow going but then I have a couple of projects (see below) that have deadlines so the lilies will have to wait.

Here are 55 of the 99 bottles of beer on the wall from Ink Circles. My step son is quite the sampler of exotic beers so I thought this might make a great Christmas present to hang behind his bar. Tracy has included a list of each brand on the shelves so he and his friends can tick them off as they try them!

My nephew is getting married on New Year's Eve in Nova Scotia. We will not be attending so I am hoping to get this Michael Powell wedding sampler finished for them before Dec 3, when we will be seeing the happy couple at our annual McDonald Christmas bash.

CGNA Oct 1

2011-10-13T10:24:00.001-05:00

Before I tell you about the Cataraqui Guild's Needle Arts Fair I must share this beautiful Iris stitched by Narine. She really does a beautiful job!

Narine's Silver Lining Pink Iris

On October 1, the Cataraqui Guild of Needle Arts in Kingston hosted their annual Needle Arts Fair. Once again I was privledged to be a vendor. Here are a few pictures of the booth and some of the visitors to the fair.
It is a great day attended by needle afficianados and it is so much fun to visit and chat with so many people who love to stitch as much as I do.
I additon to the vendors present, the guild hosted a luncheon and in a separate room, a display of their fabulous work. I would like to have some photos to show of their artistry but alas it was requested that no photos be taken.
The guild members are fabulous needlewomen and you will have to trust me that the stitchery was superb.

Scenes from the Needle Arts Fair in Kingston on October 1

Gifts

2011-09-20T06:57:00.000-05:00

People have frequently commented about how fortunate we are in this area to have such a wonderful group of stitchers with whom to share our hobby/passtime/passion/cult. They are correct of course and today I want ot mention one particular friend who also feels that way. Anita gave me this touching gift on Sunday when we were together at a gathering of dedicated stitchers/knitters/quilters.
I have it hanging in my stitching room where stichers are found on Thursdays and Fridays and many other days as well!
Thank You Anita!!! I love it.

A gift from Anita
Where stitchers meet
Friends are found
With needles and floss
Hearts are bound

At the same gathering on Sunday I gave out a couple of gifts of my own to Grandma Wendy. Last June we had a Granny shower for Wendy to celebrate the impending arrival of her twin gransons and her granddaughter. I gave her an IOU for a bib with each child's name on it...so here they are Jack and Luc's bibs. As you can see Carrie, their proud Mom has a bit of a wild animal theme going on so I adorned the bibs with appropriate jungle motifs. Wendy's other daughter is expecting her daughter in about three weeks so when she arrives she too will get a name bib.

Finitiative

2011-09-14T11:46:00.000-05:00

What a productive morning...not only did I clean! but while doing so I managed to pick up some finitiative and this is the result...
Fran sent me a great link for grafting socks. I followed the directions and viola...I have two pairs of finish finished socks. Fran or Clare..did the grafting on the first one of each pair ages ago and I did the second sock of each pair this morning. Fran and Clare will be very proud of me!!!
This is the link Fran sent me.

http://knitty.com/ISSUEsummer04/FEATtheresasum04.html

Before I got carried away with the grafting though I got out some ornaments and did some finishing...yes there are 8 more days of Christmas but I ran out of cording so I will be asking Sharon to bring her corder to Friday stitching to make more. I will then add thread hangers on them and will have 12 new ornaments. Yes I know I stitched these guys about two years ago....you see that finitiative really works!

I also put together the ornament I made for our November exchange but I will not be showing it until then.
And if that isn't enough I finished two bibs in the last three days. They will be unveiled next week after I have given them to the proud Grandma and Mom...did I mention it was twins???

Bon Echo Provincial Park

2011-09-10T13:25:00.000-05:00

This is such a beautiful Provincial Park. We had 5 days of camping and enjoying nature. We did a lot of walking and the dogs went swimming frequently...of course the first order of business today was a bath for each of them!
We tired ourselves out walking the trails. No stitching got done but I do have a sock which I will show off at a later time.

Mollie and Paddy after a swim and a roll in the dirt

Paddy got very dirty

The view from at the back of our campsite

Lower Mazinaw Lake

Upper Mazinaw Lake and the famous Bon Echo cliff

Another shot of Lower Mazinaw Lake

Will this work???

2011-09-09T19:56:00.001-05:00

OK.. Blogger did not like my old browser so I updated my browser from Explorer 7 to Explorer 8 and now it is working again.. so tomorrow I will post some photos of our little camping trip to Bon Echo and two very dirty white dogs...they do love to swim and roll in the dirt!
I did no stitching but I did knit a sock!

Problems

2011-09-02T18:05:00.001-05:00

It would appear my blog is having problems...so I am just trying to see if a new post will help.

What a great day!

2011-08-22T13:18:00.008-05:00

Saturday was my 11th annual stitching day and what a fabulous day it was. There were over 40 stitchers in attendance and just have a look at some of the amazing stitching we had on display.

A stitchalong from Jardin Prive that a number of us are involved in.

Fairy Grandmother from Wendy and a golfing snowman from Barb

A tableful of smalls

Harry's cats

Kathy A's Royal Holiday and part of another piece stitched by Harry

Some stitchers with displays in the background

More stitchers...or maybe the same ones...

Beth's incredibly huge London scene

Fran's first hardanger piece!

Barb's Sheltering Tree

Barb's Midsummer night's fairy

Sharon's iris

Kathy B's realistic over-one wolves!

Some small stitching pieces

2011-08-16T06:51:00.002-05:00

This is a small quilt square I did for Dani . I have two more to go but they do not take long to do. There is a quilt in Dani's future.

There is also a quilt in Nan's future. Nan is one of our regular Thursday stitchers and embarked on this Prairie Schooler quilt project earlier this year. It has taken us this long to convince her that it is not a burden...really it is a pleasure for us to work on her quilt. She finally relented and let some of us take squares and go to town. I was tempted to make mine M is for me or M is for McDonald and told Judie hers should read J is for Judie O'lantern .... hmm maybe that is why Nan was relectant to let us loose on her quilt squares... however as you can see I was good and followed the pattern... I expect Judie did the same but then who knows??? We'll see on Thursday!

This is the beginning of my Mystic stitch pattern called White Lilies on Red...as you can see I am a fair distance from any white lilies. The blame for my doing this massive 20 page project lies squarely with Joyce and Enid! I imagine they are both suitably contrite.
And last but not least... in honour of the big event this weekend...the annual Knowledge and Needles Stitching Day...I bought new cushions for the chairs in the stitching room (although they will be in the garage on Saturday) The old cushions were all cushioned out and were in dire need of replacement. These new ones are cushy and comfy and make me want to sit in one and stitch all day...perhaps I just will.

Wedding Day

2011-08-08T13:56:00.003-05:00

This past weekend was pretty much a lost cause for stitching since I got no stitching at all done on Saturday or Sunday.

Fortunately I had considerably more time the previous weekend during which I stitched Sue Hillis' Wedding Day piece for two young racing friends of Dan's.

Really it will be ironed a couple of more times before it gets to the framer!

Also last week I had time to get the magnifier out and do a fair bit on Rosewood Manor's Inspiration. I am doing it on 40 fabric and I just love the delicate way it stitches up!

Fabulous heirloom

2011-07-31T16:08:00.002-05:00

Janet created this birth sampler for her newest grandchild. The 7 dwarfs are stitched on a beautiful piece of Crossed Wing collection fabric called Dogs day out.

Janet did a beautiful job on the stitching and mounting but there is more that adds to this treasure. The baby quilt on which the stitching is mounted was Janet's very own baby quilt made for her in 1941 by a Mrs Perry who was a close friend of Janet's grandmother!

Janet has the quilt folded over once so that her daughter can hang it on a dowel in the baby's room.

Just think of the generations involved in this birth sampler. Isn't it a fabulous gift for little Raelyn?

Jardin Prive stitch along

2011-07-25T12:25:00.002-05:00

From Kathy's beautiful finished wolves to my nowhere near to finished stitch along...Here is my progress

Kathy's wolves

2011-07-18T10:43:00.002-05:00

Kathy is one of the Friday stitchers and they are a great bunch for stitching over one. Here is an incredible pack of wolves done over 1 on 25 count. Great job Kathy!

Merry Christmas !

2011-06-20T11:55:00.003-05:00

Here is Kevin's stocking finished ... And here are Kevin's and Ethan's stockings ...

I'll be taking them to Betty to get them finish finished next week when she gets back from visiting family in Alberta.

Turning the heel

2011-06-03T08:52:00.003-05:00

I have been diligently working on Kevin's stocking (my brother's son-in-law) and I am pleased to report that yesterday I was at the point of turing the heel. With all apologies to knitters...but the saying seemed apt! It looks like I will be able to have it done for our family gathering in July.

Last night I took a break from colour changing in the stocking and switched to working under the magnifier on this 40 ct French stitch along...I think I may be almost caught up to everyone else.And last but certainly not least...have a look at Anne's latest finish... Kustom Kraft's Macaw! Great work Anne! Oh and by the way, Anne has lost 74 pounds in the last year...talk about a determined lady!

Another Christmas stocking

2011-05-27T07:47:00.002-05:00

Last Friday, my brother Christopher, who likes to start Christmas stockings for his family, but doesn't have time to finish them dropped in.
I had told him I would finish his son-in-law's stocking for him, so he brought it along and this is how it looked last week. He actually had done quite a bit of work on it!

I have decided that I would like to have it finished for the family gathering we are hosting in July so I set to work and so far, in a week, this is what I have accomplished.

Startitus

2011-05-18T07:42:00.002-05:00

I seem to have come down with a rather severe case of startitus...

This one is called Sampler au Bouquet and comes from France. A number of enablers are already working on it...Fran, Clare, Kathy, Wendy, Marg, the London gang and I don't know who else..Beatrice too I think...anyway now I am too! You order it on-line ( www.jardineprive.com )and have it within minutes!

And this lovely delicate thing is from Rosewood Manor...a huge piece called Inspiration.

Since it is so big (230 X 290) I am scaling it down a bit by doing it on 40 count linen...

Gold Magazine

2011-05-14T06:52:00.004-05:00

Remember these cute little 3-D houses that were featured in Cross stitch Gold Magazine before Christmas? Well I really liked them and I expect showed them off here in my blog when I finished stitching them. I also, uncharacteristically, sent a letter to the magazine indicating how much I enjoyed them. And...lo and behold, my letter was published in the most recent issue!!!
I'm famous!

On a completely different note... those 5" hoops from Germany which hold your fabric extremely taut are now in. They are pricey little devils (at $20) but people who use them say they are fabulous. I mention this here because while I was sure I ordered only one package of 10, they sent me 2 packages of 10. I guess this way no one will be disappointed that she cannot get one.

Morning courting...

2011-05-08T10:53:00.003-05:00

This male turkey put on quite a display for Dan and me this morning. I suspect that the performance was really for the female turkey seen in the next picture and not the two turkeys watching and taking pictures from the living room!

Before this turns into a wldlife blog, I had better get back to the stitching part of it. Yesterday at Friday stitching Cheryl brought along her work from the weeks I was in Florida and unable to see her progress. Have a look at her beautiful work...Letters from Nora E and N ... Christmas presents for her grand daughter and sister.

And this Sue Coleman wolf for her son!

Beautiful work Cheryl!

Bird Keeper??

2011-04-24T15:17:00.002-05:00

So will the real bird keeper please stand up?

Critter de jour

2011-04-15T17:01:00.003-05:00

Last night's visitor was actually an opossum but I did not get a picture of it. This afternoon this turtle came wandering across the backyard.

I spent the afternoon on the lanai finishing this lovely lady was a gift from Judie. She is called "The Birdkeeper" from The Goode Huswife.

A visitor

2011-04-14T14:39:00.003-05:00

These pictures are not too clear...(the world's worst photographer strikes again) but they do show our evening visitor. We were astonished to have this young bobcat come to partake of the food we put out for the armadillo and the raccoon! Another reason for the slighly out of focus pics is that I stayed well behind the screen of the lanai! Our neighbours were unimpressed by the visit because apparently this young cat is seen frequently around the area but he/she is the first bobcat I have ever seen outside of a zoo and to have one so close was an event for us.

We are continuing to enjoy the sunshine and hot weather. I am stitching on "The Birdkeeper" and expect to have her finished in the next few days. I have also finish finished two socks, complete with toe grafting. Of course when grafting one of them I ended up with no stitches on the bottom needle and three left on the top one. I don't believe that is supposed to happen!

Bird keeper

2011-04-08T10:00:00.002-05:00

Judie brought this pattern back from her trip to Arizona for me because she knew I would love and I do. It is easy to sit in the evening and knit and so I have been doing just that. Here is the beginning of a pair of socks I am making for my Father-in-law. I ran into a problem the last time I tried to make these socks because half way through the second sock I ran out of yarn. They got ripped out and made into socks for me. This time I have sufficient yarn to finish the project and as his birthday is in June, I expect I will be able to finish knitting them by then as well.

And here is a sock that is almost finished except for the grafting. If I get ambitious I may go on the internet and find a knitting site with directions for grafting OR I may get lazy and wait till I get home and have Fran show me how. She tried to teach the technique to me just before we left for Florida but I kept getting interrupted and called away and we just ran out of time. What a friend though, when I was called away, rather than wait for me she just went ahead and finished the toes of three socks for me.

Its a hard life...

2011-04-01T09:37:00.002-05:00

We are still in Florida with its sunshine and hot weather. The days have been great but we have had a couple of bad nights with lots of lightning and thunder. Unfortunately our Mollie is not a fan of thunder so we have had a couple of sleepless nights, last night being the most recent one. I guess we will just have to have a lazy day to make up for it...okay a lazier day than ususal if that is possible.

Here are some examples of our lazy days...

The dogs have not taken to the pool which is Okay I guess but odd since they will jump into any lake or river they come upon, including muddy puddles and wallow in them!

And lest you think I have done nothing but sit around, rest assured that my sitting around has been productive. I have become a little obsessed with Alpine Seasons.

The Sunshine State

2011-03-25T09:17:00.002-05:00

Here we are in Florida and finding it warm, relaxing and perfect. We have been here three days now and I believe that would count as three days of better weather already than we had during all of last year's visit!
I have been swimming in the (heated) pool ...stitching on Alpine Seasons...

...knitting on socks...

and reading but I forgot to take a picture of the book but today I will be on to another one anyway...

I have also been breakfasting late in the lanai with my trusty companions. Dan made breakfast by the way. We have gone on leisurely walks around block and are generally thoroughly enjoying our solitude, privacy and holiday in this lovely comfortable Florida home.

Downsides?...the only immediate one is that I have had a slight reaction to the sunblock I was using and my face is red, but not from the sun. Today I'll find a drugstore and get something that doesn't cause this itching ...all in all not a big problem! So no complaints so far.

The house at home is well looked after, Dan is getting a well deserved holiday, I am going to get a great deal of stitching done...all's right with the world.

Well our world anyway...I have no idea what's going on in the great wide world as I haven't seen any news this week other than to hear the Elizabeth Taylor has died.

Let the pictures do the talking

2011-03-15T10:05:00.003-05:00

These are two pairs of socks I have knit! Thank You Clare for the yarn and Fran for the finishing! Fran gave me this great Stitching bag for my birthday. She made it and I am looking forward to filling it with my projects to take to Florida. This is the inside with very large zip lock bags for holding all my thread and charts and stitching.

And this is the personalized out side! Thank You Fran!

Lisa is a Thursday stitcher and this is her cat....

And of course you all know Adriana and these two pieces are her latest finishes.

This one of birds is incredible!!

I also had taken a photo of Beatrice's progress on her Miribilia Sand Castle piece but the picture didn't turn out very well. I am not dubbed the world's worst photographer without good cause.

Sloppy weather

2011-03-10T09:44:00.003-05:00

Well it snowed all day yesterday and it is raining today...non-stop..so we are experiencing some very sloppy weather. I am just glad I don't have to go anyplace. I was out this morning thinking to shovel the walkway, which I did but I stopped at that because the wet wet snow is just so heavy! It was exhausting to try to move it. Rubber boots are the order of the day!

Yesterday I stitched on Ethan's stocking and have finally arrived at the point where all that remains in backstitching. That was my choice of course so next week when I pick it up again I will backstich my little brains out and maybe have it finished before we go to Florida.

The next few days I will get back at my Alpine Meadows piece. It is huge and I have done very little...so it deserves some attention.

Friday stitchers

2011-03-06T19:19:00.004-05:00

Hi Loyal readers.. I have been very remiss in blogging and for this I apologize. We have had quite the week, not that that is an excuse, but I will complain anyway. On Monday we visited Dan's 86 year old Dad in Mississaugua. On Thursday we went to a funeral in Huntsviille ..the deceased was only 54(!) of cancer...it was a hard one. It has been a hard week. So by Friday I was glad to be home with my Friday Stitching friends and I am happy to show you their work..
Here is Cheryl's version of an Ink Circles piece but I am not sure which one it is... but she chose her own colours. And here is Anne 's "Clipper Ship Voyage" By Dimensions, which she has stitched for her husband and soulmate Brian.

I have been working on the CS& CC stocking for my great nephew. I will post a picture this week. I promise!!!!

Nashville

2011-02-20T12:21:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone,

Dan and I are in Nashville and I for one am pretty much shopped out. We will stay here again tonight because snow is expected in the areas through which we have to travel and besides it is Daytona 500 Day and we want to watch the race.

We figure they will have cleared the snow by the time we come through on Monday and Tuesday and also with Monday being a holiday who wants the long lines at the border? I can't blame people for cross border shopping though as I am doing the same thing and the dollar is so good right now compared to the US dollar.

Anyway here is a little teaser peek at just a few of the goodies I have picked up.

I got a good buy on some fabric...remember those packages I got a few years ago and sold for $10 each in great colours? I have more now.

Debbie...got some beautiful yellow linen for you in 32 count but have ordered some 28 if you prefer that.

Sharon..had to order the CWC linen for you .

Catherine S...picked up your WDW threads

Judie...had to order your Crescent Colours but they will be shipped on Monday

Diana...ordered the one from Shepherd's Bush, picked up the two Rosewood Manors

Colleen...I found the needle miner and the Blackbird Designs book

Trish...got the new Lizzie Kate as requested for you

Marie Paule...wait till you see JBW's Scottie

Bonnie...got the limited edition Fireweed kit from Tracy at Ink Circles for you as well as all her newest designs...that Jusy Rosy one is gorgeous!

I didn't see anything I 'd like to offer as a stitch along/class on but then I haven't really taken the time to spread it all out and fondle to properly.

Here are a couple of pictures to tease you!

All oohs and aahs accepted

2011-02-14T15:55:00.003-05:00

I saw these in a recent Cross Stitch Gold Magazine and decided I had to make them...yes all four!
They are called Pantomime Houses and are based on a variety of Fairy tales..Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood (who appears to be hanging out with the Three little pigs) and Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
They were fun to stitch and fun to put together. The designer recommended aida fabric but of course I had to use Lugana. Once I was lacing the walls together I realized that aida would likely have worker better but oh well I had the lugana left over from something and I had to use it!
The roofs are done aida and the bases in green felt. The instructions did not call for stuffing the houses but I filled them up with fibrefil to help them keep their shape.

A finish!

2011-02-09T15:18:00.004-05:00

I love this stocking...It is called "A Virtuous Woman Stocking" and is just so primitive and funky and out there that it just speaks to me...
It is from Carriage House.
The saying on it is...
A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband but she that has no shame is rottenness in his bones" I also finished 4 Christmas ornaments today but will wait till next week to post them. I want the Thursday and Friday stitchers to oooh and aaah first! (And I had better hear a lot of ooohing and aaahing tomorrow and Friday!)

A gift and a sock

2011-01-31T10:06:00.003-05:00

Fran gave me this delightful needle holder on Friday. It was a thank you for hosting the retreat where we all had a blast last weekend. It was a lot of work to make this and I treasure it and the friendship that inspired her generosity!

I knit a sock last week. Clare had given me this yarn in an enabling tactic to get me knitting and it worked...here is my sock and the beginning of its mate. I did try to knit the pattern that came with the yarn but got stymied on one of the directions. Of course it didn't help that I missed the second line of the explanation of the stitch but even when I realized that I was missing crucial information I did not know how to follow the directions...so I ripped the little bit I had done out and made a boring sock with no pattern in the stitches but I think the fabulous colour of the yarn makes up for it.

Winter visitors

2011-01-19T08:14:00.002-05:00

I have three types of woodpeckers who visit here regularly. Below in a Hairy Woodpecker.

This one is a Red-bellied woodpecker, although his belly is not all that red, his head sure is.

The third kind are the little downies. I had a photo of one but it was impossible to see him so I'll just share the two. Very rarely we see a pileated woodpecker as well but they confine themselves to dead trees to peck out their food and shy away from human beings.

There are also myriad other birds...a pair of cardinals, many blue jays, nut hatches, finches and of course the chickadees.

Last Thursday we also saw a hawk high in one of the trees overlooking the back yard. He was huge and beautiful and I know hawks have to eat too but I wasn't so happy that he was considering my little feeder area as his very own smorgasbord. Beatrice has a picture of him on her blog.

Cheryl's fairy

2011-01-12T12:03:00.001-05:00

We had a little stitching gathering at Fran's house on Monday. A good time was had by all! Cheryl had this beautiful fairy finished to show everyone. I had to share it with you!

Socks

2011-01-07T10:12:00.002-05:00

I do not have much stitching to share because all my projects are moving very slowly, however before Christmas I did finish these socks.
I had started them many months ago and got hung up interpreting the directions for the heel. Fran was here one day before Christmas and explained it all to me and voila...a pair of socks!

Sharon's Huswif

2011-01-03T10:12:00.005-05:00

I made one of Ellen Chester's Mrs Waddelow's Huswif patterns last year. Shaoron also stitched one but did not get it made up until recently. Here is hers....

Sharon even made the little needlebook to accompany the Huswif.
And this is a gorgeous ornament that she made for me. Isn't her work beautiful?

Sale and Inventory

2010-12-29T08:55:00.002-05:00

Hi Everyone,

It has been quite the time around here. Our computer went down a few days before Christmas...great timing right? Actually there is no good time to be without the computer. But I had told people to email me for the Boxing Day sale and of course the computer wasn't back until well after that!

Thank goodness for generous friends and relatives who graciously allowed me to check my emails on their computers.

All in all the Boxing Day sale went very well and I thank all of you who participated.

My next project is to do a complele inventory of the shop. I have been finding that I have often been remiss in removing sold items from my website so it is due for a major clean up as well.

I do have a pair of socks which I knit to show you but so far I have not taken any pictures so that will have to wait. Right now the priority is the inventory and I had best go off and get started.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. We certainly did!

Judie and Judy

2010-12-20T08:27:00.006-05:00

Here are the flatfolds Judie (ie) and I made a couple of weeks ago. The red one is mine and I am keeping it. The Peace one is a gift Judie made for a friend of hers. We were pretty pleased with our handiwork. Judie (ie) stitched this Pawcasso piece and had it framed for her step daughter for Christmas.

Judy (y) has been very busy with Christmas items. Here she is with a tree skirt..

This table runner has a candle and poinsettias on the other end as well!
And last but not least here she is with Sue Hillis' "Stitchers Days of Christmas"

All the finished projects are gorgeous and beautifully finish finished!

And I really did think I should include a picture of the watchdogs! Here they are guarding Dan's crocs!

Friday Stitchers

2010-12-13T08:03:00.004-05:00

The finishes by Judie, Judy and Janice will have to wait while I display the suprise that came to me on Friday...

These are the core Friday stitchers...left to right.. Sharon, Catherine, me, Anne, Fran and Cheryl.

Lucie who comes as time allows and Paddy are looking on.

Apparently as long ago as last August they hatched a plot to create a unique sampler just for me and here it is. I cried! They all had a hand in it and I must say it ranks right up there with the best all time gifts I have ever received. Thank You so much girls!!

Kathy came late to the group and as stained glass is really her forte she made me this gorgeous guardian angel. Kathy is also an aritist with paints and we are slowly converting her to cross stitch addiction as well. Catherine only started Cross stitching this year. Not only did she do a portion of the sampler but she also made each of us a lovely ornament with our initial. Here is mine on the tree.

I am thankful every day to have so many wonderful friends.

Boxing Day Sale

2010-12-10T09:53:00.002-05:00

I have some pictures of great finishes by Janice and the two Judys (ies) but they will have to wait till my next blog. Dan has been bugging me to post the information about the Knowledge and Needles Boxing and Dec 27 Day Sale.
I will be offering 25% off anything in the store.
You can drop in between Noon and 6PM either day or email me starting at 12:01 AM on Dec 26.

I need to clear out some inventory to make room for all the fabulous stuff I am planning to buy in Nashville in February.
So if you have had your eye on any charts, kits, fabrics or threads let me know and they can all be yours at 25% off on Dec 26 or 27!

Current WIP

2010-12-06T10:48:00.003-05:00

When I finally got back to stitching last week I picked up the stocking and made some progress. It always seems like you do more at the beginning of the project...I know it just seems like more because the additional stitches are more apparent.
At any rate my stitching has become very slow with the sore finger. Ethan will not be enjoying his stocking this Christmas. These are the other two pieces in my rotation...Sunbathing...

and A Virtuous Woman stocking....

Linen does wrinkle doesn't it??

The tree is up and has lights but no decorations so far. We bought a real tree this year and it does smell wonderful. We mainly were rebelling at the effort of getting the artificial tree up the basment steps ... but for all that avoidance I still had to de-vest it of the strings of lights which I had oh so cleverly left on last year thinking I was saving myself some aggravation...wrong again. It is a pain the remove lights from a tree tucked in a corner between shelves and a hanging bicycle...especially when I had wound the lights on every twig and branch so expertly last year!

So this year's tree has one less set of lights but fortunately it is smaller so it looks OK. It doesn't know how close it came to having no lights at all.

It's good to feel good again

2010-11-29T11:44:00.003-05:00

I think I am on the road to recovery although I may be coming down with something even more serious. When I got up today and looked around the house I had the overpowering urge to clean and vacuum..the morphine must have caused some brain damage after all!

I felt fine on the weekend and we were able to travel east to the Ottawa area to my family's annual McDonald Christmas. Everyone of my side of the family was in attendance ... all 34, from my oldest brother Stuart to my youngest great nephew..William, the recipient of the stocking.
My Santa ornaments were well received and changed hands a few times during the game finally ending up with my niece Karen. My brothers and I had our annual Christmas photo taken..I think I was standing in a hole.

As you can tell my sister-in-law had their home beautifully decorated and it was all very festive.

This is William, who is a couple of weeks shy of being one year old in the arms of his doting aunt Andrea and you can just catch a glimpse of the stocking in there as well.

As I predicted Christopher asked me if I would finish the stocking for William's older brother Ethan, which Christopher started stitching at the same time as I stared William's...early this summer. "It's almost finished Ann....will you just do the rest???" What could I say? My family doesn't ask for much...

This what he dropped on the table in front of me.

Misadventures I could have done without

2010-11-25T09:24:00.003-05:00

I really do try to keep this to a stitching blog but for reasons which will become apparent I have no stitching to share.
Without going into the gory details of my own carelessness and inattentiveness I will tell you that last Saturday I broke the ring finger of my left hand.
Off we went to Emergency at Trenton hospital were I was treated promptly and very well...I was X-rayed, IV'd and given a Tetanus shot. I was able to get my rings off without their having to resort to cutting them off which was a good thing.
Then back on the road to Belleville Hospital to see the surgeon. I did have to wait for him but I prefer to think he was busy for those two hours with a patient who needed more urgent care than I did.
Once with him I was dealt with efficiently...frozen, bone and nail restored to their proper places, sewn up, bandaged up and given prescriptions for infection and pain and sent home.
All in all I cannot complain about our Health Care system. It worked very well for me.

Unfortunately, I woke up in the night in incredible pain and my only thought was..that morphine isn't working! I had always heard it banished pain miraculously! Unfortunately, not being in my right mind I did not know and continued to take it ...turns out what I thought was my body responding to the assault of the injury and surgery was really my body reacting badly to the drug. I finally clued into that fact and saw my doctor here in Brighton who told me stop taking it...which I already had but the damage was done.
I was flat out in bed for two days, flat out on the couch for the next two ...Today I am taking it very easy but the dizziness, nausea, lack of appetite, and massive headache are gone.
I think I may survive but it is a sure thing that I will never take morphine again.
I had lots of love, support and help from Dan who cared for me faithfully, even staying home from work on Monday and from my good friends Judie, who visited, stayed with me and brought me some excellent soup, Sharon who also visited and changed our bed for me . I was still pretty fuzzy that day. And Harold who came and walked the dogs.

Today I will venture out and if the headache and wooziness don't return I should be OK to go to my family's Christmas party on Saturday.

Obviously with only one hand in commission and my head not working I have done no stitching but fortunately I did finish finish the 4 Santas into ornaments last Thursday so I will have them to take to the family gathering.

I hope the finger gets better fast, and it seems to be responding well soI will soon be stitching again.

Moral...don't break bones or take drugs especially one's that don't agree with you.

The Absent Blogger

2010-11-18T08:15:00.003-05:00

I have been negligent in my blogging duties ...so here is a bit of a catch up...
Last weeked was the annual November retreat at TimberHouse Inn here in Brighton. We all had a wonderful time and pictures of the retreat can be viewed on Beatrice's and Dani's blogs.
I had a miserable head cold all weekend long and so did nothing but sit like a lump and stitch ornaments all day every day. The ornament pictures follow...
However I have to share this fantastic towel Bernie made for Dan. The Butthead part is the nickname Dan and his friend Bruce have. They are One and Two respectively but the title can change when one makes a particularly spectacular bonehead/butthead move. Dan holds the # One title at the moment. Bruce and Luci were here all weekend to give Dan a hand with the preparation, cooking and cleaning up of the feast we had on Saturday afternoon.
Here are my Santas...all finished and backstitched...I am planning to give them as a gift at my Family Christmas party next weekend ...so very soon I'll be getting out the glue and felt and backing fabric and prepare to burn the tips off my fingers with the glue gun.

Ornaments

2010-11-08T12:43:00.003-05:00

I have been stitching and finishing ornaments on this round of my rotation.
We have been invited to a Tree decorating party early in December so I made this little ornie for the hosts. The name of their house is Cressyview because it is in Prince Edward County and appropriately enough has an impressive view of the Lake from Cressy.... Some ornaments also got finish finished and here are a few of them. I had done a couple of the JBW angels on a black background also but once they were made up I decided that they were not right to give my little great nieces. I have therefore stitched a couple more angels on white and will make them up with the lace sometime before our family Nov 27 get together.

JBW French Country angels + sunbathing

2010-10-27T06:12:00.002-05:00

This is my progress on Bizzi Creations "Sunbathing" I actually bought the chart about 5 years ago on my first trip to the Nashville Needlework Market. Stitching began in 2008 and then it languished but I am back at it now and it is coming along very well. The fabric is linen from Crossed Wing Collection. I took some time out to make these 4 little JBW French County angels. I have 4 great-nieces so they will become ornaments for the little girls for Christmas. All were made from scraps of left over fabric and left over variegated silk. I love these tiny little stitches. 25 ct is really one of my favourite fabrics! Also I used some feature, for which I always have to search, on my computer to flip the chart so that two of the angels face in the opposite direction.

JCS sampler

2010-10-23T09:03:00.003-05:00

This is my latest finish. A sampler designed by Sharon Cohen of Nostalgic Needle which appeared in an issue of JCS magazine in two installments last year...or maybe the year before. I used the recommended GAST thread but only one strand and did the piece on 40 ct natural linen over two threads. I am delighted with the result. Of late I have returned to a rotation of sorts. I have spent 5 days on Sunbathing by Bizzi creations. This is a piece I began in 2008 and have just returned to. Next I spent 5 days on Carriage House Samplings A Virtuous Woman Stocking on 40 count. And finally 4 days doing 4 tiny JBW French Country Angels on 25 count to be made up into ornaments for my 4 great nieces. Now I am back to Sunbathing...we'll have to wait and see how long I can keep up the rotation idea!

What a wonderful turnout!

2010-10-18T08:13:00.006-05:00

We had a fabulous turn-out for Adriana's Art Show yesterday. The house was wall-to-wall people and the lawn/parking area was full, including some brave souls who parked on the side of the road.
Everyone wanted to see Adriana's amazing work and visit with her in person!
Fortunately I took all these pictures before anyone arrived so you can all see for yourselves the quality and quantity of her cross stiched pieces.
After people started coming I had no opportunity to take photos but perhaps Beatrice or Fran will have some shots of the crowd.
We met Adriana's family...children, grandchildren and great grandchildren; most of the Thursday and Friday stitchers, stitchers from Cobourg and Kingston area; friends from the retirement home where Adriana lives, church members, friends of the family, neighbours and complete strangers who saw the ad in the paper. It was an excellent day and I am so proud to have hosted it!
Special Thanks go out to Anne, Nan and Angie who made it so easy set it all up.
Enjoy the show!

A big upcoming event

2010-10-11T12:28:00.004-05:00

October 17 from 2 till 4 pm we are having an ART SHOW featuring the cross stitch art of Adriana...
Everyone is welcome to come and view the amazing work of this wonderful woman. Adriana is 94 years old, still stitching on 28 count fabric and a definite inspiration to all who know her.
The show will be at 190 Smith Street in Brighton on October 17 and I do hope we will have an excellent turnout.
I will post photos next week and you will all be amazed and impressed at the quality and quantity of Adriana's stitching!

Fairies are finished

2010-09-27T13:52:00.002-05:00

Well there were only kms of backstitching, not miles as I thought and considerably fewer than one million beads...maybe only a hundred or so! Therefore it did not take as long to finish as I originally thought.

This is my next start. I don't know why I like this stocking...it just amuses me I guess. Anyway the plan is to do it on 40 count over two. However since I already have a project on the go in 40 count over two, I will endeavour to finish it before I start this one. It is about 3/4 done. It is the Sharon Cohen sampler that apeared in JCS magazine a couple of years ago.

If I am desperate to start something new, I can always start Mirabilia's Shakespeare's Fairies which I have been threatening to start ever since it came out. I have the most perfect fabric from Crossed Wing Collection on which to stitch it.... and of course all the threads are kitted up and ready to go!

Fairies

2010-09-21T07:26:00.002-05:00

This is where I am currently ...nearly fnished except for miles of back stitching and about a million beads!

Some finishes

2010-09-01T14:38:00.006-05:00

This is Marie Paule's Three Kings (Imaginating) finished and framed. She stitched it for her aunt who is 90 yoears old. This is the Band Sampler version of Siam Fusion (Sampler Cove). The line on the right side is glare or something because it is not on the real picture. I did most of the work on this one in Florida in February...alas not sitting out by pool either...in the house!

This is my Stained Glass Landscape (Kappie Originals) which I love. It took a long time to stitch and unfortunately the flash in the picture does not add to its beauty but when I look at it in person the flash glare is not there!

And this is what I finished today! One of the stockings from Cross Stitch and Country Crafts. This is for my great nephew William. His mother did not like the toe of the original pattern so we did a bit of cutting and pasting and came up with this. When I finally got the barn and Noah's Ark done I knew there was no way I could place the little stitched animals all around in an artistic manner. Therefore, I figured if she wanted to mess with the chart, I could too and added buttons instead of little quarter stitched animals! I am not unhappy with the result, although they are also not scattered about in an artistic manner!

Now I have to keep mum about the fact that I have finished this in case my brother who is stitching one for this child's brother ( his other grandson) thinks it would be good for me to finish it for him!!

Check this out!

2010-08-27T10:26:00.000-05:00

We made the newspaper!

http://www.emcquinte.ca/20100826/lifestyle/A+passion+for+stitching+works+of+art+in+Brighton

What a day!

2010-08-23T07:04:00.005-05:00

"Well Maggie Muggins, I'd say you've had quite a day!"
Did anyone else ever watch Maggie Muggins on TV when she was a little grl, or was it confined to Ontario in the 50s? Anyway I felt like Maggie Muggins on Saturday and I'd say we all had "quite a day"
45 stitchers came to our stitching day from all parts of Ontario from Ottawa in the east to London in the west!
We stitched!

We displayed our beautiful work....

Some took a break from stitching, eating and enabling to play light sabre star wars with their cell phones!

We ate well.

Many many stitchers also took time to shop and for that I thank you very much. Knowledge and Needles had a very good day! Of course I am happy to have the business, but really what thrills me the most about the day was joining my friends, new and old, in doing what we all love. The coming together of so many diferent people who share the passion for stitching is a cause for joy and the sight of the amazing work we all produce is a cause for awe!

I feel so fortunate to have found such a supportive and wonderful group of friends.

Thank You so much.
More pictures on Beatrice's blog

Mother Nature

2010-08-16T07:02:00.002-05:00

Mother Nature asserted herself last night. We had quite the display of lightning, thunder, rain and big wind.
This is the view from the south... And this is the view from the north.I was on the front porch taking this one.

This is a Manitoba maple that had 4 or 5 trunks coming up from the ground. One fell a number of years ago when Dani was here. It went on the road. A second prong fell one night when someone ran into it. Fortunately it fell straight down the ditch and whoever hit it took off.

This prong is in the front yard and has only taken out the top rail of the fence. We are fortunate that it did not go towards the road nor did it hit the gas line pressure thing...that could have been a mess!

Well there is at least one trunk of the tree left...stay tuned, no doubt in a year or two it will also sacrifice itself to our wood burning stove.

Bib and stocking

2010-08-15T12:50:00.004-05:00

I finally got back to some stitching this week. This is my progress on the Christmas stocking. It is coming along well but oh! the backstitching!!! On Tuesday our young friends Shawn and Susanna welcomed their son into the world. Shawn and Dan frequently work together...and as you may guess Shawn is a carpenter/builder....hence the theme of his son's bib.

Wasn't that a party!

2010-08-09T05:53:00.002-05:00

Warning.... this is not a post about stitching. I haven't had a needle in my hand for over a week...
No this is about a fabulous reunion of old friends who have been getting together every three years for the last 30 years! Dan and I were on the committee to plan Lahrfest 2010 in Prince Edward County. We and 11 others have spent the last three years planning it all and I have to say it went off beautifully. 108 of our friends and colleagues who taught with me for the Canadian Forces in Lahr, West Germany 30 years ago attended. Some taught there earlier or later than I did so we did not all know everyone but we all had plenty of old friends to catch up with. We had friends from Halifax to Vancouver in attendance and my friend Heather made it up here from Virginia as well.
We spent 4 days reminising, partying, car rallying, wine tasting, historical walking, golfing, biking, partying, 1000 Islands cruising, barbequing, dancing and eating and drinking. The food was second to none and the local wines and beers were very popular. The weather was spectacular. The band at Thursday nights dinner/dance played our 60s and 70s music...totally appropriate since we are now all in our 60s and 70s!
I learned that we can still party as hearty as we did when we were 30...it just takes a lot longer to recover!
It was also wonderful to learn, as one participant quipped that we can enjoy each other's company just as much whether we are discussing travel tips and the best route to Greece by car as we did back then or various medical procedures and hospital tips as we seem to be doing now! I did spend quite a bit of time with some of the women discussing orthodics and brands of comfortable shoes as I recall!
It was just a wonderful experience and we had a blast organizing it with the rest of the committee.

On another note...HAPPY BIRTHDAY greetings go out to Beatrice , Christin, and Kathy, who all have birthdays around now!

Anne's stitching

2010-07-31T09:07:00.002-05:00

This is my friend Anne West and the picture below is a piece that she has just finished. We had the privilege of watching it grow at our regular Friday stitching group.

This is my progress on my great nephew's Christmas stocking. I am pretty pleased with myself for doing the backstitching as I go along. There is a lot of it!!
And I would like to thank you all once again for the tremendous support you gave to Brighton by voting last week. We are all elated with the positive result and $25,000 boost to the Fund!

Also, on August 21, I will be hosting my annual Stitching Day here at 190 Smith Street. I think it is the 10th year for it!!

All stitchers and stitcher wannabes are welcome...potluck starting at noon. Bring your finished projects to show off and something to stitch on and prepare to be impressed by all the fabulous things our fellow stitchers produce!

Thanks for the votes

2010-07-23T18:29:00.003-05:00

Brighton won the $25,000 from the TSN/Kraft community challenge!
Thank You for voting and supporting this community cause.
I am so pleased not only that The new Track and Field Facility got a $25,000 boost but that the entire community came together to vote, vote, vote and vote again to make it happen.
I am so proud of my town!

We need your votes till noon on Friday

2010-07-22T11:14:00.002-05:00

Please vote for Brighton to win the $25,000!
Go here and follow the directions...it's easy and $25,000 will go a long way to building the new track and frield facility!

Thanks
http://kraftcelebrationtour.tsn.ca/top20/1697#matchup

Christmas stuff

2010-07-20T14:45:00.003-05:00

Well yes, these have been the hottest weeks of the summer and what better projects to work on in the sweltering heat then Christmas designs? These are two ornaments from Cat's Whisker's "On the 12th day" chart. I am making them into individual ornaments. 11 down and only 1 to go...yes Beth, I left that one you mentioned to the end!

And this is a stocking from an old Cross Stitch and Contry Crafts magazine that I am making for my newest Great nephew William. His parents chose it..

On July 22 at noon the voting will begin...go to this website to cast your vote(s) for Brighton!

http://eastnorthumberland.kprdsb.ca/

Thanks!

Looking for your vote

2010-07-14T08:39:00.003-05:00

I live in the small town of Brighton. I came here in 1975 to teach at the High School. Although I have moved around to various other schoold during my career, Brighton has always been my home and I consider East Northumberland Secondary School my home school.
This year some very civic minded people at the high school and in the community have launched a fundraising effort to build a new Track and Field facility on the high school grounds but for use by the entire community.
They have entered the Kraft Challenge and we are one of 20 communities in the running for a $25,000 prize. This would go a long way towards the new facility, especially since the town will match it making it $50,000!
All I need from you is a vote (or numerous votes, apparently you can do that) from noon on July 22 till noon on July 23.
Here is the link...
http://eastnorthumberland.kprdsb.ca/
Scroll down and click on vote here. It will take you to another site where the actual voting takes place. You cannot actually vote for Brighton until July 22 but the other entrants are interesting and worth a look.
The school has always had a strong presence in the track and field area.... just ask any of the neighbouring high school track or cross country teams...ENSS dominates...due to the tireless efforts of track coach Tim Larry, John Ward (retired) and many others. We used to have a Fall Harrier, just for fun every September. After Terry Fox died it was turned into the Terry Fox Run and the school and community has raised thousands and thousands of dollars for Cancer research through the run. I remember Tim and I organizing one of the early ones which raised $7000...we could not believe it and were going to recount the money! The Head Secretary stopped that nonsense and sent us home. That year Betty Fox herself came to the school to accept the cheque for the foundation...there was not a dry eye in the gym!
Anyway, if ever a school and community needed and deserved a new track facility , this is it.

Please help on July 22...as they say...vote early and vote often for Brighton's bid in the Kraft challenge.

Memory Keeper

2010-07-05T11:58:00.004-05:00

Back in February when I went to the Nashville Market I found a couple of new design ideas that caught my fancy. The first was Mrs Waddelow's Huswif by Ellen Chester of "With My Needle" and the second was this Memory Keeper from "The Workbasket"
Here is my memory keeper...I played with a different colour scheme and various overdyed threads and I am delightedwith the result.
Here it is once the stitching was completed.And these shots are the finished product once Daina worked her magic with her sewing machine for me.

Summer!

2010-06-22T12:02:00.003-05:00

Yesterday summer was ushed in by a glorius day...today...not so great! But there is a gentle rain falling which will be good for my garden which seems to be flourishing. There are carrots and beet shoots about an inch high and the potato and tomato plants are doing very well.
On the stitching front, my output of ornaments has diminished with only two new ones from the "On the Twelfth Day " Cats' Whiskers series...

But the piece I am enjoying the most at the moment is this one from a JCS magazine from last year or perhaps the year before...designed by The designer behind The Nostalgic Needle company. I am particularly pleased with this because it has been my first foray into the realm of 40 count fabric... and I am loving it.

How, you must be thinking does she see to work on 40 count fabric???

Well here is the answer...a handy dandy LED Magnifier light! It is the greatest... Yes I do sell them in the shop and this is a shameless plug for them...but they really do work wornders! I have had nothing but accolades from all my friends and customers who have purchased one.

The Pink Ladies

2010-06-14T15:12:00.003-05:00

Look at what Fran has made for the girlies...

She and Simon brought them over last night and the girls immediately modelled them. Of course Fran made one for me as well and she promises to put a picture of the three of us on her blog.They remind me of the jackets worn by the Pink Ladies in "Grease" and my girls look particularly smashing in them I think. No one will call them boys when they are wearing these scarves!

An adventure

2010-06-12T10:29:00.003-05:00

I have frequently written about our two dogs but rarely have I mentioned that we also have two cats. Here they both are on top of the kitchen cupboards a couple of years ago when we had another dog visiting. They dearly love our dogs but have little tolerance for any others. Emily , the grey one thinks she is a dog and will answer to her name and come running and beg when her treat container is rattled.

Jesse, the fluffy one is a true cat. She tolerates us at best and will not answer to her name or to anything else.

On Thursday, Jesse (also known at Kit Kit) went outside and did not come back. All day Friday I went out periodically to call her... now there is something inherently stupid in calling a cat who you know will not come when called. But there I was anyway...flashing the flashlight under the verandah and the back deck, calling plaintively and trying to hear a respondng mew from anywhere. I hoped she was up a tree and afraid to come down rather than that she may have fallen prey to the coyotes, or racoons, a fox or a hawk ...all of who live around here.

Finally when I had just about given up hope I called again at 9:30 last night...did I say there was something stupid about calling a cat who won't come...well calling a cat who won't come when you are in your nightgown and bare feet is really pushing it! Anyway I did hear a little meow. I was just glad that she was still alive even if she was stranded up a tree. It was too dark to go scanning tree tops at that point.

I made one last effort at 15 to 10 and there she was in the back yard...I attempted to herd her into the house (you've heard that expression about herding cats? It's impossible) Anyway I finally got close enough to pick her up and she is now home again safe and sound.

After the weekend

2010-06-07T13:28:00.003-05:00

This is the beautiful view of Georgian Bay from the deck of the house where I spent the weekend with 13 of my stitching buddies. It was hard not to gaze at the view instead of stitching but I was on a mission....Since I was not the hostess of this getaway weekend I managed to do copious amounts of stitching. And this is what I worked on. If you look at my previous post you should be able to tell the difference between the before and after pictures. Alas Memory Keeper stayed in the stitching bag all weekend and only the fairies got some attention.

Before the weekend

2010-06-04T07:48:00.003-05:00

I am moving right along with my On the 12th day ornaments...6 down , 6 to go...

Today, very shortly as a matter of fact, I am leaving for a wonderful stitching-filled weekend with a great group of friends. These are the two pieces I am taking with me..Fairies in the Garden and Memory Keeper. These are the latest pictures of each of them. I am planning on stitching my little fingers to the bone so I hope to have some major progress to share on Monday!

3 of the 12 days

2010-05-28T11:03:00.002-05:00

I have been doing some stitching ...Here are three ornaments from The Cat's Whiskers ...On the 12th day...814 DMC on 32 Cobblestone linen.

And an old WIP is getting some attention...but I am sure to get tired of it soon...I have been working on my website this morning and getting pretty frustrated. I am trying to make some changes but one of the pages will not change or update. This happened once before with a different page and then I had to erase the entire page and start over. Part of it gets corrupted or something and nothing will change. Oh well..I guess it is time for something new anyway....but I have messed with it enough for one day...that is a job for next week!

Other people's work

2010-05-19T13:26:00.005-05:00

As you may recall a number of us have been working on "With My Needle's" Mrs Waddelow's huswif. Here are Sharon's two stitched pieces...the huswif itself and the needlebook cover, which she stitched over one.
She has some gorgeous fabric for go with it and I will be sure to publish a picture of the finished products.

This is a feebie from TW's site which Cheryl stitched up and you can see the matching fabric she has to go with it. I am not certain what her plans are for a finished product.

I have been dabbling at this and that. I am attempting a rotation yet again. While I get something done on three peices, there is not a lot to show on any of them ..I have also been working in the evening on ornaments but have no pictures yet.

My rotation is consisting of There are Fairies in the bottom of my garden, My blue toile pillow and the Memory Keeper.

I also spent a couple of days last week when I had Marie Paule's new magnifier light , working on the JCS magazine sampler from Nostalgic Needle which I am doing on 40 count fabric. The LED light/magnifier was incredible...so much so that I ordered 6 of them for the store...there is one left! So today I ordered 6 more. These lights are fabulous and once I have kept all my customers who want one happy I will buy one for myself and also have it as a sample in the shop so people can see for themselves how much easier it is to stitch on high count fabric...when you can see it!!!

Siam Fusion

2010-05-08T10:37:00.003-05:00

Siam Fusion comes with two versions...a larger sampler where the various motifs are arranged sort of geometrically throughout the sampler and this one which has the motifs in bands.
I started it in Florida in February and finished it yesterday. It is done on a lovely purply 32 linen which was a gift from my friend Sharon.

Here are the fabrics that Fran has chosen for her huswife...very pretty. She has even started stitching as you can see.And here are my beautiful girls all groomed up and sporting their new neckerchiefs which I sewed myself on my 50 year old sewing machine!
The fabric was purchased at the Cataraqui Guild's Needle Arts fair from Elaine Quehl who sells a variety of gorgeous hand dyed fabrics. Her website is www.equarelle.ca It is worth taking a look it. Her quilts are magnificent!

Paddy

Mollie

What a good day!

2010-05-02T11:06:00.004-05:00

Saturday was the Cataraqui Guild's Needle Arts Fair in Kingston.
Knowledge and Needles has been priviledged to have a booth at the fair for the last few years and I must say it is one of my favourite events of the year. This year was no exception.
We arrived around 8am and with the help of two good friends and capable helpers we had the booth set up in no time. Here are some shots of Susan, Dani and Dan setting things up. And a picture or two of some of the other vendors, also in the process of getting ready. Once things were up and running I had no more time for pictures.
Dani and I were busy all day selling stuff to some of the 160 stitchers who attended . For their $7.00 admission fee, they had about 12 or 15 vendors all in one place, a lovely lunch and an incredible exhibit of the fabulous work the Guild members have completed this past year. Some of their work was just mind boggling; it was so exquisite!

Among the visitors to the the Needle Arts fair were some very good and loyal friends of mine from the Friday Stitching group...Here are Cheryl, Catherine, Fran and Sharon. I have shamelessly lifted this phot from Fran's Blog.

You may not be able to see it in this picture but three of them are wearing Knowledge and Needles logos on their shirts. Fran can sew anything! Cheryl's is red on her black Tee shirt, Fran's is yellow on yellow and Sharon's is gold on her black sweater.

On Saturday I was so pleased at the ladies who came up to tell me how they were progressing on their projects. One woman who had seen my Prairie Schooler quilt two or three years ago, and who had purchased all the charts for it brought her finished letters to show me. Next year I hope to brings along the finished quilt!

Another one let me know that her Blackstone Fantasy Garden was on display in the exhibit hall...of course I looked at it and she had done a fabulous job.

I only see some of these women once a year but they are becoming like old friends and it is a joy to go back each Spring and renew the friendship.

Thank you so much Dani and Susan and Dan for the help. The setting up went so much faster with 4 of us setting up. I could not have kept up with the customers without Dani being there as another salesperson. And of course my walking advertisers...Cheryl, Fran and Sharon! Thank You all so much...and also the loyal stitchers who came out to the Fair!

Nan's finish

2010-04-28T11:35:00.003-05:00

Nan just finished this Mirabilia for her second great grand daughter. Gorgeous or what?

On Sunday, I was stitching and visiting with friends when I realized that there had been a little too much visiting and not enough counting. So the stitching I did that afternoon was counter stitched immediately and my memory keeper is going to go away for awhile.

It is time to move on to another project and give this one a rest. It is very large and I believe I need a break from it. To that end I went back to my Toile pillow which even with yesterday's stitching is not looking very toile-like. A picture will be forthcoming in my next blog entry.

More great finishes

2010-04-24T12:09:00.005-05:00

Of course they are not my finishes but I am delighted to be able to showcase the beautiful finishes of my frineds.
We have a Judie and a Judy in your stitching group...these first two framed pieces were stitched by Judie. Her teapot is for her own kitchen. This beautiful Lanate is for her grandson who recently got married on a beach in the DR.

Our other Judy is also a quilter as you can see from the fabulous way she finished her Jeanneatte Douglas "My Stitching album" pages...

And of course there is Barb who was featured in my previous post. This week she brought this Sue Coleman Butterfly to share. It is for her husband who chose the pattern.

Thursday and Friday stitchers

2010-04-20T12:54:00.003-05:00

Not having anything photographed of my own stitching I am happy to share some other people's achievements. Barb spent most of the winter in Myrtle Beach and as you can see she was not idle. Here she is with Courtney Collection's "Alpha Bleu" (en rouge). It looks great!

Sharon is modelling her new sweater which Fran just embroidered for her. My friends are very loyal to my shop as you can see. She plans to wear it to the Cataraqui Guild's Needle Arts Fair in Kingston on May 1. If anyone will be in tha area that day and wishes to attend, let me know and I can send you all the information. It is a great chance to see the beautiful work the Guild members do while attending a merchant fair and getting lunch as well...all for the princely sum of $7.00! A bargain!

Mrs Waddelow

2010-04-09T07:59:00.004-05:00

Ellen Chester of "With My Needle" designed this delightful "Huswif" and here is my interpretation of it. I used 30ct R & R Reproduction linen and Weeks Dye Works thread - Bordeaux. The fabrics came from a local quilt shop.
Diana sewed it together for me and did a beautiful job.
I sent these pictures to Ellen and she posted them on her blog... check it out
www.withmyneedle-ellen.blogspot.com
Makes me feel famous!!!

Lucie came by the shop on Thursday with two selections of fat quarters one in dark greens, oranges and yellows and one in dark blues, and purples... she is going to have a gorgeous "Huswif" regardless of which colourway she goes with. I will post pictures of the stitch-along as we go. I have a feeling that we will produce some incredible "huswifs" ? "huswives"?

New Start

2010-04-05T14:17:00.002-05:00

You may remember in a previous post I mentioned that there were two patterns I got in Nashville that I really liked. One was Mrs Waddelow's Huswif from "With my Needle" and the other is this one from "The Workbasket"
This is my start on Memory Keeper. As you can see I am departing dramatically from the suggested colours.

I have completed the stitching on the Huswif and have shipped it off to a friend who sews to put it together for me...sorry Fran...I just do not want to sew it myself! I tend to run amok when I am doing anything other than zigzagging the edges of my fabric with my sewing machine.

Timberhouse Retreat

2010-03-24T11:34:00.008-05:00

We had an excellent stitching retreat this past weekend. I tried something a little different. Instead of showing you pictures of all of us sitting around stitching I thought I would show some of the work we were actually doing so here goes...some WIP and some finishes...
Marg's Christmas by the letter...Lizzie Kate Dani's Celestial Dragon by TW

Judie's Wedding sampler for her Niece

Marie Paule working on an Imaginating design

Colleen's completed Four Seasons ...Marjolaine Bastien

A finish for Rebecca...Lizzie Kate I believe

JBW's Snow Globe...stitched by Rebecca

Christin's Giggles in the Snow...Mirabilia

Beatrice's China Blue

Sheila's Autumn Fairy

Bonnie's Kaliedsocope

An Owl by Carmen

Wendy's or Clare's ...they were each doing one!

Wendy's Four Seasons

Colleen's Halloween Banner by L*K

Evelyn's Letter M by Nora Corbett

Isolde's Tuscany (Heritage)

Sharon's 2007 Christmas Tree by Mirabilia

Debbie's Holly Hobby finish

Gotcha!

2010-03-19T11:08:00.003-05:00

Oh My! My husband and friends and family really did a "Gotcha" on me for my birthday. Dan organized a surprise party for me and it really was a surprise. Fran has a couple of pictures on her blog and promised many more as Simon seemed to be everywhere with his camera.

I was too busy greeting and hugging and some say "squealing" as each new person came through the door. It was a totally wonderful surprise and I held it together pretty well with all my local and some not so local stitching friends...but the waterworks started when I turned to see my brothers, Stuart, Ken and Christopher and sisters-in-law Gladys and Gloria (except Susan who had to work) and Clancy and Lisa. These people had to spend more time on the road coming and going than they were able to spend at the party where the only people they knew were Dan and I and Bruce and Luci! I as so touched and feel so good that I can almost start crying again thinking about the wonderful friends and family I have.

Dan apparently organized it all via e-mail on a secret hotmail account Dani set up for him...and he and Dani and Sharon and his team of my sneaky friends pulled off the party of the decade! and yes this party did mark the arrival of a significant decade!

What else can I say but Thank You all for a memorable and fabulous evening. And Thank You for your love and friendship which means more than words can ever say.

This afternoon I am off to the Timberhouse for a rest and to join more friends for more fun, food, conversation, and of course our theraputic and soothing hobby, cross stitching. I understand it is a great pass time for us old people.

By the way...my friend Joyce, with whom I stitch on Tuesday mornings, was also at the party and also celebrating her birthday yesterday...so there were a few extra rousing chorouses of Happy Birthday sung to her as well!

Thank You all from the bottom of my heart!

Home again

2010-03-17T13:04:00.002-05:00

After two full days on the road last Friday and Saturday it is nice to be home.
Why is it that 50 to 60 degree weather in Ontario in March is heavenly but the same temperatures in Florida are disappointing? Location, Location, Location I guess!
This week has been full of getting back to normal, buying groceries, and getting ready for the weekend retreat at Timberhouse Inn. I am also setting things up for next weekend's Nashville Open House. I am happy to say that plans for both big events are moving along very well.
My stitching has suffered and I now realize it has been (gasp!) a week since I have done any at all...It is a good thing that the retreat is coming up so quickly because that will provide many hours of good stitching among congenial friends and fellow addicts!
No stitching = no pictures. However my next blog should be photo intensive after the big weekend!

Still in Florida

2010-03-08T10:04:00.002-05:00

Here are the girls romping in the Gulf of Mexico. We found this dog beach and they certainly had fun chasing around with the other dogs. They were quite unsure of the big waves though so did not do much swimming. Yesterday was the kind of day we came to Florida to enjoy. Here I am in the lanai stitching and getting a bit of sun.

I got tired of working on the dark fabric of Siam Fusion so I switched over to this little JBW ornament. The pic is a bit blurry but then Dan doesn't call me the world's worst photographer for nothing! I did it over one on 32 (hey it is easy to see when it is sunny out!) with Carrie's creations "Holly" thread.

And here is Siam Fusion . I like it but the dark fabric gets tedious sometimes.

K & N Website updated

2010-03-03T14:55:00.003-05:00

These are my two favourite charts from Nashville this year. I love all the ones I bought but these are the two I am definitely going to stitch as soon as I get home. I like them so much they may become classes at the shop.

Other favourites include some perfect little Erica Michaels designs which were stitched over 1 on 40 count! Unbelieveably gorgeous. There are some really cute little Myrtle Grace designs which are made up in Altoids tins. I am also very taken by Autumn at Hawks Run Hollow, the new series by Blackbird Designs, ABC of Aging gracefully by Lizzie Kate and Bindalli which is being distributed by The Cat's Whiskers. Oh and I like everything else I bought too!!!

We have had a productive day so far. First there was a quick trip back to see the German couple from whom we will be renting a house next year. They are about 20 minutes away from where we are this year but their house has a heated pool, which we wish we had this year and they are very happy to let us have the dogs there. The place is clean as a whistle as you can imagine and we are pleased as can be to have our vacation plans for next year solidified.

I then entered the last of my Nashville pictures on my website and decided for sure that the Nashville Open House will be March 27 and 28...everyone is welcome. If too many people want the same charts and I only have one or two, some people may have to wait while I re-order but everyone will get the patterns she wants eventually.

Then we took the dogs for a two mile walk in the wind and now we are all tuckered out. Dan is relaxing in the sun and now that my blog is written I am going to...oh I think I'll stitch!!

Gulf of Mexico

2010-02-27T15:27:00.003-05:00

Here are Bruce, Luci and Dan outside of Sharkey's restaurant a few days ago. And here is the beach and the Gulf of Mexico...This was one of the nicer days we have had during this trip.

Alas today was cold and wet but it was a good day for me to stay in and enter Nashville stash on my website.

Watch www.knowledgeandneedles.com (News and Specials page) for pictures of some of the great stuff I will be bringing home to the shop. It's all for sale!!!

I'll add more stuff as the days go on.

Nashville

2010-02-25T09:45:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone,

We spent last weekend at the Nashville Needlework Market and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It was in a new location this year and this hotel was much newer and cleaner . It also had an excellent retaurant.

I think there may have been fewer vendors but I still managed to spend all my money and be exhausted by the end of the weekend.

This is a picture of the hotel with various vendors banners hanging from their balconies.

Here are Dan and Jeannette Douglas with my "Stitching album" displayed in the background.And here I am with Jeannette wearing my sweatshirt that Fran made for me Unfortunately I couldn't wear it for too long as the hotel was quite warm!

This is a picture of my suitcase filled with stash. I spent yesterday entering all the charts in the inventry in my computer and then Luci helped me price them all. Today or tomorrow I will try to get the scanner that is here up and running so I can put pictures on my website of all the new stuff. Last year I took photos and loaded them in but really scanning them is much easier.
I am hoping to have the Nashville Open House the last weekend in March!

Siam Fusion

2010-02-16T13:57:00.003-05:00

I am moving right along with Siam Fusion. This is a very enjoyable piece on which to work...of course I seem to say that about all my projects. The weather in Florida is warming up very slowly. It is great for walking the dogs and I even sat out yesterday afternoon and read and stitched and got some sun.
Sunday we watched the Daytona 500. What an odd race with the track breaking up like it did but there was an exciting finish with Jamie MacMurray edging Dale Junior. I was happy to see Jamie win and it is good to see Junior at the front again!

Florida

2010-02-12T10:58:00.002-05:00

Greeting from not so hot and sunny Florida.
I would love to have some pictures of us lounging by the pool in the hot sun relaxing and getting tanned but alas we have not exactly been enjoying pool-sitting-beside weather. Yes I know we did not get the huge blizzard that Washington DC and the mid Atlantic states have and it is not
-2 C like at home but hey we're in Florida...we wanted better weather than this! I am getting lots of use out of the sweatshirt Fran made me though!
OK enough whining...

The girls are with us because Mollie licked away at her back leg to the point where she gave herself an infection and we did not want to leave her behind. They heve been getting lots of walks and as you can see from the photos they each got a new Florida bandana. She finished her antibiotics and her leg is all healed up and she is on a higher dose of medicam. So it was a good ploy on her part to get a trip to Florida!

I have tried to stitch outside because the light is so much better but the aforementined cool weather has prevented that for the most part.... However here are my two new starts since I finished the JD Stitching album and the Stained Glass landscape.

This is the start (upper left corner) of my Toile pillow. I am using Eterna silk and it is very light and filmy to work with. I think it will give a gorgeous sheen to the pillow though. It is on 36 ct linen.

And this is The Siam Fusion band sampler. I am also using silk for it and it too is lovely to work with.
It is on a piece of 32 count purply linen that Sharon C gave me and I am liking the look.

I love my hobby

2010-02-01T13:44:00.003-05:00

I cannot decide which is the better photo so, since I am so proud of this finish, I'll post two pictures. It took a very long time to do this project but I have to say the result is worth the effort!

We haven't left for Florida yet but we'll be on our way tomorrow or Wednesday for sure. If there is anyone who needs something from the shop, just e-mail me or phone the house and leave a message and we will arrange for you to get whatever you need. Our house sitter is very accommodating and is willing to get together with customers who need supplies.