And the Livin' Is Easy

Hooray! It's officially summer today! We've been having quite a heat wave here in southwest Michigan with temperatures in the 90s! Folks have been enjoying the lake from dawn 'til dusk!

I'm making Prairie Schooler's July my official Summer Project of 2012! It's proven to be the perfect project to pull out when I'm watching a ball game. And since the Rangers seem to be winning more since I've started stitching this, I'm not planning to work on anything else for a while! My team needs me! And it beats not changing my socks!

Isn't it the summer-est?! I could spill ketchup and mustard on it and not mind a bit!

Hope everyone is enjoying their first day of summer!  Thanks for visiting!

BBD Happy Dance

I finished up Winter by Blackbird Designs last Friday except for the date at the bottom and my initials. Maybe I got a little over-confident stitching the 1 there, but I figure I have a good eight years to stitch Autumn and Summer before I'd have to change it to a 2. Just promise not to laugh too hard in 2020 when I have to frog it! (I left my initials off because, hey, I could get married, right?) (Hi Phil!)

We had a super nice Father's Day here at the lake. Phil's daughter came out and we made fettucini alfredo for dinner. The weather was mild and it wasn't too buggy so we sat out on the deck and enjoyed the view while we ate. We're slowly outfitting the kitchen with pots and pans and utensils so hopefully we'll soon be able to make Sunday dinner here at the lake a weekly event.

Today was supposed to be the long awaited installation of the glass enclosure and door for our shower. This is our second attempt at finding someone to design and install it and my hopes were high as I watched them carry in the glass panels. About an hour later they started carrying them back out again. Looks like it's back to the drawing board.

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend! I'm off to work on Prairie Schooler's July. I had to put it down yesterday because I'd made a mistake but I think I've figured out a way to fudge it. Mums the word!

Celebrating Dads today!

June WIPocolypse Update

Another month has gone by and it's time for June's WIPocolypse update! (I hope I'm not the only person who has to look back at their own blog to see what they've been doing all month!)

It looks like the only finish I had was Lizzie Kate's Create which is number 11 of the 12 Double Flips I'm stitching together as one long piece. You can check out yesterday's blog entry if you'd like to see a picture of that project. The majority of my stitching time has been spent working on Winter by Blackbird Designs which wasn't even on my WIP list! Shame on me! Here's a photo of where I am on that one...

Have you seen the Olympic Stitching challenge on Measi's blog? I'll have to pick at least one event to compete in! I have a big box of unfinished finishes so maybe I'll go for the gold in the Finish Line event!

I'm back in Three Rivers for the next couple of days. It's not my favorite place to be but the house does need looking after. I need a Stepford Wife version of myself to leave here so I can stay at the lake and relax!

Thanks for visiting, y'all! Have a great day!

Create Happy Dance

I put the last stitches in my Lizzie Kate Create yesterday afternoon. Only one more Double Flip to go (Live), plus finishing the border and this project will finally be done. If I was smart I'd get right down to it but I hear my BBD Winter calling, plus I have Prairie Schooler's July all kitted up and ready to go. I have yet to put the first stitch in that one, so I may just do that today before heading back to Three Rivers.

Here's what the whole project looks like thus far, in all it's wrinkle-osity...

I've been busy setting up a sewing room here at the lake house. It's such an amazing feeling, having some space to call my own again. I think only another crafter can understand what a gift a room, or a closet, or even just a small table can be. Phil gave me that gift, and I can't thank him enough for it. I am blessed beyond measure!

(Of course, after carrying 16 boxes of "stuff" upstairs, Phil has told me I shouldn't have to buy another pattern, piece of fabric, or skein of thread until I'm at least 100!)

Stitching To Go

I decided I needed to find a better method for toting my stitching supplies back and forth from Phil's. This was prompted by the discovery that one of the cats had coughed up a hair ball on the mesh project bag I'd been using. I've had this Vera Bradley bag for-evah and since I wasn't using it for anything else, I tossed in a few essentials and, voila! Stitching to go!

So far I have Q-snaps, scissors, a thread box, needles, a ruler, my stitching journal and a few other odds and ends. There's plenty of room for more so I added some fabric and the chart for Prairie Schooler's July which I've decided I just need to start since it's summa-summa-summa-time!

I'm totally tickled with my bag and feel like I've just discovered fire! (Which is a heck of a lot better than discovering cat barf!)

Hope you all are having a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

Weekend on the Water

I don't think we could have packed any more into this weekend if one of us had sat on it while the other zipped it up!

I didn't remember to grab my camera until late Monday but here's a few of my favorite shots.

Evan and Sarah out for some fun on the Waverunners...

Evan and yours truly giving the kayaks a try...

Sarah taking "MySpace Pictures" of herself (and me again)...

And the man who makes every day sunny...

In stitching news, I was close to finishing my Lizzie Kate Flip-It over the weekend but didn't quite make it. I tend to cross fewer Xs when the Rangers are playing well. Those high scoring games make it impossible to pay attention to anything but the TV. It's my lake project so I'll have to wait until this weekend for a happy dance. In the meantime I've been working on my BBD Winter. It's no where near finished but I'll try to take a picture to share soon.

I hope everyone was able to enjoy their Memorial Day weekend with friends and family and your weather cooperated like ours did! Summer is officially here! Let the countdown to Shark Week begin!

Driven to Distraction

I think I need a break! With all the packing and moving and cleaning we've had to do this last week (Phil's condo and storage unit plus my daughter's apartment), my body is worn out! Apparently my brain is too! I decided I needed to iron some of the wrinkles out of my Blackbird Designs project before taking a picture of it to share on my blog. I'd just started ironing when I noticed an old bag of bagels on the kitchen counter. I'd been cleaning that morning, trying to get rid of some of the clutter, so my mind starts wondering if I can just toss the bagels. I pick up the bag, give them a squeeze to check if they're stale, start to inspect for mold, then it hits me... wasn't I just ironing? I turn around and sure enough, I'd left the iron face down on my linen! Luckily I have no patience when it comes to waiting for things to heat up, so the iron wasn't quite as hot as it could have been and I didn't end up with an iron-shaped scorch mark on my stitching! But I do feel like a total idiot! And yes, the evil bagels are in the trash now!

Anyhoosie, here is my progress on Winter by Blackbird Designs, as promised :-)

I just love the colors! I'll be stitching Autumn and Summer on the same piece of linen at some point in the maybe-not-so-distant-future. I'm really hoping to have more time for stitching now that the house is finished and we're settling in.

Not only is the weekend finally here, but it's Memorial Day weekend! Woohoo! Extra days off for everyone! I've already got a start on my Official Beginning of Summer Sunburn and if we get the boat in the water this weekend I should be plenty crisp by Tuesday!

Have a fun one guys, and stay safe!!

Good Morning from the Lake

We were finally able to move into the house last weekend! We have no furniture except for some deck chairs and a mattress set, and only the bare essentials in the kitchen (coffee maker!), but I love every second I spend here! I will slowly transition myself to living here full time over the coming months, but for now I'm still commuting back and forth to my house in Three Rivers part of the week.

One of the first things I moved over here was one of my stitching lamps and a box of projects. (Phil totally understands my stitchy obsession!) Yesterday I worked on a project that hasn't seen the light of day since probably 2008, my Lizzie Kate Double Flips. I only have the last two to stitch, so I have to bop myself in the head and ask "Why did you stop working on it, ya moop??"

I got all of the word stitched on Create while watching the Rangers lose to the Mariners. It was the last game of a loooong 20 game stretch so I won't fuss at my boys too much. I'm glad they finally get a break today!

At home I've been working on BBD's Winter. I'm loving every stitch of it so far and will take a picture to share with you when I'm back home tomorrow. Once I get it finished, I think I will concentrate on my WIPocolypse projects again.

That's about it for me! This last week has been a bit chaotic but hopefully we will be settling into a routine soon. It just won't be this weekend, haha!

Thanks for visiting! I'm so happy you stopped by!

May WIPocolypse Report & A Happy Dance

Another month has sped by and it's time for my May WIPocolypse update! We saw the beginnings of my VoHRH Block 4 last month, and this month we get to see if finished!

I'm going to have to restitch the goat-dog-animal on the right because he blends in with the fence too much. I'm using the Vikki Clayton HDF conversion and sometimes the colors need a little tweaking.

Here is a shot of the whole sha-bang so far. I'm 1/3 of the way done now!

Back in March, Phil treated me to a trip to House of Stitches in LaPorte, IN. I'd bought the Winter, Autumn, and Summer charts from Blackbird Designs and wanted to find just the right linen to stitch them on. I chose a lovely piece of 36-count linen in Lentil from Lakeside Linens, and we also picked out the fibers for all three patterns. Phil got to learn about dye lots and why, if I thought I needed more than one skein of a certain color, I should buy them all at the same time. The shop ladies had a lot of fun with him being there, that's for sure!

I got started on stitching Winter right away, but being a 36-count linen I had my usual dilemma of whether to use two ply of thread or one. I did some sample stitching in both and everyone I showed it to said to go with two ply. I wasn't convinced that was what I wanted to do, thinking the stitches would look a too crowded and that maybe I should go with one ply for a more delicate look. A month later I still hadn't made up my mind! This was a project I'd been foaming at the mouth to stitch, and it had become a cat mat! (Doesn't matter where you hide it, they'll find it!)

When May rolled around I knew I needed to shake the cat hair off the linen and make a decision once and for all, otherwise all those carefully selected fibers were in danger of finding their way into other project bags. I'm stitching with two ply since that is what everyone agreed looked best. I worked on it for a bit last night and so far I'm loving it. Here's my progress so far (you can see the letter P still stitched with one ply.)

That's all the stitching I have to share this month. We've been super busy with last minute details on Phil's house. He'll be closing this month so we're plenty excited!

I'm looking forward to checking out everyone's progress for May! I hope I wasn't the only bad girl who started a new project!

Welcome to Grand Valley

My daughter, Sarah, has been accepted into the Medical Laboratory Science program at Grand Valley State University! We're super proud of her! She'll be starting on Monday so yesterday we drove up to the campus in Allendale to get her student ID made and check out her dorm room. I use the term "dorm room" loosely. She's in an apartment style "living center" and it's so different from what I had at A&M back in the... well... never mind when I was there! She will be in one of four rooms with a shared kitchen, dining area, and living room. That's a long way from boiling water in a hot pot for Cup-a-Soup and eating it at your desk! We still have packing and moving to do but, let me tell you, the level of excitement around here is high!

Congratulations, Sarah! You're on your way!

My Favorite Souvenirs

Years ago I had a friend who loved collecting things. She told me if you had more than one of something, it was a collection. She also insisted that I collect something, too. So my "thing" became Fiestaware dishes and we scoured garage sales and flea markets for it. I think it was the thrill of the hunt more than anything for us! I've collected quite a few things since then (Beanie Babies anyone?), but my latest passion is the Global Icon mugs from Starbucks. I only have five so far, but while we were on vacation I picked up these three...



Not the most exotic of locations but I'm just getting started!

What do you love to collect??

Vacation Snapshots

We are back from our trip down south so I thought I'd share a few pictures/memories! Our first stop was Louisiana! 

The Strawberry Festival in Ponchatoula was a lot of fun...

There were plenty of fresh strawberries for sale...

Dirty rice and fried corn...

 Only in the south...

Crawfish at my brother's in Independence, LA...

We made a short side trip to see the house where I used to live in Gulf Breeze, FL, many many years ago (the sidewalk used to be much longer!)...

Then it was on to Disney World!

The Pop Century Resort gets an A for AWESOME!

Extra Magic Hours totally rocks! We practically had the Magic Kingdom to ourselves for three hours! The "Wishes" nighttime show is a must-see.

Here's a shot of Cinderella's Castle lit up at night...

Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin... my daughter laughed so hard she puked! Seriously!

Space Mountain still makes my head hurt... :-(

Cinderella's Castle by day...

The re-imagined Spaceship Earth is worth seeing twice!

 Phil and I both love the Haunted Mansion...

Mission: Space at EPCOT is very, very cool. Worth risking another headache for!

Soarin' (no picture) is another new-to-me ride at EPCOT that I highly recommend, although I'd grab a Fast Pass for this one if they're available.

Rock 'n' Roller Coaster is still my favorite ride...

Followed closely by Twilight Zone Tower of Terror...

Expedition Everest (no picture) at Animal Kingdom was super fun, even though we were soaking wet from just having been on the Kali River Rapids!

Blizzard Beach has the best Mango Margaritas! And Rum Runners!

Needless to say, we had a fabulous vacation! And for the record, I love this man...

And these two kiddos...

And they love me!

On The Road

Left early yesterday morning, heading south! Thought I'd be clever and share a picture of the moon as seen through the moon roof of the car. :-)

We're in Independence, LA today, visiting my brother and celebrating his birthday, then it's on to Florida in the morning after Mass.

Have a great weekend! I'll soak up some rays for y'all!

Monday Bliss

I just had a share the latest pictures of the master bathroom. They finished tiling the shower last week and it came out better than we ever imagined. We were soooo close to changing our minds on the tile, but finally decided to stick with our original plan. I'm really happy we did!

The bench is made out of a quartzite called Fusion and will match the vanity top which should be installed today. It is positively gorgeous!

Bun hopes everyone had a lovely Easter weekend with family and friends! She feasted on a toilet paper tube stuffed with hay while us two-legged types enjoyed a delicious (double glazed!) Honeybaked ham for dinner.

I'm hoping to have time to work on my Village this week but it's going to be especially busy as we're leaving on Friday for a week long vacation. We're stopping at my brother's in Louisiana to visit for a couple of days and then heading on to the Happiest Place on Earth. That's right! We're going to Disney World! I am sooo excited! It's been over ten years since my last visit so I am more than ready! I promise to wear sunscreen but, after living in Michigan for three years, I fully expect to be burned to a crisp on the first day! I've also warned Phil that I'm likely to start bawling my eyes out the second I step into the Magic Kingdom. So if you hear about some bright red lobster woman laugh-crying her way down Main Street USA next week, that would be me!

April WIPocolypse Report

It's been all about Block 4 this month. Maybe I should be bored doing the ole one-project-at-a-time routine but I genuinely love working on my village. Unfortunately it's to the exclusion of every other WIP I have on my list.

Progress continues on our real life house as well. I've been busy getting things finalized with the granite fabricator and it looks like all our countertops should be installed next week. We have cabinets now, and most of the stair railings are in. Every day the house looks better and better!

It's Opening Day at the Ballpark in Arlington. The Rangers are leading the White Sox by one run in the 8th so I best get back to watching! Let's go Rangers! (And yes, after they lost the World Series last year I swore up and down I was done with the whole lot of them. Obviously that didn't last long!)

Spring Has Come!

I can officially say that now! Woohoo!

I participated in the International Hermit & Stitch Weekend, working on Block 4 of my Village of Hawk Run Hollow. I finished the tree branches and leaves on Friday, and started the roof last night. (I need an extra day for my stitching weekends!) (I highly recommend it!)

Progress continues on the house. We spent most of Saturday choosing light fixtures to be installed this week. They've also started laying the hardwood floors and installing cabinets. Tomorrow I go to look at more granite, and Thursday I'm picking out hardware for the cabinets. Busy busy busy! But I think we're finally getting close to being done with everything.

We took a little time out on Sunday to enjoy the beautiful weather we've been having. Phil's row boat survived the fire so he took me out on a short excursion, paddling around the lake. It was very quiet and peaceful since the summer folk have yet to arrive. Don't I look happy, even if a bit squinty-eyed?

I really can't wait for the house to be finished so we can spend more time there. It's getting harder and harder to be patient as the days get warmer and warmer. I know we are incredibly blessed to be building this house, but is it too much to ask that they HURRY IT UP!?

I hope everyone's week is off to a good start and you're finding time to enjoy some wonderful Spring days! Thanks for stopping by!