Three's a Crowd

I completed the Three's a Crowd design of Valerie Pfeiffer, Heritage Stitchcraft from England. Cute cross stitch of 3 chick-a-dees on a branch. Of course each has a personality that matches one of my children. I inserted the finished project in the opening of a trinket box. I purchase the DMC box last year as a Christmas present to myself. One of those things that I always wanted so I just got it. It was filled with needles, clover cutter, threaders, floss, linen, patterns and more. This is now my coffee table box to hold my current stitching project. Who am I fooling....current stitching projects! Multiply projects don't fit but I had good intentions.

Currently working on a Penny Rug Needle Case that I purchased in Nashua. It is a Donna Stefanik design from Heartsong Primitives.

Also, a graduation sampler for my son-in-law from Sweetheart Tree. I love the intricacies of Sweetheart Tree as much as they frustrate me. That project has been put aside for a couple of months. (photos may never follow!)

Lastly I am working on Autumn Roses Necessities Bag from Wendy White of Wee Works Sandwich, MA. This is on 40 count. I have not progressed too far and need to get moving. The deal with this one is that both my daughter and I took the class in Nashua in May and she is done! I will see her at the Stitching Festival in Hershey and we are going to compare progress which means I better get stitching. For the most part, this is stitched in one color so it makes it a great project to take a few minutes at lunch time and sit outside in the bright sunlight and do a bit.

Of course, you say I jest that this is all I am working on but remember the key word currently working on. That doesn't mean there are not a few more WIP - works in progress. These are the ones that I am actively working on! and of course there are more.....

Before the CATS Stitching Festival at the end of September, I need to review my project flyers, brochures, etc. and create a list of the linens and fabrics I need. Great booth at the convention of hand dyed linens, lugana, aida, and more from Picture that Plus. It will be my first stop when I attend the show. One needs to get there early before they are picked over and sold out of what you may want or need.

Summer's Over!

Where did it go? As we get older it seems to fly by even faster. This summer, for me, was filled with a lot of overtime Monday to Friday and weekend day trips. Some might think, wow, Overtime! but there is no money associated with it when you are salaried. It's all good. As with anything, there are push times and crunch times. We are down five employees in my department due to everything from resignation, retirement, disability to termination! We do what we have to do to get through these times.

I think the pace at work set the pace for my weekends. My husband supports a youth group and it lends him to be away a lot of weekends and leaves me to my own devices. So this summer - in no particular order .....

• I did some some landscaped rearranging - built a dry creek bed on my property - more like a little gully then a full fledged creek bed.


• Went to the theater with my daughter and saw Wicked! It was great. The show was great as was the walking around the city and strolling through the parks and shops around Rittenhouse Square.


• Had a graduation picnic for my son-in-law. What a guy! He spent 14 years in night school to get his engineering degree and he deserved a picnic! Of course, it was the hottest day of the summer and we all melted! Enlarge it, i is hard to see but it says 120! Silly me, I can' find the clearer photo. Must be on the other computer. Folks don't believe you get those temps. in Jersey.




• The annual removal of everything from the garage and the great purge of stuff.


• The annual sorting of closets and drawers followed by the huge drop off at Goodwill.


• Spent the day in St. Micheal's on the eastern shore. Road the ferry across the bay to the town of Oxford and walked the streets there. My travel companion had spent her summers as a child at a great aunt's house. We found the house and it is has been converted into apartments. As she was telling me about her memories of the old porch swing we looked up and the hooks were still there. It was an especially nice day for her.


• Deck parties! The son of a friend plays in a three piece acoustic band. They were called to perform last minute for a cancellation at a local restaurant with a deck on the river. They played to a packed house and have been invited back on subsequent weekends. It is great to have been able to watch these kids grow from babies to having babies of their own!


• Weddings - boy did I have weddings! I think there was a period of 4 months that I had a shower or a wedding almost EVERY weekend. Like I said, it is great to have watched these kids grow up and marry. Boy do I feel like my mother when I say....I can remember changing your diapers!


• Bought a book on Speedwriting to learn something new and to help with the fact that I am covering 6 to 8 meetings week due to turnovers at work. hmmm, I wonder where that book is? Must be buried in a pile of cross stitch.


• DCA Finals in Rochester New York and a side trip to the shores of Lake Ontario.


• Afternoons by the pool with either my sister or brother or both!


• Kutztown Folk Festival - I always wanted to go and finally did this summer. The crafts, the cloggers, the quilt display and the food! Need I say more?
• Porch painting - I decided to give the front of the house a little curb appear. I spruced up my front porch by getting rid of the tired stain by replacing it with crisp gray and what paint and a couple of Cracker Barrel rockers. Sweet! I meet with resistance from my husband and my son who thought it unnatural to paint the fir decking. Come on! It was at least 15 if not 20 years old. I like the end result and have even more plans. I think they protested just enough to get out of helping. Hopefully the before and after are obvious.


• Cross stitch and more. Not only did I do a fair bit of stitching, I started the summer with a trip to the Celebrations of Needlework in Nashua, New Hampshire in May, I am ending the summer with the Creative Arts and Textiles Show (CATS) in Hershey PA at the end of September. This will be the 8th year I have gone to CATS and it is a special treat because my daughters join me. They both stitch, knit and crochet beautifully. This year as well as last, we will treat ourselves to an afternoon at the Hershey Spa for choco scrubs and pedicure and facials. Followed quickly by the Chocolate Martini's once we check into the Convention center. Three days of heaven for a stitcher. We have even been known to do somersaults down the wide lush hallways. I watch, they roll!