Got no power, go shopping.....

Not me, thankfully, I had no storm woes or worries after the second Friday in a row of strong winds and heavy rain....but my sister was without electricity so ...... we went shopping.   We went to a consignment store in Lancaster Co, PA.   In planning the day, I read they would have someone onsite to buy old jewelry and who doesn't have a busted chains or two and one earring of a set?   Cashed out with $170.  But before that, I went shopping through the booths and what goodies did I get. 

Look at this frog.

Isn't it perfect for holding the cover photo of my current stitch from Prairie Moon?

Awesome oval white will red enamelware pan.

This is the second egg basket I have purchased.   Not 100% sure what I am going to do with it.   Got some ideas for rearranging a few pieces of furniture and accessories and this is sure to play a part. 

Another piece of Lefton to add to my collection.   My first piece was a piece of my mom's and every now and then I add a piece that I fancy.   This one is just a nice shape and good sized cookie jar and the price was right.  

After I checked out, I cashed in my jewelry for $$$ and I saw this on the counter.   Curiosity got the best of me and I asked the price.  

$175 for the 10 piece set.   I didn't want to spend that much but I had never seen that many matching pieces.  After a bit of wheeling and dealing, I got it for $120.  It had come into the shop that morning and the shop owner was fretting over where and how he could arrange all the pieces.   He made a $10 profit for holding it for 4 hours and was thrilled....and so was I.  It may not be terribly old, it has no markings or name but using my rule for shopping - it doesn't have to be old, you just have to like it.   

It is going to be a great addition to my slow progression on my bedroom makeover. 

    Somehow, I managed to buy all these goodies, get rid of some junk in the bottom of the jewelry box and come home with more money then I started with.  Sounds like a good day to me!

The embarrassment may jump start me

My bedroom redo is at a stand still. Actually it really never got off the drawing board so it is a non-start. I never put my energy into the bedroom decor since the rest of the house is what people saw. It is now time to create myself a nice little, inviting retreat. I figure if I endure the shame of sharing the horrid mismatch of stuff hopefully it might shame me spur me into action.

And there is the question of where to put the treadmill.....I do use it, just not in the summer.

The inspiration piece - Sweetheart Tree

There are only two things I like about the bedroom decor - the paint color/Tiffany box blue and the colors in my pseudo quilt. I have fabric swatches on the wall, I think I want to put up botanical prints on the wall, my daughter is giving me a petite little armchair she no longer wants and all I have to do is get a slipcover for it. 

 I can make a little stitching/tv watching/reading corner. Part of my delay -- nothing to do with me starting a cazillion projects, trying to spread my time between them all and not finishing any -- has been the fabric choice. 

I think this is the perfect fabbie to pull the whites/blues/browns out of  the quilt and my accents.    
Maybe I will accent with  Lime Green and not Hunter Green.....hmmmm.

 Now that I decided, with the seal of approval from my sister -- the one that can take a box of junk and make it into something awesome that I could never envision -- I have to wait for a sale at Joann's. I estimate six yards for the curtains since the decorator fabrics are 60 wide and with the regular price at $40 per yard it is a definite coupon purchase. I don't want to break my record of never paying full price if I can find away around it. 

And the Hope Chest.....it is not my style or taste but it was from Mr. W. in 1974 so regardless of decor, it stays. I came up with yet another brilliant idea, that could stay on my mental project list forever, to cover a cushion in coordinating fabric to the curtains and make a skirted slip cover to throw over the Hope Chest. Brilliant, right? And it sure sounds simple. Even though Mr. W. has a chair on his side of the bed, he sits on the chest to put his shoes and socks on every day. It is not like I ever open the Hope Chest...it is full of baby clothes that I was saving for grandchildren and since I only have grand-dogs maybe it is time to weed out the old girl. 

But I need not get ahead of myself, I am still gathering ideas for this DIY makeover. 

I did manage a few stitches last night once I pried myself out of the pool and before the excitement started last night. You know how you are are pins and needles waiting to get that next report on an ER trip? Thank goodness for texting. Numerous texts and calls and a 1 a.m emergency appendectomy for my daughter-in-law. I was ready to pack my car and drive the 4 hours this morning if they needed me. It is times like this that it is hard being far away from your kids. Once a mom, always a mom I guess. She came threw great. It was done laproscopically and my son was able to take the week off to be with her.  

Now for more looking around Pinterest and Houz for decorating ideas and maybe I will work on a possible new furniture arrangement for the bedroom tomorrow and then again maybe I will get distracting by something else shiny that catches my fancy!

The novice gardener - updated

 Ugh! Can't sleep.... Ever have those kind of nights? Can't sleep and too tired to stitch.....what's up with that...I guess it is being overtired. I hit the road at 8:30 a.m. for a fundraiser I was co-hosting.

Pre-event prep on my dining room table Friday night

It started at 3 p.m. and was outside in the heat .....made sure to stay hydrated....lugged all the stuff out of the Y to the park and back...(that should count as my workout for the day right?). .. Got home at 8 p.m. enjoyed nice glass of wine and an hour of floating in the pool to cool off and de-stress...ahhhhh! Off to bed by 11:15 and now I have been WIDE awake since 1:30 a.m.....played solitaire, played Words With Friends, read for awhile, skipped around FB, flipped the channels through idiotic info-mercials, caught up on blog reading, if I stitch I am sure I will frog it later....

This is a quick stitch but Oh, that means I need to dedicated some time to stitching!

I did take my stitching with me today because we always have a little project with us in case we can steal a minute to place a dozen stitches but never had the chance...and I am rambling....sleep depravation is happening here.....

My cages didn't work too well

These plants were loaded.  

We had a heavy thunderstorm Friday night and it trashed my garden. (pix to be taken during daylight hours and uploaded later!). Most of my tomatoes seem to be destroyed. Once the sun comes up....I will stake them and hope for the best. Some areas didn't fare as well and are without power and trees are down so I am grateful I got by with just few broken tomatoes. So in addition to having over planted, I, being the novice gardener, thought caging my tomatoes would be enough...trip to the garden supply store for stakes is in my future.

From one extreme to another, nature just blows me away......

For today, back to the Y to sort and stow all our gear and then it will be pool time for me and my sister!   Life is rough........

Meet Stewey

Stewey

Stewey! Behave

This is Stewey, my pool vacuum.   I seem to frequently name inanimate objects in my life.   Take my car - Peggy Sue.   Do you do the same??   Silly I know.   But back to Stewey, so named because he looked like a sting ray and quickly become Stewey the Stringray.   He seems to be getting tangled in knots.   I took him apart and laid the hose out on the deck in the sun this weekend hoping I could unkink him, but alas, I could not.   As problems go, this is not even on the scale.   

Stewey, stop being shy.   There's a whole lot more pool for you to visit.

Gardens and Greenery
It is hot hot hot here so I have been jumping in the pool after work.  Hopefully the workout will help the ever constant battle with the scale.   I am still contemplating a bike and just haven't had a weekend free to go to Sears and check one out.   For now, I am enjoying how well my plants are doing.

Spidey greened up after about ten days outside.

Look at all the flowers, soon to be new plants.

Enjoying lettuce almost every night....anyone want some Jersey Tomatoes?  
I think I will have a ton too many when they come in.

This is Ike.....been worried about him.   He was looking poorly.

Lots of new shoots so I guess Ike is on the mend.

Stitching Progress 
I managed to finish my Shepherd's Bush, Land that I Love, easy peasy!

Seriously! This is not the angle at which I took this photo!

And then I did a bad thing....started a little pin pillow from Blackbird designs.   I know! I am not crossing anything off my WIP list but I am so easily tempted....Both this one and the SB are quickies and just the thing to perk up the creative juices and make you feel rewarded on finishing. 

Bedroom Makeover
Nothing to report on the bedroom re-do yet.   My sister was not able to go to IKEA on Monday.  I decided to keep the day as a vacation day and by about 9:30 I was getting antsy so I went into the city and to IKEA by myself.   All I ending up getting was a cinnamon bun! The bed was out of stock and the slip cover I needed I could not find.  I do believe things happen for a reason so maybe there is something better I just have seen yet.  Maybe I just have to go to IKEA again.  I did pick up some fabric samples at Joann's today for new curtains.  No rush....this weekend I have a big ice cream social/community concert in the park so not much stitching will be going on.  Mr. W. will be home for 3 days sometime early in July so I guess I should wait until he has come and gone again to jump into the project.

Life is good and I wish you all  have as your greatest difficult in life nothing more than a tangled Stewey.  Stay tuned to a give-a-way I am working on for July.....

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there.  I hope you had a fun day!  

1950's? Look at the car he is
standing next to.

I lost my father over 20 years ago and as time has passed, I remember my father all through the year....I think about him when I see a particular antique or knick-knack that now resides with me; or when I need advice on how to refinish something or plant something, I miss him; or when I look at the family tree he wrote and see his printing; or just the other day, I caught myself laughing at a prank my brother pulled on his girl friend's son and I thought instantly he was his father's son and was doing some corny prank like my father would have done.  So while I know Father's Day is the special day for 'dads', I remember mine at the strangest times and without a moments notice all through the year.  

Guests for the weekend

I found out mid-week last week that I would be treated with a visit from my son and his family.   They were traveling back east to spend time with her dad on Father's Day and for a fitting for a wedding next year.   I got to meet my newest 'grand' too!   The newest addition to the family, Etta James - named such because she 'sings' or as I would call it, 'howls'.  

L-R Troy, Gavin (my son's step-son), and Etta 

Stitching Progress
So with my son and his family in....pool time and not much stitching going on.  I am pleased with my progress but I had hoped to be done this weekend.   I am sure I will be able to wrap it up in another couple of nights of stitching.  

Just have the garland of flowers to complete!

IKEA
I love IKEA shopping and my sister and I are going tomorrow - I've got a vacation day!   I love shopping IKEA even though their style is far from my country decor.   I think it is my Scandinavian heritage that draws me to their ingenuity.  I just found a new website - IKEAHackers!  They take off the shelf IKEA items and make them better.  Every year when Mr. W. goes away I get the urge to makeover a room.   Usually he is long gone before I think about it, but this year I couldn't wait for him to get out the door.   Tomorrow I am picking up this bed frame and whatever items strike my fancy.  Some new accessories, rearranging furniture and a stop at Home Depot for some crown molding......and I don't know what else....I'll have to post some before and after photos.

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a happy week of stitching!

Need for immediate gratification!

This past weekend I had my monthly stitching guild meeting.   We usually have a speaker or program but departed from that for "Stash Reduction" opportunity and stitch in.  I somehow managed to come home with a few.  I had recently sorted my stash and but I didn't take any items to sell because *remember* I wasn't going to get anything.  I am saving what I weeded out of my own stash for an upcoming *giveaway* I want to run.   Before I left for the meeting I did vow to not get any more of things I don't need let alone start anything!   Well, we all know how that goes.......some of the goodies were just too sweet to pass up.

 Here's a look at one I couldn't leave without - Shepherd's Bush, "Land that I Love".  It was only a $1 and it was a complete, previously untouched kit.   SB does put together such nice kits.

 So needing that instant gratification and growing weary of stitching forever on larger pieces, I caved, without much resistance, and started this one on Sunday morning.   Easily justified that the 4th of July is approaching and it is time to be patriotic.   Never fear my international friends, SB includes diagrams for flags of Great Britain, Canada, Australia and France as well.

Sunday morning's start

My progress as of this morning

It is odd to be stitching on 18 ct. and one can stitch without using cheaters!  The fabric remains stiff and hopefully will soften during the week as I work with it.  I am enjoying how fast this is working up but not enjoying using three strands of floss.   I get that occasional one strand not pulling tight.  18ct. and 3 strands really chews up the floss.  But I am getting that instant gratification.   I think I even have the right frame in my stash from a thrift store purchase a few years ago.

This week I will get Mr. Wonderful out the door.   I have really been out of sorts with him and his getting ready to do.   All his clothes and luggage for the trip are spread about the living room and have been for 10 days.  (@)(!%*&%!!!)  I am no longer the obsessed Miss Neat that I used to be but seriously.  Each of the last few weekends he has been going to Drum Corp for the day/the afternoon/the evening/or overnight.   You pick it - I don't really know if he is coming or going until he arrives home but tour starts on Friday.   There is the normal anxiety.  And I will have a few sleepless night his first few nights away but then I will settle in.  There have been lots of last minute conference calls and notes entered into his 'travel' binder.  He has a huge responsibility as Logistics Coordinator to ensure each of the 5 buses has a team of drivers for the tour, as does an RV, a box truck and two tractors and trailers which will be transporting 160 kids/20 instructional staff/15 support staff/equipment all over the country for 8 weeks so I guess I should be a bit more tolerate.  As anal as I can be, I'd probably be worse than he is.   And a double whammy! My boss is out the door for two weeks on Friday.   I've got spazzing men on both sides of me......hurry up Saturday!

Mr. W's home away from home

Stowing some equipment.

Room with a view

I've done my share of pulling a trailer before but nothing like this!   I really respect his skill to manage this monster.   And guess what? He is having a ball doing it!   What's the difference between men and boys?   That's right, the size of the toys!

To all I wish a great week of summer stitching and to the Jersey Surf, happy trails on your way to World Finals in Indianapolis in August!

As luck would have it

when you tempt the fates.....I was on a mission of mercy the other night trying to find a freebie pattern that I thought would fit what Jodie was looking for. 

This was a freebie from a convention.   I scanned and emailed it to an appreciative Jodie!

I found it almost right away but it was inevitable since I was rooting around in the stash cabinet...... that I would be tempted......and I was.   In some things I have no will power.

So it goes, a momentary detour and a reward of a quick finish. This is "Stuck on You" by Just Another Button Company.   

It was the only item on my list when I went to retreat a couple of years back and I was not successful in finding it....that is until my basket was full and I was checking out.   There it was in my line of sight from  across the room  in some divine singular beam of light.  (really just a prism reflection)  It was meant to be.   Of course it was too late to put back all the things I had fallen in love with and just had to have.

Buttons and Marking Pins as well as heart shaped box were included in kit.

Now those are the kinds of calories I need to stick to!

This was fun to create and worked up so quick.   That's what I like....a start and finish in one afternoon!