Busy Busy Times

In between things, I almost have my Christmas stitching complete.   I am stitching up a sleeve for a stitch starter and a making a coordinating pin cushion.    Here is the progress on the stitch starter sleeve.   If you don't have one, check out Blue Ribbon Designs.   Almost all my stitching pals have one.   I thought it would make a nice gift to someone who didn't have one!  It consists of  a 3 inch lucite ruler that you use to find your starting placement on your linen and the sleeve you stitch to store it.  Belinda has create some cute patterns to stitch.

Otherwise.....this is what I have been up to.    I went to Longwood Gardens.   What a nice evening with friends.   Imagine your holiday dinner table decorated and set like this!   These photos from my cell phone definitely don't do the decorations justice.  

 Some photos in the conservatory.    

Somewhere along the middle of the week, I WON a cruise!    Yes, that's right!!    Actually to be clear, I WON the bid on the cruise.  Every year we assist at a silent auction fundraiser.   We decorate (as much as anyone would need to in the beautiful Hotel DuPont in Wilmington!), set up the auction items, then welcome and register the guests who start arriving at 5 p.m.   Once all are registered we get to walk through the event, eat the fabulous meal and are able to place bids.   No one had bid on the cruise package provided by AAA, so I did.   I received a gift certificate to Royal Caribbean for twice my bid!   My best friend and I will be heading to AAA this week to get the details. I am thinking either a New England/Canadian cruise or the Bahamas for something different.    

I have been working on 'gratitude' jars that I want to give to some special friends as a little something extra over the holidays.    I have it all in my 'head' what I want to do and as is so often, what is in my head is not what manifests when I actually complete the job.   So far, I wrapped mason jars with yarn, spray painted them and then removed the yarn so make the design shown to the left.                                                                                                                I did manage to get my tree up as you can barely see in the background.   I am kind of in a bah humbug mood about decorating. To say I go overboard with decorations may be an exaggeration but I have been known to have as many as three full sized trees up and fully decorated.   I have so may different themed trees and ornaments I could put up a half dozen fully decked out trees on a conservative estimate!   I decorate for myself so maybe choosing to not put up as much is for me too!

Not an original idea....saw this on Pinterest....but at home one night I made tissue paper snowflakes and taped them to the sliding glass door in my boss's office to make a holiday decoration.   Good thing I had the foresight to place a cookie sheet on the floor as I sat on the sofa and made all the snowflakes.   It actually doesn't look too bad in person and again is a cell phone pix.

I went to New York City to check out the city lights and the tree at Rockefeller Center.  I never made it back to the tree to take a photo once the lights were on.   I took the Rockefeller Center Tour and did the Observation Desk at the top.....70th floor!   That's saying something for someone who lives in a town where three story buildings are about as high as they get!  Too bad the weather was rotten....not much of a view but the tour of the complex was very interesting.

View from the top of Rockefeller Center.    Couldn't see Central Park or the river just blocks away.   But hey!  A little bad weather doesn't stop me.  The two spires at the bottom left of center are the top of St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Inside St. Patrick's

This photo and the one below were taken on a previous trip to NYC.

Tree in Bryant Park

We walked and walked and walked some more.   Had a great lunch in the concourse and shopped out of the weather.  Walked some more.   Went to Bryant Park.   Had a nice dinner.   Walked through Times Square and we were really glad to get back on the bus and out of the rain!  It was a jungle of umbrellas!

Times Square

Queued up waiting on our bus.  Goodbye New York
....a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there!

Hopefully I will be able to finish up my Christmas stitching this week and get it all wrapped up.   More pix to come once finished.   Have a great weekend everyone and may your stitches be plentiful!