Celebrating!!

Can you believe what you are seeing!?!  Yes ~ a finish!!
Perhaps you heard a loud screech a few nights ago....that was just me celebrating!

This ended up taking way longer than it should have ~ that's just what happens when you keep misplacing your stitching time.

An easy stitch and very true words....

I tweaked the colors just a touch, including the fabric...

The bone after "Be loyal and faithful" was not charted to be encased in the blue, but after stitching the bone and the red, it just wasn't popping on my fabric choice....so, in went the blue.

The heart in "Forgive quickly" was charted green like the grass....couldn't do a green heart....presto, it's red....

And the dog, well, of course, changed to resemble Panzer....hubby says the tail is still too long....oh well....

I would really love to start something new, but I do have some wip's that are jumping back out at me. 

Perhaps I will work on them for now and allow myself a New Year's start.

 

Andrea over at The Craft Room hosted her 5th annual Christmas Random Act of Kindness.  She stitches as many ornaments as she can over the year and then hosts a giveaway draw....I was lucky enough to have my name chosen this year and was so excited when the package arrived....

The stitching and finishing are perfect!  It's hard to see from this picture I snapped with my phone, but the edges are beaded....love, love, love!!!  Thank you, Andrea!!  If you pop on over to her blog, she even has a tab at the top explaining her yearly event and showing some of the past ornaments.  What a sweet way to spread smiles for Christmas! 

 

Panzer says, "What?"

"I smell change in the air...."

"I need my boys to reassure me....my crate was taken down....something about making room for some sort of tree and holiday celebrations....I was thinking more along the lines of indoor plumbing for me perhaps...."

"While waiting for the tree....I'll just snuggle in and keep warm...it's gonna be bitter cold the next few days!"

 

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving ~ in spite of all that 2013 has thrown at us this year, I am still lucky to have many blessings to be thankful for ~ including all of my stitching and blogging friends!

We are preparing for a houseful of guests for Thanksgiving....Grandma, Pappy, my brother and his girls....can't wait to have them all here!! 

“The more - the merrier.”
― A.A. Milne

Pop on Over!

If you love to stitch on 40 count or have always wanted to try ~ pop on over to see Jacki at A Whole Lotta Latte ~ she is having an awesome pay-it-forward giveaway!

And if you've never visited her blog before, take a moment to look through some of her posts ~ she is one crazy, creative lady!

Mum's the Word

Just a warning....this is a completely stitching and Panzer free post.  I just wanted to share some of the beauty my family and I took in yesterday at Longwood Gardens....

This beautiful creation is one plant!  This year containing a record breaking 1,416 blooms!  You can find more information on how they grow this (and a second one) on the Longwood website. 

I had to add a few of my favorites from the Orchid Room...

One of our favorites is the bonsai exhibit...and they added these for the mum festival! 

I'm curious as to what you see in the next picture...my little guy and I decided on a monkey/gorilla... 

Although many of the leaves in our area have already dropped, there were still many colors to be found outdoors...

Sometimes, you notice things that you have never noticed in previous trips...just by taking a different path and turning your head at just the right time... 

We always take some bread to feed to the fish and geese....the fish have already gone deep for the winter, but the geese enjoyed their treats...

See the decorative band? 

A frog...for all of my stitchy friends... 

And if you step inside and look up....

Down another not often taken path, we found this... 

This conjured up images of gnomes and fairies... 

And speaking of creatures you find in a garden...

The boys were actually enjoying each others company on this day...

I have strange creatures, despite the chill in the air, they still prefer their shorts....but, I gotta love 'em!

“Always watch where you are going. Otherwise, you may step on a piece of the Forest that was left out by mistake.”
― A.A. Milne

 



A Time of Settling in, Slowing Down and Reconnecting...

 I love this time of year, a time of settling in, slowing down and reconnecting ~ those were words I used in my very first blog post three years ago on the 6th, and they ring so very true to this day! 

Lee, The Lake Stitcher, had a great post the other day, asking, "Why have we stopped writing?"

 

Well, I have three reasons for my lack of writing and stitching...My oldest, my middle and my youngest....and their crazy baseball schedules...

This past weekend was the final tournament of the fall season.  And despite it being crazy, I know we will all be missing it in another week or so.  Tryouts for spring have already begun and practices will begin in December.  My youngest will most likely take this spring off from travel ball and will be training over the winter so he can participate this spring in some Triathlons.  Considering he has a dream of becoming a Navy Seal, this may be more up his alley!

 

I have been working at the elementary school for three hours each afternoon since the middle of September.  They called me in as an aide to a special needs kindergarten student ~ what was supposed to be a five day job has turned into the end of November.  Once they have completed his evaluations and figure out his placement, I may be finished....or, they could ask me to stay for the remainder of the year.  It is a challenging and even exhausting position, but there is something about this boy...and even though it means I haven't been able to help out at the LNS, The Strawberry Sampler, I hope I am making a difference, not matter how small, in this boy's life. 

 

This past month has been tough ~ losing Cathey was hard for so many of us.  In the following week, my husband's aunt passed away, as well as a wonderful woman I knew growing up.  One of those women you look up to as another mother figure.  Although I am not one to wish time away, 2013 has been a tough year, and I am looking forward to the coming holiday season to reflect on all the changes life has brought and to dream about what 2014 may bring.  Taking the time to enjoy the beauty all around is a great way to soothe the mind and the soul...

My little guy is quite creative....these are a couple of his recent masterpieces...

 

I did manage a tiny bit of stitching...still working on Dog Lessons...

I had to add the blue around the bone ~ it just wasn't showing up well on my choice of fabric.  I also changed the heart following Forgive to red...couldn't bring myself to stitch a green heart...

And of course, I had to make the dog look more like Panzer...

Now that the schedule is settling, I hope to get back to stitching on a more regular basis...fingers crossed.

Sweet Myra gifted me with this adorable candy corn coaster for my favorite brew ~ isn't she clever! 

The fabric on the back is adorable!

A special thanks to Myra for the pumpkin candle you see on my sidebar...for Cathey, and so we always remember Pumpkin Day...you can read more about it on Myra's blog...

 

I am still trying to learn crochet.  Don't look at the bottom right corner, or you'll see I dropped a stitch or two!  Oops!

 

And of course, I can't leave you without a dose of Panzer...

 

The following seemed an appropriate choice, considering the end of the fall tournament season...it was a great season and I'll miss watching the boys play and the friendships the families have developed..

“And by and by Christopher Robin came to the end of things, and he was silent, and he sat there, looking out over the world, just wishing it wouldn't stop.”
― A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner