Around the Corner...

Winter has not brought us as much snow as last year, however, the winds, bitter cold and more recently the ice, have not been pleasant.  Despite being frozen, it is still so beautiful!  Spring has to be around the corner, right!?!

So, what have we been doing?
We had a wonderful visit from my niece...

 The youngest did some climbing...

We even had some moments where the boys were actually getting along...

 My oldest is now 15 ~ his age finally matches his shoe size!

The older boys' travel teams are now part of the Phenom organization...change is a good thing!

 And while the little brother and I were freezing over President's Day weekend, the older two traveled (with Dad) to Vero Beach for a weekend of baseball...

 So, while they were away, the little brother had some friends over ~ with no big brothers to torment and tease them...I'd say it was a successful sleepover..

Now we are looking forward...school baseball tryouts, travel baseball, triathlon training, garden cleanup and warmer weather!

A very special painting came to my house...my niece, Kellen, has been painting since August of 2013.  She is 19 and has Williams Syndrome.  She has painted some of my photos, my favorite being of the sheep that graces the header of my blog.

The doorknob on the piano is from another photo of mine, taken from one of the outbuildings located on the property where I grew up.  I gifted that one to my mom for Christmas.

Kellen has worked hard at her painting.  She has sold not only some of her paintings, but prints and cards as well.  One was raffled off and the money donated to her fundraising efforts for the Polar Plunge.  Speaking of the Polar Plunge, her efforts raised well over $2,000 this year!!  Many, many thanks goes out to a very special friend and her family for their support this year ~ you know who you are!

Panzer continues to fill our lives ~ he has a birthday coming up soon...hard to believe he's almost three!

The boys find it funny that he tries to fit in this chair...

And as always, I leave the stitching stuff for the end.  I only have a little progress to show.

I do have some wonderful goodies to show from some very generous and sweet friends.
First, I won this from Elena over at BusyHandsCraft 
The chocolates were delicious and I adore this sweet needle~roll.  Thank you, Elena, I absolutely love it!

And then Terri, of the DixieSamplar hosted giveaway on her blog.  Anyone who has ever had a package from Terri, knows it's a treat!  She included some of her wonderful fabrics, some charts and of course some treats ~ had to eat those quickly before the boys found them...hehehe...

 And as if those goodies weren't enough, she had stained this tray and created the most wonderful set of stitching goodies to fill it!!  Thank you so much, Terri!!!

Both of these packages arrived at the same time and the timing couldn't have been better!  Without going into too much detail, the little boy I work with at school had been having some really rough days, therefore my days were rough...so Elena and Terri, thank you again for such beautiful treasures!

And my dear friend, Lainey, from across the pond sent me this calendar.

Hhmmm...not sure why it turned, but anyway, this has become a tradition over the last few years and one day, I hope to visit Lainey in person and get a personal tour of the sights she shares through the calendars!

Have you all been shopping the latest goodies from the Nashville Market!?!  Yikes ~ so many great new things ~ I would love to hear what you all are excited about!  The ladies at the Strawberry Sampler arrived home today and will be working furiously over the next weeks to get all the goodies out to everyone.  From all accounts, this was one of the best markets in a long time, and as a result, they have extended their Market Sale (20% off) through at least Friday...so, if you are still shopping, use the link over there on the side!

With the hopes of Spring being just around the corner, I am feeling like it might be time for me to give a little something away, something to say thank~you for your friendship....stay~tuned!

“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.” 
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

Hurry spring....please...

Well, most of our snow had melted and we did enjoy some milder temperatures over the weekend, but this morning we woke to this...

Okay, winter...you brought us cold temps and snow early in December...spring is two days away.  Can you please pack up and go away...I'll be happy to see you again next season, but now I am ready to get digging in my gardens and watching my boys participate in baseball and triathlons.

 

Other than what seemed like endless cold, snow and snow~days home from school, there has been little excitement around here.  I am getting the paperwork routine down at work and have finished 12 more hours of training.  Only twelve more to reach 43hours and then I will be done with the training! 

 

I received a sweet surprise from Priscilla.  I had loaned her a chart to use and in return, she sent me this wonderful scarf.

Perfect for the cold winter days and for my purple sweater!! 

Then I had an idea.  The early spring and late fall ball games can sometimes be quite chilly.  I asked if it would be possible to make a scarf with a baseball instead of the flower.  And bingo ~ look what she came up with!  I ordered a couple to give as gifts to other baseball moms.

Thanks so much, Priscilla ~ I hope you don't mind, I borrowed the picture you sent me.  The first tournament is this weekend and provided the fields are ready to play, I will be sporting my new scarf!

 

There hasn't been much stitching.  This is my most recent project..I have more done than is shown here and really need to get back to it.  There is not to much more to do ~ and it is my stress relief...

 

In other news, my older two boys both made their school baseball teams.

  The little guy has been working on his swimming in prep for the triathlons he wants to do ~ looking forward to seeing how he does with those!!

 

I asked for a new toilet for our powder room...my husband never does anything small...before I knew it, we were picking out paint colors and new fixtures..

It is hard to get a good picture of the paint color.  It is a really pretty grey/green.  Love it!  Now if I can only keep the boys out of there! 

 

The biggest news is that Panzer turned two!!  Hard to believe!!

We are so blessed to have him in our lives...

“When I was One,
I had just begun.
When I was Two,
I was nearly new."

 ― A.A. Milne, Now We Are Six

Lucky Streak and a Tusal

Where to start?  There has been much going on and many things keeping me busy.  Do you all remember my last giveaway?  Well, after emailing back and forth with CalamityJr, I decided to send her the 272 Words pattern with the DMC.  I had never seen this pattern before, and have to say, it is an ambitious project, something like 24 pages ambitious!!

It is the Gettysburg Address!  Looks like she and Denise from Riverside Stitching will be doing a SAL later this year.  And even better, perhaps we can all convince CalamityJr to start a blog so we can see her progress!  I'm sure many of you have seen her comments on your blogs, so perhaps you could leave her some encouragement in my comment section!

I have been stitching, but can't show the projects just yet.  The first of what I hope to be twelve new ornaments, is stitched and needs to be finished.  I'll be able to show you all next week.  I am working away on an exchange piece as well.  After that, it will be back to the Humility Sampler.  It calls to me whenever I sit in my chair!

I do have some stitching to show you.  My friend picked up stitching about 16 months ago....and not just stitching, but stitching on linen!  She's currently working on a project using 40 count ~ I'll show that when it's done, but in the meantime....feast your eyes on this!

She's a natural!!  She wanted to use her name instead of the wording that was graphed, and wouldn't you know that Paulette from Plum Street Samplers was kind enough to graph it out for her!  How awesome is that?

In other news, we had just enough snow for the boys to try out their new sleds and for hubby to try out his new toy ~ the snow blower!  It's all gone already and I am more than ready for spring!

It's time to post for the TUSAL!  If you aren't sure what this is all about and would like to join, just click on the link:  TUSAL.  Here is my January jar...can you find it?

I thought if I distracted you with the "Dirty Snowmen", that you wouldn't notice how empty the jar looks....

There has been a jump in the number of my followers (Welcome!) and I think it may be due to a very lucky streak that I had this week!  Last year, the hostess of the TUSAL, Daffycat, collected donations throughout the year for a giveaway for those that posted their updates every month.  I was shocked to see my name announced as the winner!  It will be like Christmas all over again when the box arrives!  Thank you to all that contributed and to Daffycat for hosting.  Then, Valerie from Fog City Dweller, let me know that I was the winner of her beautiful giveaway ~ she suggested I go buy a lottery ticket, I may just do that today!

In the spirit of the recent snow, and being that we haven't had an earthquake since August, I'll leave you with another Pooh quote...

“It's snowing still," said Eeyore gloomily.
"So it is."
"And freezing."
"Is it?"
"Yes," said Eeyore. "However," he said, brightening up a little, "we haven't had an earthquake lately.”
― A.A. Milne

I'm Snow Not Ready.....and a Tusal.....and Other News....

It's still October, right?  I didn't miss the rest of the fall season did I?  Because this is what I am seeing today....

 

 

 

 

I am a little concerned as to what this winter might bring, especially since fall is already showing us the white stuff!  Should I blame my husband since he purchased a snowblower back in August??  I was sort of hoping that would mean no snow, guess I was wrong...

Right now as I am sitting in my front living room typing this, I am watching a pair of bluebirds flying about my front porch trying to find a safe haven from the snow and wind.  They are trying to hide in the robin's nest from last spring. 

I also need to post my Tusal update.  So here's my monthly picture:

It's getting harder to push the threads down in the jar!  The threads on the top are a result of my latest start.

Does anybody know what it is??

I have some other news to share.  The ladies of the Strawberry Sampler have been asking me for a while now to join their craziness.  I finally took the plunge!  I have been helping out at the store one or two days a week.  So, if any of you ever order anything from there, you may see my name on your mail order (or better yet, if you stop in the store and I'm there, I will get to meet you in person)!!  Some of you may have noticed that I have added a link to their site in my sidebar.  Here's my shameless plug....if you aren't signed up for their newsletter, you might want to do so.  Every week, they'll update you on what's new and usually advertise a "Wacky Wednesday" sale.  Sometimes, they'll even throw in a special sale related to anything from sports to weather.  For instance....now through Monday if they get snow in Chadd's Ford (and I can tell you they are...) any patterns with snowmen will be 20% off.  You can place an order online or email them with your order...

They are also letting me offer my blog readers 15% off any orders placed between November 1st and the 15th.  Just place "Bramblewood" in the subject line or comment section of your order.

It's been almost a year since I started this blog, so stay tuned....I think a giveaway will be in order!!

Thanks for stopping by and welcome to my newest followers!!

TUSAL, An Exchange and Life Changes

Since my last post, we celebrated my little guy's official birthday.

Had some April Fool's snow:

Managed a weekend filled with baseball practices, scrimmages and games. Threw in a visit from Grandma & Pappy.  They were able to bring along my brother's girls and surprised the boys.  The kids all camped out downstairs Saturday night and it was wonderful to hear them all laughing and giggling well into the night!

Needless to say, not much stitching has been happening here.  Sue, The Pointed Stitcher from Point of It All,

and I decided to do a Spring/Easter exchange.  We received each other's packages and picked Friday night to open them.  I had to confess to her that the chocolates did not make it to Friday!  It was hard to walk by this everyday and not open it!

Friday night, I was excited to open everything and find these wonderful things!

I just love this cube finish!  She added her initials in the "S" block and mine in the "N". 

Here is a shot of what I sent to Sue.

Thanks for suggesting this exchange Sue and thank you for all the goodies!

And before I forget, I have to post my TUSAL jar.

Here it sits amongst some spring freebies I stitched last year and put together this year.  Oh, and a new frog that I picked up while shopping with Brett!

A special thanks to Teri from Chocolates for Breakfast for a post that she wrote a while back concerning her health.  It's time to make some life changes and and get back on track with my own health.  I went for a check up and found that my BP is running high.  The doc thinks I can correct this if I get back to eating better, exercising and stress control.  But in the meantime, I am going to take medication to keep it under control.  Thanks Terri!

I hope that everyone in the path of the current line of storms is safe!!

Thanks, as always, for stopping by!