Spring in Colorado

Denver

I know I've posted several times about how I really dislike the winter weather we have here in Colorado.  I am SO a hot weather gal.  But I have to admit spring in Colorado is gorgeous.

Yesterday Dave and I decided to take a hike up the highest point in Highlands Ranch.  Now I haven't done any kind of exercise since I hurt my back in December.  For a while I could barely walk.  But I have become a big advocate for acupuncture and am finally in a position to start exercising again.  I actually made it up the hill with only a few stops to rest and the view made it all worth it.  We were more than 6000 feet up and could see in all directions.  

A view from the top

This is one of several 14,000 peaks we could see from the top of the hill. I don't recall what the name of this one is but we could see Pike's Peak from there as well.

Colorado Wildflowers

What I really loved was all the wildflowers we saw on our way up the hill.  It was such fun to see them peeking out along the side of the road.  I don't know all their names yet but they sure were pretty.

So I have to say Colorado certainly lives up to its reputation as a really gorgeous state.  I still don't like winter and love the desert but I could get used to this.

Memorial Day Greetings

I want to wish everyone a very happy Memorial Day!  I also want to thank all of the men and women who fought for our freedom.  You will always be remembered with much gratitude.  Thank you , Daddy (WW2 veteran, Purple Heart and Bronze Star recipient).

A Progress Report

I've made some more progress on my Purrfect Pals chart.  Except for the backstitching, the kitty is done.  I think I'm going to backstitch as I go along.  That will make the furbabies come alive as I'm stitching them.  I've also started on the snowman (well, an arm is started).

I did do one thing that I hadn't anticipated.  I was using both DMC and Anchor floss since I couldn't locate all my colors after the move.  So I used an DMC and an Anchor color in the sky.  Little did I realize that they are substitutes for each other!  Agghh! Guess what?  I'm leaving it in.  The real colors are so close to each other that it's not worth my time to frog it.

I'm having such fun stitching this.  And I'm so glad my mojo has come back.  I've missed not stitching!

Another Throwback Thursday

Snowflakes by Art-Stitch

Welcome to another Throwback Thursday!  This is one of my favorite recently stitched pieces. Actually it's not cross stitch.  It's needlepoint.  When I worked for Needler's Nest, I was the Inventory Manager in charge of making sure all the inventory was entered into the computer.  So everything that was ordered crossed my desk.  I felt like the luckiest person in the world.  I got to see all the new stuff first. This is actually a cross stitch chart from Art-Stitch called Snowflakes. I really liked this pattern  when we ordered it, so I got an extra copy for myself.  I thought it might be a little boring to cross stitch (I know, sacrilege) but wondered how it would be in needlepoint.  I converted all the colors to perle cotton and set to work.  It was a really quick stitch.  I think it only took me a month to stitch it.  The backstitching was a little rough but I like the way if finally turned out. I had so much fun with this that I actually converted another piece as well.  That might be another Throwback Thursday post.  Anyway It's fun to think outside the box sometimes.  You never know what masterpiece you might come up with.

A Very Happy Day!

The happy couple!

 I just have to share my news with everyone. Wednesday was a very happy day in our family.  Our beautiful daughter Sherrie celebrated her birthday in a most wonderful way.  She became engaged to her boyfriend Eric.  As you can see by their expressions, they are both thrilled with this momentous step in their lives.  We have been praying that she would find a godly man to spend her life with and God surely answers prayers.  No date has been set for the wedding but they are thinking about June of 2016.  Sherrie is a teacher and would like to get married during a school break and December is just too soon to get things planned.

Finally Got My Mojo Back!

I love these guys!

After more than a year, I have finally gotten my stitching mojo back!  With everything pertaining to our move last year, I just haven't felt like stitching.  So today I was off work and decided to spend the day stitching.  I haven't done that in years. There has always been something else that I had to do or got caught up in.  Electronic toys are the worst.  So as soon as my chores were finished this morning I sat down to stitch and will probably stitch some more this afternoon.

The piece I'm working on (aside from my granddaughter's birth sampler which I can't show cause I'm hoping it will be a surprise) is one from Cross Stitch Quick & Easy from Great Britain.  I'm so sorry this magazine is no longer in publication.  I used to love getting it and spending the day reading it cause I knew there would always be several patterns in it that I just had to stitch.  This is one of those charts.  In fact, I originally subscribed to the magazine because of it.  I had seen in it a later copy of the magazine and it just spoke to my heart.  It's from the DMC Purrfect Pets line that supported animal rescue organizations in Great Britain.  I'm not even sure you can get their patterns any more.  I know they have a few kits available but sadly no more charts.  I got up early in the morning in Arizona just to call Great Britain (at the time there was no way to order an online subscription) and ordered the magazine.  I also decided that I had to subscribe to it as well.  It's been sitting in my stash for about 10 years now but I never forgot about it.

This year I decided I would stitch up several charts that I had been wanting to stitch for a long while.  The first one that jumped on the list was this one.  I dug out a piece of white 28 count lugana from my stash and gathered the threads.  I'm stitching with a mixture of DMC and Anchor.  It's been fun because you'll use half stitches as well as full cross stitches and backstitch and it seems to be stitching up rather quickly.  Here's my progress as of today.

05/13/2015

That's a cat sitting on top of the snowman's head.  One thing I do have to remember is that the chart is printed on 2 pages.  Only the 15 stitches on the left hand side are on another chart.  That's why there's a missing stitch (well, it's not really missing, it's going to be a snowflake) on the left edge.  I forgot to read the other page!  I figure it's the sky and a snowflake so no harm was done.  But I will be more careful in the future.  

I'm so glad my desire to stitch has come back.  There are so many things I want to do now.  Not the least of which are a couple of birth samplers and my daughter's college graduation sampler.  

Oh Come On!!

My Front Yard

This is Mother's Day, right?  Almost the middle of May?  Well, the weather here in Colorado sure isn't cooperating.  Yesterday we had 6-8 inches of wet, heavy snow.  That was on top of a torrential downpour earlier in the day.  As you can see, the trees took the brunt of the snow.  So many branches are laying on the ground, some still attached to the trees, some not so much.  By this afternoon the snow was mostly gone, but the damage had been done.  The tree in the front yard came back.  Our neighbor wasn't so lucky.  His tree is still in his neighbor's yard.  The tree shown in the backyard lost a lot of large branches.  Now there's a big pile of branches in the backyard that Dave sawed off the tree.  And the flowers!  My irises were just beginning to bloom and now they're all broken and battered.  I had so been looking forward to having fresh cut flowers in the house this spring.  But I guess Mother Nature had other ideas.  Honestly, I'm done with the snow and winter in general.  I now thoroughly understand how people become snowbirds.

Some of my backyard trees

Happy Mother's Day

It's Mother's Day and I would like to wish all mothers out there a Happy Mother's Day.  Honestly I was not close to my mother so I wanted to change that with my children.  I have 3 of the greatest kids ever.  Brian living in PA with his lovely wife Alicia, Christopher who along with his beautiful wife Annette made me a proud grandma and Sherrie my gorgeous daughter.  You all have made me so proud to be your mom.  As you grow older, I pray that you will continue your walk with the Lord and remember to trust Him for everything.  Thanks for allowing me to be the best mom I could be.  Thanks for sticking with your dad and me throughout the good times and the bad.  I (we) love you lots.