Good Bye My Friend

Today's a very sad day for my family.  Our beautiful Bear was sent over the Rainbow Bridge.  He was almost 13 years old and had been suffering from Cushing's Disease for the past year.  It finally got to be too much for him and we made the very sad decision to send him over today.  Bear was a very special doggy.  He was Sherrie's best friend and Rosie's constant companion.  It will be so hard to see her without him.  But I know it was the right decision.  I just wish it didn't have to hurt so much.  So I'll say farewell to Bear knowing that he's romping in the meadows with Lady and Sam and getting beat up by Tiffany and loving every minute of it.  We'll see you later, Bear.

New member of the Family

I thought I'd show off the new puppy we got yesterday.  We (my DD Sherrie and DS Brian) went to a pet expo yesterday.  Now I had no intention of returning with a dog although I knew this summer would be a perfect time to get one.  Sherrie will have the summer off from teaching and can help with the training.  But I just didn't know if I was ready to deal with 3 dogs.  Bear is not getting any better and I'm afraid his time is short.  Maybe that's why I though a 3rd dog at this time might ease things for Sherrie and Rosie (our Aussie/Sheltie).  Well, there were all kinds of rescue organizations there.  I did want a younger puppy because of all of the issues we had when Rosie came to us.  So while wandering around, we spied some beautiful puppies.  There were 5 red ones and a black one.  I just couldn't leave her behind.  I called DH (who is out of town) and he said it was up to me.  Wrong thing to say!  So we are now the proud owners of a very mixed puppy.  The only thing we know for sure is that the mom is a German Shepherd mix.  We think we are going to call her Annabelle with Annie for short.  Not sure if that is definite but that's what we're leaning towards.  So, World, meet Annie.

Happy Dancing!

I'm happy dancing all over the place.  My kitchen is DONE!  Yes, after all the storm repairs that had to be done before we could start and 3 months of work and waiting, my new kitchen is complete.  It's so beautiful!  When I look at the pictures of the old kitchen, I can't believe that it's the same room.  The whole room is so much lighter and brighter.  It looks so much bigger.  I was kinda worried about how everything would work together, but I think it looks great.  So come on!  Happy dance with me!

A Couple of WIP's

I thought I'd show a couple of the WIP's that I've been working on lately.  The top one is Cirque des Carreaux from Ink Circles.  It's stitched on 25 count lugana in a color called Terra Cotta.  I'm not even sure if the color is still available.  I've had it for so long in my stash that it could be many years old.  I'm stitching it in a Threadworks color.  I really wanted to use this fabric but really had an awful time finding a color that would work with it.  I think I succeeded with the green.  It reminds me of Autumn and I'm really happy with it.  I've made good progress with it.  I finished half of what you see there in just about 1 week's time. 

The second picture is the new project I added in since I finished a new project.  This is another cross stitch pattern that I have converted into needlepoint.  I kept largely to the colors that were called for, changing maybe only one or two.  It's going to have stylized Christmas trees on it when all the background is stitched.  I believe the pattern is from Art-Stitch.  I'm also making good time on it and hope it have it finished by the end of this month.  We'll see if I can make it.

Happy Anniversary to Us!

32 years ago today I married my best friend.  I remember the day like it was yesterday.  It had poured down all week (16 inches in 24 hours earlier in the week) but on the morning of our wedding, it was bright and clear.  It was a wonderful day and it was a great preview of what was to come.  Like most couples, we've had good times and not so good times.  We survived a layoff and a cross country move.  We have 3 great kids but even that was not without problems.  We had my dad living with us during the last year of his life and Dave treated him as if he were is own dad.  Through it all, we've stayed best friends and lovers.  If I had to do it all over again, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

David had the flowers waiting for me when I got home yesterday.  The daisies are extra special because they were our wedding flowers.  They're my favorite and I know that's why Dave gave them to me.  The roses are for true love and that's what he is to me. 

I didn't want this to become sappy but I just wanted to let the world know how special he is.  Happy anniversary, David!

Spring Exchange

I recently participated in a Spring Exchange run by Lainey over at Lainey's Stitching House.  It was probably the best run exchange I've ever been in so kudos to Lainey for doing such a great job.  My exchange partner was Sue (http://pointedstitcher.blogspot.com/).  I received a lovely package with some very pretty threads, a lilac candle, some bath fizzies (which I can't wait to use) a notepad and a cute little box of spring tissues.  And of course, before I forget, a lovely stitched cube.  It's a Lizzie Kate pattern called Bloom.  It's my first cube ever and I'm really pleased with it.  Sue did a wonderful job in finishing it.  It's currently residing on my dining room buffet where everyone can admire it. 

This last picture is what I sent to Sue.  Great minds think alike cause I sent her a Lizzie Kate piece as well.  Mine is called Happy Spring from Lizzie Kate's pattern called Spring Things.  The finishing was a flat fold done by Karen over at Stitching and Sharing.  Karen does a wonderful job and I can highly recommend her to anyone who needs finishing done.  This was a great experience and was a fun way to share our love for stitching with someone new.

PIF from Meari

I was very fortunate to win a PIF from Meari at http://meari.blogspot.com. Now I usually don't ever win anything but I got lucky this time. Meari sent me some lovely threads, a Mill Hill bead kit, some needles (something we all need more of) and a lovely little dragonfly scissor fob. Now that gives me a scissor fob on each pair of scissors I own. Two of the threads she sent were by Carrie's Creations. Now I know this is a very popular brand of thread but I have never used it. So I'm excited to get a chance to try this. The colors Meari sent remind me of pansies so I'm going to see if I can find a small pansy pattern to try them out on. So now I'm going to PIF as well. Keep checking back in the next week or so to see when I post my PIF.