Gratitude for Grace

I have a devotional titled The Prayers of Charles Swindoll, Volume I.  The following excerpt was shared in his online Daily Devotionals yesterday & I thought it was so beautiful that I am in turn sharing it with you.

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Gratitude for Grace

"For the grace of God has appeared; bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness & worldly desires & to live sensibly, righteously & godly in the present age."

Titus 2:11-12

"Thank You, dear Lord, for the beautiful way You teach us.  Thank you for Your patience when we fail.  Thank You for Your understanding in the midst of all our own confusion.  Thank You for reaching down to us when we would never have reached up to You.  Thank You for stopping us when we were running in the wrong direction, for setting the hounds of heaven after us.  Thank You especially for Your grace.  For by grace we have been saved through faith; & that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. What a great reminder.

Thank You, dear God, for being tough with us when we needed it, for disciplining us so that we would walk worthy of the calling.  How grateful we are that You have promised us a heavenly home free of guilt & shame & sin & sorrow & death.  We look forward to eternity with You, with our Savior whom having not seen, we love; in whom, though now we see Him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable & full of glory.  In the great name of Jesus we thank you.  Amen."

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If you would like to receive emails of Chuck's daily devotionals, you can sign up for them here.

I pray that you are all having a blessed weekend!

September IHSW Report

Obviously I am late posting this report. Although I have been writing emails, responding to blog comments, reading, stitching, & I guess that's pretty much it really, I haven't felt up to writing a post.  I don't have much to say I guess.  However, I do have my IHSW stitching to tell you about, so here I am.

I have been stitching ornaments I kitted from JCS Ornament magazines before I went to the hospital.  The one I chose to stitch this past weekend is from the 2012 issue.

 Design:  His Gift

Designer:  My Big Toe Designs

Floss:  Belle Sole Silks

Fabric:  32 ct Antique Copper Hand Dyed

I love stitching Christian designs when I can find them & this one especially called to me. I liked it so much that I even purchased the silk floss & special fabric the pattern suggested.  I enjoyed stitching it but I did have a problem with the Belle Sole.  It is a beautiful floss with great coverage, but I'm not thrilled with the way it is dyed.  The color variations are too long, at least in the 4 colors this project called for, & therefore they tend to make long stripes or large blocks of light versus dark color.  I actually wasted a lot of the green floss because about half of each strand was so light it was almost white.  Quite disappointing ... especially since I purchased several other skeins of Belle Sole for other projects. Hopefully the other skeins will have better color blending.  

I didn't actually finish stitching this design until last night so my post title should technically read September IHSW+3 Days Report.  By Sunday night I had finished the brown & pink parts of the design & had started the green.  It's really a very simple design but thanks to this annoying little visitor ...

... it took me 6 days to complete it.  Well, I can't totally blame Froggie.  The Belle Sole floss color blending didn't help either.

Last night I started stitching a new ornament ... a mystery for now   : )

And speaking of mysteries ... if you haven't yet heard about the Plum Street Samplers Sunday Mystery Sampler, click here for the details.  There are 9 parts to the sampler which will be revealed over 9 consecutive Sundays starting this coming Sunday, September 29.  The theme is the birth of Christ.  The sampler is titled Mary's Sampler, but there are actually two designs to choose from ... the original design & a more "densely designed" version which will require more stitching time.  I don't know which design I will be choosing to stitch.  I will make my decision on Sunday.  This is the first time I'm taking part in stitching a mystery sampler & the first time I'm going to have 2 projects going at once ... an ornament along with the sampler.  I'm already feeling faint at the prospect of stitching 2 different designs at the same time.

Here is yet another mystery!  A mystery bird that came to visit us last week.  We sure are getting a lot of new bird visitors lately!  This one is a little bigger in size than a cardinal. It has a bit of yellow green (definitely yellow green, not just yellow) coloring on it's belly. Do you have any idea what it is?

Yesterday I saw my family doctor regarding the odd things that were happening to me last week including that weird stroke-like episode.  Looks like I indeed may have had a stroke of some sort.  She is sending me for a brain MRI to see if any "damage" is visible, & for an echocardiogram to see if there is anything going on with my heart.  In the meantime I have been counseled that if this weird stroke-like thing ever happens again to get myself immediately to an ER.  Message received.

I will leave you today with one of my favorite Bible verses. 

"I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace.  In this world you may have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world!"

John 16:33

Why Did I Buy These???

Can anyone tell me why I purchased these fabrics???

Left:  36 ct Jamaica Sunset Edinburgh linen, 13x18

Right:  40 ct Opalescent Moon Dust Newcastle linen, 13x18

I sent an order to 123 Stitch just this past Monday.  Five days ago!!!  My order arrived today & it included these 2 pieces of fabric. I an totally clueless as to why I purchased them!

They are both very pretty fabrics.  I definitely remember ordering them for specific projects that called for them, but what?  They have memorable names.  The opalescent fabric, in particular, can't be very commonly suggested.

Do you by any chance remember seeing these fabrics used & suggested for any designs at all?    

Catching Up - Lots of Pictures

I received an email on Wednesday asking if I was okay.  This person was concerned because I hadn't posted for four days.  I thought "four days?"  I looked at my last blog post & sure enough, four days had gone by. Where does the time go?  A week ago yesterday, I was in the hospital having surgery.  Now here I am, safe & sound at home.  I'll ask it again ... where does the time go?

I am feeling pretty well.  The neck port sites are still somewhat sore & I still end up napping at least once a day, but those are minor complaints.  The heart pain is almost gone as is the raw throat.  No a-fib episodes since the surgery, praise God.  On Wednesday I had a strange stroke-like thing happen but it hasn't happened again so praise God for that too.  It didn't really alarm me.  It was more of a nuisance.  While it was happening, all I could think of was how much I didn't want to get dressed & go to the ER.  The episode itself didn't last too long.  I was typing an email & suddenly I had this odd tingly/numb feeling on the left side of my head.  I could feel it as it traveled down the left side of my neck, across my left shoulder, & down my left arm into my hand & fingers.  It was kind of interesting how it just meandered along at a slow but determined pace.  I was kind of tingly/numb in those areas for a bit of a while, & eventually I was left with just some tingly sensation in my left forearm, the left side of my hand, & my pinkie & ring finger.  It's pretty much all gone now. A fluke incident, I'm sure.  I did promise John that if it happens again, I'll let him take me to the ER or I'll call my doctor to see if it's of any concern.

I have been stitching although my first project, a simple ornament I had kitted to stitch during my recovery, was frogged as much as it was stitched.  I was sure I was counting carefully.  I even counted the same areas 2 or 3 times to make sure I was starting each part of the design where it was supposed to be started.  However, I'd then be stitching along & discover I had miscounted where to start, or I had missed a stitch in one motif which ended up causing me to begin the motif below it in the wrong place.  Be that as it may, I persevered & here is the end result.

Designer:  Blackbird Designs

Design:  Love Letters
(from the book Joyeux Noel)

Floss:  Combination of suggested
GAST & DMC

Fabric:  32 ct Putty linen ... maybe

I was kind of taken aback by the colors.  I don't know why I didn't notice them when I was looking at the model photos or gathering my floss together.  Very spring-like. If I get ambitious, I may re-design it a bit to look more Christmasy.  I have a couple ideas.

I next started an ornament from the 2013 JCS Ornaments magazine.  There are several in this magazine that I'm looking forward to stitching.  This one called out to me because of the house with smoke coming out of the chimney (because I'm inside stitching by the warmth of the fireplace), all the snow outside, & the deer in the front yard.  I thought the deer looked rather odd with those big kind of yellow eyes so I just kept stitching with the brown.  I am pretending they have their eyes closed in prayer, thanking God for all that beautiful snow & the sweet woman inside the house who takes time from her stitching to feed them   : )

Designer:  Prairie Schooler

Design:  Christmas Tree (2013 JCS Ornaments)

Floss:  Suggested DMC

Fabric:  Suggested 32 ct sage Jobelan

I haven't stitched anything on Jobelan for a while.  I kind of enjoyed using it!

Today starts the September IHSW (click logo on sidebar for details) & I will choose another ornament to stitch.  I haven't decided which one yet.  

I stitched 2 gift items last month & asked Myra if she could finish them for me so I could get them in the mail before I went to the hospital.  Happily she was able to do this.  I stitched this first design for my dear friend & sister in Christ, Vicki.  I'm using Myra's photo ... I hope she won't mind   : )

Designer:  Trail Creek Farm

Design:  Dearest Friend Cross Stitch Collection

Floss:  DMC alternates

Fabric:  Can't remember

This next gift I stitched for Mary (no blog), an old & dear friend in North Dakota.  She is the person I always refer to as "the old bat" because she is so much older than me (5 months older).  I probably should have done something creative here & stitched Old Bats Are Like Angels On Earth, or maybe stitched a little bat on it somewhere.  Hindsight ... what can I say.  Once again, Myra's photo    : )

    Designer:  Lizzie*Kate

Design:  Friends Are Like Angels

Floss:  Suggested DMC

Fabric:  It's anyone's guess

I don't know if I've ever mentioned that I have a brother.  I do.  He is my only sibling, 12 years older than me.  He & I are in some ways the same (us both having OCD, for example), but in other ways we are very, very, very different.  I always knew he was blessed with a talent for drawing.  He could sketch things at the drop of a hat & they actually looked like what they were supposed to be.  He never really used his talent though.  There were times when I wondered why didn't God give that talent to me.  I certainly would've made use of it!  I always wished that I could draw.  I've always been in awe of people who can.  

Last Christmas my sister-in-law surprised my brother with a gift certificate for an icon painting class taught by a nun in some convent somewhere.  Obviously I don't know the details   : )   I'm guessing this is somehow connected to my cousin Susie who is a nun. Perhaps the icon nun is in her order? Whatever the details, it turns out that my brother not only can draw ... he can paint! He very much enjoyed his first class & has finished painting 2 icons & is almost finished with a third.  I received an email from him the other day.  In it he mentioned that there is a professional icon painter coming to Pittsburgh to give a workshop & this icon nun is encouraging him to attend.  He is not sure if he can.  He has very bad arthritis & attending 8-hour-per-day classes for a week might be too much for him.  You are probably wondering why I'm sharing this information about my brother with you.  It's because he sent me photos of the icons he's painted (the last one still a work in progress) & I thought I would share them with you.

This first one is archangel Gabriel.  

Pictured in this second icon is St. Raphael, the healing saint.  My brother painted this for my sister-in-law who has had several health problems over the past few years.

My niece (their daughter) is named Patricia. Her name saint is St. Patrick.  Needless to say, my brother is in the process of painting this third icon for Patty.

I just wanted to share these paintings with you.  I think they're pretty impressive   : )

I will leave you with some bird photos I was able to take yesterday.  We have 2 very small birdbaths in the garden off the back porch.  We have always enjoyed watching the birds splash around in them.  Up until this past month or two, a few birds would come throughout the day & that was great! However, suddenly a huge influx of birds started flying in around 5 o'clock in the afternoon.  John has started needing to go out to refill the birdbaths 2 or 3 times to give them all enough water!  First to arrive are these little brown birds we don't know the name of.  They always look a bit unkempt so we we call them scruffy birds.  More than a dozen of these scruffies vie for their place to bathe in these teeny tiny birdbaths.  While they are finishing up, the bluebirds fly in. During our first four summers here, a pair of bluebirds would sometimes make an appearance.  Seeing them was a rare treat & I used to wonder how we could get them to come more often, maybe bring some friends, maybe build nests on our property & raise families.  Well, I don't know where they're living but more than a dozen of them fly in every afternoon to take their baths. Unfortunately the photos showing more than one of the bluebirds turned out blurry.  I'll try again the next time they fly in   : ) 

Now I had better choose my next stitching project so I can get my IHSW off & running! Some breakfast might be a good idea too  : )

Three Days After Surgery

I thought it would be a good idea to post an update while I'm awake enough to do so.  I am really not up to commenting on blogs although I have sat down to read them on occasion since I have been home.  I am still very tired & weak.  It is a huge effort to do much of anything.  The doctor told me my heart would hurt for a few days.  I'm not sure if it's hurting but my chest is very tight & my breathing is somewhat difficult.  It's as if I have pneumonia only without the coughing & chest congestion.  I'm not sure if this is what he meant by my heart hurting but I hope it goes away soon.

Please know that I have been greatly blessed by all your prayers.  God has definitely heard them.  I am not in a lot of pain.  The doctor was surprised that both upper portions of my heart were not affected by the "deformity" (or whatever you call it) that causes a-fib.  He just had to fix the right side.  Since this puzzled him a bit, he decided to check the lower portions of my heart & discovered an abnormality there that was causing my heart to flutter which he was able to repair.  As I understand it, this abnormality may have not been discovered it it wasn't for this puzzlement making him look further into my heart, so praise God!  I had a pretty bad time just before the surgery when they had to place a tube down my throat in order to place a camera into it to see if I had any clots in my heart.  I also had to be placed on a breathing machine during the surgery & I think they must have had some difficulty getting that tube in or out of my throat as it is quite sore & almost feels as if it has been scraped inside.  Swallowing is a bit difficult but it's getting better.  They placed some ports in various areas so they could access my heart ... one in my left leg, 2 in my right leg, & 2 in my neck.  They left them there for several hours after surgery.  I do not know why they did not remove them before they woke me up in the recovery room.  John couldn't believe it.  He only saw the neck ones & said they looked like bolts coming out of my neck like Frankenstein's monster had.  Three nurses stood around me & removed them all at the same time except for one of the ports which had to be removed after the others.  The pain when they were removed was unbelievable.  It was worse than any pain I've ever had in my life.  I just can't describe it to you.  I almost went into convulsions at one point.

We won't know if the surgery has been successful until 3 months go by.  I pray that it has been successful because I don't ever want to go through this or anything like it ever again.  The doctor usually keeps patients on their same dose of heart medication until he sees how things are going at the end of 3 months.  However, since the increase he tried in mine a few weeks before surgery caused me to have Parkinson-like tremors which still very faintly make an appearance, he decided to cut my usual dose in half.  So far, so good.

John has been taking very good care of me. I am sleeping a lot.  Last night I actually tried stitching for a bit.  I didn't accomplish much but I did get some stitches in.  I will try doing a bit more today if I can.

I ask for your continued prayers.  

Home

I was released from the hospital this morning.  The surgery was both as anticipated & not as anticipated.  I will explain when I feel up to it.  I am very, very tired.  I just wanted to post to let you know I'm home.  Thank you again for your prayers. God was definitely with me, John, & the surgical team.

A Quick Surgery Update

I spent this morning at the hospital taking care of some pre-op stuff.  I need to be there tomorrow morning no later than 6:30 so they can prep me for surgery.  I'm guessing that I will be in the OR around 7:30 or so.

I will be holding tightly to all the good thoughts & prayers being sent my way. Hopefully all will go as anticipated & I will be back home sometime Friday.  If I can possibly post how I'm doing at that time, I will.  If not, I will ask John to do so.

Thank you once again for the good thoughts & prayers.  I know God is listening & He will get me through this   : )      

A Busy Weekend

I spent the weekend inventorying my cross stitch fabric ... something I've been meaning to do for quite some time.  I also decided to kit a few ornaments for me to stitch during my recovery from surgery.  I think I got a little carried away   : )

Yep ... 13 ornaments kitted here   : )   I am supposed to "take it easy" for 10-14 days after surgery.  If you do the math, I have enough ornaments kitted to allow me to stitch one ornament per day with one day left over.  I'm pretty sure not all these ornaments will be stitched in that period of time, but looking ahead, I certainly have my stitching planned out for me in the coming weeks   : )

You might not recognize the first 2 ornaments in the bottom row.  This is because they are from the Just Cross Stitch Ornaments 2013 magazine.  Myra mentioned downloading her copy & of course I immediately asked her for the link   : )   It's a good issue this year.  I found 10 must stitch ornaments & several maybes.  If you are impatient like me & Myra, you can click here to download the magazine   : )

I ordered several of the St. Charles market releases when they were offered & they arrived in the mail today   : )

I have another of the Lone Elm Lane charts on backorder.  These are actually my going to the hospital gift from John.  What a sweetheart he is   : )   

I want to thank everyone who commented on my last post where I was trying to find several designs I had seen on a strange blog. There was no way to contact the blog owner & she did not state who designed them or what their names were.  In case you are interested, here is the information for you.

Designer:  Both designed by

Ewe & I & Friends

Design on Left:  Christmas Sampler

Design on Right:  White Christmas

Designer:  Both designed by Prairie Schooler

Design on Left :  Adaptation from

OOP book #63, Christmas Samplers

Design on Right:  From OOP book #82, Christmas Trees

Designer:  Prairie Schooler

Design:  From OOP book #63,

Christmas Samplers

I was able to purchase the two Ewe & I & Friends charts from J.J.'s Collectibles.  I found PS book #63 on eBay & won the auction last night   : )   I am now on the search for PS book #82.

Now that I have some ornaments ready to stitch, I need to concentrate on making a few meals for John to warm up for us during my recovery.  He doesn't cook anything but he can warm things up pretty well   : )   The days are flying by much too quickly.  I'm getting a little nervous about the surgery but I guess that's to be expected.  I am thankful for all your prayers & good wishes.  I know God will watch over me & over the surgical team & hospital staff as well.  Soon this will all be a distant memory.  I'm looking forward to that   : )

Do You Recognize These Projects?

I came across these items while looking for something else & I really like them. Unfortunately there was no information whatsoever regarding who designed them & no way to contact anyone to ask.  If you recognize these patterns, could you please let me know so I can add them to my stash? You know how much I need more stash   : )  

Thank you   : )

All Kinds of Stuff

I would like to start off by saying thank you to everyone who left a comment on my Heart Surgery Scheduled post last Thursday. I responded personally to every comment that I could, but unfortunately there were quite a few comments from followers who are no-reply bloggers.  I could not respond personally to those so I want to say thank you now.  I appreciate your kind thoughts & prayers more than you know.

I have been busy stitching & have finished 2 ornaments from back issues of Just Cross Stitch Ornaments.  I seem to be focused on these magazines lately which is a good thing. There are many lovely ornament patterns in them.  I finished the ornament you last saw me working on ... Winter Sampler by LHN. This ornament appears in the 2009 issue.  I either used the 32 ct Examplar linen suggested or substituted Lambswool ... I forget which.  I also used the DMC floss alternates.

It was a fun stitch, but not as much fun as this next one!  I really, really loved stitching this!  I wish there were more like it!

Designer:  Handwork

Design:  Rejoice (2001 JCS Ornaments)

Fabric:  36 ct something or other linen

Floss:  GAST suggested

Next I decided to stitch an ornament from the 2012 issue, Pomegranate Joy by Homespun Elegance.  I should have know better.  I have not stitched a Homespun Elegance chart since incinerating Along for the Ride in January.

However, I really liked Pomegranate Joy.  It looks lovely in the magazine photo.

Well, here's what I think happened.  Sandra Sullivan, or one of her minions, stitched this model but forgot to write down the floss &/or fabric used.  As a result, when it came time to go to print, they guessed.  Let me tell you ... they guessed badly.  To begin with, they suggested using 30 ct Putty linen.  I was filled with glee because I had 30 ct Putty linen in my stash!  I then assembled the suggested flosses & began stitching the white ribbon looking motif on the upper left side of the design.  The first thing I noticed was I couldn't see it.  The suggested Roasted Marshmallow GAST floss disappeared against the Putty colored linen.  The DMC alternate suggestion was Ecru.  I knew there was no way Ecru was going to show up any better.  Upstairs I went to choose another color of fabric.  I chose a natural colored linen & began stitching the white ribbon looking motif again.  It showed up beautifully. Next I started stitching the ABC area.  I finished the A using the suggested DMC 3046 & couldn't believe how light it was.  You could barely see it!  I decided to not stitch any more letters, leaving the A as it was. Maybe I thought it wouldn't look so bad if I looked at it the following day or something.  I don't know, but I moved on & stitched the little zig zaggy motif underneath.  It looks like a deep, rich red in the model photo, but the suggested CC German Chocolate, & the alternate DMC 300, are brown.  The same floss was suggested for the pomegranate motif.  A brown pomegranate.  It doesn't look brown in the model photo.  I pushed this thought aside & started stitching the numbers.  Once again, a washed out, barely able to be seen floss suggestion, GAST Apple Cider.  I stitched all 3 numbers but wasn't real thrilled with them.  I moved on to the star.  It looks like a lovely blended shade of yellow/gold, doesn't it.  It is stitched, so they say, with WDW Straw. I used WDW Straw. The color should have been more accurately named Apricot.  Apparently I was craving abuse because I frogged the star & tried the alternate DMC 3045.  I wasn't thrilled with the result but it was better than the apricot. I stitched the little zig zaggy motif underneath & then reached for the DMC 3346, Hunter Green, to stitch the tree.  I looked at it & wondered what color-blind idiot decided on that name.  It was bright green!  Bright I tell you!  Absolutely nothing like the subtle sort of green showing on the model.  I put it aside deciding I would later look for another green floss more appropriate.  I then started stitching the pomegranate.  Remember, the floss color suggested looked like a deep, rich red in the model photo, but what I held in my hands was brown.  I used to eat pomegranates when I was younger.  Where I grew up, they were called Indian apples.  I didn't remember ever seeing a brown one, but what do I know?  I decided to do a search & found many photos like these.

 

No brown pomegranates.  I decided to keep stitching the pomegranate though.  Maybe it would magically look like the model photo when I was done stitching it.  It didn't.  I showed it to my husband & he said "Why is the pomegranate brown?"  I sighed, frogged the pomegranate, & went to look through all my flosses to find an appropriate substitution.  I thought I found a couple, but they were either too red or had a purple cast to them.  I picked the one I thought would work best & along with it I chose a new star color, tree color, & numbers color (the washed out look of those numbers bothered me).  I frogged the star & used the yellow gold shaded floss I had chosen to look more like the model photo.  It didn't.  I frogged it again & restitched it with the DMC 3045.  I then frogged the numbers & stitched the 1 & 2 with my replacement choice.  I didn't like it.  I moved on to frogging & stitching the zig zaggy motif above them with my deep red replacement choice.  It was much too red.  By this time I threw up my hands & decided to use the floss colors suggested in the floss key.  Maybe they would look okay.  I started stitching the tree. It stood out like a neon sign.  I decided enough was enough.  I frogged everything & will stitch something else on that piece of linen.  Many hours were wasted on this project.   Homespun Elegance strikes again.   Don't be surprised if you see my entire stash of Homespun Elegance charts in flames one day. 

I am now stitching another ornament but I can't show you this one as it's a gift.

Speaking of gifts, I sent an RAK to Sally recently & it arrived safe & sound.  I'm glad to say that she is very pleased with it   : )   Since Sally & I both love tea, I stitched her a design from Lizzie*Kate's Tea Crazy chart pack ... Little Cups of Friendship.  Myra finished it into a lovely project bag.

Although I stopped taking the higher dosage of my heart medication a couple weeks ago & returned to the dosage I've been taking for the past 10 years, I am still experiencing Parkinson-like tremors.  They aren't as bad as they were with the higher dosage, but the shakiness is quite annoying at times.  I should probably call the heart specialist's office to let him know about this, but I really don't want to.  The shakiness is not helping the fact that I recently had my hair cut again. The girl who cut it last time either quit or was let go.  Her partner was no longer there either.  I ended up with a new girl, Tabitha, & I love how she cut my hair!  She is most definitely a keeper!  I will need to tell her at my next visit to keep my phone number handy in case she decides not to work there anymore.  I will follow her anywhere   : )   My hair is much shorter than it has been in years & it is also layered.  I had no luck at all replicating the style with my blow dryer.  Tabitha used a flat iron & some kind of spray stuff.  I stopped by to ask her about it & she sold me a can of the spray stuff & then sent me off to the flat iron section of the store.  I probably stood in front of the display for a good half hour, longer most likely, trying to make up my mind which flat iron to get.  I ended up buying a medium priced 1-1/2" flat iron.  I came home & watched as many YouTube tutorials as I could regarding how to use a flat iron.  It took some getting used to but I think I'm maybe getting the hang of it although I need to make several passes over my hair sometimes to get it "just right."  I am uncoordinated in the best of times, but this shakiness adds a little something extra to it. Hair clips fly every which way, & placing a section of hair between the heat plates of the flat iron can be a bit tricky, but so far I haven't suffered any third degree burns or set my hair on fire or anything.

I hope everyone has been having a good week.  It  hard to believe that it's Thursday already.  Where did the week go?  I will be finishing the stitching on my gift ornament today & will start another ornament.  I don't know which one yet.  I really need to kit up a few things so I will have some stitching ready to work on when I come home from the hospital.  It looks like I'll be lying around for a while.  Having some things ready to work on is a good idea   : )  

And the winner is ...

The winner of the Frosty pattern which I offered in my post back on August 22nd is ...

Jo from Serendipitous Stitching

Congratulations Jo!  I have your address & will send Frosty to you soon   : )

A Message from Peggy Lee

Peggy Lee at Kentucky Sampler has asked me to let everyone know that last week she had to unexpectedly fly to Pennsylvania to be with her mother who had surgery & was found to have cancer.  I don't have any details to share with you ... only that her mother will be starting chemo in 1-2 weeks.

When Peggy Lee leaves Pennsylvania, she will be going straight to New Jersey for work.  It will undoubtedly be a while before she can blog again.

Please add Peggy Lee & her mother to your prayer list.