Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!! And Laying Tools : )

I want to thank everyone who either emailed me or made a comment on yesterday's post regarding my selling site experience.  Not only were all of you so very kind & encouraging, but some of you shared your personal thoughts &/or experiences regarding these sites which opened my eyes to many things I had never considered!  I feel SO much better today!  The blogging community is amazing & my followers are the best : )   I don't know if everyone is aware of this but my DH & I have no friends here & no family living close by.  The closest friends & family members are 3 states away.  My only social contact is with doctors, dentists, & my blogging friends.  So ... thank you again for your kindness, insight, & encouragement!!!   

I have not made a decision yet as to what I'm going to do.  This morning I'm leaning toward Etsy.  I may also post some of my things for sale (or trade) here on my blog.  I am considering getting back into designing.  I designed patterns for a cross stitch magazine many years ago & design ideas have been overwhelming my brain since "coming home" last year   : )   I am also thinking about opening my online cross stitch/knitting supplies shop again.  I had this shop back in the late 1990s/early 2000s & enjoyed it very much.  The name of my shop was Prairie Moon Fibers.  I was so proud of that name   : )   I was living in North Dakota at the time (prairie) & thought of a wonderful (if I say so myself) logo design which I had an artist work up for me.  Fun times   : )   Of course I'm no longer living on the prairie so the shop name would have to be something different.  It will probably be Bittersweet Farm "something"   : )

In the meantime I have set aside my primitive Christmas stitching.  I don't know how long this will last but it's set aside for now   : )   Yesterday I went through my ornament charts from Little House Needleworks & Homespun Elegance, chose 6 of them I particularly liked, & then went upstairs & pulled the fabrics & got them ready for the stitching.  Last night I started LHN's Pine Tree Inn   : )

I must say that after stitching with 1 thread for the past couple months I feel as if I'm stitching with rope with the pattern calling for the use of 2 threads.  I am being as careful as I can but my stitches are not as neat as I'd like.  I usually don't have this problem & I'm wondering if I should invest in a laying tool.  It seems like an awkward piece of equipment to use.  It also appears that I would need some type of lap or floor frame in order to have both hands free ... one to manipulate the needle & the other to manipulate the laying tool.  Can anyone tell me their experiences with laying tools?  Is there a particular brand of laying tool that is better than another?

It has been raining since Friday.  I am not complaining ... we need the rain & of course it adds to the fall feeling I was talking about yesterday.  By the way, thanks to those of you who have commented on my new blog decor   : )   The farmhouse scene is a painting by Mary Charles.  I had never heard of her before I went searching for autumn scenes yesterday.  She has created some lovely folk art paintings!  I went with the one I chose because it matched nicely with the background template I am using from Twin Creek Primitives.  It shows a lovely autumn day.  However, autumn to me is more like this.

Dark, gray, cloudy skies, colored leaves, shadows.  I can almost smell the scent of the leaves in the air!  This reminds me of the falls I knew growing up in western Pennsylvania with the exception of that bit of sunshine peeking out in the foreground   : )

No big plans for today.  Tomorrow I have an appointment with a dentist in Lexington to get a second opinion about the work my local dentist has been doing on my teeth & bridges since January.  Yep, it's not over yet, folks!  Wednesday it's another trip to the hospital for my never-ending blood tests. Thursday I have an appointment with my local dentist to supposedly have this my 3rd bridge cemented in permanently.  This visit, however, hinges on what the second opinion dentist will tell me tomorrow.  So ... busy week!

I wish you all a very happy Labor Day!