Exchanges & Gifts - Picture Heavy

Happy 16 days before Christmas!!!

I woke up this morning to the sound of an ice storm ... not surprising because it was predicted yesterday.  It was still dark when I woke up, but now I can see the grass & bushes all covered with ice.  If I can't have snow, I'll take ice   : )   When I last heard the weather report, they were predicting ice all day & then a 60% chance of snow tonight.  I thought I had died & gone to heaven!  Sadly, John just told me the prediction has changed.  The ice is going to change to rain & then it will be rain-rain-rain through tomorrow.  Weather like this is probably what prompted Scrooges to utter his immortal words, "Bah!  Humbug!"

Well, as you may have garnered from my post title, I have some exchanges & gifts to share ... so I'd better get to it!  Before I do, however, I need to tell you that I sent my exchanges without taking pictures first.  I was so anxious to get them in the mail that I totally forgot   : (   I do have a photo of the ornament I stitched for each person, but most of them are Myra's photos unless otherwise specified.  Needless to say, Myra did all the finishing  Thank you again, my friend!

This first exchange is one I did with Maggee. Maggee sent me some wonderful herbal tea which she placed inside a pretty fabric gift bag, one of Nancy's necessaires, & a cross stitched ornament from my list ... LHN's Snow Bunnies which appeared in the 2007 issue of JCS Christmas Ornaments.

Here's the ornament I stitched from Maggee's list ... Joy of the Snowflake, Little by Little Design Company, featured in the 2011 issue of JCS Christmas Ornaments.  I really enjoyed stitching this & plan to stitch one for myself next year   : )

Here is the exchange I received from Edgar. For me he stitched an ornament from a JCS Christmas Ornaments issue that I know I've seen before but I have no idea what the name of the ornament is, the designer, or what issue it is in.  The fabric he used is a white linen with sparkles of some sort in it. Very pretty!  He also included a gift package of Lupicia Christmas tea.  He posted about this tea shop on his blog a while back & I was so excited about it!  How thoughtful he was to remember & gift some of this wonderful tea to me   : )

I am showing you a closeup of this 3-D card because it's pretty, of course, but also because there is a bit of a funny story regarding it.  I couldn't hang it with the other cards we've received so I displayed it on a table with some other Christmas decorations.  A couple days ago John received a card from our Subaru dealer & thought it had a really nice picture on it.  He brought it to me & said "here's another card to hang up!"  I told him it wasn't a personal card & therefore I wasn't going to hang it with the others.  He took it & put it in his CD/DVD room.  Yesterday John walked by the table where I had displayed this card & said "Oh sure, you put Edgar's card on display but you won't display the card we got from Subaru!" 

I can show you everything I sent to Edgar because he posted a photo on his blog which I'm sure he won't mind me borrowing for this post.  I'll borrow his photo of the ornament I stitched for him too   : )   I sent him some DVDs & a box of sort of local Christmas tea (it's made in Kentucky but not in the devil's playground).  The ornament I chose to stitch for him is Peace on Earth by The Primitive Hare, featured in this year's JCS Christmas Ornaments issue.  This is another one I plan on stitching for myself next year   : )

I also did an exchange with Lisa.  I can't show you what Lisa sent to me because I haven't received it yet.  She did, however, receive the package I sent to her.  She posted about it the other day & so I am borrowing one of her photos as well   : )   I sent Lisa some Christmas tea, a package of dark chocolate truffles, a needle threader, a fob, a Q-Snap edge cover, an acorn chart, & from her list of ornaments I chose to stitch Tra-La-La's Duo Noel, the sheep choice   : )

I stitched this design last year & Myra made it into a cube to display on a table top. Next year I plan to stitch the other design featuring the bird   : )

I did an exchange with Marie as well.  I have received the package Marie sent to me but unfortunately mine has not yet reached her. Hopefully she will get it soon.  Included in my exchange from Marie were a yummy container of mints, a scented candle, 2 skeins of Nancy's threads, & not one ornament from my list, but two!  From the 2010 JCS Christmas Ornament issue, Christmas Robin by The Victoria Sampler-Designs, & from the 2012 issue, LHN's Blue House in Winter.  

You might have noticed an unaccounted for package in the first of this series of photos. That is a belated birthday gift from Marie ... a very cute little notepad & pen for my purse   : )

This last exchange is one I did with Sarah.  I was late sending my package so I can't share with you what I sent to her just yet, but I can show you what she sent to me. Some linen, one of Nancy's charts, some thread wound on bobbins, a pretty notepad which at first I thought was Christmas related, but no ... it's a local design offered at a gift shop in Dubai where Sarah lives   : ) She also sent two ornaments!  I do not know the name of the designs or the designer(s), but aren't they pretty?

Addendum:  Sarah has informed me that the deer design is by Karen Kluba from Rosewood Manor   : ) 

That is the end of the exchanges for now   : ) I will post again when yet undelivered exchanges are received so I can complete this show & tell   : )

I have also received 2 gifts!  I usually don't open gifts until Christmas, but I knew these were ornaments, & I was told to "wait until December," & it's December, so here they are : )   This first one is from June.  I don't know the designer or the name of the design, but isn't it a cute little deer?

Addendum:  Daffycat very kindly informed me that this little fella is one of her designs ... Mistletoe Reindeer.  Thanks Daffy!

Last, but not least, is this lovely red bird ornament I received from Michelle.  As with June's choice, I have no idea who designed this or what the name of the design is, but I've never met a red bird I didn't like   : )

Thank you again everyone!  Have a beautiful Sunday!

Show & Tell

It seems like it has been a long time since I have shown you any of my stitching. Needless to say, that's because for the past several weeks I have been working on Christmas gifts & exchange gifts.  I decided on Monday that enough was enough & I was going to just sit back, de-stress, & work on ornaments for next year.  Although the exchange gifts have been mailed, none have been received yet so I will instead show you what I'm currently working on for next year ... an ornament from the 2013 issue of JCS Christmas Ornaments ... Windy Night by Dames of the Needle.  Here's how it looks in the magazine ...

... & here's my progress thus far.

For whatever reason, my fabric color is looking purple here, but it's actually the same color as the model photograph since I ordered  it especially for this project.  I am also using the threads suggested by the designer.

This is a bit of a challenging stitch for me.  I usually avoid stitching designs that are fiddly ... those that involve a lot of color changes or confetti stitches or, God forbid, specialty stitches.  This tree has what to me is a lot of fiddly stitching, but I am taking my time & feeling surprisingly relaxed through the process.  This is the first Dames of the Needle pattern I have ever stitched & I am enjoying it   : ) 

Next I will show you this scarf I started knitting for John when we were in Las Vegas.

It's pathetically easy ... a rank beginner's project ... but I probably started & frogged this scarf at least a dozen times.  I'm knitting it without a pattern.  You don't really need a pattern because it's all straight knitting ... just plain ol' garter stitch ... but I couldn't get the width right, & then I kept having a problem with the bottom edge resembling a crescent shape with the corners turning up. When we were on our way home, waiting near our gate for our connecting flight in Chicago, I spied a woman in our waiting area casting on to knit something.  I mentioned it to John & he was all "go over & ask her if she can help you with your scarf!"  I just didn't feel very sociable at the time, however, & pointed out to John that she probably wouldn't be able to help me since she was knitting using the English method & I knit using the continental method.  A weak excuse, I know.  A couple days after getting back home, I decided to start the scarf again. Same problem.  I jokingly told John I'd give him the money to buy a scarf, but I really didn't want this thing to beat me.  I retrieved my trusty Cast On, Bind Off book & tried a different type of cast on.  No luck.  I then spied another type of cast on ... a chained cast on using a crochet hook.  With nothing to lose except more time, I attempted this cast on & eureka!  It worked!  A perfectly straight edge!  It's doubtful that I'll finish this scarf in time for John to wear it this winter, but he'll have it next winter   : ) 

Chessie & Me has some great designs, doesn't she?  And they often feature that cute little Chessie somewhere in the design. Sophie likes that   : )   Last summer I joined the Chessie & Me Club offered by some online shop (unfortunately I don't remember which shop) & last week I received the newest club kit ... Winter Wonder.  Although this is another fiddly project (I see some specialty stitches in the design), I am looking forward to stitching it   : )

And speaking of Sophie,  she looked so cute & comfy on the sofa the day before yesterday that I just had to grab the camera & take her picture   : ) 

I hope your week is going well!  As Christmas Day gets nearer, there is a tendency for our stress to increase.  Don't let it!  I found this quote by Watchman Nee, a church leader & Christian teacher who lived in the last century.  

"An unpeaceful mind cannot operate normally.  Hence the Apostle teaches

us to 'have no anxiety [stress] about anything' (Philippians 4:6).  Deliver all anxious thoughts to God as soon as they arise.  Let the peace of God maintain your heart & mind (verse 7)."

Wise words for all of us to remember, not only during these days leading up to Christmas, but every day of the year.

Advent Calendar Blog Hop - Day 3

For those of you who don't already know this, Jo at Serendipitous Stitching organizes an Advent Calendar Blog Hop every year. This year I am very happy to be a part of it! Do be sure to check Jo's blog via the link above all these 24 days of advent to see what Christmas cross stitched item everyone has decided to share with you, & also to learn a little something about their Christmas traditions or to find a shared recipe   : )

My choice of stitching to share with you is this Little House Needleworks ornament design which I stitched last year (& which was finished by my good friend Myra) ... Ding Dong Merrily on High.

Ding dong!  merrily on high,

In heav'n the bells are ringing:

Ding dong!  verily the sky

Is riv'n with angel singing.

Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis!

Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis!

I love Christmas music, especially Christmas carols.  Do you know the difference between Christmas songs & Christmas carols? Christmas songs can be about any aspect of Christmas, but Christmas carols tell something about the birth of Jesus ... & after all, Jesus is what Christmas is all about   : ) 

"And lo, the angel of the Lord

came upon them,

& the glory of the Lord shone round about them,

& they were sore afraid. 

And the angel said unto them,

Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,

which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day

in the city of David a Saviour,

which is Christ the Lord. 

And this shall be a sign unto you;

Ye shall find the babe wrapped

in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel

a multitude of the heavenly host

praising God, & saying,

Glory to God in the highest,

& on earth peace, good will toward men."

Luke 2:9-14

I've decided to share a Christmas tradition which my husband began on Christmas Eve 1975, 2 months before we were married.  That Christmas Eve he presented me with a Christmas story book.  I'd love to show you a photo of it & all the others I have accumulated since then, but alas, they are packed in a moving box & heaven only knows which pile of moving boxes let alone which box!  I do have a few books from the past couple years that I can show you, however.  

Each year, in the weeks before Christmas, John goes shopping specifically for a Christmas book which I don't see until he reads it to me on Christmas Eve.  It might be a children's Christmas book or an adult Christmas book, funny or serious, illustrated or not.  One year he could not find a book he liked, so he sat down with pen & paper & wrote one for me!  It was the story of when we met in high school.  It's my most special Christmas book of all   : )

In case you aren't familiar with the song

Ding Dong Merrily on High,

here is a YouTube video for you to enjoy   : )

I wish you all a very merry & blessed Christmas!

Not a Happy Camper : (

I have been wanting a nice nativity set for many, many years but I have never been able to find one I have liked.  I started looking again this year & found a lot of nice looking sets at Fontanini Store.com.  I purchased this one ...

  ... along with several separate figures to go with it.  It arrived earlier this month but I did not bother looking inside the boxes, trusting that all would be fine.  After all, Fontanini has been around for a long time, & they are a well respected company that produces nativity sets of high quality, right?

This morning I felt festive & decided to start doing a bit of decorating.  I cleaned off the top of our buffet in the livingroom & excitedly opened the box that contained the stable you see above.  Let's just say that I am appalled.  See those "earthenware pots" on the right side of stable?  Mine are sitting on blobs ... big blobs ... of hot glue that spread out around them.  One of the pots is actually leaning to one side because it was not glued down flush with the base.  There are also blobs of hot glue underneath the fence posts & these blobs spread down toward the front of the stable base.  

What has happened to pride of workmanship?  I could literally sit here & cry, I am so disappointed   : (  Now I have to package everything back into a shipping box & pay to ship it back to the store.  I did not notice before printing out the return form that they charge a 20% restocking fee for all returns!!!  I emailed them saying I did not think this charge should apply to me since I would have gladly kept the product if the workmanship hadn't been so shoddy.  I'm sure that will get me nowhere.  If anything, they might offer to send me another nativity set, but after seeing the workmanship on this one, I don't want to try again.  

Sorry for the rant.  I guess I'll go do some dusting & think of what else I can put on that buffet other than something that represents the true meaning of Christmas  : (    

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

"Oh come, let us sing unto the Lord:

let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation.

Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving,

& make a joyful noise unto Him with psalms."

Psalm 95:1-6

Las Vegas

I have just spent 2+ hours trying to find a decent blog template to match with any number of winter/holiday header photos I have.  What an ordeal.  I'm not thrilled about the way things are looking right now but I am (no surprise) tired of playing with it ... so I will catch you up on my life these past several days without my computer.

Most of you assumed that my computer was going away for some repairs or upgrades of some sort.  I can understand why you thought that, but the computer stayed right here on the dining room table.  It was me who went away.  I didn't want to post ahead of time that I would be gone for a few days & I'm sure you can understand that decision   : )

John has been wanting us to travel someplace together for months now, but with my surgery & health issues it hasn't been possible.  Although my health is still rather iffy, I figured I was well enough to go somewhere for a few days.  John decided we'd go to Las Vegas.  He had been there not long ago & really enjoyed himself.  He loved the weather & enjoyed walking around & seeing all the hotels.

I had been to Las Vegas when I was 19 ... 41 years ago.  Two friends & I decided to leave home (Pittsburgh) & move to California. Hard as it is to imagine, I was a model during the brief time we lived there.  The photographer I worked for took several of us girls to Las Vegas for 2 days for a photo shoot at a nearby ghost town.  It being my first time away from home, I was in awe of being someplace so famous that I had only seen & heard about on TV.  Here I am back then ... 1972.  I asked the photographer to take a picture of me as we were heading back home so I could remember my visit.

  

I had hoped that John would be able to take my photo with this scene in the background ... kind of a "then & now" kind of thing, depressing at that would be ... lol! Unfortunately, that sign ... that whole area is no longer the same.  I guess I didn't really expect it to be, but I hoped that the hotel would have had the sign on their grounds somewhere.  They didn't.  This is a photo I found online of the Las Vegas strip when I was there.

Here it is today.

You just can't imagine what it's like being there unless you've been there.  New York City, San Francisco, London ... nowhere I've been comes close to the constant bombardment of noise, advertising, excess & overindulgence. 

It rarely rains very much in Las Vegas, but it started raining the day we arrived & it never stopped until our last day there. Three days of constant rain.  It was also windy & cold.  Thankfully everything is close to everything else so it was easy to duck in & out of hotels, casinos, & shopping malls. Before we left the devil's playground, I did a bit of research & found that there is a great cross stitch shop & knitting shop in the town of Las Vegas (not on the strip) & I was looking forward to visiting them, but the weather was just too miserable to catch buses & trot a few blocks to get to these places.  

We saw a couple shows while we were there. Jersey Boys, which is the story of how the Four Seasons got together, & a show called Divas.  Both were okay.  Nothing to write home about ... or in this case, nothing to write a blog post about   : )   

The shopping opportunities were beyond my imagination!  I had a lot of fun looking through the different stores.  We found a Teavana & I stocked up on some yummy teas while there   : )   The food offerings were also amazing!  I will miss having all that good food!  I went off my diet while we were there & ate such things as pizza & burgers & fries & chocolate, yet I only gained a pound & a half.  Maybe I can chalk that up to all the walking we did   : )

I took very few photos because of the weather.  It was so cold that it snowed on the surrounding mountains so I did take photos of those   : )

The hotels & malls were in the process of getting their Christmas decorations out on display.  Here is a photo I took in the Wynn hotel.  Those Christmas baubles are actually made of all different kinds of live flowers.

We asked a security guard to take our photo in front of one of the displays in the Encore hotel.  Of course we blocked out most of it!  

Here's the display without us being in the way.

I thought it was pretty cool   : )

This next photo is the ceiling in the lobby of the Bellagio hotel.  The ceiling is like this all year.  All those flowers are made from colored glass.

In this same hotel there was a French patisserie, Jean Philippe Patisserie.  I couldn't pass up having some French pastries!  They weren't as good as they are in France, but I enjoyed the vanilla eclair I decided to have. I took a few photos of all the sweet baked goodies to show you   : ) 

There was a chocolate fountain there because Jean Philippe not only makes pastries, he makes chocolates.  There was a plaque next to the fountain telling how it is the largest chocolate fountain in the world. There is a place for white chocolate, dark chocolate, & milk chocolate.

I took this next photo while on a portico of the Bellagio.  It shows the Paris hotel in the background with a replica of the Eiffel Tower which is half the size of the original tower in France.  John & I went up to the top to look at the views.  Quite scary for someone who is afraid of heights but once I got up there I felt safe.  It's all enclosed so no chance of slipping & falling out   : )

We stayed at the Trump hotel.

I meant to take photos of our room, but every time I thought of doing that we had our stuff laying everywhere.  I did take some photos of the bathroom though.  All marble & glass.  The shower was huge!  (Yes, that's a bit of the bedroom in the second photo.  We had a one bedroom suite.)

Our first night there we decided to take the hotel van to Cesar's Palace.  While waiting at a light to turn left, a car plowed into the back of us & hit hard.  It's amazing that the driver was not hurt.  He wasn't paying any attention at all ... he just rammed into the back of the van at high speed.  The front of his car was totally demolished.  There were 10 of us in the van.  John felt some back pain.  I had a pinch in my neck that shot a kind of electrical jolt across my face to my eye.  We reported this to the hotel & had to fill out a bunch of forms.  We seem to be getting better.  I hope so.

Our flights to Vegas were uneventful but the return flights were exciting   : )   The connecting flight in Denver was late coming in so we ended up leaving late.  It was snowing to beat the band (I loved it!) & by the time we all got on the plane & the plane was de-iced, we were too late getting to Chicago to make our connection to Cincinnati.  We had to kill 3 hours waiting for the next flight to take off.  It was snowing in Chicago too, by the way, & I loved it there also   : )   We arrived in Cincinnati at 10:00 p.m. & yes, it was snowing   : )   We got back home at about 12:30 this morning.  No snowing here but it had snowed.  There was snow laying here & there in the yard.  It did snow earlier this evening, however, so woo-hoo!!!  

Getting back into the swing of things is a little difficult due to the 3-hour time difference between here & Las Vegas.  It is going on 12:30 a.m. right now & I am wide away.  My body thinks it's 9:30 I guess   : )   Tomorrow we are picking up some meds, some groceries, & I'm hoping to maybe find a fresh turkey breast at this late date.  I would not have had the time to defrost a frozen one after getting home.  If I can't find one, we'll be having some spaghetti for Thanksgiving dinner   : )

Are you still being thankful?  I hope so! Today I am thankful that we were kept safe during our trip.  

I'm sorry this post is so long ... & probably so boring ... but there you have it.  I've caught you up   : ) 

Bye-Bye Computer

I just wanted to post a little note to say that I won't have the use of my computer for a few days.  I have no intention of using a library computer or anything like that, so if you email me & don't hear from me right away, this is why.  I know ... some of you are saying "We emailed you a long time ago & are still waiting for a response!"  I deeply apologize.  I have been trying to catch up as best I can.  Lots of stuff going on here, & of course I have been stitching away on Christmas exchanges & gifts.  I wish I could show you some of them but that will have to wait until they are received   : )

In the meantime, I can show you another photo of Sophie soaking up the heat coming from the heating vent.  She's actually sleeping on it here!  She looks like the picture of contentment, doesn't she   : )

I also took the following photos of Sophie a couple days ago.  When I get up in the morning, it is early, still dark outside, & John is still sleeping.  I brew some tea & then sit in my recliner to spend time in prayer & study. The very second I start to sit down, Sophie comes running over to snuggle on my lap even before I get comfortable!  Here she is wondering why I'm taking a photo instead of using her as a lap desk as usual.   

Now she's happy, fulfilling her morning purpose of being a lap desk   : )

I wish you all a happy weekend ahead!  Are you still being thankful for something each day?  Today I am thankful for being blessed with such a sweet & snuggly cat   : )