Busy, Busy

I have been very busy over the past few days. I have finished packing except for the kitchen and our storage area. I am so proud of myself for really being ahead of the game. Milsey says that soon we will all just sit around and stare at each other because I have packed everything and there is nothing to do! Oh well, I would rather be too early than too late. I also finished most of the stitching projects that I had lined up for summer exchanges. I need to stitch one ornament, and then I am finished for now. I was really getting worried that I had bitten off more than I could chew. I was so excited to join these groups, I signed up for eight (yes I said eight) exchanges. I can't wait to see all of the beautiful smalls that I receive from my partners. I am sending some of the items to a friend to be finished, because I have so much to do with the move and all.

Our building had a picnic at the ball field tonight, and we were treated to a baseball game after. Ethan was chosen to be the "Play Ball Kid" which means that at the beginning of the game he yelled "play ball" to start the game. I sure am going to miss having a baseball team close to us when we move to Florida. I don't think that there are any major or minor league teams close to where we will be living. Ethan and Milsey love baseball and Bonnie and I take our stitching and knitting projects to work on while we watch the game.

Well, I am going to start packing the storage room tomorrow. It will probably take me two to three days to get it all sorted out, and then I will wait a week and work on the kitchen. We officially have three weeks until the BIG day. I packed all of my stitching, so I will have to open a box if I want to start working on something. The new LHN/CCN charts come out at the end of next week, so perhaps I will have to get those to work on. Oh wait, I'm on a stash diet. Hmmm, what to do, what to do!

Biscornu Finish

I finished stitching my first biscornu today, and I must say that I think that it is just lovely. I used variegated silks and it turned out better than I expected. I want to do Barbara Ana's "Spring Biscornu", but I will have to order fabric from Sassy's Fabbys in order to get the desired effect. That's just fine with me because their fabrics are gorgeous. I stared working on the LHN piece that I am doing for my HoE exchange. I know that you are supposed to work 2 over 2 on 32 count fabric, but my stitches looked so bunchy - so I am stitching with only one strand of floss. Hopefully my partner won't mind. I am such a perfectionist and I wanted it to look perfect.

I finished packing Ethan's room last night and I am very proud of the progress that I am making. I spent most of Saturday and Sunday stitching and watching movies with dd. Almost all of the channels that we watch were having Mother's Day marathons, so the selection was fabulous. Milsey had to work all weekend, so we will have our Mother's Day celebration next week sometime. Well it's late and I can catch a couple of hours of sleep before the day gets underway. Goodnight!

My First Biscornu

Well, I made quite a mess with my first try on the fabric that I dyed myself. I just wasn't happy with it. My stitches look messy anymore - does anyone else have this problem? Anyway, I started another one with variegated silk and I am very happy with what I have so far. I have finished the top, and am now on to the bottom portion.

We now officially have 25 days until the BIG move. I have finished packing Bonnie's bedroom, the living room (75% finished) and a closet. Lisa and I will start on Ethan's room next week and then on to the master bedroom/stash room. I am dreading it!

Milsey's gradmother is very sick and is in the hospital with several blood clots in her lungs. Milsey doesn't think that she will make it much longer. I know that this is sad. but she is in so much pain from other problems and she says that she is ready to die. I hate seeing her in such pain and even though watching this is hard on all of us, she will be happier when she is at rest with the Lord. Please keep her in your prayers. Well I'm off to bed. Happy Mother's Day to everyone!

Up All Night... Again

Well it's 3 am and I am up again. Actually, I never went to sleep. I am so anxious about our move and it's keeping me up. Milsey is worried that we won't have enough room in the truck, and I'm worried that I won't finish packing in time. Meanwhile, I have a biscornu to work on and I can't seem to get motivated to do it. It's a really cute pattern and it's my first biscornu, I just can't seem to get excited about it. Don't get me wrong, I am very excited to see how it turns out - I just can't seem to get bitten by the stitching bug. I hand dyed the fabric and everything, so it's a work from the heart for sure. I just guess that I have so much on my mind lately with the move and all. It's so stressful to move. When we moved to Pennsylvania five years ago, Milsey did all the packing while I watched the children. Now I am doing the packing and I am tired of it already. Oh well, I thought that I would vent for awhile. Hopefully I can get some sleep, because Lisa is coming at eleven so that we can do some more packing. I am sure that everyone goes through this when they move. I am hoping that because we are starting to prepare so early, everything will go as planned. As for the stitching, I will try again tomorrow afternoon and see what happens. Wish me luck, I need it!

28 Days And Counting!

I received the items that I ordered from The Online Needlework Show and few other things that I had ordered a while ago. A Sajou thread keep, Sajou bobbins, 2 flip flop thread drops, 2 needle minders from Kelmscott, Barbara Ana "Summer Biscornu", fabric gauge, a new pair of Dovo scissors, and 2 Kelmscott mother-of-pearl thread keeps.


I also received a wooden ruler/thread keep, Just Nan "Over The Top" and "In The Tin", Little House Needleworks' "Needlework School" and "Garden Pleasures", JBW Designs' "Baseball", "Princess" and "A Very Merry Christmas", JBW pillows for finishing, 32 count Natural Belfast linen, 28 count Cream Cashel linen, 32 count Lambswool linen, and a wooden tape measure from Sajou. Quite a lot of stash. But that's it for me. I am now on my stash diet until we move. I hope I can make it!

I started on a biscornu for my ILCS (I Love Cross Stitch) group biscornu exchange. It's a secret so I can't give any information about it. I will tell you this, the fabric the I dyed myself, came out a pretty mint green. I am using this for the exchange. I hope that my partner will really like it.

Lisa (our housekeeper) and I started packing up DD's room yesterday and are a little over half finished. We spend about an hour a day packing, and hopefully we will finish by the first week of June. I have been using plastic Rubbermaid bins so far, but tonight Milsey is taking me to get cardboard boxes/tape/bubble wrap/newsprint at the moving store. I hope to finish Bonnie's (DD) room by Friday and then move on and finish Ethan's (DS) room by the middle of next week. I have found some things to give away to Goodwill, and I am sure that I will have a carload of donations by the time we are finished packing. As of tomorrow, we will have four weeks until we move - that's 28 days and counting folks! Okay well, we are off to buy boxes. Ciao!

Stash and 31 Days!

Okay, the stash part first. I received a large parcel of stash in the mail today, here's what I got. Waxing Moon Designs "My Needle and My Floss, They Comfort Me", 28 count Lambswool linen and WDW to stitch it, Just Nan "When Barnabee Met Bella" kit that includes embellishments and the linen, Blue Ribbon Designs "Stitched With Love", 32 count Antique White Belfast linen, CC Belle Soie silks, Barbara Ana Designs "Spring Biscornu", Waxing Moon Designs "Stitching Mends The Soul", 28 count Antique Gold Country French linen, and the GAST and SS threads to stitch it, 32 count Light Mocha linen, Country Cottage Needleworks "La Boutique", 28 count Cafe Mocha linen and Kelmscott Designs "Love Scissors".

And now, the 31 days part. The countdown is on! There are 31 days until we move to Florida. For those of you who don't know me, my family is moving to Fernandina Beach,(Amelia Island) Florida the first week of June. Currently, we live in a high-rise apartment/condominium building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. There isn't any room for our two children to play and the only children in the building are babies. We are moving to a beach house with a pool and a very big backyard. There are a lot of children in the neighborhood, and the home schooling laws are less stringent than here in Pennsylvania. My husband, the computer guru, works from home and so we can go anywhere we want as long as we have an internet connection. We will be closer to my family and all-in-all this move will be good for all of us. The fact that we are moving finally sank in today when we started packing our first box. We have a lot of stuff, but luckily we are moving from a three-bedroom condo to a five bedroom house - so we will have the room to spread out. Okay well that's it from me. I am just so excited to go - can you tell?

New Stash Thursday

In today's mail I received some new stash from Shepherd's Bush. I bought the Lizzie Kate pattern "Be Mine Valentine" a while ago. While reading the Shepherd's Bush blog, I saw that they had worked up the pattern a little differently. I fell in love with it and so I ordered everything to do it the same way. So this is what I received today: 7 count navy Klostern, #3 perle cotton, JABC buttons, and the backing fabric to make it into a pillow. I also received Shepherd's Bush "Green Snowman", and a Leisure Arts book called "Tokens Of Affection" from Amazon. Not bad for a Thursday!

Milsey went out for take-out today and came home with tickets for the Iron Man movie tonight. DS is thrilled to no end because he is a faithful reader of the comic books. Anyway, we will go out for BBQ tonight and then see the movie after we eat. Not much going on around here, we told our housekeeper that we will be moving in June and she was thrilled for us. She may even go with us to help us get settled into the new house. That will give us time to find someone who will live-in as housekeeper/nanny/cook. Hopefully my health will improve and I can help out a little more around the house. Well, I guess that's it for now. Write more later!

More Stash!

I am beginnig to think that I have too much stash. I get something at least twice a week, sometimes more often than that. I'm also starting to think that I will never be able to do all of the projects that I have. Does anyone out there think that I should go on a stash diet? Anyway here's what I received today. The new Country Cottage Needleworks thread pack "Sweet Treats" block three - Tart. I ordered two free patterns from my favourite needlework shop that had been kitted to include fabric and fibers - LHN's "Sweet Little Berries" and Crescent Colours' and Diane Williams' "Thankful". Some Lakeside Linen - 28 count Vintage Pearled Barley (for LHN's "Princess and the P") and 28 count Vintage Lentil (for LHN's "My Needle's Work" and CCN's "Sweet Treats"). Some 32 count Light Mocha linen, 28 count Dirty Cashel and 28 count Natural linen. And last but not least, some crescent colours that I needed for some of the freebies that I have found lately. Yesterday, I received my new pink OTT Light in the mail, and it is just what I need to use while I stitch - did I mention that it's PINK (my favorite colour)!

Oh and I was just thinking last night that I am WAY too in to this blogging thing. I am spending more time on the computer than I am stitching. I need to find some sort of balance between the two. Not much going on today, I went to see Jody yesterday and I had my nails done as well as a pedicure. I am so spoiled! We had a great chat over a lunch of greasy burgers and onion rings. Somehow the delivery guy brought us an extra burger and on the takeout box it had the name "Tom" written on it. Who is Tom? Is he still waiting for the delivery guy to bring him his burger? Tom if you are out there and are reading this, I am 'officially" looking for you.

We are starting to think about packing for our move. I am going crazy because we have OFFICIALLY run out of room for all of our "stuff". Milsey says not to worry because we are going to start packing the first week of May and that there is no need to try to organize what will eventually be put into boxes. I am a clean/neat freak and while everything is clean, thanks to our housekeeper Lisa, the clutter is driving me bazooky! It's going to be weird moving from a three bedroom condo to a five bedroom house. What will I do with all of that space? MORE STASH!!! Well that's it for now from me, write more later.