Escaping Alex and more

So the last few days have provided some much needed stitching time and memories. We packed the car last Saturday and headed out for South Texas, to be specific South Padre Island. I have family in South Texas so we spent Sat night in Harlingen and had dinner with my two aunts. They are getting up in years, my oldest aunt must be 78 or 79 now. It is so hard for me to think of them as older, in my mind they will forever be timeless. South Texas is known for their Mexican Food, one of my Aunt's homes is really just 5 minutes from the border. We had a wonderful meal and Pan Dulce for dessert.

Sunday we got up and headed for the beach with knowledge in the back of our minds that there was a tropical disturbance in the Gulf....ALEX. We did our best to get quality beach time in. We played at the shore, pool and took a boat ride in the Bay. Our boat ride provided us views of approximately 25 dolphins. Many babies swimming along side of their mothers....little tidbit is that they solely nurse for 6 months before adding any seafood into their diets. The girls loved the dolphins as well as the Sea Turtle Rescue stop we went to. As predicted our time in South Padre came to a close early due to Hurricane Alex. They were not evacuating the island but everything was being boarded up and the beaches were closed. We left Tuesday after lunch and traveled north for about 6 1/2 hours. We were in and out of tropical showers but safe. We even saw a double rainbow over a cow pasture in Kennedy, Texas. It was quite picturesque but we were going too fast to snap a photo. The girls were sad but not as much as I. They were easily swayed with a promise of seeing Toy Story 3 at the movies once we got back home.  So we hadve tickets to see the film today after my little ones nap.

As for stitching I finished PART 1 of Helga's SAL. I have begun PART 2 but will in no way have it finished by July 2nd. Enjoy the pictures, South Padre is going to do fine. Alex will hit in Mexico and hopefully South Padre won't have much wind damage. The aunt's are planning to ride out the storm as they did a few years ago when Hurricane Dolly hit. The worst part is being without electricity for many days post landfall.  Until July....

TUSAL long overdo, progress and a hijacking!

Well this has been an interesting week! Shall I begin with the bad and progress?  Well my Yahoo email account was hacked this week. The hacker accessed my address book and sent spam re: a Canadian Pharmacy selling diet pills to about 150 different people. What have I learned?? 1) Change your password OFTEN! 2) Delete contacts that you don't plan on emailing. I tend to hold on to peoples addresses just in case I ever need to reach them (or for sentimental purposes). This was a mistake, so I cleaned up my address book and saved only needed individuals and even though it was hard threw away the rest!!!

TUSAL, well it is long over do. I planned to get it posted on the new moon this month but sometimes time just seems to slip by me. So instead I posted on a FULL MOON! Here in the states we say all "the crazies" come out on a full moon...here's wishing you a crazy free Friday!   

Well here is my progress on my SAL. As predicted I'm not far enough, PART 2 comes out today and there is still more work to be done. But, I am close! :) I love the variegated threads!  The letters are stitched with Gentle Arts thread, Red Plum. It is just so pleasing to look at and stitch with! I prefer to stitch on evenweave but none was available at my LNW shop in the color I wanted. So you're looking at linen...I think it will look nice once done! 

Hope a nice weekend is had my all. My next post will have pictures from South Padre Island. Wishing I wouldn't be in the car during the TEAM USA Soccer game! Cheers to all the Team USA and Team England Fans, wishing all luck!

Helga Mandl SAL Part 1, Sweetness and Ms. Hepburn!

So this weekend I have been busy partaking in Helga's 2010 SAL. Helga is a Croatian Designer that I first came across in reading The Gift of Stitching Magazine.  She is also the moderator of a Yahoo Group I belong to called wXSw (Wonderful Cross Stitch World). This happens to be the 1st SAL I have actually started on time! Lets see if I can keep up the pace. There will be a part one and two for a total of 2 weeks. As I don't have much time to stitch it will be a miracle if I finish with the group!

On a non-cross stitch note I have been reading a fabulous new book. I am almost done with The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. This happens to be his 1st novel and it is wonderfuly written. The stories heroine is pre-teen aspiring chemist who happens on a murder based in the 1950's in England. Flavia, the main character, is quite the mad scientist who tries to amuse herself by pranking her older sisters and shocking the township. Oh...and solve the murder her father is being blamed for. Already worth the $15 dollars spent at Barnes & Noble!

Yesterday I went downtown for a viewing of Breakfast at Tiffanys...which also included a martini and mini manicure! My nails look great...this will last until my next shift at the surgery center. The martini was great, cherries instead of an olive. The movie.....one of the best ever made! How on earth was Audrey Hepburn so beautiful and enchanting? Has anyone read the book? I'm looking for a new read!

Until my post next week!

Owl Box for rent and my update!

My latest project has been a Pine Mountain Design. I have altered it to say "Home" instead of March so that I can keep it on my bed for more than a month! The design has been fun to stitch but I hate not being able to use a loop or a scroll frame. One never realizes how much you depend on it for tension till the instructions specifically ask you not to use it! This may keep me from stitching another design.....it just depends how the final results look.

I have decided to put a rush on this work so that I can participate in the 2010 SAL from Helga Mandl. You can find this on the wXSwYahoo Group or by going to her website:

http://crossstitch.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=crossstitch&cdn=hobbies&tm=7&f=10&su=p504.3.336.ip_&tt=11&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//free-pu.t-com.hr/hmdesigns/index.html

On another fun note, one of my Mothers Day gifts was put into action today. I had asked for an owl box. We have both Screech Owls and Great Horned Owls that frequent my neighborhood. I have been wanting a box and my husband finally finished it!! We picked out a quiet corner of the backyard. This tree was picked after seeing 2 Screech Owls sitting on it at dusk a few nights ago! It is ready for move in, completely furnished with a soft leaf interior!