April TUSAL....MIA

Well, I have been MIA and so has  my camera. I finally found it this evening. It was packed for Girls Scout Camp, I have been looking everywhere. 

So indeed my TUSAL is a week late but better late than never! Just a quick update on my life.....camping as stated, soccer (daughter had 4 goals on Sat.), rehearsing for the 2nd grade musical, yard work (killed 1st two tomato plants and now on second set) and stepping up my work out routine as I have 20 year class reunion in July. Whew.... more pictures on latest stitching later this week!

March Owl

Well, I have been missing from blogger for a few days. This always happens to me in Spring. I get Spring Fever and spend more time outside and less time stitching and on the computer. Austin in beautiful in Spring but you have to catch it when it starts, it doesn't last long. Monday here the high was in the 70's and today it should be 88. It seems like trees blossom within a week and grass perks up overnight. Before we know it it will be triple digits!

On to stitching....my March Owl in the present SAL. ( I love the fabric but it is very challenging to stitch on. I have to count over and over to make sure I am crossing over 2 instead of 3.) 


Well, I'm off to check my stash for something easy to start. It'll be April before you know it and I'll have another owl to complete.
Till next time!

Mother's Wisdom

My second quickie from the Heart in Hand, Mother's Wisdom Series. This one is very appropriate for my eldest daughter! I'm constantly reminding her to use her napkin and eat over her plate! 

These have been in my stash for years, wish I had known how quick they were to stitch! Alas, now to begin Oahaven March SAL!


Happy Monday to all!

TUSAL update,Yellowstone and Whirlwinds

My life feels like a whirlwind! There seems to never be enough time in a day and the months are passing me by. Hence, the 3rd installment of my TUSAL. I decided to post my new book with it. I'm planning a trip to Yellowstone in July and trying to educate myself on important sites to see. The hard part is planned, lodging. I booked the lodges back in November and still could not get a night at Old Faithful Lodge. It is crazy how fast everything books inside Yellowstone!!
Other updates: 


a) I have a new Owl resident. her name is Sabrina McScreechy.  She is smaller than our last owl and keeps a bit of a different schedule. She seems to look out of her box in the early afternoon and then again in the evenings. She also has a trill that the other owl did not, the family has been enjoying our new "outside pet".


 b) My husband just got word that he is going back to Japan. I am so sad but trying to be happy that he has a job. He leaves in less than 2 weeks and we are trying to get some things done before he is gone. (like the taxes)


c) I spent most of the weekend in a cleaning frenzy. We are having our carpets upstairs cleaned in the morning. So I had to get most of the things off the floor and out of the way. Times like this is when I realize how much stuff we really have! Thank goodness the daycare is having a yard sale in two weeks!  On a stitching note, many hours spent organizing stash and more stash!  


Here's wishing you more hours in the day, time for Spring Cleaning and the ability to slow down your own whirlwind!

A Quickie

Minds out of the gutters ladies and gents.....I am referring to my latest quick stitch. It is from the Heart in Hand, Mother's Wisdom Series. I am now working on the "Mind your Manners" design so that I can frame both, one for each of my girls.
I also want to welcome my three new followers!


Teresa at Willow Tree Pond , she is presently having a 1st Blogoversary Giveway so hop on over and check her out!


Heather at Stitch in Tyme , she happens to be a Lizzie Kate Lover and owner of a few different blogs!


And Denise at Riverside Stitching, she is picture heavy so very fun to follow! 
Welcome ladies and hope all have a good rest of your week! Almost TGIF! 

"Mom of Two" accomplishes a goal!

We all have goals, do we not? I have many, the typical lose weight, have more patience with my children, keep the house cleaner, etc. This year I also decided I wanted to finish a part of my SAL on time. Now I didn't put it out there, maybe I should have? Anyway, I did it and during the shortest month of the year!!!  Having said that, Oakhaven's Monthly SAL appears to be an easy one. If anyone is interested you can see the Yahoo Group by clicking on the link.


Speaking of Owls, I have lost our resident in my owl box. It appears a squirrel has evicted it. After doing a little research this happens quite a lot if the owl is without young. Can you believe an owl was scared off by a squirrel??? So we evicted the pesky squirrel and covered the entrance this past week. I hope to take the cover off this week and attract another Screech Owl before they breed (March-April). Wish us luck!

Pine Mountain Giveaway and a Welcome!

Happy Sunday everyone! No stitching to show as of yet but I did come across a giveaway from a designers blog, Pine Mountain Designs. They design beautiful pillow kits to celebrate seasons and/ or holidays. You can enter to win a March Pillow Kit by leaving a comment anytime in the month of February. 


Also a big welcome to my two new followers:


Fiona at Peaceful Threads by Fiona
and
Asrid at Cross Stitched by Astrid


I look forward to following along on your projects as well! Maybe next post I'll have more to show on my February OakHaven SAL. Ta-Ta!

Oakhaven Owl Done!

Well it's only February 7th right? So, I'm just a week behind??? Hoping to get February's done before March, let's see if I do. I think there may be a few followers also participating in the SAL,  Lainey for sure.


Need to rush, off to take girls to swim lessons. Thank goodness it is an indoor pool!  

February TUSAL and our Snow Day!

Well, I am a few days late with my TUSAL posting. My excuse??? Why a snow day for Central Texas! Yes, our city shut down for 1 inch of snow and how we all felt like we were in a winter wonderland. 

Our girls were in heaven. I think it was their 1st real snow play! We made snow angels, a snow-girl with our neighbors, had snow ball fights and went sledding down a steep hill at the neighborhood dog park. I know the pictures will look like nothing to our "Northern" friends but my how much fun we all had!  

As for my latest stitching project, my owl is coming along and almost done. I'll show it next time as it is in my car and I'm too cold to go out and get it! Stay warm and if you are in Texas, pray that we won't see anymore rolling blackouts during our "frigid" season!

Pass the Pumpkin Pie Please

So last night I finished my latest, Thanksgiving Line up by The Trilogy. It turned out cute but alas I'm done stitching earth tones for awhile. The colors were becoming quite drab to stitch but I'll be happy to have it come November! 


On to project #2 for the New Year, January SAL from OakHaven Designs. The owner has a Yahoo Group that I have been following, the group has close to 700 members. Maybe ya'll have seen her designs? January looks like a short and sweet piece. I'll post a picture with my TUSAL Update later in the week.

Almost forgot to show ya'll my present from Japan. It's a Hello Kitty Bag for guess what? My WIP's of course! Notice anything different about Hello Kitty? She's a Kitty Devil, do you think DH was trying to tell me something?

Look what the postman dropped off...

What a wonderful treat to see a package sitting on my doorstep this weekend! Emily packaged up the most lovely "giveaway" with a bit of a Floridian touch! I am so looking forward to opening up the cross stitch material this evening when the kids go down! The chocolates were opened IMMEDIATELY....many, many thank yous Emily! The Rayon DMC threads are new to me, can anyone tell me if I need to do anything different when I stitch with them? They look like they might fray easily?


Anyway, DH is home from Japan. It has been a long 2 plus weeks. I'll post later this week with my 1st finish of the year and my TUSAL update!


Ta-Ta  for now! 

And the winner is.....

ME!!! Wow how excited I was when I found out I won the giveaway from Emily at  Emmie's Ramblings


I am not one of those people lady luck follows around so it was indeed a nice surprise! If ya'll have some time, stop on over and check out her blog, she's got another giveaway in the near future....one when she reaches 50 followers.


As for followers I would also like to welcome the newbies to my blog.


Linda from Blu Stitcher
and
Crystal from Midnight Stitcher


Thanks girls for following and I look forward to watching for your posts and seeing your work as well! 


Have to run, off to the dentist and then to a meeting at work!

Owl Box Inhabitant and much more!

So last Spring I received an Owl Box from the family for Mothers Day. My husband found blueprints on the internet and 2 days later, voila! 

I have been meaning to show you the latest tenant. Her/ His name is Owlbert McHooter. We don't know if it is a he or she. My oldest girl thinks it is a young owl, possibly a baby. My little girl thinks it is a "mommy". I know it is an Eastern Screech Owl, so no hoot's heard from this little one. I'm hoping he/she stays for a long time. We love seeing her in early mornings and evenings. She watches us and I think finds us interesting.     

As for single mommy-hood, 1 week down and 1 week to go. This last week I was almost done in a by a stomach bug. These little germs seem to be so much harder on me the older I get. I think I picked it up at work because my girls didn't have the bug....thank heavens! But I have survived and my girls were understanding about me holing up in my room on Saturday. My eldest even cleaned the kitchen table after lunch, proud moment for me!

So as for my progress, it's coming along and I hope to finish it this week. Which is good beacause I'm trying to begin the Oak Havens Designs SAL....which is owls of course!

Until next post, wishing you less snow and more owl sightings!

Giveaway @ Emmie's Ramblings

This is a short post to tell ya'll about Emily's giveaway! She is celebrating her 100 plus posts! Congrats to her and you can also enter for a chance to win @
Emmie's Rambings 


Nothing to show in regards to my stitching. I'm officially a single mom for the next two weeks. DH is on a work trip to Tokyo, Japan. The credit card company has already called this morning with strange transactions. I had to wake him up to make sure the $2,800 USD transaction was a real one.....(it was his hotel for the whole stay)!!! What did I ask for as a souvenir? Why something HELLO KITTY of course!  We'll see what he comes up with! Have a Happy Sunday! 

Progress & a Girl Scout Musing

So I have been making some progress on my latest project. Sometimes I wonder if my progress is related to stitching ambition or the fact that my TUSAL jar is so empty. (Guess it really doesn't matter?) 


Here is something to muse about.....Why is it that January, when every woman and some men are striving to lose weight, Girl Scout Cookies go on sale? This is the main fund raiser for the Girl Scouts, wouldn't it make more sense to do this several weeks after New Years Resolutions? Well, having a GS Brownie I know that cookies go on sale next week. We pick up our pre-orders tomorrow....DARN those Thin Mints!!!! Even in the freezer I know they are there, calling my name! 

Stylish Blogger Award, Thx Emily!

Miss Emily over at Emily's Ramblings was sew sweet today and nominated me to continue on with the Stylish Blogger Award.  So in continuing with the tradition, I need to tell you all 5 things about myself. I'm not so sure they are secret but I am pretty new to the blogger world so here goes.


1) I lie and tell people I'm 5 foot....I'm really 4 ft 11 inches.
2) My downfall is peanut butter fudge.
3) I hate to talk on the phone! Just email or text me please!
4) I am scared of mice and rats! I once found a water logged rat in my toilet!!
5) I would wear my PJ's all day long if it was possible!


Now I am supposed to nominate a few people to continue this however, I don't know who has done this or not? So forgive me if I tag you and you have already played!


Erica @ Erica's Places 
Noni @ Fireflies & Cats in the Garden 
Elaine @ Lainey's Stitching Hoose


Enjoy!

January TUSAL post... #1

What a way to start the New Year, 2 posts back to back! 1st off let me say that I took the day off to take my car to the shop. It had major engine work less than a year ago and now I'm smelling oil again! I love my little Subaru but it will be the last one I buy!!! Let me also say that I am a city dweller and put only 10, 000 miles a year on it! So keep your fingers crossed that the garage backs the work they did less than a year ago!

Now for my jar, maybe by next month it will look like a stitcher owns this blog! 


And just to show my current project, Thanksgiving Line Up! To get in the mood, I had pumpkin oatmeal for breakfast! Maybe it will help me get off the computer and get some stitching done! Until next time.....

  

Where have I been?

Well obviously not on my blog recently! As most all, Fall and the Holidays have consumed my free time. I have done some minimal stitching, unneeded stashing, much needed cleaning out of the thread organizer and so on. I did stitch a Christmas Card for my eldest daughter's teacher. Her family is of Swedish Heritage so the card was appropriate. 


I also am posting my last picture of the 2010 TUSAL. Looks like the sweet lady who originally came up with the project no longer blogs on Blogger but what the heck! I think I'll continue my own 2011 TUSAL just for grins!

So as they say, out with the old and in with the new. It will be hard to throw such orts away but there are always more. As for projects I have begun, a Thanksgiving themed cross stitch. I decided Thanksgiving decor is lacking in my home! 


Cheers to all my readers and thanks for stopping by after such a long time away!