How Does Your Garden Grow - Finished!

I'm so happy with how this turned out! I did the 2 color all cross stitch version and substituted a third color for the beads.

Merry Christmas to all...

Wishing all of my dear friends a very Merry Christmas and a healthy and happy 2009!

Snow Day!

WINTER STORM WARNING BEGINS 8 AM Snow developing mid morning, becoming heavy at times, isolated thundersnowstorms, becoming breezy, and cold. Snowfall by evening 6 to 9 inches. Highs 25-30. Snowfall by evening 6 to 9 inches. Winds northeast 10-15 mph.

Kids are still asleep and I'm popping out to the grocery store in a few minutes. Gotta get those snow day staples - bread, milk and eggs! I guess we eat alot of french toast when it snows! Actually, the fridge and pantry are well stocked but I need flour to finish up some holiday baking.

2 Finishes

Here are 2 recent finishes. Both were such fun to stitch. The first is Stars & Stripes from Little House Needleworks. The second is from Country Cottage Needleworks and was an ornament in the 2008 JCS Ornament magazine. I changed the border and scarf color and also changed the birds to red so they looked more like the cardinals that visit my backyard bird feeder all winter long.

Roll Tide!

Go Bama! Beat Auburn!

Happy Veteran's Day 2008

Ornament Exchange sent & received

I've done a Christmas Ornament exchange for so many years, I've lost track! It's my absolute favorite exchange, both to send and to receive. I've gotten so many gorgeous ornaments over the years! I love hanging on them on my tree and thinking about the stitcher - many who are still active on the MB, and sadly, some who I've lost touch with over the years.

This year, I stitched my ornie for Amanda. She said "anything goes" on the theme, so I went a bit daring a stitched a blue ornament. The pattern itself was a freebie from Martina Dey, and I jazzed it up with beads and snowflake buttons. Amanda said she loved it, so I'm very happy (and a bit relieved). Here is are pics of both the front and back of the finished ornament. Not the greatest pics, but you'll get the idea.

Two finishes!

But only one I can show. This is the Prairie Schooler halloween ornament from the JCS Halloween edition. I finished it just as it's shown in the magazine, except for the zigzag edges of the black felt.

The second finish is my exchange ornament for the Cross Stitch Crazy board. I've done this exchange for so many years, I can't even remember! I'll post a picture once the recipient has received it.

Where's Fall?

Oh, the weather is cooperating nicely. The past week has been lovely with temps topping out in the high 60's and overnight temperatures in the 30's (except for one night where it was 31!)


I'm talking about the trees. They're turning very slowly this year. I've yet to see that "pop" of color in my yard, neighborhood, or drive to work. We're going to Putnam County NY for R4's football game on Sunday so I'm hoping to see that "pop" I'm waiting for. But you'll have to settle for some pics I took late this afternoon from my back yard. And another pic of 2 of the 3 pumpkins we've got growing. Hopefully they'll be completely orange by Halloween!

Another Met-less October

They did it to me again. Build up my hopes, along with thousands of other fans, only to knock us down and make us wait til next year. It's been 8 years now since we've seen the World Series and 22 since we've won one! How much longer can we take it? Of course, this is purely rhetorical since I'll be a Met fan til the day I die. I'll keep taking it - the good, the bad, and the oh, so ugly like this season turned out to be.

I was born a Met fan, born the same year the Mets were in fact. I was ridiculously sad watching the farewell to Shea yesterday. To see Mike Piazza and Tom Seaver together, closing the door to Shea forever.... I admit it, I shed a few tears. Remembering when my Dad took us to games. He's friends with one of the Mets sportscasters, so we always had awesome box seats. But I've sat up in the nosebleed section too and had just as much fun. And seeing all my favorite players and coaches come back was a blast! But then Piazza and Seaver closed the door behind them... I'll get my tickets for a few games next year at the new Citi Field. It's supposed to be a wonderful stadium and the Mets will start making some new memories there - next year. Yup, there's always next year....

Like Father, Like Son

Every Saturday night during the summer, there's a cruise night at the Sycamore Drive-In, a burger joint in town that actually still has car hop service. Hubby will go and check out the cars and sometimes brings one of his cars - either the 1972 Chevy step-side pickup or his 1963 Ford Falcon. At least one of the kids will go along with him. Here's a cute pic of dad and R4 one Saturday night. Notice R4's hands behind his back. He's learning from his dad - look, but don't touch!

A finish to share

I just washed and pressed this last night and it's ready to send on to Linda at Cole's Quilts. My square will be added to others and a then made into a quilt for a beautiful little girl afflicted with SMA. If you'd like to learn more about SMA and the wonderful Cole's Quilts, please click here.

And so it begins...

I've resisted for so long! But here I am in the land of bloggers. I don't promise to post something new and exciting every day, but it will be nice to have this one spot on the WWW to share with my friends and family.

A little background on me I suppose is appropriate. I'm a mid-40's (that's my story and I'm sticking to it!), married mom of 4. I have a job that I love but is flexible enough for me to also taking care of my family. Hubby and I have been married for 27 years! He's an upholsterer who sews for a living so he's not entirely sure why I do it as a hobby. Besides cross stitch I also enjoy knitting and crocheting. When he's not making a living, hubby is a coach. High School Freshman head coach, head coach for the youth football team, baseball, softball (travel and in-town) and basketball. He only gets a miniscule little paycheck for coach the high school team, but he'd pay THEM if he had to. Me, I get to be the "team mom" for all of hubby's teams. I keep all the schedules straight, host pasta parties, juggle rosters and carpools, and all the like. He's busy and stressed but loving every minute of it and wouldn't have it any other way.

The rest of our clan are:

R1 - 24 year old who is currently a Sgt. in the Marine Corps. He's currently on his second deployment. R1 was married this year to a beautiful woman who he had dated since high school.

R2 - 19 years old and a college sophomore. He is living at home (yeah!) and is just a fun guy to have around.

R3 - 15 years old and other than myself and the dogs, is the only other female in the house! She's a cheerleader and softball fanatic so we're kept busy with R3 a good part of the year.

R4 - My "baby", and always will be. He's 8 and smart as a whip. He's in 3rd grade but gets moved up to 4th for both math and reading. He broke his leg last year during his first year of football and came right back this year without a ounce of fear. He's doing great, but I cringe every time he makes a tackle!

And then we our puppies. They'll be 1 in October, so I guess they're still technically puppies. Belle and Thumper are black labs. When hubby went to adopt ONE of them, he called almost in tears that they just couldn't be separated. Of course, I caved! Two puppies have been alot of work, but they do entertain themselves (quite comically sometimes) and the training has been very easy.

That's about it in a nutshell. I'm sure my family will come up from time to time so feel free to refer to this first post to keep them all straight, I know I will.....

Until next time,

Bonnie