My current x-stitch project as of last Friday. It is Prairie Schooler's
"A Prairie Garden". I believe that the publishing date on the chart is
1992. I am stitching it on evenweave fabric in a light cream colour
with the recommended DMC threads. So far, every time that I begin
another flower, I decide that it's my favourite flower on the project
...until I start the flower in the next square.

This picture was taken in the bay window in our living room. I was
kneeling down, trying to get the material as flat as possible by holding
it with my arms and hands. Darlene stood over me and leaned down to
try and take the picture without getting my arms or any other portion
of my anatomy in the frame as well. What we must have looked like
from out on the street I hate to imagine.

I have decided that I need to be stitching a Christmas piece now,
since it is officially the "holiday" season. Yes, it is. Officially. Santa
arrived in Toronto on Sunday afternoon in the 102nd annual Toronto
Santa Claus parade.

I can remember going to the Santa Claus parade way back when I
was 3 or 4 years old with my Dad, my Uncle Don and my cousins.
Back then it was known as the Eatons Santa Claus parade because it
was sponsored and run by Eatons department store. I vividly remember
the year we were in the back of the crowd lining University Avenue to
watch the parade. But that wasn't a problem because my Dad had
brought a ladder along, and he just set it up, and set my cousins and I
on it according to size, with the smallest on top.

Eatons is no longer in existence, having gone out of business a few years
ago. A few years before that they'd decided to stop running the parade
to try and save money. The uproar that the announcement of this decision caused throughout Toronto was enormous. It would not be allowed. Major retailers in the city volunteered to help carry the cost of running the
parade and I think the city of Toronto took over the organization of the
event. It is held on the third Sunday of every November and Torontonian's consider it the official start of the Christmas season.

I've chosen to stitch a smallish piece from an issue of Cross Stitch
Christmas dated 1992. It is a square shaped project stitched in three
shades of red, with a border of snowflakes and in the centre it says
"and on Earth Peace". I'm stitching it on white evenweave material.

A special hello to Gina who's been so very kind with her comments on
my blog. It is such a delight to hear from you Gina. Wish we lived close
enough to each other that we could share a cup of tea and a visit. I
suspect we'd have a blast. Cheers!