It's been a long time since my last blog post. I know, I tend to over
state the obvious don't I?? The Christmas season was a whirlwind
of busyness, with parties every weekend and deadlines popping up
left, right and centre. The overseas cards were mailed out just under
the post office's official deadline, the cards being mailed around
North America were dumped into the mailbox just two weeks before
Christmas, and as predicted in my last post the Christmas baking was
started on New Years Eve!!!

I'm still not sure where December went in all honesty. Seriously.

Both DH and I had the days between Christmas and New Years
off from work and during that time we hardly had time to breath.
I think that there was only one day when we had absolutely nothing
to do and nowhere to go. I think I might have subconsciously
planned it that way so that I wouldn't have time to think about my
Mom and miss her. It didn't work.

We had a lovely Christmas day at the home of our friends Matt and
Charmaine who were good enough to realize that Christmas at home
for us this year would not have been a Merry one. So DH, my SIL
and I were invited to share their Christmas with them, their kids
and Charm's parents. Believe it or not I've never celebrated
Christmas with kids in the house since I was a kid myself so this

was an extra special treat.

I was thrilled to pieces when I opened a package from Jennifer
of Seasonal Stitches before Christmas (I couldn't wait for the
big day itself ... could you??) and amongst the tissue and the
other goodies that she sent me (and I forgot to take a picture of
... DOH!!) found this lovely pinkeep. What a wonderful gift to
receive from such a special friend. Thank you again
Jennifer. You're going to have to teach me how to make
my own pinkeeps this year since I've made a New Years
resolution to make a pinkeep or two and perhaps try some
other simple finishes as well.

And yes, I know that's the same New Years resolution that I
made last year but never got around to accomplishing. I
did buy a few cuts of fabric with the best of intentions last
Spring but I still need to collect other "finishing" stuff. But
that's all part of the fun ... right??

Before Christmas I went on a little (!!) shopping spree and
picked up a few charts that had been calling to me (as they
do) for awhile. Quite a few of these would make nice
pinkeeps or flatfolds or pillows etc ... so hopefully this will
turn out to be an investment ... in encouragement.

I love those wonderful dragon silhouettes and the Quaker
witch ... er ... pileup made me laugh the first time that I
saw it.

I look forward to picking up any one of these new additions
to my stash someday and stitching them up.

I did have an unexpected surprise this Christmas season.
While attending the annual Christmas party for my DH's
choir group Kahila (pardon spelling) I discovered that
another choir member's wife was also a cross stitcher!!!
Hello Alisa!!!

In no time we were planning stitching get togethers and
in fact we've gotten together twice so far this year ... and
it's only the 11th day of the month. What an unexpected
surprise (shock) to find another stitcher who actually
lives in Georgetown!! Now with Alisa and Jennifer I have
two fabulous ladies to stitch with and I am a very happy
camper let me tell you!!

Now I just have to talk Alisa into starting her own
blog so you can get to know her too. :)

And just to prove that Alisa and I did actually do some stitching
when we got together (as well as the talking and the stash diving
thing) here is The Book Store with a significant amount of
work done on it since the last time that you saw it.

I hope to get back into the swing of things as far as blogging
(updating my own) and commenting (on yours) is concerned
now that the Christmas festivities are over. Hope that you
all had a wonderful Christmas and my warmest, best wishes
to you and your families for 2011.

May your needles be swift, your thread never tangle, your
fabric lay flat, your projects be a joy from start to finish,
and may the frogs go jump into someone else's pond!!

Cheers!!