Greetings all!! Look who's actually updating her blog just
three short weeks after her last blog posting. Yes, it's only been
three weeks since I last posted here and I'm back again. Can
you stand it??

To begin the festivities I've put an artsy shot from back in the Fall
when my SIL, a friend and I were wandering the shops in St.
Jacobs and I was playing with my camera in one of those shops.
It's kind of a cool, abstract look don't you think?

Remember in my last post how excited I was to actually have
not just one stitching finish to show you but two? A rare
event for me aka the worlds slowest stitcher and I was quite
thrilled about it. Well, guess what?

There's another one!!!!!!!

Presenting Halloween Quaker fresh off of the Q-snaps and
submitted for your pleasure and approval. Yes, it would
seem the prospect of starting that SAL with Maggie plus
sharing stitching get togethers with Alisa has inspired
me something fierce and my needles have been smoking!
Little tiny puffs of smoke perhaps, but smoking nonetheless.
I am very happy with this one.

Alisa and I went to Michaels on Sunday and I picked up
four picture frames, including a black one that will suit
this project quite nicely. I hope to frame it myself as soon
as I have an afternoon free to concentrate on it. So that's
two Halloween projects stitched and ready for final
finishing. Kind of strange how that worked out.

There was another reason why Alisa and I went to Michaels
on Sunday though. They had a 60 % off the regular price
discount on framing a few weeks back and I decided I'd
take advantage of that sale.

I dug Cottage Garden by Country Cottage Needleworks out
of my pile of finished projects and took it to Michaels for
framing and here is the result!! Isn't it pretty?? I'm so
pleased to have this project framed at last. As you can
see by the date on it I finished this project back in 2008.

A close up of the frame showing the detail along the inner
and outer edges. Michaels framing costs are still pretty
steep even with the extra discount and I hate to imagine
how much this would have cost to frame at full price, and
that's without the added cost of a matte around the stitched
piece.

Spring officially arrived on Sunday night and that's
welcome news for those of us who are sick to death
of Winter and all it's quirks and eccentricities. We
have had some nice temperatures here in the past
few weeks and even some sunshine (gasp!!) which
has melted most of our snow.

The Robins are back from wherever they spend their
Winter vacations and we have little clumps of yellow
crocuses opening their flowers in the front garden.
Both are sure signs that Spring is truly here.

So why more pictures from the Allan Gardens conservatory
you may be wondering. Well, because they're pretty. And
because they are soon going to be the only signs of Spring
that we'll have around here for a few days.

We're getting snow tonight while we sleep! Snow and colder
temperatures which will continue on into tomorrow and
might give us around 10 cm of snow before it's done. Oh joy!
So to those of you who are lucky enough to be sharing this
final blast (or so we hope) of Winter with me ... keep looking
at the pretty pictures of the pretty flowers and think happy
thoughts.

I finished reading An Echo in the Bone a week ago and
decided to read something completely different from
the historical romance theme. I try to avoid reading
several books in the same genre, one right after the
other, unless they are a series by the same author. I
chose Kelly Armstrong's Frostbitten which features
her werewolf characters Elena and Clay that was
published a year ago or so.

Another fun romp which also allows Elena and Clay's
relationship to grow and develop and become even
stronger, which is something I really like about K.
Armstrong's stories. Her couples are always evolving
and strengthening their bonds with each other,
even when they have been together for many years.

It was Phil's birthday on March 6th so we had a nice
little celebration for him, which is just the way he prefers
it. His sister came for dinner and brought a cake that
she'd made for him while I prepared the dinner that he'd
asked for this year. Macaroni and Cheese served with
sliced ham and biscuits. Pretty yum, if I do say so myself.

For his birthday this year I got us tickets to the Stratford
production of Jesus Christ Superstar. As soon as I heard
that they would be putting on a production of JC Superstar
at Stratford this year I knew that I would have to get us
tickets because the youth choir that Phil use to belong
to (called the Chancellors) performed the music from this
wonderful show many times. We're going in August
during our summer vacation and we're really looking
forward to it. It's been years since I'd last been to

Stratford for any reason so I'm happy for this excuse

to go. And I love musicals anyways.

In two weeks Gitta's Stitching Marketplace is happening
and I'm really looking forward to going with Alisa and
my dear friend Linda. Am trying to save my pennies in
case there's one or two (okay who am I kidding here ...
lots and lots) things that I might want to get. I'll take
my camera of course and provide a full report once it's
over.

Meanwhile, thanks for visiting and hope you've
enjoyed your stay. Come again soon.

Cheers!

Hello. The wayward blogger has returned. It's been a
month since my last post but I do assure you that I have
been using that time wisely and well and have a huge
surprise (or two) for all of you.

I can't remember the last time that I had a finish of
any consequence to share with all of you. And I have
to admit that it's kind of discouraging not to have a
happy dance or two every few months to celebrate
the completion of a project that's been the focus of
my limited stitching time for weeks or months (or
longer ... Gulp!).

I've been exchanging emails with Maggie in the
past few weeks and she mentioned a couple of
projects that she hoped to begin stitching in the
not too distant future. I remarked that I had
one of those charts on my to-do list as well and
she came back with the idea of the two of us
doing a SAL together for this project.

I've never participated in a SAL before and was
quite intrigued by the idea. And a bit hesitant
as well. You see I've got two projects on the go
right now, plus I've had a couple of more that
have been ... well .... lets just say they'd been
temporarily put aside when something else
shiny and new came along and distracted me.

I was reluctant to begin a new project, and a
BIG one at that, with those others still unfinished.
So I got to thinking (as I sometimes do) and
decided that perhaps it was time to pick up a
couple of those lost and forlorn projects and
just get 'em done already!!!

Ahem!

So I did.

Remember Prairie Schooler's Winter??? Everything was
completed on this one except for that darn header at the
top. Lots of brown. I'm not a brown person. I left this
project propped up against the wall at the side of my work
desk and tried to ignore it. It's been there since last
summer, emitting accusatory guilt vibes whenever I sit
here. I finally picked it up a few weeks ago and gave it a
couple of hours of effort.

And voila!! It's done. No more brown stitching. No more
guilty vibes. It looks pretty good and it's DONE!!!

I love the alphabet section at the bottom of the design.
The thread colours look so pretty against the white
background.

At this point I was feeling pumped and decided to
keep the momentum going by picking up another
long abandoned project and finishing it off as well.

May I present Waxing Moon Designs Halloween Short
Stack. This pretty piece has been sitting in my craft
cupboard for two years!! Don't ask me why I've
never finished it until now. I don't really know why.
It was a fun project start to ... belated ... finish and I
love it so much.

Artistic shot.

Faced with the prospect of having to make a couple of
those dreaded french knots (Ugh! Yick!! Phewy!!!)
I remembered some sage advice received from Dani a
couple of years ago and made Colonial Knots instead.
I'm quite proud of the results and just had to show
them off to you with this close up photo of the little
mouse.

So, two finishes in one month ... two projects to
remove from my "in progress" list and two
deterrents to my participating in my first SAL
that are no longer there. So Maggie and I are
going to be starting our SAL at the beginning
of April and I'm so excited!

*********************************************

So, hands up all of you nice people out there in blogland who
are fed up to the back teeth with Winter. There's snow on the
ground and the wind feels like it took a detour through the
wastelands of Siberia before visiting your neighbourhood
and there's nary a Robin or a crocus or a pussy willow in
sight to offer encouragement and hope.

Well, I can't do anything about making Winter go away
any faster (or slower, as the case may be) then it already
is (or isn't, as the case may be). But I can offer a bit of
Spring like visual therapy to help clear your mind and
perhaps go a little ways to restoring your faith in the
eventual return of Spring.

My friend Elaine, her daughter Katherine and I took a
stroll through the Allan Gardens conservatory during
a cold Winters day a few weeks ago and of course I had
my trusty camera with me to record the event for
posterity ... and my blog. So here are a few of those
photos for you to ... hopefully ... enjoy.

Just follow the pathways that curve and wind their
way through the conservatory and take in the sights
and the scents of all the beautiful plants growing
there.

There's even a bit of desert landscaping to admire
with cacti of every shape and size and texture to
gaze at and admire.

And admire the Spring bulbs that are in full bloom
right this very minute. Crocus, daffodils, tulips and
Hyacinth in every colour imaginable.

Now see how that nasty Winter seems to just disappear
from your memory as you take in all the bounteous
beauty that is Spring.

Deep breaths ... in and out ... that's good. Now hold
those thoughts of Spring in your mind as you go
through your day .... and whatever you do don't
look out the window!!!

Thought you might enjoy seeing what the cat's got
for Christmas this year from their favourite Aunt.
A water fountain. Yes, the cats now have their
very own drinking fountain to enjoy. No more
letting Phoebe into the bathroom whenever she
orders me to and turning on the tap in the bathtub
only enough to allow a few dribbles of water to fall
at a time.

She loves this thing!! She doesn't bother drinking out
of the bowl but instead goes right to the stream of
water falling from the spout and laps from that. And
when she's not drinking the water she's batting at the
stream with her paw showering the floor and the wall
with water. Oh joy! We've even seen Rupert take a
few sips from this which is the first time I've ever
seen him drinking! Honest.

This little contraption sits in the kitchen next to the
table which is a bit of a problem for us since the
sound of the constantly running water kind of
makes us want to ... er ... well ... you know.
Skip to the loo, so to speak.

I'm in the final quarter reading of Diana Gabaldon's
most recent addition to the Outlander series and as
always am enjoying it immensely!! I do love
me a nice big and juicy book to loose myself in.

I've browsed through all the postings for the
new stuff released from Nashville last week,
as have all of you I know, and have found
just a couple of must haves and one really,
really must have.

Aury TM Designs: A Sampler for My Mother

Ink Circles: Just Rosey - this is the really
really must have.

La D Da: Flowery Alphabet

Lizzie Kate: all three designs are lovely

And that's it from me for now. Thanks for
visiting. Hope to have more stitching type
news for you soon. Take care.

Cheers!