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!