Sunday, July 08, 2012


Big news people!!!   I've been stitching!!!

I know ... it's hard to believe but it's true.
Last Monday was the Canada Day holiday
and I plunked myself down in a chair on our
deck in the afternoon and stitched away on
my PS Summer sampler.   The square is
almost done.  Just some blue sky and border
to stitch.  I'm quite pleased with my 
choice out of the four possibilities offered
which is a relief.   I dithered and fretted over
which of the squares would suit me before
committing to the butterfly square.


A close up of the square.   It was so nice
to just sit outside with the birds chirping,
the sun shining ... and our neighbour's
air conditioner roaring in the background.
I haven't concentrated on a stitching
project for that length of time (an entire
afternoon) in ages.   I need to do it more
often.  


This week was a tough one at work.  It was
first of the month which is our busiest time
but this month's first was the busiest that we've
been in a long time.  Both Wednesday and
Thursday we worked late, although I don't
work as late as the others in my department
because it takes me too long to get home from
work.   

And it was stinkin' hot this week too which
made any time spent out of doors a real
ordeal.   Walking home from the train 
station was not pleasant in that heat and
especially so when it included a pretty
steep hill to hike up.   

So when I arrived home one night and found
a package waiting for me it gave me such an
energy boost.   Last month  I was the lucky
winner of a gift certificate to 123 Stitch
curtesy of the delightful and generous 
Mary Ann of Just Stitching to celebrate 
her birthday.   Now usually when it's your
birthday you're suppose to receive gifts
not give them out.  However, as I said,
Mary Ann is a generous soul and she
gave the readers of her blog the opportunity
to win a shopping spree at a fabulous
online store.   I still can't believe that I
won.

I decided on two charts from Silver Creek
Samplers, including Dandy Dreams which
I first saw on Maggie's blog a while ago.
Her's stitched up so beautifully and looked
so sweet when it was framed I just couldn't
get it out of my mind.   So now I can 
stitch my own pretty sampler whenever I
am ready to do so.   

I also ordered a few K&Co. scrap booking
embellishment packs since 123 Stitch also 
sells some scrap booking stuff.  So I
managed to cover my two crafting 
obsessions with one gift certificate!!  

Many thanks to Mary Ann for making
my week easier to bear!


I took a stroll around the deck and garden 
today and snapped some pictures of our
many pots to share with you.  And also
to keep as a record for reference when 
next Spring rolls around again and I'm
trying to remember what flowers worked
best in which pots or planters the previous
summer.


Martha Washington geraniums are so pretty, aren't
they???   


Chippy was hanging around last weekend when
DH and I sat out on the deck for dinner.  Guess
he was hoping for a handout or something.  Since
he's figured out how to   a) climb the pole to the
bird feeders to help himself to the seed there  plus
b) he's found a way to get into the shed where 
the seed bags are stored, even when the door is
shut and locked and he's helping himself to that
bounty as well.  Cheeky nuisance.   Good
thing he's cute!! 


More shots of the newly decorated living room.
The built in storage and display area with 
drawers for linens and cupboards for other
stuff plus nice deep shelves above for the
displaying of the nicer things.  


And of course there is now a built in bookcase
for my collection of Folio Society books and
my National Geographic books.  Storage 
below for CDs and photo albums.  I love
it so much!!   Note new hard wood floors.

No more carpet.   Which means the 
fur from our two cats has free range and 
tumbles across the floor like tumbleweeds
in the desert ...followed by an annoyed me 
 with the vacum cleaner hose!!!   

All that fur rolling across my floors.  I
keep checking the cats to see if they're 
cold because they surely must have lost all 
their fur and are lying around the house 
naked!!!
Nope,  just lying there ... growing 
more fur!!!!


Another view of the corner next to the
window.   Looky ... we have crown
molding!!!!    Nifty!!    

Hope all you folks down in the States
where the temperatures are much 
worse then they were here are keeping
cool as you can under the circumstances.
Take care!!

Thanks for visiting!!

Cheers!

13 comments:

Maggie said...

Congratulations on winning a birthday givaway! you chose some lovely things, you will so enjoy stitching Dandy Dreams Judy, it is such a joy :-)
Your pots look so pretty with all the colourful flowers, and you have such cute visitors to your garden!
Love what you are stitching on, how great that you got a lovely afternoon stitching, i haven't done that in ages (perhaps when Mark goes back to work in a week or so i might be able to get more stitiching time)
I see someone else has been doing some DIY and decorating :-) Everything looks lovely, especially like the storage for some of your books.

I've stitched a little today on Sampler Gameboard, i've not picked that up in a while (i still don't like the fabric i chose). Have you done any more on your piece since we last spoke? It really is lovely and it would be shame to give up on them, don't you think?

Have a good week x

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

I love your PS sampler it is going to be so beautiful! And your living room...stunning! I love your colors, very similar to mine :)
I understand completely about cat fur and more fur and more and more...

Anonymous said...

Hello

Thank you for visiting my blog.

You have a beautiful blog and I love the photo of the naughty squirrel.
Your stitching is very pretty.

Judy S. said...

Nice photos, especially the cheeky chipmunk! Love your newest stitching project, and congrats on the win. Those charts should keep you out of trouble for a while. Amazin how much fur cats can lose and still be furry, isn't it?

Lainey said...

Your PS Sampler is lovely and great new charts from your win.
Gorgeous living-room and great photo of that cheeky squirrel.

Mary Ann said...

First, I am happy that I was able to make a bad week a little better in a roundabout way--I love what you chose for your shopping spree!!

Your PS sampler is looking great! The colors are so pretty.

Kathy A. said...

Whohoo. Glad to see you are stitching again. Love those first few stitches. Your renos look wonderful.
You con't need cats to have dust bunnies. There is just Leo and I and I am still chasing those suckers around the house.

Jennifer said...

Love all your pics Judy . You are really far along on the PS piece . The colours are beautiful . I'm not as far along but hope to do more when Elisabeth is at Easter Seals camp . She is home this week so i'm not getting much done.love the pics of your 'new' house! hope to talk to you sometime soon!

Dani - tkdchick said...

Judy great stitching progress! Lately I seem to be settling better and getting more done!

Bonnie Brown said...

Congrats on stitching again!

barbara said...

I just love reading your blog! :) Your stitching progress is beautiful and I envy your gorgeous built-in bookshelves. :) Happy days to you and your (hairy) kitties!!

Andrea said...

Great progress on your PS piece. Your house is beautiful, I'm loving the photos.
My stitching is a bit all or nothing these days. This past month has been quite good but I'm starting to think about the 'C' word (Shhh....Christmas), so I'm getting the card making stuff ready.
Judy...don't even mention the weather!

Brigitte said...

Judy, it's so reat to see you stitching again. And a PS piece is always a good inspiration to get back in the swing of stitching habits. I haven't stitched one of their charts where you have to choose what to insert but I'm sure it would be difficult for me, too.
Oh my, walking up a hill each day at these temperatures - not something I'd long for. I hope that you will soon have a break from your heat wave. I'm so glad that we have had very moderate temperatures for the last weeks, just perfect for me.
Loved to see your new living room pictures, it looks very inviting.