wimschouten23dingen

Hello friends!  There is just one word to describe this past week around here....HOT!  It was in the 90's every single day last week.  Factor in my 50 hot flashes a day and I have been miserable.  I told my husband this may just be my last summer!  UGH! Last Saturday our guild had a workshop conducted by Pam and Susan of Praiseworthy Stitches.  They were teaching us about 2 historic schoolgirl samplers from North Carolina.  This was my first workshop and I must say it was fantastic.  So well organized, fun and informative.  I chose to start stitching on the Trexler Sisters Sampler first.  It was stitched by what is believed to be 2 sisters - each sister stitched one half of the sampler and then the two halves were sewn together.    Here is my meager start. The garden is still going gangbusters.  The cherry tomato, cucumber, and peas have now reached the top of the 5 foot trellis.  I have been harvesting lettuce almost...

I was thinking I should pop in for a quick post so you wouldn't think I had totally disappeared from the face of the earth.  I don't know what is wrong with me.  I have had lots going on but lost my blogging/stitching mojo somewhere.  Hopefully it will return soon.  I have been reading some blogs when time allows but have been terrible at leaving comments.  I do apologize as I find you all so inspirational and I enjoy seeing what you are doing. The past couple of months have been spent battling a rezoning of the property next door to ours.  There were plans for a septic tank business to be constructed but I am happy to say all our hard work paid off and the rezoning was denied.  I learned quite a bit about our local government in the process but I am so glad that is behind me.  I am not much of a public speaker and having to give a presentation before both the Planning and Zoning Board and the County Commissioners was not fun. Betty seems to have ...

A coworker has been asking me to make her a new wallet for months now.  When the big snowstorm came (lol) I decided to pull some fabrics and make her a new wallet. Hmmm, well I might have gotten a little carried away.  :o) Here they are open so you can see the inside pockets. I had a lot of fun choosing coordinating fabrics and buttons.  I even added a yo yo and bead to one. They were like potato chips....I couldn't stop with just one.  They do make nice gifts.  I decided to keep the red and blue paisley one for myself. I am working on something new in the sewing room now.  If all works out I should have something to show you this weekend. Thanks for stopping by!

Hi friends!  I haven't felt much like blogging the past couple of weeks but I did want to pop on and give you an update.  It snowed!  I have been wishing for a measurable snow here all winter and I finally got my wish a couple of weeks ago.  I think we ended up with around 8 inches here.  It was so pretty and work was closed for a day.  Now it is in the 70's.  North Carolina weather is so unpredictable. I receive a couple of wonderful packages in the mail.  First, from sweet Vera came these gorgeous fingerless gloves along with the cutest spool shaped lip gloss and sewing themed nail file.  Vera was in town the week that Lola passed away and I was unable to meet with her.  Thank you so much Vera for your friendship and thoughtfulness.  Then the next kit in the Seasons of Chessie series arrived as a gift from Chris.  I love this one!  So springy.  Chris really spoiled me with this series.  Hopefully my stitching m...

Thank you all for you kind, sweet, healing words.  I know with time the hole in my heart will heal. The salads last week were fantastic.  My salad swap partner made a spinach and artichoke salad.  Both were delicious and very filling.  I really enjoyed the convenience of being able to grab a jar and go and wasn't tempted at all to visit the fast food places.  I didn't eat the last salad until Saturday and it was just as fresh as the first one.  I did step on the scales Monday and record my weight just to see if this has any impact on weight loss.  Bear in mind I haven't changed anything else in my excercise or eating habits but I thought it would be interesting to see if the salads made a difference. This week I prepared Waldorf Inspired Slaw .  I did add a bit of sugar to the dressing because my oh my was it vinegary.  I also added a hunk of cheddar cheese because I just felt like I would need a bit of cheese with this salad/slaw.  I'll...

'Cause Santa Claus is still in town!   Santa With Cardinal Prairie Schooler "Kris Kringle"    I just love everything about these guys - the snowmen on his robe, the lines on the mittens,...  ...those rosy cheeks, and of course...the cardinal.  :o) Some of you asked what count I am stitching these on.  I am using 36 count for the Old World Santas and 40 count for the Kris Kringle ones as they are a little larger and all are with DMC floss.  I am changing up the colors on a few of them. I just can't seem to get away from these jolly fellows.  I have another kitted up to start while watching football this evening.  Who are you hoping will win?  I am cheering for the Seahawks since the 49'ers beat my precious Panthers last week and I am hoping the Broncos will stampede the Patriots.  I want to see the Seahawks vs Broncos in the Superbowl.  I have to share another picture of Glitter, this time "helping" DS2 surf the web.  LOL T...

Hello friends and folk!  Thank you so much for the concern, prayers, and good thoughts you sent regarding Lola's surgery.  She is doing well even though we are having a tough time keeping her from licking her surgery site.  Unfortunately the lab results were not good.  The lump was sarcoma which in a nutshell is tissue cancer.  Not the best diagnosis but certainly not the worst either.  We will have to be diligent in checking for lumps in the future and having them removed as soon as they are discovered.  My start on Snow Angel was frustrating as I miscounted and ended up unstitching almost as much as I stitched.  I had planned for this to be a slow stitch anyway so I put it away for now.  Which brings me to the "bitten" part of this post. I have been seeing so many of these handsome guys on your blogs it was inevitable that I would be bitten by the bug sooner or later.     Yep, I have jumped on the PS Santas bandwagon, specifi...