Good News: I didn't break anything

Bad News: I fractured my knee cap

Good News: It is my left leg, so I can still drive

Bad News: I have to wear this blasted contraption for FIVE WEEKS

It was a rainy Saturday and I had a full day of fun events. I came home from the cookie exchange at church rushed in the house to change and head back out to a luncheon. So, all dressed up in my heels and sparkly Christmas sweater I headed into the garage - failing to see the nice rain puddle that had slid off my car on to the tile floor - lost my footing and came down on my left knee. Below is the scene of the crime. Half the garage is for my car the other half is my husband's workspace. The wrapped post? Funny you should ask - my husband took a foam egg crate and wrapped it around the beam and then covered it in plastic so that "WHEN" (his words) I hit the post it would keep the car safe - funny man. For the record, it has been 10 yrs and I have not hit the post!

While my injury has put a crimp in my Christmas spirit, my stitching is coming right along. The first 2 days I hurt to bad to even stitch - ever felt that way? Below is my progress on on "Be Ye To Others" See the lovely, very time consuming over one lettering - I'm off a whole square and have to finish ripping it out - boohiss! Ripping it out is even more time consuming than stitching it! The empty space under the border is for 5 sets of initials. I thought about this for awhile and decided to use the initials of my mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, great-great, and great x3. I called my aunt and she pulled out the genealogy she is working on and read thru names for me. I learned a couple of things about my ancestors a.) they were not creative and/or b.) they were patriotic - here are some of my relatives names - Christopher Columbus Johnson, Daniel Boone Johnson, George Washington White, America Johnson, Atlanta Georgia Johnson. I can just imagine the teasing these poor people received when they were kids.

Be Ye To Others
Hillside Samplings
40 ct Norden Cream
Mix of DMC & Silk

Every morning Smokie keeps me company as I curl my hair and put on my makeup but as soon as she hears the pop and hiss of the radiator, she races down the stairs and this is where I find her as I am leaving each morning.

She was not to happy to be disturbed from her morning nap

.Our house was built in 1895 hence the radiators. They get so hot that you can't touch them and I was concerned that her laying on them might harm her. So on my next visit to our vet, I asked him just that - oddly he had a coughing fit (I swear it sounded like laughter) before answering "No, the radiator will not cook your cat"

I hope you have a wonderful weekend! Thanks for stopping by, I really enjoy hearing from each of you!

Cari

Only 14 days 'til Christmas...

Giving Thanks

for a wonderful Thanksgiving spent with family. My nieces ~ Abby & Ana

My husband, Abby, Me, & Ana
Abby loves her Uncle Bill
p.s I'm not that short, I'm just bent over to hug Ana
and my hairdo is compliments of little Abby

My Husband, Abby, & Ana

My Husband, Abby, & Ana

As I type this, I have been asking myself why I have no pictures of my very handsome nephew or of my brother - but they were there as well. We ate lots of good food and played lots of games - Sequence, Canasta, and I leaned how to play Nertz, which is a great game!

Below is my progress on "Be Ye To Others". Ignore the strings to the side. When I work with a pattern that is done in pages, I tend to finish a page before moving to the next and instead of ending the thread, I just pull it to the side - what do you guys do?

Be Ye To Others
Hillside Samplings
40ct Norden Cream
Mix of Silk & DMC

The best for last...

Melissa of Words and Blooms graciously honored me with this award ~ my very first and it couldn't have come from a more delightful lady ~ thank you Melissa!

Don't forget to check out my updated Trade Blog and Mary Kay Sale.

Happy Stitching.

Cari

Stash Reduction Sale

I have updated my Trade Blog.

I am also offering my Annual Mary Kay Inventory Reduction Sale

on my blog - this will only be up for 10 days and only while supplies last - have fun shopping!

Cari

Loss of Identity..

I've lost my wallpaper and can't figure how to get it back - the label is still in the corner "hotbiggityblock" laying claim to their design but, it's gone. I've emailed them to no avail AND I even tried to download other wallpaper from other sites all I get is this white screen. It's like being naked in front of the whole world - HELP - anybody have any suggestions? (thanks to everyone for their help - my blog is back to it's usual self ~ well, it's Christmasy-self)


Thanksgiving is in 3 days - can you believe it? Where has the time gone? My husband and I are headed to Columbia, SC to spend time with my brother and his family. I actually have four brothers - yep, FOUR! Looking back, I have no idea how my mother survived raising all of us (she stayed home while my dad worked). Me, I was the good child usually curled up in a chair somewhere with my nose in a book, but my brothers - hellions, mischievous kids always in to trouble or creating trouble. I am still hearing stories of things my brothers did that I never knew about. Jasonn was the brains of the group - always coming up with the next daredevil idea; David he was the quintessential daredevil - he'd do anything you told him to; Shawn was the actor - he was good at pretending to be the innocent or the injured party. I remember one time he really made me mad and I was yelling at him - mom came around the corner and the kid dropped to the ground and started crying and saying "why did you hit me? Oh, it hurts" - I was grounded for the weekend. Bobby was the baby and he too would do whatever he was told because he wanted to be included with the 'big boys'. Now we are all grown up, have families of our own, and live in 5 different states.

In honor of Thanksgiving, I stitched up Paulette's cute little turkey "bok bok" - though I left off the words. Isn't he just the cutest thing!

bok bok

Plum Street Sampler

misc fabric & DMC

I also stitch SB Scaredy Sheep - I stitched this a couple of weeks ago but forgot to post it - it was a fun, quick stitch.

Scaredy Sheep Kit
Shepherd's Bush

And lastly, my meager update on my current A&E. This is going to be a gorgeous sampler - the colors are just beautiful and the 40ct fabric makes a huge difference in the look. I can't wait to start stitching the house - I should have lots of time at while visiting my brother.

Be Ye To Others
Hillside Samplings
40ct Norden Cream
Mixture of silks & dmc

I am off to catch up on all my favorite blogs - I wasn't on the computer this weekend and can't wait to see what you all have been up to.

I pray that you and your family have a happy Thanksgiving.

Cari

Rain, rain...

go away and come again another day. The remnants of Ida have been lingering since Tuesday with no end in sight. My trusty umbrella has proved to be useless as the wind continues to blow it inside out - so, I arrive to work each morning looking like a drown cat.

I finished another class this week - hooray. Only 3 to go and only 5 more weeks of school. Then I plan to spend my free time stitching, stitching, stitching. I even plan to pay someone to clean my house as a reward for getting thru this semester - are you reading this honey? Speaking of my husband - he was quite flattered by all the compliments - he came home and asked "What does hubba-hubba mean" - LOL.

I have lots of new stash....

PSS In Paradise (yes, I caved - I just had to have it), SB Spooky, some new threads

Just Nan Christmas Cheer, SP Jenny Bean Ornament, Glorianna and OWS Floss, and some fabric.

I also won a couple of things from ebay - I just love Sheepish Designs!

Simple Guidance, Pear Orchard Farm, Pray For Me, My Favorite Things

And these, they are just the most hysterical pair of scissors I have ever seen and had to have them...

1978 Wonder Woman Scissors

I finished A&E - This was a fun, quick stitch. I felt a little weird cross stitching nipples on Adam, I am definitely thankful for leaves.


and started another small - can I just say (again) that I am tired of working on smalls and want to get my hands on a big ole sampler - but every time I kit something up, I find that I am missing this or that - very frustrating, but my own fault. This is an adorable little project by Paulette - she has it on her site as a complimentary pattern.

bok, bok by PSS

While taking pictures this morning, I was removing price tags and decided to give one to Smokie -she was none to pleased...

Well, I started this post 6 days ago - since then,

· the sun has come out. In fact, it was 75 Saturday and Sunday, a beautiful weekend!

· I finished another small - pics later

· AND, I went thru all my stash 'til I found one big project that I actually had all the parts
to and started it. I am so very happy to have a something substantial to work on and
even better, it is an A&E!

Be Ye To Others - Hillside Samplings #78
40 ct. Norden Cream
Mixture of Silks & DMC

Lastly, the winner of last week's contest is...Robin! Congratulations Robin!

Happy Stitching!

Cari

My Stitching Progress

It's Thursday - hooray! My friend and I decided to meet at 5:45 a.m. to go running. Well, I woke up and couldn't find the clock so I grabbed my Zune and clicked time only to discover it was 5:40 - I raced out of bed, got dressed and headed down the stairs when it hit me... I never changed the time on my Zune. I couldn't believe it was only 4:45 in the morning - needless to say, I went back to bed - fully clothed (no use getting dressed twice) and slept for another hour. It is so nice to have my exercise completed before work and watching the sunrise was beautiful.

I finished Needles & Pins this past weekend - I really like this one and plan to send it to Deb for her to make into a door hanger - it will look perfect in our guest bedroom, affectionately known as the Pink Room.

Needles & Pins (kit)

Milady's Needle

I started an A&E that I found on ebay - I decided to stitch it on 28 ct. Lambswool 1 over 1. This meant that I had to make some adjustments. The pattern calls for a chain stitch to make the apples and for the middle of the sun - I opted for Algerian stitches and love the look. I don't care for the butterfly above Eve's head and may take it out. Hopefully I will finish this one this week . As much as I love how quickly I can finish these small projects, I really, really want to get my hands on a big project. Sarah Woodham 40 ct is on backorder so I picked up Elizabeth Savilles but had to order the Olde Willow thread - I may just have to resort to picking up a WIP (poor me).

Adam & Eve
Snippets of Olde
28 ct Lambswool 1 over 1
DMC Thread

I ordered my fibers for Sarah Woodham and Joyeux Noel and a new pair of scissors - The Love Scissors by Kelmscott (thanks Jan).

Belle Soie, Crescent Colours
The Love Scissors by Kelmscott

Lastly, I completed my 50th Post and thought it was a good excuse to have a GIVEAWAY. The chart is Blessings & Kind Wishes by Blackbird Designs and it includes the suggested fabric. Just leave a comment on this post and tell me what your favorite fabric and fibers are. No need to post it on your blog as I would prefer the prize to go to a regular visitor.

Enjoy your day & happy stitching!

Cari

The Colors of Fall

Saturday, my husband and I took a drive on the parkway. I love to go in the Fall when the leaves are changing - the colors are always spectacular. This year we went really late but it was still beautiful. We stopped for an early dinner at Chateau Morrisette. It's a winery and they have an amazing restaurant. It's located at the top of the mountain and you can sit outside and enjoy the beautiful view while eating a spectacular meal. Sadly, it was rainy and foggy when we arrived, so we enjoyed our meal indoors.

Our view along the Blue Ridge Parkway...

Chateau Morrisette
My Husband

We arrived home too late to hand out candy, plus it was raining. So we opted to rent some movies. We just discovered these great 'red boxes' - has anyone else found these? Movies are only a dollar BUT, you have to return them the next day. We rented "The Proposal" -Sandra Bullock is just too funny. We also got "Australia" - another great movie. I got lots of stitching in both on our drive and watching movies (pics later). These boxes are a great idea - whoever invented them is a genius! It occurs to me that some of you are probably laughing at me as these boxes have probably been around for along time and just because I just found them doesn't mean they are brand new - oh well.

Catherine asked about the Chocolate-Covered Cherries pattern it was designed by Casey Buonaugurio - she has several freebies available.

Happy Stitching!

Cari