Christmas is coming...

...in 223 days! Although the way I've been stitching anything and everything Christmas this year, you would think it's arriving next month! In my attempt to have some bigger Christmas pieces on my walls by December, I've been pretty much stitching Christmas all year so far. I may just have to take a break and stitch up some patriotic pieces soon, though--they've definitely been calling to me!

So, how is everyone doing in mid-May? It sure doesn't seem like May here as our truly nice spring days are few and far between. We get one picture-perfect day and then a string of cloudy/rainy/gloomy days. And the weekends? I don't even want to mention them! It doesn't really matter to me being retired, but I do feel for all the folks who only have the weekends off and are met with gray, soggy days. 

I've managed to stitch another big (to me, anyway!) Christmas piece. Would you like to see? This is "Christmas is Coming" by Shakespeare's Peddler and it was such a fun piece! I love stitching words and little motifs so this one was just perfect. Stitched on 40 ct. vintage country mocha Newcastle linen with "most" of the suggested colors, I'm so happy with how it turned out.

"Christmas is Coming" finish

How about a closer view? My main changes were to the house portion of the design. The year was supposed to be stitched above the fence, but I substituted five snowflakes. I also changed the color of the house itself to WDW Brick (front) and WDW Havana (side), changed the paint on the door to WDW Charcoal, added muntins to the windows, and added more snow under the house. And do you see the comma and the period? Yep--had to add them to make my librarian's brain happy :) 

In the lower portion, I changed the goose in the box to match the pair of geese above. It was charted as just a silhouette in black, but I preferred a full-color goose. I also added some snowflakes inside the box and to an empty space to the right of it. The long flower had leaves that weren't symmetrical so I changed them, too, and altered the flower's color a bit. I centered that bottom row of holly to match the spacing in the row at the very top. And yes... more punctuation :)

So, I have another large Christmas piece to add to my "to-be-framed" drawer. I need to get busy and place an order for frames soon!

Now to find a frame...

Speaking of frames--I managed to frame one of my Christmas finishes from last year! This finish is actually the result of what I like to call two "happy accidents." Happy Accident Number One: First of all, the "2019 Twin Peak Santa" was not stitched according to the chart. I accidentally started the design off-center so I didn't have enough fabric to stitch the bag of toys that was originally charted. To fill it in a bit, I chose random snowflake designs from various charts and added them along the sides. You can read about my finish of this handsome Santa in this post. I really love how it looks with the pretty snowflakes falling gently down on both sides of the blue-robed Santa. And then Happy Accident Number Two: I placed an order from my favorite online frame shop, Franken Frames, last year. (You can read about the frames I  ordered in this post). Well, the frame you see below on the Santa was in that order, although originally intended for a Prairie Schooler Thanksgiving piece. When it arrived and I held it up to the PS piece, it was way too small. Thinking that the framing company had made an error, I checked out my original order, and sure enough--it was me! I had sent them the wrong measurements. Ugh! But... I just happened to hold it up to this Santa piece and, lo and behold, it was an almost perfect fit! What do you think?

Framed finish of the 2019 Twin Peak Primitives Santa

The color of the wood in the frame perfectly matches Santa's staff and the size was excellent--a bit wider on the sides than the top and bottom, but that's okay. It sure feels good to have a framed finish checked off my list. For those of you who wonder how I do my framing, I'll link to the instructional post by Brenda Gervais that I follow right here.

Giveaway winner... Wow! I was amazed at the number of you who wanted to stitch the "Cycling Santa" chart that I offered last month as a giveaway. I truly appreciate all of your book recommendations, too. I'd read many of them, but did add a few new titles to my "must-read" list. I so wish I could send each of you the chart, but there can be only one winner and that winner is....

Rita H. 

Rita H.--you are the winner of the "Cycling Santa" chart!

Congratulations, Rita! Please send me your mailing address and I'll get this chart right out to you. Hopefully, you can pass it on when you are finished, too, and keep the kindness going. For those of you who didn't win, luckily, the chart is still readily available for purchase. In fact 123 Stitch has it on sale right here for just $7.19!

The ups and downs of May... May used to be one of my favorite months, but that has changed over the past several years. You see, my mom's birthday was May 14th (she would have been 97)  and my mother-in-law's birthday was yesterday, May 15th (she would have been 96). It was always such a fun, festive time of year with Mother's Day falling right before their two birthdays. But, now that they are both gone (mom in 2020 and my mother-in-law in 2022), I tend to get pretty sad. This year it seemed to really hit hard... The fact that none of my boys were able to be here for Mother's Day on Sunday didn't help. The tears were flowing pretty frequently over the past couple of weeks. 

But...

I found a feather this week! Yes, a teeny tiny white feather in the middle of my kitchen floor. As I bent to pick it up, I just knew it was a sign from mom--that she was nearby and watching over me. I felt such comfort the moment I found the feather.

A message from mom? I believe so!

I know a lot of you are probably rolling your eyes right now, but I truly believe in signs and my mom has sent me feathers before. Anyway, I carefully placed it in "her" spot in my Pottery Barn cubby with other special things I've received from her over the years. How about you? Have you received signs from a loved one that bring you comfort and a sense of peace?

The cubby space dedicated to my dear mother

Our Spring flowers continue to dot our green, green yard with brilliant spots of color...

Love the shade of purple in this clematis

And the pink is pretty sweet as well!

Our Korean Lilac bush has never had so many blooms!

The rhododendron bloomed about two weeks earlier than normal this year

And the wildlife... I think I've mentioned (probably many times over the past 15 years that I've been blogging) that we are blessed with a large yard. It's a bit over an acre with a good-sized pond in the back. I thought you might enjoy seeing an aerial photo of it taken by my youngest son with his drone back in 2018. On the left is the pond, in the upper middle is my husband's vegetable/flower garden (which he's since made half the size for easier maintenance) and the garden shed. The little bluish "blob" in the lower middle near the pond is the top of the big bird house that you often see in my photos.

An aerial view of our home and back yard from 2018.

Because of the pond, our back yard is filled with  animals who are drawn to the water. The pond contains probably two dozen koi. The koi are huge--18 to 24 inches long--and are orange, white, black, and a combination of those three colors. During the spring, summer, and fall we feed them special koi food, but when the temperature falls below 52° we stop feeding them for the winter and they survive just fine. You can see a portion of the pond and a couple koi in the photo below, taken last summer in 2023. My little grandson, Mister B, was almost three years old here and looks like he really wanted to jump right in with the fish!

 

"Look, Nonna!"

Here are some of the many visitors we've seen in our back yard this spring...

The blue heron is a frequent visitor hoping to grab a koi. They are simply too big for him, though, so he often flies away still hungry.

 

Can you spot the blue heron flying above the birdhouse near the top of the photo? What a wide wingspan!

This mallard duck couple has been spotted a few times this spring. They sometimes wander up the lawn from the pond and feed underneath the bird feeders. We were hoping they would choose our pond  to build their nest, but I think they've gone elsewhere.

Spot the bunny! And the squirrel and the mourning dove couple! All gather at the base of the bird feeders to enjoy easy-to-get treats.

I honestly can't imagine living in a city... Every time I look out my window, it's like a moving picture of wildlife. From the silly squirrels chasing each other round and round the tree to the mischievous bluejays stealing all the bird seed, to the herd of deer that roams through our yard (eating many of our flowers!)--it's always something new each day. I get so much joy from watching nature!

My husband was on a bike ride for five days earlier in the month and sent this sweet photo taken while biking on Assateague Island. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, Assateague, a 37-mile barrier island located on the shores of Maryland and Virginia, is home to over 150 wild horses which are descendants of horses from the 17th century. If you'd like to read more about them, you can click on this article. I'd love to see them in person some day!

Three of the wild horses on Assateague Island. I simply love this sweet photo of the little foal nursing from his or her mother. A perfect photo for Mother's Day weekend, I'd say!

I always think I don't have much to write about when I first begin a post, but it seems to mushroom as I look through the photos on my camera! I hope you don't mind these longer posts... I'm not sure if I'll be back by the end of May or not. It's going to be a busy time with many doctors' appointments, shopping for flowers and planting them, and a trip to visit my grandson. Just a bit uncertain if I'll even get much stitching done to share with you. As I mentioned, I think it's about time I began a few patriotic pieces. After Christmas stitching, red, white, and blue stitching is my favorite! Hope you all have a great month with lots of sunshine and stitches--and as always, thank you so very much for your kind comments and emails. Bye for now...

Four days that turned into two weeks...

Well, once again, I've only managed to produce one meager blog post for an entire month! I do have a good excuse, though... My trip to help my son, daughter-in-law, and grandson with their move to their newly renovated home in mid-September ended up being "just a bit" longer than I expected--ten days longer, in fact! I'll get into more details later in this post, but I know many of you are only here for the stitching so let's get to that first...

Before I left to help with the move, I was able to stitch this darling squirrel couple, but only got to the finishing today. "Autumn's Acorn Gathering" by With Thy Needle and Thread is stitched on 40 ct. summer khaki Newcastle linen with a mix of overdyed threads and DMC. I did change a few colors--primarily the blue of Mrs. Squirrel's frock and the pinstripes of Mr. Squirrel's britches where I used GAST Dungarees.

Such a charming couple!

I finished each one as a simple pillow with handmade cording in DMC 3033 which coordinated with the apron and the shirt. Tip: to get the ends of the cording to look nice, I iron the ends, sort of "comb through" them with the tip of my scissors, and then iron again. Then I carefully cut the edges as straight as possible with very sharp scissors.

I left off the jack-o-lantern face on the pumpkin basket--just wanted it to be more fall themed than Halloween. I also omitted the thread bow on her dress.

There is some satin stitching on the acorns and on the wings of the crow. I love these special touches that Brenda Gervais adds to her always charming designs!

Aren't his little suspenders the cutest? And how about that spiffy orange striped tie!

I haven't had a chance to do much fall decorating yet, but I did manage to set up this little display in a corner of my sunroom. I'm hoping to do more fall decorating next week. The brown carved wooden squirrels (on the right) belonged to my maternal grandmother and I collected the tiny acorns last week when we took my grandson to a local park for an afternoon.

The extent of my fall decorating so far!

 

So, there you have it--the extent of my September stitching! I didn't even manage to get my monthly Christmas ornament finished (although it is stitched). Hopefully, October will be a bit more productive in terms of stitching...

As I mentioned in my last post, my husband's extended family gathered for a memorial service for his parents on September 9th. Two of my nieces planned a truly special day for 40 of us that included the graveside interment of ashes, lunch afterward at a botanical garden, and a wonderful dinner (filled with lots of family stories) at a nearby restaurant. We saw relatives we hadn't seen in ten years so it was a very special celebration of my in-laws' lives. In between lunch and dinner we all took a walk in the woods near my in-laws' old home to spread some of their remaining ashes.  It was a cloudy, cool day, but just as my brother-in-law released the ashes near a beautiful old tree, the sun came shining through the clouds illuminating the remains as they drifted through the air. I drew a sharp breath and turned to my niece saying, "Did you see that?" "Yes," she replied with a smile and glistening eyes. I do believe in signs from our loved ones who have gone before us and this was definitely one.

The woods where my in-laws' ashes were scattered is so pretty and peaceful.

 

On Sunday, the day after the memorial service, we hopped into the car for the four hour drive to Maryland to help with my oldest son's move to his newly remodeled home. We cleaned out cupboards and closets, packed boxes, and gave the house one last cleaning. We worked from dawn to dusk on Monday as the movers were coming on Tuesday--there was so, so much to be done! Thankfully, their new home was just around the corner from the home they had been renting for the past two years so the movers didn't have far to go. After the truck was unloaded, we quickly realized that there was no way we could sleep in their new home due to the overwhelming odor of polyurethane on the newly refinished floors so we headed to a hotel. It was nice to just take a shower and relax in a calm, dust-free environment for a night. 

The next morning we were back at it, unpacking and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning (dust was everywhere as the entire home has hardwood floors that had been sanded). And... all while the workmen who have been doing the remodeling for the past five months were still there! We soon realized that four days was not long enough to make even a dent in the unpacking/cleaning/organizing/setting up a working home so I decided to stay longer while my husband left for home. He had to take care of a home improvement project that was scheduled at our own house that Monday. My son and daughter-in-law were extremely thankful for me extending my visit and said they couldn't have managed without me--I was so glad I was able to be there for them. 

Packing up the kitchen for the move. My son and daughter-in-law will definitely not miss that galley kitchen in their rental home!

All did not go without a hitch, though... the toilet for their primary bathroom arrived cracked, the dryer was delivered with big dents on both sides, the existing vent isn't large enough for the new stove, light fixtures were installed in the wrong location, etc., etc. Worst of all, they have no heat! The plumber who was supposed to call the gas company about connecting the gas line neglected to do so and it can take months. The previous home owner had oil heat, but my son had the oil tank removed never dreaming that it would take this long to connect to gas.  But, I have faith that eventually they will have a lovely home. It may be a while until they can purchase furniture, but they'll get there!

The outside of the house is looking great as a landscaper and his crew gave the home a quick makeover (it only took a day plus a few hours!). This is their new home--isn't it pretty? It's big, but they need all that space as my son and daughter-in-law work from home so they both need offices. And, of course, they need a guest room for us :) All of those big overgrown shrubs were removed and the sidewalk was replaced. The whole look is much cleaner and tidier, and best of all-- none of these plantings require much maintenance. We were all very pleased and the neighbor across the street liked it so much, he came over and asked the landscaper to do the exact same thing at his house!

My little grandson is, unfortunately, having a bit of trouble adjusting to the move. The house is much bigger than their rental home and I think Mister B is feeling a bit lost in it. He was very clingy--only wanted mommy or daddy and wouldn't even let me or my husband care for him. He did let us pick him up from pre-school one day and take him for an outing at a local park for a few hours. It was so nice to just relax away from the workmen and the chaos and stress of the move for a few hours.

Mister B loves to check for mail each day at his new house!

My husband drove back down to pick me up, stayed a few extra days, and we finally got home last weekend, tired, but fulfilled. We both enjoy doing projects that make a difference and that have a beginning and end. We put up curtain rods and hung curtains, replaced light switches, hung a new light fixture, did a mini-makeover on the guest bathroom with my daughter-in-law, hung pictures, etc. And since returning home--guess what?! That insomnia that I wrote about in my last post has just about disappeared. I so appreciate all of your suggestions on how to deal with it. I think, for me, I just needed to make sure that their move was over and they were safely in their home and then I could relax and not stay up half the night worrying about them!

My husband and I took a drive yesterday and discovered a wonderful walking path at a nearby park. It was so peaceful strolling through the woods as the sun drifted through the slowly-turning leaves.

 

A beautiful fall day for a walk in the woods

More signs... As we walked, my husband spied some round things on the ground, "Look at those walnuts." I didn't think they were big enough to be walnuts so we stomped on a few and cracked them open. They were hickory nuts--something I should have recognized as my childhood home had two huge hickory trees in the front yard. Each fall, my mom would settle all of us kids at the kitchen table cracking the nuts to make her once-a-year hickory nut cake. It took forever as there is very little nutmeat in each one, but the result was worth all the effort!

Hickory nuts and maple leaves--memories of mom.

I'd been really missing my mom lately and just know that those hickory nuts were a sign from her. And if that wasn't enough proof, as I walked back to the car after our walk (hickory nuts safely stuffed in my pocket), I heard a mother calling to her little girl on the playground, "Way to go, Elinor!" Again, I smiled to myself--Elinor was my mother's name. Thank you, mom--I love that you are still here watching over me when I most need you. How about you? Do you believe in signs from beyond? 

That was a long post! Yikes... I hope some of you are still reading along. We are expecting one last week of summer weather ahead (with temperatures in the high 70s) and I'm so happy. I dread the cooler, darker days that are coming. Hopefully, I'll be back a couple of times in October--that is always my goal--to blog twice a month--but sometimes, life interferes. That's okay--I wouldn't have traded those two weeks helping my son's family for anything. But, it sure did feel good to plop down in my stitching chair once we returned! I broke the cardinal rule of stitching: ABC (Always Bring Cross stitch!) when I went to help them move. I never dreamed I would be gone for so long and I think that is the longest period I've gone without stitching in 20 years! Remember that when you travel somewhere: ABC! Happy October, my friends--hope it is a good month for each of you. Bye for now...

May moments

Hello there! Hope May is off to a wonderful start for everyone... Things are definitely improving (weather-wise) here and we are finally getting some sunny, warm days again. Oh, how I love them! As I've gotten older, I've begun to realize just how much my mood is affected when we have no sun--and sadly, I live in one of the least sunny parts of the U.S. Yes, the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area is one of the worst for lack of sunshine according to this article in USA Today. Is your city on the list? I think we've had only three sunny days over the past two weeks! Am I ready to move? Let's just say I'm definitely keeping my options open!

I'm finishing up the larger summer piece that I hinted about in an earlier post so I really don't have any new stitching to share with you today. But, I do have a finally framed finish! After 12 years, I can proudly hang this Hillside Samplings piece, "Seasonal Samplings," on my wall! There is no excuse... I've even had the frame for at least a decade. Yes, really!

"Seasonal Samplings" stitched in 2011

Isn't it pretty? I have no excuse for not framing this one earlier except sheer laziness on my part. Well, that and the fear of trying to frame something with such a straight border. But, I'm very pleased with the final outcome--and you know what? It probably didn't take me longer than an hour to get it done! As always, I use this tutorial by "With Thy Needle and Thread's" Brenda Gervais to do my framing.

Finally framed 12 years later!

This sampler was stitched on 28 ct. natural brown linen and I remember loving the specialty stitches and "over one" stitching in each little block. If you'd like to read a more detailed post about this particular finish, you can find it right here. I thought you might enjoy seeing some close-ups of each season. Notice the alphabet, year, and my initials are all stitched "over one" as are the bunny and birds.

Spring--aren't those flowers interesting?

Summer--such a sweet baby bunny.

Fall--some cute Rhodes stitched apples.

Winter--love the lone red cardinal perched at the top of the pine tree.

Such a pretty timeless piece! I'm still auditioning spots in my home to hang it--the long thin frame presents a bit of a challenge in finding just the right place. Right now, I have it propped up on a bookshelf (where it just may stay permanently!). Who else is with me in procrastinating on your framing? I'm pretty good with finishing the smalls as I stitch them, but... I'm embarrassed to think about the number of larger pieces in my "to be framed" drawer. Some day, I'll show you the contents of the that drawer! But, I know that many of you follow the same philosophy that I do: "The joy is in the stitching."

In other stitching related news--I got my newest bound blog book back from the printer! It's a biggie--383 pages! I always combine two years worth of my posts into one book to save money. It is still expensive, but every now and then Blog to Print (where I order the books) has a very nice 50% off coupon. I would suggest signing up for their emails as that is how they deliver the best coupons. 

For the front of my latest book, I chose--what else--my Christmas tree! After all, that is how I first began blogging way back in January of 2009--by stitching an ornament each week. 

My 2021-2022 blog book

I dedicated this newest book to my dear grandmother. Past books have been dedicated to my husband, my sons, my mother, my grandson, and even to you--my sweet stitching and blogging friends!

It makes me so proud and happy to leaf through the pages and see all of my finishes in print form! My only complaint about these books is that the captions don't end up appearing right under the photos. But, otherwise, I can highly recommend this company. Here are some sample pages to give you an idea of how they print out. (Please note that the pages are white even though they appear blue in some of my photos).

So many memories from 2021 and 2022... the good, the bad, and the ugly!

The good: Mother's Day 2022

The bad: the flooding of our family home in Naples, Florida in September 2022

The ugly: the horrid powder post beetle found in one of my professionally framed finishes!

And let's not forget my favorite images of all--my sweet grandson, "Mister B."

Love having my grandson included in my blog book!

For the back cover, I chose one of my favorite finishes of 2022

And here is the whole stack of books from 2009-2022--eight inches tall! 

Hard to believe I've been blogging for 14 years now!

Giveaway time... I found a cute chart that is so appropriate for this time of year with Mother's Day falling on Sunday for those of us in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and parts of Europe. This chart was sent to me from the very generous Janet B. in Texas to use as a giveaway and I appreciate it so much! Who would like to win this Sue Hillis chart, complete with tiny charm? The charm is a little door with a wee key to be stitched onto the house where the front door should be--adorable! You could also change the word "mom" to something else, too (dad, dog, cat, etc.), if you desired. If you'd like to win this, please follow the guidelines below. I'll announce the winner on my next blog post--good luck to all!

I'm giving away this sweet chart and charm... Please follow the guidelines below to enter!

To be included in the drawing for this chart, please...

1) Specifically mention that you would like to win the chart in your comment 

2) Be a follower of Stitching Dreams (in my blog's sidebar on the right)

3) Make sure to leave your email address in your comment

4) Answer the "Getting to Know You" question below. 

Getting to know you... Since the chart is a mom themed one, here is my question for today: I am wondering if you have one piece of advice that your mom gave you that you really value or learned from? My mom drummed into me just how important it is to look a person in his or her eye and say "thank you" after receiving a compliment. I was a very shy child (which honestly hasn't changed even as an adult), and I had a very hard time accepting compliments. I would always brush them off and look down at the ground. But, over time, I learned to look directly at the person, thank them, and simply accept their kind words. I still have a difficult time with praise, but I try my best to be gracious and simply accept it! How about you? Do you have any wise advice from your mom that has stuck with you over time?

Life update... Sadly, the pain from my husband's "tennis elbow" hasn't lessened at all. It has now been 5 weeks and nothing has helped. It's so hard for him, especially since his left arm (where the shoulder was replaced) is healing so well. He went from being unable to use one arm to being unable to use the other. But, the good news is we will be seeing our grandson for Mother's Day weekend which will surely bring a smile to our faces. To be honest, this will be a difficult Mother's Day for me because May 14th will also mark, what would have been, my dear mother's 96th birthday. And then my mother-in-law would have turned 95 the following day. So, yes... we very much need the diversion a toddler can offer to help with the inevitable sad moments. We're counting the days as you can imagine--it's been almost three months since we last saw the little fellow!

I want to thank all of you who looked for the burgundy checked ribbon I mentioned needing in my previous post. Unfortunately, I've been unable to find it. A couple of you said they might have it, but didn't leave email addresses so I have no way of getting in touch with you. That's okay... there are certainly more pressing problems in this world, right? Thank you for visiting today--I'm so happy you're here and I hope you know how much I appreciate your kind words and emails. I wish all of you who are celebrating Mother's Day a beautiful weekend. It's a time of mixed emotions for those of us who have lost our moms, but I'm going to try to remember the happy times we once shared. I hope you can, too. Bye for now...

♥ This post was written in memory of my dear mother who would have celebrated her 96th birthday on May 14th, 2023. This photo of her  was taken with 4-month-old baby Carol on her 28th birthday in 1955. ♥