The Driveway IS Plowed!

Can you believe it? LOL the driveway is plowed! Scott caught the farmer, Jimmy, that has lived across from my dad (a mile down the road from me) his whole life to come up and dig us out with his tractor. OMG I'm so excited I don't have to walk across a huge snowbank to get to the car (behind the car is the road and I apologize for this picture, my husband grabbed the camera before I could!):

BEFORE

AFTER

I took a picture of the Dragon Dreams ornament that I kitted up to get started - I got the basting done around the fabric and got Santa's face stitched, although it's so light it's hard to see. So cute!

I got up this morning, my shoulder and back still sore from pushing out the first plow guy (see story on previous blog entry entitled "I Officially Hate Winter" ROFL!), and realized I was out of every drug I could possibly have. No Ultracet (which I've been taking daily for 6 years), out of Percocet and any hydro's. Oh Lord. Luckily one of my friends has hydro's and he ran a few over to get me through until I can get a refill. I don't go back to my doctor until February 20th, and I did call the prescription nurse the other day for refills, but I never got a call from the pharmacy, so that tells me they haven't done anything with my message yet. For those that don't know me, I started out in 2001 with a torn rotator cuff and I had surgery to repair that and for them to shave off some of the bone on my shoulder because it was cutting into a nerve. Here it is 2009 and I still have a torn rotator cuff, well, torn again rather; the morale of the story is if I don't have medication, I am worthless to even be motivated out of my chair and can't concentrate enough to stitch. So our friend Mike saved me this weekend.

I'm going to post some pictures later of the cleaned up driveway - it's always good for a laugh to see how much snow we actually have. It's ridiculous here. We have a bank that is literally 20 feet high. Ugh.

Received A Package Today

I received my order from 123 stitch today :) The Santa's Dragon chart from Dragon Dreams, Brittercup Designs Britty Kitty VI, a piece of white 18 ct (for the Monopoly board) 30 x 36, and a piece of tea dyed Monaco 18 x 30 (which I don't remember what I ordered it for now - I'll have to go back in my blog and check!), along with the 3 stupid Kreiniks I needed - blue, emerald, and light blue. Well, now I can make myself get to work on Dragon of the Deeps and get all the boring boring boring detail work finished up so I can mark it as "DONE"!

I Officially Hate Winter

Sorry to be so negative, but today is the day I officially hate Winter. The car got stuck in the driveway twice today. The first time my husband called his buddy to come pull us out, what fun, the second time, luckily, we pushed it out. There is literally more than 2 feet of snow in my driveway. I ripped the only pair of jeans I had left, so now buying a new pair is a necessity and I'm not too fond of shopping, either!

Then we found a plow guy, after calling the 3 backup plow guys (even though we own 2 plows attached to 2 Ford plow trucks - one is dead in the driveway with no hope of recovery and the second one is stuck in Frankfort, about a good hour from here), this guy shows up with a truck older than ours (hard to believe) and the plow is 10x worse than either of ours.........and this guy gets stuck in the damn driveway. My husband and I spent a good hour pushing and shoveling him out, along with this plow guy, Scott's got a bad back and I have a torn rotator cuff. If not for both of us pushing, it would have never gotten out. How Frigging Ridiculous.

Regardless, now I have a "parking spot" at the end of my driveway, enough to get the car out of the road, and a freaking snow bank in the middle of the driveway. I hate Winter.

I did manage to reschedule my appointment with my pain clinic for my shoulder this afternoon, but the bad news is that they can't get me in until February 20th. I did leave a message for the prescription nurse, as I am totally out of Ultracet and have been out of Percocet for a month now. All that pushing killed me and I took my last Ultracet a little while ago.

Going to try to find enough motivation to stitch, maybe that will put me in a better mood.

Update 1:34am - I managed to finish up another ornament I was working on from Lynn's Prints - Outside My Window :) I am in a bit better mood, watching an old episode of Paranormal State and then hitting the pillow! I'll put some pictures of the *~*ridiculous*~* driveway up tomorrow - we can all have a good laugh!

Sad Day

Well, my daughter and I took Meezer over this morning to the vet's to put him to sleep. He went quietly, the kind vet tech gave him a sedative first and that relaxed him and made him drowsy, so he was kind of out of it. I'm glad I got to be with him. He will be missed, my husband said he will miss the "rrrowwwwr.... yowwwwll....rrrowwwwrrr..." in the middle of the night coming from the top of my buffet where Meezer slept.

This may sound a little strange, but I believe that the other animals in the house should be able to say goodbye to the animal that's passed away, kind of like their own viewing at a funeral, so we put Meezer in a box in the blanket he will be buried in so they can say goodbye as well. I'll have to look for a nice memorial cross stitch for him.

Well, I'm off to stitch for a bit and take a nap - it's been a long day already!

Life Happenings

General Life News.... On Saturday we acquired another snowmobile, this one is pretty and when he gets something new it will downgrade to mine LOL.

We were supposed to get another storm, the last few days have been just really cold and windy as hell - temps last night when I let the dogs out were around 6 above, thanks to my trusty digital inside/outside thermometer!

My stupid oven is broke down, Saturday I was trying to cook dinner when I heard the gas in the oven going "hissssssss" - that couldn't have been good! I called today and got a guy that will come out and fix it, he said it will probably be around $100 or so, so I will call him back when I scrape up that $$!

Our old Siamese kitty, Meezer is at the end of his life. I moved into this house in October of 2003 and at the end of November, I almost ran Meezer over in the road in front of the house. I put an ad in the paper and no one would claim him so he became part of the household. I took him to the vet and he was in bad shape, he showed up declawed and neutered, and starving from being outside on his own for so long. The vet advised that he may not make it, but here we are over 5 years later. Here are som pictures of him this past summer out by the pond, he is all skin and bones now and his little leg muscles have atrophied, so we have an appointment tomorrow morning to put him to sleep. He's comfy for now and he'll get some turkey later. If it wasn't for me, he would have died in the cold, at least he had a nice life while he was here with us.

Yikes, my 15 year old daughter has a new boyfriend. He's a guitar player. Also, my stupid iPod does not want to work on this computer for some reason. Sierra plugs hers in and this computer wants to sync her iPod with the music I have on my list, but on her computer it wants to sync mine. Now this is a dilemma, because mine is a larger gig iPod, and Princess Sierra seems to think that her and I should just trade iPods, although hers is a smaller model LOL! I'll probably make her give me her savings toward her new one (which is like $30) and give her my current iPod and just go buy a new one for my damn self when I get my taxes back instead.

Here's a picture of Sierra going to Homecoming last fall:

Stitching-wise...... I started another small ornament out of the Just Cross Stitch ornament edition yesterday, although I can't tell you what year this one was from as I photocopied a working copy out of the magazine and don't have it sitting in front of me. It's a Lynn's Prints chart that has little cardinals sitting on the branches of a pine tree - so very cute! I can't wait to finish this one.

The Britty's Are Done

I completed the Britty Puppy and the Britty Kitty that were ornament patterns in Just Cross Stitch Ornament editions. I believe the years that these were published were 2005 and 2006. They were both quick and easy to stitch, and I even added a Britty Kitty leaflet on to my order from 1-2-3 Stitch :) Luckily, I caught it before it left the shop - those Enablers!

Yea! A Finish!

I have completed the first finish for 2009! Yea!

As you can see, this is the "JOY" Tree by M Designs that I got out of Just Cross Stitch 2007 Ornament edition. I thought this tree was going to be A LOT smaller than it turned out - it's actually 5x7. I am glad I got this completed, I love these trees that M Designs produces the charts for, I would love to do more of them!

I stitched this on silver sparkle Aida cloth and I used DMC 3804 for the stitching. I used a Mill Hill red star to perch on top of the tree and also used Mill Hill purple beads throughout. Pretty!

I am now working on another small Christmas ornament - the Britty Puppy from the same issue. Hopefully he will be done by the end of the day :)

Also, I have made sure all my picture links work for the listings on the side --->

Better Today

So I placed my order from 123 Stitch just a little while ago. I ordered Santa's Dragon by Dragon Dreams and fabric for that piece, 3 skeins of Kreinik to finish the one below, and a large piece of white Monaco so I can stitch the Monopoly board. I also went on Ebay and bought the Monopoly cross stitch leaflet.

Yea!

Here is the latest update on Dragon of the Deeps. I ran out of Navy Kreinik for the rest of the border, the picture is a pretty crappy one - sorry about that. I can't wait to start the backstitching on this one - I usually HATE backstitching but I just want to get this piece FINISHED! I've been working on this since 2005 and it turned into a UFO.

Covers Back Over My Head

Stitching-wise - I've been working on and off on Dragon of the Deeps and getting some of the border done. It's soooooo boring.

I can't find the other 2 Santa's and dragons that I stitched, although I put them together somewhere. I've been looking for these 2 small pieces for 2 days. I need to know what color aida I did them on so I can match it. I bought Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments (2007) on Ebay, as this is the only issue I was missing, so I could complete the small "trilogy" of the Dragon Dreams ornaments. I plan on making a bell pull with the three.

Oh boy. Should have definitely done that today and not left my bedroom! This is the story if anyone is interested, it's a little amusing, may be more amusing to me tomorrow though:

I got up at 6am and let all the dogs out. This is not as easy as it sounds -

You know, open the door, let them troop out, let them back in -

Oh I Wish:

1 - Lock up the pitbull in the computer room.

Trying to lock up Doob in the computer room takes about 3 full minutes with barking and bouncing and dogs and cats skidding and sliding everywhere.

It's insane here.

2 - Border Collies go out first together.

Where's Brodie? Oh yeah - forgot Brodie was in the kids room last night when I locked up Cheeseburger Fred the Cat b/c he was being rambunctious.

Go to the kids room and Cattle, Brodie and Cheeseburger are all sitting pretty looking at me, Mr Fred perched like an owl on top of the Christmas boxes (that haven't been put back in the attic yet), looking at me upside down like a fool!

So out comes that troop.

Outside they go.

Last night Brodie disappeared into the snowbank - he leapt over it and *plunk* he was gone LOL!

3 - On my way to get dog bones from the cupboard while they are outside.

Sadie is barking like a maniac at 6am.

OMG.

Back to the door I go.

In come the Border Collies skidding and sliding as now the bottoms of their feet are icicles.

Give these dogs bones.

4 - Go to the computer room the whole time saying "Sadie SHHH shut up Sadie Shhhhh!".

If you haven't figured by now, Sadie constantly talks.

Doob is waiting to spring on me.

Open the door and pitbull on the hip.

Now he is bouncing from wall to wall and shaking the house.

Sadie is being a pest and pushing open the computer room door with her nose.

Out into the house bounces Doob.

Finally, I make him sit before I open the door, and he springs off the porch landing into the garage.

His feet don't even hit the stairs.

5 - Here I am back at the front door watching Doob with 2 Border Collie noses pressed up against the glass with me.

10 minutes and five pitbull pee-s later, now the stupid dog wants to play.

Doob can now only bounce continuously through the yard because it's too deep for him.

The brown Tigger. OMG - what a sight!

I finally get him back inside, all the while threatening the dog what I'm going to do to him if he doesn't get his fat head back in the house (yes - my neighbors really believe I am the crazy lady across the street).

This is why I went back to bed LOL.

I don't take stress well in the mornings!!!!!!!!!!

Yea! An Update!

Stitching News! I have done some more work (as you can see from my updated picture) to the Winter Wildlife Stoney Creek stocking. This pattern didn't come with a lettering to stitch the name on it, although it came with a space. I have decided to definitely give this to my husband, so I need to stitch "Scott". It's coming along very nicely, although it is hard to see the symbols! I am having a hard time with these on this pattern, and I have Smokey Mountain Christmas by Stoney Creek in my UFO box

..........segway into UFO topic............

So I went through my UFO box today. Sad to say, but I had to actually toss a bunch of projects that I absolutely KNOW I will never do. I kept some of the charts, hoping someday to get up the gumption to at least try them again. A lot of the UFO projects were kits that were given to me as gifts when I was younger, they were stained, old, yellowed, miscounted stitches, and I know that is why they got tossed in the box - if I got that frustrated with something I tossed it and dealt with it later. My mom always said when Spring Cleaning - if you haven't touched it in 6 months, you're not bound to - get rid of it! So I am rid of the old - on to the new!

In that case, I have added a couple charts to my "To Do" list for 2009. They are:

The Kingdom - Dragon Dreams

(this is one that I had started and mis-measured the chart, also I was stitching on linen which I didn't know I was not fond of yet, as I prefer Monaco or any evenweave)

Snowfall Magic - Dragon Dreams

(I need to order the fabric for this one)

I am sure there will be more to add to this list. I will update my list over there --------->

later, as it is nearly 1am and my husband must be wondering where I am lol!

Some More Completed....

Stitching-wise.....

Round Robin News - I've been giving my needle a lot of miles lately. I finished up a round robin (for America's Best Round Robin Yahoo group) that was of a cute stocking and totally forgot to take a picture of the piece and the part I completed. For the same round robin group, I completed my part on the next gal's piece, the third shelf down in the country cabinet. Quite a cute and quick little finish - I applaud those that think to send little projects - they are such a welcome break from tedious round robin stitching sometimes! I am now working on for even the next gal on the list, Valerie Pfeiffer's Chorus Line, this is such a cute and quick chart to stitch, I may have to break down and order a piece of hand dyed aida to stitch for myself. I just love those little birdies singing and bitching at each other!

Personal Stitching News - I have been spending all my spare time on the Winter Wildlife stocking from Stoney Creek. This is my progress so far. I have to rip out the Whitetail Deer's antlers as I offset them somehow - must have been too tired when I started them - always a mistake lol! My husband absolutely **loves** the black bear, so I just may give this one to him for his Christmas stocking and buy myself this ~~awesome~~ dragons sleeping by the fire stocking that I've had my eye on...................look even my husband is an enabler of sorts!!!!! This piece is getting a little tedious, as I forgot how often the Stoney Creek designs like to switch colors, and also that previous issue with the look-a-like symbols is still haunting me! I may have to take a break and work on something else for a bit.....

In Other News.......

It has been miserable and raining all day, so we have about 2 inches of ice on top of 6 inches of new snow we got yesterday. YUCK! I plan on spending the rest of the day finishing up my part on Chorus Line, and making a homeade macaroni & cheese and a pork loin for dinner. A comical picture of Doobie the Red Nosed Pitbull to make everyone laugh:

Doobie the Red Nosed Pitbull trying to be people :)

January 2, 2009

Stitching News.........So I went and got out the box that holds my UFO's yesterday afternoon and pulled them all out. I want to put these into rotation because I am so close to finishing some of them, it's a shame to not have those beautiful pieces not be appreciated and be stuck in the box in the back of the closet. Please see the ever growing list to your right!

A picture of Doob trying to stitch with me!

What a mean tempered Pitbull, huh?!