Goodbye 2008, Hello 2009

Sorry I have been so long between posts.
What a year it has been. Definitely an interesting one. We had hurricanes and snow!, two things we hardly ever experience to the extent we did.

On the stitching front, not much has gotten accomplished. I got on a reading kick and couldn't ever get back to stitching. I think it started around the time of the hurricane. I don't know, life just got busy. I did participate in a few exchanges. I think I am backing off on exchanges this year. Just never enough time to do my stuff, although, now that Christmas is over, work will slow down some. I finally took my Queen of Freedom to get framed. I brought it to the store, stood it up, and a bead, a treasure really, fell off. Back to the framer it went for surgery. I got it back yesterday. I don't really have a place to put it. It is HUGE. I still have it all wrapped up. I am working on a RR for EGA and several other small bits here and there. I am having startitis but already have so many things started. Oh and my Mira RR got lost this year. It was on its way home with one more block to stitch and it has taken a detour. I have come to the realization that I won't be getting that one back. Too bad, it was really pretty. My mom was going to make a pillow for my bed with it. Oh well.

As for the new year, I am going to try really hard to get back into the stitching groove. I have a whole stack of magazines that I want to start stitching out of. What is the purpose of subscribing if you don't ever stitch out of them? I also have to keep up with the EGA RR. I have lots of UFO's that I need to dig out, some don't have very much left, some have tons left. I need to finish an elf to make into a standup at the EGA seminar in June. I also wanted to do some more ornaments. I did a few this year and ended up giving some away for various functions that I attended. I did keep some though and I still need to ornamentify some.

Keep on the lookout for a picture of Queen of Freedom. I never have the camera in the right place. I look forward to a day off tomorrow. I am going to move some furniture in my spare bedrooms and stitch LOL

Happy New Year, Be safe.

Snow pictures

Ok, Here are some pictures. Keep in mind these pictures were taken with my cell phone. The first two pictures I was standing in my kitchen looking over my back yard. For the others I was standing under my carport looking across the street. The yellow snow in some of the pictures is not really yellow snow, it is the reflection of my carport light onto the snow. It was just barely getting light outside when I took these. I thought this was when it was the prettiest.

It's Snowing!

Really. In Baton Rouge.
I woke up around 5am to snow and it has been snowing ever since. Everything is covered in snow. All the schools are out and most of the offices are shut down. Most of the bridges are closed. I am trying to decide whether to go to work or not. The bridge I have to cross is down to one lane but in another hour that might change.
Can you believe I don't have any pictures? My camera is at the store. Of all places. Oh well.

Christmas Ornament Exchange

I got my HoE Christmas exchange yesterday. I love this ornament. It was on my to do list. Now I don't have to stitch it. I couldn't have done it better myself. Lynn also included some other goodies, a JBW chart, a Shepherd's Bush chart, some thread, some yummy fabrics and some chocolate. I even love the SNOW bag and the card.
Thanks so much Lynn.

It is Almost Christmas!

Not really, it isn't even Thanksgiving yet. We do have a very short Christmas season this year though.
I have been stitching some ornaments.....well, before I went on strike I did. I have managed to get a few things finished.
This is my most recent exchange I sent off. I think this will be my last one for a while. It is fun to give and receive but, I don't get too much done for myself these days.
This is another ornament I stitched from JCS this year. I took an ornament I got at Hobby Lobby and made this into the center. Not perfect but, kinda cute.


Here is my Christmas tree at the store. Just a plain ole tree. Not too good of a picture because the lights are on and it is dark outside. Plain red balls, nothing spectacular. You would not believe the people that fawn over this tree. The business next door came and looked at it and looked at it. Next thing I knew, their tree looks just like mine. I have had several people tell me they went and got that same red webbing. Amazing, it is just a plain tree, very few ornaments, and the poinsettias came from Dollar Tree. I think it is funny.


I have a light week this week so maybe I can get some stitching done. Until next time......

Happy Birthday, from mom

The daisies and Bells of Ireland are in memory of my dad.

#40

Catching up

First up. This is the HoE floss tag exchange I sent to Simone. I thought it turned out really nice. It is a bit wonky and I need to work on the eyelet situation but those are minor details.
My apoligies to my previous post. I didn't give proper credit where it was due. This is my start on November Fairy. I haven't had a chance to work on it any more. I need to recognize Kaye for giving me the pattern last year for my birthday (5 more days), and Autumn for giving me the fabric. Thanks ya'll.
Thirdly, this picture shows what I received for the HoE exchange from Cathy. I really like this exchange.
I may be absent for a while. I have had a major change in my business and have had to make some huge life changing decisions. I am refocusing and concentrating on my business.

It's November!

I can't believe it is November already. I have been busy busy busy. I have been to Orlando and Dallas since I last wrote. I am mentally preparing for election day tomorrow. I have to work the polls and from what I hear it is going to slam us.

I made a new start last night. I started on Mira November Fairy in honor of my 40th birthday this month. I thought I might like to work on her this month.
I have also finished a ton of ornaments.

Well, off to read over my notes for the election.
Go Vote!

Stitchy Goodness

I have two finishes to share. The first one is a design by Nora Corbett, Daisy. Now I know she really isn't finished but I have done all that I am going to do on her right now. I can't decide whether to put the wings on these fairies or not. I really don't do fairies and some I think look better without the wings and some look cute with the wings. So hence my dilemma. I think I am going to live with her like this and maybe do a couple more before I decide. I still have to bead her and backstitch her but right now, she is good.
Secondly I have my first ornament from the JCS Ornament issue 2008. My friend got an extra copy and so I bought one from her. There are so many ornaments in there that I like I couldn't decide where to start. I ended up just starting at the beginning of the magazine and will work to the end instead of picking and choosing as I go along. I got this one stitched yesterday.
I had an unexpected day off of work and was able to stay home and stitch all day. The roof people came and reroofed my house yesterday. You never know what you are going to get with roofers but so far, this guy has ended up to be really nice. I met with him Saturday after work and he gave me a great price, then he knocked another chunk off if I let him know within 24 hours. I knew it was a good price because this summer I had actually priced a roof but ended up not having the money for replacement. Good thing I waited, this time I didn't have to pay for it. So anyway, he could replace it yesterday. He wanted to keep his crews working. Most roofing companies around here, and it may be like this all over, have an owner and then they hire mostly Mexican men to do all the work. As it turned out, this guy had men too but he and his sons were on the job all day doing clean up, driving the dump truck, doing my patio cover, and replacing some boards on the patio. I was pretty impressed. The good price helped too.
I get to work by myself today so maybe in between customers I will have time to stitch another ornament or two. It looks like the next ones are pretty small too.
Have a great stitchy weekend. Oh and I do not profess to be a photographer so excuse the ugly pictures.

Definitely a Treat!

I got THE BEST Halloween exchange from Carol. My package included the best pinkeep. The finishing is superior. I don't know what the pattern is but I love it. Carol also sent some ribbon, some fabric, and a dragonfly scissor fob. It is so petite and I know by reading Carol's blog, she made it herself. Now there was one more thing in my package which I have secretly been lusting after. You see, Carol is one of the people that makes those fantastic floss drops. I now own some. Yes, they are mine all mine. One side of them has a dragonfly just like the scissor fob and the other side has my name on them.
Thank you thank you thank you. I love it all.

Semi-Normal

Well, things are back to a normalcy around here. We finally got open. We were closed for 2 weeks. That was the longest 2 weeks. I knew I should have been at work, I was a nervous wreck. It was far from relaxing. We finally got a new roof so all that is left at work is getting our new fixtures. I just talked to the adjustor for my house claim today. I think I will come out ok.
I have been doing a little stitching lately. I have done two exchanges. The first picture is of my needleroll exchange. I don't know if the recipient ever got it or not. She never posted that she had sent or received.
The second photo is the package I got from my exchange partner for the needleroll exchange.
The third picture is my halloween exchange. I stitched the little house from Frimousse. It was harder than it looks. Tons of thread changes and it was so little, I had a hard time putting it together.

Making Progress

My property manager has been super great! As I am typing this, my ceiling is being replaced. By the middle of next week I should be back up and running with a new ceiling, a new roof, and new carpet. My fixtures will take longer to process but, I don't have to have them to sell.
This town is still a mess. The power still isn't on in all places and debris is still everywhere. We are getting there. Everyone is working together to try to get back to "normal" as quick as possible.
Thank goodness Ike looks like it will be going to Texas. It could still turn but usually those hurricane predictors are pretty on target.

More Hurricane Stuff

I finally saw my property manager today. They got tarps put up over the entire shopping center roof and we should have a real roof by next week. They are going to dry and refloat my ceiling beginning today. I will have to get new carpet and fixtures but I have to get the ceiling in first. I moved out all the Vera so it wouldn't pick up any odor. I am so tired. I think a lot is emotional. After Katrina, I remember thinking that "those people" really are bad off. I sort of disassociated myself from it. Now is the reality. Today, some of the low lying communities started to flood. I think the rivers have just about crested so the water should start going down soon. I know we are on track for recovery. I will have to commend the state and the state government for stepping up to the plate.
One thing I heard over the course of the last few days was "Why do those people live there" The answer was "We love our land". I got to thinking about that and it is really true. I have written before about our state and I still wouldn't live anywhere else. We are community, we love our food, our crops, our river, our gulf, our seafood. We have beautiful old antebellum homes, we love to have fun. It is just different here from anywhere else in the country.
Things are so much better here and ......I think Walmart opens for limited hours tomorrow.

Aaahhhh, Power

As I write, it is 12:16pm on Wednesday night. I just got my power back on at my house around 30 minutes ago. Before I write anything else, let me just say how very blessed I am. It could have been so much worse.
Let me go back to Monday. We weren't sure what time the hurricane was going to come through. Sunday I picked up my yard and prepared. I was sort of afraid to go to sleep Sunday night. Monday morning I woke up and it was just raining, no problem. I wanted to sleep longer but I also knew I needed to get up and get dressed. I wanted to be dressed in case something happened and I needed to run outside. Around 1 in the afternoon Monday, my power went out. No biggie, just a few hours hahaha. After 1, the winds started to pick up. I was sitting in my den for a while and heard this loud boom. I looked out back and out front but I didn't see anything. I kept seeing my neighbor across the street go to her door. I ran outside only to see that a huge tree had fallen across two of my neighbors houses. That was the picture from my last entry I think. Winds were just a swirling and we were all outside. I came back in, soaked, and went and sat on my bed looking out my bedroom window into the back yard. I heard creaking and watched a tree in my next door neighbors house fall but thankfully just into her backyard. All of the fences in the back fell. Stats: wind of 64MPH for 4 hours with gusts of 91. It was pretty wicked. When things settled down Monday, mom and I went to check on the store. I am not going to expand on that tonight. We just came home and bathed and went to bed. The temp outside wasn't bad on Monday and it was still raining so my house was really pretty cool.
Tuesday morning we got up, still no power. I was really surprised because I can see the power station from my house. We were asked to not be on the road but there were so many people out. I got word Home Depot was opening at noon so I arrived around 11:20. There was a line all the way around the parking lot. My mom's neighbor went with me. He got a generator and I got tarps. They only let 10 people in the store at a time. Oh, HD is in Denham where my store is and we all had power there. I spent most of the day doing that, then Ryans was open to cook some of their food before it spoiled, so I went to get my grandmother and we went there to eat a hot meal. I came home and worked cleaning debris in my yard. We had some curfews to work around. Denhams curfew is 6 and East Baton Rouge's curfew is 8. When it got dark, I again went inside in the dark, took a shower and got in bed. My house was getting hot but not unbearable. It was just so dark. No lights except the fire station by my house has huge generators so I could see that light. At night it was so strange. Pitch black and quiet except for generator motors.
Today, I again got up and went to the shop. I drove around a lot today and took pics. It is so devastated. Again, I have so so much to be thankful for. It could have been so much worse. Very few stores are open because nobody has power. The stores that are open, open very few hours and just let a few people in at a time. We have to buy everything with cash. No credit cards. The highlight of my day was going two exits down the interstate to get a coke with ice.
Tomorrow I am going to try to be open. I still haven't heard from my landlord so I am going to try to get in touch with her again. I will start doing something at the store, not sure what. We will have to pretty much gut it and start from scratch. Again, it could be so much worse. I am pretty tired now. I am keyed up but after working in my yard for two days I am physically exhausted. I still have about half of my back yard to clean and I will be all done. I just need to find someone to put a tarp on my roof where the branch went through. I have lots of pictures for another post.

It's BAD!

I have no power at home. Am at the store. This is my neighborhood. My store is really bad. I will have to completely redo. More later. Off to find something hot to eat.

Quick Update

My internet access has been iffy all day so I thought I would go ahead and update. Sorry, no pictures from the empty Walmart. I went today after church, camera in hand...oh gosh, I hear the ice cream truck, anyway, camera in hand and walmart was closed. It was about 10 till 12 so I guess they closed earlier than noon. They weren't supposed to close until tonight. I needed my blood pressure meds. Oh well LOL.
I locked myself out of my house today. I had gone to my back patio to eat my lunch and the sliding door locked after me. I had to call my mom to bring me a spare key (I went to mamaw's across the street to call). She coerced me into helping her clean her yard. Basically I just watched her. Then she came to help me in my yard. All the pots and the bbq are put up.
I have all my food, stuff to drink, and my yard is all picked up. Seems as if I am all set. I am trying to wash dishes, clothes, and clean the bathrooms, then I will shower and dress. I don't know when the power will go off. I may not be in touch before that though. My dsl only works when the wind blows the right way. I am hearing this storm will be one of the worst if it doesn't lose some strength. My house is on the emergency flight path between here and New Orleans. There have been helicoptors flying all day. I guess they are evacuating the critical. I know my church was housing two nursing homes. Anyway, if you are in the storms path, stay safe. If you are not in the storms path, please pray for those who are.

Still waiting......

Well, here we are on Saturday morning, still waiting. You definitely can feel that everyone here is in a holding pattern, just waiting for the big storm. Nobody is out shopping unless it is to get hurricane supplies. We are all in anticipation of what this storm is going to do. The state and LSU officials moved the game up to 10 am this morning. The contraflow is predicted to start around 6 am Sunday. During contraflow, all lanes of the interstate lead north. I heard this morning that not only are they setting 10, 55, and 59 to contraflow but also 49. Every interstate in the state will be heading north. I just watched the news and Gustav is hovering on the west side of Cuba with wind speeds at 115 mph. This makes this storm a Cat3 and it is still hitting land. When it gets to the gulf, they expect it to be a 4 or 5. There is a chance that the storm will turn but, the weather people see this all the time and they study this stuff, so they know what they are saying. There is and uncertainty about what it will do but all the predictors have it heading this way. This is a map of the state of Louisiana. Last I heard, the storm was set to land 20 miles west of Houma. If you look 20 miles west of Houma, then straight up, you will see Baton Rouge which is where I live. Again, hopefully by landfall, the storm will turn some so the impact wont be as significant.
Well, I am off to work. I am going to still try to go to Walmart this afternoon and take some pictures so you can experience hurricane preparations. It will be insane I am sure.

Mr Gustav

It looks like soon we will be having a visit from Mr Gustav. Tommorrow is the three year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina so I would say the timing is just about perfect. For those that don't know, I live in south Louisiana about 60 miles (give or take) north of New Orleans. Occassionally, we have hurricanes.

What is a hurricane? A rain and wind event with wind speeds reaching 60+ MPH. I live far enough inland that most of the time when it gets to us, the land has buffered the storm so it is not as bad as it could be. If all goes as predicted, this hurricane is coming full blast at us. Once a storm pushes past Cuba, into the gulf, the water warms it and gives it energy. From there it is a straight shot to the gulf coast.

What happens during a hurricane? Mostly the hurricanes produce driving rain storms with lots of wind. You can sit in your house and hear tree limbs falling all around you (one thing about LA, we do have trees). If the power goes out, it is eerily quiet. Remember, hurricanes rotate so sometimes the wind is stronger and sometimes the rain is stronger, and sometimes there is nothing but quiet. At least it is still warm enough outside that we can grill the food in our freezers if there is no power.

Mom and I went to Walmart tonight and it was so weird. There was NO bread. Not just picked over bread, there was NO bread. There was also NO tuna, oh wait, there was one pack of lemon-blackpepper tuna steak (no thanks, I will eat peanut butter on a spoon because I have no bread), and there was very little water, very few bags of chips. When we went to check out, the check out lines were 12-15 people deep at every register. When a hurricane comes people buy lots and lots of junk food (because it doesn't have to be cooked or refrigerated), lots of water (in case the water gets contaminated) and batteries (for flashlights I guess). I don't buy any of that. I bought a magazine LOL. I guess I will have reading material and read by candlelight, eating my peanut butter. I don't have a real fear of my power going down. I live right across the street from the power station. During Katrina, my power was out for an hour. Unlike an earthquake or most other natural disaster, we know when a hurricane is coming so we can prepare ahead of time.

I just listened to the news and it looks like they are predicting it to not be quite as strong as they thought. All the national guard and police have been activated, in fact, there was a police class getting commissioned Tuesday and they are moving it up to Friday so they can go straight to work.

I am going to try to go to walmart and take pictures of the insanity. It is quite interesting if you have never experienced anything like it before. Until then, happy stitching.

Yet another RR post

I finally got around to doing my installment of the RR we are doing in my EGA group. This one belongs to Connie. She wanted a garden theme. I was going to do this little swan scene but her rr is only 12 inches long. It would have taken up too much room. I took these rows from 2 different charts by Elizabeth's Designs. I included a photo of her project bag in there. Somebody made it for her. It is sewing themed and the zipper pull is beads with some scissors. So cute.

Another HoE exchange done

This is the latest exchange....a needleroll. I am pretty positive that the recipient doesn't read my blog so I really wasn't worried about showing it. I did an MDesigns pattern. I really like how it turned out. I thought I would be pushing the deadline on this one but got it finished up faster than I expected to. Now to just get some goodies together and send it overseas, I think it goes...well, I am not sure where it goes. I do know who it goes to though.
This is of course the Lizzie Kate double flipits that everyone else is doing or has done. This was a pretty quick stitch. It took me on average about 2 nights to finish each word and I stayed with it until I finished.
I am getting ready to do a RR section for my EGA RR and then I have commited to doing 2 Mira RR sections for people whose RR's went MIA. I also signed up for 2 more exchanges so I will be busy. One stitch at a time.

Driving Rules for Baton Rouge!

I think this is so fitting for this town I live in. It is all true.

1. First you must learn to pronounce the city name. It is Batt’n Roodge.


2. Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere. Baton Rouge has its own version of traffic rules… Hold on…..and pray.



3. All directions start with, “Get on I-10″…which has no beginning and no end. (well, it does, but no one here has ever been to either side)



4. The Chamber of Commerce calls getting through traffic a “scenic drive.”


5. The morning rush hour is from 6:00 to 10:00. The evening rush hour is from 3:00 to 7:00. Friday’s rush hour starts Thursday morning.



6. If you actually stop at a yellow light, you will get rear-ended.


7. Hoo Shoo Too Road can only be pronounced by a native.


8. Construction on I-12 is a way of life, and a permanent form of entertainment.


9. All unfamiliar sights are explained by the phrase, “Oh, we are in Denham Springs!”


10. If you actually see someone with their turn signal on, it is probably a factory defect (because you know all turn signals are merely a SUGGESTION, never required!).



11. All old ladies with blue hair in Cadillac’s have the right of way.
12. Lots of streets mysteriously change names as you cross intersections: (Sherwood Forest = Siegen = Burbank) (Old Hammond = Corporate)


(Choctaw = O’neal) (Bluebonnet = Coursey = George O’neal)


13. If asking directions downtown, you keep your window rolled up and write your questions on a piece of paper.




14. A trip across town will take a minimum of an hour.
15. Don’t carry money, jewelry, family, etc. on Plank Road.

16. The wrought iron on windows downtown isn’t ornamental.




17. If you leave one car length for every 10 MPH speed between you and the car in front of you, somebody will cut in.
18. Never stare at the driver of the car with the bumper sticker that says, “Keep honking. I’m reloading.”



19. For directions sake, you must know the difference between the “New” bridge (I-10) & the “Old” bridge (Hwy. 190), as also you should know the difference between the “New” mall (Mall of Louisiana) the “Old” mall (Cortana) and “Mall City” (Bon Marché…now Bon Carre)



And finally,
20. Anyone trying to get within 5 miles of the LSU campus on the day of an LSU Football game either does not live in Baton Rouge or has lost their mind.



GEAUX TIGERS!

Blog Award!

Sally over at Stitchyangels Treasures nominated me for a blog award. Thank you so much. I don't really know why I was chosen but, it doesn't matter. I am honored just the same. I know I need to be more diligent in updating my blog but I don't always have the time.
The rules are:
1. Put the logo on your blog (check)
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you (check)
3. Nominate at least 7 other people
4. Add links to those blogs on yours
5. Leave a message for your nominees

Everyone that I would nominate for this has already been nominated so I need to think on this for a while.


I almost have a stitchy finish to share. I need to get my current exchange going too. I am working the store by myself for the next week. That could be good and bad. If I am busy I will have no time to stitch but if I am slow maybe I can get some done. If I would put these books down I would have more time. I am stuck on Janet Evanovich. Light, fun reading. I have read almost all of her books over the last week.
Anyway, off to read for the rest of the evening so I can get rested up for tomorrow. My first day by myself but we close early so it won't be too bad.
Until next time........

Socks for Sale

How cute are these? I ran across these cute socks from this company I order from. I decided maybe some others would like some too. They are oatmeal colored with "Stitching Girl" on them and a little stitcher. If you want some let me know. Leave me a comment on this post or email me. I am selling them for 8.50 each and that includes shipping in the US.

Lookie What I Got!

I got the most beautiful package yesterday from the other side of the world. Chris sent me a gorgeous hanging pinkeep, some chocolate, buttons, fabric, and trim. I love it all! I am looking forward to using the trims. I can't wait. Thank you so much Chris. You made my day.

LHN Exchange

My LHN exchange made it to its recipient. Terry got it and loves it. I think it turned out really really good. This was the first time I had ever made this type of finish.

I have a car window update too. My car was originally in the shop on Monday. On Tuesday I called around 3 and they told me my car would be ready at 5:30. My very nice friend came and picked me up and took me to get my car. I waited and waited and finally the service manager came and told me that my car wasn't ready that there was another part they needed and of course they didn't have it in stock. He said I wouldn't have to pay more than what was originally quoted and they were putting me in a rental. On Wednesday my car still wasn't ready. On Thursday, they finally called me. There was good news and bad news. The bad news was that I needed a battery. I still had the original battery in my car so that was not a big deal. The good news was that since I only had 29,000 miles on my car they were goodwill warrantying it and I didn't have to pay for the window. Yippee!

Kathy is going to stitch on my Mira RR in fact, it is on its way to her now if she doesn't already have it. Thank you so much Kathy.

The store bought a new toaster oven and I have 60 days to remove the signage. One sign I covered up so I just have one to go.

Things have been really busy at work. I have been stitching some but not much.
Until next time.....

LHN exchange

I finished my LHN exchange peice today. It is so cute! I don't want to post it until the recipient gets it. I am going to have a hard time letting this one go. It turned out so much better than I expected.
In other stitchy news, I finished Curly Q Ewe, did I mention that already? I finished Snip for a Queen by Raise the Roof Designs too. I just have to put it together now.
I found out my friend Autumn isn't going to stitch on my Mirabilia RR right now due to some circumstances beyond our control so I have an extra block. If anyone is interested in stitching on it please let me know.

Flooding

We all should be aware of the flooding in the northern states by now. This is a link to My Mark Designs, Inside Studio Twenty and her part in helping. Link

What a day!

Today has been horrible.
First of all, I was told I have to take down some outside signage that I have at the shop. That doesn't sound too bad right? Well, the first sign is attached to the brick with some sort of super duper adhesive that we have been told will take the brick off if it is removed. That means I have to repair the brick. The second sign is on the marquee of the shopping center. That one means I have to hire someone to come remove it. $$$$$$

The second thing that happened was that I almost burned our store down today. I was making tacos for lunch and left the shells in the toaster oven too long. When I opened the door to the oven, the shells poofed up in flame. I was yelling for my mom. She went and got the fire extinguisher to put out the flames. For the rest of the afternoon I cleaned up yellow extinguisher powder which was all over everything.

Thirdly, I went to my car after work and my back window was down. I knew I had not rolled my window down. I tried to roll it up and I heard glass shattering all on the inside of my door. I have no idea what happened. Of course it is Friday afternoon and all the glass places are closed until Monday. I guess I get to decorate my car with a plastic bag over the weekend.

All I can think about right now is how much money all this is going to cost me....removal of signs, new toaster oven, new glass in window, oh and I want a stitching frame I just have to decide what I want. I should have gotten one at seminar since the K's Creation people were there. Oh and my cordless phone needs a new battery too.

Oh well, life goes on. Maybe it won't be as bad as I think. I hope you have a fantastic weekend.

I'm Home....

for a little while. I have been so many places I can't even remember where all I have been. My last trip was to the EGA Regional Seminar in San Antonio Texas. I will have to say that I had a great trip. Before I went, I was really dreading it. I decided on the way there that I was going to change my attitude and enjoy myself. I am so glad I did. I would have missed a lot otherwise. I didn't enjoy my class at all but that was my fault. I misread the technique of the class and it was something I do not enjoy. I did learn Or Nue' which is really cool. My teacher was great, I just didn't like the material. Nobody got mad at each other. Everyone acted like the adults that we should be. We all did things as a group and nobody was left out. I realized that I really do like some of the people that I thought I didn't like. I have a new respect for the EGA organization. Although our group struggles sometimes, the entire organization is really different. Next years seminar is all about finishing. They will have classes on how to do ornaments and standups and some of the teachers are coming to help you finish their peices. I think it will be fun.
My LHN exchange is due next week so I am off to finish that.

Stitching? What's that?

Sorry I have been so out of touch lately. I have not stitched in what seems like forever. We have been very busy at the store and now we are anticipating Mother's Day and Graduation. Mom and I just got back from our fall preview of Vera Bradley. I really like the new colors. I am not usually a fan of the fall colors but hopefully these will go over well. Then we took a well deserved vacation. I am getting ready to go to Convention for our shop, then EGA seminar in June so I may not be back on a regular routine until summer. I will try to keep updated.

While I Darn SAL

I finished.....almost. I just have to make the pinkeep and the scissor fob. Oh and put the button and ribbon on. As you can see, I chose to use pink lining instead of the sand it called for. I just didn't think the sand did much for it. I finished this myself except for sewing the lining on the back. Mom did that.

Framing

I've been Fobbed!

I got my HOE exchange from Laura yesterday. I love it! Laura stitched a Celtic M for me and the other side has a celtic knot. I love my baby scissors too. I was hoping I would get some new scissors because all of my current ones have fobs. Laura questioned color but, she was right, I do love color of all types. LOL, I am not a wimpy color girl. Thank you so much for allowing participation in this exchange. It was great fun.

Mirabilia RR

This is what I have been stitching lately. This is for Jen. It is coming along really nicely. My stitching group loved it and suggested that now she do one with just the tails.

I got the Baby!

Here is my king cake baby! Sorry he is blurry.
Another south Louisiana tradition. During Mardi Gras season the bakeries make king cakes. They are dough with cinnamon and can be filled with cream cheese, cream cheese and fruit, fruit, pecan praline, or chocolate. The tops are decorated with icing and sprinkled with gold, green, and purple sugar to represent the colors of Mardi Gras. Traditionally the cakes have a plastic baby inside somewhere and the person that gets the baby gets to buy the next cake. I guess it is my turn. Ambrosia Bakery is where the one we just had came from. If you click on the picture of the king cake there is a little bit of history. Oh and that Strawberry cake pictured on the front page of their website is divine!

Where's the pictures?

I really have been stitching! Let's see...so far this month I stitched a scissor fob for an exchange. I sent to Jill. You can see what I sent in her blog because I forgot to take a picture. The other thing I made this year was a door hanger for my friend. I stitched Lizzie Kate's Follow your heart but changed the colors to bright pastels. She got it today...Loved it! I didn't take a picture of that one either. I seem to have an aversion to my camera this month. Last night I stitched on my current rotation of the Mirabilia RR. I am almost done with my mermaid. Maybe I will remember to take a photo before I send that one on.

Now back to crawfish. Crawfish do make an interesting meal if you haven't ever experienced them. When they are in season (spring/summer), some people have crawfish boils which is what the pictures from the last post were from. Imagine something like a barbeque. A group of friends gather, usually at someone's house, and have a boil. You boil crawfish, corn, potatoes, sometimes onions, garlic, mushrooms, I have even heard of putting weinees in there too. When they are done you just spread them on the table and peel and eat away. You don't get much meat from the tails so on average a person eats about 3 to 5 lbs worth. A pound is figured with the entire body of the crawfish. When crawfish are in season the restuarants that serve them do AUCE nights. That usually runs between 16 and 20 dollars a person. It is all about getting fresh crawfish and the way they are seasoned. Usually when I get done eating my fill my lips are numb because they are soooo hot but that is what makes them soooo good. So, No, I haven't had my fill yet because they aren't in season. The seafood market across from my shop (which is what made me want them because I can smell them boiling every day) has them for 3.49 a lb right now. As we get further into the season the crawfish get bigger and the price goes down. During the main part of the season you can usually get them for 1.79/1.99 a lb for boiled and cheaper than that for live (to use for boils). The price usually starts going down after Easter so we don't have long to wait.

Other than that not too much has been going on. I am off to stitch mermaid hair now.

I can't wait.....

for this! I just thought I would tempt you. It is almost crawfish season. I went to a crawfish boil last summer and these are some pictures I took there.
The table awaiting the final product
The "extras". Where's the corn???
The crawfish soaking
The water is ready.
The crawfish are cooking
YUMMY! Dig in.