Still here..................

I'm still here.............busy as ever with hardly ever any downtime it seems.  But, even though busy, it's a good kind of busy!!  I've had the grandkids quite a bit, lots and lots of classes and have even started working on a few new projects for the fall.  Since I haven't posted in quite awhile I (with the help of my sweet husband) downloaded quite a few pics to share.  We got a new computer with Windows 8 and I'm still trying to figure the blamed thing out.  So I have a dear friend who tries to show me things when she is here and my husband also can usually figure things out enough to get me started.  What used to be routine and easy is no longer!!

Joshua taking a break from who knows what.  He loves to watch baseball, Nascar and the Cars movie on TV. 

I took the girls to Build-a-Bear one afternoon after a Saturday class.  What a crazy place Crabtree Valley Mall is on a Saturday.  But we persevered and, as you can see, their sweet little bears are sitting next to them. 

Heather and Debby brought this wonderful delicious dessert to recipe card class a couple of weeks ago.  It was beautiful and so yummy!! 

And I know my husband is going to kill me, but this is part of what was going on for us in July.  He has kidney stones which caused us to cancel a trip to Florida to visit Mom and Dad.  No stones passed and a pretty large one stuck in there, so lithotripsy for hubby.  This is after the procedure when he doesn't know what's going on!!   

Bonnie and Pat finish another project at Busy Bee.  I'm telling you, those gals are getting lots of projects completed at Busy Bee.  It helps that they come to almost every Busy Bee group I have which gives them lots of dedicated stitching time.  Come join us!! 

Well, we have a new over-achiever!!  Lisa has now finished her Round Robin project.  Lisa is relatively new to the wool world and has done a fabulous job on this project.  She is an inspiration to everyone, including me!!!!   

Lisa has such creative imaginative ideas....... 

OK ladies, I hope those pictures inspired you for your mats.  I need to also take pictures of Joan's mat which I believe is finished also.  Wait until you see her squirrel. 

More Joshua.  Hmmmm.........wonder what he's thinking about?  I'll bet he's trying to figure out how to get to the candy dish without Mina seeing him! 

I think these two pictures were of Lisa's mat with a little more stitching. 

My husband and I decided to have BLT's for dinner tonight.  So after class I ran to my favorite local produce stand to grab some fresh tomatoes.  Well, I couldn't resist taking pictures of their beautifully displayed produce.  I love the cart with all the fresh veggies.  I asked to take pictures because I just had to share them with you.  Aren't they wonderful!!   

I bought a few ears of corn on the cob...... 

and some fresh green beans.........

and some of the red potatoes to make potato salad for dinner....... 

I went home with a few of these delicious tomatoes...... what a delicious summer meal we're going to have!!

Grown in North Carolina......love that it is fresh and local!  And a beautiful stand to enjoy.  And they also make fresh ice cream. 

Located on Hwy. 42  

There were also big containers of lots of beautiful flowers all around.   

I hope you are all having a great summer and getting lots of stitching done!  It's hard to believe that I am working on fall projects already.  It will be here before we know it.

 

Happy almost weekend! 

A river runs through.......

our yard!!!  We have had so much rain this spring and now summer and lots of rain showers and thunderstorms............that now, on a regular basis I look out the back window to see this.......

a creek running through our woods.  We don't have a creek normally but here lately we've had so much rain that every storm that creek appears. 

The other day I decided to grab the camera and take a few photos of the creek to show my husband.  It's pretty amazing considering under normal circumstances it's a dry leafy area.  I wish we could share some of our bountiful water with the folks out west who are battling the wildfires.  I was thinking about them the other day when it was just pouring here and wishing our rainy weather could head west for awhile to help them out.  My heart breaks for all the loss of lives and homes as a result of the fires.  It's hard to imagine that is going on when we're sitting in the middle of a deluge of rainy weather. 

But thanks to the rainy weather we haven't had to water our gardens very much this year and the plants and flowers are growing quite nicely!! 

There's that cute little shed in the background.  Still loving it!! 

I didn't get a very good shot (since I was hanging from the classroom window upstairs) but there's a random squash plant that has blossomed in this large bed.  My husband thought it was a weed and I kept telling him it looked like squash.  After it started growing some he agreed it was squash.  Now we have some squash growing (the lumpy bumpy kind) with lots of flowering vines.  The only problem now is the deer have also found the plant along with other things and are having some midnight snacks at our expense.  Those danged cute deer drive me crazy!!!

I have been working on my Halloween Tree model the past couple of days, off and on.  I have now added quite a bit of wool that I am trying to get stitched down.  I think this is going to be a fun project and can't wait to add more.  My fingers can't stitch fast enough!!

I wish you all a very Merry 4th of July and I hope you all see lots of beautiful fireworks and eat lots of hotdogs and corn on the cob and potato salad...............hmmmm, can you tell I've been on a diet??!!  It all sounds so good.  Anyway, have a great 4th and find a little time to stitch.

Where does the time go......

I'm doing a happy dance right now because I finished stitching down my Halloween tree.  I was going to work on this last week in the car on the way to Florida but our trip was canceled and finding time to stitch these days has just been hard.  So this morning I was determined to get it done.  Now I can allow myself to do the drawings that will decorate the tree.  But for now, when the classes start, all the ladies will be working on is their tree.  So step one done! 

This is a nice group of ladies that met to do muffin tin pincushions and also to celebrate a special birthday for Stacey.  I think everyone had a good time and we even got to eat cake! 

Reagan wishing Stacey happy birthday.   

Still working......almost done.....I see glue bottles.....that signals the end! 

Another wonderful group of ladies working on creating their bases for a wool round robin project.  Sometimes you have to do the not as fun work to get to the really fun stuff...... 

And here we have our resident over-achiever (and no, it's not me!!!) who went home and started working on her appliques right away.  Aren't they beautiful!!

I have had quite a few classes lately but I don't always remember to get out the camera to share what everyone is working on.  I do try and take pictures of all the finished pieces when they come back for show and tell.

Little Joshua even found a place in the classroom to do a little artwork.  He just laid down on the floor and started coloring.  So cute and sweet.  He reminds me so much of his Daddy when he was that age.  So long ago.................

I am trying to get some things caught up around here the next few days.  Lots of behind the scenes stuff that I have to do to make the classes happen.  I also have about six or seven quilty type projects started that I would love to work on if I can get my homework all caught up! 

I have added a new blog on my site to follow in case you want to see something new.  My sister has been working on an embroidery piece that she drew and designed herself and is sharing snippets of that project along with little stories.  The piece is huge and I know just beautiful in person.  Anyway, give her new blog a visit if you have a minute and see her beautiful handiwork!  It's called "Drawn by a Thread".

I am about to go and put in the new class schedule dates on the web site calendar.  The ladies in class yesterday reminded me I hadn't done that yet, and that is one of those "homework" assignments I need to tend to.  Hope you're all having a great day and wish you a very happy and safe 4th of July!! 

And as always, find a little time to do some stitching!