Frustrations and Mardi Gras

Thanks so much for taking time to read my blog!  I appreciate all the nice things you said about my Olympic Stitch.  Ever since I finished with that one, I have had problems.  First, I wanted to stitch "Slicker Bunny" only to realize I had purchased the wrong count linen.  It was the perfect gray color of Seattle skies so I really wanted to use the Lakeside linen -Flagstone.  I went to the trusty computer and ordered the right size.  Next, I decided to work on the antique sampler.  If you have been following my blog for awhile, you will remember the antique sampler my sister gave me and we charted (we meaning my DH who helped chart).  I had tons of trouble with the linen color and the floss color.  I made some decisions on what I thought would fix the problem.  It didn't!  So back to the original linen to start over- oh dear, I forgot that I had cut it up for another project-back to the trusty computer to get more of the original linen.  What to do while I wait for the linen??!!  pick up an old Halloween WIP! I will be glad to get the linen! That's the problem with not having a LNS!
Last week we had a few lovely Spring-like days so the DH and I decorated the front of the house for Mardi Gras. Many of you may not realize  that Mobile and the surrounding little towns celebrate the holiday.  In fact, they tell you that Mardi Gras actually started in Mobile not New Orleans.  We were down there visiting my step-Mom a few years ago and I bought the decorations right after Fat Tuesday as they were all half price! I think the folks up here wonder what on earth we are doing with all the beads, etc. on our front porch.  The people down there take this holiday very seriously and have wonderful decorations.  I hope you enjoy seeing them.

 Current WIP, I think it is called Witches Nine.  It is an old design by the Primitive Needle. I so miss her wonderful designs!

Our front door.  I won't tell you the problem my DH had getting this 1/2 price wreath home-or what the cost was!!!!

We have bags of beads! So we used the hooks for Christmas lights and hung a few strings of beads!

 Now we are in Southern Alabama.  Enjoy! This parade was in the delightful town of Fairhope.

 There were very elaborate floats!

The rest of the photos show you how various homes and businesses were decorated. Most pictures were taken in Fairhope and Daphne AL.

 Thanks for joining me today.  I hope you all have had a great week-end!

An Olympic Finish!

Thanks so much to all of you who enjoyed seeing  the family treasures. When we finally decide where to display them, I'll show you in a post.  Right now they are hanging in my craft room.  I am enjoying them a lot. I did get my Olympic project done on Sat. evening.  That was one night before the Closing Ceremony.   Paper snowflakes was such a pretty stitch.  Now I will be putting it away until next winter.  We have had a much milder winter than many of you, but I'm still ready for spring!

"Paper Snowflakes"  by Country Stitches- With Thy Needle and Thread. I used 32 count antique ivory linen and the floss that was called for.  The only exception was the white.  I used Oatmeal by GA.  It seemed brighter than the Weeks Parchment.  This was the first time I used Valdani floss.  I loved the colors.  The reds are so much prettier than they show in this photo.

 We have had several days of rain.  I took these pictures one morning while I was sitting in my family room having coffee.  The little Annas seems to be saying, " Is it raining again??"

You can see the raindrops on its little beak and on its back.  I'm glad we had some delicious sugar water for this little bird.

Thanks for joining me.  I hope you are all enjoying your week!

Very Special Things

Today  I want to show you some very special things that the DH's sisters have given to us.  We have an assortment of baby things from his family.  The problem is that we have no idea who most of the tings were made for.  Our best guess is that one of his Grandmothers made several of the items because  both loved to crochet. I washed them carefully and we made special hangers for the clothing as they were very small.  Even some baby hangers might have been too big.  I have seen old baby clothes displayed in rooms so that is what I hope to do with them.

 This appears to be a Christening gown.  There are tiny old buttons on the back.

 This shows some of the detail on the top of the dress.  There is also lace around the neck.

This is a sweet little coat with fairly large pearl buttons .

This little dress is more of a toddler size. The DH covered wooden dowels with ribbon after putting a hook from and old white hanger on the top.  That is how we are hanging the items.

 His Dad was very premature and fit into this little doll size suit.  My DH remembers a pictures of his Dad in this suit with his head fitting into a tea cup.

The gloves are beautifully crocheted and would fit a small child's hand.

 I just love this little baby hat.  I wonder what baby this was so lovingly made for.  

The pink in the ribbon makes me think it was for a girl, but who knows.  We so wish that the DH's Mom were still with us so we could ask her about these special things.  

I am closing in on my Olympic finish.  I hope I'll have it ready to show you as the Olympics are finishing up.

I hope you are all having a great week-end.  We are having a cold rainy one, perfect for finishing my stitching!

Opposites! Snow Lady and the Desert!

Thanks so much for joining me today.  I am finally getting around to my final desert trip photos. But first, good news, I finally finished the snow lady!! What a lot of solid stitching!  She is worth it.  I am liking this design more and more as I stitch it.  I will explain the final Arizona pictures as I go.

This is the beautiful Mission San Xavier del Bac .  It was completed in 1797.  It rises up right out of the flat desert.  

They  are working on the front of the Chapel.

A beautiful ceiling just full of paintings!

The benches show the strong Spanish influence. 

 All of the walls are covered with beautiful paintings and carvings.

This hill is right outside the museum.  No, we did not climb it.  We were headed to Tubac and did not take  the time. The Mission is still an operating Church.

Tubac is a charming little artist town very near the Mexican border.   They were having an art show the next week-end!  Bad timing for us, I would love to have been there for the show.

Again, a strong Spanish feel to all the art.

Great painting of an owl on an old piece of wood.

Isn't he cute? Maybe St. Francis?

I hope you enjoyed the Arizona photos as much as we enjoyed taking them.  

Time at The Attic

Thanks to all of you who looked at the photos of my Olympic Stitch and the Desert Museum.  I had planned to share my final desert pictures today and then the DH reminded me of the pictures we took with our small camera.  They were all of the Attic.   When I looked at them , I realized that I should have spent more time there! I missed so much!! I went with a specific agenda.  By the time I had that finished, it was time to go.  Now, I want to go back to see all that I missed !!!!!!

 Because I have more charts than can be stitched in one lifetime, I didn't really look at the charts.  I should have-who knows what I missed?!!

 Look at those walls!!

 Floss heaven!

Somehow I didn't see this at all!

 I hope my stitching friends enjoyed this.  I wonder if the people in Arizona know how lucky they are??!!

Thanks for joining me, more desert pictures tomorrow!

Olympic Stitch Project and the Desert

Thanks so much to all of you who looked at my last post and a special thanks to the people who commented.  We spent 6 days in Tuscon visiting the DH'S sisters.  The first full day they took us to the Desert Museum and the Saguaro National Area.  Both were fascinating places.  I had never been to the desert before, at least not that I could remember. My family went when I was very young. I hope you enjoy the photos of this fascinating part of our country. First, I will share what I am stitching while watching the Olympics.

 Here you have "Paper Snowflakes"  by Country Stitches-With thy Needle&Thread.  I am using 32 ct. antique ivory linen and the recommended floss. Once the Olympics are over this will become a WIP since I won't be framing it until next winter. 

 The snow ladies dress is quite the big area.  I love GA Heirloom Gold but I am getting tired of the skirt!

Here we are in the desert so very different from our lush green Pacific NW.  The DH was willing to pose so you could see just how big the cactus's are!!!!

 We took this picture as it was getting close to evening.

 I hope that the Scout leader is nowhere to be found!!! ( Remember the guy who knocked over the very old rock structure!!)

Birds actually make nests in the cactus.

 I would not want to fall into this bush!!!!

 This was quite pretty. I didn't know a cactus could be so pink!

They had a hummingbird area at the Museum.  What a fun place!

 This one just sat on the nest with lots of people looking on.

 I enjoy learning about the local native population when I visit a place.  The rock art has always fascinated me.

Thanks for joining me. I will have a bit more tomorrow!

Back To Normal- CrossStitch Shopping and Birds!

A big thinks to all of you who enjoyed my football posts! We are now settling back into a normal routine.  We spent 4 days in Arizona. Actually we were there during the Super Bowl.  It was a good trip and I got to go to the Attic Needlework Shop in Mesa.  The DH and his two sisters gave me time to shop till I almost dropped!   We came home to some of the coldest weather of the winter.  We have been busy keeping the bird feeders full.  We are back to the early morning Hummingbird feeder patrol.  This will be the last night to worry about that.  We are suppose to go above freezing starting tomorrow.  This post will show some of the bird's that have been visiting and my goodies from the Attic.  Tomorrow I will share some of the interesting desert photos we got and show you my Olympic stitching project.

 These are threads that I chose to work on the antique sampler.  I gave up on the colors a month ago but I really want to stitch the sampler so hopefully these colors will work.  While at the Attic, I mainly shopped for floss and linen.  I can get charts on line but it is hard to get the colors right.

 I love this chart by  BBD in the book "Sisters."  I wanted to change out the purple look so I did that, the other colors are in my stash.

I got all I need to stitch this BBD design.  I just love it and now I can get it stitched well before next fall.

 Here is the new visitor to the feeder.  We are fairly sure it is a Townsend's Warbler. It loved the suet.

 This bird has a touch of yellow under it's wing.  So far, we haven't identified it.

We all knew this goofy daffodil was blooming way too early!!!!!!!!!! 

Have a wonderful week-end , stay warm, and thanks so much for joining me.