Happy Birthday Gig!

Happy Birthday Gig (aka "2 of 6," as we affectionately tag our kitties with this Star Trek term)... Gig is 4 years old today - very hard to imagine!

The mailman was "very good to me" today - he delivered Catherine Agnes by Indigo Rose - now I have to start collecting a whole bunch of Caron Waterlilies before I can stitch this beauty! And he also brought some Earth Threads class charts I traded for - Shaker Sampler and The Grape Sampler - yay! - as well as Butterfly Welcome, and older small chart by Just Nan that I had forgotten I got on ebay a few days ago.

I was high bidder this weekend for Kind Fond Love Sampler by Brenda Keyes too - nice sampler :-)

Well, my "new" office is starting to come together a little now, though I just don't care for the two-room format of this office.... my two colleagues teased me all morning about my "grumpiness," with Dr. Wangerin stating, "Oh, Carol is just going to be mad for a while, so we better let her!" But I am better. It took two hours for the phone man to get my lines hooked up this morning. More fiascos with the building, starting with the carpet guy being mindless when he laid the carpet in our waiting room last week - he blocked the utility room door and we could not get it open to access the phone lines. So, one of the workers came in not feeling well - he had been in the ER earlier in the day - and took the door down and cut it - but somehow managed to burn our new carpet quite badly in the process. Long story! In the meantime, the phone man sought other ways to find the connections, including taking over the office across the hall from me for a good half hour this morning - what a nice way to meet my new office neighbor! Ah well, everyone on the floor is very nice and the phone lines are in now!

But, now we are awaiting a very, very large snow storm, the type known in this part of the world as a Nor'Easter - given this name due to the path it takes, hugging our shoreline and dumping us with heavy snow (or rain, depending on the climate) - tonight it will be SNOW. Lots of snow. Looks like I will be home stitching tomorrow! Sounds good, but these storms are killing my income this winter....20 more days to spring, I just have to keep reminding myself of that! Around here, the calendar doesn't mean much, but Todd Gross on Channel 7 just told us that he does see a decent warm up coming our way - after we get through a rough week - so that supports the old saying, "March comes in like a lion, and out like a lamb."

I post this pic from www.redsox.com as my show of support for Kevin Youkilis - he is vying for one of the two bench spots on the Red Sox team for this season - after the amazing performances of "Youk" last year coming up from the Paw Sox, I don't know how they could overlook him for the bench this year! Go Youk!


What Starbucks drink are you?
created with QuizFarm.comHmmm.... I am a White Chocolate Mocha! Sounds good to me - I used to love those before I started controlling my carbs :-)

Silly joke seen today on the sign of the local auto collision center - "What did the one cat say to the other cat on the cell phone?" Answer - "Can you hear me meow?" OK.... you gotta live in the States to get that one..... Verizon Wireless runs a dumb ad that has some dude roaming around on his cellphone saying, "Can you hear me now?" repeatedly to someone.... stupid, I know!

Stitched on today: Fairy Flora

Well, Ryan Newman didn't win today - he had two bad luck struggles (a tire going down, paper on his grill making his water temp rise - both resulting in green light pit stops...) - flashes of last year! But he fought back and came in 9th, moving himself up to 12th in the point standings. What really made my day was Kasey Kahne's crash (see photo). I am sorry to those who love him, but I don't care for this kid. It was nice to see him have two bad races in a row, maybe it will knock him back to reality. Just my own opinion. (Photo from www.nascar.com)

Did not do a whole lot of anything today - slept in quite late and then watched the race from a horizontal position on the love seat :-) Then ran some errands at Target before coming home to stitch. We have yet another big snow storm coming in at some point tomorrow, and I think the realization of that has made me very depressed - that as well as having to get my office set up all over again.... so many boxes to start unpacking tomorrow....

I watched I Heart Huckabees last night after Mike went to bed - yucky movie! Geez - what a waste of time. First of all, it is not possible to follow this movie while stitching, but I chose the stitching over trying to understand this stupid movie. I had the volume down due to Mike sleeping right above the TV, but even still - I don't really think I missed much - it was just a terribly stupid movie. On Friday night, very late, I watched IMAX NASCAR which was pretty good, but very short at only 40 minutes.... not quite what I expected it to be, but some good highlights of Ryan Newman....and then I watched NASCAR Nextel Cup Series 2004, which was OK, but done in a different format than previous year in review DVDs - but I guess that is due to the change in the structure of NASCAR in 2004. I had picked up two DVDs from WalMart's dump bin yesterday too, which I had forgotten about - Toys and Single White Female - just some older movies I like....

Stitched on today: Fairy Flora, but I didn't meet my goal of finishing her wings this weekend due to being so lazy today :-)

Just HAD to do this quiz today - you see, it seemed so fitting as I am currently knee deep (at least) in stitching the wings on Fairy Flora - I hope to be able to scan the completed wings by the end of the weekend (but without the beading - I have to do that last because I am stitching her on scroll bars - most of you know what happens to beads when pulled taughtly in scroll bars, right....?).... So, I am "Too Sweet Fairy" - I like that! I am just not sure why the quiz creator figures these faeries are "dysfunctional".... I am a HUGE fan of Amy Brown's art work, so I am happy to decorate my blog a little bit today with one of her stunning faeries!!


Which Dysfunctional Faerie are You?
created with QuizFarm.com

Got the office moved today - thanks to Dr. Krueger for having brought his hand truck and allowing me to use it - got everything down from sixth to fifth quite easily. Mike spent the time setting up my computer while I brought my boxes down. But now I still have to actually set the place up - right now we just put the boxes in there... that was enough for today! I feel so cramped in that office, though Mike disagrees and thinks it's nice... I will get pictures up fairly soon. I guess I am just still upset about how and why this all came about with the landlord (who still has not said one word to either Dr. Krueger or me....odd, isn't it??).

I got some stash in today - that was nice to come home to, of course! Queen of Freedom, Thy Love Thy Soil and a diverse collection of Mill Hill Treasures for various Mirabilia patterns all came in today - And, I purchased a fat quarter of 32 ct hand-dyed Raspberry Jobelan by Wichelt on ebay today - the color grabbed me and the price was low....I am sure I can use this for something :-) I also bought Crystal Christmas from the trustworthy ebay seller today - oddly, I have been collecting supplies for this pattern, including one of the MH Treasures that came in today, but now I cannot find my chart. I bet I sold it on ebay a couple of years ago - LOL. But, now I have one coming in so I can stitch it!

I was really pleased that all of the embellishment packs I listed on ebay last week sold last night! That was really cool. I think I will dig around in my stash again later and see what else I have "outgrown" and can sell off - you know, to buy "newer, cooler" stash with the money!!

Speaking of ebay, there is an amazing auction up right now for Mirabilia's Petal Fairy stitched over one on hand-dyed lugana - the seller is 44mamaw. I do not know her and am not advertising this, but want to give her credit so I can show the pic - I think it is amazing!I wonder what she did about the blended colors. In one of her closeup shots I saw that the beads were cramped together, but still..... what credit she deserves for stitching this over one! And she is selling it??? It would be in a place of honor in my home, that is for sure!

Well, I was a bit disappointed in Ryan Newman's ninth place qualifying start for tomorrow's race - Auto Club 500 Lineup - but he will recover from that during the race - just got a bit loose and lost some duct tape or something that led to a little controversy for a bit during qualifying - at least amongst the announcers - well, the Alltel Dodge team is ever ready to give folks "something" to talk about! And, congratulations to Mark Martin for winning the Busch Series Stater Bros. 300 today - I was really pulling for him, as I would love to see Mark win as many races as he can in this his final year in NASCAR:(Photo from www.nascar.com)

Stitched on today: Fairy Flora, (wings, wings, wings - lots of fun with blending filament today - LOL)

February is drawing rapidly to a close now, and I usually have 4 or 5 finishes by now, but this progress picture of Fairy Flora will show you why I have not had even one yet this year She has been so much fun to work on, that I cannot bring myself to put her down. She is solid stitching too. You can not see her wings progress well - I will have to try to work on how to get the wings to show better in the photos now. I had to crop it down a bit. It was fun taking the picture with three persian cats crawling around on the table and all were seemingly desperate to get into the photo! This pic is bigger and easier to see at Needle & Thread Bulletin Board - if you are not already a member of this board, you might want to check it out - what a friendly community over there! Dani does a great job of moderating the board and would gladly welcome you aboard!

I found this link while aimlessly surfing today for this amazingly cute chart by Donna Vermillion Giampa:There are actually 12 of these adorable Fantasy Bears on her site - I now know that I must put this in my to-do pile, along with several of the others. Too, too cute!

It was pretty sad getting to my office today - it is the day for the move of the "heavy stuff" - here I am just pootering around in my office waiting for it all to start - when I arrived and approached the elevator, the building manager was down there already moving my and Dr. Krueger's names on the directory. Argh! Now to just sit around and wait for the "Mutt & Jeff" team to come lift and carry for me! In a weak effort to entertain myself while I wait, I tried another silly online quiz - I am just not at all sure how I should take these results though :-)
Which Disney Character is your Alter Ego?
created with QuizFarm.com

I had a nice stash day today - Jill Oxton's Voluptuous Mermaids came in from the trade I made earlier in the week (I am so very, very excited about these mermaid charts!!) and my Silkweaver Fabric of the Month also came in today - I get the 32 ct 18 x 26 jobelan solo option as shown in the link, and this month's fabric is very similar to the yellow/green one shown in the second oval down on their webpage. It is very pretty, but I have no immediate idea what to stitch on it. I like the challenge though :-) And, today I made a good trade for Cari's Garden by Dreams of Stitches with Karen V. - after seeing her completed work of this pretty garden about a week ago in her blog, I knew it was a good one, and is one of only one or two Dreams of Stitches Gardens that I did not already have charts for - so this is also exciting!

I am getting tired of not having any "happy dances" yet for this year - due to starting four large projects since January 1st, I have no completions. But, I strolled by the chart and fabric for The Orchard by Shepherd's Bush - I have had them sitting on the nightstand in one of our spare bedrooms (the one in which I keep all my stash) for some time now, just waiting for me. So, I pulled the threads and started it on a piece of Silkweaver Desert Sky Expressions linen - but my piece is more like antique white with some nice beige marbeling in it - no blue like in their pic. I started it - and will fit it in here and there - I have had the chart since it came out in 1992, so time to do it - and I hope to get a "happy dance" out of it soon :-)

And... found in an email from one of the stitchers in one of my stitching groups today, The Mapping of the Cat Brain - thank you Cheryl in Londonderry, NH for that one! Too funny!

Oh, and just got great news! I am officially confirmed and registered for Betsy Stinner's Mary Queen of Scots Sampler at Celebrations in Nashua, NH in April!

Stitched on today: The Orchard and, of course, Fairy Flora

Found the perfect quiz for me!!
Which Red Sox Player Are You?
created with QuizFarm.com Don't know how I scored as Johnny Damon - kinda expected more of a Trot Nixon response, but I will take it :-)

The snow is on its way again. This time, though, we are expected to be on the northern fringe of the storm with 2-4" expected tonight - and I believe Auburn is northern enough to be more like 2" than 4". About time someone else gets the heavier amounts. Bigger storm due in on Monday night, and just have to pray this one will be more rain than snow.... pleeeazzze....

Well, got most of my office packed up today. I can't help but to feel sad about this - I think I should be angry because the landlord is just so openly discriminating against my clients, but still.... I feel so sad. I hate the way the world works sometimes. So unfair. With luck, the landlord's two guys will show tomorrow noon to move "just the heavy stuff," and any snow that is more than forecasted can really mess that up. Then, Mike and I will spend a lot of time of Saturday transferring my computer down to the new (tiny) office, and I will have all the small stuff (quite a lot of it) to lug down - fortunately, there is an elevator. I will post pics of my ugly new office shortly.... ugh.

I ordered a piece of Thunder 32 ct lugana from Sugar Maple Fabrics late last night. I have been wanting to stitch Midnight Hunting on this particular fabric for quite a while now, so instead of just thinking about it, I figured I would start kitting it up. If I don't, it will just stay as a wish forever.... I wish I could take credit for this great fabric choice, but I can't - someone over on Needle & Thread Bulletin Board had this brainstorm - please give yourself a treat and click that link to see her amazing work! Thank you, AlienCarrot, aka Asa in Sweden, for the brilliant idea!

My Earth Angel and three skeins of WDW came in from the ebay seller today - that sure was fast!!!!!!!

I also just wanted to add that I feel that it is important to pray for the health of the Pope right now - such a sad story. I am concerned that he is having too many health problems too close together right now.

Well, I had not initially planned to purchase any DVDs this week - the list of new releases held no appeal, but today one of my clients spoke of I Heart Huckabees today, and she got me all interested in it. So, I stopped at WalMart tonight and picked it up - and found a neat treat! NASCAR 3D: The IMAX Experience, listed for release on March 15th, was already out and in the store, and I got it! Yay! Must watch this one this weekend!!

And... a little late night shopping netted me a chart that has been on my wishlist for a long time now, but now I can take it off! I got Rainbow Birds by Valerie Pfeiffer from Laurel's Stitchery - all of her charts are 20% off right now and I happened to have a free shipping voucher lying about, so I went for it - I have seen this pretty chart stitched up on a couple of different tropical hand-dyed fabrics and I want to try my hand at doing the same :-)

Stitched on today: Beneath the Stars for a few minutes at work - with all that packing, I needed a fun break... and tonight at home: Fairy Flora - a progress pic will be posted this weekend, it's really coming along now!

I found this cute quiz in Vash's Stitching Diary today and just had to share this:

Bettie Boop


Who 's Your Inner Sexy Cartoon Chick ?
brought to you by Quizilla

Had some down time at work today - it is school vacation week in Massachusetts, and one little boy's family seems to have forgotten to bring him today - and I needed a little cheering up due to the neck pain (thankfully, I had one capsule of Celebrex left over from a previous muscle pull, and it is helping) and having driven to work in snowy conditions, I picked up a new 32 ct Jobelan Silkweaver Solo today: I can't wait to find time now to use this in the Fabric Selector to see what I can use it for :-) I love the grayish purple tone to this one... so many neat ideas already flowing in my crowded brain!

It actually turned out to be a big fabric day today. I received my fat half of Cream Quaker and fat half of Cream Jobelan from the ebay seller today - at last I have nice cuts of fabric big enough to work stitch Sampler 4 Saisons by Anagram Diffusion and Mouline Rouge by Long Dog Samplers. And, I got an email notice from Silkweaver that they listed new odds and ends today, and I was able to get 32 ct Rock Quarry lugana (6th one down) and 32 ct Rainbow Sparkle Reflections lugana (near the bottom) - both in good size cuts, each fairly close to fat quarters and highly useable for many projects.

Just learned today that a storm that was anticipated to hit below New England is barreling in now for tomorrow night. Please God, why do you keep doing this to us??? How much can a small area of the country take? I do pray this slows down soon. We have already had over two feet more snow so far this year than we normally get in a whole winter, and it is really messing up my clients' abilities to keep their appointments too, adding up to a rather large financial loss now. Please Spring - where are you?? Good thing I didn't have to work on Monday, because I would have been in the middle of this: "SALEM -- A storm that blanketed Southern New Hampshire with several inches of light, fluffy snow yesterday led to a chain-reaction crash that involved as many as 24 vehicles on Interstate 93 in Salem.
While no serious injuries were reported, the pile-up, which occurred around 7:45 a.m. in the southbound travel lane near Exit 2, tied up traffic for nearly two hours." (From www.eagletribune.com - yesteray's online edition of our local paper).

Anyhow... I found another one of those cute online magazine quizzes that remind me of being sixteen years old. This one is Does He Treat You Right? from Cosmo Girl!, another magazine I subscribe to for my waiting room. I think I will give this one a go tonight :-)

I just went and ordered Indigo Rose's Catherine Agnes from Needlework Corner - I am so excited, I have been waiting close to forever to get this former teaching piece!

Stitched on today: Fairy Flora

I believe I am about to be "down for the count." It has been a few months since my trigeminal neuralgia, commonly known as "tic douloureux," has flared up. But it is sending out all of its best warning signs now - pain in my jaw, ache down my neck and the sudden shocks of the nerves if I yawn or roll over "wrong" in bed. Geez, I would not wish this horribleness on anyone. I am considered too young for this diagnosis, but I guess I just prove the diagnosticians wrong. I know stress really feeds the flare ups - the horrible driving conditions this week due to the bursts of snow, the office move, the loss of the client last week.... I guess it all just adds up. So, being a therapist I know I must do something for myself - so time to implement cognitive behavioral work (lots of positive self-talk, some thought stopping) and trying to keep the flare ups down.... oh, and stitch - that is a good stress reliever! I would love to chat with anyone who has this problem. My grandmother had it, but she is long gone. I have a cousin in Philadelphia with it too...

Well, the days and hours are ticking down now for my office move, and it is again getting ridiculous. Today the building manager asked me if my husband is coming down on Saturday to move my furniture... huh? The deal was that they were moving my furniture for me. So, she gets back to me telling me that the landlord agrees to have two of his employees move "the heavy stuff only" on Friday - which means cancelling or moving my Haverhill appointments on Friday to be there for the guys to move a small amount of my office stuff. This whole deal is so ridiculous, I will just be glad when it is over now... Mike and I will be there most of the day on Saturday now just getting it done. And, now it looks like the storm gods plan to send plenty of snow our way while we try to get this done. Argh.

But I was greatly cheered up when I got home. I was high bidder for a neat older Goode Huswife chart yesterday - Thy Love Thy Soil which I think is really neat. And I received a whole bunch of stash in the mail today! I received the last of the Silkweaver Solos I have been waiting on - super pretty! I think The Cottage Garden Fairy will look great on it. I also received Skyler Wayne by Indigo Rose, Lavender Path by Patricia Ann Designs, 2004 Celebration Commemorative Sampler by Liz Turner Diehl, 2005 Collector's Heart with linen and charm by Heart in Hand, a skein of Dinky Dyes Fantasy Blues Silk, and Coffee 'N' Cream Doilies by the amazing Patricia Kristoffersen (though now that I see it, I think I have this one already - will have to check). So much all at once - I was kind of hoping the stuff would come in more slowly to extend the joy - oh well!

And, it looks like the theme of "wild hair" continues for the Red Sox this year, as Manny Ramirez shows up for Spring Training looking like, well, this....(photo from www.redsox.com)

Stitched on today: Fairy Flora

Snow, snow, snow.... it was so bad this morning that when Mike got to his office today only four people were there, so they all went home vowing to work from home today. That never happens, so the roads must have been really bad. Treacherous was the word Mike used. I had today off as it is President's Day anyhow. But I wonder how bad the roads will be in the morning now since it is so cold I would expect ice. Yuck. One more month until spring.... but around here it could be more like two more months.

So, I spent today working on Fairy Flora - starting off with a bit of frogging out of some stitches I worked on way too late last night.... but made a lot of progress now getting roses and berries stitched up and will post a progress pic this week.

I made a nice trade today for Jill Oxton's Voluptuous Mermaids for a skein of WDW Father's Day. That is all she wanted! I am so excited, I have been wanting these mermaids for several months now. Yay, and thank you new friend!!!

Wow, it was really nice to have NASCAR back today, and the Daytona 500 was no disappointment. Well, except it was for Ryan Newman, in a way.... he ran really strong today. He had a bump with the wall midway through, which may have been his own fault.... but it didn't slow him down. Late in the race, though, here I was thinking he managed to avoid "THE BIG ONE" that found Scott Wimmer tumbling end over end (it seems to have to happen to someone there every year)(photo from www.nascar.com), but nope - on the restart Mike Skinner was behind Ryan, and when he got slammed in the rear, he hit Ryan pretty hard, resulting in Ryan hitting the car in front of him (Carl Edwards?) and causing some front end damage that took him from.... 6th? 9th? to 23rd.... he must have pitted for repairs, but FOX didn't show that.... resulting in an unhappy 20th place finish, and 19th in points overall today. But there are many races left to go, so no need to be disappointed. It was still an amazingly strong showing for Ryan today. Oh, and congratulations Jeff Gordon, though watching you win is pretty boring to me. I think Ryan is going to have a really strong year!

We slept so late today, I guess we needed it. So today is almost over and feels like it only just started. My friend Karen started giving me details of her upcoming trip to the States. With some luck we might be able to get Red Sox tickets for when she comes in June, but since she will be in my area for only a day, that looks slim. The Red Sox are in Boston that day, though, so I will give it a try!

I ordered up some Mill Hill Treasures last night that were on sale from The Avid Stitcher - a mixture of ones needed for all of the Mirabilias I keep writing about getting ready to start....

And, here is a temptation that came in my emailbox today -This beauty by Thea Dueck is being offered in Mystic, CT by Stitcher's Hideaway in November. I wish I could afford to go to this, but I doubt it. I hope Thea introduces this one to the public someday, though....

Stitched on today: Fairy Flora

My Nashville Release Selections

Like the rest of you, I have looked at the new Nashville Releases and today purchased my choices since they were on sale - Four great choices, starting with Elizabethan Garden Sampler by Brightneedle,Green Old Garden by Elizabeth's Designs,Sentimental Heart Sampler by Sweetheart Tree, andHaunting Mermaid by Carriage House Samplings. So many nice new ones came out, but I am pleased with my selections :-)

Had some fun watching the NASCAR NBS Hershey's Take 5 300 from Daytona today - gearing up for the big one with Ryan Newman tomorrow. Congrats to Tony Stewart - nice pass of Junior late in the race! I am not a Tony Stewart fan, but I think he deserved this win, especially after his infield skid at 180 MPH and ending up right back on the track - woo hoo!

I realized I had to run up to Jo-Ann Fabrics in Hooksett, NH today because there are a few DMC flosses in Fairy Flora that require multiple skeins. So, if anyone happens to read this and happens to plan to stitch this fairy, you will need two skeins of white, 3713, 819 and 3371. I also purchased an extra skein of 211 today as it is used as a blend with white frequently. I am not sure if the extra skein is needed, but it will be close.... It feels like I have been stitching little pink and white stitches forever on her dress. Now realizing I need more skeins of those colors definitely affirms it :-)

I got Earth Angel and skeins of eucalyptus, autumn leaves and grapefruit Weeks Dye Works on ebay for a total song last night... had totally forgotten about that. Maybe I will stitch that one someday...

The Kreinik braids and Mill Hill beads for Feather Fairy came in the mail today - I have been able to finally narrow my fabric choice for this one down - am thinking of using Silkweaver's Green Apple Reflections for her.

Well, we watched Taxi tonight on DVD - yep, as stupid as the critics said it was, yet it really had some funny moments and I can't say that I hated it (Mike did, though)... good for a few laughs, probably best rented or later on cable, though.

Stitched on today: Fairy Flora

Thank God It's Friday - Again!

Yay, a three day weekend. Snow is coming for Monday - don't know how much, but still glad to have a three day weekend - lots of time to stitch (and watch the Daytona 500).

We are very concerned here about the health of Tedy Bruschi. It was great to see that he got out of Massachusetts General Hospital today and is resting at home. We hope he recovers well. While I would love to see him return to the NE Patriots, all that really matters is that he recovers!

In our weekly pursuit of having a little time together out in public, having some fun, Mike and I went to the new T-Bones in Derry, NH for dinner. It was really good. I enjoyed my Fisherman's Platter, and we were happy to see that Mike's old high school classmate, Laura, transferred up from the Salem, NH site to Derry - she tends bar there and it was a fun visit.

We are watching Saw tonight - what an interesting... and weird... movie this is! I can't tell if I like it. It is pretty creepy, but then again, I did expect that....

On the stitching front, I remain lost in the sea of pink and white stitches that make up the dress of Fairy Flora... they seem endless, yet now I see a light at the end of the tunnel. Whew!!! I received one of my Silkweaver solos today and Silver Frost from an ebay seller. Both are really nice. I picked up some of the Mill Hill Treasures I need for various Mirabilias, as well as a Queen of Freedom chart... nothing big, just having a little fun getting some stuff together. I posted a whole bunch of embellishments, mostly Lizzie Kate and Shepherd's Bush ones, on ebay tonight too - stuff I came across in my stash and realize I will never use.... I also posted a lot of seven Caron Watercolours that I have received from my fiber clubs and know I will never use.... hopefully these items will find good homes :-)

Geez, can't stop thinking about the Bruschi family right now!

Stitched on today: Fairy Flora and Beneath the Stars (at work - finally started the third dragon today - getting much closer to finished now!)

Get Well Soon, Tedy Bruschi!

(photo from www1.whdh.com). It was very sad to learn today that Tedy Bruschi, extremely popular New England Patriot, suffered a possible mild stroke yesterday. His family is requesting privacy. Please wish him well, pray for him and his young family. We need you to get healthy Tedy!

After I was finished blogging last night, I ended up getting in at the end of an auction for this gorgeous Liz Turner Diehl band sampler. It is from the 2004 CATS Festival. I adore this! I am sure it will be quite the scavenger hunt to track down the fibers and ribbons and the like to actually stitch this sampler, but with help from Karen and my own resources, I expect I can do it. Liz is big on using fibers that are less than readily available everywhere, yet her pieces are too pretty to let that be a reason not to do them. Here is the pretty one:

Keeping on his good pace, Ryan Newman came in fourth in the Gatorade Duel 1 in Daytona today - woohoo! And, as a result of staying out of the "big one" he gets to start 9th in the Daytona 500! Woo Hoo! Looks like he has learned how to use his new Charger to draft really well! But, as for Mr. Kevin Harvick, he needs to take some serious anger management classes. It is imperceivable what Jimmie Johnson could have ever done to him to cause inciting this crash and take out several serious contenders. I would hope he is ashamed of himself, but I doubt it. 19 year old Kasey Kahne keeps his emotions under check, but not Kevin Harvick, and his car at the end of today proves it: (photo is from www.nascar.com). It is only my opinion, but I think NASCAR should not "wait until next time," but sanction him now. Jimmie was ahead of him in the race today, so I cannot see why NASCAR threatened to bench him too if this Harvick situation doesn't get resolved. It is so unfortunate. About five serious drivers probably lost their shot at winning on Sunday - take Mark Martin as an example, or Rusty Wallace - due to Harvick's inability to control his anger (though what caused that anger? when has Jimmie Johnson ever been involved in crashing anyone??) - I can't figure any of it out. What a waste at the end of the day! (My little disclaimer - I don't want to offend anyone, and I even have always liked Harvick, but this incident today - just a bit over the top!).

I received my order of Kreiniks and Mill Hill beads for the various Mirabilias from the ebay seller today, so now I guess I should start thinking about the other details, like the fabrics, get the floss, think of WHEN I could even fit these in :-) And, I was high bidder today for a fat half of 28 count ivory jobelan and Lavender Path by Patricia Ann Designs today too....

Thank God tomorrow is Friday! I am so looking forward to the Daytona 500 this weekend!!

Stitched on today: Fairy Flora and Beneath the Stars for a little while at work

When I came across this new Nashville release from Indigo Rose while I was visiting the Paw Prints Cross Stitch site today, I could not resist it and ordered it up. It has a stunning masculine flair to it, really unique! I also ordered a skein of the new Dinky Dyes Fantasy Blues silk floss. Apparently it is needed for the limited edition designs from the Fantasy Faire, and since I ordered TW's design a couple of days ago, I will need it.

After basking in the glow of feeling effective as a therapist yesterday, today I had difficulties with a client who decided to leave me due to "too many cancellations." What? There was one during the blizzard, was that what she meant? After stewing and my stomach turning for half an hour I remembered what was up - I used to see this teenager until she moved to Florida a year ago. She just returned, but without insurance, and Mom wanted me to see her right away. I did - for several, unpaid sessions. I sat down with Mom and told her she needed to get the insurance taken care of, and until then I could not see the kid, but would provide phone support. Once she got insurance, she transferred to another therapist. How frustrating. And the worst part is, I know it was Mom's decision, not the client's. That makes me sad. I want to be there and do the best I can for my clients, but then stuff like this happens at times, and it really brings me down. I hope something more cheerful comes along tomorrow!

I found out today that last night I got the embellishment pack for Great Lakes Lowland Sampler by Jeannette Douglas, and today a full fat half of Cream Quaker on ebay! Great!

Interesting comment found on www.nascar.com today: "It looks to me like the 12 (Ryan Newman) and the 8 (Junior) are the cars to beat," said Elliott Sadler following Wednesday's pair of drafting practice sessions. - this surprised me, neither showed strong practice speeds, but woohoo, go Ryan!

Stitched on today: Petal Fairy tonight, and Beneath the Stars for a little while at work

(Photo from www.patriots.com)
What a quiet day - I sent in my registration for Celebration of Needlework, and put in a long day, but had a great caseload of kids to see today - all are doing well and really responding to their behavior plans. Makes me feel good and validated as their therapist.

I received Christmas Elegance and Three For Tea from the ebay seller....And, I got an email from Paw Prints Cross Stitch that my backordered supplies for Feather Fairy came in while they were at the Nashville show, and now they have shipped them to me today - yay!!

And, it was new DVD release day, so we will be watching Saw and Taxi this week....

Want to find your driver's license online? Yes, you can do that! Amazing, who would have thought the government would allow that? Give it a go, see what you think: Find Your License

Stitched on today: Petal Fairy

Get Well Soon, Bill Mueller!

Uh-oh, knee surgery at the start of Spring Training! The Red Sox say he should be ready for opening night, and it could be worse - his knee could have waited to swell up after the season started.... biting my lip... get well soon, God speed to a quick recovery Bill!(photo from www.redsox.com)
Fairly uneventful day - had a visit from the insurance company for which I work - they had this little upbeat meeting to show my practice stats against those of others like me. Looks like I am virtually one of the only sole practitioners who does group therapy - I blew that chart up. Yet, my last group is about to end soon - I need a break from it - so I hope they don't get too used to that stat!

I received Paradigm Lost from the ebay seller today, and the more I look at this chart, the more I like it. I think it would be pretty in a nice hand dyed silk like Storm Cloud Waterlilies as a first guess... hmmmm...
It is a quiet Valentine's Day here - a little swapping of cards - Mike is getting the new PSP when it is released next month, while I am taking the class at Celebrations of Needlework in April.... it is a snowy, icy night at the start of the work week, so we will celebrate at the weekend. Hope everyone enjoyed their day!

I just saw that Stitching Bits & Bobs has some new releases up from Nashville, and I ordered You Were Hatched..., a limited edition design by Teresa Wentzler(TW fans won't want to miss out on this one!), and Love Letters Lessons On Linen, Vol. 1 by Just Nan. Very cool!

Stitched on today: Petal Fairy

Well, after getting a call from the contractor our builder contacted for us about the broken mailbox, we decided to tackle it ourselves. He left a message stating that he could do the job for $50 an hour, with a minimum of four hours plus parts. Am I lost here??? Four hours to install a mailbox... that is $200 to install a mailbox! I just can't see it! So we went to Home Depot today - for $6.89 we can now fix the mailbox four times!!!! We had the man there cut an eight foot board into four pieces to match what we need. The $6.89 includes the carriage bolts, washers and hex nuts for four total installations. And it took Mike and I about 10 minutes to get the job done when we got home!

Now just enjoying watching The Pro Bowl - Go AFC!! (AFC won, 38-27)(Marvin Harrison of the Indianapolis Colts, photo from www.nfl.com)

Not much time to stitch today, but did work on Petal Fairy

NASCAR is Back - Congrats Ryan Newman!

No, no - Ryan Newman didn't win the Budweiser Shootout in Daytona, FL tonight - he came in second by only 0.2 seconds! Go Ryan! Jimmie Johnson won, which is cool. He and Ryan always work well together, wish they were teammates! Anyhow, this was by far Ryan's best showing ever at this track - two years ago he was totally pancaked on his roof here. Maybe the tide is turning now for him? The early returns from this race are extremely positive and hopeful, at least. We shall see next weekend when the points races offically begin. I see Newman's creative pit stop strategies continue into 2005, with the risky move to be the only car to take two instead of four tires tonight - at least it didn't hurt him as much as I thought it would tonight.(photo from www.nascar.com)
PMS Warning System found in this blog during random surfing today - too cute to resist! Hope you and your loved ones will find this to be valuable :-)

I've been hanging out over on ebay a little again.... I found out this morning I was high bidder for Silver Frost by Patricia Ann Designs. I have been kind of craving a band sampler to work since I have been doing L&L and Mirabilias, and a little bit of Houses of Hawk Run Hollow since the year started. Late last night I also found a seller from whom I was able to get various beads for Emerald Mermaid and Butterfly Fairy, plus Kreinik braids for Titania, Queen of the Fairies - Adia, the Garden Fairy - and the Cottage Garden Fairy (I think I will use that solo I bought yesterday for this one....). I was also able to get the Ladybug Bead needed for the Just Nan heart in Just Cross Stitch, as pictured in my February 7th entry, from this seller. This morning I also found a less than half price deal on the Collector's Heart 2005 kit from Heart in Hand - this one struck me as so nice, so although I don't collect these I got this one too :-) And, a rare visit to Yahoo! Auctions netted me Mickey & Minnie Portrait for almost nothing...there is another Disney book with it, not sure of title... thought it was a little cute.

While running errands earlier today, we hit the $5.50 DVD Dump Bin at WalMart - we got Earth Girls Are Easy (a comedy for me), and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (a sci-fi for Mike) :-)

And, the most cheerful sight for me every winter - the Red Sox equipment is now packed up and heading to Florida - Spring Training is about to begin! Woo Hoo!(photo from www.redsox.com)
Stitched on today: Fairy Flora

Here is my progress on Petal Fairy. I started it last night and worked on it a bit more today. Once again, my scanner is clueless as to how to properly scan a fabric color. I adjusted it a bit - the original scan made the fabric green and grey. My fabric is a lovely light beige with plentiful mottling - gorgeous, really....Here is the accurate scan from Silkweaver.

I received my monthly fiber club delivery today from Paw Prints Cross Stitch - this month they sent blues and purples, and the fibers are Caron Watercolours, Weeks Dye Works, Gentle Art Sampler Threads, Crescent Colours Floss, Six Strand Sweets Floss and Needle Necessities:I notice that the fiber clubs I am in send a skein of Caron Watercolours every time - I wish they wouldn't as I have no use for them. I suppose I will put up an auction on ebay for a large lot of Caron Watercolours soon??

But that wasn't enough stash enhancement for this addict/lunatic/compulsive stash buyer. Oh no, had to get this new Silkweaver Solo today too:I don't know yet what I plan to stitch on it, so I will save its link and fiddle around with it in the Fabric Selector. I don't know for sure why I bought this (it is not like I regret it), since I received and paid my invoice for my Fabric of the Month today as well....sigh.

I had a chance to watch The Notebook today. I had no expectations for this movie, as I had not heard much about it. I was amazed, what a great story. It was overwhelming, very well done, A+A+A+! It made me feel very emotional. A truly beautiful story, and I think I will buy the novel now too.

Here's Ryan's new car for 2005 (a switch by NASCAR from the Dodge Intrepid to the Dodge Charger - I love it - great look!!) - and the Budweiser Shootout is tomorrow night! Yes! Finally some NASCAR!(Photo is from www.nascar.com)
We went out to dinner tonight at Yuki Asian Grill in Manchester, NH - it was our first time there, was very good. We both enjoyed filet mignon, lobster tail and shrimp cooked in front of us on the hibachi grill. Very pricey, though After dinner, we stopped next door at Boston Cone & Candy and picked up some chocolates too - nice old fashioned stuff. Mine, of course, are sugar free.
Now to relax at home for the rest of the evening - which means, stitch! We did not plow out our driveway yet, and the 5" of heavy wet snow from yesterday is going to be hard to move, but we have to get cracking on that tomorrow when we have some sun trying to help us out! Yuck! Thank God we have four wheel drive trucks so we can get in and out of our driveway.

Here's something cute - as a child and family psychologist, I maintain several magazine subscriptions for my waiting room, and as a result I get a lot of emails from the magazines - here is a cute one from Seventeen Magazine that I received today: Are You His Type? Remember taking these fun quizzes when we were kids :-) I did it based upon my old high school dating experiences - each time I got "opposites attract," yet I married someone just like me after all!

Stitched on today: The Petal Fairy and Fairy Flora

Here is my progress pic of Fairy Flora as of today - she is too big now to use the scanner :-) She is getting big. I hadn't realized how dense the stitching truly is in this one, but I think she is gorgeous. I am looking forward to doing the beading at the end (I stitch on scroll bars, so beading must wait) - I also had not realized how laden this fairy is with beads - she has clear beads as dewdrops everywhere, especially in her wings. Sparkly!

I get to start Petal Fairy tonight - I was able to reach my SAL mate and she is ready to go
We did not get the huge snowstorm that was originally called for - got a slushy inch or two though. My DH has a stomach bug so I ended up staying home to take care of him and stitch my heart out anyhow... And, he told me today that I can have that Betsy Stinner class I blogged about yesterday as my Valentine's Day gift! Yay!!!
Oh - as a footnote, we enjoyed watching Shark Tale this afternoon - it was cute, better than I had anticipated! Will Smith is perfectly cast in the role of Oscar. Great job by Renee Zellweger too!

Stitched on today: Fairy Flora, and started Petal Fairy

Oh boy, just can't wait now for the shops to get back from Nashville, because here is another one being released that is on the MUST HAVE list - Catherine Agnes from Indigo Rose:Thanks to Karen V. for the news!!

Got a funny for you today - found in Standard Monkey's Blog, Learn Chinese in Five Minutes - give it a chance, it could save your life abroad...! (Small disclaimer, I hope I don't offend anyone, just switch on your sense of humor - thanks!).

Looky, looky, looky - how cool is Haunting Mermaid??This is an upcoming new release from Carriage House Samplings. This one is calling my name - can't wait till it hits the shops! Must get this one!

The fabric finally came in from Silkweaver today so I can start the Petal Fairy SAL with Karen now! Karen, just tell me when, OK? I also received the gorgeous fat quarter of 32 ct Blue Fusion Expressions Lugana in the order - ooooo, nice new shade! Any of Mirabilia's mermaids, as well as soooo many other neat projects, will look great on this new shade! What nice mottling, well done!

I think I will sign up to take the Mary Queen of Scots Sampler class with Betsy Stinner at this year's Celebration of Needlework in Nashua, NH in April.... I like to take one of their classes each year, but this year there just was not much that appealed to me.... but this one looks nice. I took a class with Betsy last year (Rebecca's Sampler, which is also shown on the site for this year) - it was a nice class, and I have loved Earth Threads since its inception, so I don't mind taking another class with Betsy. I was hoping, though, to get a chance to take a class with a different instructor this year, but like I said, this one sampler stands out apart from the others :-)

Looks like a long weekend ahead - the big storm will be weak in the Boston area, but is aiming straight for the Merrimack Valley - which encompasses both my job area and my home - looks like a foot to a foot and a half may be on its way for tonight through tomorrow night. This is amazing as it was almost 50F all day today. But that is New England - the weather here shifts so fast that this therapist would almost diagnose it as "BiPolar" :-) Arrgh. Gonna just try to enjoy the time off and not stress out missing work. That is the joy of self-employment after all.

Had to run to WalMart for Diet Coke tonight, and there they were - the New England Patriots Super Bowl Championship shirts! Picked one up for me and one for Karen! She was so sweet to watch it all the way in Australia and stay online with me the whole game - it was fun, so this is my gift to her! Thanks again Karen!

Stitched on today: Beneath the Stars (at work) and Fairy Flora

Wow, another big snow storm coming for late tomorrow night and all day Thursday. Took the wind right out of my sails, and now I am too tired even to stitch (though I did get a few little pink stitches in tonight...). I am starting to really relate to Laura Ingalls Wilder's The Long Winter, which I can recall reading as a pre-teen. Brrrr.....snow....will it ever end?? Those of you who want our snow, it is free - come and take all you want! I am wondering if I should even go and dig out my
Long Winter chart by Bent Creek - it is somewhere in my stash, and sure seems appropriate right now!

Adding to my exhaustion is that I started working this week with a very young little boy who is recovering from a liver transplant due to liver cancer. He has a bright little spirit, but the reality of his life has really been hitting me hard....

I won an auction today that I had pretty much forgotten bidding on - and got two neat older Mirabilia charts as a result, so that is cool: Christmas Elegance and Three For Tea. I am pretty excited about that, as I now have almost all the ones I have been wanting for my Mirabilia collection!

I almost forgot - it is new DVD release day - it was sooooo many hours ago that I stopped and picked these up on my way to work this morning, it almost feels like it was another day.... I picked up Shark Tale and The Notebook - at least I will have something to watch during the Nor'Easter (New England term for big storm).

Stitched on (a tiny bit) tonight: Fairy Flora

It could just be my opinion, but the new April 2005 issue of Just Cross Stitch that arrived today is one of the best they have done in some time now! I, like many on the bulletin boards, have been disappointed by the turn the magazine has taken in the past couple of years. Yet, I renew the subscription every year because they are basically "the only show in town" now - have got to get at least one stitching magazine coming in, right? But this issue featured a super pretty heart by Nan Caldera - in the Red Hat Society color scheme, a series I do not care for, but the colors are gorgeous and there is no reference in the design itself to the Red Hat Society....It's called "Lady in Red Heart," and then an article about and a pretty band sampler by Cindy Valentine, a cute castle from Dragon Fire Designs.... and the Gail Bussi contributions this month are lovely from the Elizabethan Garden to Friends & Flowers... I was so pleased, as you can tell, with this issue! My hopes are back up again!

OK... could the NE Patriots Super Bowl Champs hat really be any uglier??What's with the two tone browns?? Ha!

Well, the still as of yet unrepaired mailbox (the builder's secretary called today with a little info, and will get me more info on the template I need to get this reattached...the saga continues) had some stash in it today - I received Mermaid of the Pearls, Feather Fairy, Waiting For Ships and Joy from the ebay seller - so I shall be busy for a lifetime...

Stitched on today: Fairy Flora

Patriots Are Champs Again!

Who did not expect this result anyhow?? New England 24, Philadelphia 21. Said and done, we are champs again! Spent the day anxiously awaiting the Super Bowl, and stitching away on Fairy Flora

Now to watch the celebrations!

Both pics are from www.nfl.com