Happy Birthday Scott!

My brother, Scott, is 44 years old today :-) Mike and I decided to drive on down to his house in Bradford, MA today and drop off his gifts (all Red Sox related, of course!) and his favorite yellow cake from Joseph's Bakery (as he calls it, "wedding cake"). I was a bit concerned that his wife would not do much for him today, as she really has been very negative towards him lately.... but she and the girls were out getting some birthday stuff together when we arrived. What a relief!!
She is getting quite close now! I put time into Fairy Flora tonight, and I plan to forego the Passione Ricamo SAL stitching day tomorrow and keep at this one... with luck, the cross stitching will be done tomorrow, leaving just the double row of backstitching around the border and then the beading! Woo Hoo! Getting back on track now to finish this one, allowing me to be able to start the Mermaid Heaven SAL next month without guilt :-)
My June installment of the silk fiber club from Paw Prints Cross Stitch arrived today. The silks look like jewel tones to me this month - a skein of Gloriana silk in Seaweed, a skein of Caron Soie Cristale in 6021, a skein of Needlepoint Inc Silk in 675 and a skein of Eterna Silk in 3440.

I ordered a Millennium Sampler kit today - I have been eyeing it... just one or two (or three or four) Shepherd's Bush kits that I still want... Baby Bug Ball, Sailor's Collar come to mind... nice to have some of these that I have wanted now :-) They really are such a pleasure to stitch! And, I picked up an 11" x 17" Q-Snap at A.C. Moore today - I figure it will be my best option for when it is time to bead Fairy Flora since it is a long, narrow design - looks like it will work pretty well :-)

Two pretty new irises in the garden today - the first is a favorite of ours, and is called Hots Dogs & Mustard :-)

Stitched on today: Fairy Flora

Tonight was my chosen night to work on the Celtic Band Sampler SAL that I am in with Dani and Katrina. I did not get as much done tonight as I had hoped to do... likely because I had a couple of low carb margaritas at Ruby Tuesday earlier this evening.... :-) Nonetheless, here is how far I did get...

I received a packet of lovely delicas beads from Karen today - they are replacements for the Mill Hill beads for Emerald Mermaid - she sent them from somewhere in her New England travels - they had been hiding in her suitcase when she was here last weekend... so now I am drooling over them and wanting to stitch this one now too.... and I ordered the jobelan for Night today - just some 32 ct antique white for this one... along with some Petite Treasure Braids for Once Upon A Time as well - I guess it is getting obvious as to what I plan to stitch once I get some of my big projects down now...

I am dying to see what the shops come back with from Columbus - hopefully we will start seeing the new lovelies on the sites and in the shops next week! Really can't wait!!

There was a ton of pretties in the garden today, so with no further ado, here they are:
Had a little fun at the mall tonight too - our state income tax return came in this week (yep, we live in tax free New Hampshire, but I work in tax laden Massachusetts and file with them...) - I got Team America: World Police (after so many friends said it was funny) and Storm of the Century (essential addition to our Stephen King collection of DVDs)... as well as lovely body creams and shower gel from Bath & Body Work's big semi-annual sale... and then to Gloria Jean's coffee for a pound each of my favorite, Coconut Cream, and one to try out: Spiced Butter Rum... yummy. Great trip! Spoilt!

Stitched on today:
Peacock Cypher (I did get through Section 3 today, so I will likely post a progress picture this weekend) and Celtic Band Sampler

Majesty

I started Majesty tonight as I worked on Legends of the Dragons. Wow, this one has a very different color scheme and I love it! What pretty colors! I will probably stitch for a bit more tonight on this dragon, but figured I would do my scan now because the Red Sox game is likely about to start (we have been going through a three hour rain delay...). I have really loved watching Nikki's progress on this same piece too (we are doing this as a SAL together... she just finished Majesty and is starting Magic, while I finished Magic and am starting Majesty now - I guess we will be doing Wisdom at the same time together)... :-)

A trek to my LNS today resulted in falling in love with a new designer, By the Bay Needleart - the designer, Donna Bayliss, is from Hampton, NH, where the shop is. They had a display of many of her models up behind the counter. I picked up 13th Colony Bay Part 2, along with the floss and the Star Sapphire 32 ct linen for it.... good to go whenever I get a chance to now! They were sold out on two others that I loved, but I just ordered them from Down Sunshine Lane: Colonial Harbor, my favorite of all of the charts... and Spring Hill - I think these are great!! (***Bigger, clearer pics of these and all of her others are available at the link above)..... While there I also got a piece of 40 ct Creme Brulee by R&R Reproductions for House Samplings...and a pack of Piecemakers Size 28 tapestry needles, always need more and more of those :-) Great trip!

I also received two of my orders from Stitching Bits & Bobs today. I received my Celtic Winter chart, and as I look at it I am really looking forward to this SAL starting, hopefully at the end of the summer :-) Also in the orders were all the braids, and all but one type of Mill Hill Treasures for Enchanted Mermaid (the others are on backorder and will be here soon). The orders also contained the last skein of Crescent Colours, Sassy Brass, that I need for Earth Angel... so it was also a great day at the mailbox today!!
Some garden blooms again today:

Stitched on today: Legends of the Dragons

I decided to continue to go on with Fairy Flora tonight, and am glad that I did. I want to thank all of you who sent words of encouragement to keep going since it is nearing its end. You motivated me to do so. Tonight I finished the rose and even got a little of the blue green above it done....
This is for Karen K. When she was here this weekend she was searching to find a chipmunk... they are a novelty to her - apparently they do not have them in Australia. There were a few snacking on seeds Mike put in the driveway for them this afternoon - it was hard to get very close up, but I did get this one for her!
My Shaker's Prayer siberian iris is blooming today! This is one of my favorite siberians and am always happy to see it bloom - it is also one of the first siberians to bloom here...
And our chives have taken off again in our herb garden :-)
I was high bidder for issue 27 of Sampler & Antique Needlework - have wanted this for a while - has this great Merry Cox design, and also features that gorgeous Un Petit Paradis chart too!

It is New DVD Release Tuesday once again - this week it is Seed of Chucky - just couldn't resist it!

Stitched on today: Fairy Flora

Karen & Bren are here from Australia today!

And, off we went to Boston! Here we are having lunch at Cheers in Faneuil Hall..... Mike was with us, but someone had to take the picture! Not a great photo, but the only one I am not talking in :-) What a great day in the 80's today! (left to right: Karen, Carol, Bren) For those not in the know, Karen and Bren own Dragonfly Dreams, an exceptional online xs shop in Australia, that will soon also be "brick and mortar" in Katoomba next month :-)Karen and Bren (her DH) sitting with the statue of Red Auerbach, former owner of the Boston Celtics, at Faneuil Hall.... and how did we get there?... By limo!And, I did find a couple of hours tonight to work on Miracle Butterfly, but after all that time in the sun and drinking beer and a Hot 'n Dirty martini... well, just got some more of one of her wings done tonight :-)
And... here are some of the many new blooms in the garden today -
Karen gave me my birthday present today - I am just too overwhelmed by this! I will take photos tomorrow - she made me the most stunning quilt! I have always wanted a quilt - this one is amazing and I do not feel deserving of this gift! I will make sure to post this.... I am lost for words though!!

Stitched on today: Miracle Butterfly
***Forgot my little sports updates - LOL! OK, the Red Sox won, 6-3 over the Angels... we saw bits and pieces while at various bars in Boston! And, Ryan Newman came in 8th in the race at Dover.... but remains 4th in points. Wins remain elusive for Ryan... :-(

New Car Day!!

And here it is.... Mike's new 2005 Chevrolet Corvette. We drove three hours out to Bennington, Vermont to get this car... but it has every little special touch and option that he wanted, so glad he is happy... And, a sad little goodbye to his yellow Corvette....
Bennington has just introduced these cool moose statues that are similar to Cows on Parade in NYC and Chicago (I think it is Chicago...). This one was outside the car dealership, and these other two were on a main street in town - I am told there are 57 of them in Bennington right now - I think they are cool - we were able to get out of the way in traffic to get these two:
No time yet to stitch today, though I did start crocheting a doily in the car on the way to Vermont... will probably post a picture of that soon.... hope to stitch later tonight!(There we go, got a chance to work on Petal Fairy tonight...)

Here are two of the many iris pictures I took yesterday too - the first is Joyance, an old historic iris , and the other is truly huge and I have to research its name
Stitched on today: Petal Fairy

Thank God It's Friday!!!!

I had such great intentions tonight to make some real progress on Celtic Band Sampler, but I did not achieve as much as I wanted to - I am suffering tonight from a case of caffeine-induced ADD brought on by having a large coconut iced coffee from Dunkin' Donuts after dinner tonight! Stupid, stupid, stupid :-) I was so restless working on this sampler.... the gold band of crosses felt like the Boston Marathon to me!

OK, call me insane... why not, you would probably be right!... but I went and signed up for another FOTM!!! This time I signed up with Heaven Lee Creations, also known as The Blended Needle. I am going with their fat quarter of 32 ct evenweave each month... can't wait to see what I get! Their cost is the same as Silkweaver's. They have a great custom fabric for Emma's Garden on their site, so I think I will run upstairs to my stash and see if I still have that one - if I do, I am getting that cool fabric for it! Nice, isn't it??!! (Couldn't find my chart - I bet I sold it on ebay figuring I would never be brave enough to dye my own fabric! So... I just ordered the chart, along with some GAST and Weeks that are rather new and not in my stash yet.... then went and ordered that fabric from Heaven Lee too! Cool!).

A little bit of shopping on my way home today... I finally stopped at Borders and picked up this magazine: Had to have it due to my love of DMC Flower Fairies, and it did not disappoint me :-) I also adore the Shoe Princess chart in it too :-) Then I stopped at WalMart and got the DMC floss for Night - I really want to start this one, but am pretty much sitting on my hands right now to stop myself until I finish something first! Now Jenn is also trying to tempt me to start our Mermaid Heaven SAL early.... oh, I better get something finished soon!

Red Sox 7, Angels 4... a good night :-)

I took some more iris photos today, but I forgot to get them off my camera, so maybe tomorrow.... the garden is really starting to "pop" now!

Rumor has it that DH and I are driving out to Bennington, Vermont tomorrow. That is about two hours away from here. He wants to trade in his 2001 yellow/black Corvette for a 2005 silver/black Corvette... seems the one he can find that meets his specs is up there... sigh.... I would love to bring some stitching, but have learned the hard way that it is near impossible to stitch in a Corvette with the top down :-)

Stitched on today: Peacock Cypher and Celtic Band Sampler

Frogs!!

Well, this sure is not an impressive progress photo today :-) You see, the frogs visited while I was starting on the wings of Earth Angel - I was off by two rows of the white.... I don't even know if my photo will show you any of my small progress tonight, and I sure did frog for quite a while.... next time will be better!!
I have been looking for this chart for at least a year now. I saw it in someone's photo album with no details.... but found it on ebay and was high bidder overnight for it! I really didn't think I would end up high bidder, so I am thrilled! It is called "Un Petit Paradise" by Une Fee Dans Mon Jardin... isn't it sweet? I found a french site that carries it, but their shopping cart function failed, so it was extra great to get this on ebay instead!

A little stash arrival today - I received the set of GAST Simply Shaker threads from J.J.'s Collectibles ebay site.... love them! And, I picked up Janlynn's Olde World Map kit on ebay today - I have been eyeing it since I saw it at Joann's Fabrics in Hooksett, NH some time ago - it is $45 there, but by carefully watching ebay I was able to get it for $22. I know this is a perfect stitch up for my DH :-) Yay!!!
Pluie D'Or, an old historical iris, is now in bloom in my garden..... ...as is this pretty blue iris that has lost its tag :-)

Oooo, almost forgot! Karen reached me on my cellphone while I was driving home from work tonight! She and her DH are in Lancaster, Pennsylvania tonight, and it looks they are on course to get here sometime late on Saturday! It was cool talking to her, if only for a few minutes tonight! I can't wait for our visit. We have rented a limousine to take the four of us to Boston on Sunday. We all love the Red Sox, but could not get tickets for the game. So we plan to go to Faneuil Hall and visit the bars... and watch the game from the bars... it will be a blast! With the limo we will not need to worry about drinking and driving :-)

Red Sox 6, Orioles 4, thanks to a three run walk off home run by none other than David Ortiz! Jo, tonight was my night to be happy (well, it was a day game - it was my day to be happy) - LOL!

Stitched on today: Peacock Cypher and Earth Angel (well, mostly frogging, but yes, some stitching...)!

May Goals Reviewed/June Goals Set...

Just about done now with Magic on Legends of the Dragons, and have not decided which of the remaining two dragons I will stitch next. What I have decided, though, is that with my full time (plus) job, there just are not enough stitching hours in a day... :-(

May Goals Reviewed/June Goals Set
May Goals:
1. Continue to work on Fairy Flora - yes, here and there, but not as much as I had wished to do
2. Continue to work on Petal Fairy - yes
3. Continue Earth Angel SAL with Jenn - yes
4. Finish Peacock Cypher SAL with Karen - nope, made it close to finishing Section 3, not loving this one right now
5. Continue Legends of the Dragons SAL with Nicole - yes
6. Continue Miracle Butterfly SAL - yes, making steady progress
7. Continue to work on Little Wings - no, I don't think I got to this one at all this month
8. Get some stitches in on Catherine Agnes - no, nothing on this one
9. Continue to work on Angel of Love - yes
10. Continue to work on 17th Century Irish Garden - yes
11. Start Chatelaine's Springtime Roses - NOPE
12. ****If our fabrics arrive soon and Jenn is ready, why not even start Mermaid Heaven SAL with her too :-) -no, we decided to delay this one for now, gotta get in touch with Jenn to figure out when...
However, I did start Celtic Band Sampler as a SAL with Dani and Katrina this month...., and I started back up on Houses of Hawk Run Hollow too...

June Goals:
1. Continue to work on Fairy Flora
2. Finish Peacock Cypher SAL with Karen
3. Continue to work on Petal Fairy
4. Continue to work on Earth Angel SAL with Jenn
5. Continue to work on Miracle Butterfly
6. Put some stitches into Catherine Agnes, and set up a stiching schedule with Karen V. to keep us both motivated
7. Continue to work on 17th Century Irish Garden
8. Continue Legends of the Dragons SAL with Nicole
9. Continue to work on Angel of Love
10. Continue to work on Little Wings
11. Continue to work on Celtic Band Sample SAL with Dani and Katrina
12. Start Valerie Pfeiffer's Story Time as next "at work" project
13. Continue to work on Houses of Hawk Run Hollow
New Mirabilia chart coming out this month - Fairy Roses.... :-) I just ordered this one, as well as Bon Bini - this one is not my usual style, but had to order it when I saw it because we have had three wonderful vacations in Aruba, and this will be a good memento - (for those not in the know, Bon Bini is an Aruban greeting...) I also ordered the embellishments for Emerald Jewelled Garden and the specialty thread pack for 15th Century Medieval Herb Garden directly from LTD's site... thought I would give those a try... And, new Passione Ricamo chart in late June, Mediterraneo... :-) Looks like it will be a good month!!

A little stash arrival today - I received my Meadow Mist lugana for Mermaid Heaven (I have been reminded now that this SAL is scheduled for July...) and the solo for Lilly of the Woods from Silkweaver.... but my Sapphire Sky and Ametrine are both on backorder - have never had that happen with Silkweaver before... hmmmm...

Q. What do you like *least* about cross stitching?

A. I just can't think of anything I don't like about stitching :-)
Jillaroo, one of my favorite dwarf standard irises, is in bloom now (I like its unique colors), as is one of my all-time favorites:Edith Wolford, tall bearded iris :-)

Stitched on today: Peacock Cypher and Legends of the Dragons