Merry Christmas to all, and to all ...

The final countdown to Christmas Day has begun and I hope everyone is ready!!! Personally I'm almost there - just a few last minute things to do but what else is new?

Last Thursday our DS arrived from Germany and we're having a great time with him here. We are so thankful that he was able to come and spend Christmas with us. It would have been great to have DD & her DBF here too but they couldn't come this year. Dearest 'E', we wish you and 'T' and his mom a wonderful Christmas Day.

Has everyone completed all their Christmas stitching? When I read your blogs and see what you have all accomplished this past month I'm simply amazed. Compared to the rest of you my finished pile is pretty small - only 5 pieces actually completed. I've already shown you the two tea towels I mailed out and 'Christmas Row'. No further progress has been made on Las Vegas Christmas tree so that will be a project I put on my 'to be completed' list for 2007.

The other two finishes are:

'Kisses from Heaven' by San-Man Originals and

'Traditional Santa' which was designed by Sue Cook and is a freebie from cross-stitching.com. The colors on this piece are actually much more vibrant than they appear on this image. I had to change his face a wee bit as the backstitching on his eyes & nose made it look like he was wearing sunglasses. Actually it made him look like a Mafioso - not good!!

In January 'B' and I plan to attend one or more lessons on the techniques of mounting cross-stitch for framing. It sounds like fun & I hope to do well enough in these classes to be able to frame the three completed Christmas pieces. Although I'll probably continue having any 'important' pieces framed at a shop it will be nice to be able to handle smaller projects myself.

Meeting all of you this past year has been very important to me. Living in a city which has no community feeling is no fun. After living in The Netherlands surrounded by family & friends and then moving to Santa Rosa, California where we met so many wonderful people & immediately felt we belonged, the shock of the move here was pretty severe. Then this past April you welcomed me into your community and made me feel right at home. Thank you all so much for your friendship. You have become an important part of my life and I will always cherish each and every one of you.

My wish for all of you is that you will have a very blessed and joyful Christmas and that the coming year will be filled with happiness, good health and of course plenty of fun stitching.

Hugs, Margaret