Happiness is..............

......finishing Fred's backside.

The image is grainy but at least it is proof that on August 28, 2007 I really truly completed stitching Fred himself. There is a lot more stitching to be done before the December 31 deadline but this gave me such a feeling of accomplishment that I had to commit it to my stitching memories.

A proper post is currently in the making.

Tossing for Annemarie

Although I really should be writing a nice long post to let you know what I've been stitching I just can't seem to find the energy at the moment. It's not that I haven't been stitching but the progress on the SALs are nothing to write home about and the small things I've been working on I want to keep secret until they arrive.

I kept on asking myself what I could post and show so that you at least know I'm alive and kicking. Suddenly the idea hit me. When we were stitching our first Fair & Square round Annemarie showed us her toss and I thought that was great - information given but no secrets revealed. Well.........now that I'm stitching for Annemarie in Round 2 I just couldn't resist being a copycat (hope you don't mind). So here it is:

The linen is a 32 ct natural and the floss colors are: DMC 316, 500, 501, 833, 902, 924, 926, 950, 3726 and 3768. In case you would like a hint about what I am stitching I'll tell you that the design made me think of Annemarie's occupation (far-fetched idea perhaps but I guess I'm good at those). There is one color in the toss which may give you a hint about the theme of the square.

Thank You Dawn!!!!

A short while ago I entered a draw which Dawn http://crafterscreations.blogspot.com/ was holding on her blog and too my great joy my name was one of the five her DH drew from the hat.

Today I opened the mailbox and there it was, an envelope addressed to me from Dawn in Arkansas. It felt a bit like Christmas opening this surprise package. Inside I found my first ever scissor-fob. It is a lovely bordeaux on white biscornu & like I emailed you Dawn I absolutely love it. As you can see I have already attached it to my stitching scissors.

Dawn also sent me some pretty DMC floss, the adorable Hillside Samplings pattern 'All Hearts Come Home' (oh how I love cross-stitch designs of houses) and a lovely postcard from Arkansas. Below you can see the entire gift.

Thank you so very much for these lovely gifts Dawn. You made my day an extra special one.

08/10/07 PS: After dinner tonight I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. What a fantastic final episode in this wonderful series. I know right now that within the next year I will be re-reading them all again.

Just slipped through my fingers

Thank you all for your congratulations & lovely comments for our anniversary. They meant a lot to me and are a wonderful beginning to our 33rd year together. I owe most of you a visit to your blog and quite of number of you emails. By this time next week I hope to be up to date on all of that.

Where did July disappear too? I really don't know how a month can just slip through your fingers but that is certainly what July did. What have I been up to? When I look back I think - 'nothing in particular' but I guess I filled it with working, stitching and re-reading the first 6 Harry Potters. It has been great reading them all again in such a short space of time and seeing the whole story really evolve. This past Tuesday 'The Deathly Hallows' arrived from Amazon and today is actually set aside as HP day for me. Juls, who has finished the book, says it's the best of them all.

About 1 1/2 weeks ago I received the name of my partner for the second F&S round - it's Annemarie http://wackywanderings.blogspot.com/ and I'm very excited. Her posts are so enjoyable to read, her stitching is lovely and as icing on the cake - she's Dutch. Now as if that wasn't enough Annemarie and I have discovered that she was born and raised in the same village as my DH and attended high school in the city we lived for 22 years. Yes it certainly is a small world!! Your square isn't started yet Annemarie but I have a few ideas I'm tossing around in my head. Now all I have to do is pick the 'perfect' one.

Now for a July stitching update. Here is a progress picture of 'Autumn In My Garden'. What a fun and easy stitch this design is. With two SAL evenings per week I really think that finishing by Thanksgiving is do-able.

Frederick on the other hand, has been lounging in his bookcase again this past month. I guess I was just lucky that neither Bliss nor Berta had a lot of time available for the Tuesday SAL as I didn't either. However there are less than five months left to the December 31 finishing deadline so I'd better get stitching!! Shall we work on him again this Tuesday?

Wednesdays at our LNS have been spent working on Imaginating's 'Mooning'. Originally I started it 1/1 on 25 ct New Khaki Lugana but then decided that since the design is quite small (88 x 88) and I would like to either frame it or make it into a pillow it might be better to stitch it 2/2 on the same 25 ct. It's a cute little piece and ideal to stitch while chatting and laughing with this group of wonderful women. I feel so incredibly fortunate to have found them and only wish each and every one of you had the joy of a stitching group.

For those of you who have some hours left in your weekend - 'enjoy' and to all of you who have already started a new working week - 'have a great week'!!