A Clean Up! 🧹

Part of my craft table is cleaned up!

I love the tiered shelf I got at IKEA, more room for important stitchy stuff.

And although it's not shown, you can actually see the floor... for the most part. 😝

Maverick loves his Mousy, I've had to stitch him up several times. Luckily, I do have another one that isn't as bad. I've been looking for more to replace them, but can't find them anywhere online.

We still have snow, but at least it's finally melting with the warmer temperatures we're having. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, slim chance of slushy snow. I think I'm ready for spring at this point!

My sweet cousin is almost finished with her octopus. She just needs to add the French knots and shell charm, she opted not to add the beads. I think she's done a great job and she enjoys it! Too bad she lives so far away. 😞

Next up - full finishes, a retreat, and Olympic stitching!

I'm sick of tea! 🫖😷

 Wow, I never thought I'd say that!

It happened before the snow/ice storm, I had a cough/cold/congestion, but finally went to the dr's after the storm. It's nice to have your doctor just down the road! So, I ended up having pneumonia and have been hunkered down at home. Just as well, it's been freezing all week. I've had enough tea (PG Tips and multiple flavoured ones) and honey, to be swimming in it! I'm still coughing, but slowly feeling better. One cup day at a time!

We ended up getting 10.9" of snow/ice, but I wonder if it was really that much.

DH had gotten the snowblower out before the storm, and it worked fine.

Until it didn't! The belt broke just after he started. Our neighbour had an extra belt, but it didn't fit. Oh well, it looked pretty out there.

That didn't stop us from having a visitor that evening.

It also brought the wind, which gave us this nice little snow pile on our deck.

We were nice and warm inside, and I had Mia and Maverick keeping my spot warm - even though I didn't ask them.

A funny before the storm - to be prepared, we put water in the tubs just in case we lose power. Because if that happens, no toilet flushing with having a well.

I was getting ready for bed and Maverick decided he wanted to go for a swim, by accident. He was freaking out and was having a hard time getting out. Luckily, he got himself out before I was able to get to him. Water was everywhere! I dried him up the best I could, although he was still a bit damp. Even though there's no more water in there now, he's still leery of it!

Obviously a doctored photo of silly Maverick!

I'm thankful that I've still been able to stitch, inbetween coughing! I've been working on this free chart from Primrose Cottage. It's so sweet! You just need to subscribe to their newsletter to get a free chart every month and to see all the goodies they offer! 

I changed up the colours a little bit, I didn't like the way 963 looked, so I chose Crepe Myrtle that I had in my stash. I also added a darker teal, you'll see later!

I hope you're warm wherever you are.

I'm happy that we're missing the next snow!

January's Antics 🌬❄

So sad, I saw this cute little piece at a thrift shop last week. 😕

Once again, I'm attempting to clean up my craft room. It's been a hot mess for quite a while and has only gotten worse with the holidays.

My power source? Peanut butter M&M's and tea helps.

Maverick and Mia were allowed in after I cleaned up a bit, no loose threads or needles!

I had to stop cleaning because I was going to visit Amy at Born to Stitch in NJ.

I stopped at IKEA on the way so see what I could find to help me with my table mess. I saw this tiered tray and thought it might help, we'll see.

We had to go into town to post something and oh my, it was flippin' cold! But we found some love. ❤

We stayed at her sweet Mom's house and little Lovie wasn't letting anyone do any crafting. Spoiled, cute little miss!

I can't believe I didn't take any photos while at the shop, but Thursday was a great day with five other ladies coming in to stitch and shop. Amy was busy all day! Sadly, I had to leave on Friday with the snow/ice storm coming. I needed to get things done at the house and do the laundry, just in case we lose power.

But before I left, I helped a young man pick out something for his girlfriend's birthday. (Her shop used to be a flower shop, so that's why he came in.) He was interested in getting something crafty, so we thought Mill Hill kits were the way to go with everything in there and with good instructions. He actually got two, one for him and one for her! I thought that was the sweetest thing! And Amy's close by to help them out if they need it. 

I think I was missed, they actually tolerated each other enough to both sleep with me last night.

I'm getting another cold, I had one last week too. This one is more coughing and congestion, it sucks! But I'm still stitching. I'm going to start this one tonight, it's the freebie from Primrose Cottage for January. Although maybe it should be snow or ice related since that's what we're getting after 1am. 

Originally, it was supposed to be 8-12" of snow, then snow and ice. Now it's 3-5", with snow and ice 3-5". So who the heck knows?! We'll find out by tomorrow night.

Hopefully we won't lose power, even with gas fireplaces, it gets cold in here!

My charger is charged, my electronics will be charging tonight and I have at least one light charged. We have water in the tubs so we can use the toilets, and water for drinking the important stuff - coffee and tea! And thankfully, we have a gas stove top for cooking.

If you're getting any of this mess, please stay safe and make sure your hands stay warm enough to stitch!

This was taken ten years ago when we had our last big snow. I don't think Nathan will be interested in playing outside tomorrow, works for me!

Super Bowl Retreat 2025 🏈

Bring on the Super Bowl... Retreat!

My setup for the weekend.

Of course we needed our candy/snack area in the middle of the table.

Brenda's birthday was on that Thursday, so I gave her these framed photos as a gift. The bottom one is a shadow box and it has a little frog on top - keep that frog right there and nowhere else! Her favourite colour is pink, so I had to add that pink floss.

We went to The West Essex Diner one night for dinner and brought back dessert for later.

There were sooo many to choose from, from cakes, cheesecakes, pies, and pastries. I had to get the peanut butter cheesecake, delicious!

Our goodie bag, minus the Super Bowl pin which I added to my lanyard. One of the attendees made the cute frog coaster for everyone - adorable!

On Friday, Brenda, Claire, and I went to see Amy at Born to Stitch. It was only about 20 minutes away from the hotel, how could we not go?!

She's still working on getting her online shop open, but I love being there in person!

Some of the goodies I bought, although I forgot to add the beautiful floss. She ordered the Frony Ritter and Mill Hills for me, so they were waiting for me when I got there. If you ever need anything, give her a call and place an order!

It snowed/sleeted on Saturday evening, which had quite a few of the attendees leave early. Since we weren't leaving until after noon on Sunday, I wasn't too worried.

Because of that, the pajama/slipper contest was pretty slim! "Mickey" and I tied so we each won a huge insulated football tumbler. I think you could fit a bottle of wine in it, I'll let you know... 🍷🤣

This chick loved seeing it snow!

One of the stitchers brought a huge stash from a friend who was downsizing due to moving to an assisted living facility. She is also suffering from dementia, so she's really not stitching anymore. So terribly sad.

She brought finished pieces, partially finished pieces, fully kitted charts, books, charts, and other misc items. Charts were going for $1, kits were various prices depending on how big and what was in them. All the money was going back to her friend.

I think I spent about $60 or so? This is what I got, I think I took a photo of everything?!

I just love that sweet little owl!

All the Santa's Closet charts together were $15, with everything included.

What a treasure to find these two witches, especially after Brooke's recent passing.😥

So sweet!

I think all I have to do is put it together.

More fun finds. The bigger ones all came with fabric, and one of them with variegated floss.

This one didn't come with a pattern and I'm wondering if the witch's face was supposed to be left out. I'll have to look for this online. Unless maybe you've stitched it and can tell me?

More finished pieces that just need to be put together.

And all the ones she's finished are stitched beautifully.

The group, before fleeing the snow/sleet!

Our table, these girls are fun as always!

I'm already looking forward to our next stitching event!

Still feeling a little Christmassy ❄

I finally started stitching the Christmas 2021 SAL from Stitchonomy, just a little behind.

I had to hit The Stitching Post last week to get some more floss for my tree, not quite enough to make it! 

I decided to try and use the colours from my bag of leftover floss. So far, so good, but I'm just starting.

We had a little bit of snow last night/early this morning, enough to make it look pretty again. We were on the very edge of the storm and missed all the good stuff!

I know I'm way behind on thanking those who have left comments from last year, so I'm going to say a big  THANK YOU all so much for doing so! I think I'm up to date for this month, no excuses for it not to continue. Then back to blog reading!

Scavenger Photo Hunt - February 📷⛄

Welcome to this week's Scavenger Photo Hunt from Katie @I live, I love, I craft, I am me... The word this week is...

Unexpected...

Unexpected is defined as not expected; unforeseen; surprising

I moved one of our bird feeders on the deck so we could see the birds a little better, although it took them about five days to figure out it was there.

Not that seeing a cardinal was totally unexpected, but it's always a nice surprise to see them there!

Here's the female, she's pretty too.

And this little guy would have worked for last week too, good old Woody Woodpecker! He was an unexpected surprise.

I'm really not quite sure what kind of "bird" this is, but he's trying hard to get his share of the bird seed!

This is not my photo, but my Dad sent it to me this morning and I felt it was appropriate for this week!

My nephew is currently staying with my parents for a little while and he "promised Oma a snowman. However, the snow would not cooperate and so this cheeky little bugger greeted her on the windowsill this morning."

Be sure to check out what other unexpected photos others have posted.