Monday, 20 August 2012

Just a Tad Bit Behind

Whoa, I'm way behind on posting - guess I have a lot of catching up to do!  I'll start with this...

On June 29th, the Friday night before the boys left for their Philmont trip, our area was hit with a derecho - wind blowing like crazy and rain, rain, rain!  It didn't take long for the power to flicker... flicker... out it went.  We were watching cars go by our house, only to turn around again.  Once the storm had pretty much passed, we went out to the road to see the damage.  DH ended up having to get his chainsaw to remove one the trees further down the way.  Luckily, Nathan didn't wake up at all and slept through it.

The church picnic was cancelled the next day, take a look at the damage here.  Although they did sell some food and the white elephant and auctions were still open.  My MIL, Nathan and I went for a little bit and then headed to Wendy's for lunch, along with lots of other people without power! 

That afternoon, Nathan and I had planned to visit my gf in South Carolina and after hearing that our power might not come on until the middle of the week, I decided to follow through and get out of town - power or no power!
So off we went, in the heat of the afternoon.  What should have taken us just under two hours to get to Frederickburg, VA, ended up taking over four hours.  The traffic was terrible and I thought maybe we should stay there since it was already 7pm, but there were no rooms available since that area didn't have power either.  We drove on to our scheduled destination, outside of North Carolina - driving through a couple bad storms and finally arriving about ten... very tired!

The next morning, after sleeping in a little bit, we headed on our way again.  Bright skies and super hot, yea!  Along the way, wouldn't you know it, the AC in the car "froze" - it was only 104 degrees, who needs AC?!  After stopping for lunch at McDonald's (Nathan's favourite place, for the toys), it luckily started working again and stayed that way.

We arrived safely that afternoon, with a wonderful welcome from Karen and her three babies - here's two of them, Henry and Sadie.
Nathan was in heaven with the dogs since we are a cat family, he was very good with them and they all loved him!  They love their snuggles and are quite happy to give lots of kisses.

The next day, we headed out to a water park nearby.  Quite refreshing in the heat and Nathan had a blast!

 Our next adventure took us to the Children's Museum in Greenville.  I'm not sure who had more fun, Nathan or Karen!





She's studying to be a nurse - good practice!


 Our evenings were pretty relaxing, coloring and cross stitch = happiness for all!
Even Sadie wanted to be included!




And of course, the pups kept us entertained... Henry vs Emily!


 This is my most favourite picture, love it!!!

Nathan also got to "help" Karen in her garden.

And of course, play with sparklers!

On the way to her parents house one evening, we stopped at this store - I'm sure I heard something calling my name...

... and there was!  I think when I make them, I'm going to leave out the month and stitch just a bit of colour in it.

I hadn't seen Karen's parents in quite a while, so it was wonderful to see them again!  Her Dad was a firefighter for years and he's now teaching in the FD.  He's been in the FD for about 55 years or so and in the picture below, Nathan is wearing his chief's hat.  Can you tell he's a proud fireman?  I was very impressed with his collection and I hope he sends me a picture of it at Christmas when it's decorated.  If you can see the pictures above the cabinets, they are all fire trucks that Karen's Mom stitched for him.

So here we are in her Mom's craft room... amazing!  These are just some of the things she's made, in addition to her WIPs.  Not only does she stitch, but sews too - something I wish I liked to do! 

These are some of the pieces that she and Karen have made - loving the mermaids of course! 

Our last night there was the 4th, and we got to see fireworks in Karen's backyard, from the nearby park.  She had a shindig at her house, so I got to meet some of her friends and see her parents again.  Great evening! 

The following day, it was time to say goodbye until the next time.  Hoping that's sooner than later!  You were the most amazing hostess, thank you for such a memorable time!  Big hugs to you, Karen - we miss you and the pups, and can't wait to spend time with you again. ♥

Tuesday, 24 July 2012

July TUSAL and Hermitting

I'm not even going to show you a close-up of my glass, I didn't seem to add much to it this month.  Although I have been working on One Nation...
... it's been slow moving!  I wasn't able to stitch the whole weekend, but got in some stars.  The blue I'm using doesn't look anything like the picture, it looks much darker and I'm not sure which one I prefer.  Oh well, too late now!
 Guess DH will be getting this for his birthday NEXT year since I didn't finish it by the 20th, oops! 
 
I hope all of you are as relaxed as this little guy is this summer.  But I think the heat must have gotten to him!

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

Belated July WIPocalypse & Philmont


I've been taking a little break from my Trick or Treat Fairy, October is still three months away so I think I'll be fine.

I started this one earlier in the year and made a mistake - put it away because I just didn't feel like dealing with those darn frogs!  This was supposed to be DH's birthday present, but since his birthday is on the 20th, I don't think it will be for THIS year.

On June 30th, my three men headed off to New Mexico for two weeks on their Boy Scout trip to Philmont.  They hiked over 84 miles in about 10 days.  No showers and no toilets - no way I could have done that!  I'm very proud of them and missed them loads!  Nathan and I had our own adventures, that will be my next post.

At the airport
Sandia Peak
Mount Baldy
Finally home!
The crew
 
They came in late Sunday night and Garrett didn't even want to walk on the moving walkway!

And this is what I got to do today... clean these dirty, stinky, yucky, grimy, grungy, nasty smelling clothes.  So far so good, they're been washed twice with multiple cleaning products - two loads down, one in the machine.  What tricks do you have to get the stink out?  I'm sure this won't be the last time I'll have to do this!



WIPocalypse Full Moon dates for 2012:
January 9, February 7, March 8, April 6, May 5, June 4, July 3, August 1, August 31, September 29, October 29, November 28, December 28

Wednesday, 27 June 2012

Woodlawn & a cute Giveaway


Back of the house
Well, it's only been three weeks since DJ and I went to the Annual Needlework Exhibit at Woodlawn, so I thought it was about time I blogged about it. 
Hx - Woodlawn is a 126 acre estate that was originally part of George Washington's Mount Vernon.  At one time, a playwright lived there with 60 cats - that's about 58 too many!

The Smokehouse








 Unfortunately, they don't allow you to take any photos inside, but they did have some amazing needlework.
To see DJ's side of the story, check this out.


 
We enjoyed lunch there and it was a good thing we got in line early, it was super busy.  We both ordered the salad and it was fantastic, I think I could eat that every day.
Of course it wasn't really lunch unless we had dessert, so DJ got the chocolate cake and surprise, surprise, I got the lemon tart - both were very yummy!

Blackberry bushes near the gate.
 
After hearing so much about In Stitches, I finally got to go.  They didn't have the pattern I saw at the exhibit that I liked, but it was packed with so many other goodies!  Already looking forward to going again next year but hopefully we won't get "lost" on the way home - road work and GPS do not go together!

Now for the giveaway info - please visit Parley at her blog for her Paws and Stripes Giveaway.  I love her blog, you never know what she's going to post about!
If I don't win it, I think I might just have to get it anyway!




Wednesday, 20 June 2012

June TUSAL, Hermitting and a BDay!

Not much to show for this month, a bit of glitter green from the pumpkin stems is about it.  My glass is next to the new Swarovski dragon I received from my mother-out-law for my birthday - it's it fantastic?!  Even though I've been trying to get rid of clutter in the house, I could never have enough dragons!

As for my IHSW, I didn't get anything done, but I did pull out my TOT Fairy to show my SIL- does that count?!  I did buy some new patterns though.  I saw Glory while at the Woodlawn Needlework exhibit (more on that on my next post).  Unfortunately, they didn't have the pattern at the nearby store, but Denise was sweet enough to let me know about Lynn's Busy Needle.  She was very friendly and super quick - I actually need to send her an email thanking her!
 I also found Let's Sew, which I can think of a couple people to make this for - you know, in my spare time!


The gmen actually made my birthday cake this year, and did a great job!  I decided I wanted something other than a lemon cake, so I chose chocolate/orange instead... yummy!  The icing was very just a little runny, but very tasty orange flavoured.

  I was very blessed to have friends and family join me throughout the day, so nice to have it on a Saturday!  Old friends and a stitchy friend, can you spot DJ?!
Not sure how next year is going to work, my birthday will be on Father's Day - guess the boys will be pretty busy spoiling us both!
 

Sunday, 17 June 2012

Late June WIPocalypse & 8th Grade Grads!


Well, I've done the pumpkins, just very slow working on the vines and webs.  I haven't been stitching very much, life seems to have gotten in the way!  I think I needed a break from her anyway, just not sure how long it will last.  My goal is to have her finished and framed by October, so I still have some time to put her aside... at least for a little bit.
 
After eight years at St. Louis School, our gmen graduated in the beginning of June.  The graduation ceremony and reception was very special and just seeing all those kids dressed up was amazing.  They all seemed so much older than 14!
Their graduation gift was finally getting mobile phones... they said they were the last of their friends to get one!  We always knew where they were and didn't want them to have the distraction.  DH wanted to get them a smart phone and luckily, they didn't want one - I know I didn't think they needed one!  Within two days, there were 1900 texts and only about 17 were mine.  Guess they found all their friends!

After the ceremony and reception.
Four generations!

The godparents - to all three boys!

My brother and four of his five kids.

My boys!

The very proud parents!






So much more going on, but that will have to be in another post.  Hopefully sooner than later!



WIPocalypse Full Moon dates for 2012:
January 9, February 7, March 8, April 6, May 5, June 4, July 3, August 1, August 31, September 29, October 29, November 28, December 28