It's May!

What a morning.  Lianne fell down the stairs - I don't think it was many - but she's now very cautious on the bottom 3 steps.  Thankfully - she doesn't appear to have sustained any injuries.  She might have some bruises - but nothing serious.  She demanded that we continue with our plan to go to the park - and on the way, she ran, walked & jumped and then played in the sand with a little boy & then we went for a longer walk to get my various aches & pains worked out.  She's now upstairs "resting" - which in her case means making a huge mess in her room.

My work on "Peacock" for my sister is going well.  It actually looks like a peacock :-)  I should have pictures soon.  After taking out the part of the sleeve I was working on for "Celtic Spring" - it's going well.  Slow but sure.

I have finally finished "Downton Abbey" season 3 - SPOILER ALERT - I cannot believe that they killed off Lady Sibyl and Matthew!!!!  Seriously!  Oddly enough, the part of the series that affected me the most was when Ethel gave up little Charlie to his grandparents.  Lianne was playing on the floor and all I could imagine was how hard it must have been for Lianne's birth mother to give her up.  I try not to think about it too much, it does tend to make me so sad.  I owe her such a huge debt - she gave up her daughter so I could have the most wonderful little girl to love & raise.  So I related the most to her - giving up her child so that he could have a better life.  But enough of my tears on that subject.  I do love the series - watching the old world change into the "modern" world, watching the women on the series step up & start to become more "modern".  I have to say, I do love watching Lord Grantham watching his mother, wife & daughters taking on his old fashioned world view & turning it all on it's head - especially when they were all being served in a house where the cook used to be a prostitute.  Talk about women sticking together :-)  The clothes are so beautiful.  I've always wanted a Tudor style dress - one styled on the ones like Anne Bolyen wore in the miniseries - but where on earth would I wear that!  Now a dress in the Downton Abbey style - I could wear that today.  So now I must sit & wait for them to film season 4 & show it in the UK & then in the US before I can buy it and watch it.  In the meantime - I have been re-reading a very cool series of books by Laurie R. King - it's her Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series.  Now, for true Holmes fans - it might not be your cup of tea - but she does spin a great tale.  It's also grand to think of him being married to a mental "equal".  I recommend them to anyone.

I must go now - and see if Lianne is napping as I instructed.  Don't worry - I'm not holding my breath - LOL!

I finished Celtic Christmas

Hi,

I had a rough week last week - a very bad migraine - the worst for a while.  Thankfully I'm doing better.  I actually enjoyed the burn at the gym today.  I must be feeling better if that's the case - I don't enjoy the gym at all.

In spite of the pain, I managed to complete my big project called "Celtic Christmas".  Here are some pictures:

Then our computer died so we had to buy a new one.  I'm slowly fumbling my way through learning it - this is my first posting and it's not 1/2 bad.

I'm off to pick up Lianne.

Celtic Christmas

Hi!

I have made great progress in my Celtic Christmas project.  Until last night - when I accidentally dumped my beads over & lost some of my burgundy ones.  Sigh.  Now to find replacements.

This is my first big beading project.  I hope it turns out well.  I prefer the beads to the metallic floss anyday!!!

I'm also reading a book from the library - it's called "Crossing the Borders of Time" by Leslie Maitland.  It's about her mother's escape from Europe in WWII and her life afterwards.  I'm about 1/2 way through.  I recommend it.

Well, I'm off to watch Season 2 of Downton Abbey & try and find beads.

Stephanie

Hi!

I finished my friend Tracy's daughter's cross-stitch - yeah!  I even took pictures - however, the battery on my camera ran out & I don't have a charger.  And I used up my portion of the minutes of data (looking at pinterest - LOL!) on my super fancy cell phone & I don't have a USB to hook the phone up to my computer to download the pictures.  Sigh......I'm so un-tech savvy it's not funny! 

I was down with a migraine for most of the weekend.  I slept a lot and I read a lot.  Poor Jeff had to be Mama & Daddy to Lianne - who was not appreciative of his efforts.  She can be such a pill some days!  So sweet and then so nasty.  She is totally my daughter - no doubt about that :-)

With all the news about the discovery of Richard III's body in England - I have been re-reading some of my favorite books about him.  My favorite book is "Sunne in Splendor" by Sharon Kay Penman.  I think that "Sunne in Splendor" along with her book called "Here be Dragons" are some of my favorite books.  I can re-read them over & over again and never seem to find them dull.  I then found out that BBC/Starz has turned Phillipa Gregory's book "The White Queen" into a 10 part series - yeah!  I have no idea when it will end up here in Canada, but I'm very excited.  I have been re-reading Phillipa Gregory's Cousins War series - "The White Queen", "The Red Queen", "The Lady of the Rivers" and "The Kingmaker's Daughter".  I know that she has a lot of detractors - but I love her fiction!  Everyone needs a little historical fiction in their lives sometimes - LOL!  I think my next choice once I have finished with "The Kingmaker's Daughter" that I'm going to read Anne Easter Smith's book on Richard - it's "A Rose for the Crown". 

I've also started a new Steve Berry novel - "The Columbus Affair" - what a great story so far!  Columbus hid the treasure from the 2nd temple in Jerusalem in Jamaica.  Who knew :-)  It's like an episode of Decoded!  The thing I found most interesting was the link between this book and a show on H2 called America Unearthed - he did a show last week on the hooked X that has been found on rocks, etc scattered throughout America & how he thinks it's linked to the Knights Templar.  What shows  up in "The Columbus Affair" but a hooked X!  I love it when that happens :-)

Well, I'm off.  I have to measure my bookshelves so I can find some baskets for Lianne's books/toys tonight to make more room on the shelves for my things!

New Bookmarks

Hi!

Wow - raising a 3 year old is tougher than a 2 year old.  At least when she was 2 she couldn't yell back at me - but as a 3 year old - she can scream with the best of them :-)  Today was temper tantrum day.  Everything I said to her generated a huge fit.  Sigh.  I know she will outgrow this - but I wish it was sooner rather than later.

I have managed to make some bookmarks - yeah!  They are all from a very great stitching book by Sandy Orton called "Hold that Thought".  They are $20 each - the sock  monkey and the haiku are already sold - but I can totally make new ones.  Enjoy!

I apologize for the blurry images - I'm still learning my phone camera :-)

I'm also working on a project I started 2 years ago when my friend Tracy's daughter, Sierra, was born.  I think I might get it finished before her 2nd birthday!  I also have been going through a stash of stitching items that I inherited - our pastor's wife's aunt has developed macular degeneration and can no longer stitch.  I would hate to learn I could no longer stitch - it's one of the few ways I have to relax and unwind.  Of course, Jeff would argue that the cursing that comes from my mouth when I have to unpick a piece isn't so relaxing - LOL!

Well, I'm off to work on Sierra's present - I did one for LiLi just like it - I'm so happy I'm on the backstitching portion.  I then hope to finish a piece called "Celtic Christmas" that I began about 2 years ago, too.  I'll try & take pictures tomorrow.  It should be gorgeous - my favorite color, burgundy - and it has beading - a new skill for me.

Trials & Tribulations of Potty Training

Lianne has been really testing me lately.  We started potty training her family day weekend.  She has the pee in the potty thing down - but she decided on Wednesday that she didn't want to pee in the potty anymore.  Sigh.  Back to square one.  And forget about poo in the potty - she comes to me & says "Mama, need diaper to poo".  Karma really kicks you in the butt sometimes - I was a late trainer & I think LiLi will be, too.  Too bad I have to go all "bad" cop on her - she starts JK in September & I need her trained by then.

My stitching is slowly progressing.  I'm currently working on a sock monkey bookmark - it's turning out to be pretty cute.

Off to stitch

Stephanie

Hi

After a long absence - I am back.  I am working on a series of bookmarks for sale - for children and for adults.  I hope to have them finished this weekend so that I can post the pictures.

I found a great new site - it's for Chinese embroidery.  Now that I'm home again full-time, I hope to use some of the techniques in my own stitching.  Here is the link - http://www.marlamallett.com/forbidden_stitch.htm.

I hope to update my blog on a regular basis from now on.  LiLi is keeping me busy - but she still naps for a couple of hours every day :-)

Stephanie