where i’ve been; where i am; where i’m headed

Where I’ve been...

The boys and I went camping during the Labor Day weekend with some friends and had a blast. I’m not talking campers or lodges even though there were a ton of people all around us with campers. I’m talking tents, sleeping bags on the ground, sittin’ around the fire, the whole nine yards. The only thing we didn’t do was our business in the forest. The camp grounds had a shower/bathroom house for that sort of thing.

Red tent was for our friend Dave and his entourage. You could park a mini van in this tent it was so big.

These two tents were ours. Surprisingly Jose slept by himself in a tent (left). Cameron, Dh and I were in the other.

Just around our site.

Friday evening was spent setting up our site and the kids just messed around. Cameron didn’t know what to think, but he cozied up immediately to the idea of being outside all the time and was in heaven. Cameron is one brave baby. He wandered off twice; once in the dark. We had to find him with the flashlight which didn’t take long. He was behind our site with the campers. The next time he wandered off he was two sites down sitting on a child’s tricycle. Other than this, he kept wandering off like he was one of us. He just didn’t get it so that was frustrating, but lucky for us Dave and his girls were good about helping us.

My boots came in handy especially in the wee early mornings - glad I brought them.

The view from inside my tent.

It was so beautiful to pop our heads out from our tents in the morning and have these trees looming over us.

Our friend Dave had this hanging from a tree and the only thing that crossed my mind was, “Ahh, what do we need this for?” Dave is quite the outdoorsman so he had some excuse as to why he needed this butcher blade but I can’t remember what that reason was. If you knew Dave you’d understand – LOL.

The strangest mushrooms I had ever seen but so pretty - picture worthy in my opinion.

These little wooden bridges were spread out all through the trail - very cool.

We went for a mile hike the next day which was great. This was the first time I went on a hike and I really enjoyed myself. We saw all kinds of nature enticing sites, at least for me b/c I've never really done this before. I had a really nice time collecting acorns with Dave's daughter Devinee. We chatted and ooh'ed and ahh'ed over the size of some of those acorns (the squirrels must not have been doing their jobs). The kids played in the creek of course and I watched. I think it's true that it isn't so much what you're doing that is enjoyable but that the company we keep that make it so.

We had a good time...That is until Cameron had one of his meltdowns on the middle of the trail. [If you can click on the picture and enlarge it he has his mouth wide open letting all the wild know he's beyond pissed off.]

He decided he wasn’t going any farther. Dh had to carry him the rest of the way which was no easy task b/c Cameron wiggled like a worm the entire time. And wiggle is really an understatement.

Of course, here’s the happy camper once the hike was over ~ little rascal! At least we all survived.

Dh did a terrific job at keeping the fire going the whole time we camped. It even burned through the night enough that there was no flame going, but underneath the log embers were kept so that by morning he could throw another log on to reignite the flames. At one point Cameron decided since daddy was keeping the fire lit by throwing logs into the flame that his Blue Bear should help so in Blue Bear went. Blue Bear escaped with 3rd degree burns.

Somewhere….in a forest far, far away…Smokey the Bear is mourning Blue Bear’s injuries. We pulled him from the flames just in time before too much charring took place. We mended his injuries though and he continued to sleep with us in our tent even though he stunk to high heaven. BB made it home and Cameron continues to love him just the way he is – burnt and all.

We arrived Friday afternoon and left Monday morning. Each child got sick at least for a moment and I turned into Nurse Betty and a pretend mom but it was well worth it. I loved every minute of it and would do it again if I could. It rained our very last night which called for an extremely looooooooooooooooooooong night in our tents, but funny thing is that dh had his laptop (he was on-call for work) and we were able to watch some of Cameron’s cartoons – I know, not camping related, but welcome to 2009, right?

Not a fantastic picture, I know. Jose is being a weirdo and I'm taking the photo myself. Oh well...we're camping, what do you expect?!?! Glamour shots? :o)

Where I am...

Since I finished my Jane Austen sampler and she’s off getting framed I needed another sizeable design to stitch so I decided to begin a new one. Like I don't have enough WIPS...

I fell in love with Mayflower Landing and verse from Diane of Little House Needleworks. I believe I’m quite patriotic and the older I get the more my love grows for my country. US history intrigues me and I really want more pieces in my home that represent the homeland. I thought this design was very appropriate since it is about one of the earliest pieces of our history, and the colors are beautiful.

I changed the linen to 28 ct. Light Mocha instead of 32 ct. Putty, but I’m sticking to all the called-for threads which are a combination of Crescents and DMC. I started this a couple of days ago so it’s proving fun and fast. However, I’ve run out of DMC 3051 so I need to pick some up this evening when I’m at my LNS.

My mom is the sweetest mom in the universe. Right before the camping trip I received a piece of mail. It was the new Stacy Nash Merry Hallowe’en pinkeep book. My mom bought it for me. Isn’t she the sweetest???!!! I can’t wait to start one of these pinkeeps…and then the next and the next and the next. LOL

Where I’m headed…

This evening mom and I are attending moonlight stitching at our LNS with all our friends. I wasn’t able to attend the stitching night in August b/c my FIL was having his birthday on the same evening so I’m really looking forward to hanging with the girls and getting some stitching in. Good munching food too.

I know this is a long post but I haven’t been in the mood to do any daily blogging. Part of that is b/c my laptop is still out of commission so it’s difficult to sit at the actual PC and get anything done. Cameron has become awfully demanding these days and doesn’t allow it either. Plus, I've felt bottled up and preoccupied. Anyhoo...Talk soon!

plain jane...for now

So much has gone on in the last 7 days I don’t know where to begin. First, MY camera was mysteriously dropped and broken (I wonder which boy did it?). The lens is bent. I’m really bummed about this. My son, Jose, has a camera but it isn’t up to par with mine, but it’ll have to do which means I’ll have to settle b/c there is no new camera in my future. At least it’s something, right???

On a much, much, much brighter note I finished stitching The Sampler Girl’s On Travel with Jane Austen band sampler and I couldn’t be more thrilled. I finished stitching her several days ago but we’ve been camping since Friday so couldn’t really share until now. (More on that experience in another post.)

I used 32 ct Parchment and all but 3 of the called-for threads. I changed those to DMC and it worked just fine. Tanya did a fine job with her conversion. This was an enjoyable and relaxing stitch, I must say. If you’re hesitating, don’t. It’s worth every cross. I changed only one thing and used a satin stitch where crosses were present; oh and my initials too, but that’s it.

I started this design a couple of weeks after Tanya released it. I remember being so excited when it arrived. I started it within days, and I’m still excited now b/c just today I sent it off to the framer. My LNS was having a 75% sale off in-house frame molding. Now how can anyone pass that up??? That deal was a steal and I certainly stole it. I cannot wait to get Jane back all framed up. I can just see her now…hanging up on my wall…in all HER glory. Ahhhhhhh!!!!

Talk soon!



PS: Thank you everyone for all the birthday wishes to Cameron on his second birthday! I appreciate the warm wishes and thoughts. :o)

august wrap-up

I hate going this long without posting so I’ll just get on with it. First, where has August gone? Jose started school and is in his 3rd week already. I do feel much better about the bus and Jose walking to catch the cheese wagon. Cameron starts a session of speech therapy tomorrow and what a relief to have that underway. Now that Cameron is 2-years old I am going to put him in a mother’s day out program a couple days per week. I need the separation and he needs some social interaction with children his own age. Dh is still commuting to Birmingham for work half the week and the rest is still here in Nashville so nothing new there. August has been full of changes.

Speaking of changes…

Cameron turned 2 August 30! We kept things simple ~ no need for a huge production. We had dinner over at mom’s house. She bought a football themed cake which was fine by Cameron. He enjoyed it. He even blew out his own candles and he looked a little disappointed that the flame went out but he had fun anyways.

Saturday, Mom and I had a fun girlie day with our friends Sally and Susan at Sally’s house. We had such a lovely time. We were truly enchanted by her home – a very lovely place to be and hope that we may someday get to return. Thank you so much, Sally, for your hospitality. I can only speak for myself, but I so needed this little adventure away from the downtown and all those boys. It was a much anticipated relief.

I didn’t come empty handed either. I enjoy and love my friends so much that I brought hand made gifts. For Susan I stitched and assembled primitivebettys My Favorite Kitten pinkeep. I changed the model fabric to a 28 ct. Antique White linen b/c Susan’s newest kitty is white with blue eyes. The backing fabric is of cat faces and I added a mouse charm for the front. I didn’t take a picture of the finished kitten, but it was awfully sweet.

For Sally I stitched and framed The Sampler Girl’s Tea with Jane design released in 2007. Sally is a big time tea drinker and Janeite fan so this piece couldn’t have been more appropriate. I changed the colors to match her taste and stitched it on a gingham fabric and added a sweet golden tea bag charm to compliment.

This is NOT a visual tutorial (I'm not the expert believe me), but since this was my first framing job without glass and to make it “puffy” I had to share the steps I took to make it possible. I was extremely proud of myself. I know that my grandparents, who were extremely handy in this department, were looking down from the heavens pointing and proudly saying “that’s my granddaughter!”

my materials

lesson learned = leave more fabric around edge

first time pinning

first time lacing

What isn’t pictured is the sawtooth that I perfectly hammered into place and the two green soft spacers I placed in the lower corners. The whole thing was just so perfect. Susan thought I had it framed professionally and that was a huge compliment b/c I just played it by ear based on what I’ve read through all of you and what I've witnessed at my LNS, that’s all. Maybe I should start my own framing/finishing shop. LOL (not quite)

Anyway, the next news will be that my Jane Austen sampler will be complete. I am at the very, very bottom. I should be through with it this week and I’m extremely excited about it. Supposedly this Labor Day weekend we’re to go camping with our friend Dave so lots of planning to do there.

Talk soon!

nature

I have been stitching lately, but for some reason I’ve been preoccupied and have really no new progress to share. I think it’s my new meds. I’m really scatterbrained so no stitchy-pics with this post.

The other day Cameron and I were walking to the car and spotted this beautiful black and blue butterfly. Actually Cameron spotted it. :o) I didn’t have my camera with me so I dug out my cell phone and used it. The picture is awfully grainy but you should have seen this. It was a beauty. A very jet black with a shiny, royal blue ass tail end. It was really pretty.

I was at moms last week and saw this amazing spider web outside her breakfast nook. I had to see what kind of photos I could capture. I think not bad. It was HUGE. I searched for the host or hostess, but couldn’t find them. Looks like its seen a couple of battles though. There was a large gaping hole and a couple of small ones too. It was a sight to see.

Mother Nature is glorious, isn’t it? Except for those blasted mosquitoes!!! I despise those things. I received 11 bug bites this evening while I was cleaning out my car. Ugh!!!!!!!!! Talk soon!

lately

~ I watched the movie Emma (It was so-so.)
~ I watched the movie Pride & Prejudice (It was okay; disappointed in the abrupt ending
with no kissing between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy.)
~ I watched the movie Charlie Wilson’s War (It was funny and politically driven of
course, but funny.)
~ I charted my first cross stitch piece
~ I started drawing my second cross stitch design
~ Jose started 7th grade and it was difficult to watch him take the bus
~ Cameron passed his hearing test
~ we all had sushi for dinner and tried a new roll called Florida (yummy!)
~ I began an audio book called Tick Tock by Dean Koontz
~ my dh has been traveling and commuting a distance for work
~ I have made plans to visit with friends and mom this Saturday (yay!!!)
~ we finished getting school supplies
~ my parents’ mailbox was stolen; pole and all
~ I’ve had too many migraines; doc prescribed preventive medicine finally
~ Cameron and I watched a butterfly flutter around our patio
~ we’ve mostly stayed indoors b/c it is bloody hot outside
~ I went to my LNS to pick up some linen
~ I stitched on my JA sampler (what fun and almost done - I'm a poet :o)
~ I really miss my friends