It's cold outside!

The weather is turned and we are looking at a lot of cold precipitation for the next week. Yesterday I managed to get the yard mowing finished and it looks like that was a good idea. The best thing about the mower is that it sucks up the leaves and mulches them up. No raking! As much as I enjoy the wood stove burning inside, and the cozy feeling that brings, I do miss the sunshine and playing outside.

Work last week was really slow and I was able to do house stuff. This evening we are replacing some outdoor lights that are in bad shape and I'll be finishing up an ornament later. The stitching is all done, now I just have to do the assembly and finishing work. That's the not-so-fun part. This ornament will be for the EGA Christmas exchange. Then I need to stitch two more for family gifts and I'll be done for the year. I'll see if the mood hits and start working on an ornament for JCS. There's no guarantee that they'll ask me, it's always an honor when they do, but I'd like to be prepared with something special. Just in case :-)

Hubby has a five day weekend (woohoo!) and this means a very special treat for me - stitch group! The local yarn/needlework shop has a Thursday morning stitch group and I miss them terribly. It has been months since I was able to spend time with them and it will be great to catch up with them all. They embraced me when we moved up here and have been very supportive and encouraging. It will be refreshing to have some adult time with them. When my mom lived here she would babysit each Thursday and I would get to enjoy their friendship. It was good. On Saturday is an EGA ornament class and it's an all day event. Again, the ladies have been wonderful and made me feel so welcome. Lately I have had so little time to stitch I am going through withdrawals. I hope to enjoy the cold winter nights with a cup of tea in one hand and needle and thread in the other.

We survived

The online show was a blast. I met quite a few new shops, my inventory mostly held, and I really enjoyed the busyness for the week. I'm also really enjoying the peacefulness of this week. It's the calm after the storm and I even read a book! I just finished up "Against All Odds" by Irene Hannon. It was a very fast read and kept me wanting to turn the pages. I love books like that! With the weather turning colder I hopped back on the treadmill and consider this to be my reading time. Christian fiction is a venue that I enjoy and I especially enjoy the mysteries and thrillers.

The chimney is being cleaned out right now so we will be able to use the wood burning stove this year for heat. I haven't used a fireplace in at least eight years and am looking forward to how cozy it makes the house and how much it will save on the heating bill this year. The neighbors took down some dead trees a couple of months ago and let us have the wood if we hauled it off.

Stitching time has been non-existent. I need to stitch up an ornament for the EGA exchange and I might cheat and bring in the one that was in the Just Cross Stitch ornament preview issue. As much as I'd love to keep it on our tree I honestly doubt I'll have time to stitch and finish an ornament before the exchange on December 1st. I have been making oodles of marking pins and needle threaders to get inventory back up to reasonable levels. Those have been fantastic sellers in the past month, they're great Christmas gifts, and the shops are really stocking up.

The reading program for the munchkin has been going well. She is a lover of books and I want to encourage that as much as possible. We bumped her back a level on the reading lessons and are working on building her confidence. The lessons are a bit easy, letter sounds, letter shapes, and rhyming words, but she is hungry to work on it each day and it's good reinforcement. We still encourage her to read each day with us, but it's not as structured as the original curriculum.

Now it's time to get dinner going and make sure the chimney sweep is still safe on the roof.

And a second post!

I figured out how to get back in to post an update! I think that feat deserves an extra cookie at lunch today.

Lots to do today. The online show starts in a few hours and the printer broke. This is not a happy thing, but it seems to happen every couple of years, right before the show. The project I didn't want to have to do - find a new printer - will be the chore for this afternoon. We have a dentist appointment and then will get that errand done.

This morning we started a phonics reading program and the munchkin read her first book! She has memorized books in the past, 'reading' them from memory, but this time she actually read the words!!! We had to call grandma and let her know about our excitement and read the story over the phone. It has been an exciting morning already. Tomorrow we have friends coming over for a play date and that means I have to do the most dreaded task in the world. Dust.

If you aren't familiar with the online needlework show then pop on over to www.needleworkshow.com and check it out! It's a wholesale trade show that has a public viewing section. You can browse through the 'booths' from the comfort of your own home and then make a wish list for your local shop owner to fulfill. It's a LOT of fun. There are door prizes, goodie bags, games, and oodles of new designs to look through!

And so it begins

I only recently learned how to text message, and doubt that I could repeat that without an instruction manual, so venturing into the world of blogging will be an interesting journey. My friends joke that I'm being dragged into the world of technology, mostly kicking and screaming, but I look forward to the new world that it opens up.

The weather is starting to turn cold and I am looking forward to hot chocolate and smores made outside in the fire pit. Thankfully there won't be much weed pulling to do for the next few months and I hope to get a lot of indoor projects done. There's always stitching to do, but I would really like to paint the mouldings throughout the house. That is the one major project that I was not able to complete before we moved in, and it's one that is desperately needing to be done.

Work life is in a good place. New releases just came out, two charts (Plant Flowers and Think on These Things), a new needle threader accessory (a great little doohickey that everyone should have), and several new fobs (Swarovski crystals are the greatest). The time spent creating is always enjoyable. The online needlework show starts next week and I'm excited about that. It's a whirlwind of activity, a week of insanity, and then a return to life as normal.

One highlight to the week is that my new Gingher scissors arrived. The Elena scissors are eclectic and bold, like a brightly colored Monet painting. The fob I created to match it is called "Monet's Dragon", with the most adorable little dragonfly charm! I'm slightly addicted to the shiny metal beauties and am only missing one pair in my collection: Emilia. I have been hunting for these for years! A dear, dear friend let me borrow her pair for website pictures, and it was a treat to see them in person.