Giveaway winner!

Hi!

Just a quick post (do not roll your eyes at me, I can do this!)  to let you know that a winner was chosen today by Adam.  We were chatting on Facebook and I asked him to choose a number between 1 and 22.  He chose #8.

 And the winner is.....


PHYLLIS!!!

Congratulations Phyllis!  Near as I can tell Phyllis does not have a blog.  So Phyllis, I will be emailing you shortly.   Thanks everyone for participating!  

A novel, stitching and a giveaway

Hello!


Long time no blog.  I've discovered that the longer a person waits to blog the harder it is to blog again.  Thoughts run through your mind and you can't decide whether you should spill everything that has happened over the course of the 6 weeks of silence or pretend you haven't been absent and just jump in with both feet.  Or perhaps you try for middle of the road and just hit the highlights.  I have a hard time with the middle of the road part, I tend to be an all or nothing person. Just jumping in doesn't feel right to me and writing a short novel on the perils and pitfalls of life in the McConnell household could send what followers I still have running for cover!  So once again here I sit trying to decide how to proceed.   After pondering for a bit I think I will just write what comes to mind and see what happens.


When last I blogged, we were trying to get the guest bathroom repaired and put back together before Adam and Marcia arrived.  This turned out to be a complete nightmare.  I'll try to be brief...eta: Ha!  like that will ever happen!


1.   Plumber arrives to replace tub.  Cuts old tub out, installs new tub.  Informs us that it wasn't actually the tub   that was leaking.  Toilet just needed re-seating.  Too late now! I just love throwing away money on things that don't need doing.


2.    New tub makes weird noise when you step into it and wobbles a bit.
3.    Tile guy came out, measures, will get us an estimate but can't do anything until the problem with the tub is fixed.


4.    Call plumber, they come out, tub must be replaced.

5.    Dan and I go order our chosen tile.  OUT OF STOCK ~ 10 weeks till it would come in.  
6.    Choose 8 different tiles to bring home over the course of the next couple of days.
7.    Only 1 of the 8 is in stock but it is 3 times the cost of the one we wanted. Can't do it.
8.    Plumber installs 2nd new tub.

After 2nd tub installed

9.    Try yet another different place for tile, find one similar to original, all in stock.  YEAH!!
10.  Call tile guy with new tile sizes.  Wait for estimate.
11.  Call tile guy again.  Still waiting for estimate.
12.  3 days later and still no estimate.  Call another friend who has a tile guy she likes.
13.  New tile guy calls (we'll refer to him as A), comes out and gives estimate on the spot. Says his brother (we'll refer to him as B) will do the actual job.  When asked if  B was any good was told better than A, has done it more.  Great!


14.  Flooring installation gets pushed back.  Just can't deal with both the bathroom and the kitchen.   Installation of tile begins.  I do not look at progress as I want to be surprised.  Take it from me...don't wait.


15.  Tile guy finished, wants money.  Leave work to come home and inspect the job and get a sick feeling in my stomach.  Refuse to pay tile guy.  Call friend that recommended  tile guy and ask if she can come look at it to see if I am being too picky.  Head back to work.


16.  Return from work to find shower covered in pink sticky notes pointing out all the bad spots.  Seems I am not being too picky.   Discover that toilet is leaking again, this time from the seal on the tank.  My guess is B had a hand in breaking the seal.  Has leaked through to the kitchen ceiling.  Good thing we hadn't repaired it yet.  Dan bought a new seal and got it fixed when he came home that evening.  


17.  Partner of A comes out (we'll refer to him as C) to inspect the job and collect money.  I tell him we have a problem and show him the shower.  After looking it over thoroughly, he asks us what parts we could live with and what we would need to absolutely have fixed.  There was no way to fix it completely without a complete tear out and we are now 4 days away from Adam and Marcia's arrival.  C also informs us that this was B's first solo job.  Really?  News to us since we were told he was experienced.  I could spend a lot of time on what went on here but you don't need all the gory details.  Suffice to say we agreed on what needed fixing and C supervised while B fixed, this took another 2 days.  They did not reduce their fee. At this point I just want them gone so I paid them and showed them the door.  

New tile

The tiles have a metallic sheen to them and in certain lights you can see the blue that you see in the picture.  I am thinking of painting the walls a pale shade of the blue. 


18.  Called the plumber the day before Adams arrival to finish the installation of the faucets. Shower is now usable.  But no time to paint or make it look like nice.  Walls are beat to crap from the repair of the tile.


As if this was not enough to deal with, during this time period my father also had surgery and as a result of the surgery he had pneumonia.   He's fine now.   The air conditioner broke, got it fixed.  Dan had to replace 2 tires on his car.  Dan is also working on replacing all the woodwork on the main floor including the doors (bathroom, laundry room, basement and hall closet).  He managed to get 3 of the 4 doors replaced before the arrival of Marcia and Adam.  Still no molding though.  Another incident during this time involved the piano tuner.  I pissed him off but good.  We had scheduled the piano for a tuning and a cleaning back in January but if you will remember that far back, Gracie was ill at the time and I couldn't afford it so I needed to re-schedule and it was June before he could come at a time I could be here.  Normally he gives me a call to remind me he's coming the next day only he didn't and with everything that was going on it just wasn't on my radar.   So when the doorbell rang I was just about to head to work.  I answered it and when I opened the door and saw him I said shit!    I explained that I was on my way out and besides, you couldn't get to the piano due to all the boxes that Abby had piled up around the piano, because the other thing that was happening during this time was Abby moving out. She had boxes packed and piled up all over the house.  It was a mess!!   He tried to tell me he could crawl over and around the boxes to do the tuning.  And maybe he could have but here's the thing.  The.dude's.blind.  Literally.  I did not need a lawsuit because he fell and hurt himself.  So I said I was really sorry that I had forgotten, explained about my dad's surgery being the day before and how I must have missed his reminder call.  He admitted to not calling and tried to tell me he never gives me a reminder call (total lie on his part).  Then I explained again about  the boxes, my not needing him to get hurt crawling around  etc. and that it just wasn't going to happen that day.  He took an attitude with me and demanded I pay him the full amount for the tuning.  By this time I was angry and said fine I'll give you a check how much do you want, he tells me and then says he'll apply part of it to the bill when he comes to do the tuning.  I told him that wouldn't be necessary as I would find another tuner, he started huffing and puffing and then finally left.  So now I have to find a new piano tuner.  My bad.


Adam and Marcia arrived on a Tuesday and that next week was spent cooking, cooking and more cooking.  We got to know Marcia a bit better and I think she had a better impression of Nebraska than she got back in January.  She and Adam make a cute couple and it's obvious that they love each other very much.  I might not like the fact that he lives in D.C. but I'm happy that he's happy.  

Adam and Marcia

As for the last 2 weeks that I haven't blogged, blame it on procrastination.  Decompressing from the month before or just plain laziness on my part.  Take your pick.  


Other random bits from the time of silence:


Amy got a black eye.  I'm not supposed to say how it happened, let's just say Amy v. Shampoo bottle.  Shampoo bottle won!

Abby and Jordan broke up.  He needed space.  She is coping as well as can be expected.  


Dan's mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, has had her surgery and is doing well.  Prognosis good. 


Dan picked up some contract work with his old employer.  The extra money will be nice. 


Work has been busy but not as busy as it has been which is good.  I can almost see a light at the end of the tunnel.  I've had an idea for our Spring retreat but am still pondering it a bit.  Trying to flesh it out so to speak.  And I've done some stitching. Not as much as I might have liked but still progress is being made.  


My parrot's tail feathers are almost done now.  That leaves just some flowers and leaves.

I've worked on Coverlet Houses some more.

I started this design from Jeanette Douglas, the name escapes me at the moment and it's a chore to climb over all the furniture to find the pattern right now.

I started and finished this design on July 4th.  It's from Threadwork Primitives and I'll make it into a pillow one of these days. 

And finally I have pulled the floss for one of my HAED's.  I'm missing a few skeins though and I have to wait for the silk gauze to arrive.  Yes, that's right, I'm thinking of doing it on 40ct silk gauze.  Insane I know but I want to at least try it.    


Also taking place right now as we speak, or as I type is probably more correct...the tear out of the kitchen floor.  They sent only one man.  At the rate he is moving it will be winter before he's done.  In truth he is supposed to be done sometime Friday. 

And that my friends catches you up on the time of silence.  I tried to keep it as short as possible but it's still a short novel in my opinion.  I hope those that stayed with me till the bitter end thought it was worth it.  And as a reward for sticking with me through the time of silence I am going to have a giveaway for one of my Scissor Beak Birds.  Just the bird, it does not come with the scissors or the thread.  It will arrive naked.  You may  have a choice of which bird you prefer should you be the winner.   

There are a few simple rules to follow.  


1.  You must be a follower
2.  You must leave a comment on this thread only.  Leave a name and a contact email if you can not be reached through a blog. 


3.  You will have 48 hours to respond to the email I will send you informing you of your win, if I do not hear from you by then I will choose a new winner.


4.  The giveaway will end next Wednesday the 18th of July.  


That's all.  Not too difficult to figure out.  Thanks for reading and commenting and hanging in there with me!


Take care till next time!


Julie

Life and Stitching

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  Ours was busy as we have somewhere in the neighborhood of a million projects going on right now and all of them need to be finished before Adam and his girlfriend arrive in 2 weeks.  One of the projects that was forced upon us was the replacement of the moulded fiberglass tub/shower combo in the hall/guest bath.  Something caused a crack in the tub which is in turn causing water to leak into the ceiling of the kitchen leaving water spots all over it.  Can't leave it go or we'll get mold growing and rotting wood and then the ceiling will fall down and and and...well you get the idea.  The plumbers will be here on Wednesday to replace the tub but we are opting to have a porcelain tile surround this time.  Have you ever tried to get a tile guy to do tile in a short amount of time??  I had a guy come out tonight to give us a bid but he isn't making any promises as to when he can get to it. This is not good since 6 of us trying to get ready in one bathroom is not my idea of a good time!  We'll make it work if we have to but I don't want to have to.

We have finally come to an accord with the Furniture mart regarding our kitchen flooring.  They're going to be here a week from Wednesday to remove the defective floor, level it the way it should have been leveled in the first place and then lay the same type of  floor as what we have now.  I'm not completely happy with this outcome but at least it won't cost us another $500.00-$1000.00.  This will be a 3 day process and it had better go without a hitch or there will be some serious hurt happening at the Mart.

In my last post I alluded to some other charts that have come into my possession in the last couple of weeks. HA!  Doesn't that make it sound like I inherited them or picked them up on the side of the road somewhere? That's not really how it happened but that's just between you and me and the fence post, Dan doesn't need to know.  Anyway, one of these recently acquired charts is Coverlet Houses from The Scarlet House.

I'm stitching it on 40ct. French Vanilla linen using Carries Creation Silks in Rusty Nail,  Tiger Eye and Multi Grain.  The colors are not as dark as what it looks in my picture.

When I saw this chart I knew it would be perfect with my new bedding.  I decided quite some time ago that I needed to get some bedding I could wash.  Kallie sheds all over my current comforter and she licks her feet while laying on it so it gets all goobery and the darn thing has to be dry cleaned.  It hasn't actually been on the bed for a year.  So I've been looking for a washable bedspread or coverlet at a price I didn't mind paying if it didn't hold up with repeated washings.  I happened upon a sale at Kohl's a while back and found an ivory coverlet with the shams and by the time I used a  couple of coupons it only cost me just over $50.00 for the King size set.  Here's a pic from the Kohl's website.

I'll share pictures of the actual room once  I've got it all stitched and the room put together.  It'll be a while before the stitching is finished since I'm devoting most of my time to stitching my parrot.  

Speaking of my parrot, here's an update on him. I love this piece!!  The colors are to die for and Dan says it's his favorite thing I have ever stitched.

That's all Folks!  I'm going to go stitch the evening away and watch some mindless TV.

Take care till next time!

Julie

 

Insanity

The Dictionary defines the word insanity as:

in-san-i-ty
noun, plural in-san-i-ties

     the condition of being insane:  a derangement of the mind.

     Psychiatry
       a.   extreme foolishness;  folly; senselessness; foolhardiness;
       b.   a foolish or senseless action, policy, statement, etc.

Ben Franklin described it like this:

     Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

Julie, why are you looking up the definition of insanity?  It's because I think I have a problem.  No...I know I have a problem.  And it's becoming somewhat more obvious to me and to those around me.  Especially in the last 2 weeks or so.  I have tried to justify this issue  by saying it was someone else's doing but I have to able to look myself in the mirror every day and by blaming Doreen I was really not able to do that.  Although I do believe she was a trigger, even if she wasn't aware that she was a trigger.  I did however inform her of this at the time and instead of telling me she thought I should seek help, she just laughed.   One should never laugh at a person teetering on the edge.  It only tips them over that edge they were teetering on and puts them into full blown  I.N.S.A.N.I.T.Y.

It all started on a perfectly normal day.  I was talking to Doreen and we were having a lovely conversation about life and in the middle of this conversation she informs me that Heaven and Earth Designs was having a  sale.  A 50% off sale.  And she had purchased 2 charts during this sale.  I replied with enthusiasm and she said the sale is still going on.  Really?  I'll have to check it out I answered.  Now keep in mind, I had managed to avoid HAED's website for quite some time after the 12 Dancing Princesses debacle and if I wasn't mentally off I would have never even thought of going there again.  After all, it would be extreme foolishness to do so since I swore I would never buy one of those charts ever, ever again.  But Doreen's words just hung there in my head.  Taunting me.  So throwing caution to the wind, I trip trapped tripped over the computer keys and landed on HAED's website, signed myself in and went to look at the charts Doreen had bought.  Cute charts D!  At this point I should have backed slowly and quietly out of the website so that it didn't know I was ever there.  But NOOOOOO, I had to have a little look see while I was there and before I knew it I had charts in my shopping cart.  Not 1 chart....not 2 charts...hell, not even 3 charts.  No, not me...I had FOUR, count 'em FOUR charts in  that shopping cart.  And then a miracle happened, the promo code Doreen had given me didn't work!  The sale had ended and I was not going to pay full price for these charts.  I was able to breathe a deep sigh of regret mixed with a healthy dose of relief and leave the site without completely losing my sanity.  But the thought of those charts was now embedded deeply in my brain and last week when I received an email (because of course I signed up for email notifications while I was there before) that they were having a Memorial Day sale, the voices in my head started whispering to me.  And they got louder with every passing minute.  And I was weak and signed back in and put those charts back in my cart.  And then I sat there, staring at the computer screen, finger hovering over the buy now button.  When Dan walked over half an hour later I was still there, wrestling with myself.  Why would I buy these charts that I will probably never ever ever stitch?  What is wrong with me???? You have 2 of them downstairs in the basement, taunting you every time you go down there!  So why would anyone in their right mind buy more?????  And then it hit me.  I'm not in my right mind.  I can't be.  No sane person does this.  And then Dan asks me what I'm doing.  And I tell him I'm trying not to push the buy now button.  And he asks what I'm trying not to buy.  And I tell him.  And I show him the first chart.

Bellezza Fiero

And he thinks it's cool.

I show him the second chart and he screws up his face and says what the the heck is it?  I see Satan!  Why are you buying a chart of Satan??  And I say it's a horse you idiot!  And he says I don't see a horse, I see Satan.

Equus

So I show him the 3rd chart and he says that it's pretty.

Garden of Delight

And finally I show him the last one and he thinks it's awesome and wants to know why I'm hesitating.

Sanctuary of Knowledge

So I tell him my dilemma and he says, if you like them and they are on sale you should buy them. I feel the blood drain our of my face and my eyes grow round and I'm like...are you serious?  He nods his head yes and in an effort to maintain some small grasp on my sanity I prolong the agony with a discussion on whether I should I buy the hard copy or the PDF download version.  And he says, do you save money with the PDF and I say, well there isn't any shipping then and he says go with the PDF and then and BAM!!!  My finger hits buy now and before I know it I have downloaded all 4 onto a memory stick.  And the voices in my head are laughing manically and I know I am lost.  And the next day when Dan came home he had all 4 printed out and in binders.  He set them gently on the table and said...you do know you will never live long enough to finish one of these charts, much less 4 of them.  Do you know how many pages each of these things has????  What were you thinking??

I look at him and give him a sickly grin, shrug my shoulders, shake my head and admit that I have a problem.  They say that's the first step to recovery right?  Admitting I have a problem?  Only that doesn't seem to have helped.  Because in the last week I have acquired 3 more charts.  Not on the scale of the HAED's but still charts and I have a list, a long and growing list of other's that I need, that I want, that I am lusting after.  And the voices are not getting quieter.  So if I disappear suddenly, you'll know that Dan has had me committed.  Do you think they'll let me stitch at the funny farm??

I'll update you on my stitching progress in my next post.  This one has gotten a bit long.  And thanks everyone for the get well wishes from last time.  I'm feeling better but am still a snotty mess with a nasty cough.  At least I have my voice back.  Dan came down with it too and is just now starting to feel a tad better.  It's nasty, that's for sure!

Take care till next time!

Julie        

Pics from Last Saturday Stitching

Happy Hump Day everyone!  Wednesday is my day off and I am celebrating it by being sick!  It sounded like so much fun but turns out it really just sucks all over the place.  I figure this is my punishment for being social this past weekend and going to 3 graduation parties.  I should know better by now.  Stay home...stay healthy.  Go out...get sick.  But enough about that.  Let's move on to better things.  Fun things.  Stitchy things.

A couple weeks back I snapped  pictures of some of the projects being stitched by our stitcher's at the shop.  Thought you might enjoy seeing what they're working on.  Lotsa talent in this group!

We'll start with Jane and Sandy.  They are a mother/daughter duo.  It must be nice to be able to share a hobby with a mom or a daughter.  I'm a tad bit envious.  They brought their Whitman Tins in to show the group as they had just finished them.  Soooo cute!  Sandy said the finishing took a while but I think it was worth it.

Then we have Joyce.  I've heard a rumor she has since finished this beautiful piece but don't hold me to that one.  It's just a rumor at this point.  This is a chart from The Sampler Company.  Can't remember the name right now and I really don't feel like looking it up...sorry, I'm fading fast here.  I have this one on my I need to stitch this list.  It is gorgeous in person!!!!

Next up is Roxy.  Roxy loves to stitch on tiny count fabrics like 40ct and up.  I'm okay with the 40 ct but when I hear 55ct I tend to hyperventilate a bit.  Roxy assures me that it's really not that bad.  But we're talking about the lady that's stitching one of the Hawk Run pieces (the exact one escapes me at the moment) on 40 ct silk gauze over one.  Do we really believe she knows what she's talking about? LOL!!  Anyway, I digress.  This particular day she was working on Bloom by Just Another Button Company.  Love the pretty colors in this one.  A great spring project.

Connie A. showed off her finished Quaker Frog by The Workbasket.  After she finished it she decided he looked a little scary.  Love the green on the black fabric!

Sue and Margaret were talking about the crochet or knitted scarves that are all the rage right now.  Margaret does not cross stitch...yet...so she crochets when she comes.  She makes hats for the babies at the hospital, little net scrubbies, dish clothes etc...

Carole showed the T-shirt that Sue's daughter made for her.  Sue's daughter has a been a very busy girl lately with all the order's the stitcher's have placed lately.  She makes really pretty blingy things like totes, jackets, t-shirts...

Finally we have Deb B.  She does some fabulous counted thread pieces and needlepoint pieces  but was working on the new flag piece by Rosewood Manor this particular Saturday.

And that's all I had time to take pictures of that day.  If you enjoy seeing everyone's projects I will continue to take pics as long as the stitcher's don't mind.

Well, I think that's it for today.  I'm glad you all enjoyed the Little House/Country Cottage display I posted last time.  I thank you for all the great comments and for taking the time to read the blog.  I'm trying to post a bit more often as time permits.  I think the next designer we do will be Blackbird Designs.  We have an actual Trunk Show coming up the end of June...Erica Michaels...love her stuff, so it will probably be sometime in the fall.

Take care till next time!

Julie      

Little House/ Country Cottage Display

This month at work we are featuring the designs by Little House Needleworks and Country Cottage Needleworks.   The shop sent out a call to all our stitcher's to please loan us any of these designs that they had stitched up and we also offered a discount on the charts and the framing if they hadn't already stitched one but wanted to do so for the display.  As usual, our ladies came through for us in spades and we now have a wonderful display for everyone to enjoy!  I have this insane desire to stitch each and every one of these designs although I have to admit, the pastels used by Country Cottage are not me and I have to WWJD them.   HUH?  What does she mean WWJD them?   Deb, one of our customers, has taken that phrase and changed the J from Jesus to Julie and is always saying I have WWJD'd this or that or she'll ask me to WWJD something for her or she'll tell someone else to have me WWJD something. So it's kinda stuck.  Anyway, I thought I would show you the display in the shop, although you have seen part of it in my previous post already.

It's hard to get good pictures of them but I think you can see them pretty good if you click and enlarge each picture.  We're hoping to do this with other designers that don't have a traditional trunk show too.

Bout time to head to work.  Hope you have a wonderful Monday!

Take care till next time!

Julie

    

Stitching Updates

Good Morning!!

It's a beautiful sunny morning here in the Midwest.  It's supposed to get a bit windy though as the day progresses.   I hope where ever you are that the weather is beautiful and you get a chance to get out and enjoy it!

Just a few final thoughts regarding retreat.  I would love to be able to record some of the things said and mash them all together into a video of some kind.  If laughter is the best medicine, the random one liners would cure all the illnesses in the world.  Walking around the stitching area you hear bits and pieces of conversation but not enough to know what they are really talking about.  I heard a few things that had me laughing my fool head off and I would so love to share them somehow.  But hidden microphones and video tapes would probably not go over well with the attendees so I sadly will not be able to cure what ails you at this time.

Also, I wanted to say what a wonderful group of ladies we had attend this year.  Some were what we call the old timers and others were new to us.  Some traveled from as far away as Chicago and others from our own back yard but each and every one of them was wonderful.  Thanks to all the ladies for taking  time out of your busy lives to spend the weekend with us and I for one can't wait to do it again!!

Here's a quick update on my stitching and then I have to eat my breakfast , pack my lunch and head on down the road to work.  I haven't stitched nearly as much as I would have liked but at least some progress has been made.  The flowers are really slowing me down with the constant color changes, but I am really enjoying this project and my husband is in love with it.  The color is more accurate in the first picture but I don't have time to go back and adjust the second one. You get the idea.

And I never showed you my framed Inn at Fox River Mill.  There was supposed to be a fence stitched on either side of the flower/leaf thing at the bottom but I didn't care for it so I left it out.

Gotta scoot!  Have a wonderful day and take care till next time!  And thanks for the comments.  I love comments!

Julie