Lots of catching up to do.

Rory says

Happy Independence Day!

Two weeks! Wow, sorry to have been away for so long. I have been busy, busy, busy. Since I last posted Rory and I went to one more show. He won his class but nothing big. That's okay. It does seem that he has finally figured out what he is supposed to be doing when we are at the dog show. And behaves so much better. But we shall see if he remembers since we have three more show weekends starting this Friday.

One reason I hadn't posted was my camera died so I had no photos. First my new camera died and then my old backup digital camera died. And last but not least my computer at home died. I guess at almost 11 years old it decided it needed a permanent rest.

So I returned the newer camera to Canon since it was only 8 months old. And guess what? They fixed it free and I got it back 10 days after I sent it to them!! I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the email telling me it was on the way back to me all fixed! Great service.

So now I can take photos. I can't use my photoshop program to edit them so I apologize ahead of time if they are dark or the image is too small. It will probably be a while until I can get a new computer. But I can at least download the photos as is to a disk at work and post them here.

Little House Needleworks Dog Sampler

The complete exchange sent to Edgar for the HoE alpha exchange. I included my second ever made beaded fob as a RAK. Oh, and a small toy for his pups. And if you would like to see some photos of his pups with their giftie click HERE.

(Photos above courtesy of Edgar M.)

I had finished and mailed out two exchanges over the last two weeks but only have photos for one. (Thank you Edgar for letting me use your photos.) And another is wandering its way somewhere on planet earth to its new home. I also received three exchanges. And now have photos of those to post.

Below is the exchange I received from Sandra for the HoE alpha exchange. Isn't the pin pillow gorgeous!

Thank you Sandra. I love the pillow! It is perfect!

The Lizzie Kate Liberty for all pillow is the 4th of July exchange. Stitched by Ellen S (no blog) as part of the Holiday Exchange.

The love scissor case was from April in the Exchanging with BeckySC scissor keep exchange.

This past weekend was spent relaxing and stitching. Well, part of it was spent that way.

I had planned a nice relaxing stitchy weekend with my dear friend Mare. Unfortunately she had major car problems and by the time she arrived it was 9 PM Saturday evening instead of the 9 AM we had originally planned. All we managed to do before dragging our hot and weary butts to bed was share some stitchy goodies, have dinner, drink a couple if glasses of wine and chat a bit. Sunday morning was spent arranging the tow truck to take Mare and her poor car back to her home in New Jersey. Not the fun stitched filled weekend we had hoped for. Oh well. Mare we will just have to try again.

Below are the gifts that Mare gave me for my Birthday. I just love, love, love the pillows and the Hinzit frame, pattern and charms. And isn't that piece of cake adorable? Almost good enough to eat!

For Mare. I made her a beaded fob with the cutest kitty charm. And I made her an ort jar. These jars are from candles that were too pretty to throw out. I took the lid and created a cushion on top and a band around the lid. Cute, huh?

I do have a couple of new starts to share. One is a pattern that I received for my birthday and the other is one that I needed to get stitching on and return. So without further ado here is my progress on Dog lessons for People by Lizzie Kate and Hearts Left Behind by Hesters Needle.

This beaded fob I made for myself.

The next three weekends will be busy ones. Three dog shows in Massachusetts this weekend. Those mean another ferry ride which Rory just loved! Then next weekend, the 9th, 10th and 11th, I will be in Rochester, NY. Three more dog shows and a visit with my brother and sister-in-law who live in Rochester. Then finally on July 16th and 17th we have two more shows. These are about half an hour from me. I think I will collapse after that.

Unfortunately I may not get to keep up with everyones blogs. With no computer access at home and being away I will probably spend most of August playing catch up.

So until next time...................

Love and Stitches

Kathy

licks from Rory too

and purrs from Rosie on one of her many lofty perches. (This one, the kitchen table, is just the right height to smack Rory on the head when he comes near.)

An exchange and the further adventures of Rory

Okay, lets start this posting with a little bit of stitching. And I do mean a little bit. Most of the stitching I did get done this past week is for upcoming exchanges.

I do have one exchange finish that I can now show. It is the Lizzie Kate Spring Fob kit. The kit included the linen and the teeny tiny scissors to match. I finished it off a a scissor keeper. My first attempt at this type of finishing. It is now at it's new home with Roberta, my exchange partner. And since I couldn't get my fat fingers in the tiny scissor holes and they came with the kit I sent her the scissors too. I have pretty bad arthritis in my fingers. My Mother's legacy. At least that is what I have always called it. I rarely let my hands stop me from what I love to do but those large knuckles with all the extra calcium build up do put limits on some things. Sigh.

Jax, Maddy and Rory

Now on to the important part of this post. The further adventures of Rory. A new Rory story. This weekend Rory discovered GIRLS! Read on.

Above: Maddy, Jax and Rory

Maddy and Rory

Like I mentioned earlier we spent this past weekend in Massachusetts. Which is also the home of his breeder and her friends ( and my new friends) and lots of Rory's cousins and other family members. Rory and I were invited to stay with Joanne, a new friend of mine, who also has two Irish setters. One is a male, Jax, who is two months older than Rory and the other is Jax's mother, Maddy, who is 5 years old. Rory and Jax had lots of fun running and chasing each other, playing and jumping on one another.


Rory and Jax


And then came Maddy. Now Rory has not had close contact with another female since he left his siblings. I mean sure he has briefly sniffed a few at dog shows but never off leash. This was his first time and, boy oh boy, was Rory impressed with her. She let him have a good sniff and he was hooked! He followed Maddy round and round and round. Of course she would just get so tired of him that she would snarl and snap, telling him to BACK OFF. Did he listen? Maybe for a few seconds and then he was right there stalking her again. My friend and I laughed so hard the tears were rolling.

Poor love sick Rory. Wearing his heart on his paw. Picture a teenage boy with his very first serious crush on an older woman. I think these photos can give you an idea. Not sure how I got them since I was laughing so hard.

"Romeo and Juliet"
Besides the shows, which seemed to be a side note to the weekend, what with Rory discovering the fairer sex ( and constantly being told off by his "Juliet"), the other highlight of Rory's adventures were the ferry rides to the shows and home. Yes, ferry rides. I live on Long Island, NY, and we went to Foxboro, MA, (Home of the New England Patriots). Rather than drive west to get off Long Island and then east through the Bronx and along the Connecticut coast to Massachusetts I went to the east end of Long Island and took the ferry across the Sound to Connecticut. What a fun ride. Especially since the ferry company allows you to bring your dog on the decks and even into one of the large cabins. Rory had a blast and some really positive experiences with smaller children. Another new experience for him since none of my younger nieces and nephews live near us.

The best and funniest incident on the ferry was the one with two small girls, ages 2 and 6. They entertained Rory and I for almost 30 minutes. The littlest one was darling. She had me, her father and all the passengers near us in stitches. Playing with her "camera" and telling Rory to say "Cheese!" Their father watched and took a ton of photos of Rory and his girls. He even emailed some to me! I just love the one of Rory saying "Cheese!" (With my help of course!)

"Say Cheese"

I have been entering Rory in more shows and it looks like July is going to be one busy month! I better start resting up. Now I'm off to try and catch up on my blog reading and see what you all have been up too.

Until next time...............

Love and stitches

Kathy
and licks from Rory too.

A Birthday, some stitching and the winners

Above is my idea of Birthday cake and ice cream. Total chocolate decadence. That yummy cake has raspberry filling with a semi-hard dark chocolate shell. Mmmmmmm. Hey I figured it's only once a year so why not celebrate all the way?

I had a wonderful relaxing weekend. No dog shows. I did some shopping, some reading, some napping and just lazed around. On Tuesday, my Birthday, I took the day off, making it a nice four day weekend. I had a really lovely Birthday this year. Thanks to some wonderful ladies in a birthday club I belong in. The stitchy gifts and gift certificates made my day. I spent the better part of yesterday trying to figure out what I wanted to order! (That's why this post is late.) Well, the gift certificates are all spent and I can't wait for all my new stash to arrive!

An Irish Prayer and linen to stitch it on from Lisa.

Thread pickers from Lisa. Aren't they just darling? I love them!

LK's Dog Lessons for People with the linen are from Rene.

CCN Harvest Blessing with the linen and crescent colours from Shelley.

Thank you so much. Girlfriends you made my day.

But my favorite gift of all came from my dear, dear friend, Deborah. First she sent me a gift certificate to Down Sunshine Lane. But she and Amy put their heads together to make it different. Instead of one gc it was broken into THIRTEEN!! I started opening them with the first one being for $10 and the second one for $7.59. Then my computer died. So all day I trying to figure out what in Heavens name was I supposed to buy for &17.59?? Well, come to find out those two were only the beginning! When I finally opened the last one there was a note to say that all the small amounts added to one larger. The joke was on me. What fun.

And then Deborah sent me my first flower frog. I have been wanting one since I started seeing them on other blogs. Well, the ones Deborah sent are just beautiful! I LOVE them. Now to get some more scissors to put in them. More stitching news. I did have a couple of finishes and I have been working on exchange pieces. I can show you a couple of the finishes since they are now in their new home. For Deborah (her birthday is two days before mine) I stitched The Tea Room by Country Cottage Needleworks and attached it to the tea cozy by Impie, Hattie and Bea. Then I had a brilliant idea for this little jar. It is a candle and comes with a lid. I have a bunch of these. Why not use the empty jars to collect and display ort? So presto. Here is my first Ort Jar with a pin cushion on top. The design is an impromptu one. The idea is probably not original and I must have seen something like it some where. But I plan to make more. What do you think? (Sorry that the photos are a bit blurry. I didn't realize it until too late. I hope you get the idea anyway.) I got the official photos from the dog show where Rory won his first and second points. I get a big grin every time I look at them. Now I may not look too great in them but Rory does! So I had to share them with you. We are off this weekend for two shows in Massachusetts and then one next weekend in Connecticut. So I am hoping we can win another point or two. Above: the judge who gave Rory his FIRST point.

Below : the judge who awarded Rory his second point.

Speaking of Rory, stash and my Birthday I bet you are all anxious to hear who won the giveaways. Sorry to make you wait until the end of the post. I can't believe the response this giveaway had.

Thank you all for the early birthday wishes. Thank you all for your comments. They make me smile and warm my heart. I only wish I had won the lottery then I could send you all something.

So with out further ado. The winners are............................

Nancy M for the pin pillow. (As soon as I stitch her initial I can finish it off)

Donna for the gift certificate to DSL.

Congratulations to two special ladies.

Well, as I said earlier Rory and I are off for another dog show weekend. So I am going to try and read a few blogs, answer a few more emails and get a little work done.

Until next time................

Love and stitches

Kathy

and licks from Rory too