Holy Crap Batman! It's Monday!! 6 Fat Men SAL

Yep, I have no progress because I did not get to stitch today, but I have a really good excuse as to why.  I won't get into all the details as to why, but I have 2 newborn orphan kittens that I am nursing and trying to save.

Yes, the little bit of fur you see is my Ms. Cashew, she is being somewhat of a lil' mama with this guy and def. checks on them.

Aren't they just too precious?  Yep, not much stitching or sleep in my near future, but it is worth it.  We are running to the vet tomorrow.  One is having trouble pooping, the other finally has started pooping.  They are both very much underweight, so we will see what my awesome vet Dusty has to say :)   I'm afraid with their weight their chances are pretty slim, but I'm going to do the best I can to pull these lil guys through!

shanda

Monday 6 Fat Men SAL

Okay, so I don't know if I'm just tired, knee pain, distracting, bad mood or all of the above, but stitching just isn't working for me today.  I'm afraid I didn't get more than a few rows done today and he is definitely going bag in his project bag until next Monday.  Here is after stitching today...don't you just love my doggie huggy?  I'm done with stitching for the night and just going to read or something.  I am very out of sorts today!!

 

Pre-6FM SAL Confession and IHSW

I was a bad girl this last week.  After getting my first ever generic Q-snap, I didn't want to put down my 6 Fat Men.  I wanted to keep seeing how much different it was to work on that fabric with that kind of frame.  So I worked on him all week.  Also, this past weekend was International Hermit Stitching Weekend and guess who I worked on?  Yep, 6 Fat Men.  But don't worry, I didn't get but maybe 50-100 stitches done.  I've been having a tough time with my knees, especially this weekend and was distracted by the pain.  Now, if you'll remember, this is where I got to on last SAL day:

.And I really thought it only fair that I post a pic of my progress on him from this week and weekend before I start on him for today's SAL.  So here is that pic:

Yes, I know I made that thing on the left one solid line, here's to hoping I can just stitch his arms over it and it be okay.  I'm really hoping I can finish this block today, that would be so nice!!  Now remember, this was all work done this past week, not during the SAL!  Now I'm off to stitch!
Shanda
 

My babies :)

Okay, so a non-stitchy post today :)  I recently asked a fellow blogger to see pics of her adorable chihuahua fur babies.  I thought I would return the favor and post pics of my 5 fur babies.

This is Dolly in her favorite spot.  She is otherwise known as Dolly Molly or Dolly Lhama.  She is Seb's dog.  She is the one we think might have some fatty cancerous tumors.  Dolly is one of the most mellow dogs I've ever seen.  She's pretty darn quiet.  Amazingly though, she is one hec of a vicious guard dog.  Do not ever enter our fence or house without one of us with you because Dolly will tear you up otherwise!!  Unfortunately Dolly is also the dumbest dog I've ever seen.  If you could see into her eyes, you would know it too.  You can just see that the light is on, but no one is home.

Meet Angel, a terrier mix.  Otherwise known as "chunk chunk".  yes, she is one solid chunk.  She is such a doll though!!  Officially she is Tyler's dog.

Now this one is all mommy's girl.  Meet Cashew.  She is a Jack Russell/Pug mix.  She loves her mommy and goes nuts if mommy is gone!  Oh, and yes, you can tell a little that I love snowmen by my coffee table in the back!

Ahh, the great Tasalhof Burfoot Markham.  She is "James's" dog, but really, she is so loving and easy going she is everyone's dog.  She is our most social dog of them all.  We have found very little that she does not like and she loves everybody!!

Dolly, Tas, Cashew and Angel were all rescued.  They were either adopted from the pound or the SPCA.  Angel and Cashew were the most abused/neglected and it shows in their personalities.  Angel is the most timid and skittish.  She's even afraid of the dark and won't go outside at night without someone with her and a big light on.  Cashew is also pretty darn afraid of people.

Last, but not least, is Princess Issabella. She is a "blue" chihuahua.  She is the "baby" (not in age though) of the family.  She has had luxating patella surgery on both back legs.  She is mostly daddy's girl and has almost an obsessive love/fascination with him, but yet she also loves everyone.  She is definitely momma's girl when she is not feeling good though.  Issy is the only dog I have ever bought.  I saw her and just could not resist her.  I had never seen a grey chihuahua, nor have I seen one with a nose as long as hers. 

All our doggies are extremely spoiled, and although 2 may "belong" to the boys, they are very much a pack and all sleep in my bedroom.  I know for a fact the boys will not be moving out with their dogs, it would be very traumatic for the fur babies!!  I hope you enjoyed meeting my babies!

Shanda

Q-snaps

So I've just been introduce to the world of Q-snaps and I love it!!  What is your favorite size of Q-snap?

6 Fat Men Moeusday SAL and other pics

Okay, so the 6.F.M. SAL is supposed to be on Monday's, but my Monday was so busy I just didn't get a chance.  So I pretended today was Monday, thus the birth of Moeusday.  I did get to work on for a bit today, not as much as I'd hoped.  It was another packed day and by the time I got settled in to stitch it was early evening.  It took awhile to adjust back to the small count of the fabric.  And man, I do not like that fabric.  It just seems to get so "loose" or something and really makes it a p.i.t.a. to work with.  But here is what I got done today on him...not much...

Just the little house got finished.  We'll call my errors changes artistic differences and I just wanted a different floor plan and color scheme for my house :)

Last week was a week of smalls and I worked on personal Christmas ornies.  I did get some unfinished finishes done.  One of these guys has already been shown as an unfinished finish, but the other two are new :)

Now this next little guy is from the Easy Cross Stitch magazine I have. The one I have ended up not liking to stitch from.  Me and their patterns just do not jive very well.  Which means sometime this weekend I'll need to go change my project goals.  Luckily I did find some more snowmen ornies to swap out with :)

I got the car inspected today so it is all legal now..thank goodness.  Now I need to get the alignment done and the fuel filter changed.  Oil change and fixing the hole in the air filter casing is also at the top of the list.  Then we need to get the transmission looked at to see what we are up against there.  Once we get the filter casing fixed, we'll have to wait and see if the engine light comes on again.  If it does I have an air flow system problem somewhere that we will have to track down.  Then we need to start saving for the transmission fluid/filter, etc to be changed.  Chevy didn't make it cheap on this car, that is for sure!  Once we get the alignment done we'll be putting Tyler back behind the wheel and getting him up to speed for his drivers license.  Lord help me!  After being cooped up in the house for so long with the car being wrecked, it is weird getting back into the groove of taking care of all the household stuff again.  Feels like I'm hardly home!!  Tomorrow Seb has counseling, and Ty needs to call AC and set up his appointment with Student Support Services.  I'll have to run BACK out to Walmart to pick up one of my prescriptions that wasn't ready today and I need to remember to pick up laundry detergent while I am there.  I packed up a little ornament project to take with me to Seb's counseling so I can stitch while I'm waiting.  Now that I can do, it seems like I have a never ending to do list...but I am very thankful that I can go and do again!  It feels good to get out of the house and be a little more productive!!  Okay, that's enough whining and pictures for today!!  Hope everyone is having a wonderful stitching day!
Shanda

First Day, First Time = FAIL

I joined the 6 Fat Men SAL.  My very first SAL, and I am so excited to not only be in my first SAL, but need this SAL for accountability.  Stitching this is so difficult for me, it's my first time on such small linen, I've been a strictly 14 ct aida girl.  We're supposed to stitch every Monday.  Yep, today is Monday and for me, it's a FAIL.  As soon as I got up, I had to go get the registration for the car, yeah, the one that got wrecked back in November, that the tags expired in November, that we just now got running.  Once that was done, it was off to get the new tires and a new bulb for the rear brake light that was out.  Those things had to be done before the inspection could be done, which is also expired.  But before I could get the inspection done, I ran out of time and had to take the boys for their routine check up.  It went very well, but we were late getting out.  So off to get pizza for dinner and home, with a massive headache.  Thus no stitching whatsoever today.  So tomorrow, I'm going to get up, go get the inspection down, post office run, and pay a few bills, then my day will be all mine.  And that is when I am going to pretend it is really Monday and do my 6 Fat Men SAL.  Shhhh, don't tell!!!  LOL.  Yeah, it's gonna be one of those weeks isn't it??
Shanda

A Finished Finish!

Except for one teeny tiny detail I do want to add before it's all said and done.  I do want to add a little jingle bell before it is given to Ms. Zoe for Christmas...but yes, I finished her Noel Christmas ornament!!  And I did it as a pillow ornament!!  Major improvement over last years uneven, hard as a rock ugly things!!  Still have lots of room for improvement, but oh so happy!!!

The front, yep, def. needs a little jingle bell in the center of the bow there don't ya think?

sorry it's blurry, I think there is a setting off somewhere on my camera, or I was extra shaky tonight. 

Tried to get a close up of the edge.  Tried to do something different.  I'm not real pleased with it.  I didn't want straight ribbon, but wasn't sure what to try.  I'm so new to this, and I'm not real creative in this manner.  I did add little beads though.

Overall, I think it is a huge improvement last year.  I have a lot to learn on finishing though.  I see so many beautiful ornament finishes and other type finishes out there in blog land, I just wish I knew how to re-create them!!  I did have a goal this week of finishing this ornie, and for all intent and purposes it is (gotta wait till I have the $$ and time to go get jingle bells), so I'm pleased with that.  The next 2 days the boys have appointments and I seriously need to quit procrastinating on the housework I said I was going to do!!  Friday looks clear so hopefully I will be in my cave working on stitching another Christmas ornament!!

Victorian Mottoo GC Giveaway!!

Woo Hoo!!  Who doesn't love giveaways!!  Go on over here to enter to win a $25 GC to the Victorian Motto ebay store!!  Who couldn't use a spending spree?

Finallly, Pictures!!

First I gotta show off the changes I made to the Girl Cave today!!  I got Pappa's quilt back yesterday and I hung it in my cave today.  When I met Pappa, all he had wanted for a long time was an American Flag quilt for his bed.  Pappa was very patriotic and had served in the Korean War (I believe, could be wrong) and WW II (this I know for sure).  I immediately set about designing one.  I was still pretty new at quilting at the time, so it didn't turn out that great, but Pappa treasured it.  He was also the first of the Markham's to accept Tyler and I into the family 100% and unconditionally.  I cherish this quilt, not because I made it, but because it belonged to Pappa and he cherished it.  It broke my heart that after he passed it was stored in a closet.  I love that it is now close to me and I feel closer to him now.

Just so you know, I'm not totally selfish, this wall is opposite the door to get into my cave.  The door has a window in it, as well as a window next to it.  The room next to my cave is the laundry room.  So as the boys do their laundry, they can see the quilt as they do their laundry, or when they come in and hang out or talk to me.  Same for James.  It is a very special reminder to us of our beloved Pappa.

I also moved the quilt my mom made for my MicKenzie.  James did not like the window behind my chair.  I loved the natural light, but as I do spend many late hours in here, James does have a point.  My cave is at the very back of the house and it wouldn't be hard for someone to be looking in that window.  Don't know why that would want to, but it really bothered James.  So, I moved Kenzie's quilt to cover the window and feel like a part of her is watching over me :)

Then, on my other wall, I moved my favorite pics of when the kids were little on each side of the Guardian Angel pic from my mom.  I love looking up there and seeing their faces!

And I finally took what little progress pics I have.  First is the Noel ornament.  I back-stitched it in a red Krienek  and gave it candy cane striping with it also to add some sparkle.  I also added a little present button to it.  I still need to finish-finish it.  I'm hoping maybe this week if I'm not too full with dr's appts!

This is where I got to on A House Is Made before Ty's wolf started calling to me:

And this is where I've gotten to on Ty's wolf:

Now I'm afraid the wolf isn't calling as loudly.  So depending on how this week's appointments are looking, hopefully I will get to finish the Noel ornament and get a couple of more ornies stitched.  Due to the extended family situation, I gave a reprieve on housework this weekend, but I'm going to try and juggle it into my daily rotation this week, if my back will co-operate with it and if I'm not over-run with appointments.  Yes, I really need to get that calendar out and take a look!!  I hope everyone has had a great Easter and is getting to relax and get lots of stitching done!
Shanda

Girl Cave!!!

I finally have my own little corner of the house!!  At the back of our house is a little storage room.  Well, I cleaned the hec out of it during some spring cleaning and made some room for me.  It has a door so I can close myself in and it's pretty darn sound proof.  Got a recliner in a yard sell and I have my own little girl cave.  Guess where I've been most of the day?  I love it!!

My chair faces this wall.  My mommy gave me the guardian angel picture.  I love angels :)

Close up of my candles.

My stitching corner!!  I think I have a few little more tweaks to make, but overall I'm pretty happy with my own little corner of solitude :)  Crank up the tunes!!