What a Weekend

I have spent a lot of time running back and forth to my mom's this weekend.

She is 87 and I think it is time to think about Assisted Living.  

I don't know if she is feeling as bad as she says she is or if it is just getting close to the anniversary of my Dad's death or she is just loosing it.  

I'm going to be off of work the week of the 4th so, I'm going to get her on a waiting list for assisted living and then maybe get some home care in the meantime more for a little company than anything else.  

She also is saying she doesn't feel confident to drive so maybe they can help with that:  grocery shopping, library and the beauty salon.

I cooked some meals for her.  

She did have some frozen meals but, I don't know if she is really into them.  

  

Needless to say, I didn't get much stitching done.

This is Summer Fun from Homespun Elegance.  

Back to work tomorrow. 

And it will be a horribly busy week. 

Hope you had a good weekend. 

Keep on Stitching

Monica

I Get To Start A New Project

I had a great day off!

I sat and stitched this morning, drinking coffee and watching TCM.

It was Dame Mae Whitty day and some great movies.  

I didn't get going until after Suspicion and Alfred Hitchcock from the 1940's.

My personal favorite AH decade followed by the 1950's movies. 

 I finished my BBD Sisters.  

I couldn't decide what year to put in with the date so I left it open for interpretation.  

I worked on my BBD SAL sampler.  

I finished the border and started the next set of alphabet.

The fabric is pretty small count so it should only be worked on it daylight.  

I am going to start a 4th of July stitch tonight.  

I have been chomping at the bit. 

 

Flowers are ready to pop!

The peonies are going to be spectacular!

 They are nearly open

 Bit of a blur but, there is an ant on this one.  

These are a darker pink.

 The Weiglia took a beating but, they are blooming. 

 The potted annuals are going to town.

Buster is keeping an eye on the neighborhood. 

Good boy Buster!

 The hanging basket is a Dahlia.

This rose bush has really spread.  

I had to move the Coral Bells last year to the other side of the Potentilla.

 I love the color of these Coral Bells.

The stems are all twisty and cool. 

The new perennial  to this bed Hare Bells.  

Can't remember the official name.  

 After I cleaned and fed my husband and his assistant lunch, I ran errands.

The local book store's magazine distributor just up and went out of business.  

They were the distributors for the entire area:  Shopko, Kmart, Walmart, grocery stores.

The book store had a half off sale going on. 

I went nuts and got a pile of mags.  

The bead magazines are for Katy.  

I texted all my friends.  

Bad for the bookstore, good for me. 

One more day of work and it will be very busy.  

Hooray, the weekend.

As always, thanks for stopping and commenting.  

Love to hear from you all. 

Have a wonderful weekend.

Keep on Stitching

Monica

EAT BUTTER

Look at this!!

I haven't read the article yet but, it looks like butter is safe!

I greatly prefer butter over margarine.  

Its cheaper than Smart Balance which is what we usually use.  

Been having issues with the computer.  

Things started acting wonky last week.

On Wednesday, Bob worked on cleaning things up.

By Thursday, I had a new virus and worse problems. 

I prefer Chrome over Explorer.  

It usually works smoother for me.  

Bob says that is the problem...Chrome.

He's been working on it for two days.

Fingers crossed, he got things cleaned off.  

Advice:  don't ever upgrade when you get those pop ups saying you need an updated version.  

That will assuredly get you in trouble every time.  

Been steadily working on my BBD.  

Getting close to finishing.

Finally, my friend Arttie aka Dr. Quilt, got my mom's quilt straightened out.

She is the bomb!

Hopefully, my mom understands putting it together. 

I explained it too her and I know how it works so if she gets hung up, I can help her. 

Otherwise a wonderful weekend. 

The weather wasn't too bad, some rain but we need that.

Hope you had a great weekend.

Thanks for the wonderful comments.

Keep on Stitching 

Monica

I'm in the Mood for Patriotic Patterns

I have had quite a day.

We are in the midst of estate planning.  

I stood at the bank to get the kids names on our bank accounts as beneficiaries so it doesn't need to go to probate. 

Then, I had to stand at the customer service counter at Walmart to pick up the cane my mom left.

She was there on Tuesday and was in the check out line, when a girl came over and gave her some flowers.  

She was so amazed by it, she forgot her cane.  

I stopped and picked it up for her before I went to her house.

My mom likes to quilt but, she is having some real issues piecing the tops.

What usually happens is, I'm at Joann Fabrics with her and she decides she wants to buy fabric for...table runners, place mats or quilts but has no pattern.  

She then expects the clerks to figure out how much fabric she needs without a pattern. 

The last time, my oldest sister was with me.

We picked out kind of a pattern from a kit they had without buying the kit because she didn't like the fabric and it was cheaper to buy bolt fabric.

Are you following me so far?

My sisters who quilt cut the pieces out however, there are some mistakes.

The strips for the rail fence need to be 2 x 6 1/2 and some were cut 2 x 6.

Mom and my aunt can't figure out what wrong.

Fortunately, I have a good friend who is a quilt pro and is going to get things straightened out.  

Now, for Patriotic patterns.

After I got done at my moms, having packed everything up and brought it home, I got things ready for some 4th of July stitching.  

I think this is going to me my Smalls SAL.

The sheep's body is a satin stitch but, I'm thinking of tormenting myself with french knots.

I will decide after I get some of the stitching done. 

Homespun Elegance Summer Fun

 I also want to do Homespun Elegance Freedom House Button Sampler.  

I need two more flag buttons, they are on order. 

I have had to sub some of the thread because I don't want to order 4 skeins for s small amount of stitiching.  

 Finally, my BBD update.  It is moving along rather nicely.

I worked on it last night at stitching groupl

I have a very busy day tomorrow....14 clients to see.  

I'm just hoping I can keep up with the paper work so I don't have to stay too late to finish it.

I believe we will be dining out tomorrow night....Ma ain't cookin!

Have a wonderful stitchy weekend!

Thank you for all your wonderful, encouraging comments!

It is always so great to hear from you!

Keep on Stitching

Monica

Parties, Stitching and Salad

Had some parties this weekend. 

Friday, I had a going away party after work for my old boss, so went to that for a little while.  

Saturday afternoon had a graduation party.

Then the usual work:  errands, laundry etc.  

Did get a little stitching in this weekend on my BBD Sisters.

I feel like I'm really getting somewhere on this because you finish motifs.  

 I nearly done with to top star.  

There is one more star above the one I'm working on.  

I definitely like these patterns where parts are finished.  

They seem to go faster.  

Grilled an whole chicken and had salads for dinner.  

Bob wanted some pasta salad for his lunch and I thought I would like some 

Caribbean Black Bean and Rice Salad.  

Recipe for the Caribbean Black Bean and Rice Salad

2 cups cooked rice

1 small red pepper chopped into 1/2" size pieces

1 bunch green onions sliced

1 can black beans drained and rinsed

Mix together

Dressing:

2 cloves garlic minced

1/4 c olive oil

2 Tbsp Dijon Mustard

2 Tbsp Vinegar (any kind)

2 tsp cumin

Salt and pepper to taste.

blend well

Toss together and serve.  

I may just toss in some leftover chicken and call it good for lunch tomorrow. 

The garden is blooming.  I expect any day poppies and peonies.  My favorites.  My potted plants are doing well too. 

Hope you had a great weekend.  

Keep on Stitching

Monica 

I Get Into Trouble.

The Silver Needle had specials everyday for the month of May.  The last one was 50% off Homespun Elegance which happens to be one of my favorites.  I was cleaning when I got the phone call from The Silver Needle letting me know they were out of what I had ordered.  Okay, no problem.....NOT.  No biggy, I'll check 123 Stitch for Freedom House Button Sampler.  I have done other button samplers so I have a frame I can pop different ones into.  No luck on 123Stitch.  Check Hoffman Distributors....not there either.  So onto Ebay.  There is a pile of Homespun Elegance on Ebay but, not what I'm looking for.  There are lots of other things on Ebay....so I ordered about $35 dollars worth.  See what I mean....trouble, TROUble, TROUBLE!!!!  Like I really need anything else.

SICK, SICK, SICK....oh well not as bad as some other diseases I could have.

I did order some things from Therese Venettes Etsy.   Got hooked by $10 for BBD Sarah's house but only ordered one other pattern.

And With Thy Needle and Thread:  Pink Sparrow Sampler.  

This is a very sweet pattern. 

I did battle at Walmart this morning.  My modus apperendi is to go by 8 am because it doesn't usually start getting really obnoxious until 9 am.  Guess what, other people have figured that one out.  POOH!!!  Well, it could have been worse.

Got my haircut at 10 and then came home and spring cleaned by Great Room.   I vacuumed furniture and washed windows to my Disco Inferno channel on Pandora.  I think I got my work out for the day.  By 2 pm Buster and I were dozing in our Lazy boy to TCM.

Great Day!!!
Really busy day at work tomorrow....13 clients.  That should keep me running and lunch with PB&J at my desk doing paper work.

Finally, progress on my latest BBD

 That should pretty much do it for the updates.  Saturday, we have a graduation party to go to and then laundry on Sunday.  Pretty exciting.

Keep on Stitching....the battery is about to die.
Monica

Senior Moment

Should have posted the three pieces on the last post but, forgot.  

I took the picture but, didn't load it on the computer.  

This is how the set looks.  

I like to be matching.  

 Started on BBD Sisters "Witch no More".

Wait till you see how I'm going to finish this.  

It will start a trend!

Can't tell you any more than that.  

The house was suppose to be Old Purple Paint.  

I needed to order some of the thread for this from 123 Stitch and I swear I didn't think they were making that color any longer so I switched it for the Weathered barn and then subbed that color with another...Old Red Paint ( I think).  I don't have it near by and I'm too lazy to look for it.  

We were at Home Depot in our journeys yesterday after dropping off stuff at St. Vincent.

We needed some grass seed and found this little set for $50 and thought it would look cute on the front porch.  

I need to cut of the tags but, I wanted to wait to make sure I liked it.  

 We were back there for a new door knob for my mom and I picked up some geraniums and potted them in a yellow ceramic pot.  

It needed a splash of color.

 My shadow, Buster, waiting for me to finish taking the pictures.  

It has been a busy weekend.  Lots of phone calls from Katy as she is moving into a sublet for the summer.  She is moving in with friends who will be renting the apartment for the school year.  The third girl is not there for the summer.  Katy will be moving back into the dorm at the end of the summer.  With her health issues, she felt it was better to stay on campus.  (That nearly took an act of congress since there isn't enough dorms).  The apartment was suppose to be furnished.  When she got there is morning, there is a bed platform with drawers underneath but, no mattress.  Apparently, the mattress isn't included but, that is probably okay for hygiene issues.  The two girls who will be staying went and bought used mattresses.  That just sounds sketchy.  That is probably one thing I would think twice about buying used.  Instead, Katy went to Gander Mountain and bought an inflatable mattress and the extended warranty for $10 more.  She figures when she has friends visit, she can use it for them.  As she has tried to settle in, she hasn't been too impressed.  Apparently, there are issues with the outlets.  Most plugs on things have the two different sized prongs.  The plugs are old and don't fit those types of plugs.  I guess they will figure it out.

That is it for now.  The mosquitoes are regular vampire bats right now and ferocious!!!
Hope you have had a wonderful weekend.

Keep on Stitching
Monica