Visiting the girl child

Here is my Yuletide Welcome.

Just the banner, the over one words, and the red in the border to go!  (Sorry about the poor picture.)

As you can see, I like to do the background behind the words before stitching the words themselves.

A long way to go on the banner.  Yikes!

This past weekend, we went down to see the girl child.  She recently moved to some new digs so we had to lug a couple of pieces of furniture home.  And we took the opportunity to just hang out.  It was so nice to have some time with our girl.

As you can see, she's the photogenic one.

Mia has been finding her way into her new routine without the boy child.  It's taken her a while to settle into what she likes and doesn't like without the boy child around to bother her constantly.  She does still like the laundry hamper though.

She likes to be taken for a ride while inside it.  And to sit inside it.

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Inside the laundry hamper

Birthday boy and stitching

Here is my progress on A Yuletide Sampler.

I do love stitching on this one.

Yesterday was the Father Type's birthday.  We had a nice day together sans children.  Topped off by a yummy birthday dinner of prime rib for the Father Type and shrimp for me at one of our favorite restaurants.

Followed by a bit of dessert.

I think the birthday boy was quite satisfied.

We even had a nice video chat with the boy child, and a nice texting chat with the girl child.

Mia has been staying snug.

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a great week!

Pick me ups

I couldn't help myself.  This week I put Dorothy aside and started a new project from Market.

A Yuletide Welcome by Plum Street Samplers

40ct in the called for linen

called for GAST and NPI

I've wanted to stitch this one since I first saw the pictures for it from the Shepherd's Bush retreat.  Paulette has been hitting it out of the ballpark with her designs recently.  As you can see, the border has been neglected for the lovely stuff on the inside.  lol!

You might have noticed the lovely Elizabeth I Needleminder sitting there in the picture.  Isn't it cute?  Paula of Kelmscott Designs sent it to me.  The scissors are very small and act as your needleminder.  They match the Elizabeth I scissors.  I love it!  Thank you, Paula!

A Yuletide Welcome and the needleminder were just two of the pick me ups that I had this week from my empty nest.  My dear friend Laurie from Corgi Cottage sent me two packages containing lots more pick me ups.  Look at all this!

And this!

Oh my gosh, it was one thing after another in this package!   I know it's hard to tell what all is there, but among other things, a lovely Emma Bridgewater mug, a pin cushion, lots of fabric, a stitching wallet made of Tula Pink fabric from Stitching 4 Joy, a Laundry Baskets Quilts calendar, -- and more!  Thank you so so much for a wonderful pick me up, Laurie!  

This past weekend, the father type and I took a little drive up to our favorite antiquing town.

We had a nice lunch there and wandered around.  And we ended up buying some things.  Mostly from Go Go Pops.  This store has a wonderful selection of home made pops, unusual sodas, and.....  chocolate!

The top two items (the Ritter Sport Hazelnut chocolate and the Prince George magnet) were from The Country Goose.  But the rest were from Go Go Pops.  Father Type and I have been sampling slowly all weekend.  lol!  The colorful seeds on the far left are chocolate covered sunflower seeds!

Mia has been very clingy and needy since the boy child went back to college.  It might take her a while to settle back into the empty nest.  

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a great week.

Mia on the laundry

Empty Nest Again....

Here's my progress on Dorothy Walpole.

The flowers are so pretty!  But I don't feel the love for the satin stitch ones.  lol!

I also worked on my Wearwithall Stole.  I'm two rows from starting that luscious purple color!

We have an empty nest again.  This past weekend, we took the boy child back to college.  We helped him set up his new apartment a bit.  And then we spent the weekend with my sister and her family.  Saw some sights in Boston too.  Then dropped the boy child off and drove home.  Boy child starts classes today.  I'm hoping for a great year for him with new experiences and lots of learning and fun.

Mia knew something was up as soon as the boy child started packing on Thursday.  I'm sure she knew he was leaving again.  When the father type and I got home from Boston, she was happy to see us, but she seemed sad too.  She knows.  We miss our boy.

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a great week.  US Open men's finals tonight!

Lovely gift and Maine.....

I thought I'd be starting all the pretty flowers right away after my last post, but I found that with the US Open being on, finishing off the border was the perfect thing to do -- nice and mindless.  So I did that for most of the week and just started on the flowers yesterday.

I love the colors!

The second flower isn't all filled in yet, in case you were wondering.

I received a wonderful prize in the mail from Cucki, of Cucki's Stitching Cove, whose giveaway I won.

I was so excited to open this up!

Look at all the lovely goodies!!  I especially love the hand made items -- so pretty!  And an angel fob!  How did you know I collect angels, Cucki?  :D   Thank you so much, Cucki, for a special prize!

Now in case you were wondering, yes, this past week we went to Maine for vacation again!  Hooray!  We haven't been as a family since 2010.  And the best part was the whole family was there, including my girl.

We don't get to see enough of her, so it was wonderful to have both her and the boy child with us -- it felt like old times!

I will let the pictures do most of the talking.

This is where we spent most of our time at the house we rented.

Our favorite place to eat

Fried whole belly clam roll -- the best!

Never too old for a good toy from our favorite bookstore

The kids on a rope obstacle course

Girl child waaaay up high (she's the one up top there)

The intrepid adventurers

Poor Mia missed us terribly.  When we got home, we were worried about her.  Usually she's right there watching out the window for us and is there at the door to welcome us, but this time she was nowhere to be found.   Turns out she was sleeping on the couch in the living room -- she had given up on us, poor thing.  She was very glad we were home.

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a great week.  Enjoy the tennis!!  Yay, US Open!