Wanna dance ????

It's raining outside so it's time to get some actions in that boring dark day. So get your disco ball out of your stitching closet and get ready to dance for my second finish of the year !!!! ( click to enlarge to see the true beauty of this piece) .

Started on january 11th 2010

Finished on febuary 22 nd 2010

Stitched on the fabric from the kit.

I really really enjoyed stitching it. As always Lanarte charts are so nice and easy to follow. I wish all the designers will make these kind of charts. I should have stitched it earlier because it's truly a beautiful piece . So what's next? You'll have to wait and come back tomorrow (yes, I'm hoping to go back to daily blogging one day ... ). I can only tell you I'm stitching it on a Silkweaver fabric.

Still here !

First, I want to thank you for all your kind words about the loss of my father in law. Chuy is not doing great, mainly because he still feels guilty to not have been able to attend the funeral. He talked a lot with one of his sister and it helped a little. Anyway, grieving is a slow process so he's going to have ups and downs. I really appreciate your support .

We got an unexpected snow on thursday. This time, the wind was blowing very hard and it seems we got more snow than last time. We got 8 inches. The kids didn't go to school. I don't know why but I always feel guilty when I don't send them to school ; even though last time, I realized that lots of kids didn't go when we had our last snow. Today, it's melting so driving was easier !!!

Yesterday, the kids went to play in the snow. Chuy went with them so I gave him the camera to shoot some pictures of them playing in the snow. Seeing that Steb had snow until his knees, I asked him to take a picture of Steb boots and this is what he came back with:

Yes, that puzzled me too especially when you know that he took only TWO pictures and none of the kids ... ( he didn't even told me he didn't take any ... ) Then it was time to shovel and father and son teamed up to do the job ! We need to invest in a snow shovel for next year as this garden shovel is quite heavy.

I keep stitching my basket. I'm having a lot of fun stitching that piece. It really look like a painting. Colors are really great. The problem is that I'm leaving lots of 1/1 for the end ( yes, like always ... ) . I do try to stitch some everyday but I really hate that. I'm stitching an apple right now, then I'll have another one and some leaves. If you have this basket in your stash, stitch it! I'm sure you'll have as much fun as I have !!!

And don't forget that today is your last day to enter my giveaway : here !!!

Sad day

Today, I saw this cute Norman Rockwell google logo celebrating his birthday. You may not know it but I love his drawings/paintings. And by looking at my stitching tastes, I'm sure you are not surprised I love his art. I was going to tell you I have this same design on cross stitch and I even own a chart by Nimue with the same king of design.

But everyhting changed when I came back from my taxi duties this afternoon and checked our answering machine. We had a message from one of Chuy's brother letting us know that my father in law passed away this morning ( their time / central time) You may remember he was an old man with a weak health but still, it's a schock to learn such a news over the phone. I'm very sad for Chuy who couldn't tell him good bye, I'm sad for my children who will never get to meet their grand father ... We don't know if Chuy could go to the burial as they may not wait for him to arrive. For me it's hard to understand but I guess it's not the same over there.

And here is my latest picture:

I was supposed to do the giveaway on friday but I'll do it next week so you have more time to enter.

Monday and febuary !

Remember you have until thursday to enter my blogoversary giveaway !!! it's ---- > here !

I guess I was not the only one that was not ready for monday as my alarm clock didn't go off this morning. Pierre woke me up at 7.30 : mom is time to get up !!! ( understand, it's time to make our breakfast ... Don't assume he can't make his own but he's a messy breakfast maker ( he wastes the cereals by sharing them with the table, pours too much milk ) . Febuary is here already ... Didn't really see january passing by but let's be positive: days are getting longer: now it gets dark around 6 pm.

My basket is progressing well despite those dark colors. I did stitch the two apples to take a break from the basket. You may notice I didn't stitch anything on the left side of the basket but that's because I didn't make my working copy yet !!! I need to do because it looks a little weird like that ! I'm really having a lot of fun stitching this project.

My computer is acting up so it's very hard to write anything ....

Time to show !!!

Where is the daily blogger who owns that blog? If you know her, tell her she needs to go back to her old habits !!! Thanks!



It's really time to show you my latest progress. I am now stitching the non fun part of the design: the dark basket. So you are not going to believe it but last night to take a break from the dark colors, I stitched some greens ! but I survived I added another butterfly, the handle and maybe you didn't see the bird last time?


Emma is sick: she probably catched a bug when she went party with some of her friends for a birthday; laser game + bomwling + retaurant + pijama party = 4 sick girls ! ( yes that many !!! )

Chuy has started his week end today ... I feel we live in the twilight zone : 2 work days, 5 days week end ... thank you the bad economy

Progress

I'm still late at reading my blogs on my reader ... Hope I can go back to comment more regularly ...

Sale season has started here so I bought some charts on sale: I especially love the elves from Imaginating and the snowman ( Noel) Click to enlarge to see them better. I'll show more stuffs tomorrow. It's probably my last purchases before my stash diet ( not that I want to be on a diet but the bad economy is making me go on this forced diet ... ) Don't feel bad for me, you know I have some stash to keep me warm this winter ( and the next one ) . But I'll probably feel bad to not be able to buy the new cute adorable design that I love ... C'est la vie ...

My Lanarte: it's such a beautiful piece ! I don't regret giving up on the wreath. That's what stitching should be about: pleasure and fun ! Here is my latest progress on the fruits basket.

Snow days !!!

Steb started the new year with Chicken Pox. At first, I couldn't believe it but yes, it did have the little blisters on his body. He got them mainly on his stomach and back and only three on his face (and some in his hair). He got lucky as a little boy in his classroom got them all over his body ( it was so bad that the mom ended up in the ER with the little boy) Below, you can see Pierre and Emma counting all the blisters on new year day.

You may remember our snow days before Christmas. We thought it was over but nope, snow was still ready for us. It started last wednesday. On thursday, it was so bad that the kids had to stay home ( Chuy as well). We took advantage of this free time to go to our local wood to take some pictures. It was beautiful. We even saw a woman skiing in the wood. Click to enlarge the pictures.

We went there with a neighbor (she's Pierre's age and they all get along very well) They all had a lot of fun ( and didn't miss school at all !!! LOL )

Pierre pretending to be lost in the snow:

That day, we all fell down or slid (yes, even me but I was the one holding the camera !!! )

At home, the kids enjoyed snow fights !!!

But one kid didn't enjoy it all the time ... Oops !

Check Steb's boots ( burried in 6 inches of snow)

One little birdie got very happy I set a free restaurant for them ( click to enlarge if you want a good look at the bird).

Last night, it snowed again but it was starting to melt by 10 am this morning. Snow is very unsual here because we live 10 mn away from the sea. We'll see if it was the last snow of the winter ...

Okay, I admit it: I quit ... The Lanarte wreath is beautiful but the constant change of colors drove me crazy and I felt I was going nowhere. I guess HAED stitchers know that feeling? That's why I don't stitch HAED charts.

So, I decided to start a new project. I dug into my stash to see which kit/pattern will call my name and we got a winner: Summer fruits by Lanarte, from a painting by Marjolein Bastin. (and no, the green didn't scare me at all !!! ) It's funny because I bought that one at Michael's in Fort Worth, TX and I had started to sew all around. I guess I had planned to stitch it right after buying it and forgot all about it ...

And this is what I stitched so far: a butterfly and a pear (I'm working on an apple right now.) I always thought it was a big project but actually it's only 15"X9 1/2. I can handle that, right? And you know what is great? I enjoy stitching again !!! Yeah !!!

And thanks again for the sweet compliments about my Christmas cat finish !!! You are very sweet !!!