Tuesday, August 5, 2025

The Graduate

 Good morning friends,
In the midst of dealing with my mom's
latest health issue,
Bob and I attended my sweet granddaughters
graduation party last Sunday.


Congratulations to Mikayla.


Here she is in her cap and gown.
School colors are red and white.
At graduation the girls wore white,
while the boys wore red.
Am not sure why she decided to add
tint to her hair that day.
I told her she should have done it in 
a red though to match her school colors.


One of her baby pictures on the left.


One of the many awards she received.
Her school name was Chippewa Valley.


My daughter decided to add the college colors
she will be attending for the dessert table.
Michigan State University.
I took this picture way before all of
 the desserts were put out.


Proud mom (Michele) my daughter
on the right.
Mikayla on the left.
Mikayla reports to Michigan State University
on August 19th.

In other news,
My mom had an orthopedic appointment 
yesterday morning.
I met the courtesy van there.
The doctor told her that at a minimum 
her shoulder will take 3 months to heal.
It also may never heal.
Her only other option would be to do
shoulder replacement surgery.
However the doctor did not recommend
this at all because of my mom's age.
She still cannot walk.
In therapy they are just having her ride a bike
and having her stand with assistance
for a few minutes.
Am hoping she is able to walk...
otherwise us kids will have to make some decisions.

We finally got our new privacy fence yesterday too.
Will need to take a pic of it at some point.

Bob also celebrated his birthday yesterday.
We went out for dinner after I was done working. 
Ate outside at this restaurant along our river.
There was a nice breeze and it was not hot at all.

It was also very hazy all day 
due to the Canadian wildfires again.
Am hoping it goes away today.

Well off to work.
Hope everyone is enjoying
 their August weather thus far.

Post Graduation Blessings To all!
Janice


Friday, August 1, 2025

Friday Finish

July is over.
August has arrived.

I have not one, but two finishes.
YAY
Just not fully finished.
 

Patriotic Pinwheel Parade.
The bunnies will be made into a pillow
for next July 4th.


Anyone who has been following
my blog for awhile....
knows I love BUNNIES.


These bunnies are so adorable.
That flag was a beast to stitch though.


Then I finished Blueskin.


Blueskin was George Washington's horse.
I changed my floss colors for this one.
Looking at this photo, I will need
to do a backstitch around him now.


So looks like this one is not really finished now.
Once I finish Nelson,
George Washington's other horse,
I will get them both framed.
Would like these to also be finished and framed
by next July 4th.


Now my next dilemma.
I ordered more fabric to stitch Nelson
for next year.
The one on the left if the one I just purchased.
(looks like a grayish tan)
One on the right is the one I stitched Blueskin on.
(greenish tan hue)
Notice the difference.
Looks like the dye lot changed.
UGH
Now I am hoping I left myself enough
room on the first fabric to stitch Nelson.
***note to self***
Order enough damn fabric all at once if you
are going to stitch more than one pattern.

In other news,
my mom was transferred to a rehab
facility now.
She started therapy to walk again.
According to the therapist she 
had a good first day.
She was released from the hospital 
on Wednesday and all her vitals
were back to normal.
It will still take about 2 months
for her shoulder to heal.
We are all hoping she will walk again.

Also grandson Michael is still not
able to go back to work.
He was able to get the boot removed now.
His toes have healed.
Now he is wearing a back brace for
the herniated disc.
His doctor does not want to do surgery.
Is hoping this will heal on its own.
He will also need therapy as well.

My son's 41st birthday was yesterday.
He is coming to our house tomorrow
afternoon to go swimming in the river.
We will have a bbq later and possibly a bonfire.
Will go visit my mom in the morning.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

August Blessings To All!
Janice
 





Monday, July 28, 2025

Moving Day

 Hello friends!
So before I decided to decorate
for July 4th...which by the way
is still up.
I asked Bob to move this cabinet
from the kitchen to here.


Any eagle eyes out there will notice 
this was where I did my Cupboardscape displays.


Since all of the furniture in here is blue,
I thought it would be best to move it.


Now for the rest of the story...
pictures of the other side of our
keeping room.







Hope you enjoyed.

In other news,
Thursday around lunch I received
a call from the EMS from my mom's town.
Brian called from my mom's phone
to inform me she fell and possibly 
broke her shoulder.
They were transporting her to the hospital.
He asked where I lived and I told him,
I was a half hour from where they were
taking her.
I called my boss and immediately drove
to the hospital.
It is halfway from my house and hers.
I did beat the ambulance though.
She did break her right shoulder.
She is right handed.
She fell in her garage trying to clean
up after weeding her dahlias.
I then asked if they could do a scan
on her head along with the xray on
her shoulder.
They did and it came out negative.
My brother arrived around around 3.
My sister was in Phoenix.
They discharged her at 6:30.
Put her arm in a sling and I needed
then to take her to an orthopedic surgeon
the following morning to determine
if she required surgery.
They thought at the time it would just 
be a 6-8 week timeframe to heal
on its own because of where she broke it.
She would also need therapy.
We drove right to her house to pick up clothes,
and everything needed as she would
be staying at our house for the duration.
On the way back to my house I stopped
to get her a shake she wanted.
Well the next morning,
she was so weak she could not even walk.
I called the ambulance and they took
her back to the hospital.
They did more tests.
Her hemoglobin was 5.7 and normally
it should be between 13 to 15.
They gave her a blood transfusion.
Did another scan of her head.
Again came out negative.
Friday night she needed oxygen.
They took it off when she woke back up.
Her blood level was back down to 7.
She was bleeding or not producing red blood cells.
They are now opting on doing a scope down
her throat and a colonoscopy.
My sister does not want her to do either
because of her age.
My brother and I said it should be her decision
since she is of sound mind. 
Saturday and Sunday her vitals remained good.
She ate all of her meals and
went to the bathroom with the help
of the staff.
Her blood level remains at an 8.
Still need answers,
Am headed back to the hospital in a little bit.
Please say a wee prayer for my mom if you can.
Thank you.

Monday Blessings To All!
Janice


Thursday, July 24, 2025

I Love This Month



Hello Friends.
I love this month.
I so love being Patriotic.
Hope you enjoy more red, white and blue.











In other news,
Mary from Windy Meadow Farms
asked me about my thought on seances.
I oppose them.
Would NEVER want one performed 
in my home or business.

Carla from The River
asked how we got the paranormal to
want to visit our store.
The person who formed this group
came to Bob and simply asked
if his team could come in and
do their thing.
Bob agreed.
We did not give them any information.
We wanted to know if they could
really tune into our ghosts.
They did not disappoint.

Cathy from Acorn Hollow
said she sometimes smells cigarette smoke
in her home.
The day my dad passed away,
my mom and my kids went shopping 
the next day to get a nice suit for my son.
Everywhere we went that day.
I could smell the Old Spice he always wore.
I mentioned it when we got home that evening.
Both my mom and my kids said they smelled it too.
Coincidence???

Mary from Hill Top Post
made me chuckle at her response.
She never believed in ghosts,
but her intentions when she leaves this world
is to become one.

Thank you everyone for your comments.
I so loved reading each and every one.

So lately driving to work in the mornings,
I decided to count the number of trucks
going back towards my small town
in the first half hour of my drive
that were heading out fishing.
The average for the week was 12.
Am sure there were more, but
that's what I counted on my way to work
in that timeframe.

Monday I decided to count how many bridges
I had to cross on my way to work.
The little things I do in my hour travel.
Well I went over 10 creeks & 2 rivers.
12 bridges in total.

Tuesday evening I decided to finally 
go out on my dock.
Have not stepped foot on it since 2019.


Why would I not go out with this beautiful view?
Stupid me. I know.
This is the view looking up river.


Looking downriver.


Finally across the river.
This is Canada.
Unfortunately no freighters to be seen.
I told Bob I am going to try and make a point
to go out once a week now.
It felt nice.

Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary.
This is our 16th year.
It was a second marriage for us both,
but my how the time has flown by.

Must get to work now.

Summer Time Blessings To All!
Janice



 

Sunday, July 20, 2025

Sunday Start

 Happy Sunday to all my friends.


Well I decided to start another sampler.
this one is called
Feniscowles Hall 
by Heartstring Samplery.
This one will be a tribute to my
paternal grandparents and their parents.
Am not a green person...but something about
this grass drew me in to this pattern.


The entire sampler will be 
my own color conversion.
Will not do the verse first, but instead
add in the alphabet and numbers
which were included in this pattern.
 

For the upper row and alphabet,
these are the colors I chose.
Dublin Bay- Alphabet
Kudtzu- Vine
Old Red Paint- Red Leaves.
Now to be fair,
the red leaves are also in the pattern...
I just changed to a different red I had on hand.


My one day start.
This is the width.

I also decided that from now until the first
day of Autumn, I am going to just rotate
stitching on my three current samplers.
Those are Antique Birds and Angel,
Sarah Casey Unwin, and this one.
Am calling it my Sampler Summer Stitching.

In other news,
last night we had a paranormal group
come into our antique store.
They let Bob and I ask questions.
I talked twice to our one ghost visitor
whom we know was in the Civil War.
His name is Roger.
I was not able to find out which side he was on.
Did find out he was shot and lost his leg.
He was in much pain.
He is in an area of our store 
where our own antiques are.
Bob and I have pinpointed the object
he may be attached to.
One of the many whiskey jugs
or a creamy white cabinet.
Either way, we knew he was here even
before the paranormal group came in.

We also knew of the one man who 
resides in our military section of the store.
This ghost bothers me.
I told him last night he better get along
with me because I will be working here soon.
Yes I do sometimes talk with our ghosts.
Bob says Good Morning to them every
day he works.

We also have a child in there.
She likes to play.
The paranormal group was not able
to make contact with her last night.
It is possible she has moved on.

Our Victorian lady has also
moved on.
We think she was attached to the
Victorian furniture that was sold now.
She never bothered anyone.

We also have one more ghost
up in our attic. 
She is the only entity we think
will remain with the building.
We  do not know anything about her. 
They were not able to get anything on
her last night either.

Some may not believe in ghosts,
but we do.
We catch orbs on our store cameras.
We have seen shadows throughout
the 15 years we have been in business.
We both have felt cold spots.
Bob has heard voices.

Any hoot,
if you happen to have a ghost story,
please share.

Hope you have a great Sunday.
I will be back to cross stitching.
Was able to create a few items
for the store.
Not much, but will continue to create things
for the store on Saturdays.
Next year I will have more time.

Unfortunately back to work tomorrow.
Vacation is over. UGH

Summer Sampler Blessings To All!
Janice

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

Whippy Wednesday

Hello Friends.
Here are my WIP's for this month.


Day 10
I almost finished the bottom left side
of the angels body and banner.


Maybe the next day I can finish this angel.

Day 11


Could not finish the angel. UGH
Still have this tiny little part at the bottom right.
I tried though.


As dad would have said:
Close but no cigars.

Day 12


Finished the angel finally.


Stitched all of the leaves and flowers 
to the right of the rose. 


Finished the upper border and almost
 finished the right corner motif.


Purchased a new needle minder.
Just fitting for this piece.


Will look forward to getting her finished.
Then I can begin finishing the rest
of the flowers and other bird.


Day 13
I started the bird and added the berries
above him.
Also worked my way down on the right border.


The bird is taking a bit.
So many color changes,
but am loving this sampler.

Next up.
Blueskin


Am hoping I can get this one done
before I get tired of patriotic stitching...
getting close.


George's buttons on his coat were
suppose to be this green color.
I changed to Heirloom Gold
by Gentle Art.


Next change I did was his pants.
They were suppose to be gray.
Looking at all of the images online,
I decided to go with Caramel Corn.
Again by Gentle Art.


Next change was Blueskin himself.
The called for was Parchment (cream)
Blueskin was a gray Arabian.
Anyone who knows horses,
grays will turn white as they get older...
but in the Winter will have that undertone
gray come through.
So I decided to do my Blueskin in
White Lightning by Weeks Dye Works.
His mane in Pelican Gray.
Finally his tail in Weeks Dye Works
 Galvanized and Pelican Gray. 
Am happy with my changes.


Next is my monthly progress on
Sarah Casey Unwin.
I finished the motifs on the right.


Stitched more down on the border.
Then started stitching another border row.
Then went up and did these motifs,
Finally started the words. 


Although a biggie...
am enjoying stitching on this piece too.

Finally Patriotic Pinwheel Parade


Stitched more bunnies.


Plus another one. 
Am almost to the finish line...


Did not get completed for this July 4th though.
Hopefully will be done for next year.
That flag is MASSIVE...still not complete.

In other news,
no cross stitch this week as I am focusing
on stitching up things for Halloween 
at the store.
On August 1st we are celebrating 
our 15 year anniversary.
We will be doing storewide sales throughout
that first weekend.

Had to take my car in for brakes yesterday.
Bad news.
I was driving on a wing and a prayer.
God surely was watching over me.
All brakes including rotors were shot.
Now I have all new brakes.
Thank God also that I don't try and stop
 on a dime when driving.
I always leave space in car in front of me.

Today am going to the closest fabric store
near me which is 45 minutes away.
Bob is going with me.
I need some fabric...just a wee bit.
We will do lunch afterwards somewhere in town.

Lauren asked me how many days til retirement.
212 days....

Mid Week Blessings To All!
Janice