Pops Of Red

Hello friends.

A little late showing you

my Valentine's decor.

Hope you enjoy.

All of the handmades are mine

created through the years.

The pop up paper Valentine's are antique ones.

 

Oops forgot these were made by

a blogger who no longer blogs.

This is an antique heart cookie cutter.

In other news,

Mikayla my granddaughter

had a great time in Germany.

She did not like the sauerkraut though.

She said it was too sour.

She sent us pictures of a castle tour she went on.

It was massive.

She loves to collect rubber ducks.

While in Prague, she visited a store  called the

Duck Boutique which was completely

full of ducks in all sizes.

She was in heaven.

Cannot wait to see what she brings home. 

Am loving my stitchy progress 

of my current projects.

I have 7 in rotation.

Nashville market is around the corner,

and there are a few new cross stitch releases

I would like to purchase.

Will see.

I had yesterday off so it was a longer weekend

for me.

Had to go to the dentist and now have to see

an oral surgeon to remove my wisdom teeth.

UGH

Well have to get my butt to fixin dinner.

BBQ pork sandwiches with French Fries.

Pops Of Red Blessings To All!

Janice

February CupboardScape

Hello friends.

Hope everyone had a wonderful 

St Valentine's Day.

Bob and I stayed home and had some

homemade chicken noodle soup.

Not so romantic,

but it filled us up.

 

Today's CupboardScape is all about

red and white textiles.

This is my latest find.

A quilt basket piece that was framed.

Hope you enjoyed my red and white display.

In other news,

the store closing went fine,

but afterwards I almost got into an accident.

The roads were getting pretty icy

with a snow clipper that came on in.

Even though I was going way under the speed limit,

I still almost rear ended a Fed Ex truck.

He was braking and did not have 

any brake lights.

By the time I realized it,

I could not brake in time.

I tried but knew I would hit him,

so I opted to swerve to the right,

which then I almost went into a ditch.

I swerved back to the left and went between 

the truck and mailbox.

It all happened so quick

and I was within inches of both the truck

and mailbox.

Bob could not believe I did not hit anything.

I immediately said God...or my angel...

or both were with me 

for sure this morning.

My granddaughter's flight was delayed

by 50 minutes because of the snow too.

She and some of her classmates and teachers

are headed to Frankfurt Germany.

She probably landed sometime

in the wee hours of this morning.

I need to call my daughter to find out. 

For 10 days she will be in three countries.

Germany, Prague and Hungary.

It took her a year to pay for the trip,

and she paid with her own money.

It was something she wanted to do.

m so proud of her for wanting to do this on her own.

A a trip of a lifetime for her.

I told her to take lots of pics for us.

Well thats all for now.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

What will be your weekend plans?

My plans will be to work on something...

not sure what yet. LOL

February Blessings To All!

Janice

 

Winter On The River

Good morning friends.

Today's post is what 

our St Clair River

should look like in the Winter.

By now we would have ice in our mighty river.

These pics were taken last year.

The freighters passing would have ice on them.

The Winter ducks would have moved in

with ice covering the nearby lake.

No ice in Lake St Clair either.

There had been years where the freighters 

would get stuck in the ice.

We would have a traffic jam in the river.

Nope not this year.

No ice.

No ducks.

Not even many freighters.

Without the ducks, no bald eagles.

They follow their food source.

Am I sad...yes a bit.

I enjoy seeing the colorful ducks.

I also enjoy seeing the bald eagles.

This has been a weird Winter.

No snow on the ground.

However there have been years like this before.

There is always next year.

In other news,

Saundra from Woodland Junction

asked me if it was flax in my rye basket.

Yes it was.

When I did prim shows I used it for my dolls hair.

Now it is getting harder for me to find,

so I now use raw wool.

 Carla's from the

River Flowing Blog 

Commented the other day that her cousin was

under a tornado warning.

I saw the devastation on tv 

of what that tornado did, so hoping her

cousin is alright. 

Friday the temp got up t0 64.

It did nor last long, but it was nice.

Closing at the title company is Thursday.

Bob and I went over to the building

on Friday to decide what to do with

the remaining items left.

Well have to drive to work now.

Hopefully your week starts out good for you.

Winterless River Blessings To All!
Janice

Winter Has Arrived

 Just in my house, not outside.

No snow anywhere currently in our area.

Right after Christmas, I bring out my

Winter greens to brighten me up

for the cold January month. 

This year we only had one week of a real cold spell.

One significant storm that produced 4 inches of snow.

(knocking on wood now)

More foggier mornings and nights though.

No ice in the river.

Which means no ducks or bald eagles.

Can I really be saying I am missing Winter?

I still have my Winter displays inside.

Added blue flowers to my greens with red berries.

It is supposed to be in the mid 50's.

Flowers may start to pop up outside.

The towns fire, ice and spice festival 

will have no ice this year.

The ice rink is water.

No dashing through the snow.

Am I disappointed?

To all my Wisconsin friends, you dont

need to send me any. LOL

I really dont care after Christmas.

Time to bring out the red.

Am late getting mine out.

Do you decorate for February?

In other news,

taking tomorrow off.

Both Bob and I have appts.

with the same doctor.

Then he wanted to go to Home Depot,

I wanted to go to Hobby Lobby.

We are planning on lunch at Culver's

and then try and finish up cleaning out

our building.

We think closing is next week.

At least that was was the title company said...

but no formal date was given to us yet.

Folks are finding the gift shop now

over at our antique store, 

so things are good there.

Its all decked out for Valentine's and Spring.

Well I hope everyone enjoys their weekend.

Stay safe my California friends.

Winter's Past Blessings To All!

Janice  

Sunday Starts

Good morning Friends.

Well I have a few more starts for you today.

    

                                                   Starting with Potted Plant.

                              A sad start, but at least a start.

                                         Hooked the border.

                                I apologize for the wrinkles.

                           I usually roll up my hooked projects,

                                but somehow it got mixed in 

                                     with my wool this time.

                                                     GRRR

I used a blue and white houndstooth wool.

I do like how this border turned out.

 

Winter Saltboxes is my go to take to work project.

I can stitch this at lunch.

My start on this one.

I dont think this will be completed by Winter's end,

but will continue to stitch until Spring.

I purchased all of the Saltbox seasons.

Stitching this on 36 ct Bramble Edinburgh 

using all called for 

Weeks Dye Work and Classis Colorworks floss.

All except for the snow.

Am using Weeks Grits for all of the white.

It shows up better on this fabric.

Finally this last one I started January 13th.

It is a freebie from La-D-Da.

You can find it on her website.

This one is called Smell My Feet.

My one evening start on this one.

Stitching on 32 ct Ale.

(Much darker linen in person)

I will continue to stitch this one on

evenings of the 13th and last day of each month.

Would like to turn this one into a pillow.

I  did choose my own colors for this one. 

In other news,

Vintage Keepsakes blog asked me if I would

recommend a linen for someone who has not had 

a lot of experience in cross stitch.

I started off with 14 ct Aida. 

Back then Aida only came in white,

but now it comes in oodles of colors.

Personally I prefer linen over Aida as it is

a much softer fabric.

14 count means 14 stitches per inch.

If you use 28 ct one over two, you will get the same 

size in your project.

With Aida you should use 2 strands of floss.

One over two means you skip a hole & go to the next one.

I believe linen goes up to 56 ct now.

I cannot see the holes past 36 ct.

My sweet spots are 32 or 36 ct linen.

Hope this helps.

Hobby Lobby or Joann carries Aida.

I purchase my linen online.

Sue Swank asked if I have any special tools

or lights.

I can see in the daylight to stitch.

At night I use my Ott light.

These can also be purchased at Joann's or Hobby Lobby.

I did purchase some Q snap frames,

but to be honest I have gone back to the

tried and true old wooden hoops.

The Q snap ripped my fabric on the big Halloween

one and thankfully it is not near where I will

be stitching any of the blocks.

Mary from Windy Meadows Farm

also remembered Woolworths store.

I also remember that one too.

Are we dating ourselves Mary?

Tonight we are taking my stepdaughter

and her husband out to dinner for her birthday.

Bob's cousin and wife will be joining us.

Will be dining at a BBQ restaurant.

Our first time here, but heard it was a good place.

Well off to make breakfast and then stitch.

Have a marvelous Sunday my friends

doing what makes you happy.

Sunday Blessings To All!

Janice