So Totally Cute!

I was back at work today! Liesl was so excited to go back to work and see all of her dog and people friends. She shook with excitement half the way there. I was really happy to go back, too. I really adore my job, the people I work with and the meaningful work that I am fortunate enough to do. My batteries were totally recharged and I was ready to get back to work. The icing on the cake was having my little dog looking so happy to play with her dog friends. (She thinks the reason we go to work is so that she can play with her people and dog friends. She does not seem to get the point that we go there so that momma can earn biscuit money. LOL)

In my first meeting of the day, my dear NASCAR friend, whose birthday is two days before mine, presented me with a package. She got me this adorable Tony Stewart Pit Crew to go with my Tony Stewart Lego/K'nex car that my daughter got me for Christmas. This makes me giggle to look at it because it is so gosh darn cute. I just love it.

Well, it has been a kind of long day, and I am a bit rusty and getting back into the swing of things, so I think I will turn in. No stitching tonight since I am going off to dream land early. Have a great evening!

Oh, boy, it is cold! We were warned by the weathercasters and they were right. Brrrrr.

'Twas a good day today. It was so cold that Liesl and I stayed in for most of the day. In the afternoon, I drove over to Carmel to the library to pick up a book that had come in for me. The library is pretty close to the beach, and when I got back into the car, I had an excited little Schnauzer on my hands. She looked so happy, obviously thinking that we were going to the beach, that I could not let her down. So we drove down to the beach and I am so glad that we did. She was having a lovely time on the beach, dipping her puppy toes in the Pacific Ocean, when it started to snow! There has not been snow at sea level here since 1964. It was a wonderful, magical surprise. People on the beach looked so excited, and were calling out to each other. It was so cool and I am so glad that we were there.

Tonight is my last night of staying up late since tomorrow is my last day of vacation. I will probably stitch and read tonight. I have church in the morning, then racing to watch in the afternoon. I am really looking forward to going back to work and seeing my co-workers. I will have to start planning my next vacation, too!

Vacation Winding Down...

Well, we got the first part of the storm today. It absolutely poured this morning. It cleared up a bit this afternoon but now the cold front is moving in. Liesl and I hunkered down today. She did get to play in the yard for a while this afternoon while I did a little house cleaning, so she was not totally trapped indoors. She trotted around her little queendom outside, and would come it to see if momma would give her a cookie just for walking in the door. Okay, it did work sometimes, on account of she is so cute.

I did stitch today, but mostly, I read. I finished Great Expectations late this afternoon and cried for about an hour afterwards. What a book. I think it will always be in my top favorites. Dickens was so descriptive in his writing, and therefore could pull so much emotion out of his reader. It had such a profound effect on me that tonight I watched the Jane Smiley webcast about the book and A Tale Of Two Cities, which I also loved. I was pleased to find out that every summer UC Santa Cruz has a Dicken's Festival and this year the book is Great Expectations. Yay! UC Santa Cruz is less than an hour's drive from Monterey, so I think I may have to go up to attend some of the lectures. I have to see what the prices are and may have to start saving my pennies now. But I think it would be a really cool thing to do.

I only have a couple more days left of vacation. It has been an amazing vacation and I am so happy for the way it turned out. I feel really refreshed and rejuvenated and ready to return to my job. I really miss the people I work with. It is suppose to storm the next couple of days, so mostly, Liesl and I will stay close to home, but that is okay with us.

Knitting Circle Night

What a great evening! Tonight was Knitting Circle Night. We have such a neat group of ladies that just make you feel so good to be around. We had an amazing dinner together, that was so delicious. Then, my dear friend, Heidi served amazing chocolate cupcakes that she had made for my birthday. She made me feel really special. I always feel so revived and happy after an evening with these ladies. We have such interesting conversations and everyone is just wonderful and kind.

The women in my knitting circle knit the most amazing pieces. I am in such awe. I take my stitching with me, although I am becoming really inspired to go get some amazing yarn and knit something wonderful. My friends have such beautiful yarns in the most beautiful colors. I realize how much knitting (and cross stitch) have changed.

Tonight we have a big, cold storm moving in. It has already started raining. It is supposed to get below freezing. I went and did my grocery shopping and errands so that I do not have to leave the house tomorrow. I went to the library and got my book so that I can hunker down with Liesl in the house with a fire in the fireplace. I am glad that I got everything done and I am looking forward to staying in. It should make for a very good stitchy day!

Stay warm!

Birthday Fun!

Today was my birthday! It has been a really good day. The weather is starting to turn gray and cold so Liesl and I stayed in today. So no trips to the beach. My dear friend took me out for a wonderful dinner tonight. We both love crab cakes, so we had delicious seafood and were so full. I am very comfy now. It has really been a wonderful birthday week.

The temperature is supposed to drop tomorrow. We have been warned that it will be really cold. In fact, it is supposed to snow at sea level on Friday, which never happens here. I think Liesl and I will run a few errands tomorrow, and then hunker down for a few days during our storm. Liesl loves to play in the surf, but raindrops are an unwelcome surprise to her.

I have said quite a few prayers of thanks today. My best birthday presents are the ones I have everyday with my family, my friends, my dog and all of the beauty around me. I am feeling that this year, my 48th, is going to be a really fantastic year. So now I am going to spend the last few hours of my birthday relaxing and cuddling the little dog that has decided to curl up next to me. What a great birthday gift! It is perfect and just what I wanted!

Liesl's Vacation

It is pretty common knowledge that Schnauzers are really smart. In fact, they are referred to as "The Dog With The Human Brain" because they tend to use a lot of the same logic and reasoning skills that humans do. They are also master communicators and can find ways to tell their people what they want and need.

While I know that Liesl had a really great time at the beach yesterday, she must have remembered that she did, too. This morning I got up and was just sitting down to have a cup of coffee when she kept going to the front door scratching the door and bouncing off it like while she was really excited. In general, Liesl does not go to the front door. She rings her bell at the back door when she needs to go out. This morning, she was smiling and looked super excited like she did when she was at the beach.

I quickly figured out she wanted to go to the beach again. I threw on my sweats and put an excited dog into the car and headed over to the dog beach in Carmel. This is what Liesl looked like on the ride. She stood the whole way because she was so excited:

It was a gorgeous day at the beach as you can see, (Pebble Beach is in the background): She ran the whole length of the beach and chased the labradors into the water. This is what she looked like the rest of the afternoon:
Tonight was my birthday celebration with the family at PF Chang's, one of my favorite restaurants. I got to see my daughter, son-in-law, and son. We had a lot of fun. It was so good to have us all together and it made me feel so happy. Here are the beautiful presents they gave me:

The lovely little clutch with the beautiful buttons is a cover for my Kindle. My daughter knit it for me along with the goreous shawl in purple and green with the fancy lacey stitches that is under the portable drive. They are so beautiful. She is so talented!

The portable drive has a story. About a month ago, my six year old laptop died. I had been using it, walked away from it for fifteen minutes and when I came I had the dreaded black screen. I know it is totally stupid, but I had not had any trouble with it, so I had not backed it up. My biggest fear was that I lost Liesl's puppy photos from when she was a tiny girl and my genealogical info. So they gave me this portable drive, which only has to be plugged in to back up my computer. The best part of it though is that on the drive, were the contents of my old hard drive, which my wonderful son-in-law was able to rescue from my dead computer. The first thing I checked was for Liesie's puppy photos. Thank goodness. I have totally learned my lesson.

Vacation, Day 3, Seriously Awesome!

I am happy to report that I only slept for eight hours last night and woke up at a reasonable time this morning. I had a lovely cup of tea then Liesl and I walked the 1/2 mile or so to the beach. She had the best time. As you can see, she was pretty smiley. She has her winter haircut right now so she is big and bushey, which makes her look a bit stouter than she actually is. I need to trim her bangs a bit. I do not want to take her in for a grooming yet because it is cold, and when she gets shaved down she shivers alot (and refuses to wear a sweater). So her hair is big and curly. Alot of my friends think she is even cuter when her hair is all curly like this.

One of us was really sleepy after her walk and her bath, so off she trotted to her little bed. I got ready to meet my very dear friend for lunch. We had a wonderful lunch, complete with some lovely little tarts my friend had procured for dessert. It was terrific. She is such a wonderful friend, and I have so much fun with her. We also have great conversations. We did a little shopping complete with stopping in at my favorite little boutique, Blessings, in Pacific Grove. We had a beautiful afternoon!

I am really happy to be home for my vacation. It has been nice to sleep in my own bed, walk on my local beach with Liesl and be around my stitching toys and and my books. After only three days, I am feeling pretty relaxed and rested. I have time to have lengthy conversations with my friends on the phone and visit with them. What is really important to me as well, is that I have a strong belief in spending my money in the community that I live in, to help support my community. So I feel good that when I spend anything, no matter how small, that it is staying in the local economy.

Well, Liesl has turned in for the evening and I am ready to stitch until my eyelids get heavy! Have a great evening!

PS: I just saw the evening news and felt strongly about signing back on for this posting: Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Christchurch, New Zealand. They have endured so much within the last year and now another large earthquake has occurred. So far the news reports are not good. We pray that God would hold them in the palm of His hand.

Vacation, Day 2

Another great day! I ended up sleeping outrageously late. Like, until 9:30! This is totally unlike me. I would have been up at 7:30 except Liesl who normal snuggles up behind my knees, came up for a full cuddle at 7:30. This is not normally her thing, but she put her little puppy feet under my arm to keep them warm, and I was so comfy that I fell back to sleep. I was able to make a cup of tea before the Daytona 500 started.

I have waited for the past four months for NASCAR season to start up again. What a race! I was sorry that Tony did not win, but I was thrilled for Trevor! There were hardly any cars left at the end of that race. Oh, my goodness, I love NASCAR. Plus, I get lots of stitching in! I got a lot done on my piece today.

It was a pretty day here. Liesl played in the backyard for most of the afternoon and just looked so happy. I love a smiling dog. The bright eyes, the cute smile. It makes my heart sparkle. So she played outside and I got my palace cleaned up. I have had a mystery smell coming out of my kitchen for the past couple of days. I tried taking out the garbage, wiping down the counters, and cleaning the sink and drain. But alas, the smell remained. Which meant only one thing--it was the refrigerator. I went into the fridge looking like the mother from the Exorcist going slowly up the stairs...I cleaned out the fridge and found the offending item. But of course, it can't stop there. I ended up taking shelves out to get them sparkling clean. It is what I call the "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" syndrome.

So my house is organized, Liesl is asleep, the dishes are washed, and my stitching awaits. It has been a nice, quiet, domestic day. Tomorrow Liesl and I are off for fun in the morning. Then I have a birthday lunch with one of my very best friends. (My birthday is not until Wednesday, but she is going out of town.) I am looking forward to spending some time yacking with her. Then I might go buy some makeup. I have decided that I need a new pretty lipstick. Something in a spring coral shade. Yay!

Vacay, Day One! Perfection!

Oh my goodness, what a great day! I slept for ten straight hours and woke up around 9 am today. I could probably even have slept for longer, but my little furgirl was not having it. It was pouring rain outside. Rather than starting chores, I made a cup of tea and cozied up on the sofa with my stitching. I got to catch up on my Real Housewives of Beverly Hills episodes on On Demand while I stitched to my heart's content It was so much fun.

This afternoon I had an appointment for a massage. I have been saving up and made the appointment a month ago. I have been counting the days to this appointment. It was awesome, and I feel all relaxed and comfy now for my vacation.

My daughter came over this evening. She had gone to a yarn show up in Santa Clara, so she brought her new stash over to show me. Wow! What total treasure. So pretty and so soft! I am so glad she got to go to her first big show. I was really excited for her. We had some yummies from Trader Joe's while we chatted. If you get the chance to go to your local TJ's, try the Olive Hummus. Totally fantastic. A couple of weeks ago, one of our Knitting Circle friends brought a bottle of Slow Paseo Spanish Red Wine to our group. It was delicious so I got a bottle at Trader Joe's. We each had a glass tonight. It was really delicious. We topped our feast off with Red Velvet cupcakes. Yum. It was such a good evening.

Tomorrow the rain should give way to a clear day, so I think I will take a hike with Liesl at some point. The Daytona 500 is also tomorrow! Awesome! I also have dinner plans for three nights this week for my birthday. I am loving this vacation so far!

Vacation! Whoohoooooo!

Well, Liesl and I are officially on vacation! I got off an hour late, but it was okay because I needed to finish up some stuff, otherwise I would never be able to relax. Liesl is already asleep for the night. I feel like I should stay up super late but I am not sure I have it in me. I would really like to stay up and stitch, but we will see what happens. It was so hard to get up this morning because it was pouring down rain and Liesl was all cuddled up to me. So I am looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow with my little Liesl.

I had to run to Michaels tonight and was so disappointed in what was left of the cross stitch supplies. The DMC had a lot of empty spots and there were maybe eight packages of fabric. It made me a little sad. I know that crafts are cyclical but I wonder when and if cross stitch will come back into vogue. I bought the last three 902 and last 924 that I need for my project.

The weather report for tomorrow is rain all day. This is okay with me. I have an appointment in the afternoon but I will have lots of time for resting and relaxing and playing with my stitchy toys. I am also crossing my fingers that my library book comes in.

So nine whole days to do whatever I want. What a luxury. It is cool that I can do as much or as little as I want. I have my furry little best friend, friends to have lunch with, books to read, stitching to do, and beautiful places to hike. This is so awesome.

T Minus 8 Hours And Counting...

Tomorrow at approximately, 5:01 pm, if all goes according to plan, Liesl and I will be on vacation for nine whole days! I have been working really hard and some long hours, so I am really tired. I did not even make any plans yet because I figure that I just want to spend a couple of days catching up on some sleep, taking a couple long walks with Liesl and just relaxing. Liesl and I have an invitation to go visit friends again, but since we have been hit with severe storms here, I also want to see what the weather is going to do. Plus next week is my birthday, and alot of my friends here in town want to get together. I might just take it on a day by day basis.

The rain was pretty rough today. We had thunder and lightening, and I had a scared little dog that was just shaking from it all. She is such a tough little girl, so it is always weird to me when I see her scared. The rain just pummelled our area though. It is supposed to rain the next couple of days, too. Maybe I will just lay around and read books in my jammies for a couple of days.

There will be good stitching time this weekend, since it is time for the Daytona 500! Whoohoo! Last week, I got to see my Tony race again. I am so glad NASCAR is back in season. I am going to try to go again this year to see them race. That was such an amazing experience. In fact, my profile photo on this blog was taken in front of Pit Road that day at Infineon. It was so amazing the feel those cars rumbling by. There is nothing else like it.

Have a super Friday!

Making Progress!

Okay, I am having a little too much fun with this taking a semester off from school kind of thing. In fact, just this morning I was thinking to myself that perhaps I should just take a year off. LOL It just that there are so many fun things to do, like stitching. So here is my progress. It is just one leg of a star. I think it is purty, and it's symmetry appeals to my Dutch need to have things symetrical.

We are expecting stormy weather tonight, which is okay with me. That means that I will get to have a cozy evening at home tomorrow night. I could really use an evening in. Maybe I will even light a fire in the fireplace. Ooh, and some cocoa would be really lovely.

All of my camellias are in full bloom right now. I have white, light pink and dark pink flowered trees. They are in my front yard and when I drive in to my driveway at night I am delighted by the beauty that is right there in front of me. I still think it is as magical when a seed gives way to being a plant as when I was in first grade and planted the pea plant in the dixie cup in school. I think it is magical when flowers burst open on the trees, even more so than last year. And I still think it is amazing when something comes up in my garden that I did not expect, like lobelia or Peruvian lilies, or wild irises. Life really is an amazing and magical thing.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Ah, a day that celebrates love. I am so grateful for all of the love in my life. I have terrific friends, a wonderful family and a little furry Valentine. Since I expect this week to be quite hectic, I made Liesl a little Valentine's dinner tonight. I made her a little piece of tuna with some rice. She LOVES fish, so she was pretty happy. She went to sleep looking really content. She gives me a lot of snuggles, love and laughs and deserves a really nice dinner.

I had hopes today that I would be done with my work fairly early today. Unfortunately, it took me a lot longer than I thought. I really want to be prepared for my presentation, so I am glad that I put the work into it. I will get to stitch for just a little while. Next weekend will be better.

I really want to say thank you to those who checked out my daughter's blog. She was pretty excited about it and appreciates that you took the time to visit her. She has a great recipe posted today. I am happy that she loves home arts, too.

I have some good information to share. In the past, I have mentioned that I have gotten really good at turning off my television when nothing good is on. Alot of times, I will listen to a book on my Ipod instead. Tonight as I was charging my Ipod, I decided to poke around on iTunes. The awesome news is that iTunes now has a whole list of classic novels for $1.95. If you go to the site, push the button that says Classics for under $3. I love classics and find that they are classics for a reason, and really stand the test of time. Right now I am reading Great Expectations and I have to say it is one of the best books I have ever read. The best thing about having a book on your iPod is that you can "read" and stitch at the same time. Awesome.

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Saturday

Wow! What a gorgeous day on the Monterey Peninsula. It was in the 70's, sunny and beautiful. Liesl and I started our day on Carmel Beach, where we met her playdate. Yes, I arrange playdates for my dog, but she is not spoiled. Really! Anyway, Carmel Beach borders Pebble Beach where the golfers were for the AT&T Pro-Am. There were golfers playing very close to where we were. I snapped lots of photos to show you. Or so I thought. Just now when I went to take my smartcard out of my camera, I found that it was not actually in the camera to begin with. Doh!

After her big adventure, Liesl spent the better part of the day napping whilst her momma worked. I was able to restore the cozy cottage to order after my floor construction, which looks great. Mostly, though, I had to work on a presentation I have to make at work this week. I spent my afternoon putting it together and think I am pretty close to being ready. I still have a few details to put together tomorrow before I return to work on Monday.

I finally got to stitch after about 8 tonight. I will try to post a photo tomorrow, if I get done with my work project at a reasonable time. I am having such a good time stitching this piece.

My dear daughter has finally started a blog about her knitting, bread-making and life. She is an extraordinary knitter and all around good person. Here is a link to her blog, so you can check it out! http://kneadsknitsandknothing.blogspot.com/ I am so proud of her!

Knitting Circle Night

I love Knitting Circle Thursday nights. We meet twice a month on Thursday nights. It was the brainchild of my friend, Heidi, who brought together a wonderful group of women spanning four decades in age and different backgrounds. Our discussions are so interesting, and the wealth of knowledge of crafts in the group is amazing. We have yummy things to eat, we talk, and we are able to relax and sit quietly and work on our handwork.

What was amazing tonight is that I got off work late and I was rushing around when I got home. By the time I got there, everyone was saying that I looked tired and stressed. By the end of the evening though, I felt so relaxed and comfortable. It was just so nice to sit in a room with wonderful friends doing something that we love. I bring cross stitch to work on, but they let me come anyway. LOL

As always, the best part of the evening was coming home to Liesl. I feel so loved when I walk through that door and she is so happy to see me. She did not even mind that I came home smelling like our hostess' cats. Her tail was wagging, she was jumping up and giving me kisses. What a great welcome.

A Happy Day!

I am having another one of those working late at night weeks. I have gotten home pretty close to 7 pm the last couple of nights. Tonight though there was a special treat from April of aprilmechellesdulllife.blogspot.com in my mailbox. It the package were these sweet little Liesl-like Mary Engelbreit cards and paper! April also included some pretty evenweave and the sweetest little squeaky fish for Liesl. It was such a kind thing to do. Liesl just loves her fish, too. Thank you again, April!

Things have been a little hectic around the cozy cottage the past couple of evenings. There is a contractor coming tomorrow, to replace the floors due to dry rot. So I have been moving all of my stuff out of the affected areas for the past couple of nights. He was supposed to start this morning, but it got changed at the last minute. I was glad to have an extra day to move stuff. The bonus will be having nice new flooring. Whoohoo! On the bad side there has been no stitching time.

I have to really scurry to work on my garden this weekend. The rains are returning next week, and I need to have trimming and the weeding done. I also have to fill in some holes where a certain schnauzer was gopher hunting. Liesl also has a playdate again on Saturday. The weekend is filling up already!

Well, the clock on the wall says it is past my bed time...

Garrison Keillor Rocks!

Tonight I got to go see Garrison Keillor live on stage. It was awesome! Some time ago, my pastor had see an ad for it and said she wanted to go, so I saved my pennies so I could go, too. I am so glad we went. He puts on such an amazing show. I love his ability to tell a story. He also sang some wonderful old gospel songs with a couple of other musicians who were really outstanding.

I was glad, too, that we were able to meet up for dinner before we went to the theater. We both love classic literature and are usually comparing what we are reading, so we got to talk about books and theology for a while. I love books and can talk about them at pretty much a moment's notice. This is probably also why I was pretty jazzed about seeing a famous author tell his stories. LOL

Anyway, if you ever get the chance to see Garrison Keillor in person, by all means, seize the opportunity. His ability to wrap you up in a story or a poem is amazing. He created stories that touched so many different emotions in a two hour period. This was such a special treat and I am so glad I went. It was such a great evening!

My WIP

Here is my current WIP, Rosewood Manor's Star Spangled Banner. There are some pieces that you stitch, that are just so much fun and enjoyable. The last piece that was like this for me, was MLI's Celtic Banner. It did not match my decor one bit, but was a joy to stitch. Such is the case with this piece. It will probably go up in my office at work. I am close to having one leg of the star done.

It was a gorgeous afternoon here on the Monterey Peninsula. It was in the high 70's. This is truly a fluke of nature, because it should be cold and raining right now. But the AT&T golf tournament is coming and the skies usually open up for that. In any case, Liesl got to spend the afternoon being a dog. I barely saw her inside. She laid down in the sun, she dug up gopher holes, in places where I need to turn over earth and weed anyway, luckily. She would be really quiet, which usually means trouble. So I would go out and check on her only to find her with her head all of the way down a gopher hole. She thinks she smells good, which she kind of does with the spring earth in her fur. She will have a bath big time tomorrow, but I figured I would let her enjoy it for now. She is proud of herself and was smiling.

While she played outside, I used the time to finish reading "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens. Oh my goodness, what a fascinating book. The story had so many twists and turns and at the end you just can not get it out of your mind. Dickens was brilliant.

I am off to dreamland...

Oooooh! A Surprise!

I have shared before that I live in a little bitty 600 square foot house. It has two bedrooms, (one of which is my office/craft room.) The house is about 100 years old and is really cozy and cute. It is really a happy little bitty house. One of my favorite rooms is a little bitty laundry room that was added onto the back of the house. It is probably no larger than 5 feet square, but is surrounded by windows which face east and get lots of sunshine. I actually like to start seeds in this room. The builder of this room also put a large ledge around the windows where I put my plants. Tonight I went to put a load of laundry in, and was greeted by this extra lovely surprise. It is an orchid that my daughter and son in law gave me last February for my birthday. It decided to bloom today! So pretty!

I was pretty tired as I headed home tonight. I sort of sunk into the sofa with my dinner. I played with Liesl for a little while, but she was tired from playing with all of her dog friends today. So I stitched instead. I can not even tell you how much I love working on this piece. I am having so much fun with it. I love the colors. They look very old and colonial against the fabrics.

Well, it has been a really long day, and I am super tired, so I am off to rest. I will post photos of my WIP this weekend when I have a chance. I am really enjoying it so much. I love Rosewood Manor patterns!

Wonderful Wednesday!

I only worked a few minutes late tonight, and got to drive home while watching a breath-taking sunset over the hills. The trees stood out individually against the orange light as it streaked across the sky. I really enjoyed those moments, with the cool evening air blowing in the windows and felt lucky to be able to see it. What a blessing!

My heart and prayers just go out to all of those affected by the horrible snowstorms. So many people stranded in their cars, or losing power. I just pray that everyone is safe and all have enough heat.

Tonight I had nothing on the schedule. Whoohoo! I was so excited when I got home to change into sweats, cooked a leisurely dinner and sat down to stitch. Sweet. Liesie went to bed early again, so I had the sofa to myself. I missed her though. She did get up once because there was a doorbell on television. Whenever she hears one on TV, she thinks someone is at the door. There is one thing she takes very seriously and that is protecting her momma, and sounds a loud alarm to any potential danger. So I tried to tell her that all was well, but she was already in full swing of barking a warning. I ended up picking her and whispering in her ear and giving her a kiss on her head to get her to calm down. She still had to get the last word in and looked at the front door and gave it one last closed mouth bark. Schnauzers...

So anyway, I was a stitching machine tonight. I can't wait to post photos this weekend when I have some time. This piece is so much fun. Plus it is done in red, white and blue, so there is not a lot of colors or incremental variances of color. It was so much fun and I can not wait to pick it up again.