Saturday, June 23, 2012

A Finish


Well, here it is.  The finished black work sampler that I have been stitching for the past year.  I still have to do a little clean up work on it.  This was not the best pattern and it contained a lot of errors.  So I have to go through and fix some spots so it is even.  I think I will put it away for a while though and look at it with fresh eyes at another time.

I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Ruth in Jacksonville, FL for her help on this.  Several months ago I asked if anyone knew where I could obtain some twenty year old DMC 815 so I could finish with the same dye lot.  Ruth sent me her own stash of three skeins which were a perfect match.  Ruth, I could not have done this without you.  You are an absolute angel.  

Again, I thank you for your continued prayers, good thoughts and sweet messages.  They mean more to me than you could know.  

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Thank You

I really want to say thank you so much for all of you who have sent emails, left comments and just had good thoughts coming my way.  I appreciate you thinking of me and wondering how and where I am.  You are so kind and thoughtful and I am thankful for you being a blessing in my life.

I have not been posting lately because I am dealing with a serious health condition.  I am blessed with wonderful doctors and have totally placed myself in their hands.  I have also placed myself entirely in God's hands.  I have wonderful friends and adult children who check on me, and who make sure that I am eating.  I am able to see the blessings in all of this.  I also have a sweet little dog who is my appointed nurse and chief worrier.  

As a result of this development, I will be posting pretty sporadically in the next few weeks while I am dealing with medical treatment and getting rest.   

So please have patience with me for a while.  Again, I thank you for all of your kindness in checking on me.  

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Weekend Stitching


Whoohoo!  I got some stitching done!  I am pretty proud of how this is coming along.  The piece is just huge.  This part that is showing is just about a third of the whole piece.  I am really considering stitching Christmas ornaments or smalls after this is done.  It has been a little over a year in progress.  I only have a small way to go and I will be done!

Today the weather was gorgeous.  It was sunny and not too breezy.  Liesl and I took it upon ourselves to go on a nice long walk this afternoon.  She was happy to get out there and smell the smells of a new walking area.  The sun really felt good for both of us, I think.  We were both pretty tired when we got home.  I made us a lovely dinner.  I made chicken breast, brown rice and veggies.  Since this happens to be Liesl's favorite dinner (I make it for her birthday every year) she gets a little plate, too.  Of course, she wolfs hers down and then has to come mooch off of my plate.  I have no defense against her cuteness.

This weekend went so fast.  It seems like I was just getting off work on Friday and here it is time to go back.  It is a busy week ahead.  

Well, I am off to get my beauty sleep.  Liesl is already snoring away.   




Saturday, June 2, 2012

Fun Foodie Adventure Day!

Today was awesome!  I got to spend the day with my wonderful daughter.  Earlier this week, I was watching television and out of the corner of my eye I caught the end of a commercial for a small local grower that sells heirloom tomato plants.  They are called Love Apple Farms up in Santa Cruz county.  Here is their website:  http://www.growbetterveggies.com/growbetterveggies/love-apple-farms-2008-tom.html  I went to their website and they listed 100 varieties that they sell from March 17 to June.  My daughter and I love heirlooms, so I called her and said that we had to put the info in a tickle file so that we could go next year.  She said, "Well, let's go this weekend!"  I have been excited all week.  She just got a beautiful new car so she even said that she would drive.  

Santa Cruz is about half an hour to forty five minutes away, so you usually have to make a trip count.  I have not been up there in years.  We got up there and went right to the tomato plants.  They had a list of the varieties, so we made our first pass of the plants, looking at the photos of the tomatoes and the descriptions.  My daughter marked off the ones that really caught our attention.  Then we made our serious second pass, collecting the ones we really wanted.  I got ten new plants (to add to the ten I already have!)  I love to garden so I have told my daughter, when she bought me some plants earlier this year that  I would tend the plants and share the bounty with her.  My daughter is a really talented knitter and she told me today that she is knitting me new socks as a thank you!  I have three pairs of socks that she has knitted me and they are truly like a hug when I am cold or sick.  

The plant sale area of Love Apple Farms shares acreage with a darling vintage co-op shop.  Now I love me some vintage so it was a joy to go through the rooms.  It was set up so cutely and I ended up buying a couple of treasures.  For some reason I had to have this bottle opener, not that I open many bottles.  But it was so cool!
Afterwards we were starving, so we went to a place that is a local tradition. It is a little grocery store in Corralitos that I swear has not been updated since the 1970's.  However, they are infamous for their sausages and marinated meats, which are the best ever.  The entire back of the store is an old fashioned butcher counter with a whole staff of butchers.  The whole back wall is covered with all of the awards that they have won.  The entire store smells like smoked meats.  In these glass cases are meaty goodness and several types of sausages.  The biggest seller must be the Cheesy Bavarian, which will make you weep while you eat it.  My daughter and I each ordered a Cheesy Bavarian sandwich and headed out to the picnic tables to sit in the gorgeous sunshine.  These sandwiches are so good that they do not need anything on them.  We had our sandwiches then headed in to buy stocks for our freezers.  Yummy.  I even got Liesl a smoked bone that still had lots of good meat for her on it. This evening I spread out a big blanket of hers to chew it on.  She was so happy.  It still has a bit of meat on it, so it is in the fridge for her tomorrow.
After we had done our meat shopping, we were off to the next adventure, in search of ollalieberries.  These are amazing little berries that are grown in Watsonville.  They were actually developed in Oregon and are a cross between a Logan berry and Young berry.  June is when they are in season.  Or so I thought.  Apparently, with all of the funky weather this year and the late spring, ollalieberries are late.  So no fresh ones, but luckily they sell frozen ones from last year's harvest.  All is well.  The lady at the counter directed us to the Obsidian blackberries that were fresh and ripe.  We ate a pint of them on the way home.
  
We had the best time, I got to spend time with my daughter and her car is super cool.  It was fun to have such a great adventure.  Liesl greeted us at the door with lots of kisses and tail wags.  I love that welcome.  

I am grateful for today.  It was such a blessing.