Just Cross Stitch

I got my first issue of Just Cross Stitch in the mail today.  I received a year subscription from my son for Christmas.  It was a happy treat to go to my mailbox and see it there.  I was thinking to myself that I have not had a subscription to a cross stitch my son was a baby which would have been 1988 ish to maybe around 1992.  I was lucky enough to be a stay at home mom back then and I loved getting Good Housekeeping and my Cross Stitch and Country Crafts in the mail.

I just peeked in the magazine.  I am saving it until the weekend when I can make reading it a full experience with a cup of tea, a blanket throw, small dog snoozing next to me, yadda, yadda, yadda.  I am up to my eyeballs in studying right now for my last exam which is harder than the other two put together.  I want to be able to enjoy my magazine to its fullest.  

I remember what a big deal it was every year to get the cross stitch calendar.  I used to get one each year for a Christmas present.  Cross stitch has changed so much since the designs back then.  Now there are so many different fabrics, floss options and a myriad of embellishments.  The designs are so different and a lot more complex.  I remember the first time seeing a Lavender and Lace pattern and thinking it was the most beautiful and visually stunning piece of cross stitch I have ever laid eyes on.

We have what is called "AT&T" weather here.  This means that if the golf tournament is in town, it is time for the clouds to open up and rain.  Back in 1995 we started the tournament in February.  Within a few days it had poured so hard that the golf course was flooded and unplayable.  (It was a really bad El Nino year and we lost a lot of crops, too.)  So we resumed play six months later in August. Anyway we have not had rain in quite some time.  You can guess what is in the forecast on the first real couple of days of play.  You got it.  Just another reason for Liesl and I to stay home under our blankies.

Well, I am off to dream happy dreams of cross stitch, chocolate and puppies...