Before It Gets Crazy Here at the Meadow

Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers for The Hubs' surgery.  It has been a long week, just to provide too much information, he had an AVM (Arteriovenus Malformation) in his brain.  It wasn't causing any problems, but there is a 2% to 3% chance each year that it could bleed or rupture, so it was best to have it removed.  Because The Hubs has the luck he does, neither of the easy options were good options so he had surgery.  It took 7-1/2 hours for the actual surgery, which was a bit longer than had been anticipated but the surgeon is confident they got the entire malformation.  The Hubs will need an arteriogram to confirm but  that will be some months down the road.  He has had issues with pain management which have kept him in the hospital for a couple of days longer than expected - yes can you believe? brain surgery on Monday and he was physically ready to be discharged Friday morning?!?  His surgeon is just amazing. Hopefully he'll be discharged tomorrow although given how wonderful he is as a patient, it might be better for my health if he stayed a while longer.

I didn't start the little kit I put together as the light in the waiting room, ICU and his hospital room was not very good and the chairs were not at all comfortable for long waits - we had to be there at 5:30 AM and didn't leave until almost 6:00 PM, but I did "build" my little cottage from The Nutmeg Company.

I still need to stitch the bugle beads on the corners to hid that join and put a ribbon on the top for hanging but it is, for all intents and purposes, done.  I also stitched two Christmas gifts, but I can't show you those yet and caught up on several months of magazine reading.

Before the craziness began, I was able to finish Eightsome Reel:

I started this about five years ago as my "lunch stitch" but started walking at lunch and this fell by the wayside.  It feels good to have a mid-age WIP finished.  Actually this is young for my WIPs as I am fairly sure there's one in the box that is almost 20.

I am not anticipating too much stitching this week, in between catering to running after caring for The Hubs I will be cyberworking so that I don't get too far behind on things - fortunately this time of year is a bit slow at work so it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Enough all ready!!

No, not stitching but this heat and humidity!  The yard and "gardens" are looking very sad but it is just too uncomfortable to be out for more than a few minutes at a time.  I will have ask that you all remind me of my tantrums about the weather this winter when I'm complaining it's too cold and according to the Almanac it is supposed to be a very bad winter.  DFIL told me he read a report saying that the weather patterns are exactly as they were three years ago when we had that crazy, snowy winter - the only plus if it turns out the same is that we now have a 4X4 and would be able to get out of our driveway!

First - welcome and thank you to my new followers!  Given my sporadic and rather whiny postings recently, I am surprised that anyone is even stopping by anymore, but I do appreciate it. 

Speaking of previous posts, I finally figured out that my mojo was still hanging around but it was being overpowered by my stitching ADD.  Fortunately, I seem to be overcoming it, as I was able to sit and stitch for almost two hours the other day yes in a row with no interruptions!  I know, for lots of you, that's nothing, but for me in the last few months it's a miracle!

Second - hop on over to the Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe blog for an amazingly wonderful giveaway.  I should warn you that Nancy has some beautiful fibers and trims as well as patterns.  Please do not hold me responsible for any uncontrolled stashing that may take place just saying. 

Now that I have said my stitching ADD is getting better, I suppose I should show you.

This is Papillion Creations Eightsome Reel.  It's stitched on 28-count Chai Tea Jobelan with HDF silk conversion.

Before:

 After:

 

This is a Mill Hill Buttons & Beads kit Tree Farm.  It's stitched on 28-count Natural linen with DMC and Mill Hill beads.

 

Here's where I started:

 

 And here's where I stopped:
The fabric color in the "before" photo is correct.

 

Next up is Carriage House Samplings Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow.  It is stitched on 40-count Sand Dune from Lakeside Linen with NPI silks.

 

Before:

 

And after the colors are more correct in this photo: 

 

And finally, Blue Ribbon Designs Countdown to Christmas.  It is stitched on 40-count Magnolia from Lakeside Linens with Gentle Arts Sampler Threads.

 

Before:

 

And after unfortunately I have reached the boring part on this one as all that is left on this part is stitching the grid for the calendar.  

 

 
Country Garden Stitchery's Snowgirls and Chatelaine's Secret Victorian Garden are on the stand for this weekend.

February Already!

I am definitely getting older as every new month I hear myself say "Where *is* the time going?" just like my Grandmother used to!  Oh well, I worked hard to get to be this old and I'm going to enjoy every second of it besides 50 is the new 40 right?

Anyway, not as much stitching as I thought this week, I worked from home for the majority of the week and the thought of not having a 5 hour round trip commute and all the stitching time in the evenings was heavenly BUT it seems that my mind can no longer handle more than an hour free time in the evenings and I could not really settle myself down to do much stitching.

I worked on Papillon Creations' Eightsome Reel.  I started this one as a commute piece but had major issues with stitching in hand on a piece this size and I really do not like the thread I'm using an HDF conversion and while I know lots of people just love these fibers, I am having a really difficult time with them. 

Here's where I was the beginning of the week:

And here's where I stopped last night:



Eightsome Reel from Papillon Creations
Stitched on Chai Tea hand-dyed Jobelan with HDF

The before photo is a much better representation of the fabric color than the after.

I'm planning to start a Mill Hill Button and Beads kit from 2006 today.  I'm going to stitch six of these side-by-side on one piece of fabric.  I'm rather excited to see how my village looks when it's done.

Carriage House Samplings Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow will be pulled out tomorrow or Sunday for its round of stitching.