I'M FINISHED!

I finished 2 cross stitch projects, a couple of knitted dish cloths, and a vacation. We have been on the road for 2 days and will be getting home tomorrow, "Lord willing, and the creeks don't rise."

 I mean that literally . . . . there have been flash flood warnings since we left Hilton Head yesterday. Pretty heavy rains today through North Carolina, West Virginia and on into Ohio. The water is high and fast in some of the rivers we could see along the highway but so far all is well.  

These days it is not very often that I get in my 10,000 steps, and especially on a travel day. Yesterday after a 5-6 hour drive we arrived at Sunset Island North Carolina. Found a place to park the car and headed to the beach. My letter was written and we were on a mission to walk down the beach for several km each way to find Kindred Spirits Mailbox. If you have read Nicholas Sparks novel entitled Every Breath, you will know exactly what/where I am referring to. 

I listened to the audio book on my library app

A little snippet of the 4 page letter I left in the mailbox. I also sat on the bench and read several letters left by others who had been there before us the same day and many days before

By the time we got back to the car in the beach parking lot we had logged on 13,127 steps.(the app my husband used said it was about 100 steps more, but this was on my phone so it is the picture I snapped.  A little further than I expected but worth the walk.

Here are 2 of the cross stitch projects I finished stitching while I was away. They still need to be framed but that will happen later.

This is a chart from 

Black Bird Designs called What Remains. 

I made a few changes to the chart by adding 3 sets of initials in memory of my mom and dad and brother and 2 sets of initials for Mr. O's mom and dad. 

I also charted a sentiment and added it to the bottom of the design. There was to be a row of birds stitched across the bottom but I omitted them and added my initials and the little sentiment and a few additional stitches to balance things out.

The second finish is a small flower basket that was a freebie called Refuse To Wilt,  distributed by Needlework Press during the pandemic. I printed it out with the intention of doing it right away but like many patterns it got crowded out by others and took a while to materialize. 

I know I said I would show you the projects that were hidden away in each of the project bags that went on vacation with me (from my last post) but I don't have everything at my fingertips here in the hotel room so it will have to wait til I get home. 

As promised, here are a couple of cool pics of some starfish and jelly fish from some of our beach walks.

Huge jelly fish washed up on the beach

Some of these starfish looked like they were doing yoga poses for me

one of many many sand dollars

we walked by this caution sign every day

YIKES

  

I have made a decision which book I am going to concentrate on for my quilting projects this year.  My plan is to chose a book and pick several projects from that book to get done this year. None of them are full size quilts so I decided to go with 6.  I think these will be just the perfect thing to whittle down some of my scraps. 

My book choice is Autumn Bouquet by Sharon Keightley.

CANDY BASKETS  33"X33"

HOLLY'S GARDEN 23"X23"

TREASURES FROM THE SCRAP BIN 21"x34"

ITTY BITTY ROSES 12"x12"

(this one might end up a little bigger)

MY LITTLE BOHO 23"X23"

GOOSE CROSSING 75"X75"

This is the largest pattern in the bunch but I will not be doing the full size and I have plans to make some other changes to it as well.

I am getting a late start to this challenge but I think I can pull it off.

 I have wanted to do some of Sharon Keightley's patterns for a while so I am expecting to really enjoy this challenge.

I am excited to be getting home;

So many things I want to get done...

The best way to get things done, is to simply begin.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.”

THROWBACK THURSDAY AND A LITTLE UPDATE

 Most of you who know me, know that I very often posted about my quilting projects quite frequently and especially when travelling. My sewing machine has travelled many many thousands of miles. However in the last few years since I wandered back into cross stitching again, I have found cross stitching and knitting to be more travel friendly. it takes up less room in the car and a lot less time and space to pack for a trip. Most of my projects (yes that is project-S plural because I have more than 1 on the go) are all living in their own project bag.  That makes it very simple to grab a project bag or 2 or 5 and I am ready to go. I will post a link to the blog post mentioning my return to cross stitching HERE

So what project bags got to go on vacation with me this trip you ask?

Project #1

Project #2

Project #3

Project #4

Project #5

Project # 6

No Project in this one as far as I know...just a little comment

Project # 7

Project #8

Project # 9

Wait. . . . How did that happen? I was only planning to maybe bring 5.  Those sneaky little things...they snuck into my tote when I wasn't looking. (Unless Mr. O. threw in a few more projects thinking I might finish all 5 and need more to work on. He is really thoughtful that way) Now I realize that the curious among you might want to have a peek inside each of those bags to see what I am working on and I plan to show you a few at a time in the upcoming blog posts.

I also realize that if you went back to the above link you might have noticed a cross stitch project that was only half done.  Hoffman's Christ at 33.  I am very happy to report that project is finished and framed and hanging on our wall at home. I will try to find a picture and show it with the next blog post as well. That project was over 10 years from start to finish, so I was extremely thrilled to finish it.

P.S. I hesitate to tell you that I only packed 6 skirts for this trip but somehow 9 projects made the cut. Sigh.....

I should mention that I have been doing more than just stitching, and I have a few more lovely beach pictures to share as well. I managed to get a couple of very unique ones of some of the ocean creatures.

"Going on a trip. I need about 3 projects to work on. I've packed 20 just to be safe."

WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR...

Hey! How are ya! I wasn't really planning to be back quite this quickly, seeing as how I had other plans for today; however if you know me at all, you know how often I have quoted a kind elderly nurse who cared for while she was in Palliative in hospital before she passed on. I shared my plans with this nurse, telling her that I travelled from NB with the plan to take mom home from hospital and care for her for the first couple weeks of recuperation and my other sister would be coming later to continue caring for mom... her answer to me was some wisdom that came from her"dear old mother" as she put it; " you can make all the plans you want, but you aren't in charge". Although I already knew that I had never had it expressed to me quite that way and I have never forgotten it.

Mom and Me

I just expressed to my son that this trip was purposed to be quiet and relaxing. Long walks on the beach (well, long if you are in your 70's) and a few scrabble and Skipbo games and puzzles. Stitching for me, watching sports for Mr. O. We both brought reading to do. 

We have been doing exactly that...along with storm watching and a bit of thriftin'/junkin'. We have had tornado warnings, thunder and lightning, driving rain and GLORIOUS SUNSHINE! something we had not seen much of in the month of December back home. We did a bit of thrifting yesterday...no treasures have been unearthed yet but I am confident we will strike gold somewhere along the way. that was the plan for today...more thrifting, but we decided to go for a long walk on the beach and then when we got back and had lunch I decided I was happy just staying put...the treasures will have to wait til tomorrow.

 

The next day after all the winds and rain and tornadoes were passed by it was a stunning day on the beach.

Hundreds of starfish washed up on the beach didn't make it but many more were still in water and waiting for the next tide to bring them out.

do you suppose you can wish on a star(fish) the same way you wish upon a star?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds2LbtOX7fY

See you soon. Don't get tired of me yet...I have lots of catching up to do. Perhaps next post I can share some of my stitch projects I brought to work on and maybe just maybe I will be able to share a treasure I was able to unearth while thriftin/junkin". Well that's the plan but remember what I told you about plans.

"A goal without an action plan is a daydream." — Nathaniel Branden

NEW YEAR = NEW GOALS PART 2

 I know you probably don't find it very interesting listening to me whine talk about the inner workings of writing a blog but seriously folks this has been a rough couple of days trying to figure things out and you can thank Mr. O that we have gotten this far. I lost my previous a.k.a. "old header photo" and for he life of me I could not get it back. I was trying to change the photo and after deleting the old one could not get ANY photo back AT ALL! I think we may be ready for lift off so I am going to write and hope for the best.

Get ready for a lot of rambling cause we have a lot of catching up to do!

As you can see I have changed my header photo to include our next to newest family member. I have posted another shot of her lounging in the sun.  Please meet Bella. She is our 2 year old Siberian Forest cat. She came to live with us at the red brick house with the yellow door on Jan.4, 2023.  She had her first litter of kittens on April 1 and let me tell you that was a trip! I didn't give birth to them but I was a key member in raising them and making sure they made it the 8 week mark before saying goodbye to them. 

Bella has a specific blood type that causes some complications in the first 48 hours of the kittens life. because of that the kittens need a wet nurse for the first 24-48 hours of their life and then after that life is smooth sailing for the wee ones. Mama cat has to be wrapped in an elastic belly band to keep her babies from nursing and they are given to another nursing cat for a short spell. Not too much of an issue, but there are factors to consider. it is imperative that Bella's milk does not start to dry up, and to avoid that happening she has to be manually milked. All I am going to say to end this story is that I am now able to add a new skill to my resume. Yes I know how to milk a cat! The End!

free picture courtesy of freepik.com

You may also have noticed a little caption on that new home page under the title that says, did you eat a frog today? for those of you who have been with me from the very beginning you might remember what that means, but in case you don't you can go back to my very first blog post  on June 2009 and read it. https://wendy-itiswhatitis.blogspot.com/2009/06/it-was-simpler-than-i-thought.html. Don't forget to come back for the rest of this post though!

free picture courtesy of unsplash.com 

I bet you never even noticed that I said Bella was our next to newest family member. We had an even newer addition 25 days after Queen Bella join us. We had a new great grand baby arrive on the 26 of January. A beautiful baby boy! He was a little guy who appeared a month earlier than planned but he is a lovely healthy almost 1 year old already and we love him to pieces! he started out a 4 lbs plus but he has grown by leaps and bounds. Meet our little champ Rocky Hachey Reimer who will be 1 on the 26th of this month!

Okay Okay, enough with the history... let's talk New Year = New Goals

I am not a resolution maker as such but it seems that we tend to like to start the new year trying to get healthier, slimmer, in better shape, more organized etc etc etc. 

I set new goals last year too. No I did not meet them all but I achieved some and that counts for something, so I am setting new ones. I am not at home right now but I will write a more complete list and post it later.

I have a fairly healthy library of quilt books and magazines. I got to thinking a couple months ago that I acquired these books because I "loved" so many of the patterns and needed  wanted to make them and a great deal of them are still on a "to do" list and not on a bed or a table or wall. 

My goal is to change that this year. I have a goal to pick a feature book and then make at least 4 projects from said book. I will make a note of what I made and put it on a library card and attach it to the inside cover.  I also have a new Quilt journal that I won from an online giveaway by @antiqueneedleworker on a Flosstube channel so it will be recorded in there as well. (more on that later)

I received 2 new quilting books for Christmas and my birthday and I might just choose one of the new books to work from. A new book with all brand new projects might be just the motivation needed.

As well as a quilting goal, I am also setting a cross stitching goal. I have numerous pieces that I have finished cross stitching, but they are not completely finished to the point of being usable. ie framed or made into a bag or a pillow or pin cushion etc. I am shooting for all stitched pieces to be completely fully finished by year end so I can start the next year with a clean slate.  

The Oxford dictionary says a goal is the object of a person's ambition or effort; an aim or desired result. I would like to add that it is also a dream.

"Friends, they are kind to each other's hopes and cherish each other's dreams."

I may reassess in a couple months to see where I am with all these lofty goals... you never know...I may be able to add a few more to list. 

Don't laugh! I can hear you laughing! 

I just finished reading Willard, Susan Branch's newsletter and she said; 

" You got to have a DREAM. If you don't have a DREAM; how you gonna make a DREAM come true?"

What are your dreams for the future?...go get them!

 P.S. A special thank you Mr. O .  He helped me a little bit with this PRODUCTION!