Calendar Poodle SAL

Thursday, April 25, 2013

SURPRISE! Meet Henry!

Good Morning friends! Monday night we added another poodle to the household! Meet Henry.
He is a 3 year old apricot tiny toy poodle. I found him online on ebay classifeds. We took him to the vet for a check up before his neuter surgery, which will happen very soon. He had two ear infections and his teeth need cleaning also. Not real impressed with their care of him. They have a yellow lab and a golden retriever. These dogs like to rough house and don't care if Henry was in the way. He is very timid. He is used to being knocked around from them I guess. That is what we were told. He lays flat down each time you go to pick him up. He does not piddle, thank goodness! It is so different getting an adult dog. We have only ever bought puppies.
Henry is 4.4 lbs!! The poor little guy should gain 1 lb the vet says. The vet is impressed with his temperament. He is just so sweet and mild. Mabel is not thrilled. She just watches him. If he comes to her she leaves. It will take time and  adjustment. We hope they become buddies. =)
The first picture may show it best. He is all legs! He definitely has a different build to him than our Mabel. She is barrel chested. When we bought her she was a 7 week old ball of black fluff. As she grew, we asked the vet why is her chest getting so big? He explained that some poodles and schnauzers have what is called a barrel chest. Oh well. It sure is way more noticeable with Henry around!! And her weight gain from the steroids!  We've got pudgy and skinny! @_@

He is nothing but a little cuddle buddy.♥ The moment anyone sits on the floor he leaps into your lap and promptly falls asleep. This little guy has really, really bonded with me. Guess who sits on my lap every time I get on the computer now? That little bed I made in the first picture is where he lays, next to my chair when I stitch. =)

So I am still stitching my small, secret project. Just not as much, as you can imagine. He may be three, but he acts like he is one. Loves squeaky toys, just like Mabel. It is quite the challenge to squeak and throw two at a time in different directions.

Take care and have a wonderful day friends. I'm going to! I look forward to your comments.

Playing, Stitching and Praying,
Vickie

Monday, April 22, 2013

I Now Have Zero UFOs

Good Morning my friends! Spring is here at last. Yes, we may get snow in a few days, but maybe not. =)

On Friday I decided to finally get two ornaments completed. This first one I am showing you was stitched by Miss Madeleine two years ago. Our beloved Mac was still with us then.
The only thing I helped with on this were the two french knots.  She chose the poinsettia fabric for me to back it with. She wanted him done up in an oval form. I used gold trim to finish it off with.

This next ornament was stitched by me back in 1993!!! I was going to toss it. I don't really care for Santa things anymore. Brian and Madeleine protested LOUDLY.
The backing fabric you see has been sitting with him for the whole twenty years as well. So I stuck with it. He is aptly named "Roly Poly Santa". ;) I used some red satin cording I already owned. It feels so good to have these done. I now do not possess a single UFO! HOORAY for me!

That is it for today. I am stitching another small, secret stitch I designed. I am VERY happy with the results thus far. No poodles, no.

Have a most excellent day friends. Thank you so very much for your kind words. They mean a lot to me. =)

Stitching and praying,
Vickie


Friday, April 19, 2013

Rabbit Stitcher

Good Morning my friends! How are you? It continues to rain and be cold here. Going on a few weeks straight of this. How dreary and depressing. It doesn't help my hurting body at all!

I found a small treasure at Good Will last week. Paid a whole dollar for it. ;) This sweet, little wooden chest had two strips of gold foil on the top and down the front. I peeled that off. I have had the sweet, little pattern "Rabbit Stitcher" by Little Treasures Designs in my stash since last year. Got that pattern at my LNS for a dime! ♥
I used fabrics from my stash to create the little topper for this small treasure chest.
I stitched this as directed, one over one on 28ct evenweave. It is 1.25"square! Love it! Do you see the little rabbit's needle?♥ I used some silver DMC floss for that. Actually, not one color is the called for color. I changed it all. None of it seemed quite right.

Did you notice I referred to this as a treasure chest? What's the treasure you say? Well, take a look!
I figure this will be a nice home for my poodle thimbles. Not the fancy, schmancy one Brian just got me. She is on display in the china cabinet. ;) But this pretty, brass poodle will live here. I hope to add other poodle thimbles. Ah,yes, this would be a new obsession with me. tee hee! Hey, obviously Brian is more than willing to help with this! ;)

I am reading A Skeleton In God's Closet by Paul Maier. Pretty good so far. I am also working on making up an ornament for Madeleine. She stitched Mac, our beloved Kerry Blue Terrier almost 3 years ago. It is on aida. And yes, it has mistakes. Madeleine would have been 12 then, so it is what it is. Not perfect, no. But she made it because she loves Mac and she wanted to do what mom does, stitch. So it is time for it to come out of that drawer and become an ornament.

My pain has really been elevated. Would you mind praying for me friend? I would truly appreciate that. And God always loves to hear from you. =)

Take care and have a blessed day in the Lord!

Finishing and praying,
Vickie


Monday, April 15, 2013

Whatsoever Your Hands Findeth To Do

Good Morning friends! How are you? I have been having a rough week pain wise. Are you familiar with the song "Abide With Me" ? I have sung this many times in church, and here at home. It is a comfort to me when quite frankly things are uncomfortable.


  1. Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
    The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide;
    When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
    Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me.
  2. Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
    Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
    Change and decay in all around I see—
    O Thou who changest not, abide with me.
  3. I need Thy presence every passing hour;
    What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s pow’r?
    Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
    Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.
  4. I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
    Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness;
    Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
    I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.
  5. Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
    Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies;
    Heav’n’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
    In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
Well,I just had that on my heart to share with you all. Hope you don't mind.

So , onto what I have been stitching. This precious little sampler pattern given to me by Maggee.
 Now I showed you the picture here on the pattern itself. They used a mink colored linen and dark threads. I knew what I wanted this finished as, and I knew I wanted to use this lovely Wild Raspberry linen.  I wanted to use variegated threads as the pattern calls for. So I went over to JoAnn to get myself some. I had seen this ad in the quilting magazine from the library quite a while back. I thought that might be a great idea.
Have you seen this? Have you tried it? Well, let me tell you, I was on percocet while shopping. INTERESTlNG! I bought RAYON thread, not COTTON. Kind of a difference. I came home and excitedly started to stitch. Well, I got to thinking this seems very different. (Thinking gets a little clouded while on narcotics friends. ;) When it finally dawned on me what the problem was, I said forget it. I am just going for it. Well, I will use the threads again..... FOR SEWING, NOT STITCHING!
I like the way it turned out, yes. But the process wasn't all that fun. The linen is dark to stitch on. I really couldn't at night. The linen is loosely woven, another trouble for me at night time. The holes looked wonky to me in the evening. And rayon thread is not fun to use with rougher linen. I got a lot of reading done during the last week in the evenings. =)
The fabric in front is what I lined the sampler with. The little basket is a gift from Peggy. Nothing is in it YET!
Did you notice I changed the cat to a POODLE?! ;) This is stitched two over one on 28ct Wild Raspberry linen.

This chart will be making it's way to Cucki. ♥

I just received a gift in the mail today from Nicola. She recently had a giveaway and I was the winner!
Thank you so much Nicola. This is a beautiful chart. A few sweet extras for me too. You are so kind.♥

That is all for today friends. I am stitching another small from my stash. We are waiting for warm weather like quite a few of you have already.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Mabel waiting for the kids to come home from school.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Well Then!!

Good Morning friends! I missed you. I am back!! We have been without internet service for 7 days. We decided to switch providers to save money and increase our connection speed. Well!!! THAT did not work! The imbeciles somehow screwed up the order. Brian and I spent a total of 8 hours ON THE PHONE over the last week trying to get somebody, anybody to help sort this out and correct it. We were without service AND blocked from anyone else being allowed to service us!! Brian and I prayed all week for help.This morning I decided to pray and get on the phone before Brian even got home from work (he works third shift). THANK YOU GOD, I got Richard. A very nice, very helpful man. He did it. After 2 hours and 15 minutes with him.

So anyways, I made this cute little mug mat a week ago.
This is for myself. =) Brian makes me about 5 hot Tea Chai Lattes a week. My favorite flavor is pumpkin spice. mmm! I used this freebie I have had in my stash for 2 years!! I just knew it was time to make it! I gave up chai lattes for Lent. ;) This is the back.

You know what I think is cute? He won't let me place a mug on it! He has it propped up in the tea cabinet. He said it is too great to use. He thinks all my stitching is perfect! Isn't that great?!! I think so. ;)

I have been stitching on a small sampler. I have had limited time to stitch since it is on wild raspberry colored linen. These aging eyes cannot stitch on a looser weaved linen in a dark color. A dark evenweave is not as bad. The squares get wonky shaped, or as Marly has referred to them, "honeycomb shaped". More to tell on this sampler, I will wait til it is done. Almost. ;)

We took Miss Mabel to the vet yesterday for her  distemper combo and rabies shots. Well, a few hours after returning, I noticed this.
And this.
Do you see the pink skin and swelling of her face? The poor thing had a reaction to one of the shots. Don't know for sure which one. Took her back right away for a shot of benedryl and a steroid injection. Gave more benedryl before bed too. She is all better today. She will need benedryl before all shots in the future now.

I read the book Guardian by Beverly Lewis last week. I highly recommend it. I love her books. I also read books 2 and 3 in the Eyes Wide Open series by Ted Dekker this weekend. I am on number 4 right now. LOVE these books! I have loved every single book I have ever read by him. And it is almost 40 now. =)

Thank you, Lord, for ears that hear, for a heart that receives your mystery.

That's it for today friends. I am glad to be back with all of you! I missed you.♥

Take care and have a wonderful evening in the Lord.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie


Monday, April 1, 2013

Two Finishes

Good Morning friends! The snow continues to melt and we have lots of robins about finally. We enjoyed wonderful family time yesterday at my mom's for Easter dinner. We all ate too much!

I made this the other day for Mabel. The basket we had used for the dog toys was very old and worn out.
I used the tutorial I found here. I changed up the size, to make it shorter and wider. Works great. Only problem is, I wasn't counting on Mabel thinking she could use it as a bed!! She drags it to where she wants it, and pulls out most the toys. Then plops her little self right in. Oh dear! That fusible interfacing is not going to hold up to repeated squashing. I hope this new fad wears off.

I also am glad to say I got the Paschal Lamb made into a framed flatfold before Holy Saturday. So I enjoyed my Lenten piece in it's finished state for one whole day before Easter Sunday when He arose!! I used Vonna's tutorial on a flatfold.
See the little toy lamb? That was my mother's when she was a girl. It is a Steiff. It is rather dingy and well loved, but it is precious to me.

I am going to make up a mug mat today. I finished the embroidery for it last night. It is a sweet, little pattern I have had printed out and waiting for me for two years! Glad it is finally stitched.

Oh, so many treats are calling my name! I simply must get on that treadmill, even if I move at a turtle's pace.

Have a wonderful day in the Lord my friends.

Stuffing my face with chocolates, stitching and praying,
Vickie