❤️🎄💚🎄❤️

Hi friends! How was your Christmas? Santa Paws visited Little Henry.

Isn't he just adorable in his new hat?!🤗

On December 23rd our friend Gracie sent me a box PACKED with linens and charts!❤️💚 Thank you once again Gracie! I cannot wait to begin stitching these wonderful charts in the new year! And the lovely linens! I will definitely be using them my friend! You are beyond generous!!😊

A very special Christmas card arrived from our friend Jenny. In it was a lovely letter, including a special message from her dear Scott. There was also a wonderful surprise! Jenny made copies of one of Scott's Christmas Eve sermons from the past. This was a joy and an honor for my family to sit together by our Christmas tree and listen to Scott preach God's Word to our hearts. Thank you Jenny, Andrew, Emily! Thank you Scott!❤️❤️❤️❤️

Brian had asked me to stitch a Murphy bottle cap magnet if you can believe it! Yes, back in 2012 and 2013 I made a LOT of poodle bottle cap magnets! Do you remember them? Back then, Brian asked me to STOP making them! HA!🤣Well here is the Murphy I made for Brian.

I knew exactly the pattern I wanted to use for Murphy. So I checked Picture Your Pet In Cross Stitch out from my library. I have checked it out multiple times over the years. I have stitched our dogs and made gifts for people too. I added the silver chin and made a few slight changes to make it look just like our Murphy.

In case you do not remember my many poodle bottle cap magnets, here they all are!

I am now stitching Brian's Christmas gift. CHRISTMAS GIFT?? Yes, Brian and I are Orthodox Christian. We celebrate Christmas on January 7th.

I was recommended Green Dolphin Street by Elizabeth Goudge, by our friend Mary. Have you ever read this book? BOY IS IT A WHOPPER!!! Or have you seen the movie? I really liked the book a lot. I did. However, it was so long!!! It was too long. I do not mind long books, but this dragged for me. It just did. But I read it! I am glad I did.
Vivid, exciting tales??earthquakes, shipwreck, encounters between New Zealand settlers and the indigenous Maori people??are paired with fascinating details of 19th-century life, from sailing ships and steamboats to women??s fashions and the natural beauty of the British seacoast and the mountains and forests of New Zealand. When Marianne LePatourel meets William Ozanne in the 1830s on an island in the English Channel, she sets her heart on him. However, her sister Marguerite falls in love with him too. And so begins this sweeping novel that takes the characters on dramatic adventures from childhood through old age, on land and at sea, and from the Channel Islands to China to the New Zealand frontier. When William??s naval career is cut short, he settles in New Zealand and writes to Mr. Le Patourel to ask for Marguerite??s hand in marriage??but in his nervousness he pens the wrong name in his letter. It is Marianne who arrives aboard the ship The Green Dolphin, and William??s gallant decision not to reveal his mistake sets in motion a marriage that is difficult, but teaches them both that steadfast love which is chosen is stronger than the passion of love at first sight.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend my friends! I will be stitching and listening to an audio book.😊 Thank you for stopping by. I am so glad you did! May God richly bless you in 2019!

"Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." -Psalm 37:4

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

I Am Blessed

Hi friends! Let me thank you from the bottom of my heart for your wonderful outpouring of love and support during our time of grief. Your caring messages regarding our Murphy have truly touched me and made me feel better. It is never an easy decision to put a pet down.

I want to share with you a sweet ornament that our friend June made just for me.

Thank you once again June! It is hanging on on our tree.💗

Our friend Stasi gave me this gorgeous ornament with the tiniest alphabet sampler stitched in it.

Thank you Stasi. I adore tiny stitching. This is hanging on our tree.💗

Our friend Martina made me the most gorgeous Christmas card I have ever received in my life. Just take a look!

Thank you Martina. Everyone in my family admires your work and I am cherishing this card forever.💗

I received this wonderful hexagon Christmas tree ornament from our friend Manuela.

Isn't this darling? Such fine work! Thank you my friend. This ornament is a treasure. It is hanging on our tree.💗

Much earlier this year you may recall I received a fantastic gift of a PINK crocheted POODLE from our friend Ele all the way in Italy! She also sent me an adorable cross stitched pink poodle card. I decided to make HER stitched poodle into a Christmas ornament. I took her stitching out of her greeting card. I cut two pink felt shapes out and sandwiched her stitched piece in between. I glued the edges. I then thought it would be neat to use DMC silver to create a silver top for the ornament. What do you think? I am not sure. I did not see anything on Pinterest, or copy anyone. This is just something I came up with. I wanted to enjoy Ele's precious poodle on our tree.

I made this polar bear ornament up for my stepfather. I added it atop his Christmas gift. It is from a paper punched kit I purchased on clearance from Hobby Lobby. I backed it with white felt. I made him the owl at the beginning of the year, and he thinks it is the greatest thing.😊 It is wonderful to have appreciative recipients.

Since Madeleine now has off of school, she has joined in baking cookies with me.😀 We tried out a new recipe for soft ginger cookies. We all approve! The recipe was given to me by Dani. You may remember her, as a once very prolific Canadian blogger. She now is on Instagram only. The recipe can be found HERE

And Christmas cookies at our house means Grandma Kehoe's sugar cookies. And Grandma Kehoe's sugar cookies always, always get made into POODLES! We used to do pink and blue, since we had a girl and boys. Now I am just doing blue. Years ago I did a Kerry Blue Terrier cookie cutter and a Llahsa shaped one for our llahsa bichon, Maggie. Yes, we love our dogs in this family. I don't know, it was just something I started when the kids were very little and it stuck. TRADITIONS!

Merry Christmas my friends! Thank you for stopping by. I am so very glad you did. I hope your Christmas is wonderful.❤️💚

"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." -Psalm 27:14

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

💔Murphy💔

Hello my friends. I have sad news to share. On Friday we put our Murphy down. He has been suffering terribly since he tore his right ACL in the middle of November. He has been on pain pills to help him, but he still fell down daily, and had to be helped back up again to walk or stand. Mainly it had to be me to help him back up, because he might bite anyone else. Some times I have had to wear gloves so I do not get bit. You can imagine how stressful this is for all of us, including dear Murphy. He was about 70% blind. This was a very hard decision to make, but Murphy's quality of life was not good anymore. We loved him. We are glad we gave him 3 good years after we adopted him from the humane society when he was 12 years old and his owner went to a nursing home.

These are the ornaments I made for each of us the first year we got Murphy. The poodle pattern is 103 years old. It is in the Antique Pattern Library. It is found in Markbok. It is a Swedish pattern from 1915. I made up the snow scene. When we first got Murphy, he was very healthy and ran around our backyard like a nut, twice a day, every day.

Stitching and praying,

Vickie

Advent Calendar Blog Hop

Hi friends! Welcome to Day 16 of the Advent Calendar Blog Hop hosted by our friend Jo.
Jo has asked us to post a Christmas themed picture and favorite Christmas song. If you click on the link I just provided above you will go directly to the Advent Calendar and see a different piece of Christmas needlework for each day and a different Christmas song too!

This December floral wreath is by Trésors de boîtes à couture. I stitched it one over one on 25ct white Zweigart Dublin linen with DMC.

I thought about a few songs, but they have been posted already. I love this one very much. It is an older one, not much played any more. Do any of you know 'The Christmas Shoes' by NewSong? I cry every single time I hear it. There is your warning.😉 Here is the video.

Now you can head over to Barbara's blog: The Flashing Scissors she is next on the blog hop today!

Merry Christmas my friends!

"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!'" -Luke 2:13-14 NKJV

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Hi friends! Have you been busy with Christmas preparations just like me? I am sure you are! Well I am happy to say my Christmas cards are out, and this year, I have taken a new approach. I am baking  family favorite cookie recipes twice weekly in December. They have all disappeared so far and everyone is very happy. I do have these pictures to share with you.

I have been making these cookies for about 20 years now. My kids call these cookies Prayer Bear cookies. They went to Wednesday Morning Bible School when they were three years old. And there was a video they watched there and the character in the video was a teddy bear called Prayer Bear.

I did a search and here is a very short video clip for you.

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Anyhow, my three were very fond of Prayer Bear and since I had just begun baking these cookies, which are actually called 'Beary Cute Cookies' by Taste of Home, these became a very popular snack provided by me over the course of the years for each of the children.🐻 If you would like to give this cookie recipe a try, the link to the recipe is right HERE You will notice that the faces of the little bears look slightly different now. They felt they needed to update them I suppose after this many years. I was surprised by that when I looked up the recipe to give you the link. I prefer my version, the old original sweet, plain teddy bear faces. To each their own I guess.
Any Peanut Blossom fans out there?

What else have I been up to? I have had a vision of a white wreath with pink accents. Imagine that!!😉So I have been making that come true! With fabric stars! I originally saw the directions to make fabric stars on CraftGossip many months ago and printed them off, knowing I wanted to make them as gifts for Christmas. Then I realized I would also use them in this wreath. I will tell you right now that they are much more time consuming to make then I ever thought they would be. If you want much easier instructions to make them go here to our friend Cindy's YouTube Tutorial. Click on the video below. Her instructions are SO MUCH EASIER  than the ones provided  by CraftGossip! Thank you Cindy!!

Here are the pink and green fabric stars I made.

And here they are on my wreath.😁

I have begun making more Christmas stars with another set of fabric. These are to be gifts, so I am not showing them yet.😉

This is the first month all year that I do not have the floral wreath for my cubby shelf completed before the month has begun. I have put everyone else first. I must! It will get done. Very soon!

I hope you have an excellent weekend my friends! I am no longer stressing out. Well, hardly. It is all getting done.

"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." -1 Corinthians 15:58

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Little Henry got his haircut. He is all ready for Christmas!

🎶Yellow Submarine🎶

Hi friends! Here's Madeleine's ornament❣️

Not the best picture, but it is nothing but gloomy here lately.

Isn't it fun? This is of course Yellow Submarine by Shwin & Swhin. Madeleine is a Beatles fan. I love that this looks just like the Beatles yellow submarine. And best of all this is a free pattern you can find HERE

I stitched this three over one on 14 count Aida! I have never stitched on 14 count Aida before, but I had this awesome hand dyed, sparkly blue fabric in my stash and it was perfect for this. I backstitched with two strands of black. I used all the called for DMC. I had the candy cane striped, wired ribbon in my stash too. I framed the ornament with it and made a loop on the top and wrapped it around and made a bow. I think it turned out alright. It is backed with the same sparkly blue snowflake ornament fabric I used to back Jacob's ornament. It looks perfect with this.😁

And here the LAST poodle in the year long Calendar Poodle SAL.

Jacob is moved into his apartment. We will be stopping by in a few days to give him his St. Nick's stocking.🎅 That is when he gets his ornament.😉

I hope you have a great week. I am trying so hard not to stress out, but I am. I have not baked one thing yet. I have not decorated at all yet. I have gifts for friends to make yet. I have not made out the Christmas cards either. And I have NOT been slacking!!

"These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." -John 16:33

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Grateful, Thankful, Blessed

Hi friends! How are you? It has been a while. I have been busy nursing our dear old Murphy. He has torn his ACL. The vet has told us it has torn from old age. He IS 15 years old! His parts are wearing out.😢 The vet assures us that with rest and very limited movement for two months, he should recover without surgery. We are hoping his left knee holds out! The vet said he can feel a little laxity there. And with him depending on it so much, and being so old, it is going to get a real work out.😟

We watched the Christmas parade Sunday evening from upstairs here in the apartment, since we live here on Main Street. I held the poodles up to the window.They like watching the action. I had a few people wave to us.😁

I never did show you the finished ornament I made from the stitching of Jacob. I showed it on Instagram a week ago, but not here.

More big news in our little household. Our oldest, the one you see above, Jacob, is moving out this week. Yes, it is time. Yes, he is 24 years old. Yes,now he has his career and an apartment 20 minutes away from  us. He will be living by himself. It is a very nice place in a very nice neighborhood, close to Children's Hospital where he works. It is still hard on this mom who has lived with him all these 24 years.😭

I am still stitching on Madeleine's ornament while she is in school. When she is home I stitch on the December wreath for my cubby shelf. The last one of the year!

I worked on this little piece while Madeleine is around and I cannot work on her Christmas ornament.😉

You can find this sweet freebie HERE It is from Heartstring Samplery.

The Rise of the Mystics by Ted Dekker is the second part of his latest series. I read it recently because I have read all of Ted's books. I really like Ted. I used to be a HUGE Ted Dekker fan. My interest has decreased slightly. This book was not bad at all, just not excellent.
Some say the great mystery of how one can live in two worlds at once died with Thomas Hunter many years ago. Still others that the gateway to that greater reality was and is only the stuff of dreams. They are all wrong. 

Rachelle Matthews, who grew up in the small town of Eden, Utah, discovered just how wrong when she dreamed and awoke in another world. There she learned that she was the 49th Mystic, the prophesied one, tasked with finding five ancient seals before powerful enemies destroy her. If Rachelle succeeds in her quest, peace will reign. If she fails, the world will forever be locked in darkness.

In The 49th Mystic, Rachelle found the first three of those five seals through great peril and mind-altering adventure. But two seals remain hidden and the fate of both worlds hangs in their balance.

As Rachelle Matthews sits deep in a dungeon, Vlad Smith is just getting started. Thomas Hunter's world is about to be turned inside out. The mystics say that there is no defense against the Fifth Seal--but finding it will cost Rachelle everything.

So begins the final volume of high stakes in one girl's quest to find an ancient path that will save humanity. The clock is ticking; the end rushes forward.

Ready? Set?

Dream.

I hope you have a wonderful week my friends. I will not be back here on the blog until next week. We will be busy helping Jacob move this week/weekend. Thank you for your sweet comments. I appreciate your friendship!

"Salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed." -Romans 13:11

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

👨‍⚕️Jacob👨‍⚕️

Hi friends! I finished my Christmas ornament stitching last week, but I was HOPING to have had this ornament completely finished before showing you. But you know what? I can't stand waiting anymore!!!🤪

HERE'S JACOB!!!

What do you think? It was IMPOSSIBLE  to find a MALE NURSE pattern anywhere on this planet!!! I searched the internet my friends. In English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Chinese....  Yes, I REALLY did! I could not find a pattern to buy or for free anywhere UNTIL this!! This actually looked like this:Click here   The pattern was designed to be a doctor. It took some redesigning by ME to make it into my Jacob the male nurse.

It has not been easy for me to stitch these Christmas ornaments! I make them as surprises for the kids, and the kids all still live here at home!! I give them in their Christmas stockings each year on St. Nick's. My goal is to get this ornament fully finished this week.

There are many free patterns available from this designer. If you would like to check those out CLICK HERE

I have been stitching up Madeleine's ornament also. Her's will be QUITE DIFFERENT!!😁 Ha! That is all I am saying for right now. She is still attending university. She is getting a studio art degree.

I received three entries for the Lizzie Kate Giveaway. Which means I received three pumpkin recipes. Two soup, and one bar recipe. Thank you my friends!

The winner of the Lizzie Kate Flip It November Stamp Pattern is:  Kaye! The pattern will be on it's way to you tomorrow!

Thank you for stopping by today my friends. I want to wish all of my American friends a Blessed Thanksgiving! May you all have a wonderful week!

In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. -Proverbs 16:9

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

🦃🦃🦃

Hi friends! I have finished stitching Lizzie Kate Flip It November Stamp. Isn't it cute?

Do you notice the problem though? ARGH! I stitched it on what I THOUGHT was 25 count evenweave. Well it was UNEVENWEAVE. It is 25 count one way and 29 count in the other direction!!☹️  Come on!! See how my finish above is not a nice square "stamp" shape like the pattern? Mine is a rectangle. PUH! It has linen showing above and below. I had the perfect cubby square for it picked out. Well, that is where I put it anyhow.

The UNEVENWEAVE fabric is gone in the trash. I do not want more stitching screwed up!🙁

This Lizzie Kate pattern was a gift from our friend Robin. She asked me to pass this along to another stitching friend when I finish, so I will. Here is the deal. You must be a follower of this blog. This giveaway is open to any friend anywhere in the world. There is one catch. I am asking anyone who wants this pattern to first give me a favorite pumpkin or sweet potato recipe. Yes, for real. If you do not leave a link here in the comments to the recipe, or email me the recipe ( my email is in my profile on the upper right, at the top of this blog), you will not be included in the giveaway for the pattern. 😮

🦃I will draw a name for the winner of the giveaway on Monday, November 19th. 🦃

I am now stitching Jacob's Christmas ornament. It is, let's say interesting. I have to do a bit of make it up as you go along.🤔

I am SO GLAD  you decided to stop by today. Really! It seems less and less friends stop by and read blogs. Or maybe less of you leave comments? I appreciate you taking time to leave a friendly note. THANK YOU!!!

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’ --Isaiah 6:8

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Blessed

Hi friends! I have completed the finishing on my mom's ornament. Let me show you.

This is Blessed by LHN. I stitched this two over two on 35 count tea dyed linen with the called for DMC, except I changed DMC 167 (the angel's wings, halo and the background to Blessed) to VMSS 1795 Tarnished Gold. I think it looks much more like the cover photo than the DMC called for.

This lovely backing fabric was a piece sent to me by our friend Carolien.😊

I am very happy with the final look of my mom's ornament. I must say that I do NOT enjoy making ruched ribbon. Ugh. It took me at least two hours to ruche, I don't even know how many feet of ribbon!! A lot!

Two Christmas ornaments done now! Hooray for me!

The Secret Holocaust Diaries: The Untold Story of Nonna Bannister by Nonna Bannister was a fascinating WWII story.
Nonna Bannister carried a secret almost to her Tennessee grave: the diaries she had kept as a young girl experiencing the horrors of the Holocaust. This book reveals that story. Nonna’s childhood writings, revisited in her late adulthood, tell the remarkable tale of how a Russian girl from a family that had known wealth and privilege, then exposed to German labor camps, learned the value of human life and the importance of forgiveness. This story of loss, of love, and of forgiveness is one you will not forget.

Have a super week my friends! I will be back next time with a turkey finish and a pattern giveaway!🦃

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

🐩November Poodle🐩

Hi friends! I did not get my mom's ornament finally finished. I did get the November poodle stitched and finished. Here it is.

Isn't it sweet? I have been wanting to make a black poodle all year, but knew that it would not show up well. I just could not skip a black poodle. I have done all the other colors.It has a french knot nose, honest!

What do you think of my red and white flying geese quilt I made for my poodle? How do you like the mug of chai latte? Ha! I drink one almost every day. I dip my finger in the foam at the top twice for Henry. Murphy (if he is awake!) drinks the very bottom.😉

This free pattern is part of the Calendar Poodle SAL I have been having all year long. Just click on the tab at the top of  this page and you will go all the free poodle patterns.

I am now stitching a sweet Lizzie Kate November pattern given to me by our friend Robin. I will be giving this pattern away after I am done.

I read The First Love by Beverly Lewis and of course, I liked it very much. I have never been disappointed in one of her books. Ever.
It's the summer of 1951, and Maggie Esh is in need of some hope. Sweet-spirited and uncommonly pretty despite struggling with chronic illness, she is used to being treated kindly by the young men of her Old Order Amish church district. Yet Maggie wishes she were more like other courting-age girls so she could live a normal, healthy life.

To make matters more complicated, Dat has recently remarried, less than a year after her mother died. And while her stepmother is kind, Rachel is much younger than Mamm, and she simply doesn't understand Maggie or her illness the way Mamm did.

When tent revival meetings come to the area, Maggie is curious, and the words of the Mennonite preacher challenge her to reconsider what she knows about faith. Can she learn to trust God even when hope seems a distant dream?

Thank you for stopping by and visiting with me today my friends. I am so glad you did. It seems I have less friends taking the time to visit blogs these days, so I want to thank YOU for coming by.😘 I appreciate your kind comments. God bless you!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie