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Hi friends! My ophthalmologist appointment went well. I have healthy eyes. I have nothing wrong with my eyes that would cause headaches. The doctor did say that if I was having headaches from eye problems, the headaches would be across the forehead, not squeezing at the temples. I am getting new lenses for my glasses. My distance vision is slightly worse, but I now also need bifocals. I am getting the progressive lenses. Wow are those ever expensive!!

I will call the neurologist this morning to move up my recheck appointment. I have one scheduled for the beginning of August. Why wait around in pain right?! HOWEVER, I have been experiencing very low pain for three days now. I have been praying fervently for these three days. A LOT more than I ever have about this entire situation. I am so very thankful to God for this relief from the intense pain. Most especially since two of the days were very, very hot. I am still hopeful, believe it or not, that these headaches can just be gone. I am literally at exactly 4 months post steroid injection now.

Yes, I squatted down to get this picture. I am 5'11"tall. That would be one huge hollyhock!

Henry and I went to visit our friend Joyce at the nursing home last Friday. She died 5 days after we last visited her. :( I was so sad, I used my own comfort dog, Henry, right there in the lobby and cried. I pulled myself together and had a bad headache day. It is so hard when I lose a friend like that. We told each other "I love you." We were friends for two years. I miss her already. She would have been 90 in a few weeks. She loved Henry so very, very much. He was wearing his bow tie to show her, as I promised I would for the next visit. Well.... this is not the first time. It will not be the last either. I have been attached to quite a few elderly friends over decades. Can't stop now. ♥

I finished reading Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives by Elder Thaddeus of Vitnovica. What an excellent book.
Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica was one of the most renowned spiritual guides of Serbia in the twentieth century. As a novice he lived in obedience to Elder Ambrose of Miljkovo Monastery, a disciple of the Optina Elders. From him Fr. Thaddeus learned the Prayer of the Heart and the selfless love that came to characterize his whole ministry to the suffering Serbian people.

Born in 1914, Elder Thaddeus lived through all the suffering endured by Serbia in the twentieth century. Over the course of two World Wars, during the Communist takeover, and through the nato bombings of 1999, he co-suffered with his people. He taught, counseled, and prayed for all who came to him in pain and sorrow. His words of love and hope provided spiritual balm for people from all classes of society.

In 2002 Elder Thaddeus reposed, leaving behind a large collection of his teachings, preserved by his faithful spiritual children. His life, teachings, and spiritual conversations are here presented for the first time in English.

I am over halfway done with the July SAL by Snowflower Diaries. I have made small changes. I will share that with you next time.

I hope you are having an excellent week my friends! Thanks for stopping in.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

"As is our relationship to our neighbor, so is our relationship to God."   Elder Thaddeus

Hello From Poodletown!

Hi friends! I did not give up on that peter pan collar. I took it all apart and started over again. I made up my own template. :)  Here it is all finished.

Here is a close up of the fabric I used.

I am stitching up the July SAL Snowflower Diaries pattern right now. I have a long ways to go yet. Stitching has not been easy this week due to headaches.

The neurologist says he thinks the headaches are most likely not from the steroid injections, but we do not know what caused them. We must accept this and move on. We have to focus on finding something to comfort and find relief for me. Yeah well, that is not working. I have been a 7 or 8 on the pain scale every day this week.(The weather has been hot.) I am only allowed to use 7 Imitrex tablets a month. I have to take one, then one two hours later for them to work. Well that works out to only 3 times a month for me. Then I get to use 10 Tylenol days a month? The rest of the month I am to rely on ice packs?!  I am told I need to accept it. So, yeah. I think this is going to be a very looooooooooooooooong summer. This has all certainly increased my prayer life and THAT is a blessing.

I received some excellent advice yesterday afternoon from Ren. She told me to get a super eye exam. The neurologist told me this also. If you can believe it, I actually forgot. Pain does that. Messes up your mind sometimes. So, I made an appointment for next week with my eye doctor. Thank you for that reminder Ren!

I do hope you are enjoying the summer my friends. I normally do. I love to get out and enjoy my garden. I also love to explore new parks and gardens and festivals. Have you been to new places? Tell me! I would love to hear about it, since I will be mostly homebound this summer now.

Have a wonderful weekend my friends! May God richly bless you.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

July Hands On Design

Hi friends! I finished the "A Year of Celebrations: July" pattern by Hands On Design. This is found in the July 2014 issue of Cross Stitch & Needlework Magazine.

Isn't it sweet? I love it! As with the rest in this series, I have stitched this on 25ct New Khaki linen one over one with DMC. I did use VMSS Golden Straw instead of DMC 832 for the gold.

I now want to begin the Snowflower Diaries SAL for July. Adorable! 

I also worked on some sewing this week. I made a peter pan collar and attached it to a shirt. You would not think it that hard. Well.... unless you have the exact same size shirt with neck opening, the template I am using does not work. So I adjusted. And adjusted. And adjusted. And then sewed. And thought it seemed, um a bit weird, but thought I guess this is the way it is supposed to be. Then you look at the final product and say oh boy! This is bad. And Madeleine says, "Mom, it looks like a clown shirt. You can't wear that." You try not to cry because you just want a dumb shirt. So I set it aside, finished the above cross stitch. I then took the collar all apart. Now this week I will start again.  I am hoping to show you a shirt next time friends.

It has been really hot here. In the 90's. Not good at all for headaches. I have been getting gardening done early in the morning. Then I have to hide out in the air conditioning. If I must go out, it is dash to the car and dash into air conditioning. My headache soars with heat.

Yesterday we went out for a nice dinner with our in-laws for Father's Day. Then we went to one of our favorite custard stands for frozen custard. On our way out, we saw a man sitting on the patio with a pot bellied pig on his lap! I had to stop and ask about it. His name is Howie. :) He is 2 years old. They live to be about 15 years old. They are very smart. He looked to be about 30 to 35 pounds. The man fed him frozen custard on the ground and Howie ate it up while wagging his tail. ;) Only in Wisconsin!

I hope you have a great week my friends! Thank you for stopping in today.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Blooming June

Hi friends! I finished the free June pattern from our friend Palko that you can find right HERE.

I stitched this one over one with VMSS Candy Pink on 25ct Light Rose Lugana. I do realize you had intended this pattern to be a visit to the seashore, Palko. And I did have a lovely turquoise floss in mind, but June is my birthday month, and I just HAD to go with pink floss AND linen. ;)

 Here is my whole June display.

I have finished reading Jane and the Wandering Eye: Being the Third Jane Austen Mystery by Stephanie Barron. Excellent! I have yet to be disappointed in a book by this author. Go! Go read the first book in this series! NOW! :)

As Christmas of 1804 approaches, Jane Austen finds herself "insupportably bored with Bath, and the littleness of a town." It is with relief that she accepts a peculiar commission from her Gentleman Rogue, Lord Harold Trowbridge—to shadow his niece, Lady Desdemona, who has fled to Bath to avoid the attentions of the unsavoury Earl of Swithin.

But Jane's idle diversion turns deadly when a man is discovered stabbed to death in the Theatre Royal. Adding to the mystery is an unusual object found on the victim's body—a pendant that contains a portrait of an eye! As Jane's fascination with scandal leads her deeper into the investigation, it becomes clear that she will not uncover the truth without some dangerous playacting of her own....

I hope you have a beautiful weekend my friends! If you are blessed to still have your father with you, go give him a hug and a kiss and tell him you love him. If he has passed on, tell him you love him, and visit his grave. Maybe leave him some flowers? That is my plan. I hope you have a blessed Father's Day on Sunday!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Mug Rug

Hi friends!

I made a birthday gift for our friend June. I wanted a finish for her that was different, so I did up a mug rug. You may recall this freebie pattern I stitched back in March, that you can find right HERE. 

I stitched it for June. Yep, I knew it would be for her. Her favorite color is Duck Egg Blue, I chose a blue 28ct linen I had in my stash.

June loves bunnies. I could not resist giving this bunny a Wisper tail. ;) The rest is stitched in DMC. There is also a butterfly for our dear June of course! And sweet flowers. We both love our gardens.

Here are pictures of my garden from this weekend. Our graduation party was a success. The weather was a gorgeous 72º. No headache inducing heat for me!! The poodles brought lots of smiles with their party attire.

I will be back next time with a June finish to share with you. Thank you for your encouraging comments. You are so kind and I am glad you stopped by today. Have a great week!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Proper Poodle Party Attire

Hi friends! You know I adore my poodles. After today's post, you will know without a doubt that I am crazy for them. Or perhaps just plain crazy?! ;)

With the upcoming graduation party for Emerson and Madeleine this Sunday, I got the fun idea to have the three poodles wear "a little something" for the get together. I swear, I get these ideas and get motivated when the pressure is on me to do many, many chores and tasks!!

So, since Madeleine's school colors are white and gold(golden yellow), we are decorating in yellow. I went with yellow. Now Miss Mabel is easy. I have a lovely necklace I made year several years ago. It is not yellow, but it is made from a Vera Wang black velvet and rhinestone bracelet.

The part you are not seeing,  is the part that wraps around the top of her neck. I strung pearls there. :)

I have made Mr. Henry a lovely yellow floral bow tie.

I know! Do you want to squeeze him, or what?!? :)

Mr. Murphy could not also have a bow tie. How redundant! He gets a neck tie in a pastel yellow, yet manly plaid.

Are you ready for this? Ta da!! Look at these three! tee hee!

I think they are thrilled, right? Well, I am!! Especially since the yard work is done!!! And I am almost, yes, almost ready for this party.

My neurologist had me begin taking 400mg of Riboflavin daily. It is proven to reduce or remove headaches when they are not severe. That is why he did not mention this two months ago when they were horrid. It is working already, or else it is psychological! I will take the reduced headaches either way! The weather has been cooler also. So I have not been suffering. I have been a 1 or 2 for headache pain for 3 or 4 days now! Yippee!

Since I have been cleaning and gardening and shopping and sewing, not much stitching has been happening. I will be back next time with a finish to share with you though.

Thank you for all of your wonderful comments and birthday wishes for me. I appreciate you! Have a great weekend!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

47

Hi friends! How are you today? Today I am 47. Years old that is! ;) We went to my mom's for chocolate cake and some presents yesterday. Yep. My mom still has us all home for our birthdays. I am the oldest. I have three younger brothers.

Our friend June sent me a birthday package on Friday. She sure made me smile. Here is what she sent me. Notice the wonderful poodle card on the left!

June wrote me the loveliest message in that card. Thank you June. Thank you for all of my sweet gifts. The Motherly Devotion pattern is gorgeous. The precious fairy touches my heart, as does your message. I will definitely be putting to use the pink floss, floral ribbon and sweet matroyshka button!

As soon as I had mentioned to all of you in my last post that my headaches had finally become quite low and bearable, boom!, they are nasty. I called the neurologist's office this morning. I am not impressed with Imitrex. I thought it was supposed to knock these headaches out. I can only take three tablets a week. And only take tylenol 10 days a month. The heat is really, really messing me up. If  I am outside for 2 minutes, the headache pain soars. I have a feeling I am headed to the medical college's headache clinic. The neurologist had said if we could not get these under control after trying things, then that is where I need to be. sigh.

So, I am able to garden by going out first thing in the morning before the sun and heat come.

Sadly, baking is just not as much fun when your head is in crushing pain(that blast when you open the oven door). I was able to bake this bread over the weekend though.

I will be back next time with a finish to share. I hope you have a lovely week my friends. Thank you for your sweet words of encouragement. I appreciate your friendship.

Oh! One more thing! Take a look at us. :) I asked Madeleine to take an updated  profile picture of me and all three poodles.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Beauty In Bloom

Hi friends! I finished the May freebie by our friend Palko you can find right HERE. I even finished it on the last day of May. ;) It is all ready to display for next year. I did not want to fall behind in my monthly cubby shelf patterns. So far, I have not.

I stitched this one over one on 25ct Bo Peep Pink Lugana with "Gypsy" Artiste floss. This is a floss I got from the clearance bin at Hobby Lobby for 18¢.

Would you like to see the first birthday present I received this year? I love it! Madeleine painted a tiny 2x2 canvas of Henry. ♥

The vegetable garden is all in. I am chasing weeds as I can. I have to work in the garden when I can. Which is only when it is cool, otherwise I get horrid headaches from the heat. I have to hide out from the heat, then my headaches have been staying quite low. Yay! If I am out for any reason in the heat, I suffer for it. I still have Imitrex, my prescription from the doctor, to take the headache pain down when things get bad. Ice helps too. Unfortunately, it takes quite a while for things to return to a "normal low headache" though.

I have made up a birthday gift for a friend I will share with you later this month, once it is received. I am now stitching up the July Year of Celebrations pattern by Hands On Design.

Thank you for stopping by today my friends! Your words of encouragement truly make me smile. I hope you have a wonderful  weekend!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie