Calendar Poodle SAL

Friday, January 27, 2017

❄️️Snow Garden❄️️

Hi friends! I would like to show you my progress on AotH so far. Here is my Snow Garden. Different than anyone else's that is for sure! I have completed the border.
Why is my Snow Garden pale pink and white?! Because I am whackadoo? Maybe. I think it is because I used cream linen and I tried using the called for DMC 739 and Ecru and neither one showed up on this linen. Then I tried DMC 3865, 3770, and white.These did not show up either. I was distressed at this point. Having ruled out all of my DMC,I went through my VMSS flosses and there it was. Just the name made me smile. ♥Baby Pink & White♥ I am using this floss whenever 739 and Ecru are called for.
Among The Mad, book six in the Maisie Dobbs series is a great one! HA! They are all great! ;) Well anyways, I really liked this book a lot. It makes you think about the mental trauma wartime soldiers have FOR LIFE. It seems this "problem" is one people do not want to see or deal with for many lifetimes now and in many countries. Sad.Very, very sad.

In the thrilling new novel by the New York Times bestselling author of An Incomplete Revenge, Maisie Dobbs must catch a madman before he commits murder on an unimaginable scale
It's Christmas Eve 1931. On the way to see a client, Maisie Dobbs witnesses a man commit suicide on a busy London street. The following day, the prime minister's office receives a letter threatening a massive loss of life if certain demands are not met―and the writer mentions Maisie by name. After being questioned and cleared by Detective Chief Superintendent Robert MacFarlane of Scotland Yard's elite Special Branch, she is drawn into MacFarlane's personal fiefdom as a special adviser on the case. Meanwhile, Billy Beale, Maisie's trusted assistant, is once again facing tragedy as his wife, who has never recovered from the death of their young daughter, slips further into melancholia's abyss. Soon Maisie becomes involved in a race against time to find a man who proves he has the knowledge and will to inflict death and destruction on thousands of innocent people. And before this harrowing case is over, Maisie must navigate a darkness not encountered since she was a nurse in wards filled with shell-shocked men.
Thank you for your encouragement friends! About another week to go now. Then I should start to feel some relief from the Botox shots IF I am going to have relief from the shots. I may not. That is very likely the first time you receive the shots. I have my next appointment set up for more shots in 3 months.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend my friends! I will be stitching away on Snow Garden.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie


Monday, January 23, 2017

Time To Start AotH

Hi friends! I have begun AotH. :) My fabric came on Saturday. Did any of you guess that I would be stitching it one over one? Yep! That is what I am doing. I am using 25 count cream Dublin linen. I am much happier with this color than the 25 count Golden Flax I was thinking of using. That has kind of a grayish or dingy tone to it.

When I had originally planned on beginning AotH years ago, I bought 4 different 40 count linens in different colors. I just could NOT make a decision. What a blessing that indecision was! While stitching on 40 count would make the sampler small, I am so glad I never began. I like this new plan of stitching the whole sampler on 25count. I thought it could not be done. Must do two over two and leave areas for one over one! I actually discussed this very idea with the local needlework shop owner about 4 years ago!! I REALLY WANTED TO DO THIS! I guess she and I could not think outside the box. And then... AND THEN.. I discovered Nadia. I did not find her blog when she began stitching AotH, but while she was in the process of stitching it. You can see her sampler HERE Wonderful, isn't it?

I do not have that much stitched on it thus far. I have begun with Snow Garden (pattern #1) of course. I am using DMC, and making a few color changes along the way. BECAUSE I am using the front of the patterns as my guides. I have found already that when I pulled the DMC flosses, some of these colors do NOT look like they match the pattern picture at all.

Here is a progress picture I do have to share with you today on 'Forever Be My Always' By Emma Congdon.
 Thank you for all of your support and encouragement during the Botox shots. Now the wait is on. The doctor says I should feel results in about two weeks.

Have a great week my friends!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie



Friday, January 20, 2017

🐩

Hi friends! First, let me tell you I had the Botox shots yesterday afternoon. They felt like bee stings.All 31 of them in my head. Then I had a headache from the shots all night. The headache seems to be reduced today. It takes a few weeks to feel the results of the Botox. Thank you for your prayers and care my friends.♥

While I am waiting for my special linen (from the second place I ordered from) for my big start that I want to begin on AotH, I am making very good progress on 'Forever Be My Always' By Emma Congdon.
Two over two on 28 count linen
 I was recommended a book by a friend last month. The book is:  The Prime:  Prepare and Repair Your Body For Spontaneous Weight Loss by Dr. Kulreet Chaudhary. No, I was not recommended it for weight loss. The author/doctor actually was suffering migraines and was seeking ways to get rid of them, other than prescription medications. This author is Indian. She has gone back to her roots and gives some information and tips that I am willing to try. Not necessarily for weight loss, but for healthier living. This book did make me think a lot. It helped me to understand many unwise decisions Americans make with food that we never realize, or think about. Beyond obvious things like fast food and sugar.

 Integrative neurologist Dr. Kulreet Chaudhary discovered a beautiful side effect to the eating and lifestyle tools she gave her brain patients--spontaneously shedding excess pounds. In this, her first book, she shows us how to sharpen the brain, and smarten and heal the gut. Weight gain is not about the food, but about the body’s environment. Excess weight is a result of the body being in a toxic, inflammatory state. If your body is not prepared or ‘primed’ for weight loss, you will fight an uphill biochemical battle.  Her program is not about what you can't have or do, it's about adding simple teas and herbs, and succeeding without giving up any foods you love. With The Prime, Dr. Chaudhary has reverse engineered our way of eating, so we can stop dieting backward and start losing weight instead. You'll learn:

--The importance of neuroadaptation, food addiction, and the brain (or, why your brain and gut have made it so hard to lose weight in the past!)
--Why it’s not about what you eat, but what you digest
--How to determine if you have a Leaky Brain—and what The Prime can do about it (hint: everything)
--How to easily crush cravings (no willpower required), ignite energy and fat, and biohack your lifestyle habits.

Lastly, you’ll learn how to live fully Primed, the secrets of the Super-Primed, and when you’re ready to explore new foods, how to eat according to your unique constitution.

PREPARED TO LIVE AT YOUR PRIME?
We will have a bit of warmer weather this weekend. Lots of melting snow means twelve dirty, muddy poodle paws to constantly keep clean this weekend. ;)

Thank you so much for stopping by today my friend. Thank you for praying and thinking about me when I had those Botox shots. I appreciate you!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie


Monday, January 16, 2017

It Is Time!

Hi friends! I stitched on 'Forever Be My Always' By Emma Congdon. I did not take a progress picture for you. I almost have the word Forever done now. :)

I had ordered my linen for AotH off of a shop on Etsy. After 6 days, the item was still not shipped! We cancelled the order and I ordered my fabric elsewhere. So I will keep on stitching my current WIP until my linen FINALLY comes! I DO want to begin AotH!

I gave little Henry a hair cut last week. He shakes and shivers in the frigid temperatures now. Madeleine and I went to the pet store and bought him a little, red sweater. ♥ He won't need it once his hair get full again.

Over the weekend I finished book number 5 in the Maisie Dobbs series. The author, Jacqueline Winspear excels at writing mysteries that keep you wondering and guessing. I LOVE that! I do not enjoy reading mysteries that are easily worked out. I finally figured out just a bit of the story in this one before nearing the end. Makes me feel clever. ;) HA!

In her fifth outing, Maisie Dobbs, the extraordinary Psychologist and Investigator, delves into a strange series of crimes in a small rural community
With the country in the grip of economic malaise, and worried about her business, Maisie Dobbs is relieved to accept an apparently straightforward assignment from an old friend to investigate certain matters concerning a potential land purchase. Her inquiries take her to a picturesque village in Kent during the hop-picking season, but beneath its pastoral surface she finds evidence that something is amiss. Mysterious fires erupt in the village with alarming regularity, and a series of petty crimes suggests a darker criminal element at work. As Maisie discovers, the villagers are bitterly prejudiced against outsiders who flock to Kent at harvest time―even more troubling, they seem possessed by the legacy of a wartime Zeppelin raid. Maisie grows increasingly suspicious of a peculiar secrecy that shrouds the village, and ultimately she must draw on all her finely honed skills of detection to solve one of her most intriguing cases.
Rich with Jacqueline Winspear's trademark period detail, this installment of the bestselling series, An Incomplete Revenge, is gripping, atmospheric, and utterly enthralling.
The time has arrived my friends. Insurance has FINALLY approved the Botox shots for me. The huge problem was that my neurologist does not think I have migraines, but Intractable Tension Headaches. Yep, that was the hang up. Botox is approved for migraine treatment. My doctor wrote a letter and it is now being done this Thursday. I will get 31 shots in my forehead, sides of my head and nape of my neck. If you want to know more about it, you can take a look HERE. Please pray for me. I have waited so very many months for this. Now that I am getting these shots, I very much want them to work. My neurologist told me 50% of his patients he has injected over the years with Botox have had total relief from their headaches. As in gone! As in, they no longer have to go to him for headache problems. Oh please God let me be in that 50%!!!

Thank you for stopping by today. I am so glad you did. You brighten my day with your sweet words. Thank you.♥

Stitching and praying,
Vickie
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Friday, January 13, 2017

Hi friends! I am waiting, waiting for my linen to arrive for my AotH. So I began stitching on 'Forever Be My Always' By Emma Congdon. Here is my progress thus far.
This is two over two on 28 count linen.
Last week I finished audio book number 4 in the Maisie Dobbs series, A Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear. Yes, I am quite addicted to this series! What can I say? Read it!

Maisie Dobbs investigates the mysterious death of a controversial artist―and World War I veteran―in the fourth entry in the bestselling series
London, 1931. The night before an exhibition of his artwork opens at a famed Mayfair gallery, the controversial artist Nick Bassington-Hope falls to his death. The police rule it an accident, but Nick's twin sister, Georgina, a wartime journalist and a infamous figure in her own right, isn't convinced.
When the authorities refuse to consider her theory that Nick was murdered, Georgina seeks out a fellow graduate from Girton College, Maisie Dobbs, psychologist and investigator, for help. Nick was a veteran of World War I, and before long the case leads Maisie to the desolate beaches of Dungeness in Kent, and into the sinister underbelly of the city's art world.
In Messenger of Truth, Maisie once again uncovers the perilous legacy of the Great War in a society struggling to recollect itself. But to solve the mystery of Nick's death, Maisie will have to keep her head as the forces behind the artist's fall come out of the shadows to silence her.
Thank you for your kind words on my ornament finish on my last post. :) I hope that you have a wonderful weekend!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie


Monday, January 9, 2017

Christmas Tea

Hi friends! I am happy to say I finished Brian's Christmas ornament just in time. ;)
This pattern is called 'Xmas Tea' by Primitve Acorns. The pattern can be found in the Just Cross Stitch 2016 Christmas Ornament Magazine. You may have seen a few other stitchers stitch this up. I have. I knew I wanted to make this for Brian for Christmas. He loves tea. He has many cups every day. The problem I had with the pattern was what to do with Xmas. Brian and I never use Xmas, always Christmas. Always. So I decided to remove both words and create and add a tea bag.
I stitched this two over two using DMC on mystery 32ct linen.
 Unfortunately I made a mistake. One I discovered too late. The vine to the right of the tea cup is supposed to be over one more stitch to the right. There should be one space between the cup handle and the berry. They should not touch. I did not even tell Brian. I normally share all the details of my work with him. I forgot to share this at first, and then, well, why even tell him? He loves the ornament so very much. :)
The Christmas Tree ornament (you can see HERE) I stitched up for my young friend Vadim was received with much gratitude. He is such a nice, devout, respectful 18 year old young man. I really like him and enjoy watching him learn to live in America. He has come here to live with his Aunt and Uncle and two very  young cousins who have only come to live here five years before him. Our church is filled with young Russian and Ukrainian immigrant families.

Now to share my BIG project with you! I bought linens and the DMC flosses and all 12 Blackbird Design patterns years ago. I am ready to stitch the Anniversaries of the Heart series all on one piece of linen. Well almost! What a dork I am! I had bought more than one piece of fabric. I deliberated for months on my fabric choice. The fabric choice is actually what held me up from starting these. And....once again I have changed my mind. I told you all I was starting AND I AM NOT. Not yet. The fabric is coming and I think you will all be surprised. ;)

So I needed something to stitch NOW. What to do? What to do? Well, the other big project for this year. Yes, I have another one. It is not as big as AotH, but considering I stitch mainly all smalls, all year, every year, this is big for me.

I was not going to begin this project for several months yet. I have had this pattern picked out for over half a year. It is from the Spring 2016 issue of Cross Stitch and Needlework magazine. It is called ' Forever Be my Always' By Emma Congdon. Have you seen it? It has lots of pink! ♥ I am stitching this as an anniversary gift for Brian. It needs to be done and framed by October 3rd. That is our 25th wedding anniversary. :)

Thank you for stopping by today. Thank you for such kind comments my friends! Have a great week in the Lord!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie





Friday, January 6, 2017

🔔Merry Christmas!🔔

Hi friends! Christ is born! Glorify Him!

I will be back Monday with a finish and a start to share.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Monday, January 2, 2017

🎄 Christmas Tree 🎄


Hi friends! I would like to share my latest finish with you. This is 'Christmas Tree 2007' by Jeannette Douglas Designs. This pattern can be found in the Ornament Preview Issue of Just Cross Stitch Magazine October 2007.
I searched so many stores for the perfect frame for this little ornament. I finally found it at Kohl's Department Store. I love it!
I used the called for 32ct natural Belfast linen and the called for DMC flosses. I really underestimated how long an ornament FILLED with specialty stitches takes to create!! I am very pleased with this finish. I am happy to give this to my young 18 year old Ukrainian friend, Vadim, on this, his first Christmas in America.

I am now stitching up an ornament for Brian. His ornament will be my first finish for the year. Then I will show you my big project for this year. I have had the patterns, the linen, and the flosses sitting in a project bag for years,waiting for me. Well it is time. THIS is THE year!
I have to share with you the last book that I "listened" to in 2016. Yet another Maisie Dobbs book. Yep! I am telling you, this series is fantastic! Go, get a book in the series! You will NOT regret reading Maisie Dobbs. :)
Pardonable Lies: A Maisie DobbsNovel
In the third novel of this bestselling series, London investigator Maisie Dobbs faces grave danger as she returns to the site of her most painful WWI memories to resolve the mystery of a pilot's death.
A deathbed plea from his wife leads Sir Cecil Lawton to seek the aid of Maisie Dobbs, psychologist and investigator. As Maisie soon learns, Agnes Lawton never accepted that her aviator son was killed in the Great War, a torment that led her not only to the edge of madness but to the doors of those who practice the dark arts and commune with the spirit world. In accepting the assignment, Maisie finds her spiritual strength tested, as well as her regard for her mentor, Maurice Blanche. The mission also brings her together once again with her college friend Priscilla Evernden, who served in France and who lost three brothers to the war―one of whom, it turns out, had an intriguing connection to the missing Ralph Lawton.
I read a total of 31 books in 2016. Not bad for me. Several of those books were actually audio books I listened to while I stitched or walked on the treadmill. That works out nice I think.

That's it for today my friends! Thank you for stopping by today. I am so glad you did. :)  Thank you for your kind words. I  I hope you have an excellent week in this bright, new year! :)

Stitching and praying,
Vickie