Stash

Hi friends! It has been on my mind for a while to stitch up a gift for Mary, Murphy's groomer. I just could not seem to find a chart that really made me say "THAT'S IT!!" Well I found it.

Dog House of Puppy Dogs by Bent Creek

 THIS CHART makes me REALLY😍HAPPY! There is Murphy, right on top! 😁Ha! Isn't this great for a groomer? I think so. This is a kit. I will work on it soon, but first I am being good and staying on track. I am being obedient and doing the next chart for AotH. The Bonus Chart. I am working on charting a prayer for the center of it instead of the charted alphabet first, then away I go! Well, except I have a small detour of grooming Mabel this week first.

Have a great week my friends! I will be back at the end of this week.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

🐩

Hi friends! I have been working on Forever Be My Always by Emma Congdon this week. This is an update picture for you.

Book number 12 of the Maisie Dobbs series! Journey to Munich I kept finding myself saying, "Just get out of Nazi Germany Maisie! Go! Get out!" A very good read. Now I find myself waiting for the newest release in this series, In This Grave Hour.

Working with the British Secret Service on an undercover mission, Maisie Dobbs is sent to Hitler’s Germany in this thrilling tale of danger and intrigue—the twelfth novel in Jacqueline Winspear’s New York Times bestselling “series that seems to get better with each entry” (Wall Street Journal).
It’s early 1938, and Maisie Dobbs is back in England. On a fine yet chilly morning, as she walks towards Fitzroy Square—a place of many memories—she is intercepted by Brian Huntley and Robert MacFarlane of the Secret Service. The German government has agreed to release a British subject from prison, but only if he is handed over to a family member. Because the man’s wife is bedridden and his daughter has been killed in an accident, the Secret Service wants Maisie—who bears a striking resemblance to the daughter—to retrieve the man from Dachau, on the outskirts of Munich.
The British government is not alone in its interest in Maisie’s travel plans. Her nemesis—the man she holds responsible for her husband’s death—has learned of her journey, and is also desperate for her help.
Traveling into the heart of Nazi Germany, Maisie encounters unexpected dangers—and finds herself questioning whether it’s time to return to the work she loved. But the Secret Service may have other ideas. . .

I will work a day or two more on Forever Be My Always, then I will move on to begin the Bonus Chart of Anniversaries of the Heart.

I hope you have a stitchtastic weekend my friends! Thank you for stopping by. 🐩

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Valentine Rose Finish

Hi friends! We had a beautiful weekend! Sunny and warm. In the sixties! I visited my father's grave on Friday, his birthday. I brought him flowers. I also finished his sampler.

You can see my finish is different than the charted Valentine Rose. Some changes are necessary when you are stitching the entire piece one over one on 25 count linen. I fit my father's name down there, but the date would not fit directly above his name. So.....okay. I put it above the house. Which meant the birds went bye bye. But I knew, yes I KNEW with that one remaining charted bird with only one of his feet clinging to the big 'ol heart, THAT bird was NOT remaining a black bird. Not in my father's sampler. I just kept hearing my Dad's voice, telling me it should be a Polish Eagle. My father was 100% POLISH and rather proud of it! He loved the Polish Eagle. He called himself the Polish Eagle! So I created a Polish Eagle for him. Not sure it is perfect, but I made it for him and that is what counts.

Here is one more picture to share with you. I do not know how old my father is in this picture. This is my Grandpa holding him. ❤️️

I had to shorten the base of the urn to make it all fit. I changed the colors of the strawberries to 221 from 3857. They were too dark for me. I changed the color of the flowers from 3022 to 3024. They were too green for me. All the stems and leaves are 642, not 611. Not green enough.  My Polish Eagle is stitched in 4015, the pale grey to white variegated DMC.

I received this super adorable and very generous gift from our friend Karyn. Isn't it precious?! Thank you again Karyn!

I suppose I am getting to know Maisie too well. ;) I figured out where the book, A Dangerous Place was headed. Still a very good read. You truly feel Maisie's grieving in this book.

Four years after she set sail from England, leaving everything she most loved behind, Maisie Dobbs at last returns, only to find herself in a dangerous place . . .
In Jacqueline Winspear‘s  powerful story of political intrigue and personal tragedy, a brutal murder in the British garrison town of Gibraltar leads Maisie into a web of lies, deceit, and peril.
Spring 1937. In the four years since she left England, Maisie Dobbs has experienced love, contentment, stability—and the deepest tragedy a woman can endure. Now, all she wants is the peace she believes she might find by returning to India. But her sojourn in the hills of Darjeeling is cut short when her stepmother summons her home to England; her aging father Frankie Dobbs is not getting any younger.
But on a ship bound for England, Maisie realizes she isn’t ready to return. Against the wishes of the captain who warns her, “You will be alone in a most dangerous place,” she disembarks in Gibraltar. Though she is on her own, Maisie is far from alone: the British garrison town is teeming with refugees fleeing a brutal civil war across the border in Spain.
Yet the danger is very real. Days after Maisie’s arrival, a photographer and member of Gibraltar’s Sephardic Jewish community, Sebastian Babayoff, is murdered, and Maisie becomes entangled in the case, drawing the attention of the British Secret Service. Under the suspicious eye of a British agent, Maisie is pulled deeper into political intrigue on “the Rock”—arguably Britain’s most important strategic territory—and renews an uneasy acquaintance in the process. At a crossroads between her past and her future, Maisie must choose a direction, knowing that England is, for her, an equally dangerous place, but in quite a different way.

I am now stitching on Forever Be My Always by Emma Congdon.

I hope you have a super week my friends! I plan to! 🐩 Thank you for your sweet words of encouragement! I am thankful for YOU!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

❤️️🌹

Hi friends! This is how far I have come on Valentine Rose.

I just have a bit more to do on the  urn. I need to stitch the birds, the date and door. And add one stitch to the border. Don't ask!! I cannot figure it out and everything appears aligned, so there ya go!

You can see I have personalized this sampler for my father. This is a picture of my Dad at 7 months old. Today just happens to be my Dad's birthday. He would have been 68 years old.

I had printed a recipe off last fall for a Copycat Starbucks Gingerbread Loaf. I forgot about it. I made it finally this week. YUM! No picture. I forgot that too. It was delicious! It was gone in one day.😁
   

Leaving Everything Most Loved is the 10th book in the Maisie Dobbs series. You already know what I am going to say. HA! This is a very good book!

 In Leaving Everything Most Loved by New York Times bestselling author Jacqueline Winspear, Maisie Dobbs investigates the murder of Indian immigrants in London.

The year is 1933. Maisie Dobbs is contacted by an Indian gentleman who has come to England in the hopes of finding out who killed his sister two months ago. Scotland Yard failed to make any arrest in the case, and there is reason to believe they failed to conduct a thorough investigation. The case becomes even more challenging when another Indian woman is murdered just hours before a scheduled interview. Meanwhile, unfinished business from a previous case becomes a distraction, as does a new development in Maisie's personal life.

Bringing a crucial chapter in the life and times of Maisie Dobbs to a close, Leaving Everything Most Loved marks a pivotal moment in this outstanding mystery series.

I will be back next time with a finish on Valentine Rose. Just as Snow Garden is uniquely mine with pink snow, this one will be uniquely mine with something not one other has. Something for my father.

Thank you for stopping by today my friends! I am so glad you did. As you may already know, I do not have Facebook or Instagram, just this little, old blog. I enjoy it so much and I am so happy to have met YOU here!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Such Sweet Friends

Hi friends! What a mail day Friday was! I do not know what I have done to deserve friends like you?! I received THREE packages from three different friends! Thank you first to our friend Gracie. She sent me a surprise package.

I am thinking of what to use my sweet, white poodle for. I am tempted to make myself a poodle skirt and ditch my jeans. What do you think?! ;) Have you seen the lovely tatting that Gracie does? She created this tatted Ice Drop! I love and admire it! It is so very pretty.

Gracie included a  little, pink notebook that will be put to use. And I get to build a snowman! How cute those buttons are! I never saw these before.

Have a look at this special angel coin. It is wonderful and so different.

Speaking of different!! Now I have not seen chocolate peppermint Roadrunner poop before! Or a Roadrunner using the outhouse! HA! Thank you again Gracie!

Our friend Angela sent me pink goodness! Two sweet pink fabrics and this cute ribbon also.

Thank you Angela!

Our friend Stasi sent me this strong needle minder. Stasi sent me this just for being a faithful follower. Well thank you Stasi! 😇

Book number 9 in the Maisie Dobbs series! Elegy for Eddie was a very good book. Eddie happens to be a "mentally slow"man. He was murdered. You find out he was sometimes picked on in life. It was bothersome for me. As it should be for anyone I hope! My brother Michael is one year younger than me and is "mentally slow". I grew up trying to protect him, because unfortunately there are many people in this world who, for some reason, just like to pick on or bully people. It unfortunately does not stop in adulthood. Michael has lived with my mother his entire life. She watches over him. People can be unkind, and take advantage of him even. Well anyways, sorry. The book! The book is great!

In this latest entry in Jacqueline Winspear’s acclaimed, bestselling mystery series—“less whodunits than why-dunits, more P.D. James than Agatha Christie” (USA Today)—Maisie Dobbs takes on her most personal case yet, a twisting investigation into the brutal killing of a street peddler that will take her from the working-class neighborhoods of her childhood into London’s highest circles of power. Perfect for fans of A Lesson in Secrets, The Mapping of Love and Death, or other Maisie Dobbs mysteries—and an ideal place for new readers to enter the series—Elegy for Eddie is an incomparable work of intrigue and ingenuity, full of intimate descriptions and beautifully painted scenes from between the World Wars, from one of the most highly acclaimed masters of mystery, Jacqueline Winspear.

I will share an updated picture of Valentine Rose next time as this post is rather long. I will be stitching on it all week.

I hope you have an excellent week my friends! Thank you for your sweet words of encouragement!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Australian Gifts

Hi friends! I began Valentine Rose. I am not sure I should have included the eyelet stitches in the roof of the house. You really cannot see them and now the roof appears messy to me. :(  Well, now I know. Stitching these samplers one over one present different challenges!

I did change the floss color of the roof.  3781 was the DMC recommended. Way off from the pattern picture. So I did a floss toss and chose 632. Which seems much lighter in the below picture, but as you can see above, looks a bit darker once stitched up as the roof. I used CC Clay Pot for the bricks in this pattern because I already had it in my stash. It was a gift from our friend Anne. :) I love the way it is turning out.

I went back and added the chimneys to the house in Snow Garden. As I stitched the border to Valentine Rose, I glanced over to Snow Garden and it hit me! I forgot the two chimneys! No one noticed or said anything. ha! Well, it is fixed and all better now. :)

Look what arrived in the mail this week all the way from Australia from  our friend Kaye. She had a giveaway in which I won these sweet Margaret Sherry charts. Kaye included a few extra goodies.

Isn't this bunny pillow she stitched up just darling? This kookaburra tea bag rest was admired by us all and will be put to use by us all! Thank you dear Kaye!

So now I have read book 8 in the Maisie Dobbs series, A Lesson in Secrets. Good read? You betcha!

From New York Times bestselling author Jacqueline Winspear, now available in paperback— the latest episode in the New York Times bestselling series, Maisie Dobbs’ first assignment for the British Secret Service takes her undercover to Cambridge as a professor, and leads to the investigation of a web of activities being conducted by the emerging Nazi party.
Private investigator Maisie Dobbs receives her first assignment from the British Secret Service in A Lesson in Secrets, the eighth book in Jacqueline Winspear’s award-winning mystery series. Sent to pose as a junior lecturer at a private college in Cambridge, she will monitor any activities “not in the interests of His Majesty’s government.” When the college’s pacifist founder is murdered, Maisie finds herself in the midst of sinister web of murder, scandal, and conspiracy, activities that point towards members of the ascendant Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei—the Nazi Party—on Britain’s shores. An instant classic, and sure to captivate long-time Maisie Dobbs fans as well as readers of Agatha Christie, Elizabeth George, and Alexander McCall Smith, A Lesson in Secrets is “a powerful and complex novel, one that will linger in memory as a testament to her talent and her humanity” (Richmond Times-Dispatch).

 Murphy got his haircut by Mary yesterday.You can see his picture down below. He has a few extra chin hairs she was not able to get. Wonder why? Think teeth! Mary says he is fast for an old man! YOU DON'T SAY! HA! I KNOW!! I  have scars on my hands to show it! At least she did not get bit. I will trim up his chin at some point. He looks good for a 13 1/2 year old poodle, right?! 🐩

I want to thank you for stopping by and visiting with me. It is so nice of you to leave me a comment to brighten my day. Thank you so much! I do hope you have a wonderful weekend my friends!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

☃️

Hi friends! I finished Snow Garden this weekend.  I have not personalized it. I am leaving the names and dates til the end of the whole thing I do believe. I am not sure yet who I am memorializing in this sampler. I have time to figure that out. ;)

one over one on 25ct cream Dublin linen

On to Valentine Rose now! ❤️️ I pulled the flosses and made more floss modifications. Not my favorite thing to do at all. It is a necessary thing to do when stitching BBD patterns with DMC if you want your piece to look like the pattern picture though.

I was on the waiting list at our library for the third and last book in the trilogy by Rachelle Dekker, The Returning. It is a new book, just released. It was good, but I must say predictable. Did I know everything that was going to happen? No. But almost everything. I enjoyed the read though. Her writing style is very much like her father's, Ted Dekker. However, Ted is so very, very, very talented. He is awesome.He is NEVER predictable. He is my favorite author. She is not Ted. Just saying.
They say the Awakening is coming.
That she’s the key.
But can she find her identity in the light
Before she perishes in the dark?

Twenty years have passed since Carrington and Remko Brant’s baby, Elise, was kidnapped and they were forced to leave her captive in the Authority City. Though they fled with the Seers far from Authority reach, they’ve never given up hope of rescuing their daughter from the man who betrayed them. Now Authority President, he’s ushered the city into a new era of “peace”―one where the Scientist Roth Reynard’s Genesis Serum has eradicated all memory of emotion or rebellion.

But the mysterious Aaron and his Seers are once again on the move, threatening the illusion the Authority has worked so hard to build. As the Seers send seven chosen warriors to rescue Elise and bring restoration to the Authority City, the lines are drawn for a final battle between light and darkness. The key to ultimate victory may rest within the strangely powerful girl who has felt forgotten but was never abandoned―a truth she’ll need to wage war against the powerful forces of evil.

Have a most wonderful week my friends! I am so glad you came to visit.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

⛄Snow Garden⛄

Hi friends! I am still stitching away at Snow Garden. I had wanted to have this finished by the end of January. That was not possible since I changed my mind on my linen choice.Then the order did not even ship out for one week, so I cancelled, and replaced the order from a new source. I finally received the linen and away I went stitching!!

one over one on 25ct cream Dublin linen

I made a floss color change with the side of the house. I used DMC 3023.

 I also did my own thing with the peacock. I used DMC 4065 , one of the variegated flosses. I like these colors better personally.

Guess what?! Another Maisie Dobbs book! Shocking, I know! ;) And..... yes, I really enjoyed The Mapping of Love and Death. Hmmm, let's see. I don't want to give anything away. I don't even know if one person is reading these books! Well, anyhow, I liked this  book a lot because it has love in it. Yep. I have been waiting for a bit of love. That's me! ;) I love these mysteries, but I love Maisie and I want love for her. And there is a baby coming. No, not Maisie's.

August 1914. As Michael Clifton is mapping land he has just purchased in California's beautiful Santa Ynez Valley, war is declared in Europe—and duty-bound to his father's native country, the young cartographer soon sets sail for England to serve in the British army. Three years later, he is listed as missing in action.
April 1932. After Michael's remains are unearthed in France, his parents retain London psychologist and investigator Maisie Dobbs, hoping she can find the unnamed nurse whose love letters were among their late son's belongings. It is a quest that leads Maisie back to her own bittersweet wartime love—and to the stunning discovery that Michael Clifton was murdered in his dugout. Suddenly an exposed web of intrigue and violence threatens to ensnare the dead soldier's family and even Maisie herself as she attempts to cope with the impending loss of her mentor and the unsettling awareness that she is once again falling in love.

Good news! The Botox injections are helping already. I was told they may not with the first round of injections, but I am feeling it. My headaches have been reduced to a 2 or 3 every day now. That is very good for me. Also when I use the oven or stove top and the heat makes my headache go up to a 7 or more, my headache goes back down to maybe a 3 1/2 within 2 hours!! That never, ever happened before. It took medication to make me better. And usually a day or more! This is so very, very promising. I am soooooo ready to be rid of daily headaches. It has been 11 months now.

I hope to be back next time with a finish of Snow Garden. :) Have a super, stitchtastic weekend everyone!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie