Mandolin Santa

Hi friends! How are you? I am doing well. I finally finished up the Mill Hill kit I have been working on. Boy, those can take a long time. Quite a bit of work goes into one ornament, but it was worth it. :) I completed 'Mandolin Santa' today. I am giving this to my youngest brother, Jonathan, for this birthday. My mom is having us all over on Sunday to celebrate the birthdays of Brian, and  two of my brothers, Michael and Jonathan.

 Jonathan plays mandolin. I am thinking/hoping he likes this. Pretty sure he will.

This was my first Mill Hill kit ornament.  I love that everything is included. I am not really a bead person, but the rest of the family thinks it looks great. I appreciate the look, just prefer plain ol' stitchin' I guess. ;)

I have been able to get out into the garden a bit. With hat and sunblock, yes. But still only for maybe 20 minutes. My hip pain has been very low since the cortisone shots, but I cannot bend my knee fully. The incision for the cancer surgery was right above my left knee. It is about an inch and a half long. Bending my knee causes some pain. I certainly cannot kneel on it yet. The skin has some stretching to do over the next few months. So bending over from the waist , with slightly bent knees to weed the garden causes back pain! sigh. So, yes, I have weeds in the garden. Hey, life is short. There are worse things.

I am celebrating the good riddance to my melanoma and my 300+ followers, in case you did not know. Take a look here to see if you want to enter my giveaway. =)

I hope you all have a beautiful weekend whatever you are up to. I plan to!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie