Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas my fellow Orthodox friends!

I did the finishing on Brian's ornament gift last week. Here it is out in the snow.

I read my first and second books of the year. Both by Ted Dekker. I read Hacker in 36 hours. :) An exciting read. Here is a little snippet for you: "Death isn't death. It's not the end because we aren't just our minds or our bodies. We're far more than just physical beings having a spiritual experience. We're spiritual beings having a temporary physical experience." He paused. "All I know is the reality that's beyond all of this transcends words and comprehension. The only way to grasp it is to let go of our own limited understanding."

Hacker is a modern-day parable that examines the staggering world around us-the seen and the unseen- and reminds us that there's far more to who we are than meets the eye.

The second book was a free,digital short story I had missed. It is a prequel to Mortal. This book was called The Keeper,from 2011. More good stuff. ;) Nope, you won't catch me complaining about Ted's writing. He has written 47 books. I have read 45. I am in the process of trying to acquire The Drummer Boy and The Promise: A Christmas Tale through our library. There is one librarian who works very hard to locate books for you from who-knows-where?!

This is what kept me busy Monday.

It's not easy being a poodle. Or the poodle's groomer. ;) Of course now that little 6 pound Henry is clipped, it is frigid outside. The high today will be -1º with a wind chill of -30º. blech.

Madeleine wrapped a tape measure around Henry's tiny front leg and got a width of 1.5 inches. He is so fragile.

I will be giving Mabel a haircut soon also.

Theotokos is coming along. Picture next time.

I have been baking chocolate chip cookies and breads.

Brian and I are off to Christmas Liturgy this morning. Then we will have a Christmas meal and fellowship in the church basement. I am wearing my long, red corduroy dress and sweater tights! ;)

Keep warm my friends! I thank you for stopping by. I love reading your comments and I appreciate you taking the time to leave one.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

The Last Two Finishes

Happy New Year friends! I took a short break from Theotokos to stitch up Brian's Christmas present. (No, this is not late! Our Orthodox Christmas is in 6 days. :) It is an ornament from this year's JCS Ornament Issue.

Home For Christmas by Gentle Pursuit Designs.

This was stitched on the recommended 40ct Light Examplar linen, two over two and a bit of over one also.

I used all the recommended DMC. I also used this.

This spool is approximately 20 years old. The pattern called for Kreinik very fine braid #4, but I just separated this silver thread apart. It is actually made of three thin threads. I stitched up the silver sections with one of these thin, silver threads. I like the delicate effect. It made me think of, and sing "silver white winters that melt into spring, these are a few of my favorite things." tee hee! It does not take much to make me sing The Sound of Music songs. ;)

So now I will make it up into an ornament and place it on the tree. Last night, after I placed the last stitch, I asked Brian how he liked it. He loves the trees the best. He wanted to know where this one is going. HA! Was he surprised when I said "Merry Christmas! It is yours! I made this for you."♥

The other finish I had last night was The Slumber of Christianity by Ted Dekker. It was the book I was reading and I wanted to finish it in 2014. This is a non-fiction book by Ted. A very good one. Here is an odd quote from the book: “The world’s bumper sticker reads: Life sucks, and then you die. Perhaps Christian bumper stickers should read: Life sucks, but then you find hope and you can’t wait to die.”

I have from the library the latest Ted book I did not read yet, Hacker. I will start it today! Can't wait. Ted has approximately 45 books. I have read 43. There are two more older ones I missed that I am going to try real hard to get through our library.

I read 40 books in 2014. I read 40 books in 2013 also. That's odd. :)

Isn't this sweet?

This is a PINK snowflake made just for me from dear Anne. The winter sun is shining on it very brightly, but I promise, this is pink. I already have a nice red one from her from last year too. :)

Here is where I am at on Theotokos.

I so wanted to take a picture of my 2014 orts for you out in the snow. It is so very odd. We have no snow. None.

Do you like my cast iron poodle bank? He is about 12 inches high. :) I will be putting these orts out for the birds to build beautiful, warm nests with them.

May God richly bless every minute of every day of this new year for you my friends!

Thank you for your friendship. I appreciate every single comment you leave me.

Stitching and reading and praying,
Vickie

Matroyshkas And Stuff

Hi friends! I am stitching a sweet little matroyshka. This is a different pattern than the one I made last year. Remember her?
 
 Well, it was hard for me to do, because I love this little doll, but I gave her to a friend from church for her birthday. My friend is Ukrainian and she collects matroyshkas. I knew she did not have one like this. ;) She likes her very much and I know this little doll has a good home. =) I will make myself another. Yep! Just not right now. ;) Here is the one I am going to make up in the same way.

This precious little doll is a freebie you can find right HERE.

I decided to stitch up a back for this doll, instead of using fabric. The little doll up top, I used coordinating fabric for the back.  Stitching a back is taking a long time! Ugh!

I do have a finish this week. This is Emerson's Christmas ornament this year.

Not the most exciting stitching. Especially using  only DMC 311. I did it all in half cross stitch because it is stitched over one on 45ct linen. I had to, to make it fit the silver 2-inch frame.  I used an alphabet, I modified a little, that I found in my 365 Alphabets by Kooler Design Studio. Madeleine and Emerson's ornaments are done! Now I have begun Jacob's.

I listened to Ted Dekker's new book on CD from the library. FABULOUS! If you have never read a book by Ted before, go read this one! He is my favorite author. "He is known for adrenaline-laced plots with incredible confrontations between good and evil."  This is "a sweeping epic set in the harsh deserts of Arabia and ancient Palestine. A war that rages between kingdoms on the earth and in the heart. The harrowing journey of the woman at the center of it all. Step back in time to the year of our Lord...".

Yes, I am still going to share with you about this book. Two of my favorite snippets.
"Yeshua's(Jesus') Way is surrendering what we think we know about the Father so we can truly know Him. It is the great reversal of all that we think will give us significance and meaning in this life so we can live with more peace and power than we have yet imagined."
"Clarity came to me like the clearing of dark clouds. In Him! Not by believing the truth about Him, but by surrendering to Him and trusting in Him, I would have no need to protect myself from this or any storm. Would it then matter what happened to me, if my life was submitted to him?"

Jacob thanks all of you who have wished him a Happy Birthday! =) It was! This is the cake I made him. He requested marble cake. I found a new recipe for fudge frosting. It was perfect. It was NOT overly sweet. I cannot stand overly sweet frosting on my cakes.

Stitching and  praying,
Vickie

Winky

Hi friends! Nice warm days here with cool nights. The leaves are turning and beginning to fall.

I finally finished up the Winky ornament for Madeleine's Christmas stocking this year.

He is stitched one over one, using DMC, on 28ct pale blue sponged evenweave. The fabric has a very nice sky effect, but I had one heck of a time making it show up in pictures for you.

I used the perfect color blue ribbon Jacquie sent me a few months ago in the finishing. :) I had a pretty piece of felt I bought from JoAnn last year. I did not know what I needed it for, but now I do. It looks great on the back.

This pattern was a freebie you can find right HERE. I did change the shades of blue to match Winky better. Here is a picture of Madeleine's parakeet, Winky, for you.

I left a comment for Tricia this week on her last post. I told her the LK piece she stitched up was sweet. :) Then she asked me if I wanted it! Oh yes! And it came today. With an adorable, sweet card Tricia made, AND an additional chart for me too! Thanks again Tricia. :) I have pulled the threads for the Thankful String already.

Yesterday, I took time away from stitching and got a bit organized. Brian bought me this lovely antique sewing stand last month.

If you recall earlier this year, I showed you how I store my DMC. In that small sewing basket from Woolworths. I just layer cardboard and stack them up in numerical order. Well, I can't part with it. And the system works. BUT I have no more room for DMC. I had gone on to continue stacking my floss in this box.
 
Well, I just didn't think BIG enough with that! HA! I will find another use for that lovely $3.00 box from Goodwill. I made my cardboard layers yesterday and stacked them up in the sewing stand. The Woolworth's sewing basket holds the lowest numbers of DMC through the 900's. The sewing stand begins with the 3000's of the DMC and goes on up. Lots of room left. ;)

I finished reading Good Call by Jase Robertson. What an excellent book. I read it in two days. :) So very much more than I was expecting. I have an increased respect for Jase.

I also read Water Walker by Ted Dekker in two days. :) Yeah, I have been reading a lot lately. This was also an excellent book. If you know Ted, then you know he writes some wild fiction. I just couldn't stop reading it. I have never read a book by Ted that I did not like. The man has GINORMOUS talent!

Off to pet a poodle or two now. tee hee! Have a fabulous weekend my friends. Thank you for stopping by.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

A Sweet Surprise

Hi friends! A sweet surprise arrived in the mail for me yesterday. All the way from Canada. Our dear friend Anne sent me a few lovely, belated birthday gifts.

Anne crocheted me a fabulous, pink cup cozy. Madeleine actually put it on Henry for a scarf! The poor 6 pound boy! Not very macho. And yes, you read that right. He is now 6 pounds. When he came to us he was 4 pounds. The vet said he was too skinny and needed to add weight. :)

Anne also included a lovely Crescent Colours 'Clay Pot'. Her friend made that sweet bird card.:) And I am happy to announce to you that I have finally had a black tea that I like! This is from Anne also. It is called Cream Earl Grey. It has the prettiest purple bergamot petals in it too. :) Thank you again Anne.♥

Yesterday was our dear Emerson's 18th birthday! We had the family over for cake. He wanted marble cake. I made a chocolate pudding type frosting for between the two layers. I frosted it with chocolate cool whip to keep it lighter. Had to make my own chocolate cool whip. Can't find it anymore.

I finished reading A Man Called Blessed by Ted Dekker. This is the sequel to Blessed Child. Another older book by Ted. And another one I recommend. I really enjoyed it. :)

Tomorrow morning I am subjecting myself to more pain and torture. When I had an exam from the pain management PA two weeks ago, she pressed on my outer, upper thighs. I thought I might scream. YIKES! She said I should not have pain there at all, and that is unusual. She says those are my bursa. What?! They are fluid filled sacs that cover your joints in your body. So I am having cortisone injections tomorrow by the doctor in both hip bursa. I hope and pray this takes away the pain completely in my hips. She said it will do nothing for my back pain. I understand that. I am willing to try this. ONCE at least. I hate to go through the whole sedation/IV thing, so I opted not to tomorrow. However, I tend to get myself worked up ahead of time. I do not want to, I just kinda do it. So now my stomach is starting to hurt. I am second guessing that decision.

If you care to, would you please pray this goes well for me and ACTUALLY WORKS? I will take pain relief of any kind!! I would love for the pain to go away for a few months. That is a possibility. Thank you!

I am so glad you stopped by today.  Take good care of yourself! There is only one you!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Two poodles on Winky Watch(Madeleine's parakeet).

Stitching and Reading

Good Morning friends! It is frosty here. What is your weather like?

Here is the update on Mary's Sampler.

I have still not been inspired to do the finishing on my mother's angel ornament. I'll get there. I am currently stitching 'Bethlehem Scene' as my night time project. This will be the SIXTH time I am stitching this ornament. I just love it. This one will be for Emerson's homeroom teacher. He is also the director of faith formation for the high school. A truly wonderful man. If you do not recall what 'Bethlehem Scene' looks like take a look back here.

During the days, while the kids are in school, I am stitching on their Christmas ornaments. I got out the graph paper and created a Henry I am pretty happy with. =) All three will be stitched on a beautiful, pale green 30 ct linen. I am making them all one over one. I found a very cool border to surround Henry with while I was looking through old JCS Ornament issues. I am waiting for beads to arrive in the mail. I need many beads for the finishing of these ornaments.

I made Steak Gorgonzola last night for dinner. Have you ever had that at The Olive Garden restaurant? I never had, but Jacob has absolutely loved it for years now, so I thought I would give it a try. I used this copycat recipe. It was really, really good!

I finished reading The Intrigue at Highbury by Carrie Bebris. Another very good book by her. Mr. and Mrs. Darcy meet Mr. and Mrs. Knightly in this one. =)

I read Outlaw, the newest book by Ted Dekker, in two days. ;) tee hee! I love his books! Man, he is a talented author. This one was based in the jungles of New Guinea. Ted was born in a jungle in New Guinea. His parents were missionaries there. They lived with cannibals!! So this story had very much detail and authenticity. A GREAT READ!!

Off to stitch now. I hope and pray that your day is blessed. I thank God for you my friends! Thank you for stopping by.♥

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

All The Way From Malaysia

Good Morning my friends! How are you? I am doing pretty well, thank you! The acid reflux is taming down. Not gone, but better. My hip pain is low.Hooray! God is good!

I won the recent giveaway of Lillie. Take a look at these wonderful gifts she sent me, all the way from Malaysia!

What a neat thing this needle pocket is. I love the Malaysian beads!

I read about your beautiful country on every one of these postcards you sent me Lillie. Thank you. I find it fascinating to learn of our fellow stitcher's countries. Lillie also sent me these adorable, little scissors.

I finished reading Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini. What a great book! I loved it and highly recommend it.  I have never been disappointed with any of Jennifer Chiaverini's books. I am now listening to Sovereign The Books of Mortals by Ted Dekker. He is my all-time favorite author. I have never listened to a book on CD before. I thought I would give it a try since I love to read, but then my stitching time is greatly reduced. It is working out great.  I still prefer to read a real paper book, but this is rather awesome being able to do both, at the same time!!

I am very close to a finish, probably today. It is a Lizzie Kate I bought this summer at our LNS, The Stitch Inn. Which reminds me, The Stitch Inn, closed. I no longer have an LNS. =( I buy all my floss at JoAnn. Looks like I will be buying all my short needles and linen online now. So sad really isn't it?

Emerson is gone on a Kairos Retreat until Friday evening. You can read about Kairos (with Jacob) in my post here. Jacob is partly involved in this one again. They like to bring back former students who are willing to participate and support the younger students in faith formation. I WILL remember to bring my tissues to the closing ceremony on Friday evening. ;)

I thanked God for all of you today! There are some of you who need extra prayer.♥ You got it!! Shirlee is most heavily on my mind and heart right now. She is in surgery as I type this. She is having heart surgery. Say a prayer for her too, won't you?

Thanks for stopping by today old friends and new! I am so glad you did. =)

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Well Then!!

Good Morning friends! I missed you. I am back!! We have been without internet service for 7 days. We decided to switch providers to save money and increase our connection speed. Well!!! THAT did not work! The imbeciles somehow screwed up the order. Brian and I spent a total of 8 hours ON THE PHONE over the last week trying to get somebody, anybody to help sort this out and correct it. We were without service AND blocked from anyone else being allowed to service us!! Brian and I prayed all week for help.This morning I decided to pray and get on the phone before Brian even got home from work (he works third shift). THANK YOU GOD, I got Richard. A very nice, very helpful man. He did it. After 2 hours and 15 minutes with him.

So anyways, I made this cute little mug mat a week ago.

This is for myself. =) Brian makes me about 5 hot Tea Chai Lattes a week. My favorite flavor is pumpkin spice. mmm! I used this freebie I have had in my stash for 2 years!! I just knew it was time to make it! I gave up chai lattes for Lent. ;) This is the back.

You know what I think is cute? He won't let me place a mug on it! He has it propped up in the tea cabinet. He said it is too great to use. He thinks all my stitching is perfect! Isn't that great?!! I think so. ;)

I have been stitching on a small sampler. I have had limited time to stitch since it is on wild raspberry colored linen. These aging eyes cannot stitch on a looser weaved linen in a dark color. A dark evenweave is not as bad. The squares get wonky shaped, or as Marly has referred to them, "honeycomb shaped". More to tell on this sampler, I will wait til it is done. Almost. ;)

We took Miss Mabel to the vet yesterday for her  distemper combo and rabies shots. Well, a few hours after returning, I noticed this.

And this.

Do you see the pink skin and swelling of her face? The poor thing had a reaction to one of the shots. Don't know for sure which one. Took her back right away for a shot of benedryl and a steroid injection. Gave more benedryl before bed too. She is all better today. She will need benedryl before all shots in the future now.

I read the book Guardian by Beverly Lewis last week. I highly recommend it. I love her books. I also read books 2 and 3 in the Eyes Wide Open series by Ted Dekker this weekend. I am on number 4 right now. LOVE these books! I have loved every single book I have ever read by him. And it is almost 40 now. =)

Thank you, Lord, for ears that hear, for a heart that receives your mystery.

That's it for today friends. I am glad to be back with all of you! I missed you.♥

Take care and have a wonderful evening in the Lord.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

My Latest Work That Made Me Mental

Good morning my friends! So glad you are here. =) I have been working on a small piece for a few weeks now. It is from the JCS 2012 Christmas Ornament Issue. It is by Charlotte's Web Needlework, and it is called First Star. Death Star crossed my mind a few times during it's creation. ;)   A little Star Wars humor for you.

It calls for being stitched over two on 28ct Amsterdam Blue Cashel. I used my mystery blue 32ct. OVER ONE! Yup! Gotta say I love it, EXCEPT for the darn grey snow. It is supposed to be snow in the shadows, as the sun goes down.

  It is just a little too dark in my opinion. It is DMC 762. It was crazy how long it took me to stitch it really. I mean besides the delays due to busyness of the season and all that. Those backstitched trees over one on 32ct were actually fun to do. It was supposed to be a fawn, but, well, I haven't seen a fawn venture out on it's own. It is always near mama. I just like the look of a doe better.

I am noticing neither picture shows you the silver star well at all! Trust me, that is what is up there in the sky. I backed it with the same linen with the year and my initials. I used petite cluny lace. Now that part was not fun. It was difficult to get it done correctly with the sewing machine, so I hand sewed this little pillow together.

Peggy posted this:

I was one of her 5 to sign up. She found this Creative Pay It Forward here.

The first five of my friends to comment will receive a random gift from me sometime during the year...maybe something handcrafted, maybe a book, baked goodies, a surprise! Your gift will arrive whenever the mood strikes me without warning. Here's the only requirement: You have to post this on your blog as well and commit do doing the same for five of your friends. Please email me with your address if I don't already have it.

The first five people who leave a comment saying you are interested in joining me and who also posts about it on their blog will get a random gift me from me sometime during the year.  Sorry you must have a blog.

Want to spread a little kindness? =)  Leave me a comment and be one of the first five to do so! Remember,YOU HAVE TO TELL ME YOU WANT TO BE A PART OF THE CREATIVE PAY IT FORWARD, NOT JUST BE IN THE FIRST FIVE!

I finished reading Identity Book One of Eyes Wide Open by Ted Dekker. Fabulous read! Loved all of it. Cannot wait for more in this series. I am now going to start Illusion by Frank Peretti. Looks very good also. Two of my most favorite authors. Ever. ♥

Made two new recipes over the weekend. Lemon Sour Cream Bread and Cheddar Cheese Bread. Both for the bread machine. Hardly could tell it was lemon, but very good. A little too much cheese, but would make it again with less cheese.

 Here is Little Miss Mabel all snuggled up under Madeleine's quilt on her bed with her.♥

I hope you all have a beautiful day! It is going to be sunshiny and almost 50º today! Whoo hoo! 

Stitching and praying,

Vickie

Flashback Friday

Good morning friends! As we were getting out our Christmas decorations yesterday, I thought I would share this ornament I made 18 years ago.

I made this for Jacob. I don't have the pattern. It most likely came from a library book.

Last night, I do not know why, but I made the other hot pad, with the other fabric I purchased. I should be baking Christmas cookies. I should be decorating the house. I should be finishing the ornament I just stitched up.

The cowgirl poodle on top of the hot pad is "Reba". ;)

Our treadmill died yesterday. Not good. It's gonna be a while til we can get a new one. So I bundled up and went for a walk yesterday morning. The good news is, it was so cold the pain was numbed. The bad news is, I was a dummie and didn't want to have to take two walks outside, so I walked for 40 minutes. After I thawed out back at home, the pain came and came. I am still suffering today. It will take a few days for it to settle back down. Percocet is the only way I will get through it now.

Now I need to decide on stitching or reading. I only allow myself to read while I walk on the treadmill. I love to read, it is a great motivator for me. Can't read and walk outside! ;) And I am reading a great book, Thr3e by Ted Dekker. It is one from years ago that I somehow missed. Ordered it in from another library. Jacob is reading it at night before bed. I read it during the day. It's kinda neat. We are having a book club of two!

Here is a picture of Mabel watching the ducks fly over our home to the pond in the park behind us.

If you didn't know I am having a giveaway you can read about here.

Have a wonderful day my friends! Oh yes, I want to say Hi! to my newest follower, Marilyn. =)

Stitching and praying,
Vickie