Pyramid of Cats

Hi friends!  Today I am here with finish #3 for the MMMM SAL I am in. I finished the Pyramid of Cats freebie(click this for the link). I started calling it Mess of Cats. That's what it is! I changed almost every set of eyes and noses too. There is one fudge in there. TOO BAD!

This was stitched one over one on 28ct Dresden Blue Meran linen. My mom's favorite color is blue. And this is for her for Christmas. I plan to make it up into a flatfold. I used DMC 310, white, 318, 4015, and 4070 and 4126 for eyes.

This first picture is not true to color. It does show the color variations better though. It has been rainy and gloomy here for days. This next picture shows the color of the linen better.

That is supposed to be her kitten "Cutie" on the top. Yikes! Cutie gave me real problems. Cutie is rather a stinker in real life too. I do not tell my mother that. ;) Honestly, we had so many cats while I was growing up. None of them were as wild as Cutie. Sure hope she is not always a little brat. Anyways, her feet are white. Tried stitching those tiny feet a few different ways that did not look weird, and just said, "NO MORE FROGGING!, This is it!"

The winner of the LK 'Thankful String' chart is Andrea!  I have notified you by email. Once I have your postal address Andrea, the chart will be on it's way to you. =)

I am having a yucky pooey high pain day today. To be hones, it has been a bad week thus far. If you would like to pray for this pain to settle down for me, I would LOVE that. Thank you.

I want to say hello to my  new followers. Welcome! So glad to have all of you friends stop by.♥

Off to stitch some more on a Christmas ornament. Til next time!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Guess Who?

Hi friends! I have been stitching on my secret project daily, but it is a big one. So I also began this.

Can you tell who we have here? A hint would be that I need to work on this during the day while Madeleine is in school, as this is going to be her Christmas ornament. It is Winky! Her pet parakeet. ;) I am stitching him one over one on a pretty pale blue sponged 28 count evenweave by True Colors.

I drew the name of the winner for the Bent Creek Snapper Dinner's Ready. Gracie you are the winner! I have emailed you. :)

I am grateful the cortisone shots given in my hip bursas (outer, upper thighs on both legs) worked to relieve the pain.That is gone. For now at least. It is the usual hip pain on the left side that is the pits. Oh well. Whatcha gonna do?!

Thank you for your kind words and friendship. I hope you have a wonderful day in the Lord!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Sweet 16

Hi friends! Miss Madeleine turned 16 on the 31st. :) Oh my! We gave her a record player. We went to a huge antique mall in downtown Milwaukee yesterday. She got some albums. The Eagles, David Bowie, Buddy Holly, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. We had family over for birthday cake on Saturday. This is the cake I made. Madeleine made the marzipan bees.

I have never had help with any of the 51 unique birthday cakes I have made over the years. It was real neat to have Madeleine help. :)

I forgot to post the winner of the Uncle Sam chart by Bent Creek on the 3rd. I have however already told the winner. Annette! It will be in the mail, on it's way to you shortly. :)

I had the full body exam by the dermatologist yesterday morning. I have no other melanomas. I do have 4 atypical nevi. Basically they are odd moles and need to be watched. Because I have many moles and have these odd 4, I am at high risk for another melanoma. In three days I go for the consult with the surgeon. In 6 days I get the tissue surrounding where the melanoma was cut out.

All three of the kids need exams now from the dermatologist. Madeleine had hers yesterday and is all clear. The boys will get in there soon. They will have to get exams every two years for the rest of their lives now.

We are going to the State Fair today. :) All five of us together. We are going with sunblock and hats. New way of thinking. New way of life.

I have not been doing any gardening, other than dead heading. Brian has been watering for me. I have thinking to do. It hurts my heart to cut back, but I have to. I will be making my chocolate garden much smaller. I am not sure I can just get rid of it all together. That is the garden that is too big for me to handle because of weeds. It causes me pain in my hip and I would be outside a lot in the sun. These are specialty plants I have toted from two prior homes to this home. They are all chocolate in color, name and some actually smell of chocolate too.

Oh yes! My hip pain has gone done. The cortisone took about a week to truly help me. It does seem to be helping me though. :) I go to get another two shots in my hips next Tuesday. The day after I get the surgery on my leg!

I have been stitching. I need to do finishing work on a few projects. I have been kinda preoccupied! No pictures of stitching for you today friends.

Thank you for stopping by. Thank you for your friendship. I cherish it. ♥

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Taste Summer Winner

Hi friends! It just keeps on raining around here. And the temperatures rarely are hot. It will only get to about 74º today. Our parade and fireworks are tonight. Not expecting rain tonight!

I finished stitching the first American Strawberry by Prairie Schooler and began the next one.

I could be further, BUT the book I am reading is awesome. It is the second book Ted Dekker ever wrote. He has written close to 50 now. I have read most of them. I decided to go back and read the ones I missed. This was written in 2001. Our library system doesn't own it, but they tracked it down for me and borrowed it from a library in Illinois for me. :) The book is called Blessed Child.

Today is the day to draw a winner for the Shepherd's Bush pattern 'Taste Summer'. The random winner is Meari! Meari is going through very difficult times with her parents right now. I am praying for you and your family Meari.♥ When you have the chance, please email me your mail address.

I had a special request after my last post. I had shared with you all that I was the miniature bride for my Auntie Bernie and Uncle Gerry's wedding 40 years ago. Jo asked if I had a picture of it. Well sure I do! Here is one you weren't expecting.

I was 5 years old. I had just found the box the baker used to bring the wedding cake to the reception in. I noticed there was some frosting inside that box. ;)  The photographer spotted me.

Today I plan to read, stitch, watch the parade and fireworks. How about you? I hope your day is wonderful whatever you are up to my friends. :)

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

45

Hi friends!  Beautiful day here. It just happens to be my birthday. I am now 45 years old. How did that happen?!  Brian gave me this.

A pewter poodle thimble from England. :) And this.

A gorgeous rose gold Orthodox cross and chain. Brian had bought me my last gold cross and chain when I was 18 and he 19. ;)

Not too much excitement today. Out to lunch with the in-laws. We will also go shopping for party food for the graduation party on Sunday.

I read Child Of Mine by Beverly and David Lewis. What an excellent book. Really enjoyed it.

It is not looking too good for the French Knot Poodle/Henry. The drawing I did of him on the fabric, isn't looking right once I am filling it in with the knots. He looks like he has an unusually large head. The ear doesn't look distinct. It is just making his head look huge. I may scrap this version and come up with a new Henry. I have already done over a thousand french knots. Oh well.

Oh my goodness! I forgot til now. I drew a name for the 1988 Just Cross Stitch Magazine featuring Scarlet Letter. Jo! You are the winner of the magazine. Please send me your address and I will get that on it's way to you. :)

I hope you have a beautiful day my friends! Thank you for stopping by.♥

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

The Dreaded Chore

Hi friends! Another beautiful, sunny day here. It is 60º. :) I worked for 30 minutes in the garden yesterday AND today. Without much pain increase! That is fantastic for me. I am very happy with that. I love to garden but decided a few years ago not to expand or add additional beds or borders anymore. I just cannot handle the pain gardening brings about. If I can work 30 minutes at a time with what I have here now, I will be busy enough.

If you recall, last week I asked you all what Springtime chore you think I dread the most. One person guessed correctly. That would be Mary Jane. I told her she is right and I will mail her the chart this week. :) Oh yes! The nasty chore is cleaning up dog poop!!! With our long Wisconsin winters, a lot of poop gets hidden or frozen in the snow and ice. And when things melt and thaw in Spring, well....YUCK!! Happy to say that chore is all done!

Plodding along with beading still. Little things keep popping up for me to do, so I haven't done as much beading as I would like. Tomorrow I have to give Miss Mabel a shampoo, blow dry and cut. :)

You take care. Thanks for stopping in today.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Giveaway Winners

Hi friends! Thank you for your compliments on my poodle lipstick holders and the tiny finishes. You are so kind and encouraging. =) I have been stitching on Theotokos. Here is a picture of the middle of it completed.

All the unstitched spots you see will get beaded. The finished width of this piece is 11 1/4 inches. Custom of course. ;) I had a feeling. I was not sure of the completed size, as this pattern is completely in Russian. We will see what the finished height will be.  I will now move the piece on the scroll bars so I can complete the bottom.

Today is the day to draw the names of two winners for my Second Blogversary Giveaway.  Michelle won the Heartstring Samplery pattern. Melody won the Carriage House Samplings pattern. I have emailed you both. I will mail those out as soon as I have your mailing addresses. =)

I hope you find joy in what you do this week. Thank you for visiting with me today!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Winner And Stuff

Good Morning my friends! I hope you are well. I am the last one in the house to get the sore throat, cough and nasty cold. =( Oh well!

I have never shown you my "poodle display board". That is what I call it anyways. I purchased this a few years ago at T.J.Maxx. Love it. It works perfectly to display my many poodle cards and pictures. I am a true poodle nut. Several years ago I bid on an old collection of nothing-but-poodle greeting cards. Brian protested, "But they are all used!!" "I know. That does not matter.", I told him. ;) You see, I knew I wanted to save the fronts of the cards and show them off. I have fun with it.

 Now the print you see here, is not one of the cards. This was a page from an old book actually. I had a lot of fun reading everyone of those greeting cards from the sixties and seventies. From one nutty poodle couple to me!! ;) Glad to give them another life. You can see I put my tiny poodles up top too. I change those around also. I go with different themes and seasons.

I finished listening to Emma by Jane Austen on CD.It was good but not my favorite book by Jane.

I have been stitching away and finishing too! I will show you those in my next post.

What a ding-a-ling! I forgot today was Friday, not Thursday. So I did draw the name of the winner for the Flora McSample Heart Sampler pattern this morning, not yesterday. Karen! I have emailed you Karen. Please send me your postal address. =)

Every day we let Winky fly out of his cage. He makes his laps around the front room, then lands on top of his cage. After a bit, he climbs back into his cage and I shut the door for him. ;) You can see how exciting it is for Mabel and Henry when Winky comes out flying. ooOoo! So exciting!

We  are having beautiful autumn weather here all week. It has been in the 70's and sunny most every day.♥

Thanks for stopping by friends. Have a beautiful day!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Blech! (⊙﹏⊙✿)

Hi friends! I hope you are well. I am still not. sigh. I mean, at least I am NOT laying around sloth-like still. My stomach was "feeling bad" so I started taking the over-the-counter acid reducer my doctor told me to take when it acts up. After a week, and sudden majorly increased pain, I called and he told me to double it and take extra strength Gaviscon at the maximum dose as well. After 4 days with no improvement I was seen by him. He gave me Nexium samples. I have been on those at the high dose of twice daily and the maximum dose of Gaviscon  for 4 days also now. I had an abdominal ultrasound done yesterday morning. This ruled out problems with any of my other organs. So my doctor believes I have one or two significant ulcers. These medications should heal my stomach  up, it is just taking a long time because of the severity? I am still a burnin' here folks.  Let me tell ya, a bland diet is not much fun at all. =(

Say! I have good great news!! The Neurontin I told you I was approved for, to take care of my chronic SI joint pain, is working!!!!!!! WaaaaaaaHooooooo! It is keeping my pain levels at a 2 or 3 all the time people. Isn't that great?! I think so. I could be angry that so many different insurance companies we had over the years refused to cover Neurontin for me. They insisted I use the generic, even though not one of the four generics I tried  brought the pain down.  Well, I won't lie. I was quite angry about that. But I do NOT want to be bitter. Soooo, I am grateful that I may be on brand name Neurontin NOW,again after 9 years.

On Wednesday night we went to Marquette University's New Student Convocation. What an experience. The keynote address was given by Chitra Divakaruni. She is the author of One Amazing Thing, the book I read along with Jacob and all of the incoming freshman this year. There are exactly 2013 freshmen this year, the year of 2013. Strange huh? They had 23,000 applications!! We are very proud of Jacob.Well, it is really happening folks. Our oldest has begun college now.Twenty-five additional nursing students were added because Milwaukee's VA Hospital has paid for the additional teachers and classrooms required to increase from 100 to 125 students. The VA prefers Marquette trained nursing staff. There are now 6 young men and 119 young ladies. Oh boy!! ;)

I did hear from our dear friend Carol over a week ago, that she received my gift right before she fell ill. Like a dummy, I forgot to take a picture of the beaded angel needle threader I made her. I made her in blue, Carol's favorite color. It was my first time making a needle threader. I also sent Carol this:

Yes, that is right. I actually gave her some of my Chocolate Swirl irises. These are the ones that smell of chocolate.♥ Carol commented on my blog over a year ago that she wished she had some. =) Now she does! And her DH even planted them while sweet Carol was ill .

I did NOT take a picture of the counting pins and two patterns I sent off to Vicki either. But she has received them and likes them. =) Here, I borrowed her picture of my gift.


And I also sent gifts to Angela P, which she has received and likes too! And you guessed it!!! I did not take a picture of pattern and counting pins either. But here is a picture Angela took and said I could show here.

I sent all three of these ladies gifts because they guessed the correct color of fuchsia for my purse.

Emerson and Madeleine have begun classes again as of Thursday. Jacob's first classes begin Monday. He has been to orientation things every day since Wednesday now.

I did not stitch one time while I was ill for the first week. Too weak and exhausted and nauseous.I am currently stitching up another freebie. I did get a lot of reading done. I finished The Last Runaway. That was good, but I felt very badly about the handful of swear words. I then read Evidence Unseen by Darlene Deibler Rose. THIS was an excellent, true story. She was a POW in WWII. She and her pastor husband were missionaries in New Guinea when WWII broke out.

That is it for today. I continue to take my "little purple pills" and hope to be all better very soon. Just wanted you to know I am still alive. ;)

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Cross Stitcher In Residence Winner

Hi friends! The winner of the Giveaway is Mary Jane! Mary Jane will you please email me your address? Also, Carol, Vicki, and Angela P won something too. All three of these ladies guessed fuchsia and they were specifically right. ;) 

Carol, Vicki and Angela, I have mailed you out your prizes. I am a tiny bit concerned as I have not heard back from a single one of you three.Edit: I have now heard back from all three ladies. I have given everyone something different.

Gotta say,it is not a good morning for me. I have had a terrible time with gastritis again. I haven't thrown up this time around. Only because I learned the hard way in the spring when I had this terrible two times. I had never, ever thrown up that way in my life. Ever. Didn't know you could keep throwing up for over a day from gastritis. And nothing but bile. I have had one banana and a handful of crackers in two days. I called the doctor late Wednesday. Unfortunately, I forgot my doctor is off on Wednesday. I called 3 times yesterday, but he likes to take care of calls himself sometimes which is very nice, but that means waiting til after 5:00 when he is done seeing patients. I am so weak. This is the first time I have been on the computer since Wed. early afternoon. He doubled the over-the-counter acid reducer I take when my stomach gets bad. He also added in Galvascon, a heavy duty stomach coater that I can take up to 4 times daily. I felt a very minor difference before bed last night and this morning barely. I am going back to bed. That is where I have been for 36 hours mainly. It is best to just try to sleep it off. It does not work of course, but I would rather be out than awake to this awful pain.My doctor insists that if I am not better by Monday, I need to come in for blood work.

The reason my gastritis even flared up this time is because of stress. Jacob has been putting off everything. A few things the University required were even late in being sent in. Brian insists it is time we back off and let him grow up, even if it means failure. I do know this, and I realize this sounds silly to some of you. It is just so very,very hard to train myself to let go. I like control and I like things done my way. Well, he will soon be 19 and he is in college now. I will with God's help not only back off, but try not to freak out on the inside. Only with God's help can I do this.

Also, this week I have been weaning off my prescription for my SI joint pain that I have been on for years. At the same time I have been slooowly building up the Neurontin, the one I was on 9 years ago. This kept my pain at a 2 level. I hope it works that way again of course. Can't tell yet, as I am taking it twice daily and need to take it three times daily starting tomorrow. So one more day of bad pain, I hope. But this is the medication I battled it out with insurance for. It took over a week, but they approved of it. Praise God! Our different insurances over the years all denied me. We once again provided proof that I tried 4 different generic manufacturers of Neurontin and none of them provided good pain relief. I never used to believe there was a difference in generic and brand name. Friends, pain does not lie!!

This is the freebie I was stitching over a week ago. I am pretty sure I do not like it anymore. =(

At least definitely not for what I had planned. What do you think of it? The colors seem weird together. It is the leaves mainly, I don't think fit. Why are leaves growing off a grey, swirly thing. So I have one UFO now friends. =)

I started another freebie a week ago. But have not touched a needle in days. 

This is what Mabel looked like last week, right after I clipped her face, neck, tummy and feet. Then I bathed her and blow dried. Do you see the color fade from grey to silver down her legs. =)

This is how she looks now, all clipped and beautiful.

Going back to bed now friends. I am usually very, very good at commenting on all your blogs. It won't be that way for a little bit. I am sure you understand. Thank you for coming by. I am thankful for you all, old and new friends!!

Resting and praying,

Vickie

Summer Blog Hop (And A Winner)

Hi friends! The weather here has been beautiful, not too hot at all. I have some things to share with you, but first up is the Summer Blog Hop. Have ya heard of it? YOU can still sign up right here on Jo's blog if you like. I was sent a postcard from Clare. This is the picture and her message.

"This is a Round Robin I did when Wimble Bees forum was running - it was stitched in 2007. The stitchers were, me and my daughter Philippa who was 13 then, Ester who I think lived in Holland, Colette, Lynn, Chris, and Sarah. 

It hangs above our stairs (in what we call the hole). The frame matches a mirror I inherited from my Grandmother, I had never seen a frame like her mirror which now hangs in our hall. One Mother's Day we went to Ironbridge and in a  charity shop I found this frame - so I used designs from a magazine (Cross Stitch Crazy I think) and plotted them in a circle to fit the frame."

I think that is really neat Clare. Thank you for sharing with me. =)

Here is something to share with all of you! I saw these on Etsy for months. I knew we could talk them down in price since they were still not sold. So we got them real cheap and I am real happy.

 

They were listed as coasters, and I am sure that is what they were used for. The frames and glass aren't in pristine condition, but I think they are cute. I truly wanted them for  their originality. They are believed to be one of a kind. A poodle-crazed nut like me probably designed  and stitched them a long time ago. They certainly aren't perfect, but their quirkiness is what I was drawn to. 

Here is the finished Bent Creek Snappy Sampler of mine.

Isn't it sweet? The pattern calls for it to be stitched two over two on 32ct. I stitched it one over one on 28ct lambswool. The finished size is 2"x2". There are only two colors called for with this pattern. I already had the Weeks Dye Works Onyx. I did not have the GA Maple Syrup. The DMC alternate was just plain gross. So I used one of my Victorian Motto threads, 1795 Faded Sampler Red Light. I am so glad I did. I really like the look of it.

I had a solid red fabric from French General for the backing that was the perfect match. I did not want to add trim. I like it this way. =)

The winner of the Snappy Sampler pattern is Lelia ! I have emailed you Lelia, just waiting for your postal address now. =)

Finally, here is a picture of Henry after his shampoo and blow dry.

Here he is after I gave him a haircut yesterday.

 Quite the difference huh?! His eyes look so much bigger! Pretty sure I will not be redoing this style of haircut again. I think I prefer the cuddly puppy look.♥ Oh well, poodle hair grows.

I am so glad you all came to visit me today. Your lovely comments brighten my day. And I need a little brightening lately. The ablation actually caused my pain to increase if you can believe it friends. My left leg now has pain up and down and all around it. I never had a problem with my leg. No improvement in the hip pain either. Still waiting for insurance to approve a very much needed and wanted prescription.

I hope your day is special! Bye now.

Stitching and Praying,
Vickie

Love Notes Winner

Good Morning my friends! It has cooled off here wonderfully. =)  I did finish stitching the little Snappy Sampler a few days ago. I even pulled a perfectly matching backing fabric. Just need to make myself finish it off!! No pictures yet. Although I am going to show you an image of the Snappy Sampler here.
 
Would you like to stitch this cute little thing yourself? The little black snaps are still included, I used the black snaps Donna sent me from a German antique store. =) I also changed up one of the colors. I will show you when I complete the finishing. I received this as a gift from my friend Laurie in Texas.

I did not forget about my Love Notes Giveaway drawing yesterday. I just didn't get on to post until now. The winner is Julie! I have emailed you Julie and I am waiting for your address. If you are one of the ladies who wanted to win it, but did not this time, please keep an eye on Julie's blog for a chance in the near future. =)

I never showed you Emerson's birthday cake I made last Saturday. I have to get busy and make another birthday cake this morning for Miss Madeleine. Her party is tomorrow. Emerson's birthday is the 20th and Madeleine's is the 31st. Wish me luck! She wants a "Henry Cake". (｡◕‿◕｡)

This is a beautiful pinkish purple dahlia I have had for a few years. My first dahlia to bloom this year.

Do you remember this little tree we planted last year? Yes, this is what our Espaliered McIntosh Apple tree looks like nowadays. No fruit. That may be next year.

This is little Mabel waiting for a green bean. =) We check the vegetable garden together. We both love fresh green beans.

Here are my first cherry tomatoes. Love them.

And here I just had to show you how Mabel helps me pull the grass that grows in the daylilies. ;) She takes a seat in the Chocolate Garden and grabs the grass and chews it up! Notice Henry is in training.

So that is it for today. If you want to stitch Snappy Sampler tell me so on this post please, so I don't have to guess! Also you must be a follower of mine. I will draw the winner on Friday, August 2nd.

Have a fabulous day in the Lord my friends! I am off to bake now.

Stitching and Finishing and Praying,
Vickie

SANQ Winner

Good Morning friends! How are ya? I know how some of you are, and I am praying for you. ♥

I did finish the first Friends Are Like Angels the other day. I have started the next one.......ON 50 COUNT!! That should be interesting when I get to the over one stitching! Actually, I have found it much easier to just use my magnifier. ;) I wanted this one small so I could make a cute door knob hanger. Still not sure what I will make out of the first one stitched.

Here's the not-so-great photo of Mabel and Henry picking the winner of the SANQ vol.9. Mabel chose our friend Anne! Good for you Anne. =) I have your postal address, and will be getting this into the mail shortly.

The pain appears to be slowly decreasing. I have had two more experiences of the pain level being a 1 for a few hours each of those times. I am so grateful to God for that. We went hiking in the Schlitz Audubon Nature Preserve on Thursday. What a wonderful  outing that was for our family. I did not take chances. I took 2 percocet at the start and did great the whole time. I did pay for it the rest of the day and night, but it was worth it. I had never seen paved trails in a nature preserve before. They had a few main ones, and those were just so appreciated. I never gave thought to such things before I was injured many years ago. It is nice to see handicapped accessibility. We did climb the observation tower, that is where Madeleine took the above picture of Brian and I. This park is right on the coast of Lake Michigan. We took a trail to the beach also. We had simple, family fun in skipping rocks and looking through the rocks and pebbles.

I have been busy in the garden. All the rain we have been receiving has helped me get the weeds out easier. ;)  I just adore the last picture with Henry in the pink rose petals. Doesn't make him look the most masculine, but oh well!

I hope and pray you have an excellent Sunday my friends.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie