No, I'm not dead

I'm not dead, just lazy about blogging . But today I'm back with lots and lots of pictures!

First of all, my very late bday prezzie piccies.


The flowers T got me stayed alive for a little over a week. They smelled really, really good and they were so pretty. The roses wilted before the other flowers did (I have no idea what they are). The other ones stayed alive for 2 weeks. They came in a pretty pink vase which I kept and is at the moment sitting in a cupboard in the basement.

I also got a whole bunch of Hello Kitty stuff. The Choco Cat pillow was something I picked out. It's so cute I just had to get it! Inside the tin box are a whole bunch of stickers, gel pens, colored pencils and stamps, all Hello Kitty, of course.


Next are the charts I got from The Needle Hive. I got A LOT! One day I'll be able to stitch all of them. hahaha. The Cross Stitch calendar I got at Media Play. It has yucky, stiff Aida fabric in it, but I figure I'll just replace the fabric. The designs inside are cute and simple. I like that it had the mat already. All I need is to find the right size frames. One day I'll learn to stretch and frame my own work.

I also got some lovely surprises in the mail. Sylvia sent me Dragon Dreams' Here Be Dragons, the JCS issue that had DVG's Lemons, Limes & More pillow chart and a lovely notepad. Recently, she also sent me another JCS issue with the Peach pillow chart in it. Yay Sylvia!

I also got Cross Stitch Gold issue #29 from Kati. Thank you Kati for filling a blank in my collection!

Ooh! And I almost forgot about a prize I won during The Needlework Show. I won 2 charts of my choice from Dames of the Needle. They are lovely and I can't wait to start working on Elizabeth Savilles 1841 Sampler.

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Next up are Thanksgiving pictures! T & I stayed home and made our traditional Thanksgiving fare. The turkey was absolutely perfect. The skin was crispy, the meat was juicy and it was absolutely yummy! T stuffed it with apples, oranges, onions and all sorts of spices. Then he made a mix of softened butter, olive oil and spices and I had the wonderful job of rubbing it all over the turkey. Ick. It felt gross, but the results are amazing.

We also had acorn squash, mashed potatoes, stuffing, rolls, green beans, gravy and two kinds of pie (pecan and pumpkin).

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As for stitching, I'm still busy with my super secret project. I can't wait until its done and I'm finally allowed to show pictures!

Best Birthday Ever!

This has got to be my best birthday EVER. We started celebrating my birthday on Thursday night. DH took me out to a fancy dinner at The Red Mill Inn. It was amazing. He had Prime Rib and I had Tuscan Shrimp. The Prime Rib was the house specialty, so I had to try several bites of it.

After dinner, we went to Barnes and Noble, where I got 3 magazines: Cross Stitch Collection (Nov. 2005), Cross Stitch Gold (Issue #34), and DMC's Best of Cross Stitch Favorites. After that was more shopping at AC Moore. I got Fish City and 2 kits that were in the 50% off bin (Wintertime Friends and Universal Unity). I also got a Choco Cat pillow. It is sooo cute!

DH also bought me all sorts of things at AC Moore. I got a whole bunch of Hello Kitty stickers, a planner, a metal box (perfect for cross stitch trinkets), a memory book and he also got me a Sharpie set!

On Friday, DH had a bouquet of pink roses delivered to me at work. They're gorgeous! That night we went out to dinner again. This time at Chili's. I had Cajun Ribeye and it was really good. I couldn't finish the whole thing tho so I'll be having the leftovers for dinner soon.

Yesterday, we went to East Aurora to check out my not-so-LNS, The Needle Hive. I went totally crazy! The store is adorable. They mostly carry primitives and samplers and Americana items. There were two models that I fell in love with, but both were out of stock. The first one was the Red Reindeer Sampler and the other one was a kit of brightly colored coffee cups. Oh well, its not like I wasn't able to find other things that I liked. DH was the eager evil enabler, showing me all sorts of pretty charts and kits. Here is my haul:

Fabric: 28 ct Silvery Moon Cashel Linen, 30 ct Vanilla Gold Legacy Linen and 28 ct Blue Hand-dyed Linen

Fibers: 3 GAST (Blueberry, Briar Rose & Claret), and 4 Waterlilies (Black Forest, Midnight, Periwinkle, and Plum)

Pattern Packs:
Just Nan's Pearl Orchid
The Drawn Thread's The Treasure Box and Winter Into Spring

Charts:
Bent Creek: Dance of the Bumblebee, Fox Hollow
Bleu de Chine: Birds
Little House Needleworks: Coffee Menu
The Good Huswife: Sarah's Marking Sampler
Hinzeit: Oak Tree
The Needle's Prayse: The Queen's Sampler (I got 129/1000)
Dimensions: Northern Dignity
TW: Tropical Dream
Elizabeth's Designs: Green Old Gardens
Permin: Sampler 1663, Sampler 1778
Jorinde & Joringel: Derfeine Faden

I got tired just typing that in! DH's card was definitely smoking by the time I was done. There's another store at Orchard Park, but I knew it would've been very dangerous to go visit there.

Ooh, I almost forgot! I also got a 2006 Cross Stitch Calendar on Wednesday!

I'm currently charging the batteries for the camera. I'll post pics as soon as I can :)

Celtic Banner

I started this project in January. I am almost done with it. But at the moment, my focus piece is my super secret project. The SSP is progressing rather smoothly, a lot faster than I thought it would. So as soon as that's done, Celtic Banner will become the focus piece. In the meantime, I will try to work on CB for a couple of hours a week. Here is the latest progress pic.