Poor Pitiful Pup

The always lovely Princess Emma (aka Super Beagle) asked how Cowboy was doing and from this photo you can see he has not made a model patient. He managed to rub one of his stitches out on Sunday and by the time I got home yesterday to take him to the vet for a check up, he'd rubbed out another. Thus the Elizabethan collar. To say he dislikes it is to put it mildly. I had warned him of the evils of this dreaded device, but he didn't listen. He is absolutely mortified to wear it. He sits rock still and whines in the most piteous manner.

It was still on when I came home tonight and his stitches are dry so at least it's working. He also managed to get into the window with it on - he looks kind of like a canine astronaut and I did ask if he'd channeled Mars today but he was too busy being overjoyed to have it off to answer me. I will leave it off when I can watch him but it must go back on when I'm not here. We go back to the vet again next Thursday and hopefully the other two stitches will come out.

Good advice

Thanks to Anna's good advice about soaking my HIH Halloween Medley in cold water, it looks a lot better. Most all of the staining came out and I am very happy with the results. The frame for this is on its way to me and I think it will end up being a gift. I just have to remember where I put the buttons and get those sewed on and it will be ready to take to the framers once the frame arrives.

I have obsessively stitching on my yahoo group autumn exchange piece as I want to make sure I'm finished in plenty of time and I will need to start a Halloween exchange piece by Sept. 1st. I did manage to work a tiny bit on CHS Dainty House Wren but the progress is minimal. I finished a bit more on the fence on either side of the lady.

It's back to work tomorrow and then a nice three day weekend. I hope to make lots of stitching progress so I can get back to some of my WIPs. Hope you had a great weekend!

Mid-week Update

Thank you to everyone for their good wishes for Cowboy. He is doing much better today- back to his normal self and I'm feeling much more relieved. The vet said that I'd need to keep him as quiet as possible which isn't that easy with a JRT. Today I crated him while I was at work and came home at lunch to walk him. I have to restrain him from picking up his pace as he doesn't seem to be feeling much pain and he was eager to stretch his legs tonight. Since he goes into attacj mode when he sees cats or another dog going by outside from the window, I think I will continue to keep him crated when I'm not here. It's torture for a JRT to be inactive - even one as relatively mellow as my little guy.

On the stitching front, I've started my autumn exchange piece and it's a bit too recognizable to be able to show you my progress even though I'm pretty sure the recipient doesn't read my blog. I'd hate to spoil the surprise early. I think Iwill be making this one into a pillow as it is fairly large for an exchange piece. I may change my mind once I have more stitched. It would work equally well in a frame. Tomorrow is stitch and bitch so I will make sure to work on something that I can show a progress photo of.

Sandy, I totally forgot about the brownies too - so sorry about that! I had a small corner last night and they were okay. I think I will throw them in the freezer for when I desperately need something chocolatey. Joanie, the fabric and silks are for M Designs Floral Sampler. I can't wait to start working on it as I love, love, love NPI silks!

I have the MOST amazing neighbors

I know I've spoken about my neighbors behind me - they are truly amazing, wonderful neighbors. Tonight Jerald, who is a FANTASTIC cook, showed up at my door with a plate of chicken catcatorre (sorry if I spelled it wrong) gnocci with sun dried tomatoes, basil and pine nuts in olive oil and a lovely piece of bread. But the piec de resistance was the glass of Chianti he brought as well. I had been mindlessly munching through an unspired salad which promptly went into the trash. Aren't they great????

And I really needed it tonight, especially the Chianti, as Cowboy had surgery today to remove a cyst that was under his skin but had burst and wouldn't heal. He has a very large incision - much larger than I expected - and is in pain and very lethargic from the anesthesia. I feel so bad for him but it needed to come out as it wasn't healing on its own after a week of antibiotics. My poor baby. I am probably more stressed out than he is but it hurts to see my little guy in pain. Thus, the glass of wine was very welcome!

I am so thankful and blessed to have the Coveney's behind me!

Anna, thanks for the advice on my problem with HIH Hallween Medley. I will try that tomorrow as I'm too tired tonight to mess with it. And Happy Anniversary!

Halloween Happy Dance - Sort of

I had a lovely day stitching with Sandy yesterday. She arrived around 11am - her friend Lisa decided to beat the traffic and leave early - and we stitched until about 3 pm with a break for pizza. She had tucked a dog cookie treat into the front pocket of her stitching bag and before she could even get it out, Cowboy had pulled it from the pocket and was ready to chomp away!

After Sandy left, I took Cowboy for a walk and then came back and finished up my HIH Halloween Medley. Unfortunately, the press cloth I used must have been too damp in one area so the WDW Hazelnut ran a bit at the bottom left corner. I'm not sure what to do at this point. The picture is a really bad one. I had a hard time getting the whole piece into the frame and the lighting was obviously not that great. I will try and get a better picture tomorrow.

I also managed to do the finishing on my redwork piece. I had to rip out two different times but I think it looks pretty good considering my sewing skills. I can't wait to post pictures but it won't get sent out for a bit. I need a few more things to add to the package. And this morning I put the first few stitches into my autumn exchange piece. I am hoping this goes quickly as it's not that big. I'm really trying hard to get everything done before the deadlines.

I have Aniza's birthday exchange gift almost completed. Just have to complete my finishing and it will be ready to go. Hopefully I can get this off in the mail next week as it has a long way to go!

A visit from the Queen

The Queen is coming to visit today and she's bringing a friend from Connecticut for an impromptu stitch in. I'm am looking forward to getting together with Sandy again and meeting her friend - another stitcher. I plan to stitch all day long today to make up for the lack of stitching time I've had recently. It's raining and a bit cool and gray so it's the perfect day to stay indoors.

I do have some progress to report - I finished my red work piece and began the finishing process. I just need to cart out the sewing machine and get it threaded up. Maybe this evening! And yesterday in the mail I received my order of 32ct Moonglow fabric by Picture This Plus from Sue at Colonial Needleworks. She sent it along with the button pack I needed for HIH's Halloween medley which I also managed to work on a bit yesterday. The fabric is what the chart called for and I'm glad I waited for it instead of substituting something else. This is a picture (not a great one) of the silks called for lying on top. I decided not to use the Gloriana Princess Perle Petites because I couldn't find them locally and Sue helped me substitute NPI silks. Thanks Sue for the great help and service!

I plan to work on CHS Dainty House Wren today while the Queen is here but I also need to get back to my over one CHS alphabet piece which has been neglected all month. And then there is also an autumn exchange piece I need to start for my Yahoo group so it will be hard to decide what to focus on. CHS Dainty House Wren is calling the loudest right now but I will show you what I end up working on tomorrow!

Birthday Goodness from Aniza

Yesterday I received Aniza's wonderful birthday exchange package all the way from Malaysia. She made me to the most beautiful pinkeep and sent along a great package which included more wonderful Olde Willow threads in Philadelphia Red, Solitude Green, Quaker Star Gold (all these are linen threads) and Yorkshire Blue which is a Quaker Color. I also received some wonderful Nordic Gold filament thread, the gorgeous red/gold/silver ribbon you see and a piece of 28 count Fawn linen. Yummy in the extreme! Thank you Aniza!

No Photos Today

I am working diligently on my SBEBB redwork exchange piece so I can't show you my progress but I'm very happy with it. I'm very close to being done with the stitching part and I plan to look for lining fabric tomorrow night at my s&b group. I plan to stitch this design for myself at some point as I really like it.

I've been very tired this week - post vacation blues I guess so I have been going to bed early. This means less time for stitching and reading. But I've been trying to take at least 30 minutes each evening to visit blogs and actually comment. There is so much lovely stitching going on and lots of renovated blogs which is really fun.

I hope to work on some stitching that I can post photos of once I've completed my redwork piece so please stop by again! I hope you're having a great week - I'm yearning for Saturday already!

Vacation Comes to an End

Today was my last day of vacation and it's back to the work grind tomorrow. This is a picture of all the girls on the beach on Saturday at the outer beach of Nauset. Three of these lovely bathing beauties are my nieces and the rest are friends. We had a fantastic time on the Cape and I was sorry to leave.

On Thursday I went to my sister's and on the way stopped off at Colonial Needleworks. I was only going to buy some fabric and threads but as usual I came home with a bit more. Every time I visit this great shop in Bedford, NH, I find something I can't do without. Sue has an awesome collection that just gets better and better. It is definitely worth a trip or stop if you are in the area. Sue helped me find some NPI silks to substitute for the Gloriana Petite Perles called for in my M Designs Floral Sampler. I also ordered a piece of the Moonglow linen by Picture This Plus and can't wait to start it. I also couldn't resist the Heart of Gold design by Blue Ribbon Designs. I picked up a piece of 40ct Cream linen and the Crescent Colours threads called for in the design. As soon as I finish my redwork exchange piece, I plan to start this one!

I also picked up some WDW colors I needed for the BOAF Spring and Summer Garden pieces, HIH's Autumn Medley and a fantastic chart by Annemiek Konig of The Needle's Content. I bought Sampler Pillow Cover but I'm not sure yet if I will do it in the colors it calls for.

This has to be it for me until the end of September when I go to CATS! All in all I had a great week of vacation!

Heat Wave

It's finally our turn to be miserably hot so I have spent the last two days holed up in the A/C for the most part. I'm heading to the Cape for the weekend so it should be a bit cooler there with an ocean breeze so I hope by the time I get back, this yucky heat will be gone. They've been promising thunderstorms for the last two days but we haven't had anything to cool things down. I know I shouldn't whine because it's nowhere near as bad as it's been out west but it makes me so sloggy and I feel like I've wasted some of my precious vacation time sitting indoors.

However I do have something to show for my time. I've started my SBEBB Redwork Exchange piece and kitted up the piece I am going to stitch for my fall Yahoo group exchange. And I've made some progress on HIH Halloween Medley. Sorry the photo is so lousy but we haven't really had bright sunshine over the last few days.

I am being good and only taking exchange projects to stitch on at the Cape plus the Halloween piece. I may bring Dainty Housewren as I would like to see more progress on her. And I am bringing two sock projects. I always bring way more than I'll ever hope to work on but you never know right? See you Monday!

And finally for Missy, a Cowboy photo from a few weeks ago. I'm taking him to a pet motel while I am away. I'm feeling traumatized already to be without him for so long!

Another Heavenly Day

Thank you everyone for your kind birthday wishes - I had a fantastic day. I went to meet Sandy of The Queen's Stitch and we had a great lunch at a place called Pineland and then went back to Sandy's house to stitch. I think I've finally found someone with more stash than me and what incredible stitching Sandy does! I thoroughly enjoyed meeting her and I'm looking forward to getting together again. We're going to plan a trip to Camden to check out the cross stitch shop up there in the fall. Sandy surprised me with a lovely birthday gift - an adorable Lang coffee mug with a cute pup on it, my first Little House Needleworks chart "Dog House Sampler" and the threads and fabric to go with it. I can't wait to start this adorable design. Thank you again Sandy!

Then when I got home, Jo's SBEBB birthday exchange gift was waiting for me and it is just gorgeous. Jo stitched me one of the pocket purses I've admired so much - I think the designer is Hands to Work? It is beautiful and she included a great Quaker note pad, some lovely new WDW floss and a piece of the wonderful Blackbird Designs sampler fabric that I've been trying to find up here.

My friends D&D took me out to dinner for my birthday which was really nice. All in all, it was a stellar start to another year of fun and adventure. Thank you everyone for helping me celebrate!