Christmas Stitching and Farewell to a Friend

It's December--can you believe it? And I've already finished the last of my 2021 monthly Christmas ornaments--can you believe that? Normally, I'm struggling to get that final one finished by mid-December, but this year I took the smart approach and chose a small, easy chart to stitch during this very busy month. This sweet design is a freebie by the talented Misty Pursel of Luminous Fiber Arts fame. If you are a subscriber to her newsletter, you'll be able to receive her charming design--you can sign up right here by clicking the red box at the top of her website. This is called "Joy" and is stitched "over one" on 28 ct. black Monaco. (Many stitchers ask me where I get the black Monoco. Unfortunately, it is no longer available and I'm still relying on the large one-yard piece I bought years ago). 

"Joy" by Luminous Fiber Arts

It's hard for me to get a good photograph on black, but, trust me--this is lovely in person! The silk I used is "Rubbed Magpie" by Hand Dyed Fibers. It's the prettiest variegated blue! In this case, I worked backward and chose the finishing fabric--a cute blue and black check--first. Then I chose the blue thread to coordinate with it. I had an idea in my head of how I wanted to finish this ornament from the very beginning and I'm very pleased with the final outcome. 

Love the long "tail" on this one!

I didn't add the stitches that were charted inside the letter "o" because it is stitched "over one" and it would have been too crowded. However, I did add three sparkling Swarovski crystals. I had the glittery blue and silver ribbon in my stash so I made a simple bow, attached a snowflake charm, and surrounded the outer circle with black cording and a long "tail."

Swarovski crystals add a fun bit of sparkle, don't you think?

How is everyone's Christmas decorating coming along? I've been enjoying doing a little bit each day rather than rushing through it and stressing out. I redecorated the small three foot tree that sits on our bookshelves above the television in the family room. It was looking pretty worn out after 20+ years so I removed everything and started from scratch. Red and white has been calling my name at Christmas for  the past couple of years, so I simply tied on some red and white gingham ribbons and added a few white lacy snowflakes from Target (which are years old).

A refurbished 3 foot tree in my family room

I have had the sweet gingerbread boy and girl ornaments for years, too, and I didn't want to part with them. So I removed their old hangers and attached new ones made of bright red ribbon printed with snowflakes and polka dots. The tiny, round glass red and white ornaments were purchased from Target last year. Love the stripes and dots--it's such a fun little tree for our small family room and casts a nice glow while watching television in the evenings.

Here's a brighter photo of the tree taken while I was working on it in my kitchen. You can also spot my snowman tree in the back corner.

Although our large tree is up, it is not yet decorated. I heard a ruckus in the room we now use as a nursery the other day and discovered that the Prairie Schooler Santas had had just about enough of being kept in that white under-the-bed storage box for the past year. They were not happy with me at all! So, my solution was to free them and display them in my Pottery Barn cubby! I can't tell you how much this display makes me smile--I wish I had thought of this years ago. 

Pure Prairie Schooler!

Do you have a favorite from these 29 handsome fellows? I think number 27, number 11, and number 18 are my top three. But, you know what? I truly love them all! Here are a few close-ups for you...

 

 

I always leave the middle cubby space for my mom's silhouette. This year I added a tiny white Santa to keep her company (along with those sweet ceramic shoes that were part of her childhood shoe collection). I miss her so much, but this time of year is especially hard...

 

So, what do you think? Should I leave them here in the cubby or move them to my tree? In all honesty, my tree is getting "just a bit" crowded with cross-stitched ornaments so I may move half of them and leave the others here... we'll see!

Thanksgiving was wonderful, although we were missing my oldest son, daughter-in-law, and grandson who went to El Paso, Texas to celebrate the holiday with her family. Thankfully, they'll be here in just two short weeks to spend some extended time with us. In my previous post, I mentioned that I only had to provide cookies, pies, and the strawberry-pretzel salad for our family feast this year. Here are the baked goods I made--nine kinds of cookies (of which I froze half for Christmas) and two pies. Can you guess what the favorite cookie is in our family? Why, it's those yummy Reese's Peanut Butter Cup cookies on the blue plate in front. This is the recipe I've used for years: Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cookies.

I wonder how much sugar and butter I used to make these?!

 

Many of you asked about the mysterious sounding strawberry-pretzel salad that I made, too! Well, it is not really a salad, but that's how we've served it at our Thanksgiving feasts for over 25 years. Here is a link to the recipe: Strawberry Pretzel Salad recipe. With it's bright red strawberry top layer, this makes a great side dish for Christmas dinner, too. And yes... I'll be making it again in a few weeks!

A sad farewell... Sigh... now I've reached the part of this post where I know I'll cry. In fact, I already am... Many of you have heard about the passing of our dear friend, Meg, from Live To Stitch. Although we knew her death was imminent based on her final post in August, it is still hard to believe that such a kind and generous and downright decent person is no longer here on earth. Meg started writing her blog in 2017 and in her last letter to me in late September, she told me that I was the one who inspired her and gave her the courage to start her blog. I was so touched, but I have to say that you, Meg--you are the one who taught me (and many, many others) so much about courage. You faced your diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer with such dignity and bravery. You were the inspiring one--in fact you still are. 

Meg sent me this lovely Christmas ornament in 2019. Not only is it beautifully stitched and finished, but Meg designed it herself! Oh she was so extremely talented in many, many creative and artistic ways. She then generously offered this design to anyone who wanted to stitch it in  this post from December 2019. If you would like to stitch this in honor of Meg, I think it would be wonderful... you can find her chart and instructions right here. 

 

My Christmas gift from Meg--2019

I mailed a Thanksgiving card to Meg in very early November--I think something told me that she might no longer be with us on the actual Thanksgiving. She passed away on November 19, 2021 leaving her beloved husband and son. She was only 48 years old... In my final note to her, I thanked her for her friendship, her inspiration, and, most of all, for her all-round kindness. I told her I would never forget her--and I won't. May you rest in peace, sweet Meg...

Please visit Meg's blog to see more of her beautiful work and read her inspirational posts...

 

I think this is a good time to sign off for now since my tears are making it hard to see the computer screen clearly. I do want to thank you all for your well wishes for my rib injury. It's definitely on the mend and I can now sit reasonably well. I am still having trouble sleeping on my left side (which is, of course, the side I normally sleep on!), but I'd say I'm about 80% better. 

I also want to thank you for all of your sweet comments and emails. My mother always said that I had the kindest group of commenters--I have to agree. I love hearing from you and, even if I can't always respond, I hope you know how much your friendship means to me. I think my friendship with Meg was indicative of how close the cross-stitching community is on social media. She was nearly 20 years younger than I am, but we had the bond of stitching tiny x's in fabric to create something beautiful and lasting... something for our loved ones to remember us by long after we're gone. Wishing each of you a peaceful December. Bye for now...

Day is done... December 2nd, 2021

Random thoughts in late November

Can you believe it's almost time for Thanksgiving here in the U.S.? I think, for many of us, this year's feast will look a bit different than that of 2020. I remember last Thanksgiving sadly sitting alone with my husband as we ate, not a traditional turkey, but a simple chicken breast, a photo of our far away family members propped on the table. It was a hard day... the first Thanksgiving without my beloved mom and without anyone other than my husband to help me get through it. Thankfully, this year more and more families will be reunited to give thanks for our blessings once again! I'm excited to be traveling to Ohio for dinner at my niece's house (and pretty excited that I am not hosting it this year, if truth be told!). What are your plans? 

This time of year my stitching always seems to take a back seat to baking, decorating, Christmas card writing, etc. But, I did manage to get my ornament for November done. As soon as I saw this adorable design with the cheery Christmas mugs stacked three high and the smiling gingerbread boys peeking out, I knew I had to order it from Whitehouse Stitchery on Etsy. You can see what the original chart looks like, and purchase your own copy if you're interested, right here. I used my favorite 40 ct. Newcastle linen--this time in a new-to-me color called "Water Green." It's the prettiest shade and I love how Christmas colors look on it.

"Sweet Christmas" finish for my November ornament

I did make a few changes to the colors and rounded out the gingerbread boys' heads a bit more. I also stitched only half of the charted design to make it ornament sized. And because I wanted an oval ornament, I added a few snowflakes to both sides to shape it. It's hard to see, but there are red beads representing berries  next to the holly in the top mug. As there is so much going on in this design I kept the final finish quite simple merely adding white cording and a red and white gingham bow and hanger. I've always loved gingerbread boys and this one truly makes me smile each time I look at it.

Such cute little grins on the gingerbread boys!

I've also made some significant progress with my Prairie Schooler "Christmas Village" which I first shared with you in this post. At that time, I had only two of the nine houses stitched and now I'm up to five so I think I'm about at the half-way point. I feel like I could stitch those little trees at the top in my sleep by now, but they are a good thing to work on while watching television. I honestly can't tell you how much stitching this piece relaxes me. Even those long, solid roofs don't bother me! That's Prairie Schooler for you! Just the best!

Progress! About half-way done!

Randomness... thoughts on what I've been doing, reading, watching, baking!

*** Who else is watching less and less network television?  There just seems to be nothing that captures my interest these days. I've been turning more and more to Netflix and Hulu and have been really captivated by the Dopesick series on America's opioid epidemic (on Hulu) and  Maid (on Netflix)--a fictional account of a young, single mother who takes a job at a cleaning service while trying to raise her child and navigate the confusing legal aid system. And I finally watched the delightful Lark Rise to Candleford series on Hulu... Oh, if they would only make more shows like that one--love the characters so very much. The British do know how to make such charming series!

*** YouTube favorites... Unlike many of you, I'm not a Flosstube watcher. I find most of them move way too slowly for me and they're much too long! But, I've discovered several fun decorating/thrifting/makeover type YouTube channels that I enjoy ever so much. Do any of you watch: Canterbury Cottage, The White Cottage Company, She Holds Dearly, or Jessica Giffin? I enjoy all of these women because they are working within a budget and trying to recycle/reuse when they can--talk about creativity! Anyone else have recommendations?

*** Of course I've been baking for Thanksgiving--I've made nine different kinds of cookies so far, freezing half for Thanksgiving and half for Christmas. These are the goodies I whipped up this morning--so light and flaky. Not to mention--they have raspberry jam in the centers! My favorite! You can find the recipe right here. Do roll the balls of dough in sugar before baking and pressing the indentation for the jam--it makes that process much easier. 

"Evelyn's Christmas Cookies"

 

*** I've read several very good books lately! Meet Me at the Museum is a charming tale (told in letter form) of an older couple whose relationship develops through correspondence. A first time author at the age of 70, Anne Youngson, created a very sweet story with such memorable characters. I've read many Susan Meissner books and have enjoyed most, but this was my favorite to date: The Nature of Fragile Things is set in San Francisco and weaves a tale of mystery, romance, and female friendships during and after the great earthquake of 1906. Finally,  Truths I Never Told You by Kelly Rimmer takes on a very difficult subject--postpartum depression. It's hard to read at times, but explores a subject that definitely deserves more attention and discussion. I'd give each of these 4 1/2 stars out of 5! Can anyone else recommend a must-read book?

***I've been bit under the weather since we last talked... The reaction I had to my Covid Booster on November 10th caught me by surprise as I'd had nothing but a sore arm and mild tiredness with the first two shots. This time I experienced chills, a fever of 100.6°, and general body aches. BUT... I'm so glad I had it as I feel safer going to Thanksgiving and traveling again. On top of that, I somehow injured my lower left rib area when we were visiting my grandson. Oh, it felt like I was being stabbed every time I coughed, sneezed or laughed. And rolling over in bed or simply sitting in my stitching chair was pretty painful, too! I didn't know if I had broken a rib, bruised a rib, or torn a muscle. Since it is starting to feel much better ten days in, I think it was the latter. How did it happen? Um... roughhousing with my grandson and picking up and carrying a 27 pound toddler surely had something to do with my injury. I really need to be more careful given that I have osteoporosis... sigh! 

*** Decorating... Since we aren't having Thanksgiving here this year, I did very little in the way of decorating other than putting out a few of my cross stitched pieces. I did decorate my mantle, though, with a collection of copper pieces, candles, and white pottery. I really love how warm and cozy it looks on these cooler autumn nights. I also convinced my husband to bring the boxes of Christmas decorations down from the attic last night so Christmas decorating will commence on Friday--I can't wait!

My decorated mantle with my blue stitching chair on the right

Some of these copper pieces belonged to my mom which makes this display even more special

 

Speaking of mom, below is a throwback photo to Thanksgiving 1963. I think my siblings and I are being Native American Indians (apparently none of us wanted to be Pilgrims!) and entertaining my parents before dinner. My middle sister is wearing a headband with what I'm sure are turkey feathers because there was a large turkey farm down the street from us. My brother is beating on a drum while I imagine I (sporting those "lovely" short bangs my mom used to cut for me!) am, most likely, making some sort of Indian whooping sound. Probably totally politically incorrect in this day and age, but that was life in the '60s! My dad was the photographer and my youngest sister, just a couple months old, was, most likely, asleep in a nearby bassinet. Such nice memories... My mom always made sure that our holidays were very special and now, being a mom myself, I know how much work goes into that process! I don't think you can truly appreciate all that a mom does until you become one yourself...

A 1960s-style family Thanksgiving!

 

So, it's time to end this longer-than-expected post! I hope you know one of the things I'm truly thankful for is all of you. Honestly! I have such a nice group of readers and commenters--I hope you know how much I value your friendship and love hearing from you. As I've said many times, if only all the world could be as supportive and loving as the stitching community, it would be a much better place. I wish all of my U.S. stitching friends a blessed Thanksgiving with your families. And I hope all of my international readers have a lovely last week of November. Do take care now, and I'll see you in December! Bye for now...

Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Two small finishes and another family wedding

Happy November! It's only been three weeks since my last post, but it seems like a lot longer since I've visited with you, doesn't it? Since then, there's been some stitching, some traveling, some new recipes being tried, and now I'm getting ready for my favorite thing in the world--a visit with my little grandson this weekend. I really can't put into words how wonderful it is having him here on the East Coast. I know, I know... for many of you a four hour drive sounds horrible, but, honestly, it feels so easy after our day-long travels to San Diego, California all those years. Like many things in life... it's all relative!

I have a couple of finishes to share with you today... The first one may surprise you because I'm not a coffee drinker at all! But, this one is not for me--it was stitched as a birthday gift for my dear daughter-in-law who is. She has a small corner spot in her new kitchen which is perfect for her coffee/tea station and I thought this little piece would be a nice addition to the tiered tray she has on display there. This is called "Coffee First" and is another charming design by one of my favorite designers, With Thy Needle and Thread. 

My finish of "Coffee First" by With Thy Needle and Thread

For this piece, I used 40 ct. vintage country mocha Newcastle linen using a combination of DMC and overdyed threads. The main changes I made were to change the hair and skin colors to resemble my daughter-in-law a bit more (although she certainly doesn't dress like that little woman--ha ha!) and I used a different color of thread for the dress. I changed it to Gentle Arts "Blue Jay" using the darker blue portion of the skein for the skirt and the lighter blue portion for the blouse. The other change I made was to add a comma after the word "first." Here is a close-up for you:

Don't you love those tiny shoes?!

 

 

To finish it into a little pillow for the tiered tray I added two coordinating fabrics, a jute bow, and a covered button. When making pillows for tiered trays I like to add a bit of accent fabric to the bottom to raise it up from the tray so the design is clearly visible. I love the twisty vines of coffee beans sprouting from the giant cup, don't you? And if anyone is wondering about those tasty looking Banana Carrot Muffins in the first  photo, you can find the recipe linked in this post from August.

 

 

 

My other finish is my ornament for October which is a delightful freebie that can be found on my friend, Melisa's, "Pinker n Punkin" blog post right here. I love the fact that not only will this adorn my Christmas tree, but it can be displayed all winter long. It is called Winter Saltbox and is one of a series of saltbox freebies that she has designed. I know I'll be stitching a few more in the future!  Of course, the beautiful blue house is what drew me to this one immediately. Isn't it sweet? I love how it turned out--thank you so much, Melisa, for sharing your talent so generously with all of us stitchers!

My finish of "Winter Saltbox"

I did make a few changes to the colors, stitched the cardinals "over one," added more snowflakes, used satin stitch on the snowman's hatband, changed the door to red, and used smyrna stitches for the snowman's eyes and buttons. The colors of blue I used in the house and stars are DMC 930 and 931. Here is a close-up so you can better see the tiny birds...

Teeny cardinals stitched "over one" on 40 ct. linen

The only other stitching news I have is that, after two years, our little group of four friends was able to reunite for our mini-retreat last weekend. We rented an old 19th century era farmhouse in Ohio and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves... stayed up way too late, ate way too much, and stitched and chatted and laughed the entire time. The very first year we did this was 2010 according to my blog records and we've only missed one year since (I think!) due to Covid. If you aren't one for huge and sometimes expensive cross stitch retreats (those aren't for me!), I highly recommend this method of renting an Airbnb with a few close friends for a few days and having a mini-retreat!

Our third and final family wedding of 2021 took place in late October in a city I'd never been to before: Louisville, Kentucky. Actually, I had only been in the state of Kentucky once in my life and that was for a work trip my church youth fellowship group took when I was about 12 years old. We traveled all the way from New York state to a very rural KY  community to undertake various projects to help them out. As I recall, I was on the committee to paint the inside of the church. Yikes! Not sure how they turned a group of junior high kids loose and let them paint the church, but they did. I wonder if they had to repaint it after we left :) 

Anyway, Louisville was a very interesting city and I wish we had had more time to spend there. It was a real treat as all of my sons were there along with my daughter-in-law, my middle son's girlfriend, my youngest son's girlfriend, and my grandson. As always, we rented an Airbnb where we could all stay together--so much more enjoyable than being stuck in individual hotel rooms (not to mention less expensive!). The house was an old 1900 era Victorian house with lots of charm: very high ceilings, unique fireplaces and tile, and a steep carved staircase. In the kitchen, there was a mural of the house painted on one wall and that was the first time I noticed the owl perched on the top of the house. What a fun addition to the roofline of this old home. It was plenty big for the nine of us and we would definitely return.

The city of Louisville is the largest city in Kentucky and the 29th most populous in the U.S. It would have been fun to explore more of the city, but with the wedding and (rainy, chilly, outdoor!) reception taking up most of Saturday, we didn't have much free time. We did spend Sunday morning visiting the Big Four Bridge, an 1895 railroad bridge which connects the cities of Louisville in Kentucky with Jeffersonville in Indiana. The Ohio River, which runs under the bridge, is at its widest point (one mile wide) just north of Louisville. In 2013, the Big Four Bridge was converted into a pedestrian/bike route so we decided to make the 2-mile round trip trek on Sunday morning morning. Although the clouds threatened rain, we still enjoyed great views of the skyline and the other bridges that traversed the Ohio River. 

View of the Louisville skyline from the Big Four Bridge

My family beginning the hike across the bridge in the top photo. My grandson was in his stroller going over, but on the return trip he insisted on walking most of the way!

A very curious toddler fascinated by the bark of this tree in the park near the Big Four Bridge. He's getting big, isn't he? I sure wish I could slow time down...

After one half of the family departed for the airport for their flights back to Washington, DC, the rest of us (my husband, middle son, and his girlfriend), enjoyed a hike through nearby Cave Hill Cemetery. I have always enjoyed strolling through cemeteries for some reason--I find them to be very tranquil and they seem to help me simply relax and slow down. Now, I don't think I'd feel the same way if I were walking through a cemetery at night!

The leaves were just beginning to change in the cemetery

This trio of cherubs marked three members of the same family who died before the age of one. So very sad...

Some cypress knees growing alongside a peaceful lake

The more unusual gravestones always fascinate me. Remarking on the one in the lower left, I said to my husband, "Look--there's one that looks like a tree." He said, "That's because it is a tree." When we went to investigate--no! It was a very, very realistic looking sculpture!

The most famous inhabitant of Cave Hill Cemetery is the boxer, Muhammad Ali. I was expecting a grand monument, but his grave was actually quite simple and tasteful.

Brightly colored autumn leaves were beginning to carpet the grass in some places. Glad I don't have to rake a cemetery!

So, that's it for the family weddings for this year--whew! We drove to all three weddings (in New York, Connecticut, and Kentucky) for a total of over 2400 miles. Honestly, I'm welcoming the next six months of being able to cozy up at home with an occasional visit to see my grandson in Maryland. I think I'm just plain worn right out. But, it truly was wonderful seeing members of both sides of the family after the long Covid-enforced separations.

I do have a couple of recipes to share with you today--both quite healthy! Like many of you, I'm trying to cut back on sugar and lately find myself attracted to more savory than sweet foods. But, this cookie recipe was quite unusual in that there is no added sugar. In fact it can be made with just two ingredients: oatmeal and bananas! I did add the optional cinnamon, walnuts, and raisins that the recipe mentioned and they were quite a tasty treat. Definitely had a different texture, but for anyone trying to cut back on sugar and eat healthier, I can highly recommend these. You can find the recipe right here.

Healthy Banana-Oatmeal Cookies

I took some of my lentil soup to our recent cross stitch retreat and everyone loved it so I thought I'd share that recipe here on my blog, too. This is from the cookbook by Lorraine Wallace called "Mr. Sunday's Soups"--a great book filled with many delicious sounding soup recipes. You can find the recipe right here. I followed it exactly as written except I omit the green pepper (which my husband and I really don't care for at all!). 

I love making and freezing a big pot of lentil soup in portions for winter dinners!

 

I'll leave you with this little pumpkin at Halloween. I know I'm a bit partial, but isn't he adorable? He looks just a bit unsure of what the day was all about as he prepared to carve pumpkins with mommy and daddy. He's got an ever-present car in his one hand--can't seem to go anywhere without one these days!

My lil' punkin!

So, next up is Thanksgiving. We are not hosting it this year so I am only making two pies, a tray of cookies, and our traditional strawberry-pretzel salad. How about  you? I'll also be doing some last minute gift ornament stitching and trying to figure out how to display my Christmas tree with a very active 17 month old visiting for a week! Any suggestions? I'm so excited that everyone will be home for Christmas as we haven't all been together for the holiday since 2018! 

Enjoy this mild fall weather while you can... I've heard the typical cold November weather is moving in over the weekend. It's honestly been the nicest fall I can remember, hasn't it? Thank you for your visit today--hope I've given you a bit of inspiration or made you smile somewhere along the way. Take care now, everyone, and happy stitching! Bye for now...

For the first time in seven years...

I've put out most of my Halloween decorations! Last week, when I opened the dresser drawer (where I store my seasonal smalls), I saw these sweet pillows looking up at me and knew it was finally time to take a step toward healing. For you long time readers, you may recall that my father passed away on October 31, 2014--yes, my dad died on Halloween seven years ago. And although I've stitched a few orange and black pieces since then, his death on that day forever changed how I will think of Halloween. However... I know he would want me to begin enjoying all of the cute things I've made through the years again--he loved Halloween so much. So, this post is for you, dad--enjoy!!

My Pottery Barn cubby filled with much of  my Halloween stitching from the past 13 years.

Would you like some close-ups? For more detailed information on each of the Halloween finishes shown here (along with others!) you may want to click on the "Halloween" link under "Labels" in my sidebar to read the original posts about each finish. 

I also created this short video that you might enjoy, complete with not-so-spooky music. Unfortunately, the quality of it is not very good on my blog--not sure what I'm doing wrong!

As always with my Pottery Barn cubby, I leave my mom's silhouette in the center opening throughout the year. Do you think she's scared with the all Halloween things surrounding her? Not at all! My mom and dad loved Halloween and I can still picture Dad wearing a hairy gorilla mask, sitting quietly in the shadows of our front porch, not moving until an unsuspecting trick-or-treaters would climb the steps to knock on our door. He and my mom attended Halloween parties each year and would come up with the best costumes--cave man and woman, hippies, etc. I loved watching them plan and execute their costumes each October. Here they are in two of their get-ups!

Mom and Dad dressed as (not very authentic looking) "hippies" in 1967. I so wish I could read what their signs said. I do remember helping them create them as a then 12-year-old. I imagine they said things like "Peace Now," "Flower Power," etc. I was too young in the late '60s to ever be considered a hippie, but I do remember scribbling peace signs and flowers all over my school notebooks--anyone else?

Meet caveman and cavewoman also known as mom and dad! These disguises won them a "Best Costume" prize that year. I have no idea how mom attached the leafy vines to herself! Dad's "club" was simply a baseball bat with wadded up black paper stuck to it to resemble rocks :) I'm quite sure this was also from the late 1960s.

I know there are some of you who don't enjoy Halloween and won't even read or comment on today's post--and that's okay. I only enjoy the cute side of Halloween--nothing scary or gory. I mean I can't even watch a scary commercial for an upcoming movie or television show without covering my eyes and ears!  How about you--cute or scary?

I so enjoy the memories of dressing up for the big day. My "old woman" costume (complete with a white wig made of cotton balls perched on my head under an old cap) was my favorite and I dressed up like her several years. I hobbled along with a cane while wearing a long,  ragged skirt covered with patches. It's funny that today, at age 66, I wouldn't even need a costume to achieve that look! (Well, I'm not needing a cane yet and my hair isn't white due to the wonders of hair color, but you get the idea!). They say that, for many kids, Halloween is their favorite holiday. My oldest son, who is nearly 40 (gasp!), recently told me that it is still his favorite holiday. I had no idea! What is your favorite holiday? And did you have a favorite costume from back in your trick-or-treating days?

This next piece (which I finally framed after 10 years!), brings back such wonderful memories of those long ago crisp October 31st evenings  going door-to-door begging for goodies with my neighborhood friends. I lived in a small town which actually allowed trick-or-treating on two nights, and believe me, us kids took full advantage of it! With buckets filled with our "loot," my younger siblings and I would retreat into the living room, dump it all on the carpet, and begin the serious candy trading negotiations. I was the only one who liked coconut, so I was lucky enough to get all of the Mounds and Almond Joy bars!

"Trick Or Treat Lane"--finally framed!

You can read about my original finish of "Trick Or Treat Lane" by The Stitching Parlor in this post from 2011. Although I stitched this a decade ago, I still find it as charming as I did way back then. The frame was a great find for a mere 99¢ at my local Goodwill store. The rustic off-white look fits the scene perfectly. All I did was stitch some additional rows of the green grass on the bottom and sides and add a few rows of the brown floss to the tree trunk to get it to fill the frame completely. This was the first time I'd ever framed something like this and I love the effect!

I added several lines of stitches on the bottom and left side of this piece to fully fill the frame.

I want to thank you all for sharing my excitement about my grandson's move to the East Coast that I told you about in my last post. I honestly can't tell you how wonderful it is to be able to leave here after breakfast and drive to their house in time for lunch! My husband and I drove down three weeks ago to help them unpack and  settle in. The settling in process has not been a smooth one and this is a cautionary tale for anyone renting or buying a place and not being able to tour it in person first. In hindsight, they realize that they should have had a trusted friend go see the house in person for a sniff test! Although their rental house was great to look at online--a nicely sized four bedroom, 2 bath home--it had one major problem. It smelled awful!!! UGH!!! The first thing they noticed when they walked through the front door was a horrible odor. Putting it down to cooking odors, we all pitched in and thoroughly scrubbed all the kitchen cupboards, appliances, vents, etc. Unfortunately, the disgusting odor persisted; I had never smelled anything like it--a combination of wet dog, smelly feet, and body odor (if you can even imagine!). It soon became apparent, it was emanating from the carpeting in the family room, up the stairs, and in the second floor hallway. Every other room in the house has hardwood flooring, thank goodness.

In trying to remedy the problem, they had the smelly carpeting professionally cleaned... it still reeked! They used an ozone machine... it still reeked! They were out of options. When they complained to the landlord, his response was that he had never smelled anything odd. Really?!?! We finally suggested that my son and daughter-in-law offer to split the cost of the carpeting with the landlord. The man and his family will be moving back in in two years so it really behooved him to have someone else pay for half the cost of the carpeting.  And, this option was MUCH cheaper than breaking the two year lease and paying an $8,000 penalty! So, on Monday, new carpeting was installed (there was no sign of mold or mildew when the old was removed, thankfully) and voilà--the odor is miraculously gone!

It has been a stressful three weeks for the little family struggling with this issue, getting used to a new nanny for my grandson (my son and daughter-in-law both work from home, but they need someone to keep an eye on him while they work), and living with the bare bones furniture that they brought with them from San Diego. Due to all of this stress, my poor daughter-in-law came down with shingles. Sigh... I sure hope things turn around for them and they can finally settle in because, on the plus side, the neighborhood is one of the nicest I've seen--big old trees, lots of people out walking or biking, strolling babies, and exercising their pets. I wish our neighborhood was more like that! I do wish them luck and I feel optimistic that they will end up deciding they made the right decision to move east. 

Believe it or not, we are leaving again for our third (and final) wedding (in three months!) of one of our nephews on Friday. This one is in Kentucky--about a 6 1/2 hour drive. I'll be so happy when this last wedding of the year is over and I can just relax at home or go visit my grandson. I'm such a homebody and I miss having an empty calendar! I think the  past year and a half has turned me into somewhat of a hermit as I truly enjoy my time at home stitching, cooking, reading, decorating, and just plain old puttering more than ever! How about you? 

Thanks so much for stopping by today--I really love knowing that some of you still read blogs and find them interesting and entertaining as many of you mentioned in your comments or emails to me after my last post. I'm not sure if I'll be back again before November, but, if not, I hope you all enjoy these final days of October. Sending hugs and positive thoughts to my stitching friends who are dealing with sickness or sadness... I think of you often; I hope you know that. Take care now, everyone. Bye for now...