Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from sunny Florida

Happy Winter Solstice!

The first day of winter for me conjures up visions of snow falling gently covering everything in a carpet of white.

When in reality here in Florida its more like this.

But in my heart I hold fast the memories of snowy fields, warm mittens and the sound of children laughing through the snow.

Happy First Day of Winter!

Slow Sunday Stitching December 18th and Monday Link up Party

It has been a very busy week as I pull and pack items for shipping each day to keep all my customers happy. This time of the year is such a busy time for all of us so trying to make time for some much needed stitching time gets a bit creative and nearly impossible.

I did manage to get a start on the last block for Hocuspocusville and I will take a little time today to put in a few more stitches.

block 12 started

I removed the stitch and wash away project from the little goddess mandala project I was working on and you can see how much I chose to leave off from the original piece.

The piece still needs to be pressed and finished but overall I like the look of the simple hand embroidered outline. Below is the original piece where you can see all the moons I decided to leave off.

Yesterday I received a few small packages in the mail, one from my friend K in California who made these sweet little Christmas coasters. She retired from teaching this summer and has enrolled in a few sewing classes.

The other package contained a rainbow of perle embroidery floss for a future project I will be working on.  I don't normally use perle cotton when I hand embroider so it will be interesting to see if I notice any real difference when I am handling the threads.

A perle rainbow

The perle cotton is DMC number 5 which feels thin enough to get through the eye of some of my needles. I will experiment to see if I will work with a single thread or two or more.  I usually use 2 strands when I work with 6 strand embroidery floss, years ago I preferred working with 3.

I will be linking up with Kathy's Quilts for the slow Sunday stitching post. https://kathysquilts.blogspot.ca/2016/12/slow-sunday-stitching_18.html

My last bit of stitching news I have is I am going to join  1 year of stitches 2017 here is a link if you are curious:
http://www.brwnpaperbag.com/1-year-of-stitches-2017/
I like project, blogs and groups that keep me hand stitching, so this hand embroidery project looks to be right in step and a fun way to start off the New Year.

Monday Update:
My progress on block 12 is slow and steady, just the way I like it.  I just now realized I started stitching this on the right to left, after I finish stitching the window I'll move the work over in the hoop.

I'll be joining the linky party at Super Mom No Cape today a place where talented bloggers show what they are working on too come have a look.
  http://www.supermomnocape.com/vintage-embroidery-monday-stitchery-link-party-89/

Another Parking Lot Incident

On Tuesday afternoon while pushing a shopping cart on my way into the store some man in his cart going way to fast hit the cart right out of my hands, I was knocked back about 3 steps but didn't fall and I wasn't hurt. This man gets out of his car and ask if I'm okay saying he didn't see me. I say I'm okay and you were driving too fast to see me, its a parking lot not a race track. Then he finally sees the damage the cart made to the front end of his car, nice big dent smash. He ask what I am going to do, Me I'm going shopping you sir may call the police and make an accident report.. He stood there shaking his head saying he didn't see me. Perhaps next time you should look where you are driving. Lucky me for having the sense to grab a cart from the corral which is something I don't usually do. Luckier for him I didn't beat him senseless with the cart which I wanted to do. If I didn't have the cart to take the hit this would have ended differently.  

Slow Sunday Stitching: The last block for Hocuspocusville Quilt

block 12

Block 12, the last hand embroidery block for the Hocuspocusville Quilt will be started today, I will link up at Kathy's Quilt here:https://kathysquilts.blogspot.ca/2016/12/slow-sunday-stitching-binding.html

I am changing a few things on the Calamoondala I am not adding all those moons so today I will wash the Stitch and Washaway product off.

Food for thought: Is a banana enough to be called breakfast?

'Catching up' seems to be my phrase of the week, I have been trying to finishing up several loose ends before the arrival of the new year. This involves everything from clearing out old magazines to finishing up a craft project and cleaning up the straggly garden.

Yesterday it rain for most of the morning at times coming down so hard my front yard resembled a swamp, but minutes after the downpour passed those large puddles disappeared without a trace mostly thanks to the lack of rain we have had this year and living here in Florida it's not uncommon.

The crazy holiday season is upon us and having the online retail shops keeps me quite busy most of the day but this year I am being more cautious than I have been in previous years, trying to stay on top of my health is a top priority as I have slowly learned that ignoring the issues won't make them go away and most of the time things just get worse.

So I am trying to get adequate sleep which sometimes comes in the guise of an afternoon nap if I haven't had a restful nights sleep.  Eating is another issue, not eating right that isn't a problem, just eating a normal meal when I should is what I have trouble with.  The problem is I'm not a hungry person, I can get up take my morning medications and go usually till about two o'clock before I feel hunger.

Taking Metformin I'm supposed to take it with a meal so I find myself forcing myself to eat something when I'm not hungry which then makes me feel miserable and full.  So today I thought to myself why not take it in the afternoon? I mean the doctor didn't say take it in the morning, and since I swallow all those other pills in the morning why not?  Well not really a good idea because I'm supposed to be eating at least 3 meals through the day, so this week I have been getting creative with my morning meal. Ugh!

It's an ongoing process and even a bit of a struggle,  I can eat a banana and be full for hours, but is a banana a meal.

Same goes for a bowl of oatmeal, sprinkle in a few raisins I'm set for a two mile walk and whatever else I do through the day until dinner.

  I have even resorted to buying frozen pancakes that I can heat up in the microwave and I will drop some yogurt on them or fresh fruit or a few drops of honey.

So amidst the daily chores, packing items to ship, I'm pouring over my heart health and reversing diabetes books trying to find a breakfast that won't make me feel I've gorged on a banquet.

Happy St. Nicholas Day!