Happy birthday to me... happy birthday to me...

Wow, another year has come and gone, but we're still here, happy, and relatively healthy, LOL. Poor Bill picked up a chest cough from work that got so bad he actually tore his throat up coughing, and lost his voice for most of a week! He finally went to the doctor, and they gave him some antibiotics that were so strong you only get 5 pills (!!), but he started feeling better almost immediately, so I guess it wasn't a regular cold.

He went back up to work a couple days ago, so hopefully he will continue to improve, and be all better when he comes home again... neither our DD (who works for us) or I caught whatever bug bit him, another indication it wasn't a common cold.

In spite of his being under the weather, we had a wee birthday gathering here on Sunday, with my folks, and my sis and BIL, and our DD (Adriane - the Dree I often mention). Our youngest is still living in England, so she didn't make it, (GBG). Had some cake, got some prezzies and flowers, spent the afternoon playing Mexican Train (which is a fun domino game), so was a good day.

Got the dishes done up and a ham and scalloped potatoes in the oven, and they were cooked just as more company arrived in the form of one of my besties from high school, and her DD. My family had left by this time, but my sis came back over, as she knew Kim from high school as well (my sis and I are only 13 months apart in age). Another lovely visit, as we haven't seen each other in over a year, so lots to talk about!

I have been quite blessed in my life, with the friends I've made along the way. Some are casual acquaintances to be sure, people you're friends with because they're around, but that you quickly lose toch with when one of you moves away... but if you're very lucky there are a precious few that stay with you. I am fortunate enough to have TWO such wonderful ladies in my life. In fact, our youngest (Katie) is named after one of them! I had the... hmmm not sure if it was the opportunity, or the misfortune, LOL, to attend FIVE high schools in FOUR years!

No, I wasn't a juvenile delinquent, LOL, I started high school, and my dad got a job in another city half-way through my first year... so I finished at my second high school. The next year they decided we needed a new high school for kids from this and that area... but it didn't get finished in time, so for a year we SHARED a high school (#3) with another school. This was an interesting arrangement, as we only went to school Mon/Wed and half of Friday! The rest of the time we could go for help at centers they set up... my BFF Kate and I would take turns taking the bus to the centre closest to the other ones house, and spend all our time together. We were inseperable, to the point that kids I didn't know would stop me (if they saw me by myself) to tell me where she was, ROFLOL.

The next year our high school was finished (#4), and I must say it was the best school I ever attended. The teachers were all young, there was so much school spirit, it was a wonderful year... but then my dad got transferred again... so high school #5 was were I ended up, and where I met Kim, the lady who came to visit this weekend. She and her brother were part of our 'gang', which was actually more a church youth group, LOL. We have lost touch once or twice over the years, but always manage to find our way back to each other, and she is truly a blessing in my life.

Well, this month's blog turned out to be a walk down memory lane, rather than anything new happening around here... but since we are spending day and night gearing up for FOUR shows in April, May and June (see the newsletter this month for more details), there's not much else to tell you...

Though I may have to purchase the last 2 seasons of Downton Abbey (which I was talking about last month), as they aren't on Netflix yet... but I did watch the finale, and everyone got a happy ending, so I was happily sniffling along with them, ROFLOL.

Till next month, may you all enjoy the people in your life, and not take them for granted! And of course - happy stitching....

I can hardly believe that another month is almost over! There are so many things I had to do... have to do... want to do, LOL. So instead of doing most of them I'm having a DOWNTON ABBEY fest, trying to catch up on the past few seasons through Netflix...

But that DN mean that I have been idle. I somehow managed to end up on not one but TWO committees this year (sigh), and I've been typing up notes for a meeting on Friday while I've been watching - and of course now I'm working on my blog! But I really have to go to bed soon, as it's my day to work at the church tomorrow.

I also find it hard to write w/o talking about my work, as it's such a big part of my life... but I try to save all design talk for my newsletter, and keep this blog informal and a bit more personal.

But somehow I doubt you want to hear about the friends we've had to dinner, or the movies we've seen (GBG). Though we DID have a lovely Valentine's day. Since it fell on Sunday this year, after church my sister and her DH, our parents, Bill and I all went to a local brunch that is only held once a month. The food is all homemade (and quite good), and they have a wonderful selection! I believe it's a fund-raiser for the Legion. Anyway, one of the things they do is raffle off a delicious carrot cake (so yummy, with thick cream cheese frosting) - and you even get to keep the cake holder it comes in! The last time we went Bill bought the last 2 tickets, and he won... this time, my sister bought the last ticket - and SHE won! We said they won't let us come back next month, if we always leave with the cake, ROFLOL.

Everyone skipped dessert (mostly) and came back to our house, where we had carrot cake and tea/coffee, and spent the afternoon playing a domino game called Mexican Train, which my family really enjoys. It was quite a nice way to spend the day, surrounded by people we love, who love us. I hope everyone had the chance to do the same.

However, yesterday wasn't nearly as much fun - at least for poor Bill! He got a notice from Air Canada that his flight (today) would very possibly be delayed or cancelled because of the weather they were expecting. In the ten years he's been flying out to work this is the first time they've ever done that, so he took it quite seriously. He was considering changing his flight to Friday (since the bad weather was supposed to be Wed/Thurs), but he takes ANOTHER flight up to the mine site, and they don't fly on weekends, and he wasn't sure he could get in to Saskatoon in time to make the last flight to camp on Friday.

Anyway, I said "what if you left today", which set off a whole flurry of activity, LOL, as he hadn't thought of that. He checked for flights, and there was one in the early evening, but he had to leave almost immediately in order to get from here to Toronto on time. So I fed and walked the dog, while our DD grabbed some lunch and he went to pack... then I made him some sandwiches and apple slices to eat in the car on the way, and she drove him to the airport... in less than an hour I had an empty house again - it reminded me of the first time he went to this job, our girls both went to University just a few days before he left - and they even took the cat with them, LOL, so I went from a house full of people to just me - didn't even have Miss Mollee to keep me company then!

He called last night to let me know he made it safely to Saskatoon, and again today to let me know he was in camp, so all is well... and since he got in a day early, the extra day's pay more than covers the expense of changing his ticket, LOL, so we ended up coming out ahead of the game. Except that Tuesday is our date night, so we missed out on that - but we'd gone out to dinner on Saturday, and lunch on Sunday - then had friends in for dinner on Sunday - so that wasn't too too bad, LOL.

And it seems that for once the weatherman got it right, as first thing this morning it started snowing... then raining... then hailing... and then seemed to settle in to a sort of sleet / freezing rain combination. Miss Mollee insisted on an after dinner walk, but we only made it as far as Nana's house (my mom & dad's place just around the corner). I was dropping something off to mom, and Mollee decided she was staying there, so I turned around and came back home. In just that short time my boots were soaked right through about half way up! There was slushy, mushy, icy water EVERYWHERE. When Mo finally came home she was coated with ice and water, and very happy to stay in for the rest of the night!

I'm afraid I don't have anything more (or very exciting) to share this month, as I have been working almost non-stop (and into the wee hours of the morning) to get caught up on my designing, and not much has been happening with the house. I'm very pleased with some of the new ideas I've come up with, and can't wait to work on my newsletter, so I can share some of them with you (wink). And of course with year end, and now tax season approaching, Bill and Dree (our oldest DD who works for us) have been busy getting bookkeeping finished up and trying to get a jump on tax preparation.

I still haven't found the right color yellow for the library, but Bill has started planning out this years work on the house, so hopefully there will be more to tell you in the months to come... Talk to you soon - and HAPPY STITCHING!

Wow, here it is the end of January already! Where does the time go so quickly? This year we already have good and bad things to look forward to... the bad includes sorrow for friends, as one friend lost a husband, and two others have been diagnosed with serious illness. I thank God every day that my family remains healthy and happy. Our problems seem petty and insignificant when we compare them to the struggles those around us are facing. We have a good life, and we are blessed in so many ways...

But I always think the start of the year is a time to count your blessings as well. The good things we have to look forward to this year include a visit with our youngest and her family in England in the summer. Our older DD (who works for us) is coming over to England at the same time, so X's & Oh's will be closed for a couple of weeks in August - but we'll give you lots of warning (wink). Work on the house continues - and I'm pleased to say we're getting down to the finishing in many rooms. I have wallpaper and paint for my master bathroom, and we've painted a wall in the library twice, but it's still not the right color (sigh), so I'm going to pick up some small sample tins and do a patchwork to find the color I DO want. We're trying to figure out where to move our exercise equipment to, so that we can add some additional equipment... but that's a challenge, as we don't want to give up any of our current space, LOL.

I somehow managed to get on 2 committees this year, for groups I've been involved with for a while. 'Cause you know I just didn't have enough to do (GBG), so those are exciting new challenges to be met. I have been working hard on designs, and am pleased to say that this years line-up looks spectacular... but that's business, so I'll tell you about that in my next newsletter...

So what else have we been up to? Christmas was good here - we were all suitably spoiled! Our oldest comes to stay over Christmas Eve, and my parents and my sister and her DH were here for the day, so we had a nice full house. Mom did a breakfast casserole, and I always put the turkey on overnight, so I don't have to cook on Christmas, and we open our gifts together. Funny story, our youngest (the one in England) was texting us while we were opening our gifts on Christmas morning, and she typed "Knowing you guys, I'm going to guess 20 books...", but she wasn't even close... Final tally Christmas morning was almost DOUBLE that (I got 20 all by myself), PLUS I got gift certificates for the secondhand book store which will equal 15-20 more books - and our oldest has come in at least 3 times with books that she ordered for me that didn't arrive in time... so that's 5-6 more! Bill sez the library will be full before he finishes putting in all the bookshelves, ROFLOL.

Bill and I went to dinner and a play at a local theatre on New Year's Eve, which we have done for the past several years, and is always a fun time. My sister and her DH have moved back to our area, and it's nice having so much family close by. We're actually getting together tonight to surprise mom with an early birthday supper, so I have to get a veggie lasagne cooking, and pick up some flowers. Our family likes to play board games too, so we'll probably play Mexican Train after supper (which is played with a 20-number set of Dominoes). Fun game, if you like that kind of thing, LOL.

I spent an evening e-mailing everyone who has stitched for me in the past 10 years (who I wanted to work with again, LOL), as its been getting harder and harder to find model stitchers recently ... I started hearing back almost immediately, and was suprised and gratified to hear from so many who were eager to work with me again - and some I hadn't talked to in 5-7 years! I was able to send out 5 models this week, and line stitchers up for several other projects which are still on the drawing board. I know this is almost business, (GBG), but I just wanted to mention how thankful I am for the support I've received over the years - not only from distributors and shops, and those who carry my products, but also the encouragement and delight stitchers (like YOU!) share with me.

Designing can be a lonely business - even with a family as supportive as mine ... just you and your ideas hidden away in the basement, LOL. As one designer friend sez "It's so hard to explain to the other mom's waiting for the school bus, what you do for a living!" Getting out to shows (like the Creativ Festival), and hearing from stitchers by e-mail is like a shot in the arm for me. I drink in your energy - make notes on ideas you would like to see in needlework - and generally come away revived and re-energized.

I'm also lucky enough to work with some fantastic artists! While these have evolved (and revolved) over the years, the list includes artists such as Catherine Simpson; James Lorimer Keirstead; Frances Tyrrell; Shelley McVittie; Anneke Lipsanen, Den Beauvais, and many others. I am honored that these special people trust me with their artwork, and hope that you have enjoyed stitching some (if not all) of their works - and thank you as well for receiving my own efforts with such enthusiam!

Till next month... happy stitching!