I Just Had To...

What, no stitching pictures???

Nope, not today ~ sorry. Please indulge me, if only for a second, as I share these memorable moments...

VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY

COLD AND DAMP BUT NO RAIN

GRADUATING CLASS OF 2009

A QUICK WAVE

PIZZA DELIVERY

A MESSAGE ON THE CAP

I love this picture of my son and his girlfriend (she too was graduating from the School of Business). The night before graduation I asked my son to mark the top of his Cap so that I would be able to identify him in the crowd...actually the "shades" did the trick...Well, to my surprise, he did mark his Cap with a message for me: "Thanks A Bajil" ~

It is still so very hard to believe that he has graduated, where did the time go? My very dear friend told me when he entered High School that it would fly by; she failed to tell me that his college years would go by even faster. For those of you that will be sending your DS/DD off to college this fall, hang on it's a fast ride!

I returned home to find three wonderful exchanges that I am anxious to share so stay tuned I will be sharing pictures of them in my next post.

Until next time...

Time Flies

It seems like yesterday he was eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich...

And on Sunday he will be graduating from college!

I will be heading off to Pennsylvania today to attend my son’s graduation from Villanova University this weekend. It is so hard for me to believe that he is graduating. It seems like yesterday that we were taking a campus tour and discussing how impressed he was with the University. Then again, it seems like yesterday that he was eating that sandwich!

I am truly looking forward to seeing both of my sons. I have never lived so far away from them and am not liking that too much. Fortunately, the younger one will be returning home for the summer and I could not be happier. The older one has a new job (close to NYC) and will remain in the northeast. Now that he is graduating what are the odds that he will ever return home? Slim, I know.

I do not expect to get much stitching done since I will be busy helping him locate an apartment and moving…yes, more moving! I did pack my HEAD stitching in hopes of making a little progress on that huge design. I am not certain when I will be returning home; it will depend on how fast he gets an apartment.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend and as always I thank you for making time in your busy day to stop by!

Until next time...

24 Hours And It Is Done!

I am certain that Vonna did not realize when she wrote her April 16th post that she would be setting me up for a challenge. When I read these words:

"I printed the chart off, picked my colors and fabric and here it is 24 hours later"

I thought, "How did she do that?" I was determined to see if I could stitch this in 24 hours!

Well, I loved the chart and knew in an instant exactly what I would do with my version of the Blackbird Designs Petites Lettres Rouge sampler...

When I first saw the sampler, it brought to mind the Schoolgirl Samplers of earlier days when young girls under the age of 10, as a way to learn letters and numbers, executed these simple style samplers. These samplers enabled the girls to learn various stitches but more importantly, they served as an educational tool setting the foundation for reading and mathematics. For this reason, I immediately thought of stitching Petites Lettres Rouge as a way to commemorate my oldest son’s upcoming college graduation from Villanova University. With the school colors in hand I headed to my LNS to find the appropriate threads, selecting WDW Americana, Sampler Threads Blue Jay and Morning Glory I then rushed home to stitch this design on a piece of 32 ct Belfast linen. And to quote Vonna:

"I printed the chart off, picked my colors and fabric and here it is 24 hours later:"

Petites Lettres Blue, I Am So Proud Of You!

Designer: Blackbird Designs

Design: Petites Lettres Rouges

Fabric: 32ct Belfast Linen

Threads: WDW, Sampler Threads

Here is my version of Petites Lettres Rouge Sampler, now titled: Petites Lettres Bleu, I Am So Proud Of You!

Once framed it shall hang on my sampler wall where 3 years from now I shall hang the second one, stitched in browns, to commemorate my youngest son’s graduation from Lehigh University.

Thanks Vonna for sharing the information and link to this design. I must also thank Alma and Barb at Blackbird Designs for offering this free pattern for without it I surely would not have thought to stitch such a beautiful remembrance of my son’s accomplishment.

I had a number of new visitors to my blog and would like to say thank you for finding me and for your nice comments! It is always exciting to see that new bloggers have stopped by, but as always I value the returning bloggers more than you know!

Have a wonderful week. I encourage you all to jump at every opportunity to challenge yourself it is so very rewarding!


Until next time...

For The Birds!

I recently placed a bird feeder on my deck in hopes of getting a closer look at some of the pretty birds that I occasionally see flying around. For a while the bird feeder remained full, I guess it takes time for the birds to discover it. Well, I went outside and noticed tons of empty shells scattered all over the deck. My first thought was, “these birds are messy!” It was not long before my “neat nick” husband suggested that we move the feeder to a tree in the yard. Before doing that I was able to get some great pictures. I even discovered who the messy bird is:

After scaring away this rather large "bird" I was able to take a few pictures of a "real" bird. I have no idea what kind this is...any idea???

There is a beautiful red cardinal that eats from the feeder but I have not been able to capture a picture. That bird is just too smart, I can't sneak up on it like I do other birds but I will keep trying.

The bird feeder has since been moved off of the deck so that the birds can have their feeder back, or so I thought.....

Can you believe that this daring raccoon did not run off when I walked out on my deck with a barking dog in my arms??? It actually posed for the picture and continued to eat! Obviously my newly purchased pole is too short; I have since purchased a taller one but it does not keep the squirrels off.

Lastly, I will share a few pictures of my son's high school graduation. The 1pm ceremony was held inside the gym during the horrible heat wave. The temperature was 96 degrees and there was no air conditioning ~ it was so hot!

Rather than the traditional cap and gown, the guys wore a white tuxedo.



I mailed off three exchanges today so I will have a few stitching pictures to share in my next post.

Until next time...