Lovely gift and Maine.....

I thought I'd be starting all the pretty flowers right away after my last post, but I found that with the US Open being on, finishing off the border was the perfect thing to do -- nice and mindless.  So I did that for most of the week and just started on the flowers yesterday.

I love the colors!

The second flower isn't all filled in yet, in case you were wondering.

I received a wonderful prize in the mail from Cucki, of Cucki's Stitching Cove, whose giveaway I won.

I was so excited to open this up!

Look at all the lovely goodies!!  I especially love the hand made items -- so pretty!  And an angel fob!  How did you know I collect angels, Cucki?  :D   Thank you so much, Cucki, for a special prize!

Now in case you were wondering, yes, this past week we went to Maine for vacation again!  Hooray!  We haven't been as a family since 2010.  And the best part was the whole family was there, including my girl.

We don't get to see enough of her, so it was wonderful to have both her and the boy child with us -- it felt like old times!

I will let the pictures do most of the talking.

This is where we spent most of our time at the house we rented.

Our favorite place to eat

Fried whole belly clam roll -- the best!

Never too old for a good toy from our favorite bookstore

The kids on a rope obstacle course

Girl child waaaay up high (she's the one up top there)

The intrepid adventurers

Poor Mia missed us terribly.  When we got home, we were worried about her.  Usually she's right there watching out the window for us and is there at the door to welcome us, but this time she was nowhere to be found.   Turns out she was sleeping on the couch in the living room -- she had given up on us, poor thing.  She was very glad we were home.

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a great week.  Enjoy the tennis!!  Yay, US Open!

A milestone

First off, here is my progress on my A Needleworker's Sampler Huswif.  I'm loving stitching this!

I always seem to be working on the large flower bands when I take progress pics!

In the past couple of weeks, I have received a couple of prizes I won.  First, I won a beautiful pack of luscious wool squares from Heirlooms by Ashton House.

So many pretty colors and so yummy!  Thank you so much!

Next, I won a copy of the Just Cross Stitch Annual Christmas Ornament Preview magazine from Jan of Tree of Life Samplings.

Jan has a lovely design inside, and she signed the page for me too!  So special!  Thank you, Jan!  I love your designs!

Now for the milestone.  All summer since the boy child got home, he and I (and the father type on weekends) have been going out driving.  Boy child driving.  Both my kids got late starts on getting their driver's licenses -- neither was in a hurry to get one, and we didn't push for it either.  But this, we decided, was the summer for the boy child to get his license.  So driving every day was the routine.

Last Thursday, the boy child went for his road test.  And he passed!!!  Hooray!  Now here in NY, the tester gives the successful test-ee something that is basically a receipt that serves as a temporary license (along with the test-ee's driver's permit) until the real thing is mailed to the person.  So I couldn't take a picture of the boy child with his new license yet.  But I did take a picture of the boy child as he was about to leave on his first ever solo drive.

Congratulations, kid!  You are an official driver now!

Our elusive girl child came home this past weekend as a surprise belated birthday gift to me.  She also gave me a lovely, delicate little bracelet, which I love!

She's back to her own home and work now, but it was so nice to have her visit.

Here are a few pictures of the boy child and his companion.  I love this series.

And yes, I was watching all the royal baby news last week!  lol!

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a great week.

Mia's current position on my lap

Lucky hexies, framing

My Hex on the Beach is progressing nicely.

Seventeen rows out of 40 completed, and many many paper pieces removed as well.  It was becoming unwieldy with all that paper.

My framing was finally done so I made a trip to my LNS to pick it up.  One piece is a surprise for a certain someone, so I won't show that.  But here are the other two.

My And They Sinned by Examplars from the Heart.  Sorry for the reflection.

And my Jane Philpott by Shakespeare's Peddler.

I love this frame.

I have been very lucky this week.  First, I won a prize of a chart and a yard of linen from Scarlet Letter from Nicola's Scarlet Letter Year Blog.   I used my winnings to help with the cost of the Polly Phillip kit.

I've wanted this one forever.  Thanks so much, Nicola, Marsha, and Joann!

Then I won a huge fabric giveaway from Kathy Barrick.  I couldn't believe what Kathy sent!!

Look at all that fabric!!!  Wow!  Some pieces are huge with lots of yardage!  I especially love this toile.

Thank you so much, Kathy!

Finally, the lovely Krista of Just Stitching Along blog was so generous and sent me this.

She has just finished the SM 1678 sampler from European Reproductions, and she knew I was in love with her beautiful piece.  So she passed the chart along, but also included all the floss needed!!!  So generous!  Thank you so much, Krista!  Here's a link to her beautiful finish.  It's gorgeous, take a look!

I was busy taking a pic of my quilt this morning for the blog.  I turned around and here is what I found.

Is Mia trying to prevent me from working on my quilt today?  lol!

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a great week!

Coloring book

Several of you mentioned how the process of filling in the colors on AAWFAA is much like coloring in a coloring book.  And it certainly feels that way when you look at what has been done.

But if you look at what has to be filled in, you'll see there's more than one color to be done in most spaces.  Still the results are just as satisfying as when one was little and colored carefully inside the lines.

I just love the reds and pinks!  I wasn't happy with the snake's colors, so I substituted a light green for one of the colors.  I always feel a snake needs some green.  :D

I received a prize in the mail from Gabi of Lady of the Floss.  It's this lovely chart with the leftover threads from the project.

It's a perfect way for me to commemorate all of our trips to the tree farm to cut down our Christmas tree.  Thanks so much, Gabi!

Mia discovered a warm place to sleep yesterday -- under my winter coat and the father type's sweaters.

She was quite content to be all snuggled up warm and cosy.

The boy child has registration for his spring semester classes today.  I hope it goes well and he gets in all the classes he wants.  Fingers crossed!

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

stitching post finally....

I finished what I could on that model so far, so I picked up an old WIP to work on.  I don't know why, but whenever I tried to work on this one in the past, it was a complete failure and I would put it away again.  This time, however, I seem to be enjoying it.

It's And All was for an Appil by Scarlet Letter.  I'm using DMC and 40ct linen of some kind.  I think it's an R&R fabric.

Love the colors!

I was so surprised the other day to receive in the mail a gift from my dear friend Laurie of Corgi Cottage.  She sent it just because as a way to cheer me up.  She's so sweet!

Love the t-shirt!  And some Little Gem scissors, a Kelmscott Threadkeep -- so pretty!  And also a Mary Englebreit needle keep.  Love Mary Englebreit!  Thank you so much, my friend!  You are the best!

I also won a prize from Sandra of Homespun Elegance.

And here's what was inside.

Thank you, Sandra.  I love it so much!

I was throwing away a kleenex box, and of course Mia was interested in it.  Then the boy child reminded me (via IM) that she used to play inside kleenex boxes as a kitten.  Well there's no way she would fit inside one anymore!

She's a bit too large to fit now.  lol!  Here's a pic of her inside a Kleenex box as a kitten.

So cute!!

Thank you to everyone for sending such wonderful emails and comments asking after us and how we were doing through Sandy and its aftermath.  I'm still feeling a bit shell shocked, but it's so nice to be getting back to normal again.  We are very lucky in so many ways.  My thoughts and prayers continue to be with those affected by Sandy.

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I always appreciate your visits and comments.  I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

ETA:  Forgot about my TUSAL report.  Here it is.  Doesn't look very different.  :D