dusty tuesday

Broken hot water pipe under house + twelve inches of foundation to jackhammer through + TONS of concrete dust over every available surface in house = ONE BIG HEADACHE! Oy.
I'd just done a major cleaning after putting away Christmas stuff. And that my friends, just proves my theory that housework is a complete waste of time!

Remember, too much housework, when done correctly, can KILL YOU.

Make it your motto!
Oh well! With not much else to do, I am camping out with the Pugs in the bedroom, as the workers jackhammer away across the house, in the laundry room. The noise is only mildly ear piercing from here. I am keeping the doggies calm by using Cesar's advise of being the strong and confident pack leader, but all this licking they are doing is almost driving me insane!! What is it with Pugs and licking, anyway?! Dang it!

No stitchy news this week, since with all that cleaning, and subsequent shower of concrete dust,the conditions are not that conducive. I was working on the big beautiful red cardinal from the BBD Joyeux Noel book (what's he called?) but put it away so all the lovely silks wouldn't get covered in dust. Meanwhile, here's something I got back from the finisher back in December I think.

It's an old Ewe & Eye & Friends design, and if I recall correctly, from an old JCS magazine, but it's been so long, I can't say with certainty.


I'm really very, very picky on how I like my things finished, so this was the SECOND time I had to pay for finishing....



but at least it's right this time.



So the lessons today are these. The housework thing...remember, it kills. And Pugs lick a lot, even when they're remaining calm. And be careful who does your finishing for you the FIRST time, or else you end up paying twice for it, like me. And that's just silly!

stitching too!

So now the cake is gone (anyone make it or have plans to?), I have some stitching to share....



From the Blackbird Designs Joyeux Noel book



the Joyeux Noel reproduction sampler (my first finish dated 2010!)



stitched on 30 ct. Lucky Penny linen with the called for Gentle Arts, Weeks Dye Works and Crescent Colours overdyed threads. I did sub DMC for the CC Petite Maison, as the skein I had just blended right into the fabric and couldn't be seen.



What a joy this one was....well, except for that four-sided stitch, could've lived without that as it took me FORever to do! But, it's a neat look for a change and it's over and done with, so I'll quit whining about it ;-)

Oh, and I did finally finish stitching that last stocking from the BBD 'Tis Halloween book, called Enchantment...



on this one I used DMC 3371 for the CC Blackbird and DMC 3856 for the CC Copper Penny. Come to think of it, I never used Blackbird for any of the other stockings either, but the DMC instead. It made me happy to use what I had on hand :-)

Thanks for stopping by! Hope y'all have a great week!

cake!

There's a cute blog I read called Cherry Hill Cottage, have you seen it? No one can get us all in the kitchen quicker than Tina when she posts one of her recipes!
She makes her pineapple upside cake very similar to how I make mine, and since we hadn't had it in a while, and it's one of my hubby's favorites, I got busy :-)



Here's what ya need:

1 stick butter, melted
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 box yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 20 oz can pineapple slices (drained but reserve juice, see below)
1 cup pineapple juice
maraschino cherry halves (or just use the whole thing, without the stem and pit of course!

I always make mine in an iron skillet, just like Tina, but if you don't have one, you could make this in any pan that the batter would fit in, or a 9x13 inch dish.



Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Take 3 slices of the pineapple and chop up (I do this because when making the cake in my iron skillet, all of the slices will not fit, there's always three left over and I don't like to waste them. You may want to see how many slices fit in your pan first, before doing this, or leave out this step altogether if you don't want chunks in your cake)
Mix cake mix with the eggs, oil and 1 cup of the pineapple juice. Beat on med-high for 2 or 3 minutes. Fold in pineapple chunks.
Put stick of butter in skillet and place in oven until melted. Then sprinkle brown sugar over bottom of skillet, top with pineapple slices (7 is all that will fit in my pan), putting a cherry in the center of each ring. Pour cake batter over slices and bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cake cool for 5-10 minutes, then invert onto serving plate, let cool completely.

Enjoy!

Thanks Tina, for the inspiration! I hope I've inspired my readers too :-)

thank you!

Y'all are just the best! The tombies I was looking for have been found! Thank you so much (you know who you are ;-) ) I am so thrilled and excited to get started stitching them up!

And thanks for the well wishes for Astro! I think it may be a cyst, as it seems to have gone down some, but he's got an appointment for the vet next week and we'll find out for sure then.

Again, you all are the best! Thanks again for your help and for your friendship!

and so it begins...

..2010! I just love saying it, "twenty-ten". Don't know about anyone else, but I'm so over the "two-thousand and's"! GOODBYE! And as my sometimes crass hubby says (not to me of course) "and don't let the door hit ya where the Good Lord split ya"! Sorry. He's got a million of those, trust me!

Anyway. So Happy New Year! I'm a little late posting that cause things have been pretty crazy around here. That and I'm lazy tired. Since I always end up working on holidays (including Christmas Day and New Year's Day,) along with doing everything else to get ready for said holidays, by the time others go back to work, I'm about to need a nap. A week long one. But we had a good time, everyone got what they wanted and ate like pugs pigs and now the cabinets have been cleaned of all the sweets and treats and we're going to try and eat right for a while.

these piggies Puggies just want to know where all the ham went...



I have no real plan for my stitching in TWENTY TEN (squeeee!!) except to stitch as many tombstone samplers as I can get my hands on. I finished this one in December, but didn't want to post it then as everyone was in the Christmas spirit and all...




this is Tombstone Angel by Carriage House Samplings



the design was in the October 2008 issue of Just Cross Stitch Magazine. I stitched it on 36 ct. Pear from Lakeside with NPI silks, one over two. A very enjoyable stitch!



Now, you may remember, I have a slight obsession with morbid stuff. I know there are others out there that share this love of tombstone samplers. I've gotten my hands on a few of them, thanks to ebay and Kathy Barricks etsy shop, but still can't find
these four: Abigal Adams, Prudence Blackstone, Patience Ivy or Sister Spirit. I asked Kathy about them and she said they are from the Chartmakers line of designs, (a collaboration she did with Anne from The Good Huswife) which are all out of print, and those were Anne's designs, not Kathy's and they are not available for sale. Yet. Anyway, if anyone has any of these and would like to trade or sell, please let me know! I have several of the other tombie samplers I could trade for. Other stuff too. I could also beg. Oh wait, already doing that, lol!

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz oh sorry, I fell asleep for a sec there..

anyhoo....that's about all the stitchy stuff I have going on right now.
Now, for something completely unrelated, check out this thing growing on Astro's face.



If you click on the pic you will see it more clearly, to the left of his eye there (and please excuse the eye booger on his lashes, I didn't see it when I zoomed in for the pic). This thing just popped up and grew that big in a matter of weeks. Obviously, he's going in to his Dr. Jan (what he calls his vet), but seriously...it's very worrisome for his mother....what do y'all think? I'll let you know what the doctor says!

Thanks for visiting and I hope y'all have a great week!