just nothin'

There are no stitchy photos for this post because lately I have issues and haven't stitched anything. Looking through old files on the laptop, I came across this one of the Astro Dazzle when he was just six months old. Aww!! That face! So kissable, dontchathink? :-)

So yeah, no stitching because....I'm a wreck!. And when you're a wreck, you find stitching unappealing. Trust me. I think this happens to me annually. Pretty sure. Anyway, on the Saturday before Valentine's Day (which was our 28th anniversary), my dental problems returned, and because I think my dentist is not very competent in what's going on inside my mouth, I keep putting off going back to him. The problem with this is that this dentist is on my "dental plan" and to change where I go for treatment is a huge ordeal and will take 45 days for the paperwork to get transferred, etc. Hubby wants me to just go to another dentist, outside of our "plan", pay whatever it costs to get it fixed right, but of course that would cost more than THE PLAN and let's just say I squeak when I walk, so it's pretty difficult for me to just pick up the phone and call another dentist. Yes, it's hurting, but paying more than you have to or should, well, that hurts more. Plus, we need the extra $$ for something else (see below). So there's that issue.

Another contributing factor to the "wreckedness" of me is that I threw my back out of whack on Monday and the misery over the dental problem paled in comparison to the unbearable back pain. My back is getting better, and long story short, we think a new mattress will definitely help so we're going to go this weekend and get one.We need a really good one, for people with lower back pain. Any suggestions?

Guess we'll see what shape our pocketbook is in after that... I will either go to a new dentist who will fix me up good, or back to the old one where I may or may not get fixed. And how about suggestions on how to tell a dentist that you think he's wrong about something? And have him listen? Because ticking off one's dentist before he goes digging around in their mouth with sharp instruments is probably not a smart move.

(And yeah, I probably shouldn't post when there's no stitching to show and all I do is whine, but thanks for listening anyway! Hopefully normal programming here can resume soon. If not, I'll just get some cheese and crackers and keep the whine all to myself)!

PS. Did anyone notice how much Tiger looks like his mother? And how his mother barely looked at him during his "press conference"? And does anyone really care about all of that anyway? Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I wish people would just keep things like this to themselves...we as a society shouldn't be all up in people's personal lives like we are. Let's hear it for keeping things behind closed doors and heck, even sweeping things under the rug or yes! skeletons in the closet! Keep them there, I loved those days.....

"Snowtorious B.I.G." visits Dallas

Those of y'all that are 55 inches deep in snow probably will laugh your tushies off at this, but for us Dallas folk, this is a LOT of snow! Over six inches in our area and more to come! We haven't had this much snow since the late 80's!

Here's the cute little snowman I watched my neighbor's kids build while I was in the kitchen this afternoon:



The corner of our house (on the left) where the dining room and kitchen are:



a big bush:



and here's what I was up to in the kitchen:



DE-FREAKIN-LICIOUS! It's Cinnamon Bun Bread and you can find the recipe HERE. You should make them ASAP! It was super easy and worth the very little time it took to make them. Yum!



I also made a HUGE pot of pinto beans and filled my iron skillet with cornbread and made mini pecan pie muffins for dessert, but we kinda ate it all before I could get pictures.
Now we're all stuffed full and some of us {ahem} found all this extremely exhausting and needed a nap ;-)



A couple of you have asked about Astro's bump on his face I'd posted about last month. I'm happy to say it was just a little cyst and it's totally gone now :-) Thanks for asking!

And more good news, the work is almost done in the laundry room! The tile is down and we should have the washer and dryer moved back in by tomorrow, providing the roads aren't icy enough to keep the guy away. Cross your fingers for me, I go through a LOT of dishtowels around here, lol!

Stay toasty!

home of a needleworker (too!) and a winner

This past week, I managed to finish this little design




from Little House Needleworks, it's "Home of a Needleworker (too!)". I'd always loved the first one but never got around to stitching it, and then when this one was released, I knew I had to do it instead :-)



This was stitched on 40 count Vintage Examplar from Lakeside, with Crescent Colors threads, one over two.



And I couldn't help but think of these ladies while I was stitching this. What do their homes look like? Is their home even still standing? I know their lives are so very different from mine. Yet, they are stitchers, needleworkers, crafters, just like me and that makes us sisters in spirit. I prayed for them, their family, and for their homes, which are the homes of needleworkers, too. :-)

Thanks to my readers that posted about the Haiti by Hand craft supplies drive.
There were five ladies who did and I entered their names in the random generator thing and Angela came out on top, so the needlecase goes to her :-)
Hope you like it Angela!

La Belle et la Bête (and a prize)

(more about this needle book at the end of the post)


or, as we say in English....

The Beauty...


(Take one lovely design from the wonderful Blackbird Designs Joyeux Noel book)...



(add some delicious Belle Soie silk threads, and some hand dyed fabric, and you have a beauty of a sampler :-)




and The Beast...



(Where we've taken one hot water pipe leaking under the foundation and added one "highly recommended but turns out to be maybe fairly incompetent plumber" who thought it was alright to pile mud three feet high in our laundry room entry way without the benefit of LARGE plastic drop cloths, and not forgetting of course, the inches of concrete dust over every inch of the house, and you've got one big P.I.T.A)

So anyway, the pipe is fixed, the dirt is all back in the hole now, after sitting out for four days, now we're waiting on it to settle a little before he pours in the concrete and re-tiles the floor. All along with promises that he's going to make it all look "Brand New". And if you think I believe that one, well, I gotta bridge I want to sell ya ;-)

But, really? It's all OK. Because even with such a mess, I'm very aware of my blessings and have refused to get all flustered over the situation when there's such hurt and devastation in other parts of the world, and by that, I mean Haiti. I came across this blog last week, hearing that they were seeking donations of the crafty kind for these women in Haiti. HELLO?! Threads? Oh, you bet, got that! Here's the thing...you can clean out your stash, the items don't have to be brand new :-) They need lots of different things, not just thread, check out the list to see! The address you mail to is posted at the bottom of the list.

Please check out the links I've posted above and see if your heart is not touched by these beautiful women. And then please post about this on your blog too and help get the word out, let's show some stitchy love to Haiti, whatdayathink?

If you do help spread the word, via your blog, facebook or twitter, please post the link (to the post you made) here in the comments on this post and I will enter your name in a drawing for this little lovely:



A brand new needle book from The French General! You may have seen a little bit of mine in this post. It was a gift from a dear stitcher buddy. I liked it so much, I wanted to share one like it with one of you. But the catch is, you have to post about the Haiti by Hand blog somewhere to be entered to win!

Thanks so much :-) You have ONE WEEK to get it done and let me know about it, I'll draw a name on Wednesday, Feb. 10

PS. Um, you don't have to post about this to comment here, I really love hearing from you, even if you don't want to enter for the drawing :-)