It's still cold here

This morning I opened the door to head out for lunch with my Dad and just about froze! The wind was chilly and I changed my mind very quickly about the coat that I was going to wear - I grabbed the ski jacket instead of the spring jacket that I was hoping to wear. Today is cold and windy but very sunny. I am still having problems accessing my blog but please bear with me. And to lovely lady in France who commented about spring over there (see last post), welcome and please send us some spring weather here. In my last post, I talked about the wonderful time that I had in Sturbridge at the Stitchers Hideaway retreat. Sue works very hard to put it all together for us, getting door prizes from a lot of designers and shops. We had a new store there this time because Chris's Collections closed - a good thing for her, she wanted to spend more time with her family but sad for us. You should see all the goodies that I got on sale. My good friend Roberta was very nice and picked up the big bag of goodies and kept it for me. It was like opening presents at Christmas... because to be honest, I had forgotten exactly what I had bought. I knew that I had cleaned her out of the Petite Treasure braid by Rainbow Gallery as well as buying a lot of Wisper. I knew that I had bought some Mill Hill beaded kits but didn't remember all of them. I will have to take a picture of the goodies to show you. I haven't done a lot of stitching this week, to be honest, I have done a lot of nothing! absolutely nothing! I read the latest novel by Robyn Carr, started a new book by author Laura Griffin. I enjoyed the last one I read by her so I thought I would try another to see if I really like her. I will let you know. So folks, until the next time, luv ya dearly, big hugs from me to you. Louise

Okay, its official - is winter over yet?

I don't normally complain about the seasons - I like winter because its cold and vice versa, I love summer because of the heat (and yes, I have air conditioning in my house!). But this year, I am tired of the snow, the cold and I can't wait for spring!! In fact, yesterday afternoon, I opened the bathroom window for a couple of hours to let in some fresh air (and yes, the furnace did come on once or twice) but it was worth it - fresh air, absolutely lovely. Okay, I am going to complain a little bit here, so bear with me. I have had to change the way I access the internet and with the new system, I couldn't log into my blog! ACK!! So there I was, getting extremely frustrated because I couldn't log in and I had some wonderful things to tell you. Now do you think I can remember what I wanted to tell you.... okay, its official... I am also getting old.... let me amend that... getting older and like wine - I just keep getting better! That's my story!! LOL I have bookmarked this site on my new system, so hopefully I will be able to access it a little better but if you don't hear from me, please hang in there, I will keep trying. I am now off to do some serious stitching on my Toy Shop which is very close to being finished, will take a picture so that you can ooh and aah over it. Until the next time, remember that you are loved. Louise

Back from Sturbridge, Massachusetts

Hi there, did ya miss me? I do apologize, it took me forever to get back into things after being sick in January and February. As the title states, I am back from Sturbridge. I attended the Stitchers Hideaway alumni retreat in Sturbridge. What a fantastic time I had - I received the door prize for coming the furthest distance - it is a big frog with googly eyes and its mouth is wide open! It reminded me of having to kiss the cod in Newfoundland (a tradition to get "screeched in" so that you can become an honourary Newfoundlander), so I promptly gave the frog a kiss hoping that it would appease the "Goddess of stitching boo-boos" - guess what - it worked!! I have to admit though, at times I was a little worried.... I was the sole Canadian sitting in a room of American women when the Olympic womens hockey game was on... Canada vs USA.... oh dear... but you know what - we had a lot of fun with the Olympics, we cheered on our teams, commiserated with each other, teased each other and of course, I had to say "let the best team win.... and may that team be Canada, eh". During all this frivolity, I did manage to get some stitching done and my Toy Shop is almost finished, well not quite.... these little Mill Hill beaded kits are very deceiving. They are full of beads (regular size and petite) and this one has a ton - okay, a lot of different beads, if I remember correctly 9 different ones and they are everywhere!! So as soon as I am finished it, I will be posting a picture for you to ooh and aah over. Then I will get back to my January challenge. Hmmm, I had to change my rules this year since I didn't start one every day. My challenge is to do the original 31 ornaments but the difference this year is I will finish stitching each one before starting a new one. So hopefully I will have lots of pictures to show you soon... Until the next time, remember that you are loved. Big hugs from me to you. Louise