My stitching sister

You probably don't know, but Terri is my stitching sister.  We share very similar backgrounds - both of us were in the Air Force, we're both accident prone, we both have ankle issues, we're both going through graduate school, and most importantly, we both love to stitch.

Out of the blue a package arrived yesterday.  I wasn't expecting anything, so I was totally blown away when I opened it and kept pulling out item after item.  Terri had chosen to surprise me with the most adorable Easter bunny stitched over 1, and all sorts of other goodies.

You might notice 2 of the chocolates are missing.  Both parents were hovering as I opened the package, and chocolate was immediately consumed.

Terri - thank you so much for spoiling me!  Random surprises are the absolute best!

A few weeks ago I posted about a new blog, The Snowflake Diaries, and an adorable freebie on it.  I chose to go out of my normal comfort zone of 36 or 40 count linen and stitch on 28 gingham.  For some reason the pale green gingham screamed Spring! to me and seemed perfect for this design.  I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to be brave enough to sew this into an egg-shaped pillow, or if I'm going to try and find an oval frame.

Spring Bunny Love, stitched on 28 ct gingham with
Nina's Threads (slightly altered from charted colors)

Several months ago I posted about having artificial turf put in the back yard.  I thought I was going to hate it, but I have to admit, I love it.  I never did take a true "before" picture.  The one below is after we'd spent several days pulling up plants and cutting out bushes.  Its hard to see, but what's left in this picture are the root balls of about 40 bushes.  I spent an hour trying to dig one out without any progress.  The easiest solution was to rent a stump grinder for half a day to grind them out.  Dad was done in about 90 minutes.

And here's the after pictures.  The yard is just so open now, doesn't look like a total overgrown mess (only partly overgrown now).  Annie has gotten used to it, and we have a great area for me to throw a ball for her.  We're still working on the part of her bringing it back and dropping it for another throw.  She thinks the game is for me to chase her to get the ball.

La Mesa fun - Car Show Thursday

La Mesa is a really fun town to live in, there's always something going on, especially in the summer.  Thursday night is Old Car show night.  They don't shut down the street like Ogden, UT used to, but its fun see the cars both parked, and then the others cruising the strip.  We went last Thursday, trying to get as much fun into the weekend as possible, since Sunday was Father's Day, and dad had to go into surgery on Tuesday (3rd one in 30 days).  There was a bit of everything.

Bright colors

Flames

Advertising for a local brewery (Green Flash Brewing)

Fuzzy dice

Beautiful artwork

And live music!  The other end of the strip has a DJ.

I've been doing some stitching, just not a lot of picture taking.  I have a project up by my computer for when I need a small break from school, or for something to keep my hands busy while listening to pre-recorded class stuff.

Eve's Garden by Shepherd's Bush

As you can see, not a lot of progress on it, but that's fine, it means I'm doing school and not stitching!  In the top right corner you can see my homemade needle minder, made with vintage mother of pearl buttons.


I also got some finishing done, for a project I stitched a very long time ago.  I think it was a limited edition kit Lizzie Kate did for Breast Cancer Awareness.  Anyway, the date stitched on it is 2007.   I figured it had sat around long enough not getting the finishing touches.

I still owe a TUSAL pic, and also a pic of the main project I've been working on since finishing Jenny Bean's Gentle Spring.  Maybe next week, since I have a friend visiting this weekend.  Of course, we're going to kick it off with a visit to tonight's car show, followed by burgers at Johnny B's!


Oh, and not to leave you in total suspense, Dad's surgery went well and he come home from the hospital sooner than expected, on Wednesday.  Purpose of the surgery was to remove and replace some hardware inserted a month ago that they think was contaminated.  Second surgery didn't fix the problem (just cleaning the area internally), and he still wasn't healing, so he got to go through a 5 hour procedure.