Photos

My daughter Marla, her boyfriend Rob, his son Kegan & Marla's daughter Callie.



Callie & Kegan with Ponce de Leon



A day at the beach!



Kegan relaxing on vacation!



Callie all dressed up and ready to go!



My girlfriends came by to see the kids, Suzanna, Patti & Callie swapping stories!



Gramma, Grampa, Kegan & Callie



I have a finish! This is a design from Susan Greening Davis. A cute little pouch to carry all my stitching tools from place to place.



CdC progress. Almost done!

Happy Easter!
xoxo
~~Martha~~

Can we slow things down a bit??

Seems like forever since I had the opportunity to post. All good reasons. We had our Friend Fawn from Michigan here for a short visit. It's always good to have her and she never stays as long as either of us would like. We visit and eat and visit and eat. We did make a trip to the local antique mall in town. This was the first time I had been in the restored train depot that now serves as our antique mall. The Historic Society did a wonderful job restoring this building. I spent a whopping $9 and purchased 3 pins I can wear on my business suits. Lots of sparkle and an easy way to update that basic black suite that I get soooo bored with!

Then.... Marla, Callie, Rob & Kegan came for a week. What a great time. I had missed my daughter so much! It's been a year! I was also very worried that Callie would not have any thing to do with me for the first couple of days. Not to worry, I was out the door the minute they pulled in the drive way and I could hear Callie giggling and calling for Gramma the minute I cleared the garage! She was out of that car and in my arms and was as excited as I was to see her. She was Grammas girl all week. Rob, the boyfriend was fun and polite and enjoyable.... all the things you hope for. His son Kegan is a great kid too. We sooooo enjoyed our visit. The time went way too fast. We spent one day at the beach. Marla, Rob & Kegan went to Busch Gardens for a day. Callie and I had the whole day alone together. We visited my office and with some friends, went shopping, took a nap, colored, played in the pool and played house (I was the doctor because her baby was sick & she used folded up washcloths as phones). I wish they were still here!

I have been slammed at work with tax season. I did enjoy the week off but have paid for it since with 10-11 hour days. Oh well.... I'm hoping HGTV is around the corner from my house Right now & I win that dream home in the Keys.... Dream on!

As for stitching, I have been working on CDC. The outside circles are all complete. Updated pictures of that soon!

Tomorrow is Bruce's birthday. I have a card, but no gift. Sigh.... guess I will be shopping during lunch tomorrow....

I spent today hooking up a wireless router and updating my laptop, installing a new security suite and figuring out the whole wireless thing. I'm proud to say I was successful! Our main computer bit the dust last weekend, spent 2 days at the computer hospital getting cleaned up and "speeded" up. Bruce has been working day and night to get caught up on his work too. Soooo all that being said, now I have no excuse to not update you on a regular basis. Sorry!

Crap, the HGTV lady has on gloves and a coat. I doubt she is around the corner from my house....


Callie was such a brave girl with the pool this year. We could not keep her out. Last year she would not have a thing to do with the pool (we blame in on the fact that 2 minutes after she got in last year, Grampa did a cannonball...)


Edited: The video did not upload either... sorry!

There is snow on the ground where the HGTV lady is...

I had photos all ready to upload and blogger failed. Will try again tomorrow.

Bedtime. I have to go to work tomorrow because the HGTV lady did not come to my house.... I owe....I owe...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!
Stay safe!
~~Martha~~

Happy President's Day!

Nothing could be finer than a 3 day weekend!
I have been stitching away on CDC. Here is the latest progress shot.



I am so in love with this piece! It's amazing to see the colors together. I am trying to figure out how to paint my bedroom ths color..... of course I am having a hard time convincing DH that any color, other than off white, is an acceptable color for interior walls....


Happy Valentine's Day from DH, my favorite smell, fresh lavender. I love this right in the kitchen window where I can touch and smell when I'm done with those horrible dishes!



And my gift to DH, his favorite, Hydrangea. We hope to be successful and plant this in the yard. I'm not sure it will survive, but we will enjoy it in the house as long as the blooms last.



Please take a minute and visit this webiste, watch the video, and, if you have a few extra coins in your pocket, donate to help the cause, March of Dimes. I have known Jamie since she was a young teen, she & my daughter are good friends. I have been keeping track of Miss Miracle Mollie's progress for most of the past year. I'm so proud of Jamie, and her strength and faith. She is a great mommie!

www.marchforbabies.org/JamieSamuels

Well, in honor of President's Day, I'm off to buy new tires for my car. I have a 1pm appointment, my ipod and my latest read "The Russian Concubine" (thanks Deb!!) which I am really enjoying. My reward when I leave the tire shop will be a stop at the Golden Needle to see all the new items from Market and to pick up more Mermaid Shimmer for CDC.


It's a beautiful spring day on the Florida Gulf coast. High today is 82F. Rain expected later today. Come visit!
Enjoy your day! Thanks for stopping by!
xoxo
~~Martha~~

A free weekend!

We were supposed to have company this weekend, so we spent every evening doing our usual weekend chores. We found out Friday afternoon that our friend was still in Michigan, thanks to another foot of snow! We were bummed that we didn't have company but excited that we had 2 whole days to do what ever we wanted. The result??? DH watched everything Daytona 500 & I stitched!!!
Progress picture on CDC:


Happy Valentine's Day finish. Smooches! A free pattern from several years ago.



Stitched 2 Kissing Pillows for a friend who departs for his second tour of duty in Kuwait...



Last weekend I got to help out at the Golden Needle annual Super Bowl Sale! I'm the official fiber fondeler! I can not wait to see what Cathy brings back from Nashville.





And something old to share. This is an older finish. I fell in love with this piece when I first saw it in the BHG magazine in the 90's. I lost my issue. Years later I was gifted with a box of old cross stitch magazines when my friend gave up stitching. I was so excited to find "the" issue in that box! My friend, Liz, lost her battle with cancer last month. I always think of her when I look at this piece!




I wish I could turn the clock back to Friday at 5pm! How come the weekends go twice as fast as 2 days of work??? I'm not ready to go back to the office tomorrow....tax time sucks... The good thing is it's one day closer to March 1 when my daughter & granddaughter arrive for a weeks visit! I can not wait!!! I get to be Mom & Gramma for 7 whole days! Cook for them. Do their laundry. Go shopping. Go to the beach. Kiss them good night. Kiss them good morning. See the light in their eyes. Hold them. I can not wait!!! Come on Monday!!!

I'm off to stitch for another hour~
Stay safe!
Happy Valentine's Day!
Thanks for stopping by!
xoxo
~~Martha~~

Good intentions....

I have the day and the house and the computer to my self today! Here is a quick update!
From Sunday Stitching, Julia & Patty discussing their next project!!




Serious stitchers stitching....



My first Finish of 2008




My start on Pretty Pumpkins..... remember my stitching goals? To finish more than I start? Well, I'm behind!


My second start of the year.... They Came from Afar. This is fun to work on, I love watching the Kings robe come to life!



An update on CDC... I am having the BEST time stitching on this piece!



Our Sea Grape Chapter of EGA had their annual luncheon this past Saturday. Here is a picture of some of the Luncheon-ers!



Dallas Cowboys Christmas ornament


Not much new going on with me.... Work is work.... Too busy. My Christmas decor is ALL still up.... company is coming to visit the first of Feb. At this stage of the game, I'm wondering just HOW long I can get away with leaving it all up??? If I never took it down, look how far ahead of the game I would be come next Christmas! Guess I had best get busy and bring the boxes in from the garage.
I'd much rather go stitchin'.... or take a nap....
Stay safe!
xoxo
~~Martha~~

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year! I wish you all a safe, healthy and prosperous 2008!

I'm not one to make New Years Resolutions. I hate to disappoint people!
I have made a few stitching goals:
1. To finish more than I start
2. To start and finish Pretty Pumpkins
3. To start and finish 3 Kings
4. To have my holiday stitching done prior to Thanksgiving

My other goals are:
Read more, lose 40 pounds, save more, work less, blog more, deal with turning 50 in 2008...!
We will see how it all goes!

Our Christmas was wonderful. We spent the day with friends. Both of us sure missed our kids and grand kids this year and decided that this could be the last time we spend Christmas in warm, sunny Florida for a while. We want to see the grand kids on Christmas and it is easier for us to travel than it is for the kids, so one year we will be in Michigan (brrrr!!!) and one year in Oklahoma (brrrr!!!!). Was there any real difference in the weather between the 2? How about the flight delays?? I'm going to be shopping at the Salvation Army for coats and warm clothes! I wonder if I can convince the kids to have Christmas in July??? I'm willing to do this for the grand kids... don't tell their parents!

We did something different for our friends this year for Christmas. I thought and thought about what I could give. We all have more "stuff" than we know what to do with.... What can we all use more of?? Time. How can I give Time?? We spent the weekend of Christmas cooking! We made chili, veggie soup, meatloaf, pumpkin bars, chocolate sheet cakes, seasoned crackers, cheesy biscuits and peanut butter balls. I sprinkled a bit of thyme in each dish.... Bagged everything in family style portions with my food saver and gave each family at least 3 meals. My boss had Time to spend with his busy family. Our friends had Time to stitch or sew or read or relax or travel. I'm so glad we did this. Everyone was very appreciative. I'm planning next years menu! I will keep my eyes open for the perfect presentation containers during the year.

Photos for your viewing pleasure!



Ruby's tassel! I had planned to give Ruby a tassel along with her Christmas Ornament (see last post!), so this guy was on her gifty bag! We spent the day today with Bill & Ruby. We always enjoy our time with them.



Ruby collects Christmas Trees. Her display is so beautiful, I just had to share it with you.



I promised a picture of the lanai tree. I tried to get photos of the one and only Dallas Cowboys ornie, but it came out way to blurry! I'm sorry if I lead you to believe we had a bunch of them! Just one! Also just one University of Oklahoma ornie too! Those 2 are very special to me as they are the only ones my DH will put on the tree.....



Doesn't this just make you smile?? Miss Marissa, granddaughter of our friends we spent Christmas day with (little sister to Richard with the spoons in a previous post)! Miss Marissa got finger paints for Christmas. Miss Marissa thought it would be fun to finger paint her body while the rest of us ate our Christmas dinner!! We laughed so hard! Her Daddy had a hard time getting hold of her!




Saturday was the End of Year Stitching Party with Susan Greening Davis. We had a great time with a great project. I have finished all the stitching on the project piece. Now I have to put it together... I'm construction challenged, but hope to have this done done by the end of the month. Guess I should add it to my goals!

I have my Steamy Sunday Stitching ladies here this Sunday. I'm looking forward to this. Guess I will not start the diet until the 7th!

Thanks to all who have stopped by my blog & left comments. I love them! You guys are the best!!!

Stay safe! Be well! Stitch lots! Be happy!
Enjoy!
xoxo
~~Martha~~

Long time no post!

But the good news is Hubby finally has a job & he is on the computer all day, most every day! Yippee! To celebrate, I bought more Needle Necessities threads! Gotta love it!

I have finished my holiday stitching and only have one piece left to finish finish.
The grandkids, EGA, ABWA, friends and friends grandkids all got the same thing:
The presentation:


Ornament for JCS 2007 Ornament issue.



I have been stitching on CDC, but no new pictures to show yet.



It has been a busy couple weeks at our house with Holiday parties and the hurry hurry run run of the season. I love seeing everyone and the yummy food and wonderful conversation, but, miss my quiet t-shirt no bra evenings at home! **No photos of this** thankyouverymuch!
We spent the Friday night & Saturday at a beautiful beach resort an hour south of here. Hubby is a Shriner and one of his clubs had a great party Friday night. The rate the resort gave us was too good to pass up, so we stayed, which allowed us both to indulge in the libations! The bummer was the weather. It rained sooo hard Friday afternoon, Saturday was rainy and windy. But it was still nice to get away and relax and we found some time to enjoy the beautiful beach! Kind of seems like an oxymoron to this Kansas girl... beach/enjoy/December!

Here is our room!


A view of the beach Saturday morning


I have to say I took this same picture with my phone & sent it to family digging out of the ice and snow in Kansas and Oklahoma with the caption to "Stay Warm"....

The main course from dinner Friday night


And desert! A Yule log! The meal was delish!!!! And the presentation and attention from the wait staff was first class!


As promised some Christmas decorations:

My Santa collection



The tree in the living room. The ornaments on this tree are either all glass or all metal. I'm weird.....



I need to get a photo of the tree on the lanai. That one is all the fun stuff... Wizard of Oz, OU football, Dallas Cowboys football, McDonald's, Shells, bells, Rusty Wallace, Santas.... I discovered that I basically have NO stitched ornaments. That is going to change this year!

Finally, this is the ornament I received at our EGA Christmas party this week. It is ceramic and has a peyote band. I love it. Created by our own Peyote Princess Melissa!



One last thought...
I just love the holiday decorations around town and want to share this picture of the A.C. Freeman house with you. Our Charlotte County Chamber of Commerce is located here. The main floor is restored and open for tours. This beautiful home greats you as you come over the Peace River Bridge into Punta Gorda. It is 1 block west of my office. Don't you love the porch??? I'm longing to spend a lazy afternoon stitching here!



Bed time!
Stay safe!
Merry Christmas!
xoxo
~~Martha~~