Long time no post....

Well, it seems that I took the summer and most of the fall off from blogging. My blog is about stitching, and I did very little stitching all summer long. It was definitely the summer of the book. It's been years since I've read so many books, but it felt wonderful. I think I got more into reading because I received a Kindle for a Mother's Day gift from my wonderful DH and DD.

Anyway, now that fall is here, I'm back to stitching. I have a few things on the go. I started Ida Mae Crow, and love every stitch of it. And, since I can't stitch on just one project at a time, I'm going to start a new one. I'd planned on starting the first in the Little House Needleworks' Once Upon A Time series, Dream, but my fabric isn't big enough to stitch the three designs separately like I plan on doing. I ordered new fabric, along with a few other things last night. In the mean time, I think I'll start LHN's Pumpkins that a dear friend sent to me all kitted up. The colors are such yummy fall colors.

I'm thinking of joining NaBloPoMo for the month of November. Since I'm stitching again, I think I might even have something to talk about.

Stay tuned for the month of November...I think it's going to be a great stitching month!!!

The Summer of the Book

This summer is shaping up to be a reading summer instead of a stitching summer. I haven't picked up a needle much at all the last couple of months. But, I've read a ton of books. My district library is sponsoring an Adult Summer Reading Program, and I joined on the opening day, June 1st. I read 11 books in June and I'm up to 9 for July, at this point. Needless to say, I won the June drawing for my library branch. I'm really hoping that other adults joined this summer, but in our little town, that might be wishful thinking.

Here's the list of books that I read in June:

Murder She Wrote: Gin and Daggers - Jessica Fletcher/Donald Bain
A Rose from the Dead - Kate Collins
Shoots to Kill - Kate Collins
Evil in Carnations - Kate Collins
Foul Play - Janet Evanovich
The Cracked Pot - Melissa Glazer
Eggs in Purgatory - Laura Childs
Thanksgiving - Janet Evanovich
Sisters - Danielle Steel
Death in Daytime - Eileen Davidson
Finger Lickin’ Fifteen - Janet Evanovich
Dial Emmy for Murder - Eileen Davidson

I loved the books in the Flower Shop series (Kate Collins), I'm not sure why I got behind in reading them. I really enjoyed the Soap Opera series (Eileen Davidson), and I'm already looking forward to the next release. I was a little disappointed in the Melissa Glazer book (2nd in the series) and the Murder, She Wrote book. The MSW book is the first in the series, so I'm planning on giving another book in the series a chance, but it will be a later one this time around. I've read all of the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich, so I've been reading some of her earlier books. They're fast reads, with a lot more romance than mystery to them, but I've liked all of them.

Hopefully, I'll be back with a stitching finish or two before the summer is over.

April Finishes...May Goals...

April was much more of a reading month than a stitching month. I'm starting to see a pattern for 2009.

My stitching finishes:

Little Women Series: Gardening - Little House Needleworks

Books read:

Murder of a Pink Elephant - Denise Swanson
Murder of a Smart Cookie - Denise Swanson
Murder of a Real Bad Boy - Denise Swanson
Murder of a Botoxed Blonde - Denise Swanson
Murder of a Chocolate-Covered Cherry - Denise Swanson

Goals for May:

Stitch 1 project from the list on the right
Start CCN's Bayside Bungalows
Read 2 book

My goals for May are pretty small, but this time of year it seems like we have more going on that really cuts into my stitching time.

March Finishes and April Goals

March wasn't the stellar month that I had hoped for in the stitching arena, but I did manage to finish a few things.

My Stitching Finishes:

A Very Merry Spring - JBW Designs
Photobooth Snowmen - Bent Creek
Summer Fling - Heart In Hand

Books Read:

Murder of a Barbie and Ken - Denise Swanson
Starvation Lake - Bryan Gruley

I didn't accomplish many of my goals from last month, but I did a few. I did stitch something off my project list on the left hand side - Summer Fling and I finished the Bent Creek piece that I started in February. I also read 2 books during the month.

My April Goals:

Read 2 books
Stitch 1 project from the list on the left hand side of my blog
Stitch 2 other projects that are calling my name from my stash room

I currently don't have a current stitching project, so I need to figure out what I'm going to start next. Maybe I'll take a look at my project list, and pick one from those.

The end of the month is fast approaching....

I'm not sure where the month of March went. It feels like it just started a few days ago, but in truth it's ending in just a couple short days. I don't feel like I've gotten much accomplished. I spent close to two weeks following doctor's orders of doing "nothing", so I'm sure that is the cause.

I do have a couple of finishes for this month that I'll post tomorrow. Lately, we've been losing power on a regular basis (thunderstorms), so I've put off doing too much with uploading pictures.

I'll be back at some point tomorrow...with pictures!!

February Finishes & March Goals

My February finishes:

Little Women Series: Baking - Little House Needleworks
Seasonal Sampler Zipper - Bent Creek
A Chicky Easter - Lizzie Kate

WIP:

Photobooth Snowmen - Bent Creek

Books Read:

Murder of a Snake in the Grass - Denise Swanson

Goals for March:

Finish Photobooth Snowmen
Stitch two Christmas ornaments
Stitch one project from my list on the sidebar
Read two books

Looking over my goals for February, I did 3 of the 4. I stitched LHN's Baking, and stitched an older Bent Creek Zipper from my stash. I have all of the Zippers, from years ago, but haven't stitched very many of them. And, I did read the fourth book in the Scumble River series.

I haven't bought much of the new market releases, at least compared to previous years. But, of what I bought, I was able to stitch one of the kits, the Lizzie Kate project, the week after it arrived and have started Photobooth Snowmen. Usually, at least it seems like it, I buy a ton of new market releases and then only stitch a few of them - months later.

January Finishes...February Goals...

My stitching finishes for January:

Be Jolly/Be Blox - Lizzie Kate
Thanksgiving Sampler - Heart In Hand

Books read during January:

Thai Die - Monica Ferris
Plum Spooky - Janet Evanovich
Murder of a Small-Town Honey - Denise Swanson
Murder of a Sweet Old Lady - Denise Swanson
Murder of a Sleeping Beauty - Denise Swanson


My goals for February:

Stitch Little Women Series: Baking - Little House Needleworks
Stitch Be Merry/Be Blox - Lizzie Kate
Anything from my stitching stash
Continue reading the Scumble River mystery series by Denise Swanson

As my lists show, January was much more a reading month than it was stitching month. We've been getting such cold, snowy days that it makes me want to curl up on the couch with a cup of tea and a good cozy mystery.

Pictures of my finishes will be posted later this week, when I have a little more time than I do today.