Quiet Thanksgiving Week

Going back to work after a week off is always a challenge. Being my second week out of the office in one month made it especially challenging. And with the day off for Thanksgiving, it was a very busy week indeed! I found myself just too exhausted at the end of the day to do much of anything.

I have to admit, with the holidays, I'm also missing my mother a lot and I know that is adding to my sense of not wanting to do anything. A little bit depressed.

So yesterday we decided to go for a walk on Fire Island to hopefully see the deer, something that always cheers me up. We always see a few deer, but this time we really lucked out and found a group feeding. They have set up feeding bins impregnated with tick repellant in an attempt to lower the concentration of ticks on the deer and limit the spread of lyme disease.

It was a beautiful day, so we decided to take the 1 mile walk to the lighthouse.

In the past, every time we took the drive, and then the walk, we said we would go to the top the 'next' time. This time, we finally did it. In addition to the beautiful views...

... the climb to the top made me feel great. I've lost 70 pounds over the last year, and the improvement to my health and stamina is incredible. I got to the top without needing to stop along the way to catch my breath. In fact, when we got to the top, my husband was the one out of breath!

To end the day we watched a movie and I forced myself to finish off the "B" cupcake.

That motivated me to immediately start a new small flower motif. You can start to make out the shape of the vase...

I am working to continue to build my collection of smalls to use for cards. I feel by the end of next year I will probably have enough different smalls that in 2018 I can give only handmade cards for almost every occasion.

I'm starting to make goals for my 2017 stitching and the above is one of my goals. I will share another next week.

Thanks for visiting.

Staycation

What a great staycation! We made a plan and stuck to it! First day off we went to JoAnn's to get fabric for my 12 Days of Christmas piece. Also did some shopping in Target since they were both in the same basic location.

Sunday we straightened up the kitchen and dining room.

Monday was tons of fun. We had driven to the eastern most point on the south fork of Long Island, but never the north fork, so off we went! It was a beautiful day so the drive was wonderful, we saw deer and lovely scenery. Stopped in a winery for a tasting and a glass of wine on the patio. So relaxing and pleasant. Then off to a moonshine distillery for a tasting. Finally, an amazing dinner in a lovely, quaint restaurant/bed and breakfast -- delicious. We were totally unrushed, and for the first time I can remember, we really took our time eating... It was wonderful!

Tuesday we decided to start the Christmas decorating. Yes... I feel strongly that the Christmas season should not begin until Thanksgiving is over... but looking at the hubby's work schedule, if we didn't do this now, it would not happen until the week before Christmas... and that is too late. So we bought the lights and strung them up outside, and just won't turn them on till after Thanksgiving. Brought the indoor decorations down from the attic. And moved the furniture for the set-up of the tree once they start selling them, most likely the day after Thanksgiving.

Wednesday, the hubby wanted a men's only day. Which gave me a day to work on the 12 Days pillow. First I practiced sewing. Then I unthreaded the sewing maching... watched the YouTube videos again...wound a new bobbin with red thread... threaded the machine with red thread... and made the pillow.

I hope you didn't look too closely, cause it is far from perfect. But in the scheme of things (being the first piece I have ever finished as a pillow) I think it came out pretty well. It is a Christmas present for the hubby's sister and brother in law. Good thing is they will never look closely. They are the type of people who will appreciate a hand made gift no matter how bad it looks. So, I am pretty sure they will appreciate it for all the love that was put in.

Thursday we did some more shopping, and had a fire in the house (in the fireplace). Friday was mostly relaxation. And Saturday we went for a lovely walk around a nearby lake. Then to a brewery for a tasting, and the hubby took me to do a little clothing shopping. I've recently discovered LuLaRoe. I feel like I've joined a cult. But I need new clothes after my weight loss, so, I guess it's not the worst thing in the world.

As you might guess, other than the pillow making day, I haven't had that much time for crafts, but I did finish the bunny for the card.

And got a good start on my next small birthday card cupcake.

Back to work tomorrow, so I am currently in mourning, but we have a vacation to Florida including a few days at Disney scheduled for March, so I have something to look forward to!

Thanks for visiting!

Week Off

Last week I seem to have taken a week off from stitching. It was not the plan, but each day of the week, I got into the train, or sat in front of the TV, and had no interest in stitching. I decided not to force it. When I was ready to stitch again, I would stitch.

Saturday, started our week off from work, and ended my week off from stitching. As soon as I sat down in front of the TV, I was ready to work on my new small project. It's a little card kit that came as a freebie with my latest edition of The World of Cross Stitch.

For two days of stitching I've made some pretty good progress. I'm pleased. And I am sure I will get a lot more stitching done this week when we are home relaxing. We have a bunch of small chores scheduled to get done. The plan is to spend a few hours a day on something for the house (like shopping, straightening out the kitchen and dining room, winterizing the backyard) and then spending the rest of the day relaxing and doing things we enjoy.

Hopefully, I will be able to post a few pictures next week of finished smalls.

Thanks for visiting!

Getting Too Old to Party Like I Used To!

Didn't have a chance to blog last week as I was at our national convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. If you know me you know I hate to fly, especially alone, but the flights were great! Going down there was absolutely no turbulence, so between take-off and landing I was able to relax. Even got some stitching done on the way down! On the way back, I was too exhausted.

I remember my first convention 15 years ago... I was out till midnight every night, and up for the 8am meetings the next morning. This year I knew those days were past. One night my girlfriend and I were at a party that was supposed to run from 5:30-8:30. We agreed we would leave at 7 or 7:30 the latest. But the music was so wonderful, we agreed to stay to the end, leading my girlfriend to say, "Oh let's live dangerously and stay till 8:30!"

The last night, the party was so good, I stayed till 11:30 (party ended at 2:00am). I could not move the next day! My whole body felt like I had been through a war! I don't know how I used to do that every night in years gone by. Thank goodness I took Friday off to recover!

So, as you might imagine, I did not get much stitching done this past week, but I have been making some nice progress on my Friendly Felines! Going to work on some smalls for cards for a week or two and then I'll come back to this one.

Thanks for visiting!