Things I Love

I love Quaker Samplers. Go to The Twining Thread to get information on a new contest based on these quaker postage stamps. The stamps are available in chart form. For the contest, you will stitch an envelope utilizing the stamps, along with a stitched "essay" on a theme of peace, stillness or simplicity. Then you will mail it to Ackworth School in England and in September, 2007 all of the entries will be judged. There are cash prizes.

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I love Autumn! Especially in New England. The leaves here are starting to turn color and fall. I can't wait to get pictures of Max playing in leaf piles in the yard. He has a little rake too so he can help Dad with the leaves - too cuteThe air is so clear and crisp. A big sign of fall here in Maine are the country fairs everywhere. Last weekend was the start of the Cumberland County Fair. I took Max to that and he had a great time, in spite of the intermittent rain. His favorite (and mine) was the bunny barn. I was thissssss close to bringing one home. The different breeds are amazing. My favorite was one that looked just like velveteen. But the thought of what my four cats would think of this stopped me in my tracks.

One fair that I didn't know about until it had gone by was the Common Ground Fair. Downeast Magazine calls Common Ground "Maine's most authentic country fair, uniting, as it does, old-time folkways with progressive ideas about living the good life on a fragile planet." Next year!

I love stitching weekends. This weekend I am going to Plymouth with my BFF Lisa. On the agenda is dining at the East Bay Grille (highly recommended if you're in the area). Saturday is the EGA Region Day at Pilgrim Hall. Way cool. Also on the agenda is a visit to The Sampler. This shop is under new ownership so we will have to see if it lives up to the stellar reputation the previous owner had. I hope it does - we always spent quite a bit of time there during our Sampler Gathering excursions, and I am feeling the urge for some stash enhancement. And hopefully LOTS of stitching! I am hoping to make a lot of progress on Frances. I would really like to get her finished and hanging on my wall. The weekend will be over way too quickly, I'm sure, but I'll post next week with pictures and a report on the Region program.

We'll Miss You Alice

Sam's great-aunt Alice passed away last Friday and we'll miss her very much. She was 96. She always had great stories and tell and she and Max enjoyed each other's company from the time he was born.

I had a great time at Patti's house on Sunday. We sat outside on the porch and stitched while chowing down on brownies and mimosas - It was heaven! We got to talking about scrapbooking and decided to make a run to the Patti's local scrapbook store, where I got some inspiration to make this for Sam to take to the service tomorrow. So not much stitching done this weekend, but a good one all the same.

She Beat Me!

My friend Lisa finished her Frances Burwell sampler, but she isn't online, so I can't even show you a picture! So you get to see my progress instead. There are a few rows to go after I finish the house row.

I have also been working on a UFO here and there, it's called Old Glory and is a small Shepherd's Bush kit that I've started maybe 4 years ago. I've been dragging it around in my bag and pull it out when I'm waiting around doctor's offices, in the park watching Max play, while watching a movie with DH. My Frances is on my scroll rods and floor stand, which I keep in my craft room.

Last weekend I took Max to the beach on Saturday and the Maine Wildlife Park, both of which were a huge success as you can see. The Wildlife Park was much better than the zoo we had gone to before and is only about 5 miles from our house - so we will definitely be going back. See happy kid pictures:













DH has been sick with a persistent, awful cold for about 10 days now. Which means he has been a persistent, awful pain in the butt. So between taking care of him and Max, I've been too busy to stitch or blog, which has been making me very cranky! But tomorrow I am going to Patti's house to stitch, so hopefully I will come home rejuvenated and happy and ready to take care of the boys.

Hey - Remember Me?

Well, I had vacation time last week and used it to nurse a cold (thanks Max) and to stitch! But before I show photos of my progress on Frances Burwell, I was thinking that I would show pictures of an upper portion of the sampler, because I think that it is just gorgeous! I'm fairly close to finishing the entire sampler, so probably won't post a picture until it's done.

I've been catching up on reading everyone's blogs, but haven't commented yet. I will soon! In our small office at work, there isn't enough staff to help out when someone is absent, so I came back to 15 dictaphone tapes, 2 new files with initial documents to draft and a huge file to be copied. Of course, my boss has also been busy since I've been back, so it doesn't seem like I've made a dent. I hope to catch up by Friday when he is out of the office. I was getting used to having time to read everyone's entries from work!

And some rock-my-world news, Max said I love you for the first time on Saturday. My boy!