I Am Still Here

I found out a few days before my 49th birthday (May) that I have Hodgkin's Lymphoma. After trying to figure out what was causing my symptoms, the doctor finally ordered a CT scan and it revealed that I have a mediastinal tumor in my chest. One of the lymph nodes in that area had become cancerous.

I have been undergoing chemotherapy every two weeks since the end of May. I have five more infusions left and then I will have radiation.

This week I finally got a wig. Up until now, I was able to hide my thinning hair with a headband but it has progressed past that point. I will leave you with some pictures that my daughter took of me out in our backyard, yesterday.

Thank you to those of you who have contacted me during my absence. Your kindness means a great deal to me. It is always nice when people think of you, but at this difficult time it has been even more special to me.

My Third "12 Days" Finish

Above is the most my most recent finish for this long term project. I'm sort of running out of steam. I just haven't been in a stitching mood lately.

My younger daughter is home from college this week on spring break. I'm spending most of my free time in the kitchen making some tasty meals. She is getting pretty tired of dorm food.

I replaced my food processor that I've had since my kids were little. I got a new Kitchen Aid 12 cup food processor and so far I'm really liking it. Today, I'm going to give pie crust a try. Cherry pie is on the menu. YUM!

Enjoy your Sunday and thanks for paying me a visit.

Party In the Barnyard!

I just put the last stitch in my 8th (and final) ornament from The Prairie Schooler's leaflet Barnyard Christmas. I started working on this project ages ago. I really enjoyed stitching these ornaments. I just love the colors. Which one is your favorite? Mine has to be the cat. I just love the bird in the design.

I stitched my first design from the new Prairie Schooler leaflets. This one is from Sunny Days and I knew it had to be a birthday gift for my good friend Becky. The backstitched bees were so much fun to stitch.

Thanks so much for paying me a visit.

Maybe I Should Change My Blog Name?

I am thinking that I should just go ahead and change my blog name to The Prairie Stitcher. All I seem to stitch is Prairie Schooler designs. I do love them!

I finally finished this little santa from their Good St. Nicholas leaflet. This is for a special friend who loves dolls and collects them. I still need to do the finishing on this and that is on my to do list for the coming weekend.

Speaking of The Prairie Schooler, have you seen their new designs? You can see some great pictures as well as place an order with Mary Kathryn at e-handcrafts. Her blog is on my sidebar. Pay her a visit. She is great to work with.

Thanks so much for paying me a visit here. I really appreciate my loyal friends who leave me comments. You are all very special to me - my fellow cross-stitch enthusiasts.

Pear Tree

I've finally finished my second square of this series. I had to do quite a bit of re-stitching on this due to counting errors. I guess that is what happens when you try to stitch when you are under a lot of stress.

Thank you to all of you who left me comments about Owen's ordeal. I'm happy to tell you that he is doing very well.

Say A Little Prayer for Owen

On Monday, I was walking my dogs when the neighbor's two little dogs came bounding off their property. They had gotten out without any leash on them and came barking into my dogs faces. Owen grabbed one of the little dogs in his mouth.

The teenage boy who lives there came running across the street and proceeded to punch Owen in the head, in an attempt to get him to release the little dog.

Owen suffered a fractured skull from the forceful blows. Fortunately, his brain and eye are going to be ok.

This has truly been a nightmare and unfortunately the neighbor has refused to take financial responsibility. It looks like there are court dates in my future :(

Thank you for your concern for Owen.

A WIP, A Finish and Gifts

This Blackbird Designs piece (Blessings Be Thine) has been languishing in my WIP basket for far too long. I pulled it out on New Year's day and put in some time on it.

I am a pitifully slow stitcher. To make you believe this statement I offer up the following evidence. A stitching session of several hours produced the star in the lower part of the octagon, the ivy leaves in the wreath, and the curly cue down in the left corner. I'm declaring here and now that this will be a finish this year!I did finish my first of 12 Prairie Schooler 12 Days of Santa designs. I even put in the first few stitches on the next one. Anyone care to guess which number I am doing? I like to skip around as you can see from the WIP above.
Here are some pictures of the lovely gifts that I received from my friend Arcadia for Christmas.

In the first picture, the dolls that she made me a few years ago are showing off the new Renato Parolin book that she sent.
She also stitched this C Mon Monde design for me and made it into a lovely little purse complete with another complimenting pouch.
She spoiled me with three great French stitching magazines.
I hope your year is off to a wonderful start. Thank you so much for taking a minute to visit my blog.

Leaping Into The New Year

The clock is ticking down for 2010, and with 2011 in view, I've decided to make The Prairie Schooler's 12 Days of Santa my big stitching project for the year. I didn't actually decide this until I started stitching #10, shown below. I love all 12 of these designs and think they will make a wonderful wall hanging when all put together.

I am using a very striking red thread from Victorian Motto that was sent to me by the thoughtful Marie P. I plan to do all the santas with this thread. I've got a supply of my favorite needles handy thanks to my pal Vonna who sent a pack of my favorite brand and size. I even feel like I could stitch in a Parisian cafe thanks to my very special friend Arcadia who gave me the lovely scissor and fob you see in the picture below. She sent me some other lovely gifts which I plan to share with you in my next post.

Earlier last week, I found a package in my mailbox with this lovely ornament from Carol. It is from The Prairie Schooler's A Prairie Year. It is just the loveliest ornament and I can't stop admiring how elegant it is! Thanks again Carol. I look forward to having it on my tree for years to come.

This next lovely ornament came from the talented hands of Robin. It graced my doorstep on Christmas Eve and made me smile with its sweet simplicity, beautiful shape, and sparkly trim. Thank you again Robin!

Happy New Year everyone!

Merry Christmas everyone! Here is a collection of the ornaments I've sent out as gifts this year. I'm so happy that they've all arrived to their respective recipients just in time for Christmas day. Click on the image below to see them in complete detail.



Thanks for stopping by, and have a Merry Christmas.

A Combined Effort

I put the final stitches into this piece just last week. I started this back in August when we were on vacation in the Philippines. I knew at that time that it would be for Justine's boyfriend's family. They enjoy skiing and what more of an excuse did I need to stitch the 2010 annual Prairie Scooler Santa?

Last night, Justine and her boyfriend stopped by for dinner. He's been visiting in the area but is soon on his way back to Southern California to join his family for the holidays. The time was NOW to do the finishing on my gift.

Justine is much better at sewing than I am and she wanted part of the gift to be her effort, so she did the finishing on it. By the time she was done I was already in bed, but she knew that I would want a picture of the finish. Here it is for you to enjoy too.


(click the picture for a closer view)
Thanks so much for visiting.