Favorite Christmas Album

What are your favorite Christmas albums (not songs) by one artist/group? As much as it's not Christmas without hearing Bing croon, I don't actually own an album by him. He's on a number of the compilations I own, though. My top 5 are:

5. Loreena McKennitt, A Winter Garden
4.Vince Guaraldi, A Charlie Brown Christmas
3. James Taylor, A Christmas Album
2. Johnny Mathis, Merry Christmas
1. The Beach Boys, The Christmas Album

A Shameful Finish (AMOT)

Dear Loyal Readers,

There I was, doing so well with A Month of Thanks, and then I crashed and burned. Still, I had more posts in November than I've had in quite awhile.

To finish up the series, I give you a week of thanks:

24: Thanksgiving Day: I am thankful that I live in a land of bounty and that we could share some of our bounty with others.

25: Black Friday: Ever so grateful that I didn't need to be anywhere near a store. We had an uneventful flight home. Thankful also for the chauffeur we hired (he drove our car to and from the airport for us), which made the ride home with tired, hungry children more manageable.

26-27: Thankful for days of rest and recuperation. Saturday, we took care of a bunch of errands (groceries, laundry). On Sunday, the weather was nice, so we went outside to do some long overdue yardwork. We accomplished a lot, but we didn't feel rushed, and it was nice to be home for the weekend after travelling.

28: Thankful for our cats. They're little dogs in cat bodies. They were delighted we were home and cuddly for days after our return. They remind me to slow down and enjoy some affection.

29: Thankful for family, immediate and extended. Mine's a real mixed bag of personalities and disfunctions, but they're mine, and they love me. And I love them.

30: Thankful for my spouse. We met 20 years ago, and it always surprises me that we're not completely sick of each other by now. There were times when I wasn't sure we were going to make it, but we found out how to be a team and have made it work. For this, I am truly and completely grateful.

Crafting Together

Today is my mom's birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom!

It is from my mom and my grandmothers that I learned to craft. I remember making stuff for as long as I can remember. Grandma S. used to knit and crochet. I still have 2 pairs of mittens she knit for me back in the 1980s. She taught me to crochet granny squares. Grandma A. was more into glitter and glue. Over the years, we made a lot of different Christmas ornaments out of all sorts of styrofoam and beads. Mom would sew and crochet mostly. She also did some embroidery.

While none of them were particularly into cross stitching or rubber stamping, it is from them that I learned my love of crafting. I've started doing easy projects with the girls, to get them interested too. To that end, the three of us made these cards. The girls helped stamp the leaves and acorns. L. at first didn't want to share her paper. She wanted to stamp only red leaves on her paper. We finally convinced here to pass the paper around, and so produced the following background paper.

Today, I am thankful for being able to craft, especially with my family.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Campfires (AMOT 22)

Today, I am thankful for campfires (or "fire camps" as the girls call them).

My MIL held a meet-and-greet for us today. Some of the extended family came as well as some of the neighbors. Also included were her beau's kids and grandkids. I wasn't sure how this was going to go, but we all got along and found common ground. It was fun, and the little ones had a grand time meeting all their new "cousins".

In the evening, DH built a campfire (in one of those free-standing fire pit contraptions). I *love* campfires. We even had s'mores. The smell of campfires always brings back memories of my grandparents, Girl Scout camping, and summers with my family. They make me happy, and it was a great way to end the day.

AMOT 21

The girls are having a grand time in SATX visiting my MIL. They're having fun exploring a new house and running around a huge backyard. (We have a narrow yard in DC.) They're also having fun helping with household chores, like sweeping the deck.

Today, we spent most of the afternoon and evening at SeaWorld. This was their first real amusement park. Fortunately, the National Aquarium in Baltimore had given them a glimpse of what this would be like, so it wasn't overwhelming. Plus, there weren't many people at the park today.

Today, I'm thankful that my girls are adaptable. They like exploring. They're open to new things: new places, new foods, new people. They are very much go-with-the-flow kids, except, perhaps, when Mom says "no" to bringing home the Shamu stuffed animal when they're extremely tired at the end of a really long day. I am grateful that they adjust to things very quickly and enjoy new experiences.

Flying (AMOT 20)

Sunday, we took the girls on their first plane rides. It was a direct flight from Dulles to San Antonio, and everything -- and I do mean everything -- went smoothly. It's remarkable. The thing I am most thankful for today is being able to share in such a grand adventure with my daughters and recapture that sense of excitement and wonder that children have.

Gettysburg Address

148 years ago, Abraham Lincoln stood at the cemetery at Gettysburg and gave his most famous speech. 13 years ago, I took my first professional job as an archivist. Among the many experiences I've had, being able to hold this copy of the Gettysburg Address in my hands and share it with visitors to the archives ranks at the top.

I am thankful to be in my profession, which is endlessly fascinating.

AMOT 18

Today I am grateful for search engines. They make finding obscure information and items so much easier.

Charity (AMOT 15-17)

I'm in charge of my office's fall charity campaign this year. It's been a lot of work.

On Tuesday, we had a chili sale. I am thankful for everyone who participated in the event, but most especially for my coworkers who volunteered to cook and serve the chili. Volunteers are awesome!

On Wednesday, several of my coworkers turned in their pledge forms. I am thankful for their generous contributions.

On Thursday, we hosted "Denim Days". My office has a formal dress code, and so this was an easy way to raise a few dollars for charity, by allowing staff to come to work in jeans and pay for the privilege. I am thankful for all the people who got into the spirit of the event and had fun with it. (And nothing can beat a low-cost, low-effort fundraiser!)

AMOT 14

Monday was a beautiful day. The weather was nearly perfect. Two friends and I sat outside for lunch. The temperature dropped at night and was in that perfect range that I call "sleeping weather". I slept so well.

I am thankful for good weather, especially good sleeping weather.

AMOT13 & SBQ

On Sunday, I had three friends over for a crafting afternoon. It was bliss. The project I'm working on at the moment is on Aida with overdyed floss. Today's thanks is for the variety of threads, fabrics, designs, etc., that are available.

Which brings me to the SBQ: what's my favorite thread color? My favorite color family is the pumpkin and terracotta range of oranges. There is something about them that I find warm and soothing. Since I have to pick just one, I would say that WDW Sweet Potato is the best representative of this family for me.
The other thread I find myself using frequently is WDW Cadet Blue.

Refinancing (AMOT 12)

Today, I am grateful that we have a house; we're happy with our house and our neighborhood; we're not underwater with our mortgage; and that we were able to refinance yesterday to even better terms. I know not everyone is so fortunate.

Honoring the Fallen

And now the Torch and Poppy Red
We wear in honor of our dead.
Fear not that ye have died for naught;
We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought
In Flanders Fields.
In Flanders Fields we fought

"We Shall Keep the Faith" by Moina Michael, mother of the Remembrance Poppies distributed by the American Legion Auxiliary.

Catching Up (AMOT 8-10)

I've been in a grouchy mood the past few days. I've run headlong into school and medical bureaucracy over L's asthma medicine. I'm prepping for a big CFC event at work on Tuesday (yes, I'm in charge of my office's CFC this year). The time change has done us no favors. DH and I have been grumbling at each other.

So, time to take a deep breath and be thankful.

AMOT 8 - I'm thankful for old clothes, the ones that are like old friends. The ones you pull out of your closet weekly because they fit well and work for most outside-of-the-house situations. My favorite pants (in 3 different colors), my tall boots, my frumpy but functional coat, my red cable sweater.

AMOT 9 - I was delighted to be able to see the moon and Jupiter for most of my drive (in exceedingly slow traffic) to swim class last night. If one has to be stuck in traffic, it's good to have a nice view. The view was quite amazing. Here's someone else's photo.

AMOT 10 - I'm thankful for good friends. I had lunch with 2 friends today. We're having some friends over for dinner tomorrow night, and more friends are coming over on Sunday for a girls' craft day. It'll be a bit crazy, but it will be nice to see all of them. And to see great friend NJM at all three. I have a lot of wonderful people in my life. I need to remember that more often.

Deanwood (AMOT7)

Today, I am grateful for the Deanwood Recreation Center. How nice it is to be able to go for a swim and visit the public library in the same building.

Weekend Update (AMOT 4-6)

So much for blogging daily. Just one of the joys of having small children, I guess.

Friday - I was thankful for having a functional health care plan. We have a good plan through our employer. My wish is that everyone had access to quality, affordable health care. (Today's visit was routine in nature, not related to my antics on Wednesday.)

Saturday - I am thankful for good babysitters. We have a few that we like and use regularly.

Sunday - I've been known to say in the past that I wish we would stay on Daylight Savings Time all year. I like having the sun available later in the day. This year, for once, I was grateful it ended. Our mornings were getting a bit too dark, and we were having a rough time getting going in the morning. Already I'm feeling the difference.

Telework (AMOT3)

Today I am thankful for telework. It allowed me to stay home and rest my knee (and elbow) while still working.

I'm grateful for telework in general. I don't have a long commute, but teleworking saves me about an hour in prep and travel time, which gives me an hour to do other things without the girls being under foot.

Good Samaritans (AMOT2)

This is not what I intended to write about today, but circumstances intervened.

Today was not my day. I started my day by having to climb 150 stairs up out of the Dupont Circle metro. Ugh. I was at a seminar this morning that went OK. Then it was back to Dupont to go to my office for an all afternoon meeting.

Except, being the klutz that I am, I tripped over the uneven sidewalk just before the metro entrance. I did a full flying eagle face plant into the concrete. Ow, ow, ow.

Before I'd even fully landed, several good samaritans were coming to my aid. A couple of people offered to help me up. Others gathered my belongings that had gone flying, including my lunch. They stood by while I dusted myself off, gathered my addled brain together, and surveyed the damage. My hands were slightly scraped up, and my wrists, arms, and shoulders were jarred a bit, but my right knee bore the brunt of it. Amazingly, my favorite pair of pants survived intact.

I managed to get myself on the metro back to my office and up to our health unit. The kind doctor and nurse took good care of me, both physically and emotionally. The knee is sprained and swollen, but it doesn't appear at this point that there was further damage.

So, today, I am extra thankful for the kind and decent people of DC who, instead of laughing at my flying antics, showed sympathy and aided me when I needed it.

P.S. I think it's kind of cool that today is a palindrome: 11/02/2011.

Halloween Cuteness

Here are the girls in their Halloween costumes this year.
L. is a fairy princess. A. is a dolphin trainer.

Saturday night before a friend's party.

A. in the Book Character Parade at preschool.

L. at home after going out for trick-or-treating.

AMOT1

A Month of Thanks - Things for which I am thankful.

Day 1: I am thankful for friendly neighbors.

Last week, at Diversity Night at the girls' school, several parents went out of their way to say hi and introduce themselves. It really made an impression. Yesterday, during trick-or-treating, I was reminded of what a great neighborhood I live in and what great neighbors I have.

Another Five

I've got to come up with better titles.

1. Basil and the prospect of fresh pesto.

2. Attending Diversity Night at school and watching the girls really get into sharing the Pao de Queijo with their classmates.

3. Getting our holiday pictures taken (and getting the pictures we needed). L had a melt down once we got in the studio, and I wasn't sure we were going to get a decent one of her.

4. Spending the afternoon with good friends just hanging out, walking their dog, coloring, etc.

5. Having an hour long conversation with a good friend in Vermont.

Now if we only avoid the dreaded "wintry mix" this weekend, it should be a good one.

End of the Season Basil

Here's the last of the basil from my yard this year. I harvested it last night, and this pile yielded three quart-sized bags packed full with leaves. Two are already in the freezer. One's in the fridge and will become pesto this weekend. Yum!

There are rumors that it will frost overnight and that we might even get some snow around the area on Saturday. I need to bring my tomato plants in.

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Patch by Stampin' Up
Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, and Whisper White

200th Post

Well, Blogger tells me that this is my 200th post. Wow. Another thing to make me smile this Friday. Here are my five on Friday for this week.

1. Today is the birthday of my grandmother, my brother-in-law, and a friend from high school. It is also the anniversary of my cousin, who was expecting a baby due today.

2. My cousin's baby came early, so we now have another little girl in our family. She's a sweetie.

3. Over my lunch break today, I helped create Stone Soup in my girls' classroom. Oh, the joy of 1) working from home and 2) living directly across the street from the school. I used Brussels sprouts as the stones. The kids were totally into it.

4. Sorting through photographs. I love seeing how much the girls have grown.

5. Talking with friends that I haven't heard from in a while. Neither of them uses social media, so I have to make an extra effort to remember to reach out to them.

Another Five on Friday

It's been a rough week around here, so this one took me a little more thought.

1. Putting out my Halloween decorations, like this.

2. Discovering a new, quiet place to have lunch, the Hirshhorn Patio. It's just a few blocks from my office.

3. Showing the girls Dumbo for the first time. They really enjoy it, except for the weird drunken dream scenes.

4. Hayrides and Halloween crafts. (And discovering that L's costume wasn't working, so that we could move on to Plan B.)



5. The continued excitement of the emerging Monarchs at school this week. The big release was Wednesday, despite the wind and the threat of rain.

Five on Friday

It's been a busy week.

1. On October 4, 1991, I met DH for the very first time. It's hard to believe I've known him for 20 years. Reminiscing this week has been fun. And a very happy 20th anniversary for the people who introduced us.

2. On Sunday, I went to an alumnae club event. It was fun to reconnect and talk about my alma mater.

3. You are making me jealous with your pumpkin stitching. I'm enjoying seeing the variety of patterns out there.

4. Sleeping well. The cooler weather has been great. And we're in for a beautiful weekend here in DC. Yeah!

5. The girls have been studying insects in preschool this week. The butterflies are beginning to emerge from their chrysalis, which has the girls all excited. Plus, they're coming home singing the funniest songs. "Head, thorax, abdomen, abdomen..."

That's all. Enjoy the long weekend, for those of you in North America!

Five on Friday

Things that made me smile this week.

1. Watching the girls really enjoy being at a Nationals game.

2. The new baby on the block. (She's a cutie!)

3. Cucumbers (finally) from our garden. The girls ate them before I could get a photo.

4. Learning that a college friend had a brand new baby girl. (Another cutie!)

5. Reading Catching Fire in two nights.

Pay It Forward Gifts

At the beginning of the year, I signed up for a Pay It Forward challenge on Facebook. Here are the first 2 of the 5 handmade gifts I owe to people this year.

Butterfly ornament for Brenda in UT Austin orange (her school).

Zee pillow for the daughter of one of the other participants. I've made 5 of these this year: 2 for my girls, 2 for my nieces, and this one. They whip up pretty quick. I blanket stitched the edges instead of gluing them.

Five on Friday

Five things that made me smile this week:

1. Discovering that my office building still has a functioning mail chute. Bonus: Discovering that the patent for the original mail chute was issued on September 11, 1883.

2. A. receiving the "Potty Bear" at school for making progress in using the potty.

3. Designing, stamping, and finishing my Halloween cards. All in one evening.

4. Finding out that my friend Kim's new book has been released and that several reviewers think it might be a contender for the Newbery Award this year. {fingers crossed}

5. Spending Saturday morning outside in the beautiful weather playing with the girls.

August Birthdays

Wow! That was a crazy summer. It went by faster than a speeding bullet. I accomplished very little crafting, but I have bunches of photos.

Here are a couple from the girls' 3rd birthday at the beginning of August. I bought cake pops for their cake, and then realized I couldn't put candles in them, so we also had doughnuts. Everyone loved the cake pops.

A. above and L. below

My birthday at the end of August was less of an event. I spent the day in Chicago at a professional conference and had dinner at the Cubs game. The whole week was marked with sickness by everyone in the house and included Hurriquake 2011. Exciting in ways we'd rather not have.

Individual Highlights from May

L. walking like a crab in karate. (A in the background.)

L. at a friend's house.

L. in a friend's yard.

Peek-a-boo A.

A. driving

A. strawberry picking.

May Fab Five

My favorite pictures of the girls together from May.

Playing in the water fountain.

Drinking for the fountain.

Water taxi in Baltimore.

Playing "baby".

Post hair-cut princesses.

Bacon Broccoli Salad

I made this for a potluck earlier this week. Since I've been asked for the recipe and had it typed up anyway, I thought I'd share it with you. This was a result of last minute prep. Necessity is the mother of invention, right? I looked into my fridge to see what was left from last week's vegetable share and saw a ton of broccoli. Sure, I could have just steamed it, but everything goes better with bacon. This is just a variation on a German Potato Salad recipe.

4 heads of broccoli, cleaned, de-stemmed, and chopped
(or one bag of frozen petite broccoli)

6 slices bacon
1 onion, diced
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon sugar
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup vinegar (I used cider vinegar, because it's what I had)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add broccoli; cook until tender but still firm. Drain and cool.
2. Place bacon in a skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside. Reserve 1 TBSP bacon fat.
3. Add the onion to the skillet with the reserved bacon fat. Saute until tender. Add the crumbled bacon back into the skillet.
4. Add the flour, sugar, salt, & pepper to the skillet. Stir until well-combined.
5. Add the water and vinegar to the skillet and cook over medium heat until dressing is thick and bubbly.
6. Stir the cooked broccoli into the dressing. Serve hot or cold.

March Link Love

My favorite links from March:

The William James' quote from Lee continues to resonate for me, especially since my to-do lists have to-do lists. I too am a victim of Distractadon.

Both Lee and my friend Christine got me following the Happiness Project. Here's a thought from Christine.

As a mathematician and a librarian, I've gotten this question a lot.

I'm still interested in Jeremy's budget and financial advice.

I'm salivating over Marie's bread. How can you go wrong with Bacon!?

Getting ready for summer, GovGab did a nice post on Drive America's Byways, and then moved to a new blog site and forgot to migrate the content. Here's a direct link to the Byways program. Routes on the list include Historic Route 66, California's Big Sur Coast Highway, Colorado's Gold Belt Tour Scenic and Historic Byway, Alabama's Coastal Connection, Minnesota's Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway, and the Las Vegas Strip.

Do Overs

Since I went back to work full time in March, I have very little creative time. That means I'm not stitching, stamping, or blogging. I'm trying to figure out how to manage my time better so as to get more "me" time. I might have to start getting up at "oh dark hundred" -- which isn't likely.

On top of that, I have 2 or 3 projects that have fallen into the do-over category. I already wrote about my Lee's project, which I may be starting a 3rd time. I don't like the yellow thread I'm using. Then I discovered that I'd cut the fabric I was using for my nephew's sampler the wrong way. I'm about a 1/3 of the way done, and I won't have enough fabric length to finish it. And I think there's one more, but I can't recall which one at the moment. Bah.

I have a number of projects started and several more waiting. I have plans for a 3rd birthday party in August that I need to start working on. I have a gazillion things that need to be done around the house.

Stop the clock. I need get off for a while.

I won something!

CJ recently posted a giveaway over on her blog, Tea-n-Stitches, and I was the lucky winner. I'm very excited. Not only did I win the delightful Plum Berry Sampler from Bent Creek, but I finally figured out the name of a chart that I admired long ago but couldn't find its name or designer.

You see, back in 2009, the Pumpkin Patch Stitcher posted on her blog some pictures of her work. I immediately fell in love with the pumpkin alphabet sampler. Marjorie no longer had the pattern and didn't remember the details, so I was stumped. When I saw CJ's post, I just knew it was the same designer and was able to track down the pumpkin pattern.

I feel like I've won twice!

February Round Up

More links of posts I wanted to remember, from February 2011.

Natasha's designs continue to inspire me.

October Farm shared recipes for Homemade Fig Newtons and Poptarts (two of my favorite junk foods).

Stitch Bitch pointed me in the direction of the Pioneer Woman's Olive Cheese Bread, which would be tasty with October Farm's Sun-dried Tomato Pasta Salad.

And I'm totally amused by Kathy's tribute to lip balm.

Hmmm... lots of food links. I guess you can tell I'm not stitching much these days.

Ringing in the New

Several month's ago, Lee started documenting the blog posts she had read and starred from the previous month. I'm stealing her idea. And the title of this post from the first entry in my list. Here are my choices from January 2011.

Susan quotes Tennyson.

Karen V tutors us in Pillow Ornament Finishing.

Natasha shares some card layouts: 10-minute sketch and Silhouette.

John shares how to make Rootbeer Pinwheel Cookies.

Marie makes Quesadillas with a British twist.

Kathy shares Homemade Granola. (Updated with link to her new blog.)

Jeremy tells us how to get financially organized in the new year and kick our productivity into gear.

May Giveaway

Not mine, CJ's. She's giving away 2 charts. Go check it out.

http://tea-n-stitches.blogspot.com/2011/05/stitching-update-and-small-giveaway.html

9 From Easter

Here are my favorite photos from April.


The Palm Sunday Processional.


A and her Easter basket.

L & A waiting to go to Church.


L and her new best friend, the Easter Bunny. She kept following him around.


L and her Easter Basket at the egg hunt.


A on the hunt.


A still hunting.


L near the end.


Back home to play with our bubbles. L & A

Winter Fab Five

Dani started doing a quarterly top 5 of photos of her daughter. I thought this was a great idea. Here are my Fab Five for the winter.

DDL playing dress up.

DDL sleeping

DDA sleeping

DDA posing for the camera. (She asked me to take her photo.)

DH, DDA, and DDL waiting for the dolphin show at the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

And a bonus picture.

DDA & DDL in their formal school picture from this year. This photo was taken in that short time period between growth spurts that we have where DDL looks a lot bigger and older than DDA.

Recording Projects

The Stitching Bloggers Question for this month is:

Do you keep records of your finishes? We are so lucky to have so many record-keeping tools at our disposal to record our accomplishments. So if you do, what recording methods do you use? What do you think is important to record when you've finished a design?

When I first started stitching, I had a small yellow spiral-bound notebook into which I recorded information about my projects. Name, designer, who is was for, start date, finish date, and any comments about the project. Since I was mostly stitching with Aida and DMC, I didn't record fabric or thread.

I'm sad to say that I have no idea where that notebook went. It's probably still in the house. It probably didn't get updated once I moved here to DC in 1999. It'd be fun to go back and review the projects I did.

This blog, which I started at the end of 2007, is now the record of my projects. It's incomplete, but it's what I have. I keep the same information as before, plus fabric and thread details.

I would say that I'm a bad archivist, by not keeping a record of my projects, but the job of the archivist is to preserve records, not to create them.

A False Start

How many of you know this story? You have every good intention. You pull out the threads, the fabric, the pattern, and all your stitching tools. You put in a few hours of stitching and decide you have a disaster on your hands. Well, I have one.

I chose a 36 count flax linen to start my Peace 2001 project. The directions called for 40 count and one-over-one stitching. I stitched the lamb's face and ears. I tried stitching the white, but it disappeared into the fabric. I started the brown, and then realized I'd messed up one of the ears. I tried to stitch the yellow following the recommended directions of basketweave rather than row stitching. Then I noticed that I'd stitched too far with the yellow, touching the brown tail at the bottom. AND it was taking me for-ev-er to stitch because, even in good light, I was having trouble finding the holes.

Nothing about this project was making me happy. I don't have time to waste on stitching that's frustrating. So on my third day of picking this up, I finally decided enough is enough. It was time to abandon this project.

False start - March 17

But not completely. I decided what I needed was a different fabric. I traded in the 36 count for a 28 count. I stitched the face again, still one-over-one. I quickly decided that wasn't enough thread coverage, so I went back over the face, creating two-over-one, and voila, I had a project I liked again! I stitched this up in half the time of the previous attempt.

New start - March 24

Life is so much better when I like what I'm stitching. And when I can see what I'm doing.

Muffaletta Pasta

Today when I was rummaging through my refrigerator for lunch, I pulled out a bunch of different things that I wanted to use up. I'm not usually much of a cook, but in a Rachael Ray sort of moment, I managed to put together something that was O.M.G. delicious. It didn't hurt that my concoction contained the Holy Trinity of taste: fat, salt, and sugar. This definitely isn't health food, and there are substitutions that could be made to make it moderately more healthy, but this was definitely tasty. All measurements are approximate, since I was using up leftover bits.

8 oz. medium pasta (I used rotini), cooked and drained
3 or 4 heaping Tbsp of muffaletta salad mix (or 1/4 C diced olives and 1 Tbsp of olive oil)
minced garlic (to taste)
small palmful of diced lunch meat (I used pepperoni)
1/2 to 3/4 C of spicy spaghetti sauce (I used Arrabiata)
shredded cheese (provolone if you have it; I used parmesan)

Cook and drain the pasta. In a small saucepan, heat the muffaletta mix and garlic over medium-low heat until you can start to smell the olives. Add the lunch meat and saute until the meat is heated through. Add the spagetti sauce and just bring to a boil. Mix the pasta with the sauce and serve with a sprinkling of cheese.

Makes 2 servings.

Stash Sale

While looking through my charts for the older and better challenge, I found a bunch that I no longer need or want. I'm selling all of these. $3 for the first chart (includes postage), $1 for each additional chart. (Or $30 for all 36 charts.) Leave me a comment or email me at c dot indc at yahoo dot com if you want any of them.

Some of these have been stitched and have light pencil markings. Otherwise, they're in good shape.

1. Bea & Chris: Table Show-offs (Borders), unknown
2. BH&G: Cross Stitch & Needlework: Heart of my Heart, 1997
3. Classic Cross-Stitch: One & Only: Classic Designs in One Color, 1990s
4. Dimensions: Basket Collection, 1994
5. DMC: Cross-Stitch with Rayon Floss, 1999
6. DMC: Tassles, 1989
7. Gerta Bengtsson: Danish Floral Charted Designs, 1980
8. Graphworks International: Border Collection: Mini Motifs, 1993
9. Heritage Series: Puppy Love Stamp 1986, 1991
10. Hickory Hollow: A Potpourri of Basket Liners, 1988
11. Hillside Samplings: Wedding Sampler, 2002
12. Hutspot House: House of the Lord Sampler, 1987
13. JBW Designs: O, Christmas Tree, 1992
14. Jean Farish Needleworks: Wildflower Botanicals, 1989
15. Jeannette Crews Designs: Musical Alphabet, early 1990s
16. Jeannette Crews Designs: One-Nighters: 101 Christmas Trees, 1997
17. Jeannette Crews Designs: One-Nighters: 14 Little Bows, unknown
18. Jeannette Crews Designs: One-Nighters: 32 Santas, 1996
19. Jeannette Crews Designs: One-Nighters: 35 Cats, unknown
20. Jeannette Crews Designs: One-Nighters: 55 Holiday Motifs, 1999
21. Jeannette Crews Designs: One-Nighters: 74 Snowmen, 1998
22. Just Cross Stitch/Robyn Taylor: Quick [Christmas] Gifts, 1991
23. Just Nan: Red Hat Stitcher Marching Orders Sampler, 2003
24. Lavender & Lace: Santa of Forest (L&L #21), unknown
25. Leisure Arts: #2037: All About Borders: 155 Borders, 1991
26. Leisure Arts: #2359: Fingertip Friends for the Holidays, 1993
27. Leisure Arts: #2467: Tea Time Bread Cloths, 1993
28. Leisure Arts: #2792: 25 Bread Cloths, 1995
29. Leisure Arts: #2929: 36 Easy Bread Cloths, 1997
30. Leisure Arts: #988: The Herb Garden, 1990
31. Leisure Arts: 150 Mini Motifs, 1998
32. Little House Needleworks: Pinetop Lodge, 2003
33. Need'l Love Company: The Herb Garden, 1989
34. Sweetheart Tree: Teenie Tweenie #69 - Teenie Hardanger III, 2003
35. With My Needle: Acorn Sampler Sewing Case, 2003
36. Yvonne Reitsma: Victorian Heart Needlecase, Pincushion, Scissor Fob, and Ornament, pre-1999

March SBQ

For March, Lee asks us:

Do you have a favorite Irish or Celtic stitched piece? If you don't, what about a piece that represents your heritage? Or maybe a family tree style sampler? Think about it, then tell us the story of your piece and show us your photos, if you have them.

I almost didn't answer this month, because I was stumped for an answer. I'm not Irish, and I haven't stitched anything Irish or Celtic. I do have a book of Celtic knotwork because it's mathematical.

The closest thing I have to heritage stitching is my Sister's Kitty piece. I haven't done a family tree sampler, but I did write this meme 3 years ago. Maybe I'll use it as the basis of creating a Tree of Me (Bent Creek).

Lee's Challenge

Earlier this month, Lee challenged us to join her in an "older and better" stash stitching project. I thought, I have some of those charts she's talking about; I should participate.

This is the first project that came to mind. It was time to decide whether I was going to stitch it or purge it. I've had it since 1993 or 1994. I bought it to stitch for my true BFF Jen, whom I've known since Kindergarten. Sadly, with all that backstitching, even if I just did her name, I'd never finish it.


Next I considered this, but it's a dissertation, and I won't finish it in the year time frame we have. I still want to stitch it someday. Maybe when the girls move out of the house and I retire.


This was in the running.


And this.

In the end, it came down to two projects. One that's from the early 1990s and half finished already and that I still finding appealing. (I started this for a child who's now a teenager. Oops.) I've moved this into "active" workbasket in hopes of finishing it too (but for someone else).


And the one I've decided is my official project. I was really in the mood for some spring time stitching, and the Lion and Lamb theme called to me. I'm going to play with the colors to make them more spring-ish and change "Peace" to something else, probably "Joy" or "Spring".

So, what do you think? Is this a good project for Lee's challenge? My start date for the project is March 24.