Bunnies Cats & Hummingbirds

By now I was hoping to post a finished Susan Rambo but alas, I got sidetracked by With Thy Needle & Thread's Mystery Sampler...the colors just grabbed me.  Interesting...today I saw another stitcher's finished Part 1 and discovered I had stitched only the inner 1-stitch border...didn't even realize there is an outer 1-stitch border as well.  I will get right on that tonight!  Here's my nearly-finished Part 1:

Here's what I picked up next Just Nan's 3 Violets Humbug.  It was interesting to learn that a humbug is an English candy of a certain shape.  I always wondered where Nan came up with that name!

I hope to finish, add beads, and assemble this weekend.

Here's someone who's clamoring for my attention by misbehaving (on top of the frig):

While little Maizie soaks up the late afternoon sun on her perch at the window:

I had hoped to snap one of the hummingbirds on the feeder, but they're still a little camera-shy.

I've been enjoying the use of my new iPad2, provided by my employer.  All the snaps above were taken with its camera app & I'm pretty pleased with them.  Not quite as crisp as I'd hoped but not too bad.  I'll leave you with a portrait of Curtis Willis in a brief moment of good behavior & wish you all happy needle crafting this weekend:

 Thanks for stopping by!

Bugs N Slugs

Ah, fresh batteries in the camera! I try to be green by using rechargables but they just don't seem to have enough power to take more than 2 pictures. Anyone else have that problem? Maybe the old HP camera is the problem.

Below are my 2 favorite subjects, Curtis Willis and his little sister Maizie, doing what cats do best. Right now Curtis is bouncing off the walls, but for this snap he was out like a light.

Here is a snap of some of our newer outdoor friends...Monarch butterfly caterpillars, munching on the milkweed plants near the front door. Can you find both of them?

There were 4 in all but they have since morphed into their next phase; so far we've discovered 2 chrysalises.  One apparently liked the receptacle cover for his incubating spot. Another one is attached to a fern frond nearby.  I hope I'll be around to see the butterflies emerge!

ere's what I've been doing instead of housework...plugging away at my Susan Rambo sampler:

For some reason the squirrel strikes me as looking a little bit zombie-like. I was tempted to stitch his eye in red....bwahahaha. I love this sampler!


Thanks for stopping by!

Do You Ever...?

...put a pot of water on the stove to boil...then go off to read blogs...and eventually wonder why you haven't heard the water boiling?  And tear yourself away from the sampler blogs only to find a bright red burner on high...but it's not the one your pot of water is sitting on...it's the one directly behind it!  DOH!!

That's what I just did for the umpteenth time.  Rushing around, needing to get to church on time for dress rehearsal for our Maundy Thursday service.  I just get so caught up in the blogs...so many beautiful photos, of samplers, pets, spring snows up north, etc.

I need to take a new snap of my Susan Rambo sampler; she continues to amaze me.  But I just received Rose Quaker & ooooh, it's a nice one too!

Wishing everyone a blessed Holy Week.

Maizie's Big Adventure

Hallelujah!!  Found little Maizie at the window, meowing through the screen....She's pretty skittish but looks fine.  Thanks to all who sent up prayers & good wishes for the kitty...they worked!!  She's safe again, PTL!

Breaking Heart

It may sound silly, with all the problems going on in the world, but my little Maizie kitty escaped to the outdoors this noontime and I am heart-broken because I cannot find her. Like most accidents, it could have been avoided, but it happened.  I have been outside searching & calling for 8 hours. There are palmetto thickets & a wooded area to the sides and behind our house so she may be anywhere.  She's so little and has been an indoor kitty since we rescued her last July.  Not even a year old.  Please if you have read this far would you lift up a prayer for us to find her?  She is such a dear sweet kitty, not a mean streak in her, and followed me from room to room, just waiting for a belly rub.  This comes during a time of work & family issues and instead of feeling strong, I am wondering why? why now? and how to deal with it.  I guess nobody said life was easy but when it's our little furry friends, my heart always hurts the most.

Susan Rambo Sampler & Cat Patrol

Another lovely spring day in North Florida....sunshine without humidity, we love it!  The cats are on Lizard Patrol, looking through the screen out to the deck where the varmints like to sunbathe.  Curtis Willis had his annual checkup at the vet yesterday & weighed in at 11.5 lbs; he felt like 50 in his Sherpa carrier!  Didn't much care for his shots but he sure slept deeply last night.  What a sweet baby he is. 

This is my Susan Rambo sampler in progress.  She's an addictive one!  I started her 2 weeks ago, using 1 strand of DMC on 32 ct linen in (I think) Clay but I have to confirm what brand of linen it is...can't remember!  The original sampler is featured on the current issue of SANQ.

This is the first piece I have ever started in the upper left corner (or anywhere other than dead center).  I didn't take time to measure (why?? I don't know!!) so eyeballed it & think I over-compensated.

Am sifting through stash with an eye to selling some old Prairie Schoolers on eBay over the next week or two.  Then off to get a much needed pedi now that it's officially sandal weather.  Wishing you all a week of good weather and happy stitching!

Beautiful Spring Day!

Today is so gorgeous! Doors & windows are open, the wrens are serenading, cats are basking in the sunshine...life is good!  Love a North Florida spring day when the sun is out and the humidity is not.  Big fluffy pink azaleas are blooming at our house, and dogwood & redbud trees are abloom all around the neighborhoods.
Maizie favors the front window with its view of a birdbath, but Curtis Willis sometimes thinks he has to depose her from her throne:

Can you see that little scowl on her face?  That's the reason I had to stitch this (Olga from Plum Street Samplers); the expression is identical!

Lately Curtis has decided he likes his Kitty Pi (free pattern from Wendy Knits).  First he had to show it who's boss by carrying it around by the scruff of its neck for a few days. Wish I had a video of him waddling room to room with the cat bed dragging under his belly!

If my rechargeable batteries would ever hold a charge for more than 2 minutes I would have posted this FO a few weeks ago (Little House ornament):

And the infamous boring gray sock, knit to match the 1st one of the pair, but a whole different size since I failed to remember that Sock 1 was knit with Size 0 needles and this one with Size 1.

This strange piece will eventually be a sweater. The pattern is named Elizabeth & is from a Classic Elite book for their hand-dyed Liberty Wool.  Very clever design, knitted side by side and all in one piece.  The band for trim and collar is shown at the top.  Once that is finished all will be steam blocked & sewn together. Hard to tell but the colors are eggplant, mustard, slate & pale gray.

I have a few other things in the works but have no more battery juice so will close with another cat photo (notice CW's lemur tail) and wish you all a happy week. Thanks for stopping by my little blog.