Last February Finish

I managed one more finish for February. This is another design by Amaryllis Artworks, from the 2005 JCS ornaments issue. I changed the color scheme just a bit, so that it is the same as the Poinsettia that I stitched earlier this month.



There hasn't been much stitching for me this week. I was too busy with business-related things to have much time to stitch. I've been incorporated for a year now, and have yet to do anything with it. So, it's time!!! Now that I don't have a full-time job eating up my time, I don't have any excuses for delaying my own business pursuits. Thus far, it's still baby steps for me, but I am making some progress. Just this week, we delivered our first wholesale order to a local shop. Next week, we'll be pursuing some networking leads and hopefully getting set up to sell online, even if it's not through my own site. It's a slow process, but at least I am finally moving forward with it. :)

Signs of Spring

Today is a good day... I made my first small steps toward a garden. It's too cold here for planting anything outdoors. We just had snow yesterday. But, it isn't too early to start some seeds indoors. Here are my very first gardening endeavors-- cauliflower, leeks, and yellow onions. With any luck, we'll have some sprouts in a week or two, and seedlings to plant in 6 - 8 weeks. The green sprouts behind the seed tray are some bulbs that I am trying to force indoors. So far, we have lots of green, but no flowers yet.



I grew up in a house where we had a huge garden every year, so there's a bit of nostalgia attached to this pursuit. My adult life has been spent in apartments, condos, and townhouses--places where vegetable gardens are not possible. Now that I've walked away from the suburban life, I can finally indulge my love of growing things. I'm not sure that we'll have any real success with it, but we're putting in the effort nevertheless.

Since fall, BF has been working at clearing off the corner of the yard where my dad used to have his garden. It's considerably smaller than what I grew up with, but should be a manageable size for the two of us. What used to be the garden has been untouched for the last 3 or 4 years, so it was quite overgrown. A lot of time and effort has gone into clearing it to make it usable again. There seems to be some sort of errant, invasive type of tree that has started growing there, and they have been quite difficult to remove. We're making slow-but-steady progress, and I think that once the danger of frost has passed, we will be ready to till the soil and plant some veggies.

February Ornament

The "crud" is still with me, though I am feeling quite a bit better. I still feel quite run-down and I'm sleeping a lot, but other than that, I'm okay. I've been able to get some things done around the house over the last two days, so I'm happy about that.

This past weekend, I took a break from working on Tradewinds and decided to stitch a Christmas ornament. The design is "Poinsettia" by Amaryllis Artworks, from the 2002 JCS ornaments magazine. I changed the threads to some red NN that I had in my stash, and GAST for the leaves. The fabric is 28 ct. star sapphire jobelan. Amaryllis Artworks has another ornament in similar colors published in another issue of JCS that I think I will do next.



I spent a couple of days last week on Tradewinds and have made a bit more progress.

Florida... stitching???

Florida was nice and warm, but there wasn't much time for stitching. Actually, that's not entirely true. There was time, there just wasn't quite enough light most of the time.

On our return flight, I picked up some sort of bug on the plane. All of that recycled air, combined with small children, took its toll and I have been sick, sick, SICK since Saturday. It's nothing serious, probably just a cold, but I am miserable nonetheless. I've pumped myself full of cold meds and haven't been good for anything other than sleep all week long.

Last Friday, I finished this little project by Pine Mountain. It's called "Autumn Harvest Days". It has a cute little pumpkin button that you don't see here, because I forgot to sew it on before I took the photo. :^o This little kit was a gift as part of an exchange from Becky in 2006. The stitched insert was already attached to the pre-sewn pillow cover, which made finishing a snap. All I had to do was stitch the design and pop in a pillow form.



Today, I was able to work for an hour or so on Tradewinds. It wasn't much, but I did manage to complete the stitching in the ship's lunette. I still need to do the backstitching before going back to work on the border.

Tradewinds Update

My ship has sails!



We've had ice and rain today, but tomorrow, I get to fly to sunny Florida for a break from the cold. I'm such a baby when it comes to winter weather. I can't stand the stuff. It isn't so bad now that I'm not working, but it is turning me into a bit of a recluse.

I hope Phil doesn't see his shadow tomorrow. I'm ready for spring!