On the road...day 2

What a lovely morning... sliders open and comfortable air moving in. Speaking about moving in~~~~~
Alan and Lisa travelled 500 miles yesterday. From Rhode Island into Connecticut, New York and lunch in New Jersey. Final stop for the night was in Somerset PA. This morning began with a text from Lisa at 5am AZ time and 8am PA time. Not sure where or when the first stop is but Lisa did mention "100 miles to Ohio".
I went to bed with coughing and a headache and woke with same headache. My plans for the day are minimal this and that and rest.

 I have some cross stitch stash needing a home spread on the dining table waiting to be sorted for picture taking. I just watered a plant in the kitchen and missed the pot...  floor successfully mopped up. There is swishing in the laundry area and next up is to make the bed...  that will be it. Coffee and Shredded Wheat finished so on to a glass of juice before switching to iced water. So, please keep good thoughts as Alan and Lisa drive along the highways to reach Arizona.

A chilly morning....

Oh my I am chilly this morning..... but as it did yesterday it will warm up. My cup of hot coffee is just what I need.

Yesterday my Shutterfly book …."Mostly About Me" arrived...it is just as I wanted...not problems. Although they can be a lot of work, they are so nice to create. I will just share some of the pages....
That is me at 5 months old on the cover...

The first page is a short intro

                                  The back cover is just 2 dried sunflowers

My Maternal grandparents

Paternal grandparents

sis and me

The Brother Alan and me

Me and me

Me and Denny...our wedding

I did forget to include a few things that I wanted...maybe another book? If you have the opportunity to create one... you should. I nice way to document things and pictures for yourself or as a gift. This book has 20 pages and these are only a few.....I am already thinking of another as I type this!

Today will be another stash look and remove day. I managed to do a fair amount yesterday, so I can only think today will be another good day. Some items I had already passed the last time. It is a good idea to rethink and realize that they should go.  I think some of the magazines will go to the library re-sale section. With this nice weather I may even get out to the garden to do a little cleaning today...or tomorrow. What is another day right. Still have not seen the resident bunny...will think that he just moved to a different home.

Very happy that the elections are over and maybe just a few more days of listening to it all. Happy not to have 9 commercials in a row. Glad you stopped by and hope you enjoyed this peek into my book. Thank you for your kind words and for your friendship.

Ho Ho and another Ho

Yesterday was another beautiful day here in The Valley of the Sun. The front door was still open at 8PM. I think we are finally in the Autumn weather. I was busy swishing laundry and baking.

This was a new recipe... I have so many I want to try. It is Honey White Bread. Nice crumb texture and very mellow in taste. Yes, there is honey added. This morning I had it tasted and it was still nice and fresh. The only issue with these homemade breads is that there are best on day one and acceptable on day 2 and so so on day 3. As there is only me here (right now) the bread does not get eaten quickly. But I will still bake even just for me.
The Santa Star is finally finished....2448 beads.

One is for me and the other will be riding the sleigh to sis Lyn. A break from beading for at least a week to rest the right hand from the process. I do love these stars though.
I have a day with no plans.... I will do whatever comes my way. Maybe a little reading. I should however begin to clean the garden during these cool mornings. I should but will I? I might continue going through my cross stitch patterns. Found a couple of Lavender & Lace.... never done and will not be kept.... and one that I made for my niece Elyssa when she was born, might hand on to it. I am serious about de-stashing. Then there is the linen...most are pieces good for smaller projects. I will hold on to some but definitely not most. I have 2 bins that will go down to one for sure. If I have not used it by now or stitched it I know it will not be. Crazy to hold on to when someone else can enjoy having it. Right Jo? She will be getting a particular pattern (more if interested). Well, onto making the bed and getting dressed. I want to get into the storage in the garage to find the next change of sheers for the living room. Then it will be ready for the winter/holidays. So off I go to try to accomplish something. Glad to chat with you and thank you for your kind words and for your friendship.

Where do things go??

Last evening proved to be very stormy around Arizona and here in The Valley too. Wind...thunder and lightening with pouring rain. Some areas flooded (not here) and there were reports of hail. For now it is over and the morning is starting to be sunny and comfortable but the forecast is for the temps to return to 90 for the weekend. Crazy weather for sure. The Brother Alan commutes from Providence RI to Boston MA daily for work and I worried about his train ride...but all went well.
I cannot find a few things...things that I need for my beading and such. Why? Well with starting to change things around here for the eventual move of The Brother from RI to Arizona, I have begun to move this and that. Mainly it is my storage of craft supplies. The second bedroom which is now his and was my sewing/craft room with a full closet of storage has meant that my storage has changed to my bedroom closet and the garage. I have begun to weed out many things that I will no longer need or want and will continue to do so but when I put something away I seem to be loosing it.  Getting used to the new storage is not easy ! There definitely must be gremlins who have moved in. Where are those small clear bags? What happened to the Tatting thread? Who has the hand held hole punch? the rest of this week will be trying to locate said items. Yesterday I rearranged one shelving unit in the garage and have a few kits to offer up. I am on cross stitch hiatus at the moment.

This Mirabella has linen and specialty thread and beads....if I have not stitched it by now I most likely will never. When I think of the money spent and it sits in a box.

These kits are also from that same box. Do not get me going on the many patterns that will also be going. I have lots of Blackbird Designs that are in the never to be used category. I just had to have them. I added quite a bit of paper to my recycle bin yesterday...you know all those free patterns that you print out but never get to.  My goal is to really de-stash this week. Maybe I will even find those bags that I need...of course once I go and buy them I will find them. So in between beading Santa and trying to convince the gremlins to give me back my things I will be in the garage the rest of the week.
Glad you visited today. Thank you for your kind words and for your friendship. I will try to report back in the next few days as long as the gremlins do not take me away!

A new beading project

The morning is starting much cooler than usual and there was rain wind and thunder last evening. More expected later today into the night. So glad that I decided to clean the garden of debris yesterday...less of a mess this morning after winds and rain. The pond water has lowered and I will definitely drain it tomorrow.

Yesterday afternoon as I sat I felt that I needed something to do. What? I have several projects at the ready! No, I wanted...more like needed to be out of the house... so off to the bead shop I travelled. These are the supplies for a wrap bracelet. I have never made one before and this is a really nice project. The owner of the shop, Zina helped me with the bead selection and showed me how to properly get this started.

Here is a close up of my project so far. My button for closure is a dragonfly...of course. I may go today to work on it there. The atmosphere is wonderful there and the owner is very welcoming.
I can see more of these in my future. A great way to use all those extra beads.
I really have been busy with the purging of my stash...

Look at these two old...old knit books! I have been knitting since a child so of course I would have old books. But these must go...as I have not used them since forever.

Here are some cross stitch that are leaving my stash....still more to sort through. Time for all these items to go. If I have not used them by now or already made something then it is time. I hardly ever stitch something twice. I found that I have the complete snowmen of the month collection by Cutis Bohringer. So much to sort yet.
Well, the sun has yet to shine this morning....very dull out there. This brightened my day....

Lisa sent me this picture of herself and the horse she rides...he is beautiful. Lisa loves horses and rides all the time back in RI and that is the one thing she must do each time she is out here. Her smile tells you everything. Speaking of Lisa...she and The Brother Alan will be here soon...39 days.... but who is counting.
Time to do a few household things before beading....I think I will go back to the bead store to work later this morning. Glad to have you stop by and thank you for the kind words and emails. Thank you most of all for your friendship.

A busy day....

Well, it seems this WIP is slowing down....could it be that my mind keeps wandering to many other things?

maybe to some of my stash....

could it be to the new stash that I picked up yesterday at Attic Needleworks? My friend LindaZ and I went to Mesa to shop and then for Mexican lunch...good day with a good friend. Well what ever the slow down, I will get the WIP finished.

While hubby Dennis and I put out the pumpkins...picture to appear soon, we had a supervisor...our dear hummingbird.

He likes to sit in the Bottle Brush tree and keeps an eye on his feeder...or in this case ...us~!

The day is starting out sunny and comfortable...out to work at JoAnn's for a few hours, then I will stitch...stitch and look at my new stash again........have a great day and thanks for stopping by to visit.