Friday at 1:30 pm

Let's start from the start.......
Yesterday was our monthly stitch group meeting. Always so nice to meet up with these ladies and see what the others are doing. Just before I was leaving, Dear Ziz, who is the newly installed Pres Lady, told me she had something to drop off to me.We live as you know a stones throw from each other. Look what she sent via Mr Z

I love boxes and this one is designed by one of my favorite people Susan Winget. But the reason behind giving the box to me is not that I love boxes, not a special day but ....

My name is on the box. Flowers and birds make it just right. The soft colors make it just right. But, it is just right because of my friend, Dear Ziz. I am ever grateful for having her for a friend. We can tell one another anything and we can laugh and cry together.... it is a good thing. It all got me to thinking about another important friend.... My Lu...my forever sidekick back in Rhode Island. I just had to call her and hear her voice. We too share those special laughs, tears and conversation.... I miss her. Okay, time to move on....I am sure you don't want to listen to me blubber on.
Here is my practice sampler piece ... Embroidery on Net...

excuse the loose thread ends, as I said it is just practice. I want to perfect the stitches then I will try a motif. This is all Nicola's fault... she sent me the book! I am glad though as it is another learning thing and I am all for learning.
So what about the heading? Well, thanks to Shirlee for putting me in touch with a Tatter who lives about a mile from me! I will be having a tatting lesson with the shuttle on Friday afternoon. Isn't it wonderful that we are all so supportive to one another? How we share all that we know and cheer each other and comfort each other. I picture a special place where we will all meet someday among the stars of night and clouds of day...won't we have lots to talk about. In the meantime  while we still are grounded, I am off to work today and hope that your day is nice. Thank you for chatting with me and for the kind words and emails.....hugs to all of you from me.
Quail report....nothing to report, but the other nest...I will tell you more about that tomorrow.

Hot and hotter

The day started warm and quickly became hot. By 4 pm it was 100. Needless to say, we are back home, inside and enjoying the air conditioner. Today we visited the Desert Caballeros Museum. Mr H and I really enjoy going there and brother liked it too.

I love this sculpture. The Cowgirl Up exhibit was wonderful.

I love that they have rooms set up and this one of the mother stitching......

A word from Madame Muriel....

This is where I am spending my time while the brother is visiting. Not a bad spot! I have the lovely angels to sit with and there is a large window....very nice. I will be back more often to post when the brother leaves. He is very nice. I interrupted his sun sitting today. I will try to get a picture. The other day, Gracie called Dear Ziz to see if she wanted more tomato's. We have more than we can eat. Of course when Gracie picks them, one in the bowl and one in her mouth....anyway, while they were chatting, the brother said he needed limes...for the Tequila. Now before we could go to the market to get some...of course, Dear Ziz, who overheard the brother in the back round,  attached a bag of 3 to the back gate. I knew she was a nice friend when she let me sit in the middle of her table. Well, Gracie has managed to get some stitching started ...so I will let her show you....

HAED Iris ~~ 28 ct white even weave~~DMC colors listed

This is about 84 stitches but since taking this picture, I have only 10 more to complete the first 100. Mr H said..."this will take a long time". He is so observant! Time to go and relax....I am glad you stopped by, I hope to get back to reading and commenting real soon.

Counting the days, tomatoes and the Madame

Just 3 more days and my brother will be here visiting.  This year he made the plans for his week here in Arizona. Before he arrives on Wednesday, I will need have to make a little room for him in the guest room. Yes, the Madame will temporarily move into our room while Alan is here. 
Our tomato plants are giving us plenty to enjoy..

I picked this large bowl of them On Friday afternoon. There are more to pick today ... last night I made a white pizza with them and it was delicious. I know, I always say I do not cook. I don't, but I do make the pizza. Today I think a nice cucumber and tomato with prosciutto de palma sounds just right.

Yesterday was a day for errands which I will say included in Mr H taking me to get a box of See's Chocolates. The winds have been pretty steady here for the last 2 days. It seems as though today will be just a breeze flowing through.
 I hope to get the grid finished today for Iris. I still have to get some of the floss. What? you think because Alan will be here I won't have time to stitch. On the contrary. We enjoy sitting and reading and I do get to stitch. I have taken the week of from work so there will always be some time.

And now a word from the Madame....
Hello friends.... I have been busy. On Friday after we picked the tomatoes, we walked to the next courtyard to bring some to Dear Ziz...

She loves Gracie's tomatoes. And I got to meet their friend Marge (on the left) who is a snowbird although she looks like Gracie and Ziz. There is no resemblance to any birds that I have seen. Anyway, Marge will be leaving soon so Gracie and I stayed for a few minutes to chat.

Mr H and Gracie went to the Mall and I thought it would be just too buy on a Saturday for me to join them. Anyway, Mis Zoe stays home. While she was out I thought I would help her to grid her linen...

We are using Easy Count Guideline. It can be a little tricky as it is nylon and slips out of the needle sometimes. It is better than thread as it leaves no lint behind on the fabric. I have a few more days in the guest room. Alan is not a snowbird, just and New Englander. I guess they are important people, Marge and Alan as they have titles. Mis Zoe is awake now... so I will say adios... that is Spanish of goodbye.... for now.

Gracie  and I say welcome to a few new followers and wish you all have a great day. Back to stitching more grid lines....

NOTE: Another great giveaway at Victorian Motto ...click here ... mention I sent you and you give me another chance!

That was yesterday~~~~~

and yesterdays gone......good old Chad & Jeremy.

The day is starting cloudy and cool. We had strong winds overnight... actually kept me awake for a time. Yesterday was sunny and around 80... a beautiful day for sure. My day yesterday started off wrong.....felt so very tired and a little off kilter. Went to get in the car and dropped a travel mug full of hot coffee all over the place. I did clean most of it up but I was on my way to our monthly stitch meeting. So Mr H found the mess when he woke. Always enjoy catching up with the ladies.......I did take some pictures but for now.....

Yes, it is Dear Ziz. She is working on a beautiful lady...I will have to ask more info so I can share. Always with a smile. Through the week I will post a few of the other ladies. I did not stay for lunch... Mr H and I had another stop at Home Depot... I feel like they will soon know us by name. Mr. H has decided to replace the garage door rollers. It is saving us big $$. As long as he is feeling up to it I am all for it.

It is good to see him able to do things again. He is taking his time and doing only 2 at a time... you have to replace the same 2 that are opposite each other together. After we ran our errands and returned home I began to feel awful. Cold sweats and just off balance. Mr H walked me to a chair and applied a cold cloth to my forehead. Then the chills.... I was nervous because this came out of nowhere. As I started to feel better and I tried to think of why...then I remembered something from the morning. When I was heading out the door I stopped to take my pills for blood pressure. What? why was I taking them from the section marked Sat....this was Mon... but off I went deciding I would think about this later. Well, now was later. I obviously missed 2 days of BP meds.... all is right now. Of course I got the lecture from Mr H.... hate when he is so right! Feeling much better today....and yes, I did take my pills.

I have been working on a few things...one I can not share yet and the other soon. One of the great things yesterday was that I got a package from Japan...that I will share tomorrow. For now, I think some breakfast is in order and some stitches before I go to work for a few hours....So glad you had some time to visit with me....enjoy your day.

True Friendship ~~~

It's the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter. Marlene Dietrich


Read more: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_friendship2.html#ixzz1mBW88js3



          Well, I did not call at 4am, but if I had the result would have been the same.

Yes, Dear Ziz..... to the rescue. When I found this treasure of a friend I was given such a gift. Both she and Mr Ziz....Tony... are two of the dearest people I have the pleasure of having in my life. When Mr H was ill and then with several surgeries and tests..... they were always there at the ready.

The under the house leak was finished on Tuesday. All the new pipes in and ready. BUT the plaster work was not. On Friday they sent someone out. When he arrived at 9 am and announced he could not get the job completed before 1pm...I wanted to just scream. It has been having the house in disarray for a week with furniture and holes in the walls scream. The problem was that the company knew we had to go for a medical test for Mr H at 1 and yet here was this quiet pleasant guy trying his best. I planned to have him leave and schedule another time...like Monday...but wait. Monday is the day the hot water heater is being replaced. What to do. It is getting to be 11 am....I know call the Ziz's. Tony assured me there was no problem in their helping out. Promptly at one Dear Ziz appear with a craft to do and a book. Always with a smile...I do hope you have a Dear Ziz in your life.....because I am not sharing mine!!

.

Happy to say the house is back in tact...no holes and painted. No sign of the mess. Finally I get to work in my room again.Some where along this week I managed to stress my right side of my back. Probably with moving the daybed and trundle. So today is a quiet stitch day for me. I had taken my Hearts SAL project with me but I did not get very far. MrH's procedure was quick and then it was just to wait with him while the anesthesia wore off. Bu I have managed to get the outline finished...

I choose to do the outline and stitching using DMC. I am still thinking of how to stitch the design....but that is for today.

Do you see the yellow tape around the pattern...

It is really a great idea. I thought it would help me keep somewhat of an even stitch around the design outline. A new addition to my stitching box.

If you have made it this far, then I hope you were not bored with my tale. Thank you for stopping by to listen to me and thank you for the kind words you send.....have a wonderful day.

A special day

Today is Mr H's birthday. A special one after all he has gone through these last 6 months. Happy that he is in the celebrating mood. I asked him earlier this week what he would like....

This is what arrived... new  speakers. His update time.... now we have another pair of speakers in the garage!

Dear Ziz and Mr Ziz dropped this off for him...

Very cheerful indeed. I am off to work today, but I will pick up a cake and we will have dessert tonight.
I have been stitching a little and will post picture tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

Friendship

A good friend is a connection to life - a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world.  ~Lois Wyse

I have mentioned a few times my dear friend Ziz.... real name Linda but we will not go into the name thing again! Anyway, I could not let my 1 year blogging pass without doing a little something for her. From the very first attempt at my blogging and to this very day she has been encouraging. She does not have a blog but reads mine and some of yours daily.  How can you not like someone who praises your stitching and brags to others about you! But all kidding aside, I count her as a best friend. She is a Kansas girl who grew up in Mesa  before moving to the West Valley .... we moved to these condos the same time!. She has been a tower of encouragement with Mr H  and caring about my well being also. Both she and Mr Ziz can be counted on any hour of day or night.  When I left RI and long time friends itwas meant to be that I found Ziz. This was just a small token that I stitched for her.. I made it into a box top.....

added a few beads to the flower centers and trimmed it with Ric-rac....
This is a feebie from Lizzie and Kate.....

Then there are our blog friends. Recently Kaye stitched a sweet Babushka design then offered it to us. I was selected and what arrived?

not only the pattern and some threads, but a 2 beaded kits and a few extras. Thank you Kaye!

The mail also brought me my Secret Pen Pal letter...

I am looking forward to finding out who this pal is in December.
Mr H is feeling a little better.... it is just taking more time than we thought. I tell him of all the kind words, you my friends, send to him... he really appreciates the thoughts.
I am off to work today....so no stitching. I am working on my Secret Santa exchange so there would be no pictures of that to share. I have also been working on some Christmas ornaments and started yet another project.... Where did I find the time!

So glad you had some time to spend with me...have a great day.