Stitches and Celebrations

I have a small patriotic finish.

I hope to make a circle finish (not on a hoop though) with  it this week so that I can enjoy it displayed this year. I love the ribbon on the pattern envelope. That comes from Brenda Gervais's shop. I ordered some brown to do a couple of pillows one other time and it was delightful to work with, but this time I will go with stuff I have in my stash.

I have been working on Things Unseen stitch, and I am embarrassed to show the wrinkled status. It looks horrible, but I have used a hoop mostly and folded it to put in my project bag when not stitching on it. I am now done with Parts 1 and 2 of 3. Part 3 begins underneath the black checkerboard line and house. I am eager to finish it now as the end is near. It has embellishments of beads and buttons so whether I frame it or make a wall hanging with it is yet to be determined.

Along with stitching, June is a busy month with birthdays. Gus, Jeff, and Paul Allen all celebrated birthdays this month. The birthday celebrations quickly reminded me that I have been retired from teaching for 5 years. I really can't even believe that, but it is true. Sometimes it seems like yesterday and others like a lifetime ago. For many of the 31 years I taught, the birthdays came on the heels of just getting through with post planning. I really didn't even settle down until the birthday cakes were made and at least family celebrations took place.

 Jeff and Paul Allen are two days apart and I always made a point of them having their own special day. Family usually never minded because it was two desserts. I once even had a slumber party for boys out in backyard tents two days after I finished getting the classroom closed and packed. I was so tired and didn't relish staying up all night. All but two boys ended back up inside on the floor so I felt the need to stay outside and monitor the two. Let's just say I never had an outdoor slumber party ever again!!!

After the kids were older the school system changed to an earlier August start and I got to have a little breathing room before parties. Either way, I am not sure why but the beginning of June still seems a bit busy. Summer is in full swing so even though the calendar says it isn't even summer yet...it is indeed summer even before the kids are out of school. 

Longer days always mean filling them to the brim, yet I love the no schedule. I sort of still fall into that no schedule feel and it doesn't always mean I am the most productive person. I tend to jump around from task to task rather than staying on my routine.

Along with birthdays, Mother and I took a trip home to check on the cemetery. My dad is buried in a small country cemetery. I always like to go up and make sure the grass is getting cut. We also picked up my aunt and then as usual went to Monroeville to eat on the square for lunch. I take all the scenes for granted I guess and think every single single time I go that I am going to take pictures of the famous square and courthouse for y'all from To Kill a Mockingbird, but I never do. Next time!

Paul Allen and Katie went to a Braves game, that is THE Atlanta Braves for which we are all fans. So, this was the very first time in 27 years that we had a joint birthday party. Katie had bought tickets for Paul Allen's birthday and they were for the day of his birthday. Both go their celebration on Jeff's birth date. The kids  stayed at the Auburn house so they could take the dogs and they made a little mini vacation out of their time trip. Here is Dansby on one of the days of their vacation at Chewacla State Park. It is near the house. It has lots of rocks and Dansby was a pro at climbing them.

I thought that was such a cool picture. 

We have also been going on out on the boat each weekend and taking the dog for a swim.

It seems like Gus is always in a picture, so here is Lemony who is a bit more camera shy, but a mama lover.

Both.

The background is reservation for Eglin AFB...hence no houses. The dogs absolutely love these outings.

One more thing. Isn't this the cutest wrapping paper ever. 

I had some cute stuff from the lady that sells this at Christmas. Some of you commented on it then, but this is my favorite. I need to stock up on this when she puts it on sale. 

I will close it for now. 

Sandy

A Dog Story and Some Stitching

Gus, the Springer met his brother this past weekend. A rather cool story this is.

Soon after we arrived home with Gus, my son discovered that a former student of mine's fiancé had gotten a dog from the same litter. The student and his now wife were just graduating from Florida State, so they named their pup, Chief after the mascot, Chief Osceola. 

I couldn't believe someone so close had managed to get a dog from the same litter. I always talked about our dogs when I taught and we have had Springers since just a couple of months after we married. I had Murphy at the time the student was in my class.

We were out boating this past Sunday afternoon and had taken the dogs to the back of the bayou to swim along the shore of Eglin reservation land. We were slowly boating back home with the dogs in their usual position up front getting as much wind as possible. We happened to see the young man and his dog outside his parents home. He was tossing a ball into the water to tire him out. 

The brothers finally got to meet. We took a couple of quick pictures, but they are all basically a blur because the dogs were running. They had a blast. 

Small world!

I finished my gift stitch. I have stitched it before and shared it on here, so nothing all that new. The book is a very old book that I have had for decades and stitched many things out of it. This time it is for Jeff's birthday coming up. 

Modeled after this one...

Typical Golden pose!

Currently I working on Part 2 of Things Unseen. I am making progress.

I have three other rather large projects that I am just dying to do, so other than the month of July when I am going to work on Christmas stitching, this is going to be the year of large projects.

I just needed to start one of the other ones the other night, so I started a few stitches on my rose project. This was not on my list at the beginning of the year, but blogs and such got me.

I saw that Martina was doing a rose pattern and I just new I needed to do one, so off to Ebay I went a searching.

AND then there is happy mail!

My sweet friend Arlene sent me a wonderful present today. I feel as if I have arrived with my new "Stitching with the Housewives" bag. Priscilla and Chelsea have just made it even cooler to be a cross stitcher. Truly is a wonderful hobby.

Oh and my finishing is so much better than it was 5 years ago and I came across Priscilla's blog and realized there was a whole new world of stitching that didn't have to be framed. That said, I decided to maybe maybe maybe redo my monthly cottages that I first saw on that blog. I have had them in my kitchen each month for years now. I thought maybe I would redo and make a flat fold out of them. Well, since I had two June stitches.... Long story about how I didn't like the red one with the strawberries and stitched a new one with different colors which I guess could be peaches or oranges. Anyway, I took one of them to redo. Then I had a moment of sanity and realized I do not want to go down the rabbit trail of redoing things along the way because I improve. I will accept the old and keep moving. No more redos on them. I do hope to continue to improve!!!

So with keeping Tucker, keeping a house tidy, cross stitching, and reading I am living the life.

Loving the longer days,

Sandy