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2nd Quarter 2009 june 25, 2009 i have to be very careful here - i could almost scare myself. less than a week...but there is a reason for the insanity...it's quiet this afternoon - annie is ringing loose feathers which came in yesterday, kay is cutting circles out of wool felt - after cutting a pile of pea pods out of wool felt and i have managed to clean off a very large spot on the work tables in the back room...so i am striking while the fire is hot because given our luck of late - all h-ll will break loose tomorrow and this entire update thing will go flying out the window. today we booked airline tickets for a trip i have to make in early december to the other coast, put in an order for more beads for something we are working on, ironed out the details for something else we are working on - and of course i needed to pester cathy at weeks dye works...because she is so very kind to me...and what better way to repay a kindness than to be a big pest :) i have been here since 6:30 this morning and i actually feel like i've sort of accomplished something - which is not a typical feeling for a day like today. our little doodles is still here with us...eating and drinking and doing other appropriate things...so that is a good thing...daisy came for the day on tuesday - it's over 100 this week so the concrete floors are very cool on her tummy and she spent most of the day sleeping until it was time to drop annie off at the car dealership to pick up annie's car - then we went home and ms. daisy spent the better part of 3 hours tormenting the boys because she'd been gone all day and missed many hours of tormenting them. last night i arrived home - and the question is as follows: if your mama feeds you dinner on paper plates and forgets to pick them up before she leaves in the morning - how many pieces and in how many rooms of the house will she find them when she gets home from work? answer: MANY, MANY, MANY!!!!! it has really been a productive week - honestly it has...despite all the craziness...and so we will start right off. we have posted our newest on-line class from brightneedle - it's really beautiful and we are very excited about it. please read the description carefully and if you have any questions re the deposit or anything else, please don't hesitate to ask. lizzie kate came waltzing in the door this week...it's a good
thing...it's lots of very cute and a new christmas thing too...we love it... shepherd's bush - the new charts are here...we are waiting on
the new kits... and...because people have been asking about the 2009 breast
cancer piece...here is a little sneaky peak. we will be releasing this the
middle of september 2009. i have some pretty spectacular friends who have
helped with this project...and it's just going to be simple and fun and teach
you how to line a box without being too complicated and the methods work for
both paper and wooden boxes. we need a little calm and easy in our lives
and this is just plain fun. my thanks to trish, miranda & cathy at
weeks, judy from mosey n' me, paula from kelmscott, tracy, anne from
gloriana and for the women who work with me, never grumbling and who put up with
my hairbrained ideas. because of the complexity of this project and the
wood box availability - these kits will be limited. AND...i can't say too much right now - but there is another little treat in the works...i'm stitching it right now, designed by a very wonderful designer ..it's milk chocolate and pink...it will have a little pouch/pocket/something that goes with it...and we will be playing around with that in the next couple of months...i just need to get it stitched so i can get it finished and then put it all together - way, way, way sweet...and way, way pink...and for a pink cause that you all know i am so involved with...watch for news here. the world is a little weird today - two deaths - michael jackson and farrah fawcett - kind of hard to wrap your mind around - brings our own reality a little bit closer i'm afraid. have a good weekend, enjoy the summer weather...and we will keep on keeping on - the alternative is just not so good and we have soooo much more on our list of things to do :) june 19, 2009 it's been a long time - actually two weeks and it seems like a month...overwhelmed a little bit here ... but this too shall pass and hopefully we will get back to normal but i fear it is going to take a bit before our version of "normal" comes around again. for all those who have asked and those that didn't - no - we did not go to market in columbus this year. too much at home, too many responsibilities, not enough time and it just wasn't going to work for us - but we are definitely going to st. charles the end of september; hotel booked, plane tickets purchased and lists being made. there are piles and stacks and more piles and even more stacks and lists and more piles and wool felt everywhere and ribbons. bins/boxes/piles and stacks all marked and in various stages of completion. kelly has been home for a week and bless her heart - has jumped in with both feet and totally reorganized our distributor department and it looks just beautiful and is so user friendly...and yesterday discovered that she received straight A's in her classes at university of california at santa barbara...what a brain child she is - and what a great organizer!!! we've got lots of other things going on too...with friends far and wide that is taking a great deal of our attention at the moment...and we are getting ready to lose our little dixie doodles. her poor little kidneys have come to the end of their usefulness and it is merely a matter of time...but she is still eating like a little piglet and is comfortable...and we will let her go on her own terms - she never should have survived kittenhood and she's had almost 8 years...that's pretty good odds for her. we will be sad for sure, but we know that she has had the best and so it will be okay when she is ready to give up the fight. i've also started re-working the website...but, with the above going on - i think my brain is just on overload and so i'll take it little bits at a time and just "surprise" you all. i'm off to get this up and loaded...and see what else the world is going to throw our way this afternoon...so...without further ado... blue ribbon designs - we just love these... just nan blackbird designs - our newest may stocking shepherd's bush (and yes, everything from market has been
ordered and will be sent to us as soon as it is ready in ogden - and in the
meantime...) heartstring primitives homespun elegance needle delights originals - counted canvas - we are just
loving these gingher scissors - we are taking reservations for these -
they will be released september 15th. so - that's it for right now...more later - gas is hovering right at $2.90 a gallon, it's supposed to be 100 degrees by tomorrow, the pups were just here for a brief visit and have spa day scheduled for monday (and phew...they are stinky devils and need it very badly). i'm spending all day sunday up to my elbows in cleaning at home and rearranging the stacks and piles i have going on there too... the house of cards sort of collapsed on us...and we need to get all those cards back in the right order...and i know we can do that. in the meantime...there will be an on-line class up for next week (brightneedle and it's very wonderful) and i should have pictures of this year's breast cancer piece too - it's going to be very fun and very different - and there might be a new loose feather perhaps...and some other things and treasures if i can get my behind in gear here... wish all the fathers you know a happy sunday this coming and thanks for visiting...and i won't be gone so long this time - i promise. lgm june 5, 2009 first - the sneaky peaks of our october retreat princessa and the pea have arrived from back east - this is just one of three boxes and there is more description there - it is amazingly wonderful... princessa & the pea second - just another button company - we have received the
cutest pin packs...WE JUST LOVE THEM...they are new from the last quilt market
and we have been waiting and waiting for them to come in. and last but certainly not least - gloriana threads gorgeous new thread colors (four to be exact) from gloriana - and i've finally gotten around to putting pictures of all the new colors that we have... it rained here last night...and is supposed to rain again...but the wind is blowing and the air conditioner just kicked on - very, very weird...has somebody forgotten it's june??? june 3, 2009 weird weather - can and probably will rain sometime over the next three days - temps way down - muggy and thunder booming against the foothills...will make the orchard owners very happy - NOT - splitting cherries which are now ripe, splitting the apricots, causing the grapes to have to be dusted to prevent mold...just plain old weird weather...but then - it's been a weird couple of weeks so it all just seems to tie in somehow. it's also been frustrating...we made some changes to our phone/fax/internet services - and of course, our provided decided that my changes weren't good enough - so they threw in a few of their own and then decided to shut the entire thing down by canceling the wrong phone number off the billing...sending us two new modems - neither one of which worked - then after spending most of wednesday on the phone with them (don't even get me started on that experience) over the weekend they decided to shut all the e-mail down too - because there had been "changes to my account". yesterday i actually managed to get it all straightened out - thanks in large part of a very charming man who worked tech support - and i managed to keep my blood pressure under 400/250 and we got the problem straightened out. i'm one of those type of people who have no tolerance for this kind of "stuff" - i expect a car to run when i get in it and turn the key...i also expect my internet and e-mails to work when i sit down at the computer...and i also expect my website to be accessible when i want to do an update. with the exception of the car working (although it needed to be fed last night at $2.75.9 per gallon) none of the other things have worked right for almost two weeks...so i was chewing on nails and annie and kay were keeping a very low profile :) we should have photos of princessa and the pea (october retreat) in about another week and i can hardly wait for that...and in the meantime we are "peaing" along here - all things green, crown and pea-like are happening in the back room - it's grand. so...without any more fussing around...here we go in no particular order :) with thy needle & thread keepsake stitches little house needlework shepherd's bush plum street samplers dames of the needle and so...that's it for today - the glue gun is warming up - the featherweight is threaded and ready to go and i have about 10 hours of work to get done in 4 hours - annie is leaving early today - last school concert of the year - the kids are all finished as of half day on friday... we have things in-coming from just nan, blue ribbon designs and shepherd's bush...but they aren't here yet...so i can't scan them...but they are coming... annie's jeff graduates this saturday with honors from stanislaus state just down the road - we are very proud of him...and kelly is due home within another week for a week before she goes back to santa barbara for the summer and working down there...leaving us here by ourselves...and kelly will be an auntie sometime within the next week or so...sister terra is having the first baby...the rubber ducky baby...and we are all wishing them well and healthy!! things are going on here - but the back table is covered in baskets of non-completed items...so...glue gun is now hot :) enjoy the week - hard to believe it's june already...very, very hard to believe...
may 22, 2009 they predicted right...104 and 105 on sunday & monday this week and then in rolled back to the mid-90's and we were all quite delighted with that turn of events. the allergies are still rather ugly...and the mad desire to scratch your eyes right out of your head still prevails...but the weather is beautiful now and cools off in the evenings... the pomegranate tree is in full blossom and i think we are going to have another huge crop this year...last year's was well over a 100 fruits - and it got a little bit silly trying to give them away...we even shipped a few boxes back east to friends...it's amazing what you can get into a priority box - but each one wrapped in a zip lock bag in case of mass postal destruction. so...dogs are all good, cats are equally as good and if your
auntie connie brings doggala treasures when she comes to visit...the most
sincere form of compliment and thank you is to enjoy them fully - and thus: so...without too much further flopping around and because i'm heading home to work for the afternoon before bruce arrives home from england this evening and i have to go fetch him at the airport...here we go: erica michaels annie beez folk art m designs little house needleworks homespun elegance jabc buttons and...because we are never ones to leave it alone... SOLD
OUT so...we survived the 350 person feeding frenzy last saturday - we did hand peel 140 apples because the peelers wouldn't work and we made 14 apple "dump" cakes which were very good with vanilla ice cream. annie and i scrubbed pots and put stuff away and cleaned and replenished buffet lines until it was over and we staggered out at about 10 pm and headed home. this weekend we are dumpster diving on sunday and then having hamburgers for dinner and monday i am back at the piles that are now growing at home on every horizontal place in my breakfast room and family room and creeping out into the dining and living rooms too. i can't believe it's memorial day weekend ALREADY...this year is flying by and if i realize that then i must be more behinder than i actually think i am. and....that is one very scary thought. enjoy the weekend...stay safe if you are traveling...i'm heading out...and thanks for visiting this week. may 15, 2009 okay...kind of a slow "incoming" week - but we are sooooooooo seriously busy at the shop - there are literally piles everywhere as we prepare for the next retreat in october and a couple of other things that are going on the end of the year - but the pre-planning gives me a headache but the lists are never ending. i'm playing in scissors, annie is dyeing fabric, kay is playing in kelmscott treasures - there are bag handles to turn, gluing to be done, pincushions to turn, ribbons to be rusched, interfacing to be ironed on to things, wool to be rolled, it just goes on and on and on and on AND, it's supposed to be about 103 degrees tomorrow so that should be lovely so early in the season. annie and i are closing the shop a little early tomorrow - we are going to do kitchen detail for an auction with the guest list at about 350 people. annie and i help kelly's mom who is the food maven and we don't see daylight or anything but the bottom of a sink until almost 11 tomorrow night. we are making apple cake for 350 and yes, we are peeling the apples...you can only imagine. when this is over...that will be the last of our "social engagements" for a little while and then i can turn my attentions back to my home which, at the moment, looks like a sweat shop (see paragraph #1 above). bruce is leaving for a quick trip to york, england on sunday morning so i figure if i put him on a plane sunday morning and get back to the house - i should be able to walk thru the family room unencumbered by 6:00 sunday night (yes, it's that bad). i also have a guest arriving on tuesday - the guest room and bath are in perfect order - it's just the family room and dining room that look like a small nuclear device exploded. so...here we go - in no particular order - because there seems to be a lack of any type of order in my life at the moment - just tons and tons of "disorder" but it keeps me on my toes - sorta!! impie, hattie & bea pink pouch will be here in a week or so - we ordered a specific number and once we sell out - we can't get anymore...chart comes separately from the little pouch. order both the chart and the pouch and we'll throw in the linen for you.
sekas & company la d da - yet another wonderful chart from lori...they just
make me smile... little house needleworks blackbird designs - loose feathers and finally - one of my favorite things... and so...that's the end of the fun for this week...have to go off and put in a few more orders and then go back to playing in scissors and in the mountains of things we have to do around here. it seems that the retreat was just yesterday and it's 3 weeks today - and i know if we dilly-dally around...it will be october before we know it - so...ever and always onward...and i'll get this uploaded and move onto something else fun. have a great one...enjoy - schools are letting the kids loose and graduations are starting. annie's jeff is graduating from stanislaus state in two weeks...and so the summer officially starts... i will have more next week - i promise. april 30, 2009 and so...the retreat weekend is over for april...we are moving forward with october...the allergies are so bad i have gone from wanting to rip my eyes out of my head to new medications that make it very difficult to focus on anything printed by the end of the day BUT, i don't want to poke my eyes out of my head so it's a toss as to which is the better alternative? the retreat was a raging success (even if jackie and i say so ourselves)...baskets were lined, beaded fobs were made, the five little featherweights performed beautifully (thanks again to jenn, marcella and terry for bringing their sweet little babies to keep my little featherweight company) and we had some stitching done too...it was an amazing weekend...i actually think one of the best retreats we've done...and such a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment when sunday afternoon rolled around...it could be seen in everybody's faces. annie and kay were magnificant in the shop and we got some extra help from kristen and aimee since we were a little short staffed...it all worked...and it was great. october is going to arrive here before we know it...we will have pictures up within the next 30 days with "princessa and the pea" and for those who got sneaky peakies this weekend...it seemed to be a great hit...with all kinds of new techniques to be learned and practiced...i personally can hardly wait...this is one of my very favorites and jackie and i had such fun on sunday night making lists and coming up with ideas...and all those little bits of paper and all the notes have been copied and listed and sent to either side of the country so we both have all the ideas and shopping lists...and in the meantime...we have already started putting in the orders for supplies and goodies...october will be here in the blink of an eye...the older i get, the quicker the time speeds by... and so..because we've had some very important guests and because i was consumed with making sure everything was right as rain here in modesto...i have fallen woefully behind in my updates...but, here we go...and this should put me back in "the pink" of things. first...a tiny bit of spring here...our roses are out
now...the first bloom is always just wonderful...and i thought i would share
some of my early garden with you... and, in no particular order...here we go...and we thank you :) plum street samplers - i
absolutely adore these...some really fun stuff and the baby bun buns just give
me the giggles...it's all in the ears. as an extra treat, if you go to
paulette's blog at www.plumstreetsamplers.typepad.com
and scroll down to about easter time this year...lo and behold....there is a
wonderful free chart with the same bun buns celebrating easter!! way, way,
way tooooooo cute for words - it truly is all in the ears!!! midsummer night designs - great new designs... just nan the needle's prayse m designs praiseworthy stitches with thy needle & thread simple stitches - these have
been around for a bit but we just LOVE them to bits. finishing things: scottish
wool needlebook pages and so...off to try and get the eyes to focus...and to put in a couple of orders so that things will come in time for me to play next week. have a couple of special orders that i need to get taken care of...and some boxing and rearranging to do before i can go home. tomorrow night is devoted to a giant cupcake and many little baby cupcakes for the baby shower i'm helping annie with on saturday afternoon...right back at the same place we were last weekend...but in the other building...yellow and aqua...rubber duckies everywhere...and kelly is coming home tonight to help celebrate her first niece or nephew...so it will be wonderful to see her...and she has devoted friday to running errands for annie and i...because we are just a tweeny bit behind...but not too badly. what's another party for 55...piece of (cup) cake!!! enjoy the weekend...we are expecting rain which just might drown some of this disgusting pollen in the air...but then again...who knows. thanks for visiting...and off we go... next week we should have a few more surprises to put up...which will be fun...and my dear friend ms. katy is waiting for these :) april 16, 2009 so unreasonably windy for three days - there is nothing that is even helping the allergies now - there is so much pollen being blown around...and those liquid amber "bungas" - piles of them in every single gutter. it was blowing so hard on tuesday that the wind was literally blowing thru the shop...amazing. and, we should have 80's all weekend...go figure that! the wisteria on the gazebo have all blown away...and we have roses in the front yard...the first two opened this week...and the peonies and black iris are about ten warm days away from popping - and i'll get some pictures. the black iris always seem to open just in time for the retreat. ms. daisy found a rather large tree limb that had blown down from the backyard birch trees and it was quite amazing to watch 9 pounds of tiny dog figure out a way to give this huge branch thru a little tiny dog door without snapping any of the branches. she managed and then deposited said tree limb in the middle of the family room so i could tell her what a smart girl she was. the other two just watched her... speaking of retreats - my living room at home is filled to the max with boxes/bins/bags/crates and all things wonderful for millefiori which starts a week from tomorrow or the last weekend in april. we are so excited to see everybody and all we need to do is tidy up the last few loose ends...and we will be ready to greet everybody...and the scouting team starts showing up here thursday morning...and our "pre" scouting party is showing up wednesday afternoon from arizona...so it is going to be a very fun and very busy week and we are really looking forward to it. the on-line show has kept us busy too...so between that and some other things that going on...we just keep running and dancing and running some more. so...here we go...because i have some serious cleaning to do starting tomorrow. kay and i decided that annie can be the clean and polite one tomorrow - i'm coming in my grubbies and should be seriously even grubbier by about 10:00 a.m. tomorrow - and kay and i are going to rattle the very walls of this back room... kelmscott designs - we love scissors - we really love these
scissors...and how fun they are...quite a "hoot" if you catch our
drift...i know - bad, bad pun... cricket collection - nothing finer about spring than
something from cricket...makes me smile... country stitches - with thy needle & thread - we love
these...we just do little house needleworks midsummer night designs blackbird designs needlemade designs - we have these in shop now - i didn't
want to put them up before we actually had them...just terrific... and last but not least some fun things that we have figured
out here in the shop. these all start out with the basics as
follows: 4"x4"x2" painted, waxed paper mache box with
appropriate lining cotton fabric, bristol board, batting, interfacing and
instructions for lining the inside of the box (sides & bottom). everything
comes in a glassine package tied up with an organza ribbon. right
now we have four different designs with some more coming in the next few
weeks. the boxes are painted an appropriate color for the design on the
top and the linings are chosen to match. the only caveat is that they need
to be mailed in a box...so first class shipping in any kind of envelope is
pretty much out of the question and we suggest you plan accordingly. we
have had a really good time with these...and we've got some other goodies up our
sleeves too!! so...off i go to home...got a pile of things to do there as well as here in preparation for our grand event next weekend...we always look forward to these so much - all the preparation and the fun...and then, poof - it's over in what seems like a heartbeat...we catch our breath and jump right in to the continuing preparations for the next one. princessa and the pea in october is one of my personal favorites...and then something very spooky for next april...the world is an amazing place. enjoy your weekend and may spring find you - wherever you are!!! i'm ready for a little silver lining to my clouds please.. thanks for visiting...be safe, enjoy and give yourself a smile.
april 2, 2009 windy here...very windy...with a chance of some rain by monday. the canals are full of irrigation water - they are very, very full right now...and the blossoms have scattered to the four winds...the walnuts are dropping all the fuzzy stuff that is considered their "blossoms" and should leaf out very, very soon. the lady at the end of our court has beautiful roses already...not tons and tons but some...and the liquid amber trees have produced a huge amount of those disgusting seed pods...they are piled in the streets everywhere in modesto...the city decided that liquid amber trees with the tree of choice and it has been a incredibly prolific year for those seed pods. i remember as a child...if you dip them in mud and let the mud dry...they make wonderful projectiles to heave over the fence at the neighbor kids when you are playing war. the heavier the coating of mud, the better the projectile...and the ultimate was putting them in a sling shot and hurling them over the fence at the enemy...yeah, i know, i had a simple childhood. so...before i get to the new things...we had beauty
appointments on monday...got daisy and gatsby to stay still...by the time
nicholas got home he was having none of the posing for the camera... and
of course, while i had the camera out...the wisteria begged to have their
picture taken too...so here's a little bit of spring from california. so...here are the goodies for this week... little house needleworks country cottage needleworks lizzie kate la d da rosewood manor country stitches - with thy needle & thread prairie moon - we ordered these at nashville - i adore
them. they come with the chart and the goodies shown on and inside the
shadow boxes. you can find the shadow boxes at michaels (5"x7"
shadow box - watch the sunday ads) you need to add fabric and cotton overdyed
threads...they are as cute as can be and how smart...doing them now so that we
can actually be finished with them for decorating in the fall. and so...i'm done - it's almost 6:30 and i'm taking the baby girl home - she's been here all day because her daddy was in orange county this week...and she's been a very, very good girl...so it's time for her to go ripping around with her brothers in the last few hours of daylight. we are making lists and checking them twice for all the things we need to get done between now and the 23rd when our retreat guests start arriving...it's going to be a busy few weeks...and of course, i think i'm behind...but i'm really not... enjoy the weekend...it's almost here...and then we just start
again!! good night.
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