UFO Drawn Thread Toccata One~~WIP

I can finally show an update to one of my UFO’s…yes you read correctly. I worked on a UFO The Drawn Thread’s Toccata Number One. I would have show the progress sooner but after working on it I had to frog everything I put in and then some; not a pretty seen. Yes that is how I won the Queen of Frogging Award at the HoosierStitchers Cross Stitching Retreat back mid October. Hopefully I and continue to work on this now that I am back where I was on October 18th! This was a SAL for my HoosierStitchers group that was started on January 1 2005 although I did not start until October of that year. It should have been done December 31 of year. I know I am running a few years behind. This is the project I had to reweave some fiber into the fabric I am stitching on it and keep trying to put it to the said but I have GREAT stitching friends that keep me motivated to get it finished. I have three more lessons to finish and I can say it will be finished. Please pray maybe I can finish it before the end of the year and I will only be 3 years behind schedule!

Recap of HoosierStitcher Fall Retreat

Boy it sure has been crazy since I last posted. Last Thursday October 16 - Sunday October 19, 2008 I was at Camp Rivervale in Mitchell IN we stay in Otterbein Lodge. I went to a Cross Stitching Retreat Hosted by my HoosierStitchers Group and coordinated by Coleen George. Coleen did a FANTASTIC job…she deserves all kinds of KUDOS for doing this for us. I really needed a weekend away to just stitch and enjoy the company of my dear friends from HoosierStitchers. I did get a lot of stitching done until the end of the weekend. On Saturday night I found a mistake in my Drawn Thread (Toccata One) piece and had decided not to correct it but in the end it was causing more and more problems/mistakes & so my little green frog friend appeared and I WON the FROGGING AWARD! I wish I had not won it but it is going to be worth it in the end. My Toccata One is going to look so much better now that I figured out where my mistake was.

Retreat Recap…Hopefully I get this right:

Thursday: We started arriving around 5:00pm & we had a late Dinner & Coleen set up a ‘Spa Area’ where she gave foot bath/massage and also you could to the paraffin spa on your hands and feet. This was set up all weekend!

Friday: Liz taught the net beaded ornament class

. We all had a finish!! We stitched some more. Then we ate lunch then more stitching until it was time for dinner. Then everyone got ready and we went out to eat at Mr. Gatti's in Bedford -- it is a pizza/pasta buffet. Then some of us went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things -- I got some fabric & glue for my monthly Ornaments I am doing with my ILCS stitching group that Shari B is coordinating. Here is a picture of Liz busting a gut @ Coleen when she started doing her Betty Rubble from the Flintstones laugh…it was too FUNNY!!!

Saturday: Was a shopping day for Coleen, Cici, Debra, Ana, Deborah and they went to Evansville. The rest of us (Me, Liz, Michele, Marcia, Shirley Anne & Jean) stayed to stitch more! I fixed lunch & afterwards Liz & I took a walk around the camp and took pictures. Jean & I went to mass together @ St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church. The SHOPPERS first stop of the day was at a farmer's market in Orleans IN and a few purchases were made there. Then on to Evansville where they shopped at Stitches from the Heart shop. I guess it packed to the gills with stitching supplies. This was Deborah virgin trip to a LNS and had never stitched on "big girl fabric" so they had a wonderful time helping her pick out lots of new stash. Coleen even tossed Ana across the vehicle on this trip…she had unbuckled to get a snack. Snacks can be DANGEROUS…LOL! They arrived back @ the lodge just as Liz was putting dinner on the table. Then we ate and settled in to stitch some more & me to my FROGGING! I think Coleen was one the last one to bed. (Every Night Surprise…Surprise!!).

Sunday: We got up and Cici had prepared a breakfast that you would have gotten at a Spa breakfast. Then we stitched more & waited for Coleen to get up and started the dye class.We only managed to get a dye on the floor and on Jean's shirt (It also had a stain on it from my Zesty Taco Tater Tot Casserole) Coleen ended up dying her whole shirt) and on Coleen’s white tennis shoes. We then carried them outside to a table to dry in the sun. Then Coleen & Liz found mulberries on a bush and used those to dye with also and they also used the last of the few blueberries left from breakfast on Saturday, Coleen even tried the left over pomegranate but it just washed out. As soon as Coleen & Liz got done dying EVERYTHING they could get all their hands on with experimenting, Jean fixed our final lunch. After eating, we either stitched or started packing up. Then we put up all the tables and chairs and swept the big room and cleaned the kitchen. Needless to say we left the lodge cleaner than we found it…I guess that is the HoosierStitchers way!

On the way home some of us went to Fancy Works Liz’s Shop…even if Dianna (the other co-owner) had already closed because she had KEYS but as it turned out we got there before the shop close @ 4:00pm. Needless to say I was the last one to leave...@ 5:00pm!

Here is a picture of the group minus Anne. Andy took the picture (actually I think he took 12-16...2 with each camera. Andy was the caretaker @ the camp!

Retreat Meals:

THURSDAY DINNER --

Chili, cheese and crackers – Coleen

Veggie Tray and dip -- Marcia

Flourless peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies – Anne

Hot fudge cake with ice cream – Debra

FRIDAY BREAKFAST –

Danish/Donuts, Milk, Orange Juice -- Coleen

FRIDAY LUNCH –

Pasta Salad – Ana

Seven Layer Salad – Deborah

Egg Salad, Tuna Salad, Ham Salad, Croissants, Fruit Salad – Karol

Cream Cake – Ana

FRIDAY DINNER –

Mr. Gatti's in Bedford -- it is a pizza/pasta buffet

Taffy Apple Salad for Dessert – Jean

SATURDAY BREAKFAST –

Various Cereals, Milk and Cocoa – Michele

Fresh Fruit – Michele

SATURDAY LUNCH –

Tater Tot Casserole – Julie

Apple Salad – Michele

SATURDAY DINNER –

Teriyaki Chicken & Rice Pilaf – Liz

Guacamole and Chips – Michele

Dessert – cannot remember what we had

SUNDAY BREAKFAST –

Spa Breakfast - Cici

SUNDAY LUNCH –

Taco Salad – Jean

Dessert – Jean

And any leftovers from previous meals you want to eat, LOL

MISC –

Coffee, skim milk, sweet and low – Ana

Diet Coke, Regular Coke – Michele

Tea – English Breakfast and Darjeeling – Michele

Cocoa and milk – Michele

Microwave Popcorn – Anne

Sweet and/or Salty Snacks – Anne

Drinks – Everyone bring your own

Coffee, Tea and Ice provided by Outdoor Ministries

Triple Peanut Pizza & Banana-berry brownie pizza – Debra

I know since I won the Award at the HoosierStitchers Retreat last weekend. I have not picked up a needle since...I am reading instead, I'm ready the book Robin McGraw Inside My Heart it is a great book. Have you read it yet?

So that is my most recent update…I will be posting more pictures on my Multiply account!

October Ornament~~Finished

I made it another month getting my ornament done. I love The Prairie Schooler patterns but they take so much . I did get it done very early for this month but just have not had had time to get it posted. Two months in a row getting it done early in the month WOW! Shari I would like to thank you again for keeping me motivated.

I have the time to post it today is because I am off work today. I had oral surgery. Yes I had to have my gums grafted again. Everything went great! I am starting to have a lot of throbbing the numbing is starting to wear off. It will be worth it in a couple weeks though. This was the first of two procedures I will have to have done. It could not all be done all at once because I did not have enough tissue in the roof of my mouth. So I will have to go through this again sometime after the first of the year. I am on a soft foods diet.

I am going to a Fall Cross Stitching Retreat next Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday. It is going to be in southern Indiana near Spring Mill State Park. It should be an absolutely beautiful weekend. Mid October the trees are usually so beautiful!

Oral Surgery Scheduled

Okay, I have an update. I will be having my first oral surgery on October 10, 2008. Needless to say I will be taking that day off work. They are going to be doing a gum grafting along with something else that I am not exact sure what that entails. The second part of the surgery will have to take place after the first of the year because he need the tissue to rejuvenate in the roof of my mouth. He says there is not enough tissue there to do it all at once.

Please pray that it is not as painful as it was 8 years ago!

September Ornament~~Finished

Yes…Can you believe it I have my September ornament done early in the month? Yes mark it down in the record books!!! I am going to have to start getting these in ornament form soon; Christmas will be here before we know it.

Wow! I know you all know I had a MRI of my shoulder during State Fair and I did get the results back. Everything seems normal. I have even had a MRI of neck and still no explanation of why I am having MAJOR shoulder pain. This pain has been waking me up out of a dead sleep and I normally would not wake up if a fire/tornado alarm was going off in my ear. Needless to say is it bad and they are not finding the cause; just like my cough that the doctors have not been not able to diagnose in almost 2 year. I tell you I hit 40 and my body started falling apart!

Update & August Ornament~~Finished

Can you believe it! I actually got my August Ornament done early…to be honest it was really suppose to be my July entry but I did not get it done until August. It has been such a crazy summer that I just let time get away from me.

Rick has his back surgery July 17th and the herniation was much, much larger than expected. I am guessing that it had started wrapping around his syatic nerve and that is why he was loosing the feeling in his leg and toes. His recovery has been longer than we were anticipating. The doctor thought he was going to make it out to our county fair but that did not happen. Rick was EXTREMELY UPSET because he missed Doug showing his sheep. The good thing is that he is showing them at IN State Fair this week/weekend. Rick is doing so much better and has been able to be here for these shows. So if any of you Indiana people you can come see us in the Sheep Barn…we are in Section 18 pens 1-9 until tomorrow early afternoon. Doug got a 4th out of 9 with his Registered Suffolk ewe lamb Snowball!

I have had an extremely rough month. The medicine I was on for my knees caused my liver enzymes to go up so they took me off of it and OH MY GOSH…HORRIBLE PAIN!!!! I made another appointment with my knee doctor in Indianapolis and he gave me an injection today for my knee. He is also treating my shoulder and did not want to do another injection so I went for an MRI. I should have those results on Monday or Tuesday. He is thinking since my shoulder is not much better from March that I might have some kind of tear. Thank goodness they MRI place was able to get me in today so I did not have to drive back up to Indy next week. If comes back that I do not have a tear the doctor is going to allow me to use a facility in Bloomington to have the injection.

Stitching news I have not done a whole lot just the monthly ornaments for my ILCS Yahoo Group.