February 27

I skipped a few days but when nothing exciting happens, there isn't much to talk about. I had a major headache for 5 days and nothing touched it. I took my tylenol, excedrine migraine and nothing worked. It finally went away last night.

I finished my February Cupid's Heart sampler from the Monkey Works Designs. This one took a long time to decide to finish and it feels like I'm getting worse on the hemstitching finish instead of better.
I started the March Sampler on Monday.
I spend 2 days getting all my stash re-organized and kitting up projects for March. March will be a month long Stitchathon on 2 boards I belong to so hopefully I can get some serious stitching done.

H & I were discussing vacation dates on Sunday. I was surfing the airline sites looking at flights and prices and of course they aren't cheap anymore. I am trying to get out of here on or around June 1st and when I told him I put in a return date of October 16, HE said it would more like October 27!!! I couldn't believe it! I'll actually get a REAL birthday in the USA!! Woo Hoo! Of course we still won't fly back together, we do NOT fly well together at all. So one of these days we need to go see a travel agent and get these reservations done! Maybe a longer vacation means I can participate in more stitchy exchanges on my boards!

It's been 90 here during the day and a little humid, so winter and spring are over.

February 22

NEWS!! Something exciting happened!!! I went shopping, WOO HOO. The first time since December I have gone off the compound and gone shopping. I went to the bookstore/craft store/computer store and picked up a few things to organize my cross stitch life and I found 2 issues of a cross stitch magazine I like to buy. Then I went grocery shopping. I wandered around the grocery store for about 1 1/2 hours, it's one of those mega/hyper/super stores so I looked in the household part of the store and found a CUTE baseball towel for my grandson. Several grocery items I hadn't seen in awhile so I bought them. I paid $5.06 for a 9.2 oz bag of Valentine Hershey's dark chocolate kisses. But I won't be going out shopping again any time soon since my husband didnt' like spending that long in the store. We left at 5 PM and didn't get home until almost 8 PM. I don't go out much but when I do, I take too long, so from now on, I'll just hand him the list, NO MATTER WHAT I NEED!

The internet is working better today so far. The message board seems to be fixed at the moment but I wonder for how long and when the next mess will happen. It seems to happen weekly.

I'm Excited!!! THE BOYS WENT BACK TO WORK!! Spring training is officially open! Not long now till opening day!

I finally got a notice that an order I placed from an online shop Superbowl sale is being shipped. That order was for beads and buttons for my blackwork SAL. Of course I won't get these beads and buttons until June but I will be able to add them at that time.

This is the progress I made on Scooba Dooba yesterday. Now it's time to put it aside and find something else to stitch on and get my projects for March organized.


AGAIN I wrote and posted this message at 11AM my time and it still does NOT show up when I view this blog! Finally at 4PM my time this post shows up.

A very intresting tid bit of history I read today:
1879 Frank W. Woolworth opened his first 5 and 10-cent store in Utica, New York.
That's where I was born and raised, I remember that store. The store is long closed now though.

February 21

Another very fustrating day here, PMS must be kicking in today. You can tell it's Wednesday and the weekend, the internet is messed up again. I'm afraid to reboot the stupid ISP box for fear it won't come back on again.

One of the boards I post on is an absoulte mess! We moved over to the new board and it's been so messed up almost weekly it seems. Why did we even move over there if it's still in test mode?

I caught those damn neighbor brats trying to drag one of my cats out of MY YARD again today. They were trying to drag poor Max out from UNDERNEATH OUR CAR! I went out there and told them to leave the cat alone. The maids or nannys or whoever they are were just standing right there and did absoultely NOTHING!!! They gave me dirty looks of course for yelling at those snotty kids. Then the phone kept ringing during the evening and it was more snotty asshole kids that play with the phone all the time. I so wish we could get the caller ID activated on these phones so I know which villa these kids are calling from so I can report them too.

At least I made more progress on Scooba Dooba today. I did set a goal for what I wanted to stitch today and I got 95% of it done. I'm pretty pleased.

February 20

This is the progress I made on Scooba Dooba over the past couple of days. Now I don't want to put it down. I'll probably stitch a bit more on it for a couple of days, it's very addicting.

After not feeling well on Sat. and Sun. I realized I don't have anything fully kitted up just in case I'm ever in the hospital so I'm going to have to get a couple of things set aside so all I have to do is tell my husband where the bag is so he can bring it to me if he has to.

I don't know what is going on with blogger but updates and new stuff isn't showing up. I also really knew how to put those blog roll things next to my friend's blogs so I know when they've been upadated.

Feb 19

I didn't feel well most of Saturday & Sunday so I just sort of layed around and stitched a bit. I have been stitching a bit more on Scooba Dooba since I found a companion piece to it. I showed it to my husband and he likes it so I guess I'll order it. I'll have to make a few changes to it though.

My clicky finger was a bit too active on Saturday since the new patterns came out from the Nashville Needlework show. I placed 2 orders for charts, an order for the new GAST & Weeks flosses and another order for some Dragon Floss and Dinky Dyes silks for the Wave Dancer Chart. I'm still waiting to hear from JJ's Collectables on my beads & treasures order from their Superbowl sale.

February 17

Another finished project today. I finally finished Oh Holly Night, the February San Man SAL project. It's stitched on 32 count hand dyed fabric but I do't know what kind of fabric or where I got it from, but I love the color. I used Needle Necessities floss, San Man Strands and House of Embroidery floss. I have decided to make this into a stand up cube.

Now I need to find somethink else to stitch on this evening.

Just as scheduled, the gardner guy was here at 9:15 this morning sweeping the patio, picking up the garbage and came back at 3:25 to sweep and clean again. I swear he does this to hide out.

That little kid was doing the screaming at the late afternoon wailing hour again.

Not much else exciting happening here.

February 16

Yet another boreing weekend here.

Last night I finished the Valentine project I was working on. Now to find something else to work on.

February 15

All things considered, it was a good day yesterday. I got the chocolates from my husband, and he liked the German chocolate cake I made, that's what counts. My internet connection totaly died during the evening, must have been everyone sending those illegal Valentine greetings.

My father got home from the hospital and is doing great. My 83 year old mother went out in a snowstorm when everything else in the whole area was closed to bring him home. My sister was waiting when they got back to help him get through the snow and get him settled.

While my internet was down I was stitching on a Valentine project called You Melt My Heart by San-Man Originals. I am stitching it on 28 count linen that I dyed a pale pink with assorted flosses. It looks kind of gross now but it's a heart melting and there will be another heart underneath the top one.

There was a Tea Party on one of my favorite boards yesterday. Of course that is the time when my internet went down but when it came back up I joined the fun. What a fun time, even though it was all in the mind it was great. Lots of great recipes for scones, tea and lots of goodies. Cyberspace is so much fun to get lost in.

My husband went to the beach today but I didn't want to go, I'll stay home and stitch some more.

Valentines day is NOT allowed!

It's forbidden, against the law, illegal! This article was in today's paper:

Red is Out Till Friday

Wednesday, 14 February 2007

VALENTINE’S Day is here, and it is another year of cat and mouse chase between the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice(religous zealot police) and flower and gift shops.
They informed us not to sell anything red until the 16th, said the manager of a popular flower shop in Mohamadia district. The manager instructed all salesmen to take out all their red products. We are not even going to sell red roses this year, said the manager. Although many flower and gift shops still sell Valentine products under the counter for a hefty price, this manager doesn’t want to risk it.
Last year his shop was raided by the authorities. The manager and some of his salesmen were taken by the police and jailed for one month.
Despite being only a branch manager having no control on the selection of products to be sold, he had to sign a pledge not to sell any Valentine products again to get release from the prison. In the shop, all things red were conspicuous by their absence. During the 20 minutes The Saudi Gazette spent at the store, three female customers asked for either red roses or Valentine gifts. One customer wanted a gift, another wanted to commission the store to decorate her engagement reception red, while the third wanted a red bridal bouquet but were all refused.
However, not all flower shops have been turning back their customers. Some are selling red roses under the counter. A SR5 red rose is sold between SR30-50 on Valentine’s Day.
We take orders from our long time customers through the phone. We make the bouquets in our living quarters then we deliver the bouquet to the customer’s house, explained one florist. The stories that are told by florists and gift wrapper designers sound strange. One of the most popular ways in which the opposite sexes exchange gifts on Valentine’s Day or any other days is one person orders the gift to be wrapped in a store then the second party comes the next day to pick it up.

My father's surgery went fine yesterday, after pacing and worrying all day I called my sister, who was at the hospital with him. She said all went well and he was feeling ok. He should be able to go home on Wednesday. A new heart pumper for Valentine's Day. I just hope they don't get the bad storm that is predicted for them.

It's Wednesday so the weekend is here!!

What a sweet husband I have. When I went to sit down in my computer chair this morning, there was a box of Galaxy chocolates and a bag of chocolate bars there with a red ribbon. How sweet! I make him a German Chocolate cake with pecan caramel frosting. I didn't have the ingredients to make him the Red Velvet cake that I really wanted to.

Finished my Blackwork project

I put the last of the beads and the heart buttons on Tuesday afternoon. Now maybe finish my other San Man SAL.

February 13

My father has surgery today to implant a pacemaker. I have lit candles and said many many prayers that all goes well. It's so hard to deal with being 6500 miles away. I know I will jump everytime the phone rings today and tomorrow.




Monday was the first day of the monthly Stitchathon at one of the boards I frequent. This is a big stitching booster for me, it helps me stitch more and get things done. Yesterday I finished the stitching part on my Blackwork SAL and put in a few beads. I stitched the February pattern with House of Embroidery Threads Snaps. I really like the color and this one stitched up fast.
I saw MORE new designs from the Nashville market and added a lot of them to my wish list. There are some VERY pretty designs out there!
I put my beef brisket in to soak in the brine and pickling spice so it will be ready for Corned Beef on St. Patricks day. For some reason, they don't sell corned beef here so we learned to make our own.

The neighborhood brats were at it again yesterday. About 5 of the heathen monsters were outside kicking a soccer ball into bushes again, riding a bike across everyone's yard and laughing. The other day I went outside to see what was going on and they all just stopped and stared at me like I had 2 heads. Then they decided to move my irrigation hose (poop water) in my yard so it would drain onto my patio. Luckily I went out and moved it so it would drain into the "flower" patch by the road. They thought that was real funny that they did that. Then they started chasing my cats and throwing stones. I went out and said to stop it. They thought that was hilarious. So I had had enough, I took my phone outside and "pretended" to call security to come stop them. As soon as I said security and pointed at them they all ran like the little rats that they are. If this keeps up I am going to take my camera outside and take their pictures which is something they don't like. Then they stood in my drive way harrassing my cat that was sitting inside the living room window and making faces. These little bastards had better stop if they know what is good for them or I will call the compound manager.

This morning the "gardner" guy came buy at 9:15 to clean the yard. He is not a real gardner at all, he's a guy from a third world country that works for about $100 a month cleaning the yards, sweeping the street, watering/trimming the trees, bushes & flowers around the houses and picking up trash. My husband pays him extra each month to keep the patio clean, wash the car and pay extra attention to the bushes & trees. So at 9:15 he comes buy, sweeps the patio, straightens up the chairs and table, brushes the table off with the broom, and takes the trash bag to the curb. Now if I wait, he will be back again between 3 & 4 and sweep the patio again. The patio doesn't really need to be swept 2 or 3 times a day. If I have my patio door open and the screen door shut, he still sweeps all the dust up and will not gt the hint that I don't want that mess in my house. He doesn't speak or understand much English so it's hard to tell him not to.

February 11

Another nice day here.

I started my Blackwork SAL project yesterday and here is the progress. I have to use a hoop to stitch it on because the January project next to it has beads and my q-snaps won't fit on it. I don't want to break the beads or the q-snap clamp. I really HATE using hoops. This month I am using House of Embroidery floss called Snaps. This is stitching up fast!

This weekend is a Needlearts show in Nashville where designers debut new desings. One of the web sites has a priview of the new designs and my wish list keeps growing. So far I want Beach & Beer mini blocks by Hinzeit, New Year's Eve Fairy by Mirbilia, Spring Fever needle tuffet kit from Cat's Whiskers, Thread Gatherer from Little House Needleworks, plus a new Coffee design from Lizzie Kate. That's only a FEW of the new designs, more will be out on Monday or Tuesday.

February 10

Finally got our spare room straightened up. Got the Christmas stuff put back in the box, folded fabric and put it away so now I can find my cutting board. Straightened up a bit here and there. Woo hoo, real exciting! Not much else happening here.

I put my San Man SAL aside for a few days to start another SAL project. This one is a Blackwork SAL but it's still a San Man pattern. This is the progress I have made on the Oh Holly Night SAL.

I stitched for awhile on my Blackwork project and it is really going along fast.

Yes, that's me

You Are Quite Worldly

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How'>http://www.blogthings.com/howworldlyareyouquiz/">How Worldly Are You?

February 9

Another boreing day.

This is the progress I made yesterday on my San Man SAL project:

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my father's 87th or 88th birthday, I can never remember. Happy Birthday Dad! I love you.

I called him this morning and got their answering machine so I sang happy birthday and said I love you. I got an e-mail from my sister a few hours later telling me what he got for his birthday. "Happy Birthday Mr. B****, you need a pacemaker." He had a dr's appt at 9AM and they didn't get home until after 3PM. He has 2 blocked valves & arteries, he's already had 2 bypass surgeries, stents, etc so now he needs a pacemaker. He also has to have a bone marrow test done. Guess when he gets his new "heart"? Feb 13. So he'll have a new "heart" for Valentines day. On top of that, it started snow storming while they were at the dr's so now they can't go out for his free steak birthday dinner, so I told my mother to STAY HOME!

I DID finally get to talk to them a little while ago, he's doing well and is trying to stay positive about getting the pacemaker. It's just me that is the nervous one now.

Some birthday present, huh?

Another weekend here, not a damn thing happening either, so I checked e-mail, message boards and have stitched for 5 hours today. I'm making a little progress on my San Man SAL.

February 7

It's grey and overcast this morning, the weather page says it's supposed to rain today but I hightly doubt it will rain here, maybe on the outskirts of the city but not in the city.

This is the progress I made yesterday on my San Man SAL. It is slow stitching because of the thick fabric.

Those poor men, at the afternoon wailing hour the little boy was back screaming again, that poor cow is still dying and that other wailing man is getting that vice twisted more and more and it sure sounds painful.

Another great day

Got up, dressed, checked e-mail & message boards then went outside on the patio again at 11:15 and stitched until 3:15 I started my San Man SAL called Oh Holly Night. I'm stitching it on 32 count green hand dyed fabric with a mixture of flosses. This fabric is really thick and heavy, I have no idea where it came from either. I don't remember if I got it in an exchange, if I won it in a contest, if I bought at at Yankee Cross stitch or if it was in a grab bag from an ONS.

More beautiful weather so it was very relaxing........until the brats from next door came out to play. One brats new thing is to take the plastic rocking horse by the handle and drag it up and down the street following the rest on their ride on toys and scream because she can't keep up. So I got out my little "boom box" and blasted my music to drown them out.

It was now noon wailing hour. There was a little kid wailing from one direction, another one sounded like a sick cow dying and yet another one was screeching like he had his balls caught in a vise.

Miracle of miracles! The TV was NOT on at ALL today! What a nice relaxing treat. So far today I've stitched for 6 hours

A beautiful day

It was 63F when I got up at 8AM, the sun was already out so I can imagine what the temp was at 5AM, too bad I missed it. 65 is my threshold for cold, that's when I put on long pants and a jacket.

The San Man SAL starts today! We're stitching a pattern called Oh Holly Night and it's so cute. I am going to stitch mine on a piece of light green hand dyed evenweave with different hand dyed flosses. I am going to stitch a little bit more on my Feb. Heart Sampler during the day and I'll start my SAL project tonight.

Yesterday was the Superbowl football game in the US but it didn't start here until 2:30 AM so I didn't stay up and watch it. It will probably be on at least another 2 times during the day here.

It was a beautiful day! Not hot, sunny but a few clouds, a slight cool breeze so I packed up my stitching and sat on the patio and stitched for 3 hours and finished up up the stitching part on my February Heart Sampler. All I have to do is fold it and hem stitch it all around.



While I was reading one of my messaage boards, my cell phone rang which was unusual since my husband was home and he's the only one that calls me, there was no call # but I answered it anyway. One of the ladies from my cross stitch message called me all the way from North Carolina!! What a huge surprise! She is such a sweet lady to call me. She got a new phone service and gets very cheap phone rates so she called me! We had a very nice conversation and she made my day!

Another nice surprise from my husband yesterday. He went to the grocery store to get food for supper and bought me a cute little Italian Christmas cake. It's like a stollen and he knows I love them. This was a tiny little box compared to the normal huge boxes they usually have. What a sweet guy!

I cooked fish & chips, mushy peas and onion rings for supper. Another 2 1/2 hour ordeal but I can say it turned out better than supper the night before. I thought I would be cute and I served my husbands dinner wrapped in newspaper in a basket. He thought it was cute too but the fish tasked yucky. I don't know what was wrong with it but I think it was the fish itself.

All in all, it was a SUPER GREAT day yesterday and it felt so good!

It rained!

Sometime between when I went to bed and woke up this morning it rained. Apparently it didn't rain too long because our street isn't flooded but enough to pack the dirt in the yard and make a large puddle on the patio. There are a couple of puddles in the street but not many. It's still grey but the sun is shining.

Supper tonight will be interesting. For my birthday in October, my husband got me a T-Fal deep fryer and we have yet to use it, until tonight. I asked DH yesterday if he would like corn dogs for supper tonight and he said yes. Corn dogs, hush puppies, fried mushrooms and some vegetables. Ok so he goes to the grocery store and comes home with: Cauliflour, eggplant, mushrooms, zucchini, onions, broccoli and the hot dogs, so I guess we're going to get to finally use the fryer. It should be an intersting meal. I told him I would NOT fry the broccoli, that does not sound appetizing.

Today I need to kit up the project for the San Man SAL since it starts on the 5th. Yesterdays progress on February Heart Sampler by The Monkey Works:

Epilogue to dinner: Well we used the deep fryer, made some mistakes and made notes for next time. It took 3 hours to cook everything, 3 HOURS! I started cooking at 6, we didn't eat till 9, WAY too late in my book. Next time I won't cook as many things that's for sure. The eggplant was horrible, the zucchihi was soggy, I cut the onions too thin. The corndogs and hushpuppies were yucky but it was the recipe for the batter, too spicy. Live and learn, now I have a mess to clean up.

February 3

Got up with a screamin' headache today, checked e-mail & message boards. Full day of housework today. So far I've cleaned the master bathroom, guest bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, living room, tried to vacuum but the belt is burning so I had to stop, straightened up the spare room upstairs, straightened up my stitching table, straightened up the dining room table so now it's time for a short break.

Tonight was the last episode of West Wing here, one of my favorite shows is over. I know it ended in the real world last year or something like that, we're a bit behind here. The last episode of Third Watch was on a couple weeks ago too. I hope they replace those shows with something decent. I wish they would bring back Las Vegas and Gillmore Girls though. At least we have the Discovery Channel now so I can watch American Chopper and Mythbusters. I'm also addicted to Everwood, One Tree Hill, Related, CSI and Boston Legal. We're way behind on all those shows too.

I've been there!

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt and the pictures including the one in the picture below

You Should Travel to Cambodia

While you might not go all Angelina Jolie and adopt a baby... You can still appreciate Cambodia's rich history and deserted beaches.

What Asian Country Should You Visit?

February 2

Nothing exciting at all today. No water when I got up but it's back on now. I stitched a bit on my February Heart Sampler.
This is what I have been stitching on today, February Heart Sampler by The Monkey Works. I'm stitching it on 28 ct. English Rose Jobelan with DMC threads.
This is SO me!

You're a Total Grinch

Ouch! You make the Grinch seem like Santa Claus. Holidays definitely aren't your thing. Just relax, and create your own tradition. Even if it's drinking spiked hot chocolate and heckling carolers.

Are You a Grinch?

February 1

Got up, checked e-mail briefly & message boards, started stitching my February Heart sampler.
Not a damn thing exciting today.

I signed up for a Stitch It Forward exchange on one of my boards, I look forward to this each year. It makes me feel closer to my friends.
Poor Tracy is still having problems with this surgery and had to go back to the ER. I really hope they can get him fixed up soon. My heart just goes out to Sandy. Lots of prayers and candles for her.