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.