Archive for weather

the midweek hump

11.18.09 at 11:28 am · Filed under NaBloPoMo, freebie links, kids, life stuff, weather

I had a great time chatting online with an old friend on Facebook last night; the downside being that I didn’t do any stitching. LOL. When I finally called it a night, the thought was running through my head, ‘What on earth will I blog about tomorrow?’ After spending all my time in the company of sick kids, I was sure there was nothing to talk about.

But then I got up to this spectacular show from Mother Nature. This picture isn’t edited – that was really what the sky looked like during breakfast this morning. Incredible, huh?

wednesday morning

And these were the not-quite-so-sick monkeys I had breakfast with.

my best friend

Rowen begins to feel better

Actually, as you can see by this picture snapped before bedtime yesterday, Arden’s mostly recovered. Mozart’s got nothing on him, huh? ;)

baby Mozart

Then when I opened my computer, I found that Kirsten has started the biweekly challenge at the Gift of Stitching blog. Go look! Join in!

And for those who just llloooovvve Isa Vautier’s amazing designs (and is there anyone who doesn’t?), go over here to look at an amazing SAL you can join in.

Looks like Wednesday might not be such a bad day after all. ;)

Comments (19)

when it rains

10.24.09 at 4:48 pm · Filed under furbabies, kids, moving, weather

rainy saturday

Our weather has taken a turn for the worse – although given what a gloriously sunny autumn we’ve had, a day like this feels more cozy than confining.

Rowen used the quiet time to make a new book. This one is about a little lost dog who is found by two nice kids. :) (She doesn’t have a black eye, but has been bitten by mosquitoes. Naturally, she’s scratched the bites and now has a nasty-looking red area under her eye and along her nose.)

Rowen the author

However, rain does result in muddy footprints that need to be cleaned up.

what muddy prints before
“What mud?” asks Lola.

And while that was being cleared up, the phone rang … the realtor called to say that there’s already interest in our house, which hasn’t even been online for 24 hours yet! So I opened a new can of elbow grease and cleaned up all three levels of the house to prepare for a Monday showing!  Still have to tackle the interiors of a few kitchen cupboards, but it is nice to only need a couple of hours to whip the place into shape instead of a few days!

what muddy prints
Rigby and Lola approve my efforts.

Here’s hoping that your weekend is full of coziness!!

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grateful for a faulty weather forecast

10.04.09 at 2:59 pm · Filed under life stuff, round robins, stitching, weather

Niek attacks the back garden

If we were getting the storms and rain that were forecast, Niek wouldn’t be able to slash and burn his way through this jungle. Er, I mean our backyard. I’m still not used to the fact that in these tiny gardens, you cannot allow the hedges to grow and grow, and well, grow. So goodbye hedges of over a meter deep. The lovely birds who’ve nested here will have to find someplace else next spring. But oh how big and light our garden seems already!

New England Prim Neighborhood

I haven’t had much time for stitching, but I did finish a block on my New England Prim Neighborhood. (Please ignore the wrinkles!) The elements for this are taken from Brightneedle’s “School Days” design, using my choice of colors (which are similiar to those called for). I plan to add on around this one using bits from “Schooler Kids” by Prarire Schooler the next time I’m able to work on it.

Thanks for all the kind things you said about my new glasses. :) I hope everyone’s enjoying a fabulous weekend!

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still here!

09.15.09 at 9:07 pm · Filed under (new) designs, friends, kids, stitching, weather

Another week that’s just flying by ….  Yikes. At this rate, it will be Christmas before I even know what’s going on. But on the bright side, I’ve managed to pretty much catch up on deadlines again, and in a couple of cases I even have a bit of an edge (not that it will last long, LOL). In between raking leaves and visiting friends and lots of other good stuff, I’ve managed to get a few stitches crossed. Here’s one of my designs that I’m pretty pleased with, particularly the delicacy of the colors. This is stitched on Vikki Clayton’s Old Gray Mare (a dark version of it) using her silks. What do you think of my eyelets?

detail of Nora Piper

Norah Piper WIP

I’ve also started a bit of holiday stitching. Seeing as how the days are whirring by me, I thought perhaps I should get a jump on Christmas stitching and decided to start off with this gorgeous little prim design by Annemiek of The Needle’s Content. This is her January prim floss tag – a year-long group that will soon be coming to an end. If you weren’t lucky enough to get in on the group, don’t despair! Annemiek will be offering these for sale, if I’ve understood correctly. It’s a great series! I’ve stitched my version on 35 ct HDF Old Gray Mare (lighter version) using GAST fibers.

Jan floss tag by The Needle's Content

The kids have been so busy. They enjoy every minute of it, but I can see that my little darlings do get tired from time to time. Here are a couple of quick shots of Rowen and Arden enjoying an after-school snack yesterday.

sleepy rowen with snack and bear

sleepy arden with snack

Autumn didn’t creep up on us this year. It plunked down one day and that was simply that. My gardens are full of  fallen leaves, the sky is leaden gray, and we’re all wearing light jackets. I spent my afternoon raking leaves and picking up the last of the windfall apples. It’s invisible work, though – when I asked Niek if he could see what I’d done today, he really had no idea. Sigh.

I have too many friends who are ill or are going through other difficulties, and I just want you to know that I am thinking of you. I’m terribly sorry I don’t write as often as I should, but you really are in my thoughts and I hope you’ll be enjoying sunnier prospects very soon. ((((Hugs!))))

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who’s ready for autumn?

08.27.09 at 10:57 am · Filed under cooking, exchanges, stitching, weather

Growing up, autumn meant sunny days and chilly nights, bright fall foliage, newly-sharpened pencils, and a certain tang to the air that was just filled with promise. It was a time of new beginnings, just before winter set in and forced us all to cozy up for short days and long, cold nights. Where I now live, autumn means one thing: rain. After Niek and I bought our current house, September held a certain dread as we tried to keep ahead of the rain’s damage – it can rain so hard and so often that the ground around the house literally washes away. We’ve wakened to actual pits in the front and back yard where only the evening before there was dirt, sand, and paving stones, and have had to call in for partial truckloads of sand to replace what was lost. Just from rain! I know there are other parts of the world that suffer much worse from heavy seasonal rains, but I have to admit that I feel more than just a tad sorry for my loss of gorgeous foliage and crisp, sunny days. Here’s this week’s pictorial weather forecast. Sigh.

rain rain go away forecast 

But like cold Maine winters force everyone inside for cozy pastimes, so does this autumn rain. Arden’s recently become very interested in books and I snapped a few pictures of him going through one of his new magnetic board books. You can stick the magnet onto the illustration to make something new – it was very popular on the plane trip, and continues to be a favorite now that we are home.

arden reads a book

Of course this sort of weather also brings out the comfort foods. Tonight we’ll be enjoying garlic smashed potatoes with lemon-pepper fish and a salad. We had chili earlier in the week, to everyone’s satisfaction. What sort of recipes do you trot out for the change in season?

Most of all, the dreary weather means finding extra delight in cross stitching. Yesterday I completed my Prairie Schooler exchange and also worked a bit further on the new design shown in the previous post. The eyelet alphabet is soothing work to do. Today I’ll put the last stitches on my Blackbird Designs exchange so I can make a trip to the post office and get everything sent out at once.

prairie schooler exchange

Here’s hoping that you and yours are enjoying whatever Mother Nature is bringing your way!

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and other things irresistible

08.25.09 at 3:36 pm · Filed under (new) designs, Stash, stitching, weather

So there are some other sea-lovers out there – I’m glad to be in such good company. :) Luckily there are a lot of wonderful seaside designs to keep us all from feeling too homesick for the crash of surf. And for those who’ve asked me about Tanya’s freebie (shown in previous post), I’d suggest you contact The Sampler Girl herself.

In addition to soaking up lots of seaside air, sand, and salt, I indulged in a little pre-shopping before we headed to Maine. Taking advantage of some special sale offers and also picking up some things that I really needed and could save something on the shipping … well, you know how it goes, right? I don’t need to make too many excuses for myself, do I? Well, looking at this picture, maybe I do!

stash of summer 2009

Many thanks to Vikki Clayton for her wonderfulness in getting everything to my Mom’s address during the span of our vacation (despite an order that went on to two pages!), to The Sampler Girl for shipping not only my order but that of my friend Conny to my Mom’s address, to Mary Kathryn for getting orders filled even when distributors are a little slower than they should be ( ;) ), and to Tanya of  The Scarlett House for parting with some gently-used designs at wonderfully generous prices.

To show that my purchases really are justified, here’s some of that HDF linen and silk (Oil of Amber 4113, Examplar Dried Roses, and Knucker) already being worked up into a new design. ;)

NP Wip

Here in the Netherlands, autumn is descending – the rains have begun and the temperatures are dropping. It’s still August! But like it or not, Mother Nature’s following her own schedule and I may as well try to go along gracefully. Wishing you and yours a wonderful week!

Comments (23)

catching one’s breath

07.23.09 at 11:39 am · Filed under give-away, kids, life stuff, stitching, weather

Well, after more or less abandoning any attempts at organization, the flying-by-the-seat-of-ones’-pants approach seems to be working a bit better in regard to the kids’ summer holidays. We’ve had several fun adventures at the zoo, thanks to our family membership, and have also made forays into town by bus, car and foot.  Tire them out is my new motto! The weather remains completely unpredictable with each day seeing both rainfall (sometimes serious T&L storms) and blazing hot sun, so outings are chancy but we’ve avoided burning or drowning so far. However, in attempting to keep them too tired to fight with each other, I’ve also succeeded in making myself too tired to stitch in the evening. Instead, I’ve been reading in the evening – I’m halfway through Raymond Feist’s second novel in The Rift War series (miles better than his crappyFaeirie Tale novel) and am also luxuriating in Virginia Woolf’s stream-of-consciousness novel, Jacob’s Room.  Reading Woolf’s writing is like meeting up again with a close friend from college days that I haven’t seen in over a decade – pleasant, a bit challenging, and with unexpected surprises.

I’ve also been designing, as a few keen-eyed commenters noticed in my last post. Yes, that WIP is one of my designs (and it does feature HDF silk & linen), and it’ll be showing up again in surprising places. ;) I’ve also been stitching a little design by Deborah Thorpe that she’s using to help a friend of hers through illness. You can read more, or order the design, at this blog post of hers. I’m making my version for a Comfort Doll.

Angel In My Pocket

It is raining once again, but at the moment the children are relatively quiet and the rainfall sounds peaceful instead of conjuring up feelings of claustrophobia at the possibility of a day stuck indoors.  Long ago, I used to appreciate the odd rainy day as a chance to rest and reflect and no doubt that as the kids grow older, I’ll enjoy those feelings again. Here are the younger three enjoying a rare quiet moment together.

quiet morning at home 002

I have heard from three people about the giveaway packages that I sent out recently, but by now everything really should’ve arrived. If you did not receive your little packet, would you let me know? Thanks!

Wishing you and yours well, and hoping that if the sun isn’t shining that at least the weather brings some special pleasure of its own!

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wishing for more hours

07.14.09 at 10:26 pm · Filed under kids, life stuff, stitching, weather

Our summer vacation has started off busy, but good. The kids really amazed me with our first day of English-language reading, and I can only hope they’ll continue to burn their way through it. :D Here’s our first day’s ‘homework’.

homeschooling collage

We’ve also been to the nearby petting zoo, always a favorite outing. There were so many animals and plants to enjoy, not to mention the totally revamped playground. Two hours here just fly by …

kinderboerderij kids

animals at the petting zoo

Today we tried to go to the beach, but not long after we got settled (Arden needed some extra time to get used to the sand), the skies opened and we got soaked. It was one of those icky summer storms where the air felt even more humid and oppressive after the storm, so the kids got to to cool off by playing in the bathtub (and nearly flooding the bathroom!) once we were home.

Post-bath, Rowen and Arden enjoyed some special playing time while the bigger boys played cards upstairs. It was so sweet watching them together.

Arden and Rowen

There hasn’t been a lot of stitching time, but I’ve put in a length or two on my over-one WIP. Lovin’ it. Wishing for more hours in the day so it’s possible to do everything I want to do!

PS WiP

I hope your summer days are full of fun – and of enough hours to really enjoy yourself!

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since i saw you last

07.10.09 at 8:27 pm · Filed under charity, family, furbabies, kids, life stuff, round robins, stitching, weather

Whew. Now that was a week! Thank you all so much for sticking with me! So, since we last sat down and spent any time together, the cast & crew of Chateau Chaos has:

played
No extra words are really necessary, are they?
playing in Luuring backyard

experienced both thunder and sunshine

We’ve had some extreme weather during this extreme week, with everything from high winds and T&L storms to streaming sunshine. Guess which I prefer… LOL!

stitching and family in July 039

stitching and family in July 058

spent quality time with the family

Last weekend we visited with Niek’s parents, who’d recently returned from a vacation in Scotland. The kids had an absolute blast with their Opa and Oma.

stitching and family in July 024

stitching and family in July 020

eaten well

fresh berries and cream 002

All the kids are very keen on the fresh produce available this time of year, but this picture of Rowen hamstering baby tomatoes in her cheeks was just too cute to keep to myself!

stitching and family in July 003

visited the dentist

At our recent checkup, we discovered that Max  is overly sensitive to the fluoride treatment (thus the blisters on his gums) and will need braces, just like his Mom did those many years ago.

stitching and family in July 045

engaged in the slightly naughty

When Lola saw me taking this picture, she got right off the couch - she knows it’s not allowed. But hey, rules are made to be broken now & again, aren’t they?

stitching and family in July 056

learned to sit in chairs

Arden seems to have finally mastered the art of sitting in a chair without tipping the whole thing over. :D

stitching and family in July 009

and stitched

I finished this round of the Quaker RR and sent it on, and promptly started on the next round. Doesn’t everyone have lovely taste in colors?

QuakerRR

QuakerRR rd 2

quaker rr rd 3

I also finished a charity quilt square in record time. Not my finest effort, but certainly my fastest, this is going to a lady with advanced breast cancer who enjoys horse riding. The motifs are taken from an old JCS issue.

breast cancer quilt square

In parting, I wish you more sunshine than rain, unhurried stitches, lots of playtime, and an absence of cavities. Take a little time to be naughty – and to enjoy it!

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another arrival

07.02.09 at 10:00 pm · Filed under finishing, freebies, friends, weather

Have you ever made a selfish gift? I mean, something you know the recipient will like but also something that deep-down, you’d gladly receive, too? That’s what I was busy with last month, LOL. The Plum Street Designs freebie I stitched for Cathi is something I fully intend to stitch for myself. And the Five Birds (an old freebie from Kathy Barrick-Dieter) pincushion I stitched for Anna falls into the same category. I matched some HDF silks to the called-for DMC and stitched it on a piece of 35 ct HDF linen. It’s stuffed with wool rovings to keep her needles sharp & clean.

cooking and conny 009

I stitched this some time ago for an exchange, as well, but that time I just used whatever colors struck my fancy. I finished it as a mattress-style pincushion that time – a finish that I really like, but find awfully fiddly. (The photo’s not the greatest quality, sorry.)

Five Birds by Kathy Barrick-Dieter

My limited stitching time has been seriously curtailed by the very sticky weather we’ve had. Today was 34 (that’s a bit over 93 F!) and I think I might be melting. But when Annemarie arrived today, we did manage to fit in a little bit of stitching as well as a great lot of chatting. I subjected her to some of my homemade ravioli and foccaccia bread, which she survived. It was great to see her and I hope to make the trek over to her neck of the woods in the near future. :D

Here’s hoping that whatever the weather where you are, that you’re sitting pretty! :D

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