My 1000th post--Twisted Tuesday

Well, this is my 1000th post!  

 In sipping my coffee and thoroughly enjoying the quiet house this morning, I came back and found this atop my robe, which was taken off for the 1000th hot flash this morning. Feeling like a queen myself, off work today and sipping coffee and reading--meditating, I came back to this scene:

Yes, this is the Queen of the Sofa. She loves the sofa, although it is 1000 times bigger than she is. :)

Me: So, Abbie, honey, would you like me to pour you a cup of coffee too?

Abbie:

Coffee too? Yes, make mine with sugar and 2 creams please.

Abbie:

 but please do not disturb my meditation. My mantra is TREAT. Sleep. TREAT. Repeat.

Back in to her yoga position, the queen is in complete peace............

For we both count our blessings today first, then sigh, and  Embrace Serendipity. Let go.

From the book I hold dear at my bedside, Seasons of the Heart------

Creative activity immerses us fully in the here and now, and at the same time it frees us.

We become one with the activity and are nourished by it. We grow as the activity grows.

We learn who we are in the very process of not thinking about who we are.

~~~~Karen Casey

My newest find. A glass paperweight with a bird. Love it on my desk!

A sneak peak at my color choices for a breast cancer awareness sampler, hopefully, to be model stitched by October 1. XX my fingers.

 Always Hope

This is a peak at the inspiration for this sampler. Always Hope for the Cure is the center of this sampler.

Much thought went into making this sampler. I'll post progress as I stitch along on this one. I plan to stitch this on 32 count antique white linen and frame.

I just want to take this day, my 1000th post, to again thank each and everyone of you who take time out of your day to read my blog.

 Comments on the blog, and through personal email, have touched my heart, helped me grow on this journey, and are each appreciated in a special way.

Embrace Serendipity,

Jennifer

Happy Labor Day!

Rest.

Relax.

Eat good food.

Wave goodbye to Summer.

Take a break from all your hard work.

Breathe in the dry, sunny air and nestle into a chaise.

Recharge on your journey so that you can be your best.

Happy Labor Day, my friends!

Concentrating on nature's beauty

You just never know what you might run into that is peaceful and beautiful.

Daily thoughts now. Let go. Embrace serendipity.

I'm going to try to hold that thought.as long as I can and enjoy the upcoming 2nd third of my life.

So much time wasted.

Who knows what's next?

I feel like a load has been lifted after reading today.

I hope you find that inner peace too. Life is too short to hang on to toxic relationships and imagining what could go wrong.

Expect the best. That is my thought for the week.

I know there will be challenges to this but trying hard, trying real hard.

I'll stick to my karma and let them stick to theirs.

nite nite after a good profitable day.

Stay-tuned at the serendipity that's coming my way.

Jennifer

Happy Labor Day

Hope it's full of barbeque, rest, and naps!

Abbie's first harness---getting ready for a city vacation

This morning, walking out and the weather being 64 degrees and beautiful outside, not a drop of humidity in the air.........we got out Abbie's little harness I've had tucked away for some time. This is honestly the first time in her 11 months and 26 days of life that she has had her feet on the ground. Always inside or on the back porch. So this is an adventure to her.

She's a bit unsure of it while we walked up the dirt road a bit. I hope this gets better. We should have started this earlier, but I just let her be a freebird in the house and maybe spoiled a bit. Maybe.

Tough and dainty all in one picture. :)

Her tail hair has grown quite a bit and fans out. She's checking out nature here.

So here she is, Miss Abbie, learning to walk with the harness on and a leash. Something that is brand spanking new to her. She looked at me here directly because I said "Do you want a TREAT?"

And yes, when she came in, the motivation was a sweet potato and chicken wrapped treat after we took off her harness and praised her for being such a good girl.

She said she is more than ready for some good treats from her Uncle Paul's and Aunt Noi and Grandma's house.

Abbie will be 1 year old on Sept 8th.

She will get a special treat then and even maybe a cone hat to wear, who knows....LOL

Sunday stash-sorting and sailing with time

The nest is quiet. It's Sunday morning again. Wow, did this week fly by in a flash!

I woke from a dream with Brandon in it last night. He was only about 5 years old. We were at a friend's house and trying to find something and he turned around and said to me, "Will you make me a love muffin?"

I laughed. He was serious about wanting a muffin, his favorite being cinnamon, and I used to call him Blueberry Love Muffin until his coach at baseball suggested me not to yell this in the stands at the game to cheer him on. Like.... then, I woke up that my baby was not a baby anymore at that game. And Meghan was Strawberry Love Muffin, but she didn't seem to mind that much then......that was then.

Why do we have such bizarre dreams? or at least I do alot. Maybe it's the changing in the seasons as last night for sure was the first night of real Fall temps in the air at mid 50's here in the mountains.

Sweater weather at night.  Cool.  Really, cool, cool.

I have put off thread sorting for too long and today, I hope to focus on gathering of the threads. You know what I mean, or are you a very organized person??? 

Well, I have some on the sofa, on the table, on the chair.......in stitching bags from finished projects and all these need to go back to their homes so I can find them again for new projects.

I have about 3 stitching bags I carry that need to be cleaned out as well. I think I will find about 7 pair of little scissors in them. I also have tons of DMC I have gathered from Hobby Lobby x 2 in the past 2 weeks when I went on trips out of town and they need new homes as well.

So I hope to stay simple this week and have one goal a day.

Today's goal is to get my studio and stash back into place and get a new bag with a pattern, ready for stitching. True signs were that last night Abbie found a needle and was carrying in her mouth when Body Guard gasped, OMG, she has a needle, how did that happen?  Well, I wonder, I said to him. LOL

Sounds simple enough. And my goal is to keep Sunday Simple. The rest of the week can be crazy but Sunday needs to be simple.

And somewhere in between I'm getting a Butterfinger Blizzard from DQ!

Right now, coffee and sorting and praying I don't get distracted with a hundred other things that need to be done.

Trying to simplify. Trying hard. Really trying hard.

The Nest Feathers Shoppe News

http://thenestfeathersshop.blogspot.com/

Click here for updates on the shoppe. We are beginning vacation time and the shoppe will be closed from Sept 8th-19th. Thereafter, more items, including patterns will be added for your enjoyment as time allows to stitch models. I have many designs in my folder ready to tweak here and there. The real test is when needle and thread meet! ;)

I will still blog as time allows, only the shoppe is closed during this time.

So pop over to the Shoppe, become a follower, and keep it on your reading list as I will be adding unique findings from time to time that just may finish that special project!

So, more burning the midnight oil tonight sorting threads and organizing for model projects. Hope your weekend is going as beautiful as mine!

Till later,

Jennifer

To all Birthday Friends

Birthday Wishes

designed by Feathers in the Nest

copyright 2010

So many birthdays this month of friends I know. I want to thank each and every one of you for all the birthday wishes. So, this morning I made a freebie for you to share with your birthday friend or family member any time of year! I used Gentle Art thread Morning Glory as it is a beautiful blue color, and stitched on 32 count Antique white linen.

Suggestions are stitching over one for gift tags, or over 2, framed or for a pinkeep. Could also be stitched as a pinkeep to bring out for the place setting of that birthday family member.

Enjoy!

Guns and Roses

yep, had a good  birthday, just me and my honey after a long day of work. I quit counting how many years old. Let's just say I'm vintage.

We ate spinach dip and chips and red velvet cake with a beer! He gave me 2 dozen roses and a card that melted my heart.

yep in the middle of my pile of threads. LOL

I was shocked. 2 dozen.

This is from yesterday when I went into the small clinic I work on Tues or Thursdays.

They are the sweetest in this clinic, it's a smaller clinic and we feel like family there. I've never been treated so nice as in that clinic. Probably just like a family should feel. I honestly wouldn't know, but I think this is what a family would feel like on birthdays.

Today we thought about Elizabeth. Our hearts were heavy as she had a birthday with me in the same week.

Two other of close friends today also said they felt Elizabeth heavy on their hearts this week.

Her birthday was Sept 8th. Mine the 3rd. We used to laugh alot about being Virgo's. We used to laugh at all kinds of things on a picnic table at break outisde the clinic.

Oh, how I miss Elizabeth!

I remember the phrase from a  poem,

I know as the years go onward and leave the past behind,

much I counted for sorrow but proved that my Lord was kind.

That many a long-for flower had a hidden thorn of pain.

And many a rugged bypath yielded to fields of golden grain.

~~author unknown

part of Life' Lesson's poem I received over 20 years ago from a close friend at my son's funeral . And it's reminded to me daily in my thoughts even years later.

 Hope your day went well and you find someone who is real like Elizabeth.

She unfortuantely gave up way too soon. I get weepy thinking of her lately.

I wish I had one more conversation with her. But have to let that go.

Vacation starts for me today and next week is a staycation and then leaving for Chicago the next week. Can't wait for the Chicago trip!!!

Till later,

Jenn

The Acorns are falling early this year.....

Things I did today:

•  saw large, big, green acorns falling. Almost afraid to walk to the car in fear of getting a head trauma. Isn't this a bit early? Last year we had dents in the car from the large acorns.
• walked into work to find an early birthday surprise from Dahlonega clinic staff. Yummy Red Velvet Cake and paper balloons with my name all over the clinic! Lyn is the talented one and creative with art.
• ate lunch at Pizza Hut with hubbie. Personal Pan pizza with mushrooms, black olives, and extra cheese.
• drifted off into the "non-grocery" items in the Walmart and refrained from purchasing a sleep set that said on the shirt "Little Miss Sunshine". That would be hilarious because I'm not Little Miss Sunshine first thing in the mornings.......so I resisted and put it back.
• went through the fabric section of Walmart and drooled over the September fabric colors just arrived for quilts. Beautiful faded teals and chocolate browns. Caved and got 1 yard of each. Have no idea what I will do with them.
• got more non-edible items than edible.
• got an Elle magazine, which was about 1 inch thick and had Julia Roberts Eat Pray Love model shots and article in it.......Great pics and articles.
• stopped into an antique/treasure store to get a few baskets and little items, because I need more baskets.....NOT!
• didn't see a cloud in the sky and the humidity is alot lower.
• saw the world in DMC on the ride home from work through the country side and possibilities for good sampler motifs and verses especially for the old churches in the area.
• thought for a second Abbie ate my wedding rings off the chest in the family room. What a dilemma until we finally found them. Where were they? under about 75 skeins of threads on the kitchen table. I was about ready to take her in for an X ray to find them.
• found out today that gray and camel are big-time Fall fashion colors this year. Craving for an Ann Taylor camel tote just won't get out of my mind. I'm trying hard to get that out of my mind as it's quite costly.
• found out I had 8 hours to get the house ready for an appraisal and it's a disaster. Just gave up on that, hoping it doesn't matter. I do have to sleep at least 3 hours before going to work again to solve pelvic pains and menstrual dysfunctions/ hot flashes, mood swings and whatever else.
• went into a furniture store to look for one particular item and instead sat in every Lazy-boy chair, testing the ones on sale for a possible new stitch chair. While sitting in one for about 10 minutes, I finally came to my senses that the economy is not the best time to buy a chair.
• started stitching a small amount on the Quiet Sunday Mornings pinkeep for a bowl filler/ basket filler.
• wished my kids would at least answer a letter or phone call but instead of hoping and then getting disappointed again, gave up.
• final thought before bed~~~  I have 16 hours before vacation begins. That's my final thought I'm going to keep saying before I fall asleep.

Finished The Dog Days of Summer

Today is the first day of September. Finally had a minute to finish The Dog Days of Summer. August is typically the hottest month of the year and this sampler is with a touch of late summery colors to represent those last really, hot days of Summer.

I made into a pillow keep and hung with wooden dog bone buttons from Boston stash.

The backing fabric also from my stash of many fat quarters blended perfectly.

The linen is 28 count and honestly I do not know what kind of linen it is. I had it unlabeled in my stash but thought the nubby, occasional brown, here and there, in the linen worked out well with the colors.

Fibers used are Crescent Colors. I just used solid brown ball fringe to hang.

Our weather is much cooler and drier now and I can feel a touch of Fall in the air at night.

Looking forward to September and the weather man projects clear sunny skies and 60's at night, 80's during the day for the next week!!!

Two more days and vacation begins for us. The first week with a long list of things to do before our trip to Chicago and enjoying some peace and quiet.

Working on several designs and hope to start stitching another up pretty soon. Two for October which include a Halloween finish and a Breast Cancer Awareness sampler named Always Hope. This one in particular has alot of meaning to me as I work in Women's Health.

Hope your week is going well too. ;)