When October Goes

No sleep here tonight!

It's gonna be a L-O-N-G night around here.

As I posted earlier- when they won the NLCS- I live 2 1/2 city blocks from one of the main intersections where people gather when big things happen.

Well, as for tonight, I might as well live IN the intersection!

There are helicopters overhead- I've lost count, but a lot of them. There is no place to park for, I'm hearing, more than a mile. Cars are parked on corners (yeah, I mean ON the corner), IN smaller intersections, ON sidewalks. Horns and other assorted noisemakers are drowning out the TV- with all the doors and windows closed. Fireworks are going off all over.

And the people? Well, the TV folks aren't even trying to estimate how many are deluging our neighborhood!

I walked up to the celebration right after the game and it was great! At that point it was still just the locals from our neighborhood- lots of little kids with parents and grandparents, lots of folks my age, local teenagers. The big highlight was people doing the "Let's go Phillies" cheers over and over. Everyone was just smiling and laughing and talking to everyone whether they knew them or not.

Now there are people pouring in from all over this end of the city. They are still arriving in droves and getting louder rather than starting to settle down.

My DS is on the phone with his high school buddy who now works in New England. They were talking about the parade on Friday. Friend was obviously hesitating about coming down when DS (remember that the last time this happened DS and friend were toddlers) said "Well, if you wait til next time you might be watching from a wheelchair". That seems to have convinced him, lol!

Well, time to go iron another Phillies shirt for tomorrow- by Friday I HOPE to have the World Series Champions shirt!- and at least go through the motions of getting ready for bed. When SLEEP will actually be available is anyone's guess.

YAY, PHILLIES!!!!!!!!!!

THEY WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A little down time

I am actually just sitting here, catching up on all my sidebar blogs. Amazing!!!

I've been in a LOT of arthritis pain and having significant problems with my Fibromyalgia due to the weather change and the coldness of the building at work. One of the worst parts of FMS when it gets out of control is the devastating exhaustion which is really setting in the last few days. Add in the FMS headaches and the stiffness, and taking card of DH, and I've been pretty miserable.

The good news is that once I get really warm- which takes a couple hours each day after I get home; that "chilled to the bone" feeling takes a while to shake- then I start to feel better- just about when it is time to go to bed and start the whole cycle again.

Other good news? DH is finally recovering well. His cabin fever hit such a point last night that I agreed to "let him" go out of the house, if HE agreed to go out to dinner to one of the Philadelphia Blue Day participating restaurants. It was a good decision for both. He clearly cheered up dramatically and I got a good dinner I didn't have to cook. Since it was "for charity", I even went for the crab appetizer and a MARVELOUS dessert called "Lava smores".

I got a new video about Hawaiian Quilting the other day from Make Hawaiian Quilts.com. It is a homemade video but does a really good job of going over a lot of the details specific to Hawaiian quilts. I watched the whole thing already and was reminded of several things I'd forgotten and even picked up a few tips I had not heard before. It gives enough information that even a non-quilter could make a small Hawaiian quilt from the video instructions.

This inspired me to pull out a small quilt that I started hand quilting a while ago (QUITE a while ago, lol!). The major result of this exercise was to remind me why I get so little crafting, stitching or quilting done in the winter. By the time I sat down with the hoop after dinner: my eyes were straining looking at the fabric, my hand hurt when I tried to grip the needle, it was not so much enjoyable as a big effort to concentrate on trying (and NOT succeeding) to make the stitches a similar length. All in all it was WAY more trouble than pleasure. It made me remember that there's a reason I do basic (scarves and afghans) crochet in the winter- it's not the warmth of the yarn, its the monotonous but easy work with a large, easy-on-the-hand hook and stitches that can be felt and don't need to be seen. Guess its time to start on another scarf!

Time to go make a healthy dinner (DH- or more accurately, DH's missing gall bladder, lol- is forcing us all to eat healthy!) and get ready for Game 5/Part 2 of the World Series!

GO, PHILLIES!!!!

On a more somber note- where are you having dinner tomorrow?

There have been four Philadelphia police officers killed in the line of duty in the last year.

Tomorrow is Philadelphia Blue Day.

School students are wearing blue to honor the officers and many restaurants and businesses are donating part of their proceeds to the Police Survivors Fund. The fund has been severely depleted by the events of the last year.

Tomorrow (Tuesday, October 28) would be a GREAT time to go out for a meal- lunch, dinner, a snack after work- or place an order with one of the non-restaurant businesses involved. THIS LINK will take you to the Philadelphia Blue Day website, where you can find a list of participating restaurants and businesses.

A big response will not only financially aid the families of the officers who have been killed, but also show the entire police family that this city supports them.

Not "You gotta believe" but "Can you believe???"

The worst umpiring in the history of the World Series has just reached new depths.

How this disaster is going to play out is a mystery, but it certainly will be one for the record books no matter what.

I'm going to sleep, while DH and DS are going to take turns sleeping, in the HIGHLY unlikely event that play is resumed tonight.

It's NOT a happy night at my house, or anywhere in Philadelphia!

Sorry to use a sales pitch logo- but it says what I wanted.

GO, PHILLIES!!!!

Crazy Philadelphia

The Eagles won, the PHILLIES won, and the crazies at Frankford and Cottman- 2+ full city blocks away- are keeping me awake!

I'm going to TRY to go back to sleep now because, with luck (crossing fingers, toes, ankles, knees), there will be NO sleeping tomorrow night!

Calendar so far

Here's a couple of the calendar pages I worked on yesterday. I went VERY simple with the stamping. All of these images are CTMH.


This first one shows as much of the page as fits on the scanner.












This is a close-up of December, obviously! The only accent is the CTMH Liquid Glass and glitter.

The stamp set is "Bethlehem" on page 68-69 of the Autumn book.













This one I painted with iridescent watercolors- not twinks and I cannot remember the name- they come in a tray.

These come from the "Daydream" set from the Summer Book, pages 66-67.














This one is super-simple but I like it!

The stamps are from "Thoughtful Seasons" on pages 22-23 of the Autumn book.



Wish I was better at managing the layout here at Blogger- whenever I put more than one picture in a post it comes out goofy. Oh, well- you get the idea!



More later when I've done a few more months!

Do you love your cuttlebug?

Well, if you DO love your cuttlebug, maybe you've already checked out Indigo Inklings- a great blog by a really creative lady who does amazing things with the CB. (You can also find the link in my sidebar.)

And, whether you love your CB or are still learning what it can do, now there's another, NEW blogspot for CB owners. It's called Cuttlebug Challenge and they are having a "Cuttlebug Camp" this weekend. The stuff that these folks are doing with the little CB is amazing! (This link is now getting added to my sidebar!)

Make sure you scroll back through Friday to get all the "camp" info. Everything they are showing is TERRIFIC!!!

Saturday night!

It's the 5th inning and the PHILLIES are winning!!!


DH is doing a little better today. He is now quite sure he will live, lol!


Spent several hours today at Cindy's for the Close To My Heart party. Because she had changed the date at the last minute last weekend, due to the sudden death of her FIL, the attendance today was not very good.


BUT....we had a really good time. She had incredible munchies. She had great displays with terrific instructions. AND, she had my order from last month which included a monthly special dates calendar that I'm going to make for my mother for Christmas. I got April, May, August, November and December done today! I am especially pleased with how December came out- I used the beautiful "Bethlehem" stamp set and LOVE the result! It's been quite a while since I used any of my CTMH stamps and I'd almost forgotten how much I like them!

When I'm a little less tired, I'll scan a few of the pages- this makes a beautiful and VERY useful gift!

It was also really, REALLY neat to see a total newbie, who had never stamped or papercrafted or really even done ANY kind of crafting, make 6 cards and be so pleased at her success. Guess we "hooked" another one today, lol!

DS did a great job of taking care of DH while I was out. Tomorrow will be more of the same, plus laundry and all that boring stuff. However, tomorrow also offers both the Eagles AND the PHILLIES, so the TV will get a workout!

Further medical update and other stuff

Well, it took 4 hours but we got a call. It was the nurse-practitioner and she was very good with DH on the phone. She listened, REALLY listened, went over everything that was worrying him, explained that his symptoms were unpleasant but normal, and was appalled that he was discharged in the condition he was in yesterday.

He's still in pain but at least not worrying if something is wrong that shouldn't be.

It's gonna be a LONG night!

Tomorrow is my friend Cindy's Close To My Heart Open House. For anyone in the Philly/Delco/lower Montco areas, check it out!

Medical update

When DH was bellowing earlier, it was because he was REALLY feeling bad.

I called the doctor's office. I told the woman who answered the phone that DH had surgery yesterday and was having some problems. Whoever it was I was talking to- never identified herself or her position with the doctor- immediately said "then go to the ER".

I told her I was NOT taking DH to the ER! I wanted to talk to the doctor, I wanted to know if his symptoms were normal for post-op from his particular procedure, and I was NOT sitting for hours in an ER which would only make him feel worse. She put me on hold for 7 minutes, came back on and asked for DH's NAME- which I had given her at the beginning!- and our phone number. She said the nurse would call "when she is done with her patient". I said I would prefer to hear from the doctor, to which she responded "he is busy with patients".

SHEESH!!!!! "He is busy with patients"- yeah, all patients who were able to go to his office- which means they are relatively healthy and not one day post-op and in significant pain! Where the heck are the priorities??????

And, that phone call was more than two hours ago and we have not yet had a call back from either the doctor or the nurse!

Three BRONX cheers for modern medicine!

Spending a little time on the computer

DH is sleeping. He is still in some pain, which is to be expected. He is definitely a typical MALE patient- grouchy, whiny and demanding. But, fortunately, the pain meds make him sleep alot of the time.

The PHILLIES last night did not help- they got him totally aggravated. He was yelling at the TV so much that I could not sleep even as worn out as I was. So, I too am very tired again today. The good news is that this should all pass quickly, so I just need to wait it out.

Sitting at the computer, reading or stitching are the only things I can do that don't make any noise to bother him. For right now he is sleeping in the recliner, so I am upstairs at the computer. I've been doing some ordering from Philosophy, the company which makes all the skincare, body care etc products that I use. I found Philosophy about 8-9 years ago (and, NO, I didn't learn about it from Oprah!) and have progressed over that time to using their things almost exclusively.

October is, as pretty much everyone knows, Breast Cancer Awareness month. Philosophy has a number of products from which they donate all the net proceeds to charity. One of them is Shower for the Cure, which supports breast cancer research. SFTC is one of Philosophy's famous "3-in-1" scents- shower gel, shampoo and bubble bath all in one bottle. It is a lovely scent, and my mother and my aunt, both BC survivors, love it. So, it is time to order for Christmas presents. If you want, you can check it out HERE.

OOPS- DH is awake and bellowing- off I go to do my Florence Nightingale imitation.

Home from the hospital

It is a little frustrating how badly this Tula fabric photographs. Anyway....

DH is here and his gall bladder is there. I have to keep reminding him that the medical term for "having your gall bladder out" is cholecystectomy- because it sounds way cooler and way better than "having your gall bladder out".

He is fine, he is asleep, he feels a lot worse than he thought he would- it's his first non-limb, non-orthopaedic surgery. And it was only a laproscopic procedure- I'm glad he didn't have to have "real" surgery!

I am NOT happy with the way modern medicine operates though. We reported at 6:30 AM to wait in the hospital lobby until 8:15. At 9 AM they "took him down" for surgery, but when I finally checked in at the surgery waiting room at 10:30, he was still not in the OR. I got to see him when he got back to a room from recovery around 2 PM. In the room he was left on the gurney rather than having a real bed- and the gurney was too short so his feet and lower legs were hanging off the end. We left way before *I* thought we should, but he was discharged and so uncomfortable all he wanted was home and his own bed. The MEDICAL care was fine- the "Patient" care left a WHOLE LOT to be desired!

Up top you can see that I got a little progress done on the dragonflies. I am actually up to working on the last one! I also read about 150 pages of a good Anne Perry book, A Breach of Promise. I prefer her Charlotte and Thomas Pitt books but am learning to like the William Monk ones. And, having been up before 5 AM- for what turned out to be an 11AM surgery!!!!- I also took a nap. So, some little things were accomplished as I waited.

AND..... the Phillies won!!!!

Game #2 tonight- GO, PHILLIES!!!!!

Go, Phillies!

It doesn't look like I'll make it through the first game of the World Series.

It was a 12 hour work day today. It was a busy 12 hour work day with tons of paperwork and preparation. Followed by meetings. I'm BEAT!

The "big event"- DH and his gall bladder coming to a parting of the ways- is tomorrow. We have to be at the hospital at 6:30 AM. *HE* will get to watch the Phillies all the way to the end- his only job tomorrow is to stay asleep while everyone else does all the work. *I*, on the other hand, must be awake and alert- for the driving, and dealing with him post-op!

So between being already exhausted, and needing to be up in 7 hours- there is something REALLY repulsive about setting the alarm clock for slightly before 5 AM!!!!!!- I am going to bed while the Phillies are ahead.

GO, PHILLIES!!!!!!

Autumn Leaves

Too tired, too busy and too late to post much, but this is just SO timely I could not resist.

It's my Blogoversary.....

..... and the winners are:

Papercrafting Candy: Wendi K
Stitching Candy: Suzanne
Candy/candy: Cricketpe

I need to get all your addresses and the packages should go out around the end of the week!

Thanks to everyone for all the kind wishes and good thoughts. Now on for another year!

Lots of blog stuff today

These are my PHILLIES Crocs. I bought them last year when they made the playoffs- and never got to wear them because the team was done before they arrived!

We had "favorite team jersey day" at school a couple weeks ago. (September 29th to be exact!) I wore a Phillies shirt and my Crocs. The kids went nuts for the Crocs and I promised I would wear them every day as long as the team was still "in it". Well, it must be working- they won the Eastern Divisional championship and then they won the National League championship and now they are getting ready for the WORLD SERIES!!! And, I am still wearing my Phillies Crocs every day. (I did take a day off for the wedding, lol!)

Wearing Crocs every day for three weeks has made my feet feel great. My legs, on the other hand, have been sorely stressed in the last few weeks- too much walking, too many extra trips to other parts of the very large building, too much going on away from work as well.

So, today I am having a mostly "horizontal" day. I have my computer desk set up so that I can rest my legs up on the side of it, and lean back in my swivel chair. It is even better than laying in bed- because I can rest AND explore the 'net!

I made a lot of changes to my sidebar today. If you look you will find a whole bunch of new links under Stitching Designers and Supplies sites. I linked to the Needlework Designers I most often actually stitch or whose designs I have the most of. I will be adding to the list but these are the ones who first come to mind without actually checking my significantly sized stash.

I also added a whole new section in the sidebar: Hawaiian Quilting. I really LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Hawaiian quilting. Some of the links are designers, some are references, some are sites to purchase Hawaiian quilting supplies- and a couple do all of the above! I really believe that Hawaiian quilting is an art form that many stitchers who love cross stitch and other forms of embroidery would embrace. There are only two stitches- applique and the quilting stitch. It is all handwork- Hawaiian quilts are not made with machines. There is no piecing or stripping or assembling of the quilt top. There are wonderful, inspiring traditions associated with Hawaiian quilting that make working on them a joy.

More on all this another day- for now, check out the links and enjoy!

Oh, and do NOT forgot to scroll down to the "blogoversary" post- there is BLOG CANDY available!

An amazing eclectic blog

While searching for more stitching blogs, I somehow followed a few links and ending up at Mirabilis.ca. It is a FABULOUS blog.

It is not so much about anything as it is about EVERYTHING- or at least about so many things as to be mind-boggling!

This is the blog for those of us who just like to "know stuff". I am totally hooked!

Another great blog!

I've found another fabulous stamping blog. This one is called Hands, Head and Heart and belongs to the amazing Melanie Muenchinger. You really MUST check this out!

Exciting News from Etha!

It started out as bad news. If I understood I would explain, but somehow she lost her blog, email- everything in her domain.

This led to her starting over with a new blog, now simply called EthaSchuette.com. She is moving quickly to fill the void so many of us felt when MoreGreenWool suddenly and mysteriously disappeared.

This also got her working on something new- a forum! Also called Ethaschuette.com it can be found HERE. It's going to have technique information, gallery and blog links, and threads for various stamp companies. Etha wants to provide a free place for small stamp companies to have a forum- so if you know a small stamp company that would be interested, let them know!

This is gonna be FUN!!!!!

BLOGOVERSARY!!!

Monday is my 1st anniversary here!

There will be blog candy. In fact, I am going to do papercrafting blog candy, stitching blog candy, and CANDY blog candy!

To enter, please leave a comment and let me know which blog candy you would like. I'll make the draw around 10PM Monday night.

More "regular" posting later!

One of those days

Got up this AM after NOT enough sleep- but it was the Phillies so that was ok.

No tea this AM- the milk DS bought last night turned out to be bad. I am NOT a happy camper without my tea.

Started the day with a phone call that a friend's father had just died. That was more than enough to ruin the whole day.

Followed by a meeting that didn't happen, then a tough, extremely busy, very hectic day, then another meeting that did happen. Way too much walking today- the legs are screaming.

Then tonight the phone just kept ringing, the portable had not been charged, so every call required a walk to the other end of the house. This would not have been quite so annoying if half the calls hadn't been political. And, don't forget the very nice but very persistent political "visitor" at my front door tonight who wanted to find out what my issues were. She finally left when I told her I would have voted for her candidate except for one issue (on which he is VERY clear) and that did it. I've been polled, questioned, borderline harrassed- and I'm fed up.

Guess you could say I'm not in a good mood?

However, I did find a REALLY good blog about cardmaking- she does incredible work and you really should check it out!

My Adventures in Cardmaking

Go, PHILLIES!!!!

There'll be no sleep here for, it looks like, hours!

We have the luck to live just two blocks from the major interesection where the fans congregate when a Philly sports team wins something BIG!

There are helicopters (about 4) circling around with one just hovering right over our house. There are, according to the late news update on TV, about 5000 people up at the corner. There are horns, fireworks, and generalized chaos.

It's all good!

Sunday evening as usual

So we went to the picnic wedding yesterday. It had a combined Oktoberfest/Philadelphia theme. The cocktail hour was a terrific Oktoberfest beer on tap, with soft pretzels- REAL Philadelphia soft pretzels.

There were fields for the kids to play ball, which they did. Some of the adults entertained themselves with ping-pong. I don't know if anyone played volleyball. Almost everyone except the bride and her mom changed into shorts, golf shirts, all kinds of casual clothes. Later in the evening the bride was still in her dress, but her high heels had been replaced with sneakers- in which she danced with her father, who was in khaki shorts. There was even a floor show, coordinated by the father of the bride. No pictures of that to be shown here- I am saving them for blackmail purposes! It was a LOT of fun.

The food was terrific- and very German, picnic style. Knockwurst, roast pork, barbecued chicken, spaetzle, German potato salad, sauerkraut. Everything tasted great! Dessert was provided by the bride's German grandmother- immense numbers of tiny, beautiful, WONDERFUL tasting pastries.

However, it was pretty generally agreed that the piece de resistance was the wedding cake, made by the bride's aunt. For those of you not from Philadelphia, one of our local delicacies is a line of snack cakes from a company called Tastykake. The wedding cake consisted of a top layer of a traditional bride cake, with Mickey and Minnie on top. (Yes, their family is as Disney crazy as mine- guess where the young couple are honeymooning?) The larger layers were constructed of Butterscotch Krimpets, Jelly Krimpets, Tandytakes, Chocolate Juniors, Coconut Juniors and Kreme Filled Cupcakes. It was a masterpiece, a triumph, a work of genius!!!

So, we had a marvelous day!

The Eagles won- YIPPEE!!! The Phillies are up by 2 games in the NLCS but are not doing so well tonight. Considering the jet lag combined with the manager and one of the players each getting ready to go home for family funerals on their next day off, I guess that's not a big surprise. I also think the INCREDIBLE Jamie Moyer might just have been feeling the jet lag a little more than the rest- at 45 those things are just a little harder to adjust to then when we were younger. But there are still 3 innings- anything can happen!

Now it is time to iron for tomorrow and get to bed early.

Go, Phillies!!!!!

In Honor of Today's Weddings

John McDermott - Voyage

With wishes for many years of joy for the young people starting out today.

Weekend ahead!

I do wish politicians didn't love the Mayfair Diner quite so much.

I live in Mayfair, quite close to the diner. I like the diner- it's a typical diner, the food is good, very homey, the waitresses call you "hon", it has formica tables in booths- it's a total throw back and a neighborhood institution.

Tomorrow we will be going to one wedding and two receptions. I am really looking forward to both. However, the news this morning that Sen. Obama will be speaking at the diner, close to the time we need to leave for the wedding, is NOT good news.

H.R.Clinton spoke there while campaigning before the primary in the spring. They closed virtually all the streets in the neighborhood more than 3 hours before she was scheduled to be there and it created chaos for many more than 3 hours. I am NOT leaving for this wedding early enough to avoid the chaos because that would mean getting to the church 3-4 hours early- and that is just a little ridiculous. So, I hope that the police and Secret Service will be making allowances for people who need to exit the neighborhood while they await the Senator's arrival.

Meanwhile, the Phillies won last night!!! Game #2 starts in about an hour. GO, PHILLIES!!!!!

Sunday will be the Phillies again, so it looks like a busy weekend. There will be no time or opportunity for paper crafting but I might get in a little stitching in front of the TV.

The wedding tomorrow will be followed by a picnic reception. It is going to be wonderful I am sure. I really love these two kids and I am so excited and thrilled for them. The weather is cooperating magnificently- the prediction from The Weather Channel is 75° with "abundant" sunshine! As the Gershwins wrote "who could ask for anything more?"

Oops- almost forgot to remind everyone! Clear Artistic Stamps is having a release on Tuesday- two new sets! Check the website for a link to the release party! Also, the Autumn Treats set is on sale this month and Belinda is making a donation to Breast Cancer research for every Whispers of Dreams set sold this month. So, there's lots going on at CAS- make sure you check it out! There's also always something wonderful to see at the CAS blog, In the Cottage Studio, so make sure you visit there as well!

Time to get working on laundry and doing my nails and watching the PHILLIES!!!!! Have a great weekend, everyone!

GO, PHILLIES!!!

They play tonight!

It's been a long week and a killer week. This is the earliest I've been home all week.

It seems like every year I forget over the summer just how demanding and draining my job is. I even forget during the year.

So, I got a bunch of new stuff at the stitching festival last weekend. A few days ago I showed you the Halloween piece I wanted to start first. Like I'd have it done for Halloween??? Yeah, right!

It seemed so easy- just a small project, not difficult. Well, it is not even mounted onto the scroll frame yet! In fact, the fabric isn't even cut yet.

Every day I think "tonight I'll get started" then every night I get home late and exhausted.

It's a BUMMER!!!!!

I hope I can stay awake for the game!

GO, PHILLIES!!!!!

Man of La Mancha - Linda Eder

I found this and, of course, had to post it here. Enjoy!

More weekend update

So, this is the first new piece I'm going to work on! It is called "Flying Monkeys" from Glory Bee.

I got two bags of hand-dyed silk floss from Vicki Clayton and a beautiful piece of Dublin linen from Marilyn at Picture This Plus. The linen is an overdyed called Flash that I think will look great for this project!

(Looks like the dragonflies will be heading back into the UFO pile, again!)

It was a mixed day. The PHILLIES WON!!!! Yippee!!!! On to the next level!

The Eagles, on the other hand........

I'm glad that I had such a good weekend. It made me happy and relaxed, and it made me think. I spend way too much time with people who are petty, and into gamesmanship and other junk like that. There are lots of possible reasons that they feel the need to engage in this hateful and ridiculous behavior- and I've stopped caring what their reasons are. Since I cannot avoid them, I've decided to just ignore them from now on. I'm going to concentrate on the good in my life- I'm a good teacher, I'm a good wife, I'm a good friend, I have a great husband, I have wonderful friends and I have a good life.

There is a wonderful thing going on at Gina K's blog. She is sponsoring an effort to have people make holiday cards to send to soldiers in Iraq- but blank cards that the service men and women can send home for Christmas. She is also offering some wonderful blog candy with this program. Please check it out and participate if you can!

The bag is packed, the clothes are laid out and I am ready to start a new week. I'm also really tired. So, a little TV, some hot chocolate, and off to an early bedtime.

I hope everyone has a good week!

What a GREAT weekend!!!

We had a SUPER time! We took classes, we shopped, we ate, and, as predicted, we LAUGHED- a LOT!

Here's the only picture I have of all four of us- taken outside of QVC Studio Park- more about that later.

I got to the conference center around noon, immediately called Bev and we got together as I was signing up for the weekend at the registration booth.

Almost as soon as I got there, Bev and I found Pat and we were off to a class with Liz Turner Diehl- she of the magnificent (and sometimes swearing-inducing!!!) stitched gardens. This class was about using beading in needlework. While not what any of us expected from the brochure, we all learned a lot! Liz is a DOLL and really knows her stuff so the class was very good.

Here's a picture of Bev with the sampler using all the stitches we learned in the class.

And here's Pat getting help from Liz with ideas for a project she wants to do using the techniques from the class.

Then we checked out the merchandise mall. It was very small- REALLY small- compared to the "glory days" of Spirit of Cross Stitch, but having about 30 shops in one place was terrific and more than enough for us.

Pat and Ann took another class Thursday night so Bev and I just yakked and rested up for the long day.

Friday we went out jaunting around the area. We were hoping to start with a scrapbooking store that Pat found on the Internet, but when we got there it was a house in a totally residential area, so obviously you CAN'T believe everything you read on the Internet, lol!

Second stop was a small shop in Limerick called Just Cross Stitch. Space-wise it is small, but it is very well stocked with charts and we all found things we "just had to have". I even found a real, original Dololly!!! I bought it because I can't find mine and even if I do find it, they apparently don't make them anymore so having a back-up is a good idea.

We were way ahead of schedule and I had previously mentioned that QVC was not far from the conference center. So, we decided to go over there and visit Studio Park. We took the tour, saw the construction work going on- they are rebuilding and renovating all their sets- and just had a really good time.

Back to the conference center, more shopping then dinner and collapse into bed- but not before a second night of talking until the wee hours!

Today Ann took another class, the rest of us had a leisurely light breakfast, finished up our shopping and then we all had a long, fun-and-talk-filled lunch, then split up leaving the hotel. Pat and Ann are off for another week of visiting Pat's family and seeing NJ and NYC. I drove Bev to the airport, taking a long scenic route through the Main Line then down through the city past Memorial Hall, the Zoo and through University City.

I am WAY tired, I am going to do nothing but play with my new stash and watch the Phillies (GO, PHILLIES!!!) this evening, and hope I can get a LOT of sleep tonight.

I had a FABULOUS time!!! These ladies are SOOO much fun, and such GREAT company, and it is SOOO neat being with people that whether you saw them last week or 10 years ago are just totally comfortable and familiar. As Bev said at the airport- "we are NOT going to wait another 10 years to do this again!!!!"

Pictures of my newest stash additions and some stuff about various vendors tomorrow!

Going to be a GREAT weekend!

First- there are 1 1/4 more dragonflies (or at least dragonfly wing sets) on this piece than in Sunday's picture. That might not seem like a lot, but, hey, it's PROGRESS!!

I am packing and sorting and getting things ready. I am leaving tomorrow for a WONDERFUL weekend with lots of stitching stuff but mostly just laughing!

Yes, the thing that I remember best about festivals with Bev and Co. is LAUGHING. Immense amounts of laughter. Sore stomach level laughter. Don't put on mascara cause it's only gonna run laughter.

Of course there is the merchandise mall, the classes, the eating out, the meeting new people and re-meeting old festival friends.

But mostly, there's LAUGHTER!!!!

Have a great weekend, everyone!