Even though we need it, I'm sick of rain.

Too much rain and clouds, not enough sun. I'm wilting.

DH is wilting, too. While he is proficient at tiling, at some point during a tiling job, he begins to hate it and wants to be done. He has reached that point. Luckily, all he has left to do is the bull-nose border and all the tiles will be up. He hopes to grout this weekend.

A note from my stitching chair: I've made a good start on "The Crab is In." Yes, I changed the wording and the font a little. I'm leaving off the crab buttons called for, so I shifted the words and added an exclamation point. I'm also doing the whole thing in DMC.

Soggy, soggy, soggy

Rachel, I got my JABC buttons (and the free pattern) for "The Boys Are Back in Town" from the LNS that sponsored the stitching retreat. Most shops should have them or be able to get them.

Drema at Needlecraft Corner has a kit deal (buttons, fabric, and floss) on the whole thing for a very good price: click here. I've ordered from her several times, always with great and prompt service.

DH's alarm went off at its usual time this morning and it began to rain about a minute afterwards. It's been raining ever since. Cloudy, gloomy, grismal, and raining. We need the rain, but I miss the sun. I think I'll make my chili for supper and have DH make his skillet cornbread.

I should get finished with my second little Christmas ornament tonight as I just have the backstitching to finish. Sorry, no picture until after December 5th! Next, I am going to stitch "The Crab is In" by Waxing Moon Designs.

I'm planning to put it in this cute tuck pillow I bought at the recent stitching retreat. See the little crabs in the side borders? I'll add a hanger to it so I can hang it near my computer desk.

Quick! Before it rains again...

It was supposed to be mostly cloudy today and maybe rain. Instead, the sun came out (mostly) this morning. As the grass is up to my armpits, I jumped on the riding mower and hit the lawn.

I only got the mower stuck in one of the hidden ruts by the driveway once. Our driveway has tons of ruts by it and when the grass gets real high I can't see them and drive right in them and get stuck. The mower is too heavy for me to push out of a rut. I usually get DH, but he is at work.

And to top it off, DH has the truck today, so I had to use the Jetta to unstick the mower. Apparently, German engineers see no reason to have a towing hook under the back or front of their cars. So I tied the rope around the window frame and pulled the mower out that way.

Then I went to mow the front inside-the-fence lawn with the push mower. It wouldn't start so DH will have to work on it this weekend. And it's supposed to rain two inches tomorrow. We may have to put a GPS transponder on the dog as we're losing her in the high grass in the yard.

On a stitching note, I usually don't buy things that require buttons. I'm just not a big button fan. However, while at the stitching retreat a few weekends ago, I saw this really cute shop model of "The Boys Are Back in Town" which is a pattern put out by JABC that is free if you buy the buttons for it. And the buttons just make this pattern! Here's a picture of it:

This picture is kind of small; you can see a bigger one here.

Well, I thought the pattern was just too darned cool to pass up, even though I'm not normally a big Halloween fan. So I bought the button pack and was given the free chart. When I looked at the chart, I realized it called for Weeks Dye Works fabric in 30 count. I'm not a big Weeks fan (although they have great colors in their fabric and floss) as they are not colorfast and I wash everything I stitch.

It also calls for GAST, Crescent, and Weeks floss with no DMC conversion, and a Kreinik ribbon that is hard to find. Not a problem as I can make my own color choices based on the picture. And I've got some silk floss that will substitute nicely for the ribbon.

But if I go with 28 or 32 count fabric, the perspective of the buttons will be off enough to bug me. So I bought a piece of the called-for fabric. Next time, I'll ask to look at the chart before I am sucked into buying the buttons.

A Christmas finish

Well I finished a little tuck ornament for the IH35 Stitchtogether ornament exchange in December. And I can't post a picture of it until after December 5th so y'all are gonna have to wait to see it.

It's darn cute. Really. It's adorable.

Here's a picture of the miniature rose plant that DH gave me for our 22nd anniversary this past weekend. He surprised me! I love flowers but I'm always sad that they die so quickly. So DH gave me a live plant. Hopefully I can keep it alive until next spring when I can plant it in our yard somewhere.

And yes, that's a still unfinished window in our bedroom. DH screwed a board onto the bottom plate as this is a nice sunny south-facing window. The sun is fading all those bright pink 2 x 4s - now they're just faintly pink. Hopefully the rose will like its new home.

Finishes!

The Cowboys are certainly looking lackluster lately. 'Nuff said.

On Saturday, Mary finished her "Kokopelli Border Sampler" by J.M. Keeling (on 14 ct. Aida with DMC). We all happy danced with her. Actually, we celebrated with a trip to the snack table!

Even though I spent most of Saturday frogging letters I'd just stitched, I finally finished stitching "A Texas Garden" by Redbird Designs yesterday. Today I finish-finished it in a tuck pillow. It's stitched on 32 ct. linen with GAST and DMC.

A great Saturday

Yesterday was a great day. I went to Austin for the IH35 Stitchtogether and had a great time! We were missing a few folks, but hope to see them next month.

We had a great time talking and stitching (and frogging). We were having so much fun that I forgot to do my ornament finishing demonstration! Oh well. I can do it next month.

DH was already sitting in the woods in his tree stand when I left, having gone out at about 4:45 a.m. As dawn broke, he reported seeing many deer near his feeder. He was about to draw back and take a shot when something spooked the deer and they all jumped and ran off. So no meat for the freezer during the morning hunt.

As I left Austin, I called DH and he was already in the tree stand for an evening hunt and it was starting to rain. I reported that there was no rain in Austin. However, as I neared Bastrop, it began raining like crazy and for the rest of the drive home, my wipers were on full blast. But I made it safely home (and saw three wrecks on the way). DH gave up on hunting after I spoke to him as it began raining too much for him to see to shoot. So no meat for the freezer during the evening hunt. Maybe next weekend.

I had some leftover cake from the Stitchtogether and gave DH a piece. Emma thought she should have some, too. (Here's another Emma picture for you, Gloria!)

Hurling

Emma has to get in a bit of hurling at least twice a day. She loves to chase her tennis ball (and has the teeth to show it, according to the vet).

"Hurry up and throw it!"

"Here it is; throw it again!"

I'm off to Austin tomorrow for the IH35 Stitchtogether. I'm looking forward to it. I'm taking "A Texas Garden" and hope to get it finished. It should be a fun day of fellowship and stitching!

DH is scurrying around getting ready to go hunting tomorrow as it's the opening day of bowhunting season. He is getting up at 4:30 a.m. so he can get out to his tree stand before the sun comes up. I am NOT getting up at 4:30 a.m.; I have better sense. But hopefully, when I get back from Austin, there will be new meat for my freezer!