It has been a very long time - so "hello" again and starting a new chapter in the Book of My Life

Wow, it has been a very long time since I have blogged - over 5 years. So much has happened. It is hard to know where to start!

Catching Up...

First things first...I have changed the title. For over 12+ years I have been the Hockey Mom; but now that my sons have graduated from high school, one has even graduated from college and the other will soon, hockey hasn't been a part of our lives for almost 4 years. So now I am on the next chapter of my life as a mom with 2 young men.

Also, regarding the title of this blog, changing the title also has to do with where my husband and I are in our lives. For 10 years, we have been small business owners. We were franchisee owners of a company and had 2 stores. As we speak, we have transferred one and finalizing the transfer of the other very soon. Meaning, no more owning our own business and starting a new chapter in our lives. 

So while we are in the process of figuring out what we are going to do and what the next phase of our life looks like, I thought I would start blogging again.

In the last 5 years, I have experienced good things and some "not so good" things. 

I think the biggest change in my life since the last time I blogged was the passing of my mother on April 9, 2018. In January 2016, my mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. We all were stunned. How does someone so young, so healthy, someone who doesn't drink or smoke, someone who exercises 2 hours a day/7 days a week get cancer? This was something that baffled us all. My mother fought this battle the best she could. She was a strong minded person who was going to live her life her way during the battle. She continued to exercise and work at her job almost up to the very last moment. But unfortunately, the Cmonster won. 

My dad, who lives in Minnesota, is still in my life; in fact our relationship has changed and we have become closer since my mother's passing. Initially I was traveling from California to MN to visit him ever couple of months. However, I haven't been back there since October 2019. When the holidays hit last year, I needed to be in the store more often as staffing became short, so it became difficult to fly to Minnesota and visit. 

Business was also very soft, thus whenever we lost people Steve and I just filled in, spending everyday open-to-close in the stores. To help, we made as many changes to store hours we could, closing on Sundays to give us a little time off and helped to keep the labor cost down a little. Then COVID hit and shelter-in-place was activated...but we were deemed essential and remained open. We were like a grocery store, as we sold fruit; and we refrigerated vans, so we could deliver everything we made. Soon our business took off again. We started seeing sales like we use to the first several years when we purchased the stores. It was good to have the sales, but with a small staff at both stores, we were getting tired and so was the staff. We continued to change store hours and operational aspects to keep it running with who we had in place. But since our contracts were coming up for renewal, and because we were getting older, it was time to figure out a plan for our next chapter. 

Also, during this time, my younger son graduated from high school (2017) and went on to college in Vermont. My older son, while overcoming some challenges, he graduated from college in 2020 with really good job (although he is working from home right now due to COVID). 

So here we are, October 14, 2020...

My younger son will be at school for another 6 weeks and will be home for Thanksgiving, will finish 1st semester remotely and isn't scheduled to go back to school until March 1. This is the new norm due to COVID.

My older son is at home, working remotely. He is waiting to hear when the office will re-open and then he will move to that state. 

My husband and I are figuring out what our next chapter will be. In the meantime, we are enjoying a respite from the stress of running stores. We have started to walk around the block in the morning and a longer walk in the evening. We are enjoying all the animal life we come into contact with when we walk around a habitat conservation area nearby.

And I have started to pick up the needle again. I am working on "Boo" by Sharon Pope, from the Just CrossStitch magazine (2009, not sure which issue). I have had this pattern in my to-do pile for years. Even had the fabric and materials all pulled together in a ziploc bag with all my other stash. Since it is October, I thought it would be a good project. 

The Kreinik threads called for all glow in the dark. I have used these before in another Halloween project I stitched years ago - "Trick or Treat". 

I am not sure where "Trick or Treat" is. I have a feeling it is hanging on a pant hanger in the back of my closet. I love X-stitching, but finishing my things is something I don't do very often.

Oh well...it is time I finish up right now. It is nice to be back and will probably take a look to see what everyone has been up to. Until next time...

Live, Laugh and Love!

Lisa

Post 10, 2015 - A Dreamy, Foggy Day

I am sure it is a great mistake always to know enough to go in when it rains. 

One may keep snug and dry by such knowledge, 

but one misses a world of loveliness. 

~ Adeline Knapp

Well, while it wasn't quite raining here, it definitely was a slightly wet jog this morning...

and somewhat dreamy outside.

At times I felt like I was running through a cloud;

moisture hanging from my hair and dripping down my face.

Feeling like I was moving through a dream-state,

thought I should pinch myself to make sure that I was awake.

Eerie - yet beautiful.

It was nice to get outside this morning and get in a little run. It definitely makes my day start out good. 

Last night Matthew had a hockey practice, which gave me some time to sit and stitch. I was able to get the first square - the Daffodil square - completed and a start on the square below...

There are a couple of heart shaped buttons which need to be attached to the flower and the stamens need to be stitched, but I think I am going to wait until I complete all of the stitching before adding those items so that they don't catch on the hoop that I use.

Well, time to get going. Until next time, take care and remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often!

Lisa

Post 9, 2015 - Happy Groundhog's Day

This is why I love living in California...

 Temperatures in the mid 70s. 

Warm sun shining on my face.

Hills of Emerald Green.

Trees showing off their wardrobe of white flowers.

 I just love it. 

Speaking of flowers, I have been able to make a little time to put some X's in SamSarah's In My Garden lately. Here is a status photo:

I have a few more X's to do in this square and then it will be time to move on to the next one.

Well, sorry so short...until next time, take care and remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often!

Lisa

Post 8, 2015 - Catching Up

Wow...sorry for the little hiatus. Life has a way of getting in the way of the best laid plans...but it has been good things. Here are some little snippets of life here:

January 11, 2015

My older son turned 19 - WOW! Where does time go. Hard to believe that I have a 19 year old. But it was a bitter sweet celebration this year.

It has been tradition to have a celebration at breakfast time - the birthday person would wear the traditional Birthday Hat, we would sing Happy Birthday and Birthday person would blow out a candle in their toasted waffle. But said birthday boy was 3000 miles away on the east coast of USA at prep school :(

But to make sure Robert had something to put a candle on, I ordered a chocolate cake from Harry & David.

So Sunday night, he brought out the cake and his housemates sang "Happy Birthday" to him. I guess, the days of celebrating a birthday all together will [almost] be a thing of the past.

January 13, 2015

My DH and I are knee deep into Valentine's Day planning for both our Edible Arrangement Stores. This is our biggest holiday, so it is important to make sure that we cover all basis. I took a trip up to our Brentwood store to converse with our employees up there, as I typically go up to this store to help out during holidays (DH stays at our other store, which is close to our house). 

It is always fun to visit our Fruit Experts up in Brentwood and touch base with them. They had the lobby decorated for Valentines, showing off some of our new boxes which will contain hand-dipped chocolate covered strawberries...

January 15-19, 2015

Hockey tournament in Minnesota with Matthew's hockey team. 

My son Matthew (the one seated in the window seat) on the airplane with his teammates

It is always nice to have a hockey tournament in Minnesota, because I then get to visit with my parents, sisters and their family. 

We have created a tradition over the last few years, where my parents host a team meal at their country club. It proves to be a wonderful evening for all.

Matthew with his cousins: Lizzie and Sammy

Matthew with Grandma/pa and cousins

My whole family (sisters, spouses, kids, my parents, Matthew and I)

And of course, if you are taking photos at an event like this, you need to get a team photo...

It was a nice weekend. The team won 4, lost 1...made it to the semis, but unfortunately lost in the last 10 seconds. 

While the team stayed in a hotel, I stayed at my parents house which allowed me to visit with my family when we were not at the hockey rink.

Me and my nephew, Sam, at his hockey game

Although that didn't stop me from going to watch others play hockey. My nephew, Sammy, just started to play. So of course I couldn't miss the opportunity to catch one of his games. There is a big difference between watching his Mini-Mite game and watching Matthew's Midget Minor :)

In addition to watching Sammy's hockey game, I also got to hang out with my niece Lizzie. As an aunt who isn't around much, I did feel the need to totally corrupt her. In fact, we picked her up from school early on the Friday I was there so she played hooky with me.

And, also, I felt the need to teach her how to eat Ready Whip from a can:

All good things a good Aunt should teach a teenage niece - right?

Well that should basically catch you up on my life. But just a couple of things to show to finish off this post. 

First, here is the status of SamSarah In My Garden -

And lastly, while in Minnesota I got to go to my favorite stitching store: Stitchville USA and picked up a little stash...

Which I felt that I just couldn't live with out...LOL!

Well, if you made it down to here, I thank you. This is one long post. 

Until next time, take care and remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often!

Lisa

Post 7, 2015 - TGIF!!!

Time to do a "Happy Dance!"

Yahoo...

Yipee - Skippee!

Here is why

D - E - L - I - V - E - R - E - D

My Torah Portion has reached it's destination -
it has been delivered and signed for! 

Such a relief! 

Now the organizers of this great international project will proof-read my stitching and if it all is correct, they will scan it and upload it to the website for all to see. Once every few months they create a slide show, which they post on the website, of all the new arrivals. As soon as mine is there, I will let you all know.

Another fun delivery was made today...not to me, but to...

Harry and David Birthday Cake

Robert (my older son) who turns 19 on Sunday, January 11. 

Since he is back at school several 1000 miles away, I wanted to make sure that he had a birthday cake to celebrate with. This will be the first year that we won't be able to celebrate as a family; but I am sure between the dorm-house of boys, his classmates and his hockey team, there will be some celebrating going on!

Over the last few days I did manage to put some X's into SamSarah's In My Garden. Just enough to finish the 1st border I was working on.

Now it is time to move on to the flower inside the square. It looks like it might be a quiet weekend...and Matthew (younger son) and my DH have started playing a new XBox game...so I should be able to find some adequate stitching time.

Well, time to sign off. Hope you all are enjoying your Friday. 

Until next time, take care and remember...
Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often!

Lisa

Post 6, 2015 - "Hump Day"

Here we are, the first "Hump Day" of 2015. As my morning routine has been for the last few days, I have started by checking "where in the world my Torah Portion is?" When I click on the link of the USP tracking number, here is what I get today:

I guess it is getting closer for it is finally and officially out of California now. Still showing estimated delivery date of Friday 1/9.

Didn't get much stitching done yesterday, even though I sat at the rink for a few hours. Matthew's (younger son) hockey team has a tournament in Minnesota next weekend, so as the team manager I was busy finalizing some of the plans last night with some of the parents who will be traveling to the frozen tundra with the team. The team participated in this same tournament last year, during the coldest/snowiest winter on record. It seems that the temps are quite chilly again; so we have decided that renting a bus to transport the team around Minnesota next weekend would be the best choice. Could you imagine California bred parents having to deal with scraping ice or snow off their cars early in the morning to get the kids to their first hockey game at 7am? I can't.

Well, that is about it here. Time to bundle up and go for my morning walk (it is just 37 degrees here). Until next time, take care and remember...

Live, Laugh, Love, and Stitch Often!

Lisa

Day 5, 2015 - Back to reality

Today it was back to school for Matthew (younger son) and back to "routine" for my DH and I. It felt really strange to be getting up at 6:15am and making school lunch again. I feel like we all were on holiday vacation, even though DH and I worked a lot in our stores during the boys' holiday vacation.

Nevertheless, it felt good to get back to the "routine". It means that I have the morning to myself, which is the time I can get outdoors for a run or a walk or a combination of a run/walk. Living in Northern California allows one to be outdoors even during this time of the year. The mornings have been cool though - getting down near 32 degrees - but I cannot complain when my family all lives back in Minnesota where it is very, very chilly :)

I was able to get in some more X's on SamSarah In My Garden...

Mullied Berries portion complete; just finishing up the Frog Legs on the corners; then it will be time to stitch the flower which is inside of this square.

Well, that is about all from here. Hope your week is off to a good start. Until next time, take care and remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often!

Lisa

Day 4, 2015 - "Empty Nest" weekend

Thank you all for soothing my anxieties about sending the Torah portion. I know that I have nothing to worry about...and since it was sent by UPS International, I can track it :)

Well, Saturday started off really early (alarm going off at 3:30am) so we could take Robert (older son) to the airport to catch his 6am flight back to the east coast for prep school. It is sad to see him go, but exciting all the same. He really is enjoying his school and hockey year and life in the New England area of the US.

With Robert on his way back to New Hampshire and Matthew (younger son) in LA, my DH and I find ourselves "empty nesters" this weekend until 6pm tonight (Sunday). 

It is strange to have the house to ourselves and to worry about only ourselves. It is like it was "back in the early years" of our marriage - BC "Before Children". Strange how the cycle of life works. 

Most of our day was filled with napping, as waking up at 3:30am can play havoc on one's old body. But we did fire up the Netflix on the big screen tv and watch some interesting movies, like: 

• Mud - Matthew McConaughey and Reece Witherspoon. It was kind of a love, tragedy type of movie.
• Our Idiot Brother - Shirley Knight and Paul Rudd. Strangely entertaining movie of a very messed up family.
• Pulp Fiction - John Travolta and Samuel L Jackson. Can't go wrong with a Quentin Tarantino movie. Dialogue is always great.

I was able to put some X's in SamSarah's In My Garden...

Trying to get the border of this first square completed, which is stitched with Mullied Berries and Frog Legs. It is always fun to see how the variegated subtle color changes lay as you stitch, don't you agree? 

When you stitch with such fibers, do you try to control how the color changes come out on your stitched piece or do you just stitch?  

Well, my blogging friends, it is time for me to go and see what this day holds for me. Until next time, take care and remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often!

Lisa

We cannot live only for ourselves. 

A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men and women; 

and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, 

and they come back to us as effects. 

~ Herman Melville

Day 2, 2015 - Little Anxiety Attack

I finally carefully wrapped up the stitched Torah Portion, packaged it up in a shipping tube and sent it off to Toronto Canada this morning...and while at the shipping store, I could feel my heart go pitter-patter in my chest and my stomach doing flip-flops. There is something about sending off a stitched piece - wondering if it will get there safely. Do any of you out there get that anxious feeling too?

I have a tracking number in hand, but that will not suffice my worries; only when I hear from the receiving party that they have it safely in hand will I feel better. :)

As part of the project, I have written up a little narrative about myself to send with it. From my understanding, after they put together all the portions in a wonderful scroll-like display, a documentary of sorts will be created highlighting the thousand of stitchers who worked on all the portions.

My narrative I sent along with my finished Torah Portion to be included in the information about all the stitchers who have participated in this international project.

Tonight we are planning to grill a couple of steaks and chops; thought it would be nice to have a little family dinner before Robert (older son) goes back to prep school. He leaves at 6am tomorrow. We have enjoyed having him at home and it will be sad to see him go back. But he is having a great year as he prepares for college, which he will attend next year. He spent most of the vacation at home finishing up his college essays, which my DH assisted him by proofing them before he submitted them. It was kind of like a deja-vu moment. Last winter vacation, he was not only filling out college applications but was also finishing up prep school ones too.

Matthew (my younger son), who is down in LA this weekend, scored a goal in this afternoon's hockey game which was the first of five his team is playing down south this weekend. Several of the parents who drove down there to watch the team play email updates throughout the game, so we can feel like we are kind-of-like down there. Nevertheless, I do miss being in the crowd and cheering: Go Sharks! Go Matthew! They have another game later tonight.

I did get in a little stitching on SamSarah's "In My Garden", while watching one of my favorite movies, "Driving Miss Daisy"...

Until next time...take care and remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often!

Lisa

Day 1, 2015 - Happy New Year

Out with the old...

In with the new.

And so today starts a new year - 2015. I woke up to a beautiful day, cool and sunny, vibrant blue sky contrasted by the ever so green of the grass. The beauty of Northern California peaks around this time of the year when other parts of the nation are deep in winter. 

I took a short walk around this morning enjoying the surroundings of the neighborhood. It was quiet, except for a few others out walking, allowing me to reflect back on the last year - which I am grateful for - and ponder thoughts to the new year - which I look forward to. 

Last year, one of the large projects I accomplished was my Torah Portion for the International Torah Stitch-by-Stitch project. I have been delinquent in sending in the finished piece, but will get on that this weekend now that my DH took a photo of me with it, which I will also need to forward to the organizers of this big project.

Me and my torah portion, standing outside in our backyard, in front of the orange tree on New Year's Eve.

With the beginning of a new year, I have decided to go through my stash and pull out a project that I will work on this year. 

I found...SamSarah - "In my Garden". 

While watching some of the New Year's shows last night, I went ahead and gave it a start...

This series is filled with wonderful bright colors. It caught my eye several years ago, but it has sat in a plastic zipper pouch, all kitted up. So, 2015 it comes out and I hope to make this a finish before the year ends :)

Today, Matthew (my younger son) leaves to go to a hockey tournament in Los Angeles with his hockey team. They are taking a bus down there - just the players and the coach. Lots of male bonding will be going on in that bus, I'm sure. 

Since Robert (my older son) is home from prep school for a few more days, neither me or my DH will be traveling down to LA to watch the games. Robert is doing a post-grad year at a prep school out East. He was home for Thanksgiving and then, now, for the holidays. The time always seems to fly by when he is home...and I know that I need to make the most of this time, because one day he will be really on his own. 

I always look back at the photos when my two boys were young....

 and wonder where those two kids went.

Definitely proud of the young men they are becoming.

Well, it is time to sign off on this 1st day of 2015. 

I wish you all a very Happy New Year!

May it bring you all my health and happiness,

Love and Laughter!

Love,

Lisa

It was lost...now it is found!

OMG...it is amazing with all the stash I have, all the WIPs,  the stack of projects I have waiting to kit up and start, new samplers on their way...there has been this nagging feeling of an UFO - I project that was started years ago...a round robin that I shared with wonderful women all over the world - my Friendship Sampler (by Carriage House Samplings).

It's been a project that I have been searching for in my closet, in my semi-sortof-organized stitching corner, for months...probably even years.

Over the summer I remember taking everything out of my closet. Stacked it up on my bed; going through it; organizing stitching magazines that dated back to 1989; categorizing DMC and other floss as well as fabric. 

I could not, for the life of me find this round robin project. It was making me sick. Not only was the stitched piece MIA, but the little booklet that traveled along with the piece where everyone wrote wonderful things about themselves. I knew it had to be here, but after months of search and no luck of finding, I gave up. Chalked it up to being trashed or left behind some where.

However, today, while packing for Chicago - another hockey tournament weekend - I was looking for a cute pair of boots I knew were hiding in the depths of my closet. And lo' n' behold I found this:

A see-through zipper bag...a stitched piece...patterns...floss...Could it be, the Friendship Sampler?

YES!

YES!

YES!

OMG - Tears of happiness!

I found it! I found it! I am so happy and excited to have found this piece! It was in the strangest of places, so it is by luck that I stumbled upon it!

And the traveling journal was there too! I am so relieved! 

So, of course this is going in to my stitching bag I am taking to Chicago!

Until next time, take care and remember...

Live, Laugh, Love and Stitch Often!

Lisa

A Happy Dance on Friday :)

Exodus 4:12-15 - My Torah panel for the Torah Stitch by Stitch International project

It is complete!

The last stitch was crossed on the burning bush!

Time for a Happy Dance!

I will be finishing up some of the required paperwork over this weekend, which is required to be a part of this project, and then it will be traveling to Toronto Canada to be joined with the other panels. I am excited to be done but, as always, it is always hard to part with a stitched project. But I know that it is a part of a much larger thing.

Now to figure out what I would like to put some X's in...I have several WIPs which I should bring out of the dark and I have a few new things that I am aching to start...and I have the Just CrossStitch Ornament edition that is also calling my name. Ugh, so many choices...so little time :)

Well...I am going to hunt through my stash and make a decision. I'll let you know what I decide next time. Until then, take care and remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

Egret walking along the little waterfall near our neighborhood golf course - photographed on my walk in the gloomy, fall day in Northern California

TGIF...

TGIF and Hello from rainy, gloomy Detroit, Michigan. It is the first hockey tournament for Matthew (my youngest son). We left mid-morning and arrived here in the late afternoon. Perfect timing for a nice team meal catered by the hotel.

Matthew and his teammates camped out at the gate waiting to board the plane to Detroit for the first hockey tournament of the season.

The flight was smooth and gave me some time to put some X's in my torah portion. Here is what the burning bush looks like now.

I am feeling pretty good about how it is coming. When I am finish filling it in with Gold-#729 and Red-#816, there might be a little frogging to do. There is an area where I stitched some Red X's on the left hand side, which I am thinking Gold might look better. But I want to wait until the whole thing is stitch to make that decision. If anyone has any thought, please let me know. I value your opinion.

Well, sorry so short today. On East Coast time, so I need to get my day started. But I will leave you with this photo...

Wednesday morning's run from my house to our store, this hawk was sitting on the bridge, looking down into the creek - probably hunting for his breakfast. As I jogged past, he didn't move and I was pretty close to him. He was so beautiful.

Well...off I go. Until next time, take care and remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often!

Lisa

It's a doggie-dog world...but we are making due :)

Just thought I would start my post with a "hello" from our old dog, Bruno. He is so happy to get a new bed. Bruno is a very old dog - 13 years old - and his poor joints aren't what they use to be. Prior to this bed, we actually gave him the boys' old crib mattress, as it was only taking up room in our closet. Well, Bruno's claws finally shredded the baby crib mattress to bits and pieces after using if for a little over a year. So after cleaning up his "bedroom", we purchased this nice soft doggie bed. He was very happy to get it.

Anyway, yesterday I did muster up the courage to start stitching the burning bush onto the torah panel. Here is where I am right now...

Each time I designed it on my iPad and then stitched it (the practice burning bush and the one that is being stitched on the panel) the outline of the bush and the flames slightly changed. But I like how the outline came out on the panel. 

I decided to stitch the outline using 3 strands of floss, just like the hebrew lettering; and I stuck with the moss color. For the flames, I am going to use just the magenta-red color (#816) and gold (#729), but I am going to stitch with only 2 strands to give it more of an airy, light, watercolor like feeling.

I appreciated the comments from Shelly and Cucki. While I loved their ideas, I, unfortunately couldn't use a brown to stitch the burning bush because it wasn't an approved color listed on the Torah Stitch by Stitch website. They want the entire torah scroll, which will consist of over 1400 panels stitched by over 1400 people, to look uniform. So we just had 7 colors on the approved color list. None were brown and none were orange, which really would have helped the flame appearance. Oh, well, I am making due. :)

Today, after working in our store...where I dipped the strawberries, apples and bananas dipped in chocolate...it was time to get home and feed our youngest son so he will be energized for his hockey game this afternoon. 

Time to sign off...hope your weekend is off to a good start. Until next time, take care and remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often!

Lisa

Practicing the stitching of the burning bush is a good thing...but does not make one really prefect

Let's just say it is a good thing that I am stitching a practice piece before I actually stitch my Burning Bush onto my Torah Portion panel. This pseudo-designing thing is really difficult! Kudos to all those stitching designers out there, I don't know how you do it. To take something that you have in your mind, a piece of clipart or design ideas and then translate it onto graph paper and finally in colorful X's. Definitely not going to be a career for me :)

So here is my mess...

Things I love -

• I love the design
• I love the outline in moss (DMC #731) - for you know that the burning bush was on fire, but the fire didn't consume it. So it seems appropriate that the trunk of the tree, it's branches and some foliage that shows is still a greenish color 
• I love the top part in gold (DMC #729)
• I love how the reddish (DMC #816) mixes well with the moss and the moss stands out. 

Things I do not like -

• The middle section, this is where I am stuck. 
• I was thinking about using the rose (DMC #223) color for the middle area, it was suppose to act like the orange-ish color you see in a flame between the yellow and the red...rose just wasn't going to act that way
• A stitching friend of mine suggested maybe I should blend rose with red and/or gold for that area...I appreciate her input, but it is just not working either.

So, I am thinking that I will just keep it simple - use moss for the outline/branches/trunk of the tree, use gold for the outer/top portion of the flame and red for the bottom/lower portion of the flame. And kind of make it look like a watercolor painting of the burning bush, where the outline is vivid and strong, but the yellow and reddish part of the flame bleeds a little past the outline and fills in the drawing.

This morning I went back to the drawing board and manually manipulated the graph of this design to simplify it. I have been using the StitchSketch program on my iPad to help create the graph for this illustration. Anyone out there ever use this? It is pretty simple, yet I am definitely not a pro at it.

Now there are only 3 colors represented on this. I think that I graphed the design how I would like to stitch it. So, I might be ready just to stitch it on the official panel. Just need to take a deep breath and make that first X on the panel. Need some courage!

On another note...the first few days of Autumn brought us some wet weather, at least in the morning hours. Might have gotten about 1/2 inch of rain over those 2 days. We will take anything!

But today, the sky is clear without a cloud in sight. Come on raining season, lets get a start...California needs it!

Time to get a start to the day as I seem to be dragging. Hope you have a good Friday. Until next time, take care and remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa