THE BLESSINGS OF CHRISTMAS

I hope that all of you had a very blessed and lovely Christmas.  We are so thankful for the precious times that we shared with our children, grandchildren and dear friends these past few days.  We hold, dear in our hearts, new and sweet memories, those very special times to keep.

            Grandma-Ma, Miss Ella & her favorite Elmo  

                    Emerson trying out his new tools on 
                                Grandma-Ma's walls.

     Baby Harrison helping Miss Ella open a present.


At long last, 'Christmas Garden' was finished only two days before Christmas!  My wonderful framer, Donna, had already assembled the frame I chose, and very kindly finished framing it, so that it could be proudly hung for Christmas!

'Christmas Garden'

by Blackbird Designs

This is a truer look of the 'Straw' shade of linen.

I truly loved every minute of stitching this wonderful design!

A close-up view of the frame.

Of course, some of the best gifts that I received were some new stitching designs!

I can't wait to go to my LNS to pick up linen and threads to begin working on these beautiful pieces!  Oh, more decisions to make, and so many more hours needed to stitch all the things that I want to stitch!  But, oh what bliss!

We are supposed to have 6-9 inches of snow tonight, overnight into tomorrow.  Oh what joy!  I love the snow, and what more perfect excuse to stay indoors, all cozy and warm, sipping cups of tea and stitching to my heart's content.

I have loved reading all of your comments, dear friends. Thank you so much! 

Blessings!

JOYFUL CHRISTMAS

'For Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is

given: and the government shall be upon his

shoulder:  and his name shall be called

Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God,

The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.'

(Isaiah 9:6)

We are so blessed on this Christmas Day, and thankful for the joyful celebration of our precious Savior's birth.  

May your hearts and homes be filled with His goodness, hope and love, not just on Christmas, but every day.

With joyful love & blessings!

On The 15th Day of Advent

Sing We Now Of Christmas, on this, the 15th Day of Advent!

Thank you, to Jo of Serendipitous Stitching, for hostessing this wonderful Advent Calendar Blog Event!

This beautiful Christmas design was begun at a Stitcher's Hideaway Retreat, in December 2005, just two days after our daughter's wedding. (I had registered for the retreat months before our daughter became engaged to be married.)
This was a wonderful and very memorable retreat for so many reasons.

                                      'Victorian Noel'
                                   Betsy Stinner
                                             of
                                  Earth Threads

Memories, Memories..... As I think back to so many Christmases past, with our children as they were growing up.  
For our family, the Season of Advent, is the most precious time.  Each year we look forward to getting a new Advent calendar, with the little numbered windows to open each day.

Our children always looked forward to taking turns, each day, opening up the little windows, and then reading aloud the scripture for the day. Now my husband and I take turns opening the little windows each day.  

For each Sunday in Advent, after dinner, we always read a scripture and  light the candles on our Advent wreath. Then we sing a Christmas song or two.  Our children always loved doing this every year.

Another sweet memory is the traditional visit to go see Santa Claus and have the children's pictures taken with him.

                                               

We will never forget this Santa picture.  The children said that "he was a very 'smelly' Santa Claus", and they couldn't wait to get off of his lap!  That was so funny!  Oh such sweet times!

This is a very special ornament, stitched for me last year by my very true love, my darling husband, who is an avid stitcher of Hardanger designs.  Isn't it truly beautiful?

We are so blessed in so many ways every day.  Let us hold dear, in our hearts, those very treasured Christmas memories, and the special memories that we will create in our hearts and homes this Christmas.

Blessings to One & All of You, My Very Dear Friends!

Sit a While and Stitch With Me....

Please, won't you sit a while and stitch with me, and we shall have a cup of your favorite tea!  My fire is warm, my friendship is free, and I would love to share some time together.

                                  At the Salem Cross Inn

                               Brookfield, Massachusetts

There is nothing as special as spending a lovely day with a dear friend, sipping tea and stitching together, especially during these long cold December days.  Last Thursday, was just such a day, with my dear friend, Janet (no blog).  

Quaker Christmas II
Blackbird Designs

We worked on Quaker Christmas II, and although we know that it won't be finished in time for Christmas, we are thoroughly enjoying the journey together.  After all, isn't that the most important thing?

'Christmas Garden' (Blackbird Designs), is hopefully, going to be finished very soon!  I chose and ordered the frame last week, in anticipation of finishing this weekend, but alas, it was not to be.......  My plan is to 'work feverishly' over the next few days, and we'll see....  Please say a prayer for me.

Could these possibly be Two Calling Birds?

Love these darling little Christmas trees!

(This is the true colour of the linen in this photo.)

Last week, our Stitching Group had a wonderful Christmas dinner party, where we exchanged little stitched gifts with one another.

My Gift from Janet

Inside were tucked some sewing notions..... a sweet gift!

Would you believe that I forgot to take a photo of  the ornament that I made?  One of our friends took some photos, thank goodness, so I will post pictures of mine next time.

There were definitely some very nice 'little distractions' last week, which took this Grandma-ma's attention away from stitching.  Three of our precious little grandchildren decided to pay a visit, all dressed up to help decorate the Christmas tree!

10 month old, baby Harrison, came with his Reindeer hat and binky.

Two and a half year olds, Miss Ella and Emerson, dressed in his Santa suit, for the occasion, helped to decorate the tree.

Miss Ella and Emerson sharing a quiet moment together.  Aren't they just adorable?

Over the weekend, we attended my husband's company Christmas Party, a lovely event, and also went with Janet, her husband and two of their friends, to a very old, historic inn for A Christmas Dinner Musical event.  It was just wonderful.

As we enjoyed a sumptuous dinner of roasted turkey, these delightful singers entertained us with Christmas stories and songs.

                                Janet (left), Santa and Me.

After all, you don't have to be a little child to still love Santa!

May you share in the joy, peace  and love in this beautiful season of Advent.  

Blessings, My Very Dear Friends!

It has been a very busy week, with preparing for my dear husband's birthday last night.  As he says, "I hit one of those milestone birthdays, where you don't want to tell people how old you really are!"  It was a great celebration with family and friends, and the grandbabies running all around the house!  Just wonderful!

Last week Janet came over for another lovely day of stitching and we made some more progress on Christmas Quaker II. 

 We always have such a wonderful time chatting, sipping tea and enjoying some wonderful goodies too.  Janet made this lucious apple crisp dessert. Perfect with afternoon tea!

 'Christmas Garden' (Black Birds Designs), is showing a little more progress too.  

I loved stitching this pretty little flowering tree.

Love this sweet pair of Christmas Birds!

A lovely surprise came in the mail this week from Nicola.  I was the lucky recipient of  the chart, 'Ann Medd 1742', (The Scarlett Letter), which Nicola had finished stitching. It is an amazingly detailed and beautiful design!  Tucked inside the package from Nicola, was also a box of wonderful Clotted Cream Fudge!  They are delicious!  I don't believe that we have anything like it in America.  Thank you so much, Nicola!

It is always such a joy to share with all of you, my very special friends, and I am thankful that our lives continue to cross with one another.  May you find peace and contentment in the journey of life every day.  When there are difficult times or sorrow, may you know that the love of God always holds you through whatever comes.

With love & blessings!

Whatsoever Things Are Lovely...

The days are definitely getting colder here!  We had 3+ inches of snow this week, but today warmed up a little and sun was shining, and the snow has already melted away.

A few more lovelies 'grew' in 'Christmas Garden' this past week.

                   Just love those two sweet reindeer!

My dear friend, Janet and I decided that it would be fun to stitch 'Quaker Christmas II' together,  even though we are getting a bit of a late start.  We thought that it would be fun to get together for some special stitching days, and we'll 'sing' Christmas carols, as we stitch our way through this beautiful sampler!

This is my progress so far.  I have been having a bit of a challenge, trying to decide if I prefer to stitch using my preferred scroll rods or a large hoop.  I have swapped off twice on both, and today decided that I don't like all of the marks left by the hoop, so am going to try the scroll rods again.

I started at the center and am working to the right side.

Love these beautiful motifs!

Knowing how much I adore 'everything tea', Janet sent me this lovely card this week, which just happens to match one of my favorite teapots!

This has been a week of new beginnings, both for our family and our country.  Our son, Kevin, his wife and our two little grandsons have moved to our area, because he will begin a new job tomorrow!  We are beyond thrilled to have them living so nearby, and hope to spend time with them often:)

                             Two and a half year old Emerson, 
                          literally having a glorious time!

Then, lo and behold, our Christmas Cactus decided to bloom!

Isn't she just beautiful in all of her splendor?

If only this beauty would bloom again for Christmas!

On this beautiful autumn afternoon, thinking of so many things in our lives for which to be thankful, this favorite verse came to mind....

"Finally brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."  (Philippians 4:8)

It is always my joy and pleasure to share with all of you dear friends.  I want you to know that my life continues to be blessed for knowing each one of you and for our lives 'crossing' with each other!

Blessings in Stitches & Friendship!