Life With Jules, and other stuff

Here are some snaps I took after filling in the eyes, nose and mouth of the pumpkin and cat with Kreinik Glow-in-the-Dark Lemon:

Not finished yet, but I am almost finished with the pumpkin portion: Today, my dad and I went to Leesburg, FL to visit his aunt and uncle. I took advantage of us being in the area and popped over to A Stitcher’s Dream in Mount Dora. This is what I purchased: As you can see, I picked up the Kreinik floss that I need to finish Boo . I also picked up some 22-ct Zweigert Green Aida and a remnant of 14-ct White Aida. The patterns are (clockwise from top left): Victorians Across America’s Hotel Del Coronado (I have actually seen it in person and it is gorgeous!); Victorians Across America’s Southernmost Hotel , Key West; La-D-Da’s Pumpkins Three ; and Kats by Kelly’s Devil Cat’s Food . I learned that Kelly won’t be designing these cats anymore after this year so better stock up on them while I can!!! I am planning on finishing the pumpkin tonight and maybe getting a start on the rest of Boo !

Need I say more?!  LOL

Just trying to get some smalls finished for a couple of exchanges I am involved with. My work schedule has finally changed and I now have two days off per week. Since we are closed on Sundays, this means I get two days off in a row: Sun and Mon. Woo Hoo!! Stitching time :D I don't have any pics to share yet, but will once I get some progress done on my WIPs and of course once the exchanges are received. I have to get two mailed out this week for sure! Oh, and I have won a couple of giveaways! I will share those goodies with you as well once I have received them! Sunset through trees near Clear Lake - San Antonio, FL Until then...

In the early 1980s (we figured it to be 1983), my younger brother and I spent a summer at Lake Josephine Campground View Larger Map with our father. This picture shows the approximate location where our tent was pitched for about a month. Yes, we slept in a tent at night, although the park manager made it a  point to let me stay in their house many of those nights. And yes, there are gators in the lake! YIKES!! Let's just say I hate camping to this day! LOL The above pictures were actually taken in Sebring, FL just north of Lake Josephine (now an RV Resort). Some things remain the same, while others change. The second picture is Lake Jackson located in Sebring. Actually, I believe Sebring is built around this lake.

and an update! First, there are a bunch of giveaways happening this month. Just check out my left-side bar for all of the action. I would like to take an opportunity to thank all of you who commented on my last post. It was a lot of work, sweat, and tears, but I am very proud of the work I accomplished in earning my degree. THANK YOU so much for your words of congratulations and your encouragement along the way. I would also like to take an overdue opportunity to say WELCOME to my followers. I will try to be more consistent in my welcoming committee duties now that my scholarly duties are behind me, for just a little while anyway. And the update! Here is where I am at on Boo :     As you can see, the outline of one eye and part of the mouth is starting to form. They are filled in with one of the Kreinik Braid colors I still need to pick up.

Yup! Florida has deer. They are everywhere! With all of the development in our area, these poor things have to cross our busy streets. Just look at what crossed in front of the delivery truck last Saturday afternoon:   Not the best picture as it was taken through the window, but there were 3 deer. I am sure the buck was not too far behind! Last summer, while visiting Key West, we saw some key deer . No, they don’t look like keys, LOL! Silly. But they sure were cute. I wish I hadn’t lost all of the pictures on my portable hard drive so I could show you the pics I took. Hopefully I will be able to recover those photos while in MI during the week after Christmas. The deer we saw were actually in front of our vehicle while checking into the motel on Big Pine Key. And they look a bit different than the ones pictured above. ****** Oh, and grandma has some cute little grand-furbabies! I took some pics of them on Saturday. We weren’t able to take her out for supper as she wasn’t feeli...

Tomorrow is my grandma’s 85th Birthday! In celebration, I had my sister make her a birthday cake: I will post more pics on Saturday of Grandma with her cake and gift!!!

…this: “ Boo” – JCS Freebie Design by Sharon Pope Stitched on 28-ct Sand (instead of Salt) Carolina Linen Recommended DMC and Kreinik Fine Braid colors I just have to make a trip to one of my not-so-LNS’s (Kissimmee or St. Pete) to pick up the recommended Kreinik braid. I think I may spend Sunday working on the Coming Home for the Holidays. I haven’t touched it in a couple of weeks and really need to get the lead out to have it finished for Christmas for my dad! I am starting a new work schedule this week, so that will definitely help me accomplish the finish. I also wanted to share this with you: Yup! I received my diploma in the mail today!!! I am so happy. Now I just need to get a frame and matte board for it and hang it next to my BA diploma. Woo Hoo I picked up a few items to include in the PIF, Swap Party, and Biscornu exchange tonight. I should finally be mailing out the PIF Monday!

A little late with this, but I just didn’t have anything ready until now. I decided to do this post on one of my all-time favorite animals – after the frog and cat of course – the MONKEY!!! Ever since I can remember, the monkey is the one must see animal for me when visiting a zoo. They are so silly and fun to watch! Here are some pics I found on the internet: View Full Album Remember that show “Friends”? Well, Ross had a monkey and he loved that thing. I loved watching those episodes – well, until he and Rachel hooked up and wound up preggers; I KNEW IT WAS HIS! – because that monkey was hilarious. Here is a snap from the net: And one can’t forget this little fella:   I loved this one so much that I even watched the more recent cartoons with my (now 12-year-old) niece. Poor thing always got himself into mischief!

…went up the water spout! Thank you so much, Gen , for sharing your great designs this week! I really enjoyed stitching up Itsy Bitsy Spider: 16-ct Dk Yellow Aida fabric using recommended DMC Floss. Instead of using 2-ply floss on all stitching, I used 3-ply of DMC #310 (black) and 4-ply of DMC #498 (red). I also added a tip to the candy corn. I am not sure yet how I will finish this piece, but am leaning towards a pin pillow or ornament. I only wish I would have thought about picking up some glow-in-the-dark green floss today and restitched that area around the eyes. It would have been cool! Maybe I will stitch it again with some glow-in-the-dark colors!! Thanks, again, Gen!! I did make a little change to my previous post to include the link to the design so those who may want it can get to it. Also, I am marking my stitched pieces counting towards the Great Pumpkin Challenge (2010 Finishes in right-side bar) in Orange.

Another finish towards The Great Pumpkin Challenge:   Happy Howloween by Charles Craft (freebie design) 18-ct Ivory Aida using various DMC flosses This will be finished as a small pillow. Other than that, not much else happening.

View Full Album One of the few things we have to offer in Zephyrhills is an active Sky Diving community. We have a regional airport complete with a “drop zone” and there are several times throughout the year when the skies are full of divers. Today, while out on deliveries in that area, I happened to notice a mess of them in the sky:   Did ya see them??? Well let me give you a closer look: I had to make a copy of the original picture and then crop to get in close enough so you can see there are a couple of divers in the above picture! Here are some more snaps: View Full Album In addition to sky diving, we get a lot of gliders in our skies. Here’s one I happened to see en route to the shop yesterday after a delivery run:

…to have had a finish over the weekend, but alas I spent it running between work, home and the hospital. Dad was in with an infection in his secum, but he is now home on antibiotics. A sure sign he is feeling better: he is driving me nutso, LOL! I do love him though. He’s the only daddy I have afterall and I don’t think I could stand losing him right now. Here is a semi-recent pic of him:   I have been working on another piece for TGPC. This one is called Happy Howloween by Charles Craft. Of course, I don’t necessarily have all of the recommended floss, but I do have adequate alternates in my stash. I am still trying to get rid of use up some old floss that just seems to be going nowhere fast. Anyhoo, here is a progress pic: It will be finished tonight or tomorrow night at the latest. I am ready to move on to other things, LOL! I also recently paid a visit to Quilts on Plum Lane in Dade City. I decided to head up there one morning last week before work to pick u...

My neighbor and I went to a local PetSmart Saturday afternoon in Tampa. While we were there, we checked out the dogs that were up for adoption: While walking around the store, we came upon cats: Snakes: Frogs:   You kinda have to look past the glare. The store lights were just terrible to work around, but the frog is the dark blotch with a bit of shine along the nose. A very cute parrot: and Lizards: This last puppy (well, he’s actually about 9 years old) reminded me of one from a blog I read. His name is Gizmo: I wished I could adopt another cat or two and maybe a dog, but alas I don’t have my own place yet. My neighbor was wishing the same thing when she spotted this little cutie: No, that’s not me in the background. She was one of the women holding the dog adoption.