Shores Block 4 and More

Gee, I thought I'd be back before now. I had taken pics to post and had ideas in my head, and then I didn't sit down at the computer long enough. You missed my whiny how-many-days-left-'til-Christmas-break countdown, you lucky readers. My break started at 3:45 last Friday, but things have been koo koo since before that. During my last week of school for 2009, I was treated to a yukky cold and wicked laryngitis. That made the week extra fun, because I went to school anyway! What did I learn from that? If you go to school without a voice, many kids will whisper. Really!

How about some stitchy stuff? Here is Shores Block 4 all finished up.

Putting the last stitch in that block was delightful. I liked it, but it took so much longer than I thought it would. Doesn't it always? I'll probably put off the start of Block 5 until January, or maybe even February. We'll see. Plans don't work out well around here lately, so I think "we'll see" is the best way to handle Shores for now.

When I finished Block 5, I pulled out the long lost Miss Lila's House. I know! Long time no see, huh? It was my 2009 New Year's start, and I've hardly touched it since January. I've had a very tough time being happy with Miss Lila over one, and I've decided that it's the Needlepoint Silk over one on 30 count linen. I've stitched a lot of over one on 25 to 40 count fabrics, but the stitches on Miss Lila seem very crowded and irregular to me. To test my theory, I stitched the head and neck of the goose with DMC. Could I get a decent pic to show you? Not really. But there is definitely a difference, and I like the DMC better. So what does that mean? It means there'll be some unstitching between now and January 1, and I may restart Miss Lila for my 2010 New Year's start. Damn it! (Excuse me while I take two calming breaths.) Maybe unstitching will be somewhat therapeutic. Uh huh.

Then there's the new man I've told you about. There's been some progress on his suit and mittens since I last showed him to you.

He's pretty cute, isn't he? Wait 'til you see his fuzzy beard and eyebrows. In fact, this sweet Santa has been the one good thing about long days (yesterday we left my parents' house at 7:00 am and returned at about 5:45 pm) at chemo with Mom. There's nothing to do there but hang out and stitch. So when Mom is drowsing or doesn't need anything, Santa is my companion.

So about Mom ... there's no good news. That's probably enough to say. Thank you all, again, for your positive messages (all of you who comment), notes to check up on me (Faye) or say something nice (Lee), and fabulous prizes in the mail (Staci, I took a picture of your gorgeous fabric but forgot to load it into this post!), and good thoughts and prayers. I can never tell you enough how much every word is valued. Your bloggy friendship has been an unexpected treasure, and your blogs have provided me with entertaining info and hilarity, not to mention stashy encouragement (you naughty girls).

Tomorrow or the next day, I'll line up the pics of stockings and tree for you. Today has been a baking day (mmmmmm, cookies and fudge). Tomorrow will be last-minute running around, off to see family at the folks', and then baking in the evening. Make loads of fun.