Happy New Year!!!!!

It's been such a wonderful start to the new year for me.   I spent the last 4 days sitting on the sofa stitching while watching the entire series of Upstairs Downstairs.  I started it at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday and this morning (Saturday) watched the final segment before heading off to work.  I fell asleep a few times and had to rewind, but it's all I watched for the last 4 days. Day and night.  What fun.   Next up...Homeland (series 1 & 2) which was a Christmas present from Sara and Debbie...I'm so excited.  I did watch some of it when we got free Showtime last year, but needed to get it since I don't subscribe to Showtime.  Love my DVR.    Sara told me to stay home today since it was so darn cold, but I had to confess to her that I didn't want to because my behind was sore from sitting so long (didn't know that could happen) and my neck and shoulders hurt from all the stitching.  

On Monday, while I work, as I was reading different blogs I commented to Sara that when I went to one of the designers blogs there wasn't a word about stitching on it.  Sara looked me in the eye and said, "have you ever read Salty Yarns blog?"  Since I compose it of course I had read it before, but then I realized what point she was trying to make.  So, in the spirit of a New Year and turning over a new leaf...I shall write about stitching at least once on every blog posting.  On the right you will see one of the gifts I stitched as a Christmas present for Judy who started working at Salty Yarns in the fall.  It's the High Seas Biscornu and Fob (Fab Reilly designs).   The minute it came into the shop I just knew I had to  stitch it. And since Judy is all about the ocean right now,(she just moved down),  I just felt it would be perfect for her.    I had a great deal of fun stitching it and paired it with lighthouse scissors to complete the gift.  I was a stitching maniac all November and December and managed to complete about 9 projects, for employees, Stitch 'n Bitch secret santa gifts and friends.  Last week I managed to complete the Lizzie Kate Mystery Christmas Sampler, although I did add a few beads to give it some dimension.  I also completed my first 2014 project, started Wednesday night, Lizzie Kate, "A Little Snow".  A cute easy stitch and since snow is our January topic in the shop it is perfect...of course now I have to get it framed.... Since I finished something,  I got to start a new project, (although I've got a few still being worked on), but Linda and I are going to work a project together and we begin on Sunday so I wanted to get my fabric prepped and perhaps even begin since I'm also sure Linda is doing the same thing.  This is definitely going to be a race to see who  can stitch the most each week.  We've decided that we're going to meet here in the shop every Sunday in order to get this etui done, otherwise we'd end up putting it off for another year.  .  We've had it for at least  3 years and keep talking about it but never start so 2014 is the magic year of accomplishment for us. It will be a race to see who gets the most done.  While we are both working on the roof of the project, I have a feeling she is working on the front side and I'm busy with the back side.  The strain of so much overone stitching made me decide  to stitch Lizzie Kate's 2013 Flora McSample's Stockings.  So Thursday I  finished Noel on 28 ct. over 2 (much bigger than I had envisioned) and since it was larger than I had imagined I stitched the alphabet sampler stocking over 1 on 28 ct. on Friday, our first official snow day.    It's cute, and will be perfect on a tree, but I have to say the over 2 stocking would actually hold a small gift so I'm thinking I like that one better.  Sara suggested I do the third stocking on 25 count over 1 to give some perspective on size with a different count.  We'll see.  Now that I've discussed stitching I can  talk about what went wrong with our Christmas.  It started with my Mary wanting a new lounge chair to match the furniture that "fell off the back of a truck" last year, (when the man came to me in the shop to unload his truck of furniture from North Carolina).  So she and I went over to a popular furniture store in Delaware and after sitting on 100 (at least) such chairs she finally picked out a black leather one. (By this time I was willing to gift her anything, no matter what the cost just to get the hell out of there.)  In the meantime while I was waiting for her to settle on a chair, I did pick out a display cabinet for Sara for Christmas so she could display her smalls.  Anyway, the furniture company arrived with the delivery the week before Christmas.  When they pulled the chair off the truck Mary said, "That's not the chair I picked."  The chair was a cocoa and fabric, so back in the truck it went.  We were told they couldn't deliver again until after Christmas....well these things happen.  Well, Thursday I heard a knocking on the door, and  they had  arrived with the chair again.  I went out to direct them and when I saw the chair on the truck I called Mary and asked her to come down as  I felt  they were delivering  the same chair.  She walked down the stairs and the words began to fly.  Usually Mary doesn't cuss like a sailor (that's Sara), but I'm telling you yesterday she let it fly.  Her final words were "I don't even want the friggin chair anymore, especially from you so credit my mother's card and I'm done."  Meanwhile I'm telling her to watch her language and don't blame the men delivering the chair, while at the same time apologizing to them for her language and attitude.  It was the same two delivery men so they were getting use to taking the chair off the truck and putting it back on.  Although I have to say, while I'm sure they deliver many items I'm surprised they didn't realize this was the same friggin chair as last time because one of them said the same thing they said before...."it looks cocoa to me."  Now I just got a call from Mary that the furniture store salesman has called and is coming up with many excuses, and has yet to say, I'm sorry, which is what she wants.  After the first delivery, Mary went back to the store to point out the correct chair a 2nd time, which makes her even madder...since the store is about an hour away.   The chair she keeps picking out is Black Leather and the chair they've sent twice is cocoa and fabric.  I mentioned to the delivery people that perhaps the item number was confused on the chairs, apparently both chairs had the same item #, which is what they are saying is the problem...wouldn't you think they would have noticed this the first time around.  Anyway, Mary finally has her chair, after New Year's but the chair is situated and I'm pretty sure her behind has been in it.  The other Christmas problem we had was....Christmas morning I awoke around 4:30 and felt that it was a little chilly, but I pushed the thermometer up and kept plugging along.  After letting the water run for 30 minutes I knew there was another problem.  So when I was sure Mary and Brian were up I called them and asked if their place was cold....which it was but they plugged in electric heaters and said don't worry about it.  However, since everyone was coming to my house Christmas day for dinner and gift exchanging I said I was worrying about it because this was not only a heating issue but a hot water issue.  To do the huge pile of dishes I was using to make a Christmas dinner I needed hot water.  Since 4:30 I was heating water in the microwave and using it to wash dishes but that was  getting "old" fast.  So Vernon was called.  Sara's first response was to run to the office to see if I had paid the bill...which I knew I had so that couldn't be the issue.  When she saw I paid it on December 1st we started making plans to get heat for the day.  I figured no one would answer the phone on Christmas day so we were thinking of heaters from the hotel and me microwaving hot water. (starting to remind me of Nashville and me trying to melt butter over a candle...I'm old school I can handle just about any problem).   However, Christmas afternoon they answered the phone and actually delivered oil on Christmas Day.  I told Vernon to hold on to the delivery man as I wanted to give him a nice tip for coming out but apparently the only person not happy with coming was the delivery man and gave Vernon attitude so Vernon said, "No way are you tipping that asshole. Vernon went out and was saying how sorry we were that he had to come out, but we're on automatic with them so we couldn't understand why we ran out."  The serviceman apparently didn't give a damn and wouldn't even speak to Vernon, apparently he was solid "pissed off" at us for having the nerve to call in for oil.  We're on automatic people...delivery once a month....didn't happen in December...if you had shown up I wouldn't have had to call you!  After that I decided I'm done with oil deliveries and I'm having another method of heat put in.  And that was my Christmas Day...it's never easy, but I've learned to go with the flow.  Even with that I had a wonderful Christmas and I've had an even better week after Christmas.  While we did open on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, we had our first snow day on Friday after New Years....and that's so much fun.  A day when you thought you would have to work, but instead you get to stay home.  Whoppee!!! It's a good thing.  While the pitiful snow we got was over by morning, we had a day of rain on Thursday and I felt it might result in black ice beneath the snow and decided we shouldn't open.  When I called Sara and told her what I thought she just said, "It's fine with me."....what she didn't tell me is she was sick.  Vernon got the flu right after Christmas and apparently Sara caught it Tuesday.  She sounds terrible today (we're back at work) and I've tried to get her to go home and rest, but she's having none of it.  We decided to have a stitching session, but now I'm blogging and she's playing games on her phone so stitching has ended for the time being.  Stacy Stinson did come in and we exchanged gifts....thankfully she always brings me Christmas treats, which I started eating immediately, and this year she included a woolen needle pouch,  which she made,  with 2 packs of needles and a Big Toe needle threader inside...so cute.  Stacy's mother is our finisher and Stacy use to hand everything she did over to her mother to finish.  But with classes, etc., she's been finishing her own pieces and she's doing a beautiful job of it.  These needle pouches are adorable and I'll be putting mine in my stitching bag when I leave today.  Christmas just never ends.  It's really quiet here now though.  I think all visitors have left town....because we've seen very few today.  There is a lone surfer out today...28 degrees and he's surfing....oh, my God, to be young and stupid.  Well I've got to get back to stitchin.  Hope you are having a great weekend.  Talk to you soon.