Merry Christmas

I woke up this Chrismas morning to it being 32-degress outside, very cold for us Southern Californians, but makes it feel more Christmasy.  I hope all of my friends and fellow bloggers have a very Merry Christmas and are able to enjoy time with their family and friends....oh and maybe a little stitching.

Merry Christmas to All

I have seen this Christmas "survey" on several blogs and decided that it would be fun to answer the questions!

Eggnog or hot chocolate?  Both, and I love them equally.....and love to spike them with a shot of brandy and 1/2 a shot of Bailey's.....Yummmmm

Does Santa wrap the presents or leave them open under the tree?  Santa wraps them.  One of the fondest memories I had as a child of Christmas, was my gifts from Santa.  My mother used to by the same wrap for all of Santa's gifts, so it was different then the wrap used for the gifts from my parents.  I used to always think wow, these came all the way from the North Pole for me.

Colored lights on a tree or white?  I love both.  When I was growing up the most popular lights were the large colored lights (they did not even blink), but the tree was beautiful with the tinsel that my Dad painstaking placed individually on each branch.  Since I have been an adult we have mostly used white lights.

Do you hang mistletoe?  No.  Don't know why not, but we never have.

When do you put your decorations up?  Usually Thanksgiving weekend, but I will say that it is now a progression.  It seems I am adding to my decorations each year, right down to Christmas week.

What is you favorite holiday dish?  Cranberry Mallow Yam Bake

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?  No, wait for early Christmas morning, make coffee or hot chocolate and sit by the tree and open gifts.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree?  In the past with white lights, matching ornaments (red and gold mostly) and personal ornaments that I have collected through the years.  This year my place is really to small for my tree, so I bought this wonderful tree that is decorated, but is in a topiary pot.  (I will try and take a picture later today and post).

Snow: Love it or hate it?  Raised in Southern California, I have never had to live in it, so I would say I love it.

Can you ice skate?  Since I was raised in the late 60's early 70's most girls tried to follow Peggy Flemming.  So yes, I did take ice skating lessons, would love to buy skates again and try it, but don't want to end up with a broken something.

What is you favorite holiday dessert?  Pumpkin Pie.

What is your favorite holiday tradition?  Watching all of the christmas type movies that we own, and going to see the Rose Parade floats being decorated.  I was actually fortunate to work on the float for our city that won that year.  Working on the float was something I always wanted to do.

Candy canes: yum or yuck?  Yummm

Favorite Chrismas show?  A Charlie Brown Christmas.

A Rainy Day in Southern California!!

It is very rare to have a rainy day in Southern California, specially on a weekend.  I am really looking forward to being able to put on a movie and stich most of the day.  I have not been able to work on my stitiching this week becuase I have been sick with a bad cold. 

I will try and post pictures early next week of my progress.  Stay warm and enjoy the holiday spirit.

Updated Photo of WIP!!

As promised here is an updated picture of my progress on "Athena".  Hopefully, I can stick with it so it will no longer be a WIP.

Long overdue!!

I really feel that I have been ingnoring my blog, but in actuallity I have really been trying to work on my stitiching so that I would have something to update.  With Thanksgiving and all the preparations that go into it my stitching time has been limited.  I have been able to work on "Athena Goddess of Wisdom" and will post a picture later today.  I have had a hard time sticking with this project, there is a lot of detail, actually more than I thought.  I have so many other projects calling me.

I will take a picture of my progress and will post it later on today, so check back!!

Great Giveaway!!

I came across a blog by Angela that is having a huge givaway.  The drawing will be December 10th.  Please visit her blog at http://hookedonstitches.blogspot.com/ for how to enter.  Oh, and good luck!!

Old UFO now a WIP

I found another UFO that I was hoping to finish before this Xmas, well that is not going to happen, but I did bring it out last night.

So far this past week I worked on four of my UFO's.  I have set my stitiching rotation Bagatelle, Athena, Pretty Pumpkins, Village of Hawk Run Hollow and A Quaker Christmas.  I have determined that most of my projects are large, which means I don't have a lot of finishes.  I used to work on one project at a time, but decided have the fun was buying and kitting up the project and starting it.  And after all isn't this supposed to be fun.  Thanks goodness this is not my job or I would be starving....haha

Happy Haloweeeen!!

Yes, I did go out and purchase a Haloween costume for my Yorkie, Vegas. He really does not like wearing it. I think he would prefer to eat the tail. Here is a picture that I would not be able to capture again if I tried.

I bet you thought he was a mouse!!  He is supposed to be a monkey!  Happy Haloween!!

Not that I need anything else to stitch, but I was wondering if anyone has this pattern or kit that they would be willing to part with?  It is an OOP design by Candamar Designs called "Teapot Stack".  Just thought it was very whimsical, and I love the colors.

Progress on Quaker Christmas

I finally decided to put some time into "Quaker Christmas".  I don't think I have worked on it since last year at this time.  Remember I have been trying to stitch on something different each night, well I have to admit I did work on this for two nights. 

Going to pull something out of my WIP's to work on tonight.  Maybe the Village oft Hawk Run will call me.  I will try and post and updated picture of VOHR tomorrow.

Stitching rotation

I decided to try a stitching rotation to complete my WIP's or at least make a dent on them.  Last night I set the "Pretty Pumpkins" aside and picked up "A Quaker Christmas" by By Gone Stitches.  I will post a picture either later today or tomorrow of my progress.  Now what should I work on tonight, that is the question?  I have "Village of Hawk Run Hollow" by Carriage House Samplings, "Marquoir Bleu et Rouge" by Gigi and Carinne, "Athena Goddess of Wisdom" by Mirabilia or "Summer Ball" by Sandy Littlejohn.  FYI that is not all my WIP's, if I could just finish one of them that would be great.  So check back tomorrow and I will share which one I chose to work on and share my progress.

Progress on Pretty Pumpkins

This is my recent picture of my progress on "Pretty Pumpkins" by Glendon Place.  I am really trying to stick with this one with a lot of other projects calling me.  Hopefully this weekend I will be able to spend more time on it.

Another Cross Stitch Blog!!

This is my first post on my new cross stitch blog!! I have had a blog at Wordpress...Stephaniesblog.wordpress.com for a few years but have decided to try Blogger.