Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Hope I am starting the Chinese New Year right!  I am going to mass, and then going to order dinner (our cook doesn't do Chinese), and then I will be back to my stitches.

So here's what I've accomplished this IHSW so far:

Doll is almost done! Just backstitch a line for her mouth (the pattern doesn't say what color!) and attach a few beads to the front of her dress (like I know how to do that!)   :-))

I've also started Day 5, which is the Evergreen.  Another Christmas tree, holy cow!  To think I was thinking of sewing a Christmas tree small (red, on white) by Sue Hillis, from the JCS Christmas 2008 issue!  Maybe I still will, it's words and not plain green stitches anyway.  Well, I will do a small in between just to keep things interesting.

Here's the evergreen:

not much to show yet but at least it's a start!  And my weekend is LONG, because of Chinese New Year! Woo hoo!  Hoping and praying for a good year for all of us! My mom, my brother and his wife, my (late) brother's family, everyone dearly loved!

Jade Vine blooms

Just thought you might like to see what jade vine blooms look like.. despite living in the tropics, I only ever saw one blooming, live,   yesterday.

Instead of stitching (it's the IHSW weekend, you know!)  I went out right after Saturday half day work, to a place 2 1/2 hours away, for a delicious, mostly vegetarian lunch.  The setting was a beautiful, fragrant garden... such balm to the soul!   We had wheat sesame bread, salad (romaine, butter lettuce, and assorted other edible leaves and blooms I couldn't identify off-hand), and pasta, with a choice of cashew cream dressing, olive tapenade,  basil pesto, mango, pineapples, sunflower seeds, some kind of shelled "pop bean like" bean, cream sauce with chicken, basil tomato sauce, grilled salmon pieces, etc etc... with dalandan (a type of citrus orange) juice, and to finish, banana fritters, and a thin wedge of dark chocolate cake.  Yum! I'll try and find some pics from among my friends to show. I was too hungry to whip out the camera and take pics.  It was the birthday treat of the beautiful, kind, gracious lady who is my boss.  May she continue to be blessed (and may the rest of us be blessed along with her!)

woohoo.. all signed up! and late!

Ha! I'm all signed up for International Hermit and Stitch and I'm not even sure whether it's this weekend or last.. okay, just checked, and it was for LAST weekend!  Sigh.  So much for keeping myself on the "straight and narrow" stitch-wise.. now I'm just plain late!  Is there any way I can un-sign up?

I want to have some finishes - notice the ambitious line-up on my sidebar?  I can barely finish a square a month from my Whimsey and Wit project.. I'm ambitious, what can I say? Some stitchy friends have been so nice as to put up some gift-aways and PIFs, and I have to get cracking!  Not to mention which I committed to having my own give-away for Christmas sewing!  And have I mentioned that everything to me, which is bigger than 6 x 6, seems like a BAP?  :)   In 5 minutes, I am getting off here to do some sewing...

Anyway.. I am putting some finishing touches on the Christmas ornaments that I forgot to give my dearest nephew and niece.  They're ready now.. for next Christmas!

For the New Year

“The best thing to give to your enemy is forgiveness;  to an opponent, tolerance;  to a friend, your heart;  to your child, a good example;  to a father, deference;  to your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you;  to yourself, respect;  to all men, charity.”

Writing from my sick chair (I would say bed except I'm not in bed).. caught a bad virus and am now sick.  Won a few giveaways in the last couple of days (not on blogs, so they weren't posted on my wall) - isn't it great??  Christmas stitching stuff and the leaflet "The Christmas Shoppe"! Many thanks to Laurie and Denise!!  I'll get to see them (the winnings only, not them!) at the end of the month, when another cousin comes home for his dad (my uncle's) first year anniversary..

I'll post my finish and a couple of starts for the year.. certainly hope it's better than last year!

Wishing peace, joy and love to all my stitchy friends..