Where have I been?.....

Greetings dear friends and blogging buddies!~ Ok so I have been a litte MIA lately. Wanna know what I've been up to? Well stick around and you shall find out! I've been busy that's for certain!

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Are you a miserly mom?

Well.... I have decided I have to buckle down and really really try to manage our money better. Oh I'm pretty frugal already . Try to save where ever I can. But it seems to be pretty difficult to stretch that all mighty dollar doesn't it? In my recent efforts to get that money belt a little tighter, I landed in my local Barnes & Noble. I turned my head and (gasp) walked right by the Starbucks in the corner on the way in! Now if I hadn't already came in with my money saving armour on, I probably would have caved and stopped by.

I walked back to the finance section and was hoping to purchase the Dave Ramsey book "The Total Money Makeover". It wasn't in stock . My eyes slowly skimmed the other books on the shelf and BINGO , I found a name I recognized. I picked up the book "Miserly Moms" by Jonni Mc Coy. Any of you ever see her around on the talk shows or in articles from Good Housekeeping? Well, anyway, I continued to look through it. Now came the questions. Do I order the Dave Ramsey book and wait for it to come in , or do I buy this book and get started today? Well I decided I'd better start that day, so Miserly Moms came home with me. I can tell you that there are some things that don't fit our family. But then I looked at Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace program that someone had and I see that he has things that don't apply to us either. Guess they're just trying to cover everybody, which I get. Just gotta gleen what you can from them both I guess.

My husband took a little mini- vacation from work last week to surprise me. One of then things we did was take a little trip NE of us to a little town called Tunas. There's not much there , but they have a wonderful little Amish country store there. He had been in there before for something for work and knew I would want to check it out. They have some awesome prices there and you don't have to pay tax on anything! They have raw honey for 73 cents a pound so I bought some. We also picked up some Amish butter cheese, farmer cheese, homemade orange slice candy, chocolate covered pecan-carmels, and some whole wheat flour. The flour was 5 lbs for $1.86. I couldn't pass that up! I could have spent a couple hundred dollars in there easily. Not because the prices were high, because they weren't .It's because I wanted so much! Most of their spices were probaby double to three times the quantity you would get at the grocery store, and most of them were under $2 a container! I really wanted to stock up on those , but I had to watch it! LOL.

No pictures inside the store, so the best I could do was take a picture of the outside. Sorry for getting part of the car door in the shot!

I treated myself this week to one LHN's newest patterns, Simple Joys. I also got the floss I need for it. All but one color,as the store didn't carry that shade. I'm sure I can find something that will work though.

I have picked up a needle to stitch in over a week! Still working on projects for the lady I do ocassional knitting for . They are all baby afghans. I knitted the following three in a weeks time and I have 6 more to go! Here is what I have done so far.

The knitting lesson with the little girl is moving along. She told me the other day that she wanted to get good enough to sell her things later. I told her that she would have to stick with it so she could get better. She was very excited and said that she could hardly wait! I kind of thought that in the beginning that she would kind of get tired of it and that , at 7, her interest would kind of be fleeting. After we spoke the other day , and she told me of all that she wanted to learn how to knit, I think that interest will linger for some time to come! She gets so excited, it's really funny to see.

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Well that will do it for another "edition" of The Happy Needle. I hope you all are doing great , and I hope to see you all back here again really soon!

'til next time,

don't be a stranger, ( guess I've been one lately !LOL)

Sharlotte

Even hotter today?.....

Hello all!~ Well, the weatherman says it is supposed to be hotter today than it was yesterday! I plan on staying inside enjoying the cool air we have now. It hasn't been this hot here I don't think since a few years ago when it was 115 with the heat index. It was so hot here in the house ( the a/c was acting up then too) that all of my candles were leaning and warped! That was an awful hot summer!

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I am so excited ! There is a local dairy farm here that we just loved. About 2 years ago we had several tornadoes ( it think it was 63 in a two day period) and the dairy farm took A LOT of damage. They kept trying to get up a running again but they were struggling. We went to the store yesterday to pick up a few things we were out of. When we went by to get the milk, I couldn't believe my eyes! Our beloved dairy farm, Memory Lane , is back in business full swing!! It is just like the old days. The container below is glass, you pay extra up front, then when you take it back , you get your deposit back. Their milk seems to last longer too! Isn't it great how simple little things like this make us happy?

Once in a while I do some knitting for someone. Look at what I am using for her this time!! It is a wonderful mohair/wool blend from the Brown Sheep Company. It knits like a dream! It will be an afghan.

The knitting lesson with the 7 yr old went pretty well yesterday. I was very happy to see that she was picking it up a little better yesterday then she did the last time we met. I'm not sure how long a 7 yr old will be interested in this ,so I am trying to make it as easy as possible so she is not discouraged.

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Ok, I had a couple of questions from yesterday . I will answer them here.

Deb~ yes I was able to get that stitching done without much cool air. We do have an attic fan but when it's really hot , it doesn't do much good. In the summertime when my hands get sweaty, I tend to go through a lot of needles as I'm acidic and I wear the coating off the needles. This time I have only gone through two I think.

Jackie~ I haven't noticed many color differences on HoHRH yet, but I am only on block #2 so we shall see.

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Well all, thank you so much for stopping by today! Your visits are always welcome! Please come again soon!

'till next time,

don't be a stranger,

Sharlotte

We have air!!!!

Greetings dear friends and blogging buddies!~ You read right! We now have new airconditioning! Finally! It is so so nice. It has been very hot and miserable here and without descent output of air....well you can imagine!

Some more of the Cosmos have bloomed. Of any of the flowers I have ever tried to plant , these are the only types I can ever get to produce a bloom.

Haven't been doing much stitching lately , but I did manage to get a little more done on the HoHRH piece. I switched the colors around a bit on block #2. The called for colors looked a lot different than what the pictured showed. I really liked what the picture looked like so I had to change it around some to get it to look more like the model.

Well I will be meeting the little girl again today to give her another knitting lesson. I think I will try a different tactic to see if I can get her to understand a little better. Someone asked the other day in the comments if I would be taking pictures. I have asked some of the parents how they felt and they were okay with it. I have not asked this parent yet , so I should be getting that done pretty soon!

Well, I better travel along and get some things done before heading out the door. Thank you all for your continued visits and for the wonderful comments. Keep 'em coming! Do stop by again soon!

'till next time,

don't be a stranger,

Sharlotte

Some mail and another stocking,,,,,

Greetings dear friends and blogging buddies!~ My , but it is hot here! Very sticky too. I keep having these heat induced headaches that are about to drive me ape!! I am headache free at the moment, but give it a few degrees.

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I partcipated in the Summer Exchange from the Holiday Exchanges group and yesterday's mail brought me this from Amy.

The designer wasn't listed but I believe that it looks to be something from Pine Mountain Designs. She sent along some patriotic conversation Sweethears, chocolate covered sunflower seeds, some red ribbon with blue and white stars, and some colored binder rings. I can hardly wait to make some floss tags to put the binder rings on. Thanks Amy, I love it all!

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Next up is the stocking that I stitched for Rebecca for the BBD Stocking Exchange that I set up. It is Deer in the Meadow from the December Stocking Booklet.

I used a mistletoe print for the back. Perfect match , no?

Yesterday I got a phone call from my BIL to tell me that my husband's uncle ( who is only in his 50's) had an anurism. He is fine and stable for now, but the doctors have no idea if the tiny clots will break off and cause a stroke or not. Please pray for him. This is a very scary time for us.

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I gave my first knitting lesson to one of the little girls yesterday. She is 7 and the cutest little thing. She has part of it down but still a long way to go. I"m wondering how long a 7 year old will want to stay with it, you know?

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Well that's it for me folks! I hope you all have a wonderful day and try to stay cool! I want to thank you all for your continued visits and comments. They make my day!

'till next time,

don't be a stranger,

Sharlotte

One house down....Only a ton to follow!

Greetings dear friends and blogging buddies!~ We have been having some much needed rain here. Sunday night we had flooding. We didn't take the camera out, wish he would have. It was quite amazing to see one of the parks where only just the top of the swing set was sticking up out of the water. We seen several vehicles stalled from trying to cross water that was too high. We were due to get another storm last night, but nothing happened. Oh well. It is 70 degrees here right now . At this time of the morning here lately it has been almost 80 already so I can live with 70. We are supposed to get the new a/c installed on Thursday and that will help bunches!!

I got block #1 of HoHRH done and the start of block #2. Here is that progress.

My local quilt shop had a terrific sale of 5 fat quarters for $5. I couldn't resist. I was able to pick up a fat quarter of sampler style fabric from BBD. I can't remember what line that was. Anyone remember? Anyway, I am collecting fat quarters for a quilt called Ricky's Heart Warmer. I think the first 4 fabrics will go in that nicely.

Remember this photo from a couple of posts back? I had mentioned that I was going to be sending it to someone special and so I did. I sent this to Shirley. She emailed me right away and told me that she just loved it! She said it was perfect timing too , as her birthday is coming up and it is from the July BBD Stocking booklet. I am so happy you like it Shirley!!

Well , I will run. I have a knitting lesson to instruct this morning so I need to be getting ready for that. Thank you all so much for stopping by and for the comments. They mean a lot. Well, except for those nasty ones for the porn sites, but I can't get the 'trashcan' to show up to get rid of them this morning! I keep dragging my feet about the comment moderation. I need to do that and soon!!

till next time,

don't be a stranger,

Sharlotte

Another stocking and a little HoHRH progress

Greetings all!~ Woo-hoo! Friday is here! Not really that big a deal to me while the summer is going on . During the school year it means NO SCHOOL for the weekend! :) We start back up in a couple of weeks though. Then I will really be saying Woo-Hoo, when Friday comes!! LOL!

Well, the BBD stocking exchange is wrapping up. Since Catherine has no blog ( you see this Catherine, I am spreading this for the whole world to see...nudge .nudge...just kidding! LOL!) I offered to show the stocking she stitched for April on my blog. April has received this so it's now safe to show. She stitched April one of the stockings from the April book.Appropriate don't you think? This is her first stocking and I think it is a most excellent job, don't you? Way to go Catherine, I know April is proud of this!

Here's my latest progress on HoRHR. I am hoping to get the first block finished up this weekend and possibly more progress of VoHRH.



I think it will probably rain all weekend here. We really needed the rain and I am very grateful for the cooler temps. Especially with the bigger a/c unit still out.We should be getting a new one soon! Let's hope!

I hope you all have a most excellent weekend ! Find something fun and exciting to do. Afterall , all work and no play , makes us dull, right?

Thank you all for all of your wonderful comments and words of support. They mean so much!

'till next time,
don't be a stranger,
Sharlotte

Roses and Pumpkins

Greetings dear friends and blogging buddies!~ Are you a little cooler lately where you are? Our temps here have dropped a bit and the humidity hasn't been as bad. It's nice to go a few days without a headache from the heat!

I haven't been doing as much stitching. My eyes need a break. What stitching I have done has been frustrating. I started working on An Apple a Day from Plum Pudding Needleart and made a couple of bad errors! Gee wiz!! Anyway, I can't find my seamripper so I will have to set that project aside until I find it. It's not like I don't have a ton to choose from right? LOL! I do have a couple of the HRH series that I have going so it's easy to find something to pick up.

I did make a little time to stitch up and finish this stocking. It's from the July BBD stockings booklet titled Summer Roses.It will be going into the mail tomorrow to a very dear person.

Yesterday I received my stocking for the BBD Stocking Exchange I set up. I received this wonderful stocking from April . I wish I had taken a closer picture of the linen, it is just gorgeous! I am getting to where I really like Quaker designs and she stitched a lovely Quaker pumpkin. I love the Fall too so the choice was just perfect! Thanks again April!!

Has everyone that was involved in this exchange sent and received their stockings? Please let me know. I will be setting up Round 2 in August for anyone who is interested.

You know, I mention the other day about the July 4th fireworks we shot off. Well, there were a ton of people all across Missouri that had reported UFOs. We seen something as well but knew it had to be some kind of firework. Turns out it was some new one that was out this year. At least new to our neck of the woods. It was suspended from some sort of balloon and went sailing slowly across the sky. We had seen so many of them and joked about being invaded by Mars. Little did we know that there would be tons of reports of UFOs the next day! Too funny! Did any of you see these this year?

The other day I had also mentioned about a couple of girls that were wanting to learn to sew and other types of needlework. Well, a couple of other moms have contacted me and it looks like that I will be having 4 new students! I have a flower girl dress to make as well so I am going to be quite busy I think!!

I am off the do some things around here this morning. Then I think I will put some more stitches into HoHRH this afternoon.Thank you all for all of your wonderful comments, friendships , and visits. You all are THE BEST!!

'til next time,

don't be a stranger,

Sharlotte

Just a little Monday post

Greetings dear friends and blogging buddies!~ I hope you are all having a wonderful Monday! I also hope those that celebrate, had a terrific 4th of July! We went and bought a few fireworks and combined them with some we had leftover from last year. My husband works with a guy who owns a fireworks stand and he gave a big ole fat discount which made the fun spread further. We took a friend along and he had brought fireworks as well. He brought some cherry tomatoes and strawberries and put firecrackers in them and blew them all to pieces. Does that sound all male or what? LOL!

Here is a picture of our son. I can't for the life of me remember what in the world he was doing when I took this picture ,but I remember we all busted up laughing. Ever have those moments when you just knew without a doubt you'd remember something and then forgot?

I didn't get a whole lot of pictures when the fireworks were actually going off. I am not good with timing that sort of thing . Besides , they go kablooie so fast!



We had several of these ground type things and I was actually able to get a picture of one.

There were also all sorts of the balloon things with lit fireworks attatched to them that were floating across the sky from somewhere. It looked like we were being invaded from Mars! My husband is going to ask the co-worker that has the stand what they are so we can get some for next year. They were really cool.

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Ok, ya'll know that I have spoken many times about not being able to grow anything. Well I thought I would go ahead and try to grow some Cosmos this year and low and behold one of them actually came up! Not only that , but it had several blossoms on it! I was excited so naturally I had to take a snap of it.

I have a little more progress of HoHRH to show. I haven't gotten much more done as I have been devoting my time to other things besides stitching.

Ocassionally some of the other homeschool parents are in need of services for their children that they themselves can't provide. One of the dad's had that very situation this past week and was looking for someone to teach needle arts to his daughter and that led him to me. That same day I had a mom who doesn't do that sort of thing, contact me about teaching her daughter as well. I am so excited, I will soon have two students to pass on needlework skills to!! I think that is going to be lots of fun!

Well I am off to gt myself another cup of coffee before I start buzzin' around here for the day. Hope you all have a great day! Thank you so much for the comments and continued friendships. It meas a lot!!

'til next time,

don't be a stranger,

Sharlotte

A new start and some mail

Greetings dear friends and blogging buddies!~ I tried posting yesterday , but had troubles galore, so I am trying again today. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I wanted to mention that I will probably be going to "owner approved " comments instead of just word verification. Even with the word verification on, I am still getting those nasty comments to look at some trashy website. With Blogger not having the " trash can" available half the time , I can't delete them and it's really frustrating! Hopefully if I go to 'blog owner approved" you will all understand. Anyway, moving on.

I started Houses of Hawk Run Hollow this week. I haven't gotten very far as other things have needed my attention this week. This is where I am so far.

I had joined Exchanging with BeckySC and was invovled with a scissor keeper exchange. It arrived and here it is below.I don't know the specifics on it like , who the designer was , pattern , linen , or floss used. I can tell that it is a Quaker design and I really like it. I think it would even be cute with some little Fall colored dried flowers and hung on the door knob this Fall . That way it has dual purpose! :)

Here is the fabric used on the inside and the back. Again I don't know what fabric it is, maybe Debbie Mumm? Anyway, it's cute.

It has been a little cooler here this week. It's made things a lot more bearable like yard and house work.

Yesterday I took the kid to the mall, where I ended up getting a wonderful massage.We went to bowling practice and also to visit hubby at work. It was his birthday . We went out to Mexican Villa after he got off of work for a birthday dinner. We always love eating there.

Thank you so much for the prayers for my husband's grandma. She is still in the hospital where I think she will most likely be staying. Her kidneys are working a little better , but other than that I think she is about the same.

Thank you for your visit today and for the wonderful comments that you leave. I appreciate them so much! Hopefully I won't have so much trouble next week with being able to post and I can post more often!

'til next time,

Don't be a stranger,

Sharlotte