A peek at Barbara's RR

I am still stitching and not just knitting!!!
This is the house that I am working on for Barbara's neighborhood. I hope she likes it.

Big boys have bithdays too.

Michaels 45 th birthday was on the 25th of March . I think the best present was that it was on a Saturday this year,so we were all at home. Even Cheryl and Rick were here from Virginia. Birthday presents at our house happen at the breakfast table, or in Mom And Dad's bed if the kids can't wait that long.
We had cake with candles at coffee time and in the evening a small party with neighbors and friends. I love cooking for guests and always feel good when people complement my party meals. One of our neighbors is a professional cook and so I was thrilled when he ate three helpings of chile . Also got lots of complements on my homemade breads.
All in all ,a very nice day for my DH!!

Socks number four- these have the official name- Cheryl's Sedona Socks. The next pair are going to be something different. I want to try a pattern that has some other stitch combination in it.

Here but not here.

Hi Everyone,
I am here but not here. I have house guests and my DH who is here so seldom, is home and it is his 45th birthday this weekend. I am sontinuing to stitch on Barbara's RR and work on socks- and I MUST start my Sampler mailart. I t will be a couple of days though before I can get back to my Blog with any regularity. Have a lovely weekend.

Das Wochenende im Uberblick

In English- An overview of the weekend. I finished my third pair of socks yesterday. One is slightly larger than the other -gotta get one of those little counter doohickys. Aside from that this is the best pair so far. The heels look good and the knitting is even with no bobbles and best of all I did them all by myself. I am starting to understand the directions in the sock knitting pamphlet. Amazing. I think Cherly is bringing me a knitting book and a sock knitting book so maybe I will soon be able to knit socks with a pattern and not just your basic k2 p2 cuff and a stockinett stich rest. I would love to do some of the lace socks and beaded cuff socks I have seen out there.
Barbara's RR showed up this morning so even though I started another sock last night , her RR gos to the top of my list of projects. After that is to get my Sampler mailart going. Then come the socks, the heart wall hanging, several Chatelains etc.... I think I need to give up my job to keep up with all my stitching :-) But then how will I pay for it. A teufels kreis (devil's circle) if I ever had one.

Everyone else here is still asleep. I think they are waiting for the repeat of the qualifying for the formula one race to begin before they show thier faces. This will give me a chance to start pulling flosses for Barbara' s RR.
Other than that - Michael is home. Maarcus is here for the weekend and it's not raining and I think my bread came out okay. So life is good!

The earth is flat

Here is a picture of my (more or less) finished square for my RR. I is going into the mail this morning.
I seem to have been having a series of slightly "off" days lately. Or maybe I am just noticing because I am writing about them in this blog?

Yesterday morning, Patrick said to me at the breakfast table: A picture fell off the wall on me last night. I asked if it had broken etc.. Oh yes- he answered- didn't you see it? I went into his room and stared with horrer at the shards of glass lying on his pillow, the top of his bed and the headboard. It was quite a large framed poster and the frame gave way and the whole thing fell on his head in the night. Patrick being Patrick just got up and came and got into bed with me. There was not a scratch on him, he was so lucky!

After the kids went off to school, I had a couple of appointments. First to bring Michael's car to the dealer for a saftey inspection. This is known as the "TUV" in Germany. I drove over. realized I had forgotten the car papers, drove home and retrieved them. Discused when the car would be finished. Me, insisting that I didn't need it before two thirty and the mechanic, insisting it would be done much sooner. No matter- off I went to the dentist. There, thank goodness, all went well. Check up, x-ray,cleaning, finished. I did have the usual facinating conversation with the dental hyginist. Her son is in Patrick's class at school , she talked and I went hrmmader dvrbsa.

I mailed two packages, bought a pair of jeans, and went to the bank and then started to walk home, on the way , I decided to swing by and see if the car was actually finished. It was not .But
they promised that if I waited 15 minutes it would be. HAH. An hour later, the car was finished. It passed it's saftey inspection exept that the airbag light wasn't behaving. They were able to fix this by removing two coke bottles from under the drivers seat ( I did say it was my DH's car) which were banging againt the plug and causing it not to have a good connection. I paid my money ,got the stickers and the car is good for another three years- by which time we won't own it anymore.
Once I got home I decided to take a short nap. The phone took this as a signal to ring every two minutes. My office telling me one of my classes was canceled, Patrick, telling me that he was at a friends and would be home by seven. The physical tharapist asking where Patrick was. Oops- now Patrick was in trouble.
Decided the nap wasn't going to work and got up to get ready for work , when the doorbell decided to take a turn. I opened the door to four (yes four!) police in a van who were returning Nala, who had apparently decided to go to the gas station and see if anyone there would give her a treat. Someone had called them because she was too far from home , but they were pretty sure where she belonged. Thank goodness. There were some questions about , insurance , chipping and tatoos ,but as they had not found her in the street and Nala has all of the above , there was nothing they could do. We once called the police here to report pistol shots fired and had to fight to get them to even come out, but let your dog leave the yard and they show up with four police and a van.
Work was uneventful, well nothing involving several three year olds is uneventful ,but nothing out of the ordinary. On my way home,I dropped by the grocery store and when I came out someone had "parked in" half of the parking lot. The half where I was. I asked to have the car owner paged and by the time I was finished packing my grocerys in my car she had moved it -to an equaly bad place. I made her move it again. There were empty parking spaces but she was insistent in parking in the drive way. It's only a very small lot. I won't even go into my rant about the driving skills in NRW.
Afterwards I had a cup of tea with my neighbor/house owner, brought Andreas home with me to get him to look at my shower door which keeps falling out, found the piano teacher at the door- two days early ,but who's counting- opened the door, called for Alexander, ran for the phone, which was ringing, trying to direct Andreas to the bathroom the piano teacher and Alexander to the piano, while getting out an extra chair , open the window and make sure there was nothing disgusting lying around the great room. I usually try to check this before the piano teaches comes- but not two days before. Andreas did decide against fixing the shower door. He is going to install a new one- very good.
The rest of the day went smoothly, chatted with Michael, fixed dinner, chatted with Cheryl, finished my RR, went to bed too late. At the end everything came out fine today ,but it seemed like quite the trip to get to the end of the day. Wouldn't want to be bored!

More and new stash

I have a new hobby- sock knitting. One of the best, or worst things about this is that it gives me an excuse to buy more and different stash. Sock yarn is incredibly cool. It comes in all sorts of different color combinations. Solids, self striping, melange. All kinds of stuff out there. Plus while it seems there are not quite as many notions used for kniting as for cross stitching, I am starting from scratch, so still lots of stashing to be done. You can even buy ivory colored, plastic knitting needles that are flecked with gold. Very pretty -although I think I like the 50s style, colored aluminium ones better.
Don't worry , I am not about to stop cross stitching, but I have never been good at taking my stitching with me. I seem to need my space to stitch in ,but socks are easy "on the go". Giving me something for Dr.'s offices and vacations. I am always amazed at people who can sit patiently and wait to be called in a waiting room. I am not good at waiting and without a book or a project, I go nuts. The only place I am able to sit and stare at nothing is on an airplane-and that is because I take "medication" to get me through the flight.

A small change on my blog- I have a counter-YEA. I signed up and filled everything out by myself but then couldn't get the HTML code thingy in the right place etc.. on the Blog. While my husband was here on the weekend ,I asked him to have a look at it. I showed him where I had inserted the code and he looked at me with a strange expresion on his face and asked why I had put it THERE. I had no good answer other than I figured I could always change it. He shook his head ,either sadly or in wonderment at my logic and fixed it for me. I wouldn't want him to think I could get away without him :-)

A plea to all parents

I just mopped my floors- and my son walked across the hall with dirty boots before it was even dry. Truly- I am not sure it is worth it. LOL- ya gotta laugh or cry and I prefer to laugh- most of the time!
I am back to working on my RR so that I can mail it out on Wednesday at the latest. It will go in a padded envelope , registered mail ,air etc... I had taken a break from stitching on it because I couldn't find a peacock that I liked. I love the fact that we have peacocks on our farm and it was terribly important to me that I have one on my RR. I found just the right one this morning,with some help from Dani. Thank you Dani!!!
I have it almost stitched , although it is slow going today. I have a headache that keeps going and coming. Headache and over one stitching are not mutually condusive.

Thanks for the encouraging words for Patrick on his nerve removal. He had no problems at all. He went to both appointment on his bike and came home happy as a clam (can clams be happy?) ,the second time with the nerve sealed in a little plastic bag thing. It is sitting in front of me. Do you know what a tooth nerve looks like? Do you want to know? Shall I post a picture? I thought not. I think I was wrong in calling what he had a root canal. He HAS had a root canal on the other front tooth though. I am 41 years old and never had a root canal or a nerve removed from a tooth. How can a thirteen year old have had both?

On to my" plea to all parents". As you may know I give English lessons. I have discovered that there are children out there ,over the age of 10 ,who do not know how to look up a word in the dictionary. So , if you have a child who can read , please get out a dictionary and make sure your child knows how to do this. Even if you are pretty sure they can , give them a refresher course. I t will make their school lives soooo much easier. I am declaring theis weekend - International use the dictionary weekend.
Have a good one!!!

Is it a full moon or what?

Here is a picture of my friend Wilma, whose birthday it is today and her daughter Leonie whose god mother I am.


I am in a very wierd mood- not good. Is it a full moon? I guess I could google it or find a calender that tells me. Most of the calenders in my house are not for this year- I just keep the ones that have pictures that I like. I keep them on the right month , but the wrong year is the wrong year- there is just no getting around it. I do have a date book to keep my appointments , but as I work with school kids , I use a school date book. One that runs from September to September and this one has no moon schedual. Anyway -wierd mood stuff- does anyone besides me have trouble with the word verification thing on Blogger- or Yahoo for that matter? Sometimes I just can't decide what the letters are . Is that an l or an i , a v or a u? I often have to try twice and at least once, three times to post my comments. The other thing that happens is I think the letters look like they should be Dutch words, I sit here an d look at them and wonder what they might mean! I don't really belive this and I have a dutch dictionary if I really wanted to look a word up , but I am afraid the thought alone makes me a bit wierd.

Patrick (who else) is having another tooth episode. The tooth that he broke off at xmas 2004 ,decided to go wonky. The nerve got infected and had to be removed. Otherwise known as a root canal. This involved two days of missed school due to pain (before the root canal, since he had it done he is fine). Two visits to the dentist , so far, we're not finished yet, and numerous phone calls , notes, and rearanging of scheduals. Just the usual crazy goings on.

Weekend update

Here is a picture of our sweet Nala . Her Birthday was on Friday and she turned 11 years old. She is a wonderful pet and companion and we love her very much.
The rest of the weekend was pretty average.
Patrick had a friend to stay and I took all of the kiddies to Munster on Saturday. We all had a wander and then I spent an hour in Starbucks with my Chai Tea Latte and a book. This does wonders for my equilibrium and getting me through the rest of the week.

My needlework goal for the weekend was to finish this pair of socks and the picture is the proof that I did :-) It is only my second pair and before socks I had only knit a scarf ,so I think they came out pretty good. They are meant for my Mom and although the foot looks really long , they are a 39 and should fit her perfectly. The two socks are not the same color rapaport , but the story of why not is long and boring so I will skip it. Rest asured I will not make this mistake again. My Mom loves the color red so I think she will enjoy these and they will keep her feet nice and warm next winter.

The Hyacinth is my attempt at bringing a little spring into the house. I love the way they look and smell , but after two days, I discovered that the burning eys and sneezing fits that I was suffering ,were only happening in the family room. I had an" aha "moment and moved the flowers to the dining room where I don't spend much time and the symptoms went away. Bummer that I can't have them upstairs , but nice that I made the connection fairly quickly!

Snow , Snow, go away and come again another day.
Rachael wants to put on her sandels and go out and play.

A complete waste of time

Nabbed this over on Annemarie 's blog-I love goofy stuff like this The only test thingies I refuse to do, are ones that insist that if I don't send them to 6743 friends in the next ten minutes ,I will have bad luck forever. I just delete those. I don't belive in bad luck, its just not worth it.


Place an X by all the things you’ve done, or remove the x from the ones you have not.This is for your entire life:
( ) Crashed a friend’s car
( ) Stolen a car
(X) Been in love
() Been dumped
(X ) Shoplifted- but only on accident. Found a bar of chocolate under Patricks butt once, when I had been to the grocery store with him in the stroller.
( ) Been fired
() Been in a fist fight With a bunch of other then teenage girls
(X) Snuck out of your parent’s house .
(X ) Had feelings for someone who didn’t have them back
( ) Been arrested
(X ) Gone on a blind date
(X) Lied to a friend
( ) Skipped school
( ) Seen someone die .
( ) Been to Canada- Maybe this summer though.
(X ) Been to Mexico
(X) Been on a plane
( ) Set a part of yourself on fire
(X) Eaten sushi --Love sushi
(X) Been skiing
(X) Met someone from the Internet - Quite a few people actually
(X) Been to a concert
(X) Taken painkillers
(X) Love someone or miss someone right now
(X) Laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by
(X ) Made a snow angel
(X) Had a tea party pretend or otherwise--Both!
(X ) Flown a kite
(X) Built a sand castle
(X) Gone puddle jumping
(X) Played dress up
(X) Jumped into a pile of leaves
(X ) Gone sledding
(X ) Cheated while playing a game
(X) Been lonely
( ) Fallen asleep at work/school- No but I fell asleep on a couch at Starbucks, less than a year ago.
( X) Used a fake ID- But only for convienience and not to do something I shouldn't have been doing
(X) Watched the sun set
(X) Felt an earthquake - I am from California :-)
(X ) Slept beneath the stars
(X) Been tickled
(X) Been robbed
(X) Been misunderstood -All the time- After 19 years I still feel the language barrier
( X) Petted a reindeer/goat/kangaroo OR jackalope
(X) Won a contest
(X) Run a red light/stop sign
( ) Been suspended from school
(X) Been in a car crash?
( ) Had braces
(X) Felt like an outcast/third person?
(X) Eaten a whole pint of ice cream in one night
(X) Had deja vu
(X) Danced in the moonlite - One of my favorite things to do- Dancing anywhere is good.
(X) Liked the way you looked
(X) Witnessed a crime
(X ) Questioned your heart
(X) Been obsessed with post-it notes- I adore post it notes!!
(X ) Squished mud through your bare feet
( ) Been lost- I don't belive in being lost-along with bad luck. It just doesn't work for me.
(X) Been on the opposite side of the country
(X) Swam in the ocean
( ) Felt like dying - I don't think I have actually felt like dying but I have felt like I was going to die.
(X) Cried yourself to sleep
(X) Played cops and robbers
(X) Recently colored with crayons - All the time
( ) Sang karaoke
(X ) Paid for a meal with only coins- I thought everyone had done this.
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn’t- All the time
(X Made prank phone calls
(X) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose - No but I have laughed so hard that I simply spit out what I was drinking.
(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(X) Danced in the rain
( )Been kissed under the mistletoe
(X) Watched the sun rise with someone you care about
(X) Blown bubbles
(X) Made a bonfire on the beach…at the lake- Well I didn't actually start the fire myself as I am a fire killer,couldn't start the BBq if my life depended on it , but I have participated.
(X) Crashed a party
(X) Gone roller-skating
(X) Had a wish come true
( ) Jumped off a bridge .
1. What time is it? 21:28
2.How much do you love your job? I don't even want to think about this .
3. Ever steal any traffic signs? Yes- I think more than one.
4. Favourite pie? Lemon Meringue 5 .Favorite number? 5
6. Favorite movie? "The Big Chill"
7. Favorite brand of body soap? Anything that's not got a very strong smell
8. Toothpaste? Colgate
9. Message to your friends reading this? Hope this made you laugh!!
10. How do you see yourself in 10 years? Not in Munster
11. What do you enjoy receiving? . Any sort of communication that says the sender is thinking about me.
12What time is it now? 21:36 - I type slow

Kid's say the darndest things

I was thumbing through the phone book, trying to remember the last name of the physical therapist that we use. Patrick has a prescription and I wanted to call to make an appointment. The phisio's son used to be in the same class with Patrick and so I asked ( Patrick) if he could remember Jan's last name. He looked at me and said: Houtman. Only the stitchers out there well find this funny, or even understand it, but I thought it was worth saving.

Peacock Cypher update

Thanks everyone for your good wishes and crossed bits on this one. While PC didn't recover 100% from my mad washing , I did get most of the bleeding out. Only someone who is looking very closely for booboos will ever see the very slight stains. I imagine that it is not visible in the photo at all. I also was able to stitch on about 3/4 of the beads last night. the real kicker is that the original stain didn't come out either, although it did fade quite a bit. I think it can be covered by a carefully cut matte.
I am off to sew on the rest of the beads now. I will post this one again when it is matted and framed.