‘Twas The Week Before Christmas And All Through The House…

There were messes. But would you expect any less? Luckily I managed to get the kids to go through their rooms a couple of weeks ago and clear out some space for Santa’s special deliveries this year. So that’s something. But we have to get on wrapping and menu planning, which we always leave to the last minute! And I’m pleased to say that, despite the messes, the house is relatively clean underneath it all, so there won’t be too much work to get things presentable.

We had an interesting week. Both of my oldest boys got their second COVID shots – woohoo! The baby is still too young, but I’m relieved that she’s now wrapped in an immunity bubble. Matthew and I both got our boosters this week as well, and had no side effects other than sore arms. I was nervous about the booster because I’d read about a lot of people having a hard time with it, but it worked out fine for us. Colton did stay home yesterday because he woke up quite lethargic and unlike himself. But he perked up as the day went on, had a negative at-home COVID test (just in case), and has been cleared to return to treatment. So I’m hoping this difficult week will prove worthwhile and we’ll stay COVID free!

My Flower a Day Project just grows and grows, despite only working on it for 20 minutes at a time and only a few mornings a week. I’m nearly finished with the first page of the pattern and will just have to go back and fill in the backstitches between petals. Flowers are one of my favorite things in the world and it’s been wonderful starting my day with this stitch. And have I showed you all how I’m storing the bazillion threads it uses?

In a Pyrex dish! It makes me extra happy to see this dish beside my cross stitching tray on the shelf in my bedroom. I love the pastel vintage pyrex dishes (in blues, pinks, and aquas) and have been lucky to find a few on my very infrequent treasure hunts. This is one of my favorites and I love using it instead of stashing it in a cabinet somewhere.

And I’ve made more progress on Christmas on Shelves, which I’m stitching with Mary. This one has been hard for me because I’ve made a few rookie errors. This is a 20 count linen. When I started the project, I tried stitching across two threads on the linen and the stitches were huge and there wasn’t a very good fill. So I decided to stitch across one thread… and that’s been a challenge. But I’m hanging in there and sticking with it – only three more motifs and a few more french knots and this project is done! My favorite motif is that little aqua vase with flowers on the second shelf and the far left. I love it!

2022 Stitching Plans
+ Last week I shared that I’d ordered Annie Bayliss to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee this summer. I’m planning to work on this the way Lori Holt works on her red samplers: just a thread or two every day when she sits down to stitch. I’m very excited!

+ In Lori’s FlossTube video this week, she shared her 2022 Sunday Stitch (she calls it her Sabbath Stitching, but I’m not particularly religious so I’ll just call it a Sunday Stitch). She’s decided to stitch Consider the Lilies. That has been on my cross stitching wishlist since I started last year, so I went ahead and ordered a booklet and will plan to do some Sunday Stitching with Lori. I just have to figure out the linen and thread situation, so I probably won’t be able to start on the first Sunday in 2022, but eventually!

+ And I’ve spoken several times about stitching Winter Rose Manor on Christmas. Last week I was in angst about my threads arriving in time, so I cancelled the previous order that hadn’t yet shipped and cobbled together a new thread order from a couple of different vendors online. ALL of the threads are now in the mail, so I should at least have something to stitch on Christmas Day!

+ I also signed up for a Liberty Post subscription at DuckaDilly. I’ll probably only receive a few months’ worth of deliveries before I cancel the subscription, but that will build up my scrappy Liberty pile so that I can get back to work on my Mandolin quilt. I’m hoping that the phrase Mandolin Monday will remind me to work on it every Monday.

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Matthew is off tonight because he worked last Sunday night. I’m planning to rope him into helping me wrap the Christmas gifts that we have collected, watch last week’s episode of Dexter (because I didn’t watch it without him!), and order some sushi. I’d also like to manage a few stitches, but we’ll see! I hope you all have a cozy and safe weekend!