Many thanks...

I'd like to thank everyone for their comments & private emails of concerns and prayers in regards to my Fathers recent mishap...it really means a lot to us...THANK YOU ALL!

The long road to recovery has begun, but not without a bump in the road. Ultra sound procedure yesterday revealed a fairly large sized blood clot in the broken leg. A vascular procedure was performed yesterday afternoon...the news of the blood clot really took the wind out of all of our sails. A device, described to us as an open umbrella without the fabric, was inserted through the large artery in his groin and place in a vessel/vein/artery (not sure which) in his belly. This device will hopefully strain out the clot should it travel upwards towards the lung. They can't be as aggressive with blood thinners as they would like due to the large incision and fear of bleeding & infection. He will be on a low dose of blood thinners in hopes of preventing any further clotting.

I am back home for a day and then I'll go back to relieve one of my sisters...we are taking turns staying there with our Mother. We are hopeful he will be moved closer to home on Monday for skilled care & more rehab.

brenda

{The apple of his eye...}

I received one of those dreaded phone calls today...

My 82 year young dad took a tumble from a ladder while picking apples.

I don't have a lot of details about the incident, but knowing Dad, I am guessing he had his eye on a bright, red, shiny apple...

the ones just out of mom's reach...

He was thinking apple pie or apple dumplings perhaps...

Well the end results aren't good...a very bad break to the femur bone, plus loose bone fragments.

CT scan will be done in the morning to see extent of damage and to view the area around a previous knee replacement surgery. We are hoping for no bone damage behind the artificial knee...

Surgery is scheduled for Monday...and then the journey to rehab & recovery.

Due to this unforeseen circumstance, I will be out of the office off and on this week. There will be slight delays in shipping and we will do our best to get your orders shipped just as quickly as we can. I thank you for your patience & understanding during this time.

Kind Regards,

Brenda

{I rode my bike...}

Yeppers, rode my bike 6 miles last night...so it is okay

that I ate

one of these....

right???

So...

I cheated

BUT,

I DID

ride my bike...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Peach & Raspberry Sundae

2 peaches, peeled & cut into small chunks

1 pint raspberries

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 Tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

Vanilla ice cream

~In a large bowl, combine the peaches, raspberries, sugar and lemon juice and let sit, tossing once, for 20 minutes.

~Scoop the ice cream into cute little parfait cups and top with fruit.

Tis peach season...so go buy yourself a bag full and enjoy a peach & raspberry sundae...

have a sweet day,

brenda

{Finally...they are done!}

Yippee...they are done & printed! Watch for 6 new punch needle patterns to be posted on our website over the weekend!

This merry old soul pays his visit in just 127 days...

yes...it is just 127 days until Christmas!

It is time to begin stitching on those holiday gifts or ditties for your own home.

& last of all...

more new jewelry pieces just added to our website for purchase...

With thy needle & thread,

brenda

{Turn Greeting Cards into Jewelry}

While on a family gathering in Brainerd Minnesota my sister & I visited a wonderful gift shop called the "Christmas Room". This store is HUGE...3 floors of goodies ranging from kitchen gadgets, seasonal items, home decor, clothing, shoes, baby items, custom furniture, tea room

and....cards...

lots of cards!

Plus a ton of other items I forgot to mention...

If you are ever in the Brainerd area, it is worth a stop! BUT...I would advise leaving the husband at home!

So...I bought a stack of greeting/note cards. I'm pretty certain the lady checking me thought, "My this lady likes to keep in touch with family & friends". Little does she know, this is the lady who stands at Hallmark and can never find thee perfect card...

NEW DISCOVERY...

Greeting cards work great for jewelry making! Now I have my fabric collection, UFO collection, floss collection, scrapbook paper collection, bead collection & now my gift card collection...wonder what a counselor would say about this hording tendency that I have acquired???

BEFORE

& AFTER...

AREN'T THEY FUN?



For those of you who are having as much fun as I making jewelry, from the Patera Jewelry findings, check your local stationer for greeting, note & thank you cards for your new source of paper! Join me in my newest paper addiction...

For those of you who haven't tried this jewelry making thing yet...
give it a try...
so easy & fun...
you'll be amazed!


Lots & lots of new jewelry pieces have been added to our website (under the NEW ITEMS category) for purchase. Supply is limited...don't delay!
Check them out!



have a good week,

brenda

Time Flies...

Is it really August already??

Where has the summer gone???

Time flies...

School starts Wednesday and I am asking myself where has the summer gone? Is it me or are the summers getting shorter...or is this just another aging thing?


As a child I remember my mother saying "time flies"... never really could understand that statement as a youngster.


Time to take a barefoot stroll through the gardens...


Time to pick a bouquet of flowers...


Time to look for a furry caterpillar...


Time to watch for monarchs hanging on milkweed...


Time to listen for the singing cicadas...


Time to enjoy what is left of the summer...



You were right mom,

time flies...


blessings,

brenda

A visit to the farm...

Hi,
My name is Beckham and I am 8 months old...soon to be 9. I am filling in as a guest blogger for Grandma Brenda today as she is busy with design work...whatever that is!

Today's blog is going to be about my visit to great Grandma Millie & Great Grandpa Lyle's farm for the annual threshing bee.

After my morning breakfast and bath we loaded up the vehicle and headed to Minnesota so I could see what this threshing bee stuff is all about...

We pulled into Great grandma & grandpa's driveway and oh my...

there were bright & shiny tractors everywhere!

There were red tractors, orange tractor, yellow tractors & green tractors...I didn't know grandpa's still played with tractors...that is pretty cool!

There was even a tractor parade!

They drove the old tractors around the big tent and each person explained their tractor.

Here is great grandpa Lyle talking about his tractor...

See that twinkle in his eye...same twinkle he has when I come to visit!

Grandpa Lyle has two shiny orange tractors...I can hardly wait until I'm old enough to ride on one!

I like how grandpa wears his shirt...I wear mine this way sometimes too!

Here is what makes a threshing bee a threshing bee...

My mommy says I can help pitch bundles of oats into the machine when I get big & strong.

Momma says I can jump into the pile of straw when I get older too...

These threshing bees are lots of fun! There were a lot of grandpa's farming the old fashioned way so young ones like me can see how things were done way back when...

There was more then just threshing at great grandpa's farm.

There were lots of people...

There was lots of food...bratwurst, hamburgers, beans & potato chips AND
watermelon...

I couldn't seem to take my eye off of the man in charge of cutting the watermelon...

He had a continual stream of watermelon juice dripping from his chin...

Just like me...except mine is drool...mommy keeps telling me it's just because I am teething.

This threshing is hard work to begin with and then it had to be 100 degrees out...

So I just took my shirt off and that made it way cooler...not sure why no one else thought of this!

I brought my Canon digital camera so I could take lots of pictures for Grandma's blog...
I felt like the paparazzi....

I took pictures of people that slept in a tee pee. They were dressed in funny costumes and cooked their meals in a big black kettle over a fire. They make peach cobbler over the fire and well if anyone knows me...they know I LOVE my peaches!

I took pictures of a grandpa making rope.

There were people making wrought iron tools...

And the best part of the threshing bee were the animals in Grandpa's grove...

There were pens of cute little kid goats...just my size!

They had baby size horns on the tops of their fuzzy little heads...

There was a pen of donkey's...or are they mules?? Hmmm...I always get those confused.

And then there was my favorite...a pen of sheep!

Their ears feel just like the soft edges of my blanky...

Now I know this picture may lead you to think that I didn't like the sheep...

but really

I am crying just because it was time to say good-bye to the sheep, really...

Well I'm rubbing my eyes, it must be nap time...

so I had better wrap this story up...

I'm looking forward to next year...

when I won't have to be so dependant on Mommy & I can run through Great Grandpa Lyle's grove in my striped bib overalls...

love,

beckham

Give-a-way winner!

The winner of our soon to be released punch needle pattern titled,

Pumpkins Gone Gothic

is....

drum roll please....

Congratulations....Margaret in NY!

Margaret please email me at order@countrystitchesonline.com with your address.

Thanks everyone for participating in this little give-a-way! I was surprised to hear that several of you like to stitch on or near the water for perfect lighting....will need to give this a try sometime on our lake. I also spent some time enjoying the blogs of those participating too...thanks!

with thy needle & thread,

brenda

Pop! goes the weasel...

We have had some family debate since the purchase of Mr. Jack-in-the-box.

It seemed no one was certain of the second verse. There was also some question as to whether the monkey chased the weasel around the cobblers bench or the mulberry bush. The younger ones in the crowd voted for mulberry bush. The older ones (including grandma) were certain it was a cobbler's bench and were pretty certain that the younger ones in the crowd were confused with another song....

SOOOOO....I did some research! What did we do before Google?

Turns out we were both right and there are several versions of lyrics to this song!

Here is the verse as printed in 1858...

All around the cobbler's house,

the monkey chased the people.

And after them in double haste.

Pop goes the weasel.

In 1901 in New York the opening lyric was:

All around the chicken coop,

the possum chased the weasel.

The most common version was recorded in 1914...

All around the mulberry bush,

the monkey chased the weasel,

the monkey stopped to pull up his sock, (or the monkey stopped to scratch his nose)

Pop! goes the weasel.

Contemporary verses are:

All around the mulberry bush (or cobbler's bench)

the monkey chased the weasel:

the monkey thought 'twas all in fun,

Pop! goes the weasel.

A penny for a spool of thread,

a penny for a needle -

that's the way the money goes,

Pop! goes the weasel.

Jimmy's got the whooping cough

and Timmy's got the measles

that's the way the story goes

Pop! goes the weasel.

All around the vinegar jug

the monkey chased the weasel:

the monkey pulled the stopper out,

Pop! goes the weasel.

I now have my favorite version of this song to sing next time the little one visits....

but...

my next question is...

why is it...

a clown named Jack

jumps out of the box & not a weasel???

have a good week,

brenda

Cows, Corn...and a give away too!

You may recall my recent vacation to Colorado? I was going through pictures on my camera and decided I should probably share more photos with you. Photos of the actual road trip...taken from inside my car.

No pictures of traffic jams, crazy Yellow cab cars, skyscrapers, homes of the rich & famous, crowds of people, flashing neon signs or large bodies of water.

Well lets just say there isn't a whole lot to see between home and Colorado...

First things first...

Let me show you how I travel...

Here I am all nestled in amongst my needlework & bag full of floss...getting prepared to do some serious stitching...12 hours of nothing but needlework! YEESSSSS!!!

No phones to answer...

no orders to fill...

no clothes to fold...

no meals to prepare...

no dishes to clear...

and no kitty messing with my cute little balls of Valdani 3 strand floss...

just 12 hours of together time...just me and my needlework bag!

Okay...back to the real photo journalistic reason of this post... pictures of scenery taken hang'n out the car window.

There were brown cows...


& black cows...




& milk cows (AKA Holsteins)...



I saw cows with horns...


& cows without horns...

Let's change up the scenery a bit....

A corn field...

& another cornfield...

& corn field being irrigated...

& corn field with hail damage...NOT a good thing!

Okay, okay...you get the picture?

There may just be more to smell then see on this very long road trip. Smells all courtesy of the beautiful bovine pictured above...if you know what I mean?? Get the drift???

Trying not to gag...I just kept telling myself what my mother always told me...tis the smell of money! I was born and raised a farm girl and she always told my city girl friends this when they visited "the farm". Their return response was a snotty, curled- up - nose reply of "glad my Dad's money doesn't stink"!

Back to the trip...

It is a scary & lonesome feeling when you look at your GPS and it looks like this...

Oh dear...it REALLY is just us, the cows & the corn!

No town in the next gazillion miles...

Road signs saying NO SERVICES at this exit....

More road signs letting you know how many more miles until the next gas station...

What is one to do if mother nature calls????

Thank heavens for rest stops...

I have been kind of hard on my dear friends to the west and I think I need to turn this into a nice post very quickly! So lets turn this post into a giveaway!

Here is the deal...

Leave a comment telling us 2 things...

1. Where do you like to do your stitching...

Whether it be in the car, in the quietness of your home in your favorite comfy chair, on the porch, at the beach, at the ballpark or at lunch break...let us know!

2. Tell us what's in your stitching bag/basket currently.

All persons commenting will go into a drawing for a give away.

Winner will be announced on Monday August 10th...good luck!

Winner will receive a soon to be released punch needle pattern...the design that was punched in the car on this very long road trip. I will also include the Valdani 3 strand floss kit with the pattern. Hint - tis a Halloween design! Pattern release date is a couple of weeks away... so there will be a slight delay in shipping this to the winner.

with thy needle & thread,

brenda

P.S.

Oh and one last picture....

The view from hotel window....

...complete with a pasture-side view!

Vacation's over...

It's back down to 1200 feet elevation, rolling hills covered in a blankets of green fields of corn and soybeans...

Back home to Iowa...where breathing is a whole lot easier!

Here is a little picture share for you of our vacation in the Colorado Rocky Mountains...

LOVELAND PASS

After the car ride up to the Continental Divide, we took a hike to the top...and I use the term "we" very loosely here!

Eventually my fear of heights won over and I told the rest to go on as I was going to take some pictures of some wild flowers that I spotted...good excuse I thought!

The weather at Loveland pass was a chilly 4o degrees when we got out of the car (I was not dressed warm enough). While we were there a weather system moved in with rain & wet snow.

Amazing to me, wildflowers do grow at this elevation!


I kept an eye on my family as they continued to hike on up to the top.

I noticed son Matthew spotted a patch of remaining snow. I knew exactly what he was up to....lets throw a snowball at Mom!

Don't ever under estimate the zoom on your mothers camera!

I witnessed the whole scenario and got pictures as evidence...



Once he realized I was no longer taking pictures of flowers & new exactly what he was up to, it was onto plan B...let's nail dad with a wet snowball!


Let the snowball fight begin!


The guys did finish their 80 mile alpine bike ride without any mishaps or cardiac arrests. It took them around 8 hours to complete the ride & now I can check this off my "worry list", as my darling husband would say!

Vacation is over...

it's back to work!

have a good week,

brenda

P.S.

Our shipment of Patera jewelry findings did not arrive before I left on vacation. They are on the UPS truck to be delivered today. Customer orders waiting for these will ship today.