bodner067

Happy post-Christmas week, my friends! I hope you are all recovering from the excitement of Christmas and all of that tasty rich food (I'm sure we're all going to amp up our exercise routines next week, right?!). I also hope you got some nice stitchy presents from your loved ones (or yourself!). I was honored to receive some lovely gifts from both blogging and non-blogging stitching friends for Christmas which I'll share with  you today in the order I received them... From dear June, in England, came this sweet angel ornament. But, wait--it's not only an ornament! It opens up and is a needlebook inside--so adorable. This is a free design from Told In A Garden which you can find right here. So darling and so beautifully stitched... An angel from June June also sent a pair of fingerless mittens (so soft and blue!), some sparkly floss, a calendar for the new year, and a flowered pouch that I can use for scissors and other stitching supplies. Thank you so very much, my ...

I think this may be the latest I've ever put up my tree! I've missed seeing the soft white lights glowing at the far end of my sunroom throughout the month of December... But, at least I have a week or two to enjoy them. Many of my German blogging friends told me they don't put up their tree until Christmas Eve. My grandmother, whose parents came to the United States from Germany in the late 1800's, followed that same tradition. Christmas Eve was always the day for decorating the tree, followed by a party for her 20+ grandchildren who each received a gift from my Uncle Mark (dressed up as a very unconvincing--somewhat scary-looking--Santa). I think I'd rather put up my tree earlier so I can enjoy all those little cross stitched ornaments a bit longer--can you even imagine how many hours of patiently stitching little x's onto fabric have gone into my tree? Most of you have seen this scene before--many times! All that's new this year are 12 more ornaments plu...

And here we are on December 20th--the very last day of autumn! Welcome to my 2017 "Parade of Ornaments"--one I thought just might not happen given the busyness of my life over the past 12 months! Many people have told me that this annual post (which I have done since 2010) is what drew them to my blog in the first place. So, I really didn't want to let any of you down and have to cancel the parade this year! I know there are some wonderful new followers (a big welcome to all of you!) this year, and if you would like to look back at my previous "parades," just click here:  2010 , 2011 , 2012 , 2013 , 2014 , 2015 , and 2016 . So, grab some hot cocoa, wrap up in a cozy blanket, and sit back and relax as the parade passes by! In looking at my finishes this year, I would call it the "year of oval or round finishes"... and there is a good reason for that. Remember when my sewing machine broke back in April? Well, for a while I couldn't sew on it at all ...

I did it! I finished my final two monthly ornaments for 2017! Are you surprised? I sure am--I truly thought this would be the first year since I began my blog that I wouldn't get all twelve finished. Anyway, I want to share these last two with you before my annual "Parade of Ornaments" post next time. And since you seemed to enjoy my photos of Maui so much, I'm moving on to some scenes of our visit to Kauai later on in the post. In my haste to finish my 2017 monthly ornaments, I neglected to take a "before" photo and only have the finished ornaments to share with you today.  I think many of you will recognize this cute couple--"Kissing Cardinals" from the 2014 Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issue. Aren't they adorable? The lovebirds are stitched on 40 ct. pearl gray Newcastle with a variety of overdyed threads and finished into a round ornament. The dotty gray fabric pictured is what I used for the back of the ornament. "Kissing Cardinals...