Saint Augustine Florida

We had a wonderful time in Saint Augustine Florida.
The weather was absolutely perfect and we really enjoyed ourselves. This is the oldest city in the United States and a wonderful place to visit.
Saint Augustine was founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer Pedro Menendez de Aviles.
This city holds a lot of history. The Old Fort is located here, which is considered a national monument.
If you ever get a chance to visit Florida, you will have to come see Saint Augustine! Don't forget to venture down Saint George street with all the wonderful shops. Every time we visit, we have a grand time. :)

Here are some pictures on a slide show for you to see just how beautiful Saint Augustine still is in the present day. What a fantastic place the state of Florida is!
For some reason, I cannot get the slideshow to upload..you will have to go here:

Saint Augustine

Louise

Ott Light in miniature!

I stopped in at Joann's Etc. craft store today. I found the neatest little Ott light. I have never seen this before, and knew it would be wonderful for stitching or reading in dim light.
There was a sale on Ott lights today, 50 percent off..so, really a great deal!
The light turns on when you open it up.
I will say though, the clamp on the back does NOT fit onto a Q-Snap frame. (Does not open wide enough)
I know this lamp is probably more suited for reading and will fit nicely on a book.
I found that it DOES fit onto a scroll rod, which will be perfect for me when I stitch on my scroll rods.
The light uses three triple A batteries.
It is very bright indeed, and I am very pleased that I Purchased this.
The light fits onto our headboard of our bed.

LOVE IT! :)

Louise

Valentine Crochet

I thought it might be fun to crochet some red and pink granny squares for Valentines day. :)
I ventured over to Lucy's blog for a really great tutorial on how to make these little pretties.
She also gives you directions for putting them together.
I just LOVE her blog! So much fun, and so creative too. I think I can learn a lot from her.
I am really loving my pink and red granny squares, and thinking they might make a wonderful little throw.
Perhaps I might add some white in there too...hmmmm..have to see if I have white yarn around the house somewhere.

Have a lovely day my friends!

Creative Little People

I found the cutest photo on the internet!
Look, it's a little Fisher-Price lady at her sewing machine.
Isn't this the cutest thing you have ever seen!


I hope you all have a great weekend,
Raggedystitches,

Cross Stitch Finish

This is Little House Needleworks "Under The Tree"
Stitched on 30 count with DMC threads.

It's Friday!
Hooray!

Cornflower Blue, how I love you!

I just LOVE the old Cornflower Blue design for Corningware. This design is from long ago, and usually difficult to find.
I found past pieces at thrift shops, or a friend has gifted me with some.
My dear friend Bev had her eye out for me when she saw someone wanted to sell theirs. Thank you Bev!
I have now very happily added to my collection.
Aren't they just beautiful!

It is a beautiful day outside today and I am looking forward to my daughter coming home soon.
Tomorrow is a girls day, and I am so looking forward to it!

Announcing "Miss Claire" the Bunny!

I have finished sewing and making my newest doll creation.
Say hello to "Miss Claire"! :)

Wishing you all sweet dreams tonight,

Sewing and Baking

I have decided to do some fun things today. My day started with baking fresh bread in the oven. I just LOVE the feel of the dough as I knead it. I was so excited with anticipation on the final results. Making bread brings back fond memories of my Italian grandmother. She used to make her own fresh bread and pasta noodles also. I used to love spending time with her as she cooked in her kitchen. She was a small woman in stature, about 4 feet 10 inches tall. Her homemade pizza was the best! Homemade bread always smells so delicious while baking :)
I usually have trouble with my dough rising, and today was no exception. It didn't rise up as high as I thought it would, but still, it did some. Some is better than not!
Here is the dough before baking:

After I pulled the loaves from the oven, this is the result!:

If you would like the recipe, I have placed it on my recipe blog
Country White Bread

It rained heavily last night, and woke me up about 4:30am. I am glad I was able to get back to sleep. Just until 6:00am to see my daughter off to school. I had a most enjoyable day!
Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE Lorri Birmingham designs? I do!
I put a couple of stitches into a very old UFO. Peaches and Cream by Lorri Birmingham. This UFO is ongoing for about 12 years now! I don't know when it will ever get finished. I know that I will never part with it, because it is a very pretty design. One day it WILL get done ;)

I started putting together a bunny on my sewing machine. I didn't have a pattern, created one myself.
She is coming along, little by little. I think perhaps I shall name her "Claire". I love that name!

Here is Claire Bunny after I tea stained her..made a mixture of tea, cloves, allspice and cinnamon. Brushed her all over, and now she sits outside to dry :) She smells absolutely wonderful!
I have already sewed a simple primitive type dress for her. I used a pretty green homespun fabric..it will be tied up with raffia. Not sure how to paint her face yet..still thinking on that..perhaps very simple. Sometimes less is more!

The sun has begun to shine outside, and now the day is even better.
Time to sit down with one of my favorite magazines, a toasted slice of homemade buttered county white bread, and a cup of tea!

Blessings to you today!

Oh Baby!

A sweet little cross stitch. Lorri Birmingham Designs, Baby in a Basket. I have already matted and framed this one:

A design that I traced and embroidered, then made into a pillow:

Raggedystitches,

Goodmorning! :)

Busy, busy morning! It is still so hard for me to get up at 6am..I don't think I will ever get used to it.
I dropped my daughter off to school and was looking forward to a nice home cooked breakfast..well....

The toast didn't exactly turn out as I thought it would! :)
I was going to scrape off the burnt part, but decided I was worth a new piece...so, make a new piece, I did.
I had boiled eggs in the refrigerator and had one of those, with a perfect slice of unburnt plain toast, along with a cup of clear tea.

Much better I think, mighty tasty too!

Our family has finally updated our cell phones, it has been years. I didn't realize how out of the modern technology loop I was! I am now an updated Mom who needs to learn how to text I guess.
I love my new phone, and with my excitement, I decided to make my own crochet phone sock. I used what I had on hand, Sugar and Cream yarn in yellow. I like using this yarn because it is cotton, and not as slippery in your hands as acrylic yarn.
I whipped up this sock pretty quickly and I am pleased with the results.

You can find the pattern for this adorable crochet iphone sock at the Lion Brand Yarn website. If you look around, you can find many other wonderful patterns ranging from beginner to advanced levels. Just click here:
Lion Brand website

It looks like the rain may continue for today, very dark outside. We need the rain, though, just as much as we need the sun :)

Now onto exercising (yes, I have been doing a little bit of that!) :)

Blessings to you dear friends and Raggedystitches,

"Tic Tac Love"

This sweet design "Tic Tac Love", is a complimentary chart from Simply Chic Needlearts. (dated 2006)
Stitched on 28 count evenweave with Carrie's Creation threads and DMC.
Plymouth Red
Raspberry
Toasted Marshmallow
DMC - 712

I really enjoyed stitching this one!

Sweet Pummelos

Our neighbor has gifted us with fruit from his trees again!
These are called Pummelos. They are a type of grapefruit. I am eating this one right now and it is delicious! They are a little sweeter than traditional grapefruit. I have already dried up some seeds, I just might plant some pummelo trees for myself.
:)

Chicken Soup For The Soul

I am not a big reader..but I do LOVE short stories. I love to read inspirational stories, especially at night before I drift off to sleep.
I have taken a big interest in Chicken Soup For The Soul books. The stories are so uplifting! I spent the day with my daughter going to thrift shops and some dollar stores. I happened upon some really good deals.
I found four Chicken Soup For The Soul books much to my delight!
I look forward to reading a couple of wonderful stories before the night ends.
The two bigger books I found at a thrift shop for two dollars each (can't beat that!)..the smaller books for only a dollar at the Dollar Tree store.
So glad I found these wonderful books tonight, and bless the person that passed them on so I could find them.

TOAD!

I may have just saved a life...
I went into the garage a little while ago and saw this little guy hiding out..
glad I found him and set him free outside.
He is pretty cute isn't he? :) You just never know what you will run into in Florida!