Birgit from Gran Canaria spoilt me with the most hilarious knitted socks!!!! Thank you so much. I love them! They are so much appreciated with these freezy temperatures :-) Birgit asked for my size some time ago and I completely forgot about it. It was such a great surprise

And I spent some nice stitching time on Prairie Sampler. These silks are gorgeous to stitch with....

Glenna's Hello Neighbor RR was waiting after work in the mailbox yesterday. I will spend some time today on finding a good addition for this one. I love how creative Deb was adding this velvet ribbon. What a wonderful idea!!!

I started the LHN Prairie Sampler. I was so excited to stitch with these wonderful Belle Soie silks and I love them..... :-) I haven't had a lot of stitching time yesterday as I was looking for a flight to Germany for Lisa and me .... but they are so much more expensive than last year. I really need a kick in the bottom ;-) to bring myself spending that much money....

I had a day off today and spend some time stitching.....and finished Garden Pleasures. LHN designs are always so much fun to stitch and I'm tempted to start another one of their designs that I have already kitted up. :-)

Garden Pleasures

by Little House Needleworks

40ct R&R Iced Cappucino

Started: maybe some time in october

Finished: Jan 14/08

Yesterday DH had to work from noon till 4pm then he watched with Lisa a Peter Pan DVD on the laptop.....until at 5 the phone rang and his boss asked him to come to work again....


Today we went tobogganing at Sprucewoods Nationalpark again...and DH cracked one of his teeth. We should really think on something else to spend our weekends. Do you remember, the first time we went tobogganing he broke our camera. I can't imagine what will happen next time.... Here's a pic of that ride he had that accident:


And a little update on Garden Pleasures:

Tuesday and thursday were my day's off this week. :-)
Tuesday I had my first real apointment with a hairdresser. A lot of people recommended Pantages and that's what I decided to give a try after the disaster last october.... when I let my hair cut with a hairdresser in the Canadian Superstore and that was just awful. Finding out things like where to do your haircut for example is what makes live in a different country interesting and sometimes even difficult. It's often just the small things, life in general is not too different.

But I loved what Krista at Pantages did and so I went there again on Thursday to get some highlights in my hair.

My hair looks very different now and I have to get used to see my new hair in the mirror... :)

While browsing through the net yesterday I saw the "Quilt Mystere" Natalie is sewing and I just love it... You see I'm enabled again....I'm pretty sure I will participate in this one. Part 7 from 12 is already published but this makes me sure that I will like the project in the end ... LOL

I didn't do much stitching on my days off but I had New Year start and here it is:

Victoria Sampler's Heirloom Homecoming Sampler... I got the chart and accessorypack as a birthday gift myself about 2 years ago.

We had a great weekend in Winnipeg. Although the biggest shop in Manitoba won't become my favorite shop :-) The lady who worked there was so nice and friendly but most of the things they are carrying are not my taste... but I think I should try the shop for framing one day.

After visiting Sheena's Gallery where I bought a piece of 40ct linen we drove to Mrs. Twitchets Eyes where I have been before. But this time it was only one of the ladies there and unfortunately it was the same grumpy lady that has been there when I visited the first time.

On our way back we choosed an alternate road to the highway #1 and came through a lot of cute villages. One of them was called Holland, that's the German name for the Netherlands but this Holland wasn't as flat as the European Holland. :) But they had build up a little windmill so I think the first people who settled there have been from the Netherlands.




Today leaving the house after lunch I fell on the ground after not recognizing an icy space... and now my hand, my finger and my knee are really hurting.... :( I really should pay more attention. At least I don't need to go to the doc and I can still stitch :)

I have just a little progress on LHN's Garden Pleasures to show as I stitched a bit on a birthday gift.

We went tobogganing at Sprucewood National Park on New Years Day. And we had a lot of fun :) After driving home to Brandon in the late afternoon we had an early dinner at the Chinese Buffet.....yummieh.

I got a wonderful gift from Dane in an secret exchange. She even stitched a lovely Flatfold for me, though it wasn't necessary to send something crafted with it. It is my first flatfold ever and I LOVE it so much! Thank you so much Dane! Here are all the goodies she sent:


Finally I finished stitching Wendy's Hello Neighbor RR. I haven't had a lot of stitching time in the beginning but I really liked stitching on this one. I mixed parts of designs from Rosewood Manor, Little House Needleworks and Ewe & Eye & Friends. That's what took most of my time. Looking for things that work together.


Hopefully Wendy likes how it turned out....


When I came back home from work a nice little package from Stitching Bits and Bobs was waiting in the mail for me :)


I'm so looking forward to go to Winnipeg tomorrow....and visiting Sheena's Gallery wich is supposed to be the biggest crossstich shop in Manitoba....wooohhoooo

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!!

The sun is shining so bright and we are going tobogganing now.
Write later.....

I have a lot of WIP's....and a lot of them are carried over from years before. One big goal is to reduce this pile. But those of you who know me, know that doesn't mean that I won't start new projects :-)

These are (some of) my WIP's in no special order:

01 Findus der Maler - Acufactum
02 Im Reich der Engel - UB
03 Sampler 1852 - Permin
04 Bonjour Sampler - Mariska
05 Tulpe - DMC
06 Lesezeichen Arch - Bent Creek
07 Chicken - french magazine
08 4 Coeur - Anagram
09 Cottage - Lanarte
10 Thistle - Handarbeijdets Fremme
11 Christmas ABC - Vermillion
12 Medieval Town Mandala - Chatelaine
13 Nana's Afghan Freebie - Indigo Rose
14 Catherine Agnes - Indigo Rose
15 Quaker Sampler - Martina Dey
16 Garden Pleasures - Little House Needleworks
17 Daisy Lane Cottage - Little House Needleworks
18 And A Forest Grew - Rosewood Manor
19 Hoehen und Tiefen - Acufactum
20 Birth Band Sampler - Drawn Thread
21 Birth Picture - Vervaco
22 Toccata 2 - Drawn Thread
23 Christmas Treasures Sampler - Victoria Sampler

After finishing the Hello Neighbor RR I allow myself to start the first new project in 2008. :-)))

I'm planning to visit Sheena's Gallery in Winnipeg. The Needlecrafters Travel Companion says it is Manitobas biggest Crossstitch Shop....probably that will cause a new start again....(hopefully just kidding)

Last night it started snowing again and when we woke up this morning everything was covered with clean white snow again. DH could do his workout shoveling the snow ;-)
We had such a quiet and nice sunday today. It was just wonderful. Playing with Lisa, stitching, dainties shopping and having a delicious dinner....

Everyday after stitching on the Hello Neighbor RR I put a few stitches into my Garden Pleasures WIP :-)

Going back stitching Hello Neighbor RR again..... See you tomorrow...

I have to work between the Holidays from thursday to saturday. But I'm very happy that they asked me how many hours I wanted to be scheduled for the upcoming weeks :-) So I'm down to 24 hours per week....so much more time for housework, cooking and STITCHING :-)))))
It is way to much working everyday till 6pm and even some saturdays with little Lisa going to bed at 7pm. I just wanted a job for a few hours to learn better english and because it was too boring being at home alone the whole week.....

I'm still stitching on Hello Neighbor RR during my lunch break and in the evening.....

I don't want to post without a picture so here is one of our house with wonderful snow...

Ich freue mich sehr über die Kommentare aus Deutschland! Wir haben uns supergut hier eingelebt und genießen das Leben in den Weiten Kanadas sehr. Ich wünsche euch einen guten Rutsch ins Neue Jahr und bleibt gesund :-)

Merry Christmas

I hope you all are having a Merry Christmas!

A few days ago we went tobogganing at the Brandon Golf Course...dear hubby fell off the sled during a furious ride down the hill and destroyed our camera. :-( So we will have to buy a new one within the next few days....

I needed a break from stitching the Hello Neighbor RR and so I put the last stitches in the Prairie Schooler Autumn Leaves. I started this one back in June after DH left for Canada and Lisa and I were alone in Germany.

My very first WHITE Christmas!

It started snowing by the end of november in Brandon, Manitoba and the snow is lovely. I don't even care the cold, though it is much colder here than it's ever been in Germany.

And the weather is so much better than in Germany...I'm here for 4 1/2 months now and it rained only 2 or 3 times....in Germany it didn't rain 2 or 3 times during that time ;-)

The view from our livingroom a few days ago.....and we got even a bit more snow yesterday *yay*


Since mid of september or beginning of october I'm working in a trecking shop in Brandon and right before Christmas it is so busy and I have to work so much that I haven't got a lot time for stitching left. In the evenings when Lisa is in bed I'm often so tired that I start sleeping on the sofa in the living room....that's something I usually doesn't like at all.

I did it again....

.... I started something new today. :-) But not much to see yet.

....but tonight I'm going back stitching on Carissa's RR. I love how this one is turning out :-)

@ Von, Joanne, Coral and Carol: Thank you very much for your kind words. They are so much appreciated. Life in Canada is very nice right now. But a lot of things are very different from Germany. One thing is the people are much friendlier and I love that!!!!

@ Barbara, Birgit und Moune: vielen Dank für euere lieben Worte. Birgit, lass dich doch mal wieder im hello blicken oder bist du immer noch in der Sommerpause? Moune, ich hoffe, es geht dir wieder besser!!! Du bist schon etwas vom Pech verfolgt. Ich denke an dich und wünsche dir gute Besserung.

Hello from Canada!

Finally we arrived safe and sound in Brandon, MB. We had a very busy and sometimes even a hard time since DH Derek went to Canada in mid of June. But now that we are here, too, we are very happy :-)

Today is Lisa's first day in daycare...and I can't wait to have her back home. I'm going to wait till she settled in there and then go and look for work myself. I`m sure that will help me to learn more english. :-)

During the last days I stitched on Carissa's RR and I like the design very much. Mailing date is Ocotber 1st.

Thank you very much for all the nice comments. I appreciate them so much!

A little update on my Hello Neighbor! RR Now it looks a bit more like the cozy cabin that it will become :-)


It is becoming reality more and more each day. We are going to move to Manitoba, Canada. Sometimes I still can't believe it. DH has booked his flight for 19th of June. Lisa and I are going to follow later.

It was my big dream since ever to live in North America...and now that it is coming true I feel sometimes very scared about this giant stride. Leaving everything behind and start a complete new live abroad...

Uhh, I will have to change my blog name ;-)

There are a lot of things going on in our family and there will be big changes in the near future. That's what kept me busy during the last months. I'm going to tell you more soon.

I started stitching on the Hello Neighbor RR. First mailing date will be the 1st of June.

Not much stitching during the last 2 days. I got stuck with "Knit one, Kill two" by Maggie Sefton. This cozy mystery is just too much fun to read.

Of course I stucked to my commitment with the Game Board SAL group and stitched two squares (and a few additional letters). Now, there's only some more letters, a part of the inner border and that square where to add the initials.

There are two other pieces I want to show you :-) I took out my Catherine Agnes and stitched 3 spots... It's not very far from being finished any more....but I just realized I missed to take a picture. I'm going to do this and show the picture later.


The other thing is Toccata 2.
I received the needed Kreiniks for this oneplus some additional stash from needleworkplus.
Now I'm just waiting for the Gloriana Thread to arrive. I'm in need of a ONS that carries all thread brands.....

The specialty stitches are so much fun.

I made a bit progress on AAFG. But this owl tree doesn't likes me :-) I'm very glad when this tree will be finished and I can stitch another one....
I found out that not only Carol is stitching this one.
Carissa is stitching it as well but both are doing better progress :-)
Wooohooo girls, go on like this!!!! :-))))

Saturday the 27th was the first Christmas Ornament SAL weekend. It was a big fun though I didn't finish mine in time.... No need for the finishing right now so this will have to wait till autumn probably. ;-)


Pine Tree Hill by Little House Needlewors
Just Cross Stitch Issue Ocotber 2006
Started 01-27-2007 and finished 02-01-2007
I used the asked for threads with one exception. Instead of Crescent Colors roasted chestnut I used WDW Chestnut .... and I love it :-)

During the last two weeks I kept up with stitching two squares per week. And today I will stitch the last house and another motif, hopefully :-) There will only be left some little motifs and parts of the borders then and they are a very quick stitch. I hope to finish this one in february....

A new start :-)

Yesterday I started the Toccata II SAL with Manuela. Manuela started on sunday but due to my DT Sampler Game Board SAL commitment I had to stitch two squares first.

Today I had to bring Lisa to the doctor...It started yesterday in the late afternoon. Her eyes filled with tears and after some time the tears changed to a yellow sticky liquid. And in the night she had a lingering cough. When I switched on the lights I realized she coughed gunk and it was all over her pajama and her bedclothes....poor little thing.

One week without blogging.....

....but with a little bit of stitching.
I put a few stitches in And a Forest Grew but I made a mistake in reading the colorkey and used only two green shades instead of three for the tree constituted of three squares on the left. I'm not going to correct this error :-)



And I stitched two squares on DT's Sampler Game Board:

Wohooo....my first finish in 2007!

2 minutes ago I finished Hearts and Flowers by Carriage House Samplings. I love the colors so much. It is stitched on my favorite Linen. Shell Permin 32ct.



....and now back to AAFG :-))))

Friday and yesterday I stitched each day one square on DT's Sampler Gameboard. On saturday evening we were invited to our neighbors home...so no stitchin on saturday ;-(
Thanks to our Game Board Sampler SAL I hope to finish the Gameboard very soon.

And here is my progress on And A Forest Grew. It is so much fun to stitch and there are a lot more color changes as you realize looking at the picture...but as said before: IT'S JUST FUN!
I did not stitch as much as Carol did, she's such a speedy stitcher :-)



Unfortunately ;-) I have to put it aside and take out my DT Sampler Gameboard to stitch my 2 weekly squares as agreed with my SAL friends

By the way, did you see the new Drawn Thread Designs? They are a must have!

Happy New Year to Everyone!!!

My dear friends, I wish you all a happy New Year 2007.
2006 wasn't a very good year for me and my family and I hope so much 2007 will turn out to be a better one!

I made some progress on Winter Wonderland and Hearts and Flowers:





And as fears when I saw Carol started And a Forest Grew by Rosewood Manor I gave in to the temptation and started it as well. I do like all these wonderful trees and animals so much....

Today we had a very nice lunch at my mothers house. She cooked my very very favorite meal. Rolls of beef with red cabbage and potatos.....yummmiiiiieeeeh :-)

I made a nice progress on Winter Snapperland last night. :-)

Tonight Manuela phoned up and told that she want to stitch on Winter Snapperland tonigt. And as usual it wasn't hard to persuade myself to take mine out of one of my WIP-boxes :-)

This is where I start tonight...oh no, the pic is a bit older the outlines of the house are stitched already.

We had a very nice Christmas Eve yesterday. My mother in law and my mother came for dinner...a very early dinnner because we wanted Lisa to be with us. Though, she was really tired from handing out the presents earlier in the afternoon :-)

After dinner I took out my Hearts and Flowers by Carriage House Samplings. Carol, one of my favorites as well :-)

And it would be great to do a Deftly Wrought SAL in 2007 with you! I'm looking forward to this one :-)

Back in the "blogging-mode" ?!?!?!

Hello and Merry Christmas to all my blogging friends :-)
First of all I want to thank you very much for your caring words concerning my fathers death. Your mail, emails and comments meant so much to me!

During the past two months I didn't stitch a lot. Lately I started something new to get back into stitching and it seems as if it works right now :-) It is a lovely desing by Carriage House Samplings. I will scan it later on. Now Lisa is in bed and as we are having a very old scanner he's really loud... so I will have to wait till she got up.

I just changed to Beta-Version but it seems not to be much different....does it?

My beloved Dad passed away this morning in hospital. I will miss him so much....Daddy, I love you so much!!!!
Lieber Papa, ich hab dich so lieb und wir vermissen dich so sehr.....



Dear Outi, I received your wonderful parcel. Thank you so much!! It was a little light in the dark of the past weeks. I will write to you within a few days. Please, don't be angry with me...we had a hard time.

Gingerbread Garden Sampler finished :-)

Yesterday in the evening I sewed on the little pearls. Now it needs to be pressed and than I am going to send it to Anja. She makes a winter and christmas show in her shop on october the 14th and asked me to send it to her. Im so pleased that she wants to show my bellpull :-))))

Last weekend (friday till monday) we spent in Berlin. It was the marathon weekend. We were 10 persons from our sportsgroup that travelled there by train. Due to my dad beeing in hospital in summer for such a long time I wasn't be able to run the whole distance. I knew this before starting but I paid the fee so I wanted to run a few kilometres at least. It was a big fun.



The wee one ;-) on the left is me. Right to me is DH.






DH in front of a Berlin Marathon poster.











We stayed at Hotel Gates and I can just recommend this Hotel to you. It's really good! On Sunday evening I visited Gabriele a fellow stitcher living in Berlin :-) We had a nice evening in her craftroom....