Jul 9, 2012

Relief! Finally.

WEATHER
I think these photos say it all...
Thursday, July 5th
Friday, July 6th
Saturday, July 7th 
(outdoor temp on the right)

After four days of triple digit temps, we finally have relief from both the heat and humidity.  Hopefully, it will be a while before it comes back.  Now if only we could get some rain!

GIVEAWAY
Victorian Motto Sampler is hosting another great giveaway in honor of Nancy's upcoming birthday. Click on over and see what it's all about.

CELESTE
Before I left for the retreat, I took Celeste to the groomer's for her summer 'do'.  I actually got to talk to the groomer's afterwards (usually they're gone by the time I pick her up). 


I asked how well behaves while getting groomed.  I told them about how she loses all muscle function (lol) whenever I try to brush her and will not stand up.  They told me she stands up for them.  The little bugger!!

STITCHY STUFF
As you know, I was notified at the beginning of June that I was a winner of a prize package hosted on the DMC blog.  After I got back from my retreat, I received an email saying the package was still sitting in their warehouse because they needed a street address.  Well, it finally arrived!


I have a finish!  I participated in the mystery SAL offered by Donna at By The Bay Needleart.  I think it turned out pretty cute.  When I started it last month, I did have a new type of finish in mind for it, so stay tuned to see how it turns out.
Japanese Garden was pulled out of hiding.  I worked almost all of the specialty stitches in the upper right corner ornament... 35+ queen stitches, 3 rhodes stitches, 11 sets of satin stitches, and lots of straight stitches for pine needles.  I'm excited that I'll be done with this corner soon.  Woo Hoo!

Here's what it looked like before:
and now:

Until next time,



32 comments:

Sue said...

Hi sweetie, Celeste looks sooooooooooo cute! lol.......your win at DMC is great; lots of good stitchy stuff.

Your BTB SAL looks lovely; you did a nice job. The Japanese Garden is just gorgeous! You are really 'bookin' on that piece! LOL

Until next time,
Hugs,
Sue

Gillie said...

So glad it is a bit cooler for you. Love the Japanese Garden and Celeste.

angel parker said...

It always puts a smile on my face reading your blog. your energy for life is infectious.

CatsnCorgis said...

She is such a cutie! What an addition to your stash...your are lucky. I love the Japanese Garden. I'm so glad to be able to see some of the stitches up close. Awesome stitching.
Sally S

stitchesnscraps said...

Aren't the cooler temps wonderful?! Bliss!!

Celeste is such a little sweetie!

Great stash haul, you lucky girl!

Wonderful stitching progress! Very lovely!

Thanks for sharing!

Melissa J.

Pam in IL said...

JG looks awesome! You made some great progress on it.

I'm working on my By the Bay SAL also, but not quite done yet. I'm looking forward to your new type of finish for it.

We had actual temps of 107 & 108 on Thursday and Friday. We did get a bit of rain in some areas, but definitely not enough.

What an wonderful prize package you got from DMC! You must have felt like a kid on Christmas morning!

Anonymous said...

Glad it finally cooled off for you. (Now you have a little taste of what summer is in Tucson, AZ, LOL!!!! Congrats on the finish!!!! Can't wait to see how you finish it. Japanese Garden is gorgeous. Your over half way finished now. Celeste is a cutie. Of course she acts different for the people who give her her "do". She is just like a child. She keeps you on your toes. LOL!!!!
Betty in AZ (ILCS)

Denise SA said...

Glad the weather has turned cooler for you. I love that finish and can not wait to see what you do with it

Akila said...

Haha, Celeste looks very cute, posing handsomely too :)
Great progress on Japanese Garden. Looks like you have just a little bit more to go

Christina G said...

Sounds like Celeste has you wrapped around her toe. Congrats on the DMC stash and the progress on the projects. Hugs, Chris G

Katie said...

This weather has been crazy. I figure it will warm back up the last weekend in July cause I'm camping.

Love Celeste's do. I think our dogs just appreciate someone else doing stuff to them instead of their mommy's. Great Prize from DMC guess it was worth waiting for.

Congrats on your SAL finish and the JG is looking gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

Entertainig as always Meari - your Japanese Garden is coming along great!
That was quite a packaga from DMC - congratulations!

I am glad that you are now enjoying pleasant summer temperatures and I wish you all some rain.

Tara

Claudette497 said...

LOL - Dana is also slain with paralysis when she needs any work done by me. Your stitching looks just beautiful. We've been warned all your heat is coming our way and should be here by Wednesday; can't wait!

Shelley said...

Now that you are done with those temps we are finally gonna get hit with them here in CA...this week is supposed to be 100+ each day with lows in the 70s, ugh!

That DMC package is amazing...lucky you!

Love the new finish. Can't wait to see what you have planned for it. JG is looking fantastic!

Shelley said...

Forgot to mention...leave it to Celeste to be a perfect angel when away from you. I think all kids are like that, whether they have 4 legs or 2!!

Anonymous said...

Celeste is so adorable! Japanese Garden is looking wonderful. I love the specialty stitches on it. Your finish is lovely. The colors looks wonderful.

Vicky L

Anonymous said...

Very cool prize from DMC Meari. Celeste sure looks happy. Japanese Garden is gorgeous! cannot wait to see it done.

Debi

Nancy in IL said...

Love your little Celeste! She's such a pert little gal and so cute! Her expression is priceless!

JG has been a gorgeous BAP to watch as it develops, and your BTB mystery sampler is beautiful. I changed some colors and did it on a greenish linen - very different! Found my mistake last night and hope to get it finished soon. I look forward to seeing your "finished" finish. Lordie, I big black spider just crawled into my keyboard... I kid you not!!! I'm about to jump out of my skin!

You really got some stitch goodness from DMC, you luckass, you! If I didn't have bad luck, I would have no luck at all.

Shelleen said...

Celeste looks like a little teddy bear. Japanese Garden looks great.

EvalinaMaria said...

That is hot! We are here in barely 60... (http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/forecast/city_e.html?yt-16&unit=i)

Celeste is fantastic, I love her smile.

JG looks amazing, awesome work!

Bette said...

What a cute doggy! Looks very much like a teddy bear.

Japanese Garden is looking gorgeous. I really must get out my Desert Mandala and work on it.

Anonymous said...

Had that kind of weather but it has cooled down a little bit this week but will get hot again.

Your dog is so cute.

What a lovely gift from DMC and your stitching is looking great.

Marl

Veronica said...

Glad to hear the temperature is dropping. It's hard for me to imagine how hot it must have been and I'm living in a tropical country.

Celeste is so cute. I literary LOLed when I read how she behaves when you tried to groom her.

What a haul from DMC! Everything looks so yummy.

Congratulations on the SAL finish. Very pretty. Lots of beautiful progress on Japanese Garden too.

Hugs,
Veronica.

Kay said...

Ohio was super hot last week as well. I was glad to bid adieu to the hot temps outside. Celeste looks so pretty after being groomed! Your stitching as always look pretty! Have a good week.

Chris said...

This hot weather is making me grumpy :( Hopefully it will be cooling off some this week.
I love your SAL finish! Wasn't it fun to stitch?
Japanese Garden is stunning.
Have a great week!

Carol said...

Doesn't Celeste look beautiful?! And that's the way it is--"kids" always behave better for others than for their parents :)

Your SAL finish is beautiful, Meari--looking forward to seeing what you have in store for us in terms of the finish. And JG is amazing--what a masterpiece you'll have in the end!

I sure hope the hot weather is behind us--we only got to 99, but that was plenty hot for me! We, too, desperately need rain...but nothing is on the horizon.

Enjoy your week and all those great goodies from DMC :)

Anonymous said...

Meari

Your finished picture looks really beautiful and your japanese garden looks so nice too :)

Tinna

Anonymous said...

Wow! What a great prize Meari!!! Congratulations! Your JG is looking really pretty too! Congrats on finishing the BTB SAL! I haven't even started it yet! I do want to stitch it though!

Happy Trails,
Pam K. :o)

Anonymous said...

Your By The Bay MSAL turned out great! I wasn't sure what it would look like, so I didn't participate. Now I know to participate in the future. :)

Karin in CA

Nancy M said...

So much for cooling off! It's gonna be back close to 100 this week! We've only had 1/4" of rain since June 1. Our county is under severe drought! Glad to see you closer to finishing that corner. I put Fairy Garden back on the floor stand since my Mystic is done, but no stitches in it yet. Did you get any of the new variations in that DMC prize??Looks like a lot of good stuff!

Anne said...

Celeste is adorable and she looks all happy shaved!!! Great prize package you received and I'm glad it finally arrived!! Love that By the Bay SAL. Keep those photos coming of JG!!!!

Anonymous said...

Our weather has gotten a little better recently, too, although we have been in the upper 80's instead of the 70's. But I'll take it. The Mystery SAL finish is cute. Looking forward to seeing how you finish it. Celeste is so cute, and I can imagine my dogs would be the exact same way. :-)

Sandy in NM