Marvelous Monday Update 8/31/15

Where has the month of August gone?  Can you believe meteorological fall starts tomorrow?

FAMILY
My niece started her senior year of high school and second year of college last week.  When she graduates this year, she will have not only a high school diploma, but also an associates degree.  Her goal is to get a bachelor's degree in video game design.

A few weeks ago, I took her senior pictures and created a DVD of her portrait proofs.  These are the beginning and ending slides:

COOKING
I tried a new recipe over the weekend.  Balsamic-Honey Glazed Chicken.  It was really good!

It looks like a lot, but really it's just one chicken breast cut into strips.  I served it over broccoli rice made in a rice cooker.  I wasn't sure if the broccoli would cook properly in the rice cooker.  It turned out just fine.  :)

STITCHY STUFF
Although I haven't been doing much stitching lately,  I've finished the layout for the Halloween mailart I'm doing for an exchange.  The fabric is outlined and I'll be starting the stitching on it soon.  Here's the floss toss:

WORK
Readers from the past several years may know how much I enjoy working for my employer. The downside is the long commute of 80+ miles per day and the winter driving.  Remember the Tunnels of Terror from last winter?    A fluke conversation has landed me a job offer less than 5 miles from home, more pay, better hours and benefits.  This has been one of the most difficult decisions I've had to make in regards to employment.

Two weeks ago, I resigned from my position at my current employer.  I gave four weeks notice because my job is so involved and there really wasn't anyone trained well enough as my back up.  My boss literally shed a tear that I gave notice.  At the end of the meeting, she gave me a hug and said I could work for her any time.  She was very complimentary about my skills, which was nice to hear.

That's all for this week.

Until next time,
Meari

Thinking Positive

I finished stitching this piece back in January of 2014.

Since I decided to stay inside last weekend, it gave me time to not only frame Three Little Words, but Thinking Positive also.  I found a great looking frame at a thrift store a while ago.

The silver gray mottled frame really brings out the sparklies of the opalescent fabric. The photos don't show them, but trust me... it looks good! :)

Other photos of Thinking Positive can be seen HERE and HERE.

Story of Three Little Pigs Words

Four score and seven years ago... No, that's not right.
It was the best of times. It was the worst of times... Not this either.
It was a dark and stormy night... No, no.

Ah yes...

Once upon a time a girl went on vacation to visit her surrogate mom and stitching buddy in the great state of Virginia.  To prepare, she packed several stitching projects.  One of which was a recently released freebie: Three Little Words by Lizzie Kate.  While on that vacation, she stitched to her heart's content making those x's with Carrie's Creations and DMC floss on the 28ct white evenweave fabric.  Soon she was happy dancing in celebration of finishing the Lizzie Kate project.

Soon the girl returned home and Three Little Words languished all by its lonesome for two months.  During those two months, the girl found a frame her father had made for her in the mid-1980's.  See, her father passed away a year earlier and as she was going through his things, she found it.

As a teenager, she loved animals and had a poster book of them.  Her father made a frame for one of the posters.  When the girl left home many years later, she left behind the framed poster.  Her father kept it in a spare "junk" room.

As it turned out, the frame was perfect!  Repurposing the glass from an old, broken, discarded frame, she cut a piece to fit the frame her father made so many years ago.  The girl soon had Three Little Words framed and ready to hang.

Three Little Words was hung on the wall of the girl's castle where it lived happily ever after.

The End.

A Bit of Sprucing Up

In the past couple of months, I've given The Homestead a "facelift".  Well, not me per se... I had contractors come do the work.  During the spring storms, a 10ft piece of aluminum fascia was ripped from the house.  Since the contractor was there, I had him give me quotes on other jobs I wanted done... at some point.  In the end, I decided to have the chimney repaired, The Homestead tuck-pointed, and the aluminum awning taken off the front of the house.  Over the winter, the part attached to the house had come loose and every time there was any kind of wind storm, a loud banging could be heard.

Before - 2012

After - 2015

I think it looks nicer, but I do miss the shade the awning provided. Next year, the plan is to have those bushes removed from the front of the house. Previous owner(s) did not keep them trimmed down like they should have and they're out-of-control. The one on the far left (can't see it because of the pine tree) is about 8ft wide and over 8ft tall. I can barely trim the top standing on a step ladder. Eventually, I'd like to have a porch span the front of the house.

Much to my dismay, the guy who repaired the chimney and did the tuck-pointing also did a job on my hostas and sedum.

Really? Couldn't he work around them?
Due to rain dripping from the aluminum awning, the carpeting on the front porch was always "crusty" due to algae build up growing and then drying. It's been that way since I bought The Homestead in 2007. (Hard to believe I've been here for seven eight years already.) When it got wet, it was slippery and slimy. Gross!
The dark part is the dried algae.

The BF bought a new pressure washer and he let me try it out to see if I like it before buying one myself. It totally transformed my front porch area!

I even did the sidewalk. Looks like new concrete! I was surprised that my water bill did not go up tremendously like I thought it would.

Until next time,

Guess Who's Birthday?

Nancy over at Victorian Motto Sampler will be celebrating her birthday with a giveaway. Click on over and check it out!