Olympic Finish & Summer Book Finish

My goal today was to finish my Word Play piece & also finish enough books to get to the next level of the summer reading program at the library.
I met the reading goal this morning while walking on the treadmill....I love when the book is so good that I want to keep on walking!
I went to the library to turn in my reading list. They were out of the prizes for the level that I reached. She told me in it's place, I could choose another book off of the free book rack. (that was the prize for the previous level) I was thrilled to get to chose a book....much better prize in my book!
I spotted the book I chose & there was no need to look any further. I have looked at this one online before but just hadn't ever bought it.
I finished the Word Play about 4 this afternoon. I enjoyed this piece so much...I am anxious to keep working on more of them real soon. But, first, I must finish some other things I have going....
Dudley is doing well.....I think he is beginning to feel pretty comfortable with us. We still have our moments, but not like when we first brought the guy home.

January Word Play

Free Book from Library!

have a great week!!! Thanks for stopping by!! I appreciate each of you!

Weekend Olympic Progress

We had a gorgeous day, weather wise on Sat., so we took advantage & worked outside quite a bit of  the day. Like so much of the country, we are in a severe drought here. There are 2 counties in Northern IN still under a burn ban & we are in one of them! Needless to say, it is still very, very dry here. But, we had gotten some rain in the past week or so, so the yard needed mowed for the first time in over 2 months. We also had 'weed like' trees that needed cut down. It felt so good to work outside & not suffocate from the heat.
When we finished outside, it was time to sit & stitch & watch the Olympics.
Yesterday, I spent a lot of the day in the stitching spot also. I am seeing that my stitching isn't going as fast as normal, which tells me that I am doing a lot of watching of the Olympics!!!
Last night, we decided to see how Dudley would do out in public. We have some trails in our town, so away we went. We chose one that is very shaded, so we didn't hurt his paws on hot pavement...
He did wonderful!!!!!! Not only did he not bark or growl at people, he also left other dogs alone, he left a cat alone & he WAS interested in chasing a rabbit away. We were real happy with how he behaved on his first out in public walk!!
I have attached my progress pictures from both Sat. & Sunday. This is such a fun stitch.
I am stitching it on 32 ct. Sand Lugana, from Picture this Plus. I am using all of the called for flosses, except for the pumpkin color of the snowman's nose....I didn't have the called for color, so I am subbing one of my Victorian Motto Sampler flosses......thanks Nancy! It is perfect!!!

As of Sat. night

as of Sunday night

Thank you for stopping by & visiting my blog...I sure do appreciate each & every one of you!!!

Olympic Start

I have been 'collecting' the Word Play charts since they first came out. I finally decided on the fabric/s that I want to use for them. With that, I decided the opening ceremonies would be a good time to start one. So, I pulled out the January chart...seems best to start with the beginning of the year.

January Word Play...after one day

The weather here today is simply GORGEOUS, so we worked outside all morning/early afternoon. But, now it is time to pick up the stitching for a while & watch the Olympics!
Stay tuned for the outcome of this project & the framing idea I have in mind....

Finally, a Stitching Update & Thanks!

Before I start with my update, I must say a HUGE thank you to everyone. My last post was the hardest post I have ever written. I was blown away by your kind words. It made my day, each day, to open my email & see more comments about my dear Spyro. He was truly a wonderful dog & I don't think we realized how good he really was!
Before I had to have him put down, my husband kept saying...no more dogs after he is gone...broke my heart, but I would have gone along with it. Well, it wasn't more than 3 or 4 days & he was saying "when we get our next dog" or "when we find the next dog". Well, that is all it took. I jumped on those statements.....get him while he is still talking like that...
I started the good ole google searches. The first one I found was a rescue shelter about an hour from here. They get the pets & then put them in 'foster' care. I found an adorable black male poodle on this site, so I started investigating. I discovered he was going to be shown at an event at Pet Smart on Sat....we made arrangements to go look.
In the meantime, I joined a group on facebook that is in our part of the state. Once I was accepted to the group, the first dog I saw was a small apricot color female poodle. I made arrangements to go see her as well. 
We saw her on Thurs. evening. I fell in love with her & I think my husband was pretty taken too. But, there were enough 'red flag issues' that we decided we were for sure going to see the male on Sat.
Well, we decided on the male. He was owner surrendered 2 weeks ago. The rescue was told he had not been abused, but we have to wonder. He is very, very timid, especially toward my husband. Now today, with just me home, I have seen another side of him. He is much more ornery than Spyro was. This morning, he hauled dirty laundry out of the bathroom. (I had towels on the floor, ready to bring out) He smelled the chicken I was cutting up at lunch for my salad & put his front two paws up on the counter...didn't think about that with a bigger dog!!! (he is about 6 lbs heavier than Spyro was) He jumped up on the bed while I was making it...just a few things I am 'learning' about my new furry friend. By the way, his name is Dudley. That was his name, we liked it, said it fit him, so we are keeping it.
Ok...onto stitching. I started the Oriole way back in May I think....maybe early June. But, with our grandsons here so much over the summer, I haven't had a whole lot of stitching time. I have finished the male & am ready to work on some of the leaves, before starting the female. 
I also have started a log cabin....I covered the part of the chart that I do not plan to stitch.....I just plan to do the cabin..I think it will be a fun stitch once I get stitching time!!!
I have been reading a LOT this summer. Our library has a summer reading program for children, one for teens, and one for adults. I signed up & have been reading a lot of books. The last day for turning in our lists is next Tues. I hope to reach the next level before then.
I hope everyone is having a great day.....personally, I LOVE Mondays!!

Dudley, taken a few minutes ago.

Male Oriole

tiny start on cabin

timid Dudley when we got home with him Sat.

Again, thank you all so much for your loving support in my last post. 

Farewell my Furry Friend

NOT the post I wanted to share today, but I had a strong sense the other day, when I said I would post today, that this was the post I was going to do.
My dear furry friend Spyro has been with us for almost 11 years. I got him in Oct. 2001, after our second child went off to college. The lady I bought him from said he was a year old. The first time I took him to the vet, they said he was 5 or 6 years old. So......he was either 12 or 16-17. Either way, he lived a long life.
I knew he was going down hill fast....and boy, when he decided it was his time, he really went fast. I called the vet on Tues. to schedule an appointment. They had one that day, but I couldn't bring myself to go that day.....yes, Tues. was my birthday, as you guessed in my previous post. They do surgeries on Wed, so the soonest they could see him was this am. He got worse just in those 2 days. I knew I was taking him to the vet for the last time.
She came in & looked at him & kinda went oh no before even 'looking at him'. The first thing she did was look in his mouth. I guess the color of his gums tells a lot. She said they looked real good. She listened to his heart...said it sounded real good, no murmers...
she listened to his lungs....they sounded bad...
She said she would do an X-ray....came back & showed me one & said she had a second one developing...the first one didn't really show much. But oh my...the second one.....
one lung was full of fluid, but that wasn't the real issue. poor Spyro's heart was surrounded by a mass...we could not even see his heart...
She told me I had 2 options & she said she knew I knew what one of them was.....
the other was to send him to Purdue Univ. to have major tests done....
Not an option, unfortunately...
So.....she told me what they would do, how it would be done..she gave me time with him.....
The groomer came in & comforted me.....Lisa has groomed him since I first got him. She always told me how good he was & how much she enjoyed him. Today, while hugging me & petting Spyro, she told me she has never really cared for Poodles, but Spyro was different. She loved him..She said he was not like most poodles she has encountered.
I had a very special friend in him..........he will be sorely missed.
I am SO THANKFUL I stitched a picture of him back in 2008. I will have that memory forever on my wall....
Goodbye my friend.......you were loved by many....

My Spyro.....you will be missed....