A Happy Week!

There has been so much about the last week or so that has made me a happy person. First, a new friend from Italy just made my day recently! I received a lovely package in the mail from MANUELA. Look at the lovely package she sent me - for no reason at all! How sweet is that?! Unexpected and oh so thoughtful! Thank you so much Manuela! I love each and every thing you sent. I can't wait to plant the seeds and I have to find the perfect finish for your beautiful stitching and I love the feminine needlecase, which now has a permanent home in my stitching bag, and the pattern is oh so sweet and not one I've ever seen - And, did you notice the threads from Romy - how pretty are they? I love it all - thank you so very much, Manuela! You made me a happy girl!


How Cute is that little pincushion tucked inside the pocket with the little button closure?


Know what else made me happy this week? Getting into the Shepherds Bush Retreat with BFF Julie! For the past few years Julie and I have taken a stitching related trip together. It's just a chance for us to get away from the stresses of work, family and whatever else and just focus on stitching, which neither of us gets as much time to do as we would like. Oh, of course we throw in a "little" shopping and we always take movies to watch while we stitch the night away. Last year we went to the
Celebration of Needlework in Louisville, KY, the year before that we were both fortunate enough to get into a Leadership Training Seminar in Florida and we combined that with our stitching weekend. We wanted to go to the SB retreat that year but weren't able to get in. It's a good thing, too! Because this year we did get in and guess whose going to meet us there? Yep,
JOLENE and LORAINE! If we had gone two years ago, I wouldn't have known them but now, we're friends and we'll all get to meet, shop and sightsee together. To say that Julie and I are thrilled would be an understatement!!! I can't wait to meet Jolene and Loraine in person, to see the SB Store, meet the gals and oh, did I mention that two of my favorite designers in the world will be there!? Yep, Barb and Alma from BBD! I don't know how I'll be able to wait till September. Are any of you going? If so, we'll have to have a blog friends get together, maybe! What do you think? Can you tell this makes me happy!

On Sunday, I got the opportunity to spend the day with DEB. She is a
person that doesn't mind driving hither and yon to find a quaint shop, an antique store or some other fun spot. She mapped out a route in advance and come Sunday, we'd be off and running. Only problem is, I started running a wee bit early. The plan was to meet up at about 9:45 in the morning at our first stop. I was so HAPPY to get to spend a day out and about with her that I called her at 8:35 and asked her where she was. "Uh, I haven't left the house yet, Terri. It'll only take me 15 minutes to get there." Uh-oh, I was more than an hour early! Honestly! So, what to do? I could go back home but that was more driving than I cared to do - I wasn't really starving and besides, I didn't see any place to stop. As luck would have it, I drove past an old cemetery and decided to have a walk around. Turns out, it's an old cemetery established after the Revolutionary War. It was kind of a cold morning with a lot of frosty dew on the grass, long shadows and a cemetery that's a bit run down, but for me, all of that makes for a HAPPY stop along the way. Here are some of my pictures from the cemetery.

Personalize a free digital collage

After I toured this little cemetery it was still a bit early so I happened upon a huge barn that was having a sale. I felt kind of bad heading in without Deb but I had to do something, right? So - in I went. Check this place out!

This collage generated with Smilebox

It was really a fun place and I found a few things - a small old sewing basket that reminds me of the one Ma Ingalls used on the Little House on the Prairie TV series. I found an old sack from which I'll make a cushion, I also found an old watering can, which I just love. It closely matches one that Rob's dad owned. I've hung them both on shepherd's hooks in my garden and when it rains, I'll collect the water and then use it later. Recycling and repurposing - yep, it all makes me HAPPY!

I packed a lot in an hour or so, didn't I? Finally, it was the real time to meet Deb so I headed to the high school for the antique show. There were a lot of dealers and we both found a couple of treasures. I didn't spend more than $22 on any single item and while some of you might think $22 would be too much for all of it put together, I love it all. The orange oil can Deb talked me in to.... "You can make a Halloween punch needle to go on it. It'll be cute!" For $3, it seemed like a good idea. How about the little, green, metal box!? I love it and it goes great in my craft room with the watermelon pink walls (yep, I've changed the wall color). I think my favorite find was the $22 frame - isn't it pretty? I can't wait to find the perfect sampler to
stitch and put in it. Sorry, but the Last Supper print will have to go. I guess my other favorite find was the little stool. It went right into my kitchen and I won't change a thing about it. Finding fun things while out on a beautiful day with a good friend makes me HAPPY!











If you've read Deb's blog she mentioned a little dog.... after we finished at the high school we headed back over to the barn I had been at in the morning. After a bit of poking around, we got in our cars and started down a very bumpy, dusty road and t, there was a little dog walking down the street. A girl in another car had pulled over and was trying to get him so I stopped to help (I was following Deb in my car). The girl that had stopped said that he was just walking around and she was trying to pick him up to see whom he belonged to. Well, he came right to me. I scooped him up, looked at his tag and had her call the
number on the tag. It had been disconnected! Now what? We were on a dirt road, the dog was caked with mud on his feet and he stunk to high heaven. There was no one around so I took him in my car. Deb was looking in her rear view mirror thinking "What in the heck is going on." I finally caught up to her and lifted the dog into the air so she could
see him. I called Rob and told him I was bringing another dog home - oh, yeah! He was thrilled (not). I gave him the number on the tag and asked him to call just to be sure and sure enough - the number was disconnected. The next stop Deb and I made was at a quilt store. I hated to take this pitiful, stinky dog into the shop but I couldn't leave him in the car, either. And, even though I own two little doggies, I don't carry the dog stuff with me. We (Deb and I) tried to get him to sit in a big paper bag but he was having none of that. The scrambling and scratching and jumping around that ensued was not pretty
- I was afraid the poor little guy was going to hurt himself. So, what else could I do but tuck him under my arm, waltz into the quilt store and ask if I could bring the dog in with me. We explained to them what happened and one of the women in the store held him while we shopped. By the way, this was a very sweet, pretty, older yorkie. He had bad teeth (of those that were left and you'll never believe it but his name is "Chompers"!) and he had a pretty, but graying, face. I don't know why I didn't ask Deb to snap a picture of us..... After a few minutes another woman walked in and just took right to him. Turns out, she had just put her own yorkie to sleep the day previous. "You should take him" I told her. She said that she didn't know but she continued to hold him and to shed a tear or two. Little Chompers actually fell asleep on her shoulder. I finally told her that perhaps God had placed us in her path that day and she agreed and took him home. She said she would take him to the vet to see if he had a chip and if they could identify the owner and if not, she'd give him a good home. All's well that ends well and saving a sweet, little dog makes me HAPPY!

Thank you so much for all the wonderful comments on my last post and I promise, this weekend, I will do some major catching up on blog reading and posting. I've been so busy at work this week, and gotten home so late that, I just haven't had the energy to do too much. You all are so sweet and your comments and emails and friendship really make me a happy girl. Boy! Folks that aren't blogging just don't know what they're missing, do they?

Hey MAGGIE ~ thanks for the layout help!

What makes you Happy?

Peace!
Terri