This and That

I see Blogger is up to its old and tiring tricks again.  I've been trying to leave comments on some of your Foto Finish entries, but no dice.  Obviously, my new Mr. Linky isn't working the way it's supposed to.  I can't tell if it's a Blogger problem, or a Mr. Linky problem.  Next time I'll use the old Mr. Linky tool.  Just know that I've looked at your images, and they are a wonderful assortment of water shots.  You are all so creative and thoughtful in your choices.  Love it.  And I appreciate your participation more than you can imagine.

This is what I did in the wee hours of the morning.  Honestly, I haven't slept well in months.  Last night I woke up at 2:30 and couldn't get back to sleep.  My allergies are the worst they've been in years.  Mike hasn't been able to mow the field because of all the rain, and the Timothy grass is knee high and blooming.

My thoughts were filled with these stitcheries (which I've been dreading), and finally at 4:00 a.m., I decided to get up and work on them.  I was supposed to go to the Farmer's Market with Erik and Mae this morning, but I called them and begged off.  These were finished around 7:00 a.m., and an hour later, I climbed back into bed to sleep half the day away.  Still, I'm glad to have these made up.  The embroidery isn't started yet, but getting the appliques on and stitched down, and the embroidery design traced on is at least 3/4 of the job, in my opinion.

The embroidery designs are difficult to see.  The top two strips are the top and bottom final blocks for my Kitten's Tale BOM.  You can get a better idea here:

These blocks are called The Cats' Garden.  Between each heart, there are three flower stems for embroidery.  There is also a bird sitting on two of the cats' backs, and the other two cats are holding a string in their mouths with a heart attached.  Cute!  Once the embroidery is finished, I'll need to make 48 yo-yos to finish these up.  After that, I'll be able to stitch the blocks together.  Then, borders, quilting, and binding, and this one will be finished!  (By the way, I cropped the ends off these images so they would fit better in the space I have on my blog.)

As for the bottom stitchery:  this one is all embroidery.  It's another stitchery for my UFO Challenge, Winter Wonderland.  The stitchery pictured is the one just below the top-most one.

When this one is finished, I'll need to do the one at the very top and the one in the lower left-hand corner.  Then all the stitcheries will be complete!  If this hadn't been my UFO Challenge, I know I would never have gotten this far with it.  It's kind of exciting knowing that it will actually be finished one of these days!

Finally, I received word of who my gift exchange partner will be for the

I signed up for the international exchange, and I'm thrilled to be exchanging handmade gifts with Farzana Kahn from South Africa!  South Africa is a country I've always wanted to visit some day . . . hopefully, while we're still physically capable of scuba diving.  We've met divers from South Africa in our scuba adventures, and hearing about their country has been very enticing.  I have in mind what I'm going to make for Farzana, but that will need to be a surprise for now.  My lips are sealed . . . and so are my fingers, I guess.

Time to hit the shower and then I'll be drawing plans for my vegetable garden.  Mike has the field tilled now.  Tomorrow, we plant.