Brrrrr . . . It's Cold Outside

 

Good Day! It's a wee bit too cold for me to take Emma for a walk, so I thought that I would pop in with a stitching update. Actually, I have been meaning to do this for a few days, but I have not gotten around to it. Each morning, I have a list of what I plan to accomplish for the day. How is that working for me? Not great . . . my intentions are good, but my follow through is weak :-) 

I did make this house-themed project bag for the monthly cottage cross stitch pieces I have lined up to work on throughout the year.

 

Back in August I had stitched a bit on this "Suffrage Act Proclaimed" piece in hope of finishing it for the one hundredth anniversary of the Suffrage Act. I had then put it aside instead to stitch some autumn and Halloween pieces. I pulled it out during the week of the election and completed the banner across the top, the flag, and the top half of the suffragette.  Again I then put it aside to work on Thanksgiving and Christmas pieces. It came out during the week of the Inauguration.

I've made significant progress and am keeping it out to work on it a bit each day. 

Normally, I stitch in hand, but this time I thought I would use a Q snap as I am using one on the "Temperature Tree" which is my Sunday stitch. Here you can see it with the grime guard that I made. Although your hands are clean, many stitchers place a grime guard around the Q snap to protect the edges from the oils in your hands. I am enjoying stitching with a Q snap.

I also have a Valentine's Day stitch finish, but I will show you that in my next post after it becomes an FFO = Fully Finished Object. It will be a tiny pillow for my tiered tray.

So, Tom Brady is headed to the Super Bowl for the tenth time!!! Incredible!!! The reaction of everyone in Patriots Nation has been wonderful. Folks know how fortunate we were to have him as our quarterback for twenty years and wish him well. As one fan being interviewed said, "We are now the New England Patriots Buccaneer fans." I couldn't agree more. Watching two games each week has provided more stitching time for me. :-) 

And speaking of champs, did you see that the First Dogs, Champ and Major Biden, have their own Twitter account? He who shall be nameless was the first President in a hundred years to not have a pet in the White House. Major, age two, is the first shelter dog to live at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and the Delaware Humane Association from whom he was adopted, had an "Indoguration Party" for Major to raise funds for that organization. If the names: Bo, Sonny, Socks, Miss Beasley, Barney, Buddy, Millie, etc., sound familiar you may want to check out a complete list of White House Pets (1953-Present.) 

Because I am a presidential biography nerd, I also know that Thomas Jefferson had a mockingbird and bear cubs in the White House, Calvin Coolidge had a racoon, and Teddy Roosevelt and his six children had undoubtedly the larges menagerie. [Note: no charge for all this superfluous information: I just have a mind that remembers all kinds of miscellaneous stuff. :-)

One last cute, cuddly suggestion . . . check out the panda cam from the National Zoo.  Scroll down the Zoo page to "Cub Watch Photos and Videos." Click on the blue, "View More" box to see still photos and view film clips of adorable little Xiao Ji taking his first steps and playing with his toys. A'www . . .

Stay safe. Stay well. Have hope.