More lovely gifts

More lovely gifts have arrived in the mail from very dear friends. All these gifts have been wonderful pick-me-ups for me. My hubby is still having some problems with infection and its been very stressful here.

The top photo is a beautiful Christmas card from Francoise, who lives in France. She included in the card beautiful threads, 1 from Vicki Clayton hand-dyed fibers in a color called Reseda. I love the silks from Vicki, they are so easy to stitch with. The other two threads are blues, #932 and #3325, they are DMC pearle cotton threads, beautiful colors and I really like blue. Thank you so very much Francoise. Francoise is also a cross stitcher and does beautiful work. She also loves the color pink. Some day I would like to meet this very lovely lady.

The other photo is from my email stitching friend, Jane. She lives in California, Missouri. She and I met on a stitching group many years ago, the group has since dissolved, but she and I have stayed in touch through email. This was not a Christmas gift, just a thoughtful gift since DH and I are under so much stress. Jane is a beautiful Christian lady and she and I are prayer partners. We email each day and talk on the phone at least once a week. The angel was just her way of saying their are angels watching over us. Thank you Jane, you are very special to me.

The stitching group I belong to is doing a Valentine exchange and I got Nancy V's name. Nancy lives in Ohio and is a very lovely, caring lady. She is Heidi's mom, and Heidi is our group list mom. I already have a couple of items ready to send to Nancy. After my second eye surgery this Monday, I hope to be able to get my project for her stitched up. Nancy also collects "snow people". Now Nancy does not cross stitch, but she is a knitter and knits beautiful items, maybe she'll take the hint and knit me something!

Eleanor Roosevelt was a strong, beautiful lady, whom I have admired for many years. I love this statement she once made,

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do."

A lovely gift

The "snowballs" you see here came in my mail yesterday. They are from a lovely lady and wonderful friend, Nancy, who lives in South Carolina. I've never met Nancy in person, but she is a very caring, loving person. She is also a cross stitcher and does beautiful work and she likes to dabble in other crafts and the "snowballs" above is one of those crafts. They are actually "rag balls" and very beautiful. I have them in this carnival glass dish that was a favorite of my MIL's and they compliment my "snowman" tree very well. Thank you so much Nancy. These will be treasured forever.

Happy New Year!

Here you see my snowman tree! Wayne and I made most of the snowmen on it. My DH has a talent for drawing and painting and is very good with small items, like snowmen noses! He drew out the patterns and I sewed and stuffed them, made scraves, sewed on buttons and made hats for some of them. It was a fun project. Next month, February, will be Valentines.

We've had a very relaxing day here today. We had French toast and bacon for breakfast, watched a couple of parades, and ate beef stew and corn bread for lunch, with apple pie for dessert. Wayne has watched some football and I have been stitching and working on some craft items.

It is very cold here, 35 degrees. Fred has been sleeping in the utility room since it gets so cold at night. Maggie and AnnaBelle snuggle up together at the foot of our bed.

I hope each of you have had a peaceful New Year's Day and many Blessings for the New Year.