Thread:Superkenzie/@comment-33437691-20200103172834/@comment-37542647-20200114005038

I survived my snow shoveling experience. The forecast was for 2-6 inches of snow but fortunately we received only about 1 inch. Shoveling was relatively quick and easy. Unfortunately we had ice prior to the snow but I spread salt on the driveway so it wasn't slippery. I need to be extra cautious this winter because last year we had a lot of ice and my husband fell and fractured his left wrist. This required surgery to place a plate and pins followed by weeks of physical therapy. I do not want to repeat that scenario again. Chloe you are lucky you don't receive a lot of snow. The light fluffy snow is easy to shovel but the wet snow (the type that makes great snowmen and snow balls) is very heavy and sometimes a snow blower is unable to handle it. I love looking at the snow when it is fresh on the trees and ground. When the sun shines it sparkles and looks beautiful. After a few days I try to guess which of the many small critters have made the tracks. I am enjoying the winter weather now that I am retired and do not need to drive to and from work in bad weather. My drive usually was 25 to 30 minutes with most of it on country roads. Very hazardous when it is snowing hard with strong winds. The older I got the more I dreaded that drive. Now I don't pay real close attention to the weather forecast.

You mentioned that you are more of a copyist than someone who creates originals. I think that even when we copy the works of others we include a lot of our own unique additions without realizing it. I know when I plan a cross stitch project I will often change the recommended type, count and color of the fabric. Sometimes I will change the threads used and will often eliminate some or all of the backstitching. (I hate backstitching). So even if I follow the designer's graph I can change it a little to make it truly my own. Most people who see the finished project will not even know the difference.

I need to tell you about something exciting!. I wrote you that I have a counted cross stitch shop close to me. I take my completed projects to the shop owner, Monica, to have them framed. She does such beautiful work. Every time someone brings her something to be framed she enters their name in a raffle drawing and every December she picks one lucky winner. She contacted me last week to inform me I had won and the prize is a $100 gift certificate. I was so shocked because I have never won anything in my life. I plan to go to the shop tomorrow to spend some of the money. I'm not sure what I will buy. I already have enough fabric, threads and graphs to open my own shop but I will have fun looking.

Mott, thank you so much for sharing the pictures of your very talented family members work. The piece in the bottom picture looks like a design my grandmother used in her crochet work. I know some people think doilies and such are not in style but I believe we honor those who created them when we display them in our homes. I will think of my grandmothers and mother whenever I look at them. I have to admit that some of the thread colors used by my great-grandmother are not very attractive but I think she stitched with whatever she could afford or had left over from other projects. Those pieces are tucked safely away in a cedar chest. I prefer the plain white because it is so versatile.

I will say good-by for now. My cross stitch project is calling me.