Christmas in July

This morning I took advantage of an unusual break in our July weather to sit outside and stitch a Christmas ornament. Our oppressive temperatures and humidity took a turn for the better this weekend and we have had cooler temperatures than usual. Yesterday we had our first below 90 high temperature since May. This morning I couldn't resist the 69 degrees and dry air that has moved in. I know it won't last as I saw the forecasted temps in the 100s that are in store for us for later in the week.

I am working on the April White Diamond ornament from Kelly Clark's Heritage Ornament series. The stitch guide is by Gina Liuzzi. If you are looking for a quick stitch with maximum impact, these ornaments work up very quickly. I finished the August Peridot ornament earlier in the week. It's quite a pretty ornament.

I spent yesterday morning watching The British Open and stitching on Peony Collage. What an incredible swing in the weather conditions they experienced on Saturday! I suppose it wouldn't be a British Open without driving rain and howling winds. Peony Collage is moving along as you can see.

I hope to finish the box on the upper right during today's final round of the Open. The small boxes within the larger one are filled with two shades of pink "flowers".

I was so thankful this week that my stitching friend, Linda, had successful surgery to repair her rotator cuff. Soon she'll be able to get back to some serious stitching! I had expected to receive an email from her stitching sister, Denise, letting me know that the surgery had gone well. What I didn't expect was to get a call from Linda just a little while after her return home from the surgery earlier in the afternoon. She sounded wonderful and we had a nice long chat about our needlepoint projects.

Thanks to all of you who left such nice comments on the blog and on Facebook about Queen Elizabeth! She is currently still on the stretchers and propped up on the sideboard in the dining room. Everytime I walk past her, her "emerald" earring just twinkles at me. I have some very specific ideas about her framing and feel as though I almost need to interview a framer before turning her over to anyone.

Have a good week everyone!