July 11, 2009 - A Lazy Saturday

I did a little bit of stitching after midnight, finishing the triangle areas of the star. I think I'm going to start on the outer border and fill in the squares and diamonds last. I also might switch between the two so neither task becomes monotonous.

I gave myself permission to sleep in today rather than get up early and rush over to the college to meet with the advisor. They will be open until 8pm on Tuesday so I will have all day and all evening to get there. If I went today I'd still be a walking zombie.

I decided to try a new layout for Crossed Purposes. Dummy me didn't save my template before adding the new layout and everything in the sidebars got deleted. My heart went into my throat. As you can see, I've been working all day to restore everything. I hope you like what I've done. There are certainly more features to be added, including friends' blogs and freebie links, but I am still at work gathering all the information needed. I am also going to add a list of finishing tutorials. I have many of them saved in my bookmarks and will share with you the cream of the crop. Please let me know if there is anything else you'd like to see added.

I was in the mood for some quick snacks tonight and decided to make pickled eggs and beets. Debi was on the phone with me as I peeled four dozen eggs and cooked the beet juice and vinegar mixture. She had her phone on speaker so that she could stitch while she talked and Rachel enjoyed hearing our conversation, even adding her own comments, and giggles, occasionally. They both thought it was hilarious that Chet stands and meows at me whenever he hears a can opener meet a can. He expects to get fed every time. Now they know why we call him "Bug." He's good at it.

I layered the beets and eggs in a large plastic container that pretzels or some other snack came in. It has a nice wide neck so it's perfect for the job. I let the beet juice/vinegar/pickling spice concoction simmer away on the stove the entire time. I wizened up this time, too, placing the pickling spice in a coffee filter and tying it closed with the wire from a twist-tie. That way there aren't seeds and bay leaves floating freely in the liquid mixture. I could have fit another dozen eggs in the jug but I think I made enough for Uncle Wes to help himself and still leave me six to twelve during the next two months. We'll see, though! Wessy loves the way I make pickled eggs.

I also told Debi about my favorite way to prepare zucchini and yellow (crook-neck) squash. I slice 6-8 zucchini/squash with my mandolin slicer, cut bacon strips into two-inch pieces, and layer yellow squash and zucchini in a large pot. I spread half- to one pound of bacon on top, add 1-2 cups of water, and set on the stove to boil. Once it's reached a boil, I turn it down to simmer, put the lid on, and leave it for one to two hours. When the squash is translucent and the flavors have melded, I ladle out my bowl and put the rest in the fridge to enjoy later. After the grease congeals on top, I remove and throw it away. There is still plenty of flavor left in that pot! Whenever I want another bowl, I just ladle it out and pop it in the microwave for a wonderful warm treat.

If you haven't already, please sign up for one or more of my giveaways. Christmas in July and the Blogiversary Giveaways are open until the end of the month. I will announce the winners on August 1st.

Jackie, you asked why my giveaways were dated August 1. Newer posts are at the top of the page. I wanted the giveaways to be at the top for the entire time they're open, so that's why they're dated August 1. Posts with July dates will automatically appear below the giveaway posts. See, sometimes there's a method to my madness :-)

Also, I have no way of contacting you. You neglected to leave your email address and your name is not linked to a Blogger profile where I can find an address. Unless and until I have a way to contact you directly you are not entered in my giveaway. I don't mean to me hard-nosed, but I specifically asked for an email address to avoid this problem. I hope you see this and rectify the situation. My email address is in my Blogger profile.

June 30, 2009 - Weird Stuff

I hate being broke at the end of the month! ...and I mean B-R-O-K-E! I ran out of Lemonade tea at 11:30 last night because my store was out and there isn't enough gas in the truck to drive across town and back. Well, there may have been, but it was very iffy. The gas light came on Friday afternoon. Unfortunately, the owner's manual of the RAV4 only says that the light comes on when there's "a small amount" of fuel left. Their definition of "a small amount" could be different from mine. The dealership told me I could go 40-60 miles, but that's a huge margin of error when you're talking about being stranded! I have to have enough to make the six-mile round trip for dialysis tomorrow so I'm not pusing it. The truck stayed parked in the driveway. I drank orange juice (for the calories and potassium) and water (to stay hydrated) until Uncle Wes got home with two more half-gallons of tea. I was also popping sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) tablets to help with my sodium. I did not want a repeat of Sunday!

As soon as Wes got home I drank about a quart of tea and felt completely revived. I don't need no stinkin' nap! I have Wawa Lemonade Tea to keep me energized!

Oh my gosh, am I in trouble! What if The Powers That Be at Wawa decide to stop making my Go-go Juice? I'll be stop-stopped! I've tried other teas. Since drinking this one, none of them taste good to me anymore. I used to think Chic-Fil-A Sweet tea was good. Now I can't stand it! My tea goes everywhere with me. Even my DORS counselor said she remembered my tea. It had been almost ten months since she'd seen me! If you ever wonder whether you've seen me somewhere, just look for the half-gallon jug of Wawa Lemonade Tea. No tea; no Beth. Honestly, I'm more likely to be without Kasey than I am to be without my tea.

Can you believe Wawa locations are a consideration when I move? I'm not kidding! When I thought about moving back to the Eastern Shore to be closer to my Grandma, aunts, and uncles, one of the reasons I decided not to was because there wasn't a Wawa within 25 miles. Well, there really isn't much within 25 miles, although they did finally get a grocery store. But still, the closest Wawa is Dover, Delaware.

I found out that I'm not alone in my addiction, however. I went into my store to buy tea one night and the clerk told me that a guy came in and wanted to buy a case of the Green Tea. I laughed and jokingly said, "Where's HE moving to?" The clerk said, "Texas!" OMG! No Wawa within 1,000-plus miles! I couldn't do it! I checked, Wawa is only in "portions of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia." -www.wawa.com

Personally, I'm stayin' in Annapolis! Not only is Wawa within two miles, but so are my doctors and the hospital.

Okay, so enough about my neurotic dependency on a convenience store tea. What did I do today? Well, when the thunderstorms rolled in this evening I turned off the computer. It's amazing! My stitching productivity is almost directly proportional to the amount of time my computer is turned off (while I'm awake). That is to say, I stitch a hell of alot more when I don't turn on my laptop! Has anyone else noticed this? Is it a new phenomenon? Or is it just me?

So, while my laptop was off, I stitched! I tried to complete "It's Good to be Home" by HIH before midnight, but it was not to be. I'm really close, though!

I would like to ask a question of my fellow bloggers. Have you recently been contacted by email regarding your blog? It's happened to me twice in the past couple weeks. First, it was a company who wanted me to give away one of their rugs on Crossed Purposes. Besides needing one to cover the stains left from my Saluki, do I discuss rugs here? No? I didn't think so. Why in the world would I give away a rug? What has that got to do with Crossed Purposes? ...besides being completely off-topic!

Then, yesterday, there was an email from a new News Feed search engine. They wanted me to submit my personal description of Crossed Purposes. They even included a link to their Crossed Purposes page. How about asking if I want Crossed Purposes in your new search engine, FIRST? I wrote a very P.C. email back to inform them that I was not attempting to have more subscribers than any other feed and did not want just anyone to be able to find Crossed Purposes. I respectfully requested that they remove my blog from their search engine. I'm not sure if feedmil.com is legitimate, but "Pat" from "The Feedmil Team" emailed me from a gmail address (before 7am!). An internet site that doesn't have email addresses with its own domain name? Employees THAT dedicated that they're emailing before 7am? Call me paranoid, but I don't want anything to do with these people!

Now I'm certainly not under the impression that my blog is private (you decide that when you set it up), but word about Crossed Purposes has been spread through the stitching groups I belong to and web sites *I* post to. I'm very careful to keep my full name out of my blog and any of my friends' blogs. I don't want someone to Google my name and find my blog! I have known people passingly who later say "I Googled you and I saw your blog! That [blank] you're working on is great." And I say, "Um, that's not my blog!" I want to keep it that way!

I'd love to know if these are just companies/people prowling though blogs, or if Crossed Purposes is listed somewhere I'm not aware of. I'm very curious to know how they found it. If you're one of them and you read this: Whatever it is, I'm not interested! I like my non-commercial journal/stitching blog the way it is!

June 27, 2009

I'm trying not to think of today as a wasted day. I stitched not at all, spent way too much time on Facebook, and cooked a corned beef brisket. So maybe it wasn't a total waste? I mean, I do have a five-pound brisket to snack on for the coming few days.

I did some contemplating about my next project today. That's not saying I made progress in the decision process, but I thought about it. There are just wayyyy too many choices! First, there are the other nine projects I kitted up at the retreat. Then there are the wonders of purple-y-ness that Myrl sent earlier this week. That doesn't take into consideration projects in my stash that were already kitted up. What to do? What to do?

The only project that has a deadline is Mom's LHN sampler. She would like it for Christmas. I know it won't hold my interest long so I'm thinking of doing it one block at a time. I thought I could do them in between other pieces. Wish me luck!

On another note, Crossed Purposes is nearing 400 posts. I was stunned when I saw "380 posts" on my Blogger Dashboard. I guess that just goes to prove that I have diarrhea of the fingers...Crossed Purposes doesn't reach its 18-month anniversary until July 5th. To commemorate the occasion I will be offering a special giveaway. All you Mary Engelbreit fans, keep an eye out! This one's just for you!

As you saw from the pictures in Wednesday's post, Myrl sent a package filled with all kinds of stitching goodies. I've already chosen those projects and charts I will keep. I have planned some RAK's with a few of the remaining charts/kits and anything left over will be given away here on Crossed Purposes. Because these were gifted to me, I will pass them on to my readers for the price of postage. I'd like to be able to send them without charge, but it just isn't in my budget for July. Since I want them to be surprises, you won't see which projects I'm keeping until after the RAK's are received.

Friends Award

Wow! I was nominated twice for this award. Thank you to Kristi and Teddy!

Here is the text that comes with the award:

"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

I don't want to sound like a broken record in my nominations, so I am going to nominate:

Glenda - Cross Stitch and Cat Hair For her support when we both feel like crap.

Amy - Cross Stitch and Cupcakes For her generosity of spirit, and being the Queen of Exchanges

Terry - Shut Up and Stitch For her encouraging comments on Crossed Purposes

Frishawn - The Stitch-Mad Cow My late-night stitching buddy. Thanks for staying up with me!

Nancy - Nancy's Needle Notes A very sweet lady, it's so nice knowing you!

Carol - Carol's Stitching & Stuff Master enabler and friend. She introduced me to my first face-to-face stitching group.

Lisa - Hockey Mom Stitchin' Hobby We met through our blogs. Thank you for your sweet comments.

Pirjo - Pike Stitching One of my first international trade partners. Thank you for A Stitcher's Companion!

January 27, 2009

Wow! Three posts in one day! Don't you feel special? No?? That's what I thought, but a girl can dream, can't she?! Anyway, I hope you enjoy all my jabbering...

Where was my brain when I was writing yesterday's post?! I forgot to tell you about my first foray into designing!!

I was sitting in my chair Sunday night, chatting with Debi and Frishawn on IM's and going over, in my head, projects I had in which I could use the "Old Maid of Liberty" silk floss Kathy Y RAK'd me with. A vision of a design popped in my head. So...I took my trusty graph paper pad to dialysis with me and spent my time trying to sketch out a chart. I ended up with three similar designs and I think I'm going to stitch at least one of them after the cover of A Stitcher's Companion is completed. I am very eager to see what I did!!

I received another award today! This one is from Jackie and it's the "Fabulous Blog" Award. As part of the award I am supposed to list five of my addictions and then name five bloggers who I think are "Fabby".

Here are five of my addictions:

1. Reading romance novels, even if it's just five minutes, before turning out the light to go to sleep.

2. Needlework, especially needlepoint and cross stitch.

3. NCIS & The Unit. I have a DVR so I haven't missed an episode of either one in over four years.

4. Horses! I am not allowed ride any more so I stay away from them in person, but they're a life-long passion. Talk about poetry in motion!

5. Civil War History. I love going to battlefields, seeing historic movies, and reading about the Civil War Era. My father was a re-enactor when I was little so I got hooked at an early age!

How's that for diverse interests? I tried to name some things that you may not know from just reading my blog.

My nominees for Fabulous Blogs are:

Wawanna
Mylene
Shellie
Kathy K
Lori

As you can see from my previous post, it snowed today for the first time this year. Kasey had a wonderful time when we went out in it! I think her favorite thing to do was to scoop up snow in her mouth as she was running around. Every time she stopped running she'd get another mouthful, too. She loves eating fresh snow. I love seeing her this active. The snow seems to invigorate her.

After I took her out this morning I had errands to take care of. I stopped by the bank to deposit a check I received for some of my trade stash, went to Hallmark to get a birthday card for my step-father, stopped at the post office to mail four trades and Dad's card, and continued on to the library to get a fresh supply of the afore-mentioned romance novels.

Maggie also told me about a really good Sandra Brown novel, called Envy, so I wanted to track that down.

Rant Ahead Alert!!

I went to the computer and looked up Sandra Brown's Envy. It said it was in "Paperback Fiction." So I go back to the paperbacks and look in romances where I find several more of Sandra Brown's books. No Envy. The computer said there was a copy in this branch. So I go one aisle over and find more Sandra Brown books. Still no Envy.

Then I ask one of the librarians who is in the same section putting away some books. She can't find it either. She goes to the desk and has me give them the title and author. I do and the lady at the Information Desk looks it up on her computer. Adventure/Suspense. There is a third place where Sandra Brown paperbacks are kept! WTF?!?!

Why can't they put the stupid, friggin' paperback books in alphabetical order by author, like NORMAL people?! Instead, they have them sorted by genre! Apparently Sandra Brown's books fall under all kinds of categories! Envy was in Adventure/Suspense, while others were in Mystery and yet others were in Romance. Envy was suggested to me as a good romance/mystery! UGH!!! (Sorry, I'm an ex library geek! I even belonged to the A/V club.)

Anyway, I got Envy and went to check out just in time. When I walked in I noticed a sign announcing that the library was closing at noon due to inclement weather (DUH!). It was 11:25 when I arrived. I was home at noon and working on getting my corned beef brisket on the stove for a late lunch. I stopped on my way up the driveway because I saw a bright red cardinal eating out of the nursery school's bird feeder. I rolled down my window and took this picture:

If you like it but haven't made a corned beef brisket yourself, I highly reccommend it. All you do is take the brisket out of the packaging, pour in the included pickling spice, and cover it with water. Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat to simmer for 50 minutes per pound of brisket, and...Voila! That's all there is to it! It falls apart with a fork.

Just a warning, though: I get a 2.5 pound brisket and it's only enough for one meal for Uncle Wes and I, with a little left for a light lunch for me the next day. Some of that weight (about 1/4) is probably fat. I'd estimate a pound per person when you're choosing your brisket, just to be safe.

After the brisket was finished I started the mashed potatoes. I'm now addicted to the pre-packaged frozen mashed potatoes. I bought an off-brand last time and had no complaints. As a matter of fact, I got 8oz more for over $1 less than the Bob Evans. I'll still buy Bob's when they're on sale 2/$5, though. They're delicious.

I enjoyed my first meal of the day around 3pm. Mmm mmm! If I let myself, I'd eat the whole brisket in one sitting. I love corned beef fresh off the stove!

Done drooling? Good, cuz I don't want you getting anything on my stitching. Here's 'A Stitcher's Companion' as of midnight. I *still* haven't finished my initials on the spine! I can't believe they are taking so long, but I had alot of distractions today.

Speaking of distractions, when Kasey and I went out this afternoon for our second round of playing in the snow, I took some pictures in the side yard. I noticed last week that the neighbor's holly tree is full of berries. It looks great in the snow! (click pictures to enlarge)

Then I turned and snapped this view of Weems Creek. Yes, it's a creek! I know it looks like a river, but this flows into the Severn River less than a mile away. Luckily Kasey doesn't go down there often because most of the sand has eroded away, leaving only thick black mud on the shore. We're up on top of a big hill overlooking the creek.

Ready for more drooling? There was a knock on the door around 4pm. It was Casey from next door. She brought me a plate of warm-from-the-oven oatmeal cookies as a thank-you for catching Daisy yesterday and putting her in her crate in their house. The aroma brought Uncle Wes upstairs so I shared ONE of my cookies with him. I ate one and forced myself to wrap them back up and put them in the kitchen. I knew I'd get sick if I ate them all.

This was very thoughtful of Catherine, because I knew they were made especially for me. How? There were no chocolate chips or raisins in them! I like plain ol' oatmeal cookies and she knows it! They were soooo soft, they were more like cake because there was no crust on the bottom to hold them together and keep them from crumbling. Absolutely delicious! Thank you, Catherine, Rich, and Casey!

Spreader of Love Award

I received this award from Lisa and would like to pass it on to the following ladies:

BW: For her steadfast encouragement of my obsession with Purple-y-ness.

Wawanna: For her beautiful words of encouragement and prayer and for her loving heart. PS: I've heard rumors about you knowing how to make sourdough bread...You must tell all! hehehe

Carolyn: For her friendship, comments, and because she's a Golden-lover, too!

Debi: A more loving, generous, and gracious person is hard to find. I love you, D! Thank you for being my friend.

Sue: Master enabler, she's already invited me to come stay with her as soon as the weather improves so that she can take me to Haus Tirol to buy more stash! She's also one of my adopted moms. Thank you for all your encouragement and support!

You all may not know it, but your friendship, support, and encouragement are what keep me going. Thank you.

PS: This award is supposed to be passed on to 5 people. Just because you weren't mentioned doesn't mean I've forgotten about you! Thank you ALL for the comments, words of encouragement, and friendship. They mean the world to me!

January 5, 2009

123glitter.comHard to believe it's only been a year, but that's it!

You know how, when you have to go run errands, you make that list in your mind of the places you need to go and the order you'll go to them? Well, I did that today. I was going out this morning to make three stops. I decided to take Kasey with me because Uncle Wes got home at 11:29 last night and I didn't want her bothering him.

First we go to the grocery store. I need tissues. I've blown my nose through an entire box this past weekend. Easy in-and-out. Next up is one block behind Graul's Market at the Pharmacy. Pay for the prescription and get outta there. On to Wawa! I haven't had an Italian sub in a week! Tells you how bad I've been feelin', doesn't it? Order, pay, it's ready by the time I'm done at the counter.

So I get home and take a look at the prescription I picked up. The bottles are alot different and the price was only $2.55. Then I see it's a generic, which doesn't bother me, but the capsule size sure does! These are horse pills and I'm supposed to take four with everything I eat! Wait, there's no pill inside the capsule; it's powder! This won't work for me! The medication won't have time to work in my system unless I take it out of the capsules. It's easy with the name-brand because I just take the pill out of the capsules. This powder would taste awful out of the capsules! So I call the pharmacy; I have to bring them the prescription before they can look anything up.

Back out I go! Lucky for me the pharmacy is only about a mile from home! The name-brand medication is only $3.35 more! Yep! I want it, for sure! That'll save me alot of trouble and sour faces.

I get back home and settle in to enjoy a bottle of Wawa Lemonade Tea and my Italian sub. I open the roll to evenly redistribute the bacon like I always do. And I found out why my sub felt so light when I picked it up off the counter at the store. My Italian sub didn't have any Italian! It was mayonnaise, bacon, and cheese!

Back out I go! Wawa is only 2 miles in the other direction. I put the sub on the counter and Harold asks what I'm doing back. I start laughing and say "you forgot the Italian on my Italian sub! It's just bacon and cheese!" He starts laughing and joking that it was his co-worker's fault. She banters with the other customers about him blaming her for his mistake. I just laughed because this was certainly a first for me! I've had 'em forget my extra mayo or my bacon, but never the lunchmeat! Even though I asked that he simply put the lunchmeat on my sandwich, Harold made me an entirely new sub. I enjoyed it thoroughly when I returned to the house for the third time!

The remainder of the day was quite uneventful. I went to dialysis for my treatment and the nurse was able to get the dialysis doc to call in a Z-pack for me. I took my first dose of antibiotics with my dinner and I sincerely hope I'm feeling better by the weekend!

December 10, 2008

First off, I'm sure your ears are telling you I've added a playlist to my blog. My favorite Christmas movie is White Christmas. I have it and Holiday Inn on DVD. I watch both of them throughout the year. Uncle Wes just shakes his head when he hears them. I love Bing Crosby's voice and his version of White Christmas is my favorite carol.

That being said, if you don't care to listen to my choices as you read, please feel free to push the pause button. You'll find the playlist on the sidebar just below the Quote of the Day.

May I suggest, though, that if you want a laugh, please listen to Dominick the Donkey. I heard this on a Philadelphia radio station while I was visiting my mom and almost had to pull the truck over, I was laughing so much. It's a riot! I was even on the radio the last time I was up there, requesting the DJ play it for Mom.

If you're more into hymns, O Holy Night is one of my favorites and I've included Perry Como's version. I also chose a song by Garth Brooks, Belleau Wood, because it brings tears to my eyes each time I hear it. It's the true story of the Christmas Day Truce during WWI. It's just a gorgeous song in my opinion. I hope you enjoy my selections.


Yes, so I've gone on long enough about the songs. Here's Day 10 of the Advent Exchange. Amy sent this chart pack of gorgeous smalls. It's Blue Ribbon Designs' My Precious Treasures and includes charts and finishing instructions for the Shaker box lid, scissor fob, pinkeep, needlebook, scissor case, and sweet bag. Look at all those purples! I love it!!

Still no stitching today, but keep the positive thoughts winging my way. I'll get back to it eventually.

Ready for more freebies?

I saw this one posted to a Yahoo group today, but it reminded me of its existence. Michaels has tons of freebies on their site! These are just the cross stitch designs: http://www.michaels.com/art/online/projectlist?categoryid=30

Or you can go to www.michaels.com, choose your craft (scrapbooking, yarn & needlework, etc.) and then use the "Find Great Ideas" drop-down menu for even more projects!

Need more biscornu patterns? You can find some here, along with many other designs:
http://www.cross-stitch-directory.com/

I've Been Tagged!

I've been tagged by Patti and Cindy.

The rules are as follows:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know your entry is up.

6 random things about myself:
1. The last time I rode a horse was April 25, 1998.

2. The first time I flew on an airplane was because I was being transported from Chattanooga to Boston for emergency surgery.

3. I've never seen the Mississippi River. When I went to Hawaii, my plane flew over the Great Lakes to Chicago Midway. The layovers in Chicago and San Francisco were the only times I've ever been west of the Mississippi in the Continental US.

4. My guilty pleasure is romance novels. I read for at least 5 minutes every night before I turn off my light to go to sleep.

5. The only place I stitch in my house is in my recliner. I have to have my feet up when I'm stitching.

6. In 1991, my Ibizan Hound puppy, Cairo, and I won the Novice class at the Maryland State Fair with a score of 100 out of 100. The judge said "you were perfect" when I asked her what we could improve. When I got him eight months before, Cairo didn't even know how to walk on a leash.

The people I have tagged are:
Glenda
Barb
Elaine
Mel
Pirjo
Lori

Blogging Friends Forever Award

While checking Patti's site for her newest stitching update, I saw that she had awarded me the Blogging Friends Forever Award.

I am very honored to have "a following" who read my blog on a regular basis. When I started this blog, it was intended to just be about my stitching, yet it has evolved into so much more.

I'm glad I can make people laugh and inspire them through telling what I think of as everyday occurrences. I honestly thought I would bore readers with stories of normal happenings, but those stories are usually the ones that garner the most positive comments.

On to business...

Here are the rules:

1. Only five people allowed.
2. 4 of them have to be dedicated followers of your blog and 1 has to be new and live in another part of the world.
3. You have to link back to who gave you the award.

So to honor some fellow bloggers, my nominees for this award are:

1. Terry C leaves the most wonderful comments for me. They encourage me to keep writing and sharing even when I think what I have to say is boring.

2. One of the most talented finishers I know is Meari. Her work is lovely and I appreciate all her encouragement as well.

3. Lori K is a wonderful friend and a fellow ESRD sufferer. She is also a very talented quilter and stitcher. Thank you for being my friend!

4. My fourth nomination goes to my Bestest Stitching Sister who provides constant encouragement and support. She also watches PS I Love You with me, despite the fact that we live 2,710 miles apart. Debi, this is for you!

5. The new blogger I would like to nominate is Miss Deborah. This very special lady shows every day how to overcome adversity and keep a positive attitude. And, yes, she does live in a different part of the world from me: Iowa is totally foreign to this native Annapolitan. I hope to visit someday soon!

Brillante Award

Terry awarded Crossed Purposes the Brillante Weblog Award. Thank you Terry!

Here are the rules for the award:
1) Put the logo on your blog;
2) Add a link to the person who awarded you.
3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4) Add links to those blogs on yours
5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs

These are my nominees:

Mylene - Crafter in Texel

Patti - Patti's Creative Chaos

Meari - Meari's Musings

Kathy C -Kathy's Blog

Lori - Love2Quilt

Judith - Smokey from the Netherlands

Debi - Debi's Site