It's been a while ...

... since I've been here. It's been a very busy couple of months and I have no excuses for not keeping in touch other than that the blog kept being pushed down a very long list of things that needed to be done.

But now, with a few quiet moments this morning, and new releases to tell you about, I have taken it from the bottom of the list and put it at the top. Other things can wait a few moments while I take some time to get back in touch.

First of all, new releases are on the slide show at right. "When I Am Sewing" also took a while to get to the top of the list but when it did, I enjoyed every minute of it ... and the little saying on the back of the portfolio seemed so ... appropriate? The days DO pass quickly when I am sewing. And the seasons have changed from cold, windy February to the beginning of May gardens ... at least in most places. Here? Well, here we had snow again last night as we have had 4 or 5 nights out of every week for all of April.

Snow is so lovely when the first flakes begin to drift down in November (or October if you live in the Colorado mountains), but by May it's lost most of it's charm and is just "not appreciated" any longer. And I can't seem to tamp down the urge to plant something ... vegetables, flowers .... anything. I am having these incredible urges to dig in some dirt ... but when there is still snow to shovel off the back deck ... well ...

Just one of the many reasons I have been spending a good amount of my time trying to get the house reorganized and "de-cluttered" so I can put it on the market next month. Time to move to a slightly less snowy environment I think. Some place with a growing season of more than two months. You know, somewhere where we're not getting hard freezes the first week in June.

The real estate industry tells us that in order to make the house ready for sale and to appeal to potential buyers, we need to make it look as if "no one lives there". Good concept but have you ever tried to actually live, day to day, in a house that needs to look like no one lives there ... when you actually do ... live AND work there? Hmmm. It's a struggle, and I do miss the huge collection of framed personal photos that I built a bookshelf around (all packed away in boxes in the garage now) ...

but I just keep telling myself it's only temporary and, with some good karma and lots of prayers, it will sell quickly and I will be nesting again somewhere else before too long. Somewhere I can grow little lettuces and carrots and a few flowers for the table.

In the meantime, in between stitching and drawing and packing away all my personal effects, I have attended a very special graduation ceremony ... an especially important event for me and all those involved. My daughter graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder, this month with a degree in Political Science. Four years of hard work and dedication on her part made the celebration possible ... and we had a wonderful time. I cried at her high school graduation and I cried at this one too. I suppose I will cry at the wedding whenever that occurs, and have the same kind of happy tears in my eyes when I look at my first grandchild, but then I am a sentimental old fool and take these milestones very seriously. She was lovely. I was proud. I never cease to be amazed at her strength, resilience and drive. She always finishes what she starts. She always keeps her promises. She always does her very best and she always manages to keep a sense of humor about the whole thing. So, she is graduated from college now. Onward and upward. Enough bragging for one blog.

Now that "When I am Sewing" and "Button Boxes" are on the press and ready to ship, I am working on our July releases which should come out in July (ideally) unless of course the house sells in the meantime, in which case I will be in the middle of packing and moving. One can only hope, but I am proceeding as if that happy event won't occur for a while, so ..... planning another limited edition Christmas ornament for "Christmas in July" and there are some lovely, skilled fingers both here and abroad, stitching some samplers that I am pretty excited about. Some things have been on the drawing board for a long time and would never have gotten to the "stitching" stage without all of you who offered to become "professional" stitchers. It's working out rather well. I still work on things that need to be "worked out" little by little, but those things that come to me "whole" and can be drawn and charted complete, are slowly but surely going out to stronger, steadier hands. For those of you who wrote, and haven't received a project yet, I ask your patience as it takes time to work out the colors and fabrics and of course the stitch diagrams and charts. But they will arrive eventually (Candace, I promise :-) I have all of you who offered to stitch on a list and as projects become available, I am contacting each of you. I can't tell you how thrilled and appreciative I was by your response to my request. It's just a long road from conception to completion ... as all of you who have children know :-)

I am also working on several special "teaching" pieces, as when the dust of my life settles, I hope to be able to travel more and teach and meet as many of you as possible. So far, my experiences with those in the stitching community, have shown me that it is a wonderful little "village" of kind and generous women (and men, let's not forget our male stitchers!) with a shared passion that somehow spreads beyond and overflows just the actual stitching part. I am happy and grateful to be a part of that "village".

So, I will try not to push this blog to the bottom of the ever growing "to do" list from now on. Perhaps just a little "I'm here and still kicking folks" once in a while instead of a full blog will be all I can manage, but I will try to keep up with it and keep in touch with you all and hope you all keep in touch with me too.

Cynthia