Stitching, exchanges and mountain adventures!

Hello Stitchy Friends, hope all are getting to fit in a little bit of stitching this summer. It's been over a month since my last blog update...several things have interfered with my ability to update, namely, I broke my wonderful camera and have not been able to obtain another until recently. It's a cheapie one and takes terrible pics, why make such an abomination? We also went on vacation in Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge Tennessee. I wish I had some great pics of that, but just don't.  I do have a story though...after the pics of my recent finish and a few other things.

 

I made this box with help from Meari's lesson. She is co-host of a Yahoo group called I-Love- Cross- Stitch. She offers classes on finishing and does a great job. She has a pretty neat blog too where she shares not only her stitching but cooking and DIY magic! Here is a link to her blog: Meari's Blog

This is one of those turkeys I have had laying around for about 2 years. I just finished it up in this lovely pillow...I really love it! I think the bow is too long and might change it.

This is a pic of the ornament that was made for me during an exchange for ILCS Yahoo group. There's a magnet on the back for hanging. Ethel also sent two skeins of WDW thread and a pack of needles (one can never have too many needles!). Thanks so much, Ethel.

Here are a few pics of my latest finish of As the Crow Flies by the Prairie Schooler. These pics were taken with the bad camera but you can get an idea of it. I enjoyed stitching it because it was easy to get into a groove and not make too many color changes. I made a few color substitutions and added blended needle effects and a few themes...I find that I can't help but make designs my own. I framed it myself, too, which is what I normally do cause framing here in Miami runs over 100 dollars.

Here is Moonlit Boats from Permin...I've got quite a bit more stitched up now but can't get a good pic. I am hoping to finish this over the next month or so.

This is part of a bit of stash enhancement I did whilst on vacation. I have graphed a few changes...I am substituting some of the trees with mountain flowers, such as cone flowers and daisies. The color will make this pop a bit more, as I think that is what is lacking. Am not sure when I might start this, because of a scary experience we had in the Smoky Mountains.

Vacationing in Tennessee has become sort of a tradition with us. Living in Miami, we enjoy the undulating landscapes and cool temps of the mountains. We usually plan our visit very carefully, coming into Tennessee via North Carolina and stopping there for white water rafting. Well this time, we hadn't realized that the rivers are controlled by dams and the day we had planned to go rafting was a day that the dams were not opened. We decided to take a mountain stroll, instead. Me and my two girls, ages 9 and 11 started up on a pleasant 1.7 mile hiking trail with NO SUPPLIES whatsoever. I thought the trail would take about 2.5 hours so what was the big deal, right? Well....we didn't started up the trail til 6 pm and you guessed it, the trail was difficult and it felt like it went straight up. We climbed and climbed, noticing the sun was starting to set....how could it be possible that we had been climbing for 2.5 hours??? The temps got cooler, we got thirsty and tired and scared. Oh, did I mention that some of the shelters had been closed due to "aggressive bear behavior" as per posted warnings?? That didn't stop us from taking our stroll, though, no Siree, not us!! My youngest daughter, who happens to be smarter than the four us put together, by the way, starts saying we should turn back NOW. I say, no way, lets go to the end...well, we got to the end only to have to go back, right? But the sun was setting, my ankles were failing me and I was having chest pains.

I cannot express the fear we all felt on that mountain side as twilight started settling in. Going down was easier, but we cried, prayed and made a lot noise, all in the hopes of keeping any curious bears away and getting down before all light was gone. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Frankly, I was an emotional mess.My girls were brave, being kids and not imagining the horrors like I was. I remember them calling to me and saying "No Ma, get up, you can't rest...we've got to keep going...stop crying Ma, snap out of it MA!!!"

We used the lights from the cell phones to make our way down...keeping our hands on the side of the mountain so has not to step off of the trail and roll down the side. As darkness settled, I thought surely someone would come for us? My husband, being the energy conservationist that he is, declined to join us on this hike and surely he would have called for help. Turns out there is no phone service in the mountains and he did finally hail someone on the road to call the rangers. He also came up a few yards on the hike with a flashlight and a bull horn, we met on the trail- almost at the end, but a welcome sight nevertheless.

What hugging and crying started then. Of course, I asked him what had taken so long and he said there was no way of getting help. There were also a few other idiots lost on the mountain ahead of us, including a father with his 14 year old daughter...scary thought! Once down, we got some oat bars and water and were soon met by a ranger that wanted to know if we had seen anyone else up there. Unfortunately, we had not. I hope those other folks made it down quick. We waited with the wife for another hour, but no sight of the lost folks. We then left...but it was hard. We went up that mountain at 6 pm full of vim and vigor and came down at 10 pm totally whipped. We felt very strong and even excited as we came off the mountain...I can only assume it was the adrenalin, because my legs started to tremble after about 45 minutes and I got nauseated.

Moral of the story is be prepared for a hike no matter how "little" or easy the hike. Take outer clothing, water, proper clothing and shoes, a hat, compass, etc and don't start a hike in the evening. DUH!!

I am glad we didn't need rescuing but felt like I had failed my girls in this little adventure. After all, I am the adult and they trust me to keep them out of danger and I failed. I know, nothing happened and it was an easy hike, but still, it was a very scary experience.

My girls were pretty tough and determined...I used to call them my bunny rabbits but I now call them my tigresses cause that's what they were!

All's well that ends well!

Oh, my husband was a doll and didn't berate me for the adventure or yell or anything. He was so good to me about it...my darling!