Redwork Sampler and Milady's Tea Shoppe

I worked on these two projects a bit more yesterday and this morning.  My hunger for variety isn't quite satisfied.  But working on two different small projects in as many days and making discernible progress on each has helped.  The Redwork Sampler now has a flower pot and an extraordinarily tall flower is growing from it.

Milady's Tea Shoppe just needs a roof and some signage before I turn my attention to the over one stitching in the first floor windows and door.

Still, I may have to start work on a heart ornament or two, if I am to get my fill of diversity.  Valentine's Day would be an appropriate time to start that.  I'll probably choose to work on the Quaker Patriotic Heart and thus have one more ornament to add to my Memorial Day tree.  Speaking of the Memorial Day Tree, I had a thought the other day.  I have some lovely purple fabric on which I have been stitching a number of Halloween ornament.  But it occurred to me that the purple fabric would make an excellent background for a silhouette of George Washington turning the ornament into a Purple Heart, a medal my Dad earned in WWII.  This would make a meaningful addition to my Memorial Day tree, especially considering Dad died on May 27 [which, in 1987, was Memorial Day].  I am pretty sure I have just such a chart in my Better Homes and Gardens 2001 Cross Stitch Designs.  It would just be a matter of stitching the profile of George Washington in gold silk and adding a heart shaped outline in the same gold on the purple ground fabric.  

I guess there will be a lot of variety this month and plenty of time to indulge myself.  We were expecting another 4-8 inches of snow Wednesday night into Thursday.  We got about 14 with drifting up to my hip in some parts of the backyard.  Though February is a short month, I may actually have more stitching time since it has been a rather snowy month so far. 

One thing for certain, the birds are keeping me hopping.  I have one of those 18" cylindrical squirrel proof bird feeders in the backyard.  It was full in the morning in anticipation of the snow.  By dusk, it was only one third full.  I don't know how the mesh bag of thistle seed fared.  Snowdrifts obscure the view from my window.  With all the snow on the ground, feeders are going to be a very important, if not the only, source of food for the local bird population.  I'll be picking up a couple of suet blocks as well ... the birds will need extra fats to keep warm.

Today I received a package from JoAnne's Fabrics.  I ordered some more fabric for backing my Town Square SAL ornaments and some heavy interfacing for use in padding flat ornaments.  I have three Town Square SAL ornaments, a Columbus Day ornament and three Halloween ornaments all in need of assembly finishing.  I am hoping the package will arrive this weekend so that I can get started on an assembly line and finish them all by Sunday or Monday.  I am expecting a long weekend: Monday is President's Day, Thursday may be a snow day and I am off Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays anyway.   One of the joys of working a four day week is that when you get holidays on Mondays or Thursdays, it's feels like a mini-vacation.  With  both occurring this weekend, well, that's quite a bonus.