Chilly Days and Winter Housekeeping

For South Carolina, this has been a very cold couple of months! I kept my pj bottoms on all day under my track pants, as it was 29 degrees this morning when we headed out for carpooling.



Even my poor Jip is cold and shaking, though the house is toasty warm. Poor baby has had a sinus cold since June - have you ever seen a dog sneeze out yuckiness - it's funny and awful at the same time! We've tried antibiotics and steroids, but now I think we have to opt for a CT and see what is in there. Anyway, his hips hurt, too, in this cold, dry weather, so for the first time this winter, he has begun snuggling under blankets. Here he was trying to catch some sun rays through the door this afternoon but was still shaking, so I threw a little towel over him.

I think I got the thread shading right on the embroidery panel to look like Jip. I love looking at that design. I sold one of those fabric panels last week and was so surprised because it had been in my shop for a while. I hope the purchaser sends me a photo of her finished project. Of course, since I sewed it out a while ago, I forgot where I put the panel. Thus, I began embroidering another, and, of course, just as I was nearing the finish of the replacement, I picked up some fabric off a chair in my sewing room, and there was the original, so I listed it again.

All sorts of housekeeping is going on here right now. Thankfully, my friend, Gayle, offered her services, and she has been coming over this week helping me to do some spring/winter cleaning as well as some reorganizing readying the house for holiday decorations and bringing in the Christmas tree.



Another sort of housekeeping is going on in my sewing studio. While items are sewing out on the embroidery machine, I've been cleaning up and ironing fabrics and fooling around while bored by the process. I made these little gnome houses. I guess I saw them around the blogs and on etsy, but I all of a sudden had to make gnome house despite the piles of sorting I had to do around me. You know how those sudden urges come up.

Have you been over to sewmamasew blog yet? Today is the big giveaway day. I've entered several, but I feel too guilty to spend too much time going through all the sites. There's so much traffic, I guess, my computer was going a little slow through the hoops to get to the commenting. The ones I did enter, though, were really awesome crafting! There was a knitted cloche hat that I know my daughter would adore. That would be a great Christmas present for her. Too bad the blogger didn't have an etsy shop; I might have just bought one. Now I don't remember which blog it was offered on. If you spot it, please let me know, so I can go back and check it out again.

Okay, Gayle is coming back soon while the kids are at youth group. We are going to clean the wood paneling next and dust and vacuum with her Rainbow. She swears by it, even though I have a Kirby. Whatever she likes, though! Thank goodness for a friend with such great talents and willingness to share!