Megan Left!

One of my good friends, Megan, left post while we were on home leave.  She just got to Moscow last week.  Before she left we had lunch and she gave me these cute earrings from her favorite jewelry designer.  Thank you Megan, and I hope we cross paths again soon!

Crazy January Start Twenty-Two - Ornate Butterfly

Just brown at the moment, but the piece has a bunch of jewel toned colors and the floss is separated!  It's also somewhat small, so there's a chance of finishing it in some kind of normal time.

Crazy January Start Twenty-One - Dumitriti

This is a local kit, and like all local kits, came with aida.  I changed it out for linen.  The piece is a bouquet of gerbera daisies, called dumitriti (pronounced doo-meh-tree-tz) in Romanian. Obviouly, I've only got part of a leaf done.  Into the pile it goes to get pulled out to work on later.

Wine And Dine

 We went to Lisina Restaurant at Mandola winery a couple of days after Christmas.  It's about an hour outside of Fredericksburg, but it's got a really beautiful atmosphere.  Andreas took photos of the wine bottle because it had a local label but was made in Italy, so was a true chianti.  I had forgotten how much I'd liked chiantis.  It'd been a long time.  

Both Andreas and I had pizza.  Mine's the one with the green on top.  We also had a meat and cheese tray between the three of us, and I had pumpkin soup, the small size.  Mom had scallops again.  Everything tasted very good.  It was also, as you can see, gorgeously presented.  The last two photos are of the interior and exterior, showing how the place fits into its location.

You Know It's A Bad Day When...

the fire department comes ambling into the lobby of your hotel in full gear with three trucks outside.  It was just another misadventure on the trip.

Crazy January Start Twenty - Chagall

I've done a lot of these little octagon ornaments, but there are still several in my stash.  Getting another done!

Crazy January Start Nineteen - Knightmare

I had this kitted up for quite  while - since I bought it five? years ago in Virginia.  Time to get it started!

Lunch Outside

 Our last lunch in Texas was at Joe T. Garcia's again.  Since it was the -only- truly nice day of the whole trip, we were able to eat outdoors.  The food was as wonderful as usual and the company was great too.  A good way to spend a last day in Fort Worth before getting on planes for the long trip home.

Marbled!

 I found out there was a marbler selling items in one of the craft shops outside of Gatlinburg, so we had to go find it.  She had some lovely items, and I bought these sets of cards and notebooks.  It makes me want to marble again.  Unfortunately, there's no place to do it indoors here, and it's snowing.

Haute Mexican

 On our second night in Fort Worth, as the ice storm that locked us in the hotel for days after was starting, we had dinner at Lanny's, a new-ish restaurant on Seventh Street.  The food was absolutely excellent, and the service very attentive.

We had a baked bread appetizer; they gave us a little meatball amuse bouche.  My soup was spicy and calming both - perfect for a cold evening.

Mom had this beautiful plate of scallops.  She says that she occasionally dreams about them, they're so good.

I had duck breast.  The berry sauce was piquant and sweet at the same time, and the meat was very moist.  Andreas' fish was good, too, he said.

Mom's coffee was served in a French press.

My cappucino was warm and frothy.

The wine we split was also delicious.  Overall, it was an excellent meal.

Crazy January Start Eighteen - Elizabethan Pencil Box

I really like this design and decided to be crewel and start it.

Crazy January Start Seventeen - Grand Coronne Fleuri

I think this is going to look pretty going forward.  It will be a heart of blue flowers.

Great Lunch Cold Day

We managed, while we were in Fort Worth the first time, to get over to Joe T. Garcia's with Mom for lunch.  I just love their food, and it's extra good on a cold winter day.

Kit From Pigeon Forge

There is only one stitching shop in Pigeon Forge; it's a fairly nice one, but it's not really well stocked wiht threads and items that are out of the cross stitch mainstream.  I did find this needlepoint kit.  Unfortunately, it didn't come with the canvas.

Crazy January Start Sixteen - Blackstone Fantasy Garden

I've been wanting to start this for quite a while and had it kitted up, so.... it's started now.  I just need to add it to the rotation.

Crazy January Start Fifteen - C Is For Charlotte

This is the beginning of a really big blackwork sampler.  It's started now, so it's half done, right?

Early Morning Breakfast

 When we finally left Fort Worth the first time, we left early in the morning.  On the way out of town, we had breakfast at IHOP with Mom!  Breakfast was good and the waitress was very attentive.  On top of that, it wasn't even crowded.  Overall, a good start to an overly long day of driving.

Thank You Olga

My language teacher gave me a neat bread server and some candy for Christmas.  Thank you Olga!

Crazy January Start Fourteen - Milk Chocolate Cappucino Truffle

This is another ornament with colors of my choice.  I'm looking at ornaments because they're small and easy to complete.  Needless to say, my UFO pile is getting rather large.

Crazy January Start 13 - Peace On Earth Ornament

Yup, two Peace On Earth's.  They look different though. This one's from M Designs.

Copper Leaf

 I bought this at the craft co-op in Gatlinburg. I think it was Arrowhead.  Anyway, it's beautiful, reminds me of autumn, and I am going to hang it with my glass balls.