All that is left is back-stitching

I have made steady progress on my secret project and now all that is left is the back-stitching. Here is a pic of a tiny portion of the piece just before I finished the cross-stitching. 

I have already made a good amount of progress on the back-stitching, but I can't share that at all. 

I have also been working on the crocheted wedding dress for my stuffed bear. Doing the same row over and over for the skirt. My hand has been feeling good, but I am not pushing it. Can you believe how wide that skirt is?

I haven't given you an update on my back issues lately. I am no longer in pain (well mostly). I had an epidural shot in April that took away the pain that was running down my left thigh. Unfortunately, it didn't relieve the numbness in that thigh so I had another epidural shot in the beginning of May. I still have the numbness and have decided to just live with it. I don't want surgery unless I am in severe, unrelenting pain. I've been dealing with bursitis issues in my right leg most likely caused by my favoring of my left leg, so I am working on doing all the exercises for both problems each day. All in all I am in a much better place than I was in February. There are times during each day when I can actually forget that I even have a problem (until I touch my leg and feel the numbness).

Hubby and I went flower shopping on Friday. I want to start filling my pots and I also promised to fill my mom's pots as a birthday present. 

The pot that I sit in a "chair" next to the front door is filled with a free geranium that a local real-estate leaves at each home for Mother's Day.

 I usually fill the other two pots that I have for my front porch with the same color geranium as I receive from the real estate. I think they look quite pretty.

I also planted my "vegetable garden", two pots of cherry tomato varieties. 

They are the only vegetables that I have ever been successful in cultivating. I know my limitations.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. I will be busy back-stitching.

Thanks for stopping by.

PGA nearby

There was a different kind of flying machine in the skies by me this week.The Goodyear blimp is paying a visit to my neighborhood for the PGA golf championship at the Bethpage golf course. 

I snapped these as I was going to the grocery store. Don't worry, I pulled over and stopped each time.

The course is only about two miles from my house. My children took golf lessons at Bethpage golf course as kids. Hubby and my son often play a round of golf there also. They don't get to play on the black course where the championship is being played, but there are red, green and blue courses as well that they play on. It is a public golf course, where a local road goes right through it. I used to take that road every day to go to work when I was first teaching. 

Our daughter is visiting this weekend. It is my mom's 92nd birthday and we needed a trip to the local indoor flea market for wedding accessories...hair combs and earrings.

In the morning we all went for a walk in the local preserve yesterday and saw a momma duck and her ducklings. One of the ducklings is on the rock on the left, others are in the water.

The ducklings are so small and light, they could stand/walk on the floating vegetation.

Hubby and Katie were enjoying watching them.

Ruby wanted to watch out for mean bicycles.

All in all we had a pleasant walk. Ruby was tired afterward.

We celebrated Mom's birthday yesterday.

 I made dinner and bought a tiramisu cake from the local bakery.

It was a nice little family celebration.

Three bunnies have been visiting our backyard.

 They are so adorable.

There is a baby bunny too, but it scurried away before I could take its picture. 

I have been steadily working on my secret cross-stitch. The cross-stitching is almost complete which then just leaves a bunch of back-stitching. I am still hoping to finish it by the end of this month at which time I can start sharing any other crafts that I start working on. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Mother's Day

A touch of Hollywood stitching

 A couple of weekends ago, Hubby and I braved the cold and rain to drive to a local outlet mall an hour away from our home. We really didn't need to do any shopping, (though I did find a dress to wear to my daughter's shower and a nice top for work or date night). 

I wanted to see the following exhibit of costumes and clothing from.....

This unusual costume was worn by Doris Day in "Glass Bottom Boat" in 1966.

This was worn by Debbie Reynolds in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown". Look how tiny that waist is! 

Below is a dress from the 1920's that belonged to Clara Bow. It looks very fragile, but is still quite pretty.

This beautifully embroidered dress was worn and owned by Joan Crawford in the 1940's

 Judy Garland wore this outfit in the movie "Babes on Broadway" in the 1940's. Again, look at how small the waist is.

 Ginger Rodgers and Fred Astaire wore the outfits below in different movies. The brown dress has pretty detailing.

 This red dress was a personal gown of Elizabeth Taylor from the 1970's designed by Halston. What a timeless look.

 Tallulah Bankhead wore this over-the-top costume as Catherine the Great in "A Royal Scandal" in 1945. It is sad to see that the velvet is no longer in good shape in places.

 Even more over-the-top is the costume for "Marie Antionette" from 1938. The actress who wore it was Norma Shearer.

 Joan Fontaine wore this beautiful gold creation in "Frenchman's Creek" in 1944. Zoom in to see the amazing swirls in the gold fabric.

Isn't this black creation stunning? It was worn by Rita Hayworth in "Strawberry Blonde". 

 This gold gown is a reproduction of one worn by Grace Kelly in "To Catch a Thief". Edith Head had to design the neckline to showcase the jewels.

The skimpy creation below was worn by Lana Turner in "The Prodigal". The fringe is totally beaded. 

 This dress was worn by Mira Sorvino portraying Marilyn Monroe. The elaborate duo to the right are from the movie "The Slipper and the Rose: A Story of Cinderella" from 1976 with Richard Chamberlain.

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 Do you recognize this outfit? It is the school-girl clothes of "Gigi"! Oh how much fun to see this outfit worn by Leslie Caron in 1958. Again, can you believe that small waist.

 The gown below is from the same movie. I love the music from that movie. My mom had the album and it was played often when I was a little girl.

 This gorgeous gown was worn by Mae West in "Every Day's a Holiday" in 1937.

 Who can forget Clark Gable in "Gone With the Wind".

 Do you remember the "curtain dress" from that same movie. This was worn by  Vivian Leigh in 1939. Trust me that she was a small lady. This gown goes to the ground and I could see over the top. I am only 5'2" tall myself.

 Ava Gardner was even smaller when she wore this beautiful dress in "The Great Sinner" in 1949. I felt like a giant near it. I don't think my thigh would fit in that waist. 

This is a beautifully embroidered dress that was worn by Jeanette McDonald in the 1942 movie "I Married an Angel".

 Below is a bathing suit worn by Esther Williams in "Easy to Love" in 1953. Do you see the tease behind it?

Here it is! This is one of the outfits worn by Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle in "My Fair Lady". Another movie whose music brings back childhood memories. I love this movie. It is amazing to see the intricate detailing on this dress. Zoom in.

There were a few other outfits that I didn't photograph. Although I recognized almost all of the actors/actresses, I wasn't familiar with all of the movies. It was a small exhibit, but so much fun.

Hubby kept commenting about how much larger people are now. Somehow I think that is partially true, but that even current female actors still strive to be very small. I also know that sizing of garments has changed radically since I was younger, which is why my daughter often wears a 0 or 00, when she looks like at 2 or 4 to me. I don't think I was ever as small as she is, but I weighed about the same and usually wore 6 when I was her age. Never the less, I was so glad that we were able to get to see this exhibit. I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Thanks for stopping by!