Taxes

Spent a good part of the day working on our taxes..should be an easy task, but it's wrought with worry, oodles of papers, stacks of receipts and lots of tension. This year an employer didn't take out enough for Federal taxes. And, the mortgage company sent a statement that is missing numbers. :( Just combing through the papers is stressful and hubby works up a headache. It doesn't help to take a break because when you return to the task, you have to figure out where you are in the stacks and you've totally lost your train of thought.
Seems like after all these years of the dreaded process, we would have developed a smoother way to do this. We never know if we will end up with a meager refund or owe Uncle Sam. Because they change the rules every year, we can't rely on what we learned from previous experience so we never know exactly how much record-keeping we should be doing and what receipts will actually be effectively used. *sigh*
Still, there's an end to it. April 15th usually. So here's to hoping we entered the correct information in the right boxes and we aren't one of the lucky ones picked for an audit ! Good Luck, All.

Fall weather ?

Tonight it's rather odd weather out; almost Thanksgiving and it was in the 60's all day, rain now, we're on tornado watch 'til 2am !
Have been sewing my fingers off trying to get caught up on pincushion orders (not a complaint, busy is good). Just about done with the current order yesterday (Sunday), when we got a phone order for another hundred. You would think by now (after years of orders) the market should be saturated. I'm always shocked when new stores order. Thank God, really.
Family will gather here for Thanksgiving. We will be having the Hage regular food staple: Pizza. Yeah, I know. But the kids wanted a new tradition when we moved away from family and friends (14 yrs. ago) and we didn't have a plan for the quickly arriving holidays. So...why NOT have everyone's favorite ? Actually, some years we have adapted new menu choices such as Chinese, Spaghetti, Tacos, or whatever fast food place was open. It gets interesting every time we start to plan. One memorable year, we decided on pizza and even checked ahead of time to make sure they would be open on Thanksgiving; well, they changed their mind. NObody was open. So we played "clean-out-the-frig" for dinner and played games all evening. And, ya know what ? It was one of the best times. So, tho I do love a good turkey with all the trimmings, I adore going against the grain and having fun memories that last a lot longer than leftovers.
So wherever you are going to be and whatever your plans, I wish you a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving :)

A Mouse PINCUSHION....

~ I made two, one following and old magazine article/pattern, and then I tweaked the pattern and made one a bit differently. They are very similar, but I liked the stitching process of the tweaked version.
So here they are..two little mice. I listed them on etsy as pincushions, but honestly, I couldn't stab something that looks at me ! So for now, they just decorate my sewing room. I'm working on more. It's fun to find material that will work for a mouse. It kind of stretches the imagination..
Today we are on Tornado watch all day (just means watch and see IF a tornado developes). The sky is sooo dark and it rains hard, but no real wind yet. Best get this posted before the lights go out !

A Chance to WIN a Chicken Nest Box

Check out the blog of : GeorgiaFarmwoman.blogspot.com, "Life on a Southern Farm". Besides good reading, they are having a drawing to win a Four Hole Chicken Nest Box for your favorite country critters. The boxes look made very well and have a lot of thought put into the design. All you have to do is visit, click on the picture of the nest box and then leave a comment. You just may win ! Good Luck.

**** FREE GIVEAWAY ****

FREE~
***** FREE GIVEAWAY !! ***** Free Shipping is Good, but how about a FREE ITEM with that FREE Shipping ?! That's right, get the word out. The etsy shop, aWhimsy.etsy.com is hosting a giveaway, open to anyone who will look through the etsy shop, pick a favorite PINCUSHION, LADYBUG or POUCH and return to this blog; stitchwhimsy.blogspot.com. Leave a comment on this blog site (or hit the "contact aWhimsy" link on the etsy page..) describing your favorite Pincushion, Ladybug or Pouch (be entertaining, it may boost your chances) and be sure to leave contact info. ~FREE ~FREE~ FREE~ FREE~ FREE ~FREE~
Promotion ends with a drawing July 20, 2009. Winner to be announced the next day.
The clock is ticking so...GO!!

Another Pincushion...

Spoon Pincushion repurposed from a Baby's First Spoon. It is a Reed & Barton Silver piece and has an adorable Cat on the looped handle.

These were very satisfying to make. I like to use items for alternate purposes.

Spoon Pincushions

Okay, here they are at last, pictures ! I finally got these listed in my etsy shop, aWhimsy.etsy.com. Good, clear pictures were hard to get due to size, lighting, glare, etc. I wanted to get close enough to show the fine details but not be blurry.

~Had to get a little help from our son, the tech-expert with the better camera.

This Pincushion uses a regular table setting spoon.