Stitchy weekend

Joysze of Random Ramblings is holding IHSW on the third weekend of every month. Over 100 of us were hermiting and stitching this weekend. I was able to finish (just the stitching part) my C. 1800 Pincushion 

Fabric: 25ct Doublin Linen (antique white)

Floss: Soie D'Alger silk

All stitched with petite cross stitches (one over one)

I also worked on M. Quertier 1799. More I stitch this quaker, more I like it!

So long friends,

Evalina

Happy Valentine's ♥

♥ May your day be filled with love and happiness ♥

I saw these cute little mice on Vickie's blog and, of course, I had to stitch them too!
They are freebies ♥ and can be found here

Do you know the origin of Valentine's Day? Here is the article reprinted from Catholic Online

The origin of St. Valentine, and how many St. Valentines there were, remains a mystery. One opinion is that he was a Roman martyred for refusing to give up his Christian faith. Other historians hold that St. Valentine was a temple priest jailed for defiance during the reign of Claudius. Whoever he was, Valentine really existed because archaeologists have unearthed a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to Saint Valentine. In 496 AD Pope Gelasius marked February 14th as a celebration in honor of his martyrdom.

The first representation of Saint Valentine appeared in a The Nuremberg Chronicle, a great illustrated book printed in 1493. [Additional evidence that Valentine was a real person: archaeologists have unearthed a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to Saint Valentine.] Alongside a woodcut portrait of him, text states that Valentinus was a Roman priest martyred during the reign of Claudius the Goth [Claudius II]. Since he was caught marrying Christian couples and aiding any Christians who were being persecuted under Emperor Claudius in Rome [when helping them was considered a crime], Valentinus was arrested and imprisoned. Claudius took a liking to this prisoner -- until Valentinus made a strategic error: he tried to convert the Emperor -- whereupon this priest was condemned to death. He was beaten with clubs and stoned; when that didn't do it, he was beheaded outside the Flaminian Gate [circa 269].

Saints are not supposed to rest in peace; they're expected to keep busy: to perform miracles, to intercede. Being in jail or dead is no excuse for non-performance of the supernatural. One legend says, while awaiting his execution, Valentinus restored the sight of his jailer's blind daughter. Another legend says, on the eve of his death, he penned a farewell note to the jailer's daughter, signing it, "From your Valentine."

St. Valentine was a Priest, martyred in 269 at Rome and was buried on the Flaminian Way. He is the Patron Saint of affianced couples, bee keepers, engaged couples, epilepsy, fainting, greetings, happy marriages, love, lovers, plague, travellers, young people. He is represented in pictures with birds and roses.

So long my friends,
Evalina

Ash Wednesday

The Biblical custom for repentance was to fast, wear sackcloth, sit in dust and ashes, and put dust and ashes on one's head. Was this custom to be a beginning of Ash Wednesday?

I'm quite far away from the catholic church (or any church period) so I will skip the holly ashes today. Since I do not have any sackcloth to wear I will have to skip that too. Regardless,  I decided to get prepared for the Lent. I'm giving up chocolate in all forms until Easter and snacks between meals. 

A long time ago I started to stitch Jesus. I bought this kit on eBay and was totally shocked when noticed Chinese instructions. This is where I left it off... I really wanted to finish it so I bought another kit from 123stitch.com this time, just to make sure I will have all in English. Can you guess? I never put another stitch in this project again. Now I would like to finish it, really. The only problem is that I do not stitch on Aida anymore. What should I do? Should I start all over on the linen and love every stitch or smudge my forehead with ashes (I have plenty of ashes in my wood stove, not holly and not from burned last year Palms, but will do the trick) and keep going.

I also found a lovely book 'The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah' which highlights the intellectual and religious perspectives of the people who lived during the time of Jesus. It will be so cool to learn of locations where Jesus would have walked, prayed, and preached.

So long my friends,
Evalina

spammers - the war is on!

Spammers did not give up. They've stole my name and are sending emails to my friends. If you received an email that it looks it could be from me but says 'hey (your name)' and has links  and nothing more - it is not from me. If I would find an exciting web site and want to share with all of you, I would blog about it. The fake email is not send from any of my email addresses even though it says it is from Evalina Zamana. It looks like they were sent somewhere from China.

Does anyone has any advice?

So long my friends,
Evalina

spammers

Darn it! My blog was hit by spammers. I hate  the word verification so I did not turned that thing on but from now on I will moderate all comments and only followers can comment on my posts.  I will see how this will work, hopefully no other restrictions will be necessary. 

If you have a trouble leaving comment please send me a note to magicnorth at hotmail dot com. The link to my email is in my profile.

So long my friends,
Evalina

Grow Your Blog - and the winner is...

What a party is was! I've spent endless hours in the Blogland visiting awesome blogs, meeting wonderful blogger. Thank you Vicki for making this great even possible. My blog grew from 462 followers to 569 - that's amazing! Thank you all for visiting, leaving comments and playing along. Now, the moment we all are waiting for... the winners!

 The first surprise package goes to Quinn

 second to Debbie

 third to Cathy Habermann

  fourth to Becka

and the fifth to mybearsnme

For some reason I can't contact Cathy since she did not provide a link to her blog or email address. Sorry Cathy I must disqualify you... So now I have to pic another winner. Who that will be? Let's see is almost nine o'clock in the morning so how about #9? OMG!!! That is another Cathy! Coincident? Whatever! The surprise package goes to Cathy Olliffe-Webster. Wow, I'm so happy she was my # 9 commenter because she has the funniest blog ever and she writes beautifully. A long time ago when the 'blue mood' hit me I was watching 'The God must be Crazy' now I just go to Cathy's blog. 

Now I'm done! The winners are chosen and I can design my surprise packages and notify the lucky ones.   

Congratulations to all of you!!!

Well, while I'm writing this post I've got another follower and since I'm in the giving mood she will get a little token of appreciation. Congratulation Erin! I love your blog name 'less bitching more stitching', it's so true!

So long my friends,

Evalina