An Almost-Halloween Update

Yep, my favorite time of year! I just wish the kids were still little and did the Trick or Treating thing (as opposed to whatever it is they do now on Halloween that I don't want to know about, so long as the Sheriff doesn't come to my door for any reason). And since we now have the Mad Dog and her sidekick DumbChuck, we definitely don't hand out candy - at least, not at our house :) And up until this morning, the weather has been AMAZING! Which doesn't really coincide with me not having taken any pictures - haven't been anywhere except soccer, soccer, soccer :( The leaves are changing here, thanks to a few cool nights; we'll see how many get taken down with the storms moving through today (which I can feel in my head :( ).


So I guess I have to resign myself to Halloween Stitching, since we just don't have time for Halloween decorating at all, other than Halloween Fairy and my framed Pumpkins coming out of hiding. So last week, I was able to resist breaking out Sleepy Hollow & starting it; of course, this week I caved with something entirely different. See, I found this jar at Hobby Lobby, which was supposed to be PERFECT to put my Halloween pinkeeps in. Only, all but one won't fit the damn opening :( I can't get a jar with a wider opening, really. Here it is with the one that would fit in it - though you can't really see it, because a certain new resident thinks that the table is her nap space, complete with a table covering she can hook herself into so she doesn't slip off mid-nap. WTH? Anyway, you kinda get the idea.

(and you can see why I call her MissMatch in this pic - see her eyes are different, the one is coppery and the other has a lot of green in it)

SO, of course, I decided to just make some MORE pinkeeps, small enough that they will be SURE to fit. :) Starting at one of my favorite blogs, Gazette94, I found a couple of likely designs, and started one Friday night. Over-1 on 28ct, I know this'll fit in the jar. IF I can get it stitched before my trip to MI in a couple of weeks, I'll try to finish it up there that weekend :)

There's a leafy border outside that brown one - search the blog, you'll see this one. The quarter is there for scale :) AND I do know, beyond a doubt, that I need to get off my ass and get an eye appointment. Happy 43rd to myself in a few weeks :(

I also worked on Murky Manor during the week, getting the shutters done from last time, and getting the tree just past half-way, I think, maybe a hair more. Got the glow in the dark spider web done, too :)


And that's it for the week. I haven't been stitching at lunch at all - reading a book that is taking all of my attention, Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick (recommended by Cass) - wow, the story about the Plymouth settlement that we aren't taught, way more fascinating than you'd think. Check it out if you are into history at all...

This week, I plan to work on Jodie's RR, now that I have MM out of the Qs and off the floor stand. Then I suppose I'll go back to Murky. Who knows? Maybe Halloween Quaker? Dunno. Personally, I'm just trying to hang on until the time change, boy-howdy do I need my hour back! Happy Stitching this week to everyone, and Happy Halloween :)

Hot Apple Pie! An Update

Not much of an update, though - I seem to be running my ass off, getting nowhere fast, and not a lot to show for it other the the overwhelming desire to take a nap :) BUT, I did get the first apple pie of the season done yesterday - it's slightly browner than I prefer, since I was also folding Load 6 when the timer went off, but it's also realllyyyy flaky, so the color is irrelevant :)


As for stitching, I only worked on Murky Manor all week, and got a good bit done, though it seems I should have gotten more, since it's all I worked on??? Anyway, it's coming along well, though I have to admit, I was damn tempted to get Sleepy Hollow out, too, and get it started. If my WIP pile (specifically L&U & Knotgarden) weren't already hollering at me, I would have - but I can't bear the guilt of yet another WIP.


And that's it for the week. Weird, huh? I'll keep MM out this week, and who knows if anything else will make an appearance. I do want to get some stitches in on Jodie's RR, since I'd planned to last week, and just didn't find a stopping spot on MM.

In other news, for those of you that know me well, you'll know I have a great love of music. Well, as I was loading a shitload of CDs into iTunes, to load up my iPhone's iPod, I ran across some stuff I haven't listened to recently, reigniting my love affair with Robert Plant's voice. I have been playing his debut solo venture, 1982's Pictures At Eleven again, remembering the first time I heard Burning Down One Side on the radio (WTUE in Dayton), marveling at Slow Dancer, and singing along (in my fashion - I don't sing) with Moonlight in Samosa. Not too long ago, I caught a show on one of the cable channels with him, Alison Krause & T-Bone Burnett, about their Raising Sand release. As if my favorite song ever wasn't a Zeppelin song, Since I've Been Loving You, breaking out the solo Plant just reminds me what a talent the man is - Page might be a guitar god, but that voice is what put them over the top. No offense to Chris Cornell, who I would listen to reading the phone book, and who, btw, is doing a Zeppelin song on Santana's new record, Whole Lotta Love no less, but Robert Plant is the voice of my younger days, and now, as he's aged and it has mellowed, he is definitely smokey :) Mmmmmm... And I won't even mention the f'ing HAIR ENVY...


Anything the man has ever been involved with, I give 5 Martini Glasses out of 5 :)

A Columbus Day Update

Not a lot to report this week. Last weekend, totally consumed with soccer, this weekend, totally consumed with soccer - and summer came back :(, so today, I am freaking FRIED again. It was like 88 yesterday, sitting in crappy metal bleachers from 12-3, persimmons falling from the tree above (though I sat down far enough to not get hit, but I smelled 'em the entire time). It's going to be in the upper 80s all week again, so last week's 70s were nothing but a tease, dammit.


As for it being Columbus Day, well, whatever. Kids were out of school already - last Friday through tomorrow for Fall Break. Then my 8th grader is going to Savannah for 3 days; I wasn't allowed to go to D.C. for my 8th grade trip, so I made sure he could go do this. LONG bus ride in his future - hope he remembers his phone charger :)


On to the stitching...

I kept Starry Nights out and got a good bit done on it. I think I finally figured out the best way to work on it, with that 2-layer chart, and haven't made any colossal errors since. If I'd worked on it this much in one sitting before, I'd have figured it out sooner, I expect.


I worked on it Mon-Weds, and then again on Friday night a little, and then Saturday before we left for the game; Thursday was a wash, as I was on the phone with my mom that night, it was her 78th birthday. Nuttier than a fruitcake...

Anyway, Saturday, I got Murky Manor back out, though between Saturday & Sunday and spending some time writing, I didn't accomplish much - I now have a chimney done and have started the lower roof on the left side.



I'll keep MM out for at least part of the week, if not all. I also received Jodie's RR on Friday, so will likely get that out at some point, too. HERE it is when Carolyn finished it up and sent it on to me :) Other than that, nothing really planned - I think we have 2 games again this weekend, though maybe we'll be home for one (since home is still 40 minutes from the house). I'm hoping Fall comes back soon, and doesn't just dump us into winter like it did last year - that wasn't cool :( Until next week, Happy Stitching, everyone!

Ever Since Nancy Posted her St. Maarten Pics...

... I've had THIS stuck in my head:


Come on in, the water's fine....

The First Update of October!

Finally! I didn't think it would ever get here! The weather has cooled dramatically - we're now below average, in the 60s during the day, but getting back up where we're supposed to be by the end of the week - 70's, maybe back to 80ish. The house is cold in the morning, as evidenced by a 1 1/2 pound cat wrapped around my neck this morning at 4:55. It should be at least another month before leaves start turning - last year, it happened early, by the end of October; other years, it's Thanksgiving and they are just starting to turn. Who knows what'll happen this year? The weather people don't. Kinda like this hurricane season was supposed to be intense - I know it's not over yet, but, ummm, come on, we could use the rain :)


This is the late afternoon sun down in Milledgeville Saturday; a 3 hour drive, 3 hours for warm up and game, stopped for dinner at a local bar-b-que place that was the area's best (but not that great), then home in 2 hours, 15 minutes - basically a whole day shot to hell :( But this shirt was at the bar-b-que place :)


On to the stitching...

I finished the motif I started on Quaker Halloween, did another, and did the word SPOOKY. I was glad to see there wasn't that noticeable a difference between my single strand regular silk and my 6-strand regular silk once I got them stitched - I can tell just because I'm up close & personal with them, but I doubt the casual observer would pick up on it.


Then I got Nancy's RR back out, and finished the SNOW that I was working on; this is now just a smidge over 1/8th done, so I'm going to go ahead and send it back to Nancy, and she ought to be able to finish it in plenty of time for winter/Christmas decorating :) I really love that fabric; PTP really does these dark colors well....


And when I put Nancy's piece up yesterday, I couldn't decide on what to work on; I almost got Murky Manor back out, then I saw Starry Nights sitting there, so I decided to work on that, instead; as busy as this weekend was, I was too fried to do anything that required a lot of thought (which is totally the wrong attitude to take with SN, since it's hard for my brain to wrap around the 2-layer chart as it is), and though I didn't go back and fix all the stuff I screwed up last time, I did get a lot of sections done that will make me not mess that 791 up the next time. I really think this could have been done as a single layer chart, with a wider palette of colors in the key, since I can not always tell which blue or pink is what from key to chart... And for the record, the Kreinik holographic ribbon is as much of a PITA as anything else they make - but it sure is sparkly :)



This week, I don't know really what my plans are, stitching wise. I think I'll work on Starry Nights again tonight, then may work on Murky again. I'm tempted to start Sleepy Hollow, but my WIP pile is starting to bug me - I need to whittle it down, not increase it... The rotation may come back into play the first of the year, since L&U hasn't been touched in a long time now - I would prefer it not take 2 decades to finish....



Here's MissMatch sleeping in a spot of sun yesterday - she was OUT. If you go here, you can see how much the camera doesn't bother her, by flipping through to the Next...