The End of February - Already???

Well, that was quick... My little kid (who's about 3" taller than me) turned 14 Saturday. Can't believe that. And the other one turns 18 next month - DEFINITELY can't believe that :( That would make me... old, tired, and cranky... :) Here's the 14 yo at his birthday dinner at our newest Mexican eatery, Cabo's, wearing the Birthday Sombrero:


Note to self - don't just hand your iPhone over to the 17 yo - I now have 20 pictures and 3 videos of the Kid on there... Oh, yeah, I am about ready to wrestle him to the ground and shave that damn dirt-stache he's sporting, too... He was going to get a new cell phone, you know, one that actually WORKS, so I can reach him when I need to, but he came home from the music store with a new Peavey amp instead - which was smart, since his electric guitar is locked in the band room at school. But he also got new strings for the acoustic, so he could at least do that. Not sure how he's dragging the new amp onto the bus this morning to get it to school, but he was determined to do so... I'm sure all of my favorite Metallica songs will sound much better on the new amp :)

In other news, we have had WONDERFUL weather the last several days - I had to switch from jeans to shorts yesterday, and when I turned the oven on for dinner, it was actually almost stifling in the house with the windows open. BUT, it's also the beginning of pollen season, and whatever is out there right now is bad for me. Hopefully it'll rain as predicted today and wash it away - I haven't slept well for 2 nights now because of it :( I can do without a lot of things, but sleep isn't one of them...



As for stitching last week, I worked on a few things (kinda more like normal). First off, Amsterdam. I got that tower done, and packed up the kit to go back to Anne, or I could likely hang onto it indefinitely :) GOTTA GET THIS!


I also got decent progress on Tanglewood, got that branch filled in and the other one outlined. I worked on it for a bit at my monthly PINS get together Saturday, too.


Also at PINS on Saturday, I took Mary Wigham out and tried to give her some attention, but was apparently incapable of counting and/or reading the chart, so I pretty much stopped before even getting a whole length of thread in (in the right place, that is). The new color I have added on this started motif is Moon Called Sea - it's really cool. Too bad I didn't get further, so I could really see it stitched up...


And then, lastly, after I put Amsterdam up, I got out Noah's Sub, and worked on it from Thursday through yesterday. I put in several hundred yellow stitches (have I mentioned how much I don't like yellow?), and have 3 new critters - a walrus, a duck, and a gorilla :)


I still wish I'd chosen a different fabric - I love HDF linen, but it just doesn't have enough body for this piece, since it'll be solidly-stitched (eventually). Too far in to restart now, I just have to be careful to not pull too much, and trying to get the French knot eyes to stay on top - tricky at best.

And that's the progress for the week :) This week, I am not sure what I'll work on. Noah is still on the floor stand, but I may put it up - I'll decide when I get home from the 14 yo's dentist appointment today. I will be working on Lyne's sampler at some point this week - just need to decide if I need a break in between two Stoney Creek designs :) Other than that, no real plans; kinda like waiting to see what the weather brings this week - since things are blooming, I know we'll get bitterly cold again. And then in a couple of months, I can begin whinging about the insufferable heat - because that's what we do :) Just hope I get a bumper crop of irises in between ice & fire... Happy stitching this week to everyone!

Soup's On - an Update

Been a busy week here - we had 8 games in 7 days, though I only went to 3 of them, since I can only be in one place at a time. The Big Kid broke another kid on Thursday - broke his leg, just purely bad luck, from what I understand, since it's one of the games I didn't get to. The broken kid scored, so I guess it wasn't a total loss - it just sucks that he was a senior, too, and is out for the rest of the season, of course. Keeping my fingers crossed that my kids stay in one piece - it's going to be a rough couple of months.

So, here's the soup I mentioned:


A Dutch oven full of chicken noodle soup, which wouldn't have been good on Saturday when it was almost 80 here, but just fine yesterday when the sun refused to make an appearance and the wind was very cold, especially at the 9:30 game yesterday morning. Supposed to be near 70 today - we'll see. Cooler the rest of the week, closer to normal, whatever that is...

On to the stitching...

Like last week, I only worked on Tanglewood and Amsterdam. I got that 4th branch done on Tanglewood, and got the outline started on the next one up:


And then the progress I got on Amsterdam; I am planning to get this tower done, hopefully tonight, and then I think it's time to send this back to Anne, before I get carried away with it :)


Once I decide I have gotten to a stopping place on Amsterdam, I am going to concentrate on Lyne's wedding sampler and try to get that done; it really hasn't gotten but just a tiniest attention since my slump last summer, so if I can get that done, I'll feel less guilty for having it this long unfinished.

And that's the news... Happy Stitching this week to everyone!

Another Monday Update

Well, I am ready for spring. We had 3 days of rain, and some snow that I should have taken pictures of before it melted a couple of hours later, and blue skies and warming-to-normal temps since. Going to be 65ish today - fine by me. Both kids have a game today - one is early, at 5:00, away, so I doubt I'll get to that one. Don't know if I'll get to the other one, either - if it is home, then maybe. I don't know how we are going to manage this schedule this year, especially as both schools expect us to volunteer, which is going to be way easier said than done. Oh well, I'll hurdle that problem when I get to it.


On to the stitching. I managed to work on Tanglewood a good bit during the week, getting that 4th branch of that set outlined, and began getting it filled in. I also got the leaves on the right side all caught up.


After finishing MTM Monday evening, I did go to bed early, as I mentioned in last week's update :) From Tuesday on, I worked on Anne's Amsterdam kit by Thea Gouveneur, getting it started for her - she needs more WIPs. The linen it comes with is kinda weird, but once I got it into a frame and sated putting thread to it, it was totally addictive!!! I am going to HAVE to get this kit (and London, too) - working with only one strand is great! I started in the middle, working on the train station, which I was in on numerous occasions :) Not to mention it's the biggest building there, and made of this amazing red brick - you can't miss it :) Amsterdam was my only trip to the mainland; it was a beautiful, old city, and I would like to go back someday...


And that's all I did during the week (in between the 14 loads of laundry that I still don't have done - it just never ends, I swear). I will keep on on Amsterdam this week - Anne didn't have a set amount for me to do, so I'll try to not get too carried away. I do know that when I send this back to Texas, I will then concentrate on getting Lyne's sampler done - that piece suffered the most from last summer's slump, so I really want to get that done for her. After that, Purrfect Summer's Day and Knotgarden - I am on a mission to get some things DONE. Of course, the long-term projects are suffering, but if I can whittle the pile of WIPs down, that'll be better for all concerned later. Assuming there isn't a mid-year startapalooza, of course...

Well, that's the news. I'm ignoring what the calendar says about today; that was ruined for me 20 years ago tomorrow; as a result, I don't do Hallmark holidays. But if you celebrate, have a lovely day :) Happy stitching to everyone!

Sorry I'm Late...

....but I was busy FINISHING Medieval Town Mandala!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


And I took a few shots, trying to get the bead relief - not the best, but it is a hard thing to get a picture of. Start here and use your imagination :)

This really is my favoritest project E-V-E-R! So far :) And I am getting a Jill Rensel frame on it as a gift from my mom :) Started on January 1st, 2009, and worked in rotation since, finished today, February 7th, 2011, at 7:10 p.m.

In slightly less impressive, but no less important, news, I worked on Tanglweood last week for, oh, about 30 minutes :) Granted, a done MTM is kind of a hard act to follow, but someday, hopefully before too long, Tanglewood will get a fanfare of its own...


As for what's next, well, I am starting a new project - for Anne :) She sent Thea Gouveneur's Amsterdam kit, and I'm going to get her going on that, which I know will only further increase my NEED for this kit, and the London one :) Which I can get cheaper from the UK than I can here, pound rate notwithstanding. Still wish they were available just as charts...

Tonight, since I have spent the last 3 days beading my fingers to the bone, I think I'll take my book and go to bed early. I can't believe I'm saying that :) Thanks go to my boss, who let me leave at 12:30 today, so I could home and get cracking - he's a stained glass guy, he understands :) Now, the trick will be to get another project or two done before Tuscany Town or Secret Victorian Garden force their way out of the drawer.... Happy Stitching this week to everyone!