Summer Colds Suck - An Update

Yes, as the title implies, I have a horrible summer cold. Had it since last week, and doesn't seem to be letting up at all. Don't feel really bad, just from the chin up, kinda feeling full of concrete - wet concrete :) Oh well, as soon as all of us get it, we can move on :) the next person who goes to California and brings a bug back with them is in BIG trouble!
Well, on to the stitching - no soccer worth mentioning this week (bad tourney, bad refs, ejections - that kind of thing). I was able to finish the Needlework Shop section of Nancy's RR!!!! I put the last bead on it Friday night!! I LOVED working on this, and hope to work a little bit on one of the other sections that wasn't quite done - don't know if I'll get to beads again, or not, but I'll get it closer :) Here it is:
I took this to my local stitching group meeting on Saturday, and it got LOTS of ohhhs and ahhhs and what a great idea!!

My main focus of the week was that small Foursome Reel piece, but due to my head, I only worked on it a few nights - if I had another whole Sunday afternoon, I'd have it done - so in September, I fully expect a finish, and hopefully a good start on Anatolia (unless I'm working on Halloween stuff :) ). I did get the corners to meet up, so that's good:
I also did some work on Lyne's wedding sampler, working my way down to those doves, finally - well, one of them, anyway :) I need to get situated to backstitch these as I complete rows, so I don't goof up those wings - the colors are reallllllyyyy similar, so I see myself getting lost a time or two :) Though there are a lot of color changes, it really is a pretty nice piece to work on - the roses have a really nice flow to them when you get to a grouping of them.
And because I really am in Halloween mode right now, I went ahead and started 6 Bats and a Witches Hat, from Blue Ribbon Designs. I was going to start it at the stitching group Saturday, but as soon as I took out the 40ct fabric, I knew I wouldn't be able to see it in there, so I didn't even frame it up. I started it as soon as I got home :) You know, it's been a while since I used Weeks Dye Works threads; I have since remembered how much I really don't like them. Especially Mascara (the black) - it is thin, brittle, and if you have to frog more than 1 stitch, it just shreds. I am SOOOO glad I am converting Boo Club to Carrie's Threads! WDW have jumped right to the top of my avoid-at-all-cost threads, and really, they don't give me a look I can't duplicate with DMC - they aren't heavily variegated, so not missing much by going DMC if necessary. Anyway, I will struggle through - it is a fun stitch, aside from that!

And lastly, my travel project, Iris, got some decent progress, especially at the stitch meeting Saturday (though, with my head combined with cold drugs, it's a wonder I put any stitches in anything correctly). The left iris, the solid one, is 98% done now, and then just a bit left on the upper middle one, and lots & lots of backstitching to figure out :)And that's it for last week :) This week, I plan to finally knock out the last of that top row of pages on Lady & unicorn - I'm trying to get out of practice this week, as we have this last weekend off before the season really starts with the big Atlanta Cup tourney over Labor Day weekend, so I plan to take full advantage - if I can shake this cold - of my last free week, essentially, until ???? January? Anyway, check back next week to see what I actually accomplish!! Happy stitching this week to everyone!!

A Muggy August Update

Well, those cooler (80s) days we had a couple weeks ago were just a tease - as soon as school started back, so did summer! my U17 kid had hid first tournament this past weekend, and the 4:00 games were murder - and I was just sitting there! Can't imagine how hot they were, especially as they always had to wear one of their darker jerseys. Not a bad soccer weekend, except for a minor schedule snafu; we went to the finals, and lost to PKs 5-4. The real stuff starts over Labor Day weekend with the Atlanta Cup. And to be honest, I am damn tired of soccer ALREADY! That's what I get for volunteering for the manager spot - as if 4 years in combat boots & fatigues wasn't enough lesson.... Here are the boys, lined up for the Penalty Kicks to decide the Finals. Mine's the 3rd from the left.
On to stitching - which, due to soccer stuff, was limited again this week. The main piece for the week was Knotgarden, hoping to finish up that 4th petal and then move on wherever. Well, no such luck, though I am a LOT closer. Gee, the other three I did in a week each - this one's just dragging on ridiculously now...Thought for sure Knotgarden would be picking up speed, but it seems to have slowed down - though perhaps because all the other stuff I have going on has picked up? BAH!

Saturday, we came home for a bit of a cool break between games, and I picked up Nancy's RR; I figured a few beads would be about right for the amount of time we had. Well, I was so pooped from the heat when we got home and then went right back out with the stir crazy dogs (the Dumb Dog video is from then), that I just left the RR on the frame, and worked on it until I went to bed Saturday. I now have 2 of the 3 sets of beads completed, so should have this done before too long :) I have two shots - one of the whole Needlework Shop, and one of it in a kinda-profile shot, trying to get a relief of the beads - but the dogs thought they'd wrestle behind me right about then, so when they knocked me over, I stopped trying to get a better one :)


I got a few lunches worth of work in on Iris - it was too hot and I had sunscreen on during soccer, so I didn't do any stitching at games or practice, probably won't until mid-September, unless I'm unfortunate enough to be there around 8:00... Anyway, here's where Iris is:
And that's it for last week. I added some outdoor pictures here (see the Lantana shots at the end), and will be uploading a bunch more of the soccer weekend, a lot of which are also of the wildlife in the pond at the park we play at - the Feeding Ducks & Canadians Landing videos are from there :)

This week is Sampler week, so I will be working on that eensy Long Dog piece, and who knows what else? I am kind of itching to start this year's Halloween project, 6 Bats & A Witches Hat (RAK from Chris). I am trying to get out of an afternoon game Saturday to go to my local stitching group, since it will be the last month I can go until December or January :( Check back next week and see what, if anything, I accomplish :)

First Day of School - a Monday Update!

Yes, it's true - today was the first day of school!! WooHoo!!! Dumb Dog is going to hate spending all day in the crate, but I am glad the boys are out of the house, without me having to take them anywhere!! They weren't too happy about it, but they both got up this morning (though Dumb Dog was making all kinds of racket, so everyone in a 2-mile radius probably woke up, whether they wanted to or not). And, since school was starting, summer came back - the 79-82 degree days are over, I expect, until october. Back into the 90's with 8000% humidity - and my skin is really, really not liking it, nor is my head. You know, I really could just skip the month of August here, it really wouldn't bother me a lot.

Well, the past week's stitching was scattered at best. I lost two nights to my new soccer team managerial duties - and foresee losing a lot more, since this has already turned into a huge cluster. I lost all of Saturday daytime to 2 games and a pre-season party, and no stitching at or during the games because it was TOO FREAKIN' HOT and HUMID :( Between lunches last week and a little bit of stitching one night at camp, before the mosquitoes and headache made it too much to try, I got some progress in on Iris - I really am still wondering about some of these 1986 colors called out, though I assume they'll all fall together when I get it done. The third iris, on the right, ought to go real quick, when I get there, as it is almost all backstitched outline, just a hint of color inside it. I'll try to get the one on the left, the only solid one, done this week.That dark blue is still kind of weird - don't think I've ever actually seen that color on an Iris before....

My main focus of the week was EGS, but between losing Monday & Thursday nights, and just not really feeling like working on it very much (not in the mood for greens, I guess), I really didn't do very much on it - I think I got 2 symbols done in this current section? I only worked for about 2-3 hours, at most, and just couldn't get motivated to pick it back up. Here's the bit I did:
One night, I also picked up Lyne's wedding sampler for an hour or two - could have kept going, except, surprise, I was interrupted by Mom duties - Open House at school, dinner, who knows what all. Anyway, once I get the flowers and ribbon on top done, I'll be into those doves, and assuming I don't get completely lost on the wings, since they are only a few colors, hopefully I will fly right through them, though I know I will have to bs as I go, or I will be lost!You will have to click on this pic, go to the album, and see the previous photo to see what's new - it's not a lot, but some, up and left, I think...

Now, what really got my attention this week was Nancy's RR. I got all of the stitching done on my Needlework Shop square Sunday afternoon, and started putting beads on! You can't really see the beads very well - the most that's on right now are matte Maize, so blend right in with the fabric, until I get the others added in around it. There are also some white ones here & there. We'll see if I do more this coming week - I was really impatient to get the stitching done so I could get to the beads, and can hopefully get one of the other sections a little closer to done, too - because I want to put more beads on! :) Here it is as of 9:00 last night when I went to bed:
If you click on this to go to the original, you can zoom in and see the beads along the roof line mostly. I still have two packs of beads that I haven't even been in yet - see all those holes in the roof and the bushes? And the wreaths, too, of course - lots & lots left to go :) Also check out the store's name - that's the name of my other blog :)

This week, back to Knotgarden, and hopefully more progress than last time. I lose at least one night to practice, and we have our first tournament (of three in a row) this weekend, though it's at our home field, so hopefully the whole weekend won't be a wash, depending on how bad the heat wipes me out. Pray for overcast for all of Saturday & Sunday :) I love my heat, everyone knows, but man, this humidity is for the freakin' birds! Or maybe it's for the fish. Not for me, at any rate. Check back next week to see what, if any, progress I actually manage this week!

Is it Really August? An Update

Well, I don't know about where you are, but the past week has been cool & wet - very fallish, and highly unlike normal ATL weather. And I like it :) No rain for years, and now it's all we can do to see the sun - though for all the clouds, I do wish we were getting more actual rainfall at my house - it's dumping down all around us, but we aren't really getting the downpours I've seen other places. Like a mile down the road. Oh well, the grass is green and the kudzu is growing a foot a day, and the overcast is keeping the house cool, so who's to complain?

I was in NC on Tuesday night & Wednesday afternoon, for a soccer game and to visit family. If you are interested, I have posted some pictures from the trip here. The game wasn't worth the drive, but it was good to see family again, though I missed photo opportunities for not having the camera in hand at all times :) I will get everyone next time. Even the shy ones :) Here's one, a corner kick from the game:
On to the stitching - which was obviously hampered a bit by traveling. Too wet to stitch while waiting for the game to start even - those clouds in the picture above were saturated - and they weren't even the ones that did dump all over us :) But even with the slight interruption, I did finally finish Part 5 of MTM!!!!! And I got a wee start on Part 6!!! Gee, I don't know why that 4th corner went so much faster than the three before it....This is the overall as of now, and here's a detail of the start of the buildings (squeeeeee) in Part 6:And for the record, my SnC Meadowgrass realllllyyy blends in well with the Days Gone By linen :) If you go to the original and zoom in, you can see the stitches outside these buildings :) I can't believe I finally got to the buildings! Now the fun begins - I think!

I also managed to get a bit more done on Nancy's RR, the Mill Hill Village piece. I worked on it for a night and Saturday afternoon, and I think if I can get that much time again, I'll have it ready to bead :)

This is really fun so far, except it is a bit maddening to look for a thread, only to realize the symbol goes to yet another bead - this thing is going to be covered! I'll have to look closely at the other two undone sections, but it seems the Needlework Shop (which is yet to be named) has more beads than the other buildings in this town :)

I worked on my Iris project a tiny bit, too, but as it was only one lunch and a bit while DH was grilling, nothing worth taking a picture of. Hopefully the next pic, next week, will be quite a difference :) So look for that next week.

This week, I will work on English Garden Sampler, though I am again losing 2 nights to soccer - team camp is this week, and in my new role as asst. manager, I guess I need to go tonight, so people know who will be asking for money every couple of weeks, and then we have a Parents' Meeting Thursday, so there's two nights I won't get home until almost 10. And because the park is near work, I'm not going home first, as making the trip to work & home, then to camp & home, equals 112 miles. Can't afford to do that, certainly not twice in one week. So I'll be hanging out late at work a couple of nights, and either collecting some OT, or leaving early Friday, as needed :) Though I've already lost out some, as I've made a dentist appointment for tomorrow - I've got something zinging the nerves in one of my teeth when I brush or eat anything sweet :( I was just there for a cleaning & exam in June - wonder where a hole would've come from since then?

In other news, the kids go back to school one week from today. Yay!! The dumb dog and Lucy will hate it, and the boys aren't real thrilled, but I'm tired of arguing about who does all the chores on the list every day, when I seem to be doing half of it when I get home? I'm ready for them to be off the computer and not in front of the tv until all hours of the night :) Not looking forward to the morning routine again, though....

Well, that's the highlights of doings here. Happy stitching this week to everyone :)

The Last Update of July

Hard to believe July is almost over already! Kids go back to school in 2 weeks - and I am not ready; they have paper, that's it. No clothes, no bookbags - though the big one has new flip flops (the preferred shoe of high schoolers here) and the little one got new shoes a month ago, if he can find them. Little Kid is not too big of a deal, since he wears uniforms to school, and hasn't outgrown his shorts - just needs t-shirts and the under stuff, since he'll wear shorts into November. Big Kid has nothing he can wear, and can't wear DH's stuff now, either, so he'll be the big expense this year. Here's a pic of his new school:
New high school, our middle school gets to shift over to the old high school, and then one of the other middle schools is going to our old middle school while theirs is being renovated. This new school is 500 yards from our house - not sure if that's good or bad, yet....

On to the stitching bits :) Last week, my main focus was Lady & Unicorn, but I didn't get a whole lot of time in on it - got stuck at a soccer meeting Monday until almost 10:00, then had to work a concession stand at the Georgia Dome Wednesday, as a fund raiser for hs soccer, for the World Football Challenge game between AC Milan & Club America. I saw about 2 minutes of the game, including Milan's only goal, from our 3rd level spot. I don't ever want another hot dog as long as I live - yuck! But we thought we'd be okay, as we were to the car by 10; didn't get home until almost midnight, thanks to 50,000 people at this event at the Dome, Braves were also in town, and oh, yeah, I-85 Northbound down to 2 lanes. So I was exhausted on Thursday and couldn't even think about L&U that night. Wasn't much better on Friday, so didn't work on it then, either, but tried to make up some ground on Saturday & Sunday. I didn't finish the top row of pages, understandable, I guess - I am pretty sure I would have, if my schedule hadn't been so disrupted. Here's the overall & detail:

I took out the orange horizontal thread marking the bottom of the page - I crossed it a few times, and it was in my way. But you can get kind of an idea what's left; assuming next time is more normal, I ought to be able to knock out the last of this row...

I received Nancy's RR in the mail Thursday - the piece from Shawn, and the Mill Hill kit for my square from Nancy. She gave me the Needlework Shop to do :) She says that I have been an inspiration to her with some of the color choices I have made, and thought the needlework shop fit me best :) Thursday, when I was dragging butt from our late night the night before, I decided to put some stitches in on Shawn's square that she didn't get finished, as mine wasn't ready to go yet - wayyyy tooo tired to try to sort threads :) Here's where Shawn's is now:I can't tell you exactly where Shawn left off and I picked up - it's all too fuzzy now.... And then, Friday I was still tired and knew if I tried working on L&U, it would end up being an hour or two of me staring dumbly at it, so I kept on with Nancy's RR, and got a start on my square:
Doesn't really look like anything yet, huh? Well, hopefully I can finish this one up in the next weeks, and if not finish Shawn & Lyne's, at least get them closer.... I'll be adding a personalized name to my shop, of course - don't know what yet, but something that ought to be recognized as mine :) Here's a shot of the whole piece as of right now.

Also in the mail Thursday, along with Nancy's RR bits, was an envelope from Natalie. Hmmmm, wasn't expecting anything from her - what could it be? I ripped into it right away, of course, and inside was her chart for Watergarden that she finished for her parents not too long ago, and the beads to go with!!!! She knew that I really loved that design, so she sent it to me!!! It really will be a wonderful companion to Knotgarden, since they both have those gates on all four sides :) Thank you Natalie!! I keep taking it out and looking at it :)

Lastly for this update, since I had to repack my travel bag with all new projects, once I finally got D is for Dog done last week, I started an old chart, Iris by Green Apple Designs. I did quite a bit over lunches during the week, and took it to my stitching group on Saturday. I am kind of wondering how much some of the DMC colors have changed since 1986 when the chart was printed - some of them look a little of so far, but I'm going to trust that they will all work out in the end :) I think I'm doing this on a piece of my good old 28ct evenweave - I don't think it's 32...? Anyway, here's a week's work on it:
This is the center flower, and it's only about half filled in; the left one is completely filled in, and the right one is almost completely done in outline - I think this will be really pretty when it is done - and it's quick, so I can move on to other travel projects :) Everyone in my group loved the Debbie Draper cats that are kitted, too - I definitely think the group is predominantly cat people...

This week, Back to Part 5 of MTM - I WILL get the last corner done, so help me! Though I am again going to be interrupted by soccer - Big Kid has a game in NC on Wednesday, that was rescheduled from June, and since I had planned to go up to see family then, I made arrangements to still go this time, though only overnight Tuesday, as Little Kid has school orientation Thursday, so we will head back home right after the game. But I now have Thursday morning free, so if I can get my dead butt out of bed, I can hopefully get caught up on what I lose to traveling Tuesday & Wednesday :) We shall see....Finally got some pics of the red headed woodpeckers that are all over our woods - still not close enough for my zoom to figure it out, but hey, better than nothing....

Picture Perfect - SHAPES!

(pic is clickable for the zoomed version)

This is a view off the walk around a nature center in our area, where we take the dogs to run through the woods on the weekends. If I ever hit the lottery, whoever built this place is building my house, very much like this building :) Love this rock work, which is combined with wood siding and tin roofs :) This picture is my computer wallpaper at work during fall. I took this in November of last year, with my Panasonic DMZ-FZ5, and cropped it down a bit.

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S H A P E S

A Climate Change Update

Global Warming is clearly a myth, Al Gore. Ummm, it's been in the 70's & low 80's here in ATL - that's in Georgia - in JULY. Beautiful weather, breezy, sunny with scattered clouds. Very nice indeed. Which means we're probably going to get it in August :( Good news - last week's sunburn has browned up nicely, and I don't think anything's going to peel! WooHoo! Of course, it'll all be gone by the next time I have to go outside for an extended period, so I can start all over again, but hey, that's what my summers are all about :(

Before I get to the stitching for the week, here's a little bead update, since all the fobs are received, as well as one other gift - Paula's Elephant. FMG added Elephant pendants a year or so ago, and ever since, I have wanted to get one and do something with it - I love elephants. Well, Paula has mentioned a few times how she likes them, too, so the last buy we had, I ordered a couple. And I came up with these:
Paula's - Fancy Jasper elephant w/Moss Agate rounds on leather cord.
One for me, elephant of Red Jasper, and rounds of Brecciated Jasper. I put a lot more rounds on mine, as I am used to wearing really heavy stuff around my neck - that turquoise & pearl creation I made weighs in around 5 pounds :) The piece I've had laying out since October is still there, but I think I know how I want to assemble it now, so it should come together soon. And no, my sister's 2006 Christmas present isn't redone yet - I think I know what I want to do with it to make it more like I wanted, I just gotta sit down to try it....

On to stitching. First, a finish - D is for Dog got done Saturday:
Don't ask me why it took so long - those corners were just killers for some reason, and the muted colors really weren't easy to see outside, so maybe this wasn't an ideal travel project...? Anyway, it's done, and my travel bag was officially empty - for a bit. Then I refilled it for this fall's projects: Debbie Draper's Canned Meows and Purrfect Summer Day, Iris, an old chart from Green Apple, and then Arelate Studios' Best Friends. I actually put the first stitches into Iris last night while DH was flipping burgers on the grill :)

My main focus last week was again the tiny Foursome Reel piece, and I am happy to report a frog-free week on that thing - as far as I know! I might be able to finish this up the next time around, or be close enough ot maybe warrant adding a day or two to the week to get it done, depending on what else gets my attention in August :) Here is the current:


I also worked on Lyne's wedding sampler for a few hours - my brain wasn't up to the over-1 on 36 one night, so I picked up the eye-friendly wedding piece instead:

You can see the overall here.

I also finished up the branch I was working on on Natalie's Tanglewood, and put a length of thread into the sky; I think I'll stop here and save some for everyone else :) On to Anita on Friday ( a week late, but as she's still vacationing, I had a little leeway). And lastly, in light of a recent acquisition, another Jen Delyth design from Heaven & Earth Designs, I decided I wanted to work on World Tree a little bit. I probably put in 2-300 stitches, though they aren't real noticeable - browns and some more black. Man, I can't wait to get off the outer border and get into the main design part, though the first page of the next row down is going to be CONFETTI HELL, so I probably oughtn't complain yet :) Lots & lots of black, if I can just get there....
This week, Lady & Unicorn again, see if I can close in on finishing that top row of pages finally... And, of course, whatever else yells at me, though I know I am losing some time this week to soccer crap - have to work a concession stand at the GA Dome on Wednesday, with the high school booster club, as a boys' soccer fund raiser. I really, really hate being around food and having to serve it and/or beer - I don't work in the food industry for a reason. Yay me - and we (DH & I) have to sign up for at least 2 more this year, though one of the choices is the U2 concert in October - that one might not be too bad, at least I'll get to hear the show :) I am ready for my involvement in youth athletics to be OVER.

That's the news - happy stitching this week to everyone!

A Crispy Monday Update

Crispy because I got FRIED at games this weekend - 5 hours on Saturday, for 2 games, with no sunscreen, no umbrella, no cold drinks, and to top it off, no toilet paper!!!! My knees are cooked through, and my arms from my sleeves down, as well as my neck above my collar, since I had to pull my hair back in the awful heat. And two kids left the first game to go get stitches in their heads, where they collided going after the same header. We lost both games. So not worth it...

In other news, DH got a coat of paint on the new porch yesterday morning - and it rained like hell last night, and it was all still there this morning, so that's good :) Though it was drying as fast as he was getting it on there. When he got that done, we had another cat to bury. Zeke, a.k.a. Bad Cat, who has been banished outside since last fall, the one who was 98% responsible for destroying furniture & carpet, passed away yesterday. He was 14. Poor thing; I found him when I was taking the groceries in :( So now, we are down to 1 cat, 2 dogs, 1 bird, and that's it. I think that is the least number of animals we have had in a LONG time. And DH said he's tired of digging he survived getting hit by a car 13 years ago, causing him to get a pin in his leg, and then he was grossly overweight for many years, until the outside banishment forced him to lose some of that weight. He's been looking pretty bad the last couple of weeks, and I guess when DH started painting yesterday morning, he was definitely not looking good. I saw him as I was holes, since the other bird was buried last week, too - no idea what happened to it, unless it was tromboned to death.... Of course, the answer to not digging holes is to stop bringing animals into the house, but no one listens to me.


On to the stitching. Of which there isn't a lot, because I was busy doing other stuff most nights. Can't tell you what, exactly, but I do know that I didn't sit down to stitch until almost 9:00 most nights, only leaving me an hour before having to go to bed. GRRRRRR! Which didn't make for the desired progress on Knotgarden; I decided the only way to advance was to first finish the last petal, and the other 3 I managed to finish in a week's rotation. This time, I barely got a start on it :( So hopefully next time I get it out, I can finish that up, then get going on the other two corners....


But I did get a couple of bead things done and back to the owner - a woman at work asked me 6 (?) months ago to restring some necklaces her son had made when they visited Costa Rica - this was really the first time I have sat down to do any bead anything, so I got those done and out of the way :)

I did finish my lunch project, the Halloween ornie/pinkeep. There is a little tadpole living in it, as there was a slub in one of the threads in a pumpkin that threw me off by 1 thread - I thought I had successfully navigated around it, but it turns out I didn't. Oh well, it doesn't matter. I've added this to the To-Be-Finished pile:


I also did a bit of work on my current RR piece, Natalie's Tanglewood. I get to hang on to it for an extra week, as the next in line (Anita B.) is on vacation and won't be home just yet to pick it up, so I hope to get the rest of the sky done, after I finish the peacock's branch :)



This week, back to the teeny weeny Foursome Reel piece, and who knows what else. Now that that Halloween piece is done, I am focusing my lunch time on D is for Dog, so will hopefully have that finished in the next couple of weeks, too - those corner medallions kill me for some reason, though they aren't particularly hard...? Finished the 2nd one today and got the small Rhodes heart done, so have progress already! Not bad for a Monday :)

Friday, I had a great day. Natalie was down here, attending an education conference, and I took Friday off, planning to meet her when she got done for the day. I got downtown to pick her up around 1:30, and we headed off to a LNS that I have never managed to get to in all the years we've been here, Abcedarius (they don't have a website, but are mentioned on the Caron site). Got lost multiple times trying to find the place - GA definitely does not overdo the signs or road markings, so even though I followed the directions to the letter, I wasn't even close to where I needed to be, But with a quick call to the shop (3-4 minutes, actually), we did finally get there. Wow, this shop was really cool! Every inch of wall space was filled, mostly with samplers, and there were displays all over of so many kinds of work. There was even a whole Halloween section in the back (this is the Bible Belt - we gotta keep that devil-stuff away from the kiddies, you know), including a completed Boo Club, which I now have all the charts to :) She had the largest selection of Kreiniks I have ever seen, and a pretty good assortment of other fibers, though no Gloriana, Thread Gatherer or Carries. There were even some that I have no idea what they were. Natalie & I both got some charts, and some Rainbow Gallery PTB, and she got a JABC button pack for a chart she already had. I walked around with a Drawn Thread chart for a while, but I ended up putting it back, in favor of what turned out to be an all-Halloween selection:

Not pictured: the PTB I got, white pearl, because I misplaced it temporarily :( After we got done shopping, we went back downtown to where Natalie was staying, and we got our show & tell pieces out; she brought her FINISHED MTM, and Chatelaine Snowflake and one of the Midi's, which I think I might have to get, as well as a couple WIPs, and I brought several of mine, and grabbed the hangers that all of my non-framed finishes are hanging on :) When we got done ohhhing and ahhhing, we laid them all out:

Then we went out to eat at Pittypat's Porch - Aunt Pittypat is a character from Gone With the Wind, and I had never heard of this place before. The plate of ribs I got was absolutely ginormous - I didn't finish them, and that's got to be a first! Then we went back to her room, and talked until I saw it was 10:30 and had to hit the road for the hour drive back home! It was a stellar day! Even if the kids were lurking around in the dark house when I got home, waiting for me to re-up their WoW account :(

Well, that's the news. Time to go put some more lotion on the tender parts :) Until next week, Happy Stitching!

A July Update

Well, what an eventful week! The quarter ended at work, and as far as I know, no blood was shed :) The QA guy was in a bit of a panic, but considering the coffee intake, that's to be expected. Other than him, it was pretty quiet from my perspective, for a change :) We had Friday off, in observance of Independence Day, and boy did I need it - the last few weeks wore my wittle brain down to a nub! But, as luck would have it, I spent all of Friday sick in bed. I just got back from the doctor, and he couldn't find any reason for me to have vertigo for 24 hours and then back to normal - so no apparent ear problems, at least, though could have been viral. But the rest of the weekend, aside from being knocked on my butt going down the hill with the Stupid Dog, and the resultant sore spots, was a good one. DH spent the weekend rebuilding the front porch & steps - one of the deck boards fell apart at a knot, so he went ahead and replaced all of them. Then decided to do the steps, too. Which then needed new risers (they were almost shot the last time we replaced the steps, but we made them hold a while longer). Then he decided to do the uprights and the handrails, too. Not sure how many trips to Home Depot it was - at least 3, one of which I went on. Now, we just need to find the paint that the rest of the porch & trim is done in, see if there's enough, if it's any good, and get some paint on parts of it:
Nice and sturdy again, and ought to be good for another 15 years, I would guess :) Depends on how much the left side continues to settle, since it's all downhill from there :)

In other news, my first RR piece, Lavender Path, came back to me last week!!! WOW, is it gorgeous!! Everyone did such a great job on it!! And I have a frame on order for it already - we'll see if the mats I picked are the same color as they appear onscreen when it gets here - geez I hope so, because if not, I'll have to go to plan B - Hobby Lobby custom mat, on sale :) I'll post a pic as soon as i get it in the frame, of course :) In the meantime, I have the 2nd one, Moonlit Orchid, ready to ship out to Paula when it's time to shuffle again.

As for my stitching for the week, well, I jammed on my Halloween lunch project last week -though I did cheat and work on it at the doctor's office Thursday while the boys were getting their physicals :) I should have it done this week - could actually probably finish it in an hour or two if I put it on my stand and put a weensy bit of effort into it, but I'm not in a rush :) For a change.
I don't know if this will be an ornie, or a pinkeep. Who knows, maybe I'll have to do it again and make one of each. Nah, probably not :)

My main project for the week was English Garden Sampler, and though I didn't get as far as I hoped - as usual - I did get some progress in it, and got some of the dreaded bs done :) Missing all of Friday being sick really cut into my progress plans though - I had envisioned stitching into the wee hours Friday night, having slept in Friday morning - but alas, it was not to be - and I didn't get to work on MMM03 during the day, or my bead stuffs, either. Here are the overall and a detail:

On Saturday, after being outside with dogs and porch-building all day, when I finally got to sit down to stitch, I wasn't really in the mood for EGS, so finally decided to work on Chat Noir a bit - which turned into part of Sunday, too. Page one is about 4/5 done now, and I have a good start on Page two. Pages 4 & 5 are almost all Chat, though really, as many colors as are in there besides the black, I don't expect they will be any quicker than these first three - though maybe :). Here he is so far:
The previous photo is hosed at the moment (thanks, Multiply upgrade), so I will have to fix that so you can see the difference.

This week, back to Knotgarden, as well as getting some RR work done. Natalie will be in Atlanta this week, attending a conference, so we have plans to meet on Friday afternoon when she gets done, and maybe make up it to a LNS I've never been to, Abecedarius - which doesn't have a website; what's up with that? Depending on what time she's done - Friday traffic SUCKS in this town, and this shop is in the heart of the worst of it - hopefully we'll make it up there. If not, at least we'll get a bite to eat, and more importantly, have show & tell :) Maybe I'll even manage a picture or two, since I spaced the camera when I met Dr. Stephanie in May 8) Check back over the weekend to see if I defeat the CRS or not :)

Until then, happy stitching, everyone!