Ahhh, at long last it's Friday night!

How I have longed for Friday night. It's been quite a week. Suffice it to say I am lumbered with an office hierarchy which doesn't know or want to know what I do, but is certain that it can't be important since they never talk to me about anything office-ish. They send the less senior-, the middle-, and the junior staff out to do something and *they* are the ones who end up in my office. Sigh. Ok, done whining for now. I will end by saying only that I'll accept all sentiments that would tend to make management insanity a temporary affliction.

Now let's see, I know I have things to show.... Wherever did I put those pics? Hmmm.

For no apparent reason I felt compelled to start Blackbird's Designs' "Christmas Ornament 2004" from the JCS issue this week --

It's on Wichelt's Vintage Mocha (I think it's mocha anyway) in Sampler Threads-- just not the ST's called for since I was missing some.

I also managed to unearth the missing UFO/Works In Progress from my checklist of a couple weeks ago. I'd like you to meet:

"Because I'm the Chief, That's Why"

I was going to do it for my mom because I called her Chief -- as in Chief Head Honcho. All the stitching on this is actually by my fri4end Jennifer who rightly thought I was not going to get around to it.

a Lee fan


It's all in Splendor silks and you may not be able to see but I have completed the tree (but not the flowers) and I'm slowing covering all of the burgundy parts with the dark mauve.

and finally, this is my big Tish piece called "Ladies' Day" (it's probably 2 feet long

And here's the BIG progress I have made on it in the one day I worked on it some 4-5 years ago... lol

Oh yeah, I really set the world on fire with that one. lol

The week before last a pair of canvases from this year's TNNA came in for me from Copper Oaks:


in 3 parts:




Here's wishing all of you a simply wonderful weekend. See ya'll later!
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Random quote of the day: Nothing brings people together like a Christmas lung infection. -- Special Agent Booth – Bones (Seemed appropriate given the state of the plague passing through my office.)

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Currently reading: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles and Jim Butcher's Storm Front
Recently added to my amazon shopping cart: All the Tony Hillerman's not published as unabridged audios -- I snooped out all the used, mass market copies I could find of them. Mind you, they'll probably sit hanging out in there for months, but at leat I know where and what they are!

Updates from the sick room -- woo hoo!

Apparently, being somewhat more healthy (although I'd recommend investment in Kleenix, Robitussin cough medicine, and cough drop stocks because I expect their usage to continue to grow) I was inspired (and obsessed) yesterday. lol I worked for the day at my LNS and we had a mostly quiet day. As usual, I'd brought along about 20 possible projects. Somehow I got focussed on the quilt needlepoint I'd been ignoring for a month or two. So I started working. And I worked through the day at the shop. And I worked through my friend's nail appointment after the shop closed. And I worked through several hours of old mysteries I unearthed from my pile of Jeez-I-Wonder-What's-on-Here videos. And at 4am this morning this is where I was:



Yeehaw! What can I say? When I get obsessed, I get OBSESSED. lol

I finally unearthed my Bride's Tree SAL house finish that I'd lost the picture for and reshot it --

It's part of a LHN piece from an old JCS (2002, I think). I did it in Splendor and Vikki Clayton silks

And I made a pair of Bride's February heart finishes --

This is one of the JBW trees in Belle Soie silk and red beads. I've wanted to do this pattern for a long time and was hemming and hawing about doing it when I decided I could make it work from the Bride's SAL by featuring that heart.


This is part of a Long Dog sampler that I did in Carrie's Creation "Surprise." Originally I was going to use it for something else, but I decided it would be a perfect heart for the Bride's set I'm doing for a particularly "colorful" friend.

And finally, a little progress on my final Bride's January house --

It's a Dragon Dreams JCS 1999 ornie. I'm waiting for the Kreinik I need for the roofs to come in. Oh, ok and I need to do the trees on the right and the door and a bunch of snow and the right corner holly garland.

I even made some progress on Americow --

I only have three more red and white rows, and cow legs, tail, and face to finish on this.

BTW, I am heartened to hear that so many of you also eat "in order." lol I think we're the logical ones!

And, Barbara, I owe you some badger pics. My little friends will be happy to be featured. It's a good excuse to do an inventory anyway.

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Recently finished: Tony Hillerman's Skinwalker -- Excellent! I think it might be my favorite Hillerman thusfar.
Just started: Tony Hillerman's The Sinister Pig
Wishing I had: Another Nero Wolfe audio book to start and a really comfy, well-lit recliner and whatever book catches my fancy from the shelf.

Back from the depths of whatever everyone has and allergies

Well, I'm back. This is my first day with a voice since last Saturday. It's also my first day at work this week. I must say it's nice to be out of my hovel, but I miss my pillow. The last couple days of my sick time, I did a decent amount of stitching, but showing will have to wait for another day. .... Ya gotta give me photo time after all. lol

Janaina tagged me to post 7 things about myself that people may not know, following the rules below. So I'll start with my seven weird or random facts, and then tag my fellow bloggers.

1. I collect quotes -- mostly funny but sometimes thoughtful. I used to keep them on multi-colored index cards in a basket next to my bed. I still keep the cards and basket but over the last year I've been adding the new editions online only.

2. I used to have a racing pigeon loft. Yup, honest to pete, racing pigeons. It was mostly to please my dad. I was always fonder of show birds than racers. Somehow sitting for hours in the backyard staring at the sky every weekend was just too boring for me. Besides, the show birds were prettier.

3. I inherited from my dad the belief that the purpose of the phone was for us to be able to exercise our inalienable right not to answer it. I thought that made no sense when I was growing up, but now that I get telemarketers and political campaigns calling, I completely understand.

4. I eat most meals in the oder of least-favorite to most-favorite. Also a hold-over from childhood when you had to eat everything. So now I generally eat all the crust off a sandwich before the middle and I eat cooked veggies before everything else.

5. I'm not sure it's weird, but I collect Native American badger fetishes. I have maybe 30 or more.

6. When I watch movies (that aren't musicals) I never hear the music. I register that there is music and I might hear a couple seconds and think "pretty" or something along those lines, but after those couple seconds I don't "hear" the music anymore and I never remember it. I've bought film soundtracks before only to wonder what I was thinking when I listened to them because I thought they were awful.

7. If I'm by myself and bored (like stuck photocopying a lot of stuff) and I can't/don't have a CD player handy for listening to audio books, I tend to hum either "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," the Shaker hymn "Amazing Grace," or the hymn "In the Bleak Midwinter."

If you care to be tagged and/or to tag others, feel free.

The Roster lives!

I keep promising both you and myself that I'd do a visual tour of my WIPs and UFOs. If you have a lot of projects "going" and want to be motivated (or possibly depressed) I'd suggest this adventure. It helped me think about what I had roaming around, how what was underway fit into my gift-giving plans for this year, and I even managed to get some things off my WIP/UFO list because it turned out I never started them! lol

Here's my roster:

Vierlanden Mystery Sampler


Susan Treglown springy needlepoint quilt



Mirabilia -- Halloween Fairy


Americow (kinda behind the times in picture age here, but it's what I have on line at the moment so you'll just have to deal)


Trilogy -- A Gathering of Hearts


M Designs bourse Cross Stitch Pals class 2007


M Designs purse Cross Stitch Pals class 2007


Quaker a la 6 Mains


PIF (an "antique" pic but you're not getting anything more recent right now. Tough!)


Beatrix Potter Sampler SAL -- oh yeah, there's real progress for you. lol I stitched on it one night. That's all, one night. What can I say, my beading motivation is low.



HiH -- Herbert (my office/darn-I-forgot-my-stitching-bag project .. he lives in one of my desk drawers)


needlepoint clock face-- one down (left -- completed in 2006) and one (right) SHOULD be underway (was also supposed to be done in 2006... sigh)


Just Nan -- Pearl Orchid -- the consequence of one of those I-am-tired-of-Christmas-ornies-and-I-want-to-stitch-something-pinkish moments


lighthouse needlepoint


Blackbird Designs bouquet


M Designs -- wreath ornie


Sundance -- shawl dance needlepoint -- what can I say, Kreinik bugs me.


Susan Roberts -- Zuni bear needlepoint



Bride's Tree SAL house ornie -- Dragon Dreams -- very out of date pic


Mt. Fuji kimono -- freshly on stretchers with no stitching as yet


plum floral fan needlepoint
No pic available

Firehouse dalmnations needlepoint
No pic available

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My award for recent Who Are They Kidding commercial:
Shell Oil -- commerical is something about how you keep your car's motor clean with Shell gas and now you can keep the interior of your car clean by picking up a "collectible cleaning cloth -- free with the purchase of $10's worth of gas." Now, I'll give them credit for not using the typical line -- "come in and collect all 4" (there appear to be 3-4 different colors of the "high-tech" clothes). But seriously -- "collectible" dust rags??????? rotflol Thanks Shell, I really needed the laugh!

Quote/Funny of last week's TV viewing:
One of my semi-guilty pleasures is watching MSNBC's series of prison documentaries. Last week they debuted a look into a youth facility for the most problematic kids. Ok, you get the idea, it's prison for teens-- they've killed, robbed, sold drugs, car jacked--- these are not nice little angels. One kid is listing the things he can't do, ie., whatever he wants, when he wants, with/to whoever he wants. He ends his list with "you've basically got no social life." Errr, hello, Earth to Junior, you're in p-r-i-s-o-n. <--- shaking head in stupefication. Every time I think of this I just smile.

Dear friends and blogs that make me smile

Dearest Kathryn and Chiasmata have bestowed upon me a

Aww shucks. Thank you, Kathryn and Chiasmata. I'm honored. I don't know how one could go about making the day of an adventurous traveler like our Kathryn or the inveterate Stitchologist (Chiasmata) and her critter stitching.

Part of the deal with the Make-my-day award is you are supposed to nominate the 10 folks who make yours. Now I'm sure you understand my problem. More than 10 bloggers make my day. Ohhhh the consternation. Frankly, I'd like to thank absolutely everyone stitching on the net because your stories of struggles, UFO lists, stash reports, and pictures make stitching all the more fun for me. Especially the UFO lists that are longer than mine!
Just off the cuff, places in blogland that make me happy include (but are certainly not limited to!!!):
Kathryn's Threads of Desire
Chiasmata's Stitchologist
Barbara's Mainely Stitching
Cheryl's Clydesdale Stitching
Sonda's Who Has Time to Stitch?
Chris' Stitching and Strumming
Jennifer's Sweet Pea Stitching
Michele's Just Another Stitching Blog
Amy's Amy Stitches
Janaina's The Stitcher in the Green Bikini
SolStitches' A Sampler of Stitches
Dani's Black Belt Stitching Wizard
MaryKathryn's The Happy Stitcher
Sharon's Cross Stitch Obsession
Anna's Stitch Bitch
Leena's Lennun Tekleet
Karen's Stitching and Sharing
Carol's The Linen Stitcher
Ok, yeah, that's more than 10, but I'm only stopping because my copy and paste finger is tired. There are so many folks on the web making me happy daily. Thank you to you all very, very much.

I also can give you some updates ... at least such that I can put together in my allergy-induced haze. You see my office "friends" shared with me the 24-hour flu they've been passing around so I was home sick Tuesday and Wednesday. I went back to the office Thursday just in time for a wind storm to pick up and blow noxious pollen from God knows where right into my face. Sigh. Or should I say, wheeze, hack, wheeze. I've gone through 2/3rds of a box of lotioned kleenix and a gallon of apple juice (did I ever mention I HATE apple juice? Well I do. Adamantly.). Still I wheeze. Maybe in a week or three I'll get a night's sleep and be able to talk and not hack constantly.

Ok, back to the updates. In my two days of lounging in a sick bed I accomplished a little bit on my Vierlanden.

Thank you to all of you have goosed me into getting it back out again!

I've re-photoed the Tish needlepoint I finished the week before last--

I'm all smiles because with the completion of this canvas in 2008 I have officially doubled my needlepoint output from 2007. Ok, so 2007 was a sucky needlepoint year.

On the train to mom's Friday I finished a February ornie for the Bride's Tree SAL:

This was what I had to start because I needed to stitch in red and silver -- It's a Vikki Clayton grey silk on Victorian Christmas Red lugana.

Here's a pair of long-ago finishes that I got shots of while visiting my sister's office over Christmas:



And one last pic to go back to work on. Mom's violet bed is going great guns --



By the way, check out how cool your mail would be if you were on the LEGO company's Christmas card list --


I mean, how cool is this? I'm trying to score a slot on the list, but my chances are outside at best.

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Quote of the moment (I'm watching Nero Wolfe DVDs):
With anchoivies, there is no common ground.
Nero Wolfe -- The Death of a Doxy -- Rex Stout

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Recently finished: Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime. Fine. Not greatly memorable. Possibly only really fun if you are well-versed in the pantheon of British and American detective fiction from the early 20th Century.