Minis continue as does vacation and the rest of the world

Gentle Readers -- a happy Friday unto you and yours.  I hope your little bit of the world is peaceful right now.  It is not so bad here amidst the Fortune 500 -- most of my team is out today so I have only average emergencies not all-hands-on-deck-to-defend-the-realm kind of emergencies. It's the little thing that can make a girl's day.

Little things and thoughts of stitching.......

My latest mega mini (thank you Justine for picking up the ball for this month) has not seen sterling progress.  But some stitches is better than no stitches:

At least my goose has most of a neck and part of a wing.

Ethel's Sheep #1 (aka Spot) is now fully fluffed out in floss (face and legs) and Silk and Ivory (body)

And Sheep #2 (as yet un-named though I believe he is my favorite) is partially fluffed--

Yup.  that there is my stitching progress.  lol   Apparently I have been focused on my world-class napping skills and reading.  What I need to focus on is some pattern picking.  I signed up for two yahoo exchanges (Friendly Stitchers and Specialty Stitchers) and someone you know has yet to be inspired by patterns.  You know me by now, right?  I have to be inspired by a pattern-- it needs to speak to me-- to sing out with the perfection of its ... err.... perfectness.  Well, the dang things ain't singing folks.  Dang it!

While I wait for the Heavens to open to the glory of the perfect ornie patterns, allow me to bring you another phase of my recent adventures in Northern California.  When we last spoke, me and the family (Sis and Brother-in-Law, aka Brother) left SF and headed south to Carmel to visit friends.  Well, I say "friends," but really we visited the house of friends because said friends were a university board meeting in another state at the time.  Bummers because I miss them.  Buuuuuut, check out what they left us---

The view from the upper deck:

Wildlife in the back yard from the lower deck--

When we could drag ourselves away we went to see more wildlife (courtesy of the Monterey Bay Aquarium)

Down the street from the Aquarium, my sister and I cave in to our own wilder sides and had the world's best peanut butter-peanut butter cup cookie here.  If this were in my town, I would be DOOMED!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our coastal adventures continued with a drive down 17-Mile Drive -- if you have not toured California that sounds strange to you, if you have, it makes perfect sense.   Along the way we enjoy many sights such as these --

Of course we visited the most famous tree of the coastline.......

And occasionally I turned around and wondered at the beauty that was not water --

The Brother surprised us by getting us to the Ventana inn on the cliffs of Big Sur to watch the sunset --

and enjoy the sky's changing mood--

I leave you, my firends, with some chuckles.  Well I hope you chuckle and I don't offend you when I show you this "beauty " on offer at a local furniture store---   that is genuine, patent-finish, neon pleather!   Honest and true.  This store has the worst taste in furnishing ever, but I am glad they are around to allow me a good long guffaw on a regular basis.

Take care and happy stitching!