Diddly Squat SFS June.

The SFS June Report of Extreme Laziness:
Month:  June
Spent:  $30.00  (I believe that last month I mentioned this was inevitable)
Allotted:  $25
Earned:  $0.00   (embarrassing -- not even a single flipping ornie!)
Holdover from last month:  $31.60
Ultimate June total: $23.40  
   
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Yes dear friends, diddly squat.  That's what I've been up to.   Not much of anything.   I've been busy working (very busy actually and very annoyed too) or busy napping or busy changing channels in search of "something" on TV.   I have forgotten the joy of needles -- this could be due to the onset of summer which always makes Maison du Hovel too hot to feel like doing anything other than staying assiduously withing the fan's sweet spot.

I even had a couple weekends off from working at the shop so the perk-up factor of being surrounded by potential stash, inspiration, and air conditioning hasn't had a great impact on my month's output.  On my couple of shop days I did make progress on my nutcracker.  He now has a shirt and shoes (heee heee -- I guess now he can be served at most restaurants in the U.S. now).  And I just noticed that I didn't bother to take a picture AFTER the shirt was stitched.  Sigh.  I am such a loser!  Put you can see the background which is Impressions and Petite Sparkle Rays.  All he needs now is a completed background, a mouth, and hair and he's good to go for finishing.

While I was at the shop I made the fatal/fortuitous mistake of looking int he 80% off bin (remember the Badger's Playpen?) -- there was this piece that talked to me and then there were these threads that looked so pretty together.  Did I take a picture of anything?????  Noooooo.   Once again -- brain shut down for summer apparently.  The Playpen find may go back because while cute and possibly a "perfect" present, it's not like my life isn't full of cute, prefect presents just waiting for me to stitch them.

My bookshelves got new friends too courtesy of a signing party at Houston's Murder by the Book.  Yay!  I ***had*** to have the latest Kate Carlisle.  You understand, right?  It is essential.  And Hannah Dennison's Honeychuch Hall volume sounded intriguing.  Now I just have to find a place on the shelves.  Argh!  It's definitely too hot to make book space.

The newest bookish problem I have is that I'm going to WorldCon this year and I need to get reading on the nominations for the Hugos so I can vote as an educated citizen.  Do I own any of those books, novellas, short stories, etc.?  Nope.  Sigh.  I need more time in the day.... every day.

Have a peaceful weekend -- may you all be more productive than me!

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Pratchett thought of the day (for my Supreme Court):

Words have always had the power to change the world.

Soul Music – Terry Pratchett

Up to some good for a change

Hello dear friends,  I know it may me hard to believe, but I have been up to some stitching.  I almost feel like I have to ramp up the action before it hits the height of summer when it always feels too hot to stitch once I get home in the evenings.  That little ompf moved my needle in a few different directions over the last week.

Mrs. (the giant penguin) came back out to play for a couple nights during which I:

1. finished the light pink band which had been languishing mostly done)
2. figured out what to stitch in the purple band (and got the whole band put in)
3. put in the bottom edge of the flipper (that was because I thought I knew what I was going to do with the gold bracelet and I needed the flipper part out of the way.  Turns out I didn't know.  Oh well.)
4. figured out what to stitch in the black band and got it partially put in.  

Also I have allegedly worked out what to do in the medium and dark pink bands, but until those sections actually start I have learned that I am prone to vacillation.

I don't think I had a picture of this last time -- this way my last finish.  A LK Flip It which was easy as pie.  Why did it take me forever to get around to it?????

Last weekend (I think) I had a flag marathon.  I just settled my fanny in and basketwove my little fingers off.  I got from here:

to here:

And, why yes, I am very proud of myself.   Just to put int in perspective -- that's probably 6-8 hours of stitching.  See!  I told you my needles were slow!

Also, one night another star appeared in my sky --

While I know that is rather pathetic.  It was actually quite amazing given that I was too tired to really start stitching when I pulled it out, but I powered through..... and then collapsed into my pillow.

On a bookish front, I went with our friend So Many Books to The Last Bookstore -- an amazing space for books (mostly used) in L.A.  It really is a neat space --

 with cool book art -- (I think this is a security cam picture of what my bookshelves do when I'm not home)

Now, while I loved the book art, I am a bibliophile at heart.  Book art is all well and good, but I need to be able to get to books and I kept getting stymied in my progress by people trying to get the perfect pic for instagram or facebook.  I swear this one pair of 20-something women took a dozen pictures each of themselves posed in a book "window."  There was a certain undercurrent to their repeats of "people in the background"-- well, duh, Buffy -- it's a store. We're here to shop.  Take your blooming picture and get out of the way!

Another annoyance was that I found it hard to come away with a pile.  It seems that my authors are just too awesome in general for people to give them up.  So I came away with this small collection of goodies:

Happy Stitching and Reading to you all -- may your needles be faster and trendsetters not be in your book shopping way!

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Pratchett thought of the day:

Nothing-to-see is what most of the universe consists of.

Going Postal – Terry Pratchett