Finishing things is almost as cool as vacation

Hey there, look who's back already.  Must be vacation perkiness setting in.  That or having a finish to share.

This little guy who got started at the airport on the way here is now complete.  It's from Pickleberry and I did it in Anchor and Kreinik.  The little sheep needle minder is a fresh addition to my life.  I picked him up at In Stitches in Alexandria.   Maybe I will call him Alex though I don't think he looks much like an Alex.

 Aside from my stitching finish, I have also been making headway on a lovely box of custom chocolates that my ever so kind brother-in-law got for me from a chocolatier in Richmond.  I am doing my best to make sure that I don't go hog wild on them..... one every other day.  Yeah, that's the plan.

The reason I'm here on the East Coast "enjoying" the humidity is that I'm hanging with the BIL while my sister is in Peru on a marathon vacation -- part marathon, part vacation.   I wonder if there's an LNS there.   Here's her group kicking off their adventures in Cusco.

So while she's off enjoying Cusco Day (the day she arrived happened to be the city's annual celebration of itself) and getting ready for Inca adventures and trips to the Amazon, I'm adventuring about NoVa.  This morning found the BIL and I at the Alexandria farmers market --

I've got some time...... the squash above and bowls below may find a new home next weekend.....

And check out the yummy yarn!  That cream basket is cotton and it is so soft!

Produce from this morning's shopping is now happily marinating in the fridge......

After the market we headed to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for an inspirational brunch for Honored Team Mates in Team and Training.   My BIL is the Honored Team Mate for Team Tom which to date over the last 6-8 months raised $201,000!  GO TEAM !!!

In short, while my sister is off gallivanting in South America, I am "struggling" through life in Northern VA --

It's tough work, but someone's gotta do it, right?

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To exercise my love of lists--

Vacation Stitching Wins:
Pickleberry snowflake heart

Vacation Reading Finishes:
Monica Ferris -- And Then You Dye
Franklin W. Dixon -- The Secret of the Caves
Victoria Hamilton -- A Deadly Grind

Next Stitching Targets:
LK Snippet -- Holly
Painted Pony -- Home of the Brave angel

At Bat in the Reading Realm:
Franklin W. Dixon -- The Missing Chums
Steve Perry -- The Man Who Never Missed

Nearing Summer with Dragging Feet

Somehow, though I have tons I could say, I can't work out what to say.  I have started this post a few times and only ended up deleting it when I stared at the blank screen without a clue as to what to say.
I've decided to go with "say something" just to get yourself going as a strategy.

I trolled pictures and came up with an embarrassment of missing things.  This little dolphin came back to me from the finisher looking very adorable.  He's mine -- all mine! He commemorates my childhood trips with mom to Sea World.  One time I got a stuffed dolphin which I remember to this day because the grey fur on the sides was sewed on so you could only pet it "properly" from the tail to the nose.  I don't know how old I was at the time, but my mom was an amazing seamstress and I knew all about nap.  I remember telling my mom that they should only let people sew these toys together if they knew about how to construct them properly.  :)

This half-done Santa is actually done now and off to the finisher.  He was fun even though I struggled with the background.  I had selected a soft yellow ThreadWorx, but everyone but me thought it was awful.  It took a couple weeks of searching the shop to find a thread that worked--- *every* blue in the world clashes with that teal hat.  I couldn't go white because of the wings.  Light purples looked hideous.  You could have knocked me over with a feather when the color that worked was pink.  Pink?  How did that happen?  The pink quandary is somewhat balanced in my memory by how much fun I had experimenting with the beard.

This little guy is done too.  Nope, I could have sworn I had a finished pick of this too, but Heaven knows where that is.  Possibly it went holidaying with the finished Santa pic of the canvas above.

I recently became obsessed with this piece.  It's for my sister, but no surprise since I sent her a picture of the canvas to see if it made her smile instantly as it did for me.  It did so it will be hers.  It's going to be a tray.  I will do the background in wine Silk and Ivory.

I'm fond of both the grey-gold Crystal whatsitsface I did the glass outlines in and the Kreinik copper metallic for the words.

And now phase two... this is my current obsession -- I pulled him to travel with.  It kept me good company at the airports and on the planes over the weekend.  I got to spend extra unplanned time enjoying Texas hospitality because of the extreme weather that settled over Dallas as my plane was trying to go through.  It's not like I could do anything about the delays so I stitched and did what I could with my impromptu overnight in Dallas.

Before this trip east, my Dove candy had a message for me.  LOL   I shared its thoughts with my dear buddy, Anita, who said I shouldn't ignore important guidance like this.  She tried her hardest to convince me to ignore packing the day before my flight and go book shopping with her instead because obviously I needed more books.

Silly Anita -- I already had these packed... and a Kindle.... and 26 audio books checked out from my local library on my laptop.

When I finally arrived in DC, my brother-in-law had a collection of packages waiting for me--  

I think I'm set for reading material for now.  [And, for the record, I believe I'm set for stitching too -- I brought 3 new, small cnavases; 1 small canvas to finish; by giant flag cross stitch; and 3 xs ornies.  And you know what, when I was picking up the magnifier, I almost bought two patterns.....  I think I have a stash problem.  LOL]

So far on this trip the BIL and I have had one adventure (my sister is off gallivanting in exotic locales so us domestic sorts are staying here at home) -- we were passing George Washington's mill and distillery (on the way to an LNS to get me a small clamp magnifier) and we swung in because neither of us had ever toured the place.  It was wonderful fun and a beautiful day.

Thanks for being patient with me........ Maybe this will help me start getting in gear with writing again.

GNU Terry Pratchett

Today, at the Barbicon Theatre in London, his name will be spoken.

"A man is not dead while his name is still spoken."  

Going Postal -- Terry Pratchett

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Seriously, Ruth, October???   October?!?!?!?!!!     I could have sworn....   Oh let me just give it up now and say I am very, very sorry.  You can get out the wet noodles and give me heck.  A pox on me... well, not really, because if I'm poxed it will cut down on my typing abilities even more.

October.

I am so embarrassed.

And I am also humored because among the reasons I was motivated to post today was to advertise for the Dewey's 24-hour Readathon next weekend (the 23rd to be precise).  And what was I doing in October when last I posted?--- advertising for the fall Dewey's Readathon.   lol   At least you know I haven't changed.

Dewey's is a fun, personal, and yet group adventure of readers around the world taking a day (or whatever of the day they can) to read, promote reading, and in general enjoy themselves.  There's no police force checking your progress or commitment -- want a nap, go for it.  Need a break for something silly like lunch? -- Fine.  Can't do Saturday, fine, try for Sunday.  Can only read for an hour-- sure!  Want to read graphic novels, short stories, poetry, Neil Gaiman, the encyclopedia?  Just enjoy yourself and your books.   They have a facebook group this year so you can see people planning -- their books, their snacks (seriously, there's a lot of care that goes in to some people's snacking plans), their schemes.  Come on over -- make some new friends, find a new author, show publishers we still care (and possibly that we're pretty peeved at recent wholesale cancellations at certain publishing houses)!   There's a Goodreads group too who is already all a-flutter with planning.

So, please, join the Dewey's Readathon fun.    It is a nice feeling to find out that a solitary pursuit like reading can be a giant community hug too.

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The short version of life?  I've been busy.  I've been grumpy.  I hate my corporation.  I had a birthday (let's not go there).  I've read lots.  I've been on typical adventures.  I still haven't won the lottery.  Despite all (work) provocations, I have not needed bail money.
All things considered, I guess I'm ok.

I have stitched a lot recently... mostly needlepoint -- mostly because I've been doing small things -- I like that finishing buzz you get.  Some samples--

I wont wait months... I PROMISE!!!!!!!!!!!!


GNU 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

Insanity and Fun .....

.... two things that often go together for me.

Hello, dear friends, last weekend I decamped Chez Hovel (or The Untidy Sett as I am inclined to think of my digs) for a friend's house to dog/house sit.  You see, I was the one who set her up to adopt said dog therefore she declared it really was rather my responsibility to watch it while she gallivanted off to NYC.  Since she has wifi which allowed me to keep my coworkers from imploding and I was once again maxed out on vacation time, I saw no reason not to head off for what I thought of as a resort retreat without pool boys.  I mean a choice of recliners, a devoted dog, really good natural lighting --- what's not to love, right?

So on Thursday morning I arrived at my temporary home and unpacked part one of my insanity:

Now, I was there from Thursday morning through Monday night.  So of course I apparently thought I could finish every major project I had going.    The white corner showing at the top is my Boothy (that didn't come out of the bag the whole time I was there), the green fabric in the hoop on the left is a Celtic cross ornament that I also didn't get out of its bag, the baseball flag I could stitch for hours and hours on and still only finish an inch (that didn't come out either), and the states flag in the right corner also did not make an appearance.   I did manage to do 2 of the 5 LK Flip Its (they haven't made it to the "dope" list because I didn't bring a thread matching the fabric to attach the charms with), one of the little ornies (from the sheets between the flags in the picture), and a batch of Ethel's sky.

Pathetic!   II mean I did stitch a lot... I'm just that slow.   Ok, I did cook a lot too.   And I swear on my stash I did not nap the weekend away.  I never got a nap in actually, because my four-footed charge seemed to think napping indicated a lack of "better" things to do like walking or petting.

My roomie was at first very suspicious of this stitching stuff --

Then she went with the crisis of confidence look -- the apparently-I'm-not-cute-enough-to-put-down-that-thread-crap pose.

But she did seem to like the audio book effect.  She really had to since the TV only came on for the hockey game.  Which leads me to part two of my insanity.  Not only did I bring enough stitching to make it through 6 months, I also came with reading--

That's 6 paperbacks and two books on CD.  That is IN ADDITION to the 20-ish audio books I had checked out from the library and loaded on my computer (and we'll not mention the 100+ Audible titles also on said computer).  I believe I finished 5 books -- 4 library check outs and an Audible title.  I did open the top book on the above pile (a Kate Carlisle), but really I could have skipped that bag.

Oh and it gets funnier.  My buddy is also a reading fiend, so it's not like I could have lacked for books at her house.  As a matter of fact she told me to check out the box she was putting together to donate and I pulled the items below out because she'd been singing their praises for a while and I thought I'd try them (mind you, I gave her the Charlaine series, but apparently I didn't buy it all for myself.  or at least I didn't get it all input into my online catalog).  

Currently they are on my floor waiting for me to figure out a path to the shelves so they can join their friends.  [You think I'm kidding?  Silly you.]

Regardless of my insanity, or possibly because of it, I had a lovely time.  I stitched, I read, I got a lot of these walk-me/pet-me/what's-that-you're-doing-now looks:

I picked strawberries in the backyard while my furry friend had breakfast al fresco.

I sniffed heavily from the gardenia bush.

In short, I had a grand ole time.  I can only wish you as pleasant a weekend as I had last weekend.  And, for my American friends, a peaceful Memorial Day possibly filled by red,white, and blue stitching.  I'll be at the local national cemetery.  Where will you be?

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Pratchett thought of the day:

Apparently Christmas Is Coming......

... whether or not I am ready.   I can tell this because finished goodies that had deadlines for my finishers so that there was time to pack them for Christmas traveling have started to arrive.

Remember this guy?   I'm pretty happy with how he came out.   I gave my finisher free rein on fabric, cording, and feet with the only guidance being "not too fussy or blingy."  I think she did an awesome job.

I love the copper ball feet and the suede -- I would never have thought of that tan suede on my own.

Mind you, I have a problem now-- exactly how am I going to safely transport this across the country?  It's a personal failing I know, but I am never successful at bow fluffing.   Oh well-- I'm a big girl;  I guess I will just have to cowboy up on this one and work it out.   If you see me on a plane clutching a box to my chest as if the Ark of the Covenant was in it, you'll understand.

And this little darling came back.  I am embarrassed to admit I forgot I didn't already have this.  LOL   I would probably have forgotten all about it if left to my own devices.  The red is Very Velvet, the white is Snow, the cording Patina.  The finisher used raw silk for the sides and back and you can barely see the rhinestones she studded the sides with.

While I totally love how this came out I fear it is going to cause me a problem.  You see I am pretty certain once my sister sees it in person she's going to want one too.  I hope the finisher got extra rhinestones.

The arrival of these finishes got my brain kicked into gear thinking about packing for my Christmas adventures.  This has caused another problem for me.  You see, I am lately obsessed with reading-- totally and completely obsessed.  Partly this is because I've run into some wonderful book series  in the last few months, but it is also fueled by the fact that I'm within something like 900 pages of topping what Goodreads said was my total number of pages read last year.  You know being that close just makes me itch for that extra page.  LOL  I know-- it is nuts.  Why should I care how many pages I read.   But I just can't help myself-- if Goodreads is going to give me that metric I feel compelled to look at it, and *thwap* I get hit in the face with a new compulsion.   Possibly I need a 12-step program for reading obsessions... no wait, I like me as a compulsive reader!  I'm pretty certain it is cheaper to be addicted to books than drugs.

Anyway, all that is to say that I started making a pile of books to pack.  I knew I was in trouble when the pile looked like this:

With serious consideration I got it down to this:

Do I except the reading-to-pack pile to stay this circumspect?  Nope.  Sorry, I know me.

I leave you with a little urban, Christmas spirit--   I love it when a city glitters!

I will say the laugh of the district is why does the fountain say "10880" when that is not the address.  Sure it is actually a "decorative" pile of tree ornies, but why make them look like a street address?  Possibly it's God's way of giving me something to chuckle about?