A party and more updates

Well, one local crew got around to having a spare evening for a fest. Se we had my birthday. It's not so terribly late. After all, another friend and I haven't done my 2006 bday party yet, let alone my 2007 one. :)

Anyway, dinner was a fine chicken caesar from California Chicken and "cake" was a pile of cookies from the local cookie heaven. There was much frivolity, an occasional spot of work, and some fine stitching. Here, meet the gang....

Here's Jenn with her heart canvas (you have to see the purple and light blue ones in person to tell how truly beautiful they are)


And Judy with a lovely angel (and one of the plates of cookies sneaking into the foreground.


Allison kept a low profile in the back corner -- that's her hunched over the game thingy...


While Allison wasn't stitching last night, we can prove she stitches because she give me a lovely desk set she made:

Jenn also shared her latest class piece -- look familiar now, Wawana?


And I had a place at the table with all the necessities of life:
That'd be Coke, water, stitching, and Kleenix (it's allergy time for me). That's my Blackbird Designs "My Quaker House" sampler. I made great progress on it post-this picture, but you'll have to wait for my next photoing for an update -- all I have left is the bottom medallion! Woo hoo.

Of course I got goodies. Currently I only have a picture of the funniest one and the "finished" one. I'll let you guess which one is which --

I'd like to thank the Academy...


The frame is a distressed forest green with gold edges. The fabric is Wichelt's over-dyed jobelan "Watercress." The pattern is A.Fox Originals "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling." I did it on a whim starting the middle of the night on St. Patrick's Day while watching QVC's all-Irish special.

The party adjourned at 10pm and since we passed news vans on the way to my place I actually *gasp* watched local news -- they were covering the string of middle-of-the-night attacks on women walking alone in my neighborhood. Last week it was a guy with a crossbow running across the street. The week before it was some other weapon-involved incident. Maybe it's something in the water. And, yes, I did get the lecture about walking home alone at night, but even I don't do it at 3am!

Updates

Ok, at long last I have downloaded updates of my continuing saga of projects---

First in Blackbird Designs My Quaker House for the Quaker Inspired blog SAL:

I've made some single-line mistake on the top, but I have counted and counted and counted, left it a day, and counted and counted and counted some more, and I cannot find anything off. So, in a fine personal tradition, I'm going to just add a spare stitch to each side of the arch and call it a "customization." :)

I also did a very little bit on Midsummer Night Designs Quaker Meetinghouse:


And finally I have finished the halves of a biscornu for the Wiehenburg yahoo group exchange. It's done in DMC and powwow beads :) Here's the front:


Since it's half-way through the month I feel a progress check is in order. May's goals were:
1. Finish 2 needlepoints -- any two needlepoints, just finish the dang things! ------ haven't even unearthed one!
2. Find (and start) Sweetheart Tree's fruit of the Vine hearts ----- haven't found them yet
3. progress on Vierlanden... let's aim for page 10 done, shall we! ----- a teensy bit of progress
4. Finish the Quaker SAL -- Blackbird Designs My Quaker House ------ a lot of progress made!!!
5. Do the finishing on all the ornies I have done to date. ------ lol Does moving them from pile to pile count?6. Complete the Weihenburg Group Biscornu Exchange piece and mail it EARLY!
7. Stitch 3 new ornies ----- lol, yeah, right
8. Finish the final (?) CSRR Christmas RR. ----- nope, not yet
9. Read 2 books --- I've finished Pratcehtt's Going Postal and Wolfe's The Black Mountain
10. Clear my hovel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -------- ROTFLOL
11. Start a chapter. ---- any minute now

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Recently finished: Rex Stout's The Black Mountain -- fun as usual, but it must be a fluke that the last 3 Wolfes I've read have all had him leaving the house. Also, I must say I'm a little flummoxed by he fact that I can watch every crime show on television and happily enjoyed the new Casino Royale, but the tame torture scene in Black Mountain was thoroughly disconcerting. Possibly I was set off my game by the image of Wolfe in shabby clothing hiking through the mountains of Montenegro.
Also recently finished: Terry Pratchett's Going Postal -- I do love Pratchett and this was no exception --- I mean one minute you're hanged and the next your made head of the post office? lol
Currently reading: Pratchett's The Truth
Still wishing I could find: Zelazny's This Immortal
Damn I lost another one: Butcher's Storm Front

Back from D.C.

Happy Birthday, Sis!


I returned safe and sound from my non-surprise bday trip to spend my sister's bday with her. It was a surprise until my BIL emailed my sister and I the week befoer I arrived asking where we wanted to go to dinner one night. lol Poor man. He suffered through all the ribbing we gave him without complaint. I'm not sure how long he'll continue to take it though.

Twas a beautiful weekend although the humidity was definitely on the rise. I explored D.C. for a day while my sister was at work. I hit most of what I aimed to do -- The U.S. Botanic Conservatory on the Mall, the Native American Museum -- but decided against the humid walk to the Supreme Court, and replaced my time there with a visit to the National Art Gallery.

I hadn't been to the conservatory in years and it was lovely! Did you know they have a Chihuly??!!! :) I was in hog heaven.


And the plants were pretty too.....


I even found some wildlife!


The NMAI offered a new exhibit on women's dress:

And I whine about beading????????????

And a brief stop at the national art museum provided a Degas moment....


Day two began with the regional Leukemia and Lymphoma Team-in-Training kick off meeting -- both my sister and BIL do racewalk marathons with the team. Then, after a series of misadventures (Dumbarton Oaks was closed so there went that thought, wandering the streets of Georgetown for neat architecture was out because it was the annual garden tour weekend so no parking was to be found, and 6 million people thronged the streets of Dupont Circle for the EU Embassy open house tours so no trip to the Phillips), we headed out to the U.S. botanic garden and toured their 3 collections of bonsai, the herb garden, and the azelea trail.


And I found more wildlife :) A whole family of wildlife....


I do have some nice stitching updates for you, but I haven't uploaded the pics yet. Maybe tomorrow.....

I owe you....

.... stitching updates and stashing updates. :) Heck, I owe me some stitching, but work and cleaning has tacken precidence.

The Vierlanden mystery sampler-- a close up on the first big medallion, the look of which makes me soooo happy!

And I have so far to go:


My Blackbird Designs My Quaker House SAL -- with all the colors changed... of coruse!


The first of my M Designs class ornies.... I'm getting there!


My pathetic beginning on a BBD Loose Feathers "Secret Garden" -- that's navy jobelan with Weeks "Morris Blue"-- a fav color of mine :)


And finally a Dutch motif ornie in some dark green (really yummy, if I do say so myself) of Carrie's Creation Threads and DMC blanc


As for stash, I showed you the beads yesterday-- they are my fondest thing right now, but while home cleaning mom's house I rescued these frames from old pictures and I'm so eager to figure the perfect things to stitch for them :) Aren't they great!!! wait until you see the ones I'm bringing back with me next time!!! :)

And close ups because they are just so cool!



Ok, in non-stitching news. Did you see on CNN yesterday that an economics professor from a college in Savannah, GA has rooked his school and a bunch of people out of millions of dollars in an investment scam. He hooked them with his website where he proported to be "Super" Investor or Economist with a cartoon of him as superman. OMG, they gave him their money. Now, guess what? The money's gone and he claims to have amnesia. You know, I just don't know what to say.

I love powwow weekend :)

Ahhh bliss. I spent the whole weekend at powwow and was happy as a clam. If you've never been to a powwow, then you should go. Just be respectful -- don't cross the circle, don't take pictures without asking, don't call them costumes (costumes are what you wear when you pretend), wear sunblock, eat fry bread(I recommend the Indian/Navajo taco), listen to the drums, watch the dancing, appreciate the amazing beadwork, and if you want to get the most of the experience, check out some online sources on the basics of powwow dances so you'll know what's happening. It is a wonderful way to spend the day. Trust me.

First of all it was a chamber of commerce sort of weekend:

Then I amassed quite a collection of beads from petite to standard-- For around about $3 I got what I judge to be the equivalent of 3 Mill Hill packs:


And if you still wonder about going to powwows just look at these...




Just go -- experience something new.

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Currently reading: Stout's The Black Mountain, Butcher's Storm Front, and Pratchett's Going Postal
Still can't find: Zelazny's This Immortal

Some things to say to all

Ok folks, I have a favor to ask of all of you. You take pictures, right? You have pictures right? Well, for me, for your kids, for your cousins, for historians, for your forgetful selves: WRITE ON THE BACK OF THEM!!!!!!

Stumpted on what to say since you *know* what you took a picture of? Trust me in 20 years you might not. The essential info:

1. Who are these people?
And, no, "grandpa and auntie" are not appropriate. Not even a series of first names are appropriate. And for Heaven's sake never is it appropriate for the only thing you write on the back of the picture to be "Can you tell who is standing on the porch?"!!!!!! Yes, one of my ancestors did that and should I get to travel with The Doctor, I'm going back and slapping whichever annymous hand wrote that everso helpful message!

2. Where is this?
Wanna be really helpful? Don't just say "Aunt Hazel's house" -- give at least a city, better yet a street and city.

3. When was it?
Years. Years are our friends. Years and months, and even actual dates are good.

4. Why was it?
What's the reason for the picture to exist -- "typical Friday night dinner," "Maudie's trip to Disneyland," "Harold got a nerw tractor," "Betsy's roses," "Christmas stitching gift from Chris."


Come on people, help me out here. Besides, for those of you with teenagers you want away from video games for a couple hours or off their skateboards for a Saturday, what better way than to enlist them to sit down with you and grandma/pa and figure out what your family pictures are actually of. They can help write preliminary notes for a family tree. The grandfolks will feel respected and for once you won't have to shout "don't you have something better to do than play on that computer?"

Just a thought.........

May plans

Let's see... what was I *going* to do in April? Hmm....
1. Finish through page 9 on Vierlanden (so far I'm in page 7)--- sorry only up to page 8
2. Stitch 3 ornies -- hmm I think I did 1 whole and two halfs
3. Actually do the finishing on the pile of ornies I have completed thus far. -- lol -- see #5 below
4. Make progress on Midsummer Night Designs' "Quaker Meetinghouse" -- yup, did that!
5. Make progress on Mirabilia "Halloween Fairy" -- for a day or so I did.... possibly that counts
6. Take part in the Quaker Inspired SAL -- Blackbird Designs' "My Quaker House" from their most recent book -- I did that

May plans:
1. Finish 2 needlepoints -- any two needlepoints, just finish the dang things!
2. Find (and start) Sweetheart Tree's fruit of the Vine hearts
3. progress on Vierlanden... let's aim for page 10 done, shall we!
4. Finish the Quaker SAL -- Blackbird Designs My Quaker House
5. Do the finishing on all the ornies I have done to date.
6. Complete the Weihenburg Group Biscornu Exchange piece and mail it EARLY!
7. Stitch 3 new ornies
8. Finish the final (?) CSRR Christmas RR.
9. Read 2 books
10. Clear my hovel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
11. Start a chapter.

Let's think hopeful, shall we!