The Conclusion of a REALLY BIG Summer Project

I know that summer is really just beginning (although with this new Pandemic Lifestyle, who really knows what month/day/hour it is anymore?), but my kitchen/dining room remodel is complete, and I'm celebrating!

When we bought this house we knew the kitchen needed help - we didn't realize just how critical that would be until we were moved in and experienced the kitchen after sundown.  DANG, it was dark.  And cramped.  And every day I used it, I hated it more.  So the project began about 2 months after quarantine, and was completed by a team of 2 guys.  I can't speak highly enough about their skills and their professionalism.  They showed up every day on time, told me what was going to get done, and explained what happened if there were problems.  They had a few mishaps - for example, they gouged the new flooring when they were moving the stove in - but they told me about it and fixed it at no additional cost.  As with all home improvement projects, there were a few unexpected costs, but they were fair and honest (like repainting the back door, and removing some ugly louvered doors down to the basement rec room space).

Not sure if anyone is really following the whole saga anymore, but here are a few pics of my new kitchen/dining space.

Here's the kitchen end of the room - don't mind the dishes in the sink!  (We had mini meatloaves last night, and it is faster to wash the muffin pan by hand after that rather than put it in the dishwasher.)

My favorite thing in the kitchen is the little "breakfast nook."

It really is beautifully light - just my camera overcompensating for the window in this shot...

The dining room.

I know, there are many shades of wood there!  The table was one my dad refinished for me years ago, and I don't want to get rid of it just yet.  The chairs that came with it were small and really beaten up - they were painted an off-white, but were really kind of nasty.   My daughter and I tried sanding them, only to find MORE layers of hastily applied paint.  It was a very frustrating process.  And then I saw these 4, in a lovely "berry red" shade, on sale on the Wayfair webpage...so here they are.  And the little stand in the corner was something I got at an auction years ago.  It isn't as light as the table, but it isn't as red as the chairs.  Hmm, maybe I need to refinish that??

And yes, just to keep this post stitching-related, there IS a piece of needlework there...on top of that little 4-drawer stand...

...I "framed" the little Mani di Donna piece in a rustic shallow box that I found at a thrift store some time ago.  The pitcher and bowl were from a student potter at the college I used to work at, and the doily was one my grandmother had (made?  I'm not sure).  What can I say, my decorating style will probably always be "Eclectic Clutter."  :)

Crafting in a Sea of Change

I saw a Grumpy Cat meme the other day that summed up my current life situation: 

So.
In the midst of a work environment that had become toxic due to a terrible supervisor, I applied for a new job earlier this summer.  And I got it!  I'll still be a librarian, and still at a community college, but it is about an hour away from where we currently live.  Which means buying a new house...and selling our current house...and packing...and...and....and..... ARGH.

We're about 2 solid days of packing and cleaning away from being completely ready to list our place - I suppose we COULD list ASAP, but we don't have any pictures for the agent to create the listing.  If it sells at the price point the agent seems to think it will, we should be in the market for something quite nice (not super-fancy, but that's okay because that isn't my style anyway!).  It is just all this hurry-up-and-waiting that is making me crazy.

I walked into my basement craft cave, which I've been steadily stocking and creating in for almost 10 years, and wanted to cry.  SO.  MUCH.  STUFF!  Part of me says, "get rid of it, you'll NEVER finish it," while another part of me says "...but that is such an awesome Crafty Plan!!  Keep it!"  Sigh.  And it is so nicely organized, too.  I do have one big box of old patterns that I don't intend to keep, but I just don't know if I have the time or patience to list them all on a stash site.  They may be donated, I just can't decide!  But in my flustration (yes, that's what I intended to type), I had to sit down and Make.  Here's the result -

Another half doll.  This is GPA's "Alayne" pattern, first published the December 2012 issue of The Gift of Stitching (I think it is available as a stand-alone pattern now).  Again, I used a different doll, and used dark green floss where the pattern called for black - since my doll's bodice had a bit of green in it.  The variegated is Romy's Creations "Nougat Blue" as called for, and then DMC gold metallic.  The assembly for this one was bit different from the one I put together, and I think my doll's base might have been a bit more petite than the pattern was designed for.  No matter, I know where the flaws are but I don't think they are terribly visible!  And the pins I just threw together from my bead box.

All my ladies, posing together with my in-progress Seaside Angel!

Adding to the family

(nope, not pregnant!)

So after our lab/terrier mix Lily died, I swore I didn't want another dog.  And for about 6 months, I just missed THAT dog so much that considering another was out of the question.  Then about a year passed where it was kind of nice not having dog-related responsibilities....of course we still had a cat, but you can change the litter box, leave the self-feed/self-watering dishes out, and go away for the weekend without worrying about boarding or pet sitting or finding dog-friendly accommodations.  But lately....lately all 3 of us have been looking longingly at dogs.  DH and I would browse the local shelters' "available dogs" pages, email listings back and forth, talk each other out of certain doggos ("too much energy!"  "too big!"  "I'm NOT dealing with all that fur!")...

Then, last Friday, I saw a post from the local SPCA featuring a little Jack Russell/dachshund mix named Autumn.  She was adorable, and just the right size for a family of 3 in a small ranch house.  I texted the post to my husband, and we agreed to skip out of work early and visit the shelter. 


(You think you know where this is going, don't you?)



(You might be right....)



(....but you might be wrong!)


When we got there, she was already adopted.  As was her brother, Brin.



But......

The mama pup was still there, a Jack Russell/chihuahua mix named Luna.  And while I'm decidedly NOT a chihuahua person, I grew up with a goofy Jack Russell, and I could see that in Luna (minus the wiry coat - she had the smooth coat of a chi).  So we filled out some papers and left, with the understanding that we would return on Saturday with the 9 year-old in tow to see how well kid and dog would get along.  Luna had been attacked by a larger dog at her previous home, and there were concerns about her with children under 16.

Needless to say, everything was fine.  So here is Luna (and my daughter is THRILLED with her name, since Luna Lovegood is her favorite Harry Potter character.....also, Lily was actually named after Lily Potter).

Unexpected Travel

This past week has been a whirlwind.  My husband's stepfather passed away - not unexpectedly, but still a very sad passing - March 4, which meant we needed to fly to the Midwest late last week.  My daughter, who has never experienced the death of a person she knew before, was anxious to the point of illness ("Mom, my tummy feels all achy" - thankfully, she wasn't throwing up or anything) on Tuesday and Wednesday.  We flew out early Thursday morning, and she was a trooper.  We talked about taking each moment as it came and not worrying about "what came next."  She enjoys flying, so at least that wasn't an issue!  And we stayed at a hotel with a pool, so that was a welcome break (when we could take advantage of it, around all of the events we had to attend and family to see).

I was so proud of her.  When we got to the church for the viewing/funeral, she at first insisted that she did not want to see the body.  I supported her decision, and DH and I figured out how she could best get into the church without being too near the casket.  But as we got close to the door, she told me, "Mom, I think I want to see that."  So I let her lead.  As she got close to the casket, she was joined by another little girl, and the 2 of them stood there studying Grampa Doc for several minutes.  Then my mother-in-law walked up, lovingly fluffed his hair a bit, adjusted his glasses, and patted his chest, saying, "that's my guy."  And THEN, my daughter who had panicked at the idea of seeing a dead person, reached up and patted his hand.  (I tear up just thinking about that!)  Children are so amazing.

In the midst of all that overload, I DID stitch....because I need something to do on those airplanes.  :)

(A little Ink Circles freebie, I think it will work as another jewelry box top when it is finished.)

Crafting with the Kiddo

Yesterday afternoon my husband had another Santa gig, so my daughter and I were left to our own devices.  We got her a haircut, went to the wholesale club for some of her favorite snacks (no lie, the kid loves dates, mangoes, and pecans!), and then stopped at JoAnn Fabric to get some supplies for a project I had in mind....

...inspired by Holly's post!  My daughter was a little disappointed that we didn't have "fancy" beads like the ones Holly found - a quick Google seems to indicate that Michaels carries the brand she used, and that would have meant running across town at 4 pm on a Sunday.  Not happening!  Plus I had coupons for JoAnn.  LOL  So we got one tube of jewel-toned beads plus some larger red ones that we found in the clearance bins.  We cut our pipe cleaners in half, which resulted in lovely shards of silver flying all over the kitchen....  And the ornament we attached them to was a 60%-off find.  I swear these stores put ridiculous mark-ups on everything, just so we feel like we're getting "deals."  Ah well.  We had a lovely time stringing beads and twisting the pipe cleaners together, and she was quite pleased with her door decoration (and yes, I know my front door needs to be re-finished.  Argh, that pic really shows the sun damage...)!

After that was finished, we cooked dinner together - my mother found a copy of Peter Rabbit's Natural Foods Cookbook and brought it out at Thanksgiving, and my daughter has been itching to try some of the recipes.  So we made "Samuel Whisker's Roly-Poly Pancakes," which are not exactly traditional pancakes, but were tasty and filling all the same!  (They use a blend of white flour, wheat flour, and corn meal.  My husband said the texture and weight reminded him of a doughnut.)  And of course, scrambled eggs....and mango for dessert.

I barely stitched at all this weekend, and the house is a bit of a wreck....but it was a good weekend.  I hope you all had the same.

Time Flies

For years, my husband has played Santa.  It is one of his favorite things to do during the holiday season, and it brings him great joy.  When he was approached by our daughter's daycare, he was hesitant, but decided to go ahead with it and see if she figured out it was her father behind the artificial beard and red suit.

2013

2014

She never caught on.  And these will always be some of my favorite pictures....

This year, my husband was asked to be Santa for a local town's parade the day after Thanksgiving, and to do "Breakfast and Pictures with Santa" prior to his ride down main street on the fire truck.  The event is about 45 minutes from our home, and getting into character takes him at least half an hour.  He needs to arrive by 8 am, and probably won't be home until mid-afternoon.  As we tried to figure out the logistics of this - how and when and where he could change, particularly since some family friends wanted to meet all of us for lunch in the town where he'd be after the parade - he suggested maybe it was time to reveal the secret.

*sniffle*  So she now knows that her dad is one of "Santa's helpers" - because she's already accepted that not every Santa is the REAL one.  She's 7, and I think I was about that age when I started snooping around the house for hidden Christmas gifts, so I don't think we've ruined any magic...and yet.  It hurts a bit to let her in on such a "grown-up" secret...  (She isn't crying in the pic above - I just caught her mid-blink!  She wasn't sad, just a bit confused and over-whelmed, and she REALLY wants to tell all her friends.  We had her call her best friend's mom and talk about it, which helped.)

And since this is a stitching blog....progress on Santa's favorite drink.

Quick, Depressing Life Update

Thanks for all the kind comments about Crafty Brain.  And while I'd love to indulge her more often....life so often intervenes.

So, as some of you know, Crafty Brain has her own Crafty Cave - the previous owner of our 1950s-ranch house turned part of the basement into a hair salon.  While I have all the hair styling skills of a one-legged chicken, I DO appreciate a room with vinyl flooring, fluorescent lighting, and built-in cupboards and counters!  (This may or may not have been a BIG motivator in our purchase of this house - we really confused our realtor, who couldn't figure out WHY we'd want a house with a hair salon.)  In my perfect world, we'd have the time and money to do some updating, but for now, it works.
Until last Thursday night...
....when I went downstairs to do a load of laundry, and almost slipped and fell in a giant puddle of water.

I turned on the lights....and followed the trail of moisture....

.....through the Craft Cave, under a wall....

....and back to one of the main water lines, which was quietly hissing and dispersing a continuous fine mist of water all over the back corner of the basement.

And because we are not the brightest homeowners, the first thing we did was call the plumber.  (A smarter couple might have simply turned off the main and waited until the morning to call.)  After about an hour's worth of work - at the overtime emergency rate, of course, and some loud sawing that our child amazingly slept through, the leak was fixed.  My bank account was significantly lighter, and inspection of the Craft Cave revealed that some of my supplies were ruined.  Most of my fabrics and patterns were okay, because they were in cabinets or boxes up off the floor, but many of the doo-dads and doohickeys that Crafty Brain acquires were destroyed (mostly because they'd been left carelessly about, and had no permanent "home").

Time to re-evaluate, re-arrange, and force Crafty Brain to work with the materials at hand before purchasing more.  There are still plenty of materials to use!  That might be part of the problem...

Fall Fun and Sampler Progress

DH has been effectively sidelined by a knee injury for many Active Parenting duties...which means my weekend stitching time is reduced, because I refuse to let my kiddo sit inside on beautiful autumn days.  :)

But between hiking and other outdoor adventures, I put in a few stitches...

The pattern suggests tea-dying the piece when the stitching is finished.  Since I'm not envisioning this as an heirloom of any kind, and I haven't any other plans for it, I think I might try!

December News

My, how time flies.

First, going back a month or two... I pillowified Plum Street Samplers' "Rotted" ornament design.  Because I used a 28-ct. fabric instead of the 40-ct. used in the model, mine was a little too large for an ornament.  It was displayed (briefly!) in my basket of seasonal finishes.

For Halloween, my Wee One was a ninja pirate princess (entirely her idea!).  I threw on some of my faire garb and walked around campus as the Gypsy Librarian - since our library is being renovated and we've been moved around campus twice, one of my favorite faculty members referred to us as "the roving band of gypsy librarians."  Here we are together, in a pic snapped by one of her daycare teachers after the costume parade there.

And the first weekend in November was a momentous occasion - I spent it in Utica, stitching with friends!  Some ladies I met at Celebrations live in the area, and a couple others joined us for a rather low-key stitch-in.  We made a trip to A Stitcher's Garden in Syracuse, and had a lovely time.

I don't have any pictures from Thanksgiving, but let's just say it was a HUGE success...my parents came out, and I prepared most of the dinner.  I made a spinach-and-herb stuffed turkey breast, pretzel topped sweet potatoes, a cranberry salad, and a pumpkin cheesecake with a gingersnap crust.  My mom brought an apple-bean casserole.  I think my folks were a little worried about my cooking skills, as they've never had a Thanksgiving meal prepared by me before!  Well, my father - who prefers his turkey be dark meat - had seconds of my turkey, and insisted that my mom get my recipe!!  Winning!!  (*my secret: the stuffing goes between the skin and the meat, not inside the turkey.)

There was some sad news between all the fun stuff, though....the week before Thanksgiving, I had to have my sweet Mina-kitty put to sleep.

That picture is from about 5 years ago, but she was only about 10 years old when she died.  However, over the course of a few weeks, she went from looking like that - at about 11 lbs - to being a fragile, sickly 6.5 lbs.  During that time, we put our house on the market and she was hiding more, which I assumed was due to the random strangers tromping through our house at odd times during showings.  But then one evening she hopped into lap, and felt like nothing but fur and bones.  :(  We took her to the vet, and while all of her tests came back normal, it was obvious something was NOT right.  A week later I could see that she wasn't eating, and we were back at the vet's office.  A (very expensive) x-ray showed that one of her lungs was congested, and her heart looked abnormal.  The vet couldn't say if that was the cause of the problem, or if it might have been caused by something else, like a thyroid condition, but either way, she was too far gone and too fragile for any kind of aggressive treatment.  So while it broke my heart, I chose to have her put down.  I miss you, Mina.  Maura still asks about you, too....  *sniff*

So I'll end things on a happy note with a new start.

This is "Here Comes Santa Claus" by Country Garden Stitchery.  I haven't seen this piece stitched anywhere but on the designer's site.  In fact, I haven't seen many of her pieces in the blogging world at all....which surprises me, because I think her style is really charming!  And if you order from her Artfire page, the option for .pdf delivery means almost instant gratification... *nudgenudge  (not affiliated, blah blah blah....just enabling!)

Erm.

There seems to be a slight hitch in my stitching/exercising/life plan...last night in my aikido class, I attempted to get out of an armlock that is end of a technique called oshi taoshi.  Somewhere around steps 8-9-10 in that diagram, I realized my partner wasn't in the correct position, so I decided I had room to get free.  I basically rolled over my shoulder, twisting my forearm in a rather extreme fashion.  It hurt a bit, but I DID escape, so as a rookie I was quite proud of myself.  And then I tried it again.  Dumb dumb dumb!  He was positioned properly that time, and I went nowhere.  I felt a little pain after that, but figured it was just a strain and it would get better.  I went home, went to bed, got up this morning....in agony.  Took a warm shower, tried to shake it out a bit, felt a little better but still hurt.  I finally called my doctor around 10 am.  After some range of motion tests and an x-ray, they decided.....that I had broken my arm!!!  Yikes.  It looks like a "radial head fracture," a small break in the outer bone of the forearm near where it attaches to the elbow.  For now I'm in a sling for a week, and then I have to go to see the orthopedic doc.  Here's hoping it starts to heal on its own, because this is so frustrating!  I can't really stitch, because I'm a hoop or frame stitcher who doesn't really care for stands.  Although I have to break out my lap stand and TRY for a while...

Always learning

Today Lee asked "why have we [bloggers] stopped writing?"  So I decided to tackle that question.

For me personally, part of it is my inability to take decent pictures and get them downloaded/uploaded/shared in a timely fashion.  And I know how much  blog readers love pictures, so I feel like I'll be letting people down if there aren't pictures to accompany every post.

And of course there is the daily grind - work (at 2 jobs), a child to care for, cooking, cleaning, laundry, a husband who appreciates some attention now and then, a TV show here and there....it begins to feel rather oppressive.  Taking time to write a blog post versus spending a blissful 30 minutes stitching?  The stitching wins, 9 times out of 10.  And I don't take the time to take a picture, which leads right back to my first excuse for not posting!

So I guess what it comes down to is that I'm working on finding balance.  Balance at work (no! no new projects!), balance as a parent, as a wife, as a woman, as a crafter...and as a blogger.  And I may have discovered a new tool to help with that - aikido.  One of the professors at the college where I work wanted to start an aikido school on campus, and I decided to check it out.  Now, I've always been a bit skeptical of martial arts, and downright derisive of meditation, so my husband finds it especially ironic that I'm enjoying this.  He meditates, and has belts in tae kwon do, kung fu, karate, and judo -- and now I'm learning a martial art that is defined in some circles as "meditation in motion."  And I'm learning...a new way to learn, really.  You see, I've never been comfortable learning physical things.  My realm has always been the "I'll read about it/study it, and then be good at it."  And I HATE been the clumsy, unskilled one.  I spent too much time being laughed at and picked on as an adolescent to take what I considered to be the risk of looking foolish.  So jumping into this was awkward, to say the least.  And it was compounded by the fact that the "teaching assistant," so to speak, is an 18 year-old student who is also a brown belt.  Typically, I'm the one teaching in that relationship, not the one feeling clumsy and out of my element!  It was almost enough to scare me away after the first class, but I made myself keep going.  It has been a month now, and I almost don't have nervous jitters when I walk into the dance studio (our "dojo" of sorts).  And yesterday I went to a workshop with about a dozen black belts...amazingly, I had fun!  We shall see where this path leads....


“One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.”
― Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums

Dad's auction find

Many months ago I told my dad, the Auction Treasure Hunter Extraordinare, that I'd love to find one of those 1950s accordion-style sewing boxes.  Well, look what he discovered!

 

According to the still-spotless maker's label inside the lid, this is a Strommen Bruk Hamar  sewing box.  Isn't it gorgeous?!?!?  It is in wonderful condition, and seemed hardly used.  And a quick eBay search of completed/sold listings shows that ones like this usually sell for $75-$150 (they are often listed for more, but I wanted to see what people were willing to PAY!).  Dad paid.........$25!  So a wonderful find.  Now I just have to figure out where to put it...  :D

Nothing much

I wish I had more pictures, a finish, new stash...SOMETHING to show you all.  :(  But I don't.  I've been tired, a bit stressed over financial issues, and just not very interesting lately!

I DID discover Joan Elliott's blog, and via that her newest "Medieval Maiden" pattern, which was published in an issue of Cross Stitch Collection.  I made a half-hearted attempt to find the magazine, but it seems that my local Barnes & Noble has seriously reduced their needlework magazine inventory.  And really, that is okay, because 1) I don't have the funds to justify another stash purchase and 2) I already have all 3 of her first medieval series ("The Reader," "The Gardener," and "The Musician").  Plus her "Fairy Enchantment" book, and I'm sure a few other patterns of hers in various collections.  So if I want to stitch a Joan Elliott design, I certainly have some options!

I'm soooo ready for Celebration of Needlework at the end of the month.  (I budgeted for this, plus Mom sent some birthday money to help out a bit - I may still have to be careful on the shop floor, but at least I can go and enjoy stitching and my class without worry!)

So much to think about...no time to stitch...

My mind has been all over the place lately.  I applied for a job back before Christmas, and found out a week or so ago that I've made it to the in-person interview stage!  I sent in my application on a bit of a whim, and am not under any pressing NEED to have a new job.  But this looked interesting, and it is in an area that is a bit more central to all of our families (which means, for better or for worse, a long ways from all of them).  We'll see what happens...

So as all of this is floating around in my brain, I haven't been stitching much.  I'm still plugging along on the wedding sampler, and I fondle my stash every now and again, but I just can't get excited about stitching...anything.  I look at the new stuff on ONS websites, and nothing really screams "STITCH ME!"  I get ideas and then think, "but what if I have to move this spring/summer?"  I've browsed through this year's class offerings at the Celebration of Needlework, and am not crazy about any of them.  I kind of like some of Elizabeth Talledo's classes, but they are really pricey...and again, the whole issue of a potential move....  Ugh.

I'm obviously having a crabby week.  Well, it is Friday, so here's to an improved outlook next week!

Just sitting and thinking

I'm at Job #2 today....nine hours at the reference desk in the college library.  The building is just about empty, and no one needs any help.  I wish I could stitch!  But that is specifically not allowed (evidently another lady used to knit, and that was frowned upon), so I'm spending a lot of time blog-hopping, stash-lusting, looking through my freebie files, and planning stuff.  The past few nights I've been working steadily on Labyrinth, and I'm getting itchy for a new start.  Maybe tonight I'll pull out one of those wedding samplers I need to get moving on?  It also looks like Celebration of Needlework could be posting classes for the 2013 retreat soon - which reminds me that I really did want to do the Keslyn's piece from the class I attended last year.  Hmmm.

 

A couple days ago I did buy something - a piece of 28-ct. hand-dyed linen from Silkweaver's FB page.  I was trying to be strong, but I think it could work really well for Homespun Elegance's "Olde Shaker Tune", which WAS one of my goals for the year.  I've always had a bit of a weakness for the brown/"aged" fabrics, so even if it doesn't work that, I'm sure I'll use it...eventually....  LOL

I also saw something on someone else's blog regarding parenting and stitching.  I think she said something about not stitching while her child is very young because she wants her child to have memories of her as a fun mom, not a stitching mom.  It got me thinking.  I don't often stitch while Wee One is up and about, but I have, from time to time, pulled out something small to put in a few stitches while she is lining up her stuffed animals for their naptime, or playing in her castle, or anything where I know she won't need me for a couple minutes.  I'm happy to put whatever I'm doing down whenever I'm needed, of course!  She will be 3 in March, and knows that "Mommy makes pretties," and will ask about them from time to time.  She knows that I made the birth sampler on her wall, and has started telling people who come in (mostly just her grandparents - LOL) that, "Mommy made dat for ME!"  Is pretty!"  She has watched me stitch and watched me sew.  I guess I don't look at it as stitching takes away from my time with her - on the contrary, stitching is a part of me that makes me Mommy to her.  Just like Mommy does laundry, Mommy cooks dinner, Mommy sings "Puff the Magic Dragon," Mommy yells "wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" when we go around big curves on the road, Mommy gives her a "kish and a squish" every morning at daycare drop-off.  I dunno.  Maybe I was internalizing Mommy Guilt where there wasn't any....

Hopelessly behind

Much like a certain television network trying to broadcast "live" sporting events across a 5-hour time difference, I feel like I just can't win lately.  And how did it get to be August, praytell?!?!?  Sheesh.  What a summer.
I HAVE been stitching, but in a rather intermittent and unfocused fashion.  It seems like we are always planning for the next weekend, the next trip, the next visit from family, and have very little time to just relax.  And when we do have that relaxation time, I feel guilty for spending it sitting on my butt and stitching.  Never fear, though, I will try to get some pics up here soon!  I have both a TUSAL and a WIPocalypse update to post...
Some bad news from the stitching front -- my LNS might be closing.  The owner's husband passed away in February, and rumor had it that she was selling the business.  Well, we were told that a decision would be made by the end of July.  I went in yesterday, and the nice lady working told me that nothing had been finalized, so the shop would be shutting its doors as of August 1 (today).  Right now the plan is that it will re-open on Labor Day -- either under new ownership or for a going out of business sale.  I felt like since I was there, and will be LNS-less for at least the next month, I ought to buy SOMETHING...so I grabbed a handful of HDF silks and some fabric.  Of course I don't have an immediate use for these, but they're mine now!  LOL  Also, I read on the HDF chatboard that Vikki may be winding down her floss dyeing business over the coming months, so adding a few more affordable silks in my stash ( my LNS was still selling them at $1.50/skein) sounded like a good idea.
Since I have no stitching pics to share, here is one of my kid from the renaissance faire.  She had such a great time, dancing and running around...and collecting booty from pirates!  (She figured out that if she said "arrrrrgh" to a pirate, they'd probably give her something -- plastic jewelry, fake doubloons, junk like that.)

Lovely Weather = No Stitching

I know, I know, with this beautiful weather it would be wonderful to stay home some day this week, open all the windows, and stitch.  But alas, the workaday world calls...and I need those paychecks.  :(
The days I am home - weekends - there is a fascinating small human who demands my attention, and really, how can I deny her?

(I can't believe she's wearing shorts and a t-shirt in MARCH!)

My castle by the sea, and my castle's kitchen

With Christmas coming....I decided to start something decidedly UN-Christmasy.  LOL

Marie Barber, sandcastle design from a back issue of Just Cross Stitch
stitched on 28-ct. cameo jobelan

I picked up this little design back when I was working on the Neighborhood Round Robin, and needed something "beachy" for Kathy's neighborhood.  This was too big and just not quite right, but I still love it and am glad to be able to do it for myself!  It is so neat to watch it grow, with all the shading.  I never would have thought that blends with purple would make a nice sandcastle, but it really does!

I also thought I'd share my new kitchen.  Here is a "before" pic, of what I referred to as the Holly Hobbie wallpaper....  And for the record, this was taken before we moved in, so all the decor - including the freaky owls, they were EVERYWHERE! - belonged to the previous owner.

And after.  Complete with the new valance I made.  (I really don't think the walls are quite that PINK.  It is an antique white with warm undertones.)  The contractor told me he and his partner stripped 3 layers of wallpaper off, and found phone-book yellow paint under that.  Yikes.  I'm glad DH and I didn't decide to undertake this project on our own.

Yes, we still have the 1960s cabinetry and the gold-flecked countertops, and the carpet.  But we could afford this (mostly), and it makes me so much happier.  For now. 
Here is my "accent wall" - it is the wall not visible in the before picture, against which our table sits.  I originally wanted a brick red shade, but my interior designer friends convinced me not to try that with the oak cabinetry.  So I picked a pale silver-blue, which is probably better since we didn't get rid of the blue carpet yet, anyway.

I really like the 3-D flowers, and the "Family Rules" canvas.  It feels so big and open and clean...  Hey, anything is better than blue striped wallpaper with pink flowers!!

Home again, home again

And let me be the first to say, when traveling with a toddler (or really ANY child, I can only assume!) there is no such thing as a "vacation." LOL
We were in Iowa over the weekend for my sister-in-law's wedding. After one delayed flight, a race through the Detroit airport while wearing an almost-30 lb. toddler, making the connecting flight only to realize said toddler had not had a diaper change or lunch (and yes, we did have food for her, but somehow I don't think nilla wafers and a juice box are a good substitute for lunch!), and a myriad of other problems-that-would-not-have-seemed-like-problems-had-we-not-been-parents, it was with a great (albeit somewhat guilty) sigh of relief that I took her to daycare this morning and went home to do all the laundry, watch a movie with DH and take a looooooooooong nap.
While I didn't stitch while we were traveling, I did make some progress on "Count Your Blessings" today between loads of laundry and naps. I'll share later!
I also made a somewhat depressing discovery. When I lived in Erie, I had a LNS (Stitchin' Stuff, for those who've been to the area) that did what I thought was wonderful framing. Her eye for color was very much like my own, and I was always happy with the work she did for me - you can see some of it on the "Framed Finishes" page here. But I was looking closely at some of the pieces on my wall today, and I noticed that the cut edges of the mats are starting to yellow. Every single one. And none of them are older than about 5 years. Ugh. I can't afford to have them all taken apart and re-framed, so for now they'll just have to stay as they are...

Almost July...

...and I have nothing I can show you....

I've been working on my modification of The Workbasket's "Pink Flower"/BBD's "Sweet Alabama" for Stitch Bitch's contest, and her instructions are not to share pics until the contest is over! So for now I'll just keep waving my WIP under DH's nose and asking him how much he likes it... LOL I want to get as much done on it as I can before my Traveling Pattern arrives. (For those of you who are following that project, I'll apologize now if it takes me a bit longer to get that design stitched -- we have a bit of traveling and a family wedding coming up in the VERY near future, and now that I have a Small Person to entertain while traveling, I don't think packing needlework will be a top priority!)

In other - but related - I've just finished reading Plain & Fancy: American Women and Their Needlework, 1700-1850, by Susan Burrows Swan. I thought it was a fascinating read, and full of photos from the collections of the Winterthur Museum. And I had to chuckle when I read the caption under a beautiful Bargello pocketbook: "it was started by a young woman, probably in the 1760's, and left unfinished until 1817, when this same woman, who was then 73, remembered it. She quickly finished the purse and presented it to her granddaughter." A WIP for over 50 years?!?!?!? Isn't it nice to know that our ancestors had bins of UFOs just like the rest of us?