Stitching Update #1 and a Spider picture

First, I have been remiss in thanking everyone for their kind comments on my stitching. I'm, as many of you are, an isolated stitcher, and while the Hubs comments on my stitching, it does mean a lot coming from other stitchers. I do wish I could capture the vibrancy of Hawaiian Garden as the blues just pop off the fabric. If DS comes to visit maybe I can convince him to photograph it for me what use is having a professional photographer for a son if you can't take advantage of it occasionally? Okay he's a professional photographer by training, but he's a butcher to pay the bills.

I have accomplished one item on my September seems weird typing that goals, I am caught up on iStitch's mystery SAL.



The picture makes the fabric R&R Reproductions Espresso darker than it really is, but the floss color HDF's Cloud is fairly accurate. The photo is not clickable as Carol has had issues with people stitching the design from blog photos. The copyright issue is making designer and shop blogs big time again - I know it never goes away but apparently there's been a surge in inappropriate use. I, for one, am completely appalled at the attitude of folks that feel it is perfectly acceptable to upload charts for others to use. I wonder if you asked them if it was okay to walk into a store and take something what they would say. I don't see any difference between the two actions, but somehow they seem to make a distinction between "sharing" and "stealing". Not that my little blog is going to make anyone change their minds, but I have added, "It's a copyright, not your right to copy" to my side bar.

Now for the spider pictures.  Those of you that are terrified of the beasties should stop reading now.  Or concentrate on this picture of a hummingbird that feeder was filled in the morning. The photo was taken about 7:00 PM. We are, as best I can tell, on the migration route for these pigs-with-wings, and have upwards of two dozen of them buzzing around at any time.  We fill the feeders at least once a day and if one happens to go empty the birds will hover at the den window to remind us that we are falling down on our duties as hosts.

Onto the spider - I was trimming around the house and saw this gal don't know  for certain it's a gal, but female spiders tend to be bigger and fancier than males had spun a web against the window frame.  It's a black and yellow garden spider that's an imaginative name! Sounds like something I'd come up with! She is only dangerous to bugs.

This picture shows her belly and how she sits against the house:

And this is what her back looks like. I had to slide the camera between her web and the house to take this picture so it's not centered, but you can see how beautiful she is okay, maybe I'm the only one that thinks she's beautiful and I will concede a certain "eek" factor given her size. Her body is a good 1-1/2" to 2" (if my math is correct that's 3.8 to 5 cm) long with her legs adding an equal length.