Huh? Would you look at that?

A blog post? From me? I don't think I've ever gone this long without posting something.  And I have only been reading and commenting sporadically the last few weeks.  Work has made it impossible to even think about turning on a computer or engaging my brain in any activity that requires more than two neurons firing at the same time when I am home. 

First welcome to my new followers I appreciate that you think I have something worthwhile enough to say that you're willing to show the world that.

So what's been going on?  I am finally over the cold that I mentioned in my last post, but the darn thing hung on for ages.  I got some gardening done - okay it was mostly weeding and mowing the grass, but at least the house doesn't look like it's abandoned.  Oh yes, I did find a lovely nest of yellow jackets while I was mowing.  Nothing intentional but they seemed to take offense to the mower running over the entrance of their home and then me stepping on it.  For something so small, about 1/2" to 3/4" I have no idea what that is to the rest of the world - it would have soooo much easier if we had just gone metric back in the 70s, they pack a punch!  And wouldn't you know that if one is injured say by someone frantically brushing it off their leg (which was encased in clothing) it sends out a message to all its friends that it's in distress and please come help and you end up with multiple stings because each one of the nasty little things can sting multiple times from multiple critters.  It was not a pleasant experience.  The worst of the areas is just now settling back and looking like normal I ended up with 7 sting areas but thankfully the skin reaction was all I had.

Our summer invasion of finches has arrived.  The little pigs-on-wings pretty much empty two feeders every other day or so.  They are having help with a third feeder a raccoon is climbing the feeder pole and dumping out the seed and then cleaning it up off the ground so I will need to get back out there with grease and make the climb a little more difficult. 

On the bright side, I have been stitching. In no particular order here is what I've been working on:

Ink Circles' 99
Stitched on Unknown Company's 32-count Golden Walnut with DMC threads

This photo shows the fabric color a little better, but also shows what happens when you forget to divide by 2 when deciding on a starting place 9" is probably a really good margin for a framer.  Fortunately there is enough space to put a row above this one and not throw the design off or frogging these bottles. AND there are only 96 more bottles to go before it's finished.

A HAPPY DANCE!!  Shepherd's Bush's Holy Night
Stitched on Unknown color of 28-count R&R Reproductions linen with recommended fibers and buttons

Summer Mystery SAL from By the Bay Needlearts Part 1
Stitched on 32-count Silkweaver's Lavender Swirl with DMC

Drawn Thread's Summer into Autumn
Stitched from materials in kit

Dimple Designs' Twilight of the Tsars
Stitched on 32-count Smokey Pearl Belfast with DMC and Kreinik BF and Braids

I think that's about all.  Probably not a lot of stitching this week as I am traveling for business, leaving tomorrow and home next Sunday.  Chatelaine's Winter Watergarden will be put on the frame for a little love this afternoon/evening, but unless the cats or The Hubs have learned to stitch while I haven't been looking, there won't be a lot done.  I do hope to get a chance to catch up on my blog reading and commenting while gone the wonders of tablets and WiFi.

A Little of This and a Little of That

Like Karen at On Beads and Needles I had one of those "hero" co-workers and am home today with what I am hoping is just a cold.  I suppose, to be fair, most people are contagious before the actual symptoms appear so they don't know they're sick, but this could not have happened at a more inopportune time of course colds don't seem to care about your schedule.

Looking back, it's been a while since I posted, so there is a little catching up to do which if I am honest could really be done in a very short while but it is my blog so I am going to blather on a bit...

Before I forget, take a peak over at By the Bay Needle Arts' blog. Donna is hosting a free, four part, summer mystery SAL.  She has a fuzzied up picture of the finished project so you can get an idea if you squint and twist your head just so of what it will look like. Even though I need another project like I need a hole in my head I'm on for this one. Especially as I am fairly certain that I have everything I need in my stash and I do love Donna's designs. If you look through my stash you'd probably be surprised by that, as her designs don't really "fit" but there is just something about them that appeals.

I have been very lax in my stitching the last couple of weeks as other things just got in the way.  For the first time in I can't remember I did not put needle to fabric last weekend, instead I did a girl's weekend with a couple of friends from the office.  One of the ladies owns a townhouse about 10 miles from Ocean City, Maryland and agreed to host and she was an *amazing* host.  We had a great time - no stress, no must-dos - just food  if you are ever in Lewes, Delaware and have a hankering for Mexican food I highly recommend Agave - it's a first-come-first-served restaurat so the wait could be long but they do take your cell phone number and call you when you're table is ready so you can do some wandering around downtown Lewes, laughing, reading and a fair amount of b&tching discussion- we were all destressed and ready to tackle the world by Sunday afternoon.  I even managed a quick trip to a new-to-me yarn/needlework store in Bethany Beach.  If you are in the area Sea Needles is packed literally with yarn, patterns, and supplies for the knitter and oodles of patterns and supplies for the cross stitcher.  I wasn't able to spend a lot of time in there but I did enjoy the time I had.

The hummingbirds have finally returned!  I am not sure where they have been as I usually see the first one in late March/early April.  No pictures yet but once they settle in a bit I'll give it a try.

So, you ask, has there been any stitching in the last couple of weeks?  Well, yes a little.

Here is where I started on Chatelaine's Secret Victorian Garden:

Chatelaine's Secret Victorian Garden
Stitched on Silkweaver's 32-count Carol's Meadow with recommended fibers and beads

And here's where I finished stitching the backstitching of the gate and that silver bit above the smoke took FOREVER.

Chatelaine's Secret Victorian Garden
Stitched on Silkweaver's 32-count Carol's Meadow with recommended fibers and beads

I have a four day weekend coming up Friday is my off-Friday from work and Monday is Memorial Day.  I am hoping to get out on the boat despite the fact that there will be soooo many people taking theirs out for the first time this season and the area will be crazy busy but if we don't I have 99 by Ink Circles this will make a perfect addition to DSon's mancave apartment and Holy Night from Shepherd's Bush just waiting for a little attention.

Back Home Again from Indiana

As I was traveling for work for a good portion of last week, I did not get a lot of stitching done. I did take a kitted up ornament with me, but it is definitely too much effort to stitch while traveling by plane as there is not enough room in the cattle car economy class to breath stitch comfortably.  Thank goodness it doesn't take much room to read. I was very pleasently surprised by the location, the meeting was held at the Potawatmi Inn at Pokegon State Park in Angola, Indiana.  The only down side is that I didn't have time to be able to take advantage of any of the walking or biking trails, but the park is definitely on my list of places to visit again.

I got a little time last weekend and yesterday for stitching.  Last weekend Blue Ribbon Designs' Countdown to Christmas was on the frame.

I started with it here:

And finished with it here:

Blue Ribbon Designs' Countdown to Christmas
Stitched on 40-count Lakeside Linens' Magnolia with recommended fibers

I am at the "push through" phase on this portion of the project now.  All that is left is the grid that makes up the calendar and that is going to be very boring stitching. I may have to work the little ornaments into the rotation so that I have something to look forward to maybe something along the line of one ornament for every two blocks stitched.

I started a new project yesterday - Liz Turner Diehl's Flamingerge Egg.  It is a bit outside of my usual, but I have a thing for flamingos although I do tend to keep it in check so there are no flamingo decorations in my yard or my house although I do have a fair number in my cubical.  The entire kit came in this box: 

And came with all of this:

 The only thing missing is the styrofoam egg for the finishing.  And here is what I stitched yesterday:

Liz Turner Diehl's Flamingerge Egg
Stitched on 32-count Antique White Belfast with Madeira fibers

The colors are more coral and turquoise than the orange and blue that are showing in the photo. The piece came with Madeira cotton and silk fibers which I had never used, but do really like stitching with them. The packaging is interesting and keeps the fibers clean and easily organized but it is not ideal for storing leftover bits.

Chatelaine's Secret Victorian Garden is on the frame for this week. 

Whole lot of stumbling and tuning going on

Thank you to everyone that drops by and reads my posts.  I am still a bit mystified about the whole "blog thing" but I am certainly glad I took the plunge and started writing. 

I almost completely lost myself in iTunes and StumbleUpon last weekend.  I had wonderful plans to start Chatelaine's Serengeti and make progress on Carriage House Sampling's Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow. instead I listened to lots of music and found some really amazing ideas for home decorating, gardening, crafting and food.  It was almost as relaxing as stitching and I really don't feel too bad about not meeting my weekend stitching goals.

Not that I totally flaked on the stitching, here is where Autumn was when I put it on the frame Friday evening:

And here's where it is as of tonight:

The colors in the "before" photo are much closer to true.  Despite my apparent indifference to this piece, I really am enjoying the stitching and the big bite mark is finally filled in.

Blue Ribbon Designs' Countdown to Christmas is going on the frame for this weekend.  I am still working my way through Midsomer Murders, Queen's Another One Bites the Dust has started running through my head every time the music changes to a minor key that's a dead giveaway (pun intended) that someone is going to die, but I saw that Sherlock Season 2 will be on Masterpiece this Sunday, so some competition is in the future a development I am sure you are all grateful for.

IHSW

Thank you to everyone for the comments on my last post.  Midsomer's population has been reduced by another seven since last week - three in one show alone I never would have thought that bell ringing was such a dangerous hobby!

Another International Hermit and Stitch Weekend has come and gone. Thank you to Joyce for organizing this once again - although I believe she found something other than stitching to do this weekend.   I had grand plans for a very intensive stitching weekend, but was in a bit of a stitching funk yesterday.  As a result I spent the majority of the day reading, doing housework if I was doing housework instead of stitching you know it was a real funk!! and playing around in iTunes it took several hours for me to decide on eight new songs - turns out iTunes is rather like blog reading, you start in one place, follow links and end up hours later nowhere near where you started! Today turned out to be a perfect hermitting day - windy, pouring rain and cold so I was able to settle in and get some stitching done.

On the frame this weekend and for the coming week is Papillon Creations' Eightsome Reel. 

Papillon Creations' Eightsome Reel
Stitched on 28-count Chai Tea Jobelan with HDF conversion

I was able to stitch the red/blue medallion and gold/grey circle on the right.  This puts me at half-way.  It is going to be a push to finish this one as I as I believe I have mentioned before am not enjoying stitching with these fibers but I am too stubborn far along to throw in the towel.

Last week's project was Chatelaine's Japanese Octagonal Box. 

Chatelaine's Japanese Octagonal Box
Stitched on 32-count ice blue Belfast with recommended threads and beads

One more bonsai and a bit more of the slope of Mount Fuji done.  In order to get the colors more true to life, I tried scanning instead of photographing, as suggested by Jo, and it worked.  Unfortunately, I cannot get the scan to copy over to my blog, but I will continue trying.

Here is the link to the list of International Hermit and Stitch participants for April in case you want to end up miles from where you started...

A Good Week

My birthday week was a roaring success.  Lots of relaxing, lots of reading and lots of stitching were done and I have renewed my obsession interest in Midsomer Murders.  I caught the odd show when A&E was still doing sensible television I think they show NCI-take-your-pick-of-cities and Law and Order 24/7, but was never able to watch it consistently.  One of my birthday gifts came with a free month of "Amazon Prime" which includes lots of free streaming videos, so I started with Season 1 and am working my way through.  I doubt I will be able to finish the entire series before the end of the month, but I checked and Netflix also carries it so I should be able to get "caught up" if watching 15 or so seasons all in a row is considered "catching up". I have only once, so far, figured out the mystery before the grand announcement, but it is fun to watch the "gears turn".   As much as I love the show, I always have the same question, "How is there anybody left alive in that town/county?"  And when you throw in Inspectors Morris and Lewis  and how many others that don't get aired in the US and it's amazing that there is anyone left alive in England at all.  I suppose anyone watching US crime drama would say the same thing about us, I mean Jessica Fletcher of "Murder, She Wrote" had to start traveling to continue solving murders as there just weren't enough people in Cabot Cove, Maine to keep a series running very long.

The only thing we weren't able to do was get out on the boat. The wind this week wasn't terrible but it was steady and kept the Small Craft Advisories up all week they're supposed to calm down tomorrow or Monday.  But as I mentioned stitching took place and I am very happy with my progress.  Debbie Mumm's Summerhill House was on the frame.  Here is what it looked like when I started:

And here is where it was when I took it off the stand on Thursday:

Debbie Mumm's Summerhill House
Stiched on 28-count Bluebell Jobelan from Wichelt with recommended DMC

There is a little bit of cross stitching left, lots of backstitching, and all those gaps are beaded and well as beads in the trees and scattered here and there it wouldn't be a Mill Hill pattern without beads would it?. I am hoping to have a finish the next go 'round in the rotation.

Yesterday I started Chatelaine's Mystery XV - Deep Blue Sea. I didn't get as much done as I had hoped as I got a late start, but I am pleased with what I did get done.

Chatelaine's Mystery XV - Deep Blue Sea
Stitched on 32-count Summer Sky Jobelan from Wichelt with Martina's DMC conversion

The colors are really off on this one just like they are with every photo I take no matter with overhead, daylight bulb or real daylight

Japanese Octagonal Box is on the frame for this coming week.

A Start, A Finish and OH MY!!

Thank you everyone for the nice comments on my stitching.  I think I finally figured out the email notification/reply thing it only took me what 1-1/2 years?

We are now having slightly below average temperatures.  I had frost on my windshield this morning!  Now, I know those of you that live north of the optimal climatic zone as was once written of New Hampshire in a turn of the 20th century travel guide will not necessarily find that unusual, BUT it's very strange here. I don't mind changing seasons but I really would like it to decide which season it wants to be and stick with it.

Stitching wise, here's what I worked on this week:

You saw the kit for this one, here is the roof minus beads:

It's stitched on 14-count violet Aida.  There will be silvery beads in the spaces in the middle of the "X".  I wasn't able to start the house itself as I have to stitch this in hand and my hands can only deal with that for short periods of time.

Yes, you read correctly, I also had a finish!!

Marsh Marigolds on Logan's Creek is now hanging on the "wall of finishes" in the den.  I can not get the fabric color to photograph correctly it is actually a very pale green - almost the color of young celery. 

Last and certainly not least, I got this in the mail today:

Isn't it beautiful?  Jo at Serendipitous Stitching stitched this for me.  The flower is backstitched and then she colored in the background.  I have loved all the others I saw on her blog, but not as much as this one! Daisies and pansies are my favorite flower and it got here just in time for my birthday. which I wasn't going to say anything about but since I just had to show off the card, the secret is out.  My birthday is Sunday - I'll be slightly younger than the dinosaurs.

Debbie Mumm's Summerhill House has gone onto the scroll rods.  I took next week off from work I declared a birthday week and what better way to celebrate? so I am really hoping to make some progress on it.  I do have a few things around the house that I'd like to get done, but pretty much it's a do whatever I want to do week. And part of what I want is to start Chatelaine's Deep Blue Sea but I will wait until Friday to do that.