SCENES FROM THE CHAIR

Buzzy and Beepy are doing their thing. Somebody asked me why two needles...the bottom one pulls the blood out...the top one puts it back in after it's been cleaned:

I'm all alone in the corner today...

This stitchy bug has clamped his little jaws down hard, Dearies! I was delighted to find this in my big comfort bag! I had not thought to stitch today, but so far so good!

Back to it!  At this rate I might get this house completed before I know it!

FINISH ONE...START ONE!

I enjoyed Harvest of Plenty so much that I decided to stick with Shepherd's Bush. This is Autumn Blessings, and it's a lovely little band sampler done all in silk.

Off to the chair in a moment, Dearies! I'm just getting that second cup of damn good in before I pack my bag. 

Happy Futzingday! Come tell me all about your neck of the woods!

HAPPY DANCING ALL OVER THE PLACE!

Harvest of Plenty

Shepherd's Bush

32ct linen in Bee's Wax

silk threads all included in kit

(there are little buttons to add, but I lost them like a doofus)

This was just the perfect way to spend a Tuesday. I stitched and did laundry and binge-watched Outlander. I had to make a small change to the bottom row of "flags" since I ran out of the green threads that were called for, but I do like the colors I chose instead and think they will be just fine.

If possible, I'm going to see if this might fit in a ready-made frame and I will have a mat cut for it at the Hobby Lobby. Then, I am determined to lace and frame this myself properly and get it on the wall!

Night night, Dearies! I hope your very own Tuesday was super swell too!

AND ON TUESDAY WE GO TO TARGET

SOMETIMES IT PAYS TO SWITCH IT UP...

That big house started to get to me, so I headed into the cube room studio to see if I could remedy the situation.

Boy, did I ever!

Shepherd'sBush "Harvest of Plenty" was right there in my WIP basket, and I just couldn't resist spending a few moments with it last night:

I'm not sure why I ever put this one down, exactly. I'm guessing that I could have this finished in one or two more stitchy sessions!

Miss Megan asked me if I cross every x when working with varieagated threads. The truth is, Miss M, that I cross every x as I go no matter the thread. I know that there are various techniques employed when cross stitching, but my sister taught me to cross the x fully before moving on, so that's the way I've always done it.

Time to get ready, Dearies. It's rather cold and dreary here this morning, and I am dragging my feet. 

I hope your Monday is wonderfully swell and that you get to do whatever your heart desires!

SO...MUCH...GREEN!

I'm determined to get the green portion of this house completed before I move to another project. And maybe the roof. And the lower shingles. And all the windows.

Oh, heck. Maybe I'll stick with this one for a bit longer.

But stay tuned, because I am feeling rather like a squirrel in traffic and might change my mind at any moment!

It's a bright, cool, and sunny Sunday here in Hoosierville, so I am going to attempt to get a little fresh air. I will either go for a little walk or take a cup of damn good and the paper out on the balcony. 

Or maybe both.

See?  Squirrel.

Happy Sunday, Dearies! Come tell me all about your very own fun in the sun today!

I'M SO COZY I CAN HARDLY STAND IT

The fuzzy socks have made a return. I finally closed the windows a bit ago, since the thermostat said it was 50 degrees in here, and that's a little nuts even for me.

Thank you for indulging my prancypants bragging these last several days over the state of my little union here at CS2, but it was a huge deal for me to accomplish these things myself. I have felt so completely helpless for the last long bit of time that it felt really wonderful to put my back into it (literally) and put things in order.

Yes...I am very "house proud". I guess I always have been because I stay inside so much and really love to have clean comfy, and nice surroundings. My first little studio apartment was the size of a small hotel room, yet I spent as much time and angst fretting over it as I did my house when I finally built it. 

This will conclude the "Look what I did!" portion of the program, and we'll return to the hapless stumble bunny shenanagins that you have come to know and tolerate.

Back to stitching and an Outlander marathon!

FOR MISS LAURA...

WHAT A WEEK IT'S BEEN!

So here I am...back in the exact same place as last Saturday!

Boy, this has been a very busy (yet happy) week! Between the futzing and putzing and cleaning and organizing, I have still managed to spend a lot of time with needle and thread:

I really am very happy with the progress I've made on this one, and think I'll play with it a little more today before fishing through my stash for something new tomorrow. I have been so inspired by the Instagrams and the Facebooks, that it might be time to switch it up!

Five more things left on my to do list, but they might wait until next week or weekend to complete. I do need to switch out my closet...cold clothes in and warm clothes out, but that will only take about ten minutes, because we're talking about three pairs of sweatpants and a couple of sweatshirts in and t-shirts, bike shorts, and leggings out.

(Thank goodness...I've never really been a clothes person.)

(Books and stitchy stash, however, are another matter entirely!)

Happy Saturday, Dearies! I hope that your corner of the world is perfectly swell today and that you get to do everything your heart desires! Come tell me all about it!

FUNNY HOW THAT WORKS...

The stitchy angels took pity on me today, and I somehow managed to spend my entire chair time stitching! Progress!

Please excuse the spaghettis and knots...those are away knots and tails brought forward since I have to do everything one handed in the chair and cannot flip my work.

I am particularly happy about this turn of events, because I did NOT want to go today. I mean...I really did not want to go sit in that chair. At all. Not one bit. Zippo. Zilch. Period.  I contemplated calling off and considering it a mental health day, but I adulted, got in the damn shower, and went like a big girl.

My reward was being able to just put my headphones and take up needle and thread and enjoy myself thoroughly.

Priceless.

THE HAPPY CHAIR

The chair on the left in this picture is my Happy Chair. I bought it at the JC Penny Home Store in April of 1992, and I have lived almost half my life in it. It was the first piece of furniture I ever purchased (I think I paid $400 for it and about had a heart attack when I wrote the check), and if memory serves, it was originally cream waffle weave fabric.

This poor chair is old and stinky and worn out and probably not worthy of St. Vincent de Paul coming to pick it up, but I. Cannot. Part. With. It.

I have laughed and cried and read and stitched and slept and cuddled Stewey and played pumpkin and looked out the window and stared at the wall in this chair. It has been there as my cockpit in good times, bad times, in between times, and all times.

It fits me.

My mom would be completely appalled, but I sit sideways in this car with my right leg hitched over the arm. I don't know why that's comfortable...given my age and portliness you would think it impossible for me to be able to do so, but it somehow works for me and it's now habit.

The arms are also wide enough to hold my cup of damn good. Or a chart holder. Or eleventy-seven skeins of floss. There have been more needles parked in these arms than a dialysis unit, and both 

Bosco and Stewey loved to perch themselves there (when no needles were present) and look out the front door at the house.

This poor chair has been through it all, I tell ya. It once spent time in the garage because a nine-pound spider crawled over the top of it an disappeared into the depths of it, and even that wasn't enough to convince me to let it go. (The nice men at Stanley Steamer took it apart and cleaned the Bejessus out if it, so if the spider was still in there, he was very very clean.)

I thought that today was the day that I was going to take the Happy Chair down to the garage, and then call a junk man to come pick it up along with some other stuff from the house that I've sorted through, but...no.

I've compromised and capitulated and given up and complied and done what was recommended and followed orders and behaved myself HARD for a while now. I gave up control of my life in many ways, and prayed for strength and surrender to just let my life unfold according to whatever the plan was that was supposed to be best for me. I've changed myself in both big and small ways, and I've followed directions.

But today....I'm drawing a line.

I'm keeping my Happy Chair right where it is, and later today I am going to research upholstery companies and then look at fabrics to get it re-covered. I might have a slip cover made tor it, or I might have it completely re-done. I don't know. But what I do know is that this chair and I are going to be Happy together for many more years to come.

AND THEN...SHE RESTED

I think the total number of hours it took to put things back to rights is about fourteen.  All I know is that it is ten after midnight and I am freshly showered and really very happy with the results.  I have a few bins to purchase as my budget allows, but things are finally sorted in such a way that I can access and enjoy them.

Hard to believe this was almost piled to the ceiling yesterday!

This is the view immediately to the left as you come in my front door. The wall is very blank and needs some stitchy pieces, but hammering nails at this hour would not be very neighborly. The print is Sam Toft's Grand Day Out.

This area is where the recliner used to sit. Now it houses the printer, my date books and stitchy journals going back to 2005(!), and other office supplies. Eventually, those four cubes will have fabric bins to hide the mess and files will go in a file box.

Finally! A desk! This was my desk from my home office at the house, and it will be the perfect place to write, pay bills, play with my planner, etc. Speaking of...my 2019 planner is in the box underneath all ready to go!

OK, when I said I was happy...I meant with everything except this corner. Stacked on the floor and in a basket are all of my needlepoint and counted canvas wips. My cross stitch wips are in the blue basket/stand thingie. The file thingie on the TV tray holds all of my working files and checkbooks and other important stuff. I really don't like it there, but need to figure out a better alternative. Maybe a small filing cabinet and a closed box/tote/storage thingie for the canvases.

This was probably the most significant change. Now I can easily access all of my threads, stretcher bars, q-snaps, linen, and canvas. I know that Sterlite now makes all of these little cabinets in dark brown with a wicker-look finish, but methinks that's an investment for another day. Right now these are working perfectly well.

The cube wall is now totally different, and I don't have stuff piled to the darn ceiling anymore.

Here's where the black and white polka dot bins ended up...along with a longer cubbie:

So that's it for now, Dearies! I'm exhausted and sore, but very very pleased with the results. On Saturday I am going to tackle the front hall closet and switch my clothes from warm things to cold, but those two things should only take a little bit of time.

Tomorrow, I'm resting. All day. No exceptions. I pushed my limit a bit and it felt good to do so, but now it's time to rest.

SCENES FROM A SPINSTER FUTZINGDAY

The first cup is medicinal...the second, recreational.

The last of the mess to be cleaned up...probably tomorrow.

Tonight's only assignment...catch up on reading the paper!

Well, so far, so good today, Dearies! I am up and showered and almost ready to go to dialysis. I confess to a momentary thought of turning the alarm off, burrowing deeper into the covers, and calling off today...but I am really holding myself accountable to this "doing everything I can to be as healthy as I can be" thing, and am going to go despite wanting to do otherwise.

Phooey.

No stitching to report due to my momentary lapse of sanity, but I am looking on the bright side. Now it will be much easier to go into that room and just get some inspiration, or find a new start, or grab a WIP and get wipping.  So no complaints at all for being a total doofus yesterday.

Besides...now I have a proper desk setup to pay bills, plan, write, conquer the world, etc.

(Shouldn't everybody have a desk like that?)

I'm off like a herd of turtles! I'm going to wear my goofy leggings and the brightest neon lemon yellow big shirt I can find today. Goodness knows I need a little ooommmppphhh to get me going!

Happy Futzingday! I hope it's extra futzy for you and that you get to do something totally swell! Come tell me all about it!

AND THEN A LITTLE OF HER DAMN MIND CAME BACK AND SHE LISTENED TO THE VOICES OF HER BETTER ANGELS...

I'm not sure what happend exactly, but after about six hours of futzing, I decided to STOP right there and then, get in the shower, and sit down.

This is either the result of maturity, or some kind of cosmic warning that I was about ready to have a stroke, but either way I am now safely showered and on the couch and determined to ignore the complete chaos around me.

In my entire life I have never given up on something like this half way through.  In days gone by, I would have pushed myself to the point of exhaustion and/or a trip to the Emergency Room, but I suppose this is my new normal now and I should embrace it.

By the way...I'd love to tell you that this all happened because I am wise and prudent, but the truth of the matter is that my body just...gave out. It just decided to quit having the capacity to move. Both my arms and legs just upped and quit...like they had some kind of portly conspiracy against one more minute of working.

But now I am resting comfortably, and I texted JB Magoo to let him know about the day's shenanagins:

ME: I just did something really dumb. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I'm not so sure.

MAGOO: What did you eat now?!

ME: No...wasn't anything I ate.

MAGOO: Oh my God! Are you in the hospital?!! Is everything OK??!!

ME: I'm fine. Not in the hospital.

MAGOO: Are you in jail?

ME: Nope.

MAGOO: BoBo...you know I love ya, but even I can't possibly guess what you would consider dumb at this point. What the heck did you do?!

(JB Magoo didn't actually use the word "heck". As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure JB Magoo has never used the word "heck" in his entire existence on the planet...but this is, after all, a family show and censorship must be deployed when necessary.)

ME: I emptied the entire contents of the cube room studio into the living room, and now I'm trying to put it all back.

MAGOO: (a series of emojis that I can only assume meant I am a complete idiot and should never be left without adult supervision again)

ME: (smiley face, smiley face, little picture of a woman shrugging her shoulders as if to say "wadda ya gonna do?")

MAGOO: Con...you woke up and texted me that you felt like a bus had hit you and that you were going to stay in that freakin chair and stitch today. Why would you do this to yourself when you know you have to get up and go to dialysis tomorrow?!

ME: (lady shrugging again) (*)

MAGOO: What are you doing now?

ME: Sitting on the floor. 

MAGOO: ???

ME: Contemplating arson.

MAGOO: Good idea, Con. Good idea.

(*) It's here that I should probably explain that my little people emojis on my phone contraption completely confuse me. I somehow change their ethnicity every time I use them, and they are never caucasian with brown hair...like me. Sometimes I am blonde. Sometimes I am of Asian heritage, Sometimes I'm African American. It drives Magoo nuts, because he feels like he's having a conversation with a United Colours of Benneton ad.

Now the big question comes. Should I make something for dinner or just skip it and have tacos another night? I'm not really hungry, so I suppose an apple later and lots if water might be a better idea than making a mess in the kitchen that I won't be abke to clean up.

Speaking of messes:

Can you believe I left it like that?!  I swear, it's going to take a sedative to keep me from jumping up tonight and finishing it.

I'll save the reveal for Thursday, which is when I hope to be completed with this little adventure. I promise...next time I get a bright idea in my head like this I'll wait for it to pass!

Hope your Tuesday was swell!  More tomorrow...God willing!

AND THEN...SHE LOST HER DAMN MIND

IN WHICH WE SUFFER FROM A TUESDAY DILEMMA....

Brace yourself, Dearies. 

What I'm about to show you is both shocking and completely predictable. 

I hesitate to do it, but I think the only way I am ever going to address the situation is to spinster shame myself into revealing....

Oh, the inhumanity!

The cube room studio has become a dumping ground.

(Pause for a hearty round of "Like we couldn't see THAT coming".)

I tried, I really did, but I have turned my little nook into a total disaster, and it is driving me to distraction. I don't dare step foot in there, and God forbid I need something stupid like a bigger q-snap or a new needle, because the chaos that is my stash makes me want to sit down on the floor and cry.

My plan for the day is to completely empty this room, re-organize it to within an inch of its life, and then spend some time sitting in the chair looking out the window and enjoying the fruits of my labor.

Or maybe...

I could sit on the couch and stitch this instead:

I'm three episodes away from being caught up with the Housewives, I've got eight movies taped that I'm dying to see, and there's always re-runs of something or other to capture my attention.

Oh, what is a spinster to do?

(Before you tell me to be lazy, understand that there are two other areas of CS2 to be done on Thursday and Saturday, so if I don't do the studio today I am setting myself up for guilt and recrimination of epic proportions.)

(Can anybody tell me why I do this to myself? You would think that by now I would have realized that I am old and broken down and tired and not the twenty-something year old gal about town who used to clean her entire apartment, go grocery shopping, and then out for dinner...all on a Saturday. Why am I beating myself up over one small space in an apartment that is otherwise kinda tidy? When am I going to learn that it's OK for me to be a patient and just sit on my heiney on days off, and not feel like I have to.....)

Dr. Melfi.  Paging Dr. Melfi!

Seriously, kids, I think I get like this because I feel completely terrified and helpless three days a week when I'm hooked up to that machine, and I'm trying to convince myself that I'm still in control of my life in some way. Control has always been a thing with me, and I guess I have just never learned to relinquish it.

(Except to Stewey, but that's a whole other therapy session for a whole other day.)

OK, enough. I'm going in.

If I'm not back in twenty-four hours with pictures of some form of success...call the authorities. (Just give me a geads up so I can get a bra and lipstick on).

Happy Tuesday, Dearies! Come tell me all about your corner of the world today!

SCENES FROM A SPINSTER SUNDAY...

SATURDAY SPINSTER BLISS...

Nails and toes painted by Yours Truly with a color called Brick Knit...

Living room tidy...

Kitchen clean...

Fridge and freezer cleaned and organized...

Ferns watered...

Now I'm going to make a big pot of Carol Jean's Chicken Stew, have a long hot shower, settle in to the Happy Chair and stitch my eyeballs out until the wee hours. I didn't get out of the big girl sleigh bed until noon today (!) but I think that extra sleeping and lounging were just what I needed. I am feeling better today than normal, so I want to enjoy every single minute of it!

Several of you asked me about my menu. I am making three things and then eating them throughtout the week, since Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are usually too rough to cook. Today I am making chicken stew. Tomorrow I am making goulash. Tuesday I am making tacos. I know, I know, heavy on the beef, but both are 95% lean and I need to up my protein. Besides...both goulash and tacos sound good to me, and I was told to eat what sounds good, since a craving indicates something I'm lacking.

(Yup...this works for chocolate too. If you crave chocolate, your body is telling you it needs zinc and magnesium apparently. I always though it meant I just wanted to not stab people in the head.)

The chicken stew recipe comes from my dad's cousin, Carol Jean. When my mom died, Carol Jean brought over a big pot of it, and I have loved it and made it frequently ever since. Chicken, potatoes, carrots, peas, onions...tastes like a chicken pot pie without the crust. What's not to love about that?

The goulash comes from my friend Cheryl's husband Mr. Mike. When I used to stay with them at their lake house, he would make this on cold Saturday afternoons, and I loved it too.  Stew beef, potatoes, carrots, tomato juice, and tons of paprika. I like it super spicy and eat it with rye bread and butter...just like Mr. Mike.

Tacos are tacos, Dearies. I don't do anything special here except eat them open faced, since I end up wearing them if I don't. I should just hit the Taco Bell drive thru and order a bag of them to go, but I am determined to stay inside CS2 for the next eight days and completely de-people myself.

So that's the report from a warmish and overcast Hoosierville today. I hope that you are enjoying your very own Saturday. Come tell me all about it!

EIGHT DAYS...

Mr. Spinster Jersey Boy Magoo is heading to Atlantic City to visit his mom, so I am going to have an entire eight days to my very self!

I do enjoy the pleasure of his company, but sometimes a spinster just needs a minute...you know? He's very handy for carrying things up the steps, or dragging me out to an event or sporting game, but we all know that I am very block-headed and agoraphobic and lazy and just want to sit in my twenty-six year old Happy Chair in my eighteen-year old sweatpants and stitch and watch the Housewives.

I've planned my menu, written my grocery list, reviewed my to do list, and plotted out the next eight days of...Spinster Stitcher bliss.

First thing on my to do list?

"Throw away to do list".

I will still have to come to dialysis Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but that's really the only "must" that has to happen. Everything else is completely optional.

I would like to clean and re-organize the cube room studio, but methinks that will only take place if the planets align just right and my poor left arm cooperates. It is just too darn swollen and sore to think about much, but I am doing all of the things the specialists have prescribed, and I'm hopeful.

Tonight will be pizza and the Netflix...or maybe Chinese food and an Outlander marathon. Either way, I suspect that it will take place in my jams, with the Magic Blanket and some stitching firmly in place.

We're off like a herd of turtles, Dearies! I hope you have a Fabulous Friday and a Wonderful Weekend doing everything that blows your skirt up and nothing that doesn't! Come tell me all about it!

PAGING JULIE CAYEMBERG, PAGING MS. JULIE CAYEMBERG

Miss Julie, I have your order ready to ship, but don't have any information for you. Please send me your mailing address, Dearie! My email is spinsterstitcher@aol.com. Thank you!

IN WHICH THE CHICKEN SISTERS MAKE A RETURN APPEARANCE...

I awoke to a lot of commotion out here in the living room, only to discover the Chicken Sisters, Eleanor and Josephine... fussing over their billfolds.

"You still owe me for the Valet", Eleanor said.

"No, I paid for the bottle service when you were in the mosh pit", replied Josephine.

"Well, how did I manage to spend all of the money I had in my purse?", Eleanor wondered aloud.

"Why don't you ask one of the SEVERAL DOZEN guys you invited back to our suite?!", bellowed Josephine.

I have absolutely no idea what the old gals have been up to, but I suspect that later today there will be phone calls and emails from credit card companies, hotel managers, and several dozen lovelorn fellows demanding an explanation.

(Fifty-two years old, and here I am acting as an incompetent supervisor of two geriatric chickens who live like a couple of horny rockstar teenagers with an unlimited allowance.)

I better go separate the two of them, or I'll be cleaning up feathers and chicken teeth for days...

Happy Thursday, Dearies! Do something fun (and less dramatic) and come tell me all about it!

HOOSIERVILLE...3:37AM

I suppose when one goes to bed at 8, it's only natural to be wide awake and in the Happy Chair at this hour, but I'm not sure I like it very much.  I really did try to stay longer in the big girl sleigh bed, but the more I tossed and turned, the more fretful I became, so here we are.

It's too early for a cup of damn good, so I'm contemplating a nice hot tea...maybe something herbal that will give me a few more hours of snoring away before I face the day. 

Although...it's raining at the moment, and the sound of it is making me pretty content to just sit here and listen to it pitter patter on the roof. 

The newspaper is already here, through what I imagine to be some miracle of science, but is probably just the placement of CS2 on the delivery route...but here nonetheless and ready to be contemplated. I know that I am probably the last person on the planet to do so, but I like an actual real live physical paper in the morning, instead of catching up with the world on this silly contraption.

Wait a minute...

I guess catching up with the world on this silly contraption is exactly what I'm doing at the moment in what can only be described as the mother of all ironies.

Happy Tuesday, Dearies. I hope you get to make some fun and mischief today! If it's not too incriminating, come tell us all about it!

MONDAY, MONDAY

Hello, and a cheery good morning to you, Dearies!

Can you believe it's October already? I just looked at the calendar thingie on my phone and realized that we're here already.  How the heck did that happen?

I feel like I stitched a fair amount yesterday, but don't have a lot of progress to show:

I suppose it doesn't help matters that the piece I'm working on is full coverage in this section:

But it's stitching nevertheless, and I'm super happy to have spent time with needle and thread in hand.

Buzzy is doing his thing at the moment, and I am contemplating a nice afternoon of Flosstube here in the chair, followed by a good dinner out on the balcony and then some TeeVee and stitching once the kitchen is back to order. Not exactly an exciting plan, but methinks it just might be a good one for an October Monday.

What's new in your corner of the world? Come tell me all about it!