ON THIS EDITION OF WHAT'S IN THE BASKET WEDNESDAY...

Stewey has decided to implement a new grading system here at Chez Spinster. Each evening, as we tuck ourselves into the big girl sleigh bed and discuss the happenings of the day, he gives me a grade with respects to my overall behavior.

(I did, however, notice that the grade is quite specific in that it only includes my behavior with respects to HIM, but such is the life I lead with Little Lord You Know Who.)

So as we drifted off last night....

STEWEY: I give you a C- for today, Mo-ther.
MO-THER: A C- !!! What do you mean?!!! I was perfect today and never once tapped you on the heiney with a wooden spoon!
STEWEY: As I've explained to you before, physical violence is never appropriate.
MO-THER: Violence? You think getting tapped on the heiney is violence? Try getting your behind spanked so hard that you end up thinking it's Tuesday for the rest of your life. I'll show you what a real spanking is all about....
STEWEY: Three words... Power. Of. Attorney.
MO-THER: Did I say spanking? I meant to say...um...come here my perfect precious little joy. Mummie wants to give you a proper night night kiss before you drift off to sleep. Have I told you I love you today? Have I told you that I think you're the most handsome, best behaved, and most lovable little dog on the planet? Oh, Stewey Dear, how I love you so. Please don't ever leave me.
STEWEY: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

(Today I am determined to get an A, if not an A+ for my mo-thering behavior. So far I've managed to make excellent toast, I've washed and fluffed all of Master Stewey's little blankets, and I've prepared a selection of fabulous little tea sandwiches for his afternoon snack.)

Since this is, after all, supposed to be a stitching blog and not the gentle ravings of a lunatic spinster, I do have some stitchy-related items to share. I spent a fair amount of time up in the studio yesterday futzing about, and I kitted up a few things to play with. Most have a decidedly Spring-y like feel to them, but there are a few that might take me into the Summer. I'm not going to put any kind of pressure on myself with these (kell soo-preese), but rather, I hope that I can just sit and enjoy them as our weather starts to straighten out here in Hoosierville.

Whenever I stalk (er, um, I mean read) Siobhan's blog, I always stop and marvel at her completed and framed seasonal girl series from Birds of a Feather. I started Le Printemps forever ago and had to put it down because I'm off by a stitch somewhere, but after a few hours of screwing around with it yesterday, I think I might be able to continue on: Spring Quakers is the piece that I've been stitching for over a month and a half now, and although I am still loving every single stitch, I don't want it all to end anytime soon. (How weird is THAT?). So I figured a few days away from it would stretch its finish out a little longer: This is the piece that Aunt Chrissy is working on presently. When she bought her chart and threads, she gifted me with a set as well. (Who's better than her, right?) It's Alphabets from The Drawn Thread: Y'all know how I've come to love me some Shepherd's Bush, and I think I've mentioned that Aunt Chrissy has loved SB for longer than she can even remember. She'll turn 40 on April 12th this year, and despite my very best plan to take her to Ogden as a present, it doesn't look like it will be this year. (Damnit, Gumby. I feel like a schmuck of the highest order about this one, and I swear as God is my witness I will get her there one day.) So I've added their Come Tarry kit to my basket as a reminder that I positively SUCK as a big sister and that the next time I even THINK about feeling like the matriarch of our stupid little family, I should remind myself that when it really came right down to it, I failed on all levels and that I should be taken out back behind the woodshed and smacked vigorously with a wooden spoon. I stitched the bunny chart from Blackbird Design's Easter Parade, so now it's time to do the flower basket: What would a Spinster Stitcher basket be without some Laura J. Perin love? Aunt Chrissy bought these very same projects recently, and because I can't seem to do anything without stealing her thunder, I decided to add them to my basket as well. I'm thinking that the Bargello Egg will be quite lovely to do this weekend, and that Daisy O'Hare will be a perfect girlfriend for the previously stitched Rusty O'Toole.

So there you have it....a basket full of goodies that should keep me occupied and off the streets for at least a little while. I intend to plant myself in the Happy Chair with one of them this afternoon while watching Any Human Heart again. I watched the entire thing last weekend, and loved it so much that I think I would like to watch it again. Could it be that I'm becoming addicted to all things writer-ly?

Happy Hump Day!

I hope you get an A+ in everything you do!