STITCHING AND FEASTING AND GROUNDHOGS, OH MY!

We had such a lovely time of it on Saturday stitching with Miss Myrtis and Miss Charlene.  I sometimes forget how perfect an afternoon can be when it's spent in the company of like-minded friends who don't  mind that I'm a nutball of the highest order.

There's been a fair amount of rain and thunderstorms in this area lately, so in an attempt to batten down the hatches, Stewey and I moved all of the patio crap into the corner and hoped for the best.  I was reading the paper and getting my wits about me the other morning when I heard a little scritch-scritching on the patio window.  I thought it might be Stewey trying to clean the glass to improve his view of his daisy, but alas, it was our new friend....Gretchen Gandolfini:

Isn't she swell?  Stewey wanted to invite her in for tea and toast, but I thought it would be better to just chuck a big piece of broccoli out into the back forty in hopes that she would get the hint and relocate.

She did.

He'll get over it eventually, I'm sure, but in the meantime, all I hear coming from the general vicinity of his perch is a lot of kvetching over the fact that I never let him have friends over to entertain in the manner to which he (and Martha Stewart) have become accustomed.

Damn dog.

I'm really happy with the progress I've made on the Rishfeld canvas.  If you would have told me a few years ago that there would come a time when I would stitch the same thing for months on end, I would have thought that you'd fallen down and smacked your little head on the pavement.  What the heck happened to that schitzo-stitcher who flitted from thing to thing to thing with her hair on fire?

Ahhhhhhh, maturity.

The sunflower in the corner is complete, but for a few beads in the center:

(I know that there are areas of open canvas here, but I kind of like it that way.  The paint color is really lovely and has a bit of sparkle to it, so I ask you, would it BE so wrong to just leave it alone?)

The big central flower is coming along.  I'm still not too sure about those outer petals, but given my new attitude, I'm not above trying a few different things before settling on the final stitch:

So that's the report from Lake WoeBeSpinster, kids.  We're back in the Happy Chair today armed with a marathon of Magic City and a ham sandwich for sustenance. 

What's new with you?