UM...OK....THIS IS NEW.

In his eleven years, one month, and thirteen years on this planet, I have never seen Stewey sleep flat on his back like that.  Wonder if he's doing that to try to tan his tummy?!

"No, Mo-ther.  This is officially my pose of surrender.  Are we EVER going to get this place back to normal?  Now put down that wretched camera and fetch me my tea and toast."

BUCKLE UP, BUTTERCUP. THESE GIRLS ARE PLAYING BIG GIRL BALL.

If you happen to live in these here parts and know Martin's Supermarkets, then you know that they have some of the nicest people you've ever met working for them.  One if my favorites happens to be a guy named Mike.  I call him Mike the Butcher because...well...he's a butcher.

So Mike the Butcher had occasion to meet Misses Charlene amd Jane on Saturday, and when I happened to see him again today he mentioned how happy he was to see that I a) had actually found friends and b) that these ladies looked like they were definitely out of my league in the smarts department.

(Mike the Butcher gets a pass, since he has a very witty sense of humor and was just saying these things to tease me.)

(At least I hope that's the case.)

Last night, though, I really started to wonder if I'm repeating the "Thunderbird that really looked like a deranged chicken" incident of 1984, when I returned to Chez Spinster completely exhausted from my day and evening with Misses Jane and Charlene and the ladies of the guild.

These are women to admire and adore, I tell ya, and there I am just hoping to somehow fit in and hang with them without completely embarrasing myself right into more of a hot crock pot full of mess than I already am.

Thus the comparison to 1984... Senior year at Lima Central Catholic High School.  For the big game against our arch rival Shawnee, my BFF Valerie Murino and I got the bright idea to charge the field before the game as a fierce Thunderbird (our mascot) defeating an Indian (their mascot).  We planned out a little skit demonstrating a battle of epic proportions, and although we imagined what would be today's equivalent of the Game of Thrones Battle for Winterfell, the result was...eh....not so much.

I enlisted the help of my cousin Brian to build the fiercely fierce Thunderbird costume, and given the budget (which was probably loose change I fished out of my car) and the time frame (which was probably about fifteen minutes), the end result was more..."large spray painted foam chicken head perched on the shoulders of a portly and hopelessly uncoordinated idiot who insisted on carrying out this little extravaganza despite the dire warnings of the band director, the head football coach, and most of the St. Rita's Medical Center emergency medical staff."

But I did it, kids.  I was determined to hang with my team and show my school spirit, and in the midst of all of this, hope that my bravery, athleticism, and fearlessness in the face of certain humiliation would be enough to earn me a spot at the table with the cool kids.

I gotta tell ya....the class of 1984 has nothing on my Guild ladies!  These are some wickedly talented, funny, smart, and lovely women.  And when it comes to stitching, they play in a league all their own. There are cross stitchers and needlepointers and beaders.  Some of these ladies also quilt and sew and knit and crochet...some are great chefs...some are hardcore bike riders or golfers...some are business women or teachers or accountants or nurses...and some are professional artists.  Most are moms or grandmoms, some are not, and some are wives or girlfriends or widows or exes.

And then there's me...adjusting my big foam chicken head and plunging head first into anything they've got going.  I don't know if I am going to be able to keep up, and I don't know if I'll figure out how to not be such a babbling numbskull around them...chattering like a circus monkey that got into the liquor cabinet, but at this point...I'm just thrilled to be invited to play!

Stitchy updates soon, I promise.  I've had a little hiatus, but am totally reinspired by all of the fun stuff I saw at House of Stitches (and by the two new projects that made their way into my shopping basket.)  I'm thinking that I will plunge ahead with Twilight and see if I can't get it completed this week, and then I think it will be time for some cross stitch!

Happy Futzingday, kids!  Do something futzy and come tell us all about it!

(Aren't you glad I didn't call it Hump Day?!)

PRANCIE DANCING ON A COOL AND CLOUDY TUESDAY

I got to spend the morning with Miss Jane, and I get to spend the afternoon with Miss Charlene and the rest of the girls from South Bend's EGA as we head over to La Porte for dinner and a House of Stitches trip.

There is not a spinster on the planet who is happier than me at this point.

I received a very funny email from a reader of this here blog recently asking me if Misses Jane and Charlene are, in fact, real people or if they are imaginary friends.  After all, the reader wrote, I am a spinster with a talking Jack Russell terrier wearing a silk smoking jacket...so...you just never know.

First of all, can I just say that I am continually gobsmacked that there is anybody out there who actually READS this here blog, but who also takes the time to write to me and politely ask about my life?  Well, shucks...that's just so flattering and surprising to me that I get all mushy inside.

Yes, Virginia, both Jane and Charlene are real.  They are two of the smartest, kindest, funniest, most generously wonderful women you will ever meet, and I feel lucky to know them.  I have to say...all of the ladies in all three of the guilds that I attend are that way.  Not one bad apple in the bunch.

All in all, I would say that stitchers in general are a pretty swell bunch, no matter their ilk.  There must be something about this thing of our that makes it so, but for now I'm just happy to be a part of it, even if I'll never know exactly what it is.

Do something fun with your peeps, if you can, and come tell us all about them!

I LOVE IT WHEN A PLAN COMES TOGETHER...

I spent a few minutes planning yesterday, which usually means I struggle to find things to write in my book and then fret whether or not I have a sticker for it.

(It's a cult, I tell ya.  A big school and office supply cult of very very organized people.)

I started using an Erin Condren life planner last year and immediately fell into the cuteness of it all, but the probelm is...most people that use these planners have real lives and kids and jobs and things to do other than chase dust bunnies and Jack Russell terriers around the house.  True, it's been great to keep track of the umpteen million doctors' appointments I have in a week, but I was feeling kinda foolish to have this nice big fancy book with nothing in it.

And then this week rolled around and I actually had some stuff to enter!  Errands and calls and appointments and even a job interview!  Who could possibly be happier than I am at this moment to feel like a real grown up person?

WooHoo!

Still no stitching again last night.  Stewey and Bosco and I did a Game of Thrones marathon and I needed to sit up in the Happy Chair and really pay attention.  I felt very lost this season for some reason, so I wanted to get half a clue before the finale last night.

One last load of laundry to fold and put away and I am happy to report that every single solitary piece of clothing that I own (with the exception of the outfit I'm in now) is clean, folded, and properly hung/drawered/shelved.

Gee, if this keeps up I might actually get everything else done on the list this week!  Stay tuned...miracles can happen, you know!

EASY LIKE A SUNDAY MORNING

Yesterday was a shopping outing with Miss Charlene and  Miss Jane, so today is a recovery day.  These girls are professionals, I tell ya, and it was all I could do to just keep up with them.  Smart, decisive, no nonsense.  

(Me?  Not so much.  It took fifteen minutes to pick a canteloupe when I stopped at the grocery on the way home.)

(I really need to up my game if I'm going to hang with these girls, I tell ya.  This is varsity ball.)

No stitching to report. I don't know if it's the heat or some big decisions that I need to make that's making my brain want to grind to a halt and stay there, but hopefully things will resolve soon and I can get back to needle and thread.  I had hoped to pick up Twilight last night, but I was just too pooped to move.  

Speaking of too pooped to move...

(I just noticed that even Woodstock is too tired to sit up properly in the picture above!)

So Bosco's camped out on the perch.  Where's Stewey?

Where else would he be, but snoozing in front of his dahlia and basil.  

That's about it from this little corner of the world.  Steak and corn and tomatoes later for Sunday dinner.  I really hope I don't screw it up....been looking forward to a nice steak on the grill for about a month and a half!

Hope your Sunday is absolutely easy, too and that you are doing whatever it is you want to do today!

THAT'S WHAT I CALL A HAPPY CHAIR!

NO GO, GIRL.

Stupid, stupid, stupid Spinster.

I had absolutely no business whatsoever posting anything remotely related to the British departure from the EU, so my cheeky post that was here a minute ago has been deleted.

What the hell was I thinking?

Well, I guess I was trying to say "Good for you, British peoples for conducting this entire exercise as civilized, smart, passionate humans as opposed to bomb-wielding, fist-shaking, tyrannical, fire-breathing idiots who can't find a way to have a conversation, let alone hold a vote for citizen voices to be heard."

Truly...truly sorry to have offended anyone who was.  After a few minutes banging my head on the driveway, we'll get back to stitching and Happy Chairs and laundry and dog pee, I promise.

Cheers!

AAAAHHHHH, BACK IN THE COCKPIT ONCE AGAIN

The new colors for Twilight are just what I was looking for...watery, soothing, cool, and peaceful.  I am really enjoying my time with this one on the stretcher bars and seem to be slowing down quite a bit to prolong the happiness.

Nothing wrong with that, right?

We've had some wicked, wicked storms here in Hoosierville, but thankfully Chez Spinster has been spared so much as a leaf on the lawn or the lights flickering.  I was sure we were in for it last night and was contemplating heading to the guest bath for cover, but it passed pretty quickly and Ibefore I knew it, was wrapped up in Housewives.

I did, however, discover that little Bosco is simply terrified of thunder and lightning, so he and I huddled together and whispered to each other while Stewey snoozed...obliviously...nearby.  I told Bosco the story about the angels bowling, which is what my dad used to tell me during a storm.  We would sit in his chair together and Dad would say "OK, here comes a strike!" and then we would cheer like crazy while the house shook and the sky lit up.  (I never really did get a good answer about those lights...Dad said that the boss angel didn't know how to bowl, so he stood at the light switch and flippped it on and off so that he could feel like he was part of the fun, but I was suspect.)

Today is supposed to be a housecleaning and laundry day, but I'm not sure I have the energy for it.  I know that if I just buckle down and get it done I'll feel better, but the thought of all of that sweating and grunting and scrubbing and cursing makes me tired just thinking about it.  What the heck happened to the spinster that used to set aside four hours every Saturday to clean her house like an Amish woman?  I used to be able to do that, run errands, and still manage to go out to dinner and a movie!

Oh, wait.

I was also 22 years old when I did that.

This whole "learning to live with moderation" thing completely escapes me.  I keep remembering my friend Dr. Dan telling me to "Just find the grey, Coni!  Just find the grey!" in an effort to get me to stop careening from full throttle to comatose, but, what can I say?  I'm apparently a very slow learner.

So methinks today I will try to do a few things instead of many and I'll have a good soak in an epsom salt bath and I'll drink lots of water instead of Crystal Lite and then, blissfully, I'll get back to the Happy Chair for a little Thursday night stitching.

How about you?  What's on your agenda for the day?

A TALE OF THREE TUESDAYS

Spinster:

I slept, I went to the kidney doc,  and I stitched. 

 

Bosco:

My Aunt CJ gave me lots of cookies and I chased the chipmunk and I barked at the birds and I dranked water and tooted and then we went byebye in the car and I saw lots of dogs and cats and my special friend Miss Nekka cut my toenails and then we went to the McDonalds my very favorite and I had a cheeseburger with pickles but I couldn't play on the playground and I had a french fry but I don't like them and then I almost upchucked on the car seat and then I came home and watched cartoons and went to sleep.

Stewey:

My efforts to civilize this pathetic little family unit of mine go un-noticed and underappreciated.  After a quiet breakfast of tea and toast and a brief perusal of the Times, I set about trying to organize the day in a fashion befitting my inimitable sense of style.  I had hoped to book an appointment with my regular nail technician and sneak a mini facial and massage into the visit, but alas, we were relegated to attending what is uncharmingly called "Toenail Tuesdays" at the pet medical centre.  I found it extremely...undignified...all of that yapping and queueing like commoners.  And to be summarily hustled into a room and then chopped and dismissed without so much as a calming soak in a pedicure tub was just too much.  I indulged my little cousin with a brief trip through the local drive-through establishment, but would have surely preferred a lively little puttanesca and a whimsical Merlot instead of the "Happy Meal" that he wolfed down while bemoaning the lack of playtime in the monstrously colored plastic play space.  I checked on Mo-ther, snoring away in the big girl sleigh bed, donned a fresh smoking jacket, and settled in for a lovely evening with a novel and a little sherry before retiring.

TAP...TAP...TAP...IS THIS THING ON?

Hello, dear friends near and far.  

My mo-ther can't come to the blog right now, so I decided to pick up the ball and run with it today.  The old lady has been suffering from a case of the grumps lately and has not been feeling well, so I gave her a nice refreshing glass of juice with a little something "extra" in it and pointed her back to the big girl sleigh bed for a few minutes.

(We should rename that thing the big whiny why can't things just go my way tor once sleigh bed, but that's another story for another day.)

Life with Spinster has its moments...it really does, but I suspect that the real cause of our problem lies solely on the shoulders of my little "helper" in the screen shot above.  You see, I had a pretty good gig going here up until HE decided to move in, and now I have been relegated to my little bed in front of the window to contemplate my loss of world domination.

I get it...the poor little guy has nowhere to go, and despite my refusal to admit it, HE and Mo-ther really do have a very special bond.  I also understand that one must be a gracious host and treat guests with special latitude, but my patience is wearing very thin.  I was always top dog around here (no pun intended, I'm sure), and my fragile ego finds it hard to take a back seat.

My little cousin is tolerable, I suppose.  He is a bit daft, unfortunately, and does things that baffle one's imagination, but I am learning that his desire to play with plastic dog toys or roll in the grass are what most of his ilk are wont to do.  I, however, simply cannot understand his refusal to don a proper dinner jacket before wolfing down his Purina Little Bites, but that, as they say, is not my monkey...not my circus.

I continue to monitor things as best I can without staff.  Mo-ther has decided that we are to become a household sans butler, gardner, cook, and driver in an effort to belt tighten, but I am hoping that the subsequent exhaustion on her part in fulfilling all of these roles will quickly change her mind.  I know that she has been diligently looking for employment to return us to the manner of living to which I am accostomed, so there is hope that this little experiment in frugality will cease once and for all.

As for Mommie Dearest's physical capacities, she is most definitely on the decline, I'm afraid.  In my professional opinion, I think that age, illness, and stress are all plying havoc with her usual good cheer, thus landing her in rather hot water with her medical team.  I no longer have access to her chart ( since the prescription sedative debacle of 2007), but I think I overheard her fretting about some recent labwork that revealed an advancement of that damn kidney disease.  We will travel the .2 miles to the Nephrologist's office later today, and I promise to report back with any updates.

In the meantime, I have re-mounted a fresh piece of canvas on stretcher bars and re-selected thread colors for the poor dear's Twilight project.  As soon as she returns from her appointment today, I intend to install her in the Happy Chair with a nice tall glass of something cold to drink, and I'm going to take the little guy for a pedicure.

(On the way home, I think we'll stop at my tailor's and have him measured for a uniform.  He won't wear a silk smoking jacket, but nobody said anything about him not wearing a butler's apron.)

So that is the latest report, my dear friends.  I hope that you are all well and that you will come again soon.

With love from your pal,

Stewey

COLOR ME...FRUSTRATED

My Monday is off to an interesting start.  If this is what the rest of the week is going to be like, I'm going back to bed and am going to stay there, I think.  

So far I've managed to miss my morning paper delivery and then spend an hour trying to connect with subscriber services (their phones were down), Bosco decided to do his thing on the patio instead of in the designated spot in the grass (thus thoroughly disgusting Stewey who decided to almost step in it), a bird hit my front wondow with enough force to rattle the entire house (and then drunkenly get up from the mulch and fly away), and my coffee cup decided to splosh damn good coffee all over the front of my freshly laundered t-shirt (that I had just put on after a refreshingly cold scrubby shower that I thought would wake me up, but didn't...it just made me clammy and smelling of Irish Spring).

I spent a few sweaty hours up in the studio yesterday looking for the next perfect project to get me out of my bargello color funk.  I found a good candidate in the March/April issue of Needlepoint Now called Twilight.  I figured that this would be a good choice considering the success I've been having with Stickideen von der Wiehenburg's designs, so off we went to the thread drawers.

That must be when the wheels came off the bus, since my cool Watercolours Monsoon blues and greens turned into a muddy mess:

What the heck is up with me and color lately?  I get an idea in my head and think it's swell and then I end up executing a total disaster.  

I'm off, I tell ya.  Physically, mentally, stitchingly, spiritually, and emotionally.  Maybe it's the moon or the tides ir the heat or the solstice, or maybe it's just an accumulation of things that result in it being my turn to just say ... phooey.

But!  Don't cry for me Argentina!  I am happy to view this as a minor and temporary setback and quite trivial when taken in the context of things going on in the world, so I am determined to, as my grandmothers would say...."Connie Dough, pull yourself up by your bootstraps and get on with it".

After a bagel and some Crystal Light, I'm heading back up to that studio to try try again with the colors for Twilight.  I love the design and think it's just what I need to snap out of it, so a little asjustment followed by some frogging will be a small price to pay for stitchy nirvana.

Here's hoping that YOUR Monday is considerably less...fraught...than mine!  Do something fabulous and come tell us all about it!  WooHoo!

I MISS MY DAD

My Saturday went from blech to ugh and I managed to spend most of it in the big girl sleigh bed.  I had started to feel decidedly unwell on Thursday, but chose to ignore it completely in the hopes that it would somehow sort itself out.

Alas, it was not to be.  Such is the life of a kidney patient, apparently.  I haven't been very good at remembering that I am a flower of very delicate constitution and not, as I think I am anyway, the bull in a china shop that is usually able to power through a day of errands and laundry without having to pause for rest and sustenance.

So today I am in the Happy Chair at 7am pondering Father's Day and how much I miss my dad.  I think I am especially sad this year because it seems like life has gotten away from me a bit these last few months, and I'm pretty sure that if he were here, Bob Rich would be wondering what the heck happened to his happy, competent, optimistic, funny, lighthearted, fool of a daughter.

I can hear him now..."Just do your thing, CJ."  This is the advice that he gave whenever he knew that I was fretting over something big or small, and his confidence that I had it in me to know what "my thing" was usually got me right where I needed to be.  My dad was a kind and gentle and loving and generous man, and when Mom told me to find somebody just like him to marry...I knew I was completely and totally screwed, because I'm pretty sure they only made one of him.

I've known and loved a lot of wonderful men in my life...uncles and cousins and friends and one or two soulmates, and I'm blessed to have had a lot of father figures through the years provide me with guidance or help or insight, but there's really only one guy that was my dad.

Today I'm going to try to do things that will honor his memory...like putter around the house and watch a little golf and cook a great meal, and if the stars align just right, I'm going to do my thing and get some stitching done.

If you're missing your dad today, here's hoping that you'll find something that will bring you joy and peace.  If you are a dad...Happy Father's Day!

SATURDAY...BLECH

Yuckety yuckety yuckety.  I like the theory of my design, but not the execution.

Is it the colors?  The combination?  The varieagated?  Do I plow on?  Stop?  Drink tequilla?

I see some time up in the studio in my future.  Don't be surprised if this gets turned into one big fat doodle cloth.

LEARNING CURVE

I decided to try a bargello background instead of simple tent stitch.  I'm not sure if it will be too busy when the rest of the piece is complete, but I'm pretty much making this up as I go along.  

The good news is that I'm using a readily available perle cotton for that white-ish background, so if I end up having to replace it a short trip to the Michaels will solve the problem of running out of thread.

Stewey and Bosco are snoozing in the sun and I'm off to the laundry room and then the library.  We're trying to get into routine here at Chez Spinster, so it's back to lists and schedules.

(At least for today anyway.)

(Tomorrow will be a total crap shoot and all of my best laid plans will go right out the window.)

I am determined to re-live the summers of my youth one of these days.  Mom made sure we were up and out early...at the pool, on our bikes, out on the porch swings, or doing something fun.  Given my rotundity (even as a child), I was usually the one on the porch swing with a big fat summer book in my hand.  I went from Nancy Drew to Danielle Steele to Jackie Collins with a few classics thrown in there for good measure.  I think there was even a summer of bodice-ripping romances, and for some reason the name Kathleen E. Woodiwiss comes to mind.

I was lucky...my mom and dad never really censored what I picked up.  If the book was at all "controversial" like Judy Bloom's Forever, I could count on a kitchen table conversation about being a proper young lady and what the expectation was for me going forward as an adult-ish person, and how my mom would know what I was doing 24/7, no matter when I was doing it or where I was doing it.  So any ideas I had about becoming a "hotsy totsy" were pretty much squashed right then and there.  

But reading those big fat summer books...no matter how high brow or low brow was the highlight of my day, just like stitching is now.  One of these days I'll get really smart and combine the two by listening to audio books while I stitch, but for now methinks I'll just have to set aside time for both in between puppy wrangling and loads of underpants sploshing about in the laundry machine.

So here's to big fat summer books and porch swings and clean laundry and stitching!   The weekend is upon us, the sun is shining, and we're hurtling headlong right into it all.  Happy Friday, kids!

DO OVER

Hmmmm.  I'm not sure if I like v2.0 any better than v1.0, but for now it's going to stay right where it is.  I am worried about the thread coverage, though, so I might need to address that by re-thinking the perle cotton.

Today is cool and cloudy, which means I am going to enjoy it with an extra cup of damn good coffee and a book and some stitchy time later this afternoon.  I have an appointment and then a few errands to run, but before I know it I'll be back in the Happy Chair again!

(I swear, if I could figure out a way to put a steering wheel on this thing and motorize it my life would be complete.  This Happy Chair love affair is the longest relationship I've ever had, and despite its shabby brokendown appearance (and my shabby brokendown appearance too, for that matter) methinks we're in it for the long haul.  We both need a good scrubbing, though, so I suppose one if us had better get into the shower before we're late.)

Here's hoping that your Thursday relationships are all perfectly swell and that your needles are flying!  Do something fabulous and come tell me all about it!

DING DONG

The frog is at my door, wanting to come in for a visit with my bargello challenge.

I like the overall shape of my focal point, but the varieagated thread is not my friend here.  I think I'm going to go with solid colors in the four diamond shapes and then use the Watercolours in the corner sections.  The backgrund of the focal point (to fill in the square) will be light ecru tent stitch to give the eye a place to rest.

I suppose that this is why this piece is a challenge, no?  Learning to do new things is opening my tiny little brain up to the possibility that there might be another way to do something, after all.

*****************

I confess to fretting quite seriously over the recent events here in the U.S. and how I might write about them on this here blog.  I've composed a thousand different posts (in my head, anyway) about love and hate, guns and violence, good and evil, and why we just can't seem to get our proverbial act together, but all of my words seem very very...small.   

There have been 37 mass casualty shootings in the United States since I started writing in 2008.  

37.

Since 2008.

If you can find a way to wrap your head around that, then you're doing much better than I am.  For now, I try to understand it all and I send silent prayers for the victims and the families and those that are left behind.  And I also pray for the shooters to be...that something will shift in their mind and heart that will stop them from pulling the next trigger, and I pray that the smart people come forward and lead us to solutions that will end this crazyness once and for all.

So, please, dear friends, forgive me for blathering about stitching and pups and laundry and coffee while the world spins like crazy off its axis.  I'm not oblivious to the greater issues of the day...I'm just trying to make sense of things from the safe confines of the Happy Chair with a needle and thread for company.  

I don't have any answers...if I did I would shout them from my rooftop.  But what I do have is hope.  For now, I suppose, that's going to have to be good enough.

SMALL START

The bargello challenge is underway.  I managed to get my focal point established and a few light grid lines added.  This project is an EGA correspondence course designed and written by Gail Stafford.  Our group has joined another chapter in the Great Lakes Region for a multi-month effort, and we are each responsible for the design and color selection of our pieces.  It should be interesting to see all of the finished projects that the members create.

STUDIO TIME!

Tonight is Church Guild (*) night, so I decided to spend some time in the studio gathering my materials for the next project.  We're doing a bargello challenge piece, so I am pulling threads today.  My inspiration thread is Carol Watercolours in Nile Sundown....now all I need to do is coordinate some perle cottons and I'm good to go!

It's so peaceful up here.  Wonder how long I could stay before the boys wonder where I am?  It does get a little warm up here in the summer, hence the closed blinds and coverings on the skylights.  It's not too bad at the moment, but by about 3pm it will be a little toasty for my liking.

I hope that your week is off to a roaring start!  Happy Monday, kids!

Church Guild = EGA Elkhart (we meet in a church)

Grocery Guild = EGA South Bend (we meet in a grocery store)

Library Guild = ANG Hoosier Heartland (we meet in a library)

SUMMER PEACOCK SQUARE FEE NEE

Peacock Square

Stickideen von der Wiehenburg Designs

in the July/Aug 2015 issue of Needlepoint Now

18ct. mono canvas in ecru

Caron Wildflowers in Marigold and Canteloupe

Caron Impressions in 3022, 4013, 5032, 5142

Kreinik #12 braid in 029

WHAT HAPPENS AT HOOSIER HEARTLAND STAYS AT HOOSIER HEARTLAND

Don't worry, Miss Julia.

I've got your back.

.....

Your aching, aching back.

Love,

The Spinster Stitcher

P.S. This message brought to you by the National Arthritis Foundation.

SATURDAY SPINSTER BLISS

Bosco is snoozing on the perch:

Stewey is snoozing in the window:

And Spinster's bag is packed and ready for Library Guild!

Miss Charlene will be here at 9:30 to whisk me away to a very happy place indeed...a Saturday stitchy session with my ANG buddies at the library.  After a long week of the grumbles, this is just what the doctor ordered!  

(Nothing serious, kids.  The world was just a bit too much for me, so I did what any self-respecting agoraphobic hermit spinster would do in that situation...I went to bed, pulled the covers over my head, and came out when it passed.  Right as rain once again!)

It's going to be a scorcher in these here parts!  If you're knee deep in Summer also, stay cool and hydrated!

Woo Hoo!

FRIDAY FRIDAY

THURSDAY THURSDAY

WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY

TUESDAY TUESDAY

MONDAY MONDAY

SUNDAY SPINSTER BLISS

The studio is clean and organized now and I started this:

Instead of the blues, I'm using Wildflowers in Canteloupe and Marigold, and Impressions in 4013, 5142, 3022, and 5032.  I might also throw a Kreinik in there, but the jury is still out on that one.

This is from the July/Aug 2015 issue of Needlepoint Now.  I had so much fun with this designer in the Fall and Spring that I decided it was time to add Summer to the mix!

Happy Sunday!  Do something that makes your heart sing and your skirt blow right up!

PHOOEY

No stitching again last night.  

Can you say schlump schlump schlumpadink?

I thought I was going to play with something new, but then...nothing.

If I can, I'm going to put the world to rights again today up in the studio with a marathon organizing session.  I have piles and piles of stuff up there that I keep meaning to "get to eventually", so it looks like today might be eventually.

Onward and upward!

BACK IN THE BRIGHT PINK SADDLE

After only a few minutes up in the studio, I came down with this:

This is Orchid Maze from Ada Haydon and Susan Alanson.

I'm not sure how long it's been since I started this one, but I think it's been quite a while.  Think I can finish it this weekend?

The sun is shining, the birds are sweetly tweeting, and the boys are (blissfully) sacked out in front of the  patio window catching occasional glimpses of the squirrels at the bird feeder.  After a few chores and a wardrobe change, I'm heading to the Happy Chair for a little stitch therapy.

How is it in your neck of the woods?

FIDDLESTICKS.

Well, so much for a happy, peaceful evening in the Happy Chair.  Is it possible that I've used up all of my good stitchy karma for the year already and we're back to frustration, aggravation, and all of the other bothersome "tions" known to man?

I tried.  I really did.  But the Housewives were screaming, the boys were futzing, and I simply could not see a damn thing as I tried to make any progress on A Different View.  No matter what I tried...moving my stitchy light, using the white fabric thingie that Miss Charlene gave me, cleaning my glasses, praying a novena...nothing worked.  And the harder I tried, the harder I failed and the more Kreinik I had to rip out.

So...executive decision today.  I am going to put this back in its lovely little project bag, breathe, reboot, and head up to the studio to pick something else.  I am in no state of mind to fight with the one thing that is keeping me from entering that "special facility", so methinks a few hours pawing through my stash should set the world right again.

Stewey's theory is that we need a vacation, but mine is that I just need a minute to regroup.  So don't cry for me Argentina...all matter of things shall be well just as soon as I shake off this ickyness and move back into the land of rainbows and unicorns.

Woo Hoo!

AUDITIONING...

I lnow, I know...it's not framed yet, but I wanted to see what Bird in a Nest would look like here:

Speaking of birds in nests:

And then...there was Bosco: