THIS ONE'S FOR YOU, BETTY.

A little more progress on Good in Everything by Rosewood Manor.  Stitching this in 28ct Cream Cashel with DMC floss as charted.

HOLEY SCHMOLEY...I FEEL LIKE I'VE WON THE LOTTERY!

WARNING TO BETTY...THIS IS NOT A STITCHY POST!

Psssst...is she gone?

Forgive me if I ramble a bit my dears, but I am just about as excited as I have ever been and feel like it was Christmas morning and my birthday all rolled into one today.

I met with Dr. Goggins, the head of the IU Transplant team, and he has agreed to take me on as a patient!  He would like me to lose a little more weight (which I am doing anyway), but he feels that we can move forward quickly and do a transplant in a few months if my sister is a good match!

If she is not a match for some reason, he feels pretty confident that I can still expect a new kidney sooner rather than later.  This would mean that I can by-pass dialysis altogether and go directly to transplant and start my life again....as long as I stay the course and try to keep what little function I have limping along.

(No biggie here...plenty of rest, good nutrition, lots of water, and avoid getting sick or anything that will give the beans a hit...like my beloved dietCoke!)

It took every ounce of self-restraint I had not to grab this man and kiss him full on the face, I tell ya.  It's been about 37 years of one bad thing after another with me and my silly life, and within five minutes he made up for almost all of it.

The next thing that will happen is tissue typing and some final tests, and then my sister and I will go to Indianapolis for education classes and more appointments with the team.

In the meantime, I am going to put my socks and shoes on and head over to the Grotto on campus.  I am 1000% convinced that the prayers and happy thoughts and good wishes that have come my way are what's made all of the difference.  I am sooooo blessed. 

So that is the very happy report from Chez Spinster on a Thursday night.  My bag is packed and I am ready to go to our two day workshop with Kurdy Biggs!  I'm so excited I almost can't stand it!

Ciao for now!

IN WHICH OUR SPINSTER GOES TO DINNER AND HAS A WONDERFUL TIME...

Our ANG group is hosting Miss Kurdy Biggs Her Very Self this weekend, so a few of us welcomed her to Hoosierville last night by going out to dinner.

Can I just tell you that I really don't think I could have had a better time if you would have put me in a chocolate cake shop with nothing but a fork, a glass of ice cold milk, and my Jersey boy for company?

Meeting a designer and having dinner with her stitching friends was just about the most wonderul evening this girl could have asked for.  I wanted to stand up at one point and holler "I've waited my whole life to find you people" but I got distracted by the pasta in a jar concoction that they were delivering to another table.

(I somehow managed to eat light in preparation for my big meeting with the transplant team today, but I can guarantee you that THIS spinster will be going back for one of THOSE jars.  Toot.  Sweet.)

But I digress.

Like I said...I was completely overwhelmed with a feeling of belonging and appreciation for how much being a part of this thing of ours has meant to me and done for me, and it occurs to me that I just don't say it enough.

Thank you.

Navigating my life would be impossible and unbearable without you, and your love, prayers, support, encouragement, and project enablement has been a true life line for me.  I have not one single solitary clue what I would do without you.

So here's hoping that your Thursday is off to a lovely start and that by day's end your needles will make you happy!  Hopefully I'll be back with good news tomorrow...

WHO KNEW SLEEPING COULD BE HARDER THAN DIETING?

So part of the mystery of my recent bout of meltdowns seems to have been solved.  In addition to the health, emotional, and other factors causing me to lose my mind, I got my sleeping out of whack.

And this, I can tell you, can put a person right over the edge!

In an effirt to triage, I now take myself to bed at midnight and have the alarm set to try to get me iup at the same time each day.  And if I need a nap in the afternoon (which I almost always do), I am trying to limit it to an hour or two rather than the full seven I used to do.

The only problem with this new schedule is that when you start stitching at 11pm because you bobbinated all evening, you don't want to go to bed at midnight.

So you cheat and finally force yourself to put the stitching down at 1am instead.

This adulting thing is for the birds, I tell ya!

Just a little progress, but progress nonetheless!

LET THE FUN BEGIN...

I bobbinized while watching Meet Joe Black.  Ninety skeins...ninety bobbins.  Having it all organized and tidy and in its very own little box...priceless!

Tomorrow I am going to get up, read the paper, do the puzzles, and stitch my eyeballs out!

SHOPPING MY STASH LIKE A BOSS, MY DEARS...LIKE A BOSS!

I just KNEW that box of DMC would come in handy one day!  I recently came across the chart Good in Everything by Rosewood Manor.  I was particularly struck by the quote:

And this, our life,

Exempt from public haunt,

Finds tongues in trees,

Books in the running brooks,

Sermons in stones,

And Good in everythiing.

--Wm Shakespeare

Talk about hitting something on the head!  So I got to thinking about starting it, and after a few minutes pawing through my stash, I came up with all but two of the called for colors and two different pieces of fabric that will work. (I pulled doubles of the floss because that's how I roll...but this does call for 90 different colors).  So now all I have to do is put my shoes and socks on and head to the Michael's for a whopping purchase of about a buck sixty and this will be completely kitted up!

(I'm going to stitch this on 28ct, so I needed a piece at least 18 X 27... which is the exact size of the lighter linen.  The roll is 20 X 24 and I could probably make it work, but I'll save that for another day.)

Who, I ask you, could possibly be happier than me?!

So that's what I'm doing today.  What's happening in your neck of the woods?

A LITTLE BIT OF THIS AND A LITTLE BIT OF THAT...

I did stitch over the weekend, and I even managed to tidy up the studio a bit in the process.  Thanks to Sir Elton and a vat of Crystal Lite, the chore was not at all a pain in my heiney.

Now if I have the same luck with the rest of the house we'll be in business!

I played with Flowers, Awake a bit, but got very frustrated with not being able to see the holes in the fabric very well.  It was dark and gloomy while I was with this one, so I'm hoping that a bright sunny day might give me another go at it.

Yesterday an old favorite came out of the basket.  I stitched a few snowflakes and started another motif while binge watching Grace and Frankie.

(I love that show...I really do, and the reunioin of Jedd Bartlett, Debbie Fidderrer, Leona Lansing, and Charlie Skinner just about does me in.  Four of my favorite actors from two of my favorite shows.  All we need is Meryl and JDM to drop by and I can die a happy spinster.)

(And maybe small cameos by Alec Bladwin and Steve Martin and Jack Nicholson just for a few giggles.)

So now I move on to something new...another Ink Circkes.  This one will be a little bigger than the Chalkboard Mandala, and the fact that it's called Bee's Knees makes me want to stitch it in bright summery colors.

So far, I think I'm leaning toward this combination...28ct Firethorn with Wildflowers thread in Painted Desert:

The spool of thread is an idea from Miss Crafty Curator Her Very Self.  I was watching her show on the Flosstube, and she explained how 12weight cotton Sulky thread is basically the same as two strands of DMC floss and that it might be a good option since you get soooo much on a spool.  She was specifically referencing Death By Cross Stitch as a candidate since that thing eats so much thread, so I thought I might start experimenting a bit.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Speaking of Dearh By Cross Stitch, I am rabidly following Miss Emily's progress at Ecclectic Possessions.  Miss Emily is the reason for my interest in Vaceila, and now I think I might chase her down the rabbit hole again with DBCS.  But is that creepy and stalkery...even for me?  I get so inspired and motivated by watching what you all are doing that I feel like I just want to jump right in and play, but is it impolite?

(What can I say?  I was always the kid in the lunchroom that wanted to sit with you and be part of the cool kids' stuff.  Once a tubby little nerd...always a tubby little nerd!  I'm harmless, really, and if my meds kick in and the moon is just right I won't chatter like a circus monkey.)

Promise.

OK.  Time to think about something for dinner.  I had an 8:00 ultrasound on my arm this morning, so my whole day has been...off.  Would it be so wrong to have my Vitamin Water and peanut butter bagel for dinner?

(The ultrasound went very well, and according to the surgeon, Buzzy has grown very nicely and will be perfectly ready for dialysis when the time comes.  I, however, am determined to avoid dialysis entirely and just go right to the transplant stage.  We'll see how the transplant doctor feels about that on Thursday!)

So that's the report for another Monday my dearies.  I hope that you are warm and safe and dry in your Happy Chairs with needles flying!

HAPPINESS ON A SUNDAY...

Sam Toft does it again.  I have been head over heels in love with her and the world she created with Doris (the portly Jack Russell) and the Mustard family from the moment I first laid eyes on them.  But this, I think, is my absolute favorite thus far.

Brava, Ms. Toft!  Brava!

NEXT STOP ON THE CRAZY TRAIN

Instead of stitching last night, I spent about four hours in the Happy Chair drooling over pictures of what I think might become my next rabbit hole.  I'm just in the discovery phase...looking at pictures and hunting for websites, but so far this looks like something that might be fun to try on those days when needle and thread are just not blowing my skirt up (which is almost never, but a girl likes to be prepared).  Besides...it's paper and a very few simple tools.  What's not to love about THAT?!

Added later...

OK.  Now I get it.  I've been sitting here trying to figure out why I'm so enamored with this...is it the colors?  The shapes?  Playing with paper?  What the heck is it that is drawing me to this?!

So I went to the Wikipedia and here is what I found:

During the Renaissance, French and Italian nuns and monks used quilling to decorate book covers and religious items. The paper most commonly used was strips of paper trimmed from the gilded edges of books. These gilded paper strips were then rolled to create the quilled shapes. Quilling often imitated the original ironwork of the day.^[1]

In the 18th century, quilling became popular in Europe where gentle ladies of quality ("ladies of leisure") practiced the art. It was one of the few things ladies could do that was thought not too taxing for their minds or gentle dispositions. Quilling also spread to the Americas and there are a few examples from Colonial times.^[2]

Many quilled art works can be found on cabinets and stands, cribbage boards, ladies' purses, a wide range of both pictures and frames, work baskets, tea caddies, coats of arms and wine coasters. Storage boxes, larger than most jewelry boxes with drawers and/or tops that opened, quilled lock boxes, and much more. Some items were specially designed for quilling with recessed surfaces. Quilling was also combined or married with other techniques such as embroidery and painting.^[

Hahahahahaha!  Nuns and gentle ladies of quality!  Yep!  That's me alright!

Well, at least now we know why I like this stuff...

IN WHICH OUR HEROINE NEEDS A MINUTE

Holy what have they been doing over at the McDonald's Batman!

After the week I had (during which I manifested eleventy-nine complete and total meltdowns) I decided to go to the Michael's to see about finally getting Vaceila framed, and on the way home I decided to splurge a bit and get a milkshake.

I was prepared for a gritty, lukewarm, semi-watery and powdered milkery resemblance of a milkshake from long ago that I used to get with BigMacs.

But this, I tell ya, is...sublime!

Chocolate Shamrock McCafe.

Who knew?

Oh, and P.S....it came with a cherry and whipped cream on top that didn't make it out of the parking lot.

CHALKBOARD MANDALA FEE NEE

Chalkboard Mandala

Ink Circles

28ct. Valor by Picture This Plus

GA Lagoon two over two (5+ skeins)

This was an absolute joy from start to finish.  I really wish you could see the varieagation of the thread better...it is a delicious range of deep blues and greens.  

Next up?  I'm toying with the Shepherd's Bush Heart of my Heart piece.  I also have a few other Ink Circles charts that might make an appearance, or a Rosewood Manor, or maybe I'll go back to Patricia Printemps.

In between all of this cross stitching will be a two day class with Miss Kurdy Biggs of Threedles fame.  Kurdy is coming to teach two pieces to my Library Guild, and I am so prancypants excited about it I almost can't stand it!

Such a lovely dilemma to have on a gorgeous Friday, no?

Whirlwind appointment with my kidney doc this morning...looks like I am holding my own and can keep limping along without dialysis a bit longer.  I'm now officially Stage Five, which is End Stage Renal Failure, but until I just can't take it anymore we're going to stay status quo.  Buzzy is doing his thing and will get checkups next week and the week after, and seems to be ready to answer the call when needed, bless his little self.  Finally...will meet the transplant surgeon on Thursday to start the journey toward a new kidney.

Many of you have asked how/why I got kidney disease.  The truth of the matter is that we have no idea where it came from, but I have a theory.  I was born and raised in Lima, Ohio and lived within a few miles of one of the largest petrochemical refineries in the country.  (You can do the math on that one).  

But I am absolutely sure that 94% of my problem is that I never learned how to manage STRESS, and took worrying, fretting, and mulling to a whole new level.  The first thing to burn out was my thyroid (cancer in 1991), then my gut (Crohn's in 1995), and then finally the kidneys in 2002.  

Serious, relentless, mind-numbing, bone-crushing, soul-killing stress.

And there I was in the middle of all of it with my perky little smile, a thousand "I'm fine, thank you, how are yous?" and nothing but my wits to see me through.

Epic. 

Fail.

But!  All of this has given me a purpose in life...which I will fulfill as soon as I can stand up and wear pants and lipstick without needing a seven hour nap.

I am going to make it my life's mission to save people from themselves, vis a vis stress.  I'm hoing to write a book or go on a lecture circuit that will show people what stress can do to a body (and mind) when it's aloud to run amok.

My Dad tried to tell me..."CJ", he said on more than one occasion. "You have GOT to learn how to only worry about the stuff you can control and let the other stuff go.  If you don't, it's going to drive you nuts or kill you."

Yup.

So...with needle and thread in hand, an army of well-trained professionals at the ready, and you, my very dear and faithful friends...I march onward into happy, healthy, stress free oblivion!  

Can somebody pick up a couple of cheeseburgers for the trip?  

Reading: A Book of American Martyrs by Joyce Carol Oates

Writing: this here blog and a Target list

Drinking: a cup of coffee with Truvia and a splash of cream; ice water with lemon ice cubes

Eating: a tuna sub with tons of veggies

Stitching: Chalkboard Mandala by Ink Circles

Watching: stupid Housewives...all varieties

Obsessing: paper quilling; Death by Cross Stitch; Flosstube; kidney transplants; lap frames; sleep schedule; apartments; housecleaning; sisters; Jersey boys; perimenopause; grief; bbq chicken pizza; binge-watching Netflix; tunic tops with leggings; to do lists; Michael's framing; mental health (due to obsessing)

Missing: Stewey; Mom; Dad; my sanity

STILL CLOSING...

HOW IT FEELS INSIDE MY HEAD TODAY...OR WHY THEY REALLY SHOULD MAKE PILLS FOR THIS

Scene: A big girl sleigh bed somewhere in the Midwestern United States.  A portly yet lovable spinster lies flat on her ample back at 4am talking to the ceiling.  Copius tears fall from her bloodshot and puffy eyes and make their way to her pillow.  She hiccups into her eighteen year old sweatshirt.

"Hello?  Is anybody up there?  It's me.  You know.  The one who can't seem to find her way out of a damp paper bag with two hands and a flashlight.  I haven't been doing very well lately, and I think I am either losing my mind completely, have a brain tumor the size of a sofa cushion, or I am, at the ripe old ago of almost 51, finally stepping into the living room of menopausal hell.

My logical brain tells me that this is all normal and that the combination of physical, emotional, and environmental causes are wreaking havoc on my equilibrium, but my logical brain can't come to the phone right now.  It's tied up in the cargo hold of this airplane full of puppies and orphans that I am trying to fly through a hurricane.

The co-pilot is drunk, they ran out of peanuts and complimentary pretzels an hour ago, and for the life of me, I can't tell if that big black thing looming in the distance is a mountain or the escape hatch that will eventually open and let me off of this crazy thing.

In the midst of all of this there is laundry to do and teeth to brush and appointments to attend, and every now and then I slap on some chapstick and pretend to be a real person for a minute.  I get emails and cards and letters and notes and comments from the most incredible people on the planet, and I breathe in the love and support from every single one of them like oxygen.

I count my blessings, I really do, but sometimes the counting comes with a whole heap of guilt and shame that I just can't seem to suck it up and remember that there are (literally) millions of people out there in the world with real problems and that most of them would be happy to trade places with me.

But I'm trying not to do that too much, because guilt and shame never did anybody any good...especially not a girl like me who just tried to live a small and happy life.  I haven't cured cancer or solved world peace or brought food to the starving masses, but isn't it enough to just try to be a nice person and not be the boss of anybody except yourself?

So that's where I am at the moment.  Processing and mulling and grieving and agonizing and worrying about things both big and small.  Tomorrow I will haul myself out of this bed and try it again, and if we're lucky I'll take a bath and eat some peanut butter and will stitch all the things.  

Thank you for this day.  Thank you for Mom and Dad.  Thank you for Stewey.  Thank you for Bosco and Chrissy and all of my family and friends.  Thank you for my house.  Thank you for my blog. Thank you for my stitching.  Thank you for a fridge, freezer, and pantry full of food.  Thank you for my health.  Thank you for my education.  Thank you for all of the gifts and blessings that make this such a happy life.  Please forgive my sins.  Help me to be brave and kind and true, to be the light in someone's darkness, and to know that it will all work out according to your plan.  Amen."

With that, the portly yet lovable spinster turns out the light, pats her little dog's daisy box good night, and finally closes her eyes.

The End.

CLOSING IN...

TUESDAY BLUES...

Not as much progress last night as before, because I came to the final episode of West Wing.

Can we talk for a minute?

It's no secret that I am a bit nuts, but the last month or so of out of my head weeping has GOT to go.  I've watched the West Wing series at least nine times, but every time it's over I am left bereft and in a massive puddle of tears and damp hankies.

Last night, though, was a total meltdown of epic proportions.  It ended with me...sitting on my bedroom closet clutching Stewey's little robe and bawling my eyes out like a deranged two year old having a tantrum.  (I think I wandered in there to change from my sweats into my pajamas and the sight of his little robe sent me right over the edge, but I'm not exactly sure.)  All I do know is that I finally made it to the big girl sleigh bed at 4am hiccupping with eyes swollen shut and a blotchy face.

When I finally made it to the coffee pot today I decided to place a call to Melfi...my mental health guru to ask her just what the heck I could do about all of this. (Yup...here's my big confession for the day.  I have been talking to Melfi for about a year to try to make sense of my stupid life.)

(It was either that or a stroke from all of the stress.)

(I opted for an hour or so every few weeks instead.)

So Melfi listened carefully as I explained that I am over the proverbial edge and round the proverbial bend and then she calmly and soothingly told me to just...be.  And if that meant that I ended up on the floor of my closet watering the front of my t-shirt with snot and tears...so be it.  She also reminded me that I have quite the Bermuda Triangle of crap happening to me at the moment...some of it very real, some of it physical, some of it circumstancial, and most of it in my head...but that it was happening nonetheless and the only thing I could do was control how I reacted to it.

Ahhhh, control.  My evil, evil nemesis.

There isn't one single solitary lousy rotten stinking thing in my life that I can control right about now...except this:

So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go wash my face and brush my hair and eat my bagel and get on with it.  I have Grocery Guild tonight, and I am so looking forward to seeing my stitchy sisters, having a laugh or two, and controlling the Bejeezus outta some linen and thread, I almost can't stand it.

Thank you for listening.  It's not often that I reveal my soft underbelly (despite the fact that it is about as big and obvious as a Buick), but I figured that, if nothing else, you would feel like a successful, well-adjusted, brilliant rock star by comparison.  No need to thank me, kids...just here to remind you that every village needs its idiot and yours is just happy to be of service!

HOW THE HECK DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING?!

Wasn't it just Monday, Monday a few minutes ago?  It seems like every time I turn around another week and weekend has flown by.

Three marathon stitching nights have produced the following progress:

I really wish I could adequately capture the color of this.  I am being a very good girl and pulling two strands and stitching with them, rather than just one and folding it in half to use the loop method.  I realize now that doing it properly really allows the varieagation of the thread to show.

Spent some time on the YouTube last night trying to learn how to begin and end threads differently.  I would like to learn how to do everything on the top of my work so that I don't have to constantly flip over to the backside...thinking ahead to diaylsis tme when I might need to really immobilize my arm and need to reduce moving it.

Today was grocery day and I am re-stocked with provisions for the next few weeks.   I still don't have any appetite at all, but I did manage to get some good stuff to at least make sure I get a little nutrition...honeycrisp apples the size of softballs, brussels sprouts to roast with shallots, and my NewYork bagels to have in the morning with crunchy peanut butter!  At the moment, I have a chicken breast cooking away in the toaster oven...I figure I'll put that on top of a little pasta tonight with a little spinach salad on the side.

Hmmmm...between all of this healthy stuff and the gallons of lemon water I'm guzzling you'd think I was some kind of health nut instead of a portly spinster in need of a cheeseburger!

Hope your week is off to a good start...here's to another Monday!

YUP...SATURDAY NIGHT WAS ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT!

Thanks for your lovely thoughts about my Stewey Little.  Yes, I am still moving his little box from room to room with me throughout the day.

Wouldn't this make a pretty stitchy design?

FRIDAY NIGHT WAS ALRIGHT FOR STITCHING...SATURDAY WILL BE TOO!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

ME LIKEY!

This is my first experience with an Ink Circles design, and so far I am loving it!  There is something very nice about using all one color and not having to fuss with multiple changes, and the chart is a dream to read.  When completed, this will be relatively small...about 8X8 total, so that means that I will have to find a HUGE one to do next so I can really go crazy.

Spent some time on the Heaven and Eart Designs site today.  Hmmmmm.  Wonder if I will fall down THAT particular rabbit hole?

OK...enough procrastinating.  That guest room is not going to clean itself no matter how hard I may wish it to be so.

Onward!

A NEW START ON FUTZINGDAY

The bills and paperwork are completed, I am clean and shiny after a hot scrubby shower, the dishwasher is empty and re-loaded, and I'm twitchy for a new start.

What better idea than Ink Circles Chalkboard Mandala on Valor linen with the new Lagoon Gentle Art?

The colors are much more vibrant, I promise.  Alas, me and my craptastic photographic skills...I just can't quite caprite it.  Think minty/subtle olive grey green and deep dark blues and teals...

Hope your very own Futzingday is swell amd that the Ides have passed peacefully....

P.S.  No cleaning yet...I wanted to get all of the other stuff done before jumping in Thursday through Sunday.  I'm only going to tackle three rooms, but I want to give myself plenty of time to procrastinate further before calling in the professionals😁

UP AND AT 'EM!

I have a few appointments and several errands today, so I am up and showered and ready to go.  The sun is shining, the snow is glistening, and the birds are sweetly tweeting, so I suppose life is pretty good here in Hoosierville.

Thanks to Miss Sue J for reminding me to turn my project upside down.  I had a big fat DUH moment last night when I did so and was able to stitch with ease.  I don't know why I didn't do that on Sunday...it has always worked in the past for me, but I must have just been having a moment.

Tomorrow will be budget, bill, and paperwork day, and then the rest of the week will be devoted to some serious Spring cleaning.  I am going to start in the guest bed and bath and will work my way out. 

Gee...you would think that I'm almost normal with my errands and plans and to do lists.  Wonder when THAT happened?

Hope your Tuesday is swell and that if you're getting any weather you are warm and safe and dry with needles flying!

MONDAY...MONDAY

I've named my Spring girl piece "Patricia".

(Pronounced "pa treet see ya").

So far, Patricia is one big pain in my heiney today.  I fussed and frettered with her q-snaps last night, and even gave her some pretty fabric strips to protect her stitches, but I just couldn't get her situated comfortably to get to that left side.

I'll try again, but if she doesn't behave herself...I'm going back to Winter Quakers!

Mother Nature agrees with me:

So that's the report for today.  Fussing and frettering and stitching and drinking hot tea.  I have Church Guild tonight but am not feeling quite well enough to go, so methinks I will cocoon a bit and sit this one out.

Hope you are all well and warm and safe and dry in your little corner of the world.  Happy Monday!

WHAT'S IN THE BASKET ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON

1. I think that the designer of this painted canvas is Patty Mann:

I need to figure out a stitch and threads for the checkerboard border and then this will be finished after some loooong years!  I am leaning toward black ultrasuede squares sewn on,  but am at a complete loss for the white squares.  (Suggestions welcome!)

2. This is a painted canvas by Cooper Oaks:

I'm thinking of doing everything in tent and doing the flowers in ribbons.  But that would mean that I would have to learn to do ribbon work!

3. Poppers by Needle Delights Originals...counted canvas:

4. This is definitely one of my very oldest WIPs...Big Zipper by Bent Creek:

5. I thought I was going to re-start this next one on different linen and had selected a light grey that I thought would look better, but now that I've seen Picture This Plus's Wren, I keep thinking that it might be a lovely alternative.  This is Alphabets by The Drawn Thread:

6. Flowers Awake by Rosewood Manor on Barnwood linen:

7. And my progress on Printemps by Birds of a Feather. Getting there, surely but slowly!

I had a marathon planning/paperwork session at the dining room table today to try to get a little more organized.  If I can manage it physically, I am going to start some Spring cleaning this week.  If I stick to my plan, I will celebrate my birthday (which happens to fall on Good Friday this year) with a spotless house, purged closets, sparkly baseboards and windows, and a tidy studio!

Pray for me, kids...this is going to be rough!  I do promise, though, that if I can't handle it (which I will know tomorrow morning after about fifteen minutes), I'll call for help and get an army of trained professionals in here to do a proper job of it.

I'll leave you with a picture of Bubba...my sippy cup.  I received my fancy new silicone ice cube trays from the Amazon and think their big cubey-ness is swell!

One of these days I'm going to pick up a few more of these sippy cups from the Targets so I might give this one a rest.  He's in continual use, and has so far managed to hold up pretty well with nightly scrubbings, but I should probably have a back up!

So that's the report for the day, my dearies.  Only one ugly cry so far, so I might be making progress. I was fine until I opened the ziploc of turkey bacon to use on my sandwich and waited for Stewey to come around the corner for a piece.  I swear, he could be sound asleep in his little fort under the bed and still hear that bag opening to bekon him to the kitchen!

Oh, how I miss my BabyDear....

Here's hoping that your Sunday has been swell.  I am going to get back to The West Wing and stitching!

IN WHICH OUR HEROINE GOES TO LIBRARY GUILD, EATS A REUBEN, AND GOES TO HOUSE OF STITCHES

We had a stitch-in at the library today, and as a pleasant surprise, a trip over to LaPorte to House of Stitches and Christos for lunch.

I didn't really "need" anything, but when has "need" really had anything to do with it anyway?

Here's my little haul...all thanks to inspiration from Flosstubers like Miss Danielle, the Stitcherista:

The thread is a new color from Gentle Art called Lagoon, and it is the most lovely mixture of deep blues and greens and teals you can imagine.  I'm going to use it on the piece of 28ct Valor from Picture This Plus to stitch the Ink Circles piece.

Pretty, huh?

I couldn't resist the shepherd's Bush kit called Heart Of My Heart.  It reminded me of Stewey enough to put me right into an ugly cry in the q-snap aisle, but after a few minutes getting it together in the powder room, I was good to go.

La-D-Da's Fraktur Flowers and Blackbird Design's Spring Fever will both be stitched on Picture This Plus Wren, but alas, Miss Linda had to order it for me.

In the meantime, progress continues on Printemps.  I am working the wavy lines of her dress and hope to have that much, at least, completed soon.

More tomorrow, I promise.  I re-basketed my basket with fun stuff, so maybe to,orrow we'll have a little  What's In Your Basket episode.

Hope your Saturday is swell!

FRIDAY BLECH EE ER.

I really don't have anything to complain about.

I am warm and safe and dry, my fridge, freezer, and pantry are all full, my Happy Chair is still standing after twenty five years of hard use, and I managed to stitch for a few hours last night while watching more West Wing.

What could I POSSIBLY have to feel blechie about?!

I suspect that it is hormonal, seasonal, and related to my poor little kidney beans doing their level best to just keep doing their thing.  I don't know that I feel bad necessarily...I just don't feel...good.  (I think I used to refer to this as out of sorts, in sixes and sevens, or, as Stewey would say..."You've got a case of the mean reds, Mo-ther.".

So I am remedy-ing it by soaking in hot epsom tubs, eating good healthy food, drinking lots and lots of water, and reading, writing, stitching, cooking, sleeping, and blogging.  I froze lemon slices in a muffin tin to make big huge ice cubes, and the very sight of seeing them bobbing about in my sippy cup makes me a happy girl.

I finished The Tyoewriter's Tale and started The Eastern Shore by Ward Just...both very good in my humble literary fiction loving opinion.  I also discovered a trio of books...The Invisible Library, I think, that I might try when the current stack runs out.  

So that's the report for today.  I'm sorry it's not all sunshine and rainbows and unicorns today, my dearies, but I'm hoping that YOUR corner of the world is full of all three!

Onward!

THURSDAY BLECH

I avoided the flying timberdoodles by spending the day in bed.  I'm out of sorts, I tell ya, and just can't seem to get one foot in front of the other.  So rather than ponder it, fret about it, and bemoan it, I have decided that the best thing to do is to grab my book, a blanket, and find the big girl sleigh bed.

Alas, there was not one single stitch of stitching to report, my dearies, but don't worry...I'll hit it again soon.  Today, though, methinks I might just try to be me for a bit...with all that entails.

A FUTZINGDAY PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE SPINSTER STITCHER, HER VERY SELF

I'm not sure what, exactly, flying timberdoodles are, but now I know to watch out for them.

Flying timberdoodles.

Where's Stewey and his snarky little witicisms when you need them?

A LITTLE SLOW DOWN

After two marathon days of stitching over the weekend, my Monday night progress was...less.

I was at the grocery store when my next project hit me...right there in the pasta and rice aisle.

"Printemps!", I hollered.

 (And may I just say right here and right now that I really am very truly sorry that my outburst caused a Real Housewife of Granger to drop her Louie and run for the exit like her hair was on fire.)

(I didn't mean to cause a fuss...I really didn't.  But when inspiration strikes, one must be prepared to celebrate it.  Mustn't one?)

So after groceries were put away and the kitchen was tidy and the nap and dinner dispatched with care, I hit the Happy Chair.

The sum total of what I accomplished is that wavy line at the bottom of her dress.

Phooey.

I did, however, manage to watch another six episodes of West Wing and paint my fingernails to match my toes.

(Coke bottle green looks much better from a distance and when it's covered by shoes and socks, so methinks there will be a re-do of said nails to something a little less...blech...this afternoon.)

So Printemps it is.  At least for the moment.  I still haven't had my studio day, and heaven only knows what treasures are to be found up there!

Here's hoping that your Tuesday is off to a lovely start!  Come tell me all about it!

OOOOO, I DID IT AGAIN!

Promise of Spring

Silver Creek Samplers

28ct Tarnish by Picture This Plus

GA Oatmeal, Pine, Summer Meadow

CC Black Coffee

WHOOOO WHEEEEE!

Twelve hours.

I sat in my Happy Chair yesterday and stitched and watched West Wing for twelve hours.

It was absolute bliss, I tell ya.  Just.  Bliss

Progress on the above.  I'm stitching this on 28ct Tarnish from Picture This Plus, which is a lovely greenish grey. I'm having a little trouble with the darker color, but am determined to not let that stop me!

As soon as I finish the paper and my damn good cup of coffe (and have a nice long soak in a bubble tub), I'm goiing to get right back to it!

Happy Sunday to one and all!

FLOWERS FEE NEE!

My Heart Is Filled With Flowers

Carolyn Manning Designs

28ct Sprite cashel from Picture This Plus

DMC floss as called for on the chart

I must confess that this was an absolute delight to stitch from start to finish.  I am even more delighted that I was smart enough to abandon my idea of changing all of the colors, since the designer's colors really are very very pretty.  I did change the linen, but thanks to Miss Joy the selection was perfection!

Look at me...gettting all poety on a Saturday!

As soon as I finish my damn good cup of coffee, do the puzzles, and fold a load of laundry, I am contemplating a studio day!  Maybe even a studio weekend!  It feels like ages since I just had some fun up there...so let the games begin!

SPA DAY

I spent a wonderful few hours at the salon getting puffed and fluffed yesterday, and then I came home and finished the flowers in the heart...now it's on to the leaves!

My toes are a sparkly light green color from OPI called Visions of Georgia Green...it looks like the green of a Coca Cola bottle!  And, as soon as the mail gets here, I will have a bottle of it from Beyond Polish.com to be able to matchy match my fingers!

I'd show you my haircut, but I mooshed it in my sleep and haven't fixed it yet today.  Miss Brandi is truly a genius, I tell ya!  

The sun is shining today...thank goodness.  I slept a full twelve hours last night and Stewey was there for almost all of it, and I awoke with my face in the sun.  A very good start to the day, indeed.

GETTING THERE...SURELY, BUT SLOWLY

A FUTZINGDAY REVIEW...

READING:

WRITING: My next column for Needlepoint Now and this here blog.

STITCHING:

COOKING: Probably nothing today...leftovers are calling.  But goulash will be on the stove tomorrow!

SLEEPING: A bit fitfully and too long.  I had two bad dreams last night that made me wake up crankier than usual.  Phooey.