JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE...

I think I need to re-name this the "squirrel" project.

Every time I sit down to play with it, I seem to get distracted by something shiny.

Today will be a quiet day.  Labwork and a few errands and then a nap.  I feel a bit punk today, but know that it is probably just a hemoglobin issue again since I am due for a big fat dose of Aranesp on Friday.  Hopefully it will kick in just in time for me to enjoy the holiday weekend.

My heart and prayers are with the folks in the flooded areas of the US, and if anybody out there knows of someone in need of shelter for a bit (and they can get to Indiana)...my house is yours. I would invite y'all to come to CS2, but it might get a little crowded in the big girl sleigh bed.

That's about it for today, Dearies.  I hope that your Wednesday is swell and that you'll do something fun.  Don't forget to come tell me all about it.

MONDAY HANGOVER

But not the kind you normally think of.  This is me, after all.  The healthiest sick person on the planet, who behaves as though she were a triathalon training nun on an organic kale farm.

Nope, my hangover is of the TeeVee variety.

I binge-watched twenty-four episodes of Billions in the last week and came to the conclusion of Season Two at about 11:00 last night.  If you've never seen or heard of it...it is a series on Showtime  that takes place in the financial/legal world, and it's like watching a big fat complicated chess match.

I don't know how to play chess, and that world is completely foreign to me, so by the time an episode is finished I have a headache from trying to keep up.

But it's riveting stuff and I can't wait to see what happens in Season Three.

And if that weren't enough for my tiny little brain to handle...I decided to watch the season finale of Game of Thrones...yet another chess match and story line that has kept me totally enthralled.

Needless to say, not much stitching was accomplished.  I think I finished about three little blocks on Poppers before I realized that my attention needed to be 100% focused on the darn TeeVee.

Today is paperwork, budget, and bill paying day.  I will sit at the kitchen table and shuffle paper around until my eyes cross and then it will be time for a nap.

Hope your Monday is swell and that your very own week has started on a good note!  Do something fun and come tell me all about it!

IN WHICH POPPERS COMES BACK OUT TO PLAY

It was almost 9pm before I put needle in hand last night.  I spent the better part of the day looking at my WIPs wondering what would blow my skirt up, and nothing really did.

Poppers did the trick, though, so I think I might stick with it until completed.  Only six rows to go, after all!

Poppers

Needle Delights Originals

18ct mono canvas

Watercolours, Vineyard Silk, Kreinik

P.S. WEEK FIVE...NO NEW YORK TIMES AGAIN TODAY.

WOULD IT BE SO WRONG?

Do you suppose I could just leave all of these out like this?

I've had a three hour nap, a turkey sandwich, and now I'm contemplating a long hot bath before getting back to stitching and Billions tonight.

SATURDAY SPINSTER BLISS

When the hankering hits to sit on the floor and play with your stitching, you just go with it.  I decided to pull my WIPs out of the studio and spread them out all over the living room floor.

Before...

After the first sort...

Counted canvas WIPs:

Painted canvas WIPs:

Cross stitch WIPs:

 

Now I'm going to go through each category and sort them accoring to season.  Or how much I have left to go.  Or which ones are calling to me or are my favorites.  Or alphabetically.

Haven't decided the final criteria just yet, but I'm sure it will come to me.

I also have a pile of new things that I would like to start...like Coffee Quaker and Red Velvet Cake.  Those, I think, will go into my "working" basket, aka The Spinster Stitcher Basket 'O Stitchy Fun.

The only downside to doing this is that I want to run out to the Targets to buy big matching baskets to put all of this in.  I am trying very hard to exercise restraint, but the idea of having all of these perfectly organized in matching baskets makes my heart go pitty pat.

OK...back to the sandbox.  

How's your Saturday so far?

IN WHICH OUR SOCIAL BUTTERFLY HAS A TURTLE WEEK...

Sorry for the hashed metaphors there, Dearies, but I have received so many emails expressing concern that I wanted to send you into your weekend with the reassurance that all is well.

All is well.

August was an incredibly active month for me.  Between the retreat, dinners, appointments, and my new adventures at the pool, this butterfly was social indeed.

And that, my friends, just positively exhausts me.

Now that I'm older, I realize that it's perfectly OK to be an introvert and painfully shy and a complete and total social misfit.  You might remember that there was a period of time there when I didn't leave Chez Spinster for weeks and weeks at a time and that I could go a month or longer without any human contact at all.

Bliss.

In the old days, when the world became too much with me, I would just announce a blog break and then just stop writing altogether.  Now, though, I have come to rely on a daily check in as a means to follow my progress or to record whatever shenangin has come at me most recently.

But sometimes I need to de-people.  I need to pull up my little shell and go quiet and get back into my head and just re-charge my rusty old battery.  The hyena (remember him?!) used to berate me for this and tell me that wanting to be alone was an illness and that I had to change it.   Well-meaning relatives sent me articles about agoraphobia and told me to join a dating site, and people that didn't know me at all commented that it just wasn't normal to want to stay at home on a weekend with stitching and books and Ina episodes for company.

You, dear friends, get me though.  And you know not to take it personally and that my ego is still big enough that it requires a daily dose of Spinster Nation and all of the love, joy, and happiness that brings.

I'm stitching and reading and binge-watching and cooking and floating and sleeping and re-charging.  Next week will be full again with labwork and meetings and visits with the transplant team.  The weekend, however, is still going to be quiet...sushi for dinner tonight, playtime in the studio tomorrow, and hopefully a warm and sunny pool day on Sunday.

So that's it for now.  Nothing dramatic or life-changing just yet.  Just me...being me.

I hope that your weekend is off to a swell start and that whatever it is your heart desires comes to you in spades!  Do something fun, or quiet, or people-ly, or non people-ly and come tell me all about it!

FRIDAY. FRIDAY.

THURSDAY...THURSDAY

FUTZINGDAY, FUTZINGDAY.

Summer at Cherry Hill by Brenda Gervais.

Fabric is 28ct Wren from Picture Thus Plus.  Stitching with all the called-for threads...some areas 2 over 2, some areas 1 over 2.

TUESDAY...TUESDAY

MONDAY, MONDAY

IN WHICH WE HAVE A VERY HAPPY SURPRISE, INDEED.

My Sunday started with the same routine...wake up, stumble to the door saying "Please, please, please be there" while fervently hoping for the Sunday New York Times, opening said door to find The South Bend Tribune only, sorting meds for the week, making a cup of damn good, and then getting on the phone with my besties to report yet another missed delivery.

(For the record, we are 0-4 here at CS2, and I am seriously considering signing up for a paper route just so I can be assured to get a freakin' paper.)

My friend Barney called, and after a nice long chat I decided to head to the pool, when the phone rang again.  This time it was my sister.  She needed a place to hang out for a few hours, so we met at the house and she did a quick load of laundry while I played with Bosco.  It was unexpected...but a very happy surprise indeed.

But that wasn't the best part.

On the way back to CS2, I pulled through the Starbucks drive through to grab a smoked turkey protein box and an iced tea.  I had one last week and enjoyed it so thoroughly that I decided to try it again for a light lunch poolside.

Damn, drat, and phooey...they don't serve protein boxes on Sundays.

But do you know what they DO serve...right there with the Venti iced black tea?

The Sunday New York Times. 

Right there at the Starbucks drive through window...just like it was waiting for me to pull on in, make a healthy meal selection, and then reward me for being such a damn trooper over missing the smoked turkey protein box.

(For the record...I'm not even sure I LIKE turkey, but this is a tiny little smoked turkey sandwich on some kind of flatbread, with roasted red peppers, lettuce, swiss, and some kind of spicy spread.  They serve it in a little box with baby carrots and apple slices.)

(Can I get a round of applause, please, that THIS is a contemplated choice for me in lieu of a double cheeseburger and fries from Five Guys?!)

(What HAPPENED to me, I ask, that I'm eating protein boxes from Starbucks now instead of the left side of the menu at the Burger King!!?)

Lunch turned out to be a peanut butter bagel instead, and then I hightailed it over to the pool and did my happy manatee thing until it was time to come home and think about dinner.

Quiet, happy, blissful, Sunday in these here parts.  I'm going to get some laundry sploshing and then pick up a little more stitching before bed.

I hope that your weekend was swell and that the week ahead is full of fun.  Tomorrow is eclipse day here in the US.  Got your glasses ready?

NOT MUCH, BUT A LITTLE MORE...

SATURDAY SPINSTER BLISS

But first...a matter of housekeeping.

"Unknown", thanks to a lovely email, is now known to me, and although I do appreciate the fact that Spinster Nation rallied to my defense and made me feel like Taylor Swift Her Very Self with her very own Girl Squad...please re-holster your weapons and save them for another day or whenever Betty rears her pointy little head again.

Unknown is actually one of us and is a friend that I have corresponded with for several years now.  And as I said in my email to her, I feel thankful that she was kind enough and brave enough to check me on something that she felt strongly about.  She, too, is undergoing some big hard things at the moment, and I would imagine that in a moment of frustration decided to let her keyboard do the talking.  She feels terrible the she did so and has apologized profusely and I have accepted that apology.  Period.

So..thank you for your strident defense, but for now, dear friends...all is well.

And as for me handling my life with grace and dignity...all I can say about that is, thank your lucky stars that you are one of the poor souls (like Misses Charlene, Jane, Connie, Beth, Katy, Chris, Margaret, Myrtis, Andrea, Julia, Cathy or Joyce) that has to put up with my incessant blathering about this that and the other on and on ad nasuem amen.

(But I will admit that I read your comments sometimes and almost feel like I might have a shot at semi-normal well-adjustedness any day now!)

Today was stitching with Missie Jane at her church, followed by a wonderful afternoon with Miss Charlene and Miss Beth.  I made it home a few minutes ago and am pondering a float in the pool before tonight's stitching will commence.

I'm playing with Summer at Cherry Hill and still really enjoying it.  Here's a little progress pic:

So that's the report for today.  I hope your Saturday is swell and that your needles are flying!  Come tell me all about it!

IT'S ALL FUN AND GAMES UNTIL THE LAWYERS GET INVOLVED...

Hmmmm....so many thoughts on the comments and emails I received in response to my book party at the pool.  

Firsty, though, thank you for your level-headed concern and advice with respects to me being the lone adult.  It was actually my conern too...not because I didn't want to share the pool with the kids, but because I really was terrified that I was in no way physically equipped to perform any form of life-saving measures should they be necessary.

As for the predator risk...my mind never went there, but it's a sad reality that I need to pay better attention to the fact that I'm not some cartoon character chubby friendly spinster...I am a stranger and need to remember that it's just not OK to engage a kid without his adult present.

I did talk to the complex manager today.  Turns out that the group of kids that caused all of the commotion doesn't actually live here.  They were somehow related to a friend of a grandparent (?) who basically dropped them off for the last few days.  The resident that lives adjacent to the pool had already been in several times to complain, and the maintenance guy reported all of the damage that had been done, so everybody was aware.

(FYI...the pool rules are cleary posted.  No lifeguard on duty. No swimming alone.  No children under the ago of 14 without an adult.  Non-swimmers and children must always be accompanied by an adult.)

Finally...I really hope that I didn't mislead anybody with respects to my feelings about being around little   kids.  As a matter of fact, my very favorite sound on this planet (right after Stewey barking at his Doozie ball) is the sound of children laughing, playing, and having fun.

But these kids were't doing that.  They were screaming and acting poorly and causing a problem.  Period.  And because I have the personality I do and am apparently incapable of confrontation...I did the best I could.

Today's outing was the exact opposite of the last few days, and believe it or not, still involved children. This time, my swimming companion was my new friend Emma, her infant brother Owen, and their mom Jessica.  Emma is three and wears a pink polka-dot bathing suit with matching hat and sunglasses, and she gets so excited that's she's swimming that she laughs and giggles and then swallows half of the pool water as she does so.  I gotta tell you, though...this kid is a trooper because no matter how many times she coughed up a lung, those giggles never stopped.

Owen had some kind of gizmo that allowed him to float around in the water with a little sun shade over him.  I think the thing even had a drink holder on it!  Can you imagine the possibilities if they made those for adults?!  Add an Ott light and a chart holder and I would physically MOVE to the pool.

In closing...I'm really not sure how to reply to the comment about me being ungrateful.  That cut deep.  It really did.  It makes me wonder if I am somehow failing to express just how thankful I am for my happy life.  I keep my spiritual side pretty private, but I do pray, and I promise you that they are...every night...prayers of gratitude for this life of mine.  The blessings of my past and the promises of my future overwhelm me, but I know that as sure as I'm sitting here in this beautiful apartment with that beautiful pool with all of that money sitting in the bank for when the time comes to head to Indy...I'm here and glad of it.  I'm sorry that you felt it necessary to call me out on it "Unknown"... but message received loud and clear.

(But as for the "Crankypants" part...I reserve the right to crank every now and then, if you please.  I am a 51 year old woman standing on the precipice of menopausal hell and I've managed to get here with very few casualties.  So in the spirit of compromise, I promise to hereby emit a warning siren when my post is going to be a "rant" instead of a glitter-covered unicorn dancing on a rainbow.  Deal?)

So that's the Friday report, Dearies!  Laundry is sploshing and I am contemplating a stitchy movie night.  Here's hoping that your weekend is off to a wonderful start!

BACK TO CHERRY HILL...

I'M NOT A GENIUS...I JUST PLAY ONE ON TEE VEE

The last few days of Spinster Aqua Therapy have been interrupted by a band (hoarde?) of unruly, obnoxious, UNSUPERVISED children.

Now before we go any further, I really need to point out the fact that although I do not have children,and I somewhat identify with the Baroness in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang who was terrified of them...I would do anything in my power to help a child or protect a child or love a child in need.

But these little bas$&:ds?  These children have run amok for the last three days...screeching, running, pushing, shoving, spitting, and vandalizing everything in sight.  They are the most terrible little beasts I've ever seen.  

And there's five of them.

The two oldest kids look to be about ten...the three little ones (WHO DON'T KNOW HOW TO SWIM BY THE WAY) seem to be between three and four.

I left a nice message for the office manager...kind of a "Gee.  I know I'm new here, but it seems to me that it's dangerous for five little kids to be left alone at a swimming pool" but so far nothing has been done.  I guess they were kind of hoping that school starting would take care of the problem.

Not so much.

So today, as I was on my way home from my last appointment, I started fretting about my afternoon pool visit.  Maybe I'm crazy, but being there with these kids by myself has made me a nervous wreck, and despite the fact that the exercise I've been getting has literally changed my life...the aggravation of having to deal with getting spit on, jumped on, splashed, etc. was making me contemplate a nap instead.

But then a miracle happened.

I stopped at the Targets to pick up a prescription, and right there in front of me was the solution.

Sedatives.

Lots and lots of sedatives.

And a bottle of gummy candy that I could slip them into and feed to the little buggers...

OH COME ON, PEOPLE!  Do you honestly think I have the ability to be that devious or criminal or...smart?

No, what I bought instead was...

Books.

Lots and lots of books.

I bought a half cart full of children's books and brought them home and put them in my pool bag and then shoved myself into my old lady bathing suit and made the 104 steps to the pool.

Today there were seven UNSUPERVISED unruly obnoxious little children.  When I got there, two chairs and a trash can had been thrown into the deep end and the pool cover looked like it wanted to run screaming from the premesis.

So I walked over to one of the two older kids (who I hoped was the leader) and said "Hi.  My name is Ms. Spinster and I would like to do some exercising in the pool today.  I brought all of you some presents, so if you'll help me clean up the pool and will give me fifteen minutes of it to myself, you can have the presents and keep them.  Deal?"

This kid was no dummy...he wanted to know what the presents were before he negotiated a cease fire.

I don't know how, but I was smart enough not to cave.  "Sorry kid. You either agree to my terms or I take my presents and go home."

He stood there for a minute and finally decided to go for it, so he hollered for all of his little minions to get the crap out of the pool, he pulled the little ones away from what ever they were doing to the cover, and then pretty much demanded payment.

I broke out into a panic attack and prayed.  "Sweet mother of all that is holy, please let these kids like books and not decide to drown me in three feet of water."

Seven books.  Seven tiny little asses sitting quiety on seven chairs, and I had an entire half hour of doing my manatee prancydancing and cloud peeping in peace and quiet.  I swear...it's going to take a month of Sundays to wipe this grin off of my face.

THE SPINSTER STITCHER IS IN HER THINKING SPOT

I'm wrestling with philosophical and moral dilemmas today, so my normal morning routine of damn good coffee and the paper has been...fraught.

When did it get so darn hard to be an adult?

I'm off to appointments and then hopefully for a quick float before it gets dark.  It figures that today is a pretty day sans little ones at the pool, and I need to spend it in doctors' offices.

No stitching to report, I'm afraid.  Last night was our Elkhart EGA summer picnic dinner at a great restaurant called McCarthy's.  I had appetizer, entree, and dessert and came home a roly poly blissed out lump who sat in front of the TeeVee.

(It was heavenly, thankyouverymuch, especially since the scale this morning stayed exactly where it was before this little feast!)

We're off to the races, Dearies!  Hope your very own Thursday is swell!

VANITY, THY NAME IS...SPINSTER

So a funny thing happened last night at grocery guild.  My stitchy sisters and I had a lovely time of it, chatting and such, and I was just so darn happy to be there I thought they were going to have to stun gun me into behaving myself.

They paid me some lovely compliments about...something related to how I look, and I blushed furiously and said thank you and wanted to crawl under the table.  I was clean and had clothes on and had managed to run a brush through my hair, but ready for the prom?  Not so much.

And then it happened.

They complimented my stitching.  Miss Katy even used the word "workmanship", and I thought my heart would just burst itself right out of my old lady big top.

To be told that you are a good stitcher by a group of...amazingly expertly wonderfully perfect stitchers is better than being told that you look like the younger sister of Elizabeth Taylor and Sophia Lauren.

At least in my book.

I always knew that I had a streak of vanity in here somewhere, but I always thought it would be related to my job or my house or my ability to be the most socially inept person in a room full of socially inept people...but all this time it turns out that my vanity was lurking in my stitchy bag!

I promise you that this puffed-up attitude will go away the minute I pick up my needle this afternoon and start playing with Gertie (damn compensation), but for now I'm going to sit here and bask in the glow of nice things that were said about my ability to follow a chart and put thread to fabric.  The vanity will be replaced quickly with humility, I'm sure...but for now it's just lovely to think that I might be getting something right once in a while! 

BEADS AND CHARMS AND MORE LADYBUGS...OH MY!

PARADISE INTERRUPTED

Before:

And...after:

Heavy. Heavy. Spinster. Sigh.

COMPENSATING IS FOR THE BIRDS (NO PUN INTENDED)

I forgot how much fun it is to compensate a stitch around a differently colored part of the canvas.  Ugh.  But with a little deep breathing and a whole lot of patience...it's starting to get there!

I'm struggling with a major issue at the moment...one in which my heart wants to jump right in and try to fix it, while my brain is holding the leash...trying to remind me that my heart is not exactly the best decision maker lately.  So I called Miss Charlene...my voice of reason...and she very calmly and patiently talked me off the ledge.

(Every spinster should be required to have a Miss Charlene in their life...right up there with a fearless disposition, a Happy Chair, and a sherpa to help them carry things that are heavy.)

So today I think I will do a few household chores, float a bit in the pool, and then head to grocery guild in the evening.  Tomorrow night, church guild is meeting for dinner at a great restaurant in Elkhart, and then on Saturday we're stitching with Missie Jane again!  

August is quite the stitchy adventure!

The Fal Basket of Stitchy Fun has been assembled over and over again in my head.  Now I just need to head into the studio and start assembling!

Happy Tuesday!  

THE OFFICIAL SUMMER 2017 SPINSTER STITCHER SELFIE

Who knew that an apartment swimming pool could bring about such a wonderful change in Yours Truly?  I have taken to the water as a means of getting some much needed exercise and as a way to study the sky and clouds for hours at a time without getting a crick in my neck.

I still use my invisibility glasses and make a run for it as soon as other residents come out to play, but for the last few days it's just been me and my sunscreen...floating happily around the place thinking about the evening's stitching and what to have for dinner.

Tonight it will be salad with grilled chicken and the continuation of Miss Gertie Bluebird:

I completed the grey section at the bottom at Donaldson, but stalled a bit while waiting for a thread change.  Guess what arrived in the mailbox today!

I hope your Monday has been bright and cheerful and that your week is off to a good start!

SUNFLOWER BELLPULL FEE NEE!

All I have to do now is add the charms and beads!

Sunflower Bellpull

The Drawn Thread

32ct Lambswool linen

DMC, Needle Necessities, Weeks Dye Works

A WHOLE LOTTA NOPE...PART THREE

So here we are on a beautiful Sunday morning.

The damn good cups of coffee have been administered, the pills have been sorted for the week, the Vitamin water has been slurped, and the South Bend Tribune has been digested cover to cover.

But the New York Times?

Not so much.

Three weeks of missed papers...followed by three weeks of lovely conversations with my new besties in the customer service department.

But no paper.

It harkens back to my Sundays at the house...looking in vain for the Sunday Times, wandering the neighborhood wondering if a neighbor had received it instead, and then finally placing the call that inevitably ended with "Thank you for being the best part of the New York Times".

Well, I'm here to tell you, kids....if I'M the best part of the New York Times, we are in trouble with a capital T.  Right here in Hoosierville City.

So now methinks I will have my bagel, don my swimming costume, slather on some 150 proof sunscreen, and get on with it.  No sense in wasting a gorgeous sunny day running to the door every ten minutes hoping for a miracle.

Sunflower Bellpull is getting there!

Only a few more bands and this will be complete!  I am, however, thinking of playing with something new this afternoon/evening.  Something about wanting to start all of the things keeps rattling around in my brain.

So that's the Sunday report from the friendly confines of CS2, Dearies!  I hope yours is perfectly perfect in every way and that you get to do whatever it is that your heart desires!

SPINSTERSTILTSKIN RIDES AGAIN

Library guild was lovely, and I even managed to return and then re-borrow another bag full of books.  

My project today was Needle Delights Originals Poppers:

Only a few rows to go on this one, so I really should stop fooling around and just..."get er done"...as they say in France.

We had a wonderful lunch at the Hacienda, and I ended up with enough leftovers to feed a small village for a week.  (Or, in my case, enough for dinner and possibly lunch tomorrow.)

I was doing just fine on the ride home...singing to the radio, enjoying the pretty day, and thinking about how much I love my guild sisters...when I looked up and realized that I had driven to the old house and had pulled into the garage again before realizing that I don't live there anymore.

Dang it.

That's about the third time I've done that.  I drive right down the street and up the driveway and into the garage like I know exactly what I'm doing and then I realize that I'm a boob and now have to pull out of the garage, the driveway, and the street and actually go to the apartment.

I guess I better stop doing that before somebody new lives there.

Otherwise...awkward.

When I finally DID make it home, I contemplated pulling on the bathingsuit and going to the pool, but I hit the big girl sleigh bed instead.  I suppose it's a good thing I fell asleep inside, since after four hours (which is how long I was out) I would have been one very crispy hushpuppie indeed.

So now I'm going to have a bite, wash my face and hands, and get to it.  I started binge-watching The Newsroom again last night, so methinks I might do a little more of that and see how far I can get on that Sunflower Bellpull.

Happy Saturday!  Hope yours was equally as lovely!  WooHoo!

OFF TO LIBRARY GUILD!

I'm up, semi-caffeinated, and showered.  The only thing that I can think of that would get me out of bed at this hour just has to be stitchy related...so I'm off to Hoosier Heartland at the library.

Last night's progress on Sunflower Bellpull:

'Scuse the odd angle...I had to move the linen on the q-snaps and didn't want to take it off today for a photo.  I think I am about 70% complete with this one and should be able to finish it in the next few days if I'm diligent.

That's the report for a Saturday morning, Dearies.  I hope your weekend is swell, that your needles are flying, and that you'll do something fun and come tell me all about it!

GETTING THERE...

IN WHICH WE HAVE A CHANGE OF PLANS AND DECIDE TO JUST REST TODAY

I had grand illusions of conquering the world today, but alas, the universe has other plans for me.  There must be an alignment of the planets or a full moon or something, because when the reality of having to hit the brakes set in, my brain was OK with it and decided to just call this a "recovery day" and get on with it.

So I am in the Happy Chair with the paper and puzzles and my second cup of damn good, and later I might contemplate a visit to the pool (or what I now like to refer to as the "Aquatic Therapy Center for Spinster Mind and Body Healing").

Visions of stitching are dancing around in my head thanks to all of the inspiration of my fellow Donaldson attendees.  So many beautiful things to contemplate!  That Autumn Basket of Stitchy Fun is starting to materialize!  And a few "problem children" WIPs might now get completed thanks to the advice and example of the gurus who offered advice and support.

A very good way to spend the Futzingday, indeed!

Sunshine and rainbows and dancing unicorns and glitter continue to keep the black dog at bay...amazing how he can slink back into a corner when the better angels of my silly little brain give him a tap on the nose and tell him to sit.

Physically, I confess that I am really struggling with these "heavy" legs and fatigue and not being able to walk from here to there without huffing and puffing, but no dialysis just yet.  My kidney team is watching me very closely, however, and promises to make the call at the exact moment it is necessary.  I, in turn, have promised to continue to try to be a good patient and do what they tell me.  I will see the transplant surgeon again on August 31, and it is my hope and prayer that we'll be one more step closer to getting it scheduled for the Fall.  So...thank you for all of those happy thoughts and prayers, Dearies.  They seem to be working very very nicely!

Onward we go!  Armed with nothing but our wits and companions and stashes.  Who knows?  We might just conquer the world after all!

AND THEN...IT WAS TIME TO GO HOME

I am just wrung out this morning.  The last four days have been so incredibly wonderful that I am sad to see them come to an end.

I am just so...gobsmacked...at how amazing it is to surround oneself with things and people who just make the world a better place by their mere prescence in it.  To be in the company of people who "get" you when you're not really sure you "get" yourself is an amazing thing to behold and should be mandatory for anybody in need of a little pick-me-up, or in my case, a whole-body life makeover.

Reality, as we all know, can be a harsh thing indeed, so I suppose that sitting around with a needle and thread in hand laughing and giggling and cutting up and listening and talking and learning and thinking how blessed we are to have each other is a pretty damn good way to escape.

Retreats aren't for everybody, and I know that the prospect of packing one's underpants and gathering the old stitchy bag and hitting the road isn't always possible for everybody, but if you can find a way to take five minutes....someplace...and feel happiness and peace wash over you then I saygo for it with your whole heart.

See what happens when I see this side of the morning?  Incoherent ramblimng.

On to the stitiching...

This is pretty much the sum total of what I accomplished this weekend, and I have to say...I'm tickled pink about it.  I didn't exactly expect to complete the little house last night, but the final piece of siding went in at midnight and I took it as a good sign.

Today we will have breakfast, spend another hour or two with needles in hand, and then hit the road for home.  I am pretty sure that I will make it up the stairs and into the big girl sleigh bed and not much further, but it will all have been worth it.

Thanks for coming along for the ride, dearies!  I hope your very own week is off to a swell start and that you are exactly where you want to be.

DAY THREE...IN WHICH GERTIE COMES OUT TO PLAY

They sent Mother Superior(*) for me this morning, because I could not get out of the little girl dorm bed and there was some degree of worry starting that I would sleep the day away.

(*) In the context of Donaldson this year, Miss Charlene becomes Mother Superior...replacing Mother Emeritus, Miss Myrtis.

(Donaldson is home to Ancilla College and is the Mothership for the Poor Handmaids flavor of nun, so my goofy titles are...fitting.)

(But the Catholic school girl in me is still giggling at the idea of being down here with all of my stitchy sisters being naughty by eating lots of "bad" snacks and stayig up past our bedtime.)

Today I decided to play with Gertie, aka Margaret Jane Gertrude Thorson...she is also called "Bluebird" and is designed by Ellen Giggenbach and is a class from the inimitable Miss Ruth Schmuff Her Very Self of Beadecked and Beadazzled fame.

Only two rows of tent completed so far because...see above, but I am enjoying this immensely.

Physically, I am a crock pot full of hot mess and am suffering with terrible leg cramps at night and the inability to walk very well during the day, but so far they haven't had to jump start me with anything more than a damn good cup of coffee each morning and iced tea in the afternoon. 

I am learning not to try to keep up with the ladies around me and have finally come to the conclusion that a back bench seat on Junior Varsity suits me just fine...these gals play Varsity ball, and they play it well!

Home tomorrow, dearies!  

BUTTERCUP. SUCKS.

Oh, for pity's sakes!  I have done more...nothing...in the last 24 hours than I have in a long time.  I have been chatting and eating and putzing and admiring and shuffling about in my house slippers and old lady stretch pants.

But stitching?

Not so much.

My stitchy sisters are quite happily working along all around me...needlepointing, knitting, beading, qulting, and creating.

And then there's me...just remembering to take it all in and not suck the oxygen out of the room while trying to remember that I am a big girl in public who has finally been invited to the cool kids table, so I better act like I have some sense in my head.

But I'm still loving every single minute of it!

SUCK IT UP, BUTTERCUP.

It's 10:30 pm and I am:

Flat out plumb tuckered right out.

I don't think I've been in bed this early since the fourth grade.  And my stitching progress is...dismal...at best.  Somebody seems to have unplugged me and then, just to see if I was paying attention, hit me with all of the stupid side effects of this thing of mine all at once.

I feel like I am encased in cement and trying to run a marathon...short of breath, schvitzing like a pudding at a picnic, and feeling like I am doing everything under water, backwards, and in high heels.  

But I am so ridiculously happy to be here that a little pain and huffing and puffing isn't going to stop me.  Tomorrow is a new day, and I am going to just let it unfold.  If I can't walk very fast it will just give me more time to look around, right?  

So...night night, dearies.  Let's see what adventures await us!

IN MY HAPPY PLACE...DAY ONE

My morning started with various and sundry doctors and medical professionals giving me the green light to get in my little car and come to Donaldson.   A quick trip through the Starbucks for sustenance, and it was off to...Nirvanna!

I confess to feeling a bit punk when I first arrived, but I suspect that it was more of the stress of "moving in" and getting re-aquainted with my stitchy sisters that did it.  (Remember me?  I'm the one that breaks out into a panic attack flop sweat every time she goes out in public.)

So far I've managed to eat lunch, unpack my underpants, and play with my stitchy bag.  Not a bad way to spend a Saturday, if you ask me.

I spent three weeks writing a stitching plan on what to play with when and then got here and threw it out the window.  So far, the only thing that's gotten any attention is:

More later, dearies!  I hope you are as blissfully happy as I am at this moment...surrounded by lovely people and lovely things and doing whatever makes your heart sing!

I MAY BE FALLING APART, BUT AT LEAST MY NAILS WILL LOOK NICE WHILE I'M DOING IT...

The calm before the packing storm.  I just finished all of my appointments, chores, errands, and to dos in preparation for the weekend.  Now I'm off to the cube room studio to gather provisions for Donaldson!

Happy, happy Friday Dearies!

SQUINTY ONE-EYED APPOINTMENT STITCHING...

Little more progress on Sunflower Bellpull yesterday and today so far:

APPARENTLY THE UNIVERSE THINKS I HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR...

In exactly 41 hours, 12 minutes, and 9 seconds from now I will be in my little tin can Ford headed down to Donaldson for the Sit 'n Stitch retreat.  I didn't get to go last year because Stewey was sick, so I have really been looking forward to it this time.

Guess who decided to suddenly develop some eye issues last night?

My right eye has been a little screwy for a while now...kind of blurry and looking a little red at times, but last night it actually started to hurt.  Kind of like a headache behind my eyeball.  

So I trotted myself into Dr. Rhodes today for a look-see (no pun intended) and he agreed that things don't look very happy.  Two eye drop prescriptions and a promise to return on Saturday morning on my way out of town later, and we're back in the Happy Chair wondering if it's too late to trade me in for a newer model.

All I can think is...seriously?  Blurry eyes?  Right before a four day stitching retreat?

Nevertheless...I am persisting.  I picked up the eyedrop prescriptions and some provisions at the Target and tomorrow I will pack my projects and underpants into a bag before hitting the big girl sleigh bed.  

All will be well, dearies.  All will be well.  

So what's new and exciting in your neck of the woods?

SPINSTER STITCHER SASSYPANTS

I'm stitching Summer at Cherry Hill on 28ct Wren from Picture This Plus.  When I started the border alphabet, I grabbed two strands of thread and decided that I like the coverage a lot, so I figured I would do all of the letters two over two:

But then I started looking at the picture and realized that there are an awful lot of big full-coverage areas, and I would imagine that the amount of thread needed will far exceed my supply and that of Miss Linda at the House of Stitches.

And then I had a great idea!  Why not stitch the letters and some moteefs in two strands and then do all of the solid background areas in one strand?!  This would make the moteefs stand out and look dimensional, the backgrounds receed, and I might not have to raid a small country for more threads!

So that's what I'm going to do.  For now, however, I am fishing through stash and WiPs to get my basket together for the upcoming retreat.  I have an idea in my head of what I want to play with, but that seems to be changing as the minutes tick by.  The good news is that I am driving, so theoretically I could put my entire stash in my trunk and just work out of it as need be, but then there is the prospect of having to carry it all back upstairs next week when the retreat is over.

Another Futzingday has commenced, dearies!  Do something fun and come tell me all about it!