COMING SOON TO A SPINSTER STITCHER STORE NEAR YOU....

Happy Friday, Dearies! Here's a little sneak peek of some fun we're going to have starting next week!

What do you think?

Here's a closeup of the imprint:

IN WHICH WEAR MISTER LOVEY'S SOCKS TO THE DIALYSIS...

IN WHICH BUZZY DECIDES TO HAVE A FUTZINGDAY

Mister Lovey left for New Jersey at the crack of dawn today, so I decided to grab a few extra minutes of sleeping time before coming here to the chair.

Apparently, Buzzy was not happy about this turn of events, because his behavior has been...vexing...for the last two hours. He and Beepy are evidently not getting along, and she is expressing her displeasure by alarming and bitching about it every six minutes.

Damn Buzzy.

Today was doctor visit day, which means the team descended on me in the chair, surrounded me with their rolly carts and laptops and proceeded to discuss my tan.  I get it. I really do. I have a lot of color. But for pitty sakes girls...we need to get it together and talk about labwork and meds and treatment plans, OK?

So I smiled and chatted and made nice and then whipped out my little notebook and grilled them until I understood everything sufficiently and they could move on to their next victim.

The good news is that I am holding my own, and despite the difficulties of dialysis, it looks like I will live to fight another day. I am to keep doing what I'm doing, dial up the protein a bit, and stay as positive as I can until a kidney comes my way.

Check.

Tonight I hope to get back to my Fancy Flag. I elected to pay attention to Lovey last night and watch the TeeVee with him rather than bury my nose in my linen. He'll be gone for about ten days, so I should have plenty of time to play.

Happy Futzingday, Dearies! I hope yours has dawned bright and swell and that the birds are tweeting sweetly in your neck of the woods. Come tell us all about it!

AND...WE'RE ROTATING

I was just so tickled to have a late Sunday night finish that allowed me to have a Monday start.  After my chair time and a long nap I fished through my WIP basket and decided to play with:

This is Star Spangled Banner by Northern Expressions Needlework. I'm doing this on a lovely piece of fabric (the count and source escapes me at the moment), with the called-for Dinky Dyes silks.

Each row/stripe/band is a different specialty stitch, and so far very fun:

Now before y'all write to me to say "Oh, dear Spinster Stitcher...I could never do such a thing!", let me tell you that if you can read a chart, you can do this. The directions and graphs are very very clear and well-written, and if you have the ability to thread a needle and go up at 1and down at 2...you're home free!

Speaking of home, my Lovey is traveling to New Jersey to see his mom and to celebrate her birthday. This means that I will be left to my own devices for a bit and should have lots of time to come up with another list of things I want to do here in the apartment to keep me occupied. I suspect that most of my time will be spent "in studio", since I have allowed things to get out of whack in there again and it's driving me a little nuts. Other than that, I think they are predicting ungodly heat and humidity for the weekend, so I would imagine my heiney will be inside in front of the TeeVee and under a fan.

(I never did well in the heat, but now that I am on dialysis it's super stupid. The minute I get overheated I lose my breath, which causes me to panic, which causes me to think I'm going to drop dead right there on the spot with laundry undone and a basket full of WIPs and then my vision goes dim and I feel like I have ginger ale in my skull and I wonder if Stewey still smells like baby shampoo and whether my mom will veto my haircut.)

And then it passes and I feel silly.

So here we are on a Tuesday morning, and all I have to do today is laundry, paperwork, and stitch. Absolutely nothing to complain about in these here parts, Dearies. How about with you?

FEE NEE...12:08 AM

ABC des Maisons

Jardin Prive'

32ct Jobelan in Lemonade by Colour & Cotton

DMC floss per the chart

SUNDAY NIGHT BURRITOS ON THE BALCONY AFTER A DAY AY THE POOL...HOW DIVINE!

DETERMINED...

See that upper right corner?

Well, that's all I have to go before this one is finished.

I am completely determined to accomplish this task TODAY so that I might select a new piece to play with next week.  Maybe something USA related, or vaguely red, white, and blue.

Nightmares continue, unfortunately, so last night I decided to counter them by thinking about stitching. I think I might like to start a rotation again, since the last few years have seen me faithful to one piece and one piece only for months and months at a time.  I was thinking that I might like to select a new project each Sunday night and stitch it during the week. I'll probably concentrate on WIPs, since I have so many going, but I do reserve the right to start something new if my fancy is struck. Maybe once a month? Or after a finish? I also reserve the right to repeat a project for a second week if I'm loving it.

What do you think, Dearies?

Yesterday was completely momentous for me. I was not feeling particularly well, but wanted to get out for some golfing with the Mister. Well, we did, and guess who played the round of her entire pitiful little life?!

I've been golfing since I was a kid, but I always s-u-c-k-e-d at it. Completely and totally. So when I gave it up about twenty years ago, I wasn't too upset about it. Playing with Mister Spinster is just a lovely way for us to spend time together, get a little exercise, and some fresh air...so when he got me out there that first time, I didn't object much.

But yesterday?

Yesterday, I was a house on fire, I tell 'ya.

Not one clue as to what I might be doing differently, but I had a wonderful time, struck the ball very well, and scored lower than I ever have. I was so completely chuffed that we came home, got cleaned up, and went BACK out for dinner and darts.

Me!

Out TWICE on a Saturday!  Right there in front of God and everybody...with mascara and lipstick just like a big girl in the fancy city.

Today I can't move my arms or legs, but that's a minor inconvenience compared to the big shiny trophy I hoisted over my head in my tiny little brain last night as I was reliving the entire experience.

(Told ya...portly spinster by day...needle wielding/coffee slurping ninja by night!)

Thank you for indulging me...my mom would be mortified that I'm bragging to you all about hitting a little ball, but she hit the damn ball like Arnold Palmer His Very Self and just giggled about it. No lie...the men at the golfing place would come out on the patio to watch her tee off. She was all of five foot four and petite (always in a cute outfit and with lipstick), and she would get up there and whack that little ball further than any man in Lima. And then she would point out a pretty bird or a geranium and head off to the next adventure.

(My mom had the propensity for making the world a better place just by being in it.)

So today has started, and I am thinking about a float in the pool, a few chores, and then some stitching out on the balcony. I am tempted to convince Lovey to play another nine holes today, but don't know if my poor body can take it.

(We'll have to see how I feel after my second cup of damn good.)

Happy Sunday, Dearies! Do something fun and well and come tell us all about it!

WOOHOOO!

My dialysis sessions this week were brutal for some reason, but yesterday I managed to stitch for the first two hours! I was so very happy to do so, and came home for a long snoozy nap with a smile on my fat little face.

No stitching last night, unfortunately. I was just too darn woozy and just wanted to snuggle up to Mister Spinster on the sectional and watch baseball.

Yup. I'm officially a sports watcher now. When at home, it's all the sports all the time. And, if there are no sports to be had it's dopey superhero shows or classic movies. I still watch all of my bad TeeVee (sorry, Housewives and VanderPumpers), but now I do that during chair time. 

So today has dawned bright and early, with just a teeny little dialysis hangover, so after a couple cups of damn good and the execution of a few household chores, we are going to play the golfing for a bit and then go out to dinner...if my stamina level will allow.

It might have been an "off" week of very little sleep (due to nightmares of all things), but hopefully the weekend will make up for it.

Many of you have asked for updates on other areas of Spinster World. My sister is still working with IU to donate a kidney, but between me and you I am not very optimistic at this point. It's not my busy-ness to share, but let's just say...it's complicated.  So I just keep on doing what I'm supposed to and pray for a miracle.

On the house front...alas, it's almost gone I'm afraid, and will go to Sheriff's Sale in July. I have not returned and probably won't do so, because it's just too darn hard for this poor old heart to take. (I'm in the ugly cry just typing this. Can you imagine the meltdown if I actually pulled into the driveway?)  Rich is convinced that my nightmares are the result of this looming on the horizon...maybe a good topic to explore with Dr. Melfi?

OK...'nuff pondering. There are clothes to splosh, damn good to slurp, stitches to take, and golfballs to whack at today! What's on your list, Dearies? Come tell me all about it!

SOOOOOOO CLOSE!

One more house and the letter E to go:

Happy Friday, Dearies!

HERE STITCHY STITCHY...

Quiet Tuesday means lots of stitching time:

AND THEN...SHE SLEPT...FOR FOURTEEN HOURS!

Oey.

I'm not sure which bus hit me exactly, but hit me it sure did. I was sleepy on Sunday, but managed to rally in the afternoon to take Mister out to dinner for Father's Day, but that was the sum total of our weekend.

Yesterday, I got in the chair, got hooked up to the machine, and promptly fell asleep...hard and fitfully...for the duration. My tech woke me up, unhooked me, and I stumbled home and crawled into the big girl sleigh bed.

So here I am after a fourteen plus hour sleep, feeling a bit fuzzy around the edges and more than a little concerned that I crashed that hard. It's been a little while since I've been that out of it, so I suppose I should just relax and enjoy the rest.

Rich is off to work and I'm enjoying my second cup of damn good before planning my day. Just between us chickens...there might not be a whole lot of anything happening today, but methinks the universe will be OK with that.

The week has begun, Dearies! Come tell me all about things in your neck of the woods!

AGAIN WITH THE BLISS...

We had a lovely evening last night. I was feeling pretty darn good after chair time, so we put on our suits and headed down to the pool for a dip. It turned out to be an absolutely beautiful night...clear and warm with very low humidity. 

Today, though, has dawned hot and steamy, so the Mister and I have hunkered down with cool drinks, the US Open and the World Cup on the TeeVee and plans to just...chill. As soon as I complete a chore or two, methinks I might try to futz through my stash for a new project, or I might just tackle a few more little houses on my current piece.

Who knows where the day will take us?

I hope that your very own Saturday is equally as blissful, Dearies. If you're hot...stay cool. If you're cool...stay warm! Either way, come tell us all about it!

FRIDAY VIEW...WITH THE VERY MOST PERFECT BEVERAGE KNOWN TO SPINSTER

I had an errand to run on the way to chair time today, so I ended up leaving CS2 early. This resulted in some extra time before having to report, so I treated myself to a trip to the Starbucks.

Oh, what joy! What bliss!

A venti cold brew with one pump of cinnamon dolce and a splash of sweet cream.

I am in heaven, I tell ya...the perfect way to start the weekend!

Yesterday was wonderfully swell. I had a nice lunch, finished all of the laundry (and folded it and put it away thankyouverymuch), put on my sunscreen and old lady bathing costume, and went to the pool with my sister and the Jersey Boy. Then it was a healthy dinner on the balcony, some stitching and movie watching (All The President's Men), and a little pat on Stewey's box before bed.

So mission accomplished on the whole perfect day thing. Here's to trying it again today!

I hope that your very own Friday is swell, Dearies...come tell us all about it!

IN WHICH WE PLAN OUR PERFECT DAY...

The kitchen is clean, the bed made, and the laundry is sorted and sploshing. Mister Spinster has departed the cave, and I am left to my own devices until this afternoon.  After my second cup of damn good is dispensed with, I am contemplating a long float in the pool followed by my old lady exercises in the shallow end. Then, I think I will come home and make myself presentable before attempting a healthy dinner.

Or...

I could just head back to the big girl sleigh bed for a long snoozy nap with my face in the sun, followed by a marathon stitchy session and lots of bad TeeVee.

Hmmmmm. 

What is a spinster to do?

I realize that having this choice is a complete luxury, and I am not unsympathetic to the fact that normal people don't get to have these kind of days, but my non-chair time has become so very precious to me. I have been going to the center for six months now, but still haven't quite gitten the hang of it physically just yet, so non-chair days feel like a total vacation.

I had dreams of my Stewey last night. We were in a hot air balloon floating over Chez Spinster and I was very very sad until he said something funny that made me laugh. I don't remember what it was, exactly, but the vision of him waving his little paw at the rooftop as we floated away was somehow comforting..

Oh, how I miss him.

And my little dream home.

Enough of that. There is relaxing and recovering to do today, and I am determined to do it. The sun is shining and the birds are sweetly tweeting...so let's get on to a Happy Thursday!

JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE...

JUST US CHICKENS AGAIN...

Mister Spinster has left the cave to hunt for dinner, and I am here with the Chicken Sisters, my damn good, and the morning paper.

Aaaaaahhhhhh......

I love the Mister, I really do, and I love being out and about and seeing and visiting and pickleballing and golfing and whatnot, but this alone time is critical for me to just be me. In a million years I never would have believed just how much of an introvert I really am. I always thought that I drew my strength from other people, but the truth is that I get completely off balance if I don't have a few minutes or hours to just sink back inside my head to re-group.

I suppose that Oprah or the writers of The Secret would say that this craving for alone/quiet time means I'm not living as my authentic self in public....and I think I'm OK with that. My authentic self is a hot mess nervous wreck misfit that can't get out of her own way. The self that comes out when I am alone and in my head, though, is a total badass ninja of wit, competence, and fearlessness.

What can I say? I'm the portly spinster equivalent of Walter Mitty.

All of this navel gazing today is the end result of a trauma that happened at dialysis yesterday. One of my chair buddies crashed...and hard...and all we could do was sit there and watch and cry and pray while the team worked on her. It was absolutely awful, and I flashed back to when my dad crashed right in front of me in the hospital and was a 90-minute CPR code. He died about four times, but they kept bringing him back until they were able to get him down into the intensive care cardiac cockpit. 

The lady yesterday was just sitting there having a sandwich and talking to the social worker, and all of a sudden there were nurses and crash carts and things happening at breakneck speed. I knew I loved and admired the staff at the dialysis center before this happened...now I am just in awe of them.

Hmmmmm...so much contemplating for a Tuesday morning.

Sorry, Dearies. I really didn't mean to explore all of the feelings in my punky little head today on this here blog, but I guess it's better than driving to the McDonald's and ordering the entire breakfast menu. Dr. Melfi would probably tell me that I am making great strides in coping with complex internal processing issues...blah, blah, blah.

I think I'm just doing my thing.

So we're off like a herd of very tired, quiet, contemplative turtles today. If the clouds allow, I am going to pull on the old lady bathing costume and get in the pool for a float. And later, if the course isn't too wet for riding carts, the Mister and I will hit the golf ball. There will be some stitching today (she says, while shaking her fist at the sky), as the stitchy gods are my witness!

I hope your Tuesday is swell and considerably less emotional squirrel in traffic. Come tell me all about it!

AND WE'RE BACK...

Happy Monday, Dearies!

Sorry for the little break in coverage of all things Spinster, but Mister and I took a little drive up to Saugatuk, Michigan for a day, and I needed ample time to stress about it.

In between the stressing and fretting and packing was the eating and sleeping and dialyzing.

Notice what's missing?

I swear, these stitchy droughts are not intended...they just seem to keep happening. Maybe it's the universe's way of telling me that I need to switch it up and work on a different piece for a minute.

Anywhoose...all is well here. We had a wonderful trip and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Now it's back to reality today and I'm moving very slowly getting there.

Thank you for all of the anniversary well wishes. Can you believe it's been 10 years sunce we met? 

Here's hoping that your very own Monday is off to a swell start and that your week ahead is everything you want it to be. Come tell me all about it!

IN WHICH THE SPINSTER STITCHER CELEBRATES AN ANNIVERSARY...

FUTZINGDAY...

PROGRESS!!

SPINSTER SHAMING... (UPDATED!)

Mister Spinster is in Idaho this week at a sales conference, and I have been behaving badly.

The apartment is a complete and total wreck. So much so, that a few moments ago I found myself stumbling around without my glasses on my face so that I couldn't see the mess!

(When that becomes your default cleaning method...it's really time to re-evaluate your place in the human race.)

The bed is a tossled mess, there are toothpaste sploshes all over the mirror, dishes are in the sink, and the Target stuff that arrived is still sitting in its box in the middle of the living room!

I'm not much better. I've been living in shorts and a t-shirt that isn't so much a shirt as it it a collection of thread and holes, with half a neckline and one sleeve missing. I've eaten very poorly, slept too much, and have binge-watched The West Wing on Netflicks until the wee hours of the morning. My dialysis tech asked me yesterday just what was going on with me, because my weight was up four kilos (that's over eight pounds!) and I looked like something the cat coughed up on the rug.

Holey Schmoly, when I decide to go full-on frat boy, I do it with impunity!

I have, however, thoroughly enjoyed myself. I've stitched and read and napped and relaxed in between texting Mister Spinster to reassure him that I am taking care of myself. 

(We'll just keep the real truth to ourselves, OK Dearies?  I've already had to bribe the Chicken Sisters with a trip to Reno, since they were left in charge of me in Mister's absence. I pick them up at the airport about an hour before fetching the Mister on Thursday night, so let's hope I can pull this off and not get caught.)

I have one more day of this, followed by dialysis tomorrow and then appointments on Thursday. I suppose I should map out a plan for getting my act together, but....naaaaahhhhhh.

Here's hoping that your own little corner of the world is considerably more organized and that you are doing whatever makes your heart sing! Come tell me all about it...maybe it will inspire me to get moving!

Two hours later...

Well, imagine my surprise! After my second cup of damn good, a peanut butter bagel, and a little push from my inner 1950's housewife, I puffed and scrubbed and scoured and organized and...viola'!  A tidy, clean, and peaceful CS2 once again! Now I'm going to cool off, grab a hot scrubby shower, don a fresh mummu, and head out to the balcony for some afternoon stitchy time!

IT REALLY IS LIKE RIDING A BIKE...

I stitched! I stitched!

Yes, it amounted to about thirty stitches, but I finally managed to get that needle and thread back in hand and go for it. It was a lovely feeling to do so...kind of like meeting up with an old dear friend that you haven't seen in years.

Today is going to be another stitchy day, God willing. I'm working on my second cup of damn good now, and hope to spend a little time out on the balcony with a lemonade, some stitching, and the radio for company.

What's new with you, Dearies?

AND THEN IT WAS SATURDAY AGAIN...

This week went so quickly! I find myself in the Happy Chair with a cup of damn good and the paper wondering how I got here.

I had hoped that today would be a full report on our evening spent downtown South Bend at a musical event called Meet Me On The Island, but alas, my session yesterday was particularly brutal and I was just not up to mingling with the masses. We did drive down there, though, and I have to say...it was fantastic to see tens of thousands of people down there enjoying a beautiful Friday night. I suspect that there were a dozen or so different venues for things to do, because we went blocks and blocks and the crowds were amazing.

(South Bend, like many cities, really declined over the years. It is now enjoying a re-birth, and although it's not my hometown...I couldn't be happier or more proud of it!)

(You too, Lima. You will always be first in my poor little spinster heart.)

So that's it for today, Dearies! Mister Spinster just announced that he is taking me to brunch, so I better get moving and make myself a bit more presentable!

Happy, happy Saturday to one and all! Do something that makes your heart sing and come tell me all about it!

FINALLY...A CHICKEN SISTERS GENTLEMAN CALLER IN WHOM WE WHOLEHEARTEDLY APPROVE