WHAT I'M ALL INTO ON SPINSTERDAY...

I'm all ready to enjoy the day with my newspaper, some damn good, a library book, some stitching, and a whole heap of new needle minders from my sister's etsy shop. My nails are freshly spruced, I'm clean and comfy, and there is the promise of a Sopranos binge watch later this evening.

I ask you...who could possibly be happier than I am today?

IN WHICH WE ARE A SPINSTER STITCHING FOOL...

Boy oh boy did my afternoon turn itself right around!  After a hot soak in the tub I managed to stitch several hours on TWO projects!

Cirque des Coeurs is still blowing my skirt up, so I might go a bit longer before tucking her away for something else:

I am guessing that a finish along this section will put me at about 1/3 complete...a little less that I originally thought, but somehow still very satisfying for a few week's time.

After dinner I decided to switch it up a bit, so out came a painted canvas by Maggie:

If memory serves, this was one of the very first painted canvas purchases I made circa 2003 or so. I remember falling in love with the color combination and geometric aspect of it. I am stitching this with silk threads in simple tent stitch, and for the life of me don't know why it has languished in the stash pile for so many years!

So that's the report for a Futzingday morning. I am going to enjoy my second cup of damn good and then get ready for You Know What. 

I hope your week is making you happy, Dearies! Come tell me all about life in your corner of the world!

TUESDAY...12:45PM

Aaaahhhh.

That's better.

All this navel gazing self care stuff has given me a massive headache, so I decided to channel my old feisty spinster self and snap out of it.

(It occurs to me that Stewey held me accountable and kept me from going too far down the self-indulgent spinster hole. I had to occasionally tend to his needs and wants and desires in place of my own, and this kept me from the wallow. I'm not good when I have time on my hands to ponder, especially when it involves my world instead of somebody else's. He was, if nothiing else, a massive reality check that prevented me from taking myself too seriously.)

I had a healthy breakfast, took a long hot bath, lit the crackpot spinster fireplace, and am now happily in fresh sweats stitching away.

Back, in other words, in my lane.

I've decided to inquire about home dialysis tomorrow to see if that might be an option for me. The truth of the matter is that my upper arm is just too dang painful a site for these needles, and the noise and chaos and anxiety of having to go to the unit is starting to take its toll.  So instead of fretting over it endlessly, I'm going to see if I can't grab hold and get back in the driver's seat.

I'm also getting better at putting the headphones on and listening to Spinster things (like Flosstube) when Magoo is here. I love him dearly, I really do, but it's all sports all the time on the TeeVee and sometimes a girl just needs a Merchant Ivory film or two to calm her nerves. We're still spending time together, but now I can go to my own little quiet world while he hollars at the Sixers.

So there's the update. Clean and sparkly and stitching for the rest of the day, Dearies. We seem to have turned this little goat rodeo right around. Let's hope it stays headed in the right direction!

TUESDAY...4:45 AM

Ugh.

I had a rough treatment yesterday, so I made it home and crawled into the big girl sleigh bed for a long nap, but now it's Tuesday morning and I'm wide awake at the heiney crack of pre-dawn.

No stitching last night, obviously, but I will fix that today. I am supposed to go to two appointments and then run errands, but I'm sensing a re-schedule on the menu and a day spent in the Happy Chair instead.

I can't believe how quiet it is at this time of the morning! If I had any brains I'd get up early every day like this and just sit here bathing in the silence. But we all know how much I love to sleep, so this might just have to be a rare treat.

Other than that, absolutely nothing new to report, Dearies.  I do, however, want to take a moment to thank you for your sweet notes and cards!  I so appreciate them and just love how wonderfully swell this thing of ours continues to be. Stitchers really are the very best people!

We're off...like a herd of turtles to conquer the day! (Well, maybe not conquer, exactly. Maybe we'll just greet it, give it a cup of damn good, and see how it goes.)  

Happy Tuesday! Come tell me what's on your agenda for the day!

I'D LIKE TO THANK THE ACADEMY...

This was the first year in a very long while that I watched the Oscars and had actually seen some of the movies! I saw Green Book, Black Klansman, and Bohemian Rhapsody...an all time record for me watching current movies.

But let's face it...I watch for the fashion and glamour of it all.

Lots of stitching this weekend! I am still enjoying Cirque des Coeurs, so I am sticking with it:

I'm off to treatment, Dearies! Happy Monday to all!

SPONGEBOB SPINSTER PANTS

So apparently I'm a sponge.

But not the good kind.

Instead of soaking in beauty and peace and happiness and tranquility, I seem to be sucking in everybody's bad juju and trying to make it my own and fix it.  

(Without going into details...I seem to get out of my lane here at dialysis and assume the role of confidant, therapist, advisor, and sounding board for my fellow pod mates, the techs, nurses, and janitorial staff. I don't have the ability to say "Gee, I'm so sorry to hear that, but I've got problems of my own, pal."  Instead, I pat pat the complaintant gently and say "Here...let me fix it all for you by obsessing about all of your problems and return everybody to the land of giggles and rainbows.")

Yeah.

I gotta stop doing that.

Your problems, though, are welcome. What little gas I've got left in the tank is all yours, Dearies! Where shall we go on our next adventure?

I'm all hooked up and stitching happily away. (I did, however, play possum a moment ago when the Nurse Practioner came by. She stresses the bejeebers outta me, so I pretended to be sleeping.) I've got Enya in the headphones today and am determined to have an incident free treatment. The sun is shining, I've got my pink fuzzies on, and there is the promise of Chinese food for dinner!

Come tell me all about your corner of the world...is it swell?

SPINSTERDAY

I decided to make Thursday my very own day of the week to do whatever the heck my pitiful little heart desires. I know it seems like I make EVERY day of the week like that, but the truth is that I feel very overwhelmed with the loss of so much time that used to be spent sitting in the Happy Chair looking out the window.

It feels selfish and decadent and completely over indulgent, but I went from having a very very quiet solitary life to having people and noise and chaos and confusion in my face 24/7.  I wasn't exactly what you would call a social butterfly to begin with, so all of this leaving the house business has me looking for my turtle shell and peace and quiet again.

So today I will visit with Dr. Melfi and talk about why I am such a nutjob whackado, and then I might take myself to the library or the House of Stitches for a little more Spinster therapy. Anyplace that lets me fold back into myself a bit and just...be still and happy...sounds perfect to me.

I stitched my eyeballs out yesterday and finished another heart. I am now heading to the lower right corner and then up and back across the piece before giving up:

At least I think so.

All of that could change if something else strikes my fancy.

Tomorrow will be back to the grindstone, but today is all about having a little rest and respite. Tuna steak and salad for dinner tonight and maybe a little walk in the sunshine for some freash air and exercise.

Not a bad way to go, Dearies. Not bad at all. 

Come tell me about your very own day and what you do to self indulge. If you don't and think I'm being even MORE of a big fat lazy spoiled princess, come tell me that too. Either way...I hope it's swell and that you get to do something that makes you happy!

FUTZINGDAY

We had fun at the basketball game, even though my Irish lost:

Before the game, we stopped for salads at a little place called BarBici. The concept is "Italian street food". Ask me how long Magoo's rant was about THAT?!

(Italians, in his opinion, do not have street food. They linger a long time over a meal at a table...not over a paper plate next to some kind of truck. And if they do have a "street food" it would be a slice or a calzone.)

(Guess what two things were not on the menu?)

Anywhoose...I came home and stitched a little before calling it a night:

I've almost made my way across the bottom of the piece, so I might paw through my stash for a change of pace in the next few days. 

Or maybe not. I'm still really enjoying this, so why futz, right?

Speaking of futzing, we're off like a herd of turtles on this somewhat quiet Futzingday, Dearies! I've got YoYo in the 'phones and am going to settle in for a little stitchy time! 

Hope your day is swell and that you're futzing happily! Come tell me all about it!

SPINSTER OUT AND ABOUT

So here I am, out and about...wearing proper shoes and a bra and real pants on a Tuesday! I had an eye exam this morning and stopped for a treat before heading to the Martin's for towels.

Towels.

At the Martin's.

(The Martin's is a fancypants food store where I usually buy food, but they ran a thingie in which you collected points and can now exchange them in for towels.)

(Or a Weight Watchers bathroom scale.)

(But why in the world would I want one of THOSE?)

In any event, as soon as I finish my whateverthisis I'm going to head over and see what's what. Then home to CS2 for a little stitching and napping before heading out to a basketball game.

That's it for now. Hope your Tuesday is swell!

IN WHICH WE ARE FIRMLY BACK ON THE DIET WAGON...

Remember the portly spinster who was steadily losing weight and perfectly behaving herself?

Well, she was replaced by a rice krispy treat-eating glutton who managed to gain back a few pounds before realizing that starting dialysis is no longer a valid excuse after fourteen months.

Phooey.

Fortunately, not too much damage has been done and I am still down a pretty significant amount from my highest ever. But I have a very long way to go before I'm anywhere near goal, so back on track I go.

This means that I will be making salmon and broccoli for dinner tonight, and I'll let Magoo eat the eleventy-seven boxes of TastyKakes he brought back from New Jersey.

Tomorrow, hopefully, I will feel well enough to go for a walk, and I will do everything within my power to resist a hot dog at the basketball game tomorrow night.

Onward!

I managed to stitch a bit during treatment today. I would have accomplished more, but I just couldn't seem to sit comfortably enough and not alarm at the same time. It probably had something to do with the position of the needles, but I didn't want to push my luck and have to be taken off early.

Here's the progress:

Well, Dearies, that does it for me for a Monday afternoon. I hope your week is off to a wonderful start and that your needles or pens or crayons or hooks are flying!  Do something that makes your heart sing and come tell me all about it!

SUNDAY

SATURDAY SPINSTER BLISS

I got a lovely new gadget from Miss Kelly on the etsy, and it's changing my stitchy life! This is a Bitzy Bob Cutie from the shop ThatsSoKellyCo. It is a little mat that holds your scissors, pen, and working threads. Kelly also makes a larger Bitzy Bob with a pocket and closing snap, but I wanted to try this first to see how I liked it.

I love it!

Instead of stowing everything on the arm of the Happy Chair and knocking it off every five minutes, this little gizmo keeps it all together and safe and right where I need it.

A little more progress on my hearts piece:

Quiet Saturday ahead for me, Dearies! I had hoped to go out to dinner tonight, but am still mot feeling quite up to snuff and think I better stay home and rest instead. Rich won't mind...as long as he has unfettered access to the remote he's a happy guy!

I hope your very own weekend is off to a wonderful start and that your needles are flying! Come tell me all about it and show us what's on your q-snaps!

FRIDAY

All hooked up and ready to run, Dearies. I've got YoYoMa in the headphones and my snacks ready to go. No stitching today...to many problems with Buzzy right now to risk it, and they are so short-staffed today the last thing they need is me alarming every other damn minute.

Rich is back in Hoosierville safe and sound and is very happy to report that he got the Miss America company store contract! If you like the pageant, stay tuned for info on how you can buy stuff with the Miss America logo!

Speaking of company stores, I am woefully behind on Spinster Stitcher items, I know. I promise to get my proverbial act together eventually.

Nothing stitchy to report, I'm afraid. I got caught u in watching the TerVee last night, and before I  knew it, it was time for bed. I'll remedy that this weekend...I promise.

I hope your day is exactly what you want it to be! Come tell me all about it!

A VALENTINE FROM ME TO YOU

This piece by the artist Sam Toft is one of my very favorite things on the planet. Looking at it reminds me that my heart is full of love and that I have everything I need because of that.

Thank you, Dearies, for being that love and for carrying me through. I hope that your own hearts are full, and that you feel wonderfully content knowing how much nicer the world is with you all in it!

FUTZINGDAY

Surely, but slowly, I'm making progress. Would you believe me if I told you that I just realized I was stitching HEARTS last night?!

TUESDAY

MONDAY

Sorry for the late posting today, Dearies. I'm still feeling poorly but wanted to share a little stitchy update! Home from d now and going to rest...Happy Monday!

SATURDAY

Don't worry, Dearies. I am still here, but held together with Mucinex and Robitussin at the moment. This bit of unwell is kicking my heiney, but I am kicking right back.

(But gingerly, and with my slippers on.)

Come tell me about your corner of the world and what happens to be strikimg your fancies today!

OH, BOTHER...

Raise your hand if you're completely OVER any more Spinster Stitcher drama.

Wow.

That was a lot more hands than I expected.

I am sicker than a you know what with the flu. Fever, cough, body aches, tummy upset...in short...I am a crockpot full of medium hot mess.

It was to be expected, I suppose. Between seventy degree temperature swings and the fact that I go sit in a freakin petri dish full of germs three days a week, it was bound to happen. My tech was so sick on Friday she could barely stand up, and at least five of my pod mates have been in the hospital with it.

Phooey.

As soon as I can stand, I am going to don a surgical mask and head to the drugstore for industrial strength meds and some more Vic's vapo rub. I slathered myself up like a glazed ham for bed last night and used the remainder of the emergency jar I had stashed in the back of the bathroom cabinet.

But I did want to tell you that I am as sick and tired of my soap opera as I'm sure you are. I was watching Outlander last night and hollered (croaked) at the TeeVee: "Oh my God! Can you people just sit and read a book or something? How much more drama can one time-traveling WWII British Army nurse and an eighteenth century Scottish highlander get in to?!"

So I'm going to aim for less drama and more stitching. I can't make any promises, but we'll see how it goes. 

Happy Thursday, Dearies! Do something drama free and come tell me all about it!

FUTZINGDAY

Yesterday was wonderful. Six hours of uninterrupted Outlander and a lot of stitching. If I told you how much I needed that, would you believe me?

This is the Ink Circles piece I was telling you about. I had a very small start on it last year, but made great progress when I picked it up again yesterday. 

I'm stitching this on 28ct Fog by Picture This Plus using two strands of Weeks Dye Werks Julian. I was a little unsure about it initially, but now really like it. There is a vibrant orchid color in the thread that isn't captured here, unfortunately. 

Off to dialysis I go. I am dragging my feet today and would much rather stay at home and repeat yesterday, but Instead I need to rally my courage and common sense and get to it.

Here's hoping your Futzingday is wonderfully swell! Come tell me all about it!

TUESDAY

Good morning, Dearies!

I'm up early on my day "off" for some reason. I had plans to lounge in the big girl sleigh bed, but I was bright eyed and bushy tailed before I realized what was happening. No complaints though...I like to have a full day of shenanagins to look forward to!

I'm in a bit of a stitchy slump, which I know is to be expected after a big finish. The problem, I think, is that I remain in the mood for a geometric, but I am trying to force it with something non-geo. Today I will remedy that, since I am almost positive I have some Ink Circles charts in my stash that will do the exact trick I need.

My food adventure seems to be working very well. I enjoyed veggie egg rolls for dinner last night and had a rice krispy treat (OK...two rice krispy treats) for dessert. This was a repeat of what I ate on Sunday. I fully expected to get on the scale at treatment yesterday and be up a ton and a half, but I somehow lost weight instead.

Go figure.

It is a bit cold and dreary here in Hoosierville today, which actually makes me very very happy. I've got the crackpot spinster fireplace going and the magic blanket here to keep me cozy, and I am going to settle in with stitching and Netflix for the duration. 

I hope your little corner of the world is exactly how you want it to be today. Do something fun and come tell me all about it!

MONDAY

IN WHICH WE GROCERY SHOP LIKE A TEENAGE STONER

Rich is en route to Atlantic City for the week, so I am left to my own devices. Normally, I do the whole single adult thing pretty well, and I behave myself quite nicely.

Today, though, my grocery cart contained things that even I didn't know I need.

Like Hot Pockets.

And cheesy stuffed pretzel bites.

And vegetable egg rolls, Mountain Dew Ice, rice krispy treats, and some kind of little peanut butter ball thingies that say they were made by the Amish, but somehow came from Brooklyn.

I've got stuff to make sandwiches and enough pop to float a boat, and also managed to get TWO cans of wavy bar-b-que Pringles.

Pringles!

They're not even real food, and yet I just had to have them because they're wavy.

I think I got little hot dogs wrapped in bagels, too, but by the time I got everything home and put away I was horrified to look any closer.

In the midst of all of this was a bag of baby spinach and a jar of sun dried tomatoes, so I guess this means I will make my seafood pasta sometime soon.

I can honestly say it has been YEARS since I bought this kind of complete junk, but the fact of the matter is...I am really looking forward to it. If I can watch portions and not get too crazy, this little culinary break might be just what I need.

Tomorrow, if I'm good at dialysis, I'm going to hit the Panera drive through on the way home for some soup. I used to go to Panera quite a bit, but stopped going for some reason. Now, though, it is literally on my way home, so I might as well enjoy it every now and then.

No stitching to report, but I'm going to get to it right now. I hope your Sunday is wonderful and that you'll come tell me what's on your menu for the week!

SAAAAAHHHHHHTURDAY...

Yesterday's treatment was a bit rough, but I survived it and came home to watch a little TeeVee before hitting the big girl sleigh bed. I was very happy to learn that my fluid gain from Monday to Friday was minimal...only two pounds.  Now if we can just get this arm back in shape, life will be perfectly swell.

Today has dawned bright and sunny and I am in the Happy Chair with an entire week's worth of newspapers to enjoy:

There were a few days of no delivery this week because of the cold, so yesterday brought a stack to catch up on!

My damn good and crackpot spinster fireplace are really doing their trick this morning. I had run out of my favorite pods...Starbucks French Roast...but thanks to a speedy delivery from the Keurigs, I am back in the happy saddle once more.

Isn't it funny how running out of something can throw your whole game off? I still had damn good, and it was OK, but it just wasn't the same somehow.

(I really am a creature of routine.)

(But I've learned that it's OK. This is how my brain works. The little hampster runs and runs on his little wheel until he is all tuckered out, and a familiar routine...like damn good and the paper...or running the vacuum cleaner on a Saturday morning...or making a pot roast on a snowy Sunday...comforts and soothes him, and gets him re-energized to go again.)

(I've also learned that very little of this craziness is under my control. Apparently my adrenal glands are squirting so much goofy juice into my system that I am in a perpetual state of high alert. I always thought it was just me being me, but there really is a physiological component to all of this that has put my tendency to fret on hyperdrive.)

So I've got that going for ne.

I am going to get my nails done at 1:00 today. JB Magoo reminded me that I promised myself to do this every now and then as a way to be nicer to myself in the face of dialysis, so I'm going to do just that. 

(But it feels so very very decadent and indulgent!)

When I'm done playing Marie Antoinette, I'm going to come home and play with this:

I think this was started sometime in 2003 or 2004, but I could be mistaken. This is Bent Creek's Big Zipper, and was released as a series. You got the linen and big chart first and then the various blocks later on. I seem to remember, though, that I bought the entire thing in one big zippered pouch...hence the zip part.

Anywhoose...that's what I'm going to play with today. 

I hope your weekend is starting swell and that you are having your very own Saaaaaahhhhhhhturday. Do something aaaahhhh inspiring and come tell me all about it!

WELL THAT WAS SURPRISINGLY PRODUCTIVE...

Don't ask me how, but I cleaned and re-organized the cube room studio.

Again.

I ordered and received a nylon toy box from the Targets (for a whopping $15), and finally got rid of the big pile of canvases stacked in the corner:

The canvases are on top for now, but will be stored flat in an artist's portfolio that is on its way from the amazons. (Those puppies range anywhere in price from $12 to hundreds of dollars. I got the $12 one.)

Then I hung my knitting stuff on a few Command hooks to get them off the wall:

And I consolidated all of my cross stitch wips into an empty basket to get rid of more clutter:

This was completely unplanned, but a nice way to spend day three of the deep freeze. I was a bit too tired to stitch last night, but we'll see what I can do to remedy that tonight after treatment. I pulled a very old wip from Bent Creek called The Big Zipper, so we'll see if that strikes my fancy for a few days over the weekend.

So that's it, Dearies,  I made good use of my little staycation without even trying to! A finish and a clean studio heading into February!  Woo hoo!

I'm off to the d-chair in a few moments. Hopefully the car will start...it didn't yesterday and had to be tended to, but since it is now a full three degrees above zero instead of twenty two degrees below zero...I'm hopeful.

Happy Friday! Come tell me all about your plans for the weekend!