GLOOMY TUESDAY...PERFECTION!

It's cold and dreary here in Hoosierville today, and I am loving every minute of it! I slept in a little longer than normal, had a few cups of damn good, read the paper, and now I'm going to settle in with Grasshopper Pie for one last day of stitching before Maynia begins.

(I know I'm a total whackadoo, but days like this make me appreciate being able to stay inside in my pajamas all day without guilt.)

Not much stitching to report from yesterday. Treatment completely knocked me out and I was under the weather for the duration of the day and evening. 

Rich is heading to New Jersey on Thursday, so I will have ten days to miss him and revert back to my old single spinster routines. I know there will be tacos and lots of housecleaning and late night stitching, and probably more than enough bad TeeVee in the form of Housewives to shake a stick at. 

(His visits home give me the opportunity to crawl back into my neurotic agoraphobic turtle shell and just be...quiet...for a bit, so as much as I worry about him driving and being away...I do appreciate the time to reset all of my buttons..)

I have received a ton of emails asking about my sister and Bosco. They are both doing well and living out of state. She opened an Etsy shop called Siggy's Closet and is making and selling stitchy-related things, and Bosco is supervising quite nicely. He will be 14 years old in September and is still as cute as ever. I miss the little guy so much and sometimes feel like it was just yesterday that he was terrorizing Stewey on the ottoman.

Speaking of Stewey...he still pops into my dreams every now and then. I have a good cry about twice a week because I still miss him so much, but the laughs over his antics usually outweigh them. He sure was a special part of my life.

OK...that's enough rambling for now. The countdown has begun until I pull my first Maynia project out of the box tonight! WooHoo!

MONDAY

LOOK OUT MAYNIA...HERE I COME!!

I just spent a very enjoyable few hours in the cube room studio organizing The Official Spinster Stitcher Stitch Maynia 2019 Basket and Toolkit O'Fun.

Here is the master tool kit. Notepad, Stewey birthday daisy needleminder, ort jar, highlighters, scissors, needles, and container of project names.

Two sets of q-snaps...8x8 and 11x11 complete the supplies:

Plum Pudding has its very own kit...q-snaps, grime guard, and project bag en route:

The plan so far is that I will sit down at 9pm each night to draw the name of the project for the next day for Monday through Friday stitching. To make it more spinster-friendly I added a few "free", "repeat", and "draw again" slips. The projects in the basket are all Spring/Summer/misc related, since I am a very seasonal stitcher and don't want to stitch Autumn/Winter/Christmas in May.

Once a project has been drawn, I'll put it on the q-snaps and stick it in the kit for the next day.

(Saturdays and Sundays will be reserved for Plum Pudding.)

So there you go, Dearies! We'll see how this goes...if successfully, I might try it again in August or September with autumnal projects. Augustania?

Happy Saturday!

SATURDAY

FRIDAY NIGHT...

FRIDAY

SPINSTER DAY...UPDATED

This is the sum total of what I've done today....I painted my toes myself and then had Miss Karen work her magic on my fingers:

Now...on to some stitching!

Well, here we are, Dearies. Another Thursday has dawned bright and early and I am doing my level best to get my wits about me with a nice hot cup of damn good. Mornings after treatment are quite...ugh...but the hangover lifts within an hour or two and I should be right as rain once again.

I have hopes of getting myself into the cube room studio today to putz and futz about in my stash, but I'm going to let the day take me where it wants to. I have a sneaky feeling that Maynia should be joyful and fun, and that I should resist the temptation to over-think the bliss right out if it, so we'll see what happens.

Wait a minute.

Who the heck is this DevilMayCare laid back Spinster, and what has she done with the neurotic crazypants lunatic who used to live here?!

The truth is, I'm tired.

And by tired, I mean physically, mentally, and emotionally worn out from fighting and fretting and worrying and planning and holding on to stuff so tight I squeeze the breath out of it. I feel like I have about three brain cells left in my tiny little brain, and I want to use them poking a needle through linen...and nothing else.

Maybe it's the miracle of industrial grade pharmaceuticals, or maybe it's age...I don't know. But I'm so damn tired of listening to myself kvetch and worry about crap that I think it's time to change the channel.

Speaking of...

I really wish I could adequately express how much I enjoy watching Flosstube, and how utterly grateful I am to the lovely stitchers who do the hard work of making videos. I am in perpetual awe of anybody who has the ability to put themselves out there and do it so well, and the hours and hours of peace they give me is totally priceless. If you haven't tried it yet, go to YouTube and search for Flosstube.

Absolutely fandamntabulous, if you ask me.

So I think that's about it from the friendly confines of CS2 today. I hope your Thursday is swell and that you get to have the exact day you want to! Come tell me all about it!

FUTZINGDAY MORNING...

AND THEN IT WAS TUESDAY...

Chello, Dearies!

Here we are on another Tuesday! Monday was a bit of a blur for Yours Truly due to another knock-out in the d-chair. (I hate when that happens.)

Today is rather cold and cloudy, but I am loving every minute of it. I've got the laundry sploshing and the stitching ready to go for the day, so no complaints whatsoever. I had hoped to play golf today, but we'll have to see what Mother Nature has on her agenda.

If the mood strikes, I might take myself into the cube room studio to start my Maynia assembly. I am really liking the plan...WIPs Monday through Friday followed by Plum Pudding on the weekends, but  I think I miscalculated my week days somehow. I thought there were 18, but a closer look at an actual calendar confirms that there are 23.

Duh.

So I will pull it together and see how much fun I can have after a few brief chores are complete. I've already dispatched the morning smoothie and bill paying tor the day, so it's all downhill from here!

I hope your very own Tuesday is perfectly swell. Do something lovely for yourself and come tell me all about it!

HAPPY EASTER, DEARIES!

SATURDAY SPINSTER BLISS...PLUS A LITTLE OF THE GOLFING

Just when I thought it was going to be a day for jammies and the Happy Chair, I got the bright idea that we should go play the golfing. I guess the beautiful blue sky, white puffy clouds, and lovely cool breeze were calling to me, because even I was a little shocked to find myself out there with a club in my hand.

So we played nine holes and are now home watching the Sixers play the basketball. I am going to take a nap and contemplate dinner, but maybe a stitch or two first...

Happy Saturday, Dearies!

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IN WHICH WE CONTEMPLATE MAYNIA...

I haven't gone back to verify this, but I don't think I've ever participated in Stitch Maynia.

For those not in the know...Stitch Maynia was created in 2015, and the idea was to start new projects in the month of May. I believe the first group started 15 new projects for 2015. I think there were also folks who started 31 new pieces for the 31 days in May.

Over the years, Stitch Maynia has become wildly popular and a way to have some fun. I've been told there are NO RULES or restrictions to participate, so I have decided to dip my toe and see if I can do it.

For mu very own Maynia, I am going to stitch WIPs during the week and something wonderful on the weekends, If I finish Grasshopper Pie in April (which I'm really hoping to do) my weekend project will be Plum Pudding...another gorgeous piece in the same Dessert Series from Glendon Place.

I would also like to get back to journaling my stitching...something I have missed doing very much.

Who knows if I will succeed, but I won't know that unless I try, right?  I know I have enough WIPs to play with that have a Spring/Summer theme, so I can stay in my lane with the whole seasonal stitcher thing. I suppose if Maynia goes well, I could repeat the same idea in the Fall, but I really shouldn'the get ahead of myself.

More contemplating to do, but I have plenty of time for that here in the d-chair today, Dearies.

Thanks you for your lovely thoughts about my eye. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem likely that I'll get this vision back in this part of the eye, but I am hoping that my tiny little brain will get used to it and compensate. For now...I'm determined not to dwell too much on it.

If this is a holiday weekend for you, I hope you enjoy it with your Lovies all around you, something yummy on your table, and your stitching to keep you happy!

WHEW! WHAT A DAY!

Well, Dearies...so much for me having a nice quiet Thursday!

I started at 10:00 this morning with a visit to my family doc, Dr. Barbara. She is just excellent in every way and likes to lay eyes on me every now and then to ensure I am behaving myself. (Which I am...in spades, I tell ya!)

From there, I killed a little time at Hobby Lobby and JoAnn's looking for simple little needlepoint kits that I could throw in my purse for days like today when I'm running hither and yon. Both were, quite sadly, a total bust, and looked like the Easter Bunny and a master gardener had thrown quite a party up almost every aisle.

My second appointment was with Dr. Melfi, and it was there that I solved all of the world's problems and decided to up my meds. (Just to be on the safe side.)

Then it was on to the Targets to pick up a prescription and a Chap Stick because I am a total boob and left the house with only a wallet and cell phone instead of a proper purse, and God knows I am too addicted to well-moisturized lips to go more than three minutes between applications.

Finally...an appointment with the eye doctor. This one was a doozy and resulted in about two and a half hours in the exam chair with three different opthamologists peering into the back of my brain. What lead me there in the first place was a smudge in my left eye vision that suddenly popped up on Saturday. We don't know for sure, but it appears that Yours Truly might have had a small stroke (likely from dialysis) and I have a blockage/embolism on one of the smaller vessels of my retina.

Yikes!

My eyes are still terribly dilated and I have a bad headache from all of the poking and prodding and peering, so no stitching for me tonight. I'll watch the basketball with JB a bit and will then head to bed and start over again tomorrow.

Grasshopper Pie continues to completely enchant, so look for a continuation of progress...hopefully tomorrow. In the meantime, I hope YOUR eyes and needles are behaving and that you have a wonderful Thursday evening!  Come tell me all about it!

YESTERDAY...

MONDAY

Thank you, Dearies, for the lovely birthday wishes! I had a very nice, quiet, relaxing weekend. We postponed our dinner plans for another time...JB was not feeling quite up to snuff....so I enjoyed stitchy time instead.

Speaking of...here she is in 1/2 of her glory:

I hope you had a good weekend and that your week is off to a wonderful start! Do something fun and come tell me all about it!

CHELLO!

It's Saturday, Dearies! As soon as this hangover lifts, I'm going to enjoy a stitchy day on the balcony followed by dinner out. I behaved myself quite nicely this week and am looking forward to a real treat...Caesar salad, steak and baked potato, and blueberry cheesecake tor dessert.

(Pause for horrified reaction.)

But I really did watch it carefully and made all three dialysis sessions, so I am goung to kick up my heels with impunity and just enjoy a Saturday night out with my favorite Jersey Boy.

What are you and your Lovies doing today? Something wonderful, I hope! Whatever it is...come tell me all about it!

FRIDAY VIEW...

IN WHICH WE TURN A CORNER...LITERALLY AND FIGURATIVELY

Well, well, well. I have to say that I am pleased, surprised, and happy that the universe gets along quite well when I am not the boss of everything.

I had my damn good and a smoothie, showered and dressed, and headed out into the windy hinterlands for a Spinster Thursday.

Nails...check. (The color is exactly what I wanted for April...a lovely lavender called "Gummy" from CND Shellac).

Then it was off to the license bureau to renew myself. Ten minutes, and I was in and out...easy peasey.

A final stop at the library to pick up a book that I ordered, and then it was home for a tuna sam, sweats, and now some stitching.  

All in all, a very happy day indeed, and I have not fretted or should-ed on myself once today! I haven't felt poorly about anything at all, except for the fact that I can't head to Bloomington to help Miss Vonna out by serving a funeral luncheon on Saturday. (The poor bubbe is flat on her back and I would do anything to give a little something back to a woman who has given me so much, but I have prayed to St. Gemma...Patron Saint of back and hip injuries...that Miss V will be right as rain once again.)

This pacing myself, feeling calm and gentle and not being overwhelmed by feelings of guilt and anxiety is going to take some getting used to, but I'm going to give it (and my new diet) Ye Olde Spinster Try and see what happens.

Wonder who the Patron Saint for THAT is?

Earlier d-chair time starting tomorrow, so hopefully I will be able to check in from there to report all of the goings on. But for tonight, Dearies, I hope you are in your Happy Chairs with something wonderful to occupy your time! Come tell me all about it!

THIS IS YOUR FUTZINGDAY CAPTAIN SPEAKING...

When my dear dad suffered his second heart attack and came out of a ninety minute CPR code, he had a problem with fatigue and short term memory loss. He would get so frustrated and say "I can't stand being so out of it, CJ. I'm tired and foggy and just want to sleep the day away."

And I would reply "Dad, do you have to fly a plane today filled with puppies and orphans? Relax, rest, and just enjoy the time off from the troubles of the world. The plane will be there for you when you get your senses back."

And he would rest.

Somehow I forgot this advice, and I have been utterly and completely frustrated by my inability to function like a 52...soon to be 53...year old female person. I am wiped out, groggy, out of it, and completely exhausted, and rather than just riding it out I'm fretting and kvetching and moaning and fighting about it constantly.

Which makes me even more wiped out, groggy, out of it, etc.

So today I'm going to park the plane and just get on with it, Dearies. If I stitch...I stitch. If I don't...I don't. This whole d-chair thing is what it is and I need to quit trying to make it normal. I need to understand that (for now, anyway) it's OK for me to just...be. My plus-sized Superwoman cape needs to go on a hanger in the closet, and somebody else needs to be in charge.

Any volunteers?

TUESDAAAAAAHHHHHHHY

Here we are on a lovely Tuesday, Dearies, and I am ready for stitching and laundry and nothing else.

(Maybe a quick clean of the kitchen, a fast window wash, a flip of the mattress, run to the post office, an hour or two in the garage, a walk on the treadmill, a spiff up of the bathroom, and a re-org of the cube room studio.)

Nope.

Stitching and laundry.

That's it. No shoulding or to-doing or feeling like I should be out enjoying the sunshine and solving world peace.

I'm pushing too hard...I know that, but I have a sense of time flying faster and faster and I really don't want to waste one single minute of it. Maybe it's the Springtime fever, maybe it's this new crazy routine of only having a few hours in a week in which I feel almost human....not sure, but it's going to take a lot of time with Dr. Melfi to get me to get off this partcular ledge.

Thank you for all of your kind words about my current stitchy progress, but I must confess that I feel like a big fat fraud. The designer, Miss Cheryl Granda, the dyers at Picture This Plus, and the creators of Dinky Dyes deserve all of the credit. This is indeed a beautiful piece and a true joy to stitch, but all of the hard work was done before I put needle and thread in hand. 

OK...off to the kitchen to whip up a smoothie. I am trying to have those on non-d days and am determined to stick with the plan. I've redoubled my efforts to get this last 100 off, and God knows it has to start with me making better choices and sticking to a routine!

Happy Tuesday! I hope you get to enjoy your day, that your needles are flying, and that you'll come tell me all about it!

MOVING THE Q-SNAPS...

STITCHY LIKE A SUNDAY MORNING...

I am delighted to report that Grasshopper Pie still has my skirt blown right up. After the Sunday paper is read and a few provisions are obtained from the Martins, I'm going to get right back to it until game time.

(My Lady Irish play for the National Championship in the basketball tonight.)

Thank you for your tender hearts given to Sam Toft, Dearies. I am trying to figure out how to write to her without sounding like a total Doofus, and when I do I'll be sure to tell her that the Nation is behind her!

Trying my damn good with almond milk instead of half and half today and not liking it one bit...no not one bit at all, but it's not going to drink itself, so I suppose I better get to it.

Happy Sunday! I hope your needles are flying and your damn good is exactly how you want it to be!

DEAR FRIENDS...

If you've visited with me for any length of time on this here blog, you might have noticed my affection for and obsession with a British artist by the name of Sam Toft. I have several of her pieces, bought through the years as posters, prints, calendars, etc, and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't look at them and feel happy inside doing so.  Sam craated the world of Mr. Mustard and his little Jack Russell named Doris, and everything about this world is whimsical and lovely and full of giggles and joy.

It seems that Sam is climbing into the ring with a fight against cancer now, and I was wondering if I could impose upon Spinster Nation to keep her in your thoughts and prayers for a swift and easy recovery as she heads down a new path. I've never met Sam, but she has played such an enormous part of my life these last many years because of that first poster I saw in a Michael's bin, that I want to do something...anything...to keep her around a good while longer.

If you are an Instagrammer, you can find her quite simply by searching for Sam Toft or samtoftartist. Be careful, though, because I know you'll fall in love, just like I did!

Thank you, Dearies! I know what the power of your love can do, and I hope that it is as miraculous for a friend in Cornwall as it has been for me!

OK...THAT'S MUCH BETTER.

I managed to stitch during most of treatment today while catching up with Flosstube friends. Can I just say again how very thankful I am to have so many wonderful people out there making this thing of our so incredibly special by putting themselves out there? The joy and peace and kaughter and inspiration you all provide is just worth more than I can ever say!

Cheers, Dearies! The weekend is upon us!

FFFFFFFFFIDDLESTICKS. AND FROGS.

HOW I STITCH, BY THE SPINSTER STITCHER HER VERY SELF...

I am frequently asked what it looks like when I take needle in hand. Here you go...

To the left is my tool basket, Lipsyl, sippy cup (Crystal Lite peach mango green tea), ort jar, Flosstube, and thingie from Miss Kelly:

 Crackpot spinster fireplace (Flowers in the Sun flavor), scissors, and extra silk on thread drops:

 Project in q-snaps (finally realuzed that 11x11 is best size for me), chip clip to hold chart:

Feet under the magic blanket:

AND THEN IT WAS TUESDAY...

I've been spending an awful lot of time on Memory Lane lately.  I don't know if it's the time if year, or the Lima, Ohio Memories page on the Facebook, or just me getting older...but I find myself missing my mom and dad more fiercely than ever and wishing they were here.

Or maybe it's the date today...April 2. My Uncle Connie's birthday. I miss him terribly also, and can still hear him chuckle as he asked about Stewey's latest shenanagins. As God is my witness, I can smell Juicy Fruit gum every single time I think of him.

(Uncle Connie...not Stewey.)

(Thoughts of Stewey make me smell Johnson's Baby Shampoo.)

(Damn dog.)

Treatment just...sucked...yesterday. I really wish I knew what the heck is causing me to get so sick, but until we figure it out or I find a new place to play I'm going to have to live with the torture of those needles and the zombie apocalypse that follows.

I did manage to stitch a bit last night. Grasshopper Pie brings me so much joy...I can't begin to tell you. 

Flosstube, looking at stitchy pics and blogs, and keeping up with all of you, Dearies, are also curing everything that ails me, so please allow me to send a very big very heartfelt thank you to those who put themselves out there in any form. Whether you host a YouTube channel or just write an occasional comment or note...you are my peoples, and I am so very thankful for you.

So Happy Tuesday, Friends! Do something fabulous and come tell me all about it!

Constantine Michael Loukos
April 2, 1936 - October 13, 2009

The Measure of Man

Not how did he die, but how did he live?
Not what did he gain, but what did he give?
Not what was his station, but had he a heart, and how did he play his God-given part?
Not what was his church nor what was his creed, but had he befriended those really in need?
Not what did the piece in the newspaper say, but how many were sorry when he passed away?
Was he ever ready with a word or good cheer, to bring back a smile, to banish a tear?
There are the units to measure the worth
Of a man as a man, regardless of birth.

HELLO APRIL!