HELLO AGAIN, DEAR FRIENDS!

My original thought was to come back to this here blog tomorrow....January 3. But that didn'tmake any sense at all, when you take into account the way my crazy brain works.

(For example...diets and exercise routines can only start on a Monday. New years require new starts on the first, etc.)

So here we are, together again, Dearies. I am in the d-chair on a Saturday again due to the holiday, and the view is truly breathtaking.

(The cleaning of the car, the scraping of the ice, and the driving in the mush, though? Not so much.)

But I am really enjoying those trees today and am grateful that I get to pass the time taking them all in today. I miss that view from the Happy Chair at Chez Spinster....those woods were always so gorgeous on days like this. 

My break from the iPad resulted in absolutely no organizing whatsoever, I'm sorry to say. Each day I would tell myself that I should organize or sort or tidy something, but I ended up snuggling deeper into the Happy Chair with another cup of damn good and I stitched my little heart out!

December was rather prolific for Yours Truly, and I stitched and finished and finished and stitched more than I have in years:

I have to say, the most pleasant surprise was how much I enjoyed stitching the Mill Hill kits! They were so fast and satisfying, and once I figured out the perfect set up for myself (a Bitzy Biggie and little quilt clips to hold the chart in front of my face), I just couldn't stop stitching them!

There are quite a few of these kits in my stash that I picked up over the years, but I could never quite get the hang of them. Now, though, Methinks these will be part of my stitchy baskets going forward.

Speaking of...I've assembled a basket for January/Winter that I'm really happy about:

It has a little bit of everything, and should keep me busy for quite a while. The needlepoint canvases are Cardinals in the Snow and a Holiday Cup...there are a few more Mill Hill kits in there, Plum Street's Hello Winter, and Lavender and Lace's Angel of Healing. I'll add or subtract as my mood allows...I want to fish out a few WiPs from the cube room studio, and maybe add some things for Valentine's Day...but for now it's good to go.

The Cardinal canvas gave me major fits yesterday.

I started the branch and thought I was following the stitch guide, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't make it look right. So I fretted and cursed and cursed and fretted, and put it into time out for a hour or so and came back to it.

But before I did, I went to Needleandthread.com and watched a video that showed how to do the stitch. Turns out, I was wrapping the vertical ladder threads the wrong way!

It's still not perfect, but for now I am leaving it alone. I think that it will start to look better to me once the other elements start to fill in.

Tonight I am going to pick up another Mill Hill kit for a little change of pace and because I will probably be wiped out from treatment and need something easy peasy.

On the kidney front, all is well. My weight has remained several pounds below goal, and will hopefully continue to go down. I'm eating "normally" but being super super careful about portions and treats. I've also been drinking iced lemon water like I used to, and I think this is helping me tremendously!

My appointment in Indianapolis was moved from January 5 to February 5 due to covid issues. This was just a weigh-in and check-in with the team, so not critical. I remain #3 on the list, which means the call is still imminent. It's not an orderly progression...in other words, when a kidney becomes available, there are several different things that need to be a perfect match: size, antibodies, shape, age, health, etc. They basically start at the top and find the person with the best match, and that might mean going down the list quite a bit before finding the best recipient.

(When I got the call in October, I was actually #5 on the list, but the kidney that came in wasn't good for numbers 1-4.)

Well, Dearies, I think I've babbled on long enough. I feel a bit like my sister (Aunt Chrissy) who used to wake my mom up in the middle of the night because she wasn't finished talking to her and remembered all of the things she wanted to tell her!

Happy New Year once again! My Jersey Boy and I are off to a good start and I managed to get my first kissy kiss at midnight. Fifty four years old, and it was my very first New Year's kiss (she says, blushing furiously). We are looking forward to another happy and healthy year together, and if all goes well will be on the road to more adventures!

So that's it...your Spinster is safe and happy and grateful and well and hoping that you are the same and that you'll come tell me all about it!