Sep 30, 2023

Sep 29, 2023

TRANSPLANTAVERSARY WEEKEND!

Hello, Dearies!

Two years ago today, I had just gotten hooked up to the dialysis machine when I got THE CALL. Tomorrow, I will celebrate TWO YEARS of living this wonderful, happy, healthy, blessed new life with BellyBean, and I am going to make the most of the next three days.

Rich and I went out for breakfast and errands this morning, and in honor of National Coffee Day made our last stop at the Starbucks for a cold brew. I ordered a skinny vanilla cream version and am loving every single sip of it as I finish the day's paper and puzzles.
(The cold brew is on the right. They don't dispense them in 40oz insulated Bubbas.) (At least not yet, anyways.) 😉

My normal cold brew routine is to make one in the afternoon with a protein shake added. Miss Vonna, The Twisted Stitcher Her Very Self showed her profee treat yesterday using the pumpkin spice protein shake, and I'm pretty sure several thousand of us RAN our fannies to the WalMarts to get them, since that flavor is sold out everywhere! But you just can't go wrong with a profee, in my humble opinion, and if having that to look forward to every day is wrong, I don't want to be right!

Tonight we're heading over to Elkhart to see Kenny Wayne Shepherd at the Lerner Theater. (He's a blues guy and I've been looking forward to this for quite some time!) We may or may not go to dinner before the show, but at the moment we're both still full from breakfast, so it might just be something quick here before we leave.

Tomorrow we'll do the 5:00 Mass thing in the Basilica, followed by a few minutes at the Grotto, and then we're going to have dinner on campus. I'm going to order a candle in my dessert and will wish for many more happy years with my little bean!

On Sunday, I'm going to the Cedar Spa at the Four Winds Casino for a mani/pedi! I don't know what to expect, but a few hours of getting pampered never hurt anybody, right?

And there will definitely be stitching! I've been a little quiet in that department the last two weeks, but am happy to report that I'm still loving every single stitch:


Thank you, dear sweet friends, for all of your love and kindness. I finally tested NEGATIVE and am on the mend, I hope. I was pretty sick with it this time, and even missed the entire Notre Dame/Ohio State 
game weekend with my Lima peeps! Fatigue seems to be my biggest symptom, so I'm resting as needed. But that is definitely BEHIND me, and the weekend is AHEAD!






Sep 23, 2023

Sep 21, 2023

Sep 19, 2023

Sep 13, 2023

OH, FOR PITY'S SAKES


 

Well, Dearies. As long as I don't try to sit upright or move my head, everything is just peachy swell. But if I try to do either of those two things the ship lists decidedly left and I go down like a big bag of  doorknobs.

Phooey.

I'm pretty sure it's a seasonal allergy situation that has settled in my inner ear, because other than feeling woozy, I'm perfectly fine and recent labwork shows BellyBean is behaving himself very nicely indeed.

Claritan is on board and will rescue me, I'm sure. In the meantime, the sun is shining, the breeze is cooly blowing, and it is a gorgeous day here in Hoosierville! No complaints at all in that department!

I'll keep you posted...for now, though...carry on!

Sep 12, 2023

UGH


 

Having some technical difficulties at the moment, Dearies! Back in a flash, I promise!

Sep 9, 2023

FULL DISCLOSURE....BRACE YOURSELVES


Thank you for your lovely comments about the cube room studio, but THIS is what the cube wall looks like. Oh...the horror! 😲

As soon as this Notre Dame/NC State football game is over, I might actually try to tackle a cube or two to see if I can't put this to rights again.

Lovely time at Guild and lunch with the Ladies today! Making a little more progress on Spring Medley:

Happy Saturday, Dearies!

Sep 8, 2023

WE'RE HEADING INTO THE WEEKEND LIKE A HERD OF TURTLES, DEARIES!

It's not much of a dent...more of a ding actually...but at least I was able to get the chair cleared off in the cube room studio. If I feel compelled to do so, I might start to tackle the wall of cubes later...maybe just taking it one cube at a time.

After my cleaning extravaganza, I decided to treat myself with a new start. Here's a little progress on With Thy Hands from Teresa Kogut...an absolutely gorgeous chart booklet, by the way!


My sister and I spied this project on the Instagrams and were immediately smitten. Thanks to Aunt Chrissy's direction, I was able to purchase the .pdf at Etsy and then go to the Michael's for the wooden ornament form and the new DMC matte cotton thread. This is going to be a great little fun project to throw into a purse as a take-along, and the price was just right...$6 for four wood ornaments, $1.29 per skein for the thread, and $4 for the download!  The name of the designer is stitchsprout, and I can't wait to go check out what else she has to offer!


And then, just as I was making my way to the checkout at the Michael's, I spied this little guy and he jumped into my cart before I knew what hit me. Remind you of anyone?

 Looks like I'm going to have to learn how to crochet this weekend!

It's 61 degrees outside and kind of misty/drizzly, so I am enjoying another cup of damn good before I get on with the day. It's been a wonderful morning....here's to a wonderful weekend!

Sep 6, 2023

WHAT'S BLOWING MY SKIRT UP TODAY...BY THE SPINSTER STITCHER HER VERY SELF

God only know that I am the LEAST cool girl on the planet, but this big fake Stanley makes me feel like I'm one of the Real Housewives if the Internets running around with enough fluid to float a barge:


This is my Erin set-up for next year, but can we talk about that snap tray?! I found it by accident and hit "Add To Cart" before I knew what hit me!


I decided to play with nail wraps again after several months of wearing nothing at all on my nails. I did try a brief flirtation with polish, but it chipped after a day and a half, so back to wraps I go:


And how can it get any better than the first autumnal viewing of You've Got Mail with a little stitching in the wee small hours of the morning?

 

I'm Spinstering this week, but very busy, Dearies! Rich is in New Jersey until next Wednesday visiting his mom, so I have a full list of fun and frolic planned! If all goes well, I will make it to the bottom of the piles of stuff in the cube room studio and will restore some semblance of order to my toy box once and for all!

Wish me luck! Armed with lean proteins, lots of good music, and my big girl bike shorts...I'm goin' in!

Sep 4, 2023

SWITCHING GEARS...AGAIN

Many astute observers figured out that I pulled the Glendon Place Pretty Pumpkins out of the WiP basket to see about those leaves. When last we met this piece, we were pondering whether to call it finished and add it to the Fuppy box, but I got a hankering for it over the weekend and decided to play.

Here's where I left it last year (or maybe even the year before...I'm not sure):


After three days, this is what it looks like with one leaf added:
 
Here's what it would look like with all of the leaves filled in:



I think I might set it aside for a minute until I can decide what to do. 

In the meantime, out comes Hoity Toity for some action:


It's been a lovely, quiet, healthy, stitchy long weekend here in Hoosierville, Dearies. The temperatures have climbed into the 90's again, but I'm not going to complain while I'm sitting here in the comforts of an air conditioned CS2.

I hope that you are off and running into a wonderful week ahead! Do you have something fun in your future? Come tell me all about it!