Wednesday, June 30, 2004

The last few days I've had trouble accessing Blogger from my computer. Not sure what the problem was my computer or the Blogger website.

I guess it doesn't matter since I haven't had too much to write about. Life is busy. Trying hard to get the house organized. Not making much headway. I did join Flylady. The last time I tried to add links they didn't work, but the website is www.flylady.net.

Not sure what's up with the links on my last blog entry. I did it correctly and even double or triple checked. They still came up weird.
Oh well.

Not much going on here. I'm trying to finish up a piece for a swap that is late. It's close, should have it ready to FedEx by Saturday.

Fairy Grandmother won't be finished by July 1st. Another deadline that will be missed.

Other than that I'm planning on starting the Houses of Hawk Run Hollow by Carriage House Samplings. It can be viewed at www.carriagehousesamplings.com. I believe it's under What's New. I plan to stitch it on 36ct flax linen and use DMC with a mix of GAST and WDWs.

On the crochet front I've been obsessing over all the afghans you can see while watching Judging Amy. I love them all and think I'll try to figure out some of the patterns and maybe try to copy a few of them. They seem to have aghans tossed over every piece of furniture on that show, even on the old sofa in the basement. I love that look. Something about an afghan that just makes a house feel more homey.



Saturday, June 26, 2004

Not much going on here. Wish I had some exciting news to report but alas I don't.

I'm trying to get a few swap items and RRs caught up and that'll be my focus this weekend.

I just got home from Curves and I'm craving Waffle House. I'd love some cheese eggs, a waffle, hashbrowns scattered, smothered and covered with chili. YUM! I'm trying to be strong.

Yesterday at the LNS I picked up the new Carriage House Samplings design, The Houses of Hawk Run Hollow and the 36ct flax linen to stitch it on. I'm going to stitch it using a mix of DMC and GAST/WDWs. The silks are just out of my price range at the moment. I also picked up Counted Illumantions Galleon and Sea Monsters chart and The Goblin Market. Can't wait to get these two all kitted up and ready to go. $78 later I was one happy stitcher, I haven't been to the LNS in over a month so I was due the splurge but it's my last for a while except for threads and fabric for charts already purchased. At least I'm going to try to stick to that for a little while. I won't beat myself up if I decide to buy a few new charts because there are a few new ones from Market that I know I have to have but I'm going to try to use some self control and not run out and buy them immediately.

I have several things I want to stitch this year. BOAF's Remember Me On Halloween is one. It just calls for a lot of WDWs thread and it's one of those designs that it loses something if you don't use the overdyed thread. I started it in DMC a few years ago and just wasn't happy with it. So I plan to kit up the WDWs for it over the next couple of weeks and hopefully get it started some time in August.

Should I agonize over all the projects I have started, all the ones I want to finish, all the ones waiting to be started? It's an old whine isn't it? I found some wild Lion Brand Homespun, color:Disco, on the clearance rack at Walmart and bought the three skeins they had in stock. It's a mix of purple, teal and black-can't decide if I like it or find it so ugly I have to love it because no one else will, at least no one with taste. I think I'm going to use it for one of the groovy shawls from this website: Groovy Ponchos and Shawls. I plan to use the pattern for 7701 or 7706. I'm hoping three skeins of the Homespun is enough. I have four skeins of the Williamsburg, also purchased on clearance and I may use that first just to see if I have enough. The pattern calls for three four ounce skeins of worsted weight yarn and I have three 6 oz skeins of the Homespun. I'm just not sure how that measures up to the worsted weight yarn length wise. Hope I'm making some kind of sense.

Well TNT has a good movie line up for today and while I will feel guilty not going to the beach I think I'm going to indulge in a nice quiet day of stitching and movie watching. Life is good!


Tuesday, June 22, 2004

Have those days when the words won't come? Can't complete a thought. That's me right now.

Not much to write about. I'm not inspired these days. Honestly, I've been agonizing over a story that I want to write. It's been haunting me for about 5 years but every time I sit down to write the story the words don't come, they read like my 8 yr old could have written them. I wad up the pages in a ball and toss them in the garbage. I know I shouldn't self edit. I should write and write and then pull the story from the ramblings. I know that that's my problem. I haven't written the story but I've seen it in my mind, in my dreams, I love the characters already. This story is struggling to come up to the surface, to bubble over the top and be heard, it wants it's characters to see the light of day. I keep them in the shadows because I don't think I'm worthy to write their tale. I've been searching for my copy of Natalie Goldberg's Wild Mind and Annie Lamott's Bird by Bird. I need to be told that it's ok to write the story, that I'm writing for myself and the characters and no other reason. That it's not a waste of time. I need permission to write. Wild Mind gave me my writing back years ago when I ran across it hidden away on a bookstore shelf. It gave me permission to write crap.

I'm also not inspired by needle or hook. Nothing is calling to me these days. I have so much I want to finish, I want to do, I want to create. I know, I know, get off your fat ass and finish something, just do it. Don't sit around whining about all the things you can't finish because of this or that reason. Screw the reasons, solve the damn problems and get on it with it already.

The kitchen needs mopping. The kitchen always needs mopping. Walking across it at the moment reminds me of walking across tape, sticky side up. Ick. Why can't anyone in this house pour a glass of anything to drink and put it back in the fridge without leaving a trail all across the kitchen? Why is this such a difficult task? My summer seems to be a neverending mopping-vacuuming-laundrylalapalooza.

I've been running from the cleaning and hiding in a corner with a book. Not great literature, nothing that makes me a better person or educates me. Just nice quick mysteries that take me away from the heat, the whining kids and the piles of laundry and sticky floors. I've been reading M.C. Beaton's Hamish MacBeth and Agatha Raisin mysteries. They take me a way for a little while and require very little thinking. Sometimes that is a very good thing.

My DH has been home since Friday and I'm counting the hours until he goes back to work tomorrow morning. I love the man but he's driving me crazy. I love my quiet mornings, my routine.



Friday, June 18, 2004

The weekend is upon us! YEA!!! It's hot down here. Very hot. Looked stormy all day and now the sun is out. Just when I have to take DS#2 to his basketball game.

Had a nice trip to Walmart yesterday. Why do I feel like such a hick when I say I went to Walmart? Anyway, I bought some more Peaches & Creme Kitchen cotton for dishtowels. I plan to make a couple for my mom. Knowing her she won't ever use them, sentimental value and all. LOL. I also found 4 skeins of LionBrand Homespun on clearance for $1.75 a skein. I plan to make my grandmother a shawl. Why? Just because. I haven't been the best granddaughter I could be. I love her so much and don't call like I should. Don't go home like I should. Anyway, I may start the shawl this weekend. If I get back over there I may pick up the 4 skeins on clearance in a beige color. Can't recall the name but I thought I could make a shawl for myself out of that. I would have scooped it up today but I figured DH would have a fit if he knew I spent money I shouldn't be spending just because the yarn is on clearance. It's bad enough I bought Alabama's 41 #1 songs CD. I justified that to DH by saying it saves me from buying all their albums that I own on CD. LOL. He actually bought that.



Wednesday, June 16, 2004

Dreams

Recently I've been dreaming of wide open spaces, land as far as the eye can see. No tourists. No traffic.

I've been dreaming of horses, sheep, chickens. A home where the view from the kitchen window is a mountian.

I've been dreaming of a place where survival skills are necessary because the closest store is 2 hours away, the nearest neighbor, 20 miles. I want to be one of those people who is always prepared for anything that might come along in one's day to day life. I'm never that person. I run out of things in the kitchen all the time. Why? Because I'm five minutes from the Winn-Dixie or Publix. I never plan meals in advance and just kind of wing it every day. Even during hurricane season I try to prepare ahead of time but I know deep down inside if the big blow hit we'd be the ones having to pay $40 for a bag of ice. We'd be the ones begging to buy a can of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup for $5. I want to know that I can count on myself to take care of my family in case of a disaster.

I read all the articles on preparing food in large quantities and then freezing the prepared dishes in family sized portions and wow, you have a complete family dinner ready to go for future use. You come in, pull something out of the freezer and dinner's ready in no time. Like I said, I read the articles but I never impliment their advice.

I clip recipes for basic kitchen mixes, pancake, brownie, muffins, taco seasoning. Things that should make the preparations for homemade meals effortless and supposedly less expensive than store brands, and then they sit ignored on the shelf.

I tear out articles on organization, how to make one's home run more efficiently, they stay piled in their folder forgotten as soon as they are tucked in the pocket.

Over the last few days I've determined I'm much more of a dreamer than a doer and I hate that about myself. Ok I've known this fact for a long time but now I'm embracing it and I'm hoping over the summer to become more of a doer. To be more prepared, if anything so that my kids will learn the importance of being ready for anything that can happen. Of course you can't plan for everything but with just a little advanced preparation even the hardest times can be met with grace and courage.



Other News

Trying to get in a little time on Fairy Grandmother everyday. Also found another UFO that is getting it's share attention. Sheepish Designs Time Has Wings. I started this a couple of years ago after buying it at a cross stitch retreat. I can only take FG in small sections of time as the color changes drive me nuts. I'm now avoiding her wing. I need to get over it and focus on that area for the rest of the week.

I'm planning to make a needle book for a friend for a swap, and I think I've finally figured out how to do it. This will be my sewing project for the weekend.

I've also been trying to crochet at least one row a day on my Red Heart Gemstone/Black afghan. As soon as I finish the piece for the swap I'll start focusing on my 63 squares. They are starting to scream at me. This will be such a pretty afghan when finished. I'd love to have the blocks finished by the end of the year.

Being realistic about my projects has never been one of my strong points. I always think things will stitch up faster than they do, I think a crochet project will be easy and within my skill level and then I find it's much harder and more frustrating than I expected. I'm learning to do practice swatches which helps.

Curves

Went for my fourth visit today. I'm getting into a routine and my heart rate is staying in the 80% range. Even when I slow down for a while it still stays kicked up a little higher than the chart specifies, I guess that's a good thing, means I'm burning fat cells. I definitely leave there with a good sweat and it's not from the lack of air conditioning in my truck.

Monday, June 14, 2004

Productive Weekend

Managed to finish DS#1's Birthday Stocking. Should have been finished by this past March but it's ready to be made into a stocking for his next birthday.

Excuse the blurry scan:







The design was stitched on 16ct Hickory Heatherfield and I used DMC floss. The designer is Cecilia Turner of Heart in Hand Needlearts.

Feels good to have another UFO out of the pile. The next stocking doesn't need to be finished until November.

The rest of today will be spent on Fairy Grandmother. I need to squeeze in time to finish up a piece for a swap that's due to be mailed on the 23rd of this month. Also need to get a RR in the mail.

Reading

Lately I've been reading the Agatha Raisin mystery series by M.C. Beaton. Not bad as far as mysteries go. Light reading. I'm also working my way through the first Pern book Dragonsdawn. I've requested the second book from the library.

At the Used Book Store last week I managed to pick up all three books in the recent Nora Roberts' "Key of" trilogy. These go in a pile with all the other Nora Roberts' Trilogies that I have yet to read. At least one day when I'm seriously bored I'll have a nice stack of books to choose from with completed series. I hate only having the first book in a series. I worry that when I get around to reading them I won't be able to track down the other books.

It's a nice stormy, rainy day down here along Florida's Emerald Coast. I love rainy days because I don't feel as guilty spending the day stitching.

I joined Curves last week. I hated spending the money to join when I can walk and exercise at home. Seems like such a waste but it's obvious from the size of my butt that I'm not going to do that. So joining Curves was a last resort decision. I seem to have made a bit of progress as on Friday when I went for my first workout I couldn't grab my left ankle with my left hand and now today after three workouts I can. That has to be a positive right?

I've decided that I don't care about being thin or healthy. I just don't want shopping for clothes to be a traumatic experience. We're talking major meltdown in the dressing rooms of stores when I'm in a "must buy something to wear to __________" and have no other choice but to buy clothes.

I figure I can stand anything for 30 mins. 3 days a week and some Saturdays.

Saturday, June 12, 2004

Because I'm bored:

Hecate
Hecate


?? Which Of The Greek Gods Are You ??
brought to you by Quizilla
This morning while reading the Legacy EZBoard I found a link to this quiz that was originally posted on the Chatelaine BB.

Siren
You are a Siren. More adventurous than all with a
voice like no other you sit on warm rocks and
sing to the moon and sea. Yet sometimes
shipwrecks find you and raving men want you.
You are a bottle of talent and power. What the
unknown is you seek to find, and a lover. You
have the moon and stars as freinds. There are a
very few of you, what a rare find. Will you
rate my quiz, I think your voice in just
beautiful?


What kind of mermaid are you? (Gorgeous Pics)
brought to you by Quizilla

Yesterday I joined Curves. After reading everyone's success stories or at the very least that people do lose inches following the program I felt it was worth a try. I had to do something.

Not much going on this weekend. Maybe a few trips to the beach. I did get sunburned yesterday but the water is just right. A nice 82 degrees.

My quilting ruler still hasn't turned up so I guess I'll have to buy another one. Then of course my other one will turn up. Doesn't it always happen that way?

I hope to finish DS#1's HIHN Birthday Stocking this weekend. It's very close to finished. Should have finished it yesterday but ended up going to the beach.

Thursday, June 10, 2004

Not much time to write this morning. I'm getting ready to head off to work. I have made some progress on DS#1's birthday stocking. I ran across it while cleaning out baskets of stuff yesterday and since I lost my flippin' four inch wide quilting ruler and had to put DS#3's quilt on hold yet another day, I decided I'd try to finish the Birthday stocking, which of course I didn't, but made good progress.

I also started and finished a crocheted yellow discloth last night while watching tv. Worked up so fast. I plan to keep the Sugar & Cream yarn and the Peaches and Creme yarn and the pattern in a ziploc baggie along with a hook and always have something ready to crochet on near the couch. It's a lot easier to do that instead of cross stitching at night. It's been a little hot even with the a/c running to work on my black and gemstone afghan. The pattern is can be found at the Crochet Me website.





Wednesday, June 09, 2004

This morning I finished another cross stitch project. Since I'm constantly acquiring stash I decided I should also stitch from the stash. What a novel idea huh? Anyway I pulled out Lizzie Kate's Strawberry Scissor Case and it stitched up in a couple of hours. I have misplaced all my beading needles. Only about 100 packs. I can only imagine the safe place I found to store them all in, so the strawberries are beadless at the moment but still look nice. Since I may never find my beading needles I'm calling this finished. If I find the beading needles I'll add the beads later. I changed the pattern a bit. I left off the over 1 word "scissors" and instead used a strawberry and a flower button. I also left off the rice stitches along the bottom because I don't think I have room for them. I miscalculated the center by a few rows. Now to find some nice hot pink scissors to attach to the strawberry shaped scissor fob.




Feels good to not only have a finish but also to have gotten one more thing out of the "to stitch" pile.

Today's plans are centered around DS#3's quilt and getting more work in on Fairy Grandmother.

This weekend I'm hoping to get back to work on my 63 Squares CAL. I've neglected it for far too long.

The other day while on the phone talking to a friend of my mom's she told me about some rugs she's been crocheting. She's been buying up old sheets at the Thrift store and cutting them into one inch strips. She then crochets them into rugs using a dishcloth or doily pattern and a Q hook. They are just really, really big dishcloths or doilies. She made one large enough to fit under her coffee table. She was explaining to me how she connected the ends of the strips when she ran out. I thought she might just sew them together but she cuts a slit in an end of each strip and works one strip through the other and some how this creates a slip knot or something. I haven't been able to picture it in my mind so I'm hoping once I start doing some of these I can figure it out. Yes, another thing to add to the good old "want to crochet now" list. But doesn't everyone need rugs? Isn't a great use for all those old sheets in the linen closet or at the Thrift shop? How much more practical could I be? Those are good arguements for starting yet more project aren't they?

Monday, June 07, 2004

Finally time to write. I've been busy finishing up Americana by Carriage House Samplings. The designer is Kathy Barrick. I love her stuff. She is one of my all time favorite designers. I'm a little depressed because her coolest new design, Haunting Mermaid, is a class piece and isn't available to the general public. A trip to Annapolis is not in my future so I guess this design will continue to taunt me.

Here is my finished Americana. Excuse the wrinkles. I popped it on the scanner as soon as I put in the last stitch.



To see more of Kathy Barrick's designs click on this link. Carriage House Samplings Her new designs can be viewed at the News button I believe. She does some amazing samplers. I have her Mairmaid's Song in progress and the Houses of Hawk Run Hollow is on order from my LNS as soon as it's released at Market next week.

Here are progress pics of Lavendar and Lace's Fairy Grandmother. The designer is Marilyn Leavitt-Iblum and her website is Told in a Garden I can't figure out how to "stitch" the design together so I scanned the top half of the piece then the bottom half. I'm hoping to have this finished by the end of the month.






Think I can manage to get her finished? I hope so. The scan isn't very good, but until I get a digital camera it's my only option.

Should I go into how annoyed I am at one of the boys? I have DS#3's quilt top pinned to the living room curtain. It's been there since I finished piecing it a few days ago. I noticed today that it appears that someone, and I'm not sure who, has taken a hole punch to one of the squares. It's one little hole on a black square along the bottom row of the quilt top. It's almost a perfect circle but not completely punched out. I discovered it this morning along with the hole punch tossed behind the stereo speaker. I started to throw a fit and ground everyone but then took a few deep breaths, determined that 99% of the hole is in the seam allowance, so once I calmed down, I have decided that tonight I will have a long, long talk with them about destroying things that don't belong to them. I also thought it might have been the dog's toenail that is in desperate need of clipping(she had a fit last night when my neighbor's chickens wandered into our yard and stayed for quiet a long time, Heidi wouldn't leave the window and kept jumping to see out), but it's such a perfect almost circle definitely done by the almost hidden hole punch. The other scenario is that this vandalism was done by one of the 20 or so neighbor kids who have been in and out of my house all weekend. I can't watch each one all the time. It's a hole, it's repairable, and it's not the end of the world, but it's also disrespectful to my things. My kids know better. I can't believe one of them actually did this dastardly deed.

Friday, June 04, 2004

The weekend is upon us. Finally. Not sure why I feel the need to write "finally". It seems like the days just fly by. Not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything I want to accomplish.

Truthfully? I love the lazy life. I don't understand those people that work, work, and work some more. I don't understand people who let money motivate them. I'm not one of those people that believes that money is the root of all evil. Personally I think money can make just about anything better, especially trips to the LNS/LQS/LYS and Barnes & Noble. That being said, why waste one's life trying to make more money? There's a wonderful, beautiful world right outside those windows. I was reminded of this fact this morning when driving along the beach. I wanted to check the surf before suggesting to DS#3 we go to the beach, if it's rough the lifeguards throw everyone out of the water but the surfers. Drowning tourists have ruined great bodyboarding days for all of us locals. Note to tourists: It's not a wave pool at the local water park. It's a natural body of water, it has riptides. If the flags are red, don't wade out and play like you're in one big wave pool. It will suck you under and you die, and ruin it for everyone else. Oh and by the way, if you're the parent of a toddler it's best if you don't guzzle down the cooler of beer and then pass out. Why? Because little kids wade out into the water and drown while your drunk ass is passed out on the beach. If you bring the kiddies to the beach, drink a coke or water, please, I'm begging you.

Anyway, back to the beauty of the shores I live near. I love it here. It's beautiful, breathtaking, it's holy. I waiver constantly on the issue of God, but when I look at the beauty that is the Gulf of Mexico I'm comforted knowing that something bigger than any of us created this amazing gift to the planet Earth. The white sands shimmering against the tourquoise water, blinding in it's purity. That vision never ceases to bring a tear to my eyes. I'm a geek. I admit it. I get emotional about a body of water. I can't help it. When I drive down the highway on the way to my LNS, I always take the scenic route, I'm awed at the beauty and that I was lucky enough to marry someone who doesn't care where we live. Someone who'll move at the drop of the proverbial hat. Someone who loves an adventure and isn't afraid of the great unknown. Where we are now is where I've always wanted to be. Of course I dream of other places. Right now I'm dreaming of a ranch in Idaho, sheep, horses, some chickens, no neighbors, but for the most part, I honor where I live. I cherish it. I try to always remember how lucky I am to be able to call this place home.

Stitching News

I'm still close to finishing Americana but it's not finished yet. I haven't had as much stitching time as I thought I'd have. I always miscalculate how long it will take to finish something.

Hoping to have the borders to DS#3's cut out this weekend and hopefully get a good start cutting out the blocks for DS#1's Ohio Star quilt. I'm afraid of all the triangles in the Ohio Star. All those points to match up. YIKES!!! But I must "feel the fear and do it anyway". I think that was the name of book a few years back. Good philosophy to live by at least in relation to quilting.

I need to get to work on Fairy Grandmother but I'm afraid if I set Americana aside before it's done I'll never finish it. Trust me, this is how I am. I'm horrible. I let poor thisclose to finish projects linger in U.F.O. purgatory, just aching for someone to pick up a needle and let them cross over into the light glowing from the finished project star.

Tuesday, June 01, 2004

Yesterday I finished DS#3's quilt top. Yes, finished, I said! I still have to add the sashing/borders but the top itself is finished. I hope to have a pic up in the next day or two. Just have to finish out this roll and drop it off for one hour processing.

What a relief. I'm feeling less like a loser at the moment.

On the cross stitch front I didn't finish Americana but should have it finished in a day or two. Not a whole lot left to do, but I hate saying it'll be finished in no time because then it takes me weeks to get it finished. I also don't get anything else accomplished because I obsess over not getting this quickie project out of the UFO pile.

Have to work today. I'm glad to go too. The kids are driving me nuts already. I can't keep enough food in the house. They plough through snack cakes, waffles, sausage and biscuits like there's no tomorrow. Then whine because there's "nothing to eat". I told them they have got to start pacing themselves. I'm not a bottomless grocery store.

My oldest son has become addicted to those Dannon Fusion Yogurt drinks, which is a good thing but at a $1.50 each and I buy like 6 at a time and he chugs them down in a day, that is not good. I told him no more than two a day and preferrably one a day. They have no clue how much this stuff costs. It's just there for them to eat and fairies will magically refill the pantry and icebox.

My June stitching goals are pretty straight forward:

Finish Fairy Grandmother
Put in one length of floss a day on Mermaid of the Pearls
Put in one length of floss every few days on Dragon Isle
Work on my gemstone/black afghan
Get back into a routine on my 63 Squares afghan. I've kind of gotten stalled at block 4.
Start DS#1's Ohio Star Quilt, nothing more involved than just cutting the pieces out.