Christmas and After

Hi all. I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas with your families. I was able to finish all of my baking and then take charge of Christmas dinner (with some help, of course), even with an hour-and-a-half power outage (I KNOW!) while the turkey and dressing were in the oven. You should've seen all of the menfolk (brother, son, nephews, dad) hustling outside to get wood hauled in and start a fire. The man I hang around with showed up during the outage and saved the wine-drinkers with a fresh bottle. It all turned out great, and my son and I are considering turning the oven off during the roasting next year, just to see if it works out as well.

Mom was going downhill on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (her favorite days of the whole year), so we finally took her to the hospital Christmas Night. As it turns out, we did the right thing. She's perked up a little, and the docs are trying to bring on some improvement, but it looks bleak. My brother and sister-in-law left for home on Sunday to tidy up some work things. I'm picking up my sister-in-law at the airport in a little bit, and my brother will probably come back this weekend.

So I'll be in and out here, but mostly out. I'm gonna leave you with some happy pics of my tree and the stockings. I'll check in when I can. Make some fun. It's really important to make as much fun as you can.

Shores Block 4 and More

Gee, I thought I'd be back before now. I had taken pics to post and had ideas in my head, and then I didn't sit down at the computer long enough. You missed my whiny how-many-days-left-'til-Christmas-break countdown, you lucky readers. My break started at 3:45 last Friday, but things have been koo koo since before that. During my last week of school for 2009, I was treated to a yukky cold and wicked laryngitis. That made the week extra fun, because I went to school anyway! What did I learn from that? If you go to school without a voice, many kids will whisper. Really!

How about some stitchy stuff? Here is Shores Block 4 all finished up.

Putting the last stitch in that block was delightful. I liked it, but it took so much longer than I thought it would. Doesn't it always? I'll probably put off the start of Block 5 until January, or maybe even February. We'll see. Plans don't work out well around here lately, so I think "we'll see" is the best way to handle Shores for now.

When I finished Block 5, I pulled out the long lost Miss Lila's House. I know! Long time no see, huh? It was my 2009 New Year's start, and I've hardly touched it since January. I've had a very tough time being happy with Miss Lila over one, and I've decided that it's the Needlepoint Silk over one on 30 count linen. I've stitched a lot of over one on 25 to 40 count fabrics, but the stitches on Miss Lila seem very crowded and irregular to me. To test my theory, I stitched the head and neck of the goose with DMC. Could I get a decent pic to show you? Not really. But there is definitely a difference, and I like the DMC better. So what does that mean? It means there'll be some unstitching between now and January 1, and I may restart Miss Lila for my 2010 New Year's start. Damn it! (Excuse me while I take two calming breaths.) Maybe unstitching will be somewhat therapeutic. Uh huh.

Then there's the new man I've told you about. There's been some progress on his suit and mittens since I last showed him to you.

He's pretty cute, isn't he? Wait 'til you see his fuzzy beard and eyebrows. In fact, this sweet Santa has been the one good thing about long days (yesterday we left my parents' house at 7:00 am and returned at about 5:45 pm) at chemo with Mom. There's nothing to do there but hang out and stitch. So when Mom is drowsing or doesn't need anything, Santa is my companion.

So about Mom ... there's no good news. That's probably enough to say. Thank you all, again, for your positive messages (all of you who comment), notes to check up on me (Faye) or say something nice (Lee), and fabulous prizes in the mail (Staci, I took a picture of your gorgeous fabric but forgot to load it into this post!), and good thoughts and prayers. I can never tell you enough how much every word is valued. Your bloggy friendship has been an unexpected treasure, and your blogs have provided me with entertaining info and hilarity, not to mention stashy encouragement (you naughty girls).

Tomorrow or the next day, I'll line up the pics of stockings and tree for you. Today has been a baking day (mmmmmm, cookies and fudge). Tomorrow will be last-minute running around, off to see family at the folks', and then baking in the evening. Make loads of fun.

Since Thanksgiving

Has it really been more than two weeks since my last post? It has! You know, I used to have some organization in my life. Sadly, it's gone now, and I still haven't adjusted.

Thanksgiving was a fabulous event at the folks' house. We ended up having 15 hungry people sit down to turkey and ham dinner. My sister, sister-in-law and I managed to get everything ready near the planned time, and Mom supervised as necessary. We had loads of fun. My only baking failure occurred when the pie crust I baked for one of the chocolate pies shrank about halfway down the side of the pie pan. Bummer. But in the true sense of accomodation, I covered it up with meringue. Hey, I'm not completely clueless.

I'm including pics for you today only to show you the pathetic lack of stitching progress since my last post. Oh ... my ... gosh! Get out your hankies, because it's rather sad. Here's what's happened to Shores Block Four ...

I know! Almost nuttin'! I'm gonna give it some attention tonight, though, so maybe a stitching miracle will happen and I'll finish the block. Yeah, and the lottery will be awarded to me for last night, even though I forgot to buy a ticket. And then there's the newest stand-up guy I've sort of been working on ...

Pitiful, isn't it? When I told Sharri (my sister) that I was working on this Santa, she said, "Oh, I did that one. It goes really fast." Uh huh, right. I guess I have to actually pull thread through the linen with a needle more than I do other things in order for progress to be made. He'll probably get some more action this weekend. I do enjoy seeing him in stages of completion. Now he kinda looks like he's wearing a hoodie or one of those hats with flaps.

So what the hell have I been doing instead of stitching? Well, let's see. I hung out with the family for Turkey weekend, and we did some fun things. Then I dragged out my tree and spent some days (ok, a week) working after school and in between other activities to get most of the ornaments on it. Today was the first day I've gotten home when the sky was cloudless and the sun was above the horizon, and the east side of my house (where the tree is) was still too dark to get a good pic. Saturday is the day for pics of the tree, so maybe I'll get 'er done.

Then we (my son, niece and I) decorated Mom's tree last Saturday. Dad was all about skipping the Christmas decorations this year, but Mom needs her tree up so rearranging the ornaments (a genetic OCD trait that's been passed on to me and now to my daughter) can be her non-stitching seasonal hobby. We got the job done, and Mom is content.

About Mom: the last chemo recipe didn't do the job the docs had hoped for, so Mom is now in a chemo drug trial. She'll be going once a week for eight weeks, and then there'll be another scan. These treatments require her to go to downtown Denver (about a 45-minute drive when traffic is good, like at midnight), and they take quite a while to complete each time. Because it's a great opportunity for her, the extra inconvenience is worthwhile. The big event the week before Thanksgiving was Mom's fancy new wig. Even though her head has a lovely shape, she wasn't at all fond of her Yoda-esque hair style. Her new hair makes her look a lot more like herself ... very cute. Again, I want to thank all of you who comment and email and ask about Mom and pray/think good thoughts/chant for her recovery. I tell her about everyone out in blogland who is doing what they can on her behalf, and she's very appreciative, as I am. What's most surprising to her about her illness is the number of people who do things to show that they care. That's how she is.

Before I leave you, I hope all of you affected by the gigantic snowstorm and extreme cold are doing OK and staying warm. Brrrrrrr! I haven't had much time to visit blogs, but I'll eventually catch up and read your stories about the storm. Now for some time on the exercise bike and then in the purple chair. Make some fun.

A New Man

It's been a while since I had a new man in my life (not that I'm dissatisfied). This guy is one of those quiet men. In fact, he never says anything, which is a relief. I get to hold him and work on him when I want to, and he has no say in what I do. He dresses a little funny, but he's pretty cute.

The picture makes him look like he has an earring, but it's just one of the spots. He's covered with them. So here's a look at this year's stand-up-Santa I'm working on. I wanted to wait until he had a cute face before I showed him off. I'll be dragging him around with me in my stitching bag during the holidays (hmmm ... gives me ideas for my son and the man I hang around with), and I'll show you more of him as I make some more progress.

Again I'm late in showing my TUSAL jar. I took the picture on the appointed day, but I haven't worked up the energy to do a post until now. It's looking kind of crowded in there.

I've also been working on Shores Block Four, and I was enthralled with the words and black silk. Hmmm ... I wonder what that means. Here's a little picture of how I put that black silk to use.

I thought that if I made a plan, I'd stick to it a little. I have. A little. I worked on this when I was conscious in my purple chair a few evenings last week. There were three evenings during which I didn't complete a single stitch! I've been cleaning and shopping like the rest of you. 'Tis the season, after all. My entire family is gonna be here this week, and a couple of them could possibly decide to stay here instead of being crowded into Mom and Dad's house. I wanted to be ready with clean bathrooms and fresh linens.

We're gonna have a big and very fun Thanksgiving. My brother, sister and I will all be at the folks' with our kids. There will also be a couple of significant others to bring the dinner total to 17. That's a pretty large crowd for us. Since Mom isn't feeling like cooking, she'll be supervising my sister, our sister-in-law and me from her post on the couch. We've helped for uncountable holiday meals, but the cornbread dressing and mmmm-mmmm-good gravy will still need Mom's sensitive taste-testing. My chocolate pies won't be nearly as pretty as Mom's, but I'm going for it anyway. They're the family favorites, even at Thanksgiving, but they'll be joined by a pumpkin and a pecan. We laugh a lot, so the three of us (joined at times by our eight kids who are unfortunate enough to think they're funny ... just like us) will be enjoying each other and the occasional (OK, more than occasional. I'm a bad influence.) kitchen cocktail while we handle the pre- and post-dinner chores.

Mom had a scan yesterday and will be meeting with the doc tomorrow. We're all worried because she's been feeling so poorly. Keep your fingers crossed and I'll keep you posted. Have a truly fabulous Turkey Day and, above all, make lots of fun.

Whoopee ... Shores Block 3

Finally, Block 3 is finished! What's taken so long? It would take forever to list all of my excuses, so I'll just say that I've been distracted. There's so much going on here, and I'm ready for the more boring part of my life to reappear. For now, just lots of sighing and a very crooked, dark (it's dark all the time!), wrinkly picture of my accomplishment.



I tried to get a picture of just the mermaid, but I couldn't seem to hold the camera still enough to get the job done. I love her.
I had good intentions of showing you some progress on my most recent start, but I really wanna wait until the face (yes, a face) is finished. Until then, you'll have to be content with the supply picture:
Doesn't it look fun? I know! I'm so excited to be working on another Ewe & Eye & Friends Limited Edition Santa. If this guy ever gets finished, it'll be my third. Gee, that makes me sound like a Santa slut, doesn't it? This Santa is from (get ready) 1994. Yes, kids, you read it correctly. It's been in my stash for 14 years (eeeeek). I know! Am I the worst person you know? The really bad news is that this isn't the oldest item I should've already stitched. There are several kits that are older and probably hundreds (no, I don't think I'm exaggerating) of charts that are older. Do you think an intervention is in order? Or do you wanna come over and check out my cedar chest and file cabinet? Uh huh, I'll bet you do! Anyway ... I took a picture of the picture so you could see what Santa will look like in a few weeks (yes, Delusional should be my middle name) ...




My new plan (really? a plan? me?) is to work on him when I'm hanging out with the man I hang around with. We usually end up watching football (sniff ... poor Broncos ... sob), and I can work on him (Santa, that is ;)) during that portion of the weekend. Another good place to work on him will be when I'm visiting Mom during chemo sessions. We always stitch together then, and this is a perfect take-along project. I'm also gonna give him one evening a week while I work mostly on Shores Block 4. I'm afraid that if I set down Shores for the holidays, it'll somehow work its way more deeply into the dreaded WIP pile, so I have to stick with it. Then, just to give myself some variety (a way to ward off distractability), I'm gonna give Sarah Esh an evening per week. Will some organization in my life help to keep my nose pointed toward my stitching? I reckon we'll see.
Another exciting bit of stitchy news is that I got to pick up my son-in-law's stocking from the finisher (who must be working at the speed of light) on Saturday. As soon as I can remember to get a picture of it when it's still light out, you'll see it.
Finally, yesterday I completed another trip around the sun. My 54th! How can that be? Do you ever feel like you're still in your 20's? Never when I look in the mirror, of course! But once in a while, when I'm skiing or riding on the back of a motorcycle, I feel too young to be in my 50's. That's one of my favorite feelings, and I'm thinking it's a good thing.
Make some fun.

You've Gotta Love a Snow Day!

What's not to love? It's an unexpected gift of a day at home. Here's the view from one of the front windows.
That was about 9:00 this morning, and the snow is even deeper now. It also has more of that cool snow sculpture from chair to deck rail. It's been snowing since Tuesday night, and it's still going strong. Our school district, in its infinite wisdom (NOT), decided that we should go to school yesterday. The roads were slicker than owl snot, so getting to school was quite a treat. Buses got stuck and had a fender-bender or two. We're all much happier with the decision to let us stay home today. On really bad days, so many kids are absent anyway, and it seems a waste for us to brave the roads.

I've spent part of my day catching up in blogland. My brother was here over the weekend, so we spent lots of time at the folks' house. Work has demanded many, many hours at the computer screen this week, so sitting down to read and comment and post just didn't seem like much of a treat. I found out how much I've missed this morning, and ya'll have been so busy. It's so much easier and more fun to stay caught up.

Here's what I've been working on ...

Yep. Shores Block 3 is nearing an end. It seems like it's taken forever to get this far. Those gingerbread corners were tricky, especially when I was trying to keep track of what was happening on the boob tube. I'm very excited to get to the mermaid. When I wander back upstairs, I'm set to work on her hair. I'm hoping to make some good progress so I can show you what's gonna be in my hot little hands when this block is finished.

I'm running upstairs to get busy and enjoy what's left of this delightful day. Make some fun.

Try, Try Again

Thanks to all of your comments, I now know that I'm not alone in my frustration with Blogger f***ing up my last post. That thought is somewhat comforting, even if it doesn't fix anything. Maybe it's a sign that I spend too much time on one post. I'll stop analyzing and just move on.

First, here's how I spent some of my free Friday hours.

I know! I resurrected something from the WIP drawer (ok, ok, one of my WIP drawers) and finished it. Yay me! Exercising extreme self-control, I chose Small Sampler, 3rd in a Series, by Ewe & Eye & Friends. I can remember charting this one way back in the olden days, so it's kind of an old friend. I stitched all but the lazy daisy leaves and sheep wool way back in 2004! So why did I wait five years to finish it? Sadly, that's probably a question for a trained mental health professional, and there's no use discussing it here.

Anyway, 3rd Small Sampler is stitched as kitted with Anchor floss on 40-count Sandstone, but I changed the stitches for the sheep wool from Kam's coils (pains in the ass, IMHO) to large, loose French knots. Because of Murphy's Law of Changing Kitted Stitches, I ran out of floss, and it was one of the few colors not in my stash. That issue caused two things to happen: 1) blog reading/commenting sucked up some of my morning, and 2) I had to go to the LNS and buy other things along with the floss. So it turned out rather well!

For those of you keeping score, I returned to Shores Block 3 on Saturday. I'm making rather slow progress, and I'll have a pic for you next time. I'm gonna have to hold the Broncos partially responsible for my lack of progress. Their games have been so unexpectedly exciting that I find myself sitting in my chair with my needle in the air. Sometimes I even have to jump out of the chair and holler. All of that fan action tends to distract me from my stitching! That's my story, anyway, and I'm sticking to it.

My TUSAL picture for the month was technically on time, because it was in the post lost in internet space. I was so proud of myself for doing something on time! Take a look at all those perle cotton orts from Reed's Stocking. They take up a little space. huh?

I was at Mom and Dad's a couple of times over the weekend, and look who's been hanging around over there!

These turkeys have absolutely no idea how determined my dad (alias, Mr Gun) is to remove them from the premises. The abundance of droppings they've left on Dad's wooden deck and paved surfaces could eventually motivate him to use extreme measures. So far, he's only used the leaf blower and pellet gun, but he owns quite an arsenal. I'm a little worried that one of these birds is gonna end up on my Thanksgiving plate. Before I shooed them out of harm's way, I pulled out my phone camera to get a shot (so to speak).

A few of you have been kind enough to ask (via comments and emails) about Mom. I decided back in June that I was going to try to give only good news, especially since Mom reads here from time to time. Sadly, there hasn't been much good news to report. Mom's been pretty sick (dizzy, weak, feeling generally shitty) for more than a month. After her last scan received less-than-shining reviews from the docs, they decided that they'd gotten all the good they could from the first chemo recipe, and they gave her a month off. She's on a new chemo recipe now, and it's much harder on her. Dad's taking care of Mom, and the rest of us are trying to help, and we're all hoping that this new recipe does some good work. If you have any prayers/good words/positive thoughts left in your hearts, we'd very much appreciate you sending them Mom's way. I know for certain that she'd welcome the help.

Hope you're all having a good week. Tomorrow it'll be half over! Make some fun.