Catching up for August

Whew, where did August go?    Somewhere in the last couple of weeks the gardens have gone from manicured to infiltrated with crab grass.     I admit to working on other things in and around the house and yard due to heat and the pool calling me but it seems as if it were in the blink of an eye.   I have my work cut out for the evenings in the coming week.

Work has taken a new twist.   A problem employee is gone but that means a couple of us are taking on the work as well as being subject to the scrutiny that we are the cause if the girl's departure.   Trust me, like I would do something to INCREASE my workload?  So it is a different kind of tired that finds me when I get home.   The workday is over before I know it and it is a good tired.  This kind of thing has its ebb and flow and with some the people taking sides and their concerns will just dissolve into the woodwork or they will be worried about someone else before long.  So it goes.....

On the fun side, I crossed something off my bucket list.   First I've got to tell you, I am a simple, south Jersey farm-country girl, so no laughing.   I always wanted to ride in a limo and go somewhere nice.   Back in May before leaving for San Diego I was helping my boss clean his desk.   He came across a gift certificate from a fundraiser for a limo ride.   He said, here, some have fun with this.  There were 10 of us but in the last week, three dropped out.   So seven of us were picked up by the limo and were whisked off to Philadelphia for a fabulous dinner on the Moshulu.   The Moshulu is a tall ship building in 1904 that has been refitted as an upscale restaurant and night spot at Penns Landing in Philadelphia.  It was a really fun night with laughs and giggles, great food and friends.   Want to laugh, imagine a car-full of loopy women doing the Na Na and literally rocking the limo as we finished up our pre-dinner drinks in the parking lot.  It was a really relaxing evening.  My cell phone photos of the riverfront and the city at night didn't really turn out too good.  It was just so pretty and a beautiful evening to sit on the upper deck after dinner and we were wrapped in the warm breeze of a pretty summer evening.  Check!

I got my pre-work for the Stitching Jamboree at Salty Yarns in October.   I am so excited to be going. It means I will miss the fall retreat with my guild at Salty Yarns the week before only because of vacation and $$.  I am excited about the project and spending time with some new stitching friends.  I can't share a photo of the project but I can share the linen and floss colors.   Aren't they rich and pretty?   I hope to start this today or tomorrow and then not unveil the work until after the Jamboree.

Always a treat to get the Halloween Issue of Just Cross Stitch!

As for stitching, I managed to finish four more rows and started band 14.   Bands 14 and 15 are due for our September meeting..... I have a reprieve since I will be in Bermuda for a week and not make the September meeting but I hope to still push on so I can keep current.  I really want to finish this up ahead of schedule because I have another EGA stitch-a-long starting......so much to stitch and so little time.

And then there is Buddy Cat.   I haven't seen him on table tops or counter tops before but I have evidence he likes to sleep on my new tablecloth.   I thought I would get tricky and put painter's tape sticky side up to deter him.  Seems I am the only one it gets stuck to.  Either my iPad flops down when I am eating and reading and sticks to it or I brush against it as I am walking out in the morning and I become stuck to it.   I thought it was such  good idea to keep him off the table but I think he has outsmarted me again.  Oh well, I've always known you don't own a cat, a cat owns you!

Happy stitching all.......keep your needles threaded and you scissors sharp!  Stitch on.