.....so I ate cupcakes!

I have had a busy ten days capped off with two fundraisers in the same day.  And of course, true to form, I am not talking attending fundraisers, I am talking working at fundraisers.    It is all good though.   I did pack my stitching with a glimmer of hope that I would be able to get in a stitch or two between hot dog and soda sales but was only able to accomplish about a dozen stitches.  

A brief re-cap of my schedule includes straight from work Friday to the Y to set up for the Saturday a.m. vendor and craft fair.  When the vendor fair closed mid-afternoon, we wrapped up, loaded up concession supplies into my car, headed home for a quick change of clothes and headed to the local high school where the we (and when I say "we", it means only me and one other fool), were selling refreshments at the county pageant for the Miss New Jersey Pageant.   A friend is the County Director and recruited our 'services'.

All this is just the build up to the cupcake incident and contributing factors to why I am heading to be the 500 lb woman.

I finally roll into the house about 11 last night and just wanted some mindless entertainment.  Well, Mr. Wonderful has been in action again.   While I was busying myself for 36 hours with volunteer work, Mr. W. had set about to change our satelite tv to a cable provider.  I just wanted to scroll aimlessly through tv channels last night or perhaps watch a show I had DVR'd earlier in the week and I couldn't get anything but a green screen.   We went from having to use three controlers to activate all the "devices" to one - which will be nice - but there is an obvious learning curve on my end.   So, what to do next, hmmmm, log onto my laptop and surf some blogs while I unwind......not going to happen last night.   My laptop was not recognized by the new cable internet.   Like with the remote, I tried to maneuver around and access tools, etc. to no avail.   I guess I didn't retain too much of my five minutes of instructions Mr. W. gave me as I was tallying the cash box from the morning event  and setting up the cash box for the evening event and setting my hair  and doing my nails to get out the door.   I know I can multitask with the best of them but it was not the best of times to try to teach me all about the electronic nuances of our new set up.   At this point, I figure I have irrevocably changed and scrambled controler  settings, Comcast will be needed to undo what I have done and will get the fuzzy eyeball in the morning along with the "what were you trying to do conversation".....   So disgusted and just wanted some comfort,  I sat and played a couple of rounds of solitaire while eating two leftover cupcakes that were a casualty of transportation between venues when a inattentive youth skateboarded into my path on the road causing me to swerve and cupcakes to slide and flip.

Today, yes, today, I plan to stitch, and veg out, and do as little as possible.  Oops!  Forgot, got a ton of concession paraphanailia stuffed into my car that needs to be taken back to the YMCA.   Well, it was nice for about 30 seconds to dream of a lazy day.

I hope to post more about my trip to the AQS show in Lancaster PA last weekend.   Oh boy, a shopping frenzy was had. 

As always, thanks for visiting and I love all your comments.

A semi free weekend and what do I do??

Clean!   Crazy I know.   In my parts of the county we are just starting to see the signs of spring.   Robins are hopping here and there.  Folks out walking their dogs; kids on bikes and my tulips are just starting to poke through the mulch.  I have to say that I just love all seasons!  Just when you've had enough cold, comes the anticipation of spring and warmer days.  



Drat!  Can never turn photos when I try to!!

Yesterday, I enjoyed going to my guild meeting.   A too busy calendar and snow storm has kept me away since the November meeting.   For shame on me.  These ladies are so diverse and so talented with each bringing something special to our meetings.   One guilty pleasure was my copies of Inspirations.  Jane, one of our lovely ladies, takes orders for the subscription and sorts out everyone's copy.  It saves on the postage.   I wonder if Jane realizes the guilty pleasure she is bringing to all of us?   I for one, curled up on the sofa last night and just drooled over the pages.   I have never seen instructions documented so well.

Look at their instructions! 

  

Bookmarks for Literacy

Our Service Project this month is to make bookmarks for literacy.   We used card stock and punch holes in it and then stitch.    I kind of didn't stay within the punched holes!    Oh well.....

So, I got home from guild, and decided I needed to rearrange my living room.   Huh?   How do I get from one to the other?   I am maintaining my closet/cupboard a weekend cleanout.   I mean seriously, if I can't remember using it in the last two years or let alone remember I have something, there is no sense in keeping it for the sake of keeping it.   I am accumulating xerox boxes full of stuff for either a yard sale or to donate.  That brings me to the point of the living room.   I emptied two free standing bookcases.  They were the sides of an entertainment center that had long since been used as one.  These two monsters have been center stage of my living room for two weeks.   I convinced Mr. Wonderful to get them outside to the shed and THAT is what starting the rearranging frenzy.   I sorted and cleaned and wiped baseboards and rearranged furniture as well as what was on the walls.   I love rearranging the knick knacks and wall art because it is always like getting something new or rediscovering an old favorite.  

I actually started yesterday in my dining room and laundry room.   I had stacked the various Valentine decorations on the table just waiting to be put away.    I haven't got my spring flowers out yet but I did 'green'  up my table.  My sister had a great agate tray on her table and it looked so clever so I came home and copied her idea.

Geez!  The wrinkles.  I could have ironed it before the entire world was to see it!

For today, I did my next best favorite (house cleaning related) thing - I washed windows.   Really, I do love to wash windows.   Goofy I know.  I guess because I love the end result. 

They really are gleaming!

Please pardon the wrinkles.   Hazard of working on several projects at once.

Not a whole lot of stitching progress happening here for a myriad of reasons.  Too many evening meetings and fundraisers and the accompanying paperwork and also my resolve not to be a couch potato.   Me and Mr. Arthur Right-us have an issue.   The more I sit on the couch, the more I stiffen and the joints start to aching.   I am trying a new approach - trying to keep my physically active and jumping on the treadmill each morning for 20 minutes instead of stitching.   I wonder if we could put our little stitchy heads together and figure out a way to stitch AND exercise?   Well there would be a lot of very svelt stitchers out there I am sure. 

Trust me, they may not look like tulips but they are.

I see my tulips have broken through the ground. I just planted these last fall and have been anticipating their arrival ever since. The Crocus and Early Snow Drops are up as well. For now, I feel like I have a jump on spring, at least with the spring house cleaning, so much that I will be ready to get outside when it finally it warm enough to work out there. I guess that only leaves the mounds of paperwork to catch up on. Yuck, the last thing I want to see after a day of paperwork at the office!

Rah rah rah!

Three cheers - not much stitching going on but need to give three cheers out --



This scene should have my sister with scissors cutting my hair!
Oops!  I hope I don't my sister laugh and hurt her incision.

 First and foremost, the staff at Virtua Hospital/Marlton where my sister had surgery this past Wednesday....they were so attentive to us, keeping us informed during the surgery, offering support and making us feel welcomed.  Not to mention the Pre-op staff, nurses and doctors were great!  I know that sounds crazy - feeling welcomed ?? in a hospital but it definitely was not the cold harsh sterile feeling you get elsewhere.   Best news is that my sister came through the surgery with flying colors.  It was one of those surgeries that you don't know til you get 'in there' what may have to be done and everything was AOK!  We hope she will be coming home on Monday or Tuesday.

Second cheer goes to Project Freedom Village.  I helped move a friend into this totally handicapped accessible two bedroom apartment yesterday.   It is so very nice for her to now be able to wheel right into the shower, to not have to struggle down narrow hallways or through narrow doorways and to be able to roll right under both the bathroom and kitchen sinks and to be able to roll right out the door to get outside and not have to rely on someone to be available to lift her.  It has to give her such a good feeling of independence.

And the third cheer - to me!  I won a one year membership to Longwood Gardens at a Red Cross fundraiser on Friday night.   Longwood is a formerl duPont estate and the gardens are world renown.   Each season brings elaborate displays, light shows and fountains.    I can see me spending a Saturday there real soon.

Hopefully this week will have calmer, quieter things in store for me and there will be some stitching accomplished.  Maybe tonight when ARMY WIVES returns!  I can't wait.   It is a favorite show of mine and I am glad it is now coming on an hour earlier.   At a minimum, this week I need to sew a new zipper into Mr. W.'s favorite hoodie at the risk of being banished if I don't!

Have a good week all and stitch away!

Fun and Not So Fun Stitches

Well here we all are, another calendar page ready to turn.   Can you believe it!  Where does the time go?  Work has kind of slowed to the normal hectic pace as no new interogatories arrived this week.   Time for a deep breathe and the completion of those pesky employee reviews I must do.   Well maybe I will start them next weekend.....

This week I made it a point to carve out stitching time.   It is not an option!  I am a much happier person if I stitch everyday, even if it is only 15 stitches.   I think I could have worse addictions, right?  

I finally got around to ordering the four charms - Celtic Knots - for my finished Love and Wisdom Sampler by Drawn Thread.   This piece has been done for a few months but I am never one to hurry.    I have a coupon for 50% off framing at Joanne's and thought I give them a try.  My framer has closed his Delaware shop and it would be about 3 to 4 hours round trip to get to him....which is not doable on a lunch hour.    Speaking of Joanne's I had to get a separating zipper to replace a broken one in my husband's "fuzzy man" jacket as he calls it and look what else I got! I am a big fan of the reusable store totes. I often embarrass my kids and friends with my insistance on using them but isn't this just the cutest? Of course since they put them at the checkout, one jumped into my cart. This will now be my standard craft shopping tote whether shopping or carrying a project to my daughter's.   Check out the handle that looks like a tape measure.   People are too too clever.

 The sun has been streaming in the windows and giving my plants a real boost.  I know it is something we have all longed for after the snowy and windy winter we have had so let the sunshine in.  I don't know how well my spider plant photos will show up but you wouldn't believe all the flowers on it. This silly spider plant made the move with us when we moved into our current home......29 years ago! This plant was a spindling little thing until about 10 years ago when I started hanging it outside all summer. It sure likes that mid-atlantic humidity I guess.

While checking out my spider plant, I took a shot of my orchids......

I have a flower coming.   First I wasn't fertilizing the orchids, then I think I was fertilizing them too much and hopefully I have gotten it to the right balance.   I'd better not get too confident until I actually see the flower.   I have it on good authority from a fellow orchid growing that the little stem sticking out like a "y" to the right is indeed a flower.

 

Now for stitchie stuff.....I am keeping up with the insane i-Challenge.   But I confess, I am spending more than one day on each now.  First, the Quaker Pin Keep from Williamsburg.   Had I realized the pattern puts the birds off centered, I would have calculated to have them centered.   It upsets my sense of order!   I guess I will get over it especially if that is the way it was stitched at the Ackworth School.   Who am I to argue?
 

 This one settles into the Not So Fun stitches. I am loving the colors and I like the Bent Creek pattern. Duh! I wouldn't be stitching it if it wasn't a fav of mine. I am not sure if it is the linen count or the floss or what but I feel like my stitches are 'sloppy'. Maybe I need to change needles? Bingo! Light just went on.....that's what I will do the next time around in the rotation.

Ha ha!  the close up doesn't necessarily show the messy stitches.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 And last on the cross stitch front, is the Friendship Tree. Again, not necessarily a fun stitch but that is because it requires really keeping track. Not like doing letters or a border that repeats itself. But the floss is to die for so it makes up for having to be diligent with the pattern.

Finish #2 from the i-Challenge

I finished #4 in my rotation of the 15 projects in 2011.   I am not 100% sure how I will be finishing this.    There were not many instructions and I don't know if the wool I used for the pears was really for the leaves and the pears should have been out of the background fabric?

   But  no matter.   I am guessing I will make this into some sort of decorative pillow.   It was fun to do some different stitches and it was a quick little project. 

3-day Weekends - Updated!

There needs to be a 3-day weekend each month to allow me (and maybe you too) to catch up and to take a deep breathe and to relax.   Today and tomorrow are bonus days to me.   I have NO PLANS!   Save for the normal doing of  laundry and cooking dinner.    I have managed to get my morning stitching in.  I am not stitching every day like I did the first two rounds of the i-Challenge.  This time I dedicated two  or three stitching days per project and put in two days on my puzzle purse pattern.   A bit of stitching accomplished for the day and I  am ready to attack some long over due home improvement project.   

Prairie Sampler - Puzzle Purse so far

This is the 'before'.   Probably no one notices or cares but it bugs  me everytime I go into the bathroom!

Crown molding was installed  XX months ago - far too embarrassed to actually put into print how many months....... so it has been bugging me that this project is one of the many on the unfinished list.  When I get overwhelmed with work then this is the list that hangs heavy on my shoulders.   I start to get angry about the extra hours at work and sub-consciously blame the fact that my to-do list is so long on the extra hours.   One really has  nothing to do with the other but with the simple fact the I totally over extend myself.   Not sure if it is the dormant control freak that lives within thinks I am the only one that can do the task..... but I digress......so today, I want to spend 2 to 3 hours and remove at least one item from my long list of household projects that are half finished.   If all goes well, I might even cross another off my list tomorrow....

!!UPDATE!!

There's a reason this is hanging in my craft room!  Everything was progressing along nicely with the caulking.   Now I am no caulk affecianado (sp??) but I gave it the college try.   I am a bit better at caulking than drywall taping and mudding.   No one HGTV needs to fear my skills is a big understatement.    So caulk gun and two tubes of the appropriate caulk and I am knocking this out quickly.   Oh no, I run out of caulk, no worries, remember I have a second tube or whatever they are called.    I am pulling the trigger and pulling the trigger on the caulk gun and why won't it come out?   I cut a new 45 degree tip, I stuck a nail in the tip in case it was clogged.  Nothing.   I pull - really hard on the trigger and then I see it.........I have blown the tip right off the end of the tube of caulk and the caulk gun is oozing with caulk.   And I was so close.    I only had about 3 feet left to caulk and I could have crossed this off the list.  Drat!    So it was decision time........change clothes, hop on the interstate, pay toll and cross the bridge into the next state - seriously - to get another tube of caulk or wait til Tuesday at lunch and visit Home Depot which is a half mile from my office?  (Jeopardy music was playing in my head).   Change clothes?   can't go in my painting clothes.   We all have that pair of sweats that we paint in that we were so proud we painted an entire room while wearing with nary a paint drop and then.......bending over you backed your butt into the fresh painted wall and now have a painted backside.....yeah, those pants!  



Just above the light on the left is how far I got.  I only need to make it to the corner.  Oh, it looks like the bathroom light fixture needs to be added to the home improvement to do list!



I elected to stay home and tackle other half completed home improvement projects!    I touched up the wainscoting in the bathroom (check) so once I do finished caulking, that room will be done.   Since the paint was out, I was able to touch up the risers on the stairs (check)  on my way to my craftroom to finish painting the trim in that room.   Also managed to get in the first coat on the new 6-panel entry door to the craftroom.  (first coat - check)  And when I put the brush up for the day, since I was in the sewing room already......well why not stitch a bit on my quilt?    OMG!  and I still have tomorrow off to do more!   Yeah!

i-Challenge Round II Status

I have made it through all my projects a second round.   I am finding that I am now spending a couple of days on each rather than switching out every day.  This is especially true if I have too little time on the first day the piece comes back up in my rotation.   I think I am being more productive to stitch on the same piece for two or three days because I get my threads set, the particulars of the pattern in my brain and can make far more progress.  I am still working through my rotation and am generally pleased with my progress.   I even have a finish.  

I am really enjoying the diversity.   I believe it appeals to my inner ADD child.  As I see it, I am futher ahead on 15 projects that were in my to-do basket then I was 6 weeks ago and that is good.   Trying to guess which will be my second finish.

Just Nan's Needle Tweets - Daisy



Just Nan's Needle Tweet is a finished size of ...maybe 1 1/2 inches by 2 inches and I really moving slowly on this one.   It seems to come up in my rotation when I don't have a lot of stitchie time and it requires a lot of counting....which given my current work/free time schedule, it is not a relaxing stitch.  But I continue....

LHN - Chocolate Box

This one is fun and I seem to just sail through this one each time I get to it.   Quite alot accomplished with only 3 stitching days so far.

Jeannette Douglas's My Stitching Treasures

Love this flower!

This one is easy to see progress on and probably one of the projects that pushed  me to dedicate more than one day at a time to a project.   I decided to work on this until I completed each motif or square.   This has been favorite of mine for a long time and I am happy to be working on it.    Jeannette Douglas used the most aswesome colors and threads!

Oops! Sometimes they rotate and sometimes they don't!

Last but not least, Plum Berry Sampler from Bent Creek.  How appropriate, Project 1 from January 1 is my first completed. It's Bent Creek's Plum Berry Sampler. It was a quick stitch completed in only days of stitching. I am not sure if I will frame this or make it a into a pillow.

Tripe? oh cripe!!!

All our ingredients are ready and waiting for us to start

Does everyone but me know what  Tripe is?   Last weekend my daughter and I went to a Hearth Cooking Class as the George Read House in New Castle DE.   This was my third year and Heather's first year.   I enrolled her as a Christmas present.   (See previous and add this to the mix!)

Same pot we used for the soup.   Used a long
 poker to swing the arm out and bring the pot closer

It was a fun day and the food was great.   My pix are from last year as I didn't take my camera this time.   Anyway a quick rundown of the day ....  there are 12 in the class with two or three instructors.   We pair off and select which of the recipes we will be in charge of.   Heather and I selected the the Pepperpot Soup with Dumplings.   We proceed through the recipe with the occasional references to "tripe".   ....Cook tripe ahead of time; set aside tripe to cool......  This is a case of not knowing if a SmartPhone is a blessing or not.   Heather Googles Tripe on her phone and we are feigning barking when she tells me what tripe is.   Oh, it's a delicacy the internet says.  But  so are other things that I don't believe will ever pass my lips.  Tripe, I learn is the lining of a cow's stomach.   Yuck!   It was bad enough I had to dice the tripe meaning I had to touch it!   Our Pepperpot Soup also had dumplings and potatoes so eating around the tripe was tricky.   I am not usually a squemish eater but TRIPE!  Really? 

This is the Frut Suppa from last year so that is why it is sitting in the pot with snow to chill it.
We used the same tureen for our Pepperpot Soup.   I liked the tureen much better with the Frut than the Soup!

Absence makes the hearts grow fonder

Hi all!  been busy busy busy which is evidient by my lack of blogging.   A funny aside, a few people actually noticed I was absent and were curious.   I am ever amazed at the internet and how its tenacles reach the far corners of the world and my blog ends up on the laptop of a little stitcher sitting on her sofa all cozy with a cup of tea and a blanket reading about my spastic life.   I must remember to thank Al Gore for creating the internet.  LOL

So what's up with me......let me give you the brief recipe of my life as it exists currently:

Recipe for creating
  "Every Second Accounted For"
    First factor in lots of work
    Blend a Rate Case/Rate Increase
    Continue process  for 18 month
    Maintain all your other tasks
    Keep the Company's Annual Report work on schedule
    Add constant deadlines and a hyper boss who is mildly freaking
    Remove our Rates Analyst (who moved to South Carolina!!)
    Roll out of work after 10 hours each day
      
  At home -
    Repeat as above, maintain all your tasks in addition to extras
    Blend in a couple of weekends away (which I live for!!)
    Simmer several non-profit obligations
    Factor in requests to update non-profit's website
    Manage some random dr's/dentist appts.
    Attempt to stitch however briefly

    Reinforce yourself that you are not alone

    Gently squeeze in some Board mtgs and dinners

    Attempt to click your heels and get back to Kansas!

  Set aside and anticipate:

    Wkend in Lancaster at quilt show in March

    Add to datebook retreat info for Ocean City Md - May

  Optional adds:
     Include workouts at the gym
     Add Yoga class if desired
Results - 1 exhausted Robin, serve with wine or a Cosmopolitan, or just pair with chocolate

I admit, many a night I come and I am just totally brain dead and just sit like a turnip on the couch.   It's all good and I keep telling myself a.) I have a job; b.) I have my health; and c.) this won't last forever.

      
So, that explains my absence and my little stitchie progress........  little meaning there is some.   Stay tuned for more posts and pix of my i-Challenge status.

Awesome Designer

A friend, Theresa, from Delaware has launched her own blog.   Please check out her site, Heart's Exemplar, to see her stunning designs and work.  You won't be disappointed.