I Am Really Sad Today...

I attended my third memorial service of the year today. Each of the services I have attended were for amazing women. Each one has been taken from us way too soon by evil, aggressive cancers. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by all of the sadness and loss. Each one was living a normal, healthy life a year ago. The cancers that took them, took only months. Truly a message that life can change in the blink of an eye.

I cried so many tears today, that I gave myself a crying headache. Liesl has had a little bit of a wet neck today. She is pretty intuitive and is great at giving comfort.

I have not stitched yet today. I have tried to keep busy and took a long walk at the beach with Liesl instead. I may try to pull out my stitchy bag in a few minutes here. I am thankful that there will be an extra hour to sleep tonight so maybe I can stay up a few minutes later and still be fresh and awake for church.

A Totally Fun Day!

Have I mentioned before how much I totally love my job?! I work with the coolest people, who are hard working, dedicated, and really fun to be around. Today was our Halloween party. I have worked in places where an announcement of an office party would fill me with dread, however, our parties are so much fun. People came in costume, our dogs came in costume. We had to decorate our department pumpkins (ours was one of the contest winners!)

We had a great barbecue, and yummy treats. Most of all, we got to have fun together, which is really good morale booster. It was just great fun. I have to admit, I felt a bit sleepy after that big lunch though.

The picture above is of Liesie in her costume. She was Leesula. She was a bit cheesed off about the whole wearing an outfit thing, but cheered up as soon as I took it off for her. There were about 10 dogs there, most without leashes on. They were all so well behaved. There was not even any begging. After lunch Liesie was exhausted from following around her dog buddies that she went right to her bed in my office, and let me tuck her in. She was asleep the rest of the afternoon and was still tired when we got home after work.

I did not get to stitch today, but I did enjoy the time I got to spend with the people I am lucky enough to work with.

Stitched a little

I got to stitch both at lunch and after work today. I have finished all of the lettering. I was backstitching that vine, but it has that funky back stitch which counts both over one and over two. You guessed it, I am frogging now. Plus I attempted it while I was tired. Always a dreadful combination...

It does look so cool. I can't wait to work on the specialty stitches. I am looking forward to doing the queen stitch, always my favorite.

Tomorrow is our party at work. We have to dress up, which is a bit outside of my box. LOL I got Liesl a little costume too, which she will wear for all of five minutes. I had to find the least annoying one for her. I will try to get a photo of her.

Well, I am off to dreamland...

Monday, Monday, La, la...

With my computer issues of last week, I never got to post the photos of the scissors I recently bought. The pair on the left are my new Gingher Elena, which are close to the top of my favorites. The ones on the right are by Sullivan, which I bought on my recent trip to Thumbelina in Solvang. I really need to start stitching some fobs so I can show them off.

I did get my trees done last night. One was done in Smyrna Crosses and one was done in Fern Stitch. I also got to work on the Bargallo lace on the bottom of the design. I am getting both nervous and excited as I get ready to start the vine.

I have had the best time watching Liesl play tonight. She plays with total abandon. Her ears are back, she is deer hopping down the hall, running as fast as she can while squeaking her ball. Now, just like a toddler, she has just crashed. She dropped down on the bed, and looked over at me like she is ready to be tucked in. (Doesn't everyone tuck their dogs in?!)

I am totally bummed. I went to Target to get stuff for my Halloween costume for our party on Thursday at work. While I found something cute, I was stunned when I looked at the kid's section. They have Tony Stewart Firesuit costumes. Yet, they did not have it it in adult sizes. What?!! I coulda been Tony for Halloween! I would have even gotten me some "Estrada" glasses! LOL

Well, I am off to stitch my tea cozy. I may even start backstitching that vine!

Progress

I am making progress on the cozy. It is just so darling. The silk feels very nice in the hand, too. I am hoping to complete the trees tonight while I watch "The Next Iron Chef." Once I get the trees and the lace finished, I can move onto the big vine with all of the specialty stitches. I am afraid. I know I am making progress, because the little piles of floss are getting smaller.

I really wish that photographs could do justice to stitched pieces. This photo does not show all of the variegation in the silk floss, which is sad. In a way, this is why I miss the old stitching shows, like CATS. There have been quite a few pieces that I never would have bought the patterns for if I had not seen them stitched up in person. There is one particularly fabulous blackwork piece by Laura J. Perin, that was amazing in person that I totally would have passed on if I just would have seen the pattern.

In any case, I am stitching along and getting alot done. I can not wait until it is keeping my teapot warm.

Yay! I'm Back!

I have the greatest son in law in the world. He is an IT guy, and fixed my computer up. He works long hours with computers and yet, fit my computer issues in after work. I have my computer back and it is running like it is brand new. It was kind of fun to go to the college library for a couple of nights. They have great computers, helpful staff, and no distractions. So I got my assignments done. But I am so glad to have my laptop back. I have played on it way too much today, because I was behind on so much stuff.

You don't realize how much you rely on your computer until it is out of service. I get my news from it, shop, do research, take my college course, and do my banking online. I actually had to write checks for my bills this week. Now on the flipside, I was able to read a couple of books, stitch, etc., because I did not have a computer.

I am still working on my tea cozy. It is so beautiful. I will share a photo tomorrow after tonight's progress. I am hoping to stay up a little late. Liesl is already asleep and laying here beside me. She looks so sweet and so peaceful when she sleeps. I have my stitching stuff all laid out and ready to go. I have to find something interesting to watch on television. The tea cozy is so pretty that I am thinking that I may try to make gifts in future using the patterns. It only has a few variegated threads, so I think it will convert nicely, overall to DMC.

Well, I am off to stitch. Hope you have a good stitchy night, too!

Please Bear With Me

Last week as I was attempting to turn in my assignment for class, my computer went kaput! I have been without internet access for about a week now, while it is being serviced. Unfortunately, this means I have not been able to blog. I have gotten lots of reading and stitching done though. LOL

I am at the college library tonight using one of their really nice computers. I am hoping to be back online sometime this weekend. So please bear with me while I am trying to get my computer issues resolved.

Have a great week!

After The Storm...

Wow! It was quite a storm. Our town was hit really hard. There are tree limbs all over the place. We were without power last evening. The amazing people at PG&E worked throughout that storm and did an incredible job. We had power back at 9:41 last night. I had fully expected that it would be out all night. The wind was blowing at 48-60 mph. Some areas got over 8 inches of rain last night. One area in the southern part of the county got 16 inches of rain yesterday.

For some reason, the Monterey Peninsula still has power lines above ground, so power outages are a normal occurrence to us. We came home, lit candles and the gas fireplace. DH got the last rotisseried chicken at Safeway, so we had a warm dinner. I got out my book and booklight and settled in for the evening. I did not get to stitch though. It was just so dark, and my booklight only throws so much light. Liesie went to sleep on her blankie on the sofa. It was quite cozy.

Between all of the excitement and illness around here in the past couple of weeks, I have not had a chance to post a photo of my Gingher Elena scissors. They are so beautiful, just like a painting by Monet. I will post a photo tomorrow evening. I think they may be my faves along with my Sarah pair. However, no sooner had they arrived when I saw that Gingher has released a scissor that is exclusive to Jo-Ann craft stores, called Mia. They have a plaid design. I will have to be patient and save my pennies for a while.

When I was in Solvang, I got to see some beautiful scissors called Wasa. They were absolutely gorgeous. It was my first time hearing of them. They seemed super sharp and so elegant. Unfortunately, they are also expensive. I do not know why I love scissors so much.

Monday, Monday...

We have tropical storm "Patricia" moving in tonight. The fact that this storm and I share a name is not lost on my DH. Anyway, the bulk of it is supposed to hit at about 1 am. I suspect that we will be awakened by all of the wind. Drag. I could not sleep last night and stayed up too late reading my book. I am reading "Let the Great World Spin" which is pretty awesome so far. I am a bit concerned about waking up to no power in the morning. We really need the rain here in California, but I have a feeling this is going to be a mess.

I did get to stitch for a little while. I am still working on the lacey part on the bottom edge. I have learned that I have no business stitching when I am overly tired, because it usually just results in my having to frog the next day. I am so pleased with how it looks. The photographs really do not do it justice.

Hope everyone stays warm and dry tonight.

The Weekend

Yesterday was a whirlwind. We were singing with a local chorus for a benefit for a wonderful program here that works on behalf of the homeless. Yesterday afternoon was spent rehearsing, then our performance in the evening. It was a busy day. I find it hard to eat before a performance, so I had a little chicken noodle soup before we went on stage. On the way home, though we drove through and got hamburgers. It was good to come home and have a feast in our jammies.

Today was nice and quiet. I stayed home and sterilized the kitchen and bathrooms. The laundry had been neglected while I was sick. So everything is now nice and clean. Every surface that could hold a germ has been scoured. We are expecting a big storm coming in tomorrow, so DH stowed the patio furniture and cushions. I have to remember to put my rain boots in my car. I do not mind rain, in fact, I think it is excellent stitching weather.

I did stitch today after my chores. I got to watch the race and stitch away. (Tony came in fifth!) I am getting close to putting on that big stalk that contains all of the flowers with specialty stitches. I am getting a little bit intimidated! I still have quite a bit, like the lacey edge. Then, below that there is a bargello stitch. Whoohoo.

I am hoping that I will have time to stitch this week. I really want to make a lot of progress on this. Tea drinking season is upon us, and I want to be ready!

Back Amongst the Living...

I got hit hard by the flu. Like, really hard. I had been fighting what I thought was a cold Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday I went in to work thinking that I was still fighting this cold. By the time I got to work, I had a spiking fever and thought I was going to either pass out or get sick. Realizing that I needed to get home, and not knowing how long I was going to be home, I grabbed a bunch of paperwork and got back in the car. Our office has a strict, if you are sick- stay home policy.

I got home, at which time, Liesie decided that she should be sick, too, and got under the blankets with me. Dogs are so amazing in that they sense something is wrong, so they just want to be there to comfort you. So she stayed cuddled up to me and we slept alot of the day. She is a great nurse. I just love that little dog.

Yesterday, I was able to sit up in bed and make it into an office. I got a lot of work done. As an accountant, the first two weeks of a month are a critical time. This is even moreso at the end of a quarter. Today, I was not totally well, but the work has to get done. I went in to work, afraid I was going to get sent home, which I nearly did. I closed my office door, put a note on my door that I did not want to get anyone sick, and asked one of my buddies in one of the medical departments to bring me some latex gloves that I could wear when handling any paperwork that would be shared with anyone else. I think I have shared before that I work with the most caring and amazing people. Many of them came to my window and waved while doing a boo boo lip. Another put a sweet note on my window. They are so awesome. It just really made me miss them, because I could not go out and talk with them. But they made my day.

I have not really been feeling up to stitching, although I put in about an hour last night. I have also discovered Fancast on my Comcast Internet. It plays recent shows on demand. I was able to watch the first episode of "The Next Iron Chef" on my computer, without commercials. This is awesome. I watched that and almost got the two ladies all stitched in on my tea cosy. I am really hoping to get some stitching in this weekend and to get rid of the remnants of this bug.

Stay well!

Stitchy Night!

It was a good stitchy day. I had gone into work super early this morning, so I got off about four o'clock. I came home, changed directly into my jammies and had some frozen buffalo chicken strips for dinner, along with my Mexican Coca Cola. (I think I have shared with you my great love of buffalo chicken anything, as well as my adoration of Mexican Coca Cola.) I took my quiz for my Macroeconomics class and was finished by seven. This left me with a whole evening to stitch. How awesome is that!

To top off my happy dance, I received my ornament issue in the mail. I was really torn about what I should do, but I had looked forward to stitching all day. I did not want to just flip through my magazine, I really want to enjoy it with a cup of tea, so I am saving it for later in the week when I can slowly savor it. I pulled out my tea cosy instead, and got to start stitching the ladies. I am having so much fun stitching this

In addition to my stitching, I turned on Dancing With the Stars. I am cheering for Mark, the Chairman from Iron Chef America. I stitched my heart out with my sweet little Liesl next to me. It really brings home the fact that the small things in life really makes one the happiest. I had such a lovely evening and I am so grateful for the joy and comfort I got to feel.

End of the Weekend

Well, I did get to do most of the things on my list today. I was totally thrilled because Tony won the race today. While I did get to stitch, it was cut short because Liesl had been playing in the backyard and came in screaming and limping. I hate it when dogs scream. It sounds like a human screaming and scares the heck out of me. She was limping and running scared so fast that she hit the step with her little body trying to get into the house. I jumped up and ran after her and scooped her up and held her tight. There was nothing visible, and all we can surmise is that she may have stepped on a bee and got stung. I just held her really tightly, then we gave her a baby aspirin. This happened about a month ago, too. Bob ran her right to the vet then but they could not find anything wrong.

She seems to be doing better now and is not limping anymore. She was able to bring herself over to the dinner table because she was able to smell parmesan cheese. She planted herself between the two chairs and stared us down, using the Force to make us give her cheese. LOL

I was able to make my minestrone for dinner. We have a ton of it, which is good, since it tastes better the second day and we have plenty for lunches this week. I got the recipe from my old Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook, back from, like, 1980, before fat and butter was evil. LOL. I love this cookbook and use it for everything. It no longer has a spine, the pages are all splotched with food, and it is just loved beyond being pretty anymore. It is the book I learned to cook from, and it is one of my great treasures.

Well, I am off to sleep off the excitement of the day. Let's all hope tomorrow is good and boring. LOL

Saturday

We are being hit with a cold and windy front here on the Monterey Peninsula. It is down in the 40's at night. Brrrr. Luckily, we planned ahead and bought one of the down comforters at Costco a couple of months ago. When the forecast came out for the cold weekend, out came the new blanket. As a result, everyone slept in this morning, including Liesl, who thought it was a bad idea to come out from under the blankets before 7:30.

We dressed in sweaters and jeans and went off to run errands. I do not know why I can not remember not to go to Costco the first weekend of the month. It is so wild and it makes me crabby. Alas, we were out of Liesl's chicken jerky, which she has to have one piece of every morning. Heaven forbid we should ever run out. We would be in big trouble and we are afraid. LOL

We got the house totally clean this afternoon. I love that feeling when it is all done. All of the surfaces sort of gleam when you turn the lights on. I still need to sponge mop the floors but that will go quickly tomorrow, then I will be able to stitch. Yay!

Tonight, DH took me on a little date to a nice local place. Tomorrow is our sixth anniversary of our first date. Time sure flies. Anyway, we had caprese salad with heirloom tomatoes. Then we shared a fancy pizza made with smoked salmon (yum!) a super creamy cream cheese, capers tomatoes cucumbers, and onions. It was heavenly! We finished by sharing a piece of chocolate cake. It was really nice, and we had fun chatting about books and stuff.

I am looking forward to a nice quiet day tomorrow after church. I have some left over steak from dinner the other night so I am going to make minestone, watch the race, light a fire, and stitch with a small dog cuddled up next to me. I am hoping to do all of this is my sweats. I am thinking it will be a perfect day.

Confession Time...

I have a love of pumpkin that knows few bounds. LOL Yesterday, I found pumpkin bisque at Costco. I had been thinking about it in the fridge all day at work. We ended up having it for dinner and it was most delicious. Unfortunately, it reminded me that this time of year, Dreyer's puts out it's Pumpkin Ice Cream. Yay! I brought this up to DH, who seemed semi not interested. However, his class tonight was plunged into darkness by a power outage, so he called me to say he was coming home early. I politely reminded him about the ice cream, so he stopped on his way home. I got to have my pumpkin ice cream. Yum! Now that the weather is turning crisp and cool, all that I can think is "pumpkin bread." I shall have to bake some this weekend.

I got to watch the PBS National Parks show tonight. It was amazing. The photography is so beautiful, all I can think is that I need to see Yosemite. I am ashamed to say that I have not had the chance to visit it. The story about the Grand Tetons as well as the photography were so interesting. What an amazing place. We are so fortunate to have these treasures in our country.

I have not had the opportunity to stitch for a few days because I have had tests and homework for my class. My fingers are just itching to pick up my stitching. I really miss it when I can not work on my project.

Wishing you a happy weekend.