Stitchy Stash

Had a pretty good day today. Liesl got me up early this morning. Actually, I had woken even earlier in a pretzel position because somebody decided to stretch out across the foot of the bed. It never fails to amaze me how big a small dog can be on the bed. Anyway, she decided that we had slept enough, so I asked her if she wanted to go to the beach. She was very excited, so off we went for our two mile beach walk.

It was a cold, dreary, drizzly morning. We had a nice walk and Liesl played in the surf. I have to say that schnauzer parents are very loyal to the breed, and will usually drop whatever they are doing to check out another schnauzer and talk to the parents. I have had people call to me from across the street to say that they have schnauzers, too. There is something about the breed. (Mini schnauzers are the 11th most popular breed of dog in the US) Today, another mini was playing on the beach and his momma quickly ended her cell phone call to come say hello. She was very nice. One of the comments that I get a lot is that Liesl is very mellow for the breed. This lady said that she was surprised to see one so calm. Liesl is pretty secure and calm. She does not like anything that resembles chaos. I am pretty lucky. She is still barky and has a lot of energy, but she really goes with the flow.

After the beach, I wrapped Liesl up in a towel to keep her warm and I headed over to the Carmel Safeway to grocery shop. I have to say that I really do not like grocery shopping in general. I wish they had a service at Safeway like they do at Whole Foods, where you can place your order, they pick it out for you, charge your credit card, and you just pick it up all bagged up at the front. I have to say, though that it was nice to take my time grocery shopping for once. I needed to stock up on staples, and it was a calm shopping experience where I could take my time. I also got my Moose Tracks Ice Cream.

It was still cold when I got home. My thermostat read 64 degrees and I actually had to turn on my heater. Brrr. Liesl and I took a really good nap under a woolie blanket and by the time we woke up, the sun was trying to peek through. I headed out to work on my front yard.

As much as I love gardening, I am terrible about the front yard. It has several trees and is pretty dark and shady and as such, does not have a lot of color like the backyard. So I have to psyche myself up to work out there. It was out the point where I either had to take the weed whacker out to it or don a pith helmet, carry a machete and advertise Jungle Tours. I am happy to say, it took four hours but it is looking kinda nice. The crazy part is that even though it was cloudy and I was working in total shade, I still got a sunburn on my shoulders.

So, now I get to play with my stitchy toys. Yesterday afternoon, I received a package of stuff that I had ordered from Stitching Bits and Bobs on Fourth of July weekend. They had a big 25% off everything sale, so I got some nice deals. Kelmscott now carries cute little mother-of-pearl buttons, so I got a package of those. I also got the cute bee counting pins, a clearance pattern for $1 and a Permin pattern. I love the Permin pattern. It is so happy and totally Scandinavian in style. I think it will look lovely in my bedroom.

I am going to try to stay up late and stitch tonight. Whoohoo!