Climb Every Mountain

 

There is a big hill by the store where we get our grocery pick up. Every time we drive past it The Mister says that one day he's going to climb that hill. It's been going on for years. On Friday he did it. See that speck on top? That's him. Pup's up there too. I'm so glad he did it. I was really tired of hearing him talk about it. 

Off to a Cool Start

 

The start of the summer weekend here on the east coast was a real bust. It is in the 50's and pouring rain. We had a little get together in our wreck of a kitchen yesterday and Son cooked up a Korean Barbecue. There were so many things on the table I had never seen before that I didn't know where to start. 

The Mister surprised everyone with a small heap of bay crabs. It's not our usual bushel full but it was enough with all the other food. 

While everyone pounded away on the crabs I spent a rainy afternoon in the craft room with the grands making art. They went home with plenty of masterpieces and I was left with a lot of good memories. It was the first time in over a year that we've had anyone in the house and I am happy to say The Mister and I are pleasantly worn out. I'm pretty sure today is going to a couch potato day. We can clean up tomorrow.  

Kitchen Update

You know all my new kitchen cabinets that were supposed to be here on the 12th of June? They are not coming until the 9th of July. It's always something. 

 

Friday Felines

 

I am on the 4th go round on Rainbow Kitty.

He looks like this now. There's such a long way to go but it's pleasant enough to work on. I just may keep at it until it's done which is not like me at all. 

It helps to have really good wool to work with. This blue is really, really nice. It's a pleasure to cut it into strips which is something that I find strangely satisfying. I could do it all day.

Rainbow kitty is a bit cramped these days because the real kitties decided they like to plant their butts on The Mister's latest paint by number project. After the big art journal disaster my craft rooms are off limits to kitties so he keeps it in my downstairs room when he's not working on it. 

Rainbow kitty is safe because he sits on a frame that is covered in spikes. Kitty butts would get a good piercing if they planted anything on it. I do it to myself quite regularly and I've got the scars to prove it. 

Signs of the Time

 

A few days ago we watched them spread new sand on our little beach.

Then these popped up all over the place. Last year the beaches were closed but this year it seems they are going to open on a limited basis requiring tickets. 

They weren't the only new signs that have popped up recently.  Apparently there has been a turtle catching issue that needs to be solved. Crabs only are for catching but they are hard to come by right now. We tried to get some for this weekend but there are none to be found. It's been cold and the bay has been angry so the crabs have been hiding. I don't blame them.

It's not an environmental issue thank goodness. Just weather related. The experts say there are plenty of female crabs to be found which will give us lots of baby crabs when the weather warms up and calms down. We watched two young ladies paint the storm drain in front of the welcome center last week reminding us that the bay is recovering quite nicely but not out of the woods yet. 

We need to go get a reading to see if the crabs will be running by the 4th of July. The family is pretty disappointed right now. 

All this crab talk wouldn't even have been happening last year. It would be nice if it would happen this year but things are not quite back to normal yet. 

The lack of signs is the biggest sign that we still have a ways to go for normal. By now the lamp posts are usually hung with banners advertising the Dragon Boat Festival-not happening and the Friday Night Farmers Market/Boardwalk Music and Booze fest-also not happening this year again. 

The people may not be having as much fun as we used to here on the Chesapeake but at least the wildlife seems to be enjoying it. 

Wednesday WIPs

 

Woo hoo....Festive Doodle's body is done and now I'm on the first sleeve. 

Speaking of sleeves, I've picked up Althea again and made progress on one of her sleeves. 

The cable project was very naughty. Some of it went to the frog pond because I apparently can't measure any better than I can count these days. Then I had to take all the skeins and wind them into balls because....knot. Lots and lot of knots. Some were just inches apart. That polka dot stand behind it is new. I love my other knitting stand so when I saw this one on Amazon I had to have it. It's the best part of this project at the moment.

It's not the only new thing. I also found this sheep zipper bag that is big enough to hold my two at a time magic loop projects. They are too big for a regular sized bag and too small of a big one. This one is perfect. I also found it on Amazon. 

Speaking of socks, I only have these two pair of man socks on the needles now. I love that blue. It's Hawthorne and it promises to be drama free. 

I am still having fun with my hooky project. I've got nine more to show for this week and that makes 15 little squares in all now. How fun are they?

TNT: Getting Organized

 

After cleaning up the soap mess that was all over the stitching table I decided to take the time to really get my stitching projects in order before I started working on them again. This is what they usually look like.

I used to keep them each in their own jumbled mess of a scrapbook box but no more. 

Now they are all tucked into these zipper pouches which take up a lot less room. 

Along with the pouches, I bought a new bobbin case for all the random bits of floss I have. It's quite a pile. 

I also got some cardboard floss organizers for individual projects. 

I've got enough cards to organize the colors by motif as well as by project. I like to have it all in one place. I hate digging around looking for the color I need. 

The bobbin cases get filled pretty quickly. I may have to order more. This is just the floss for that sampler with the big goose that I am working on. 

I spent all day yesterday working at organizing but I'm still only halfway through dealing with all the stray floss. I did get a bit done on the Village Quaker on Saturday but I was trying to watch the Eurovision Finale and stitch at the same time so I didn't get very far. 

All I have to say about that is...Italy, really? I guess there must be a lot of Spinal Tap fans still out there.  Rock on. 

 

Happy Hugs

 

I've been scouring the internet looking for card making inspiration for weeks now and I finally found something I kinda like. 

I don't love it but considering what's out there it will do for a post vaccination card making adventure. It's Lawn Fawn's Happy Hugs collection. I can't wait to sit down and play with it. 

I haven't opened it yet because I had a graduation card to make this past weekend for The Mister's nephew. It's a mash up of several stamp sets and it's always fun to do. It may be a little juvenile for someone just graduating from college but I'm sure the recipient won't care after he sees what we put inside it. 

It's a Mystery

 

Back in January I was digging through the fiber stash and all I could find that was worth spinning was this mystery fiber. I don't know what it is or where I got it. 

I have barely touched any of my spinning toys since the last Tour and it was a real challenge to get this finished. Happily, it's not the kinky mess I thought it might be. 

It's actually behaving very nicely considering all the trouble I had. 

It will become another pair of thermal mitts that will be perfect for fall. It has only just barely hit 90 here this weekend and I'm already looking forward to cooler weather and shorter days. 

Strung Out

 

It's no secret that I've been having lots of issues dealing with all this Covid stuff. It ignited anxieties in me that I didn't even know existed. One of my coping strategies has been guided meditation. I even bought some mala beads recently but I didn't like the feel of them so I restrung them yesterday.

You use mala beads like prayer beads. You pull them one at a time slowly through your fingers to help focus your mind when it starts to wander as you concentrate on the message you are trying to send yourself. There are 108 beads for 108 breaths. The problem with the string of beads I bought is that the beads were strung too close together to be able to really feel each of them. I have a giant bead collection so I added spacers between them and substituted some of the original beads out for some of mine to mark divisions of the quarters and mid point. 

I had a good time playing with my bead collection. I used to make my own stitch markers from them and haven't in ages. 

Ta da.....much better. 

Om............it helps. It really does. 

Humbug

 

Yarn wasn't the only thing that showed up in the mail this week. Look at these beauties. 

Since the MDSW was cancelled again this year I felt like I needed to do some online fiber shopping. My stash is pretty dismal at the moment. This is some Polwarth/Silk. It's so soft and pretty. 

This is Humbug Merino. I had never heard of Humbug Merino but it's apparently when you mix dark and light fibers to get that stripy effect. I love it. It's almost too pretty to spin. 

The Tour starts in June this year and I'm pretty sure we will be knee deep in kitchen remodeling then so I doubt much will get done but I still want to free up a wheel for my pretty new babies just in case. I've got these singles on the Ladybug right now and I've just started to ply them but it's not going well....

See what I mean? That's some way overspun chain plying right there. I also broke the string on the tension thingy and had to repair that. 

To make matters worse, I even ended up braking the drive band. My first attempt at spinning in a long while was like a Charlie Chaplin comedy routine with me fighting that wheel. I lost. Sigh.....

And.......I had someone ask me yesterday if the nautical sampler was from the cover of a cross stitch magazine. It sure is. From 1989. How many years have I been working on this? Don't tell me. I don't want to know.

And.....I also had someone ask me if I was giving up making soap. Nope. I'm just waiting for fresh supplies. I wanted to use up all the leftovers before I ordered more. I've got some more of my favorite fragrances on the way as well as.....

... a $35 bottle of laurel berry oil to make more Aleppo soap. Of all the soap I've made this is my absolute favorite. It takes a full year to cure so I've got to get some in the molds as soon as it gets here before I run out of my precious, dwindling supply.