Checking In

I am still sowing grass seeds in the vast front yard of Mary Otter's house. The flowers have been planted and are blooming quite nicely, but I still have an acre or two of grass to add.

So I'm going to get back to it.

Done with Dirt

Last night I stitched the last of the dirt in Mary Otter's yard.

I thought the driveway that leads toward the house from the gate was going to do me in, but it is now completed and I survived.

The front yard will be full of posies, but I'm not planning to plant any tonight. After digging in the dirt for several days, I'm tired!

Dirt and a Critter

The computer is working again, even if we discovered the back-up thumb-drive was corrupted and we've lost a bunch of stuff.

I love technology when it works . . .

Anyway, this week while the blog has been dark, I've stitched dirt and a critter.

There has been some discussion as to what this critter is.

Cissy Smith, who charted the reproduction, refers to it as a colt.  Dearly Beloved, who has a box of ribbons around here somewhere from his days of competing in equitation events, says it looks more bovine than equine to him. I think it's a sheep, actually a lamb who is out for a frolic.

Since we cannot get a consensus on the type of beast, it's a critter.

I'm working on more dirt. There is a path that runs all the way around the lawn inside the fence, so I've started more tent stitch over one to create that part of the design.

I'm getting a little tired of dirt, but the faster I get it stitched, that faster I can get to things that are more fun.

And a prettier color.

Temporary Hiatus

You won't have to listen to any whining this week. My Mac turned into a brick this morning (right after doing an update . . . hmmmmm) and I won't be able to post until we see the Genius at the Genius Bar next Saturday.

I came into the office to clear out my emails so my personal inbox won't explode before we know the prognosis, so this has to be quick--and no progress pictures of the fence (which pulled me in to the point I was up until one a.m. this morning working on it).

So have a good week. I suppose if I'm not getting sucked away into the innerwebs, I'll have more time to stitch.

A Very Fine House

Mary Otter can move in.

This lovely manor house has an expansive lawn, surrounded by an elegant fence with a magnificent gate. There is also a large field where a critter resides.

And it's all stitched over one. Solidly stitched over one.

I could go back and put in the border and there are some funky trees and a fine carriage-and-pair, but I'm afraid if I don't make myself get the boring part done, it will be hard to motivate myself later. So I've decided to stitch in the fence so I'll know where things start and stop without constant counting, and then I'm going to do the miles and miles of tent stitch.

There may be some unpleasant whining.

Who am I kidding. There will be some unpleasant whining.

Still Under Construction

Despite valiant efforts, Mary Otter's house still isn't ready to move into.

So close--yet so much more mortar to mix . . .

Windows and Door

Mary Otter's house finally has window frames and the beginning of a door.

Quite frankly, I had planned to have the house finished by now. . . but even with the furnace running non-stop (and I have a feeling my stitching budget is going to go for heating costs this month), there have been evenings when my fingers were just too cold to stitch.

We've been luckier than most places in that we've had no precipitation and the temps haven't dropped into the negatives. They have dropped into single digits, though, breaking a 100-year-old record, and for this child of the Carolinas, that's just too cold.

The Canada geese have been standing on the ice in the local pond looking confused. ("Wait, isn't this what we migrated to get away from?")  Actually, Dearly Beloved and I have decided that this very cold snap might be a good thing if it encourages the huge Canada Goose population to take their poop-producing proclivities elsewhere for future winters.

They are beautiful birds, but they are quite unpleasant in both temperament and habits.

We're supposed to get back to normal winter temperatures next week and I'm looking forward to some balmy 50-degree days.

And warm fingers.

Happy New Year!

I did stay up until midnight! Actually, there was a Thin Man Marathon on TCM, and I do love William Powell and Myrna Loy, separately or together.

And I made a momentous decision last night.

This year, I have made resolutions.

I know, I know, they last about 20 seconds. But since these involved working with my needle, I may be able to keep them.

For the last few years, I've resolved to stitch whatever I felt like whenever I felt like it and that's what I've done. But as I've been thinking about the past year, I've realized I'm not getting the projects finished that bring me the greatest joy. It's been a hit-or-miss proposition--I give things a day or two, then I pick up and put down something else. After getting my Medicare card a few weeks ago, I've also realized that I don't have another 40 years to do needlework ahead of me, so I better hitch up the Granny panties and accomplish some goals.

Herewith are the 2018 resolutions:

• Get Mary Otter finished
• However, to give myself a break once in a while, I can take Sundays off to do a different project, just for a change of scenery and something a little different to blog about.
• Once Mary Otter is finished, figure out a rotation system that will work for me and stick to it
• However, there will be an exception to the rotation. When I take a workshop or class, I hereby give myself permission to continue working on the class project once I'm home from the workshop.  I've done this maybe half a dozen times in the last twenty years, and I've always been happy that I did. Of all the wonderful workshops I've taken in the last year, only one is done. This has to end.

Notice that I don't have a list of specific projects. That will come later, after Mary Otter has her last stitch. I've started jotting down the things I'd like to do, like Amy Mitten's Casket Toys, and Frances Burwell, and the mirror surround from the Casket of Curiosities class as well as starting on my double casket--but those are just ideas and not set in stone.

Anyway, instead of a new New Year's start, I'm going to plop myself in the wing chair and lay some more bricks on Mary Otter.

This is where she is at the moment. With any luck, I'll have a couple more rows of bricks worked in before I have to get back into the night-before-a-work-day routine.

And, in closing, I hope you all are having a lovely day with needle in hand. And I'm happy to see so many lapsed bloggers writing again.  I've missed reading so many blogs in the last year, and I'm glad to see their owners writing again.