Organizing

When I went to bed last night, I was planning to stitch all day. I figured after a day of dusting and vacuuming and sorting and hauling, I needed a day with a needle in my hand.

But then I needed a new needle--I've managed to kill another needle with my acidic touch--so I started digging in the basket by my chair for my needlebook. And project bags started piling up. And I started wondering just what all I had in the basket. And the next thing I knew, I had things strewn all over the living room.

Believe it or not, this is the reorganized basket.

I have about half a dozen projects that either need to be assembled or require only few days of stitching to complete. Those are now on the top, so I can move to them as soon as Frances Burwell is finished.

I wish I could say Frances will be finished this week--but I'm working late Monday and Tuesday so I can get my desk cleared early in the week. I have sampler guild on Wednesday, an appointment with the dentist on Thursday, and then we're planning to leave at noon on Friday to drive to Williamsburg for a family week-end with The Flash and his parents.

So this is going to be one of those stolen moments weeks, when I grab a minute here or there, whenever possible, to stitch. Let's see how much I can get done.

Flotsam and Jetsam

This pitiful little tree to the left of the strawberry tree is all the stitching I've done today.

We have been doing the deep pre-holiday cleaning in the living room today. This includes dealing with the four boxes of stuff we brought from Mother's apartment when we closed it out. The Saint felt that the boxes contained things we might be able to use. After going through them, and purging the contents, we also felt the strong urge to purge our own belongings so that our children will not have to go through all this with our junk.

So we have been deep cleaning and throwing stuff out and filling the recycling container--several times--why would we want greeting cards so old that the paper was turning yellow and why did Mother hang on to them for so long without using any of them?--and we suddenly realized we hadn't had dinner yet--so frozen pizza to the rescue--and by the time I threaded a needle, I had just enough energy to stitch a little-bitty tree.

And that is all for tonight.

I am going to boil myself in the shower and go to bed with a book. Whether or not I have enough energy to actually read the book is debatable.

A strawberry tree?

Doesn't this look like strawberries growing on a tree?

But strawberries don't grow on trees.

But did they somehow train strawberries to grow so they looked like they were growing on trees in the early 18th century?

Well this sent me down all kinds of rabbit holes.

On my lunch hour, I found out about espaliering fruit trees and training vines in decorative shapes. But strawberries don't grow on either trees or vines . . . so then I started looking for illustrations for 18th century gardening practices. That continued after I got home.

I have yet to find a strawberry tree.

So if any of my readers know anything about 17th/18th century gardening practices and can enlighten me, I would appreciate it.

Or maybe little Frances was clueless and just stitched strawberries on a tree.

Rara Avis*

*Five years of Latin in high school and college and I finally get to use a phrase appropriately!

It is a rare bird indeed that can levitate itself into the air without flapping its wings--and I have three of them on this side of the roof.

I've never seen birds that have horizontal stripes, either.

But, please note, all the bricks have been laid on Frances Burwell's house.

I am now going to make a proclamation. In 2019, I will NOT stitch a house with bricks. Just about every sampler I've done in the last few years has had a honkin' big house built out of bricks. I am tired, tired, tired of laying bricks. I plan to avoid bricks for at least a year.

Please remind me of this if I succumb to the lure of a sampler with a brick building next year.

Meanwhile, I plan to continue with Frances tonight, even though I have the first assignment for an SAL. With the sugar buzz I have going, it's probably best to stay with something relatively brainless to stitch.

You see, we had candy at the office for the children and grandchildren of employees yesterday. We had a lot of candy. We had very few children. This means we still have a lot of candy. Somehow some of the mini bags of Skittles made their way to my desk, along with Lifesaver  Big Ring Gummies.  OMG, where have Lifesaver Big Ring Gummies been all my life and why didn't I know about them before yesterday?

Obviously this was something I didn't need to know.

It's about time

I figured finishing the scissors case would take a couple of evenings, then I could do the last two little bits of embroidery for Sweet Little Blossoms in another evening, and then that would be it for this project until the finishing class is posted.

Wrong.

I finally got this done Friday night.

And the last two bits yesterday:

As usual, everyday, ordinary life intervenes.

Monday: Trip to Target after work for Halloween candy. And as we all know, the trip to The Tar-zhay may be planned as an in-and-out, but then you think of something else you need, and then you think of something else you wanted to look at, and then you think of something else that you may as well get while you're there and then you realize that you've spent an hour and walked about seventeen miles and of course what you planned for dinner is going to take longer than usual and the evening is gone.

Tuesday:  One of my co-workers celebrated her big 5-0 and we celebrated with her. And the way we celebrate at this office is by eating. There was a breakfast potluck, snacks at 11, lunch, and then birthday cake at 2. Although I showed remarkable restraint, I still staggered home in a carb coma. I did pick up my needle, but I think I spent more time just holding it than stabbing the linen with it.

Wednesday: EGA meeting

Thursday: I have no idea what happened. I came home wiped out, could not stop yawning, finally gave up and went to bed at nine.

Friday: Finally was able to sit and stitch. Hallelujah!

As for today's stitching plans, I think I'm just going to shut my eyes and grab something out of the basket by the wing chair.

Twitchy

Well, most of my voice is back but the steroids are making me too twitchy to sit still for long--so very little stitching has happened.  Just this:

Meanwhile, I sent Dearly Beloved off to the wedding yesterday with his sister, whose husband absolutely did not want to go. I was still a little feverish so I stayed home.

And puttered. I was looking for a big box of Legos in The Big Kid's former closet. We are going to see them in a couple of weeks, and I figured this would be a very good time to pass the Legos along to The Flash.

Instead I found a treasure for me.

When I picked up a box to get it out of the way, the bottom fell out. And out tumbled a whole bunch of kits that I knew I had but hadn't thought about in awhile. Thistle Threads, Merry Cox, Rae Iverson, Linda Driscoll, Historic Needlework Guild, Sharon Cohen. All very good stuff.

And I still like them all.

Definitely have to live to be 385 to stitch everything I want to stitch.

The Silence of the Lambs

or the grumpy chunk of mutton.

I have laryngitis. For someone who makes her living as a silver-tongued devil, this is a problem.

I also have a sinus infection, a mild ear infection in the right ear, enlarged tonsils, and a sore throat. To combat the various problems, I have antibiotics (again), steroids (again), and a nasal spray (something new).

Despite all this, I managed to finish all fifty-seven miles of nun stitch and can start the fun stuff.

And there is more fun stuff coming. Shining Needle Society announced the new Barbara Jackson ornament for 2018. If you haven't been collecting the ornaments since Barbara started the series, you can catch up on each and every one of them.

I have three stitched and finish-finished. I have three more stitched but not finish-finished.

I should take care of that before the new one arrives. (Yes, of course I ordered it. Immediately upon seeing it.) Of course, I could wait until I get the new one stitched and just have a marathon finishing session.

Hmmmmm . . . I think I may have said that in the past.

I believe I'm going to have a marathon finishing session before the new one arrives.