Yee--HAAAAA, I did it!

I managed to post every day in November.

I think the purpose of this experiment is to get one in the habit of blogging and to increase one's writing abilities.

Not sure it succeeded--there were days when blogging seemed like just one more hurdle to overcome. As far as increasing one's writing abilities, well, I get paid to be a silver tongued devil and there are blog posts that did not meet that goal. A lot of them that didn't.

However, I will try to blog on a more frequent basis.

Now, to today's activities.  I had my class with Merry Cox this morning and of course, it is a wonderful set of smalls.  In addition, I have registered for next year since I will for sure be back.

This afternoon I have another class with Jackie du Plessis.

And the reason I am blogging now is that we are going to the Seafood Buffet at the Williamsburg Lodge for dinner tonight. By the time we waddle back from that, I will likely be ready to fall into bed fully clothed and just groan from the experience. I highly recommend it and hope the crab au gratin is on the menu again this time.

First Full Day in Williamsburg

It was our first full day in Williamsburg.

We did some early shopping at the Visitor Center.  I found several things I hope Santa will go back and purchase.  Hint, Hint, Hint.

(Keep in mind that Dearly Beloved does look somewhat like Santa. However, he is referred to as Skippy, Santa's evil twin brother, in our household. Remember the man is not into "special occasions" like birthdays, holidays, etc, and you will understand why.)

We also went to DeWitt Wallace for a quick, very quick, dash by some of our favorite sections. There are some truly drool-worthy sweet bags in the current costume exhibit in the Textile Gallery. Dearly Beloved got to look at the firearms. I had a chance to visit the dollhouses on display.

And then back to the hotel for my early bird class with Jackie du Plessis.  As usual, it's one of her very ingeniously constructed smalls.  Here are some of the building blocks:

Aren't the colors absolutely yummy? Not that I'm partial to rose and green, of course.

We didn't get much stitching done in a three-hour class but we did take a lot of notes.  This will definitely show up on the blog in the new year. Best thing is that I got to catch up with an online friend who is also attending. We'll also have a class together tomorrow afternoon.

Then the boutique opened and there was stash acquisition. I found some of Eileen Bennett's charts that I've been thinking about for awhile, plus a couple of other things that have been on my list.

I replenished the store of little projects to do in between the monsters I usually want to stitch.

And I found a few buttons and baubles and bangles and beads that didn't photograph well at all.

Tonight is the banquet where Merry Cox will be honored and we've been promised a special treat. Tomorrow I start the two classes I'm taking, morning with Merry and afternoon with Jackie again.

This is one of my favorite times of the year. I'm in a place that I love, with a person I love, doing something I love, and it's the Christmas season. What's not to love?

Crab Cakes at Christianna Campbell's

We are in Williamsburg. We had a relatively uneventful drive (aside from the semi that tried to run us off the road).  We spent a couple of hours wandering around Jamestown, finding out what this season's dig has literally uncovered.  We have checked into our hotel room.

And we have had crab cakes at Christianna Campbell's tavern. It is a tradition on our first night in Williamsburg to eat there. Apparently we had done this often enough that the re-enactor who plays Mistress Campbell recognizes us.

I was going to take pictures, but I forgot.

The early bird class and the opening of the boutique are tomorrow. I am heading to bed to be ready for both. Dearly Beloved finds it dangerous to be around either.

Should she stay or should she go . . .

Martha Edlin is all ready to jump into the tote bag.

I'm trying to be realistic.  Seriously.  I'm trying.

The fact is that I am taking three classes, the first of which starts Thursday.  And there is a boutique. I can avail myself of a variety of needlework experiences.

But I will be there tomorrow evening and Thursday morning before the first class starts. Granted, we do have dinner reservations and chances to go hither and thither beforehand, but there could possibly be ten or fifteen minutes somewhere during which I could ply my needle.

It is probably better that I take something.

(I could probably think more clearly about this whole thing if I hadn't been awake since 3:30 a.m. No reason to be awake, just woke up and could not go back to sleep.  And had to go to work today, where I was suddenly very sleepy at about 11. This was not a good thing. Dearly Beloved is checking behind me to make sure I have packed bloomers and my magnifier.)

Crazy

I am crazy.

Flat. Out. Bugnutz. Crazy.

Last June I was looking at Inspirations magazine. I had seen a preview of a book called "Home Sweet Home: An Embroidered Workbox" and I thought it was just about the sweetest thing I had seen in awhile. Right inside the front cover of Inspirations, there was an ad offering the kits for all the bits and pieces and the workbox. You could order them separately to be sent once a month or you could order one big kit at a somewhat significant savings.

I have no will power.

I ordered it.

Today it arrived. It took almost six months, but it finally made it.

I have not dumped everything out to see what's in it yet, mainly because the boxes that the Christmas decorations were in are still out along with the stuff Dearly Beloved is packing for our trip. In other words, currently we have no horizontal spaces large enough for me to play. Then, too, once I open everything, the surprise is over. I think I may wrap this up and put it under the Christmas tree.

Besides, if it's dumped out and sorted, then it's just more than a little tempting to stick a needle into it and I do not need to start something else at the moment. I'm going to Williamsburg and taking an early bird class and a morning class and an afternoon class and that's enough new projects for one week.

At least that's my thinking at the moment.

Subject to change . . .

A flower and a stitch along

Early this morning I finished the second flower.

I am very pleased with this one! It does look as though the birds are perched on both a twig and a leaf, which makes the other poor little bird who lives to the left of this motif looking dangerously unbalanced.

I also started Ann Scutt from Scarlet Letter:

This new start is all Nicola's fault!

Nicola (stitchingbyacornishseashore.blogspot.com) is sponsoring a Scarlet Letter stitch along to celebrate a milestone birthday this year. As I have quite a few SL projects in my stash and a list of additional projects from Marsha I want to add to that stash, this was a good reason to start. I also have a milestone birthday coming up in a few weeks (although mine is a bit farther along) so that's another reason to get moving on actually embroidering these treasures.

Nicola has the details on her blog. There is also an additional blog for those of us who participate to use to show progress and finishes.

2013 is shaping up to become another lovely stitching year!

However, the remainder of today I am decking the halls, running the Christmas dishes through the dishwasher so we can use them through December, and starting to get my supplies together to leave for Christmas in Williamsburg.  Dearly Beloved is already packing so he'll have time to remember the things that he's forgotten.

I don't question his logic, I just stay out of his way.

playing with paper

The shop for the Cabinet of Curiosities class opened a few days ago and I have ordered threads and fabrics. And now that I have been able to see the color families and the types of threads already available, I'm able to plan my caskets--yes, I said caskets--I want to do both types--a little better.

So I've been playing with templates and motifs and ideas most of the day, interspersed with errands (now that the Black Friday crowds have calmed down somewhat) and laundry and housekeeping. The problem is that I keep coming up with way more ideas than I have places to put them all.

 I have decided that there are also going to be some embroidered pictures in my future with 17th century figures stitched in 17th century style. It's either that or I'm going to have caskets all over the house on every available surface.

Dearly Beloved says it sounds like that's already the plan. I should stop allowing him to read over my shoulder when I'm writing.