More gold

I think the word for the year is gold.

I've been couching down a very fine gold thread for the last couple of days. This is one of Amy Mitten's Winter Casket Toys.

When I got that finished, I worked on something not-gold.

I started on the middle panel of Pineapple Perfection.

I'm trying to decide what I want to work on this afternoon between sessions in the kitchen. I'm putting together a few things today so lunches and dinners will be a little quicker to get on the table for the rest of the week. I used to do this all the time and I'm trying to get back in the habit.

Anyway, I need to work on something I can pick up and put down fairly easily between peeling potatoes for potato salad and browning hamburger for hot dog chili and checking on the progress of the turkey breast. I made blueberry muffins this morning--from scratch, I'll have you know--so part of breakfast is also taken care of.

Maybe I am turning into a domestic diva in my old age!

Stitching away

I found that the most comfortable way to function while my back was getting back to normal--and it is, almost--is to sit with my legs propped up and a cushion against the small of my back.

This happens to be my regular stitching position as well.

So I've been stitching--it worked out to about two hours almost every evening this week.

And I got the rest of the first panel of Pineapple Perfection finished:

The first panel of the accordion pocket piece from Tsubaki is stitched:

And the tent stitch part for the first of the acorn accessories from the Master Goldwork class is done:

I have three wonderful days to do what I want. We've already been to the farmers' market this morning (strawberries, blueberries, summer squash, and cucumbers), the laundry is swishing away, and, with temperatures supposed to be in the mid-nineties for the next few days, we are not going outside again until Tuesday.

I could start on the back panel of Pineapple Perfection, or do another panel on Tsubaki, or fill in the Goldwork parts on any of the master class projects I have started.  Instead, I do believe I'm going to pull out the winter casket toys as see if I can get the last piece embroidered.

I think I could get used to stitching without a goal or a deadline or a plan.

Finally a Finish!

The year is almost half over and I just now have my first finish!

This is Tricia's Spot Sampler, started in a F2F class who knows how long ago (maybe ten years?), resurrected when the Masterwork Goldwork Class was first offered by Thistle Threads several years ago, and finally finished in 2019.

I do eventually get around to things.

Now, the question is--what's next? Do I bounce around like I did last week? Do I focus on another project and try to get it finished soon? The main reason I pulled this out was to free up the frame for a casket panel--but now I think I might want to start the second sampler offered in the class while working with gold thread is still fresh in my mind and hands.

I may have to sleep on it before I make the decision. And if that's not an excuse for a Sunday afternoon nap, I don't know what is.

This past week

I'm not quite sure where to begin.

Dearly Beloved had his surgery and is doing quite well. Actually, he is moving better than I am, since I'm still dealing with my back. Better living through modern chemistry--I have a new prescription for muscle relaxers and a substance that's like Ben-Gay on steroids that has to be rubbed on the site a couple of times a day. There will probably be physical therapy in my future.

Meanwhile, I've been tottering and lurching and limping into work, since you can't function on muscle relaxers unless your workplace wants someone who is totally loopy representing the company. Then I come home and we have dinner (if you plan it right, you can make delivery Chinese last through at least a couple of meals), then I take a pill, and then I try to stitch a little before the pill takes effect and I can't focus my eyes.

I finished the smalls that will go on the case for the box that will contain the sampler roll for Cherry Berry:

The plan was to put everything together. However, I still can't bend comfortably over the cutting mat. I still can't even bend uncomfortably over the cutting mat. So this is waiting for the back to heal.

Pineapple Perfection has a vine that just needs its strawberries added:

A floral band was started on Tsubaki:

(Yes, I know there aren't any flowers yet. The meds haven't made me quite that loopy.)

Everything except the Goldwork has been done on the Petite Pin Cushion from the Goldwork Master Class, offered by Thistle Threads and Tricia Nguyen:

And I started the Golden Accessories, also from the Goldwork Master Class:

If it appears that I've been unable to settle down to anything, you're right, and not just because of the meds.

I lost a good friend this week. We've known each other since college. I was in her wedding. Her Big Kid and my Big Kid are the same age, as are her Miss Prissy and my Baby Girl. She also had another child between, known as the Wild Man. She suffered an aneurism and was gone before anyone could react. The only consolation is that she left us while she was cutting flowers in her garden, her happy place. She was much loved and will be missed.

I had a lot of time to think on the drive to and from her hometown today as we traveled to her funeral and home again. The best way to honor a life is to appreciate your own, and to look for joy in every moment. That's how Genie lived her life. That's how I want to live mine. I'm working on it.

Not gonna happen

Well, the plan was to blog everyday for Stitch Mania.

This was before I threw my back out getting a basket of strawberries out of the car. It wasn't even a big basket.

So there is no stitching going on.

And I have to be Dearly Beloved's transport tomorrow since he has outpatient surgery scheduled.

Maybe we can get volunteers to wheel both of us around at the hospital.

OOPS!

I forgot to blog yesterday. I went to bed thinking there was something I forgot to do, and at about two in the morning, I remembered the blog.

But at least I got something done last night!

Hopefully I can make as much progress tonight.

That's All, Folks!

When you decide to celebrate Stitch Mania by blogging every day for nineteen (or thirty-one) days, it's a little embarressing when this is all you have to show.

Pitiful, just pitiful.