After I finished the gift for my FDIL, I rushed it to the framer so I could have it back in time for her birthday, which we were celebrating at the beach. This is what it looks like now.
(Sorry for the glare, it is under glass. I love the frame on this and according to my framer, it is a molding specifically designed to match DMC colors.)
Then I moved back to working on Harriette Coe. Every day I would say, 'Surely this will be finished in a couple of days and then I can post to the blog.' And every day, it didn't happen!!. I churned away and churned away until my stitching time became just about nil because I had to start getting ready for the beach! I finally put the last stitches in it just last night and I am so happy to have it finished!!
I stitched it on my usual 40 ct. so it is pretty small. But it sure did seem to take forever!! I have included the close-up below so you can see all of the animals. The chart says all the eyes are to be stitched in the red. There was no way I was going to do that!! What are they then, Vampire animals?? Werewolf animals?? So, I just left the eyes blank. It seemed like a much better choice to me!
We try to go to the Outer Banks twice a year, in the spring and later, in the fall. We like the off season when there aren't so many people and not as much traffic. We do, however, travel with an entourage. This last trip there were only 7 of us but we have had as many as 18 in the past. We haul in all of our provisions like we are going to the wilderness or something. We carry in linens, food supplies, water, you name it. That requires a lot of prep work. Luckily, The Hubs has taken over the cooking so he does all the menu planning and food shopping for the week. There is a huge perpetual list we work off of each time so the planning has already been done but the gathering, shopping and packing are a big, multi-day extravaganza.
So, the week before the beach trip, I had my weekly stitch group on Monday, the regular EGA meeting on Tuesday, which left me with the rest of the week to get my act together for the trip. Not just for the trip, but also getting the house together for guests since everyone congregates here before going on down the road. I had already packed my stitching bag so the important stuff had been taken care of at least!!
Wednesday morning, I woke up with a sore throat. I did okay for the first couple of days but the 3rd day is always the worst for me and by then, I was feeling pretty wrecked. I haven't had a cold in a long time so I may have just been being a baby about it but no medicine helped and I was living on Advil and Halls cough drops. By Friday night we were talking about me staying home for a few extra days and driving down later in the week. I gave it serious consideration but in the end, I wasn't sure I could make the 3 1/2 hr. drive by myself, even later in the week, so I went with the crowd.
And so glad I did or I would have missed this...
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| Sunset over Frisco, NC Sunday night |
So, I laid low for most of the week. I read and relaxed and gradually got to feeling better. I went shopping with my son and FDIL and had a lovely lunch out. We didn't make it over to Ocracoke and we never made it out to dinner, 2 things we traditionally do every trip, but we had fun none the less. And I got to wake up to this every day!!
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| The view from my bedroom |
Toward the end of the week, I did finally feel like doing a little stitching. I got back to work on Harriette and wouldn't you know it, I ran out of the color I needed to finish!! I took it as a sign and moved on to something else. The Red House Sampler saw a little work. Not a lot, but some.
Such a gorgeous piece and really in need of a slot in the rotation. Not really sure what has happened to the rotation either but I need to get that worked out again too!
Then, last but not least, I started the Blackbird SAL piece last night after I finished Harriette.
I kind of went my own way with the colors, brightened some up and toned some down. It will be interesting to see what everyone winds up with in the end!! Its a small piece and shouldn't take too much time to finish. Then, I guess I need to get back to the rotation, whatever that may look like now. I am several months behind now in a couple of the Year Long Sals I joined and I, maybe unwisely, joined a couple more recently!! I have vowed to not add to the UFOs this year so completions are what's called for!
Recently, I was looking at the list I made at the beginning of the year of my stitching goals for the coming year. Some of the things in the 'to finish' section still haven't seen the light of day. It's nearly June, half the year gone already! I need to get busy!!
Hope you're enjoying your stitching as much as I am, Laura
