sometimes i surprise myself

I’m obviously loving these Birds of a Feather charts. Or maybe it’s the feeling of not being late for something for a change? Or the ease of simply using the called-for materials instead of re-inventing the wheel every time I stitch? Whatever the cause, I finished Cold as a Lizard last night and here it is! (The fabric is a very light, mottled creamy tan that just doesn’t photograph well, darn it!)

The mailman brought me some goodies yesterday. First up was a mystery packet from Anna that turned out to contain these lovely note cards. Anna had included some information about the artist on the envelope – someone local to her area who painted in Maine – but the envelope was confiscated for the woodstove before I copied the information down. Anna, could you tell me the artist’s name? I love these, and I write a lot of “snail mail” post, so they’ll be both appreciate and useful. Thanks for such a great surprise gift!

I also won an egg calender (I know, it’s a bit much isn’t it, me and my eggs? LOL!) from Fresh Eggs Daily that I’ve done up in a bit of a glamour shot with some squash we’ll be eating for dinner.

Speaking of dinner, it’s Tuesday – the marketplace day when I sell my eggs and buy local organic goodies that I can’t grow/raise at Chateau Chaos. For the first time since the moult this summer, I’ll be taking in 10 dozen eggs. It doesn’t even touch the grain costs, but it sure is a welcome change from the paltry amounts I had been taking in a month ago! Here are a few of the girls (and a fella) who make it possible:

It’ll be a day of running around and doing errands, so don’t expect anything too ambitious from me for a couple of days.

it’s not the football game that has us cheering

… it’s my first finish of the year – Girl’s Best Friend by Birds of a Feather!

I didn’t “hermit” this weekend – as appealing as it sounded – but I did drag my stitching over to a friend’s house yesterday afternoon, and I picked this project up again this afternoon and … ta da! This will become Rowen’s Easter treat bag. I managed to snag this pattern on eBay for a not-too-ridiculous price with the intention of doing something for Rowen. She is such a fan of dogs (and all things furry). I followed the instructions pretty much to the letter, only changing out the girl’s hair (now GAST Gold Leaf)  to make it blonde like Ro’s, and then lightening her complexion (GAST Apricot Blush) slightly to go better with the hair. This is stitched on Vikki Clayton’s 35 ct Sand linen. (I know I’ve mentioned it before, but her linen is an absolute dream to stitch on!)

(please ignore the fluffies that I didn’t notice till just now)

I now have Cold as a Lizard on the Q-Snaps because that was Max’s choice. An odd choice for Easter, perhaps, but that’s what he wanted.

No football at our house, as hinted at in the title. As with soccer (aka European football) in Holland, we feel like we are the only people in the neighborhood (if not the country) not glued to the game. Once the kids are in bed, you’ll probably find both of us reading instead. I’m not sure what Niek’s working on these days, but I’m engrossed in Haruki Murakami’s 1Q84 and finding it difficult to put down. He’s one of my all-time favorite authors and each book I read by him is like a glimpse into that world right beside our own that we can only see from the corner of our eyes.

cats and dogs

I haven’t had enough time for stitching, and what little I did have today, I blew reading a really disappointing book (The Island of Lost Girls). Don’t you hate that feeling, when you put down a book and think to yourself, “What a waste of x hours – I could’ve been doing …”. But here’s Girl’s Best Friend by Birds of a Feather, so far.

I would LOVE to tear right through it – it’s so darned cute! But tomorrow is Meeting Wednesday, and there won’t be a chance to squeeze in any stitching at all.

It warmed up here today, but yesterday was cold! Flip found comfort in a box beside the woodstove. Of course it begs for all sorts of comments about letting the cat out of the bag, the Cat in the Hat, etc. Flip’s very cool with his fame, as you can see. Cats have such amazing composure.

The mailman made us all very happy today. The DVD that Niek’s parents made of our wedding arrived today. I only made one joke about it being a little early for our tenth year anniversary. His grandma also sent us a letter that included a press clipping – they interviewed her about the rebuilding done in her neighborhood and basically built the whole article around her opinions. She’s as composed about her fame as Flip is about his. And I received my Stitching Bits and Bobs sale order – can you believe it? They must’ve set a new speed record! I also ordered some dish towels from eBay to make into Christmas gifts next year.

(I am truly terrifying with this pre-planning and organization, aren’t I? Don’t worry, it’s bound to wear off soon.)

social sunday

Wow, it’s been a cold one! But beautiful – wow, is there anything to compare to winter in Maine? We built up a good fire in the woodstove:

And visited my mom (no pictures, sorry).

We introduced three new pullets to the flock and said goodbye to one rooster:

I did some stitching (and frogging – how’s it possible to make a mistake on a pattern like this??):

And Niek made us an amazing dinner and Arden hammed it up for the camera (as you can see, he’s feeling much better!):

It’s been a great day, and I hope yours was, too!

pre-procrastination

That’s it. I’m starting with my Easter stitching for the kids RIGHT NOW. Not only that, but I’m going to be frighteningly coordinated. I am going to stitch everyone one of the animals from this adorable Birds of a Feather series on the same linen (35 ct sand from Vikki Clayton). Are you still upright? Do you need medical assistance? I know, it’s a shock to hear me being so decisive, so organized, so coordinated … and so early. (We all know, of course, that halfway through I’ll get distracted and have to rush like mad at the end, but let’s pretend we don’t know that.) My problem is that I want to stitch Soft as a Bunny, but it’s going for $69 on eBay and my money tree just isn’t living up to its reputation. Would anyone consider lending it to me, or doing some sort of borrow/swap (you borrow one of mine while I borrow yours)?

My 401K … er, I mean my assortment of BOAF small animal charts (not shown: Busy as a Bee):

keepin’ warm

Brrr!! Chilly today – but so bright and sunny! The dogs couldn’t figure out how to get warm, fast – Lola thought getting under the dog blanket might be better, but Rigby liked it better on top.

Arden slept somewhat better with the aid of a humidifier, but still isn’t sleeping through the night and is still plagued by the croupy cough. Ugh. Today makes four days of the cough, and it generally runs a course of 3 to 7 days. Needless to say, we are all hoping we’re nearing the end rather than just past the halfway point. My aunties surprised us with a visit and get-well basket for Arden. The basket was quite a bit fuller before I managed to get a picture of it (hmm, how did that happen?). Aunt Kathy remembered that Arden is wild for blueberries, so you might notice a blueberry theme.

It was a wildly busy day. The poor barn critters didn’t get their dinner till nearly full dark and they were making quite a ruckus. Thankfully, the guineas made their noise inside the fence – yesterday, I found 8 of them spread all over the property. Apologies to our wonderful and understanding neighbors. I loved how little Mr Doodles was warming up with the help of a big Delaware girl.

After taking care of our outdoor family, I could finally take care of the indoor members. We enjoyed a delicious and filling Spanish omelette. The recipe can be found over on the farm blog.

Further keeping me warm was the arrival of the order I placed with Violarium. Gosh, I was sad to hear that this wonderful ONS is going out of business. I stocked up on lots of specialty linens – gorgeous banding and two linen towels – as well as two patterns. I’ve had my eye on the bunny one for some time now, and the other just called out Arden’s name when I saw it.

And now, I think I may go curl up between some flannel sheets! Brrr! Stay warm, and thanks for visiting!

small things

Arden did sleep better last night – he was only up from 2 – 3:30 am. I still feel a bit out of it, but not as wonked as I did yesterday. This morning I tried to build a fire in the wood stove, but must concede that Niek is far, far better at that than I am. However, if you’re after special effects that include lots of inky black smoke, I’m your gal. Flip gave up on me, abandoned his spot by the stove and settled comfortably into … an egg box? Don’t ask me – the animals who live here are weird.

Up through lunch, Arden seemed to making a great recovery. We watched a bit of Diego on the computer, but he mostly wanted to play with his Play-Doh. Here he is, building and eating a birthday cake. (Don’t call Child Services on me – he isn’t really eating it!) (And ignore the mess behind him – that’s our ‘burn box’ and we don’t bother to keep it pretty, LOL.) Unfortunately, around 2 pm he just crashed – the coughing resumed, the snot started coming out of everywhere, and he actually asked to go to bed. I cuddled him up with a blankie on the sofa till dinnertime, but halfway through dinner he said he couldn’t do any more and just wanted to sleep.

I spent the morning racing through the rest of Blackout by Connie Willis, trying to finish before the Kindle’s battery was exhausted. LOL. I’ve just now picked up All Clear (also by Connie Willis) in the old-fashioned book form. While Arden played with Play-Doh, I put a few stitches into an old WIP that actually disappeared on me for several months. No idea where it was hiding, or what seismic shift returned it to the surface, but I’d love to finish this one ASAP and get it hung on the wall. (You must ignore the Q-snap wrinkles!) The last time I posted about it was here.

I’m loving everyone’s WIPocolypse and other challenge photos! Though I didn’t join any, I’m living through them vicariously and feel quite encouraged to catch up on some of these old WIPs that I really love and want to finish. (See Noah peeking out up in the picture of Flip?)

I also did some internet shopping, placing an order for the WDW floss I’ll need for the wonderful Birds of a Feather mystery sampler from Patti. I have some gorgeous Vikki Clayton linen that will sub beautifully for the called-for WDW Confederate Gray, but I wanted to use the suggested fibers because I was so taken with Patti’s finished work. I just caught the tail-end of the Stitching Bits and Bobs sale … which means I probably won’t get the floss till spring, but that’s okay. I might actually be ready for it by then. As soon as I hit the Send button, the mailman dropped off some stash I treated myself to recently during a sale at ABC Stitch Therapy. The WDW linens were on clearance and wow! do I love the straw color!! When I first saw Bent Creek’s Red design, I wanted it immediately but have had to wait weeks for it to show up in shop inventories. I just LOVE this design!!

I also stole a lovely little repro sampler on an eBay auction.

Judging by Arden’s downward spiral this afternoon/evening, tonight will be another one with too little sleep. I understand why we’re biologically programmed to bear children when we are younger … I feel all of my forty two years and then some after the better part of week with insufficient sleep. I’m amazed and humbled by how well Arden’s handling it, though – not a bit of crankiness or unpleasantness. He’s come over to me a bunch of times to give me a hug and tell me he loves me. So I’m trying to live up to his good example.

in which i must admit to being nothing but a large, wobbly pudding

Shh. Please don’t tell my doctor but we seem to all have the flu. Just very, very mild cases, mind you. But I actually got into an argument with her about flu vaccines – I refused to allow her to administer them because I think minor illnesses actually play an important part in keeping us healthy by testing (and improving upon) our immune systems. But for a week now, we’ve been snuffling and hacking and looking at the world through rather bleary eyes. Arden, being youngest, has been hit hardest. He’s had a fever and a very stubborn cough. And I’ve had night duty, so I’m shambling around like a prize-fighter who stayed in the ring too long. Niek’s dashing about making meals, washing dishes, cleaning litter boxes, doing laundry, and taking kids to sporting events. And that’s just what he’s doing today!

I did see Patti in Belfast yesterday, apologizing in advance if I came across a little loopy from sleep deprivation. It was lovely to get out and be a grown up with another grownup that I like very much. And doing pretty much anything at the Belfast Co-op is fun; it just has the greatest vibe. Patti surprised me with all three charts in this series, which I’d been drooling over while she was working on them (you should visit her blog and see her finished version!) and I hopefully did not surprise her with any germs. Still healthy, Patti?

I pulled out this mind-numbingly simple but adorable design to work on. I figured I couldn’t mess it up too badly, LOL. And seeing as how I bought it to make for Arden’s room, I really should finish it before he goes off to college. I didn’t get too far, and I did actually make a mistake, but I don’t think anyone will see it unless they have the pattern in front of them. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.) The colors aren’t showing up well in this photo, but here goes.

Once both of my eyes are focusing on the same spot at the same time, I’ll finish up the chicken and horse design I showed you earlier. I need to pick the right shade of blue for the wording at the end, and of course that’ll require some natural sunlight. Mother Nature, that ball is in your court. Today was so overcast and I was feeling so wonky that I thought it must be approaching dinnertime, but when I checked the clock it was only 12:30! I spent most of the day cuddled on the sofa with Arden – he watched TV and snoozed while I read Connie Willis’ Blackout on the Kindle.

For the most part, we’ve been enjoying the chilly weather cuddled up near the wood stove in the kitchen. Here are a couple of snaps I took on Friday. (Arden was watching Dora the Explorer on my laptop behind my stitching.)

And back to tonight, Niek’s dinner worked some kind of magic on Arden, who actually began playing after dinner. That bodes well for a decent night’s sleep, doesn’t it?

knus

It’s very cold here today, with a windchill factor below zero for nearly the whole day. We kept the woodstove burning steadily in the kitchen and closed off the rest of the house (with the heat set at 54 – don’t worry if you’re my landlord!). It was actually pretty cozy (knuss, in Dutch) with Nick and Rowen doing their homework at the kitchen table while Arden watched Dora on my computer. Niek was one room further down in his office – just a little too far to get much benefit from the woodstove. When he wasn’t being mysteriously absent, Max was right next to the stove with the dogs and cats. They line up on Rigby’s dog quilt in front of the woodstove and dream the day away – I really should take a picture because it’s the cutest thing. It was so cold that the animals barely ventured out of the barn for the whole day – only crazy Annie, jumping and running. She’s a headcase and we love her right to bits. We have a co-ed setup in the barn now, in hopes that there will be lots of little goats arriving in May and June. A goat’s got to stay warm somehow, right?

I have nearly finished the horse shown in yesterday’s picture. You did know that was a horse, right? LOL. I’ve been having a lot of fun reading comments on my posts in which I lament that it’s not actually possible to do it all … but it’s fun to try! I’m really enjoying my Grip It and, better yet, my right arm isn’t paining me despite putting in some hours of stitching. With the holder, I can stitch two-handed and my arm isn’t subjected to that twisting, repetitious motion that *always* causes pain if I stitch for longer than an hour or so. So I’m a happy crafter!

There’s not a lot to say actually, and because my crazy camera has wandered off again, there aren’t even any pictures. I just wanted to say hey to everyone and share a little of the close-by-the-woodfire-coziness I’m feeling. Wishing you well and hoping you’re keeping warm!

my new toy

The mailman made me very happy today by bringing lots of goodies that must’ve been building up in the postal system for awhile.  There were some Fine Lines magazines/reprints with gorgeous projects, a cut of BOAF Sparrow linen, and … this! It’s a Grip It and they aren’t made anymore, which is a mystery to me because it’s fabulous.

And that’s my newest project – a little something I’m putting together for one of the giveaways.

It was a bit of a challenge to get everyone going and get everything done on time today, but I think we pulled it off. Arden was his sweet & silly self:

And I even managed to pull together a pretty decent dinner.