TUSAL and finish, Irene too

In the midst of all the post Irene mess, I have to show off my SDW finish.  Don't think I can get the whole thing in one pic, so you'll have to piece it together from the pics.

SDW Sampler by Scarlet Letter

AVAS fibers

40ct R&R linen

So there she is.  Sorry about the weird joints between pics.  I did manage to get that gold blackwork border finished at the top too.  I'm glad I did it -- it adds a little something.

I'm also late with my TUSAL report, so here it is.

It always looks the same, doesn't it?  Oh well.  I just keep squishing my fibers down.

We're still in the midst of cleaning up from Irene here.  The basement is drying out very slowly.  We did a massive amount of getting stuff up from the basement, both salvageable and non-savageable, this weekend.  We are waiting to see if we get more flooding from the rain storms for the next few days -- a frontal system first, and then the leftovers from TS Lee.  I'm praying that we stay dry down there, but am fearing the worst.  Hopefully if there's more flooding, it won't be as much as from Irene.  

Once the rain is done, we've hired some flood damage people to come with a dumpster to throw out all the water soaked things down there, dry the basement out, and treat the whole basement with anti-microbial treatment to prevent mold, etc.  This is scheduled for Thursday if all goes well.  So slowly but surely.  (Yes, it's an unfinished basement.)

The boy child starts his senior year of high school tomorrow.  Rather unbelievable to me.  And over next weekend, the girl child will be taken back to college too.  She's also a senior this year, which is also unbelievable.

Some of you asked how Mia did during the hurricane.  Truth to tell, she was just fine.  I think she might have been a bit scared once or twice, but overall, she was pretty relaxed and dandy.  lol!  

She was a bit clingy though, wanting to be close to us.  I'm wondering if this is a good sign (keep in mind Mia still hisses and bats at the girl child, which is why this is so bizarre).

Mia also cuddled with the boy child a lot.

Once again, I apologize for not answering your comments for a while, and not commenting on your blogs as much.  Hopefully I'll be back to normal soon.

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a happy, safe, dry week.  (Except for those of you who need rain of course.)

stitchiness, the big 21, and more (looooonnnng post)

Firstly, the stitchy stuff.  You can skip the rest if that's all you want to see.

SDW so far.

I know, I know.  I'm not showing the top part anymore.  One of these days I'll try to take a pic of the whole thing.

Pretty, huh?

Love the duck.

And the star section -- so pretty!

Ok, now you can go away if you just wanted to see the stitchy stuff.  Long post coming up.

As you know, last Tuesday was the girl child's 21st birthday.  A big day here.  The girl child wanted to go into the city, but at first we were afraid we were going to be rained out.  But we lucked out.  The day turned out fine -- once we were out the door sometime past noon.

We started out at our favorite local diner for lunch.

(Note the earring in the girl child's upper ear.  She decided to get that done earlier this summer to freak me out.  Well, not really.)

Then we headed over to the train station to wait for the train to the city.  (Note the date on the sign.  It's sort of hard to read, but it's there.)

Once in NYC, we took the subway down to SoHo for some power shopping girl child style.

I tell you, I could never power shop for clothes like this girl child of mine can.

The good news is that while the girl child was shopping, I managed to squeeze in a visit to that greatly lauded land of dreams, Purl Soho.  (Photo courtesy of someone online)

Oooooh what loveliness!  Fabrics galore, wool fabric too, yarns so luscious, various bits and bobs.  I was in heaven.  A rushed heaven -- which actually wasn't necessary since the girl child was just leaving the shop as I got back to the gang.  But it was a good little stop for me!  (Too bad the boy child didn't tag along -- there was a guitar shop a couple of doors down he would have liked.)

While the girl child was power shopping in another store, the boy child, the father type and I went across the street to this interesting store -- which I had heard about before online.  Evolution.  What a cool store!  (Check out the website and you'll see what I mean.)  Also a bit creepy.

This is part of their window display.  (See what I mean by a bit creepy?)

The boy child perusing the window display.

I offered to buy the boy child a rattle snake rattle.  Or a raccoon penis bone.  But he took a pass.  :D

By the time the girl child was finished power shopping, it was just about 7:30 and we were ready for some yummy food.  The girl child loves Italian food, so we headed over to Little Italy and searched Yelp for a good restaurant.  We ended up here.  Peasant Restaurant.

It was soooooo good!  And the atmosphere of the place was wonderful!  Look at the back kitchen area.

So cool!  It was dark in the restaurant as you can tell by the next pictures.  The girl child had her first official glass of wine.

The next pics show off the food a bit.  And are from the girl child's pics.  (The others are courtesy of the father type and a couple of online sources.)

The yummy ricotta that you spread on the bread.

The girl child's appetizer (can't remember the name of it).

The girl child's main dish -- a yummy gnocchi.

The boy child with his pizza Margherita.

By the time we were done in the restaurant it was quite late.  We stopped by Zaro's in Grand Central and got a red velvet cake for the girl child's birthday cake, then plodded home on the 10pm train.  Home by 11:30 (waaaay past my bedtime!).

Then it was cake time!

Mia watching the proceedings as the girl child blows out the candles.

Yes, she was sitting on the boy child's lap.

After the candles are out.

Mia doing some advertising for Zaro's bakery.

All in all, I think the girl child had the best kind of 21st birthday.  It was a fun day for all.

Today is a glorious day outside after some nasty thunderstorms yesterday (I'm so sick of nasty thunderstorms.  How many tornado warnings can we have in NY?)   So Mia is enjoying the day.

Thanks for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

plodding along

SDW is coming.  But it's sooooooo looooong.

I've started rolling the other end up cause it's soooooo looooong.

The alphabet was surprisingly enjoyable.  Maybe because each letter was easy to finish in a reasonable amount of time?   :D  And the little motifs under the alphabet were a pleasure too.

Did you notice?  The hunchbacked squirrel seems to be following me around.

I know I was looking forward to the peacock -- turned out pretty nice.

I was afraid the colors were going to be too blase, but I think not in the end.

Girl child is home for a month, except for a week where she will disappear with friends to the beach.  It's nice having her home for a little while again.  It's also odd to see these two rather grown-up looking people in the house who are supposed to be little kids.  But aren't.

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Oh cripes -- and an award

Here is SDW so far.

It's getting so long!  Believe it or not, I'm only a bit over halfway done.

Isn't the chapel pretty? I love the trees that surround it.

The whole character of the design is going to change from this point on.  You can tell by what I'm stitching now.  The letters are quite enjoyable though.

Now for the title of this post.  The boy child is going to be a senior in high school this year.  So yes, it's that time.  Time for the college crunch.  And somehow that stress is just starting to dawn on all of us.  Cripes.  Ugh.  Bleagh.  'Nuff said.

Here's the boy child doing one of his favorite things with Mia.  Just one of the ways he tortures her.  lol!

Mia's only compensation for this unladylike position is that it usually happens when dinner is done.  So she gets to sniff at the boy child's plate and lick it if she likes.

It's the girl child's last week of work at her internship.  She'll be coming home on Sunday and be home for a month -- except for a week of vacation planned with her friends -- until college starts again.  Sounds like she has really enjoyed her job this summer, which is good.

Finally, I received an award from Mouse at Tales of a Stitching Mouse.

It's the stylish blogger award.  These are the rules.  Thank the person who gave it to you -- thank you, Mouse!!  :D   Name 7 things about yourself.  And give the award to 15 other stylish bloggers.  Well, here comes the hardest part.  The 7 things.  Hmmm.

1. I'm good at remembering numbers.  Don't ask me why, I just seem to retain numbers well.  For example, I still remember my high school locker combination.  And I think I remember my junior high school one too.

2. I love dolls and teddy bears/stuffed animals.  I think you might have guessed that one from my pincushion collection.

3. I'm a pack rat.  And unfortunately, so is the father type.  lol!

4. I've lived in 5 states: Oklahoma, Kansas, California, New Jersey, and now New York.

5. I love tech gadgets.  ie iPad, ebooks, -- hey I even get excited when a new handheld gaming system comes out.  I don't get excited for me on the gaming systems though, just for the boy child.  :D

6. I hate to make phone calls.  If I can get away with not doing them, that's a good thing.  Email all the way!

7. I want an iPhone.  (See no. 5)  But I can't justify getting one.  Do I need one?  No.  And it costs more for the plan than my current simple cell phone.  So why get one?  But still, I'm waiting to see if the iPhone 5 comes out.  Just to dream.

I'm afraid I'm chickening out on the giving the award to other bloggers.  I enjoy so many blogs and love talking (virtually) to so many other stitchers/quilters that it's impossible for me to name just some of them.  So consider yourself awarded if you're a blogger.  :D

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi!  I hope everyone has a great week.

Stitching and TUSAL

Ok, I'm feeling the summer blahs.  What a creative title I've come up with this time!  Oh well.

Here's SDW so far.

Pretty, huh?  The chapel proper isn't filled in with white yet.  In case you're wondering why it looks funny.

I think the chapel is my favorite part though.

These flower motifs are so huge!  Took forever!

And the white fill in on the chapel is going to take even more forever.  lol!

It's the first of the month (how did that happen?!).  So here's the next picture of Ann Wheatley for August.

I love the blues in the piece, don't you?  I'm leading the SAL for Ann Wheatley for the Attic.  The third part of the SAL is being sent this month.  And then the last month will have Adam and Eve!  Yay!

The new moon was on July 30, so another TUSAL to show.

My ORT jar always looks the same, doesn't it?  I wonder if I should start keeping the ORTS for the month in something else and add it to the year's jar.  Hmmmm.

Oh, and yes, that's another of my pincushions.  This one was made by Jennifer Murphy.  I love her work!  Love her mom's work too.

Mia used to "help" all the time when I changed the sheets on our bed.  Now she just desultorily helps once in a while.  But this past time, she did decide to take advantage of the dirty sheets I had piled on the floor.

She took a nice snooze in them, all comfy and cozy.

Silly girl!

Like I said, I can't believe it's August 1!!!  Argh!  Have to admit, I'm not ready for school to start!  Luckily it doesn't start around here till after Labor Day.

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope you all have a great week!