Yup, it’s back. What I call “The Season of Me.” No, not me personally, the other mes out there. About mid-November people change around here and start getting really mean and selfish and it’s just not in stores – it’s also driving. DC/MD/Northern VA driving can be scary normally, but this time of year it’s worse. This year, I have a bit more of an excuse to not have to brave the traffic and the stores. Six weeks ago, when shopping with my girls at the craft store for art supplies for a school project, Maggie pointed to the right with an exclamation of, “Mommy, look!” and right after I looked, she stopped and in order for me to not bowl her over, I had to stumble my way around her and twisted my foot up the curb. Ouch. I put ice on it the first day. Heat the next two. It turned lots of pretty colors but then turned back to it’s normal color. It ached now and again but when I did the Book Fair and was on my feet for 12 hours at a time it started to hurt quite a bit and swelled a little. Then I couldn’t walk without limping and some new burning shooting pain started. Hrm.

Today, my family chased me to the doctor. I waved to Jenni hard at work doing cool thermal stuff on my way there and then sat in the doctor’s office and did some stitching until it was my turn. The doc poked at my foot, tugged on my toes and compared one foot to the other. She told me I was stubborn for waiting so long to come in and then for refusing pain meds because it doesn’t hurt that badly that often. (Besides, I choke down enough pills a day as it is. Bleh!) So she bustled me off to radiology to have an x-ray taken and told me to keep off of it and that she’ll call me back once radiology sends her the results. So I packed my stuff up, hopped in the car and waved to Jenni again as I headed over to get my foot x-rayed. I made some more Xs while I waited. Have I mentioned that those plates they use are COLD? So after being poked, prodded and frozen, I hobbled home and crashed on the sofa and prodded Scott into entertaining me by playing Half-Life 2. I did some more stitching and realized the humor of what I had stitched for the day. Those two candy canes are the letter “r” in the word “merry” however the phrase, “Be err…” had me giggling earlier today and has me giggling now. And before anyone asks, that white doo-dad is a snowflake.

I have another stitchy picture around here somewhere, too. It’s Candice Dillhoff’s “Mermaid Thinking” charted by Heaven and Earth Designs. It was a birthday present from Sonya and I worked on her over Thanksgiving as part of the Holiday/Mermaid HAED SAL. If you don’t know what all those letters mean, you probably don’t want to know. Here’s my big blue-eyed sparkly thinking girl… now with some hair! There’s another SAL at the end of December and I hope to be able to give her some more hair then, but P&Ds are calling loudly!

I know it’s a short month, but geez! It’s gone already! What did I do this month?

1: Finished Diane’s part of the HAED RR. (Verdure)
2: Started Chatelaine’s Rose & Butterfly Quilt
3: Bobbinated (all 113 colors!) and started Mermaid for CC on 3
4: Started Blackstone Fantasy Garden
5: Worked on Touched by Magic (and still am)

Slogging through all of the confetti on “Verdure” was my biggest chore and accomplishment for the month. I was oh, so late in posting her, (bad bad Sue!) and I have already started on the next RR installment (due April 20th) and I promise to not be late this time! For all that she was 95% confetti, she does look gorgeous! I will bow to the feet of anyone who finishes this chart for their tenacity for all the detail stitches this chart entails!

I bought myself a Chatelaine mystery (gulp!), my first ever, for Christmas, the Rose and Butterfly Quilt, and I finally got my kit at the beginning of February. I spent a day working on it just so I could pet the silks and give things a whirl.

For CC on 3, I started Sylvia Polster’s “Mermaid” and made excellent progress. Things should slow down a bit this month as I will reach some of the details of her hair, but I am looking forward to it as the blues are positively gorgeous! (See my last blog entry for a WIP picture.)

And finally, I started Ink Circles “Blackstone Fantasy Garden.” It’s stitched on Passione Ricamo’s Linen and I just can’t gush enough about this fabric! It’s gorgeous! The chart is also highly addictive and I have to pry myself away from it in order to work on other things.

I’m currently working on one of my favorite WIPs, Scott Gustafson’s “Touched By Magic.” You’ll see a WIP picture of it when I’m done stitching on it for this stint. It’s still in the stand and has my attention. I love all the blues and the fact that it was the wallpaper I chose for my daughters’ nursery in 2000 makes it even more special!

When I think of snow I think of the fluffy stuff that sticks to trees, puts a peaceful blanket over everything and makes awesome snowmen. We got a few inches of the stuff today and I managed to get pictures of it before my twin dragons went out for a romp. Hopefully it will help cool off all my favorite people way down on the bottom of the world. Here’s a picture of part of my back yard (click right).
This tree normally looks like a plain old green thing for the rest of the year, but today it’s magnificent!

And now I hope I do you proud, Vicky. Here is a picture taken through my second floor rear ummm… what’s the hoity-toity word for it? *does that thinkthinkthink thing just like Poohbear* Vestibule! That’s the word! Basically, it’s a two-story opening above my back door with this window above it. It’s a bugger to clean, but makes a lovely frame, especially with snow-covered trees outside. (click left)
Hopefully we won’t get the rain and/or freezing rain that’s been sort of predicted for tonight and all this pretty snow will stay around for another day or so. *crosses her fingers*

Nic asked for a picture of my CC on 3 progress. I’m stitching “Mermaid” by Sylvia Polster. She is tented 2×2 on 48 count gauze (*nudges Fudgey*) and while the picture is gorgeous, I was totally stunned by the vibrancy of the blues! (click right)
This is a third of the first page and I can’t wait until next month when I get to work on her again!

And finally, I must rave about a new release from HAED that I will be starting sometime this year. It’s Renee Biertempfel’s “Protection” and it totally caught me off guard when I saw it. When I had first looked at her work, I didn’t see anything that I’d want to stitch. Obviously, I’d not seen this one. So when this was released, I was totally gobsmacked. An angel… in red… and with a sword! *thud* It is, of course, a huge chart at 400 x 633, but as Fudgey likes to remind me, I always seem to fall for the large charts. I’ve got the chart all printed, the floss gathered (but not bobbinated) and the fabric is on order. I’ve even already decided which page I’ll be starting with. (The middle one so I can stitch part of that glorious red cloak of hers!)

Enough gushing for now… did I mention that I started Blackstone Fantasy Garden this weekend? *winks*