Fortunate Traveler progress

As promised, here's a 64-hour progress pic on Fortunate Traveler. I did the over-1 in Vicki Clayton's "Midnight Rainbow" silk floss. The detail pic is a little large for my blog, but there is a Picturetrail page of it, and of the overall progress pic.

All quiet on the eastern coast..

At the moment things are pretty quiet. I finished the over-1 title on Traveler last night - I'll post a progress pic soon.

I found this quiz through Annette's blog. There are a lot of people with waaaaaay too much time on their hands who keep coming up with quizzes like this one, but I thought it was kind of cute. That, and I'm stumped for ideas today.



I took the villain personality test
created by: The Arch Villainess Gracie


Not too bad a fit, actually....

Things that make you go "D'oh!"

About four years ago, DH, DD, our friend M, and I went to the UK for the millenium (hey, we figured it was our one chance to get stranded on the other side of the ocean if the Y2K bug kept planes from flying). On the way from London to York, we made a detour to Fotheringhay to try to see what might be left of the castle, and if we were lucky, to see the resting place of DD's namesake. Well, all that's left of the castle is a large rock with a plaque. It was still a rather nice location, despite the wind and rain we were experiencing at the time, but I admit I was a little disappointed about not finding a tomb. DD was 7 months old at the time, so she didn't really have an opinion on the matter.

Fast forward to last night. In browsing, I discovered that the resting place of several of the Yorks, including the one I sought, was in the church at Fotheringhay. A currently still active church. We'd driven by this church, and I even have a picture of the church from where the castle once stood. I was that close, and didn't know it.

Our friend M told me this morning that at the time we were there the church was under renovation and wasn't open for visitors, so I feel slightly less frustrated.

But next time we're in the UK, I want to go to Fotheringhay again. I also want to visit Middleham, but that's a story for another day.

Save a life - give blood

I'd almost forgotten the Bloodmobile was here today! When I remembered, I went out and donated (no low iron problem this time). I also got $15 in restaurant gift certs. That's not why I donate, of course, but it is a nice perk for my third donation - I have a punchcard (Club Red) that lets me get $15 in GCs every third donation. DD will be happy about the package of cookies I got, too.

I don't donate for the cookies and GCs, though. I donate because it's a small but important thing I can do to help save lives. If anyone in my family were in the hospital and needed blood, I'd certainly like for there to be sufficient blood to save them. And while my family may not need my donation at this point in time, someone else's family will. So I try to give as often as I can.

So today's public service announcement: Save a life. Give blood.

Just another manic Monday

I had a three-day weekend, this past Friday being an off-work Friday. My current employer lets us have every other Friday off. The price, of course, is we work 9-hour days every Monday thru Thursday (the work Friday is an 8-hour day). Rather a sweet deal, although when DH is traveling it's sometimes difficult to get in my 9 hours in between kid commitments.

Friday I managed to complete all my weekend chores (laundry, bills, that sort of thing), which left Saturday and Sunday free for stitching, reading, and other diversions. I'm about halfway through The Rose in Spring. I certainly like it so far - historical fiction is great for making a handful of facts into a good story. I've also managed to get in about 6 hours of stitching on Fortunate Traveler, most of it on the over-1 lettering.

I also went swimming with DD, and watched movies with her. Last night we watched Lady and the Tramp as a family - DD enjoyed it but was rather distressed by the rat scene, and needed some reassurances that no rat was going to invade the house and attack her. It's interesting what is frightening to small children sometimes.

But without further ado, the Stitcher's Five!

Stitcher's Five - Stitching and Travel (6/28/04)

1. Do you take something new to stitch when you travel - a special travel stitching project?
I have in the past, but usually don't anymore. Most of the projects I have in progress are too large or special to risk taking on a trip. Don't want to lose or ruin something I've already spent triple-digit hours on.

Besides, that's what books are for! I always take a book or three when I travel.

2. Do you plan your trips around stitching shops?
No. Although if one happens to be in the area it would be a darned shame to pass it up!

3. Do you believe that if you cross state lines you MUST buy fibers?
No, but I like the way that sounds!

4. Where have you stitched?
Um, on fabric? Seriously though. Hm. I've stitched in various places up and down the East Coast. I've occasionally stitched in a moving car on I-95, but haven't done that in years. I realize now that's probably not the wisest of ideas... (you could put an eye out! )

5. Do your friends/family bring you stitching related gifts when they travel?
Sometimes. DH brought me back two small kits from his alma mater when he's gone on recruiting trips. I eventually got the hint and did them up into a single larger piece for his office.

On the flip side, I usually try to bring back an example of local needlework when I've traveled overseas (hence the mission to acquire some Assisi work in Italy).

Stitcher's Five - Finished Stitching (6/7/04)

1. Do you give away any of your finished stitching as gifts?
Sometimes I'll give away smaller pieces, though I'm much more likely to give crocheted afghans for special gifts such as baby showers.

2. Do you sell any of your finished stitching?
No - there's no way I would be able to sell them for anywhere near the time and effort I expend. I suppose if I needed to I might sell some finished pieces, but that would be a most desperate situation and I doubt I could even recover the cost of framing.

3. Do you give any of your stitching away to charities?
I've given crocheted items to charities, and done squares for both OKC and 9/11 memorial quilts. I've thought about giving finished items as raffle items for fundraisers but haven't yet.

4. Do you keep any of your stitching for yourself?
I keep most of my stitching. I've got close to 20 framed pieces hanging on my walls at home, and I'm always trying to figure out how to fit more. I may donate some of them for charity sometime, and others will be earmarked for one or other of the kids.

5. Do you stitch anything as part of exchanges or round robins?
I've done an ornament exchange once, and wouldn't mind doing other exchanges. I haven't done any RRs, though I would like to someday.

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That's all for today, folks!

The Rose of Raby

It continues to be a pretty slow week which, while not particularly useful from a blogging perspective, is useful for relaxing and recovering the vestiges of one's sanity. I've stitched some this week, and started another book. I mentioned last week that I'd finally managed to score a book I'd been seeking for a while. The book, Winter's Rose by Eleanor Fairburn, is the last in a series about Cecily Neville, a 15th century Duchess of York and the mother of English kings Edward IV and Richard III. She was known for her beauty (which earned her the nickname "The Rose of Raby") and her piety, and appears to have been quite intelligent and politically savvy. DH has long been interested in the Wars of the Roses and in Richard III in particular, so when we were expecting DD he suggested we name her after Richard's mother. From what little we know about her, she seems a worthy choice for a namesake.

I am curious to see the picture that Fairburn paints of her. I first learned about the books from an article on her in a Richard III Society newsletter, and so I set about trying to acquire them all. Five years later, I have them and can finally start reading them! And there was much rejoicing. (yaaaaay!)

I am interested in other books about Cecily Neville, so if anyone has any leads on The Rose of Raby by Guy Paget, or if you know of any others, please let me know.

Clioratha from A to Z

Greetings, dear readers! Judging from comments left here, there are at least 10 of you, including an old friend who recently delurked to let me know DD has some competition for Spiderman's affection! Hopefully I'm keeping things relatively interesting for all of you.

Things are pretty calm here - yesterday was busy in a non-eventful sort of way. Now that I have regular readership, I'll do what many bloggers do and pick one of the many memes and surveys floating around. Might be entertaining. So without further ado...

The ABCs of me (found on Lorna's blog....thanks Lorna!)
Act your age? Depends on whose definition. I don't act like the thirtysomethings one sees on TV, but I probably act consistent with most people I know who are of similar age and family situation.
Born on what day of the week? Monday
Chore you hate? Anything involving expelled biological material (diapers, cleaning up vomit, etc. Had I a cat, cleaning the catbox would qualify)
Dad’s name? Dad (or PopPop to the grandkids)
Essential makeup item? I rarely wear makeup, so none of them are 'essential'. I probably wear nail polish more often than any other cosmetic item.
Favorite actor? Don't have one, though in general Sean Connery or Sean Bean could make a movie worth seeing.
Gold or silver? Both.
Hometown? DC suburbs
Instruments you play? I dabble at piano and at Celtic harp.
Job? Software engineer
Kids? Three - 2 step, 1 bio
Living arrangements? Married with kids and house.
Mom’s name? Mom (or Grammy to the grandkids)
Need? Sleep or time to myself.
Overnight hospital stays? One - DD's birth.
Phobias? I don't think I have one. All of my fears are perfectly rational.
Quote you like? "Good judgement comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgement" - Rita Mae Brown, according to quotegarden.com
Religious affiliation? Roman Catholic (convert from Episcopalian) Which reminds me of the Monty Python "Dead Bishop" sketch: "RC or C-of-E?"
Siblings? One of each, both younger.
Time you wake up? Usually between 0600 and 0630.
Unique talent? Still trying to figure that out.
Vegetable you refuse to eat? I'm an equal opportunity herbivore. Bring 'em all on!
Worst habit? Grinding my teeth. Or accumulating trash in my car.
X-rays you’ve had? Dropped a barbell on my foot when I was 5 (nothing broken). Dislocated a shoulder in college. Don't remember any others. Oh, and dental x-rays numerous times, if those count.
Yummy food you make? Double-chocolate rum cake. Carrot cake.
Zodiac Sign? Aquarius

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Pixel-pushers

It's amazing what one can do with photo editors.

Yesterday on snopes.com, there was a rather convincing photo of a giant skeleton.Snopes listed the source as Worth1000.com, a site that sponsors image-editing contests. Then today, among the myriad diversions that find their way into my inbox courtesy of one of our test engineers, is a collection of images that are composites of two animals. Most of these came from Human Descent, and some were pretty impressive. Others were just creepy.

There seem to be a lot of people out there with too much time on their hands. Fortunately some of those people have talent. It must take a great deal of patience to be able to do some of the more finely executed images.

Speaking of patience, it's time for the Stitcher's Five!

Stitcher's Five - Stitching Firsts (6/21/04)
1. What was your first finished stitched piece?
Dusting off rarely used neural pathways here....My first finished stitched piece was a crewel kit my mom got me. It was a country-style piece of a girl and an old wood stove, and had those really awful 70s colors. I remember it took me a while because the girl's red (well, orange) hair was all french knots. I think I finally finished it when I was 8.

2. What was the first piece you used beads on?
Ah, an easier question! Teresa Wentzler's Diamonds in Squares. I did that one back in 1995, I think.

3. What was the first piece you used blends on?
Diamonds in Squares

4. What was the first piece you used specialty stitches on?
Unless I count embroidery stitches, this one is also Diamonds in Squares.

5. What was the first piece you stitched on evenweave or linen as opposed to aida?
You guessed it - Diamonds in Squares. Although that was a kit - the first piece I stitched on fabric of my choosing was TW's Castle, which was also the first piece I used metallics on.

Some like it hot...

Unfortunately, I am not one of those. Today is officially the first day of summer. Perhaps in my case, that should be 'simmer', although truth be told, it's been too hot for my blood since about March. For the record, it's currently 92° and feels like 98° (33C and 37C for my metric-savvy readers), and we'll probably get our daily thunderstorm this afternoon. Now, for the most part I like thunderstorms, and not just because they cool things down. Lightning can be strikingly beautiful as it crackles across the sky, and there's something visceral in the concussion of thunder. And growing up where thunderstorms are an everyday occurrence half the year, DD is very rarely afraid of thunder.

But enough about the weather. The weekend was good - Friday night we went out to my favorite Irish place. I had a couple of ciders, had great food, and listened to live entertainment. Not long after the evening's singer had started (it was early yet), he let some little girl start singing while he played guitar, and it took me a minute to realize that the little girl was my DD! I was flabbergasted. Though I will admit she did pretty good as far as kids go, and I have to admire her guts - I could never have gotten onstage like that!

Sunday was Father's Day - we gave DH some books, some chocolate, and a gift cert to a local massage therapy place. DD gave him a computer game, Superpower that she picked out herself (despite Mommy's attempts to steer her toward something else). It turned out to be a good call - he seems to really enjoy the game. We also went out to eat, and met DsS. DD was glad to see him, and this was the first I'd seen him since we got back from overseas. I'm a bit out of the loop as to what's going on with him, but he seemed to be fine.

As for me, I got a few hours of stitching in, and watched a Forensic Files marathon on CourtTV. In a way, forensics shows like Forensic Files, Medical Detectives, Trace Evidence and such are a bit of a guilty pleasure. I admit that sometimes the things people are capable of doing to each other disgusts and disturbs me. But learning that modern science provides a vast number of ways of catching those who do such evil deeds is a great comfort. That, and fields like forensic pathology and entomology are fascinating - viral strains and insect larvae can speak for those who cannot. And then other shows like Extreme Evidence go into investigative techniques that determine the causes of accidents and the like. Cool science without the malice.

Surprising, then, that I don't read mysteries very often. Perhaps I should more often.

Murphy's Law: Practical Applications

Since my last entry, Murphy's Law has applied itself. Twice.

When I got home last night, I looked for a while for the missing chocolate bars, to no avail. Later that evening, when I had given up looking for them, I found them while picking up after DD. They were in a bag underneath her knapsack in a corner of the living room. But at least I found the chocolate!

As for the second application, it was bound to happen. We'd gotten a lot of rain lately and our pool was close to overflowing, so earlier this week DsD drained it down some. A bit more than I was expecting, because by mid-week the water level was below the tile. And my dilemma was this: If I added water to bring it back to the tile, we'd get torrential rains the next day and it would overflow. If I didn't add water, it wouldn't rain for a week. That's the way Murphy's Law works at our house.

Well, after checking the weather reports and finding slim chances of rain for the next week, and no tropical activity, I finally added water to the pool last night.

And true to form, now it's pouring rain.