Two Finishes!

Yay!  These were both freebies from Imaginating.  I think they're supposed to be made into ornaments, but we all know that's not happening, lol.  I think I'll make them into cards, or at least the snowman one.  I have family in the Philippines and we're meeting in Japan for Thanksgiving, and hoping to see some snow.  My little brother just turned 4 and he's so excited about making a snowman that he got a carrot for his nose and won't let go.  He's sleeping with the carrot and taking it to preschool and everything.  The whole family has tried explaining that he can get a carrot in Japan, but wow does he not care.  I think it's hilarious, but I'm 7000 miles away from his nasty carrot.  

Snowman:

Cardinal:

   

Kuna has a blue green tooth, so we have a trip to the doggy dentist coming up, wish us luck!  

Happy October Break!

 Why I love year-round school - October break! The weather's been shockingly cool - usually this is high wildfire time, but it's been misty and cool almost every day - then this weekend we had actual rain with thunder and lightning.  Yay!   Of course, the news just said we have a red flag warning going into effect this week because a heat wave is coming, but it won't stop me enjoying life now! 

Rain Dance from Long Dog Samplers has the blue bird done and the black bird is coming along. It started pouring almost as soon as I started stitching it, so I guess it worked, lol:

Wisdom, also a Long Dog, has the corner medallion done. I didn't get any smarter sewing it, so maybe all the Long Dog mojo was getting saved up for the rain:

and Virtue, my third Long Dog, has more of the border:

Balinese Safari by the Beaded Bird has a minaret outline emerging from an orange sky:

In other news: 

I ran my first 10k! It was in the Vasquez rocks, which is where some Star Trek episodes were filmed, so it had a space alien theme. You run through a bunch of wild looking rocks and they have cardboard cutouts of Gorns and inflatable aliens around the turns and you run through a long tunnel lit by glow sticks, and when people pass you they'll make Mr. Spock hand signals. I came in second to last place, but I didn't even care - it was still big fun! 

We've also gotten back down to the beach and Kuna did her usual form of fetch, which is to get the ball I throw and then run away with it. She knows if she gives it back I'll just throw it again, so I'm obviously too much of a dope to be trusted with it.  This is her standing in the water where she knows I won't chase her.

This is her jumping around and laughing at me thinking she's bringing that ball back - cuz she's not!

Happy Fall!

I'm so excited that it's starting to cool down!  It's even supposed to rain this week, so yee-haw.  We start our October break on Friday (I teach at a year-round school), so if the rain could hold off until then it would be even better, but I'll take what I can get!  I got work done on three things:

Auspicious Argosy from Pinn Stitch, I got to the edge of the trees on the left and started the sky on the top:

I got some stitches in on my butterflies, these are four separate designs that I'm stitching together, so maybe I get extra credit?  These are from The Cross Stitcher magazine, August 2000 (y'all hush now!).  I had a lot of confusion because I swapped all the colors and didn't write down what I did, so most of my stitchy time was spent trying to read my own mind from when I first started it (which was 2016, so not that long ago, but long enough to daze and confuse me!

And this is Fa La La from Amy Brueken in the JCS 2015 Ornament Issue, I got more of the checkers done:

We're having a glowing blue algae issue, it's really beautiful.  We went to the beach and Kuna was jumping through the water and it was like she was magic; the water lit up every time she moved, and when she shook the water off it was all glowing droplets.  The pictures I just look like blackness, so I'm using a pic from the local news so you can see what I mean.  Maybe they're common in other places but it's the first time I've ever seen it. 

 We also went to the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park and were lucky to see some fall color! Yay!

 I was so lucky to be able to see the amazing Jonathon Antoine in the LA area.  It was amazing; he's British and he's never had a public concert in the US, so I was thrilled beyond measure to get to hear him.  When he's home he does invitation only concerts at Buckingham Palace and things like that, so there were people from England who had flown to California because it was easier to get tickets here than there!  This isn't his best recording, but is his funniest - if  opera's not your thing, the song is about a woman who's like a feather, always going back and forth, so this is some opera humor for you:

On the way back we stopped at a rest stop just to admire the view.  Kuna was losing her mind because there were some huge rabbits she couldn't get at; I swear I thought they were turkeys for a second! If she'd had her way she would have chased them right over the edge and into the ocean!

Fingers crossed that the rain really comes this week - maybe we'll finally see something green instead of all the brown!

2 Finishes for Debbie!

Still missing SoCal Debbie and thinking of her when I stitch - it's been 4 years since she passed away, but her sunny spirit lives on.  She would be the first to happy dance, no matter what you got done.   I am super pleased to have finishes, tinged with wishing it wasn't so hot and humid at home, because I don't even want to look at stitching most nights, and if I did I'd just sweat all over it anyway!

First up is this bird from WOCS magazine, it was part of a kit:

When it was put together it made a card for my sister:

 I also finished this little kit, which isn't cross stitch, it's diamond painting, which really means you glue a bunch of little crystals onto the pattern.  It brings mindlessness to a whole new level! I enjoyed it but I'm not sure I'd ever make another one:

I got some letters on My Other Garden by Ink Circles:

I have more flowers on Stained Glass Peacock by Kappie Design:

More bits and bobs on Frolic in the Foliage by Blue Ribbon Designs:

We had a wonderful time in the mountains where Kuna could run free and we could all be cool, which is a feeling I've forgotten since it's been so gross at home!  

There's a lake that's had a lot of carbon monoxide seeping out and it's killed all the trees, it was beautiful in a stark way:

Kuna didn't care if the trees were dead or not (the CO levels were safe when we went!)

 I wish I could concentrate on my stiching the way she can concentrate on a stick!

 I also did my first 10K, and got some great views! I've had so many foot and knee problems in my life there were times I never thought I'd be able to even stand again without hurting somewhere, so it's really a miracle to me that I can go places like this on my own two feet!

Happy July!

Wow the first half of vacation went fast!  We're going on our yearly trip to Mammoth Lakes tomorrow, so tonight has to be the night I post something! I have to split this into two posts because Blogger won't allow more than 200 characters in the labels, and Calamity Pippi took up all my space!

This is what I've been working on:

Crane Paradise by Pinn Stitch.  This is near and dear to me because it's the first chart I ever bought by itself at my first visit to a real needlework store - until this it was kits from LeeWards:

Statue of Liberty freebie by Celtic Rose, this is the night sky and some fireworks started:

Calamity Pippi and the Horse She Rode in on by Ink Circles,

Northern Nights by Gracewood Stitches.  This was a freebie; it's Kathy Bungard's first design. It isn't free anymore so I'm not sure I can put up the link or not, but if you were a fan of the Needleprint blog you can find it there.

Autumn Help by Lynn's Prints, this is an Amish girl's foot and some skirt with a couple of red leaves on the ground:

 

July, Part II

Stained Glass Peacock by Kappie Design Originals:

Beethoven, a freebie from Handmaiden Cross Stitch.  It's all black background on the world's ugliest yellow fabric that I bought because it looked way better online.  It's a full coverage piece so the color won't matter, but it does make it hard to stick with it:

I finished the border on Leprechaun Lodge by Blue Ribbon Designs:

I finished the cat on Black Cat in Santa Hat by the Stitcherhood:

I finished the eyes and started the handkerchief around the neck of El Toro, by Barbra Ana.  It's hilarious but I didn't even notice one of the horns was missing until right now, haha:

and finally, I got some more of the house built in Frolic in the Foliage, also a Blue Ribbon Design:

 Woo hoo!  It's been too hot to stitch much, but I'm looking forward to some cool rainy nights in the mountains and stitching by the fire.  Wish me luck!

Happy Memorial Day

It's been great stitching weather - we call it May Gray when all the fog and drizzle come in. I'm calling this picture "Futility of Gardening with a Dog".   I put some mulch down and Kuna decided she needed to tunnel out of our yard.  Sadly for her, the neighbor's patio is on the other side.  So now she just guards the hole. I have a beautiful dream of putting plants there, but I think they'll just end up being dog toys, lol.

My stitching for the week has been festive.  This is Stitcher's Blessing by Erica Michaels.  It's the drabbest of the bunch but I like the variegated pink:

Wise Old Owl from Cross Stitcher magazine:

Thailand Mandala from MarNic Designs:

Bunny Battle from Arelate Studios:

and Big Red Ship of Life from Ink Circles: