TNT July 29, 2020

Good Morning All!

Another Tuesday rolls around, so another Tiny Needle Tuesday (TNT) post and this time a finish!!

I managed to finish up my Sailor's Huswife by Darlene O'Steen over the weekend.  Of course this is just one portion of it...and all I am going to do - lol.  The balance is another side that you attach fabric to and then stitch a bazillion queen stitches (which I don't enjoy doing).  Even when I started this (decades ago), I had no intention of making a huswife (huswife. Noun. (plural huswifes) A small case containing scissors, thread, needles, and other sewing things.) out of it.  Here are closer shots of the top and bottom portion.

The finish pleases me and yes, I have started the next A&E sampler...more about that next week.

Turns out that yesterday was the perfect day to go to the office.  When I arrived just before 8:00 I was the only person there.  Tom from IT showed up a little later, but he left before 9:00.  My boss Bruce showed up just before my conference call started at 10.  I saw one other guy walk by while I was on my call (a college student who is doing a summer internship with us - not sure what he is doing...).  That was it - no one else was around.  I left before 11, ran to JoAnn's (couldn't find all of the floss I need) and was home before Noon!

It was a pretty hot day (again), but I went out to the garden and picked more tomatoes and some jalapenos.  We had another cold supper - just some shrimp salad, raw veggies and croissants.  A perfect summer meal!

I'm expecting a pretty easy rest of the week work-wise.  Today I'd like to look at my yarn (FUN!!) and pick out some for making fingerless mitts for Christmas gifts.  And I naturally need to wind a skein of sock yarn and cast on the next pair.  I may run up to a different JoAnn's to see if I can find the floss I need and Fletcher needs some elastic cord (thick like bungee cord) which I couldn't find yesterday.

After all our cold meals, we are both in the mood for something else, so I'm making a meatloaf and we are going to steam the garden potatoes Fletch dug last week.  I'll make a mushroom and onion gravy to go with that and figure out some vegetable or two to go with it all.

That's it for me this morning.  How's your week going?

Tiny Needle Tuesday July 21, 2020

Good Morning!

Whew!  Yesterday was HOT, HOT, HOT.  When I came downstairs at 5:30 it was already 80 degrees.  I think we are in for more of the same today.  We do have a better chance (50%) of rain on Wednesday and Thursday - hoping for that.  The lawn and the garden can use the moisture.

I did spend yesterday morning at my office.  Longer than I expected/wanted, but it is what it is.  I saw two people I hadn't seen since March - both had come in just to pick up some files and other things.  Everyone was masked and everyone stayed very socially distanced.  Found out that someone in my office did test positive for Covid 19.  Of course they are not saying who.  But, that individual has not been in the office for weeks and the last time they were in was before our office was "deep cleaned" - whatever that means.

Meanwhile, it is Tuesday which means TNT or Tiny Needle Tuesday.  A little bit more was stitched on the Sailor's Huswife.  The owls now appear to be in a tree!

Here's a close up of the tree:

There are more acorns on either side of the tree and then there will be two squirrels at the base of the tree.  I'm loving the way this is coming together, so glad I dug this out of the many WIP to spend time on.

My guess is that today will be slow work-wise which is fine with me.  I'd like some time to stitch and knit more.  My peaches should be ripe by tomorrow, so I'll plan to make a pie then (maybe if we get some rain it could be a little cooler??).

Hope everyone's week is going well.

TNT July 14, 2020

Good Morning!

I'm posting a bit later than normal today.  I came into the office to do a few things and, naturally, got busy with other stuff...and time went by.  Anyway, thought I would sneak this post in for TNT (Tiny Needle Tuesday) before I leave the office and head to Trader Joe's to pick up a few things. 

I managed to do some more on the Sailor's Huswife during the past week.

The dividing bands under the flowers...and then I started the last section where there are two owls at the top.  There will be branches under the owls, but I didn't manage to start them yet.  The open space to the right of the Z is for the year - hopefully 2020.  I've charted out 2020 to fit in that space, but knowing how I sometimes stop working on things, I will wait until this is finished to add the date.

I also received in the mail the shipment of thread I was needing for my next Adam & Eve sampler, but I will continue to work on this and not start a new one just yet.  Another sampler pattern happened to slip into the order of thread as well...it is Night Walked Down by The Blue Flower, a sampler I've looked at many times.  I love the phrase at the top (Night Walked Down the Sky With the Moon in Her Hand).

In other news, my office is now not re-opening until October 5th!  I received an email yesterday with that bit of news.  Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if we do not re-open until January!  It's very nice being here today as there are maybe 5 other people here.  Empty!!  Everyone is masked except when they are at their own office/desk.  It is so quiet and nice.

Believe I told you that Colin & Mailing are going forward with their wedding in October.  But, it will now be just family and the wedding party and it will be at their home.  The invitations came out.

So pretty!  An afternoon wedding followed by a cocktail hour (or two) then dinner, music and dancing.  I do need to find something to wear.  It is "garden attire."

Finally, I'll leave you with this image which I received via email yesterday.  This is great!

The BEST News and TNT

Hello!

Thank you all for your concern about Mailing and your prayers, sending good vibes and good juju, etc., etc.  Finally heard yesterday morning that her Covid test came back NEGATIVE!!  Yay!!  As I mentioned, she was sure it was just a stomach bug of some kind, but it is still such a huge relief to get the news that all is well.

Yesterday started out pretty sticky and humid.  But, inspired by Kym I decided I had to do something with the over-ripe peaches, apricots, blueberries and raspberries we had.  So I made a galette.

Very rustic looking and delicious!  I only added a sprinkle of sugar - maybe a tablespoon at most,  Fletch had some last night for a snack - warmed up in the microwave and then covered in whipped cream - and pronounced it delicious.  I had a bite and thought it was pretty good.  These are so much easier to make than a pie.

Of course, on a hot, sticky day having the oven on at 400 degrees is not the best (we do not have central air).  But late afternoon an unexpected storm rolled through and the temp dropped from 90 to 70 in 20 minutes.  Then it really started storming.  At some point it got really loud and we realized it was hailing!  I went out on the patio and reached out and picked up a couple of pieces.

The hail didn't last all that long, but the storms continued for a few hours.  Last night I was able to sleep with no air, just the ceiling fan and the windows wide open.  It felt so good!

Anyway, here we are on a Tuesday, or like we say, TNT - Tiny Needle Tuesday.  I did manage to finish "Crows at Strawberry Hill" over the weekend.  It took a little longer than I expected as I realized I was off on my count by one thread on the border at the bottom.  Grrrr - had to rip that out and re-start.  But I love the end result.

I did pick out a new Adam & Eve sampler to stitch, but I'm waiting for threads to be shipped to me.  So, in the interim I pulled out an old UFO.  I'm pretty sure I blogged about this piece a year or two ago when I pulled it out and worked on it a bit.  Then it went back into the stitching black hole.  This is The Sailor's Huswife by Darlene O'Steen.  I believe this is out of print now, but is on the Bay of Evil.

Excuse all the wrinkles - this piece has been folded up for so long...Next up under the flowers is another dividing band and the balance of the alphabet.  I don't plan to make the whole thing (back side and pockets to keep things in, etc.).  I'm just stitching this main panel.  After the dividing bands and alphabet the next (and last!) section has acorns and squirrels on it!!  This is a fun piece to work on.  I think I'm using 36 count fabric, but I'm not sure, and DMC threads.

As I mentioned the other week, my office is now not opening until August 6th.  This Friday, July 10th, no one is allowed in the office as it is going to be "deep cleaned."  Not sure what that means exactly.  I will probably go in one day this week as there are things I need to print on the "big boy" paper (lol - that is what we call 11x17 paper - makes small spreadsheets that much easier to read).  I'll also take in some rhubarb for my boss and leave it in one of the refrigerators for him (our rhubarb plant is going gang busters again!).

In other news I had a doctor's appointment (routine) with my primary care physician next week, but received a call that she is still not coming into the office.  I didn't want a telecon appointment so they rescheduled me.  The first appointment I could get is in late October!  Crazy!

Well, time to fix another cup of coffee and get to work.  Hope everyone is doing well.