Saturday, April 02, 2016

Lookie!!!


Guess what I've been doing???

My stitching mojo disappeared quite some time ago,
around the same time that I discovered that my ability
to see what I was doing .... even with a magnifier ....
was not very good.   Or at least not as good as I would like 
it to be.

 It unnerved me.   You see one of my biggest secret fears is of 
loosing my eye sight.    The thought terrifies me!   And being 
unable to see my cross stitching as clearly as I once did 
aggravated that fear.   When I picked up a project I would start to 
get to feeling a bit .... um .... anxious or panicky.    Not a pleasant 
feeling.   So I began to avoid stitching and eventually I just 
sort of let it go.

Just to note here:   I'm not actually loosing my sight at all.
I just have lousy eyesight .... always have .... and with 
age it's gotten worse. It's normal.   One of the perks 
of aging.   Whoopee!!!

But I missed it!   Terribly!!!   

So in the New Year I picked up an unfinished and long
neglected project and ... ignoring my inner fears ....
finished it.


(Stitched in my favourite colour of red.)

Well ... I thought when it was done.... that didn't 
really go too badly.   Peering over my glasses and 
holding the project up close I could see the stitches
that I was making clearly and could therefore
see that they were laying properly.   I 
stitched this one in hand .... without a hoop or
Q-snap .... which I don't usually do.   


I had another unfinished project or two languishing
in my To-Do box .... as one is apt to do .... (rolls
eyes and grimaces) so picked up this one and ....
finished it too!!!! 

Wow!!   I was on a roll!!!


So now I was feeling the itch to begin a new project.
I went into my cross stitch cupboard .... covered
in cobwebs and dust and neglect .... and began to
rummage and root around in there.

I pulled the chart for this one out and it appealed to me.
Simple and easy with lovely, bright Spring like colours.
In the past I would have worked on this for a day or
two and then put it aside and forgot about it for days
... or months ... or years!  But not this time.   I could not
put it down!    I finished it in one week!   I cannot remember
the last time I finished a project .... even a small one like
this ... in that time period.

(Note:   stitched this on a spring frame.  I'm not keen on
stitching in hand really)

More!    More!!!     More!!!!!!


I've had this project on the go for years.   It's been 
sitting in a corner, neglected and ignored, for a 
shameful amount of time.   It's not a difficult stitch
at all.   Just huge!    I had it being worked on a 
large Q-snap frame which was very ungainly and
awkward to work with.   So I switched to a smaller
Q-snap frame and went at it.



I have done a couple of houses and some border
and the stag.   I'm enjoying it ... a lot!!!!   I sit at
my craft desk with the radio tuned to a Toronto
talk radio station (I'm a talk radio/news/politics
junky) and while away the hours with needle and
thread.

Don't know how long this is going to last but I'm
making hay while the sun shines ... as it were ....

I also don't know what the heck I'll do with this 
if and when it's finished because .... as I said ....
it's huge!    But that's not the point, is it?   The 
whole point of doing this ... or any craft ... is to
have fun!

I'm having FUN!!!! 


Behold my DH.   Phil.   He retired last week.
After 40 years with the same company he 
decided that he'd had enough and filled in the
paperwork last summer to give notice to his
company.

The branch where he works had a grand send
off for him last Thursday.   Unfortunately it was
one of those days when the weather folk advised
their listeners ... if you don't have to go anywhere,
then don't!    Freezing rain, snow and strong 
winds.   Great!

But Phil is a superb driver and had no qualms
about heading out.    The schools in our district,
and those in other districts that we drove through, 
were closed due to the weather and since it was the 
day before Good Friday the roads weren't busy anyways 
as people prepared for a long weekend .... the first 
one of Spring (ha ha!!)

So we got to his work place in normal time.  He
finished packing up his desk and then it was time
to party.   They barbecued!   In that awful weather
they set up the barbecue in a sheltered area near
the building and they barbecued!

There was tons of great food,  speeches,   gag gifts
and lots of laughter and hugs and stories told.   Phil
was thrilled with it all.

So now he's home with me.  All.  Day.  Long!!!!

We'll see how that goes.

Fortunately,  and I should say this here and now,   Phil
is a putterer.   And he loves to garden.   And he has lots
of interests to keep himself busy with.   So I'm not worried.

Much.


Reading for the last few months.   My first love
in reading genres is fantasy.   If I didn't watch
myself I'd read fantasy novels pretty much non
stop.    

V. E. Schwab is the name that this author uses
for her adult fantasy novels.   She writes as
Victoria Schwab for her YA books.   This is the
first book of hers that I have ever read and I 
quite enjoyed it.   I've since got the sequel to
this one plus her other books in YA and adult
fantasy because ... well ... that's what I do.

**Cough**



Heard good things about Paullina Simons
around "Booktube" and decided to get a
few of her books and try them out.

Historical fiction.   This series is based
in Russia during the second world war
and is a love story that takes place in
Leningrad during the awful siege that
took place during the Nazi's attempts to
invade and conquer Russia.

This is a nice, hefty novel with lots of 
period detail and historic info though not
so much that it dragged the story down.
There are two more books in this series
and yes I did get those too.



My current read.    The author's first novel.
First of a series.    I love books with 
sequels.   This one is a combination of
fantasy (featuring the Greek gods now 
living in the modern world) and murder
mystery.   I'm enjoying it so far.

That's it for now!   Cheers!



4 comments:

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

Big Congratulations to Phil! May you both prosper together in retirement harmony!
YAY! I'm so proud of all your stitching that you pulled out and got whacking at! YAYA YA YA YAYAYA! They all are so beautiful! Have you ever tried one of those big magnifying thingys I have to use one myself as I get older. And it works for me.
I always love to read about your books because you have introduced me to many that are now my favorites. I am on a nostalgia trip through Jean M. Auel's Earth Children Series. I've read them probably 4 times each, now I'm listening to them. :)
Hugs to you!

Andrea said...

So please to see some stitching finishes. Congratulations to Phil. Have you got plenty of jobs for him!

Brigitte said...

Ohhhhh, so great to see that your stitching mojo has fully returned. And you were definitely on a roll, Judy. Such lovely finishes after such a long time of being away from it. I particularly love the red piece, it has such lovely winter motifs, and the red is gorgeous. You are definitely back :) And even the game board has seen some attention. I never know what i will be doing with my pieces until they are finished - and even then I do not always know, lol. But I have a big drawer for my large finishes and large box for the small ones. And occasionally I rummage through them and see what ideas I get when looking at my finished projects. I hope that the stitching mojo will stay with you for a long, long time.

Congratulations to Phil for being retired now. The good-bye party that the colleagues made for him was a huge success, wasn't it? And meanwhile you are certainly used to having him home. My husband and I retired at the same time three years ago and it works great. He has his garden and his genealogy, I have my stitching and quilting and my books. And we are still enjoying our free time just as much as on the first day. Wishing you the same.

stitcherw said...

Wow, you've been waaayyyy busy :) Congrats on getting your stitchy bug back again and getting so much done. They look lovely and like quite fun projects! One of my favorites was Tinsel, that is so cute, and really appropriate for so many people (including myself) that can at times get wound up to much over little things. All the little blocks on the other will be fun to do, reminds me of some of the Blue Ribbon design pieces, the little blocks seem to feel like a lot of separate little accomplishments. Glad you're working better at seeing the fabric. I don't see as well as I did before either, but making sure I have good light, and magnification, make a huge difference. Also, like you mentioned, keeping things on smaller q-snaps so easier to hold, rather than some of the larger size ones I used to work on helps too.

Congrats to your husband on his retirement, you always seem to do such fun stuff I'm sure you'll have even more time/adventures now. I've always loved your book reviews, and as usual you've headed me off on a book hunt again. The Immortals sounds like one right up my alley, looking forward to finding and starting it. I think a trip to the library is in order.
Sue