Gearing Up

We'll be leaving on Friday for NH, so I've started organizing and making lists and trying to remember everything I'm supposed to bring home. (For those you not affliated with the military, I have two definitions of the word home. They are understood by context. Home = where I was born and brought up. And home also = where we currently live.)

So I need to bring "home" - three sets of birthday presents, a Father's Day present, and a graduation present. All the summer swimming gear, flippers, floats, etc. Two rocks. These were supposed to go home with sis back in November but they got forgotten on the front porch. Cat, clothes, kids, stitching, books, current journal, margarita glasses, Mexican serving dishes (4th of July is a theme party...), recipes needed for 4th of July. What I really want is just to be there already laying in the sun, smelling the pine trees and contemplating jumping in the lake as soon as I finish my beer.

Something to be Grateful For

Quiet time alone! That's the answer. Yes.

It has been a long weekend. Saturday night was HS graduation and I volunteered for the 12-4 a.m. shift at Senior Bash. What a great group of teenagers this is. But then I had to leave for the airport at 6:30 a.m. to pick up DD's friend. Very little sleep made me slightly disconcerted yesterday. Tried to take a nap, but teenagers came home and insisted on making noise. Went to outdoor jazz concert last evening. Lovely, as always.

This morning, sent DH off to the city with aforementioned teenagers. They should have a lovely day weatherwise and I get to do whatever I want as long as supper is on the table when they come home.

I didn't stitch anything over the weekend, but did take my lap rug with me to Senior Bash and crocheted a few more rows. Bizarre weather that makes one want a lap full of yarn in June one day and makes one want to jump in a lake the next day.

Paint, Paint, Paint

Hmmm. Lowe's is having a sale on paint. Maybe I will paint the bathroom after all. I found a lovely shade of green that my neighbor and I both agree will work.

After a trip to the mall with the kiddos yesterday, I came home and whitewashed my fence/AC unit screener. I was originally thinking of painting flowers on it, but have decided to look at it for a while in situ before deciding what to do with it.

And the last paint thing is playing with glass paint. I've been painting my travel ort jar. It's an experiment. But at 99 cents a jar, I can experiment all I want.

Not an Ounce of Stitching Done

The weather has been so wonderful I've been working in the yard and not stitching. This past week I created two small terraces and planted them with perenials and a few annuals for color this season. Yesterday I bought a cheap ($17.47 to be exact) length of fence, cut it in half in the parking lot so it would fit in my car, brought it home, hinged it together, and sanded it. Now I just need to paint the new "screen" for my A/C unit. I've also started buying paving stones so that I can extend my patio area to the fence. This will be about a $60 project. I have an idea for a beautiful fountain, but this is not the yard to for that project. That will have to wait until after the next move.

Oh and I did kill a hibiscus tree. Stupid. Overwatered. Was too funny when my neighbor admitted to have watered it too. (only once, so it's not her fault.) Guess that means I've got an empty container. Time for some basil I think. Nothing like fresh pesto.

Now on the Needlework Front

I am currently working two projects in rotation. One is a Group Correspondence Course from the EGA. It's a wool on wool tea cosy designed by Dianne of the Heritage Shoppe (www.heritageshoppe.com). I have never stitched on wool before and it is a totally different tactile experience from my usual linens. I had forgotten how much I enjoy surface embroidery. It has been literally 23 years since my last major embroidery project - a Jacobean crewelwork wedding piece for my brother-in-law and his wife. I was toying with the idea of adding some embroidery to my latest denim jacket before starting this GCC and now I'm making definite plans. My DD was recently given my sister's vintage denim jacket that has her original embroidery on it from the 1970s. This would be where that idea came from - but instead of flowers I was thinking of something related to where we live now or something reflective of DH's military career. Guess I should start doodling.

Second project is nothing big - it's the Art Deco inspired black cat from the French advertising poster. A lot of black and some red. Only three colors involved in this project, which always bores me, but I've been trying to work a few rows of black everyday.

Not Soon Enough

I've just been trolling the web looking for info on why the Barnes and Noble bookstore hasn't been built yet (that was supposed to open this year.) So much for working at the bookstore. Oh well. I'm willing to bet it will open a month before the movers arrive next summer and pack us away from here. But I did find where the financing for this project includes construction of a Michael's and Pier 1 also. I'm sure this info has probably appeared in our local paper, but we get the NYTimes.

Here it is - the first full day of summer vacation for both children who are still soundly sleeping at 9:30 a.m. I would not expect anything else from them. There must be some work I can find them to do today. Maybe set one on laundry patrol and take other with me to the garage and storage shed. *Evil laugh*

I'm Not Dead Yet!

For those of you who are not Monty Python fans, please ignore the title.

I have been terribly remiss in posting and fixing things up here.

That is all about to change.

Trying Something New

Tuesday was my annual visit to the optometrist. And we're going to try something new. One regular contact lense in my dominant eye and one bifocal lense in my other eye. Anything is worth a shot. I tried the bifocal lenses in both eyes last year and though I could see fairly well for my close-up work, I hated how much accuity I gave up on my distance vision. Doc says I really do need correction now for close-up, but I can still read the smallest lines without my glasses on. He says I am straining too much when I do this. And I believe him. After an extended reading session I cannot focus far away at all. Can I just go and get laser surgery like DH? Please?

please forgive my typos today

Just got back from the optometrist. And I had my eyes dilated. It's a good thing I don't need to do anything important today, 'cause I can't really focus at all.

Going to try a different contact lense solution. One bifocal lense and one regular lense. We'll see how that works. Yes, I do finally really need presription lenses to take care of reading. I can still see quite well to read, but am straining my eyes to do so.

It's been a week of yard work and things are looking good. I've done a good job eliminating the dreaded dandelions. Still have some left, but no longer have a field of them threatening to blow off their tops. I've amended the soil with peat and hummus and manure. And planted my bed in front of the house, planted my tomato plants in containers, planted my hanging baskets, planted some excess plants around my trees. But still have a major operation to do in the back yard and need to purchase herbs, though I did plant my chives.

So today my fingers are finally white again with no dirt remaining under my nails and I could stitch if I could see. Oh well.