Jury Duty

I'll be at the Federal District Courthouse in 1 1/2 hours. Which means I have very little time here.

But. That said. I must get Laura J.Perin's new design, Pacific Coast Collage.

SL, are you reading this?

Order me one!

Awake?

"My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought, cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives." - Hedley Lamar

Now who would have thought that when I looked for this quote from Blazing Saddles I would find that tons of political bloggers have employed it? Interesting.

Tonight I get to call the Courthouse to find out about jury duty. Better not forget.

And this is why I have been unable to purchase plane tix to Florida to visit my mother. I'm in this black hole until I know and I can't schedule anything.

New Blogger

Please check our my friend and shop owner who is new to the blogging world:

Confessions of a Remedial Stitcher

Satisfying Day

Yesterday I attended both our morning and evening EGA meetings. That was fun! We unfortunately had to cancel the intended program as not enough people signed up. We were supposed to have a presentation by a lawyer on copyright for needlework. I wanted to hear this so much I paid twice. Oh well.

In between I went to lunch with two of my morning friends. We were the last of lunch crowd left after sitting there yakking for nearly 2 hours. Then two of us went on to Michael's - both of us having a paint acquiring mission in mind. I needed paint for my canvas piece, Night Flight. And she needed a stencil brush and paint for some Raggedy Ann dolls. Reminded me of the "old" days when I used to frequently Michael's with my neighbor back in California. I still save my Michael's coupons every month, but hardly ever use them as there is not really anything I need in the store anymore.

Ended the day by coming home and finding DirecTv was showing the first episode of season 3 of the Tudors. Okay. Time to Netflix the first two seasons. I guess my affair with King Henry last year isn't over yet.

Ephiany

Three years I did pilot stitching for a canvas work piece for a designer hoping to teach at a national seminar. (Which she did.) I had tons of fun. Learned some new things. Probably wasn't as helpful as some with my comments as I didn't have as much canvas experience as some of the other pilot stitchers. But I digress.

One of the things I was most interested in at the time was - where did her ideas come from? She couldn't really answer that question. They just were there.

I have finally found the answer. At least for me.

I've pushing myself this past year into designing my own pieces. I can't draw worth a lick, even though I've had art classes. But I think I have a pretty good sense of color. I certainly know when something doesn't work, even if I cannot always verbalize why it is wrong. But I've developed an ability to chart just by making myself do it. And the more I do, the more inspiration I see. It is kind of strange, but I guess I've trained some pathways in my brain and some connections happen automatically. I saw some bookend paper and woke up with a canvas work version in my head this morning. It's almost as if I opened a faucet and now there isn't enough time to capture all the designs I'm seeing everywhere. I guess that's why she couldn't tell me where her ideas came from. They are everywhere.

A Quick Trip

A cold day along the Hudson River. My plan was to wander around and take some photos. But it was 20 degrees and the wind was blowing. I hadn't prepared for that.




Looking up at West Point from the river. This is the boathouse below all that granite wall.





The new library. I'm sorry I didn't get to walk across the plain and get a photo that puts it in perspective. I was standing on the sidewalk across from the West Point Club.



Had a good time driving and riding in our new car. I think we've got it mostly figured out now. Laser cruise control not a good thing to use on the Beltway. Someone will cut in front of you every time. Saw some old friends. Saw a massive bus stop constructed in our old yard. UGLY! I guess some parents complained about the wind up there on Stony Lonesome that hardly ever stops blowing because these huge bus shelters have sprouted up everywhere. Wimps.

Did a little bit of stitching in the car. But it wasn't as easy as I was hoping it would be. I guess the winter weather has taken its toll on the roads. I'd be counting and my needle would just fly across the canvas and I'd have to start all over again whenever we hit a bump.

My Return Trip to Obtain a DoD Decal for Car

On Wednesday my problem was that my official spousal ID card is set to expire this summer. The nice lady at the Provost Marshall's office (read police station for you non-DoD people) told me they couldn't register the car because the ID was going to expire within 10 months.

Today I return to the ID card section to get a new ID with that magical piece of lawyerese, my Power of Attorney. With this magical piece of paper I can actually do things without the physical presence of my husband. (In fact, I could sell everything he owns and take off for parts unknown, but I love him, so I think I'll stay.)

The lovely lady at the ID section (where most people are waiting for their CAC card and these people shoot daggers at me when I get called in within minutes of arriving -
I feel so special) tells me they don't renew ID cards until within 60 days of expiring.

Hmmm. I think we have ourselves a little catch-22. Two months vs. ten months. Can't you people get on the same page.

Lucky for me, I've landed a person with enough authority to issue me a new ID card now. Hurrah. After that everything is simple. Except that the new ID card photo is atrocious. I liked the last one. This one makes me look Mr. Clean after too many steriods with a bit of hair and glasses. Golly, I don't think I look that bad. Even on the worst of days. And I have a lot more than a bit of hair. I have, if anything, too much hair. Great. This is my photo until 2013. Sigh.

Picture Time

Progress on my Tsunami Charity sampler by Martina Dey. I love working on this. I'm about halfway across the top. Large piece when stitched over 2.








First colorway for Laura J Perin freebie - Grandma's Flower Boxes. It's on her website. This is a SAL with some online friends.








Never happy. I kitted the SAL up a second way when I saw this piece of dark green canvas. Started stitching last night.









Look! our new car. Now all we need is a name. Color is Cocoa Pearl. Was lovely listening to our Italian salesman say the color name.







New chair purchased at antique show for the cat. That's right. We bought a chair just for the cat.



Happy Spring everyone! Hopefully a few days of sunshine here and the area will be looking like it. Right now we're still kind of blah.

Woodlawn Again

Third time I've been this month. Funny how you end up seeing new things every time. There are over 600 pieces to view, so I guess that makes sense.

We were a slightly rowdy group of eleven. Kind of split up. Lots of people there this morning including two other sizable groups. Some people apparently feel overwhelmed when confronted with all that evidence of finished stitching. Me, I just feel inspired.
I'm back to planning what to enter next year.

At In Stitches, I kitted up, for the second time in a few days, the Laura J Perin freebie "Grandmother's Flower Boxes." LOL Once wasn't enough. Apparently I must be thinking of presents. It's a small piece - only 77 x 77 stitches so I don't think I'll have a problem stitching it twice. One version on pewter, second one on dark green canvas.

I know I owe photos here.

Will remedy tomorrow or Saturday.

Ah Bureaucracy!

Yesterday I was rudely reminded of times past (or the VA DMV!) when I attempted to do something that should be simple and straightforward and run smack dab into unexpected rules. I went to the base to register the new car and get DoD decal. I checked online for requirements and hours they do registration having learned from past experiences. But no where online did they say to check the expiration date on your ID. Because mine expires this summer, I can't do the registration until I get a new ID card. The lovely woman cannot tell me exactly what I need for renewing ID. As it's been a few years since I've done this, I'm fuzzy on the details. Head across the base to the ID card section. Only to confirm what I suspected. Without my "sponsor" I need my Power of Attorney. The man at the ID section is extremely patronizing. I was just trying to explain to him that I had left home with no intention of finding myself at the ID section. Blah. People can be mean.

This means I have to do this return trip again on Friday as it would be nice to have the car registered as we are soon taking a mini-trip.

Can't go today as I am meeting friends at Woodlawn for the Show and lunch. This is my regular Thursday stitching group. Wonderful ladies. We'll have a blast. Hope we aren't so loud as to get kicked out. I assume a stop at In Stitches in Alexandria is also in order. Those ladies should have been warned...