Tuesday, July 30, 2024

Still no zipline pictures

 I still haven't gotten pictures from my zipline experience. I think I'll need to request them.

Rain spattered car window looking at the sky, there may be rainbow visible

I swear, there was a rainbow. But there was also lots of rain.


Ombre red triangle of tatted lace sewn to triangle of fabric. Fabric is tan with blue checks and red hearts.
I've tatted more triangles, but I need to find matching fabric. Or at least coordinating.
Mullein plant going to seed. Growing in area growing wild.
My plant id app says this is mullein.
close up of mullein spike going to seed.

There's a few flowers left at the bottom.


We finally got some rain, but not enough to get us completely out of drought.

Wednesday, July 17, 2024

Pictures and fund

 At my aunt's funeral, I asked my cousins for old photos. One of my cousins mentioned how his mom was practically nonverbal, but on the phone with my mom she was a chatterbox. There was there was a memory connection though, and she was her old self. That gave me the idea to get old photos for mom.

There's one of mom, that's probably when she was a nursing student. 

 


There's also a few with Great-grandfather, great-grandmother, their son my grandfather, plus aunts, my mom, and a couple of my older cousins. This is one one aunt, her grandfather (my great-grandfather), her father (my granddaddy), my mom who is holding my oldest 1st cousin, and his sister.

old photo of 2 young women, old man, and older man, 1 woman is holding a child while another stands nearby

Tuesday, the Employee Forum had our team building at the Outdoor Education Center. Which is great, by the way. And this year, I went up and rode the zip line. It wasn't easy for me, outside my comfort zone, but I did it and it was fun. When I have pictures, I'll share them. I'm still waiting for the pictures.

I'm tatting triangles to make bookmarks.

Brown tatted lace triangle on corner of crossword book puzzle page

Multicolor tatted triangle, on a notepad, with print out of pattern under it. Half Square Triangle from Be-Stitched



It has been egregiously hot. We've had heat advisories more often than not.

Monday, July 08, 2024

More update, fewer pictures

 Some stuff that happened in the last month.

I started a linen edging, from some thread obtained in a destash. Size 20, 2 ply (20/2) in natural and realized the handkerchief I'd intended to attach it to didn't have the right color match or complement. So I ordered one and once it arrived, I got a better idea of how much thread I'd need. And realized I had a bit more than enough to do the 1st round, but not enough to do a 2nd or 3rd round. (picture of edging and hanky in last post)

No problem, I'll just order more. Wait, that vendor doesn't sell linen thread anymore. Oh well, guess I'll get it somewhere else. I contacted the thread and yarn stores I know and they didn't have it. I look online and I can find 8 yard hanks (for embroidery) and 1000+ yard cones for weaving. I need 40-100 yards.

I check the hand spinners, but the thread isn't quite right. Anitra suggests I contact a mutual friend who's a weaver. And I think to contact the vendor to see if they'll check for backstock.

Double success! Both the weaver and the vendor have the thread! As soon as they arrive, I'll compare colors to see which matches better or if I'm going to do a tone gradation.

Sad news, my mom's remaining sister passed. That leaves only mom of her sisters adn their husbands. It was a lovely service, the priest actually knew my aunt and the service reflected that (yes, I am still bitter over my granddaddy's service, I think granddaddy was mentioned more in my aunt's service than he was in his own). Plus, I saw cousins I hadn't seen in a decade.

One of my first cousins once removed shared some of my aunt's favorite recipes via email and we shared some stories about my aunt and her sisters. It was very sweet and funny.

I went to see my Dad before Father's Day and gave him a book I'd found. It's The Hero of Hacksaw Ridge, the abridged story of Pvt. Desmond Doss. The one they made the movie about. Dad enjoyed the movie and of course the book has details the movie didn't. He finished it in 2 weeks. Yes, it's not a big book, but still that's fast. Especially considering he was also reading another book as well.

I went to my local library recently and they have a copy of An Illustrated Dictionary of Tatting by Judith Connors. I want a copy of my own now and an ecopy to keep in my tablet (kind of like I wish I could save Jane Eborall's entire page of tatting techniques to my tablet).

I also picked up a book on weaving on a mini loom. It's not the same as a speedweve loom (what I used to mend the sweater in the pictures last post) or the mini frame loom I have, but some of the information will carry over. My 3rd selection is a book on embroidery. I'm doing more visible mending and a refresher on stitches will prove quite helpful.

I had one shirt I got from my mom that has big holes in one of the sleeves. But when I tried to mend it, the fabric is so thin the needle just made more holes. So I cut the sleeves to 3/4 length and now I decide whether hem them or do something else. It's a knit shirt so hemming is not 100% necessary.

On a cheerful note, June 17th, after work, I got a phone call from a dear friend. She had asked me to be her maid of honor (which I had happily accepted). The phone call was to tell me that they had decided to move up the wedding, from October to June 19th. Luckily, even with the late notice, my manager said they could spare me. I went to work in the morning and then we went to my friend's wedding. It was a somewhat casual (8 people total) affair and they plan a reception or something later. It was lovely and I was so honored she asked me to take part.