Tatting and Pathfinder

 Saturday was the Triangle Tatters' meeting. My friend wasn't available so I went alone. I brought my books to show off and worked on my beanile necklace. I also found the size 10 thread I was using for my bottle holder. I had a great time and there were a total of 10 of us at the meeting.

Sunday was the Pathfinder game. There were some scheduling conflicts, so we had a short day; only 2 pm to 6 pm (well, by the time we were packed up, it was about 7 pm) and then went out to supper. I handled the tactics pretty well this time and really challenged them.

My two new students started on Monday. I finally have someone to cover my lunch hour and my meetings. Which is good since I had a 2+ hour meeting today.

Need to know about a movie before you shell out for a ticket or DVD or whatever? Here's a collection of review sites.
One: if you or someone you know has problems with certain themes or content (ie blood and gore are fine as long as no kids or animals are hurt, or No explosions, period), this tumblr site is working on a list to let you know before you view.
Two: How accurate is that outfit? Frock Flicks lets you know.
Three: aggregate of professional critics review movies on Rotten Tomatoes and they have a separate audience score
Four: general audience (ie whoever wants to) reviews on the internet movie database.

okra blossom

some kind of bean

Okra

clouds

muscadine grapes

display at library

Triangle Tatters and other matters

Deadlands went pretty well. We didn't die and we made progress. Well, we made progress until we were intercepted by bad guys. We left mid-fight because we have to work the next day.

Saturday, I ran the next session of Tears at Bitter Manor, the first one with the remote player. The host and he ironed out the technology in the week before the game. We discovered the kindle with skype worked really well, both for sound and image quality. The phone worked pretty well but when it got hot (after a couple hours of use) signal quality declined markedly. I did send the maps to the remote player via email, just in case, but he didn't need to use them. The high contrast of printed maps also probably helped.

I prepped for 3 fights. Of course, they did 2 of them at once, skipped the 3rd one and then went after one I had not prepped at all. Despite that, it went smoothly.

I had the maps printed out. The big ones (~14-19) and the two smaller ones for just under $50. They worked so well that we all considered that money well spent. And RG said she plans to have me take her maps to get printed the next time she runs.

You don't often think 'military base' and 'nature conservation' together. It turns out to be a thing.

Not connected to anything else, but these (still experimental) bio sensor tattoos are so cool.

Sunday was the second day of Cary Lazy Daze and I joined Anitra and three others demo'ing in the Young Community Center. Anitra managed to get my ring to open; turns out a knot was so tight the thread wasn't sliding. She retrotatted half of it and then I finished retrotatting it and started over. I'm up to a dozen repeats on that bracelet now. I really need to get it done.












We shared the room with the leatherworkers and gourd artists, and twisted fibers (crochet/knit/spin) were supposed to be there (they were there on Saturday) but I guess something happened and they weren't there. I knew one of the ladies, and she introduced herself to Anitra. I've been trying to get Danielle to the tatting meeting for a few months.

The gourd folks and leather folks were really nice. I bought an ornament for mom from the gourd makers. It's a gorgeous painted egg gourd. The leatherworkers had set up little stations for folks to make a little something.

I watched this movie, Mr. Right tonight. It's not the best movie ever, but I enjoyed it. It had some really funny moments amidst the violence, and it's a lovely romantic story, too.

Looong Weekend

Thursday was my natal anniversary, aka birthday. I decided to take it as a vacation day. And since it was the Thursday before a holiday weekend, I took Friday off as well. This was a good plan.

Thursday, CD also took the day off and we just spent time together. We went out to lunch, played games, and just enjoyed each others' company.

Friday, I went to get my jewelry cleaned. This used to be a minor task. CD bought insurance on my jewelry when he bought it from a chain. I take it to get cleaned and inspected every 6 months and all repairs are free. Except. The two closest stores closed. On the bright side, the next closest store is in Greensboro.

After, I met part of my family for lunch. They picked a place close to where I was going to be and close to the highway, so I could make my way home again. It was a lovely. Dad and K gave me a bracelet he bought in Texas in 1977. It's turquoise and coral chip Kokopellis silver cuff bracelet. They also gave me a book about the Acoma people. They gave me a phenomenal photo of some Acoma pottery for Christmas.

CD gave me the soundtracks for the 1st two Hobbit movies and RG gave me Elle King's cd, and a book from my Amazon list.

Saturday was TriTatters. I managed to make one ice drop and got some sea glass from Carolyn. I started an ice drop with one of those but they are larger than my usual glass and I'm adjusting to fit. I don't think I've made it large enough.

I want this book (one of the tatters brought it to the meeting)

It was a lovely meeting. I helped someone with a current project and showed her how to make Martha Ess's half-braid bracelet. She wants to make one for her daughter, to recognize her daughter's getting her prize job. The tatter, we'll call her R, is still learning and this is a pattern well within her skills. She was so thrilled. I love helping people like that.

Sunday was Pathfinder, Tears at Bitter Manor again. We haven't played since February and one of our players had to bow out (his wife is sick - I hope it's nothing serious, but he just wanted to be there for her). We played without him but we spent lots of time socializing and didn't get a lot of play in. We did get through 2 battles and I almost killed the barbarian. Concentrated fire is very bad. Of course, I targeted her because she was the most likely to survive.

Monday, a few of us got together and did some computer gaming in Lord of the Rings Online. It was lots of fun. We hadn't had a chance to play together in ages.

Today, a new staff person joined us at work. I finally have another woman in the office.

Pictures

more pages from the coloring calendar

storm clouds

mock cable stitch gauge in progress

Oops, Missed a Post

I didn't even realize it until Thursday, or maybe Friday. I thought about doing a late post but decided I might as well wait and do one today.

And the weather has resembled a sin wave. Today the weather is downright spring like. I sat outside at lunch and you can see some of my tatting photos were taken outside. Sunday morning, there was ice on my windshield (sleet).

I finished the knitting for the plush cat (but no picture, sorry). But the drawstring cast one didn't work; perhaps due to the yarn. It's a loopy yarn.

More calendar pages:

I've been coloring on my lunch hour and sometimes a little before and after work.  

I've done a little tatting, but I'm a couple days behind on Jane's TIAS. I did this ice drop to match my turtle earrings and bracelet. And I've made some more hearts for the NC Regional Lace Day. I have 80+ made. My target is 90 by April 1st.

1st try, too small to hold the glass

before I added the loop for the chain

day 1

day 2

day 3

day 4

day 5

day 6

I've run 2 sessions of Tears at Bitter Manor (Pathfinder Module). We're almost through chapter 2. I think one more session and it will be done. Then we'll start chapter 3. We've been having a real problem starting on time, so we're only getting about 4 or 5 hours of playing time instead of 5-7 hours.

I also cut my hair. I've been wanting to cut it since around Christmas but wanted to wait until after the holidays. My hair went from coccyx length the elbow length. I'm donating the 15-18" to Locks of Love. My hair is still a color they can use for children's wigs. As I go grey, they'll sell the hair to fund the wigs instead. 

US POLITICS AHEAD:
My senators continue to disappoint me. They have voted to confirm every cabinet nominee; despite lack of qualifications and even in the light of being aggressively unsuited for the position. At least my representative isn't an embarrassment. Oh, and I have yet to talk to a live person in my senators' offices; no matter what time I call I always get voicemail. Meanwhile, the only time I have not talked to a real live person in my representative's office was egregiously after hours.

Knitting, Weather, and Gaming

My SO's (significant other) oldest nephew has joined the Peace Corps and he'll be leaving the country next year. He speaks Russian, so he'll probably go to Eastern Europe, somewhere. It's a teensy bit colder there than it is here, or so I've heard. Said nephew also neglected to send a Christmas wish list, so my SO got the bright idea to give him a scarf. But not just any scarf, a long, thick, handknitted scarf, by yours truly. On Saturday, I went to the craft store and bought some acrylic yarn. I have no idea how well the young man handles laundry and I thought it best not to take chances.

I pulled out one of my Knifty Knitter looms and got started that evening. After I finished prepping for the game I was running on Saturday. The part of the adventure is a bit open, so I got them to make some kind of decision so I only had to prep about 3 encounters. I had already pulled the figures I wanted and just needed to find a good map and review who and what they'd meet. I looked up any rules I didn't already have memorized and took some notes as reminders for those I'm a trifle shaky on.

yarn label

bulky yarn

I have BEGUN!

Progress is made

We were playing on Sunday, so we started a trifle later than usual. And our host found out, just before I arrived, that he had to be on a conference call mid-afternoon. Ah well. The game is also our excuse to gather and socialize, so the interruption was more annoying than tragic. During the game, they were fortunate with their saving throws (3 of them used their once per session re-rolls) and got through it okay. Only one person got badly injured although I think everyone took some damage at some point.

One character was about to be swallowed and in desperation he pulled out a vial of sleep poison. I told him to make a melee attack and if he succeeded he got it down the thing's gullet. He succeeded, so I made the saving throw for the creature. It needed a 4 or greater on d20 to ignore the poison. I rolled a 3. It fell asleep. That was the last encounter of the session and it made a good stopping point. It was the encounter where someone took the most damage.

We went out to eat barbecue afterwards. We wrapped up early enough to go out, even with the 10-year-old. We will get to play Mermaid Adventures with her again. Her father got sick and that canceled the last game.

I knitted while the one player was on his conference call and a bit before the game. I made some decent progress. Stockinette works up very fast.

I did some knitting at lunch yesterday, some last night, some this morning, some at lunch today and have almost 30 inches. My SO thought 5 feet would a good scarf length. I also used up one of the skeins of yarn. I made my 1st Russian join. (the link goes to a how-to video)

If you like tabletop and/or LARP games and know someone else who does, you can buy yourself and that other person a present, thanks to Epimas gifts. You purchase a game bundle (each one has a different set of games) and you get to download the PDFs now. On December 24th, your friend gets an email with download information.

The big winter blood drive was at work today, from 7:30 am - 1 pm. I went as soon as my desk coverage arrived, at 12:30 pm. Alas, they'd had technical difficulties and scheduled blood donors could expect a 2-hour wait. They weren't taking walk-ins at all. I guess I'll make an appointment at the local Red Cross then.

The weather has yo-yoed from warm, to really cold, to quite chill, to almost warm and by the end of the week it's supposed to hit 'quite cold' again. At least, it will be dry. The quite chill and almost warm were a trifle damp as the incoming warm front dumped its moisture, and gave me a migraine.

Here's a picture of my niece's lucky penny. I think it's too tight, so I cut that off and I'm going to do it again. I might also do one for my assistant who is leaving and her fiance. I just need to find pennies from the correct years.

lucky penny

I also signed up for a Secret Santa thing on-line. I got my 1st (maybe only) present. Look!

I've also played around some photo filters.

What a Storm!

Last Wednesday was my last Employee Forum meeting. It was the retreat so I joined them for lunch and then the committee annual reports. I found two potential successors. They are going to give me an answer before the next Carolina Campus Community Garden meeting. I gave them a rundown on what I've been doing and some ideas for the coming year.

Friday I went to see mom. We went to lunch, at ice cream at Ozzie, hit a thrift shop, and then in the afternoon we toured a couple assisted living facilities. Mom is healthy as a horse but she's having some driving problems. The nearest bus stop is a mile away and she's reluctant to call a taxi. That left her stranded in her apartment, except when friends came to take her lunch, etc. Mom and long-term idleness are not friends. No matter how much you enjoy it, there's only so much tv, reading, and crocheting one person can do without going a little stir crazy.
Persimmon tree outside Ozzie's

Both were smaller establishments. Those are better for forming personal relationships and so the staff are more familiar with the residents and more likely to notice changes. Mom is going to have lunch at one of them on Monday, to see what they're dining is like.

After the second tour, a storm front was moving through so I stayed a little longer to let it pass. I headed home and got caught in the traffic from a nasty (I counted 13 vehicles; cars and at least 1 semi) accident. It looked like an extended fender bender without serious injuries. At least, I certainly hope there weren't any.

Saturday, I ran another session of Tears at Bitter Manor. I tried a new route to get to RW's house. Didn't work. I ended up retracing my steps to take the route I took last time. I was half an hour late. One of the other players, MC, was 'later'. By later, I mean he never got the scheduling emails and had other plans on Saturday. I had printed out a copy of his character, just in case.

RG brought her new puppy. Desi is not old enough to be left alone that long. We ended up getting supper from Tangerine Cafe. RW went to pick it up, as his character was cowering and couldn't act.

We played a little longer than we had planned as a storm bad enough for a weather warning came through. The 1st warning ended at 9:15 so we headed home. Not a good plan. I got thoroughly soaked getting my gaming stuff into my car. It took 3 trips and may I say again how glad my laptop backpack came with a rain cover.

The storm was a frog-strangler, flash-flood kind of storm. I drove far below the speed limit (with my hazard lights flashing) for much of the trip home. Luckily, there was a car or two ahead of me for most of the drive. If they made it through, I figured the road wasn't flooded out and I was safe. There was one short stretch when I didn't have someone to follow. And one short stretch without power, and that included two stoplights, but no cross traffic; which is good because I couldn't see the stoplights until I was passing through the intersection. There was only once a passing car's splash obscured my windshield. And only once when the water was deep enough for me to be concerned.

Not sure how visible it is, but my hair is very wet

I finally got home and promptly hung up my clothes to dry out. Sunday, I took my time getting up and about. Ion channel marathons Leverage on Sundays and they played the last episode and the 1st episode back to back.

CD and I went to City Barbecue again for lunch and then to Barnes and Noble to pick up the book they had on hold for me. Not surprising, I bought a couple other books, too. Since I was there and all.

I finished a cross from Anitra's book and that's it. I am pinning out the snowflakes I've gotten done so I can photograph them and send the pictures to her.

Mom said she enjoyed lunch at one of the facilities on Sunday. They invited her to come try the food. I really want to talk to mom's doctor.

Oh, and through tomorrow, there's a contest to win supplies for a bullet journal. If you enter, I get another entry. Here's the link: https://prpage.co/EKN/%2B39261/ .

Where Did My Weekend Go?

Okay, Saturday was 'put load of clothes in dryer' and then cough. I did nothing else productive, at least in part because my body has been telling me to rest and a serious cough is an indication I take seriously.

Sunday was errands and meeting my friend's new puppy. I'm not sure how to spell the puppy's name, but her nickname is Dezi, which I'm not sure how to spell either. She's just over 4 pounds of black and white Alaskan Klee Kai and very cute.

I'm on the 3rd snowflake of Anitra's book. As a change, I did this one in a variegated green (Christmas green mix) and Lizbeth fruit fizz. It makes a very floral snowflake. Sorry for the size of the linked images. You'd get a better look by going to Handy Hands website and look up the thread colors in the Lizbeth thread.

I'm still working on Mom's living arrangements. I have high hopes of fast progress that will make her happy and be better for her.

If anyone says drugs and songs are a new thing, at best they're mistaken. At worst, they LIE. This particular song was sung by Cab Calloway.

storm clouds

crepe myrtle in bloom

1st page of birthday coloring book

 Saturday is another session of Tears at Bitter Manor. I'm only prepping part of it. Hopefully they won't get farther than that.