It's Snowing!

 Sort of. I have tatted Harmony of Hearts snowflake from A Veritable Tatted Blizzard. Due to not reading ahead, I ended up with 2 variations of the same flake. I did make 1 change, I used a split chain to go from round 1 to round 2. Note: I started with 4 yards on each shuttle, then ran short of thread on shuttle 2 (lots of chains, no surprise), SLT and still ended up with over a yard of thread on shuttle1. Next iteration, I'm going to use 3 yards on shuttle 1 and 5 yards on shuttle 2.

I'm working on my Solar Flare in silver and round out of thread. This wouldn't be horrible, but there are beads involved. 

I did get my teacher application for Palmetto Tat Days submitted. I'm not 100% happy with the diagrams, though.

UNC winter blood drive was today. I successfully donated. Since I didn't manage to sign up for a volunteer shift I helped with set up last night. The person who usually helps set up the canteen wasn't available so we went off our best memories of the set up (folks who do usually work that station had a good idea how it's supposed to be). So once we were done, I took pictures so we'll have them next year. 

I lost Whamageddon, though.

I ordered maps for Rosemary. She had bought them but needed them printed out. And it's much easier and faster to get them printed on big paper by a print shop than print them on 8.5x11 and then tape them together.

Hanukkah starts at sunset. May your life be filled with light. Yes, I know what's happening in Gaza. What Hamas did was horrible. And Israel's leadership has done some US level horrific actions (Japanese internment camp and Native American Reservation level of horrible), so they don't have clean hands. It's too much to hope that children should be able to be safe, warm, and fed, I guess.

And the so-called Republican leadership in Congress is just embarrassing. They're so busy bickering and yelling things for the social media engagement that they aren't leading. Never mind paying attention to what would actually help their constituents and the nation, that never seems to cross their mind. The closest I've seen is an attitude of 'this is what I want so it must be what everyone wants.'

Oh if you want an idea about the reliability and/or bias of a news source, here's a handy dandy chart.

Much Improved

I have the occasional cough and that's it. I am so much better now.

I volunteered at a blood drive last week, but due to my lingering cold symptoms I didn't donate. I have now made an appointment to donate platelets next week. Wish me luck.

I had a dental appointment next week, but then remembered a meeting that same morning so I cancelled it. I need to reschedule.

The big news at work is the removal of the Silent Sam, aka Confederate monument, pedestal and the BoG firing the chancellor. Frankly, not even letting her finish the semester makes them look petty.

The Federal Government is still shut down. #45 is throwing a temper tantrum and Mitch McConnell is aiding and abetting his tantrum.

I made it to the Tri-Tatters meeting on Saturday. The library rooms weren't available this month, so we met at a Starbucks. They only let rooms for 2 hours, so we had a short meeting. I got there late because I just felt meh. The cold rain didn't help. I handed out some of the size 10 Alisa got from her friend. One ball went to a new tatter and the other 6 to the woman who was leaving as I arrived and let me have her seat.

Someone brought in a couple of extra vintage tatting books. No one else got this one, so I did.

The only tatting I've been doing is small projects to use up some vintage thread. The thread was wrapping around a ball of paper, and it's not continuous. It's been a little frustrating. I went ahead and loaded two shuttles and I've gradually been tatting them down.

I'm still working on Mom's shrug. I finished the shoulders and the 2nd skein about the same time. Now I'm on the 2nd sleeve and the 3rd skein. I'm also working on A n' S's washcloths. I have 3 of them done (and given them 2) but the last one is being very slow. It's a moss stitch and should do quite well.

I did have a close call. I was moving the shrug around (as I hunting up where I'd put the 3rd skein) and some of the stitches popped off the pegs. And some of the purl stitches came out. I managed to get the stitches on the edge back onto pegs, and got loops of yarn (pulled stitches) and stitches back on. Then I purled the loops back into place. Whew. All saved.








first sleeve almost done here








A friend has asked me for a long scarf, kind of like my temperature scarf. But he wants blue, black, purple, etc quasi-Dr. Who scarf. I think I can do it in cotton. I shall have to check the sales to get the yarn cheap enough. He's willing to pay, but it's going to take me a long time to make.

Sunday, Chris and I went to pick up my (much) belated birthday present. Apparently he's been looking for this present for months.

It needs some cleaning and stuff, but it's an old table Singer sewing machine. I got a picture of the engine, but not the serial number. It's in storage now because I'll need to make a place to put it. It's probably c. 1959.

The social media site, Google+ is being closed down. It really makes me sad. I've made some good friends and contacts there.

but here's a pretty sky

Gillette has a new ad out. It tempts me to buy my next razor from them. There are some who consider it a company profiting from a political movement, and yes, it is. But it's also calling on men to stand up, to other men and against toxic masculinity. And I'd rather the company take that stance than the opposite view.

Snow Day

It's been cold. And we have snow two weeks in a row. I need to ask my Dad if he is having flashbacks to when he first moved to North Carolina. Apparently it snowed every Wednesday the first January after my parents moved to North Carolina.

This time we lost power for about four hours. However, I was dressed warmly, have blankets, and the house's insulation is decent. The snow is also insulating, which helped. I barely got chilly, but when the sun set, I napped. I woke up about 5 minutes before the power came back on.

At least I'm not an American alligator.

I have more than 18" of CD's scarf done. I only have 30" to go. My cables are blargh, but they are my first cables, so it's not a surprise they are loose. Autumn Breeze showed me how to tighten them, but I don't do that until the scarf is done.

I'm working on my class for Palmetto Tat Days. TotusMel was fabulous and let me have one of her patterns. However, she needle tats and I shuttle tat. I am translating it and this is one that needle tatting makes easier (oooh, shocking).

And here's a neat graphic about US immigration over time.

Our Deadlands game is drawing to a close. I'll have to say goodbye to Alis Reeves. She's been entertaining to play. (and I love this picture of her. If you're interested in commissioning the artist, I have her contact info).

DR, the GM, has said he wants to run Blue Rose next. He had been trying to decide between Blue Rose and another game but when I posted 'for my next fantasy game PC, I want to play a woman with adult children, who now that her kids are out of the house is going to fulfill her dream of being an adventurer.' Nahla is about 40 years old, a widow with three children. The youngest is 17, and is a journey craftsperson. Her oldest is married with a child of his own. I also did Nahla's extended family, more plot hooks for DR. Hmm, now that I have an idea what Nahla looks like, I need to ask the artist if she has time for another commission.

I'm still working on my State Fair entry idea. I keep getting distracted by other projects.

Mom is still doing okay. I've convinced her to get out and walk about the halls to get some exercise. The last couple times we went shopping, she was worn out halfway through the 1st store. However, she's really sick right now. She got hit by some stomach bug, which is just miserable.

SR loaned me 3 seasons of The Librarians. I've been watching it and enjoying it immensely.

There was a screw up at the blood drive at UNC (they scheduled appointments right up to the point of 'needles out, not taking anyone else' -which since no one get seen immediately is a definite mistake) and I got turned away by the Red Cross. I went ahead and scheduled a platelets donation during the UNC closed day (no holiday pay). It took 4 hours. And by the way, when your lips and fingers tingle, you NEED the tums. Or unpleasant things happen. I had 4 minutes to go. Ugh. Next time, I need to up my calcium intake a couple days beforehand. At least they can use what I donated. But I can't donate again until late February. Which is annoying but not too bad. Except there's a shortage of blood and the Red Cross has called me 3 times this month. 

I got sick the week of Thanksgiving. I went into work on Monday long enough to check there was nothing needing my attention. I canceled lunch plans with my Dad and had supper with CD's parents. And fell asleep after eating. I was still recovering. I was still a little sick the Monday after, but I felt well enough to go to work without worrying about a relapse.

My Halloween costume

I wanted to practice split chains so I did this tiny basket by Sue Hanson. I messed up but the final result is a cute variation. And yes, it's very tiny.

At work, we went to visit Ramses. We talked to the family who hosts him, and his little herd of goat companions, and his girlfriend and lambs.

Tri Tatters had our 10th anniversary. That's the cake one of the members made. I made lace cookies. They were incredibly sweet, but good. And fast to make.

I'm still having trouble connecting my iPad to my laptop to download pictures.

My 4th place ribbon for my beanile necklace.

I just like how raindrops look on this leaf.

Missed a week, oops

We played Deadlands after my last post. The GM, DR, says our game is between 2 and 20 sessions to go before the final resolution. We were debating what game to play next and decided on Blue Rose. I had mentioned on social media that I had a concept for my next fantasy character, inspired by Mrs. Pollifax. I want to play a middle-aged woman whose children are grown with their own lives and she fulfills her young dream of becoming an adventurer. With Blue Rose, she can become a government agent, a la Valdemar Herald. The GM had gotten his copy of Blue Rose and he thought that character would work fabulously. We're still playing the Deadlands game (although CD will miss this week's game), though.

Saturday (the 3rd) was the Tri-tatters doing their part of living history at Mordecai House in Raleigh. We were on the house porch this time instead of at the visitor center. I took a break to talk to the cook/soapmaker. The theme was roses and she made rose short bread and rose scented soap. She's very nice and I look forward to talking to her again. Unlike us, she was dressed for the era.

I did finish an ice drop and finally made good progress on the sea glass pendant after another false start. I used the technique from Anitra's turtle but had to play with the stitch count to get it to work.

Tri-Tatters at Mordecai (I missed getting KV)

Tri-tatters at Mordecai (can you tell where I was sitting?)

sea glass pendant

 Sunday, CD and I made a flying visit to mom to fix her phone. And her DVD player. And her Kindle. They all had the same issue, no power. The outlet the phone charger was plugged into was controlled by a switch, which was frequently off. So the phone wasn't charging. The power strip where the DVD player and Kindle were plugged had come unplugged from the wall. Easy fix, luckily.

Afterward, CD and I went to DSW. My sandals broke on Memorial Day and I needed a new pair. In theory, I could have fixed the broken strap, but that wouldn't fix the other problems (sole wearing out, etc). I bought new sandals, and on mom's advice I bought two of the same.

Tuesday the 6th was the big Blood Drive at UNC. I volunteered at check in and then grabbed a bite to eat before going to donate. It meant I was out of the office most of the day but I was helpful. My donation went well.

The same evening was my monthly date with CC. We went to DSW. I wanted to see if they had the multi-color sandal in the same style in my size. Alas, they did not. But I did buy a pair of shoes to replace my tennis shoes, when they finish dying. They were really expensive shoes, but on clearance meant they cost as much as an expensive (for me) tennis shoes. CD said she bought a pair of shoes of the same brand and they lasted 25 years. Breaking down the cost per year, they'll be cheaper in the long run.

I also fell to the croc side. They're work suitable and really comfy. Except if  the 3rd time you ever wear them you walk 10+ minutes in the heat and then get sand in your shoe and you don't immediately rinse them out, they are not so comfy.

Wednesday night we went out for my birthday supper. We were going to Casa San Carlo, but they're closed for renovations. Instead, we went to Tokyo House. JJ came, CD of course, RG, DR, SR and her husband SR, and at the last minute I asked CC and her SO came, too. I will say, Tokyo House did a great job and the service was very good.

However, right before I left work on Wednesday some stuff came up for mom's financial stuff. Very stressful. Thursday, I thought I got it temporarily resolved, at least until they got my POA processed. Except, they apparently didn't. As I found out late Friday.

Saturday, I just rested and relaxed. I desperately needed a recuperation day. Sunday, CD and I went to pick up comics, manga, and game books. We hadn't been to our FLGS and had orders to pick up.

Later, CD, CC, her SO, and her friend D all went to see Wonder Woman. There were a couple 'why did they do that?' moments but overall I really liked it. There were not incompetent characters, just competent at different things with different strengths and weaknesses. Even Etta wasn't played for laughs. She had some very funny lines but she wasn't comic relief.

Monday, I took a long lunch and took care of mom's stuff in person. There were phone calls to make and I did some follow up today and I'm doing more tomorrow. But there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

Palmetto Tat Days registration is open. I need to do that tonight.

Here are some random photos. I've done some coloring pages and isn't this a huge thistle?

And if ever wonder what manspreading is? This is it. That's a 3 person bench. You can see a woman squeezed at one edge and this guy is taking up 2 spaces. If the bus wasn't crowded, I wouldn't care. But it was quite crowded that day.

And here's an ice drop in the Spice Cake (like the sea glass pendant) and a heart.

Donation: successful! My arm hurts like the dickens (worse than the time that they hit the nerve bed under the vein in my arm) but it's like 2" from the stick site. How weird is that. I wore my I Bleed Carolina Blue t-shirt under my turtleneck. I knew that I'd need short sleeves for the actual donation & the turtleneck is 'cause it's supposed to drop temperatures all day (& has).

Donation went fairly smoothly, no dizziness, bled quickly, etc. Then once I was done, I checked in as a volunteer. I helped steer the people (1 woman, rest were men) who were donation double red blood cells. I'd do that myself but I'm 2" under the minimum height requirement for women.

I saw some people I know (big surprise, right?) and met a couple more. I picked up my free t-shirt & back to the office.

Work for an hour or so & then off to the department holiday luncheon. Really good food again this year. I sat with some of the folks from the Card office. Mike (Department Head) joined us. He's been sick again, poor guy.

Back to the office, where it's really, really quiet. I managed to get one point of a snowflake done today. That's it. It's hard to tat with only one hand and well, I needed to pay attention when I was volunteering.

Oh, but how cool is this! LadyShuttlemaker is giving away one of her fabulous shuttles. She makes the most delicious hand-dyed threads, too.

Once again I try to give blood and failed. This time it seemed to be more a mechanical failure. Oh well.

I showed up for Blackmoor about 30 minutes late. Since I was the 4th player, they had not started without me. We've already played one and we're in the middle of the 2nd one.

Chris & I didn't go to breakfast this morning. We slept late instead. I was trying to read the Riders of Hak in preparation for today but then learned when I got here that it hasn't been fully approved yet. At least I managed to level my character before the game started. And after playing 2 adventures, she's 3rd level.

Bradford pear trees in bloom. The blooms are falling now, maybe the stench will as well. Daffodils are also in bloom, along with morning glory, forsythia & some blooms that I can't identify.

Tatting meeting tomorrow. Wheee! I have two projects to take along, the thread for the shawl, and thread for Anitra. I also have to get my car inspected, the earlier the better.

books: finished Vampire Interrupted.

clothes: black tennies & jeans, black t-shirt "Are You a Player" from the now non-existent End Zone. Jewelry is long silver chain & quartz point with etched feather, feather earrings, fem-power rings, flower band, onyx ring, hematite ring & braided hair.

Blood donation failed. Again. They managed to get a good stick in one arm, but not the other. At least I didn't miss much work. That's good. Right? Right?

The tatting get-together on Saturday was fun. About half a dozen of us were there and we chatted and tatted. I finally finished my bookmark, by cheating. I gave up on that knot and joined to the ring itself, then finished up. I fray-cheked it to death & hope it holds. Guess I won't be giving that one away. But I have the idea of it now.

I finished the single thread block star yesterday. It looks pretty good. I've started the split chain star but I need to practice the split chain just a little more.

Went to FE's sale yesterday & kept to my budget. I bought 3 game books, Girl Genius manga vol 1, and my regular stuff. That was it. I wanted to pick up some of those used videos (Here is Greenwood & Ranma 1/2) but I just didn't have the money. Witch Hunter still hasn't showed up. I talked to Rick, the owner, and he was telling me that they have 9 game books on backorder with the potential of it being 12 when the order arrives on Wednesday.

books: read Goblin War, Sizzle & Burn on Saturday. Goblin War might be the last book but there's potential for more. Sizzle & Burn is the 3rd Arcane Society book and it's good. I'm looking forward to the next one.

TV: I watched an old (taped) episode of Psych & a couple episodes of Tactics (anime). We watched a new (to US) Japanese game show, Unbeatable Banzuke.

Saturday, the washing machine decided to break. I think it's just the lid switch but that means that I need to order it & then we need to replace it. In the meantime, we can't wash clothes because the water from the last load is still there. The spin dry function is broken.

This morning I'm off to donate blood, or try. My appointment is early so I'm going to work afterwards.

clothes: On Saturday I wore a Palmetto Tat days t-shirt with my jeans. Yesterday it was a knife and blood-red roses t-shirt. Today it's black jeans, black half-boots, dark green Gettysberg souvenir polo shirt, Celtic knot jewelry.

*(&%&^$ I tried donated platelets today. Few things make you feel quite as worthless as failing to donate blood. They just could not get a good stick in my arm or hand. Their two most experienced phlebotomists tried.

As I was heading there I had a run-in with a jerk. It was mild but it did irritate me. As I'm pulling into the right turn lane, the right arrow goes amber. So I slow down & sure enough it's red by the time I get there. No problem. I stop, I check to see what traffic's doing & then I start my turn. As I'm checking on traffic bozo in the pick up truck behind me beeps at me. "Dude (not that he can hear me, but I talk to him anyway), red means stop, not slow down!"

Back to work & lots of doings. It was only one morning but one guy came in with a stack of HR stuff to do, both on-line & copies to make. Whee! Yeah, not so much. Then it's lunch time & my stomach is still not entirely happy from the Tums. They just don't sit right with me.

tatting: I finally turned the corner on the bookmark. It looks interesting. I'm not entirely confident about it, though.

books: I started going through some books to go to the used bookstore & set more aside for Bookcrossing. I finished reading Desire & started Shadow Fires. Once I've read it, it's going to the UBS. I'm also re-reading, because I thought that I hadn't read it, Caught Dead in Philadelphia.

clothes: black ~slippers (despite the heavy rain), knee-highs, black jeans, black belt with silver Celtic knot buckle, Celtic knot ring, earrings & triskele pendant, flower band ring, black stone band & hematite band (on left & right ring fingers respectively), braided hair & waffle weave white polo. Right now, I also have a blue bandage on over the attempted needle sites.

Blood donation: I tried. I ate something and drank a smoothie (anti-nausea calcium & liquid in one dose) beforehand. None of it worked. They couldn't find enough of my veins for me to donate. They stuck me but then lost the vein. Three phlebotomists looked but oh well. Maybe it was too early, the food, etc hadn't reached my veins yet. I'll try again in a couple weeks.

I cooked last night; nothing huge, just mini-calzones. I used a small squash & a jar of sliced mushrooms instead of a small zuccini & half a bell pepper, then forgot to add the left-over chicken into the mix. I ate 2 of the calzones for supper last night & ate one for breakfast this morning. That leaves just one more. It's a quick, only half or so in all, and pretty easy recipe.

tatting: I did get past the halfway point on my necklace while waiting to donate platelets. I debated pendant or not & finally decided on a pendant. I have some of the teardrop beads left, I guess I'll use those on earrings. Thanks to the commute in & an errand for work, I'm now well past 3/4 done. Alas, I'm short about 2 teardrop beads. Somehow I miscounted while I was threading the beads. However, two problems together solve each other. I'm also almost out of thread on the shuttle. Thus, I will have to take some of the thread off the ball & transfer to a 2nd shuttle, giving me the opportunity to add beads, before re-loading the 1st shuttle.

I've already seen a couple students dressed for Halloween. I will probably wear my Colonial outfit to answer the door.

books: Read Truly Yours, as I liked other books the author had written. This one was pretty good, too. Her characters are not perfect, even though this heroine was a little closer. I also bought & read Fruits Basket vol 3 & 4.

clothes: yesterday, black jeans, black suede shoes, purple polo, grey knit sweater, amethyst pendant, purple Czech bead earrings, and silver ~rope band. Today I'm wearing the same shoes, black jeans, black Origins shirt, black & red stone rings, dragon earrings & harp pendant. My hair is braided again for simple convenience.

Platelet donation - I almost forgot. I was literally yards from work when I remembered. So I turned around & was only about half an hour late getting there. Despite drinking two glasses of milk (fat free & chocolate, but still milk) beforehand, about an hour later I was feeling distinctly ill. I bargained, if the bus was less than 15 minutes late, I'd go in to work. Once I got to work; I'd stay until 2 pm to see if I improved. As it turns out, I made it in okay.

website of the day - celebrity cafe has loads of contests

books: I read Surrender again. Then I went back to Curse of Chalion.

Gaming: We played another zero round last night. I might run this one at the con, too. I also notified the non-RPGA game coordinator that I'd like to run 2 sessions of Ironclaw. On Friday night, it will either be character creation & a short fight, or if there's no new players, I'll make something up. I moved my regularly planned adventure, The Duke is Dead, Long Live the Duke, to Saturday afternoon.

clothes: white cotton texture check shirt, black jeans, belt & slippers, hematite ring, dragon band, moonstone ring, rainbow moonstone cabochon, rainbow moonstone earrings, & ponytail/bun affixed with brown/black wood hairstick.

Bloody Tuesday: Not really, I had a really good technician. I got to work yesterday & almost immediately left again to go to the blood drive. All told, I was gone about an hour and a half, from out the door to back again. I saw only one person that I knew, from Printing (although now she works at the Lineberger Cancer Center). I did see a copy of Our State (May 2007) that I would like to have.

I also had a training on employee tuition assistance at midday. I saw two people that I knew there, if you don't include the person teaching the class; Smitty from Carolina Copy & Cyrette from TTK.

I took the department car to the training & was delayed getting back because I parallel parked perfectly. Alas, the stone wall meant that I wasn't able to open the door. So I had to pull out & park again, farther from the so-called curb.

I was still tired from the con so I just went home and vegged. John came by and gave me my birthday present; a book on learning Japanese, in manga format. We talked about the cyberpunk/urban fantasy romance novel that I'm writing. Since it's based on some events from our Shadowrun game I wanted to see what he remembered and if I could use his character's name. As soon as he left, I went to bed.

I felt much better this morning but I'm feeling just a touch tired still. The roses I brought back from the con are almost gone. I've already pulled both the pink ones and pulled off the petals to dry.

books: I finished Dragon of Despair Monday & re-read Holiday in Death yesterday. Today I'm reading The Smile of the Stranger by Joan Aiken.

Tatting: I continued to work on my edging.

clothes: yesterday I got a half-dozen yards outside my door & realized that I had donned black slacks instead of the navy blue. Since I was wearing navy trouser socks & loafers, plus a light blue UNC (2005 NCAA men's basketball champs) polo this was a problem. I had to dash back & change slacks. Thus, I forgot my watch. I wore the paui shell pendant & ring, blue bead & silver wire bracelet, chain mail earrings, & flower band. My hair was braided much of the day just to keep it out of the way.

Today it's the black slacks that I accidentally donned yesterday, black 'slippers', white UNC polo, narrow silver bracelet, ~rope band, quartz feather pendant on long rope chain, feather charm earrings, & hair up in a ponytail/bun affixed with the hair stick with black & white beads & a silver charm.

Blog Gap: Oops, no time to blog yesterday. Thus, today's blog is extra long. I hope to download the pictures & post a couple soon.

Monday events: failed to donate platelets; the vein rolled. I plan on trying to donate whole blood on the 5th, at the big blood drive at work.

Met Dad & Kathy at Ted's Montana Grill & enjoyed a delicious bison burger lunch. They liked the front page in a box frame. I suddenly realized, after I gave it to them, that I had completely neglected to make any notes about it on the back. Since my name is not anywhere in the article, that is a concern (okay, so it might not last long enough for my niece's kids to wonder who those people are & why we have it, but it might).

Chris went back home to prep supper & finish his laundry while the other three of us went to the Butterfly House at the Museum. Kathy & I hunted butterflies, with our cameras, while Dad sat & spotted them from his stool. Kathy & Dad have a pair of neat little folding chair/stools that are great emergency seating; plus make decent walking aids. We roamed the tropical & exotic butterfly exhibit before visiting the 'local' butterfly exhibit. Some of the butterflies are more likely to be found in Florida than here but we do see Monarchs fairly frequently. I finally got to see an orange-banded sulphur, too.

Both houses were very warm although the local one just had netting so there was the occasional breeze. Being very warm, we stopped at the cafe there for a cold drink. I had a Yoo-hoo, deciding that I didn't need a soda.

I managed to get us lost getting back home so I didn't get back until almost 5 pm. That did mean that I was able to go with Chris to Rosemary's instead of driving myself. He grilled delicious buffalo burgers which we all ate enthusiastically. Even Duncan had his own, non-spiced & without a bun, burger. We watched episodes of Kim Possible that I had missed before Chris & I headed home.

Tuesday: I did personnel stuff most of the day. At lunch, I bought The Sharing Knife since I didn't get it for my birthday. I used the credit I have at the local bookstore to get it.

When I got home I put some clothes in the dryer & packed my crate (D&D books & RPGA characters, etc) for the con.

books: I read The Sharing Knife & started Darkfever. I stayed up too late reading the latter but didn't bring it to work with me. It's an interesting story but the author keeps interrupting the narrative with 'if only I had known's' & it's starting to wear on me.

tatting: I finished the bookmark. I made a mistake at the far end but I think I adjusted well. The two ends do not match but then again, one end has a tassel on it. I think the bookmark is from a Kersti pattern, simple 5ds 3p rings and 10 ds chains. The neat parts are the ends.

Since I still have a lot of thread on the shuttle, I decided to try one of the one shuttle edgings from The Complete Book of Tatting.

clothes: yesterday it was dark green Geoff polo, black jeans, texture striped knee-highs & loafers (newly repaired), dark hairstick with 4 tiny rhinestones holding a ponytail/bun, onyx earrings, labradorite pendant, Celtic knot ring, bloodstone ring, hematite ring & fem-power ring plus the new green glass beads bracelet. Oh & the silver ladybug watch.

Today it's white polo, black slacks, black knee-highs, & 'slippers, two black (trimmed in brown leather) hairsticks holding my hair up in a ponytail/bun, moss agate bread bracelet, black belt w/ silver buckle, fem-power ring, flower band, hematite ring, same watch, 3 ages of woman pendant, & new ~pewter/silver earrings. The earrings were $3 at Big Lots & look like 4 teardrops of coiled filigree around a central teardrop holding another 'filigree' teardrop & all that in a circle with a scallop border around it.

Fingernail: I didn't mention that the first thing I did when I arrived at work yesterday was rip a fingernail. I don't mean just a 'oh dear, I'll have to file that', I mean, 'ack, that's a spot of blood where the nail has tried to part from the nail bed'. It's a little sore but I immediately put (& kept) a band aid on it to keep it from getting worse. It won't actually heal, but maybe it will heal enough that I can clip the nail someday.

blood donation: I failed. My hemocrit was a full 3% too low. Then I suddenly realized why. I'm a post-puberty, pre-menopausal female & it happens once a month. For me, it started yesterday. Very bad timing.

Retail therapy: I indulged in some retail therapy. I needed the light bulbs, yes. The gel pens? Sort of. The children's cardboard books? At a dollar, it's nice to have some small children's presents on hand. The doll? It's perfect for Kelly's baby (fingers crossed, due any day now). The shoes? The ballet slipper type go with gauze skirts better than loafers do (I'm wearing them today). The document holder? It was $1 & even if it doesn't hold the steel sqwire spell templates better than the other holder does, maybe it will hold those 'campaign documention' stuff I need for LG.

Books: I finally read Framed in Lace (I've had it for months). In this one, the important clue was bobbin lace. They also mentioned tatting, knitted lace & crocheted lace. Very nice. I also read vol 1 of Shugo Charra!.

Tatting: Saturday I'll be at Harmony Hall doing a Historical Demo. I need to find my copy of Flitting Fingers. I also need to check my clothes. I know where my c. 1810 outfit is but it desperately needs ironing (& maybe some febreze due to a laundry room accident). I need to know where my 1780ish outfit is, too. I should wear that; it's just so warm.

clothes: turquoise skirt (tiered, cotton), lighter turquoise net/crochet sweater over poly shell, black ballet slip-ons, moonstone ring, hematite ring, rainbow moonstone pendant but forgot the earrings. Hair is loose because I just didn't want to bother.

cold: Thanks to the fact that I'm sick again, I've had to cancel my platelet donation on Friday. That really bums me out. Yesterday I started coughing, too, a wet, hacking one.

dream: One of the things I dreamed about, I was in bed but I could see a road. The road was very wet, with standing water. I saw two police cars headed towards me & a small car away from me. For some reason, the departing car, with 3 young men in it, was going over the line, in a zig-zag. I remember thinking that they must be doing it to avoid the standing water, and just as they passed the 1st police car they hydroplaned right into the 2nd police car, almost a 't'. It went out of control and hit the 1st one, pretty much destroying it. The small car came to a stop on the side of the road, maybe after rolling. The policemen were not happy with the three young men. I came forward, a little reluctantly I admit, and told them what I saw.

One of the other dreams, involved Rosemary explaining to David R about a recent Living Greyhawk game that we'd played. It was part of a larger storyline and the recent adventure involved saving the lives of the leaders of X (I don't remember what). We didn't like the leader but we did like his 2nd in command (& successor). Unfortunately, we couldn't save one without the other. Chris was adding that there was a whole...mythology (he meant backstory) to it. Rosemary was trying to explain without going into so many details that it would bore David. She ended by saying the game was so exciting & tense that she was wound up like Mike (M, in MD).

books: I've tried reading Bridge to Yesterday before. Yesterday I finished it. I don't remember why I stopped reading it the last time. It's a pretty good book. Then I bought & read The Trouble with Witches. It's the 3rd Abby & Ophelia mystery. I'm continuing to read Shelters of Stone but for the commute (& lunch) read I brought Paid Companion to re-read.

clothes: Green/black Harrington steading polo, black slacks, black belt (with silver buckle, I'm finally small enough to wear it again), black knee-highs, black sequin/bead flats, malachite & silver bracelet & ring (which is a little large on me now), black stone ring, quartz point 'feather' pendant on long silver chain, & feather & quartz chip earrings. Hair's in a ponytail for lack of anything better.

bus: I went to the central bus depot but my hat isn't in the lost & found yet. That was a wasted trip. I'll call on Friday & if it's there, I'll get it on Saturday.

books: I finished To Distraction on the way home & started re-reading Diamond Throne.

Tonight I'm meeting my Dad for supper. We're going to a Cracker Barrel on the highway between us. Too bad I'll need gas to get there. Gas is around $2.39 in my neighborhood (at the cheapest). On Friday, I have to be there to supervise the company moving my stuff from storage to the new location. Next Wednesday is my dental appointment & the Friday after that, unless there's a problem, I'll be donating platelets.

clothes: green/black Harrington steading polo, black jeans, black belt (w/ gold tone buckle..again), black socks that won't stay up (they're driving me nuts), black loafers (that are mite too big since I've lost weight, they flop), emerald & gold heart necklace, emerald & gold posts, & black stone ring. I've got my hair loose until I have to go outside. It's too windy not to braid but even in the braid the wind pulls strands loose & it looks messy.

Apex Chemical Fire
Okay, so my only connection (that I know of) to Apex is that it's where one of my family reunions is held. Still, it's not that far from the family farm. Luckily, only 18 people (at last report) have suffered ill effects, unless you include being evacuated.

Platelet donation: went smoothly yesterday. Since I've had time crunch issues in the past, they went ahead & did the faster version, that you apparently cannot do if you've given whole blood within the past 8 weeks. Sure enough, with the yogurt two hours before donation, I didn't even need the Tums. Yay! The movie, Dreamer, had started when I sat down but I didn't feel like watching it. Instead, I meditated, watched it without the earphones, a little. I was proud of myself. I recognized Oded Fehr, even if I couldn't remember his name.

Mutants & Masterminds: The game got started a little late. Between my late arrival and Diana's late, her new job lasts until 8 pm & the game starts at 7 pm. It was her first day on the job & maybe it won't always be until 8 pm. Maybe.

Anyway, we did a little clean up from the last session; raided the villain's secret identity apartment with the police. Of course, it was really a cover & not her home or hide out so only some stolen artwork was found. Although the magic formula letting Green Ronin find Totem's valley & getting her past the valley defenses was a good find. Those went into the Freedom League vaults.

Then we started the next story. It appears that the former warden of the Blackstone prison (supervillains only) has gone a little nuts & has taken Freedom City's mayor, deputy mayor & the senior Federal Judges hostage. Now it appears that maybe it's him & maybe it's not. We had to stop in the middle of the fight; that whole 'have to work the next day' thing.

Today's outfit: I decided to dress up a little; basically because I don't really like the last pair of clean slacks. Anyway, I'm wearing the bead & sequin black flats; navy knee-hi's (which just look dark); black, ribbed, short-sleeved sweater; ankle/floor-length crepe skirt, more-or-less vertically striped, printed to look sort of like zig-zag strips of different fabrics in brown, olive, tan, black, tan, dark teal & burgundy; silver cobra-link bracelet; female figure ring; silver band of flowers ring; silver fairy & flower pendant on silver chain; silver 3-hoop earrings; & my hair is in a bun/ponytail held by a carved, almost purple, wooden hairstick.

Tatting: I managed to fix my error from the other day. It only required completely unwinding one shuttle & one thread winder...twice. Once to unthread the misplaced ring, then again to re-thread it once the missed tatting was completed. Whee!

Mild Rant: Stupid pedometer! It's reset itself. I just don't believe that it only took 85 steps to get from home to the work. Now it's at 60 steps. Grrrr!

Semi wreck
Thanks to the oddities of the bus schedule, I had to drive to work this morning. I'm donating platelets this afternoon at 3pm & the closest the bus comes to delivering me on time is to deliver me at 1:30 pm. And for that, I'd have to leave work at noon. That's just a little much.

I was running a scoche late anyway (stopped to sync my Palm after changing the batteries - I miss my re-chargeable one) but not absurdly so. Then traffic pretty much stopped for 2-3 miles. I thought it was because traffic is just that bad at that time of day. But it turned out to be an overturned tanker semi. The local news still don't have it on their webpage so I don't know if the driver's okay or not. It looked pretty bad but by the time I passed by, there was no ambulance & the doors were off the cab.

I ended up being about 15 minutes late to work. I missed one bus at the park & ride; it left just as I reached it. Another one was coming up just then so I boarded almost immediately. Since I'm not really getting a lunch hour today, maybe a lunch 15 minutes, it's not a real time issue.

Today's outfit: black jeans again, lilac Carolina Renaissance Festival polo, black loafers (tasseled), nude knee-hi's (I'll be glad when the weather settles down to one season), amethyst & silver pendant, same flat rope band, female figure ring & 'stained glass' earrings with a mauve center & blue points. My hair's loose until I get it brushed again.

Tatting: [note: expletives deleted] earrings that I made this weekend have disappeared. They aren't in the bag with the necklace or the bracelet. I finished putting the fastener on the bracelet & fray-checked everything. But it looks like I'm remaking the earrings. They're aren't hard & I think that I still have some beads but it's [expletive deleted] annoying.

Donating Platelets: It takes longer than donating blood but they get twice as much of the good stuff. I am type O+ so I give as often as I can. Things I have learned: 1) drink plenty of fluid beforehand (this means the blood flows well & you donate quicker); 2) eat something (the red blood cells are carrying nutrients & this increases the size of the blood veins, making finding & sticking them easier) & 3) get some calcium into your system. They give you Tums but I hate that taste. The calcium prevents nausea (they use something to help the blood flow that causes that reaction, it's temporary but I get it worse than many people). If I get some yogurt or other high calcium source before I give, I feel a lot better.

It was very hard to drag myself out of bed this morning, despite going to bed on time. Giving blood yesterday may have taken more out of me than I realized. It took 2 hours 20 minutes from leaving lunch to getting back to work. At least 15 minutes would have been cut off if the 1st bus (route U) had not driven off without me. It never really pulled up to the stop but as I stood up & walked to toward it, it pulled away. I thought, at first, that it was simply moving up as another bus left but no, it left. I'm still a little ill about that.

I pulled two more books from my 'maybe keep' stack last night. I read one, I think I will keep it. The other one I brought to work with me this morning. I may read it at lunch, I may work on my Gaelic. I'm almost finished with Jordan's manuscript. I'm in the 2nd appendix. Then I have to make the corrections to the e-copy & send to him. Wheee.

The leather & other supplies for Chris's saddlebags arrived last night. We need to go to Michael's to get some suede lace, they were out. We may also need to get some more grommets, they only sent 2 packs, we ordered 3. Tonight I go by the library to get a leather craft book or two. And I think I'll put Steve's number on speed dial (so to speak). I'm very leery of relying on my 10/20-year-old knowledge of leatherworking. tonight I will also try to copy & cut the pattern out then piece a test bag (with paper or something so it's easy to construct). I want to see how the pieces fit together before I start cutting the leather.

Today's outfit: brown loafers, navy slacks (the pair with a hole), burgundy knit top, spoon ring, both turquoise rings, carnelian ring, turquoise & coral earrings, & hair half-up with brass clip.

Last night Chris went to the awards thing for work. Apparently nothing really happened. I went to bed before 10 so I was asleep by the time he came home & we didn't really have a chance to talk this morning.

Last night I played Beyond Good & Evil for about 2 hours. I made it a lot farther. I got more evidence & survived the spot where I died so often last time. So I've made real progress in the game. I also finished reading the book I bought at lunch yesterday, Almost Like Being in Love by Christina Dodd.

I took TTA again today. As a result I've already finished the book that I'd picked out. It was only 250 pages & I skimmed some scenes, but still. It was a re-read but it's been so long I didn't remember what happened. A Timeless Christmas, an old Harlequin American romance. It's unlike most in that it has a paranormal/time travel storyline. An Indian in Arizona is hung on Christmas Eve, 1894 by "Judge" McAllister. His crime was wanting to marry McAllister's daughter. He appears December 13, 1994 in the courtroom of JoP McAllister, the descendant of the Judge. She's a bit surprised by his appearance but thinks he's just some prospector or the like, who's been out in the sun too long. It's not bad.

Today's outfit: black loafers. black cotton duck skirt (button down the front), silk blouse (long sleeves, flowered print), black tatted necklace & earrings, braid w/ brown elastic, & same rings as yesterday.

I go to give blood today, if my hemogoblin is high enough. Sometimes it isn't. Right now, I need to work on check requests.