It's Been Hot

Last Wednesday was the garden meeting at 8 am. I'm parking somewhere new, thanks to my Park and Ride lot's policy changes (only park 6 am - 6 pm). I was earlier than I needed to be because I was so worried about being late. Most of the advisory board was early, in fact. A couple of the new folks from the Employee Forum made it.

In the afternoon, I had to take a refresher course for work. I found out I needed it the Monday prior. Kind of short notice but there were two locations that were close to me and I took the earlier one.

I'm in a couple games on Storium. One is a superhero game and one is a 7th Sea game. The superhero is based on my Dresden Files sailor. She's a bit unusual because she's a lot older than she looks, because for a time she sailed with the Flying Dutchman.

I went to see Mom on Saturday. It was a grossly hot, so mostly we just hung out. We did go out to eat and hit a thrift shop. Mom found a couple pairs of slacks. However, her phone charger has disappeared. Her phone is dead, now, so I can't even call her.

I had ordered some blouses from Zulily and they arrived Friday and Saturday. One had sleeves that were too small, alas. It's a real shame because it's a cold shoulder one and I really want one.

 But the others fit and look lovely. There's one dress length, one wintry one, two tunic length, and one very thin, white one; I'll need a chemise with that one.  On Monday, I contacted Zulily to see how to return the blouse. Yvette, who talked to me, was lovely. She did everything reasonable (find a larger size, etc) as well as being sympathetic and commiserating with me. She did not do backflips through fiery hoops, but since I wasn't expecting that, I'm very happy with their service.

Palmetto contacted me about being a teacher's aide for two of my classes. I love doing that. I get to do the projects early and I get to help people! <3 a="" and="" at="" by="" couple="" craft="" for="" i="" items="" mom.="" nbsp="" needed="" notecards="" p="" picked="" projects.="" some="" store="" the="" up="" went="" while="" yarn="">
I had to walk to a lunch meeting today. With the recent hot weather, I was dreading it. However, the temp was only around 90 and it felt comparatively cool. If I had been sitting in the shade, with a bit of breeze, I would have been quite comfortable.

the bracelet I mentioned last week

packing string kumihimo

pollinators pollinating

 growing pepper

Aftermath (Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival) - picture heavy

Autumn Breeze and I had our date night Tuesday and we decided what to do for our trip. She's been the recipient of some culls and purges recently so she wasn't looking for much. Still, it's a good idea to get an idea of trends, etc.

it's a caterpillar, very fuzzy

Thursday, the Deadlands GM revealed he thinks we're coming to the end of the game. He's not certain how many sessions, somewhere between 2 and 20. The question, what to play next? At this point, he's torn between Dresden Files and Blue Rose. Dresden Files is a Fate game and thanks to the Shadows of the Century game I ran, SR is familiar with it. Blue Rose is a new (to us) system, but it's romantic fantasy (think Mercedes Lackey or Diane Duane or Tamora Pearce).

coloring at lunch

Friday morning, I packed up my clothes, etc. I grabbed my sock loom and a skein of yarn, my Loom Knitting Primer, some tatting supplies, and some coloring pages (in case I had some time to do so). One of my friends called as I was packing and put me half hour behind. Autumn Breeze was running behind, too but we were on the road in a fairly timely manner.

We took secondary highways so it was a scenic trip. I was missing sleep so I took a nap part of the way. And I found out my yarn was the wrong size for the loom, so no knitting. The primer is really good though. Autumn Breeze had given me some red linen thread so I tatted a heart for her. She wants a bracelet from the same thread.

we stopped at a roadside produce store

Saturday, we had breakfast at the hotel and then off to the festival. I had my Ravelry pin but didn't see any names I recognized. It's a big festival after all.
This is where we parked on Saturday.

We were really close the drive/road farthest from the gate.

More scenes from the Festival

his shawl is FAB, he's working on the pattern

There were so many lovely handknits, hand crochets, and woven garments.

shorn alpaca

so cute

French bunnies

sheep!

He has horns

not sure of the breed, but cute

unshorn alpaca

Here are a few purchases; the dk yarn (wool/cotton blend) to use with my sock loom.We ended up spending most of Saturday (in the cold and wet) at the auction. She bought 4 looms, and this is one is with a 2-liter bottle for size comparison. Mom said she wanted to buy something for me, so I got this tunic.

On the way we saw this car. I think it's been in an accident.

And today, this arrived. Yay!

Projects, Websites, and Mom

Maybe it's the season, but I've been looking at clothing websites. There's the legging shop I mentioned in the last post (I ordered a pair from their sample shop to try them). There's also this one, which makes the clothes to measure, when you order them.

Then there's these undersleeves. I really want the jersey ones, the lace ones, and the bell lace ones; in black and ivory, maybe in white. I have at least 2 or 3 sleeveless shirt, a couple cap-sleeves shirts, and one or two dresses that these will work with.

I am working on pendant for my niece (she doesn't read my blog, so it's safe to talk about it). I'm tatting a bezel for a penny minted the year she was born. I have a moleskine 2017 planner for her, too. I'm using Diane's icy drops pattern.

I went to see Mom this past Sunday. It was not a good weather day and the drive back was horrendous. But we went to a used bookstore to get her a new dictionary. Her current one was pitiful; thin and large print. We got her a good one and a couple other books beside. I also delivered her jade plant. I'm still looking for a small aloe plant.

I wrote and mailed my Christmas cards. I don't think I got everyone but it was a good 1st batch. I got all my aunts, my one uncle, my Dad and stepmom, and responded to one card. I have finished much of my shopping. I just have a few things yet to pick up. Either that, or I've forgotten whole swathes of people.

I don't have any new pics to show, sorry. I have pictures of a couple tatting books I want and a business card for a place that might carry tatting supplies in the area. But I'm not sure anyone would find that of great interest.

International Tatting Day

Was Wednesday, April 1st. I had a meeting that morning so I did some tatting there. My edging is going pretty well. The beads can be a bit fiddly as I keep them out of my tatting, until I need them. Too bad this photo washes out the colors.

I've been wearing the new leggings and tights I bought. It's so nice having some variety there.

I had Friday off from work. I had PLANS. Okay, I had three things to do; some cleaning and laundry, mending a skirt, and more work on my edging. I got a load of laundry done. I didn't even get caught up on my recorded shows. And it turns out I'm out of black thread. I bought some on Monday.

Tonight is date night with CC. I think both of us will need to vent.

And for some reason this post did not publish. Sorry, everyone.

March, in like a lamb

Really, yesterday felt like spring. Not even early spring. I didn't bother to wear a jacket and overall the day was just gorgeous.

Mom and I hit the thrift shops when I went to see her. I'm going to two weddings this year and my 'good' dress is black. Pretty, but not suitable. After looking and looking and trying on, we finally found something. Yes, I am a little picky about what I wear to events, just like I'm not picky on day to day wear. The dress we found is blush pink. It's not my favorite color but it looks good on me. The collar has a retro, 1950's look and the dress looks a little like a jacket and skirt. The collar is kind f boat neck and I'll need to check my undergarments. I also need to check my shawls to see what will work with the dress. Jackets won't.

I have a geek code (according to the test I'm 45.94096%)

Are my eyes burning because it stinks?
For the past two days, my office has reeked. It finally faded today but yesterday my eyes were burning all day. Was it because of the aroma?

weather: We've had winter, spring and then winter again today; in 36 hours. If it had gotten just a couple degrees warmer, I would say that we'd had summer too. Tuesday was cold and drizzly. Yesterday was warm (60sF) and very wet. Today started at freezing.

clothes: By the way, just as a tip, don't wear an ankle-length or longer skirt when it's raining. I dragged the hem of my skirt through a puddle on my way home. I could not juggle my umbrella, my bag and my skirt all at the same time. It would not have been so very bad if the wet hem had not dragged over my socks and gotten those damp, too.

reading: I've made it through Nov 07 Shojo Beat, but I can't find the next two issues. I have them, somewhere. I put them up, somewhere. I just have to figure out where. Other than that, I've been re-reading. A lot. It's that whole saving money thing.

tatting: I don't want to talk about my tatting. It is not going well. I have only two weeks left before it needs to be finished. If I had a pattern, I could do it. However, I am unable to go from a dead stop to full speed ahead in that time.

site of the day: spoof of Bay's Batman script *shudder*

Work: the carpet people finished today. If they get my furniture put back together then I'll be moving back into my office today. Too bad I'm not dressed for it.

Clothes: I've worn new shoes for the past two days. Belgarath in the Eddings Belgarion saga wore mismatched shoes. When someone got around to asking why, he said that it was because the toes on the right shoe of that pair pinched while the heel of the other pair rubbed badly. I finally understand that. The right shoe of the pair that I wore on Monday rubbed a blister into my right heel. The left shoe of the pair that I'm wearing today rubbed along the toe joint on my left. I'm going to wear my old shoes tomorrow and I'm going to buy some moleskin. I also need to find some Scotchguard for my new white eyelet flats.

Family: despite a growly stomach and a bad t-storm I went to see Mom on Saturday. We worked on her house, plus worked on emptying a closet. She's thinning her wardrobe, based on the 'I will never wear out all that if I live to be 130 so I might as well get rid of some of it.'

When I came home Sunday night, I went to take a shower. She smokes & I wanted to get the smell out of my hair. Just as I was about to step into it...the power went out. I couldn't lay my hands on matches to light the candles that I keep in the bathroom; so I trotted downstairs to get a flashlight. I took my shower by flash & candle light. Chris was at David's running a Witch Hunter game (that apparently ate the characters & spit them out - it was harsh). I played games on my laptop until the battery got too low, sat around bored for at least 2 minutes. Despite the risks, I decided to go to B&N.

I wrote a note for Chris and then got the bright idea to call David. Chris had already left so I was going to leave a 2nd note for Chris, when the power came back on. *sigh*

Gaming: Mutants & Masterminds on Thursday. I am looking forward to it. I need to beat up something.

Errands run:

• Go by post office to mail Liam's present - not done
• Build-a-bear to get snow leopard - done
• Get padded envelope to mail Mom's present - done
• Ditto for Mitra's - done
• Mail Mom's present & Mitra's present - not done
• Mail Hailey's card - not done
• Apple store to investigate getting new battery - not done
• Laundry - in progress
• Pack for trip - once laundry's done

Today's outfit: I was wearing black shorts & my black 'Warning Mood shift in 5 minutes' t- but it seemed to cool for that. So I changed to blue jeans (not one of my favored pairs), purple 'Fear the 4, Busch Gardens' t-, sandals, dragon pendant, silver fem-figure ring, silver band of flowers ring, & three layer earrings (patterned ~silver upside down teardrop base, brassy patterned crescent moon &amp; coppery elephant on top; small ball hangs from teardrop & tiny coil from crescent). I've just pulled my hair into a ponytail with a navy elastic.

Plush snow leopard: I named her Frivolite, for the French word for tatting. Hey, it's a lovely plush & $1 goes to World Wildlife Fund. And that never sucks.

Tatting update: I ran out of thread on the shuttles while working on the teacup. I did 2 sides & part of the 3rd side before it happened. So I worked on this triangle that I printed out on Friday, in the same variegated blue.

While we were at the mall, I stopped by Sears & picked up a couple of polo shirts. They are lighter weight than most of the ones that I already own. I really wanted a new pair of navy blue slacks or black skirt. No luck there. I found one black skirt that was close, but the bottom 2 layers are unhemmed nylon. Ick.

More Tatting stuff: Wally aka Needledreams has started a Tat-along project. So now I have to decide what I'm going to do. What variant?

1st attempt: failure. The thread is/was an experiment. Result: not entirely suitable for tatting. Thread doesn't slide very well.

Well, what a weekend. Friday night we took Chris's car in to the shop. Since we're taking it to Ohio in 2 weeks, um one week, he's a little paranoid about it & wanted a check up before we left. Then we went home, I heated some chicken nuggets & went to PNO. I arrived about 8:30 but PNO was cut short by a thunderstorm. When I couldn't see the road I stopped at IHOP with some other people & ate some soup until the rain relented enough to see. I made it home about 10 pm.

The next morning we went to Southpoint Mall. Chris needed some new shorts; he also bought some new shirts since they were on sale. The shirts are for work but they didn't have the kind of shorts that he likes, about a 2" inseam. So he had to get some much longer ones;, they reach the tops of his knees. I found a pair of black jeans; they almost fit. As usual they are too big in the waist and a little long, despite being 'short'. Oh well, they mostly fit. We stopped to get something to drink & Chris stopped by the bank. We made it home about 10 minutes after Mom was there. On the bright side, she found it on her own. She left 3 boxes & one bag for me. I need to go through them. She'll stop by & see me on her way back from Jacksonville.

I had to take a nap when we came back but Chris accidentally left me to sleep for 2 hours instead of one. I was that tired. We went & got his car & stopped by Michaels to pick up a hole punch & some lacing. He also found pencils to give one of his co-workers for her birthday. She 'collects' pencils so she'll like them. When we returned home we started working on his saddlebags. We discovered that we have 1 hide, not 2. We cut out the front & back, sides & bottoms of both bags but only got one flap (with the brand on it, circle G) & we'll have to piece the strap. Chris went ahead & ordered more leather yesterday. He ordered Latigo, enough for the strap, the flap(s) & side pockets. Mostly we have scraps left from that one hide plus one bag of scraps to get side pockets, dice pockets, etc.

Saturday's outfit: 16th Annual UNC blood drive t-shirt, dark blue stretch jeans, black loafers & ponytail. I completely skipped jewelry. Sunday I wore my 2004 ShevaCon t-shirt, jeans, my new sandals (grey with beads), and wet hair. Yesterday I wore a white tux shirt, black slacks & loafers, the new black belt my mom left for me, onyx & silver earrings, braided hair held by a black elastic, spoon ring & black onyx (or some stone) ring. Today I'm wearing navy slacks, brown loafers, navy braided belt with leather buckle & tag, blue & white striped light cotton shirt w/ 3/4 length sleeves, dragon jewelry (pendant, earrings, 3 rings - 2 of which are same style in different sizes) & right now my hair is loose.

Sunday we (Chris) experimented with the hole punch & eyelet maker until we learned how to do it & get consistent results. While he worked on the first bag part I started cleaning. I had to vacuum early or we can't vacuum at all. We have to vacuum at least one hour before people show up or it sets off Mike's allergies. We packed up the bag supplies & got ready for gaming. Richard was late. 1) he hurt himself on the ladder in his new garage. The ladder isn't quite tall enough for what he was trying to do. 2) he ran out of gas on the highway. Chris went & took him more gas. So he was only an hour late.

After gaming we were going to get Chinese food but the place we wanted is closed on Sundays. So we went to Chili's across from Southpoint. It was good, I had the guiltless chicken platter & then shared the Molten Chocolate afterward with Chris & Rosemary. Even when we finished eating, we sat outside the restaurant & the five of us talked (Richard went home to Kathy). I had to leave hurriedly as apparently there were onions in the rice. I went to bed early Sunday but was still tired Monday.

Yesterday I learned that I had screwed up a co-worker's raise. It should now be complete & he should get it next pay day, back dated to the day of the raise. So I felt just lovely yesterday. If I had tried I'm not certain I could have felt more out of sorts & depressed. I made it through gaming, barely.

I did manage to get the church newsletter sent out yesterday evening. That's good & I scraped together an article of my own. But there were only 2 other articles, 3 if you include Steve's as 2.

Back to work.

I did not finish packing last night so it's rush home, finish & get on the road to Charlotte. Wish me luck. I did get one bag packed last night, one this morning. The 3rd one is about 1/2 packed. I never did find my usual Ironclaw book, the one that's been so abused that I had to spiral bind it.

Today's outfit: purple, short-sleeved purple blouse (& of course it's the coolest it's been all week, 66F right now), black slacks, black loafers (unlike yesterday's brown ones), amethyst ring, Czech crystal earrings. silver braid band, silver band & short silver chain. I do look nice.

I had to do the stuff in the dryer again this morning. The stuff hanging on the rack was almost dry. Go figure. Of course, the 2 pairs of jeans hadn't dried yet but most of the blouses were fine (including this purple one).

Gotta go.



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This weekends outfits: jeans & assortment of t-shirts, tennis shoes & jewelry assortment.
Yesterday's outfits: black faux-suede slacks, black polo shirt, black loafers, onyx & silver earrings (new pair), mother of pearl & silver pendant, silver band, & braid.
Today's outfit: khaki slacks; Vorkosigan brown acid-washed polo shirt; brown loafers; yellow amber pendant, earrings, rings; silver band & assorted amber bead bracelet, & bun/ponytail w/ curvy 'bone' hairsticks.

The weather apparently decided to skip straight from late winter/early spring into late spring. Today's morning low (62F) was last Wednesday's high. I am not very prepared. I still have all my turtlenecks out. I have to dig out my summer weight blouses, short sleeved shirts & light weight skirts & slacks. I have to pack up my sweaters, turtlenecks & most of my sweatshirts. I can probably keep my vests out. The office has AC and is often chilly in the summer.

I finished The Dreamland Chronicles: In the Net of Dreams, When Dreams Collide & Woman of His Dreams. 3 books in one volume, it was very good. There were a lot of puns & little pokes at classic fanasy & sci fi. Like 'they went to Smith's Dock.' If you've never heard of Doc Smith, that line means nothing. If you have, then you get a quick snigger.

The con was great. I talked to Jill for quite a while again. She's the con organizer's wife & she's really the co-head of the con. I did not get to talk very much to Keith but I did see the people at the Game Griffon again. They have a daughter now! She was a preemie but she's healthy & doing well. I met new people, Darlene & Keith who just moved down from Indiana (they know Doug Wood), owners of the dachsund 'Rogue' & Doug, (friend of Keith B. & Carol) who lives in Hickory, plays the 1/2 orc barbarian Budd. I did not get a chance to use the pool. Chris & Rosemary went Friday evening & I was just too tired. I went to sleep about 9 pm.

Duncan was sick most of the weekend but the pepto bismol helped. He was a very sick little doggy on Saturday though. Rosemary had to walk him every hour & even that wasn't enough. So Chris & I went to Wally world after our games Saturday night (C&R played 'Sterich Burning' while I played the interactive) and got the cleaning supplies & the medicine. He was feeling fine on Sunday when he met Rogue.

Reed died, again, for the 3rd time. Nadia really died but the gm let her be at -9 hp & I made the stabilization roll. That gave other characters time to reach her & heal her. *phew* It was very close. So Nadia leveled to 9th level but Reed is 5th again.

I have got to get a better light in my closet. I swear, this turtleneck was green when I selected it. Seen outside & under florescents, it's obviously teal. Well, my tapestry vest has green. Which is good because my slacks, shoes & hairsticks are black. I'm wearing a set of the hairsticks I bought at Claire's while getting my niece's birthday present earrings. The hairsticks are square, black plastic with dark brown leather decoratively wrapped on the ends. My hair is tied in a knot at my crown with the remainder streaming down in a tail. My jewelry is all silver & white today. I'm wearing the nacre moon & star pendant on the short chain, silver circles band, silver spoon ring, silver flowers band & the 3 rings on french wires earrings. Very circular & flowery, yes?

Chris took me out for ribs last night. I ate a rack of pork ribs, 2.5 potato skins, a small dish of steamed broccoli & a slice of bread and only after I finished did I wonder if perhaps I had eaten a little too much. But I was sooo hungry. When we got home we watched Discovery channel's program on the Roman 7 wonders. We missed number one but number 2 was the aqueducts (I finally found out why some had 2 or 3 rows of arches & some had 1), #3 the Via Appia (Roman roads); the others were the colisseum, Caracalla's baths; the Pantheon, Trajan's marketplace (precursor to the modern mall) & the Circus Maximus. It was fascinating.

I'm still reading Sex in History by Reay Tannahill. I've gotten up to the Romans. Having read this far, I'm going to look for her book Food in History, too. Allen Wold recommended it. I happened to get into a discussion with him, his wife & another woman before things got started at SheVaCon. I would not say that we are friends, but we are acquaintances. His wife used to shop at the Piece Goods where I worked. What this really means, if I remind him, he remembers. Otherwise he doesn't know me from Adam's off ox.

Lunch was pretty good (leftover oven fried chicken, corn & mixed veggies) but I'm still hungry. Wonder if low blood sugar is contributing to my headache (which I still have btw).

Read Mom's letter. She totally misunderstood a question I asked. She also threatened my health if I buy jeans that cost $55-$75. My health is safe, I'm reluctant to pay $20 for jeans. Color me 'I'd rather buy books', not cheap.

If I'm spending that much on clothes it will 1) involve leather, 2) involve gussets or lacing, 3) made of silk or 4) all of the above. I like old-fashioned clothes, like 200 years out of fashion. Though I admit that I don't care for panniers & I'm too inhibited to wear Regency fashions, in public at least.