Has it really been 2 weeks?

 Events:

I volunteered at a charity golf tournament. And I saw a heron.

 

Hurricane Helene hit North Carolina.

I finished tatting the carnation.

Another of my aunts died (this morning). 

I tatted an ornament for competition. 

Went to Greensboro to celebrate my Dad's birthday (belatedly). 

I volunteered to be a pirate on Talk Like a Pirate Day at the Emergency Preparedness Event (to attract attention and hand out cards with a link on emergency planning website). That's professional make up by the way, marred by wearing glasses as I ate lunch.

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.

Post Time Change malaise

Not to mention post-election malaise. I didn't support Trump (want to know why, check Politifact.com and Snopes.com) and now, thanks to the Electoral College mess, we're stuck with him for 4 years. Unless of course, he gets impeached because he's found guilty in one of the fraud cases he's involved in (I don't know how the civil case involving the accusation of rape of a 13-year old would affect him). Then we're stuck with Pence. A man who accepted being Trump's running mate, which says volumes about him.

My only consolation is that he didn't win the popular vote, so most voters opposed him. But when I check my social media on Wednesday and one friend is working on a 'safety plan' because she fears for her life (because she's one of the demonized marginalized groups) and another asks her husband not to wear the symbol of their membership of another marginalized group, well, I turned off my social media. I just kept crying and it's hard to do my job. As it is, I had an absolutely lovely migraine last night.

Oh, and the gubernatorial race is so close we don't know who won yet. And while HB2 nailed the coffin on McRory for me, I made my decision not to vote for him when he broke a post-election promise. The one promise that made me go 'okay, I'll give him a chance and see how he does.' I remember the days when not-my-candidate-wins meant a sigh and a 'well, the things I think are important aren't going to get attention for the next 4 years,' not fear. If McRory wins, I'll grit my teeth and gripe, but at least he (and his adherents) don't make me literally afraid.

Add to that, one of my beloved friends died on Monday and I found out on Tuesday. The funeral's on Friday and I won't be able to make it. And one of my student's is going to his grandmother's funeral on Friday. I've been using my coloring book stress relief hard.

I made a quick trip to see Mom on Sunday. I brought her a few things she's been wanting (emery boards, etc). It was a very short visit, but still.

I also stopped by to check on Carry's sheep. She was out of town and her usual sheep checkers were also out of town. I just gave them their supplemented feed and topped their water.

I wrote and mailed letters to the usual suspects (aunts, uncle, etc). Plus, I did some editing for a friend and wrote a couple short game entries. 

I would have included a couple pictures, but haven't managed to download them from my iPad.

I Am Teary-Eyed

Sir Terry Pratchett died today. We lost Leonard Nimoy and that was a blow. But I've read most of Pratchett's books, over and over. He spoke to me and he was a part of my life in a way no actor, no matter how gifted an individual, can be. We lost my grandmother to Alzheimer's and years later she died. I read a book on Alzheimer's and it was a good book, just hard to read sometimes. That creates an extra resonance to his death.

My cold pretty much wiped out my productivity. I haven't done anything with the baby booties since the tatting meetings. I tried to make a cross for a friend's sick mother. Here's a tip, if you are making alterations to a pattern, note those changes on a copy of the pattern. This tip brought to you by the fact that three-armed crosses are not a thing.

I thought I was caught up on my correspondence yesterday. Then I found two more letters which need replies. I feel bad because based on where I found them, I had planned to reply to them before the others I wrote early this week.

My copy of Night Witches arrived this week. I will be taking it to gaming tonight. DR and SR (no relation) both want to see it. And funny enough, I'll be having lunch with the designer tomorrow. We work really close to each other, it turns out.

It's a short wall of text this week. Sorry.

Look Ma! A Post!

Oh look, it's a post (see the additional picture at the end, added after Jane's comment)

Did you have a good ritual turkey day? I did. It was pretty quiet, ending with supper at my SO's parents' house. I spent Friday and Saturday playing Pathfinder games with friends. Well, Friday I ran a game and Saturday I played. Both games were sanctioned modules. For those of you not up on shared world RPG campaigns, that means they are published adventures that the game coordinators allow to count as part of the campaign.

And if you understood none of that. Don't worry, you don't have to. Just accept they were really long games.

I've been tatting a bracelet or two. And I made some butterflies for a co-worker (distantly) who is going into the hospital. Next to last time I saw her, she requested some for her hospital room but she didn't say how many. I tatted a shuttle plus worth and gave them to her the last time I saw her. I don't think she was expecting the number I handed her.

bracelet and ~matching earrings

I've been wanting to use that center bead for ages

 Oh, and I finished the hanky for my friend.

A good friend's mother died a couple weeks ago. It was both sudden, and not. She hasn't been in truly good health in some time, but still, I didn't think she was that sick. She took a turn for a worse, went into the hospital and passed quietly. This was right about the time I had a horrid cold and didn't dare visit. I haven't been able to be there for my friend like I would have liked to.

I have to give high props to zinc tablets. My coworkers, as a welcome-back-from-vacation present gave me a nasty cold. The sinus drainage started late Tuesday and I was miserable by Wednesday. I went to work anyway, because I had a training to go to. I started the zinc that night, canceled my plans for Wednesday and Thursday, called in sick on Thursday and kept my plans not to go to work on Friday. I canceled my plans to see my mom and sat around for three days, taking zinc and resting. By Saturday night, I was mostly recovered. I kept my Sunday plans and was back to work on Monday. I tried to catch another cold and fended it off with more zinc.

I managed to work another day in the community garden. Turning compost is a real workout, fyi. I have pictures! I took some and the director asked me to take more. She has a really nice camera. I took pictures of it, too. 

Uncovered bed

covered beds

compost piles

 We went to Savanna Georgia for a week. Here's a tip; if you go eat lunch at The Wilkes House, do not make supper plans. You might be able to manage a light snack later in the evening, but that's all. We visited Fort Jackson, the Railroad Museum, a few of the squares, River Walk, City Market, took a trolley tour and a ghost tour. May I say, Sorrel-Weed house? One of the creepiest places I've ever been.

Fort Jackson (designed by a West Point graduate from Wilmington NC)

It's a cannon!

spotted this fellow as we were leaving the fort

What a lovely thing to put under the stairs

Me and Johnny Mercer

Cotton Exchange, classic shot

Stationery steam engine

It's a train engine

Sorrel-Weed House: I have no idea what that pale spot is

I think it's a teenage ninja mutant turtle

And the cape I bought when the daytime temps stayed in the 50s with a cold wind