Still staying at home

Heavy storm hit this afternoon and an online friend asked for a video. But they were too large to upload to the site in question, so I'm putting them at the bottom of this post. Take your pick.

I made fingerless mitts and a headband/earwarmer to match my cape. The headband isn't done; I haven't affixed the braid.

The mitts don't exactly match; the downside of long run variegated/ombre yarn.

I also made these mitts (too small for the original recipient, but a friend has a teen who wants them).

Played around with this edging. I think I might like it better with dark green instead of the pale green/tan.

The 1st cotton yarn trivet/hot pad is my attempt at a 10-stitch blanket; it works great as a trivet

 This is deliberately a trivet/hot pad. The yarn I plied from 2 strands of cotton worsted; one yarn ombre white and blue, the other solid blue. I ran out, so I plied some more, using navy with an ombre navy/white.

I made some masks. These are the same mask; machine sewn. Below are the masks I hand sewed, including a bit of metallic thread lace I added to one.

 Oh, I finished the feather and fan scarf. I ran out of black (as I mentioned), so I ended with red.

I finished the tatting on this bracelet, now to block it, trim the thread ends, and add fasteners.
Rain

Yep, It's Summer

The weather is hot, humid, and subject to afternoon thunderstorms. I'm wearing my crocs so if I do get caught in the rain, I won't ruin my shoes.

I'm still reading Blue Rose. I'm into the world description, now.

CD's mom found this for me. I think they're c. 1950 or older.

My stepmom asked me to make some red, white, and blue tatted bouquets for her. I think for her auxiliary group? She didn't tell me but she wants 20, in her hands by July 7th. I figure if I got them done by the 30th and in the mail that day, they should get to her in time. I currently have 19 done.

I went to a friend's anniversary party on Saturday. It was supposed to be at a picnic area, but thunderstorms drove us indoors. It was a lovely time and this is the cake. Isn't it just gorgeous? I forgot to note the name of the bakery.

Sunday was the Tri'tatters meeting. There were only five of us. That's probably connected to it being Fathers' Day. I was late ordering Dad's present so he'll get it this week, hopefully.

Friday, I went to the UNC and the Great War exhibit at the Wilson Library at UNC-CH. I only took a few pictures. I think the trim here is crochet.

They had an interactive kiosk. It played music and speeches.

Look, nature.

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.

Missed a Landmark

Missed my 1001st post last week. Oh well, no one else noticed either, right?

See the grass? Look carefully, there are two dandelions. One is in bloom and one has gone to seed. In mid-January, that's winter in the South (US).

dandelions

Simple with Ruffles shawl

I finished my shawl this past weekend. The only thing left to do is a bit of blocking. The points don't actually match, due to cast on/cast off discrepancy. It's on my part, not the designer.

It was too overcast to get a good picture, but here's the one I managed. I still have about half a skein left. I've started making a small plush cat, but C suggested I make wristbands/bracers to match the shawl. Good idea, I think.

These birds filled the tree outside my office the other day. I'm not sure what they are but they don't look like the usual winter visitors.

This is another page from my coloring page of the day. I've done 2 pages now.

Warning! Politics ahead!
I am the anti-thesis of a Trump supporter. I don't believe he's competent to lead the US and has multiple conflicts of interest. His election has made white supremacists confident enough to come out of the woodwork, along with Nazis (who are calling themselves alt-right now). Most of his cabinet nominees are obscenely wealthy and have direct conflict of interests with the department they are supposed to be leading (Pudzer as Sec'y of Labor? Convicted of wage theft, discrimination, etc; DeVos for Sec'y of Education? Involved with for-profit education businesses; Sec'y of Interior? Sued EPA for doing their job; Mulchnim for Sec'y of Finance? Sold mortgage company right before it was investigated for mortgage fraud). The closest I've seen is that Ben Carson (Housing) doesn't have any experience, but has never convicted of anything housing related (ie not a slum lord, mortgage scam artist, etc). Dept of Defense secretary is former military, which is sometimes iffy, but not outright OMG WTF.

I stand with the Women of Color, People of Color, Immigrants, LGBTQ, and other people negatively affected by the current regime.

Interesting day; in several ways. I hit the snooze bar (stayed up too late listening to music & playing computer games) and then slept half ah hour instead of 9 minutes. I got out the door, barely in time. I did make it to catch the bus without having to run.

Alas, my efforts were in vain. I caught the bus & the bus got caught in a traffic jam. Apparently there was an accident & we were delayed, um I'd estimate 25 minutes. Since my boss had seen the accident on the way into work himself he knew that I'd be late.

books: I finished ready An Oblique Approach from the Baen library last night and finished Magic Lost, Trouble Found on the way to work. I read the 3rd volume of Wallflower at lunch & started String of Lies. I started re-reading Marriage Spell for my bedside book last night.

I started watching tv last night, realized that there was nothing on that I was in the mood to watch & just shut it off. Listening to music on my laptop (from my cds) was nice. I had a nice supper of leftovers. I should have looked over my Mutants & Masterminds character, Totem, though. I'll try & do that tonight.

Chris is going to be late, working. So I'll start supper and we can eat as soon as he gets home. I'll also need to finish my laundry. I got the load of jeans & towels done last night but only put in the white/delicates this morning.

I finally clipped my nails, too. After the right thumbnail pretty much shredded, I decided that I needed to do some clipping so I could control how short my nails got; instead of tearing them off at the quick.

Another cool day; I'm hoping for more rain. There were leaves on the sidewalk today. I think it's not solely from the shorter days & the cooler temperatures (it's only down into the 50's after all), I think that the drought is partially responsible. I fear that the autumnal colors will be subdued this year.

sight of the day: some really huge honking mushrooms in one of the planters. Apparently, the groundskeepers have watered the rosemary & mint there enough to encourage some beautifully large fungus.

clothes: ~slippers, black jeans & polo, tatted necklace & earrings, black stone ring, black glass bead bracelet, clip watch, & hair up in ponytail/bun, held with reddish wood hairstick.