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.

Happy Memorial Day (US)

It's not really a happy holiday, but it is a good time to recognize the sacrifice of men and women in uniform and their families. I hope you took at least a few minutes to remember them.

No Deadlands game this week, the GM had tickets to a showing of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me and for some reason he felt that was more important. Poozer. (joking of course)

Saturday was a meeting of our local tatters. I showed Rosemary (one day I should learn her last name) how to tat with beads. She's working her way through Kay Judt's book of stars. I also brought a box of thread to share (thanks, Stephanie). There were balls of size 10 and size 80.

On Sunday, C had a pie class. He brought home sample of his strawberry-rhubarb pie and it was delicious. I hope he makes it again. After that, we dropped off a bag to Goodwill, some books to sell at a UBS, and finished emptying my Saturn. I had forgotten to empty the glove compartment. No one keeps gloves there anymore, did you notice?

One of the errand we ran was to try and get my purse fixed. It's a teardrop purse, cross body sling, of leather and nylon. It's an excellent bag but the back of the strap is nylon and wearing to pieces. The guy took one look and said, 'nope, can't do anything with this.' I think he could have, if he had asked what I wanted him to do. I didn't expect him to replace that lining, I wanted him to sew leather over it. Ah well. I have sewn fabric over it and hopefully that will work. (pictures to be added later)

Monday, C and I went by Jo-Anne's so he could buy my birthday present. He bought me a new pair of embroidery scissors. They didn't have exactly what I wanted and if I hadn't gone with him, he would have had no idea what to get for me.

For supper, we met some friends at Casa San Carlo. I had wanted sushi but the sushi place was closed. It's not exactly a hardship to go to Casa San Carlo instead. I had the blue crab ravioli again. And for appetizers we had escargot and the fried mozzarella. By getting leftovers, I had enough room for a slice of the orange patron cake. So. Very. Good. RG had my birthday presents; a copy of How to Get Dressed, Mer World Problems (coloring book), and a corner paper punch. She did very well, didn't she. The funny thing is, they arrived at her house while I was visiting her. She had paid for all 3 to be gift wrapped but only two of them were. I had to plug my ears and hum while she called customer service to get a refund. They handled it quickly and well, at least. But they taped the wrapping to the book. SACRILEGE!

DR gave me a gift certificate to B and N. Hmm, books, how did he know?

Today, my co-workers took me out for lunch and my supervisor brought in chocolate cake. I brought half of it home.

Lots of links and some pictures

Ouch, sad blast from the past. I was checking my email address book and saw the address of a deceased friend. Sudden, sad reminder of the fact that he's not on this plane anymore.

Oooh, contest to win books and stuff from Smart Bitches, Trashy Books.

This is an incredible idea and shows what two people can do and how they can change the lives of other people; one stove at a time.

Some geek soaps and stuff. Personally, I love the d20 soap on a rope.

Hey they have School House Rock on YouTube. Here's My Hero, Zero.

Chatty DM has a thoughtful and reasoned editorial about traitors in the geek population.
And another great editorial on racism in sci fi/fantasy. Take your time. Read the editorial and the links. It's worth it.

And here's before and after pictures of a bench.

BEFORE

A

AFTER

T

The bench as a whole

And here's my loot. First is one of the bags from dragonchow. It's stuffed full of sugarfree hard candies, to fight the drying effects of the pollen.

And here are the threads from LadyShuttleMaker. They are Plum Tickled, Raspberry Mousse, and Marina. All of them are size 20 cotton. You can see why I'm drooling, can't you.

Chris's back: The chiropractor gave Chris this brochure about everything that chiropractors can affect. Among other things, like cold feet (?), sinus problems were included. Giving it a shot, Chris told him about the mucus problem that he's had since 8th grade. The guy nodded, probed Chris's neck, found the key spot, then popped Chris's neck (very scary, this guy has your head in his hands & he's set up so that he can break your neck, why does no movie every use a chiropractor assassin?). By the time Chris had walked to the therapy room, his sinuses had started clearing.

Last night I helped him stretch. It was simple leg stretches. I remember doing those in fencing. That plus the ice packs twice a day are supposed to really help. So far, so good.

site of the day: Light a virtual candle for homeless youth in America

Gaming: Last night I went to a local game store to play the 2nd Blackmoor intro mod. I already had my character pretty much done, except for all of her equipment (Peshwah ne Dene am Brialta. Good thing, too. We were playing at a local gaming store, which I had been to before, I just hadn't driven there myself. Before I left work yesterday, I looked up directions on how to get there. It was easy, just 3 turns & the 1st one was a 'gimmee'.

I rushed home, ate a quick microwave meal, gathered my game stuff & my laptop, then headed out the door. Realizing as I made that 1st key turn, that I had forgotten to include a mini. At least I had dice. It's after dark but I remember that the 2nd turn was at a stoplight so I didn't have to read every street sign that I passed. I'm not sure exactly where I went, but I saw this one road at least 4 times. I finally managed to get back on the 1st road to look for that 2nd turn from the other direction when I see it. A sign saying "Archdale" to the left. That's the road I was looking for. But I need to turn right. Ahhhh, mapquest had not kept up. The road name had changed. Once I had that key info, I found the store pretty easily. I was only um, 15 to 30 minutes late. Luckily, everyone else (except Joe) were still in the process of making their characters. Mandy, the only other woman at the table, sympathized with me on the road thing. She had had the exact same experience the first time she had driven to the store.

Tatting: I got farther along on that variegated red bookmark. It's not easy gaming, taking notes & tatting & I fear that the tatting suffered. I did not get very far. This morning, on the bus, I managed to get another flower done. I think that puts me at halfway. I think.

Alas, after I stopped for my morning soda, as I reached to the door to my building, I could see in the reflection in the glass that my ball of thread was missing. I looked back, yes, I was trailing red thread. I backtracked & there's was the ball, happily unwinding as the pedestrian who'd (unknowingly, I hope) caught his foot in the thread was dragging it along. I grabbed the ball & started winding. Red heart thread is pretty but it has a %!*@# of a twist to it. I was worried about knotting it and just started winding the whole twisted mess onto the ball. First thing I did when I got to my desk (after taking off my coat & scarf of course) was untangle the ball & get it rewound. I had a considerable amount of thread to wind, alas.

new online thread source: Knitting warehouse

books: I dipped into re-reading part of Light & Shadow by Krentz. I was going to pack it & Thraxas (a loaned book as it's apparently out of print) for my workday read but forgot.

clothes: newly repaired shoes (okay, since Saturday, but that should still qualify as new), black jeans, same belt & watch, same hairstyle, same hematite band, ~rope band, Celtic knot ring, Celtic knot earrings, triangle pendant with triskele and burgundy turtleneck.

Saturday's oufit: Ironclaw t-shirt & jeans
Sunday's outfit: Celtic tree t-shirt & shorts
Monday's oufit: Dendarii covert ops polo & plaid crinkle gauze skirt
Tuesday's outfit: Vorkosigan polo & black slacks
Today's outfit: blue knit shirt & multi-colored gauze skirt

I've done over 22" on the white lace. Last night I started some ecru in the same pattern for Anitra. I'm going to make enough to put on the top of her apron. I've already done about 3" or so & I only need 8-9".

I finally fixed my fanny pack. I went to Jo-Ann's last night to get the buckles, thread, & to price canvas. They also have linen, a possibility for a new chemise for October. I got all the way out to the car before I remembered that I was also going to look for ecru thread in size 80. They had it. They also had red, green, white & variegated pastel. The red's on sale for a $1. They are apparently discontinuing it.