So, we've been a little busy......

Looking back over photographs we've taken in the last 18 months (um, we kinda forget to actually take the photographs somewhere to be printed on actual paper....), I realized that June has been quite busy in our little neck of the woods....

First, my nephew got married (he's the dude in the tux and he's standing with my parents and his new wife):


It was a day fraught with *issues* (namely that neither the mother of the groom nor the mother of the bride elected to attend the wedding for what I can only decide are *stupid* reasons), but we did our best to have a lovely day. The weather did co-operate as for weeks previously it had been cold and rainy. The day of the wedding was clear, sunny and pleasantly warm.

Then DS#1 broke his finger - we found out from the dr. that he has an undisplaced fracture - meaning it's broken but luckily nothing has shifted out of place. We're into our 3rd week of having it buddy taped. It's still swollen and sore and he can't do silly things like cut his meat at dinner or open a bottle of water or ride his bike, but we're managing. He'll likely be taped up for at least another week and then he'll need to learn how to use it again.

After that bit of drama, I had to work for a few days, DH had his birthday:


We took him out to a nice restaurant for dinner. Upon hearing it was his birthday, the servers at the restaurant promptly got together, brought out the longhorn hat and got the restaurant to sing him Happy Birthday (DH said the hat was really heavy and very hard to keep from tipping backwards off his head)....

End of the school year craziness set in next and I was busy preparing for the Grade 5 graduation at DS#2's school (he won't graduate until next year, but I always help out preparing for it each year). It was *such* a relief to get to the last day of school. Both boys did well on report cards and much joy was had by all.... :-)

This past weekend had me realizing that I was definitely spending my time in a small town....

How did I know this, you ask? In a word, PoultryFest....

We saw lots of chickens:


We watched the chicken chariot races:

Believe it or not, they actually hook up small chariots (you can't really see them in the picture) to the chickens and release them in lanes. Chickens, being somewhat dim bulbs, don't know what to do and so they walk back and forth looking confused. It's not really a race, but more of a see who might wander down to the other end..... One did make it to the end of the race and escaped the enclosure. Much hilarity ensued as the chicken made his bid for freedom whislt at least a dozen people made attempts to catch him. I was rooting for the chicken, but sadly he was recaptured and hooked up to his chariot for the second heat.....

Later in the day we watched the Egg Drop:


If you look carefully, you can see a dude in a cherry picker (it's got the 1-800-RENT-CAT sign on it). He stands up there with a whole lot of eggs. There's a measuring tape so they know how high the cherry picker is. The kids stand beneath the dude in the cherry picker and attempt to catch the eggs as he drops them. If they catch the egg and don't break it, they're in the next round when the cherry picker goes higher. If it breaks (and splats and makes a big mess all over the hapless child), the catcher is eliminated. The winner caught an egg from 39ft. up. It's quite funny to watch the kids try to catch the egg. They do the same thing with adults too, but we didn't stay to watch that.

Poultryfest is a really great family event - all the inflatable stuff you can see in the background is completely free - and DS#2 made good use of it all. There were all kinds of climbing structures and slides.... There was a tractor pull and an antique and classic car show as well. You could spend the day there and not part with a penny. We however, did buy food and drinks while there but even that was reasonably priced. It was a lot of fun and I'm glad we went.

On the stitching front, I'm still plugging away at models. One is almost done, the other I still need to pull DMC for (generally designers do provide the DMC, but I asked not to for the second model because I have so darned much of the stuff here! ).... I haven't picked up a single project for myself, beyond another attempt at knitting a sock with a heel. Attempt #1 was comical - I discovered after turning the heel that I was knitting in two different sizes - I started off knitting for size small, then switched to medium and then went back to small again. So, if you've got really wierd feet, I would have had the perfect sock.... Being human, they wouldn't have fit me, so I frogged the whole thing and am working my way through again, but in the correct size this time. Cross your fingers that I keep one size through the whole sock....

I'm off to prepare for a Canada Day BBQ tomorrow. If you're Canadian, Happy Canada Day! If you're not, Happy Canada Day anyway........and an early Happy 4th of July to all those Americans out there!

Are we jinxed?

I'm starting to wonder if there's some kind of finger-injury hex hanging over our house....

DS#1 was picked up from school on Wednesday afternoon because he'd hurt his finger. Apparently, when in a group, 12-year-old boys act like idiots (not a real surprise, but anyway...). They were 'playing' (notice the quotes) tug-of-war with DS#1's hat (why, I'll never know). Somehow it involved yanking things so hard, that DS#1's ring finger on his right hand swelled up like an over-stuffed sausage.....

Advil, x-rays and a few hours later left him with his finger buddy-taped to its neighbour and admonishions to keep it immobile as much as possible.

Dr. called yesterday afternoon. It's not just bashed to death, but is, in fact, broken. Two weeks of taping, then more X-rays. Much pain all around.

DS#1, however, is enjoying the idea of not having to write anything for the next two weeks.

So, whoever cast the finger jinx on my house, could you please lift it??????

(My finger is much improved, although still swollen and hurts when touched or moved too much.)

Sorry for no pictures today - I'm working on the first of two models, so I can't show anything. The first model is going really fast - it's small so hopefully it'll be done in a week or two at most.

I'm going to go look up a finger-injuring repel spell or something.....

Off to find my research books ( :-) ), then proofread the Summer issue of ANPT!

I filled out a very important form this morning....

After waiting countless years for this, today I have applied to finally get my birth information. I have been waiting over 15 years to find this information. I have already found out most info through other means, but now I can get my original birth registration that will contain my birth parents names. This is a good day that is a long time coming. I'm only sorry that this legislation has taken just long enough that both of my birth parents are dead and I will never be able to meet them. Still, for other adoptees perhaps they will finally be able to come full circle and close the hole that is left by a closed adoption.

Finger still hurts like heck, stitching is possible, but slow. And doesn't it just figure that I've got *another* model coming right away too? Nothing for months and then all of a sudden everyone wants me at the same time.....

Ow

I've discovered the hard way that washing machines bite. Without provocation either. I was just asking it to wash some clothes. Look what it did to my pinky....


It's going all black and hurts like heck. The lid slammed down unexpectedly when I reached into the laundry basket to grab some clothes for the washer to wash. I never would have dreamed something so minor could hurt so bloody much! (pardon my french!)

I wouldn't mind so much, except......a new model arrived for stitching on Friday. I blame my pinky problem partially on the new model - the previous stitcher was unable to complete it because of a family emergency. Now it looks like I've broken my pinky (or given it one heck of a whack, at any rate).

*sigh*

On a happier note, whilst folding laundry one-handed, I had gotten up to retrieve more items from the dryer (it doesn't bite) and returned to my folding spot to find this:


Apparently DS#1's unmentionables make a most queenly bed. Serves me right for leaving them in such a comfy spot, I guess.

I'm off to see if I can manage to stitch a bit. Thankfully I'm right handed, so I should be able to manage. It's taken a dreadfully long time to type all this....

Ice. Need Ice. Need Advil. Need to kick washer.

Okay, I'm done being a baby now.

Yikes!

Has it really been over a month since I last posted? I hadn't noticed how time has been speeding by me. Although, to be fair, I've spent most of the last month sicker than a dog, so my perception of time is likely off....

May has been quite a busy month work-wise as I've been doing lots of workshops for Scientists in School. Just last week I finished the 9th workshop in a row of my newest workshop that is for Kindergarten students. It's called 'There's No Place Like Home' and is all about animal habitats. I really enjoy this workshop, although I feel sorry for the little guys and gals - they've got to listen to me sing. Trust me, it's not something for the faint of heart to listen to! Thankfully those in the 3 to 5 year old range are quite forgiving. (although perhaps I got payback at a different school when one little boy tossed his cookies all over my tablecloth, magnifying glass and himself... Ew!)

Because I've been so ill, I haven't stitched much, although I'm pleased to say that my mystery project for my blogaversary (sp?) winner has turned out quite well in the finishing department. Now that work has calmed down a bit and I'm no longer drowning in my own mucus, I should get that out the door shortly. Although I'm having a serious debate about another little thing I stitched up. I'm thinking of finish-finishing that and adding it to the package. Hmmmmm.....

I did manage to start a new project while I've been sick. This has been sitting in my 'must-stitch-it' pile for a while, but I was struggling with just what fabric and fibre to use. While stash rummaging, I tripped over a piece of fabric I love and had forgotten about at the bottom of the pile. My next trip to the LNS found a fibre I was quite happy to have jumping into my hands, and well, check out the result for yourself.....


Yes, I've fallen into the Cirque des Cercles need. I've loved this piece since the first time I saw it. It stitches up surprisingly fast too. I'm stitching it on a 28-count opalescent lugana that is a lovely golden tone (it really doesn't photograph worth a darn!) with a DMC colour variations. I'd tell you the number, but it's upstairs, I'm in the basement and I'm not up to the trek of the stairs again just yet. (this being sick thing has messed with my stamina something fierce!) I'm in love, love, love.......

The other accomplishment that I'm basking in at the moment is the gardens at my DS#2's school. A few years ago a bunch of volunteers and I got together to dig up the never-ending-bed-of-weeds and try to make the gardens a thing of beauty. This year we're starting to see some results! Here's a few pictures of just what's blooming right now:


This is just one little clump of columbine that I planted last summer. I got the plants off a clearance table at one of those grocery store nurseries that pop up every year. I don't think I paid more than 50 cents for the plant. I think it's paying me off quite handily!


This clump of irises was actually salvaged from the great weed-a-thon when we first started this project. We found tons and tons of iris tubers in the garden beds so we rescued them from neglect and made their home a happier place. Again, I think they're paying me back in large quantities. I've never seen yellow irises with purple tips before. They're quite stunning IRL.

Here's a picture of just a portion of the flower bed (there's more around a corner that I couldn't squeeze into the photo and two small raised beds that surround a couple of trees):


Isn't it tremendous what a bunch of people can do when they work together? At one point, the weeds were as tall as the irises. The previous solution was to hack at them with a weed-whacker and call it done. In all the years I've been going to this school (almost 10 years now), this is the first time I've ever seen these irises. If I hadn't dug up and found the tubers myself, I wouldn't have believed them to be there.

Now I just have to figure out how to stop the person or persons who last summer, dug up 2 day lilies and at least a dozen rubekia and black-eyed susans and TOOK THEM. The only thing they left were holes where the plants had been. The audacity of some folks never ceases. But that's a rant for another day!

I'm off to stitch - I don't have to work for two whole weeks!

See what happens when one project frustrates me?


5 dishcloths later (yes, I know, they need their ends sewn in and some washing and blocking) and I figured I was ready to get back to some stitching. My gift project was still glowering at me from a corner, so first I went off and finished this:

Damsel's Dozen by Dragon Dreams
Stitched on stitchband with recommended fibres

This was a class piece from almost 3 festivals ago. I actually would have finished this many weeks ago had it not been for the fact that I ran out of the Waterlilies used in the piece. It required a trip to the LNS to find appropriate fibres to finish it off.

I still couldn't face my gift project and developed a horrible urge to do some canvaswork, so this little kit came out to play:

Braque by Kick Back & Stitch
Stitched on 18-count mono canvas
with recommended Waterlilies, Kreiniks and assorted Rainbow Gallery fibres

I had purchased this piece all kitted up some time ago but it languished in my stitching basket, mostly because I didn't have the right size stretcher bars (smaller than 8"x8" seems to not exist in my voluminous stash for some reason....). The above-mentioned trip to the LNS rectified that situation handily. Unfortunately, all was not well as I ran out of one of the Kreinik fibres a mere 8 stitches before completion. Hence the LNS saw my face again (they really like me there now....or they're too polite to say otherwise!).

While on my second trip to the LNS, I proceeded to kit up another piece by Kick Back & Stitch - one of the Octagon pieces. I fully intended to come home and commence working on it (it's all done in pretty purples and greens), but alas the Waterlilies was against me and was out of stock. So, there's another trip to the LNS in my future. I think my van can find it on its own now....

Being the champion procrastinator that I am, I thought it was time to do a little finishing, especially since the zillion-pound sewing machine had been hauled downstairs to repair the boys' gym clothes bags anyway. So, I put these things together:


Now, I still need to attach the cording and hangers to everything, but they're all stuffed and closed which is an accomplishment in and of itself. It's definitely a move in the right direction since some of those ornaments have been sitting in my do-something-with-me pile for a good 2 or 3 years. Also for the first time I tried out closing things with a ladder stitch - something heretofore untried in this house. I liked it for ease of closing and I'm sure I'll use it again.

In my continuing effort to avoid the project making me pull my hair out, I thought it was time to get back to my friend, The Big Grey Blob (or Nantucket Rose, IRL):


She's trucking along at her own happy little pace. She's really quite pretty IRL but doesn't photograph well. I think once something besides grey gets added it'll look better.

A few days ago I caught my kitties pretending to be an endless loop of fur, so I had to take a picture:


If it weren't for the ears, it'd be hard to tell who is who!

Oh and my gift project? Thanks to my suddenly remembering the benefits of magnification, I sat down with a fresh bit of fabric, my magnifier and a strong desire to stitch. The result? Well, I can't show you that just yet. All I can say is, it's finished. It's pretty. It just need to head to my finishing suite (aka the basement craft room) to be made into something I hope becomes pretty spectacular.

Not a bad two weeks, huh? And I even worked for 4 days straight in there too!

I'm off to the Spring CreativFestival tomorrow with my stitching partner in crime. Who knows what we'll get up to?

AAARRRGGGHHH!

Do you ever have one of *those* projects that no matter how nice to speak to it, or how nice you treat it, all it wants to do is play with the frogs? So far, I've started it. Three times. Three separate times. Over one. On 32-ct. Someone shoot me.

It wouldn't be so bad, but I'm stitching a gift. The project won't listen. I fear this project may never get finished at this rate.

Phooey.

I'm going to have to pick up something else for a little while. Maybe it'll make my other project jealous so it'll behave. *sigh* I know! I'll start knitting. That oughta do it. Where are my knitting needles again?