A tisket a tasket

a big ass basket.  Meander Hill in Youngstown, big flat door basket.  They don't lay perfectly flat and are all a little wonky but I soaked it in water and shaped it.  I like BIG on the doors, not a wimpy wreath.  Still not the one I am looking for which I thought I spotted on Pine Cone Gift Shop's FB post, but I have messaged them for info twice in the past, and never receive an answer.  For now, this will do.  But how do I keep it from scratching the dark paint and leaving those ugly marks?  Usually a piece of felt, of which I have none, so I used a piece of old sweatshirt fleece that is tucked inside and hanging over the back of the basket.  Soft and scratch free.  The high strength magnet can't hold it to the metal door because of the heavy weave.

 

 

And this brat sat there for almost an hour, as if he knew how handsome he looked against the bright leaves.

 

Missy seems to be somewhat improved and so far, no blood has been dripping while administering the liquid antibiotics.

 

And in the mail today, dried oranges for my little tree from Monahan Papers Etsy site here.  Could I make them?  I have.  Do I want to?  No.  Why bother when you get perfectly dried and beautifully colored online?  Simplify.

 

Do you remember the in-store incidents I've had in the past?  Walking into mannequins, mirrored columns, falling in the dressing room?  Here's another tip for you to avoid these unfortunate and embarrassing mishaps.  Always have your purse strap on your arm or shoulder.  Never hold the purse itself and allow the strap to hang loose at your side, unless you are in a wide open aisle with no center displays sporting large hooks holding small items. 

 

Have a good weekend!

 

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Whew!

That was close!  After soaking some gourds for the final cleaning, I realized one took on water.  Just a few tiny holes in the bottom drained the water but Mark suggested putting it in a warm oven to dry the inside thoroughly so it wouldn't mold.  Preheat to 175 and then turn it off.  This morning, I cleaned a few more and stuck them in the oven with the waterlogged one.  The oven stayed warm and then ..... I forgot about them.  Burgers on the grill and fries in the oven, which was preheated to 425 and emitting an odd odor.  OMG!!!  The gourds!!!  Thank goodness for the odor or they would have eventually exploded.  How do I know that?  Back many years ago when I painted santas on them, I threw the very large ones into a burning barrel.  No longer wanting to paint and no shops interested in plain gourds, burning was (still is) my go-to disposal method.  Kaboom baby.  Scared the hell out of me and rocked that metal barrel.  With three of them, might have blown the oven door open.  I must say, they did brown nicely, except for a few rack lines.  I didn't make it to the shop and decided to keep six out of the twenty. 

 

 

 I was holding my breath for the last few days after my preliminary test results were in.  Today, it was stamped Final Results.  I can happily report that gallons of water indeed helped and my kidney function is up.  And I don't remember who it was that suggested drinking water through a straw and I can't tell you how that has helped me.  I have no idea why, but I can suck it down much easier than drinking from a glass.  Thank you thank you!

 

I'm going to take a Tylenol this evening so I can stitch, hope I get a decent amount completed.  I saw Plum Street's Kringle and Woolard on a stitcher's post and think it's adorable.  May have to check into this chart.  I must miss a lot of designs!

 

Hope your week's end spills into a great weekend.

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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Gourd cleanup

How's your week going?  It's November, no need to relay how I'm feeling about that.

Still not right (and may never be) but I am feeling a little better.  Except for the neck and palpitations.  I suspect the Afib is full blown because I actually feel weak when that tap dancing in my chest takes place.  I guess another monitor is in my future.  My arm's pain is affected by more than 15 minutes of stitching so that has slowed down.

I am taking more primitive items to the local shop (donations) and plan to ask if they want my gourd excess.  These I will charge for so maybe they won't want them.  I found a bag in the attic and also a tote in the basement, all in natural state (grunge fest) so I am scraping and then will wash a few for a variety.  Something for everyone from smooth and clean to rough and dirty.

Little girl Missy is sick.  My brother got amoxicillin from his vet for me, it's all respiratory.  I got the dropper into her once yesterday and can not approach her since.  It's cold and rainy and she took off when the door opened.  She's finally back and sleeping with Bud inside.  One way or another I will get her on that table and she will get dosed again.  I can't get on the floor since the fall in Sears.  That reminds me.... the next time I fall and it is because of negligence as the Hubbard hardware store was guilty of, I will take photos and names of those around me.  That bastard would not even pay my co-pays or answer my phone calls after I sent doc reports of not one, but two sprained ankles.  Was not easy walking!  But without evidence except for one employee and two men whose names I don't have, nothing I can do.  I did not intent to sue but next time, I will at least have evidence if I am treated as this owner did.

 

Woody is moving from house to mailbox and over the summer, the corner trim boards suffered extensive damage as did the chimney surround.  The hole into the attic is still covered with the metal sheeting from two years ago and so far, so good.

 

Still waiting for my test results and hoping for the best.

 

Have a good day!

 

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WOODY!!!!

That damn bird is now trying to nest in our mailbox!  We need to find a metal plate for the side, he is almost completely through.  But will that stop Woody Wood****er?  Probably not because he is tearing it up on all sides including the door. 

 

We have sun this morning, blustery winds, and wet leaves covering the yard.  I pounded a long piece of rebar well into the ground and slid the cornstalks over to secure them.  The high winds bent the tops on one but the stalks themselves stayed upright.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You may be growing weary of Mr. Blue by now, but Linda Mckenzie's finishing method for him is something I never thought of, and a great idea for holiday displays.  Hers is on 35/36 count, nice tight coverage.  I asked her if it was OK to share her finish and she gave permission.  The fabric colors are perfect!  I do prefer this darker blue as Lori intended but will continue on with my lighter version.  It will give me something more to crab about later and we must feed the crab.  But there is plenty of food right now and I really really like the darker blue.  Really.

I've already had some frogging on him because I don't pay attention to the chart when there is fill work.  So I stitched the outline which I should have done before, and now I don't have to worry about those errors.

 

Have a good day!

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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Continuing with one thread

Instead of 924, I moved to 930 and then tried one shade lighter.  The 931 is still strong enough in color yet not as sharp a contrast with the linen, and coverage looks much better.  Looks even better than the craptastic photo.  I am really surprised this worked because the other lighter shades did not, glad that I continued messing with it.

 

These mundane posts have been showing up because I am not able to do much other than bug you.  The good news - there is now air flowing through one nostril.  Progress!  The bad news - not much left for the trick-or-treaters.  Snickers peanut butter bars are much better than I expected.  Reese cups never make it to the treat hour so I do not buy them, but these won't either.  I'll put on my red rubber boots, the sunglasses with only one lens, my red paint stained sweatshirt, and with my bulbous red nose, 28# cold sore, and unwashed wild hair, they will forget all about a treat when the door opens. 

 

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As the optician says

One?  Or two? 

One?  Or two? 

I have the same question.

 

Thirty count used to be my favorite and I do have some left, but followed the chart with thirty two count.  Those two threads per inch make quite a difference and cause me quite a dilemma regarding floss threads.  I do not like the sparse look of one thread on 32 count, but two threads are heavy and bulky.  At least mine are.  And I really don't like stitching with two strands any longer.  The stag is one, and it's OK I guess, not as large an area as his coat.  But the dark blue contrast on the lighter linen is too open for me.  I tried a lighter blue for less contrast but it wasn't enough color.  See the heavy thread over his back compared to the single thread below?  It's raised like a little sausage roll.  My SIL used two strands on 32 Belfast almost exclusively and her work was perfect, no sausages.

 

 Linen to thread contrast would not be as noticeable on a darker linen but neither would this design with its dark thread.  (sigh) (nose blow) (cough).  I need to order 35 count raw/unbleached linen which is perfect for one thread, but I don't think there are too many options for that, most are dyed.  I will stitch a larger area of the blue before deciding if I want to start over on my last piece of beige 35 count.  Hoping I can put on those big girl panties and continue on this piece because I'm sure when completed, it will be just fine.  And it's seasonal, not something I will look at every day.  There 'ya go.  I knew if I yakked about it, sensibility would prevail.

 

I'm not sure if I will order all 13 skeins of wool needed to stitch Ellen (unexpected car bill for Carole) but did find a decent sale price for them.  Most online shops had the GASWT thread for $3.20-3.35 and Stitching Bits 'n Bobs has them for $2.64.  Simply Wool Threads. That's a really good price.  Ellen calls for Buckeye Scarlet (4 skeins) Dried Thyme (3) Grecian Gold (2) and one each of Harvest Basket, Driftwood, Dark Chocolate, and Forest Glade.  I may use the GAST cotton, but who knows?

 

I'll leave you with another one of our visitors.

Enjoy the last few days of October.  I'm still in shock!

 

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