Good Afternoon!

 Good afternoon! It is another hot one here in North Texas.  We have had almost 30 days of over 100 degree weather.  It is miserable.  And for some reason my allergies are raging.  I try not to go out except to take the dog out but we are having some bad wildfires out west of us and I am sure we are getting smoke and all manner of misery from that so I am sure that is contributing to my runny nose and itchy eyes. 

Covid is also up in our area — in the red zone for Dallas and close for us the next county over.  So, we are being encouraged to wear masks again and limit where we go.  I have never changed much from what we have been doing for the last two years so I am not too worried but I am going to get a second booster before school starts and we are, once again, in the company of kids.

I have been doing a little online shopping.  I have been thinking about how to hang all my little cross stitch projects and I am thinking about displaying them in hoops on the wall of my stairwell which is dark and gloomy.  I know, it will get dusty and I really hate that but I am not sure about actually framing them either.  All those holes in the wall!  I did the two pieces for my Bean’s birthday and I really liked how they looked and I am sort of intrigued with decorating the hoops for display.  So, I bought some decorative push pins to use to hang them.  My thought process is to use lightweight wooden hoops, attach ribbon to the metal screw part and hang them on push pins so I bought these —

They are cute and pretty hefty so we will see.  I think it would look nice and absolutely nobody really sees this stairwell but me, the hubs and the Bean.

I also bought a book.  A friend of mine acquired the same book and the art attracted me so I bought one too!

Frederick is very cute and loveable.  The story is classic and I enjoyed it. I love the art — I mean, it is a well known fact that I do, in fact, choose my books by their covers.  I am shallow like that.  Anyway, this will go on my children’s book shelf and hopefully my g-kids will like it too.  

My little planner came.

Sorry about the shadow but I am just too lazy at the moment to get up and take a proper picture.  The inside is decorated with the little bees and I am pleased with it.  I need an elastic something to use as a band so I will come up with something for that, I think I have some gold stretchy cord upstairs.  It a multiple year calendar — starts in August and goes through December 2023.  I think it will serve me well.  I had one like it previously and I don’t know why I quit using it but I think I will stick with this one.

I have been working on the Williamsburg cross stitch but it is very slow going.  I am used to working on 14 ct. Aida and that is the count of my choice but this is either 16 or 18 and I am actually having trouble seeing it, especially in the evening so I am either going to have to change my stitchy spot or the time of the day I stitch!  I would show it to you but I have gone about this in a strange manner and I really don’t have much to show.  Maybe tomorrow.  I tried gridding the fabric with a pen but it is so small that the point of the pen was too thick and didn’t make a nice neat line so I tried what I call “reverse gridding”.  I am sure this isn’t something I actually thought up, I am sure other people have done it too but I marked the center of my fabric and then I marked the center of the pattern (it is a 4 page pattern so I taped it together).  Then, I highlight the 10 X 10 square grid that represented the center of the piece and completed it, color changes and all.  Then I moved to the left and did the next 10 X 10 grid, marking it off with a yellow highlight when I was done with the whole grid.  So, I actually did one whole row across the center of the piece — that is why you can’t tell much about it — and I have moved down to the next row and starting from the left I am working my way across from left to right with the next 10 X 10 grids and marking them off.  It is taking a long time because I am finishing each grid completely before I move on so there are color changes and all that.  Plus — I can’t see the dang holes!  But, I am not giving up and I have another kit much like it to start when I am done with this one!  Yikes!  Note to self for future purchases — make sure you like the size of the fabric! Haha!

I am over half way done with the book “The Chocolate House” by Paula Brackston.  It is the second in a series of four and it is pretty engaging.  I have read reviews about the third book that aren’t so stellar but we will see — this one is pretty good though.

I have spent part of today and yesterday cleaning up my bedroom.  Things had gotten out of hand in there — you know, just setting things down instead of putting them where they belong — we are both good at that — and the dust has been thriving.  So, I pick this time of great allergy distress to go in and eliminate the dust.  It will be helpful in the long run but every time I go in there to do something I come out sneezing and wheezing.  So, since we aren’t going anywhere anyway, I am just taking my time.  If it takes me three days to get it done, well, so be it.  I am also very aware I need to purge my bookcase.  I have run out of space and I need to make some room even though I am using my kindle exclusively right now since it is easier to hold than big, awkward books. But, I have made good progress and tossed a bunch of stuff and will continue until everything is where it needs to be — I am almost there.  

Over all I feel like I have been productive in spite of my knees hurting and me just wanting to sit and read.  I have been forcing myself to get up and get things done and I think it might actually be helping my mobility!  Yay!