Seriously

So I just now got this email from About.com Needlework that says this is Start a New Hobby Week.

Really?  Because if I'm going to participate in Start a New Hobby Week, then I'm going to need to change its name.  I'm going to call it Go Out and Buy a Bunch of Stuff and Let it Sit Around for a Couple Years Before Donating it to Goodwill.....Week.

After crafting for the past 30 of my 52 years, I think I know myself and I can freely tell you that I'm a one-trick pony.  I do needlework.  I'm a stitcher.  (I can also quilt but do it so infrequently that there's no way I can call myself a quilter.)

I've taken detours into knitting (with comical results), beading and jewelry making (all my stuff looked like summer camp projects), and rubber stamping (wonder what I did with those?).  I made a two year effort at flower arranging with the local garden club (and was told that I'm a plopper.  As in - plopping flowers in a vase then plopping them on the table).  I tried my hand at any number of things and the only work that always makes me happy is needlework.

So instead of starting a new hobby, I think I'll just give the money directly to Goodwill.  Cash never gets dusty.

Tongue in cheek...

Don't get me wrong. I love real Jane Austen based movies.  I love the samplers and needlework projects that are based on Jane Austen works.  But this was just too doggone funny.  I love it when the girl's shoes fly off.

Forgotten Bookmarks

Since so many of you are readers as well as stitchers, you might enjoy this blog, called Forgotten Bookmarks.  It makes me wonder about the things that I may have left in books that I've given away.   And you may remember the story about my mother-in-law and the "bookmark" she found in her book from Goodwill.

There are some interesting things in those books.  In fact, in many cases, the bookmarks are more interesting than the books!

Bear comments and then some STITCHING (really)

Some follow-up info on our bear is in order.

I kid sometimes about being eaten by a bear, but I know that they aren't craving any Lee meat.  I know that while these bears aren't exactly harmless, they aren't really interested in me.  They are prowling for food and are probably only dangerous if you unwittingly startle them or stupidly antagonize them. For instance, when people go blackberry picking, they're warned to be very noisy, giving the bears ample time to leave the area.  And people can be stupid.  Ridiculously, amazingly stupid.  Like the fellow that the game warden said used to put honey on his son's head so that the resident bear would come lick it off.  (He swears this is a true story)

It used to be that an occasional bear would be seen and then trapped and taken to the woods of Western Maryland.  And then as more and more property became developed there, they started sending their bears to us.  Now, the game warden tells me, there are so many bears in the area that they've run out of bear traps and will only place a trap (when it's available) if the bear is troublesome - causing lots of damage or approaching too many people. So for the past few years now, we've been warned to lock up our garbage (preferably inside) and to put away our bird feeders each spring (they love bird seed).  But we've been seeing more and more bears in this part of the state.

So far, with the increase of our bear population, only the bears have suffered.  Mostly they've been hit by cars.  I don't believe that anyone in our area has been seriously hurt or attacked.  (Although my son had some scary moments when he was running on a trail in the woods and there were two cubs above him and the mother below him.  Nothing happened, but he and his buddy really stepped up their pace to get out of there quickly!)

It's really quite a shame, and what's an even greater shame is that I have neighbors who think it's great fun to feed the bears.  And a local restaurant owner who refuses to secure his garbage and you can only imagine what kind of fabulous food is luring bears to his place. 

So anyway, Val sent a great comment about the American Black Bear, and I want to share it with you.  Val, I hope you don't mind, but I didn't have a way to contact you and I thought you might want readers to have this info.


I'm a National Park Ranger (& stitcher!) in the Sierra Mountains....and I just had to comment on the 'bear story".

Where you live, you have American Black Bears; even with the name they can have fur that is brown, blond, or red. American Black Bears behave much differently around humans than Grizzly bears(found in Montana, northern Idaho, Canada, and Alaska). Black bears are not naturally aggressive towards humans...they are after FOOD! Anything that smells - even suntan lotion - will attract them. When they get a food reward, ie garbage from your trash cans...it's an easier way for them to get calories and they'll keep repeating that behavior as long as they get a food reward...no matter how small. When black bears focus only on human food and/or garbage, that's when the problems happen..they get used to being around humans and sometimes they break into sheds (or cars out here in the National Park I work) etc. When a black bear gets to be that kind of a "problem"...they are killed...zoos don't want them - they have enough and relocation doesn't work - they come back to their home range. So, if you want to save a bear's life (and not worry about them on your early morning runs) work with your local or state wildlife agency and find a solution to latching your trash cans so that bears can't get into them. With no food reward...they won't visit your neighborhood again.

Fun fact: did you know that 95% of a black bears diet consists of vegetation and bugs?

Sorry for the soap box, but after seeing too many bears destroyed because of bad human behavior, I get very passionate about educating folks on good human behavior so a bear can be saved. 

Thanks Val!

WELL!  In non-bear related things, I spent a very lazy weekend last week.  I don't know... the house needed to be cleaned and if anyone had come over I would have been mortified, but Thursday was NOT a good work day and by the end of the day Friday I was feeling pretty fried.  So I decided to be completely self-indulgent over the weekend.  Friday night I brought out my stitching and watched TV.  Saturday and Sunday I took turns reading my book and stitching.  And by Monday I was ready to face the world again. 

So here's my progress on Summer Basket:  There's a bit more lettering to complete, then the remaining stitching is fairly repetitive.  Stars around the border and the band at the bottom border. 

And The Namesake?  One of the best books I've read so far this year.  Amazing.

Yikes!  It's after 10! Time to put my nose to the grindstone.  My one boss returns home from vacation this weekend and I need to be prepared.  I think that when he goes away, he spends most of his time thinking about all of the things he wants me to do when he gets back....and then he kind of throws them all at me at once.  Maybe I can convince him that vacations are bad for him?  Bed bugs.  I'll tell him all about bed bugs attacking travelers.

Our bear is back

Thought you all might get a kick out of this photo, taken by one of my neighbors at 7:30 one morning last week.  He's been enjoying a buffet of sorts each Sunday night, toppling the garbage cans up and down my road.  (Trash pickup is early Monday morning)

I walk or run at about 7:30 each morning, so you can bet that I've been keeping my eyes peeled!  I don't need to be eaten by a bear.

Books, books, books

The desire to stitch still eludes me, but I've enjoyed other things in the meantime.  I've spent a lot more time reading this summer.  Some of it has been for book club, but most of the things I've read have been for my own enjoyment.

Maybe you've noticed the Goodreads widget in my sidebar.  I like having that little tool. I've always liked keeping track of the books I've read over the year so I kept paper lists in my datebooks but I've lost them all.  Now I really like being able to do it online.

Hey, wouldn't it be cool to have a stitching widget?  I wonder if one already exists?

But anyway, I've read some wonderful books this year and I've listened to some books that knocked my socks off.  I've also plodded through some books, given up on one or two, and I've even returned an audio book to Audible.com  because I couldn't understand most of it.  (Yes, they actually credited my account for that reason.  Cool.)  So I've had an interesting mix of things to read.

Of course, there are the book club selections.  For some reason, we've been kind of stuck in the 1940's, and as much as I like to read novels set in that time period, I'm completely burned out on WWII stories.  So my favorite book club selections so far this year have NOT been set in the 40's:  Darling Jim, by Christian Moerk and The Help, by Katherine Stockett.  I read each of these as audiobooks and they were outstanding. 

Then there have been books that I've read on my own.  Some when I've needed a laugh (The Spellman Files series, by Lisa Lutz), some when I've needed something to sink my chops into (Olive Kitteridge, by Elizabeth Strout), and some when I want to read something interesting but not too heavy (The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein).


Right now I'm reading The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri.  Friends, I can hardly make myself come up for air when I'm reading this book. It's just that wonderful. 

Oh, hey...I receive Goodreads updates from a handful of you, but I'm always on the lookout for more book list sharers.  If you keep a Goodreads list, let me know.

 

Still no stitching

So.  No stitching.  And there isn't even a lake this summer because we're making dam repairs.  So I may change the name of my blog from Lake Stitcher to Lame Sitting Around Person.

Anyway, last weekend I had a long-time wish come true.  One of my favorite musical artists is Chris Isaak and recently we found out that he had a few tour dates in Pennsylvania.  And even though he was performing all the way across the state, that was close enough!   So Dave and I drove to Lancaster last Sunday evening and enjoyed one of the best concerts I've ever seen.  What a night...wonderful music, performed beautifully.  And he's a very funny, entertaining fellow.  And the show was super high energy.  Oh, and can I tell you that our seats were second row, in the center??  Seriously, I was in heaven.

The video below plays one of his newer songs.  OK, most music videos are lame, so just listen to the music.  He has a whole Elvis/Roy Orbison/Everly Brothers thing going on and as for me....well, it completely works.  Which is very weird because individually those fellows just aren't what I'd find attractive in a boyfriend.  But Chris Isaak?  Pure boyfriend material.  And my husband even has a vague man-crush on him, so I think if Chris became my boyfriend, Dave would be ok with it.  And of course, we all know that Chris Isaak reads my needlework blog, so I should be getting his phone call any day now.  Yup.  Any day now.

Anyway, enjoy this song.

Wait, Wait....You want to read about stitching?

Well gang, that's not happening right now. 

My Sit-Down-and-Stitch mood has Got-Up-and-Went. 

Don't ask me why.  It's a mystery. The best way I can explain it is to say that stitching right now feels like trying to dance but not quite getting the rhythm.  I give it a go, but then throw up my hands and decide to leave the dance floor. Ah well, I know that it's something we all experience from time to time and I know it's only temporary.  And I hope it's short-lived.

Meanwhile, I've read a boatload of books and watched some great TV.  Well - Netflix mostly.   I've been on a documentary kick lately.  There was a very cool PBS series about Napoleon and I enjoyed every minute of it.  He was a fascinating fellow and it surprises me that he's never been the topic of a movie, what with all of the movies about English kings and queens.  Maybe it's that Americans have always thought of Napoleon comically?  But this well-done documentary has shown me that nothing could be further from the truth. 

And while it was a great documentary, it's not like I have readers out there who are checking my blog posts, breathlessly waiting to be fascinated by my insights on Napoleon.  So I've been kind of quiet, rather than subjecting you to my nerdiness.

I'll be back when I can think of something cool to write.  Or show you.  Because you all know that I'm all about being cool....

My July SBQ Answer

First of all, I hope that I didn’t put anyone off with the first part of the July question.  The part where I questioned whether we enjoy stitching because we like to be alone, or whether needlework pushes us in the direction of being alone.  Except I used the word “loner” which has kind of a negative connotation and I really didn’t mean it that way.  Oh, this trick-sy business of trying to write what I actually mean!  Also, maybe I put too much of my own experience into that part of the question. 

Here’s what I mean:  My stitching life started because I was looking for something that I could do alone.  When Dave and I were newlyweds, I was alone a lot.  On the positive side, my Saturday housework was done in a SNAP!  On the negative side, I had many weekend hours to fill.  I discovered stitching and it filled those hours.

So it’s been interesting to learn that many of you started stitching in group settings and continue to meet and organize and keep your groups going.  See, I just wasn’t thinking that way!  So I’m sorry that the first part of my question was kind of off-putting.  Maybe that’s why there have been relatively few responses to it.

But anyway…

I’ve enjoyed reading the many Perfect Group responses.  When I think about my perfect stitching group, I think I would model it after our neighborhood group that used to meet in the early 90’s.  Here are the things that I think made it perfect:

1. A nice mix of age groups.
2. All types of needlework are welcome.  If it gives you joy, bring it!
3. No pressure to keep up with other members of the group.
4. Pleasant conversation.  Minimal gossiping. 
5. Members with a variety of backgrounds and opinions, but it should be understood all that everyone must respect each other, regardless of whether we agree with those opinions or not.  No pushiness, but no hyper-sensitivity, either.

So those are the interpersonal group dynamics that I’d like, but when I think about the actual meeting, I like an after-lunch meeting with coffee and cake or cookies.  I think it would be awesome to have a meeting space in a shop somewhere, too.  Of course, that can be dangerous for our pocketbooks because when you see something that someone else has and you want it….well, it’s right there for you to buy!  Maybe meeting in houses is a better idea.

Not much else is going on around here.  Just a normal work week for everybody.  Except that I finally visited a bookstore that I’ve been wanting to visit for well over a year now!  A friend of mine from book club and I went on a day trip to Oakmont to visit The Mystery Lovers Bookshop.  Last year it won an Edgar Award (for shops) and although it’s small, it’s a beehive of activity.  Neat place.  And it was almost directly across the tracks from The Oakmont Bakery, and if you remember my love affair with cake, you know that I was in heaven. 

It looks like the rest of the weekend will be quiet.  I hope to make some more progress on my Summer Basket and share photos later.

I love summer holidays

Because that one leeeetle extra day off can make a world of difference in what I can accomplish.  It wouldn't work that way if I had every Monday off.  I'd fill the day with things that I had to do, and then it would become just like any other day.  But there's something about a holiday Monday that makes the weekend so much more relaxing. 

And what's more relaxing than playing with this?  BBD's Summer Basket.  So much fun!  And it's going rather quickly, too, considering that I haven't put that much time into it.  I'm so glad that I bought this last Labor Day.  It's really the perfect project for summertime.

 Oh...by the way.  The mouse?  To steal directly from Monty Python:

He’s passed on. The mouse is no more. He has ceased to be. He's expired and gone to meet his maker. He’s a stiff. Bereft of life, he rests in peace. He’s pushing up daisies. His metabolic processes are now history. He’s off the twig. He's kicked the bucket, he's shuffled off his mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible. HE IS AN EX-MOUSE.

None the less, I'm taking the advice of many of you wise bloggers and not fooling myself into thinking that there was only one mouse.  I can HOPE that there was only one, but I'm going to keep the traps around for a while.



 

July Stitching Bloggers Question

HA!  I’ll bet you all thought that I’d forget to post the July question today, since the first Monday of the month snuck up on us, disguised as a holiday and all that in the US.  Well, truth be told, I almost did forget, particularly since last night’s fireworks were made all the more enjoyable by several glasses of chilled Gewurztraminer, then I had to get up for work this morning (retail sucks).  So today it’s iced tea and ibuprofen.  But anyway….on to the question.

Stitching is an activity that tends to be solitary.  Sometimes I wonder if we choose stitching because we are more comfortable with pursuits that we do alone, or does our stitching cause us to be loners?  So what do you think? 

And you know that I can never stop with just one question or thing to think about, so here’s something else that’s been on my mind. 

Since we’re stitching alone most of the time, it seems to me that we get great joy from coming together with other stitchers.  It can be such a good feeling when we find a group of people who speak our language and understand our stitching excitement and passion.  But since not all stitchers are perfect, not all groups can be perfect either.  So…if you could create your own perfect stitching group, what characteristics would make it perfect?

For instance, would you all be near the same age, or would you like your group to span a generation or two?  Would you enjoy political or religious discussions while you stitch or would that make you shy away?  Would you like a big group or a small group?  Those are just a couple of variables in groups…tell us what’s important to YOU.

You can leave a comment when you’ve answered the question, if you’d like. 

Happy Canada Day!

Wishing all of our friends to the north a Happy Canada Day!

I don't know much about Canada Day, but in the U.S., if fireworks are involved it usually means that people are getting a day off.  So I hope that this photo means that our Canadian friends are enjoying a fun and relaxing holiday with little or no work involved.