Wearing it on your sleeve

Now this isn't exactly my cup of tea. But maybe it's yours? I think that for a tatoo, this is kind of attractive and that's saying a lot because I'm completely not into tatoos. For me, I think a lapel pin would suffice.

New Embroidery Tatoo, originally uploaded by Giggly Mama and Fam.

Things we discuss now that the kids are gone

I've always liked sitting at the dinner table and having some conversation and when my two kids are home, that's never a problem. Now that it's just the two of us, Dave and I are feeling sort of conversationally challenged.

For instance, here are a few of our current conversations.

1. When exactly are bananas ripe? When are they too ripe? What should we do about THESE bananas?

2. (Looking out the window) Are those flowers dead? I think those flowers are dead. Yes, those flowers are dead.

3. (Taken from This American Life) If you were ever to decide that you couldn't stand me anymore and you were going to leave me, what singer should I get to give us a private performance to make you change your mind?

Well, my answer was fast and definite. That'd be Chris Isaak, singing almost anything, but Wrong to Love You is aching and sexy and raw. On the other hand, I warned Dave that I may fall in love with Chris Isaak right then and there and then I would still leave him so that I could become some kind of crazy Chris Isaak stalker. Click below and listen to this and tell me that you wouldn't follow this man to the ends of the earth.

Wrong To Love You - Chris Isaa...

Interestingly, Dave has decided that Chris Isaak would be HIS singer of choice, too. Ummm. I'm a little concerned.

In case you've never heard the story about the guy who hired a singer to perform for him and his ex-girlfriend, you can find it here in the This American Life radio archives.

So Darker It Is

Now I just have the hassle of taking out the stitches. Hand dyed fibers are great, but sometimes they'll just do that to you. They can be pesky, fickle, fickle threads.

Nothing much is going on here today. Just the usual. Today will be sales tax day. So...everyone? Please don't gasp excitedly all at once.

I've added a couple of new songs to my sidebar. Last weekend we took Colleen and her friend Laura to WVU to watch another taping of Mountain Stage, where we saw one of their favorite artists, Regina Spektor. She gave a wonderful performance and the girls were thrilled. The rest of the performers were super, too, and in my sidebar you'll see songs from Great Lake Swimmers (good music but seemed to have some difficulties with the live performance. Eh - I still like their music. Click on that link - great stuff.) and Will Hoge. Will Hoge was my favorite performer of the night. Really fabulous. The kind of performance that pushes you back in your seat.

Something else that's been on my mind...I just can't get into Halloween stitching. I like autumn and autumn-y designs, like pumpkins and leaves, but Halloween simply isn't my thing. You guys all stitch such neat stuff and designers seem to be pulling out all the stops when it comes to Halloween. Still - I find myself scratching my head and wondering what all the excitement is about.

It must be genetic, because my mother was awful about Halloween, too. Yes, we were the kids with the plastic Casper the Ghost masks. And since there were five of us, Casper was hauled out every year and when he finally didn't fit you, he was given to the next kid down the line. After we outgrew Casper, we were "bums". Meaning that we wore our dad's worn out work clothes, used Mom's eyebrow pencil to draw on stubble, and we were pushed out the door with a grocery bag.

And I always wanted to be a princess. Thanks, Mom.

But by far the worst Halloween costume was my mummy costume. I was 13 years old and invited to my first ever boy-girl party. It was given by a friend of mine who was older and in high school and she was the picture of cool.

I was so nervous about going to a cool kid party....Obviously the bum costume just wasn't going to cut it. So my mother ripped up a sheet and wrapped me up as a mummy, except that it didn't really work and it was falling apart before I even stepped out the door.

Now it was time to go, and I was a jittery mess, and my dad drove me to this party, which happened to be right next to a church where someone was having a lovely fall wedding. So there were all of these people mulling around waiting for the bride and groom to come out, and my dad and I pulled up in our rumbling car (Muffler? Who needs a muffler?) and I froze. Could. Not. Get. Out. of the Car. My dad was saying, Go, go, go! And I was saying, NO, Not yet, Wait, Wait. Finally, he had had enough, and pushed me out the door and lay rubber down the street. Meaning that all of the wedding guests turned and looked at me - standing in the street with my sheet strips fluttering in the wind.

It's just the situation that every 13 year wishes to find herself in. At least the sheet strips absorbed the armpit sweat.

So Halloween? Not my holiday.

The end of the story is that the party was fun, even though I think I was invited because my mother was friends with Nancy's mother and Mrs. Jones made Nancy invite me. We bobbed for apples, carved miniature pumpkins and giggled about and with the boys. And years and years later, I dressed my son as a mummy for his third grade Halloween party, and I don't think he'll ever forgive me, either.

Dropping BACK onto the face of the earth

Hi gang. It's me...your long lost stitching pal. You'll hear no excuses. I'm busy, but heck, we're all busy. So I'm going to jump right back in and act like I've been here all along.

(I do that at parties, too. It's an art.)

First of all, I didn't get to the EGA marketplace in Pittsburgh. Something came up at work and I couldn't get away at all. Sad, yes, but I've had so many shopping opportunities this year and my table is overflowing with everything I've bought. So maybe it was a good thing that I didn't go, except I would have liked to meet Vikki Clayton. Ah well. That's life.

Secondly, I think I misled you about the UFOs in my October 1 post. The little samplers were by The Needle and I, not Prairie Schooler. Amazingly similar, though, right? I don't even know if they are around any more. I couldn't find any charts on the Hoffman site.

OK, moving on to actual stitching that has occurred more recently than 20 years ago, I've finished this:But I'm not happy with the lettering, so I'm going to have to pick it out. Actually, in real life the letters recede into the fabric color even more and are hardly visible. The photo brings them out more...must have been because I used a flash.

I don't know if I want the lettering to be much lighter or much darker. What do you think? I'd be happy to know.

And I've been working on this and it IS a Prairie Schooler. I bought it a couple of years ago from Theresa at Shakespeare's Peddler, when she offered it as a kit with hand dyed fabrics and Crescent Colours threads. Fun, fun, fun and just the ticket at this time of year.

Otherwise, we're having a good time of it here at O'Neil's on the Lake. Dave and I have settled into being a childless couple. (If I hear "empty-nester", followed by a wink-wink and nod-nod one more time I may strangle someone) For instance, our mornings are much less rushed and I actually have time to pack Dave a full meal on the days that he has to work through dinner. We have total control over the "good" TV. Oh...and we've become regulars at the $7 Margarita Pitcher nights at a local restaurant. Which, by the way, we can afford because of all of the money we're saving on the electric bill. So - for instance - I could buy 3 pitchers each Margarita night if I wanted to. And still have enough for cab fare home. That's if cabs existed out here, which they don't. So we stick to one pitcher and spend the rest on really, really bad tacos.

See? All of you with young children? This is what you have to look forward to. Unchallenged dominion over the TV and good margaritas and bad tacos. And you stop missing them so much after a couple of weeks of that and suddenly - life is good.

Besides, they come back frequently enough. We had Colleen home for her fall break over the first weekend of October. First we drove to Delaware, Ohio to watch her run in the All Ohio Championships, where she ran well. Not great, but the conditions were pretty nasty (wet slippery grass and mud...lots of mud) and it was a crowded field with tight turns. And then we brought her home from there.
This is her Please Leave Me Alone for Just Five Minutes look
Then this week John was home for his fall break, but he only stayed here Saturday and Sunday and went back to school early. They had some fun stuff planned for the other couple of days. We haven't seen John run at all this year, but he'll be at a meet at Oberlin College near Cleveland this weekend (in fact, both kids will run in that meet), and we'll be there to watch.

Oh, and his 21st birthday is tomorrow. I bought him the very exciting and party-filled gift of - - - a new bike helmet. We didn't take him out for his first drink, because he wasn't yet 21 over the weekend. Besides, I know that it's hardly his "first", and also because the cross country team has a super-strict policy about drinking when they're in season and kids have been kicked off the team in the past ( one young man was kicked off this year already). So we'll have a grown-up style drink with him over Thanksgiving, when his season is over and he's really and truly legal.

Leaving you with a nice photo of Deer Lake (not taken by me, but sent to me by a friend)

The UFO Museum

After yesterday's post I accepted Chiloe's challenge to find my oldest UFO and tell its story.

What I had forgotten was that over a year ago I decided to purge some UFO's that were gathering dust and making me feel bad. One was a Pennsylvania sampler, designed by Ginger and Spice, and I had started it in 1987 on 20 ct. something-or-other. Haaaated it. If I had kept it, it would have been interesting to look at, but eh. It's gone and good riddance.

However, I'm still hording a couple of really old things. I couldn't bring myself to ditch some afghan projects that I had bought and kitted. So here is my oldest UFO to date, started when I was pregnant with John in 1988. I stitched one single square and then I quit with 12 more to go.I don't know. It's just not well planned. This quilt square doesn't fill up the afghan block well enough, and it looks lost. My mistake. And now I'm being cheap because even though I have no use for anything like this anymore and I don't like the design even a tiny bit, I hate the thought of tossing it because I spent so much money on it. Or at least it seemed like a lot of money 20 years ago. Jeez.

And as far as blankets go, it's itchy. Seriously itchy.

But let's keep moving. These are my oldest Finished-Unfinished projects, also stitched in 1988. I still really like them. I think I meant to sew them together into a bell pull but the aida dye color lots were slightly different and so I put them away and you know the rest of the story. I'm totally going to finish-finish them this year.
Or my name isn't Lee, Curator of the UFO Museum.

This has suddenly occurred to me!

I like to read lots of styles of stitching blogs, and I always enjoy reading about bloggers' kids and even about their pets.

I've just realized that I have UFO's that are older than most of your children. Heck - I have UFO's that are older than MY children! And unless you have one of those crazy exotic birds or maybe a chimpanzee or and elephant, my UFO's are older than all of your pets. Oops. I forgot horses.

Mind you, I'm just commenting about this. It doesn't upset me at all. I refuse to get all self-judging about it.

So if you want to know how old my oldest UFO is, I'll tell you that it's older than a bison, but younger than a hippopotamus.

Busy, busy

On the one hand, I love autumn. There is so much to do. So many choices! It's hard to decide some days.

On the other hand, as the days get shorter and the leaves fall, I get so sad. Winter is so long here, and I know I won't see those leaves again till way into May. Just looking at my porch furniture sitting out there all lonely and wet and grey makes me blue. Ah well, it happens every year and every year I manage to get over it. I guess it means that I just have to move my stitching inside. At least my stuff doesn't blow away when I'm on the couch!

First up - here is my entry to Darling Anna's Swirlygig challenge. I decided to go "big" and stitched it on 11ct. fabric with #5 perle cotton. I was very happy with it! It was fun to use that big fabric, it was just the look I was going for, and the finish was easy-peasy. The more I look at it, the more I'm rethinking that bow. It's simple enough to remove, though.

I stitched a second entry, too, just because I was having fun fooling with the colors. I stitched this on some PTP opalescent pink lugana, using DMC in spring colors. I just couldn't come up with a good finishing idea though, and luckily there was a category for UN finished projects. I know that the photo doesn't look pink. No matter how I tried to edit the photo, the fabric color is still way off. But you get the idea.

I didn't win either of the categories, but the winning entries were pretty darn wonderful, so I don't feel badly about it at all. It was a super exercise and it was rewarding to take a design and make it my own. Sometimes it's fun to do a design exactly as it's presented, but sometimes it's even more fun to use a design as a springboard to something else that's even better!

Last weekend I finished this FUFO that's been around for a while. And by "a while" I mean "a decade". It's finished as a cube, wrapped with a wide black grosgrain ribbon.


Right now I'm working on PS's "Autumn Leaves". I needed something seasonal to stitch, and I've had this kitted for quite a while. It's moving along nicely, and I'll have a picture to show you as soon as the sun comes out.

In non-stitching stuff, life has been very busy. We went to one of Colleen's cross country meets last Saturday. It was just outside Columbus and if either of the kids run within a 3-4 hour drive, we usually go. It was her first 6K (up till now she's only run 5K's), and she ran very well. Came in 11th out of about 150, and looked and felt very good at the finish line.

This Friday she'll run at the All Ohio Championship meet in Delaware Ohio, so we'll go watch the meet and then bring her home for Fall break. I'm SO GLAD to be bringing her home for the long weekend. I miss the brightness she brings to our home.

John's fall break is the following week. He has one of our cars at school, so he drives himself back and forth. But he may not come home, which I understand, although it also makes me a little sad. If he doesn't come home over break, I may decide to drive there and take him to dinner, because he's turning 21 this month. Wow. Now I'm officially old.

All of his cross country meets have been really far away this year. And he has very few of them for some reason. One week he was in Michigan, and this weekend he'll be in Bethlehem PA. But in a couple of weeks both kids will be at a big meet near Cleveland, so we'll get to see him run there.

And I'm back to reffing soccer games again. I took the year off last year, but earlier this month I decided to get re-certified. I'll pick up a game or two at our local rec league each weekend. I'm trying to limit my games though. For a couple of years I was working several games each weekend and just wasn't good for me - physically AND mentally, and that's why I took time off. So now I'm trying it again, but I'm being careful not to take too many games and not to ref any games that are out of my comfort level. As in too difficult or too fast.

Wow...it's the last day of September already! And here comes October! Some folks are talking about going to the Jubilee in October. And the EGA is having its national meeting in Pittsburgh next week and although I'm not a member, I understand that there will be a Merchandise Mart on Wednesday Oct. 7. I'm toying with the idea of going. Vikki Clayton will be there with her magical fabrics and fibres, and The French Needle will be there, too. I don't need any new designs, but I'll bet there will be some wonderful accessories at her table.

Yikes. I think I've just talked myself into going. Well, as long as I'm caught up at work. And speaking of work, I had better get to it.

Have a lovely day, everyone!

I got nothin'

That's not exactly true. What I have is one giant mental block when it comes to writing for my blog this week.

I'll blame work drama. There's been an unexpected increase in work load for me. It had nothing at all to do with my particular job. (Which is paying bills, paying taxes, entering sales, balancing accounts and paying employees) That's what I do. In fact, this was totally and completely someone else's job, but no one in any of our drug stores seems to know how to read the freakin' mail and respond to it properly until it becomes a crisis, and now it has landed on my desk. Why my desk? Because it sucks to be so competent.

But that's not why you're here.

Hmm. Stitching? Hmm.

I don't have anything photo worthy. I'm enjoying PS Autumn Leaves right now, but I haven't finished even the center motif yet, so no picture. I'll share my rendition of Bent Creek's Swirlygig once the all of the voting is complete over on Anna's blog. If you haven't seen the variety of interpretations of one chart yet, pop on over and take a look.

That's it. I'm out. I hope I'm more pithy tomorrow.

Ocean City 2010??

I know I said that I'd look more into an Ocean City, Maryland getaway at the end of the year, but I couldn't get the idea of a simple stitching getaway out of my mind. So I decided to just run with it.

Are any of you truly interested? I'm looking at March 25-26-27 (Thurs - Sun) 2010, and after only a brief search, I think we can get a beautiful, bright, beachfront condo to sleep four or six or eight (depending on your preferences) that would cost us only $245 a night. So that's $60 or $40 or $30 (approx) per night per person. That price includes bed linens and the cleaning service. There are no hidden fees, as far as I can tell.

If you think this is something you'd really like to do, email me (address is in my profile) so we can talk some more.

Something ELSE you should never write in a your blog

Why do I always learn these lessons the hard way??

Yesterday I wrote that I was going to finish a Winter bellpull. I had learned my lessons (again) with the fall bellpull, and I was going to have a nice, shiny, perfectly-cornered bellpull to show you today.

Yes...I wrote this in my blog. Committed it to the screen, and hit "Publish Post".

Except that the winter sampler has disappeared. Evidently it saw my fall bellpull finish and got scared and grew a set of legs and walked away.

Or else it got tired of listening to my crazy, screaming, banging and otherwise completely nuts neighbors, who were in rare form all weekend, and decided to move to a house down the road a bit more. (Did I mention that my neighbors are completely annoying?)

I hunted for it all day yesterday and I'll be dog-gone if I can find it. Sheesh.

Thank you, thank you!

I appreciated everyone's advice to fix my messy bellpull corners. This morning I flipped the bellpull inside out again and really examined my work.

First of all, I had left pretty generous seam allowances. Like near to 3/4", so I trimmed those back to a scant 1/2". The linen I used was quite stiff, and between that stiffness and the extra fabric in the seam allowance, my corners were doomed from the start.

As lots of you mentioned, I had trimmed the corners on the diagnonal, but I trimmed them even closer.

Then I turned it to right side out again, used my smaller knitting needle to push the corners a bit, and now they're still a little "dull", but worlds better than they were before.

I tried pulling the corners from the front with a thick needle, but either I'm a spaz or a chicken, because I just couldn't see any different results. I think that's a skill that I need to see in person.

NOW...I have a winter bellpull to finish and even though my house has turned into one giant dust bunny (trust me...that's not as cute as it sounds), I think I'm going to strike while the iron is hot and finish it.

And now I'm going to head off to the sewing machine, where I must repeat in my head:
Right sides together.....Right sides together.....Right sides together

Help with my wonky bottom

Today I finally finish-finished the autumn bell pull from 200.....mfff.

(I thought it was a only a few years ago, but turns out it was 2002. How embarrassing.)

The photo is below, but good grief am I ever disappointed with the bottom corners. Especially the one on the left.

Does anyone have a trick to making nice corners? I trimmed the fabric, and I used a the pointy end of a paint brush to try to push the corner out, but ewwwww.

Anyway, if you have a trick or method, please let me know. I haven't closed the tippy-top of the bellpull yet, so I can easily take it down and play with the corners.

Because otherwise, I'm pleased with the finish!

Some Finishing

It's a real pain when you're trying to finish something and the nearest fabric store is miles and miles away. (I have a cabinet full of quilting fabric, but I'll be darned if I can find that "just right" color for a particular finish!) Sometimes I know I'm going by a JoAnn's or some place similar and I try to make lists and organize and brainstorm about what I need. I don't always find what I wanted, but usually I can make some headway to reduce this pile of UFO's. Other times...it's hopeless. I stumble upon a store and then walk around inside like a zombie.

Happily, last week Dave and I went to C.O.W. to see Colleen run in her first college cross country meet, and there was a JoAnn's nearby. So I took some stitching that I had been itching to finish, and found some nice things and left the store happy.

When I first got back into stitching - maybe 5 or 6 years ago, I was usually stitching for the kids. As Colleen was packing for college, I had her pick one of the UFO's that she might like to take with her. This was the one she wanted. I wish you could see the opalescent fabric and the glitter cording! It's a Waxing Moon design.


Next is one that you've seen quite often, by BBD. Someone sent it to me as a kit with the chart and threads. No rhyme or reason, just a random act of kindness! How sweet is that? Easy and fun to stitch, and although there are lots of ways to finish this, I decided to go with the simple pincushion.


I hope to have one more finish after the weekend. It's a long autumn design that I stitched at least 4 years ago, perfect for a bell pull, but for some reason I've looked at it every year and then put it away. I'm determined to finish it this year. Seriously. No...really.

Oh...and you all think I'm joking about Ocean City 2010? I'm really not. Some of you know me pretty well, and you know that I've been organizing booster organizations for the past...like...eleventy hundred years. And suddenly I find that I'm unwanted at the high school these days. (No....it's NOT creepy that I still want to hang out around the school even though my kids are gone)

Anyway, I must be experiencing Booster Withdrawal, because I find myself thinking that organizing some stitchers for an early Spring beach retreat could be fun. (Crabcake-eating will be optional. We'll have peanut butter for you non-crab eaters).

So I'm truly thinking about it. It could be a blast, whether there are two of us or twenty of us. So IF I do this, I'll probably have more info after the first of the year, when I know more about my kids' Spring breaks and have the dates of Dave's golf trip.

In the meantime, you think about it, and I'll think about it....

Beach + LNS = Happiness!

You all are undoubtedly sick of listening to me yammer on about crabcakes.

I was happy to find Salty Yarns in "old" Ocean City. I had been reading the owner's blog for a while, (more about her life and less about her shop, but it's her blog, so it's her prerogative) and you know that if I was only a couple of miles away, I'd absolutely be stopping in!

(Before I get started, please know that I asked permission before I took these pictures.)

The shop is pretty amazing. It's much larger than I would have thought - three good sized rooms. I remember visiting shops in Stone Harbor and Avalon and even in Cape May years ago, and they were very small. Like 1/3 the size of this shop. And it's crammed with stuff. Displays that are full to bursting. Two walls of fabric (7 ct. to 40 ct and lots of colors and hand dyeds) and a room of thread. Cottons, silks, overdyeds, synthetics, beads...it was an impressive collection of fibers.
Accessories and gadgetry out the wazoo. Loads of finishing supplies, including a wall unit stuffed with tons of frames of every size and shape. And another free standing display also stuffed with frames. And let me tell you...this shop had the latest stuff. She certainly has been paying attention to the pulse of the internet.

She also had a large display of Dimensions kits. A medium sized display of punch needle. Some Vera Bradley. Lots of Pine Mountain kits. And the requisite seashore/nautical/local flavor charts. Here are some of them. There is an impressive set of charts of houses and landmarks in Ocean City...I think 51 charts? I didn't photograph those, though.
The trick however, was finding stuff. When you first walk in, it's this mass of STUFF, and you have to work at it and stick with it to see exactly what's in there. I found myself wishing that I was there with a friend or two, because I think that more people would have unearthed interesting things that I know I missed seeing on my own. There's just no way that I saw all of the neat things in there. And even though I went twice, I completely lost track of time during both visits. Luckily, there were several nice comfy rockers on a shaded porch just outside the shop and Dave could sit and people-watch, so it wasn't terribly bad for him. Did I mention that the shop is right on the boardwalk? Lots of people to see!
So, I came home with the new BBD LF chart - the summer sampler. And two fall themed charts - the latest CEC design with the crows and pumpkins, and another simpler fall chart but the designer is escaping me right now. Fabric and threads for all. And some floss drops shaped like flip flops!

Now that I'm home, I've learned that there are three nice shops in that area! Besides Salty Yarns, there is a shop called The Spinning Wheel in Fenwick Island, and another shop in Bethany Beach called Sea Needles.

I think this calls for another trip...Anyone? Anyone?

The Great Crabcake Tour of 2009

A/K/A My Trip to Ocean City, Maryland over Labor Day Weekend.

Well gang, I have enough to tell you about my trip to fill way more than one post. This weekend trip was very last-minute and taking a last minute trip over a holiday weekend to a place that you've never been before can be kind of insane.

Just call me crazy.

In a nutshell, we ate our faces off. We found what, in my opinion, is a legendary cross stitch shop. We ran into friends unexpectedly, and we laughed at some college students' drunken antics. (During the daylight hours, anyway. It was a different matter when it happened in the middle of the night)

So today, I'll tell you about how I ate crabcakes from one end (North Ocean City) to the other end of the island (South Ocean City). Seriously, I'm not joking.

All right...we arrived in town early Friday evening, and after a walk on the beach and time to watch the ocean, we went to On the Bay Seafood (4204 Coastal Hwy), where I had...of course, the crabcake platter. Yum! They were filled with lump crabmeat. Slightly sweet, and not a lot of spice. Although I like mine a bit more savory, these were very good. And cheap? My platter of two good sized crabcakes, french fries and coleslaw was only $18. I think the true deal of the day was the All You Can Eat Steamed Crabs for only $20, and lots of people were enjoying their crabs.

Dave and I particularly liked the atmosphere. It's a take-out place, but out front they have several picnic tables where (in good weather) you can hammer and pound crabs to your hearts content. And smaller parties, like Dave and me, share picnic tables with other small parties and so some of the fun is meeting your tablemates. We sat with some locals who steered us in the direction of some other great places to eat and play. They don't have a website, but I'm not surprised. It's a low tech, unfancy kind of place.

Saturday was a non-crabcake day. I had a fantastic meal of sausage encrusted grouper at Macky's Bayside, but let's get back to the crabcakes....

On Sunday we ventured North to The Crabcake Factory for lunch (12000 Coastal Hwy), where I had a Crabcake salad. Basically, some mixed greens with tomatoes and mushrooms and a crabcake plopped on top. But boy-oh-boy, it was a delicious crabcake! I ordered the regular backfin crabcake, not the lump crabmeat cake, and I liked it much more. To my taste, it's more flavorful. And again, not terribly expensive. My single crabcake on a salad was only $11.99, and perfect for a lunch that focused on the star of the show, the crabcake! It was a nice restaurant/sports bar kind of place, with some outside seating. They also will pack flash frozen crabcakes for you to take home with your, or they will ship their crabcakes around the country

Sunday evening we met friends at Fausto's Ristorante Antipasti where I had linguine with..(can you guess?)..lump crabmeat in a light red sauce. Good, but it was no crabcake.

And finally, our last meal before driving home Monday night was at Harrison's Harbor Watch at the far South end of the boardwalk, where I had the crabcake sandwich. I know that I sound like a broken record, but it was wonderful. It's a close call between this one and the Crabcake Factory, but I think Harrison's edged it out slightly. Really perfect with just the right amount of spice and crispyness, along with fries and slaw and our waiter even gave me an extra plate of green beans that were out of this world. (Something about them offering unlimited side dishes? I didn't quite get it.) Peppery and lemony and maybe a touch of vinegar? Delicious. And all the while we watched the sunset and saw the boats and jetskis come and go at the inlet. I imagine that during a non-holiday evening it's a lovely and romantic spot. It was hard to get in the car and drive home after that!

So that's my 2009 Crabcake Tour and now I'm terribly spoiled and will probably turn my nose up at any non-Ocean City crabcakes that are offered to me. Now let's see....where's that order form from The Crabcake Factory??

When I'm feeling mean and crass...

I go to the beach
And sit on my.....chair.

We're headed to Ocean City, MD for a day or two this weekend. I hope to squeeze in a stop at Salty Yarns, and I plan to eat my body weight in crabcakes.

Dave is taking his laptop, and maybe that'll mean a remote post? How geekily exciting is that?

I hope everyone enjoys the last official weekend of summer!

I'm procrastinating

I'm supposed to be working on our community newsletter. Bah. I'm not feeling very community-like right now, and that's not mood to be in when you're working on what is supposed to be an upbeat and informative communication tool. Mostly I'm feeling aggravated....with neighbor issues. I don't think that telling you the details will dispel my evil mood though, but I'll tell you it centers around their dogs and their junk.

I swear, it's like I live next to a freakin' gypsy camp sometimes.

If I try to write this newsletter now, I'll probably write some scathing and scolding articles about loose dogs and their inconsiderate and sloppy owners.

So I had better procrastinate some more.

It's amazing what you can finish

When there are no teenagers hanging around your house, you can do all sorts of things.

Like wipe a kitchen counter and it stays wiped.
Like see your laundry room floor for the first time in years.
Like get rid of that odd unidentifiable smell coming from the one bedroom.
Like sit in your living room without the TV on.

But mostly, you just miss them...and their crumbs and puddles and their dirty wash and their unique odors and the sound of them laughing at Sponge Bob.

So, over the weekend I wallowed in self-pity for a while, then got up off my butt to sort, clean, and trash things. Then I got down to the serious business of an empty-nester with books to read and things to stitch!

Stitching is up first: I finished Indigo Rose's Bee Charmer. I completed the stitching Friday night, then put it together as a biscornu on Sunday. I was going to finish it as a mattress pincushion, but this came as a kit and there wasn't enough fabric to make the mattress sides. And after looking at it closely, the design was really made to work as a biscornu. If I had finished it as a square, the design would have looked wrong. If you are familiar with this project, you'll notice that I left off the tassels. I didn't like them. Too fussy. So I'm happy with this!




Sunday I finished a book that I'd put aside for a while, The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant. The beginning was a bit slow - I just couldn't understand the main character's attraction to this painter...but then history comes into play and the book picks up speed. I really enjoyed it.

Also, when I drove John to Allegheny Thursday, I started an audiobook, Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book. Now, it's categorized as a children's book, but let me tell you, I thought it was wonderful. It's not very long - 7 hours long - I was captivated every minute. If I had kids that were 8 or 9 or thereabouts, I'd absolutely read this aloud to them. Gaiman is an excellent narrator, so if you're not into reading aloud, you could listen along with your kids, but I think that being the reader would be just as much fun as being the listener.

And now I'll close with pictures of my New College Girl.
Her Dorm, and her room is on the third floor:
Herself, humoring her parents:

Move-in day went well!

Yesterday we moved Colleen to the College of Wooster, and things went reasonably well. (I've learned that there's always some little glitch to overcome and not to get too crazy about it) It was a very hot day, though. But it was also dry, and that's always a good thing.

And I didn't shed a tear. Got a little choked up, but no open weeping. Yes. I was quite mature.

So anyway...

First day of school 1996

First day of school 2009

Boy, I sure miss those lacy anklets and blue MaryJanes...NOW I'll go have myself a good cry!

This subtle dance - and a little stitching

We take Colleen to college this Sunday. I try not to think about it too much. After all, for as much as I'd like to stop the clock sometimes, time marches on, and we have no choice other than to deal with it.

Lately, I've noticed that my relationship with my daughter is changing, and I'm trying to be ok with that. She's subtly (and probably not even consciously) been moving away, and I feel like I'm always checking and then stopping myself from trying to pull her back. Sometimes I push away, trying to give her more freedom and space and life experience, and then she'll pull me.

It's like we're in this mother-daughter dance and we're trying so hard not step on each others toes. I guess that, just like dancing, we'll need to keep practicing until we can be effortless and graceful in this new phase in our relationship. But meanwhile, I think we're in for a few sore toes.

Truthfully, I'm happy for both of my kids as they take bigger and bigger steps (and sometimes leaps!) away from Dave and me. It does leave me with this vague emptiness, though. Like I've finished a big job that I really liked. A lot. And wonder if I'll ever like any new job as much as that one.

(You may call me the First Lady of Analogies today.)

So - last weekend I had really small stitching goals, but one of the things that I had wanted to do was to sit outside and finish the over-one stitching on the Busy Bee biscornu. No way could I do that in artificial light!

By the way, that cute little Mother Nature story I told you a few posts ago? Well, that one sweet little bee was a member of a much larger family that has built a hive under my deck that's virtually impossible to get rid of because of its weird location. How's that for gratitude for letting him sit on my fabric?? Bees. Ingrates.

And I've been hauling this LHN kit around for almost ever. Every time I go on a trip, I take it with me, and I've never once put a stitch in it. So it was time for a start. And it should be a quick finish. Simple as 3.14592