A Little Bird

Getting started on a new sampler.  Begins with a bird.

Where Was I?

Here's a hint as to where I was for the past few days.  I will have normal internet tomorrow afternoon!

Off On Adventure

I am mainly away from my computer through Friday, so don't expect to hear from me until then!

See The Cottage?

This is something I started a while back and pulled out for the plane trip.  Got a little more done.  See the cottage yet?

Most Of The Canopy

Looking at the chart, I'm almost done with this.  Go me!

Julep Unboxing

 Julep is primarily a nail polish company, but they have a monthly make up collection box, too.  I've gotten tired of ipsy showing up one out of four months because of random ORM-D labels.  So I tried Julep.  So far, I like what I am seeing.

Still On The Left

I'm back at the point where what I do looks almost invisible.  The background area on the left grew a bit more, but that's it.

Not As Good

While at the baseball game a couple of weeks ago, we had Diamond Club tickets  I was not disappointed in the food, but I was disappointed in the ambiance and service.  The staff was friendly but overworked.  Table service for drinks was spotty at best.  The overall decor was not what you would expect for a premium area - plastic seats and plain, cheap, square tables.  It in no way compares to the Texas Rangers' Capital One Club.

Flowers And Swirls

I'm working my way on this.  It has become my daily project as of Monday.  I'm almost done, and I have to say I'm disappointed in the kit materials and instructions.  The materials were all the wrong colors and I couldn't even match anything to the bright red in the cover photo  The same thing happened with the threads.  On the other side, it looks pretty good even with all the not following the instructions

Proud Dragon

I feel proud of all the stitching I got done on this while it was on its two weeks of being the daily stitch.  I have a much prouder dragon now and am very close to having the first two pages complete.

New Game

Andreas decided it was time for a new game, and he decided to indulge my chemistry nerd.  I think we're taking this with us on safari next week.

Up To Eight

I have eight leaves done.  Slowly I progress.  Starting tomorrow, this will be my daily piece for a while, so it should show a lot more progress next photo.

Threads!

More new thread bought while in the States!

Blue Nails

I went to the same nail place twice while I was in training.  It's Ivy Nail and Spa in Arlington.  They did a really good job.  This is a photo taken the day I got the manicure a week ago Saturday.  Even doing my daily stuff, the (non-gel) polish stayed on just above a week before beginning to chip.  It's a really good deal, too.

Treed

I believe I now have the tree stitched completely.  There's some grassy stuff below it, but I feel I am getting close to the bottom of the picture.

Three And A Half

Sometimes I wish this sampler wasn't quite so wide.  It gets boring doing the same pattern so many times.  Looks good, though.

Two! Two Gargoyles!

The second side gargoyle has finally appeared.  I've also done more work on the border this time.  More work to do on both gargoyles.

It's A Bird ... It's A Plane ... It's A Rectangle?

I have one more area outlined own.  Not too bad progress for being away from home.  This is coming off the stretcher bars tonight to be packed into my suitcase.  I hope to get more done on it after I get back from week after next's emergency.

Flowering Up

Almost all the bullion flowers are done.  They're the main focal points, so maybe after them things will go faster.

Growing Bigger

I am almost done with the first two pages!  I think this is beginning to look magnificent.  Today is my last day of working on it daily for a while, though, so it'll be a bit until it gets this kind of love again.

Cheesy Dinner

On Sunday I went out with Kerry and her parents to the Cheesecake Factory here in Arlington.  We had a good time catching up and some good food.  All of us shared a fried zucchini appetizer.  I had a long island tea and a margarita.  For food, I had two of the four tacos pictured.  I was stuffed!  They were good, but not very spicy.  I also wish they had flour tortillas.  A good time was had by all.

Looks Like A Smudge

More of this round is done.  Not completing rounds per session anymore, as they're getting bigger.  I promise it doesn't look like a smudge in person.

Hot Game

Went to a baseball game with Melina on Saturday and it was waaaay hot!  Ended up spending most of the game in the Diamond Club.  It's not as nice as the Rangers' Capital One Club, but it was definitely air conditioned.

Alphabetical Start

I bought this piece at In Stitches when I was there last month.  Decided it was time to start something brand new.  It's called Alphabet Basket Sampler and is from Shepherd's Bush.

Thickening Swirls

This time I basically worked on background and on thickening some swirls.  Still looking pretty good.

Cloaking

The most visible part of what I did this last time is the cloak.  It's all stitched but for the golden border.

Motifs Popping

Motifs are popping out of the sides of the owl.  I think they're looking good.

All Piccaled!

It's all done! I love the effect of overdyed thread in pieces like this.  I'll be making this into an ornament when I get back to Africa.  One more crazy start down, too.  

Melting Potted

A week or so ago a friend and I went to The Melting Pot in Arlington.  I normally like fondue and truly enjoy every time we go to Simply Fondue in Fort Worth.  Unfortunately, I was not nearly as impressed with this place.  The drinks were nice - mine was an eiderflower fizz.  The cheese was okay, but there weren't many choices.  Ours was supposed to have a somewhat Mexican taste to it, yet I could find no trace of it.  Salad was small and not too well presented.  The choices of meat were also fairly meager.  They also used a broth for the meat instead of oil.  This made the meat more dry and rubbery.  Not the best.  Dessert was okay, but they were out of our top two kinds of chocolate.  I think I will keep my future fondue forays to Fort Worth.

Much Slowed

I am still making progress on the left side, but not as much as before.  I've got a bell shaped stick end done, though, which is good.

June In Five

It took me five days to stitch June.  Maybe I can get that fast on some of my other projects.  Halfway through the sampler year.

Getting Grounded

I was stitching on this daily for a while, and I made a bunch of progress.  Lots of grass and rocks were discovered in the pattern.  I also got the top area gridded in backstitch.

Curls And Swirls

This looks much better in person than in the photo.  The colors really come together on the lightly colored fabric.  Two more weeks and you get Andreas' much better photos.

Over The Hump

I am now over the halfway point on this band.  Chugging along, even though the daily time has run out.

Dinner With Friends

Had dinner with Regan and the kids the other night at Silver Diner.  It's a weird place, but the food was okay.  For some reason, the DC area is full of small, odd chains that are no where else in the country.  Perhaps all the government employees make the economy better?  We all had sandwiches of some sort.  Mine was a philly cheese steak.  

Fourfilled

I really like the look of this fourth portion.  It wasn't too hard to do.  Things are progressing, if slowly.

Flowering Along

I've restarted this and begun some bullion stitch flowers. I think they're coming along okay.  One and a half more of them to go.

Big Tongue

The big blue area now looks like a giant tongue.  I'm sure that'll change as I get more done.

To The Next Round

I'm working on the next round now.  Coming along, at least.

It's Five O'Clock Somewhere

I'm down to the five o'clock position on the leaves.  Working my way around.

Backing In

Background light green going in to the piece now.  I'll have more blue squiggles later.