So Much for Spring

Spring arrived on Sunday. Then it snowed on Monday, but at least it melted fast. Today it snowed, sleeted, and we had freezing rain and, I think, hail. Not to mention thunder and lightning. It was definitely an indoor day as far as I was concerned.

Hopefully tomorrow will be nicer because I want to go to the library to study. I went yesterday and it worked out better than trying to study at home. Not so many distractions. Besides, I got e-mails telling me that 3 of the books I had reserved had come in.

I worked on stitching my second green Tis the Season block and it's just about finished. I couldn't resist putting the borders on the first block to see how it would look. Here it is, and I love it.


Justin is still out somewhere and I'm a little worried about him driving in the mess outside. He leaves tomorrow for his job in Boston. It's shorter than I had thought, just a long weekend.

Today was the last day of Spring Break but the first day of spring. It was kind of cold out but sunny. Don grilled chicken and Emily was thrilled. It was excellent.

Tomorrow, the semester starts again. I spent a couple of hours at the library both yesterday and today. I'm finding I focus better there. I'm planning to make a routine of going three times a week for at least two hours each time. I'll try to do all my homework and studying there except for the things that I need to do on the computer. I would rather use my home computer for that since I have the statistical software downloaded. In some ways it's harder to focus on my work when I'm not going full time.

Here are my March blocks for the red Tis the Season.


I'll add pictures of the green ones once I have finished them. So far I have stitched one and a little bit more.

Update

My intention is to write a blog message at least twice a week.Obviously the days have been getting away from me. Saint Patrick's Day was yesterday and we had the traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner. It was yummy. No Irish ancestry in our house; we just like the food.

The situation in Japan is continuously on my mind. I lived there for several years when I was a girl, and have always loved that country. Now that it's been more than a week, the newspapers (well, the New York Times is the one I read) are getting away from the story and focusing more on problems in the Middle East. I've wondered if the news we get is sensationalized or muted-I really don't know. The estimates are more than 10,000 killed in the tsunami and earthquake. That is a huge number. Then there is the problems with the nuclear power plants. It sounds like those are starting to be brought under control. I hope I'm right about that. remember how frightening Three Mile Island was, and that was a much smaller disaster.

Anyway, I'm praying for the people of Japan and their leaders

Meanwhile, I've been stitching away and finished my three Tis the Season blocks for March. I've also started a second Tis the Season quilt-yep, this one in green. The second one will be given to someone I owe a dept of gratitude. I'm too tired to get out the camera tonight, so pictures tomorrow.

A Finish!

Believe it or not I actually finished something. A few weeks ago I mentioned getting back to an old project, thinking it would only take a few days. Weeks later..... It wasn't quite as easy as I thought. It is a tiny project from 1998 that I'd completely forgotten about. It is a Mother's Day card with a cross stitch insert from a UK magazine called Cross Stitch Collection. I believe the kit was included with the magazine, but I'm not sure. As small as it is, it's not an easy project, so I was going slowly. Then, just as I was finishing I ran short of one of the colors of thread. I couldn't find the thread around here and didn't want to order it and spend 50 cents for the thread and $5.00 for the postage. I called my sister in Texas and asked her to get it and mail it to me-Thanks Linda! So here it is-a lot of aggravation for something that small. I'll send it to my MIL for Mother's Day. Sadly, my own mother died in 1997.




Doesn't seem like much does it? But it is a sweet little card and I think my MIL will appreciate it.

Next thing is that I finished this month's third and last stitchery for TTS. Now I have to do the borders for all three and I'll be all caught up. I'm gradually getting better at it as I go. The back still looks bad, but not as bad!







Tonight we switch to Daylight Savings Time. Which means that spring is coming. We have a bit of spring around here. Not only has all the snow melted, but we have crocuses blooming!

TTS has begun

These are the stitchery for two of the three March blocks for the Tis the Season stitch-along. These two just need the borders added. That may be harder than I expected. Some of the girls who are farther along have found it a tight squeeze getting the borders on without cutting off part of the stitches. I'm hoping that being forewarned and taking extra care will be enough to have it all work out.

Time for 'Tis the Season

Well, it's almost time for the 'Tis the Season stitch along. We start March 1 and that doesn't happen for another hour here. The Australia girls are already getting going. I'm totally ready to start, with my blocks traced, the interfacing ironed on and even the thread cut. I didn't quite go so far as to thread a needle!

Still no camera. Apparently DS finished the play he was working on and immediately started another. I've seen so little of him that I didn't even know what's going on. He still has my camera and I havent even seen enough of him to ask for it back.

I had a test tonight in the course I'm taking this semester. I don't know how I did; I'm just glad it's over.

Slowly, slowly

Progress has been made of the Stalker cat pillow for #2 son Brian, but not a lot. We didn't see him on his birthday and probably won't for another week so I have a bit of a reprieve.

Meanwhile, I am getting organized for the 'Tis the Season stitch along. I have chosen my fabrics, cut out the backgrounds and most of the borders for the blocks. Today I purchased fabric for the inner border and interfacing for backing the stitcheries. I had some interfacing, but not enough. I still have to trace the patterns onto the background fabric, cut the interfacing and iron it onto the backgrounds and finish the cutting of the block borders. I was planning to trace today during daylight, but it turned out to be a dark, rainy day. Maybe I'll trace tomorrow if it's brighter out.

The rain is melting a lot of the accumulated snow. Maybe we'll be able to see the yard soon. It's been buried under snow since the day after Christmas. Some low spots are flooding from the runoff, but nothing to cause great concern.

I wanted to include a photograph of my progress so far on these projects, but #3 son borrowed my camera yesterday and hasn't returned it. He's stage managing a show currently. Between that and his job, he's gone 17-18 hours a day. He must be exhausted. This is the final weekend for the show, so he'll be able to rest soon. I'm proud of him for working so hard, but as his mother, I worry too.