10 years?

 

It seems crazy that it's been so long, RIP Debbie. I still miss you.

My auntie has been in the emergency room almost exactly every four weeks for a year now.  I finally agreed to start hospice and it's a nightmare.  I can't believe I'm giving up on her but at this point I think the ER is going to kill her anyway.  I've just been lolling around crying for the last couple of months.  In some moments of sanity I stitch.

 This is Sunflower Field from Oh My Stitches on Etsy:

It will look like this:

I started this in memory of my dad - it reminds me of all our camping trips and has a kind of retro vibe, it's Bear Walk by Lee Fisher of StitchyFish for Just Cross Stitch magazine:

I got some more done on Birds of a Feather:

And I started this map of Ukrainian needlework.  I'm a volunteer docent at the House of Ukraine, a cultural museum, and they have a display of Ukrainian needlework, so when I saw this design it jumped out at me.  People who know what they're doing can tell you what region of Ukraine the needlework is by the design. It's from Wonderland Ukraine.

  

This is a better picture of the design:

Kuna has my vibe:

Springy Finishes!

Two finishes since my last post..

Spring Bunny, a kit from World of Cross Stitch:

Welcome Spring, a kit from Cross Stitch Crazy:

I finished my first swan on Birds of a Feather and just realized these are dragons, haha!  I like dragons so it's fine but I can't believe I bought the pattern and got this far thinking these were swans. At least I can always count on me for a good laugh!

I started the grass on Spring Band Sampler by Tiny Modernist:

...and I got more of the outlining done on Aliens:

Auntie couldn't name me but she knew she knew me and kept saying how happy she was to see me so we'll call that a win.  

RIP Alexei Navalny

Brookings Institute

Stand with Ukraine

Canadian Broadcast Corporation

                                                        

A Crafty Finish!

 This was designed by Faye Walsh (Little Dove Designs) for the July 2020 Issue of CrossStitcher magazine.  It's supposed to have a sewing machine charm but the glue gun was what I had, and I consider myself a bit of a gunslinger haha so that's what I went with:

I also got some some more of my swans done this week:

..and some more sky and wing on Dinosaurs:

Lions fans I offer my deepest condolences.   That was harder to watch than our loss last week, and that's saying something.  There's always next year!

Go Pack Go!

A Noodle-y Finish!

 The noodles are cooked! This is by Crafty Faux on Etsy, I made the bowl white and royal blue instead of the aqua called for in the pattern, and I made the sushi roll green instead of pink because the pink looked like seafood and I hate seafood.

I got two more swans started on Birds of a Feather:

I started Glory to God, it's "due" by the 18th....

and I worked on the sky in Era of the Dinosaurs:

Sweet, tiny, mild-mannered ray of sunshine Auntie threw a resident of her memory care into the wall hard enough to give her a head injury, bit a staffer through the skin, kicked another one in the face and a third one in the stomach, and ended up in the emergency room as a "danger to others".  The doctors there offered hospice, which was the last thing I was expecting to hear.  The ER lost Auntie's shoes, which are the only ones she'll wear and they don't make anymore, so she's rampaging around barefoot and that's it's own aggravation. And my doctor ordered a biopsy for me, which is the new real last thing I was expecting to hear.  And of course it's a month before they have an appointment so I get to just fret the whole time. I've heard a lot of stories about biopsies that came back as nothing so I'm trying to stay positive.  All in all a rough week, fingers crossed the whole year isn't like this!

This is Kuna on her first ferry ride when we went to Canada - it's about how I feel right now!

At least it's 60 degrees and clear here - it looks like half the world is in a blizzard! Stay warm, my frosty friends!

First Finish of the Year!

 This was a little Mill Hill kit; I had almost these exact skates growing up.  I had a pair of jeans with rainbows sewed on the back pockets and a rainbow tie for my hair and I was the disco queen of the roller rink!  "I do not envy youth, I only envy it's confidence" - I don't know who said it but holy smokes was I conceited in some truly ridiculous outfits!

The swans are kissing in Birds of a Feather.  This is a Dinky Dyes chart and it's supposed to be red on white, but I just love the way white on red looks so here we are:

Aliens by XcrossstitchpatternsX has the band across the bottom and more of the ship's panels are done:

And Noodle Bowl by Crafty Faux is almost cooked:

Happy Epiphany  - may you have a year full of gifts for the spirit!  Epiphany celebrates when the Magi arrived at the manger with gifts for Jesus; when you sing about a partridge in a pear tree, those 12 days of Christmas are the 12 days from Christmas to Epiphany.  It's also traditionally the day that Jesus was baptized, so orthodox churches often have some sort of swimming event.  Polar Bear Plunges on New Years are the secular version of this.

Epiphany Celebrations Around the World