3 posts tagged “embroidery”
Sooooo, last week was a bit of a whirlwind-- a very very full workweek, including several days out and about in the state, followed up by seeing the parents in DC and doing one of my shifts at Artomatic. Which would have all been quite a bit to start with, but when my usual two hour drive to DC turned into a five hour odyssey on the way up and a four hour one on the way back, it really put a capper on a very long week. Which is why I'm trying to think about my garden and stuff instead....
I've also been working on some hats as well-- these are meant for wee heads.....
Lastly, I finished up something that I've been making for a friend... the theme is very much up her alley....
Hope she likes it!
Which was more or less what I did this weekend... and now I'm sooooo sore. We have some things blooming, which is nice. Especially considering that the squirrels and chipmunks dug up all the new bulbs I put in for the spring.
On the upside, one of our predecessors planted some bulbs that have continued to bloom (and a whole lot that have stopped blooming-- I have bazillions of non-blooming irises all over the yard. Lots of leaves, no flowers). So we have a few pretty things popping up around the house. But only a few so far...
I did some soil testing this weekend, confirming that yes, our clayey soil really is acidic. Shrug. It's pretty much what I thought, and the soil is so clumpy and clayey that I've needed to add to it just to be able to work it at all, but I guess confirmation is good. Also, it means that I'll go easier on the pine bark in the pit when I finally plant that rhodedendron that I picked up at the nursery to replace the one that the retarded squirrel killed.
Soil tested, I prepped the garden and planted the early stuff now that we should (I hope) be past having hard frosts. Radishes and lettuce and some more brussel sprout seeds to keep the ones that resprouted company.
I had a couple of little lettuce sprouts pop up as well-- black seeded, from last year, that must have self-sedded. I'm also trying soaker hoses this year, as watering was an issue last year.
P went at the space next to the garden with the tiller that his father gave us last year, so the garden has doubled in size-- whoo-hoo! I'm holding off on planting the second bed until it gets a bit warmer, as most of the other stuff I'm planning for the year want warmer feet. I'm also going to try to do some raised beds-- one I got on sale, and the other one I'm making out of bottles as per a suggestion in an organic gardening magazine. Recycling good, right? Of course, I ran out of dirt, as P thought I would, and had to stop part way through the process.
I'm actually in town this week, which is exciting. Especially since I'm going the two weeks after, solid, and almost half of May to boot.
Three random things whose only connection is that I was thinking of them and am too tired/sick/busy to make three separate posts.
1) Today it snowed. Almost enough to snow like for real. In Richmond, this is like a blizzard. I was going to go grocery shopping today, but I felt like dookie, and once I saw the snow I knew there would be no milk or bread at the store, so I stayed home and worked on Artomatic stuff and took a nap. Today was my first day off in almost a month, so I know how to celebrate.
2) I read this article in the NY Times and wanted to throw up. I was particularly taken with this sentiment:
“My bonus is ‘shameful’ — but I worked hard to get it,” said John Konstantinidis, a wholesale insurance broker, lunching Friday at Harry’s at Hanover Square.
Obviously, I have misunderstood the whole thing. The bonuses are really just representative of how very, very hard the people who wrapped my retirement account in toxic assets worked to liquidate any hope I might have of retiring. Ever. Before death. And clearly, as Mr. Konstandinidis implies, the rest of us are a bunch of slackasses who don't work hard enough to get bonuses for.... doing our jobs really really badly. But working hard doing it.
You know, it does occur to me that a lot of those people who are now being laid off from all sectors of the economy might, you know, have been hard workers. Except that all they got was a pink slip. I say we take your "hard worker" bonus and dole it out to some of those people. Also, Mr. Konstantinidis? Shut up please.
3) I finished the quilt for friends Rick and Sarah's new arrival-- who shares her name with my mom! Only they don't share the pronounciation. Still, I was happy to manage to get it finished just as things got ridiculous at work, which made it impossible for me to mail the thing, and I carried it around (along with my brother's birthday present) for two weeks before managing to get to a post office. But it arrived! Which is good. :)
I've also started working on some embroidery projects, one of which (if I ever get the time) I am hoping to turn into a birthday gift for one of my oldest friends. Her birthday is a bit over a month away, but considering how things have been lately, I'm not entirely confident I'll be able to finish it..... fingers crossed.....
