Saturday, April 29, 2006

Stashalong and other great things












Today is a very sleepy Saturday here in the Bal casa. We woke early anticipating two back to back baseball games and a party only to find that both games had been cancelled due to bad weather. We had a terrific storm last night that actually didn't scare me at all. It was really fascinating. I'm not sure why I felt so mesmerized. It could have been all the lightning. It's almost surreal to watch nature behave that way. DH and I watched King Kong (the new one) last night. Now, I've never seen the original so I have no comparison but I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I've made progress on my Orangina in lilac and have the picture to post as well. It's coming along quite quickly--more quickly than I thought even. In light of that, I've decided that I must organize myself! Enough with a closet overflowing with yarn! Enough with two, wait, I mean three unfinished quilting projects and countless sewing projects. Have I touched all the thrift store recycling stuff? I didn't think so. Oh yeah, there's also the novel(s) I've been puttering around with for ummm over two years. No, I don't have writer's block. I have a complete inability to focus on one thing at a time. So yesterday, I dragged the kids to Target and got a project notebook. The goal is to get myself on some type of timeframe. Last night, with wine in hand, I began listing all the projects I have on tap and the order in which I'll be doing them. I've even assigned some tentative timeframes. Today, I felt so motivated I actually got up the courage to tackle some machine embroidery again. For my birthday, I got a Singer Quantum Futura 200 CE. I'd been a little discouraged because it's a fussy machine. God forbid you don't thread something right. The darn thing wants you to do it correctly. Imagine that! Today I decided I would not be beaten by a sewing machine. I don't give a rat's butt if it can embroider. I had a discouraging false start and finally- success! I'm really proud of that. I haven't sewn in ages so this is very good thing. I'm dipping my toes in the water again. This week I also got my card from my Project Spectrum pal Mrs Pao. What a lovely card and a great person! Thank you so much!!! I'm not sure I told you, but I'm fourth generation Irish on my Mom's side so the Gaelic Blessing is very special to me. Also, the envelope had a Paddington Bear postage stamp as well--I LOVE Paddington. I had a Paddington bear as a child that I positively wore out. I can recall reading the books to my children as babies. Yes, folks, I do the voices--it's the only way to read! Accents and sounds make it much more fun and exciting. Mrs Pao's card has a special place in my home office beside my computer. I've been missing Thomas very much lately and this card really puts a smile on my face. Thank you again Sam! Oh, I'm also including the yarn and books I picked up while in San Antonio. I've decided Blue Sky Alpaca's 100% dk Alpaca might be heaven. It's soooo soft! The coral piece on the sofa is a wrap I crocheted. The dishtowel is, well, a dishtowel I crocheted. Both were for the stashalong I'm participating in. Till next time! Alicia

1 comment:

mrspao said...

Alicia, I am so pleased that you liked my card. That Irish blessing is one of my very favourites. (and I didn't know about your Irish connection - wow what a coincidence!)

I love all the yarn - it looks fabulous! I know what you mean by getting organised. Now I want to see what you do with your embroidery machine!