Biscornu Progress

At last - side one of my first biscornu is stitched! I think I frogged every corner of the inner design, as is typical for me! I actually like it better after the frogging, as I was able to control the color variations more. I started the second side, putting in about 15 stitches. Wonder how long it will take me to finish it??

Thanks for the well wishes; I am feeling so much better! In fact, over the next several days, I will be painting Phil's office, a job that will be more difficult because of high temperatures and humidity. I will turn the air conditioning to a lower temperature, but I'm sure to hear complaints by anyone who is on the first floor as it will probably get cold down there! I am certain the end result will be wonderful.

18 Days

June 22 - July 9 have been some of the most exhausted days of my life. Yes, that's what I meant to say. I have been utterly and totally beyond exhausted. That's why I haven't been posting much. I think I have found the culprit and have taken steps to correct the situation. I am feeling much better, and pray that continues.

I finally convinced Phil to get some new lamps for our living room. Matching ones at that. It took a bit of talking to help him see that black would be fine as we have two floor lamps that are black, and the curtain rods are the same. So we went to WalMart, and purchased the ones below with part of the gift card we received for our anniversary.

You can't see from the pictures, but the shades are tan. They look great!

Clipboard

One of my pet peeves is all the stuff that accumulates on the dining table. Or at least all the paper. My solution was to purchase two clipboards from Stampin' Up! It's taken quite a while for me to get around to altering one of them (which I guess is the technical term for what I did), but finally I completed Phil's. It is hanging on the back side of the peninsula which separates the kitchen from the dining area. (The table is turned 90 degrees now.)

We will see how this works. And maybe I'll even get around to altering my clipboard. (But don't hold your breath!)

My First Biscornu

In the latest batch of charts from My Aunt's Attic, I found one that caught my fancy, and started stitching it during my all-nighter on Thursday/Friday. (Grace had to be at the airport an hour away at 5:00 am, so she, Sarah, and I stayed up all night, rather than just catch a few hours' sleep.) I am stitching this on the fabric that I dyed. I plan to turn this into a biscornu - my first.
I am using a DMC variegated thread, which I'm not entirely fond of as each colored section is fairly long. (I guess I'm quickly developing a preference for specialty overdyed threads!)

Great Find

Sarah and I went shopping Saturday afternoon. Among the stores we visited was Barnes and Noble. We only go there about once or twice a year, but they are opening a new store a 10-minute drive from here, so I expect we will be lured there more often!

One thing I like about Barnes and Noble is that they buy and sell used books. That section of the store is like a huge garage sale, although you do pay more than you would at one (but a lot less than what the book would cost new!) I found this cross stitch book, and snatched it up for $8.00.
A few of the projects that caught my eye:

Gardening

Wednesday was warm and breezy, but I did manage to get two pictures of flowers.

This first picture is of Calendula that self-seeded from last year's crop. I still can't remember what the pink flower in the tipped pot is called, though.
This is Sarah's Clematis. She has it climbing a section of lattice attached to the chicken wire fencing around her vegetable garden. I love the purple color!

Cross Stitch Progress

Despite my silence, I have been cross stitching! I have been terribly exhausted for about 10 days; I think I'm in a fibro flare, as those of us with Fibromyalgia call extended spells fraught with severe symptoms. Consequently, I'm not getting much done, since I'm spending half of each day sleeping!

This is French Country ABCs by JBW Designs. I am stitching this on white 28 ct. Monaco, in the suggested color - Weeks Dye Works' Periwinkle. Unfortunately, I have run out of floss, and a trip to my LNS is not in the foreseeable future (unless they get my chart in.) They might not even have the floss; their inventory was low when I was there a couple of weeks ago.
I have also been working on The Herb Garden from Shepherd's Bush. I love the colors the designer used.