52 Weeks of Happy-Week 17

Short version this week

 

1.  The riot of color

2.  Being among peers of my profession

3. The whimsy of a Peeps car

4.  The view each morning on the way to the conference site

 

52 Weeks of Happy-Week 16

This week has flown by and my happies this week focus largely on spring and good weather with a little volunteering thrown in.

First off, we are finally seeing signs of spring.  Beau and I pass this bush on our walks and I think it's a Rose of Sharon but I should probably do some research to confirm that.  The buds are getting really fat and growing quickly so it should be bursting into bloom shortly.

I'm happy we detoured down a different street on Tuesday.  We came a cross this wonderful field of naturalized spring blooms.  Isn't a great picture?

Wednesday brought both warmth and clear blue skies. This is a tree silhouette where I work.  We still need the green leaves but there's hope they will be arriving soon.  The temperature photo is from my car dashboard.

Yesterday I flew south for some work related education.  My trip down did not go quite as smoothly as planned due to some weather.  I ended taking a slight detour west and north of where I needed to be but I did eventually (very early this morning) end up at my intended destination.

And although morning came VERY early this morning by the time I got to bed but it was worth getting up early to participate in a volunteer event that helped out an organization providing education and other support services for homeless children in the area I am visiting.  We were a great team and we were all happy when our time was done due to the sense of having done something good for others.

Current Project Progress

It was time to switch WIPocolypse projects and that means I have been working on With Thy Needle & Thread's Ann Sandles.   This is where I left it the last time I worked on it.

This piece has given me a lot of grief (including not loading correctly) and this is the second start on a different fabric - 40ct. R&R but I don't remember the color.  I had originally started it on 30 ct. but wasn't thrilled with how it was turning out.

I'm much happier with this piece but I made a mistake with where I started it so there was some additional frogging and reconfiguring but my fingers are crossed that I'm finally on the right track with this project.

Here's where I left things as of last night.

Too close to home...

By now I'm sure you've heard about what happened at today's Boston Marathon and that an 8 year old child was one of the fatalities.  I'm sure there will be much more information to come but whoever or whatever was responsible doesn't really matter.  Today in New England, it was Patriot's Day, a local celebration where banks are closed and many businesses close so that employees can enjoy a day off and maybe run in the Boston Marathon.  It's traditionally a fun and celebratory day.  Not so much this Patriot's Day. 

In running marathons, or any race for that matter, it's all about the timing.  A friend and co-work had just exited the recovery tent at today's marathon by about 2 minutes when the explosions occurred.  By luck and timing, she was past the finish line area and danger by just a few minutes and she and her family were safe and sound.  That makes me very happy and very sad for those who were not so lucky.  My niece and her boyfriend had planned to run today and for various reasons, they did not. That makes me happy and very sad for those who were not so lucky. 

Please keep all the injured and those who lost their lives in your thoughts and prayers.  I saw a news segment where an "expert" made a statement that by continuing to live your life, you thwart terrorists or others whose actions have the potential to alter your life and routines. Keep those who've been impacted in your mind as you keep to your daily lives. 

52 Weeks of Happy - Week 15

I'm a day late in getting this posted as I was away from home pretty much all day and by the time I got home and sat down, it was late and I was tired.

On Tuesday I spied a few bunches of daffodils among the regular bouquets at the grocery store.  They opened up within a day in the warm air of the bedroom and added a very bright spot to see when first waking and going to bed at the end of the day.  Ours still aren't up that I've seen so buying them is about the only way to get the color for now.

This photo is one from the Internet because I didn't have my camera with me when I spotted a blue bird while walking the dog in the cemetery around the corner from us.  At first I thought it was a robin but the longer I stared, the more convinced I was it was a blue bird and when it took flight, I could see the lovely blue color to its wings.  A very happy moment for me midweek.

Another happy was the progress on my HAED Story Keep.  I almost completed 2 columns while focusing on it this week.  I had one 10x10 square started and had hoped to complete by yesterday but there was no stitching at the end of the week.  I will be picking up With Thy Needle and Thread's Anne Sandles this week.

That's it for happies this week. I need to remember to keep my camera around so that I can record more things throughout the week.  Hope you had a wonderful week fully of happiness!

April TUSAL, Snow and TGIF

So I'm a few days late but here is my TUSAL post for April.  Lots of blue at the top of the pile due to my work on my HAED Story Keeper piece.  The lighting is a bit yellow as I took it just a few minutes in the living room and my lighting is really bad in that room.  But I think you get the idea of my progress on this oh-so-easy TUSAL thing!

And as a result of the blue at the top, here is an updated photo of my HAED piece as of the completion of last night's stitching episode. I've almost completed a 2nd column and am very happy with that.  Stretch your neck to the right everyone.... and back to center!  LOL

We had snow today and it was quite depressing to see the white stuff coming down on April 12th even though it won't stay long.  But it made for a grey, cold day and a very un-spring like feeling.  I think it's the latest snow I've experienced since moving to Maine although I did see snow on May 18th one year when I lived in NH so it's not unheard of to get it this far into spring-just unfortunate.  Hope it's much warmer where you are and that you send us some of that great spring weather really soon please! TGIF

Bluer than blue...

Yesterday was a UFO stitching Sunday and it was time to switch WIPocolypse projects so I killed two birds with one stone by working on my HAED Story Keeper.  Here is what the piece looked like when I started:

And here is where I finished late yesterday evening.  I finished the column that was in progress and two more 10x10 squares in the next column over.  Progress made but man there is a lot of blue in this piece!

I'm not sure I'll be able to devote a whole week to this one but I'm going to try!  Hope you had a great start to your week.

52 Weeks of Happy - Week 14

This photo was taken at 6:30pm on Monday and it made my happy list because I am loving having the extra daylight hours after getting home from work.  It's staying light until almost 7:30pm at this point.  This is a photo of the my office/craft room space.  It needs some attention...

 

This week I used a holiday gift card and some appreciation dividends to place an online order from Talbots.  I am so loving the turquoise and red combination - it really makes me happy! So does making my dollars go farther with gift money.

 This was taken on Thursday evening.  I had taken Beau to day care and he got a bath and his nails clipped while he was there.  I caught him enjoying the late evening sunshine.  He got a belly rub out of this and it made both of us happy.

And finally, I did a little in person shopping at Talbot's today and could not resist these red patent leather shoes in Poppy.  Who doesn't love a comfortable and stylish pair of red shoes for spring/summer. These will be making me happy every time I wear them!

A Plan for April

As I was sitting down to watch The Voice last night, I finally made up my mind regarding my WIPocolypse projects.  For the month of April, I decided to give each project one week's focus.  So last night I put more time into my CHS Alphabet piece with Block L.  I;m confident I can finish this block and start the next before Sunday.

 

On the 7th I plan to pick up my HAED Story Keep and work on that for a solid week.  Here is where I left off the last time I worked on it.

 The 14th I will pick up With Thy Needle & Thread's Anne Sandles - there is a lot to go on this one.  It's loaded sideways but I think you can see there's a lot to do!

And then on the 21st I will swing back around to CHS Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow and see if I can't finish off another block.

Definitely a workable plan I think.  I have some work related travel in the middle of the month so it may be that Anne Sandles goes with me and I make a bit more progress on her.  We shall see!

March WIPocolypse Update

Here is my slightly late WIPocolypse update for March.  I only worked on my CHS Alphabet piece in March and I didn't make quite as much progress as I would have liked to but - I made progress!

Here is where I started at the beginning of the month:

And where I ended the month:

I finished up J, completed K and got about 1/2 way through L.  I still haven't made up my mind if I will continue with working on this piece for April or switch to something new.  The blocks don't take long and each is different so I'm not likely to get bored if I keep going.  Since it's April 1, I guess I'd better make up my mind quickly!