Finished my little 2"x2" sample embroidered pincushion top. I still need to decide if I'm going to add any spangles to it before sewing the backing and stuffing it. Overall I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out, though I'll definitely do the vine work differently. I was impatient and used the stitch I knew rather than taking the time to learn something new.

More pictures of it in-progress are available in my Projects set on Flickr.

We went to Lochmere's 20th Baronial Birthday on Saturday for a few hours to brave the rain and hang out with friends. My feet were wet and muddy, but the temperature was mild, and the company was amazing. I got to chat with those from far (Tamma and Terry) and near (Mikey and Tara), and work on my second sock of the stockings I've been knitting since Feb. I also informally officially took gabrell  has my protege. He truly has the heart for service, as witnessed by him constantly braving the rain to check in to see if Her Majesty needed anything, helping out with the cards for the rapier tournament, and doing whatever was needed. I have every faith in him, and only hope I can be a good mentor and example.  We'll do something more official when I get a belt woven for him and we can get the household together for it, so I gave him my favorite yellow sprang bag as a placeholder.

We spent Saturday night up visiting with the Toscano's for dinner and conversation. I got a good dose of beagle love from Pearl and Boogaloo, did some more knitting, and pawing through Sandy's Dress in Ireland book. Sandy fed us some tasty pot roast, and we had Craig and Frances for company for the evening, and a great time was had by all.

Sunday morning, after a good long session of sleeping in, I randomly decided to document and archive the fridge-art. It was really about time, there was no room for any new incoming photos, and soon I'd have to clear it whenever we get to the scheduling and installing of the new kitchen cabinets so nothing gets lost or destroyed.
Here is the fridge in the before state:

I made sure to take close-ups of the front top and bottom, as well as the left and right sides before I cleared, cleaned, put the photos and postcards away in a photo album, and rearranged the magnets back on the fridge.

While I was cleaning off the fridge, theodorad  calls to see if Alan has time to spend with halowenslut  playing with swords in the backyard. She also invited us over for dinner for pot roast. After I was done laughing, I cheerfully accepted the dinner offer since I'm not too good to refuse Theo's cooking, ever, and know it would be different but equally as tasty. And so another fine evening was spent in the company of friends, joined also by Tara, Bess, Schecky and Ziggy. My belly is full of yummy home cooked food, and so I must now go to bed.

hmm... nom nom nom

 So, I forgot to mention another best from Crusades. Seeing how well gabrell   is doing on his recovery. When I said that I helped set up our tent a bit, I really meant just a bit. I saw Gabrell and Thjora doing most of the work with Alan on the tent set-up front. I just helped hang the wall for the changing area. I admit I was a little concerned when I saw him not using his cane at all, but eventually I just told him that I'm tossing it in the modern area if he needs it. He helped out being the time keeper for the various scenarios, a director for the populace bear pit tourney, and no doubt a bunch of other stuff. He even came up the hill to visit with me at the heavy list table and was moving around just fine on his own. Progress must seem painfully slow on the day to day front, but it is absolutely amazing from the outside looking in. 

So after the Crusades hoopla, I slept in until 8am on Sunday and halowenslutand I debated on going to see the Bodies Exhibition down in Rosslyn. We had hoped for big plans and a fun group, but it ended up being just her and I on a last minute whim. So we were out the door by 10am, and in the exhibit by 11am. It was really awesome. Now this isn't the exact same exhibit as she previously saw, nor the one in the newest James Bond movie, but was fairly interesting just the same. Most of the bodies used were obviously male, and they were also obviously Asian as well. But it was very educational, extremely fascinating, only slightly gross, and just wow. A little bit into the exhibit I remembered that I had forgot to call the attack_laurel   to have her join us. Damn, I feel guilty, but we did kinda make a last minute decision of when and if to go. So naturally I had to get her a little gift from the shop. It wraps up this weekend, closing for good at midnight after October 14th. It was great to see the various systems isolated and yet still in some kind of context. Like you never think of how many blood vessels are in your nose until you see them isolated out, or how few are on your head. It is one thing to talk about the replaced disk my mom has in her neck and a whole other thing to see the disks separated from the spine. The knees were cool to see too. Hell, it was all awesome, just not for the squeamish. Definitely not for theblueleader . But I got the catalog and it is pretty groovy to flip through as well.

After the exhibit Cosette and I enjoyed big giggles in the ladies room of error headlines. Stiff opposition to casketless funerals was too funny. As was Regan, Ford, Neck in the race. Hee hee hee. Then we headed over to Georgetown to join Aedan for a relaxing and tasty lunch at a random restaurant on M Street, and then shakes or ice cream over at the Ben and Jerry's before we got on our separate ways home. Excellent morning and afternoon.

When I got home, I called the Morgensterns to see if they wanted to do dinner out to celebrate Crusades being over. While we pondered the options, I took a nap, and then we headed to downtown Silver Spring for dinner at Ceviche. Alan hadn't been there before, and we all tried something new. Of course everything was so yummy, wonderful flavors, nice mix of textures. Wen got what I ordered last time and I had to finish it up for her since it was so good. It would be kinda funny if I hit upon a favorite with my first stab at the menu. It was a great dinner, wonderful company, excellent atmosphere, and only a little (read a lot) of Crusades bitching. 

I told Corby I'd be done complaining about MOLing at Crusades by Thursday, so I've still got a few more days to harp on privately about the stupid shit I've seen. sheesh.

Alan and I are heading down to Assessment this afternoon. We'll have our 16x16 and hope to get it on/near the rapier field.

But the Fourth of July was a wonderful holiday, if evilly stuck in the middle of the week. If it weren't for the fact I'm wearing jeans, it'd be kinda hard to believe it's Friday. Alan spent it sleeping in and lounging in the morning. He puttered a bit and I snuggled up with a book. It was a lovely way to spend the morning. Eventually we ate lunch and then went for a nice walk around the neighborhood. The walk is something we should do more often. I also noticed that there are a lot of houses for sale in our neighborhood. Mind you they aren't selling quickly, but they are for sale. Makes me wonder if they know something we don't or what? Actually, our next door neighbor's house is for sale. But the walk was lovely, the temperature mild and we got a nice chat in at the same time as a little exercise.

Then we cleaned ourselves and headed up to Kernan Hospital for a picnic with Mikey 'n friends. We brought fresh fruit, and brought most of it home too. Mike and Matt's mom Pam provided quite the spread. The food was wonderful, the company incomparable, and the weather, eh.. a little disappointing. Still, through the spotty rain and thunder we managed to have a great time with folks. Mikey is doing well, and apparently can walk a little with a cane. We were all thrilled that they gave him an offensive weapon. We eventually had to pack up and dive for cover inside, for the finale of brownies and ice cream, but even that was grand. Around 8, we decided it was time to pack up and head home before they kick our sodden butts out. 

Alan and I retreated home to eat watermelon and watch the DC fireworks in the basement on TV in HD again. I apparently yelled at the screen a few times to fire the cinematographer as we don't care about the funky angles and people's faces, we just wanna see the darn fireworks, dammit! And Alan told me he'd turn it off if it was upsetting me that badly. sigh. Must contain first of death. :) But I did get a few giggles at one of the angles of the top of the Washington Monument, with the flashing red lights for planes, that made it look like a giant jawa on screen. From then on out anytime I spotted the glowing red "eyes" I burst into fits of laughter. Then we also found NYC fireworks and Chicago fireworks, and I finally crawled into bed as Alan stayed up to watch the Boston fireworks.

It was a very low key if wonderful 4th of July celebration for us. Now if only I could have taken the week off as well. Sigh, must save leave for Pennsic.

Okay, so catching up...

Last weekend was a Bandes workshop at the Morgan's new place in Ruckersville. Alan and I decided, based on the typical Friday traffic and the anticipated July 4th week vacation traffic, that we'd just get up and leave early on Saturday morning. So we ate chinese delivery, and watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in the basement. Alan snoozed through much of it and I woke him for the particularly good parts. I'm sure he was grateful. :) It was a lovely relaxing Friday night spent at home just the two of us.

Saturday dawned early and we got up, showered, packed and got on the road around 8am to get to the Morgan's timber-framed home of wonderful architechtual goodness a little after 10. We were greeted by the bear-dogs and poked around a bit before settling down for persona definition goodness, led by the attack_laurel . This was lots of fun figuring out the details of our personas, especially with respect to what we would have known. For example, we might not know our friends middle names, but we'd definitely know our parents' names, where they are/from, as well as the local friends and shopping opportunities, etc. Alan and I got a great start on ours. After lunch and much socializing, I crept upstairs and nodded off for a little nap before returning to the crew. We had a yummy dinner of salmon and sides, and I got to play around with embroidery a bit more.  We eventually made our late way back to Mike and Kirsten's to play with their dogs and crash out cold for the night. 

Sadly, frogs kept me awake much of the night. Stupid pond frogs. Dunno why, but I haven't been sleeping as soundly lately as I usually do. Hmm... perhaps I need to take a certain medication earlier in the evening before bed. But anyway, when the little bastards did finally shut up, I slept in until after 8am and it was glorious. Corby then introduced me to his Wii. He has a clever tactic. He makes a Mii for you which isn't quite right, and therefore you HAVE to dive in to fix it, and then fix Alan's and then fix Cuan, and then make one for the Angel of Death and Hot Bob. wow.. break for breakfast and then back to the Wii for trying out Wii sports. I am the Queen of Wii Bowling! I suck at Tennis. I was okay at golf, if terrible on the putting green. And I rocked the boxing, but am not allowed to play that since my victory dance almost took out one of their ceiling fan lights. opps. It was very addictive, and I was quite sore on my right side Monday morning. I told Alan we're not allowed to get one, since it was so addictive, but Corby is allowed to bring his to visit and we'll try it connected to the big screen downstairs. hmmm... how to play without blocking the projected image...

I finally pulled myself away from the Wii, and Alan and I got showered and on the road after a little minor pre-demolition exploration. The previous owners of that house are fascinating.

We eventually got home and while Alan mowed the lawn, I napped. Then we finally headed up to Baltimore to visit Mikey again at the rehab place. He was a bit tired from a lack of sleep, but was doing well, was moving his legs more, and we just sat and chatted and watched parts of Dodgeball for about 2 hours. It was great to see him and other friends and visit. Glad he's doing well. I know it must be frustrating as all get out, and he's likely sick of the place already, but he's getting better. What also really helped was earlier visits from Their Royal Majesties and crew as well as Their Excellencies' Lochmere. Hooray to feel loved, if a bit helpless. I made sure to order new flowers for his room since the earlier ones were fading a bit. Must check that they got there. 

Anyway, it was a lovely weekend full of friends, friend's animals and lots of laughter. Hard to complain about.

Went to visit with Mike again last night at the new rehab facility. It was so great to see him out and about, sitting up in a wheel chair and hanging out with family and friends. We had a great time just chatting in the sunshine. I got to play with little Speedwagon some, twirl lil' Zach around a bit in the field, and eat one of Mike and Matt's mom's yummy brownies. Mike has been doing a bunch more PT, and did 39 steps the other day. Tara joked that it was enough to get him to the portajohn at Pennsic, which I said, only if we put his tent up at the front. (Actual Pennsic attendance for Gabrell and da boyz is unlikely, but a girl can dream.) I also gave him one of the smaller devil duckies, since it is squeezable for when he gets movement back in his right hand, and it squeaks, and at the least it is a projectile he can toss at his brother. We were able to hang out for about an hour, and then it was closing time for visitors.

I've been re-reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in prep for the movie release in 12 days. (can't wait!) Almost done. Of course last night I got to the three chapters near the end that you can't NOT read back to back to back, so I was up until almost 1am reading. After I finish it, I'll re-read Book 6 in prep for Book 7's release on the 21st. (The weekend before Land Grab, absolutely cruel.) Heck, I think I need to find the time to re-watch movie 4 as prep for movie 5 too. We loves the HP, yes we do, precious.

ahem, anyway...

Nothing much else going on. Doctor's appointments, naps, reading, Top Chef, laundry, heading down to C'ville for a Bandes thingie on Saturday. Yawn, need nap.

Oh, and Isobel and I got a few shout-outs on the Plimoth Embroiderers' Story blog, which is teh awesome.

Onto the memes. Okay, I'm not posting the romance movie meme, since I hated my results. But the evilometer, I can buy into.


How evil are you?

And finally, some funny macros from lolpresidents.com from Jamestown's 400th:
http://www.lolpresidents.com/photo.pl?id=477 
http://lolpresidents.com/photo.pl?id=468 
http://lolpresidents.com/photo.pl?id=466

Mike has been moved to an intermediate care unit, which is close to the ICU, but hopefully quieter and more restful. Laura said on the phone that Mike seemed to be doing even better last night, which is great to hear. Baby steps. Due to the restricted visitor policy last night, I stayed home and did laundry, tidied up the green room for Drea, packed a bit, read some Harry Potter book 5 (in prep for the movie) and did some practice embroidery. 

Anyone who wants the address to send a card to Mike, send me an email or leave me a comment with your email address and I'll forward it onto you. If you want it before Saturday though, you must let me know by 4pm today, as I'll be taking off then for our flight to Providence. 

As you've likely read, the attack_laurel  and I are headed up to Plimoth Plantation tonight for embroidery and PBS filming sessions Thursday and Friday. We get to stay with my Mother-in-Law, who I haven't seen in a couple of years. (I keep reminding Alan that he, at least, needs to visit her sometime.) She's moved into a new place, so hopefully my allergies will remain in check, and I won't have to suffer from whatever sparked my allergies to full tilt in the old house. It will be good to see her again. 

I've also been practicing the stitches on the chance that I get to do a little work on the Plimoth jacket. I think I like the reverse chain stitch the best, though I did get the ceylon stitch to work last night using a thicker thread and the linen under tension. They apparently only have a certain number of frames, so I might not get to embroider (and I am SO not an embroiderer) so I understand if I don't have the opportunity. But I could be content to sit for a few hours and outline a few things. I hope at the least to get to listen in on the Foodways discussion, the tour by the Curator of Originals, and maybe even the wood carving demo and discussion, though I'd love to see some basket weaving. :) Not sure what else we will get to do and see, but I hope to have some time to see a little other stuff in Plymouth.

Now that I'm already packed, I wonder what the weather calls for...

Just a little note to let folks know that Mikey (gabrellor kpyke's brother) is currently in the hospital up in Baltimore. He suffered a stroke on Saturday night, but luckily his mom was around so he was treated quickly. He's lost some feeling in his right side, and the CAT scans are not being the most helpful. Alan and I got to visit with him very briefly tonight, and while he was tired and frustrated at being so helpless, he's young and strong of mind and will. I have faith he will get through this, but it will take time and lots of effort.

His family has set up a 24 hour watch at the visitor's lounge near his room, and have many friends dropping by for support. Regardless, your positive thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated. I'll pass on any comments left here when we visit him again on Monday night.