Well, I've Never Been to Heaven, But I've Been to Oklahoma

The title of this post comes from the fact that we're talking vacations today and also that I woke up to a thunderstorm this morning and with that Three Dog Night song in my head. We haven't been on a proper vacation since two years before we moved to this house, so that would make it nearly four years without going very far. We used to pick up and go somewhere--usually overseas--every other year. We'd like to spend our money in the U.S., and we'd like to try something different, so this year we're talking about going to one of the big state fairs--Nebraska, Iowa, maybe Kansas, flying to perhaps Omaha or Indianapolis and renting a car. Road trip! When I was younger I criss-crossed the country for about three years, so I've been most everywhere and want to go again. BF has visited both coasts but has never never been to the Midwest. BF says that if we go to the fair, I have to ride the carnival rides, though. I don't know about that... I need to figure out where the best needlework shops are and plan accordingly, don't you think? Let's see--there's The Silver Needle in Oklahoma. Anyone else have any recommendations on either fairs or needlework stops?

I devoted most of my week to my very long homework assignment, so I didn't stitch much. And wherever I turned, I was running into a problem (generally of my own making). Problem One: La Famille Lapin. I was making great progress in spite of the quarter stitches and backstitching, until the project got separated from its thread. It's red, silk and variegated. I wonder what it was.... It wasn't called for by the pattern.


Problem Two: 1763 Band Sampler. I love this sampler--all but the topmost band (so far--there are more bands over this). On the designer's photo it looks cute--it's sort of freehandish. In my hands it looks sloppy. What to do. I've taken it out and redone it, but to my eye, it still isn't right.




Problem Three: Tulips. It sat in my bag for a while because I don't enjoy the queen stitches. So I sat down one day and finished most of the stitches that are blocking my progress. Except, see the two rows of gold queen stitches? In between there is a row of green queen stitches that fill in the gaps. I actually think I like the gaps left empty, and not just because I don't enjoy doing the queen stitches. Part of me thinks that's a nice reason not to stitch the crowded-looking green stitches, and part of me feels like a slacker for not just DOING them already. But I think the green stitches look too crowded.



And Problem Four: Janet Gibson. What to do, what to do. I'm just not happy with either the coverage of the thread or the limpness of the fabric on this project. I think I'm going to put her away for a while and perhaps restart her later on different fabric. It's just too disappointing to stitch and stitch and then look at it and think....eh.

This afternoon I think I'll stitch something easy, maybe one of my LHN WIPs, like Morning Berries.

Speaking of Morning Berries, you'll recall the MB verse goes: "The dew upon the berry, relects the morning sun. It glistens like a diamond until the rabbits come." The rabbits came to my new flower garden and munched some of my beautiful new plants right down to tiny stumps. I have to go pick up more plants now because of them. Man, do they love the liriope! And the paprika yarrow.

Here's some of my lettuce crop, safe from their greedy little clutches, in containers on the deck:


It's good to have someone to snuggle with during a thunder storm.

Have a wonderful week!