Catching up on the week

I finally decided to sit down with Flower Power and put some serious time into it. I woke up around 6 am on Saturday and figured I might as well get up. So get up I did and sat right down in the stitchy chair and got after Flower Power. As you can see from below, I finished up the flower I was working on. I've moved on and added some more green leaves above the flower, but haven't pictured them.

I found that there is a small tatting group that meets at a local quilt shop the second Saturday of the month.  I was so looking forward to going and meeting with them and figuring out if there is a better way to get the knot to flip from one thread to the other.  Off I went Saturday afternoon to meet up with them.  I wandered all over the quilt shop (it's a larger one) and just couldn't find them.  Disappointed I went back home.  It wasn't until the next day, Sunday, that I figured out that I'd gone down on the first Saturday of the month!  Duh me.  I shall try again next Saturday.  Maybe I'll have more luck.

Also on Saturday, Brother A was kind and drove 35 miles or so to the house with his truck to help us out with the fence.  He brought down a load of trash to take to the transfer station before coming over here.  Once here, we headed over to Lowes to pick up the slats we needed for the fence.  I think we stood in line trying to pay for the slats longer than we did in picking them out!  After we unloaded the slats, we helped Brother A load up his big, red, wheeled tool box into his truck.  We then threw in the old cement piers we had dug up and as much of the junk wood as we could.  I gave him a $10 to pay for the load fee at the transfer station, and he was off again.

The mail on Saturday brought the first installment of the Lizzie*Kate Mystery Sampler.  I didn't order the specified fabric because I didn't know what it was.  I know, it's a mystery and I don't know what the fabric is, imagine that.  At any rate, I read that it was to be a pale grey and I went 'Blah'.  I like colors and I like motled fabrics.  I really want to head up to Shepherds Bush to see what they've got.  They have the best collection of fabrics between the two LNS I could go to.  I'm ready to push Flower Power aside and start right in on this project.

Sunday came and I settled down to stitch on Garden of Love.  I'm thinking I need to whittle down my random WIPs, finish up some of the smalls I have going on... But really it's just an excuse to be able to start something new.  I made quite a bit of progress on it, and I'm starting to think that I just might eek it out with out having to go buy whole skeins of the other colors.  We shall have to wait and see, though.

I should mention that I had a lovely Independence Day.  SIL A's family came over early and they all went out to the hot air balloon fiesta that takes place in conjunction with the Freedom Festival that the city hosts.  At one time it was one of the largest Fourth of July festivals in the country.  I don't know if that is still the case or not, but they do party for about a week before the actual event. 

Anyway, after her family did the balloons, they came over here for a large breakfast of waffles, muffins, sausages, and scrambled eggs.  After we ate, they headed off to the Colonial reenactment village and were gone the rest of the late morning, early afternoon.  They came back and we had the usual hamburgers, chips, and salads for an early dinner.  Once that was cleaned up, they headed off to their town for the fireworks.

The culminating event for the Freedom Festival is Stadium of Fire.  (We've joked about it being Stadium on Fire for years...)  They always have several different minor acts and then one bigger act perform before the big display of fireworks goes off.  I think this year our big act was the Beach Boys.  Anyway, If I sit out in the street at the end of the diveway, I've got a direct view of the top of the stadium, and therefore all the big fireworks.  It's perfect.

A year or so ago, the state legislature changed the laws on the fireworks that can be sold to the masses.  It went from little fountains and sparklers that can't go more than 10 feet off the ground to big aerial type fireworks.  The new rule is that the ash and what not has to have burnt out before it returns to the ground.  As you can imagine, the whole state has pretty much gone crazy and buys the new aerials like they are going out of style.  As I was sitting out in the street (closer to the edge of the road, really... and no one was driving by at any rate...) I was treated to all the aerial fireworks that my neighbors had purchased.  I could look west, north, and east and see the fireworks allowed to the public, and farther to the east to the big boomers that the pros set up.  Good times, a great show put on by all, and super cheap for me!

I'm back on the serious job hunt.  I've let the temp agency know that I'm available again, plus I'll be attending a career workshop this week to help polish up the resume and my interviewing skills.  I'm toying in my head of taking a change of direction from accounting.  Based on how much I enjoyed planning out my vacation, and how ocd I can be about stuff like that, it was suggested by some friends that maybe I should check into being a travel agent.  Hmmm...  I contacted my travel agent and asked if I could come down and check out what it is, exactly, that they do.  She said that I could, so next week sometime, I'll go spend a lot of time with her.  It could turn into something I like, or I could realize right quick that it's not something for me.

I do believe that is everything from last week.  It looks like my sisters dog is going to arrive this upcoming Saturday, so Brother B and I need to finish putting up the fence.  I can't thank Brother B enough for his help on the fence.  He'll go out and work on it for a while even when it's far too hot for me to go out and work on it.

Hugs and Stitches,
Kay