Stitching Up a Storm in Alamo City

The drums of progress still beating (but slowly)

Even though I got two more spools of Accentuate for the trees, it wasn't enough!!  It goes faster that you'd think using 6 plies at a time.   So I had enough to finish all but one tree.   

The little knots in the margins by the water had been bothering me all along.  They weren't anchored well enough to stay intact for finishing, so I decided.   I took the affected parts out and re-anchored everything. 

I ordered more Accentuate and a Snag Nab It to pull a few errant plies of Accentuate to the back.   They're slippery little things. 

Now there's nothing to do but the animals and the fish.   I'm suspicious of the bead color for the main part of the fish - will have to check my stash before I give in to it.

My prediction is that in about a week, I'll feel like an absolute expert on split stitch.   I think I said earlier that the bear is in long and short.   Not so.  It's split stitch, which is actually much more like bear fur than long and short would be.   (Thank you, Tony.)

Happy Stitching.
Jane 

What a surprise

Several months ago, maybe 18, a lady named Andrea was following my blog and sent me an email about something....   after that we corresponded a few more times ...   maybe 6-8 about different questions or topics.  I remember for example, that she asked about my first trip to India and the children I saw.  

Although she lives in Boston, she has family in the area and so last fall, she was in the area - I think I recommended a couple of barbeque places for her to try out.   And we missed each other by a few hours at Colleen's in Austin.  

A few weeks ago, she let me know that she and her husband would be coming to San Antonio this week to visit the family - we decided to meet up for a drink or something.  So it was all arranged - Mark and I went downtown to a hotel lobby to meet them at 6pm Monday evening.   As we were sitting in the lobby waiting, Mark (who was very skeptical about me meeting someone I that knew only from the internet) said, "How will you know who she is?"   I told him that if she's followed my blog much, she has probably seen my picture, so might have an idea what I look like.  I, of course, had no clue what to look for in Andrea.   I knew from our correspondence that she has adult children, so I assumed she was at least 45 or so - but didn't have anything else to go on.

Well, smart Andrea took care of that.   Look what she had around her neck when I spotted a "potential" in the lobby!!!

Is that the funniest thing you've seen in a while??

I was so taken that I forgot at the time to take a picture of her.   She graciously sent me a photo of this wonderful sign.

The hands are amazing - padded and bejeweled.   Love it.

Thanks, Andrea, for making me laugh!!  It was such a pleasure to meet you and your husband.   Sorry that the weather didn't cooperate with us - I hope you enjoyed going back to Cappy's on Wednesday night.  

(While a storm was gathering, we decided to go to dinner together and take them to our favorite restaurant in town, Cappy's.   When we got there the restaurant was without power, and no hopes of getting any, so we went to another place a few miles away.  Andrea and her husband decided to go back to Cappy's on Wednesday night with family.)

Until next time, 
Jane 

Crazy days.

We just got back from a trip to Cabo with the grandbabies (and their parents).   I didn't take any pictures myself, but we had a photographer come out to take a few, so I'll show you those later.

I found a little window of stitching time on Sunday and I pulled out this oldie but goodie.

See the little ray stitch in the fir trees in the background?  In the last month or two, I worked on them and filled in maybe 1/3 of the trees.    Once I was that far, I thought, "Wouldn't it be fun to change up the stitch for the trees?   Not do them all in the same stitch?"  So I pulled out books and looked and looked.   And then I made up a little bargello stitch, which I like better.   Then I pulled out what I had already done and put it in my bargello stitch, modifying it as I went somewhat to fit the shapes of the trees.  

I like it.   What do you think??

I ran out of Accentuate so I'm pondering what to work on until I get more thread.  I'm thinking the animals - long and short stitch.  Good TV stitching.   

Mark and I have loaded up on NCIS and Once Upon a Time episodes - enough for a couple entire days, I think.   And we keep promising ourselves we'll get into Downton Abbey.   We have the 1st season on DVD but haven't cracked it yet.  Maybe soon.  

Happy Stitching.
Jane 

 

How to decide if you want to buy a canvas or not

 

Last fall, I bought a chalkboard to hang on my pantry door.   Then I found a fabulous chalk artist who can create anything that I can find a picture of.

When I was thinking about images I like for Easster/Spring, I immediately thought of this rabbit canvas called "Seize the Day" by Maggie and Co.  What if I asked Phoebe (the artist) to draw the rabbit on the chalkboard?   Looking at it for a few weeks might even help me decide if I want to buy the canvas.

I had Phoebe replace the piece of cake with a basket of bird eggs (more spring-like) and he turned out beautifully.   I haven't named him yet - I guess that's a slight signal that I'm not absolutely in love with him, but I think he's darling.

The colors turned out great on the chalkboard, too.

 

Isn't he perfect??

Happy Spring!!
Jane 

Foodie heaven

Food in Philly was great.  The three nights we were in Philly, we had sushi, tapas and very authentic Chinese.   All excellent.   I especially liked the Dan Dan Noodle Soup at Han Dynasty.  Very tasty!!

In New York, once situated in our hotel and hungry for lunch, I did a quick internet search and discovered that David Chang has a little restaurant one block from where we were.  Quick phone call to check availability for lunch, and we were at Ma Peche!!  I told Mark - we're not going to eat everything I order, but I want to try a few things....

Steamed buns with Pork Belly, Pickled Cucumbers and a hoisin BBQ sauce.  Fabulous.

Brussels sprouts with chipotle, egg and cotija.  Yum, but not as good as his original recipe. 

It wasn't my favorite dish, but I didn't have any trouble getting around it.

Fried Rice with duck sausage, tonkatsu, sweet potato.   Who knew I liked tonkatsu??

Great surprise lunch in NYC.
Food tour is over for the day.
Jane