dianec42

Mr Diane found a biweekly jam session thingy nearby and I'll be tagging along. At the moment I plan to plink out a few chords on my ukulele, and sing.

I have dragged out my bass and discovered a few things. One, I can't remember what all the songs are that I like to play. Two, I can't remember how to play any of them. Three, I do in fact use my dysfunctional fretting pinky (dangit!). And finally, Four, I'm too out of shape (and my left shoulder is too wrecked) to stand and play for more than 10 minutes without being in pain.

I guess this gives me some goals for the gym...

Hilariously, we stumbled across a marked-up bad photocopy of Van Morrison's "Wild Night" in guitar tab. It must be mine. I have zero memory of it, but the pencil annotations are exactly the sort of thing I'd write. My best guess is, it was one of the first songs I learned to play with the office band back in another century; I assume I asked so many questions that somebody gave me their copy so I'd shut up & we could play.

I've been having fun playing with different glass combinations. I still need to get better about consistent sizing. I think these came out pretty nice:

I'm on hiatus from cross stitch & have been doing a lot of glass fusing. I recently took 2 classes - one Very Serious multi-week class, and one 2-hour class just for fun.

Here are a couple of finished pieces from the Very Serious 4-week class:

and a work-in-progress from the same class:

The short class was making 2 Christmas ornaments. Here they are before and after firing:

Oh! Also, mr Diane fixed the broken I Scream piece with some clear frit and a re-fire:

Mr Diane and I are going ahead with the basement renovation. It will be done in 2 phases because we have far too much crap. I'm pretty excited.

I FOUND THE MISSING PATTERN INSTRUCTIONS. The instructions, and indeed the envelope and (wildly misfolded) original tissue pattern, were somehow UNDER a loose Ikea shelf that I've been using for swap space in the craft room. Jeeeeeeeze Past Diane. Thanks a lot.

I am SO looking forward to getting enough random shit out of that room that I can organize my own stuff on the shelves. (Hey, a girl can dream...)

edit: Now if I could just find my f'ing meter stick...

Researching fabric shopping options in London, also dragging out my tried-and-true pattern for floral shirts and working out yardage (metre-age?) for Liberty Tana lawn's weird width.

Giggling a bit at notes from Past Diane on the pattern.

Now if I could just find the instructions for that damn jersey knit top pattern I was so thrilled to buy in person!

I call this piece "I Scream":

Fused glass piece that has broken in the kiln

in no particular order:

* When fusing glass, it may be tempting to kiln-wash the kiln floor and fire stuff there instead of using a shelf or (literally) burning through thinfire paper. DON'T DO IT. Something will stick eventually and then you will be Very Sad.

* Our lovely dry basement is, in fact, not 100% dry. The foundation has a couple of cracks, which we knew about, which have been sealed. They need re-sealing. No basement contents were harmed.

* Toy Town Stained Glass in Winchendon MA is a very dangerous place to shop.

* My doctor's office uses an AI note-taking program called Abridge. After 5 minutes of web-searching and careful contemplation, I have opted out.

* I love shopping in Manchester, VT, but holy hell do I hate driving there during tourist season.

* Late July is just about the worst possible time to be shopping for skorts.

We saw Devo at Foxwoods on Saturday. Holy cow! If you get the chance to see them, GO. They have absolutely still got it.

It was a little over 3 hours' drive. In a stinky loaner car because the ICCU on Alanis(*) went pop(**).

I think this is the first time I've ever been TO Connecticut instead of just driving through it. Heck, I didn't even know until I bought the tickets that Foxwoods is in Connecticut and not Massachusetts.

Then we decided we wanted to go to the beach. For background, we drove across the country 3 years ago - twice! - but stopped in Vermont and still have not made it all the way to the Atlantic. Using the logic of, "It's RIGHT THERE!" we decided to correct this shortcoming.

Unfortunately, one does not simply "go to the beach" in Rhode Island on a nice Sunday in June. Not unless one wants to pay $20-30 for parking, which we did not. (Having recently returned from Hawaii where the beach is just freakin' FREE, this left us rather annoyed.) I guess we'll go back to plan A and sneak into New Hampshire on a Tuesday in the middle of winter or something.

We consoled ourselves with Dunkies and a visit to Bay State Perennial Farm where we filled up the back of the stinky loaner with native(ish) plants. Because we can never have too many plants.

Putting gas in the loaner car was weird. I'm happy to be out of practice.

(*) "Isn't it Ioniq"

(**) Unfortunately a common issue. Good news, Hyundai have admitted it's a problem, and by the time I got around to posting this, the car is fixed and home again.

I finally finished Upon A Star, by PigeonCoop Designs, from the book Cross Stitch In The Forest. It took me a little over a year; I work on many projects at once, so this is pretty fast for me. The confetti stitches were SUCH a pain! I used a sharp embroidery needle so I could weave the tails through the weave of the Aida fabric.

Finished cross stitch of wolf, trees, moon, and stars

I did a (very) little bit of color on Art Nouveau Autumn:

I made good progress on Upon A Star. I'm on the home stretch!

I went to the Celebration of Needlework in Nashua NH, which was lots of fun. It's basically a cross stitch con; I go for the shopping and socializing. OF COURSE I picked up a new project. It was nice to see everyone.

On the way there, I stopped at A FABRIC STORE !! (New England Fabrics and Decorating in Keene NH.) I did not buy any fabric... this time. I did buy a copy of the New Look pattern I've been unwilling to pay +100% shipping for, which was delightful. Then I scored a great pair of cargo shorts at the LL Bean outlet. On the way back I went to Wonderland Yarns (Brattleboro VT) and got a project bag and some medium-sized clips for sewing projects. Massive success all around.

I got some stitching done (Upon a Star and Art Nouveau Autumn). I'll post progress pictures at some point.

Mr Diane & I just flew back from a week & a half in Hawaii.

While we were away, spring has f'ing SPRUNG. The trees are in leaf, the forget-me-nots have taken over the meadow, and the rhubarb is bigger than I am.

I'll write more when I'm less jet-lagged and more caught up.

Kidding. It was taken out by a very large and enthusiastic pine tree. But who can resist the Monty Python reference?

This week, Mr Diane & I built the new greenhouse, from a kit (Planta Sungrow Urban). Thank you insurance for paying for the new kit, if not for shipping. We needed to do a new road trip anyway.

Planta claims this kit can be built by 2 people in 8 hours. HA HA HA HA HA. Maybe the base kit with no extensions; and maybe IF those 2 people are tall, half our age, know EXACTLY what they're doing including where all of their tools are, AND aren't constrained by things like very close retaining walls outside and raised beds inside the ruins of the old greenhouse.

It took us four and a half days. We are somehow still speaking to each other.

Here's hoping this one lasts more than a couple of years. To be fair, it's built like a freaking tank. And let us not forget to honor the previous one for its sacrifice (THANK F*** IT WASN'T THE REAL HOUSE).

Phew, I'm exhausted just writing that. Time to go do all the other things now.

I finished all the outlines on Art Nouveau Autumn! I then tried to start the colours and promptly did a section with the wrong shade & had to undo.

I finished the moon on Upon A Star, and started some trees on the left side. There are still 2 stars to do, once I have enough trees done to have easy reference points.

I made the prototype skirt. Made some notes. Generally a good result. This pattern is a go!

I need to learn that it's okay to race through prototypes. It doesn't need to be perfect; heck, it doesn't even need to be good. It just needs to prove the fit.

Now I have a brand new Nerd World Problem: I know what pattern I want to use to make the top. It is an older pattern so it's available only as paper, not PDF, which honestly is fine by me, except for a slight distribution problem. With Jo-Ann out of business, where to buy paper patterns?

The answer is, apparently, buy the pattern online and pay the same amount again for shipping. SIGH.

Time to spend some time researching equally interesting patterns that come as PDFs, and see which terrible fate is slightly less terrible.

As in, I got the sewing machine out and test-stitched some fabric for a test project. Yes, I'm feeling testy.

Some wag once made a pie chart of how one spends time when sewing, with actual "making stitches with the machine" being maybe 5%, the rest being things like pressing, cutting out, pinning, and swearing.

I would add to those: searching the house for things you know you own; rearranging the clutter to actually reach those things; changing the needle and presser foot; winding bobbins; finding a spare spool of thread when you run out winding the first bobbin; swearing at the sewing machine instructions because you can't remember how to actually do any of these things; and most of all KEEPING THE CATS FROM GETTING INVOLVED.

Might need a more detailed breakdown of the swearing wedge of the pie chart...

I just had a Facebook comment liked by Edgar Winter. Yes, the rock star.

Well, I thought it was cool.

Current Mood: pleased

The first crocuses and snowdrops are blooming! I couldn't get a good snapshot of the snowdrops. Here, have some croci:

The shaded bits of the yard are doing their best to pretend it's not 70 degrees out:

It's going to be cold and wet again in a few days so I'm enjoying this while I can.

After seeing numerous recommendations, I finally got the book Atomic Habits from the library. As is my way, I have made extensive notes and am trying to apply it to everything in sight.

I have also been giving some thought to changing habits in retirement. Some existing habits bear revisiting: for example, did you know, Mr Diane & I have been getting up at staggered times... which is a remnant of when we only had 1 bathroom, over 20 years ago. Some new habits are also available now, such as doing grocery shopping on a weekday or ACTUALLY WORKING ON THAT DAMN QUILT.

One habit I've successfully tweaked: I had been lifting weights twice a week (doing basically the same 2 at-home routines I came up with during lockdown) but recently started struggling to get it done. I decided to simplify and make it totally boring/mindless: I stole a short list of exercises from an NPR article in January, took out a couple that I hate, added in some more upper body and should PT exercises, and have been successfully doing this routine THREE times a week since the beginning of February.

It'll be interesting to see what else I come up with. March is utter chaos, so I'm keeping my expectations low. Maybe the chaos will shake some things loose in my brain and open up new possibilities.

Needless to say this is the year I officially ~~gave up on~~ took a break from bullet journaling, and now I actually understand how habit tracking is SUPPOSED to work so I may need to start again.

I had stalled out on this one due to poor light and hating confetti stitches. Yesterday I cranked through all but 2 of the stars and much of the shading on the moon.

Pattern is Upon A Star from the book Cross Stitch In The Forest.

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

Recent Entries

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Found some people to play music with!

I may be going overboard with the coasters

Crafty stuff

Random things in the house

Doing my sewing homework

Adventures in fused glass

A few things I've learned this week

More concert fun; plus, One does not simply "go to the beach" in Rhode Island in June

I finished ANOTHER thing!

Stitching progress

Road tripping and stitching

... and boy are my arms tired

The first greenhouse sank into the swamp...

Did some stitching

Sewing

I actually sewed yesterday!

And now for something completely random

Happy Second False Spring!

Habits, atomic and otherwise

I got back to the slightly harder cross-stitch WIP

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October 2026

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