Oldest UFO - SAL update

I'm pleased with my progress. This is where I was on 2 Jan 2012.

And this is where I am as of 30 Jan 2012. Actually makes me think there will be a finish to this at some point!

I was updating Quickbooks from 2011 to 2012 and for some reason the update brought forward the data from the 2008 version. So, when I went in to pay some bills, I was missing 3 years worth of data. Talk about having a heart attack!! However, since I am a fanatic about backing up my data EVERY SINGLE time I go into the program, I was able to restore all the missing numbers and carry on. I did age about 5 years though.

Break of Day in the Trenches

The darkness crumbles away--

It is the same old druid Time as ever.

Only a live thing leaps my hand--

A queer sardonic rat--

As I pull the parapet's poppy

To stick behind my ear.

Droll rat, they would shoot you if they knew

Your cosmopolitan sympathies.

Now you have touched this English hand

You will do the same to a German--

Soon, no doublt, if it be your pleasure

To cross the sleeping green between.

It seems you inwardly grin as you pass

Strong eyes, fine limbs, haughty athletes

Less chanced than you for life,

Bonds to the whims of murder,

Sprawled in the bowels of the earth,

The torn fields of France.

What do you see in our eyes

At the shrieking iron and flame

Hurled through still heavens?

What quaver--what heart aghast?

Poppies whose roots are in man's veins

Drop, and are ever dropping;

But mine in my ear is safe,

Just a little white with the dust.

Isaac Rosenberg

1890 - 1918

Just a regular grey, drippy Rupert day. Hooray!

Got Sisters' books up-to-date. January is always a good month with all the New Year's resolutions about weight and exercise.

Not Waving But Drowning

Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.

Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he's dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.

Oh, no no no, it was too cold always
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning.

Stevie Smith
1902 - 1971

Here is the picture of the finished ornament I mentioned yesterday. It's from a New Berlin kit on 18 count Aida. It's nice to have it completely finished and ready to hang on somebody's Christmas tree this coming December.



We had full blown Rupert winter weather today - howling winds and pelting rain coming down sideways. Most of the snow is gone and everyone is just hoping it doesn't freeze all of a sudden.

It was my Saturday to open Sisters and for a few hours I thought the day was going to be a total bust - 2 people in right as I opened and then for about an hour and a half - no one! Then all of a sudden we had a full house and it stayed like that right up to 1 p.m. Good day.

We Real Cool

We real cool. We
Left school. We

Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We

Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We

Jazz June. We
Die soon.

Gwendolyn Brooks
1917 -

Somebody is confused. The forecast keeps calling for rain, and we keep getting snow. Wednesday night it was blowing and raining like crazy, but I woke up Thursday morning to a couple of inches of new snow! Rained again yesterday evening and at least until midnight, but woke up this morning again to snow - only a dusting this time, but still snow.

Finished an ornament yesterday - will be posting a picture tomorrow. I've decided to work on my large projects at home and just take small ones to Sisters. Much easier to carry back and forth and less problems when I get interrupted by members needed my help. Think it will work well.

Love Calls Us to the Things of This World

The eyes open to a cry of pulleys,
And spirited from sleep, the astounded soul
Hangs for a moment bodiless and simple
As false dawn.
Outside the open window
The morning air is all awash with angels.

Some are in bed-sheets, some are in blouses,
Some are in smocks: but truly there they are.
Now they are rising together in calm swells
Of halcyon feeling, filling whatever they wear
With the deep joy of their impersonal breathing;

Now they are flying in place, conveying
The terrible speed of their omnipresence, moving
And staying like white water; and now of a sudden
They swoon down into so rapt a quiet
That nobody seems to be there.
The soul shrinks

From all that it is about to remember,
From the punctual rape of every blessed day,
And cries,
"Oh, let there be nothing on earth but laundry,
Nothing but rosy hands in the rising steam
And clear dances done in the sight of heaven."

Yet, as the sun acknowledges
With a warm look the world's hunks and colors,
The soul descends once more in bitter love
To accept the waking body, saying now
In a changed voice as the man yawns and rises,

"Bring them down from their ruddy gallows;
Let there be clean linen for the backs of thieves;
Let lovers go fresh and sweet to be undone,
And the heaviest nuns walk in a pure floating
Of dark habits,
keeping their difficult balance."

Richard Wilbur
1921 -

Didn't get to the computer at all yesterday. Was at Sisters for the morning, had lunch (delicious spaghetti and meat sauce coutesy of Michelle), napped and Cynthia made it for our craft night. She is still making dish cloths - keeping ahead of the demand is next to impossible! - and I worked on square 8 of Patchwork. It also spent most of the day raining so most of the snow is gone and the temperatures are in the +6 or 7 range.

The winds really blew last night - the rain hitting the wall sounded like hail.

Today will be another quiet day. Do my computer stuff and then either stitch or read - and the stitching will probably win. I'm making nice progress on my Oldest UFO SAL which feels SO good after ignoring it for so long.

I Sing of a Maiden

I sing of a maiden
That is makeles:
King of all kings
To her son she chees.

He came all so still
There his mother was,
As dew in April
That falleth on the grass.

He came all so still
To his mother's bower,
As dew in April
That falleth on the flower.

He came all so still
There his mother lay,
As dew in April
That falleth on the spray.

Mother and maiden
Was never none but she;
Well may swich a lady
Goddes mother be.

Anonymous
Sometime between 1400 and 1600

makeles is matchless
chees is close
swich is such
Goddes is God's

It must have rained last night as the snow is not so thick this morning, but it's still here! LOL The wind never did arrive - or I just slept through the whole thing. It's hard to say.

I did finish the left side of my stitching yesterday and started working on the right side. When I say "finish" I mean the full and half cross stitches. I still have long stitches, satin stitch and back stitching to do plus add a bazillion beads. However, progress is progress and I like it.

Loving in Truth, and Fain in Verse My Love to Show

Loving in truth, and fain in verse my love to show,
That she, dear she, might take some pleasure of my pain,
Pleasure might cause her read, reading might make her know,
Knowledge might pity win, and pity grace obtain,
I sought fit words to paint the blackest face of woe:
Studying inventions fine, her wits to entertain,
Oft turning others' leaves, to see if thence would flow
Some fresh and fruitful showers upon my sunburn'd brain.
But words came halting forth, wanting Invention's stay;
Invention, Nature's child, fled stepdame Study's blows;
And others' feet still seemed but strangers in my way.
Thus, great with child to speak, and helpless in my throes,
Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite:
"Fool," said my Muse to me, "look in thy heart and write!"

Sir Philip Sidney
1554 - 1586

It's a bit warmer and it's supposed to be raining, but it's not. Great big sloppy wet flakes are coming down thickly. Bah humbug!

Went grocery shopping with Denise and it's very slippery in spots. The roads aren't cleared all that well and there are frozen mounds along all the sidewalks downtown where the plows have pushed the snow. And the Overwaitea parking lot is slippery. However, all that being said, we got everything done. My bill was huge - I didn't shop last week because I wasn't feeling well and I could really tell today. Plus, there were a couple of in-store specials that could not be passed up.

Got a little more stitching on my oldest UFO yesterday but not enough to quite finish the left side. That is the goal for the weekend though.

When That I Was and a Little Tiny Boy

When that I was and a little tiny boy,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
A foolish thing was but a toy,
For the rain it raineth every day.

But when I came to man's estate
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
'Gainst knaves and thieves men shut their gate,
For the rain it raineth every day.

But when I came, alas! to wive,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
By swaggering could I never thrive,
For the rain it raineth every day.

But when I came unto my beds,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
'With toss-pots still had drunken heads,
For the rain it raineth every day.

A great while ago the world begun,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
But that's all one, our play is done,
And we'll strive to please you every day.

William Shakespeare - Twelfth Night
1564 - 1616

Well, we're hovering around 0 degrees and bits of snow are still falling. My hill is a sheet of ice, so I'm not going anywhere today. Denise and I will try again tomorrow to go shopping and I've cancelled my hair appointment, which is too bad as I'm definitely shaggy and my hair falls in my eyes when I'm stitching!

Speaking of stitching, I got in a good couple of hours on my oldest UFO and have almost all the full and half stitching done on the left side. Hopefully today I'll be able to finish it and get started on making the right side match. I'm not sure if you can tell from the pictures, but the design is symetrical on a vertical axis.

Full Many a Gorious Morning Have I Seen

Full many a glorious morning have I seen
Flatter the mountain-tops with sovereign eye,
Kissing with golden face the meadows green,
Gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy;
Anon permit the basest clouds to ride
With ugly rack on his celestial face,
And from the forlorn world his visage hide,
Stealing unseen to west with this disgrace:
Even so my son one early morn did shine
With all-triumphant splendour on my brow;
But, out, alack! he was but one hour mine,
The region cloud hath mask'd him from me now.
Yet him for this my love no whit disdaineth;
Suns of the world may stain when heaven's sun staineth.

William Shakespeare - Sonnet XXXIII
1564 - 1616

More snow last night. The forecast was for 10 cm (approx. 4") and I think we got it although I haven't actually gone out and measured it! Apparently the roads are a mess, but I don't have to go out. My doctor's appointment got cancelled (he was up all night delivering babies) and Denise and I have decided to postpone grocery shopping until tomorrow or Sunday, depending what happens. I'm quite happy with both events, as I was NOT looking forward to walking down the back alley. On the down side, my crafting afternoon has also been cancelled because Cynthia doesn't think her car will make it up the alley - and she's exhausted from lack of sleep. So, should be a quiet day and I think stitching will definitely be involved.

No Longer Mourn For Me When I Am Dead

No longer mourn for me when I am dead
Than you shall hear the surly sullen bell
Give warning to the world that I am fled
From this vile world, with vilest worms to dwell:
Nay, if you read this line, remember not
The hand that writ it; for I love you so,
That I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot
If thinking on me then should make you woe.
O, if, I say, you look upon this verse
When I perhaps compounded am with clay,
Do not so much as my poor name rehearse,
But let your love even with my life decay;
Lest the wise world should look into your moan,
And mock you with me after I am gone.

William Shakespeare - Sonnet LXXI
1564 - 1616

Another clear, crisp day today, but ONLY -14 (I think) and the wind doesn't seem to be as bad. However, I get to stay in, so I can enjoy the beauty and ignore the temperature.

Definitely a stitching - and a soup for supper - kind of day.

Tired with All These, for Restful Death I Cry

Tired with all these, for restful death I cry,
As, to behold desert a beggar born,
And needy nothing trimm'd in jollity,
And purest faith unhappily forsworn,
And gilded honour shamefully misplac'd,
And maiden virtue rudely strumpeted,
And right perfection wrongfully disgrac'd,
And strength by limping sway disabled,
And art made tongue-tied by authority,
And folly, doctor-like, controlling skill,
And simple truth miscall'd simplicity,
And captive good attending captain ill:
Tir'd with all these, from these would I be gone,
Save that, to die, I leave my love alone.

William Shakespeare - Sonnet LXVI
1564 - 1616

It was a very crisp -17 when I trudged down my icy hill this morning - with a biting wind so heaven only knows what the wind chill temperature was. And it was SOOOOO cold in Sisters. The problem is, I mostly have to sit, so I feel it more than our members who are doing some seriously physical movement. Michelle was able to give me a lift home however, so I didn't have to trudge up the hill! I'm just waiting for the electric blanket to warm the bed and it will be nap/snuggle time while I try to warm up.

Did get some stitching done. I always have a small project on the go to take to Sisters and at the moment I'm working on an ornament kit. I'm about 1/2 way through the main body of the stitching.

Like as the Waves Make towards the Pebbled Shore

Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,
So do our minutes hasten to their end;
Each changing place with that which goes before,
In sequent toil all forwards do contend.
Nativity, once in the main of light,
Crawls to maturity, where with being crowned,
Crooked eclipses 'gainst his glory fight,
And Time that gave doth now his gift confound.
Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth
And delves the parallels in beauty's brow,
Feeds on the rarities of natures truth,
And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow:
And yet to times in hope my verse shall stand,
Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand.

William Shakespeare - Sonnet LX
1564 - 1616

Well, I did get in some more stitches and hoping to do the same today. It's nice to see progress on that poor forgotten piece of stitchery.

Temperatures are dropping - it is going to be very unpleasant in Rupert for the next few days.

There Is a Garden in Her Face

There is a garden in her face,
Where roses and white lilies grow;
A heavenly paradise is that place,
Wherein all pleasant fruits do flow.
There cherries grow which none may buy,
Till "Cherry-ripe" themselves do cry.

Those cherries fairly do enclose
Of orient pearl a double row,
Which when her lovely laughter shows,
They look like rosebuds filled with snow.
Yet them nor peer nor prince can buy,
Till "Cherry-ripe" themselves do cry.

Her eyes like angels watch them still;
Her brows like bended bows do stand,
Threatening with piercing frowns to kill
All that attempt with eye or hand
Those sacred cherries to come nigh,
Till "Cherry-ripe" themselves do cry.

Thomas Campion
1567 -1620

More snow last night - the view out my window is gorgeous. Blue sky, deep blue ocean, everything covered in white, the hills on the far side of the harbour looking like they have been dusted with powdered sugar.

Worked on Sisters' books and we are all up-to-date and balanced. That feels good. The rest of the day should be stitching. Hopefully a bit more for my Oldest UFO SAL.

The Funeral

Whoever comes to shroud me, do not harm
Nor question much
That subltle wreath of hair which crowns my arm;
The mystery, the sign you must not touch,
For 'tis my outward Soul,
Viceroy to that, which then to heaven being gone,
Will leave this to control,
And keep these limbs, her Provinces, from dissolution.

For if the sinewy thread my brain lets fall
Through every part
Can tie those parts, and make me one of all;
These hairs which upward grew, and strength and art
Have from a better brain,
Can better do it; except she meant that I
By this should know my pain,
As prisoners then are manacled, when they're condemned to die.

Whate'er she meant by it, bury it with me,
For since I am
Love's martyr, it might breed idolatry,
If into others' hands these Relics came;
As 'twas humility
To afford to it all that a Soul can do,
So, 'tis some bravery,
That since you would save none of me, I bury some of you.

John Donne
1572 - 1631

And that's the end of Donne for a bit. He's talented, but he can be very depressing!

It snowed here yesterday and I awoke to a beautiful white world. BUT, I had to open Sisters this morning, so it meant walking down the back alley (with the taxi sitting at the bottom waiting for me) which is steep and it makes me nervous as my balance is not always the best. However, got down with no problems and discovered to my pleasure that it was REAL snow. And what is REAL snow you ask? It's the light and fluffy stuff that you can kick up as you walk through it. Usually snow on the coast is wet and heavy and the moment you step on it, it turns to ice. Locally, we call it west coast cement. Terrible stuff.

By the time I came home at 2 p.m. it was a different story. It had warmed up slightly and there had been a couple of vehicles up the alley and it was packed and slippery. I will give the taxi driver credit though - at least he TRIED to get to the top but just couldn't make it. It was nerve wracking, but thanks to my cleats and my walking pole, I was fine.

The Apparition

When by thy scorn, O murderess, I am dead,
And that thou think'st thee free
From all solicitation from me,
Then shall my ghost come to thy bed,
And thee, feigned vestal, in worse arms shall see;
Then thy sick taper will begin to wink,
And he, whose thou art then, being tired before,
Will, if thou stir, or pinch to wake him, think
Thou call'st for more,
And in false sleep will from thee shrink,
And then, poor aspen wretch, neglected thou
Bathed in a cold quicksilver sweat wilt lie
A verier ghost than I;
What I will say, I will not tell thee now,
Lest that preserve thee; and since my love is spent,
I had rather thou shouldst painfully repent,
Than by my threatenings rest still innocent.

John Donne
1572 - 1631

More progress

I have a small finish to show - this is square #7 in a larger "Patchwork" design that will have a total of 12 squares when it's done. I just love the shades of purple in this one.

Oh, and I haven't done a poem for a long time. So, here we go.

The Relic

When my grave is broke up again
Some second guest to entertain,
(For graves have learned that woman-head
To be to more than one a bed)
And he that digs it, spies
A bracelet of bright hair about the bone,
Will he not let us alone,
And think that there a loving couple lies,
Who thought that this device might be some way
To make their souls, at the last busy day,
Meet at this grave, and make a little stay?

If this fall in a time, or land,
Where mis-devotion doth command,
Then, he that digs us up will bring
Us to the Bishop and the King,
To make us relics; then
Thou shalt be a Mary Magdalen, and I
A something else thereby;
All women shall adore us, and some men;
And since at such time, miracles are sought,
I would have that age by this paper taught
What miracles we harmless lovers wrought.

First, we loved well and faithfully,
Yet knew not what we loved, nor why,
Difference of sex no more we knew,
Than our guardian angels do;
Coming and going, we
Perchance might kiss, but not between those meals;
Our hands ne'er touched the seals,
Which nature, injured by late law, sets free;
These miracles we did; but now alas,
All measure, and all language, I should pass,
Should I tell what a miracle she was.

John Donne
1572 - 1631

Frustration!

I took "Patchwork" with me to Sisters yesterday and once I got all my official work done, tried to get in a few stitches. Bad idea! It was a very dark and gloomy day in Pr. Rupert yesterday and the light over my desk is NOT a good. And Patchwork is being stitched on grey, 32 ct fabric and I just about went crazy - I could not see the threads properly and I was pulling out and redoing at least 3 stitches for every 5. Thank goodness I'm doing back stitch so it's fairly simple to fix, but I finally had to throw up and hands and quit. Looks like I'll have to start carrying my OTT light with me when I take my stitching.

Roll on brighter days that also start earlier!!

Stitching: A Finish and Plans

Well, it's been a good start to the New Year stitchingwise at least. I finished one of my rotation pieces, "O Canada". I had hoped to make it my last finish of 2011, but I had to stop about 11 p.m. as I was so tired I was making counting and stitching errors. So, I finished it New Year's Day in the afternoon. Makes it my first official finish of 2012 I guess.



So now I will be concentrating - in the rotation at least - on the "Patchwork" piece. I'm doing the back stitching on square #7 so hopefully I can post it soon.

I will be working on my wedding sampler as well, having joined an "Oldest UFO" SAL. This is where I am as of 2 January 2012 and I'm looking forward to substantial progress over the next few weeks/months.



I will also be working on a gift that needs to be done by the middle of April and another birth announcement picture, but at the moment I'm still waiting for fabric and floss before I can start them.

Well, another quiet day which makes me happy.

Did a couple of loads of laundry, so closets and drawers are full again - and some stitching of course. I'm working on a WIP that has been around for a while - patchwork squares in a black 'frame'. There are a total of 12 squares and I'm doing the back stitch for Number 7 - about halfway at this point. I'll take it with me to Sisters tomorrow - since it's easily put down and picked up it's a great piece for there.

Even the cats are having a quiet day - they are taking turns rotating through the sleeping spots!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Actually stayed up and saw 2012 in, which is something I haven't done in a long time. The staying up that is! vbg

Spent most of the night stitching. I was hoping to make "O Canada" my final finish for 2011, but I made myself stop at about 11 pm as I was starting to make mistakes. Took me just under an hour to finish it this afternoon, so I guess it's my first 2012 finish. Picture in a day or so. Now I'm planning my stitching for 2012. I want to finish my oldest UFO (I have joined a SAL for that) plus I have another baby announcement to do and a gift that has to be finished by early April. If I can also make some progress on each of the items in my rotation and properly finish the ornaments I have stitched that are just sitting forlornly in a bag, I shall be content I think.

I think I'm glad to see the end of 2011. Even though it ended on a positive note - the appointment in Terrace confirmed I do NOT have a new tumour so all is well there - that was a lot of stress and worry.

So here is a wish for a healthy 2012 for us all with lots of love of family and friends.