A fantastic birthday adventure!!

Sheesh, I have been gone awhile. I'm in training 9.25 hours a day - sitting at a computer. When I am not at work I don't want to be on the computer..... it is making my blog life suffer. Training is ok - lots to remember. By the end of the week I am exhausted. I do have a few finished to show but first my adventure....
My first birthday gift is this nightlight from Ikea - it's name is Spöka (it means ghost)

it changes color. I love it!! I had Scott put it by my bedside. My second gift was Haflinger. I have always wanted a pair but they are so expensive. My Gram had a pair but my feets was too big (yes, I meant to say feets) - I did buy a used (hardly used - worked out well for me) pair from EBAY once. I still have them but the back on one is ripped. They have so many different styles now - all cute! They are boiled wool and cork.

I can't wait for the Fall so I can wear them!! My third gift... may be the best gift I have ever gotten. I was NOT expecting it at all!!

It says " I am gift #3, to claim me, be at 500 Admiral Way in Edmunds Washington no later than 8:45am on July 22nd - Saturday. Check in at the Puget Sound Express"  What a surprise!! We got up at 4:30 am the next day and went to Edmunds Washington!!

 There is the catamaran we took

 Humpback Whale

 I hope I get to go again and I hope it's a smaller craft with less people so we can get closer - I kept telling Scott I was gonna go swim with the whales!! I have three great tail shots. You could hear the spout and when it's body broke the water - wonderful.

 Seals

 Elephant seals

 I had a great time!! We were out 9-2. Scott and I mostly stood on the back and felt the wind in our hair and the spray on our face! It was fantastic!! Scott booked a room at  The Silver Cloud Hotel in Seattle

He made reservations for Maggianos - the only one in Washington - one of my favorites!! It was a really great time!! Poor guy had a diverticulitis flair up this week so he wasn't feeling great but he still had a good time!!
I found an article online on accident called "The 50 most beautiful Starbucks in the World" I had sent it to Scott the week before the trip and so he planned on taking me to the one in Seattle we hadn't been to  (we've been to the main Starbucks) It's called Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room I don't know what I expected - but not this!! It is a very pretty location - they roast coffee there and have some crazy drinks that you can't get at any other Starbucks!

 This person is Rose and she is heating water with a halogen bulb - when the water gets hot it rises into the cup sitting on top, she steeps coffee in the cup and then turns off the bulb - the cooling coffee drains back into the bulb in the bottom - pretty cool.

 There is an upstairs and a downstairs!

I had a hazelnut Bianco and Scott had coffee with ice cream in it - delicious!! We spent two hours in this place!!
The next morning we walked through Pike Market - ate breakfast and then headed home

 hmm.... interesting

 The Crumpet Shop

 One is a scone with lemon curd - sooo good!! One is egg, ham, cream cheese and cucumber, one is ricotta, walnuts and honey and one is English cheese, egg and ham.

Look how close they park your cars in the lots - the guy who parks them is Houdini. I know I said it before but I had a wonderful time!! I've never had a secret birthday trip before.  I asked Scott how he would ever top that great gift - then I said maybe you will just have to give up and get me paperclips next year because it can't be topped HAHA!
I did have some finishes in the last few weeks. Right now I am working on some acorns - I will show you next time - hopefully fully finished. I haven't finished the wreath by Victoria Sampler yet and my rotation fell apart. Eh - what are ya gonna do?

  Victoria Sampler Sturbridge Box

 Scott framed this for me

 Babe's Honey farm - Victoria Sampler

 Rooster Ride - Barbara Anna Designs

 Scott framed this for me. The pattern is Alessandra Adelaide Needlework - Maple Leaf. Stitched on Lakeside Linen Vintage 36 count light exemplar 2 threads over 2 threads. Thread is Florimell red clay - 114, 2 skeins. All the french knots are done with Mill Hill petite 42033 autumn flame beads.

 About the 40 count gauze project....Scott put this disaster on a frame for me because I was stretching it out - it's tedious, and it's not that it's 40 count that is tedious - it is remembering to do the continental stitch instead of the half stitch. ugh.

Scott framed this... Stoney Creek - Pleasant Unity

Scott framed this - I made it for his boss.(Bothy threads -Love Blossoms)  We went to a city by Bend Oregon for the wedding. We had a good time.It was hot and the hotel (which was expensive ) really sucked. We did have a good time though -saw a lot of people Scott works with.
So, for the 4th of July we decided to stay home - it was a work night and we had been told that if you do go out, know that everybody goes and it will take you hours to get home. We didn't need to go anywhere - every other house all the way around us had city sized fireworks. My car was covered with ashes the next day. It went on ALL day long. They were nice and promptly stopped at midnight though. I was worried they were going to catch one of the houses on fire. It was like a war zone out here!! We saw some pretty ones from our porch and felt the debris rain down on us - that is how close they were!! Crazy - never seen anything like it!
Scott also had a birthday but I didn't get him anything as good as a trip!! I bought him some stuff from a band he wanted, a book and a season of Game of Thrones. We went to a really good Italian restaurant in Vancouver called La Bottega - we had a Gorgonzola cheese cake (savory) that was slap your momma good!!! We overate - like we may never see food again!! Scott and Ryder had beer from Germany and they both really liked it. I had ordered him some Salted Caramel Roos from a place called The Kettle House in Iowa - we stopped there once on a trip - they came too early and so we had already eaten them! We had desert and coffee at the restaurant though!
Well kids, that catches me up. I hope you are all having a fun summer! thanks for stopping by!! 

I am Groot

Well, actually I am Jamie. (love those movies!!)  I say that because I someone emailed me about buying a pattern and addressed me "Dear wife of Scott" which made me laugh but I also realized that it doesn't say my name anywhere on my blog. So there it is. I changed my "about me" thing too.
This weekend Scott and I went to the Canon Beach sandcastle competition. Canon Beach is about 2 hours away. We managed to find a few letterboxes while we were out. We had a lovely time walking up and down the beach - there were so many people there!! There were some lovely sand creations. I tried to find a site that had better pictures than the ones I got but I could only find this article

We had a great time. If you google sand castles and look at images - there are places in the world that have amazing competitions!! Between Scott and I, we have 95 years on this earth - we know you can get sun burnt even on a cloudy day AND I had two bottles of sun screen in the car - doesn't help if you don't use it. We both got pretty burnt  - but Scott got the worst of it - you can see where he rolled his jeans up to walk on the beach. Those legs haven't seen sun in 40 years!! His poor feet.... wearing boots to work today - not fun!! My burn is mostly gone but my face itches like mad!

 Happy Father's Day to this wonderful man. You are my lobster - ha ha - see what I did there?

I have a few stitching things to show

 my silk gauze progress - hard to hold because I can't use a hoop

 Victoria Sampler Christmas Wreath progress - I don't want to do the wreath back stitch in the center so I set it aside.

 Victoria Sampler Sturbridge Box. I did the flag with two strands even though it calls for one - you can hardly see it. Instagram followers mostly thought two was better as well. The person that does all of my framing and decorating - because he has a great eye for this stuff said one, so one it is. Such a pretty pattern!! 

 This fabric is Zweigart Pearl and the color is Antique but looks like oatmeal, it is the only color it comes in. I have only ever found it one place - Acorns and Threads. I think they are out of it right now but she does ship. It is thick and soft and I love it!! It unravels easily though so you have to sew the edge. I bought half a yard last time - I keep thinking I need to buy a yard just to have it but I keep wondering what I will use it for and that holds me back.

I just have to wait for the glue to dry and stitch them together and I will have the lid done. I don't want to make the box part so I will look for one at the craft store and if I can't find one I will ask Scott to make me one.
I start my new job tomorrow, Training is 4 days a week 11am -830pm, not the best hours. Working long shifts is one thing, working them so that they take up to entire day is crap. Why not 6am to 330pm? Then I could be home for dinner. Whatever. I will be working 9pm to 7am so I shouldn't start complaining about the hours now. 
That's it for now kids - thanks for stopping by. Hope you are having a lovely June and remember - WEAR SUNSCREEN!!! Even when it is cloudy damn it.

Old Dog - New Trick

It's true - this old dog learned a new stitching trick!! First things first though. I signed up for Scenic Washington emails - once a week they send an email about stuff going on in Washington. I had been signed up for Indiana when we lived there too. It's a great way to get to know an area. A few weeks ago they sent one concerning the Pybus Market in Wenatchee WA. We love love love the West Side Market in Cleveland OH and have been searching for a similar one closer to us. Indianapolis said they had one but it was only a food court - poo. Wenatchee is 3.5 hours away so Scott used some hotel points to get us a free room. We left Friday afternoon. The first stop was Maryhill Stonehenge, yes Washington has a Stonehenge. The story is pretty interesting and the view is wonderful!! Once again letterboxing has led us someplace cool!!

The drive to Wenatchee is beautiful. Some parts reminded us of Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico. The market was not what we hoped but it was cute anyway. I bought some lotion from KR Farms - I got oatmeal milk and it is wonderful!! Smells light like oatmeal, it's thick and makes my skin so soft!! We bought two of the soaps - orange and tea tree, and a bar of red clover tea.  We bought some flavored oil and vinegar at D'Olivo - they said it's expensive to ship - 20 for one bottle but also 20 for 4, but if you call in the order and get 4 bottles they give a discount. They have great flavors - like cherry balsamic and Tuscan seasoned vinegar - the website has a pairing sheet. We plan on lots of delicious salads with the ones we picked. Saturday we headed home by way of Tacoma but first stopping at Threadneedle Street in Issaquah WA. So, I have been having some stitching issues. I am bored with the big projects even though I am rotating them and I am losing my mojo. Last week I ordered Sullivan's Heirloom Embroidery Scissors - I don't have them yet -  thinking a new accessory would help. At the shop I got a Hardwicke Manor hoop - I have wanted one for awhile - and the twill to wrap around the inner hoop

I got some other accessories including some Bohin needles for all my 25ct 1 over 1 stitching.

On the wall she had Cricket Collection "A walk in the Woods". It looked like it was painted on glass. We asked how she achieved that look and she said it was 40ct gauze. My first thought was - oh scary and too small - too delicate. The piece was so pretty and different. She had a 9x9 piece of gauze and the pattern so I bought it. Of course I started it right away - she said to do half stitches and that is what I did but mine did not look the same as hers. Mine was very light and I was a little disappointed. I emailed her - she sent back two very helpful links. The first is about silk gauze and the second is about continental stitch. Often times small stitching is done with half stitches also called tent stitching or continental stitches. This is the old dog learning a new trick - boy is it hard to do a stitch different after doing it the same way for 27 years - but it is AMAZING how different it turns out!! You would just not think that it would make a difference but look...

top two rows are done as half stitches bottom two rows are done with continental stitches. I am impressed. I ended up tearing out the top two and redoing them with continental stitches. It takes me a minute to figure out which way the stitches have to go but it is worth it!  Silk gauze is actually very easy to stitch on - even 40 count. because it is a mesh and the holes are very pronounced.

It is, however, $130 a yard. Luckily when you convert to 40 count over one the size of the piece is much much smaller so I think it evens out. Dollhouse rugs and pictures are done on this stuff - pretty impressive the amount of detail you can put in. There is a website that sells kits -Bobbie Schoonmakers microstitchery. I am thinking about getting one of the tapestries but what would I do with mini stitchery? Anyway. Denise Davis of Threadneedle Street was very nice and helpful. On the rotation front

I finished C (with some errors) - I almost put it away and when I took it out of the hoop to pack it up I saw how cute the other two were and pushed myself to finish. I finished the top of Autumn at Hawk Run, still don't like the colors,

I finished the flannel rag quilt I started way back in December

and I finished one row on the quilt I am hand quilting - 8 to go. No picture to show.
We had a good time on our night away. We hit a diner from Diner's Drive Ins and Dives but I wasn't impressed. Scott is sick - diverticulitis flare up so he didn't really feel very good on our trip - bummer. He spent most of Sunday at urgent care. Monday he went to his LRS (local record store) and spent some quality time there. I know it is rude that I don't go with him and he goes to needlework shops with me but he can spend 5 hours in his LRS where I am usually done in less than an hour. Hopefully he will feel better soon.
We celebrated Ryder's 24th birthday with a boatload of sushi - literally - (no I don't think it caused Scott to get sick)

 see - it's actually in a boat!!

 Then we had ice cream - Ryder picked the place.

 I tried baking a birthday cake - I believe the problem was that I didn't let it cool long enough in the pan because once they cooled they were pretty stable

and once frosted - you couldn't even tell one layer was in pieces. It is a lemon blueberry layer cake. Pretty good.
I mentioned on one post that I had some bad blood work and then never mentioned it again. I have a rare blood disorder called essential thrombocytopenia cause by a mutation that triggers my bone marrow to make extra red blood cells. It doesn't kill people - I just have to have my red blood cells checked every couple of months and might have to donate platelets to make my levels even out.  At first I was excited to be a mutant - but then I realized that I can't shoot flames from my eyes, read minds or climb walls. My special power is thick blood and extra warm skin. When I get hot and am walking around my feet and hands swell - no fun super powers. One symptom is "unexplained weight loss" It doesn't matter what illness I get that has that symptom - it never happens to me - more like unexplained weight gain (well, probably not so unexplained but come on) My uncle said he knew I was a mutant the minute I was born - HA! Takes one to know one....

 We saw this cute little art piece in Portland Oregon. Another picture of brother cow.

I still don't know if I passed all my tests so still no job offer. Well, I guess I am done chattering on.I hope you are having a nice Spring. Thanks for stopping by!!