Presidents Day Monday.

No garbage pick up today because of the holiday. Yippee!

Weatherman is predicting a severe snow storm. Wayne says 15 inches. Have I mentioned lately how grateful I am for not having to travel when the roads are snowy? Extremely grateful.

Spoke with daughter. She emailed me a cartoon captioned "You're so fabulous I bet you fart glitter." I laughed all day long thinking of it. Tucking it away in my brain for future purposes.

Met my neighbor, Mary. She was out burning garbage when we went for our evening constitutional. She was under the impression that whoever lived here was vacationing in Florida because there are never any tracks in the snow (fishing for information). I let her know I'm retired. She seems friendly.

Finally finished the appliqued on that pillow. Will sew it to the backing and insert the pillow form. Bad idea to make something for myself with a black background that shows all the pet hair. 

Toodles.

Swell Saturday.

While Saturday is certainly swell, the swell referred to is in my eyes. The pain woke me up from a nice sleep. A 3:30 a.m. dose of Benadryl was followed by another at 10:40 a.m.

Not a good thing. 

The sun is shining and I'm watching some black-capped chickadees and one lone blue jay enjoy the seed in the feeders. Am not sure why they haven't eaten any thistle seed. 

One of the buds on the Christmas Cactus is in full bloom. The purple African Violet is growing and still blossoming. The smaller pink ruffle-edged African Violet has fallen victim to kitty shenanigans involving the curtain; it's still alive but has lost its flowers.

The $2 Primrose picked up at TOPS has perked up a bit. Amazing what a little water can do. Killed one of the Aloe Vera sprouts. Over watering. One of these days I will learn.

Friday Progress Report.

When I was a little kid there was a comedy team that aired on TV called Laurel and Hardy. One of their tag lines was "that's another fine mess you've gotten me into". That pretty much sums up how today has gone. No one to blame but myself.

A few months back I moved the cat litter boxes out of the bathtub in the guest bath and into the closet in my room. Today I decided to move the clothes hanging there into the office closet and to totally reorganize the house. *sigh* 

What was I thinking?! 

What I've finished so far looks great, but this project is gonna take days. 

In other news:

The diet and exercise is going okay. Portion control is better, snacking is still a nightly habit. 

Haven't gotten as far as desired on the Jacobean pillow. Progress is pictured.

Distraction Number Two: Wool Applique.

I have been admiring wool applique for years (as evidenced by my Pinterest board). Recently gave in and downloaded an ebook with patterns by Deborah Gale Tirico. 

There are several designs I will make including a nutcracker wall hanging (for grandson) and a pansy table topper (for daughter). With my love of folk art, it only stands to reason the Jacobsen pillow design I chose to work on first reflects that taste.

Although I have worked with wool before and even done some applique with cotton, I was a bit anxious about putting the two together. However, the instructions are very easy to understand and follow. I'm learning a lot about working with wool and now have some insight on pattern creation and transfer.

Here you can see the main stem pinned to the cotton background with the placement diagram atop. Measuring the border ensures the design is centered. 

Now I'm off to tack down the stem,  cut out the remaining design elements and sew away to my hearts content.

Hope y'all have a wonderful day.