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Friday, April 4, 2014

Been a bit busy this past month (or so)...

It's been a wee bit, but I have been stitching and crocheting and traveling...and then back to working.
During a recent attempt at a road trip to San Francisco, we ran into a problem. Literally, ran into it. An elk, that is. We were all ok and the car was still driveable, thank God. The elk did not survive its encounter with us, and I am more sad about that than I am about the car.
Needless to say, we did not continue our trip to San Fran and instead contented ourselves with the beauty of the redwoods, which we did not get to fully enjoy as it rained most of the day.

I have been out making my yard & garden spring ready. Here are a couple pics from there:


I have balled quite a few skeins of yarn to make them crochet ready. This is my current project, a rainbow ripple that I just love to look at already.

I have been stitching on quite a few Just Nan smalls, in readiness for a massive finishing effort later this month. (I was sidetracked by the arrival at my LNS of three new JN smalls and the fabric for a couple others.) Here is a pic of some of my completed smalls that are awaiting the grand finish:

I have also been stitching on a couple of other projects here and there. Not a lot of progress on anything that isn't Just Nan, but it's OK.

I had a fabulous time at Camp Wannasew in Oklahoma last month. Many of my non-stitchy friends could not understand why on Earth I would travel to Oklahoma for a stitching weekend. I have to say, they just don't know what they are missing. I made some new friends and we stayed at a lovely bunkhouse right off of a lake in Sequoia State Park. I saw my first in-the-wild real live red cardinal. 
I've stitched a few of them but never seen a live one, as they just don't get over to Oregon much. 

I finished up a couple projects while I was there, including these lovelies:
Both designs are from Chessie & Me. I love her stuff.

I have settled in to my part-time schedule and I am really enjoying it. Things still seem to be in turmoil at work much of the time and I'm not happy with the politics and the decisions of people who are not front-line care providers. The difference is, I am able to let go of it more easily than before because I have a good stretch of time in between shifts. The balance is helping me to be a better nurse and a happier person. (Most of the time.) Not to mention, more stitching, gardening and crocheting time!!