Livin' La Needle Loca

...sigh. I'm still trying to get back into the swing of posting. I was able to capture the sunrise this morning. There weren't very many clouds, but it was still pretty. It's just going to be the Husband and me tonight. I have some munchies and some champagne for midnight. Today marks the end of the 2019, the end of the decade, and the official end of my employment. I start the new year as a retired person. I'm not sure what retirement will look like, but I plan on making the best of whatever comes my way! .

...I know, I know. It's been a week since I last posted. The last day at work proved to be surprisingly emotional. I'd been with the company for 26.5 years. It's hard to leave people that you've worked with for over 20 years. I was a mess when I got home and pretty much collapsed on the couch in a puddle.The Husband made sangria and I toasted my [work] friends. I spent the weekend finishing things up for Christmas. I finished the Christmas tree skirt and put it under the tree. It needs some adjustments, but I'm not going to worry about it until after Christmas. Then I wrapped all of my Christmas gifts and got them under the tree! I did a little shopping for stocking stuffers and a couple of gift certificates. I spent the majority of the weekend trying to fit all of the stuff I brought from my office into my studio. I assembled the two-drawer filing cabinet that I ordered and promptly filled it with files from work, and from various hiding places in my ...

...and the weekend report. Well, I didn't quite finish my To Do list, but I got close! I set up the Star Trek tree and decorated it. I set up all my noisy Hallmark ornaments next to one of the villages. As I mentioned in some previous posts, the Star Trek ornaments and the Hallmark Light and Motion ornaments require a bit of extra work. Before putting them away after Christmas, I remove all of the batteries. That way if any of them explode, they do so in the box and not in the ornament. What that means is that I have to check all of the batteries before I put them back in the ornament. There were lots of batteries that went bad in the last year. I had to buy two 10 packs for two sizes of button batteries and I've gone through a lot of AAA and AA batteries just to get the ornaments working again. It takes a lot of time to do this, but it's worth it! I took all of the ornament storage boxes back upstairs. While I was upstairs, I hung the lighted garland on the loft ra...

...because I have no eye-candy today. It's been a crazy week. Next Friday is my last day in the office. Although I'm not officially retired until the 31st, Friday the 20th is essentially it for me. It's hard to believe! There is so much to do and document before I leave, that I really haven't been able to post on a regular basis or do much of anything else. Thank goodness I'm not doing the baking orgies any more. So, for #FBF, here's a look at the biscotti and cookie staging area in 2015: Yeah, I do kind of miss it. Up this weekend: Finish the tree skirt.  Get the Star Trek tree up and decorated.  Finish setting up the second Christmas village so i can finally move all of the storage boxes out of the living room. Mail the fruitcake to my brother. It's in the refrigerator right now and I just haven't had a spare minute to get it packed up and ready to go. Bake a few cookies - probably Mexican Wedding cookies and spritz, both of which I ...

...and the weekend report. The Christmas tree is decorated! And before the 10th of the month. If you've followed along for a while, you know I never get the tree completely decorated before the 20th, sometimes not until the 22nd!   A lot of the other Christmas decorations are up as well. The Husband put up the outside lights yesterday. The house is beginning to look quite festive!   I spent a few hours laying out the Christmas tree skirt. In some ways, it was very frustrating. The top and the batting worked quite well, but adding the lining to the sandwich was a pain. And as I discovered the last time I tried to pin-baste a quilt on the living room rug, there were a lot of wrinkles on the bottom layer no matter how careful I was. Sigh. I'm going to go with it because I'm running out of time.   I baked the fruitcakes on Sunday. One is in the freezer and the other will get mailed to a special someone if I can find a large enough container for it! It's 9 inches in di...

...and I'm winding down to the end of the year. Retirement waits at the end! Finished: 11/29 Cozy Hat 3 [ Ravelry ] 11/30 Deep Purple handspun [ Ravelry ] Merino-Yak-Silk (4.0 oz.) from Alexandra - The Art of Yarn 127.4 yds. chain-plied, 11 WPI 11/8 Ghost Rider handspun [ Ravelry ] Merino-Silk (4.0 oz.) from Greenwood Fiberworks 323.8 yds. 2-ply, 16 WPI Books Book count at the end of November = 158 Queen of the Fae, Linsey Hall Spirit of the Fae, Linsey Hall Dark Dancer, BR Kingsolver Summer Guests, Mary Alice Monroe Sharpest Sting, Jennifer Estep Wildflower Christmas, Grace Greene Summer of '69, Elin Hilderbrand How to Kiss an Undead Bride: The Epilogues, Hailey Edwards Surfside Sisters, Nancy Thayer Summer Breeze, Nancy Thayer Secrets in Summer, Nancy Thayer Guest Cottage, Nancy Thayer Family Secrets, Nancy Thayer Started: 11/10 Deep Purple handspun [ Ravelry ] 11/10 Christmas Tree skirt (sewing) 11/29 Cozy Red Hat 4 (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Q...

...I'm trying to get back in the swing of posting and taking photos again. This morning I only had time for a couple of photos. The Princess flower is blooming again in our courtyard: I brought this metal mermaid back from Santa Maria when I visited mom in October. This mermaid used to hand in my late brother's backyard. I asked if I could have it to hang in my yard. Her new home is in my courtyard where i can see her from the living room and from my studio when I'm at my sewing machine. It's nice to have a reminder of my brother in my home. I miss him! Up this weekend: Christmas is number one on the agenda! My plan is to sandwich the Christmas tree skirt and get that assembled. I still haven't quite settled on how I'm going assemble it. I change my mind every time I think about it. At least I know that I want to cut the batting to fit the top and then figure out whether I do the traditional quilt+binding thing or seam it wrong sides together ...

...let's see if I can remember what I have in play. WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Christmas Tree skirt (sewing) Top is sewn and cut; ready to sandwich and quilt. Cozy Red Hat 4 (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Apparently I had 2 skeins of this yarn in this color. Working on the ribbing. Holly Berry Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Started spinning the singles. Mermaid Happiness quilt (quilting) Still working on machine-quilting the panel motifs In the Queue Renaissance Mermaid (cross stitch) Rethinking this. I might pull an older project out of the archives to work on first. Works In Progress, Did Not Work On This Week: Finishing work for some old crewel pictures (sewing) Look Through My Window quilt for me (quilting) Malachite (needlepoint) Saratoga Calypso Shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Shimmering Points Wrap (weaving) [ Ravelry ] Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design (cross stitch) UFOs/Hibernation: Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Bear Paw pott...

...it's been a while. Life and work took over and I barely had enough time for my daily tasks, much less blogging and taking photos. Now that Thanksgiving is done, I swing into Christmas-mode. The only saving grace is that I am not baking in volume this year. About Thanksgiving: The meal turned out great. We were a small group at the Daughter's, but having mom there made it super special. Mom was with us from Monday before Thanksgiving to Saturday after. She enjoyed her trip, but it's clear that it was a big trip for someone who is 89. I am very grateful for my sister and her husband - my sister for convincing my mom to make the trip and my brother-in-law for scheduling to be the bus driver for getting her here and back. Some crafting happened along the way. I finished the latest charity hat. The is Cozy Hat 3 [ Ravelry ]: Specs:  Started 9/15/19 Finished 11/30/19 No pattern Yarn: Caron Simply Soft Paints in Oceana I also finished the Deep Purple handspun [...