Livin' La Needle Loca

 ...and it's Happy Gotcha Day for the girls! 5 years ago, we brought home two kittens to fill the cat-sized holes in our hearts. They were an early birthday present for me. 😊 We love them!! Now that our water is working better, the Husband is replacing some of the flowers that dies because he couldn't water the yard well enough. He planted a yellow hibiscus: and replanted the hanging baskets with petunias, vinca, and pentas. The gaillardia is going string: as are the Frida Kahlo roses:

 ...and I've got a few projects queued, finally! I started one of them, but I've only got about 20 stitches done. Not worth taking a photo yet. It is called Horrified, a Halloween-themed mini from Just Nan. My main WIP is packing up the studio. I discovered that I have way more yarn and fiber than I thought I had, plus a considerable amount of handspun. I already knew that I had too much fabric! 😁 I am having a great deal of fun researching potential furniture for the new studio. I'd like to replace some of the older items with real furniture. The current furniture is a mix of good pieces (Ikea Expedit bookshelves, Horn of America sewing cabinet, table top), workable pieces (Target bookcases and cloth drawers, Michael's cube organizers, 2 storage benches), and a couple of old pieces (bookcase from the Daughter's old room and an armoire). I also have a small recliner and a swivel Crate and Barrel chair that we bought at the consi...

 ...things are in a state of upheaval. We accepted a quote and have met with the company's architect, who will create the studio plans. Once we approve them, they'll pull permits, etc. In the meantime, I'm packing up the contents of the studio. As I pack things up, I'm purging the yarn stash of skeins that I'll never use. The less expensive ones will go to Goodwill. I've allocated some for friends and some for sale through Ravelry.  I've set aside some supplies and projects for spinning, weaving, and stitching, and I went through my office stuff to pull out the essentials (stapler, paperclips, etc.).  I finished Seaology, a chart that I purchased in 2005.  < Specs: Started 7/5/2025 Finished 8/24/2025 Chart from The Trilogy  I wasn't happy with the lack of contrast in colors of the fish. This happens with overdyed threads, no two skeins are exact;y alike. I ended up with darker colors of Scuppernong (Weeks), Seaweed (...

...and I'm still trying to figure out what crafts I can do without my studio. It occurred to me that while I can do somethings in the living room, it is right inside the front door where the contractors will be going in an out to do their work. I don't really want to deal with constant distractions and potential dust. So it looks like my bedroom is the only choice. 🤷 At least I can see our backyard from the bedroom. Right now, in my line of sight are petunias a yellow dahlia, and a lot of marigolds (no photo).  Plus, there are snapdragons that I can see from the kitchen window.

...and we are in the middle of chaos. As I mentioned last week, we needed a new water heater. What I thought was going to be a one-day install turned into 2 days spread over 3 weekdays. They just finished the last part and now we wait for the city inspector to sign off on the work. We wanted to remodel the studio, but hadn't gotten very far in the process. We decided that now is the time for the remodel...half of the contents have been moved out of the room and there are holes in the ceiling where they did plumbing work. Might as well continue the chaos and do the room now! We are in the process of getting quotes. In the meantime, I need to carve out spaces in the main house so i can do some craft work. I'm doind needlework in the living room and I can probably spin in there, too. The only craft project that I've been able to work on is Seaology. Here's it's current state: I've also been working my mom's recipes and s...

 ...mostly because I missed Friday. The Husband and I took an excursion on  Wednesday to Filoli ( https://filoli.org/ ) to see the TROLLS: Save the Humans installation by Thomas Dambo. It took me a few days to process the photos along with helping move more studio contents. We enjoy Filoli's gardens and love wandering around the grounds. This was the second time I've been there this year. This is the first time that we've walked the trail on the grounds.  The troll installation was great! My favorite were Rosa Sunfinger, The Botanical Troll: and Ibbi Pip, the Birdhouse Troll: The roses and dahlias were in bloom. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a hot and sunny day. Getting decent photos was hard to do - lots of sun glare and shadows. There are a great variety of dahlias, including this Show n' Tell Dahlia and this pink dahlia: The roses were wonderful. This Queen Elizabeth rose was gorgeous: The bees were out in force. This on...

 ...yeah, I missed last week.  With the winding down of Tour de Fleece, I completely forgot about the WIPs. I love spinning for TdF, but by the end I'm so tired that all I want to do is read! And then there's home maintenance stuff that derailed me. We had a plumber come out and debug our water pressure problems - pressure reduced by more than 50% after the water ran for a minute, making showers take longer than normal and watering the garden almost an impossibility. Fortunately, the plumber fixed the problem, but verified that we needed a new water heater. We knew it was at the end of its life, so better to replace it now before things went south. We're replacing it with a tankless water heater, which directly impacts my studio. They need to run a new gas and electrical line. My studio used to be the garage and all the pipes run through the ceiling. 😐 So, I've spent the last few days emptying the cabinets and storage areas below the portions of the ceiling where the p...

...I can't believe it's August! Our garden path in August: The naked lady flowers are blooming: the sunflowers continue to bloom: and the snapdragons are trying very hard: