Vacation stash, WIP updates, and thank you

First, thank you for your kind words about my dad. He is still with us. They were discussing hospice today. I am not able to attend these meetings--I don't have the leave, but, emotionally, it's too much. Plus, we are now dealing with some stuff with Katie--she got a bug bite on vacation. I had to take her to Urgent Care last Thursday because they thought she might have ringworm. The doctor said it IS a bugbite, but she is either having a bad reaction to it or it's a spider bite because it gets better and gets worse, and she is itching it now. If it's not noticeably better by this evening, we are going back. She can't spend the rest of the summer in long sleeves. I'm kind of frazzled--my resolve to get healthy has gone by the wayside for now. I'll pick it back up when things calm down.


These are my WIPs. Some of them are a little farther along than others.


DH's Father's Day gift:

 

Katie is helping me a little with this one. I push the needle through, she pulls it. She is quite pleased with herself, as well she should be. She can't count, but she can counted cross stitch, and that is pretty awesome!

Miss Kitty's Dragons:

 This is kind of challenging, but it's moving along. I do have to put it down because it calls for Kreiniks and those are not in my budget til next payday. It's not like I don't have anything else to work on . . .

Cinnamon Bear by Pam Kellogg from the 2001 JCS Ornament Issue:

This was a challenge to work on. Shading like crazy, but it's beautiful. I did it mostly at lunch so I could focus. I did as far as I can go on it this weekend. It also calls for Kreinik, but I'll get that next payday. I think I am going to have this one professionally finished for Katie's Christmas ornament this year. She has discovered a "passion" for "ki-kis" since meeting mine. Lily and Felix avoid her like the plague, as do most cats, but Gus came right up to her, and of course, she tried to pull him. I had to explain he is very old (he'll be 15 on Sunday) and is not a toy. She gave me her "face", but she was gentler with him. And she loves watching kitty videos on Youtube--cries of "What's that ki-ki do-en?" and laughter. So I thought this would be a good way to commemorate this year for her, and it'sdone in May. Whoda thunk?

 

 

And lastly, my vacation stash:

 

 

Sending me into a LNS with a whole lotta OT money is dangerous. The only thing here that was actually on my wish list was the mice book. And that is because I am obsessed with them. I have been ogling that book since I got it. And I picked up the crab design because my MIL loves crabs, but not red ones, because they are dead and she doesn't want to decorate her house in dead stuff. I figure this can be a "push-pull" project with Kay-kay. I got the By the Bay charts, because they were so "Maryland" to me. One day, I'll have to take some pictures down by the Bay to show you what I mean by that, but I loved the herons on the "Spring Cove" and it just felt good to me. The LK one is one I need to put up for myself, for these moments when I feel so damn small and helpless. I also picked up a little bit of fabric to do an ornament.

 

I also bought several of the 2012 LHN ornaments. I know I had said, back in 2012, I was not going to sign up for them, because I had SO MANY left over from the previous years. But I'm going to try to do them, since I have done a couple of the ornaments I had in stash. I still need to remind myself not to sign up for monthly series, though. It's not that they are bad, I just get overwhelmed too easily, and I can't stitch that quick, although you wouldn't know that from what I am doing lately. Though maybe my late efforts are more because I have dubbed this the year of "Stitch your Happiness," and stitching things I dearly love and not the things that I "owe" anything to, is freeing.  Does that make sense? We'll see how this goes.

 

This should be the last major stash I buy for a while. Not unless I find some money or win the lottery.  It was a lot, and I was a little aghast at the total, since I haven't spent that much in a few years, but I've been reasonable, my bills are paid, we had a rough winter and it was a good way to usher in summer, right?