well...

picture this with pictures...

yeah, i know - and that's the most recent issue with not blogging for two years...

it seems that phones are cameras now...

and my phone doesn't like talking to the computer...

i doubt that the problem is with the phone or with the computer...

mmhmmm ... i have issues

so i looked through the pictures that are already on the computer to see if maybe i could find SOMETHING to post about...

how 'bout this?

a "native american" barbie doll that needed to be something more... 

like, maybe a tree topper for my bedroom's christmas tree...

down the rabbit hole...

after a how to search on the World Wide Web and You Tube

and following along with various and sundry tutorials...

i think that she's kinda cool - waaaay too tall for the tree that she was supposed to fit upon, so not a tree topper after all...

and not nearly enough color, but some turquoise fringe might fix that...

and, just like that, a post with pictures...

old pictures, but pictures

...because every picture tells a story...

Σ

we listened to the first six Ranger's Apprentice books 

and on April 28 i stopped stitching on the Letter From Hogwarts Stitch Your Own Adventure...

to wait for Chapter 3 to be released on May 1 

 i was gonna finish the parchment edges, but we both ran outta DMC 746 (the lightest cream) 

and we're STILL waiting for our order to be delivered...

in the top border 

Hedwig the Owl came from here 

and Fawkes the Phoenix was smooshed together from two other phoenix charts that i saw somewhere on line... 

trying to chart cross stitch on graph paper is driving me cuh-razy 

 the Hogwarts castle and the eagle in the Ravenclaw banner sent me over the edge 

 so we ordered cross stitch design software from Amazon, not realizing that the software we ordered is no longer supported...

sigh...

where'd i put that graph paper?!?

anywho...

Chapter 3 is Elective classes - with a choice between Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, or Ancient Runes 

and i wanted to stitch them all 

 of course they won't all fit, so both of us have decided to design our own Chapter 3

i'm thinking that it would be waaaay cool to have a stack of books for ALL of the classes and not just electives 

cuz who doesn't love a stack of awesome books?!?

Melissa wants ALL of the magical creatures on the bottom of the stitchery instead of in Chapter 3's space, along with Hagrid's Hut and the Forbidden Forest 

cuz why settle for a tiny corner of the stitchery when she can fill up the whole thing?!?

yeah, maybe we should wait to see what the other 3 chapters will be...

anywho...

in the meantime 

i started working on this stack of quilts that are waiting for binding...

and when my hands got tired of pushing a sharp needle through lottsa layers of fabric 

which didn't take very long, lemmetellya

 i traded it for a ballpoint needle and one layer of linen...

and finally finished filling in the centers of those gazillion sunflowers

that little bird cracks me up 

and now i'm gonna go slog through some more binding 

cuz that pile has been sitting there for weeks and it's getting ridiculous...

"Riddikulus!"

Remus Lupin in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

phoenix rising

seeker keeper

ruffled feathers

swish and flick

this is my wand for the Letters From Hogwarts Stitch-Your-Own-Adventure...

the wood that i was trying to emulate is beetle kill pine
when i looked for examples of beetle kill pine
 i found this 
and lottsa pictures of furniture that has been made from the lumber that has been harvested from our mountain forests
 which used to be gorgeous greens, but are now stained with hundreds of thousands of the red skeletons of pines the killing beetles have left behind...

anywho...
the current governor of our great state gives a COVID-19 update almost daily
and sometimes i listen to him 
if the tv happens to be on and i happen to be in the same room
which i was the other day
he stands behind a lectern and presents a PowerPoint slideshow
that shows the numbers of those infected
which is misleading, since testing is by doctor-authorized prescription and performed only on those who are presenting symptoms because, big surprise, there aren't enough tests
or the capacity to process the tests that there are - just sayin'
and those hospitalized
and those in ICU
and those who have died...
it's disturbing and i try to not listen
especially when he says, "Next slide, please"
because it sounds like he's saying, "Next lie, please"
it's true - try saying those words quickly and see if you don't hear the same thing
sometimes we hear what we hear, even if we don't want to hear it...

anywho...
the other day when he was saying
we're all in this together
 we will get through this if we stay home
 and practice social distancing
 and wear our masks
i looked up and saw this...

screen grab from Channel 7 news

and then focused in on this...

the lectern has beetle kill pine panels!!!

yep, that was my take away - which is pretty doggone cool, innit?!?

and that's the look that i was going for when i stitched my wand

the floss is DMC 4065 morning meadow and it is backstitched with DMC 898 very dark coffee brown

and i really, really like it!!!


What's comin' will come, an' we'll meet it when it does.
Hagrid in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

i solemnly swear

that i am up to no good...

we've listened to all seven of the Harry Potter and the Fill In The Blank books 

and this is how much i've stitched...

in 117 hours and four minutes, give or take a minute or two...

liberties have been taken with the original design, lemmetellya

i've changed the castle

 and the wand

 and Chapter One's banner

and i'm gonna change the top border's owls 

and Chapter Two's quidditch 

and the bottom border's letters

and that's okay cuz this IS a Stitch Your Own Adventure

so far the stitching has been a lotta fun!!!

I am what I am, an' I'm not ashamed. 'Never be ashamed', my ol' dad used ter say, 'There's some who'll hold it against you, but they're not worth botherin' with.'

Hagrid in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire