ugh...

putting that together was absolutely no fun

  especially since it involved the A word - i do detest doing applique 

whose bright idea was that tree in the middle?

 oh yeah, it was mine ... sheesh

close ups of the border

onward...

bruisers

not cruisers...

cute shoes, huh?!? 

that heel is 5 and a quarter inches (13.5cm) from the ground 

yes, and they add more than 5 inches to a five foot frame (not mine - i'm not short, i'm average)

they used to go great with a little navy blue dress - but that was twenty pounds years ago and they went from being a cute accessory to just taking up space ... they were headed for the VVA donation box when someone who shall remain anonymous but her initials are Melissa decided that she still needed them to give her enough height to water some of her indoor plants without using the step stool

one of many  - on the mend

and that worked till her ankles decided that they'd had enough and down she went ... no doubt, the donation box it is...

rest easy, dear Dolly

 

and know that i will always love you 

welcome back

 the sunflowers are looking raggedy and i was thinking that it is time to cut them back ... sunflowers are gorgeous from a distance ... up close they are scratchy and woody and unruly and messy and buggy and they don't smell good and my neighbors think they are weeds...

but this guy?!? this guy has another way of thinking...

he/she and his/her family have been missing since the bird die off six years ago and it was awesome to see him/her hanging out and willing to pose for Melissa... 

the sunflowers are staying...

henry the xxviii

i gave this panel to Melissa for her half birthday in june...

since then i've been highlighting it with embroidery - plain old stem stitch,  for the most part...

after hours and hours and hours of stitching, the only way that i can see a difference is if i look at the back...

june 27

july 4

july 12

july 23

and enhance the picture with the auto feature...

anywho ... it FEELS pretty doggone cool even if it doesn't LOOK much different...

august 16

he's kinda cute, isn't he?

A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas

it's opposite day

when  the sky is white and the clouds are blue

*note to self - the haze is smoke from wildfires that have killed four firefighters and a pilot in Colorado

i dunno...

i think i might need this...

i know that i want it...

i could skip a few meals and/or delay paying a bill or two...

maybe if it goes on sale...

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

Magical Midlife Flowers by K.F. Breene

 

neigh whinny whinny buzz buzz buzz buzz

total eclipse of the heart - from many pieces into one

gotta find a backing!!!

mistaken identity

Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero

when this picture showed up on my phone, my first thought was that NoJo had shaved his beard and cut his hair...

brown eyes ... dark brown hair ... tattoos ... little  daughter ... mid twenties... 

yes, at first glance

i mistook this young man for my grandson...

he is not NoJo 

 he is Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero

and he is dead 

he was a documented, legal immigrant from Columbia, a taxpaying father and husband who had not committed anydamncrime other than driving while brown ... and he was murdered in cold blood by United States government agents because of the color of his skin - shot through the window of his car - his limp, bullet-riddled body dragged out of the car, thrown face down and handcuffed...

an eye witness said that his last words were, "I tried to stop."

his blood is still staining the pavement where he died.

he isn't the man they were looking for ... a case of mistaken identity ... public safety ... if you comply you will not die ... a full investigation will be conducted ... worst of the worst ... blah blah blah ... lie lie lie ... if you believe anydamnthing the current regime says, knowing that they are lying liars who lie, then you are a moron.

his wife and his little daughter are grieving and i grieve with them

he could be my grandson...

berry harvest

The Librarian of Burned Books by Brianna Labuskes

little rebel

 on or about july 4, my country's independence declaration will be 250 years old 

there are a LOT of new cross stitch charts commemorating the semiquincentennial - i chose this one...

to celebrate the WOMEN rebels

who never seem to receive recognition for our struggle for freedom and for equal rights

dunno when there will be a start on this one - hopefully before the Constitution's semiquincentennial

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

deflecting pool

found a brand new recipe for a brand new drink invented to commemorate the recent "renovation" of the water mirror between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial...

bright green sludge and blue rubbery chunks - sounds like a concept of a plan

 let's have a party...

and, suddenly, no one is talking about Thing One's Epstein Fury (aka the war with Iran) surrender or his Kennedy Center vandalism or his destruction of the East Wing or his pardons for insurrectionists and his slush fund to pay them off or the affordability crisis or ICE's atrocities and murders or the genocides in the Middle East and Eastern Europe or the illegal bombings of small boats that may or may not be drug-running in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific or the Epstein files or the hundreds of thousands of people who have died from starvation or preventable diseases due to the current regime's destruction of USAID or the attacks on voting rights and due process or his blatant corruption or...

the deflecting is something to reflect on, innit?!?

the neighs have it

 so ... i fell for another panel

this particular one has a lotta personal meaning for me and i bought it with only a bitty bit of a plan - the phases of the moon, a lunar eclipse 

and two stars cuz you can't have a second star to the right without at least two stars...

even without two stars in the top border this layout is ... wrong

better ... but still not right

i'm thinking ... i'm thinking ... i'm thinking 

fireflies? yes, fireflies...

the phases are upside down, but it's getting there...

Adventure Is Out There by Liz Braswell

 

new signs from june 14, 2026

misbehavin' on a sunny sunday...

dip$hitiot...

flippety dippity

in the meantime - this is what's left of the White House... elect a clown ... expect a circus

seems the birthday boy wanted a circus/mixed martial arts themed party this year for his big day ... guess the squeaky little tank from last year's birthday parade wasn't enough for bitty-baby-boy's ego

and this is how he's reacted to being forced by the courts to remove his name from the Kennedy Center...proof positive he is in fact, a drape-ist

unbefreakinglievable...

 Somewhere, Caligula is looking up from Hell and muttering, “That’s a little much, fat boy.” 

  Rick Wilson

aimin' to misbehave

 the Serenity stitching tin needed a little sumpin' to hold bits of floss from stitching...

so i found the pattern for snippets 

and a fat quarter of pink fireflies in the stash 

 then ordered little glow-in-the-dark firefly charms

 and made this...

now it's time to misbehave 

Retribution by Trevor Reed with Jim DeFelice

 

you've got mail

 my phone knock knock knocks when there's a new text message ... sometimes (most of the time) i don't hear it and it can be a while (a long, long while) before i realize there are words or pictures waiting for me to notice the little flashing blue light...

i dunno how long this message has been waiting for me...

SOMEone who shall remain anonymous but whose initials are Melissa mustabeen hungry,  huh?

 i know Oscar, but i don't remember meeting Evan before...

hmmm...

bacon (meat's gateway to ending veganism or vegetarianism) and maple bourbon?!?

i'd give it a little taste* 

just sayin'

*we DID give it a try - it was okay ... was it worth two more dollars per pound than center cut bacon?

no, no it was not...

Coup de Grâce by Una McCormack

all together now...

working with this guy was a pleasure, lemmtellya...

choose wonder...