2013 in 60 seconds

I'm still alive!

My friend Shawn came for a visit from Chicago, one of the things we did was go on a bike tour of Coronado Island.  Total blast, and a bit of a cheat since we had electric bikes (but I swear I barely used the battery).

I got serious about losing weight and participated in a medical study through the VA.  Part of it involved having genetic testing done to link my genes to an "ideal" diet.  I can officially say I have the fat gene.  Despite what a lot of people would like, its actually fairly rare.  By the way, my ideal diet is low carb (30% fat, 30% protein, 40% carb).  Lean meat, veggies and Greek yogurt are my friends now.  Oh, and I'm down 25 pounds (it was almost 30 before the holiday season struck).

I went to my first ever pro football game, 2 actually (pre-season) and had a blast.

Managed to hook up with my college roommate that lives less than a mile from the house.  How's that for coincidence?  We've been having fun and I get to spoil her kids like an Auntie.

She hosted a Halloween party and I sort of dressed up.

I took up a new sport/hobby - paddle boarding!  Totally love it.  Even better I love the San Diego weather that allows me to go paddle boarding on Boxing Day (December 26 for the non-Anglophiles).

There was a single stitching exchange with Parsley.  She sent me a gorgeous gold box and tons of extra goodies.  She knows I love to cook, so included some cookbooks.

I chose to stitch a covered shadow box, borrowing design inspiration from Blackbird Designs, and using pattern elements from Blue Ribbon Designs.

I had some other stitching finishes as well

The last two are part of a larger project - a collage.  I borrowed inspiration from Gigi's large sheets she stitches.  I was getting tired of having a bunch of small pieces.  You can only  have so many pillows and framing gets expensive, not to mention running out of wall space.

Christmas snuck up faster than usual, and then was gone in a blink of an eye.  Jim, Mary Lou and the goldens came out as usual.  Buddy (on the left) is their newest rescue, and he's a mix, there's definitely some hound in him.  Holly (on the right) is a playful as usual, despite getting up there in years.

I found out Annie is a total ham when it comes to taking pictures.  I was trying to get the settings right on my DSLR and she had fun posing for me. No, the settings weren't correct for this shot, its over exposed!

Mom even got me to eat turkey this year.  I enjoyed the duck I cooked for Christmas Eve much better, but never got a snap of it.

And probably the highlight of the season for me was getting my picture taken with Santa.  I was bundled up in a ton of layers, we were at a members-only event on the Midway to watch the Parade of Lights (various boats decorated for the holiday cruise the bay in an aquatic parade).

Uncle Greg and his daughter Delaney came down for a visit after Christmas.  Delaney is severely handicapped and has the most wonderful companion dog, Breona.  Unfortunately she's getting up there in years.

Hoping everyone has a joyful and blessed 2014!

Word Play

Its been a long time since I've really devoted any time to this project, and even longer since I've shown any pictures.  December Word Play was completed back in 2011, I worked on November all through 2012 and finally finished it this month, along with October and a start on September.  The whole series is being stitched on one loooong piece of 40 count Flax linen, which I gave a coffee bath.  For those of you that are curious about the specifics, it will be roughly 890 stitches lone (including 5 blanks between each month) and 129 wide.

And here's a pic of the whole thing as of a few days ago (there's been some progress on September since the picture).  Please excuse the wrinkles!

Its a bit strange working backwards, but I don't trust myself to count correctly up to the top, and I'm too lazy I don't want to take the time to baste in the lines.

I'll leave you with some pictures I took while we were at Sea World last week, taking advantage of local resident Fun Passes.  Mom rode the Manta rollercoaster with me, since Dad's back is a ticking time bomb for a 3rd back surgery.

Shamu show

Falcon used to scare off snowy egrets that steal food from the seal and sea lion area

Mom (and Dad next to her, but hidden) on the whirly-gig ride.  This is actually in the children's
area, but what the heck, the park wasn't exactly swamped with kids mid-week in March.

Harbor seal clapping to get attention and hopefully fed some
mackerel (assuming the snowy egret didn't steal it first).

When the cat is away...

or in this case, when mom is away, what do Dad and I do?

Meet up with our friend that works on HAL Statendam when its in port and take her to the zoo.  Love my membership, especially since I can now take someone in with me for free.

Polar Bear Plunge

  While waiting for her we walked around the waterfront and I got a picture of The Kiss.  Some of you are familiar with this statue, for the rest, here's the condensed version.  Its inspired by the famous photo taken in Times Square and the original statue in San Diego was only a temporary exhibit, made out of fiberglass.  It started looking grungy so it was taken down, and a huge hubaloo broke out about the permanent (bronze) replacement.  The San Diego Art Commission rejected it, stating it was tacky and not the look desired for that area of town.  The Port Authority said screw you, we want it, go ahead since its Port Authority property.  The Midway was given 3 months to raise $1 million, which they did in 8 weeks.  Now we have The Kiss back permanently, and it has a 96% approval rating.  Take THAT San Diego Art Commission!

The Kiss

Star of India, part of the San Diego Maritime Museum

Princess Annie got a haircut.  This was only half of what got cut off.  For some reason mom likes her fuzzy, even though she gets dirty faster, she itches more, and is just generally harder to keep properly brushed and groomed.

I went to a Painting and Vino class and made a masterpiece!  Ok, not quite a masterpiece, but I had a lot of fun.  I learned I can't draw straight lines or make a balloon symmetrical if my life depended on it, but I do great with text.

And I've done some stitching.  Horrible picture of Santa's Hamlet, but you get the idea.  I think I want to make some adjustments to the cookie shop and make it a bakery.  The cookies just look strange.

CCN Santa's Village, on 36 ct Light Sand with assorted overdyed cotton floss

Jane Rees finally saw some progress as well.  Not a lot, but I've made it all the way across the top of the chart.  Obviously I was too lazy to take it out of the Qsnaps to take this picture.

Scarlet Letter Jane Rees, on 40 ct Ricamo with HDF silk

Thank you everyone for stopping by and a special thanks to those leaving comments.  I know I've been absolutely horrible about responding back to them.  Please forgive me, and know they're all read and appreciated.

Dare I say it?

Have I turned into a 1 (or 2) at a time girl?  I pulled out Eve's Garden because of the fabric count was easy on my eyes, but now I can't stop working on it.  First Elizabeth Burrows was a start and stitch until finished project, now its looking like the same with Eve's Garden.

Shepherds Bush Eve's Garden

Last weekend Dad and I went to a behind the scenes tour at the Midway, open only for museum members.  It was a lot of fun, starting out with coffee and pastries since we had to get there so early.  We were able to see 6 areas normally closed off to the public - fire room, engine room, arresting gear room, aft bake shop, damage control central, and I can't remember the last area.

Midway's Damage Control Central, with dad in the blue jacket on the right

Midway engine room

We still had some paid parking time after the tour, so walked around a bit.

Fantail Cafe on the Midway, seen from the shore

Huge private yacht, 1 of 4 owned by a Russian oil tycoon

San Diego tuna fleet - these guys have a lot of history and were drafted during WWII

The Kiss - its actually erected now.  There was a ceremony this morning

Stitching has been a bit slow for a few days.  The cooking gods decided it was time for a blood sacrifice to ensure my food is delicious.  I just wish it wasn't the thumb on my right hand.  Not a knife this time, just a cheapo mandoline since my good ones are in storage.

Dinner the night this happened (Wed) was seared pork chops with sauteed apples and a Calvados pan sauce.

USS Midway

I'll just say up front this isn't a stitching post, and no stitching pictures.  Most of my stitching the last month and a half has been for exchanges or for the giveaway I just had.  Hopefully in a few weeks there should be a flood of stitching pictures.

San Diego is a Navy town, but strangely enough, my father was never stationed here in his 27 years of service.  One of the attractions downtown is the USS Midway Museum.  I got the chance a couple of weeks ago to be a last minute fill-in for a neighbor that wasn't feeling well, and attended a Steel Beach Party with the neighbor's husband and my parents.  I've never been on the Midway before (in fact I've never been on any carrier before), and unfortunately the museum portion was closed during the event, but it was still a lot of fun.  Dad never had a tour on the Midway, but he had been on it before during missions in Vietnam.

One of the neatest things about the Midway is my dad's plane is on deck.  No, not just the same type of plane, but his actual plane he flew.

Dad with his A-3 baby

Dad and Bob, the neighbor, talking guy stuff

There was a live band to greet us, and we also received leis as we walked into the cookout area

As you can see by the crowd, it was quite a popular event, and the weather was absolutely gorgeous for us.

As the sun went down, the lights on the ship came on and the city was absolutely gorgeous.

Hawaiian and Tahitian dancers for our entertainment

The Midway staff promises this will become an annual event for the museum members, and I've already put in my request with dad for a ticket to next year's Steel Beach party.