... And Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

The vacation is now just a lovely memory and I have resumed my workaday routines with renewed energy and enthusiasm. I have been doing some stitching ... or more accurately, some frogging and a little stitching ... so I won't be showing any photos till my weekend wrap-up on Sumday. But other stitch-related activities have been going on:

I have finally begun working on an annual goal that has been on the list since 2009: clearing up the junk room [formerly the boys bedroom] so that I can turn it into a craft/sewing/TV/guest room. Hey, when you live in a six room town house, every room has to multi-task. Unfortunately, my husband and I have just been tossing all the "stuff" we can't find a place for in this room for nearly eight years now and the clean-up will be a Herculean task. Of course, I chose the hottest week of the year thus far to begin. But since I am only working on the project for an hour a day in the coolest part of the morning, I am managng not to give myself a heart attack. The goal is to have all the stuff off the floor this week, throwing away all the detritus along the way. Next week, I wll start going through all the storage containers to see what we really need to keep and what we can do without. After that, I'll have to make arrangements to take the antique dresser to a professional refinisher and start work on refinishing some of the more modern pieces myself. Then it's a matter of ripping up the old carpet, prepping the walls for painting, and painting. That should take me through the fall. Before Christmas, I'll have to call in professionals to refinish the hardwood floor and to put in a picture hanging scheme I have in mind. Inspired by what Thomas Jefferson did at Monticello, I'd like to put in a molding from which I can suspend my framed stitching in such a way that I can move things around easily every time I want to add a new piece. I envision one wall devoted to my dragons and another wall devoted to samplers. I'll have to visit the Monticello website to get more details. It's been decades since I was there and my memory of the actual mechanics is a bit sketchy. I am currently using the boys old dresser as a stitching storage center and will continue to do so. But I do want to spruce up the exterior a bit and customize the drawers a bit as well, lining some of them with felt, adding dividers, etc. There is a lot to do. I suspect this will be one of those never-ending projects with always another tweak here and another tug there even after the main work is done. I have thought about posting a before photo or two but I am afraid someone would feel compelled to forward the photos to one of those horribly embarrassing reality shows. I've never understood how people can expose themselves so, no matter what the pay-off! Suffice it to say that the room reminds me of a cartoon I saw recently of a husband and wife standing in the middle of a room very like mine. The husband: "Do you think we might be hoarders?" Wife: "No, dear, we're just slobs."

And, I have actually won a giveaway. Ann [aka eugenia on the 123 board] had an extra skein of Sea Foam Silk'n'Colors on offer. I rarely enter giveaways since I am in the process of decluttering, myself, but I am a fiber and floss junkie. And Thread Gatherer's Silk'n'Colors is prime, truly prime! And to make things even better, Sea Foam is a color that I do not yet have in my stash. I am thinking I'll have to use it for one of those elaborate symmetrical monochromatic Christmas ornaments or maybe for the Name Tree ornaments for myself and my husband that I want to get done this year, finally. On a darker green background with tiny seed pearls for ornamentation, what could be nicer? I haven't even received the silk yet and I am already making plans for it!