Cool

Good Morning!

I am happy to report that the Gods were smiling on me Monday. Or more likely, my regular heating and cooling people decided that a new a/c unit that is blowing warm air sounded fishy to them and I received a call Monday afternoon saying they had a crew that could come out and check things over. As it turns out, the problem was most likely their fault to begin with. We had NO freon. None. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Which is strange since we paid for freon last summer. After testing the line and checking out everything else, they determined that there was not a leak anywhere and the most likely culprit for the problem was someone last summer did not tighten some doohickey tight enough and we lost all 4.5 pounds of freon. That's an expensive loss and really bad for the environment. Anyway....the upshot of the whole thing was they didn't charge me full price for the freon, or the labor which tells me they know it was their screw up. Some people have said I shouldn't have had to pay anything. I was just happy to have a cool house so (don't tell them I said this but....) I'd have paid full price just because I didn't have to wait until Friday. Ahhhhh.....life is good!

The moving truck is coming tomorrow morning to pack up Adam's stuff and haul it to Utah. They said he should have it sometime Sat. That's quick! Adam will be thrilled as he has been sleeping on an air mattress for 2 weeks and freezing cuz he's too cheap to buy any blankets and it's been chilly there. Silly boy! After the moving truck is gone I will get to work putting the house back to the way it was before he so rudely moved back in. We have friends coming next week to visit and I need to get things in order before they arrive.

Progress is being made on my ornament. So far, everyone thinks it resembles a moth. I have to agree, it does look like a moth or butterfly from a distance. I am really loving this piece though. The shading is awesome and to watch it develop as I stitch has been a pleasure. Ya'll should run right out and get the chart. It's a beauty!



Our fall retreat was announced in the shop's last newsletter with registration opening last Friday. We booked the last 2 beds yesterday! It's not a large retreat, only 15 beds available and while I'd like to say I can't wait until September, that would be wishing away my summer and I do not want that but I am pleased that everyone enjoyed the last retreat so much that they want to do it again and I am looking forward to it. We are planning a larger retreat for next April. It's a lot of work as I want to make sure everyone has a great time. We are hoping that other stitcher's besides our usual Last Saturday Stitchers will want to come but I worry that they won't. At night I lay in bed and ponder different ideas. For instance, themed retreat or no theme. Classes or no classes. What types of goodies would the stitcher's want in a goodie bag. We will be taking stitching supplies and setting up a small shop there but do we need charts, fabric and floss or just charts and fabric. If we need floss do we bring all the different ones we carry and if so how will we display them. You get the idea. So much to think about.....

Well, I need to get a move on. Still need to eat breakfast, pack a lunch and head off to work. Thanks for stopping by and commenting! I really enjoy all the comments. BTW....I'm happy I am not the only one out there with a left shoulder bra strap slippage problem. I'm still lopsided, haven't had a chance to go shopping yet. But I will and I'll let you know if I find one that prevents the slippage problem. Anyone ever tried the Breezies brand from QVC?? They are supposed to have the straps angled to prevent that slippage but I'm wondering about the support for larger girls. IYKWIM.

Have a great day!!

Julie

Be careful what you wish for.....

I have been wishing and hoping for the last 6 months that hot weather would arrive. This past weekend, it did. With a vengeance. There was only one tiny little problem with the high temps and humidity. When I turned the air conditioner on, it didn't work. Oh it runs just fine. It just isn't cooling. At. All. Dan and the BIL did what they could to try and fix it to no avail. It got up to 90 degrees in the house both Saturday and Sunday. Factor in the humidity and you have all the makings for a thoroughly miserable weekend. I am hoping and praying that I can get someone to come out and fix it. But I am not feeling confident that they will. Most of the heating and cooling places in town have gone to what they call a contract. You pay them a set fee that is usually around $300.00/yr that is supposed to cover your spring and fall tuneups. Those customers with the contract get priority service, meaning they will get help first over those without a contract. Last fall my contract expired. I had requested they bring a contract with them when they came to check the furnace. They forgot. I thought since we had just replaced the inside a/c unit last summer and the outside unit 3 summers ago that it wasn't a big huge deal and we'd just take care of it this spring. See what happens when I think, wish and hope? Now we all suffer.

I have also been wishing and hoping for a weekend that I could just sit and do nothing. I'm happy to report that is exactly what happened this weekend. NOTHING! I couldn't even stitch because my hands were too sweaty to hold the needle. I think I will hold off on the wishing and hoping for a while. It's just not working out very well.

NO progress has been made on Golden Ice. I started an ornament and have been working on that. It's by Blackberry Lane Design. Beautiful ornament. Looks like this:

Of course, my version is not that beautiful yet. I started stitching this as it was called for. 40 ct. linen cross stitched 1 over 1. I did not like it......so I frogged it, and may I just say that was a royal pain in my behind, and then started over using the tent stitch 1 over 1 and I am liking it waaaaay better. Wha'cha think?


Don't go by the colors on the first pic. That lead wise man looks like he'd be fuschia but in reality he is stitched in shades of red/burgundy. Love the shading in this piece. And actually, the 40 count isn't all that bad most of the time!!

Update: I started calling heating and cooling places at 8 a.m. this morning. So far I have a bunch of we can't get to you until Friday or next week. Or leave your name and number and we'll call you back. Or I sat on hold forever. Or a busy signal. Looks like the dogs and I will go to work today. I can't leave them here by themselves. Yesterday it was cooler outside than it was inside.

To top it all off I am feeling very lopsided today. In the midst of all the sweating going on this weekend, I broke the underwire on my last good bra. I hate when that happens. I have very short shoulders and therefore I have a terrible time keeping the straps up on the left side. Don't ask me why only the left side but if one falls down, it's always the left one. Anyway, I happened to find this one bra that this didn't happen so I bought a few of them thinking I would go back and buy a couple more the next time they were on sale. Nope!! Next time Kohl's had bras on sale they no longer had this bra. So over time, one by one the underwire has broken until I was left with this last final bra. And lest you think I have been running around wearing just one bra I do have others, it's just the straps all fall down or the underwire comes up so far on the sides that it pokes me in my fat underarms so I only wear them while the good one is being cleaned. So if you happen to be in Kohl's and see a woman in the bra dept. and one boob is nice and perky and the other is drooping, you'll know who she is and why she's crooked!

Have a great day everyone! Thanks for stopping in and commenting!

Julie