Stitching retreat report

I had a blast this past weekend! The stitching retreat was loads of fun!

It was held at a Baptist camp west of San Antonio on the Frio River. It was a beautiful place and the weather was nice. We stitched in a large conference room, and our motel-style sleeping rooms (with hotel-hard beds) were off of the conference room. The food was camp food, but I didn't have to cook it, and I'm not a picky eater anyway. Those that went hungry from meals could make up for it at our snack table. It was literally covered in food.

There were around 40-some-odd ladies in attendance, many of whom had been coming to this retreat for years. Everyone was friendly and ready to show others what they were stitching on.

We had two VERY nice projects to stitch on. One was an eyeglass case that I actually managed to finish at the retreat. I don't have a picture yet as I paid five bucks to have the retreat organizer, Jackie, finish it for me. I don't yet have my sewing machine accessible and I hate doing linings. I'll post a picture when I get it back in the mail. The other project was a Redbird Designs exclusive. Lorraine had done three previous seasonal designs and she had agreed to do the last one "Summer Sun" for this retreat before she stopped designing(!) and moved from Texas to New York(!!). I didn't start that one, but I will do it. The projects included floss, fabric, needle, pattern, and embellishments and they came in one of those zippered vinyl pouches - high class!

We also received some fun gifts which included a Shepherd's Bush kit - mine was a Halloween design - and a great tote bag with a few stitchy goodies inside. We also had door prizes - Sandi won a real nice scissor fob and Mary and I got chocolate. There was also a goofy bag that you reached in a grabbed something. I grabbed Silly Putty. There were things in there like water pistols, Gak - basically silly kids toys, but lots of fun. (I LOVED Silly Putty as a kid and drove my mom nuts with it.)

Stitches From the Heart, a cross stitch shop in San Antonio, had a sales table set up, and I bought a couple of the vinyl zippered bags. I did that before I received my retreat projects. So now I have several nice bags to stick WIPs in; they are much nicer than ZipLocs!

There was a raffle for three items (which were all very nice, but nothing I needed) that were donated. The items included a crocheted afghan, a knitted shawl, and a quilted tote. The auction on Saturday night (the auction $$ are used to help fund the next retreat to keep costs down for the participants) was a hoot. I didn't bid on anything, but a lot of the ladies really got into it. Some of the bidding was pretty competitive. My DH's three floss sticks (pictured below) brought in $76.00!

And of course, there was an orphan table with lots of unwanted patterns, kits, and other stitchy stuff. I managed to find a leaflet with deer patterns. DH has already picked out the one he wants me to stitch.

On Sunday, after we left the camp, we drove to San Antonio and stopped at Stitches From the Heart and spent money. I found several more Redbird Designs that I wanted to add to my collection, and I picked up some Caron Wildflower floss to try.

And I also met Cindy in person! We’ve been reading each other’s blogs and it was nice to put a face to a name. *waving!*

All in all, it was a great weekend (although I missed DH), and I'm planning to go to the next retreat in September.

Ramblings and a retreat

I've been battling my sinuses all week. They've been a pain. Literally. Oh well.

I haven't stitched a lick.

This weekend, I am going on a stitching retreat with a couple of my IH35 Stitchtogether buddies, Mary and Sandi. I am SOOOOOOOO looking forward to it. Of course, I have to get up before dawn cracks tomorrow so I can get to Austin "ninish" to finish the journey to the retreat as Mary is driving us from Austin to Leakey. So I will get some stitching in this weekend. And I'll post a report of the frivolities next week.

They're having a gadget auction at the retreat, and every attendee is asked to donate something. So my wonderful DH made some floss sticks for me to donate. He made three. Two are out of walnut, and the other is of oak. I'll take a picture of them and post it next week.

I had to go to town today to stock up on man-food for DH to consume this weekend. He likes kielbasa sausage, mustard tater salad, tortilla chips, and Oreos. This will get him through the weekend. Men. I would have made do on just the Oreos alone.

Emma gets a haircut twice a year. She is a rough-coat Jack Russell terrier so her hair is longer and fluffier than the smooth-coat ones. We trim her at the beginning of spring and late summer as it makes it easier to bathe her. She's a pig pen and doesn't mind being dirty, but she gets whiffy when she is dirty. Ladylike she is not. Anyway, here she is freshly washed and shorn.

The UBSU is done!

Rachel asked how loud my CPAP machine is. Actually, it's very quiet (31db). My DH is a light sleeper and it doesn't bother him at all. Which makes sense if you think about it. If a machine is being designed to be used while sleeping, it has to be quiet enough so that the person CAN sleep! I can hardly hear it myself: being hard-of-hearing is occasionally advantageous.

I didn't stitch a lick this weekend. And DH and I didn't get started on the new bathroom, but we DID get the UBSU finished! Yippee skippy!

Here's my side of the UBSU with my blueprint flat file that stores my cross stitching fabric.

Here's DH's side with the drawers for all his bow hunting accouterments.

And here's the end with more storage!

Stitching and sleeping

A note from my stitching chair: well, I finished "Love's Journey," got out my "Wild Things" WIP and resorted its 54 bobbins of floss into my project floss box, and then haven't stitched a lick. I've been more inclined to read books in my spare moments as of late. Hopefully I will pick up a needle this weekend.

On the treating my sleep apnea front, I've been a hosehead since Monday. It's slow going, which is a normal experience. Luckily, after having spent days reading on sleep apnea message boards, I knew not to expect miracles right off the bat. I also knew about the most common problems and how to correct them. So when I encounter problems, I'm mildly vexed instead of seriously annoyed. I'm having to get used to sleeping in a new way (wearing a weird-feeling mask and having it blow air up my nose).

I now have a pile of equipment next to my bed and I've added to it over the week. I started off with my CPAP machine and humidifier. Then DH insisted that I have a surge protector plug strip. Next, after wrestling with my air hose for several nights, I bought a HoZer Levitation System - a goofy looking contraption the keeps the hose off you and your bed and hangs it up over near your face instead. It looks like a wimpy and limp fishing pole. But it works (and I stopped dreaming about hunting snakes). Here's what it looks like from the company's advertisement:

Due to the unpleasant experience of "rainout" where moisture condenses in your hose and runs down into your nose, I purchased a "Snugglehose" - a fleece cover for my hose. It helped minimally. I could turn down my humidifier, but I am not comfortable with a lower setting; the air is too dry. Living in a valley with high humidity doesn't help either as it increases condensation. So, I placed an order for a special heated hose that will eliminate this. It is made and shipped from Australia, hence its nickname of "the Aussie heated hose." People swear by them and I hope to, too. The sensation of being asleep and then suddenly inhaling water is not fun.

I have a new routine in the morning. I get up and clean my mask, put away my equipment and attempt to get the inside of my hose dry. Then I pull the data card out of my CPAP machine and stick it in the card reader hooked to my computer to get a readout of my sleeping statistics (cool, eh?). It tells me things like what pressure I averaged during the night, how well my apnea was controlled, and if my mask was leaking too much. My machine is data capable (many are not). It allows me to make educated decisions about my own treatment. Empowerment!

Blog Anniversary and Happy St. Pat's Day

Today is my blog anniversary. Whee-ee-o! I have blogged for one year and averaged a post every 1.825 days, or 200 posts out of 365 days. Hopefully, I can maintain or surpass that average this year.

DH is over his disease. He came home from work last night and actually had enough energy to think about doing some things out in his shop. That is, until we were both overcome by DQ Blizzard cravings. So we drove to town and enjoyed Blizzards. DH had a French Silk Pie Blizzard and I had a Reeses' Blizzard. We had been enjoying leftover-from-the-holidays Yule Flip Peppermint Chip Blizzards until our DQ finally ran out of that flavor last week. Bummer. Oh well. There's no such thing as a bad Blizzard.

My computer monitor is wonking out. I get this fuzzy, distorted band at the top of the screen when I first turn it on. After a bit of time (which grows longer each day), it resolves itself. My sortof computer geek Bro-the-bean-counter says it is either the monitor dying or my video card. He told me to plug my monitor into a different computer to figure out which problem it is. So I'll have to lug my monitor up to DH's work this week to plug it in to a computer there. So I'll either be in the market for a new monitor or a new video card sometime soon. Yippee.

Whee-ee-o!

Yippee-skippy! I finished "Love's Journey!" Now I just have to find a frame and frame it. Here it is unwashed but slightly ironed for picture taking.

DH was ailing on the couch all weekend (he's feeling much better today), and I was able to get a lot of stitching time in. Next, I'll get going on my MIL's "Wild Things" HBP and work on it until I get it finished. I've done two out of 15 pages on it already.

And best of all - THE SUN IS FINALLY BACK OUT AND IT IS WARM AGAIN!!!!

Best laid plans...

DH had great plans for the weekend. He was gonna put the finishing touches on the UBSU and then start on our new bathroom. Unfortunately, he is feeling poorly.

There's a sinusy/flu-ish thing going around. DH works with several folks who have children. It is rampant in the schools. DH's technician, Billy, has seven kids and three of them have this. One of the other technician's son has it, too. Apparently, they are carriers of this disease. The boss went home early on Friday because he has it. DH came home from work with it.

He will spend the weekend resting and getting better. Emma is "helping."

All I can say is he better not give it to me!