Softly comes the night

Well, I feel like I've had a busy weekend and enjoyed every minute of it! I got caught up with my Weight Watcher buddies and am still doing fine on the scale so to speak; it may only be in tiny increments, but I continue to lose weight which means I'm probably not stress eating (and isn't that a surprise?).

I found a place to recycle the packing peanuts and Friday Lou and I took 6 black garbage bags of peanuts to the Mailboxes Plus on Rockville Pike. The guy was really glad to have them, and I'm glad they aren't going into the landfill. We also sent the cuckoo clock up to Brown for the exhibit Sarah is helping to organize as part of one of her classes and was able to send it from the place we recycled the peanuts. I have one big box and half a bag left of peanuts, but Angie wants them for when she moves to South Carolina. I also got the rest of the OR boxes unpacked, it was a major undertaking, but everything is organized in the yellow room and once I'm feeling better after surgery, I will start working on the doll clothes.

Saturday I straightened up Sarah's room so she'll have a bed to sleep in when she gets home, the other stuff she will have to decide if it's "get rid of, store, or find a new place for". She will have all summer to do it. Now, I just need to rearrange the master bedroom so that it will be easy for me when I get home from the surgery.

Today was anothe spectacular weather day. I mowed the lawn early before it got too hot, and while Lou dealt with the plants, I started moving the trimmings and dead limbs from the "junk" pile by the fence to the area in the sideyard I want to passive compost in. We actually made two piles, one of kindling and one of compost. I got about half way through the pile and decided it was getting too hot to keep going. After a quick shower, we went to B3 (Bed Bath and Beyond) and got the terry cover ups they had advertised this week, I figure they will be good for post surgery as they are light and non-restrictive. We also stopped at the store and stocked up on the steaks on sale for when Lill is home. We do like our red meat, that girl and me.

Once home I started on a new apron idea I wanted to try, a full apron with a flounce (not ruffle) that I wanted to make reversible. I made it in Leslie's colors, her kitchen is black and gray, so one side is a black print on a very light cream background, and the other side is a Sabbat print in blue on white. so, she will get it as a gift. There is a slight "bleeding" of color through, but as this was a prototype, it doesn't matter that much-but I did decide it's not a pattern I want to use for reversible again. I will probably make it up in the yellow stripe and blue/yellow floral print for Lill so she'll have an apron to use on a daily basis. And, speaking of daily basis, please go visit: http://nationalapronday.ning.com
and read about National Apron Day. I plan on making something new for myself to wear that Monday, maybe a showy little hostess half apron. I also want to order some of the matzo print fabric online so that I can make Passover and Chanukah reversibles, and I still think I'll make a few Christmas and Chanukah reversibles for the mixed families we know.

I hadn't been to the swap site for a few days, and what I read there today upset me a bit. There are some people who haven't honored their commitment and sent their partners their aprons. I feel bad-I know I couldn't wait to get mine and I couldn't wait to hear what my partner thought of hers. There's been some discussion about how people feel, and of course there really is no way to know if people will flake or not. i'm really glad my partner didn't because I've made a new friend from this who loves the same needlecrafts I do; sewing, knitting, crochet. Love and kisses to you, Tara! And I've made another friend, Karlie, who also loves needlework. It's a joy to me to have these girls to email with and check their blogs and see what's going on in their lives.

Louis, the love of my life, continues to absolutely pamper me. He always has, but now with this surgery ahead of us, he is taking extra care to see to my needs. So, imagine how touched I was when I went out on the deck yesterday and saw the lounge chairs set up next to each other. I made a gin and tonic for us to share, and as we sat he remarked how the chairs were the perfect height to filter the sun on the plants he'd moved outside and to keep them for getting sunburned while they reacclimated to the outdoors. I said, "So, this wasn't set up for us to enjoy the evening?" and his answer was, "well, that's an added benefit"....what can I say?

Tomorrow I'll see if I can get a hair appointment because it's really too long to be driving around with the top down on Miss Lucy. I'm about a month overdue for the convertible haircut, but since it was so cold and rainy I didn't rush it. After this weekend, I KNOW I need it cut.

The only other possible score on tap is that the AC Moore online ad this week showed Adirondack chairs. When I called the store, I was told they have a lot in stock. We were going to go and pick them up, but when I got ready to print the coupon, they had two: one for 25% off the entire purchase this week, and one for 50% off one item on Tuesday only. So, we will print two coupons and go pay for them separately, and then Lou will have a job to put them together and stain them. It was really weird that they advertised them this week because I had just said to him I'd really like two chairs on the front stoop, and he said he'd really like Adirondack chairs in wood, not another plastic one like the one we have from Everett St. the only other ones I'd seen were $99 at World Market, so now I will have my chairs for about $70 instead! I just love that store!