Hardly any stitching, but a LOT of cleaning

I have really only have one stitching weekend since the last post (and even that was weeks ago). I started Vivster's Scottish Quaker Tiles (and, in case you're not aware of the project, here you go):

I spent WAY too much time charting the grid and I still kept frogging the expensive silk thread, so I decided to stop. Barely one weekend later, I made it to here:

I also started to upgrade my blog layout (because it's been a WHILE), but apparently I quit in the middle of it, and when I checked my last blog post, I realized this and just switched it back. I'm not in the mood to dink with it now.

The only place where I've been EXTREMELY productive is in the duckroom (and my bedroom as well). I've been throwing things away (that only the hoarder in me thought I needed, but I don't), I've been removing some things from their boxes to put them on display (or at least taking it out of the outer shrink wrap), moving things around, just overall changes that have probably been emotionally destructive than actual physical destruction (or cleaning, depending on your point of view). I managed to get every single Donald plush from their shelves to the top of the bookshelves, which as led to dedicated shelves to specific characters or rides. I managed to extend the Pirates shelf to two (which was desperately needed). I got the Haunted Mansion stuff down to four shelves, but extended Figment to three. I got a Tower of Terror shelf now, as well as a combo Elliot/Orange Bird shelf, I added a Splash Mountain/Space Mountain combo shelf (although I still need a Small World/Everest shelf, but as of now, that's not possible. I moved a lot of the Christmas stuff (which isn't much) to one area. I was able to create a more dedicated area to the large Stitch plush, so I could take them a) out of the floor, and b) clearing the top of the large curio cabinet. A lot of the model kits that have just been taking up space in their boxes are not put together (and the boxes are gone). But most importantly, I got a LOT of the closet cleared out. I took a few pics before I finished (if I am finished), but here are some shots:

I probably really should take new pics before I update this, but I will keep forgetting and never post anything!

I've also spent a LARGE amount of time working on my upcoming Disney trip. I do NOT want a repeat of last time, so I've been walking. This has also cut into my stitch time because, once I eat, let the food settle, and then walk, it's pushing 9-10 pm. I have been reading a lot, but it's way easier to pick up a book, even for 10 minutes, than to get all set up to stitch.

Please be patient with me and I'll get back to stitching, but right now, I just don't have the time.

So many tasks, not enough time!

I have been SUPER busy the past couple of weeks...Disney planning, trying to loose weight, walking (to help loose weight and to "train" for Disney), cleaning around the house, reading books (to hit my 55 in my 55th year) and, of course, stitching. The first ones are going well, but the stitching, not so much. I can really only stitch on the weekends since I spend the week doing the other things. I'm walking with a co-worker who is perpetually late (although I am able to walk by myself now, when I can get myself out of the house). By the time all that's done, I don't feel like stitching anymore. Thankfully, I can read books and watch TV at the same time, or else not much book reading would be done either. I'm keeping up with my books over on Insta, if you're curious (I think I just finished book #15).

But, on to the stitching. I've only worked on A Girl in a Red Dress at the Castle. Last time I left off here:

Now I'm here:

It's not much progress...1796 more stitches, for a total of 5910/67,500, I'm now at 8.76%, and am 26.38 hrs in (last time it was 18.86 hrs). And I only stitched for two days, both being weekend days. I'm not sure if I'm going switch WIPs this weekend or keep on, time will tell.

Last time, you saw where I cleaned the Duck Room, made a path in the back, and cleaned up my pins (a bit). This week I'm focusing on two tasks, starting to catalog items (although that has a big caveat we'll deal with in a mo) and moving to the front of the Duck Room and straightening up my Mickey ear hats (I haven't touched the Mickey headbands yet, although I don't have many of those). The were on cheap hat hangers on the Duck closet door (and forgive this pic, it's several years old and that area is way more cluttered now, Funkos to the ceiling, the floor covered in plush, and don't get me started on the curios):

Obviously, they didn't all fit due to the limited number of hangers. Since the hangers were made for ball hats, I also had to use various methods to attach them (I did recently change to clothes pins, which plays into this story). The ears that didn't fit were scattered about the room (in their various character categories, of course). I'm always looking online for how other people store and display their stuff, but I haven't found the right "idea" for me in almost every category, but especially ear hats (and pins). Some people have the wall space to mount hangers or to add shelving, I don't. Some people have hats hanging on a rope line mounted to the wall and clipped with clothes pins (like they are on a clothesline), but I never give this idea a second thought because I didn't have the wall room.

Then, it dawned on me, why not attach string to the hat hanger do-hickies and make individual clotheslines. That way I'm not taking up any additional space in the room and, instead of two hats on a row, I could get four or five. Sounded like a plan, right? And the best part is that they could all be together again (I have issues with wanting things to be "together" in their family, the joys of OCD). I quickly found out I couldn't do a line on each row, I had to skip a row for spacing issues. I also tucked in the backs of the hats to flatten them out, like everyone else, to make them hang better. My first iterration:

I very quickly realized this wasn't going to work. The bent hats were driving me insane (I opened them back up) and I still needed the others around the room, which meant more lines. I set about changing them around again, risking the extra rows and adding the hat's brothers, and I HATED the result. I couldn't, for the life of me, get them to look organized after that. I gave that up Wednesday night, but by Thursday night, I decided to start again. After several more configurations, I ended up with this, although I still not happy (and I somehow missed a row close to the top):

Are they too cramped? Yes, yes they are. Is there anything I can do about it? No, probably not, no, especially if I wanted them to live together. And then, like I mentioned earlier, there is still the issue of the Mickey headbands. I'd like them with the ear hats, but I don't know how to accomplish that, at least not yet. They won't work on the rope line and an over-the-door hook won't hold them all.

If anyone has any ideas of how to handle this, let me know, I'm all "ears" (ha!).

Now, on to the cataloging. This is something I have tried numerous times in the past. The last time I tried it, it took me a month to do ONE bookshelf in my bedroom (I have four, not including everything else in the room), and that was probably ten years ago! The software I had became defuct, so I had to buy new home inventory software (maybe nine years ago, unused all this time), which now has a subscription-based model, but the old version still works, so I'm not upgrading until I have to...I'm really hating subscription-based stuff, $10/mo for this, $5/mo for that...it adds up quick. About five or six years ago, I bought a lightbox to make photographing the items easier. It's been sitting in my closet ever since, still in its unopened box. Last year, I bought a camping table for the lightbox to sit on. It's been in the closet next to the lightbox ever since (although I did take it out of it's box to see what it looked like and, thankfully, it came with its own storage bag). Yeah, to say I've been dreading this project for years is the understatement of the decade (literally).

Last Saturday (hence the little bit of weekend stitching), I pulled it all out, set it all up, put the camera on the tripod and got to work photographing the front, back, and bottom side of each item (and sometimes a second set if it lit up). This wasn't even Duck Room stuff, this is MY bedroom. After SIX hours, I had done just the things on my dresser! JUST THE DRESSER! I could not, for the life of me, get everything back in the right place, which also drove me insane. After about 10 hours, I had a ton of photographs, nothing in the cataloging software, and now an annoying dresser top I don't like.

Yeah, I'm not sure how in the Hades I'm supposed to do the entire house. I also realized that my new camera was taking high quality pictures, pictures that will take up a ton of hard drive space. Thankfully, work has an old point and shoot camera that isn't being used, so I got permission to take it home and try it. The MP size of the pics has to be 20 times smaller, so that will help. It was (apparently) a day of realizations, because I also realized that it would be easier to photograph the item, THEN add it to the software one at a time (which will take me a LOT longer than six hours and means I need to start over). I also need to get a barcode scanner (or borrow one from work). Saturday night, I broke down the lightbox and the camping table and put them back in the closet. Whether or not they make it out again in this decade, is up for debate.

I do need a cataloged archive of all my items, not just for insurance purposes (which, as I mentioned numerous times before, most of this stuff can NEVER be replaced, so that's probably a moot point), but because I don't know what I have anymore and sometimes I buy things not realizing I already have it. Since I started cataloging my books, it keeps me from rebuying them all the time. I love it! I also have the Funko app and have all those cataloged as well (although I question if I've done them all). Shame Jim Shore or Enesco doesn't have an app. But, books, movies, music and even Funkos and Enesco figurines are 1/100000 of my entire collection, so the time it will take might be more than the life I have left.

But alas, these are the worries on my brain now and I'm totally open to any ideas you give me! You guys know I'm picky about my stuff, but I will try anything at this point! And let me know if you want to continue to hear about my Disney stuff. I probably should be doing separate posts for all this, but I'm lucky to be posting at all these days. I probably need to learn to actually use Instragram for more than just posting single pictures with a comment!

Have a great week everyone!

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Weekly Stitching Update

I didn't stitch a lot (more on that later), but I did get some done! I finally started A Discovery of Witches by Modern Cross Stitch. I STILL don't have my modification equipment for my stand (and I'm starting to get upset about that, it's been almost 2 1/2 months now), but I did my best with the stand the way it is. It's probably why I didn't get very far because it was a juggling act. In case you forgot, here is what the image looks like:

It's not my largest project (it's the second largest), but it is huge! It's hard to tell here how big it actually is, but it's in a 48" scroll rod, so I'm sure you can imagine it. I only worked on it for one day (3.87 hrs) because it was uncomfortable on my stand, but I got 1278 stitches out of 499,999 total and I'm at 0.26%.

Because it's so long, I also did a close up picture, but because it's just one color, it's kind of boring.

I'm still kind of shocked at this, but I've decided to start three of my new four purchases and, because I've been obsessing over it, A Girl in a Red Dress at the Castle was first. Maybe because my brain is in Disney mode, but I did work on this for the holiday (and I'm not sure if I will continue this week, but we'll see). Here is what it will look like:

I got 4114 stitches out of 67,500 total and made it 6.09%. That sounds like a lot, but it's not that big of a project. I am really happy with the level of detail though and I can't wait to get to recognizable landmarks (aka the castle).

I planned on using my stash thread and fabric, but I was still missing some threads, so I did have to order them. But I'm good so far with just stitching with the threads I had. This was also one of the projects that didn't need new fabric. I had just the right piece for it.

I didn't stitch all weekend though, I managed to clean up the duck room even more, clearing a path through the back side (and yes, it's so dark because of the "island" I've made in the middle, I have to use a lantern back there):

This is the only one the four "walkways" that I don't have to turn sideways for! Quite proud of that!

I emptied out the duck room closet of more old boxes and whatnots (this seems to be an ongoing project). I managed to get the past six years of vacations in their storage boxes (I keep extra storage boxes just for this purpose...well, technically for Disney trips because I want all the storage boxes to match, but that's a different story and I did have some random other boxes, so it's not as matchy-matchy as my Disney stuff). I also got them labeled with my handy-dandy new label maker. It's one of the generic little ones from Amazon, but I love it! Oh, for those that don't know, every single trip I take I keep a "memento box" of the trip stuff. Things like receipts, knick-knacks from the hotels, drink stirers, bags from purchases, glasses or cups I wouldn't ever use, etc, etc. I've been doing that for Disney since the beginning and it's just sort of spilled out to all my other trips. The boxes on the left are my Disney purses and bags, but the smaller ones on the right are the trip boxes (and, the eagle-eyed among you may spot the Disney bag in one of the trip boxes, but that's a box of all the stuff that my sister had given me from her various Disney trips, so they all live together in one box). This may still look messy to some, but believe me when I say this closet was a disaster before!

Also, for those that might be shocked that I have four tubs of just Disney purses, bags, and backpacks, don't be...there are actually five and I need a sixth, you just can't see the other one.

I also got the nerve (or courage) to clean out my Disney pin backs and boxes. This was the hardest thing for me to do. I've kept every pin back and box for every single Disney pin I've ever bought. They live in two big bins and I had numerous bags of them just tossed in the closet. Here they are in my living room floor (and the bin you see is just for the pin backs, not the boxes...the box bin is a lot bigger):

All my pins live in binders in my bedroom. A couple of weeks ago, I took all the pins tossed in my closet from various trips and finally put them in their binders (and tossed the boxes and the bags in the duck room closet, hence this past weekend's project). I still need to get some black binders so they all match, but here they are (and you can see at least one wall of my framed pins, they go all around the entrance to my bedroom):

Of all the things I threw away this weekend, this was the hardest thing for me to deal with. I knew I wouldn't be able to throw all of them away. The empty pin backs and boxes serve no purpose anymore and I couldn't match most of them back to their original backs if I tried, but keeping them is just how I'm wired (like I always say, there is a fine line between hoarding and OCD). I simply stared at the mess in the floor for literal HOURS and went through several iterrations of decisions before I came up with my final option and I'm stressing now writing about it. This is the box with the empties from boxes or lanyards, or pin sets (and, you can't tell, but that stack of mystery pin boxes in the floor was a good 2ft high):

I had a couple choices of what to do, but in the end, I went with keeping one of each type of mystery pin box and throwing away the duplicates. It still filled the box bin back up, so technically it didn't help much, but once I took out the duplicates that were already in there, they all fit and now the bags are all gone (and even throwing away the bags was stressful). The trashed boxes filled an entire kitchen garbage bag on their own. I will need to get another bin by the next pin haul, but I'll worry about that after September.

Oh, and I feel like I need to explain Disney mystery pins. They are pin sets that come (usually) two to a box, but you don't know what's in the box until you've purchased and opened it. To get the whole set, you have to keep buying box after box and, even then, you may not get them all (and don't get me started on the boxes with chaser pins). I HATE mystery pins and rarely ever buy them unless they are special occasion sets or something I feel I can't live without (first I hate surprises, but you also have to keep buying box after box to get the whole set...it is financially draining), but my sister loved them. She was horrible at not finishing a set and would buy all kinds of different sets, which drives my OCD nuts. Not that I wasn't grateful to receive any Disney stuff from her, but I used to have to go on eBay and find the rest of the set, which sometimes cost more than just continuing to buy the boxes. I'd rather have two or three complete sets than 30 partial sets. Plus, there is the guilt involved with her buying me stuff. I can't remember when the last set she bought me was, but I haven't finished those sets because there were just too many of them.

Now, back to the original topic, I should add that "technically" I've thrown all this stuff away. In all actuality, the garbage bags are all sitting in my living room (all TWELVE of them) because there isn't room in the garbage can outside. It will take a couple of weeks of full trash bins for them all to go away, but this also means that I can change my mind at anytime and put the stuff back. So yes, I cleared out a ton of stuff from that closet, but it ain't over until the garbage men sing (unless I take them to the dumpster at work). Getting rid of Disney stuff, even the trash, is incredibly difficult for me. I REALLY need a bigger house (although it wouldn't take me long to fill it up too).

And that's the update for this week! I'm quite proud of myself for all the work I've managed to get done over the past few weeks. Let's just hope I can keep it up (and not undo it). I still have a ton of stuff to trash, but I'll get there eventually! I do look around a lot and sometimes wish I could get rid of more stuff, but it's probably never gonna happen. I go through phases with stuff, be it Disney, movies, books, etc and, just because I'm out of the phase now, doesn't mean I'm not going to be back in it in a week, a month, or even a year from now. I have typically always regretted throwing stuff away, which is why I hate doing it. But if I don't do something now, I'm going to be one of those hoarders with a maze in her living room of stacked up crap (it might be neatly stacked up crap, but, you get the point).

Hopefully, I will have a stitchy update next week, and, if you'd like to see more of my Disney stuff, just let me know and I'll see what I can come up with!

Busy Couple of Weeks!

As you guys can imagine, my brain has been in overtime Disney mode. I've been planning, finishing the picture edits from the last six years of photos (and I managed to do it before the free trial of Lightroom wore out, so yea me), watching DisneyTube, and walking every afternoon to build up my strength. By the time I eat dinner and settle, it's either too late or I'm too tired to stitch. In two weeks time, I managed one single day of stitching, last Sunday (and even then I was having issues with ADHD). I decided to go back to Snow White, she's the one I'm the closest to finishing (even though I'm still pretty far off) and I think it would probably be wiser to make her my finish for this year instead of Alice and the B's.

I left her off here last time:

As far as giving you stats, I kind of dropped the ball on that. One thing I've discovered from Markup-RXP is that it doesn't automatically save your results. I really should have been hitting the save button every time I finish. It does automatically save at intervals, but more than once on these projects, I mark off all stitching at the end and then close the app before it has a chance to save. Hence Snow's errors. There was a whole section I had finished last time, but it didn't save it, so I had to redo it, knocking my totals ascue. I'm just going to give you overall totals so there is no confusion. I'm at 44,154/69,374 stitches, she's at 63.65%, and I've got 229.88 hrs involved so far:

A bit hard to see the work because it's all mirror and super light colors, but I'm still pleased.

I've been trying hard to not spend money, but I've kind of been failing on that front as well. I had an MRI this week (and thankfully, the knots in my arms aren't tumors, but now they don't know what they are and I'm going to have to have an ultrasound, but that's another story for another day). Since the MRI was at 7:30 p.m., I needed to kill time because I didn't want to go home and stir up the pups (plus, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get out again), so I ended up at Barnes and Noble. Not the best place for me. All things considered, I did well, only bought 6 books and I spend less than $100. Once I got home though, my mind was dwelling on the books I was looking for that wasn't in the store, so I ended up spending another $140 online. Dumb move and I'll regret it in Disney World, but I'm not regretting it now.

Remember my year of 55's? I'm on book 15 now, but, rather than reading the same books from the Passionflix movies over and over again (like I have been doing), I've moved in a Disney direction. I've read the first book in the Fairytales reimagined books (I've had them forever and never touched a one). And now I'm restarting the Kingdom Keeper series because I don't think I've read past book 2. But I'm keeping up with all that over on Instagram (as well as daily stitch progress...when I stitch).

But, of course, because I'm in a Disney mood, I haven't been the best about staying away from either trip merch or just Disney stuff in general. And here is where another rabbit hole begins. I have been spending time on Etsy (which I swore I wouldn't do), because I STILL haven't gotten the new stuff to adapt my stand for the SS/MC HAED's. It's been over two months and when I keep asking, I keep getting excuse after excuse. They were supposed to ship three weeks ago, and this week I nudged again and they said they shipped it. I asked for a tracking number, but even today, it still shows only a label has been printed and has not arrived at the shipping facility. Since it wasn't a direct Etsy purchase, I can't file a claim there, but it's why I chose to pay with Paypal, because their claim process is even more effective. I would just rather get the stuff and not go through a claim process. I promised you guys a review and, even though I can't review the stuff (yet, my hopes are still high), I can at least say they are a horrible company to deal with if you need the stuff in a timely manner (or maybe even at all).

The stand debacle story is why I was wondering round Etsy looking at Disney stuff, which always leads me down the cross stitch pattern route. I ended up buying several patterns, only one of which I'm not going to start now. I made a promise to myself I would only use stash fabric and thread, but I've already broken that as well. One pattern in particular doesn't fit well with any of my stash fabric, so I ordered some options in order one. And then, once I gathered the thread, I didn't have enough, so I ordered the missing ones in a second order. But the second order is where I screwed up, because, as I have mentioned before, Vivsters Scottish flag has been nagging at me forever, but I didn't want to buy the $150 worth of silk floss (although you can do it in DMC, that's not the direction I want to go in). I ended up compromising by just buying a third of what was needed and I can continue to buy the floss when I run out (and I bought opalescent 28ct fabric to go with it). In case you don't remember, here is the Vivsters:

And now the new ones I will be starting - Girl in a Read Dress by the Castle by Magical Moonlit Stitches. It's only 225x300, so it "shouldn't" take much time to finish (and it's NOT dithered!)

Mini Haunted Mansion Stretching Portraits (I decided to do these in plastic canvas and all in a row with a brown frame around each instead of four separate pics because they are literally 20x53 a piece (again, "should" be another quick finish):

And, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Witchy Stitcher. I've seen a lot of people on FlossTube doing this and it seems pretty easy. This is the one I've had issues with fabric for, but I'm working on it. I also debated doing this with silk thread, but I just don't want to waste anymore money (probably too late). Again, this one is super little, 100x135, and, even though I initially wanted it on 28ct 2x2, I've never been good at 2x2, or 1x2, so I decided to get an 18ct for this.

I did get one other pattern, but I won't be starting it now. It's Tudor Rose by Michaela Learner:

As an aside, I probably won't be sharing trip pics other than the occasional overview. I realized, as I was editing them, I don't remember much about those trips other than the highlights. I just waited too long to edit the pics I guess!

For now, that's the update...sorry so late!

Sorry I'm late, but have BIG news!

Let's get the stitching out of the way first. My ADHD is in high gear right now. I'm having issues focusing on any piece for very long, so I was all over the shop this week. I stopped working on Amour et Vengeance and moved back to Belle of Bonaventure, which is what I wanted to do anyway. I left off on her here last time:

I'm not digging her off white face (she's a bit Wednesday Addams) but, I'm hoping it will all work out in the end. I managed another 10.58 hrs and 2675 stitches for a total of 68.22 hrs, 17,705/1118,000 stitches and 15%.

Next up, I went ahead and started Garden Path from Monet by Yiotas.

I'm fighting with the large paper pattern, but I'm just not feeling it either, so it got one whole night. It's not big, that marked square in the middle is the size of the whole thing, but I think the confetti might make it take a long time. I also can't give complete totals since it didn't cross into Markup RXP right, but by the pattern, I know there are a total of 26,730 stitches. I can also tell you that I did 804 stitches in 3.8 hrs. I'll keep up with the stitches as I go manually.

I kind of realized I needed something a bit easier and maybe that would sort out my ADHD, so I picked Merida by DoNa Stitches. I last left on this on 2-9 here:

I only worked on it one day this week so far (other things to discuss in a mo-mo), but I got another 886 stitches in 3.72 hrs, for a total of 22.47 hrs, 4745/41,836 stitches and I'm now at 11.34%. If I focus on this, it should be a quick finish, maybe a month or two, but again, ADHD is a pain, dude.

On Tuesday, I had a HORRIBLE crick in my neck (which I still have, FYI), so I decided not to stitch that night. But that's not the good news, or scary news, depending on each second my obessive brain flip flops.

I had already decided that this year, considering the debt from the past several trips, even though this is my 55th birthday and a big one, I probably wasnt' going to go anywhere for my birthday. I did consider a few places, Nantucket, Cape Hatteras, even Universal for Harry Potter (which was OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive, BTW), but eventually decided I wasn't really interested in anywhere and decided maybe to pay down some debt first and maybe get my new skirting or new deck.

I was having a rather innocous conversation with a co-worker about swimming, something I haven't done since I was a teen, since I grew up with a pool, but I refuse to be seen in public in a bathing suit now, so it's a moot point. I was reminded that the last time I stuck even my feet in a pool was many years ago at Wilderness Lodge, my favorite Disney resort. Then I started trying to figure out when the last time I had stayed at Wilderness Lodge and it was 2013! That was ridiculous! Then my brain went into overdrive. I randomly ended up on the Disney website to check prices around my birthday and they weren't bad! I saved a cart, but decided I needed to talk to my therapist on Wednesday before I did anything drastic.

As some of you may remember, my last trip to Disney in 2021 was a life changer. Not only did I plan that bad (booking a month out), but I didn't physically prepare so I spent the entire trip in severe pain (and it even led to both my knee surgeries in the couple of years that followed). It was also, not only the first trip I had taken since "Hotel California" in 2017 (my last Disney trip before that was 2016), but the first trip since COVID. It was stupid of me to do it and it severely burned me on Disney totally. I did start taking trips again, but it's been to the Northeast (several times) and Boulder and a few other places, not Disney. I had decided that I can go a ton of other places for a 1/3 of the price of a Disney trip (not including spending money, which would probably lower it to an 1/8 of the price). Plus, I disagreed with a TON of the changes Disney has been making. Disney hasn't been a thought for me in the years since (well, maybe a fleeting one, but more of reminiscing the old days).

This morning (Wednesday), I realized I don't have therapy today, it's Friday. I couldn't wait until Friday. They might book up at the cheaper rate, the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party tickets should go on sale at any time this month, timing was key. So, this morning, after talking to a couple of co-workers, I booked it! A birthday trip to Wilderness Lodge! It's 6 days/7 nights (hence my 7 park ticket purchase). I decided to book a value resort for the night before (making it 7 nights), simply because I want to get my ticket's worth and didn't want to waste a night at a Deluxe Resort when I would be arriving late. I have done this before, one night at a Value then move to the Deluxe, and it worked out well. My therapist and I will just fight it out on Friday, it's done.

Yeah, I'm going to Disney World! Granted, I have to walk a lot between now and then to get in better physical shape as well as lose at least 30lbs (I've done it before, I can do it again). I'm not entirely sure where the money is going to come from, but that's why god made credit cards and I do have a Disney rewards card, so more Disney points for me (and adds to my spending money fund). Because I haven't been in such a long time and there have been SO many changes, I will have a few months to study up (and gives me a project for the next few months and focuses my brain).

I booked the Quick Service meal plan instead of the full Dining Plan. For those that don't know, Quick Service plan includes 2 quick service (or counter service, non-reservation sit down restaurants), one snack and a refillable mug (which is only good at the resort, but I collect the mugs more than actually use them on the trip). The full plan includes one quick service, one sit-down meal, one snack and the mug. I can't remember what I did last time (I will look it up when I get home), but considering I can count on one hand how many times I've been in a restaurant since 2017, I'm not sure it is wise to book restaurants. I will probably eat at Raglan Road for my birthday (it had become kind of a Disney tradition for me...bangers and mash!) and I can pay for that out of pocket. But I can change the dining plan if need be between now and then, or even upgrade when I get there. I need to research the restaurants because they have all changed since the last time I was there (as well as MANY other things).

One of the big issues in 2021 was the buses and how close I had to sit next to people after COVID (something that always bothered me, but having strangers touch me after that was almost unbearable). But with the Lodge, most of transportation is not buses. Yes, Animal Kingdom is exclusively bus, but the Magic Kingdom is a boat. I can get a boat to the Contemporary and take the monorail to either Magic Kingdom or Epcot. Epcot and the Studios both connect via boats and skyliners (and the skyliner goes to Pop Century, so I can get to Disney Springs via boat from either Epcot or the Studios)...and about a dozen other transportation options other than buses. Last time at Saratoga Springs, even though I wasn't exclusively tied to bus (there were boat options), the skyliner was barely working and new and I didn't want to risk it. That makes it even more exciting, human distance (to a point)!

Normally, I also upgrade my park tickets when I get there and get an annual Passholder (basically for the extras you get with that, special pins, discounts, etc), with the idea that I will go again in a couple of months, which would make it worth it financially, but I have only ever gone back a second time in the year of the pass twice. I'm not sure it's a good idea to upgrade (but even just for the discounts and pins, I might splurge and do it anyway).

I also have not edited a picture from any trip since Disney 2016, and I'm not sure those are edited properly. I need to get Lightroom for a couple of months and fix that. Depending on when I start that, I might actually be able to photo update you on all my past trips since 2021!

This will also probably cut into my stitching. I take Disney planning VERY seriously, and the fact that I didn't plan in 2021 is one of the reasons why that trip failed so spectacularly. I won't risk that happening again. So stay tuned, more Disney info to follow! And maybe I'll be able to update my Disney reviews page! I haven't done that since 2015 (didn't even apparently do them for 2016). If I don't shut up now at the possibilities, I won't shut up at all! I'm already pissing off co-workers today!

Was this a bad week?

It's literally getting to where I can't tell anymore. I did find out that the trailer park people are going to charge WAY too much for new skirting and a new deck, so that's off the table. And the pups were both quiet this week, so I'm taking my ups on that front. Stitching-wise though, I did make a significant amount of progress...for the three days I stitched. I started one of the new WIP's on Tuesday, Amour et Vengeance by Dailen Ogden, charted by GeckoRouge.

Surprisingly, I got 4616 stitches done (out of 183,366) and made it to 2.52% done in just 15.45 hrs! Yeah, even I'm impressed by that, but it has a lot to do with the fact that I'm just stitching one color and it's all block. This pattern is dithered, I'm just not there yet. And, this is probably the first time ever I've focused on just one color at a time. I can't say it will last throughout the entire project, especially when I get out the "frame" area, but it's obviously working for me so far:

I was already waining last night and wanting to switch to something else (namely Belle of Bonaventure), but I'm not sure it will hold by tonight. I don't think any other project is going to give me this much progress this quickly. I still haven't gotten my new stand stuff (I need to check on that), so A Discovery of Witches still can't be started, but I still have two left to go, Kitchen Fun and Monet's Garden Path. Kitchen Fun is an easy kit, but the Yiota's kit is turning out to be more difficult than I initially anticipated. The chart is on an extra large size of legal paper, so I scanned it in and shrunk it, but then I realized that the shrunk version was too small to read. Markup-RXP didn't read it too well either, so I'm left with reading the original papers, but those are too big to work with as I stitch. They are way bigger than the whole project (even on the scroll rods). I guess I could always copy it on regular paper and run over a bit on the edges to make up the difference, but that's a whole lot of work with no guarantee it will do any better. I've put Garden Path by the wayside for now until my brain can get around the big paper.

I've been staying off of pattern sites and Etsy for needle minders, but I inadvertantly got a "craving" for a pattern (or a series of patterns, I should say), while watching FlossTube. There are a series of Hogwarts Library scenes for various Hogwarts Professors (Magonagall, Snape, Trelawney, Dumbledore and Lockhart...so far) and I'm trying hard to keep myself from buying them. They aren't cheap, $18 a piece, and I'm not sure how often the Cross Stitch Studio (the designer that has the best ones) has sales. There are actually a lot of people doing Snape's Library on FlossTube, but I saw one person doing Magonagall's and I liked it, so I went in search. When I examined all the patterns, I realized I like Dumbledore's the best, so that's probably what I'll start with if (or probably when) I get them. Here is what it is via the CCS website:

I've kept myself in check on these because: a) they are not small and I have enough big patterns to last five livetimes doing nothing but stitching; and b) I don't have the money to throw around for the pattern, let alone the fabric, MORE scroll rods, and even more thread. Ugh. Let's see how long I hold out (place your bets now)!

Not the best week, but...

Stitch-wise, it wasn't a bad week, it was just the rest of the world that fell apart, but more on that later. I did actually progress with The Bride Doll Making (I really need to make sure I do that title right, half the time I say "Dollmaker" which is the artist's name, but you guys know what I mean). I left off last time here:

I worked on her for three days, although each day I did less and less. I got another 1566 stitches in an additional 9.02 hrs, for a total of 47,583/107,269 stitches, which is 44.36% and a total of 248.63 hrs.

I moved on to a new start, the 40 year-old kit, The English Garden. I remember why I never started it (I was scared of the 18ct fabric, which is hilarious now), but I don't remember why I purchased it in the first place because it's not my style. Maybe it was a gift? I really don't remember, but here is what it will look like:

I had replaced the fabric with another 18ct but, my goodness, is the new fabric stiff! Since the threads aren't labeled with their DMC numbers, I'm a bit SOL on those if I run out (other than just trying to color match them). I also can't give you a total percentage or how many stitches I have left. Since it was from a kit, and the pattern was one long sheet of pattern (and not the only of my new starts that is that way), I can't trust that Markup-RXP has the correct number of stitches total. I'll know if Markup-RXP got it right or not by the end of the project. So, I'm going to do this one like so: I did 3466 stitches in two days and in a total of 16.18 hrs.

It was weird working on a kit again, but I'm glad there were no half or quarter stitches. There will be some backstitching, but not a lot, so I'm not worried about it.

On Sunday, I started another new start, Strangely Lonely, artist Jasmine Becket Griffith and charted by HAED.

This is my absolute favorite piece of artwork by JBG, probably because I feel a kinship to this picture. But stitching it started out rough. Firstly, I got about 350 stitches in and realized I hadn't gridded it properly. I took the total measurements, split them in half in both directions, found the middle of the fabric, and counted away. I wasn't considering the fact that the first page would start at the beginning of a 10 block and not in the middle.

It took way longer to frog the stitches than it did to; a) stitch it originally and b) restitch it. Numerous times I almost just stopped altogether. The culmination of everything else from the week was really dragging me down, but I continued on. I got 1159/273,150 stitches done, which is 0.42% and I put in 6.35 hrs (I did keep the first stitching time included in that, but not the frogging). Here is where I stopped last night:

I'm not sure what will happen this week stitch-wise. Strangely Lonely is in a weird place, so I'm not feeling it, but I know I will eventually if I get through this rough patch.

On the home front, the boys went to the vet for their 6 month check-up and shots on Thursday. The news wasn't great (to say the least). Bug needs his teeth cleaned (which isn't cheap), but he's only 11 so it can still be done. Bam's can't be cleaned because he's 15, and they desperately need to be cleaned. Bam, my beautiful baby boy...his heart murmur is starting to affect his kidneys and liver and his counts were elevated. They put him on the medicine that Zander was on for years, so we'll see how it goes. Back in the day, they also told me that Zander didn't have long to live when he was 5 and he lived to 11, but with Bam being 15, they told me to "prepare myself" (although I'm trying to stay positive). Plus, Zander was sick his whole life and Bam never really has been other than being blind now. Bam also has a knee that sounds like one of mine, all gravel, which explains why he's been walking like a car drifting on sand. To make it all worse, their bill (not including the future teeth cleaning) was almost $1000 for 15 minutes worth of interaction on a 9lb and 17lb pup? Really? Bam was a bit put out by the time we got home, and me hovering over him didn't help. He got so aggrevated, he wouldn't sit in my lap, he sat in his bed, but he did stare at the chair, even when I wasn't in it and I could tell he wanted up. Stubborness is a trait that runs in our family though, so he camped in the bed all weekend!

And, if that wasn't enough, I've been having issues with the skirting around my trailer since we have high winds almost constantly now, so, once we got home from the vet, I was checking it and found something really disturbing.

I'm pretty sure it's been almost a year since I looked at that spot, but I don't remember any burn marks (and I think I would had the same reaction I had this time had I saw it before). Also, considering this is also about one foot from the incoming natural gas pipe, I wasn't feeling too good about it. So, Thursday night, I barely slept at all and I called my electrician first thing. He wasn't going to come out because he said it wasn't anything he recognized as electrical and I needed to talk to the trailer park people and find out what that was. I let work know I would be late and they just told me to take a vacation day (which I'm glad I agreed, I needed it). Once the trailer park maintenance came out, he said it was an old cable box that wasn't connected anymore and the burn marks looked old and were probably burned into the pipe piece before they placed it there to make a dent for the box. I wasn't happy with that answer, but what could I do? I had two separate "specialists" telling me it was nothing and the burn mark does look old.

But I also had a long discussion with the park people about getting my skirting replaced and potentially my deck (depending on how much the skirting costs). My deck is about like a surfboard now, you never know if it's just going to slide and collapse on itself with every step on it.

There are a lot of repairs that need to be done on that trailer, but I really don't want to invest the money in it, especially when the park owner (who lives in Texas) could sell it to a developer at any time and then we'll all be homeless (the entire neighborhood now is nothing but cookie cutter subdivisions). I was told when we moved my trailer here (almost 30 years ago now), that it wouldn't survive another move. And land here is so expensive (and exclusive as to where trailers can even go), I would be out of luck even if I could move it. But there is no way I could afford a house now, even if I had to move, so I just sit and wait for doomsday. But I figure if I keep the outside looking good, maybe they will leave me alone for now. They don't need to know what the inside looks like, right? If I'm about to get swamped with vet bills, the house can wait.

I kept waiting for that third terrible thing to happen (bad things come in threes), but it hasn't happened yet, so I'm on hyper-alert waiting for #3, because it's coming. Here's hoping that it's only two bad things, for the first time ever in my life!