Icebox Hotdish

Sometimes, when growing up, we would have "icebox hotdish" for dinner.  My mother would go to the icebox and pull out whatever leftovers and bits in there and combine it into a one-of-a-kind, never-to-be-replicated, casserole.  (We called them "hotdishes"..."casserole" was a bit too formal a term.)  

And since I have nothing of substance to chat about, that's what you're getting in this post: Just a bunch of "this"-es and "that"s.

About the most exciting thing going on (and this says a whole lot about my uneventful life) is that my wisteria is finally blooming.  I love my cornzebo for many reasons, but one of the primary ones is that it serves as a support for two of my favorite plants - bittersweet and wisteria.

There is much to be said for cherry blossoms, but they seem so flighty.  They are so quick to run off and leave you.  And then just when your regrets are the strongest the wisteria comes into bloom....

{Murasaki Shikibu)

I know in more temperate climates vegetation like wisteria sometimes does not know its place and can overtake entire structures.  But I live in Nod and nothing is invasive here other than the snow and relentless cold.

(Something tells me I just may regret saying that at some point.)

We had some storms come through a little more than a week ago that brought damaging winds (I heard, through the grapevine, that we lost several trees at the lake) and heavy, heavy, rains.

This little hummingbird was marooned on my wanna-be porch during a particularly heavy downpour.

I don't know what I was thinking when this happened, but I DO DEFINITELY know I WILL regret it:

This beautiful butterfly comes to visit every sunny afternoon...I love the blue on his wings.

I have found more time than motivation to stitch some.  I finally finished (re)stitching Centennial Eagles (a design by Tina Woltman), but I am undecided about whether to finish it as a pillow (it is rather large actually) or frame it...or just file it.

(Sorry for the wonkiness...it has not yet been pressed and was simply roughly folded.)

I also finished stitching this little piece - It is part of the "Sea Ornaments" pattern by The Primitive Hare.

(Again, apologies for my lack of ambition in pressing it before taking the photo.)

Of course I did not notice the misspelling of "whaling" until I had stitched the first three letters, so had to frog them all to adjust the stitch count.

I am somewhat wishing I had stitched this one over one but too late for regrets...the wisteria is in bloom.

There is still nothing on the rug hooking frame.  Sorry MD.

Well, I am thinking you've had about enough fun with me for a Saturday night and enough icebox hotdish for almost any night (my mum had an incredible gift for making anything taste good...but you really never knew what was in there and I was always the wary skeptic).

Our weather is supposed to turn, with rain tomorrow and then highs in the 50's for the beginning of the week.  I think it's time for a baking day anyways.  Good thing I have long johns right next to my tank tops.

A Special Kind of Torture

This may come as a complete surprise to some of you, but I suffer a wee bit from OCD. Mind you, it only manifests itself in the most useless of ways....not, for example, when it comes to housekeeping, promptness, social correctness, etc. but in totally annoying and counterproductive ways: I may have a counter full of "projects" and what-not, but the spices in my cupboard are arranged alphabetically. And, well, I expect an equal degree of "perfectionism" when I stitch...including the chart design.  And that is how it came to be that I am in fits of frustration with my newest project.

It started with the "R"....

Three stitches on the bottom left here....

....but only two stitches on the bottom left here.

Ok...easy enough to "fix," and certainly a more-than-forgivable error.

But then came the g's....

Version 1 vs. Version 2:

But wait for it....yes, there's a third version too:

Letter "u" was also graced with three different versions (and two versions in the very same name!):

And then there's the letter "A":

Since these "A"s begin the names, one can't as easily just add or subtract from them without affecting the left margin of the piece....

Oh...and speaking of that left margin:

"George" and "Rebecca" are in one space from "Ann," "Margaret," and "Alice"

(so, I guess who cares if I added "feet" to Alice's "A" 😕) ... and "George Burroughs' name is the longest of all the names so, if anything, it should be not be indented.

And speaking of George's long name, why are there 4 spaces between his first and last name (especially since his last name almost touches the leaves next to it), but only two between Rebecca's first and last name?

 And why do others have 3? And one even has 5???

And why do these two "stalks" (or whatever they are) not line up??

Then there is this wonky space where it shouldn't be....

Not a big deal in and of itself, but it throws off the reference points/spacing of things all around it since it doesn't go across the entire chart.

And dear Ann Foster....

This piece is meant as a memorial to those hanged as witches in Salem in 1692.  Giles Cory was pressed to death, not hanged, but he is always included with the group since he was killed for being a witch during the hysteria.

But Ann??? Nope....she was neither hanged nor pressed.  Yes, she was accused of witchcraft and jailed for it...but she died in jail (as many did).  (Many accused witches remained in jail long after the witch hysteria ended and the hangings stopped because their families could not pay the fees charged by the jail for their keep.)  

But MIA is Martha Carrier....who was, indeed, hanged as a witch....on August 19, 1692...the same day as the two Georges and the two Johns were hanged.  She was the only woman hanged that particular day and now she has been edged out her rightful place in history.

Are you still with me here??

No, I haven't burned my work at the stake...but I have resigned myself to the fact that there are just too many inconsistencies to remedy.  I have ripped poor George's name out more times than he has been disinterred and reinterred.

I have made uniform the "R's" and the "A's," the "g's" and some of the "u's" (but not all).  I have lined things up on the left margin, but have not made consistent the spacing between names since I had already stitched a great deal of the stalks to the right before this bugged the crap out of me I noticed this. 

Most importantly, I have given Martha Carrier her rightful place on the list. (Sorry Ann.)

And I bet you thought when I said "special kind of torture" I was referring to the hangings...,