Annette's Acre

One…

…baby hat in progress for a coworker’s wife due in a couple weeks:

Two…

…weeks until I fly to Houston!!  w00t!!

Three…

…more days of progress on my Summer Queen:

I’ve reached the top of the next “page” – and am past the halfway marker.  Hey, any small milestone is good!

Four…

…books that are demanding to be read:
(started)

(started – I had forgotten how much I love Jamie Fraser.  Only took me 60 pages to remember.  Rereading the entire series is now on the to-do list.)

(on my Kindle)

(bought a paperback copy as I couldn’t wait for the Kindle version. )

Five….

…times 3.3 inches (16.5 inches total) of Shoal scarf:

I wanted to do a nice artistic shot outside with some greenery in the background.  The challenge living in Arizona – finding greenery without sharp pointy thorns/needles.  I don’t have any of that kind of greenery around my house, so boring kitchen counter pics is what you get.

Another week… another summary (as always, comments written before listening to the judges):

Joanna & Derek – Great jive energy, but kinda messy.

Natalie & Alex – Rocky start to the quickstep and other than losing her smile at points in the dance (and tensing up), I liked it.

Chuck & Anna – Oh my.  Great tango!  And totally loved Anna’s dress… the overall look was fabulous

Melissa & Mark – Hmmm… hmmmm…..  not sure on this jive.  Not much content and she is still so tense.  Gotta relax a bit!

Michael & Anna – Nice job on their quickstep

Debi & Maks – Not bad for a tango (one of my favorite dances).  Very intense.  Nice look.

Louie & Chelsie – He’s so cute.. LOL.  Nice jive

Aaron & Karina – Awesome quickstep! High energy, excellent content.  Loved the Muppets added to the mix

Kelly & Louis – I think Louis is the best choreographer on the show.  Gorgeous tango – so classic. Kelly didn’t quite do it justice, but hopefully enough to keep her for another week.

Kathy & Tony – A very cautious quickstep.  I wish she had a bit more energy…

Mark & Lacey – Once they got into the actual quickstep steps… it was quite good.  The beginning was kinda odd.

Mya & Dmitry – Wow.  Best jive of the night!!  I’m sorry Len wasn’t there to see it…though I know he’d have groused about the beginning

Tom & Cheryl – Well.  Not the best tango of the night, but not bad.

Donny & Kym – Great job!!!  What a great jive!  Tons of energy, great content and I would never have guessed he’s an elder of the group.

My votes: Mark, Donny & Kelly

In danger: Tom, Chuck and Kathy

Due to a whole lotta things, I am a day late on my ladies DWTS comments…. (Note – comments written before I listened to any judges comments)

Debi & Maks – Debi definitely has potential.  She looked a little messy, but was obviously having fun in her salsa.  Loved their Foxtrot!

Mark & Melissa – Nice lines and definite connection to the audience for the Viennese waltz. She had fun, and has great potential….

Mya & Dmitry – Oh my… great energy, nice lines!  I would like to see a bit more content in the Viennese waltz. (But not nearly as crabby about it as Len ) She killed everyone in the cha-cha…wow.

Kathy & Tony – Interesting.. kinda flat salsa and not nearly enough energy.  Still tentative in the Foxtrot   Loosen up, Kathy!

Natalie & Alec – Much better than I expected, actually   Lovely form.. just needed a bit more energy in her salsa. Good job, but something funky with her arms.

Macy & Jonathan – Hmmmm.  Well, I will say that Jonathan played to Macy’s personality in his choreography.  Interesting Cha-cha.  Oh my.

Joanna & Derek – I liked it, but she was a bit choppy in her salsa.  Smooth Foxtrot…

Kelly & Louis – What a lovely girl… who’d have thought?  I think that was my favorite Viennese of the night.  Great cha-cha!!

That’s it!  I’m off to watch the results

I’ve watched every season.  I’ve voted *almost* every week

I LOVE this show!!!

Tonight we started with the men….

Aaron & Karina – It’s so nice to see Karina with a partner that has some potential!  The Cha-cha was good for the first dance, a little messy but he’s one to watch.  Nice in the Viennese Waltz.

Chuck & Anna – He smiled which definitely made him a little less scary on the Foxtrot.  Nice recovery in the Salsa!

Mark & Lacey – My favorite couple before the first dance was begun, I admit.  The Cha-cha was good, but I think the dancing got a little overshadowed by the Kung Fu-iness.  A little jumpy in the Waltz… needs to smooth things out.

Ashley & Edyta – I agree with the judges – kinda blah Foxtrot.  Salsa was just as stiff.

Donny & Kym – Best Foxtrot so far!  I think Donny will be around for awhile because he certainly can connect with the audience.  He definitely outshone others in the Salsa!

Louie & Chelsie – Another challenge for Chelsie.  She was quite successful with Ty last season, so who knows?  Nice comeback in the Salsa so maybe he’s got a shot.

Michael & Anna – Yikes (Cha-cha).  Much better on the Waltz!

Tom & Cheryl – We are big Cheryl fans here (she’s DH’s favorite pro ) and I was a little concerned about her chances this season.  Tom looked like he enjoyed himself which is pretty good!  Very elegant in the Waltz.

My kids are amazed every time that I can tell them the scores before the judges raise their paddles.  Yes, I’ve watched all the seasons and have a good sense of what the judges like and dislike (they do surprise me occasionally) but I also took several credits of ballroom dance in college so I know what many of the dances are supposed to look like.

Next up tonight – Castle

We’ve got Heroes and House on the DVR…

I started the Darkyn series by Lynn Viehl in March of this year and happily read thru all of the books, getting terribly attached to a few of the characters (Robin & Scarlet are definitely the top of that list).

I was sad when I finished the last book…it ended too early.

Now Ms. Viehl has started a new series in the Darkyn world with Shadowlight and I’m happy to say that while the focus of the stories are all new characters (not surprisingly) there are a few familiar faces in there, too. It was comfortable enough that I was familiar with the world, but with a new perspective and new twists on the Kyndred.

I love this world, these characters and this series and Shadowlight is a very satisfying installment.

Three Sunday football games later….

Not bad.  They were good games so I had to pay a bit more attention.  I did finish most of the stitching and beading on the bottom two ‘pages’ of the chart (missing a leaf off to the right).  Only six more to go.

I’ve been wasting time on aimlessly searching researching on Ravelry the last few days for something to do with this:

It’s a skein of Wollmeise yarn from The Loopy Ewe.  The most recent Sock Club shipment.  I was not enamored with the sock pattern that came with it and have been thinking about an alternative for the precious Wollmeise (it’s tough to come by).

Color is a bit washed out on the green/blue end.  This is a little closer:

I stumbled upon The Old Shale Scarf today and I think we have a winner!

The question for tonight… should I start my scarf or should I start the second sock (finished the first one last night)?  Decisions, decisions….

(I love this week’s red polish – it’s OPI’s Affair in Red Square)

Finally… have you seen this:  The Library by Little House Needleworks.  I love it!!!

I spent a few hours yesterday with Summer Queen (click to biggify):

Once I finish the bottom two pages (I’ve hit the top on the right side), I’m thinking I’ll fill in some beads before heading to the next two pages.

Sundays will be devoted to Summer Queen for awhile.

I’ve started pulling things together for my Anniversary Giveaways.  There will be at least three:

• Stitching – small kits, fabric, a chart or two and a bit of floss
• Knitting – sock and lace yarn and maybe a couple sets of needles
• Reading – a book or three

I will do the “post on your blog for an extra entry” thing, too.  Might expand that to posts on any online communities, too.

Time to stitch!  Go Cardinals!!

She’s done:

The whole thing so far:

I put a few stitches in Summer Queen *and* started JN’s Spooky Tin

I am spending the majority of this weekend with my couch and a needle

Here are Saturday accomplishments:

Finished another bib for my expected niece:

Mason-Dixon pattern, cotton yarn, #6 needles

Finished all the x’s on Autumn’s RR.  Today will be beads (a bunch) and backstitching (a little):

Yesterday’s movies:

• Emma
• Stardust
• Enchanted

Today’s plan:

• Finish Autumn RR
• Pack up RR and box of handmade goodness for my SIL
• Watch Braves (can we win today?  Please?)
• Pick up some other WIP.  My pagoda pincushion?  Summer Queen?  Something Halloween-y?  We’ll see what jumps in my hand!

First.. my completed afghan (well, a portion of it):

Click to biggify, as usual.

Pattern was free from Michael’s and very easy to memorize.  I’ll do this one again, though maybe with an ombre rather than changing colors (I hate weaving ends and there were 50+ to do).

We’re having a rainy day here in Arizona.  Big storm on Thursday evening and I’ve heard thunder rumblings all day.  Wanna see?

This is the view from my front door.  Time to trim the bush on the right there… it will take over if we let it.

I snuck in to the LNS yesterday (at 4:58p.  They close at 5p).  Planning to pick up these…

Fabric is three Stitcher’s Eighths in three Lakeside Linen colors chosen by the LNS owner in 36-ct.  That will do a *minimum* of 12 stockings since I like…oh… 10 of the 13 in the book.  If you are ordering the suggested fabric sight unseen, beware of one thing.  The package that my LNS owner received had some very stinky fabric.  So stinky they are sending it back.

Just thought you might like to know.

So…in the interest of disclosure…..I might have brought home a couple other items.

It’s a disease.  I tell ya.

By the way…. given the impending 6th anniversary of this blog, I’m planning a giveaway or two.  Well, three actually.  As I have a [cough] sizeable stash, two will be pulled from there and the third will have a twist.

Any guesses as to the theme of the three giveaways?  Is anyone interested?