Gatofish’s Weblog

Happy 4th of July to my fellow Americans!

I made a very traditional dinner for C and myself: lasanga and chocolate pudding pie. I ran some errands today and friendly people making conversation asked me if I was having barbeque today. No, I unfortunately sighed. I LURRRRVE BBQ, but we don’t have a grill, good BBQ takes a lot of time, and I’ve been dealing with a mysterious stomach issue the past few days. I did have some of my own dinner tonight, but now my tummy is feeling pretty yucky.

Since C is working this long weekend, we can’t do much tonight. There’s nothing on tv, since the networks assume you’re being a good American and are out and about watching fireworks or over at friends’ for grilling. Well, when you have no friends and no time, like us, you’re relegated to the leftovers they have on tv. And watching fireworks on tv is just so sad.

So I’m catching up on my feeds. And trying to digest my dinner comfortably.

I took this picture of Waffles yesterday, sitting in C’s duty belt. I submitted it to Icanhascheezburger.com today and made an lolcat caption for her. I’m hoping that some people will re-caption it even more cleverly. I just love that website.

I meant to take a photo of the worst sting on Monday (it was awful), but it’s situated on my right forearm, and I’m right handed, and I don’t have a tripod, so… Just trust me that it was angry, red, tender, inflamed, sensitive, itchy, painful, and very, very puffy. I came home and iced it and after that it, and all of my other stings, have gotten steadily better.

But, boy, the ITCH. Thank god for antihistamines. Better living through chemistry. I went through a phase many years ago where I never took any drugs, not even aspirin for a headache. And I SUFFERED, but it was the righteous suffering of the smug, feeling I wasn’t poisoning my body with CHEMICALS. (Some of you may know that I’m a professional chemist, so this especially ironic). And then I had one doozy of a headache, maybe some menstrual cramps as well, and so I took an eentsy dose of aspirin (the most vanilla of the pain drugs I find) and HOLY CRAP THE PAIN WAS GONE AND IT FELT SO GOOD AND I COULD THINK AND BE HAPPY AND ENJOY LIFE! Thus began my downfall (?) into relying on OTC pain meds for when (gasp) I felt pain. And I wanted to smack my younger self upside the head. Really!

It was only yesterday that I ventured into the backyard to lock the shed, which I had abandoned in my flurry to escape. I crept around like a spooked thing, checking nervously for yellow jackets. I didn’t see any, but did see where I had been when I got attacked, although there is no visible nest. Now we just need to figure out a way to kill them, Kill Them All!

I got 4 yellow jacket stings yesterday afternoon when I was mucking around in our backyard jungle. I was clipping vines when I felt this awful pain on my arm. I first thought I had touched stinging nettle (does it even grow around here?) but then I KNEW. And I took off running toward the house, stripping off my work gloves and dropping the clippers. I dashed inside and immediately washed off the arm wound, then realizing I had another one on my left arm and washing that, too. Then I took a chlorpheniramine. Then I realized that I felt pain on my legs and stripped my shoes and jeans off in a hurry, right in the middle of the kitchen. Then I finally saw the little bastards. They flew up to the fluorescent kitchen light, bouncing around. I ran into the bedroom, put on some pants and came back hesitantly into the kitchen (having locked Waffles and Pickles in the bedroom). Indy I didn’t think would chase after the insects, and she didn’t.

The previous owners had left several bottles of insect killing spray under the kitchen sink and lo and behold, there was a bottle of flying insect spray. I grabbed that, grabbed the step stool and went about methodically spraying the YJ’s I saw. I was in pain, but I wanted those things DEAD. I killed 4 by spray and then lost one. I saw it near the light and managed to squirt it a little but it never fell down. I started gathering up my clothes, shoes, etc to toss into the wash (to wash away the YJ pheromone and my adrenaline scent). And there were two more crawling around in my jeans! I sprayed and smashed those and then threw everything into the wash. I washed the clippers and the ear protectors I was using a little to weedwhack earlier (did I carry those in?). I never found the other YJ I sprayed but I found another dead one in the tub when the wash was done.

I took 2 ibuprofen, took a long hot shower, washing my wounds well. I ended up with one on each limb. I was really worried that they would swell up a lot, as that is my past experience with them, but apparently my quick antihistamine ingestion helped. The stings hurt A LOT last night. I put some antibiotic cream on them and bandages and took another round of chlorpheniramine and ibuprofen before I went to bed. I also did some internet searching about the experience and found this interesting but kinda sickening scale on sting pain. And in my personal experience, honeybee stings hurt a lot less than a YJ’s. This may also be due to the fact I HATE yellow jackets. They are aggressive insects that eat other insects. They sting repeatedly (while a honeybee dies when stinging once) and are just horrible pests. Shudder.

They still hurt this morning, with a nice overlay of itching. No large, hard swelling, though, thank goodness.

So today I’m going to get some anti-itch lotion and some big bandages (plus some stuff to make C something sweet for our 2 year anniversary).

And now I’m afraid of going out in the backyard. Damn those things.

PS. I was afraid that Frank, the neighbor’s siamese that hangs out in our yard, might be attacked that I worriedly looked for him through the windows after my ordeal. He was sitting calmly in a lawn chair and when I tapped on the window, looked at me with those sleepy, wonderfully blue eyes. Whew!

Do you currently subscribe to any stitching publications or have you
in the past? (Either in print or online) If so, which ones?

The permalink to this post is:
http://blog.blondelibrarian.net/archives/2008/06/sbq-stitching-pubs/

***

No, the only publication I subscribe to is National Geographic. This is not to say that I wouldn’t love to receive stitching magazines, but I’m a realist in that they would 1) cost money to get, 2) only make me want to buy more crafty stuff when I’m already stashed out to the gills, and 3) perpetuate the paper industry (well, the printed publications at any rate).

I try to limit my impact on the environment. Yes, like I said, I do subscribe to NatGeo, but I feel the benefits of my membership for their product outweighs the cost of making and sending the magazine to me (but I still don’t agree with them now wrapping it in plastic and not brown paper like they used to. I can recycle paper in this not-very-environmental part of the US, but not plastic wrap!)

I digress, like I’m wont to do: I would like to receive This Old House magazine, cross stitch and craft magazines, Mental Floss, and possibly other things. But I just can’t. Even if I can recycle them, the cost is just too much. I would covet them too much and probably end up like one of those hoarding people with piles of newspapers all over the place!

for gatos, crafty stuff, THE HUSBAND, and for funny, excellent writing. I just spent the last several hours immersed in Pioneer Woman’s life. Swoon!

I’m late to the party (and for some silly reason was only subscribed to her PW Cooks! feed–also excellent). Read her love story between her and the Marlboro Man and you’ll know what I mean.

Because I’m such a nice person (or because I’m susceptible to a bee in my bonnet), I did a little extra digging around in my bookmarks and on the net to find some more info about cross stitch stands.

Here’s a very nice review of the Needlework System 4 stand (another type I considered).

And because, like reader Laura, I also considered making my own floor stand, I found this link to this man’s directions for the stand he made his wife (I think).

Reader Laura had a question about my floor stand that I felt should be answered in some detail.

I’m stitching Lady of the Ginkgos on an Hearthside Craftworks‘ Mark 2. I’ve had it about 3 years now. It is a lovely piece of equipment and holds my fabric tightly. I love the spring-loaded flip frame. It makes it very easy to turn the piece over and end a thread without touching any knobs. I also like the fine height adjustment to the stand. It is very sturdy. The pattern holder and the accessories tray are also really great, but the tray tends to tilt slightly to one side, making my pens and scissors in danger of falling off, which they do sometimes.

Here’s a photo of my set-up (please ignore any mess you see!):

The primary downside to this frame is that it is slightly difficult to change out pieces on the frame. You would need extra scroll bars for another piece (as the fabric is stitched onto the bars via a piece of twill tape). Then you would have to unscrew the four knobs to change out the scroll bars. The stand is also very large. It takes up a lot of room. If you don’t have a lot of space, this can be troublesome. The stand also does not store away easily. I am lucky in that I have my own craft room to leave it out all the time, but I can see how it could get in the way. It was also pretty expensive.

For smaller pieces I use a lap stand, the Elan from Artisan Designs. I love this lap stand! I got it from my local Hobby Lobby and it adjusts to my lap width. I use it to hold smaller pieces on Qsnaps and on regular wooden scroll frames. It’s so small that I can put it away in the closet when I’m done. To access the back on the piece, you do have to release tension on the arm knob to turn it and then re-tighten it when you have the piece facing you again, but this is such a small and unobtrusive movement that it’s really not a bother.

When I was doing my homework on floor stands, I really liked this site from Treasured Tapestries. I seriously looked into getting a K’s Creation stand, especially the stainless steel one, since it looked so efficiently engineered, but I was afraid that it would tip. I think if I could do it over again, I would buy this one, since it would pack away easily. Then again, I usually work on LOTG after a long hiatus because it’s out in the open on my stand behind my computer desk, screaming at me to work on it!

I also REALLY liked the look of K’s Stow-Away Elite stand. Sigh… The Gazelle from Artisan Designs also piqued my interest, too. The Elan is so well-made, I’m sure the larger stands are just as nice.

My ultimate advice is to start out with something on the less expensive side (unless you’re very wealthy, then have at it!) and see what kind of things you like and dislike. But if I have to say, if someone had given me that advice, I probably wouldn’t have listened to it, as I’m the type of controlling, perfectionistic person that wants everything to be done right the first time. I also hate spending money, so I want my correct first purchase to be the last one. Even though this make not make sense financially if I made a large, incorrect purchase!

Este post es para la lectora, Laura. Hola! Si, hablo espanol, pero MUY poquito. Mi mama es Mexicana, y mi abuelita solamente habla espanol, pero la lenguaje es dificil a mi porque nunca tengo personas hablar aqui. Lo siento si mi escritura es mal.

Escribo algunas palabras de espanol porque me las gustas. Deseo que sabe mas!

Gracias para su comentario!

I haven’t been posting much. (GASP!) I’m not sure why. I’ve been working a lot of LOTG, but not enough since the last photo to post.

I’m pretty down (is that the right word, I dunno) about my work situation. I’ve been unhappy about how the higher-ups are treating my section for awhile now, but seriously within the past year. And my coworker is looking for new jobs. Me, too. Unfortunately, even though I live in a city of about 400K, there aren’t a lot of jobs available for someone with my background. Meaning, an advanced science degree. The local university does have some research associate positions open, but the ones I am qualified for (since I know nothing about DNA at this point in my life) are I believe in the animal labs, where the responsibilities involve anesthetizing animals, making cell cultures, etc. I suspect that the animals are still alive during all this. And I suspect (given what I know about such labs) that all that is given is a local during those tissue collections, if even that. And I just cannot do that. Period. I understand the benefits of some animal research, but most of it to me seems pretty redundant, useless, and cruel. So, no, that job is not an option.

And after working at my current job for almost 4 years, I have gotten used to the salary (not especially high, but enough for C and I to be slightly above average for the area), the retirement benefits, and the prestige(?) of being able to say I work as a ______. So as of this moment, I am staying put, as crappy as they’re treating us. I suspect they’re getting ready to shut down our local section anyway, and all this worrying about whether I should stay or not is a moot point.

I’ll just keep punching the clock (instead of a boss) until the bottom falls out.

PS. I had silly fantasies this morning during breakfast of winning it big at the casinos. But, er, we never go, so I’m not too clear on the details of how we win…

PPS. My coworker M says that people of our generation (late 20s and early 30s) are having crises, so we’re just moving along with the herd. It made me wonder how many other people are in this same situation: in a great but poorly managed job, so it becomes a mental and physical torture to go every day, and who are essentially stuck there due to the economic miasma of the nation or, as in my case, my location, and have no other recourse but to suffer and hate and become bitter people. Ye gads.

PPPS. I wish we could move to CA to be closer to my mom (and the few friends I have), but C has a contract to work with the city’s PD for another 2 years.

*** I should look on the bright side, I suppose. All my family is healthy and nothing major is happening. I have some great books to read and some lovely cross stitch pieces to while away my time. And my fuzzies are as loving as ever (if a bit pilly when it comes to morning kibble time!). And C has a job! That he likes! It’s not SO bad, but it’s annoying. :p