It is hard, it is very hard, we are in the long drawn out war. Antisemitism is back full force and the west has no idea how to defend itself. As we see – all these protests about ‘Palestine’ have devolved into supporting the Houthis is their war against shipping in the west. so next time you need some small item and it’s not available – remember – it was on a ship trying to go through the Red Sea. also, globalism is over.
I started another Tiny Town, this one is tiny, because the scrap I had is 40 count. I did the other two on 36.
Almost done and done. Well, I added the tiny flower buttons after I took these pictures.
There, you can see a flower. I sort of followed the colors, but not really, just pulled threads from my collection.
A blue rooster.
Yes, these tiny buttons are very cute, a good reason to buy the actual kit.
Blue house
Next to the other two, I can see how much smaller the images are.
The pictures of the girls was taken when they were taken hostage. Who knows if they are alive today and they certainly look much much worse.
This is so true of all the elites who screamed Me Too! most of those Hollywood women got on the couch hoping to get a good part. It was only many years later they came out and screamed victim. But they never ever cared about real victims – certainly not Jewish ones. I am so disgusted with the inversion of morality in our society these days. Something else to simply get used to. It’s not fun, but just like I have to get used to the utter degradation of the city I live in – I realize that evil has taken over and most people are content to live with it.
Nine soldiers killed in one day. That is a lot in this ugly war. We mourn each one. Meanwhile, my friend who is the mom of an American Marine tells me how little regard there is for fallen American soldiers. She is right – no one gives a shit, certainly not our leaders or even our military.
On to Aytan! Hard at work! Finally after a month he went back to Burt and Marsha and is working hard with the chickens.
There were no grubs this time, but he is bringing in all kinds of leftover food for them. One chicken escaped – he ran so quickly and closed the gate to the ‘back 40’ so she wouldn’t escape. We wondered why he was out there running so fast – he was on a mission.
He loves being here and loves the work.
working on smalls. This is another Tiny Town. I grabbed a scrap – it is 40 count, which means this town will really be tiny.
One of my favorite people, he is one of the extraordinary people who was created.
Driving home the other evening I saw two rainbows. This is the same one from different angles. the first on was just a wide shaft of rainbow coming out of the clouds. Yes, I’m driving, at this point I was going slowly. When I saw the first one, I wasn’t so didn’t bother to try and capture it. God promises us after the Flood that he will never destroy the world. His promise is a rainbow – to me, at the start of a very iffy year – this rainbow symbolizes so much and offers me some comfort.
Went on a walk/hike with girlfriends. A lovely January day in Socal.
These guys went up to Mammoth and stopped at the park in Lone Pine.
I had asked for a picture by the creek, Yishai was younger than Einav the first time we stopped at the park.
Ski school, Eyal looks like he is loving it.
Einav had an OK time, the next day she and Abba Yoch stayed in town.
Goofy Cam, he has another tooth coming out, good thing, he might look less goofy. This owl is part of the Hanukkah present I gave him. He is getting better at sewing, crochet or knitting will be next.
A photo bomb, because why not. I know I need to get pictures of the two older ones, hopefully this coming week.
another puzzle on the table.
This one is ‘easy’. My son was working on a large one of Dodger stadium- most of it was just a sea of head. No thank you, I’ll pass.
As you can see on the right, I started assembling areas that are easy to do and I’ll pop them in when the time is right.
Done! I had to wait until morning to take the picture, the glare from the overhead light was problematic. I hope to see a friend this week who is also into puzzles and I hope to do some puzzle exchange.
When I ‘finished’ there was a piece missing, Joel immediate came and looked under a cabinet – phew! he found it, so he gets the credit for finishing the puzzle.
It will take a few weeks to get used to the new number. Unfortunately, aside from a new number I don’t see anything changing. unless it gets worse.
I started the year out with a lovely New Years Eve gathering – nothing fancy, good company, great food and some alcohol.
Despite war, destruction and hatred, Intel isn’t building any plants in either the Palestinians areas or in Arab countries, I wonder why. No I don’t. Unproductive evil places.
Except for Elon Musk, all social media is anti Israel and doing their best to suppress support for Israel and the Jews. The same can be said about our local and Federal government who allow disruption and destruction of our social norms – like airports, highways – all in the name of ‘The Palis’ – when in reality these groups have moved on to simple destruction.
Also, I am grateful for real life friends who have shown support. Interesting how in online groups, I belong to a few – some people have said nothing, not in October, not now. Not bad people – but an online community – really isn’t.
I was looking online for frames and just like friends online aren’t the same – looking for a frame for a very special piece of work needs a real live person to work with. So I laced this myself and will take it to the framer. There is a framer I like, but last time I went there – they mounted and framed the work in one day – I have no idea how they affixed the linen to the board. So I did it myself.
I really laced it up tightly and with very narrow spaces.
I immediately had to start another small project. I know Robin, I am thrilled that along with quilting fabrics and patterns, she has moved on to cross stitch. Yay!
I bought the kit with the threads, sure I have plenty and could have come up with my own threads, but it was easier just to use her choices.
Quick and easy, so much so that I didn’t load the pattern into Markup RXP.
Here the stitching is done but I haven’t ironed – steamed it yet. Of course one has to look very closely to see the ‘imperfections’.
After steaming. You may say there is no difference, well some of the stitches are lying a little flatter, with time they will all relax a little more.
While watching Floss-tube someone mentioned drawn thread hems. A lovely idea, but I didn’t plan ahead. I ended at least 2″ and only have 1.5 I went ahead anyway. Of course searched through You Tube, there are many different instructions. I found a rather simply one. I even remembered to take a picture while doing the work.
Not bad for a first try, like everything in life – practice will make much much better.
In Situ, my house is overflowing with cross-stitch these days.
For most of the world, today is the last day of 2023, for us it is day 87.
Douglas Murray speaks for me – loud and clear. And no, I really don’t care about the Palestinians. I’m too concerned about Israel and the Jews. Oh and when I say Israel – that includes, the upstanding citizens – be they muslim, Christian, Druze or Bedouin.
But I’ll end the year with something happy. A friend offered to bake Challah with my grandkids.
All excited, getting ready to start!
Donna, you are amazing, so patient, so kind. It does help that Eyal and Einav are good listeners.
Each one has their own dough to work with. Donna is no dummy, she made the dough ahead of time. these two kneaded and rolled out the dough.
Hard at work!
Marsha came to help – sorry about the surprised face!
There are chocolate chips inside and sprinkles on each braid. Einav went with rainbow.
Eyal combined blue and yellow, yellow and rainbow – Mr. Creative!
Here they are, waiting for their second rise. Meanwhile Yoch is in the background making pasta for lunch.
Out of the oven! All baked!
A close up – because they are so pretty. Had to wait two days, we did this on Thursday, they had the Challah Friday night and on Saturday they stopped by to bring us a piece – it was yummy – more like cake between the chocolate chips and the sprinkles. And yes, they have been invited back for more baking!
I have about 4-5 puzzles I haven’t made, during the lockdown I always had a puzzle in the works on the dining room table. But with the world opening up and having guests over most weeks, I had nowhere to puzzle. Sure, I have that black map, but moving around a puzzle is a sure way to lose pieces. something I am really good at.
This year my son gave me another puzzle. Enough! I have a large great room, there is plenty of space for a puzzle table. And so I bought myself one. It is a folding table, so it can be put away. As you can tell, the first puzzle I made is this Norman Rockwell picture.
I checked out Amazon, Wayfare and then the puzzle website – Its and Pieces. Good price for a nice folding table. I like to sort out my pieces by color – it helps. Only problem is that sometimes an edge piece gets lost in there.
There is recognizable color blocking, it is 1000 pieces, but felt very doable. I always start with the border. And often, I have to shift pieces around, so before the border is actually finished I will go on to something like the signature.
The painting is called The Shiner – you can see how proud this girl was of winning a fight – especially since she has the black eye as a memento.
I find it very relaxing to put together puzzles. Sure I love the cross-stitching, but I need to give my hands a rest.
I had a very good helper, Cam preferred the lego, although he did put in a few pieces.
This is where I was before Westley came to help
This is what we accomplished together.
Getting closer, what is left is the hard part, slight changes in tone – but basically all the same color. At this point I am taking a piece and just trying it everywhere. Once I get closer to the end, it is easier to fit in the pieces.
Done! Leaving it out for a day or two, then I’ll pick another puzzle. I was talking to a friend who also puzzles – we are going to exchange our finished projects. My son has a large collection, apparently at his library they have an area for puzzle exchanges. Great Idea!
The Jews are beginning to show up and realize what side they are on. Stephen Frys’ embracing his Judaism. His mothers family left Germany in the 30s’, even on his fathers side, there are some Jews. As someone who embraces every Jew who isn’t a Hamas loving antisemite – I’ll just say this – he is so smart and bright -there has to be some Jewish there. I know, what a racist thing to say – I can live with that.
My Hanukkah gift from Joel arrived, a gold Magen David necklace, for size, next to a nickel. Love it, I have a number of stars, but I’ll be wearing this one for a while.
I am completely done with the stitching!!!! It is gorgeous, it was worth the 9 months to get here!
A few days ago I was here.
This is MarkupXP at the end. Says I still have 249 stitches to do. I don’t, I love using this program, but I know when I’m finished. If some stitches didn’t get marked, or were mismarked – so be it. I’m not wasting my time to make the program get to 100%. Its a tool, the important thing is that the actual stitching is done.
Some closeups. I was watching the floss tube from Jean at The Attic. She was talking about stitching words over one on 40 or 46 count linen. Perfect timing!!! Her suggestion, tent stitch. Which means just one stitch, not the full cross, I made sure to angle the tent stitch in the direction of the top of my crosses.
Beautiful, legible and not hard. Something to remember if I decide to do another chart that asks for Over one. Btw, when I stitch, it is over two threads. If you look at the red flower here, you can clearly see how the cross is over a little box made up of two across and two high. Look closely at my name and you’ll see it is smaller. Ahh, learning tricks of the trade.
Here is the back. Another thing Jean said – the backs of so many of these antique samplers are a mess. Mine is not a mess at all, but it also does not need to be as neat as the front. This will be framed and no one will see the back.
Here is a close up of the main tower, it is probably neater than the bottom, because I was early on in my stitching, but I changing direction and left longer tails and I’m perfectly fine with it.
The front of the tower, it is beautiful, I am pleased.
I love these birds. Have just ordered another chart that has beautiful birds. It is a sampler, I think I am just going to stitch the birds.
A lovely flower, I should have changed the outer petal to a darker color. There are a few places in the work that just don’t quite show up because of lack of contrast. Then I remind myself, no one will stare that closely at my work.
Just some lovely details.
That little image above the tower? Originally it was a swatika – I changed it. Although this is called Solomons Temple it looks very Indian to me, and the Swastika was a Hindu symbol. But not one I will ever use.
This was before I washed and ironed it. I will probably iron it one more time before I lace it to a board. I will do the lacing then I will take it to the framers, also, no glass.
Although this is true, the Brown Shirts, those who have disrupted colleges and now our streets and bridges will never learn anything – so I put this out there, not for them, but for those who are willing to learn.
Its’ not just Hamas its’ so much of the world that only wants the Jews dead. they don’t care if the cost happens to be the Palestinians.
The celebrations continue, dinner with friends in San Pedro, notice both a nice Christmas tree and a sword fish – probably brought up from the waters here – although it would have been a long time ago.
My friend has a garage sale, wasn’t much there that interested me, but I do like the old fruit crate labels. Yes, a big red star is a little too close to communism, but I bought it anyway.
Along with this one. It isn’t framed, I have been collecting frames for my needlework. Why not use it here, I think the blue is perfect
The size of the frame is a little off, but do I care. No I don’t. I know the color of the frame doesn’t match the other posters, but the color of the label does, so that is where it goes. This is in my kitchen.
I put this on a kitchen wall, but it looked lonely.
Still in the kitchen, but grouped with other items, another fruit crate label and my mid century clock. Much better
Then I went thrifting with girlfriends – so much fun! It is so much better with friends who have opinions and yes, are enablers.
Literally, as we were going to the register, I saw this scarf. LOVE IT, and looking at the label I see it is wool, 100%. I love wool for it’s warmth, so yeah, this is going to get a lot of use.
Look at this 50s style dress, the color here is all wrong, it is a light baby blue. It still had the tags on it, I love it! My two friends also found good stuff – and yes, we are planning another thrifting excursion.
It is the darkest time of the year, which is why both Hanukkah and Christmas take place now, the darkest dark is right before the light returns. boy do we need some light!
Last time I posted an image of a sign like this, people had to tell me it isn’t real. Well, maybe not, but I know that in my neighborhood, plenty of people would put up this sign. One group that doesn’t get mentioned in the antisemitism roundtable – are the average White lefties – do you know how happy they are to have all the hate that is directed against ‘White People’ being concentrated on the Jews?? They think this will spare them if it gets out of hand.
My one disagreement here is that the world will never become moral, parts of it will, but not the whole world. And if Israel doesn’t fight, and keep on losing wonderful young and not so young men in this war – then very quickly the whole world becomes not just immoral – but it will look like Hamas on a daily basis.
This is so true, the UN exists now just to bash Israel, I don’t remember the last time they did any good. Their ‘peacekeepers’ around the world rape young women and children, and steal from the locals. It is a way to get young men out of their hellholes in Africa and send them to hell holes in Haiti. The rest of the time – they bash Israel. Notice previous image? There is zero morality at the UN.
We have entered the awful stage of the war – things go bad, very bad. I know people are describing in detail how the three hostages were shot by the IDF. I know things went wrong, but I don’t need armchair generals telling me how awful the IDF is (like Ilhan Omar – the one who married her brother so he could come to America).
The violence is everywhere, and yes, it is all over the world, here in America. An elderly couple attacked in Beverly Hills. This is our reality now, no we aren’t hiding, but our lives aren’t like yours anymore.
This is one we respond, we don’t cry victim, we don’t whine – we fight back, both with our army and with song. another reason why they hate us. But then again, they will always hate us, so we still bring light and joy to the world.
The war drags on, antisemitism is back to stay, it isn’t easy getting used to. One friend was telling me about other Jews who parrot the lines of Hamas – I guess they feel that by feeding the crocodile they will be saved – they won’t.
There was an awful event in downtown LA, a ‘Jewish’ group shut down the the 110 freeway on a busy Wednesday morning. they are Jews, one of the organizers is the daughter of a nice Jewish family we know. I have no idea if the parents are proud of her. When I put quotation marks around Jewish – it is because – those who remove themselves from the community – are out.
I was proud to see Angelenos getting out of their cars and fighting and trying to pull the bastards off the freeways. LAPD arrested 75, I’m sure Gascon just gave them a medal and let them go. What really saddens me is that these honorable Angelenos will now be antisemitic – because these awful people called themselves Jews. Yeah, some of the worst people around call themselves Jews – but guess – Hamas will happily kill them as well.
7th night at home with a home cooked meal. Just the two of us.
8th night, back with friends. The fire was lit by one match by Sholmo. A former boyscout from Israel. It wasn’t too cold, having the fire meant we stayed outside longer.
Laughing with friends, something that is even more important right now.
Lighting the final night, all eight candles.
Time to put the menorah away, and just put out flowers. Yes I do like all the reflections we see here.
Most of the flowers are from the market, the bright pink is a geranium from my garden.
Also, the bright red berries are from my garden. So now, instead of a menorah, the flowers and I think the stars will stay out until the new year.
95% Done!!! at this point I just want it finished, I’m not enjoying the stitching anymore. I just want it to be over, and it almost is!
