Thursday, March 17, 2016

Being Green

When I think of "being green" I think of this guy!  It's not easy being green and with the linger Winter weather it's been even harder!
 
 
Dolly Emily came back with me from my parent's house in August.  She was a well-loved companion of my niece, who is now 18 years old.  All of Emily's long red hair had fallen out and she was in desperate need of a makeover.  I purchased this cute little wig on Etsy and ta-da, the new and improved Emily.  She is all decked out in her St. Patrick's Day attire.
 
 
 
The greenery is coming around in the yard too.  The daffodils and crocus and exceptionally hardy this year.  They are popping up in places I hadn't even realized they were planted.

 
Working on a pair of green socks.  This is Knit Picks Stroll Tweed "forest".  I am attempting a little diamond pattern around the ankle.  But when I try them on the pattern all but disappears.........
 
 
Not quite green, but sporting some green felt leaves, I have mage this bunch of 20 little calico carrots.  Not sure what I'll use them for.  They have a bit of green twine on the top so they could be hung as ornaments or used as napkin rings.
 
 
 
Even less green is this wildly colorful design by Kathy Barrick, "Moon Dance".  I have lusted after this chart for many years and finally bought it last Summer.  It was such fun to stitch that I didn't even notice that I had cut the fabric very short and it wouldn't fit into this frame from my stash.  So I had to stitch on a little "mat" from stash quilting fabric.

 
This lovely lady has no green at all.  At age 30 Vasiliki Milousi of Greece is still competing on the International Elite level.  Here is my interpretation of her in cross-stitch.

 
As I set out today to my usual swimming routine, a quick trip to the bank and then home to enjoy a mild day without many obligations, my morning was shattered by the news that my uncle had passed away.  To say I have an interesting family dynamic is an understatement.  I have never met nor spoken to this uncle before.  He is my mother's eldest brother. A prominent doctor, my grandparent's pride and joy.  In the early 1960s there was some sort of argument/rift/disagreement that broke the family contact with this uncle and the children of his first marriage.  I had heard, in my childhood,
 
 the whispered conversation among the adults on holidays but I don't really know the whole story.  In recent years I have come to know, via Facebook, my cousin, his daughter from his second marriage.  When I return to New Jersey for the funeral next week I will meet her in-person for the first time.
Maybe the older generation will learn something from this.....and the younger folks too.  Life is too short to hold grudges for decades.  There are so few people in the world who are your true family that you can not isolate or cut off anyone.  Yes, I am sure there is fault on both sides of this mystery, but now it's time to move forward with the time we have left.
God bless you Uncle Michael, May you rest in peace.