Putting things in perspective

I’m continuing to tame the raw edges of the sea with herringbone … stitching right over the previously blanket stitched edges …

Plain blanket stitch on the right, covered with herringbone on the left

I’m enjoying the variations I can pull out of the herringbone by using one or more strands of DMC floss and also varying the height and width of each stitch …

Changing subjects completely, here’s the view of storm damaged tree limbs waiting to be removed from our daughter’s street, as seen through the windshield as we drove up (note the port-a-potty to the right for scale) …

And here’s the view of the front yard from their driveway …

It’s noteworthy that the newspaper stated an estimated 10.5 million trees in Austin were damaged. This article includes video of the storm damage from overhead and the massive cleanup efforts on the ground.

To end on a more positive note, here are Ellis and her PopPop working on a puzzle during her visit last Thursday (note that Don is wearing a St Louis City SC jersey) …

along with our most recent indulgence, a subscription to the MLS soccer season on AppleTV … because our Missouri grandsons are soccer players who are very excited about the new St Louis City soccer team …

which soundly defeated our hometown Austin FC team last night. I envision a great season-long rivalry ahead … and look forward to a change from our usual MSNBC habit.

14 thoughts on “Putting things in perspective

  1. Wow! Liz~ that is a lot of trees! We’ve lost some, but nothing like that. We’ve had a few go down like picture #8 in that slide show…big, old trees – crashing onto houses, cars…some deadly. This one was so sad, as she was hanging out, resting in the car while son and family were playing in the park. How many times have I sat in a car for an extended period? So sad.

    Woman killed after tree falls on SUV at California park

    I love the trails of stitching on this cloth and the littlest, newest family member to ‘puzzle’. How fun!
    I just discovered that one of my former “babies” is now playing soccer for Santa Cruz 🙂

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    1. oh, I know that feeling of discovering a little one having grown up and making their way in the world … my biggest “wait, what?” occurred when I learned that a little boy I used to babysit is now a cardiologist … with college age kids!

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  2. LA – great to have such variety in your day – looks like a lovely bond between E and D. Wow to the damage to trees – is that a regular thing or just part of our growing crazy weather? B

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  3. My goodness, that storm is having lasting effects. We are having the anniversary of serious floods last year and the impacts are still being felt. And poor New Zealand with its recent weather disasters. So much weather. I hope the clean up continues steadily and things return. I love how the herringbone stitched literally looks like waves to me. You get the feeling of the swell and the white caps rising. Just wonderful. And yes to precious time together, and yes to watching new teams play and all the rivalry and ups and downs highs and lows being a fan can bring… go well.

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    1. There’s no telling when the city will get around to picking up all the storm debris, although they are steadily working away at it … I’m afraid the grass beneath the piles will take a beating, but more concerning are the many limbs still stuck up in the trees as the windy spring season is already underway … we are lucky to live in a relatively new subdivision, so our trees are less massive and most of the cleanup on our street has been completed

      I’m so glad you see the swells and white caps in my Sea of Hope … the rhythm of the stitching is as lulling as sitting on a beach watching the waves wash up onto the shore

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  4. Even with so much tree destruction, I have to say that Meghan lives in a beautiful area and obviously, the trees create this wonderful landscape…

    Ellis and her two P’s- Pop Pop and puzzles; can it be more delightful.

    Soccer, well YES. I was introduced to soccer by my British son in law, who is a huge fan. The summer of 2012, I was staying in San Francisco to be with my grand kids, and, Spain was playing Italy in the semi-finals of the World Cup. The twins were 3 yrs old and even at that young age, knew a little about soccer due to their Dad’s interest. We decided to go to “Italian” territory, North Beach, where every bar and restaurant had the game on. Taking our lives into our hands, whenever Spain made a goal, we yelled, “VIva Espana” and the looks that we got were priceless! Spain won the game, 4-0 and we then went to a Spanish bar, that was celebrating with free Sangria, tapas and a live band. We sat outside at communal tables, singing and getting up and dancing with other Spanish soccer fans. I’ve been hooked ever since!

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    1. Marti, you have the best stories … you would surely enjoy watching the Austin fans, especially those in the end zone who sing and dance to the beat of a “house drum line” that shows up for every game … and though there are certainly inadvertent injuries, I like the fact that soccer players don’t play with the sole intention of tackling each other … well, most of the time anyway 😉

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    1. Well, there are some advantages to only having two trees (quite a change from our Hill Country days) … and we were lucky not to have any live oaks, which had leaves that got weighed down by the ice

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  5. Loved seeing your stitching up close, I do see waves. 🙂 The trees…so hard to see. I often think of how long it takes for trees to grow and how quickly they can come down.

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    1. fortunately for us, our neighborhood is relatively new, so most of the trees aren’t overly large (compared to my daughter’s home where there were a lot of old growth trees that really got hit hard) … lots of limb damage here, but thankfully I haven’t seen any trees that actually came down

      and yes, the waves … always I think of the sea …

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    1. “herringbone, where have you been all my life?” … I don’t know how I ever did without this stitch … now it feels like it will always be a part of my stitching, as are Jude’s invisible basting and split backstitch

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