Author Archives: Holly

About Holly

fiber person - knitter, spinner, weaver who spent 33 years being a military officer to fund the above. And home. And family. Sewing and quilting projects are also in the stash. After living again in Heidelberg after retiring (finally) from the U.S. Army May 2011, we moved to the US ~ Dec 2015. Something about being over 65 and access to health care. It also might have had to do with finding a buyer for our house. Allegedly this will provide me a home base in the same country as our four adult children, all of whom I adore, so that I can drive them totally insane. Considerations of time to knit down the stash…(right, and if you believe that…) and spin and .... There is now actually enough time to do a bit of consulting, editing. Even more amazing - we have only one household again. As long as everyone understands that I still, 40 years into our marriage, don't do kitchens or bathrooms. For that matter, not being a golden retriever, I don't do slippers or newspapers either. I don’t miss either the military or full-time clinical practice. Limiting my public health/travel med/consulting and lecturing to “when I feel like it” has let me happily spend my pension cruising, stash enhancing (oops), arguing with the DH about where we are going to travel next and book buying. Life is good!

Expansion Teams

Posted on 2026-06-02 by Holly

I am not sure why, but there seems to be something in the brain of those who write various sport columns in papers that think that expansion teams are there simply as fodder for the first few years. That – … Continue reading →

Posted in Basketball | Leave a comment

And then there is Sherlock

Posted on 2026-05-31 by Holly

Continuing the Owl Forest theme, Part 3 was released on the 29th. I started it yesterday and finished this section today. This added two lap posts, the people by the door and the instruments… – This section was only about … Continue reading →

Posted in Cross-Stitch | Leave a comment

Stitching in Sunshine

Posted on 2026-05-30 by Holly

Done! The pattern is from Owl Forest. Stitched on Citrus from Forbidden Fiber Co with the called for DMC. Even using B5200, the white doesn’t show up all that well (fabric in the hoop and lace below her feet… 2970 … Continue reading →

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All the floss

Posted on 2026-05-29 by Holly

or not, as the case may be. It was errand day. My plan had been 1) post office 2) Micheal’s 3) breakfast out with Alex 4) Ralley’s 5) Starbucks 6) Sprouts 7) Petfood Express (cat food) and home. I even … Continue reading →

Posted in Around Berkeley, Cross-Stitch | Leave a comment

Back to Ballhalla

Posted on 2026-05-28 by Holly

and the pun is starting to get old, in this second season of the Golden State Valkyries. Yes, I know that is a take off on Valhalla, but still…… marketing, yes? Just one more sweatshirt.. We took BART & Muni … Continue reading →

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Winter Girl

Posted on 2026-05-27 by Holly

which is the fourth in this SAL from Barbara Ana. Not only did I manage to finish her today, but also (surprise) did the backstitching for all four panels. It isn’t really obvious, just the legs on the bird and … Continue reading →

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Coffee Quaker

Posted on 2026-05-26 by Holly

and this is another coffee quaker – which may leave me with only 2-3 similar ones that I just might stitch. stitched on (I think) 18 count vintage country mocha with threadworx floss. It didn’t take all that long, being … Continue reading →

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Memorial Day 2026

Posted on 2026-05-25 by Holly

In the US, as many a pundit and columnist will tell you – this “holiday” has changed over the years from remembrance of those who lost their lives in military service to yet another 3-4 day weekend complete with sales. … Continue reading →

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Hanging around

Posted on 2026-05-24 by Holly

We have this lovely corner seating area and table in the room off the kitchen. Said particular space is a combination dining area, George’s office/desk, and is also graced with two built in full height cabinets complete with cupboards, drawers … Continue reading →

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Listening to Books

Posted on 2026-05-23 by Holly

I became a serious fan of audiobooks in late 2004. I was back from my 16+ months in Kuwait  Starting that fall, I was living in Heidelberg and working in Landstuhl, a mere 75 miles down the A6 in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & AudioBooks, Books & Tapes | Leave a comment

The Hayward

Posted on 2026-05-22 by Holly

I am sitting at the table, eating my oatmeal drinking a cup of coffee. On the table next to me is a copy of “Berkeley Engineer” with a picture on the front of what looks like a stereotypical mad scientist. … Continue reading →

Posted in Around Berkeley, Graduate Education | Leave a comment

Three sisters

Posted on 2026-05-15 by Holly

and there will be a forth – there are just a couple of other things I want to stitch first. The first two have been done for a while, and I just finished the Fall Girl today. Stitched on 18 … Continue reading →

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Find My…

Posted on 2026-05-14 by Holly

there is a lovely Apple App that lets you locate wayward electronic items. Not people, unless they happened to have your phone/iPad/Mac on their person, but at least it lets me find my phone which is obviously hiding in plain … Continue reading →

Posted in Computers & Software, family | Leave a comment

Less than Stellar

Posted on 2026-05-13 by Holly

Performance by the Valkyries. They were on fire for the first quarter, slowed in the second, lost the lead in the third and never caught up. Some of it seemed to be more involvement with fancy footwork and taking a … Continue reading →

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Books dropped off….

Posted on 2026-05-12 by Holly

It was another quiet day of stitching and computer games.  Except for the cat demanding pets, food, and lap, (rinse  & repeat). But mostly, it was book delivery time at 1530. I had a wait outside the pre-school till the … Continue reading →

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Lev is 5

Posted on 2026-05-11 by Holly

Everyone remember the pandemic? Lev was born in May 2021, about a year in and at the point where things were still nowhere near normal.  He now has a younger brother, goes to preschool, enjoys ball sport and the playground … Continue reading →

Posted in family | 1 Comment

Going to the game

Posted on 2026-05-10 by Holly

which in this case is the season opening of the Golden State Valkyries (WNBA = professional Women’s Basketball for those of you outside the US/Canada or not particularly following sports). I splurged last year on season tickets and did the … Continue reading →

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Really helpful

Posted on 2026-05-09 by Holly

Not. It is not that I don’t need to do some major cleaning and organizing in my craft room. Actually, I really, really need to get started. So today I thought I would start out small. Relocate the Radio/CD player … Continue reading →

Posted in Home | 2 Comments

all the browns

Posted on 2026-05-08 by Holly

Since I have stitched four of her previous SALs, I decided that this one would be fun as well. Who? Oh, LolaCrow (previous include Haunted Library, Greenhouse, Aquarium, Birds). This one is critters, museum based started with prehistory and moving … Continue reading →

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Mostly game day

Posted on 2026-05-07 by Holly

There are those days where it seems like more effort than I would like to accomplish anything. Perhaps it should be laundry. Or cleaning. Or maybe just play computer games…. and the day is gone!

Posted in Computers & Software | Leave a comment