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!

Fires

Posted on 2023-06-07 by Holly

I remember Sept 2020 where we couldn’t even see across the street at 1100 in the morning. This is what Mark, in Long Island was seeing this morning. Carmen described drive she and Stuart made from their DC home back … Continue reading →

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Final check

Posted on 2023-06-06 by Holly

My daughter is due back tonight and I will be off the hook for daily cat checks. No, she didn’t ask me to do this, it is a self-inflicted trip. But as nasty as this cat can be, he does … Continue reading →

Posted in Around Berkeley, Fiber | Leave a comment

Monkey Paws

Posted on 2023-06-05 by Holly

yet another cat check. He is doing fine. I wasn’t so sure when I came through the door. This was the first time I wasn’t greeted immediately. If you are familiar with cats, you probably have had the experience of … Continue reading →

Posted in Cross-Stitch, family | 1 Comment

just a few purrs

Posted on 2023-06-04 by Holly

the couple of hours spent at Avenue Yarns for the Sunday morning open knitting was lovely. I had to re-cast on Strider (a Martina Beam pattern I have already knit a couple of times but falls into the lovely category … Continue reading →

Posted in Cross-Stitch, family, Knitting | 1 Comment

Not coffee

Posted on 2023-06-03 by Holly

Another day, another cat check. His official name is Kitty Ramon. and he is not supposed to be on the table and I would prefer that he not be so interested in my stitching… but he was glad for the … Continue reading →

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Today he had greenies

Posted on 2023-06-02 by Holly

I mentioned that the youngest was traveling. I volunteered to check on her rather well fed cat. As a rule, he really doesn’t like or appreciate anyone who is not one of his two people. It means that he met … Continue reading →

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Driving

Posted on 2023-06-01 by Holly

(me nuts?). I can’t say that I really enjoy driving anymore. Perhaps it is that the roads are more crowded or the drivers are bad or…. anyway – I use the car when I have to but not usually on … Continue reading →

Posted in Around Berkeley, Friends | 3 Comments

Unmatching

Posted on 2023-05-22 by Holly

Our visitor today amply demonstrates that all is not symmetrical in the Cervidea kingdom. Deer , my friends – deer.  To add to the confusion – the sub-family for the New World is called  Capreolinae. With me so far? Happily … Continue reading →

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A bit more border

Posted on 2023-05-20 by Holly

Back to Fox&Rabbit’s Royal Garden Doesn’t look like much, but actually computes to 1066 stitches (about 1/5th of what is needed) and has nothing to do with the Battle of Hastings… I also added 203 stitches to Dream (SAL from … Continue reading →

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All the excuses

Posted on 2023-05-19 by Holly

Over the years, I have lost track of just about everyone with whom I attended various schools, courses, and universities. That is, with the exception of Carmen who I have known for just about my entire adult life starting from … Continue reading →

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Back to Royal Gardens

Posted on 2023-05-18 by Holly

I think I have probably avoided this SAL long enough – Royal Gardens by Fox&Rabbit. They think big. Much bigger than I normally will tackle, even if it is split into 12 portions. In April it was the left sided … Continue reading →

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Done!

Posted on 2023-05-17 by Holly

Finished today – altho it took a bit longer and a few more stitches – The Vintage Black Sampler from Owl Forest Embroidery started 3 April 2023 – finished 17 May 2023. We had another set of visitors today – … Continue reading →

Posted in Cross-Stitch, Home | 3 Comments

Almost done

Posted on 2023-05-16 by Holly

Somehow, I thought I had been stitching on this particular pattern longer than I really have. Perhaps it is because my Dragonling has been hanging out for well over a year? Anyway – the Vintage Black Sampler was my “new … Continue reading →

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Draggin’

Posted on 2023-05-15 by Holly

I am almost afraid to look up when I started this particular full coverage piece. It has been a while, a long while. (Actually, looking it up – it has only been since Jan 2022. Could be much worse).  With … Continue reading →

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Gophers

Posted on 2023-05-13 by Holly

There is a lovely park as part of WildCat Canyon near where all three of our daughters live. The park includes picnic areas which you can reserve for parties, open areas for playing, and trails you can hike. The Eldest … Continue reading →

Posted in Around Berkeley | 2 Comments

Glasses

Posted on 2023-05-12 by Holly

Have I mentioned that I have numerous pairs of glasses floating around. Most of which are several years old. The prescriptions in all of them are similar, but some are a lot better than others. Last year about this time, … Continue reading →

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Treasure Island

Posted on 2023-05-12 by Holly

I have been suckered in again. This time by Owl Forest (http://owlforest.co.uk) whose designers, in addition to a lot of Russian looking patterns, are the guilty parties behind my 85% complete Alice from 2021. And the Vintage Black Sampler now … Continue reading →

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The best toy

Posted on 2023-05-11 by Holly

Can sometimes be the simplest. It doesn’t have to have bells and whistles. Be shiny or terribly expensive. What it needs to do is be the exact thing to bring joy to a two year old’s heart. Lev turned two … Continue reading →

Posted in family, Home | 2 Comments

Squish

Posted on 2023-05-10 by Holly

Today started out less than auspicious. Of course, I didn’t know about my contribution to destruction  until I returned home. When Amazon dropped off a package in the middle of the driveway (after dark I might add) is it any … Continue reading →

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Thistles

Posted on 2023-05-09 by Holly

This was a cleanup day. I had mentioned to George several days ago that we really needed to tackle the garage. He promised right after his first two morning conference calls. And I promptly forgot all about it. I was … Continue reading →

Posted in Home | 2 Comments