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!

Cabo San Lucas

Posted on 2023-02-05 by Holly

Our first stop is Cabo. We sailed in early while watching the whales. It is a tender port as it turns out. Not ideal for getting off a ship with a toddler. So we didn’t. But actually I think that … Continue reading →

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Too many drunks

Posted on 2023-02-04 by Holly

There is a serious % of the 35xx+ passengers on this ship who are positive that it is 5 0’clock somewhere. I don’t get it. But then I fail to see the entertainment in being falling down drunk at any … Continue reading →

Posted in Cruising | Leave a comment

Navigator of the Seas

Posted on 2023-02-03 by Holly

We three are heading off on an adventure…. Shana, Lev & I Boarding Navigator of the Seas in San Pedro for a week our schedule is below… Friday, February 3 Los Angeles (San Pedro), CA 4:00pmSaturday, February 4 At Sea … Continue reading →

Posted in Cruising | 1 Comment

Long Beach, California

Posted on 2023-02-02 by Holly

My packing was pretty much completed last night, so this morning it was mostly adding those things which I missed on the first go round. It wasn’t clothing, that is easy. I pretty much take the same things on every … Continue reading →

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Silence

Posted on 2023-01-24 by Holly

may not be golden, not even considering that old song. But it certainly can be welcome. As a child of the 50s, starting university in the 60s, med school in the early 70s, I was never one for background anything. … Continue reading →

Posted in Computers & Software, Home, Prose | 2 Comments

phoneless

Posted on 2023-01-23 by Holly

Not  because I have anything against having a cell phone. In fact, for most of us, it has become a way of life. A handy little gadget that serves to handle photos, email, finances, directions, games, group discussions, texts…. That … Continue reading →

Posted in Home | Leave a comment

Not snowing here

Posted on 2023-01-22 by Holly

It is Sunday. The Football playoffs are still underway. It was snowing in Buffalo which amazingly seemed to be worse for the home team than the visiting Bengals. In local news, the 49ers managed to hold on to their ‘one … Continue reading →

Posted in Basketball, Cross-Stitch | Leave a comment

presents

Posted on 2023-01-11 by Holly

the problem with hand making presents is not being able to share what you are doing till after the present is gifted. By that time, well, one can be throughly sick of the whole thing. In this case, it is … Continue reading →

Posted in Cross-Stitch | Leave a comment

forgot to post

Posted on 2023-01-10 by Holly

Obviously, I wasn’t quiet with it for the last few days of 2022. Posting a belated finish – Leo Rising by LongDog Samplers. Stitched on a 16 ct BeStitchMe fabric that came in (I think) the Space Mystery Box with … Continue reading →

Posted in Cross-Stitch | 2 Comments

and more rain

Posted on 2023-01-09 by Holly

It has been on and off raining all day. Mostly off, except of course for the times that I needed to be outside.  Of course, then it rained. I will not bore you with errands. Or runs to BART. Or … Continue reading →

Posted in Home | 2 Comments

bouncing cages

Posted on 2023-01-08 by Holly

My intention this morning was clean up. Right, like that is going to happen.  Instead, we wound up over at Shana’s where George played with Lev while Noah and I put together a trampoline which now resides in her garage. … Continue reading →

Posted in Basketball, family | Leave a comment

FFN

Posted on 2023-01-07 by Holly

is finished for now. I have managed to get the entire floral thing with pot stitched. It equals  78% of the total stitches needed for this section. The rest of the stitches are a single stitch border which will go … Continue reading →

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How Hot?

Posted on 2023-01-06 by Holly

Like many others, I prefer stitching full coverage pieces on pre-gridded fabric. I am not so naive as to believe that I can keep track of stitches at any significant distance. Counting errors happen. Since I prefer stitching along the … Continue reading →

Posted in Cross-Stitch | 2 Comments

New Bed

Posted on 2023-01-05 by Holly

We. have this bed – It came from Germany – shipped in summer of 2014. George says it was new when he bought it. The mattresses were decent but not exceptional quality. The catch, of course, is that they are … Continue reading →

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and the storm rolled in

Posted on 2023-01-04 by Holly

there was a huge storm that rolled through on New Year’s Eve which dumped an incredible amount of rain, caused a lot of flooding with winds that added damage for good measure. The only good thing that came out of … Continue reading →

Posted in Cross-Stitch, Home | 2 Comments

and I make plans because?

Posted on 2023-01-03 by Holly

Seriously, the first thing that happens is that I make plans. Then they fall apart. Perhaps I should be glad that my ideas lasted a whole three days. And yes, I am still on track with Royal Gardens – with … Continue reading →

Posted in Cross-Stitch, Home | Leave a comment

New Year, New start(s)

Posted on 2023-01-02 by Holly

Ok, this is now truly 2023 and I am not making any resolutions. Perhaps determined not to increase the WIP pile without finishing out projects from the last couple of years but it seems more than silly to make resolutions … Continue reading →

Posted in Cross-Stitch, Home | 1 Comment

The tossing of the ORTs

Posted on 2023-01-01 by Holly

In every fiber craft that I can think of, there are always left over bits. In weaving it was thrums – those left over warp ends. In sewing and quilting there are scraps. In knitting/crocheting – I am not sure … Continue reading →

Posted in Cross-Stitch, Home | 2 Comments

Goodbye 2022

Posted on 2022-12-31 by Holly

and no Yellow Brick Road in sight. In fact, unfortunately, the rain has stopped.  Why do I want more rain when it has been pouring for the last few days? It isn’t like I really want to disrupt more people’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Home | 1 Comment

Calmer, blue seas

Posted on 2022-12-12 by Holly

the weather seemed to break sometime last night. Certainly this morning the skies were clear although a steady march of waves was clearly visible. We are cutting across them at an angle while contributes to the occasional bump and shift. … Continue reading →

Posted in Travel | 5 Comments