Cretan Stitch

Week 4 of the Take a Stitch Tuesday was Cretan Stitch.  

 

I used a pink to red variegated thread.  I didn't do anything fancy, just the plain stitch.

The Bear and the Dragon

The Bear and the Dragon by Tom Clancy

Jack Ryan is the president.  There is an assassination attempt on a high ranking Soviet official who is a friend of Jack's.  China decides to invade the Soviet Union and take over their newly discovered oil fields and gold mines.  Jack offers assistance and we get close to another world war.  I'm not sure if I'm tired of reading about Jack Ryan or if the author was tired of writing about him.  It was ok, but not one of my favorites.  

First Load of Trees

The first load of trees has arrived and they have been placed near their permanent homes.  The cherries will be lining the driveway.

One day these spruce will block the neighbor's house.  They look small but they are really huge.  I should have taken a picture with someone standing next to them.  

Oh look, the birthday boy zipping around on his tractor.

Technically, I think it's really a lawn mower.

Feather Stitch

Week 3 of Take a Stitch Tuesday is the feather stitch.  I love this stitch.  I used  a variegated blue thread and used the stitch as a section divider on the tree skirt.

 

Here's a close up of the stitch.

I know that we're on week 16 or 17.  Fortunately, I'm behind in blogging, not in stitching.

Simple Genius

 Simple Genius by David Baldacci

 This is the third book in the Sean King/Michelle Maxwell series.  Michelle is having issues from her past.  She starts in-patient therapy and Sean is hired to investigate a murder at a secret lab which is very near to a secret CIA facility.  Michelle has her own little adventure in the hospital and then she joins Sean to work on his case.  I had to overlook a couple of far fetched plot twists but it kept me interested up until the end.