Pip Pip Hooray!

 The most important event of the past week was the fourth birthday of my little Pippin pup, on October 1st.  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

We went to the Farmers Market, and for a walk along the river, and then had a nice quiet day at home with his buddy Truman.

The second most important thing that happened was that I actually liked BOTH of the pictures I produced during our Zoom practice sessions.  Whee!  

The first was not my favorite subject matter -- trees and rocks.  To make it more fun/challenging, I opted to forego any preliminary pencil sketching or ink work.  Instead, I went straight in with watercolor, drawing with paint, and working quite loosely and quickly.  No overthinking things!  It turned out just fine.

For the second session, we chose a monochrome photo of an Icelandic dwelling.  This time I did do a pencil sketch first, and then decided to work the whole piece using only colored pencils, which I haven't used in a long time.  I like the results, and am especially pleased with the background hill.

Thirdly, I've continued with the virtual walking, going up Mount Fuji without actually climbing any hills.  Hey, it's just for fun, right?  Right.  And I received the medal for finishing the 41-mile virtual flower farm tour in the Netherlands -- it's quite spiffy:

The windmill arms turn.  On the backside is a city scene, and as you turn the windmill arms, it changes from sun to moon:

I'm now walking very virtually indeed across 37 miles of Easter Island, where there isn't a lot to see other than those weird big stone heads.  Oh, well.  It does keep me moving, so that's okay.

Fourthly, at our Saturday wiener walk, the organizer had some extra Halloween outfits she hoped some of us might wish to buy off her, in preparation for a party she's hosting on October 30 (a HallowIEner party).  There was a matching pair of Star Wars Jedi knight hoodies which fit Truman and Pippin, so I got them.  Truman refused to pose for photos, but here is poor Pippin:

I'm not sure why he was so grumpy about it -- when I put him in it at the park, he pranced around with his tail up and wagging away.  Silly hound.

He was especially displeased when I put the hood up:

It's fairly likely that he won't be wearing his outfit for very long at the Hallowiener party.

And finally, as I'm sure you're all breathlessly waiting for, it's time for the Good Omens Needlepoint Project Update.

It's the end of week 12, and I've finished 30,700 stitches (out of 34,340).  I'm back to my typical 2,000 a week rate, as the pattern has gotten more complex again.  Sigh.  I shall carry on, though there may be a slight slowdown next week due to impending house guests.  Still, it's so close now that every section I finish is making me giddy with excitement.  Whee!

I'm thrilled that I've managed to keep it fairly straight without using a frame to work it on, and thus it should not need a lengthy amount of blocking.  Whew.

That's it for this past week -- have a good time out there, everyone!