Back to Normal - Almost

Water was out from late last night until around 10am this morning - not bad all things considered. I realized it was coming back when I started hearing some strange noices coming from my toilet - it was air in the pipes coming out with a spraying of water and you could hear it EVERYWHERE in the house - it was that loud, so I took a screwdriver to keep the big balloon thingy up and stop the racket. About an hour later, a trickle of orange water started coming out of the sink in the kitchen, and the next time I checked, about half an hour later, pressure was low, but water was clear. Early this afternoon a police officer came to our door with a notice from the water department saying we should boil water for the next 24 hours - exactly what I was thinking anyway.

All the excitement, I forgot it is Stitchers Question of the Week day! The question is: How do you explain cross stitch to non-cross stitching people? Do they get it or do they say “Oh, right.. you do knitting then (or sewing, or needlepoint)"? A few do get it, or at least pretend to. Some, however, just don't get it no matter what I say. My father keeps calling it needlepoint because my mother and my aunt were into it in the 70's. I have explained the difference to him at least half a dozen times, and as far as he is concerned, it's needlepoint . I guess it doesn't make it any easier that nowadays needlepoint is being done with threads too, not just with yarn as before - not that this is something my father would know. Others I will patiently try to explain, all the while knowing that they aren't understanding - whether the concept or why anyone would do such a thing, I don't know. The hardest thing for people to understand, in my opinion, is how it is actually stitched. They can't seem to understand how you stitch the design on the fabric - they tend to think it is like STAMPED cross stitch (which most counted cross stitchers avidly hate) - and when you tell them you work off a chart onto blank fabric they look at you as if you were talking of alternate realities in parallel universes where there are green skies and blue grasses.

I have decided not to bring back what has been evacuated and just make do with what I have here for the next few days until I know what Ivan is going to do. I really don't want to think about Ivan, but it's a historically bad name to ignore. I am hoping that it will continue on a southerly track and die which is what happens when hurricanes continue south closer to the coast of South America. But if Ivan decides to go the "island hopping" route, I will be doing it all over again next weekend. I don't think I can handle the excitement again. Not this soon, at any rate. I am sooo EXHAUSTED!!!