Craft-y stuff

I'm going to try to post more often, but that means more boring day-to-day stuff, since things are usually not hopping here at Chez Fido. (Hey, I like having an uneventful life.)

Deliveries have kept UPS and the USPS busy today. The letter carrier brought two packages: one from Overstock-dot-com carried the extended version of Return of the King (which I'm watching now) and a book, When Crickets Cry. The other package contained two balls of crochet thread (peach and ecru) that had been on backorder from Herrschners.

And UPS delivered a new order from Herrschners that included a lamp.

Now I'm, um, thrifty. I won't spend $50 on a lamp just because it looks good, if I can find a less expensive lamp that will do. But the new lamp is for craft work, and it's wonderful. It simulates daylight, which is best for sorting thread colors for embroidery, and it's been lovely, just this afternoon, to be working on the mumble-mumble and be able to see it so clearly. And the lamp doesn't burn hot and can be angled to light my work without glaring on my laptop screen or the television (where Return of the King is still running...and running...and running {grin}). Crafters (and readers): Take a look at this. The part that's extended horizontally is the part with the bulb, and it can be at the angle shown in the picture or extended completely straight up. The part that's extended also is the "on" switch; the bulb lights up when the arm is extended, goes off when the arm is collapsed. (The other items from Herrschners: water color pencils for my mother for Christmas, perforated (cream) paper and perforated (clear) plastic for counted cross-stitch. And there's another Herrschners order on its way to me. And I bought some yarn last week at Joann's. I need to shut down that credit card for a while.)

Oh, and I've ordered two new greyhounds. Before you faint--or question my sanity--they're statues. At 63 pounds, they'll weigh about what Sam does--and the size appears to match Sam, too. I'm thinking I might put them on either side of my fireplace. (Yeah, I know: I'm "thrifty"--and I just bought two greyhound statues. But I've wanted a pair of these things for years, this is a terrific sale price [they're often $75 each], and it's a fundraiser for SEGA. But I'm going to have to haul them home when they arrive...)