Completed cross stitch with a small bird, a hat with a flower, and one very cute rabbit with three flowers.

April Flip It by Lizzie Kate. Completed April 17, 2026. #crossstitch #stitchsky

Cover of Matthew Bounds’ latest cookbook, Keep It Simple Y’all Every Day.

#FridayReads Keep it Simple Y’all Every Day by Matthew Bounds. I had sworn off buying cookbooks but there are some authors you just want to support. And I love his practical approach to cooking!

Cross stitch project on hoop, along with the Lizzie Kate pattern, floss in floss bags, and a vintage coffee cup to catch floss discards and to hold the scissors.

Sunday morning stitching. I’ve discovered that my vintage cups make great ORT and scissors containers! #crossstitch #stitchsky

Setup to begin Lizzie Kate’s April themed small cross stitch: pattern, material, hoop, needle and scissors, and DMC floss.

A little seasonal stitching start for this stormy Saturday. #crossstitch #stitchsky

I love his patterns. This looks great!

Completed cross stitch project - cute toad in a magician’s hat with a jack-o-lantern!

Bewitching Toad by Shannon Christine. Completed March 29, 2026. (Halloween and Christmas craft projects are always in season!) #crossstitch #stitchsky

Update of the progress on Shannon Christine’s pattern, Bewitching Toad. A cute toad holding a carved pumpkin.

Bewitching Toad by Shannon Christine. Progress as of March 22, 2026. (This is a fun one but the greens are more of a challenge than I thought they would be!) #crossstitch #stitchsky

Cross stitch!

Completed cross stitch of a forest design, Boreal Bounty by Max Pigeon.

Boreal Bounty by Max Pigeon. Completed March 10, 2026 This was a lot of fun to complete! #crossstitch #stitchsky

Cover of Marguerite Patten’s book, Feeding the Nation: includes cover 1940s photograph of a young boy watching a woman mix a recipe in a bowl.

#FridayReads Feeding the Nation by Marguerite Patten. I love reading about the ingenuity of home cooks during World War II.

LOL…it’s like being in a candy store. It all looks good! I’ll probably start with something small - several of the designs have parts that can be done as a separate small design.

Cover of Emma Congdon’s Merry Stitchmas book with Christmas themed cross stitch examples.

I like nature…and color! This came in the mail today… #stitchsky #crossstitch

It is addictive! So many cool patterns and not enough stitchy time….

Partially completed cross stitch of Max Pigeon’s pattern, Boreal Bounty. Lots and lots of green trees!

Boreal Bounty by Max Pigeon. Progress as of February 22, 2026. This was maybe a tad ambitious for someone who had only completed a handful of small ornaments! #crossstitch #stitchsky #wip

Wow. The number varied throughout the session but topped out at 76 attendees in this morning's online plagiarism workshop. Not bad for a less-than-exciting subject on a beautiful Starkville morning! #mississippistateuniversity #msstate

Ashley McBryde, Caylee Hammack, Pillbox Patti - Brenda Put Your Bra On (Official Music Video) YouTube video by Ashley McBryde

Brenda, Put Your Bra On

youtu.be/3GBcMbYP2ng?...

It is my favorite meal and always brings back memories of my mom. Collards show up in several cuisines…you could try a Portuguese Caldo Verde or a Haitian version, Callaloo. It’s a versatile vegetable!

Plate of boiled collards, chopped fatback (yes, really), boiled potato, and chopped onion.

I am trying to post fewer collard pictures…but a plate of a collard dinner is such a thing of beauty! #Collards #ComfortFood

I don’t post about my work with AI on BS - just my fiber arts and other hobbies. But I do engage with my fellow academic librarians- some of whom are very anti-AI. We cannot ignore AI when it is an important element of digital literacy and research methods.

Astrophilately is a fascinating theme! There are a lot of resources to get started here: thedigitalphilatelist.com/thematic-ast...

Reasons of State was an assigned reading in one of my freshman classes and my introduction to Latin American literature - followed quickly by 100 Years of Solitude by Garcia Marquez. After that…I was hooked!

Lovely! Instead of “oopsed” try: added a creative element.

Progress on cross stitch project Boreal Bounty by Max Pigeon. About 40% complete.

Boreal Bounty - progress as of February 8, 2026. #CrossStitch

Picture of the spines of two old Scott specialty albums for the two volume set of South America.

Picture of a page from the Argentina section of the Scott specialty stamp album for South America.

Well, my Friday just got a whole lot better! A colleague came by and asked if I wanted this great old set of stamp albums. Two volumes of the Scott specialty series for South America. There are some stamps but these are great old albums even without the stamps. ❤️ #philately

Stack of six cotton crocheted dishcloths.

January 2026 Crochet finishes: six dishcloths. (I do still need to weave in some ends.) #Crochet

One of my favorite reads from college.

Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio) YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Stay free

Resistance - YouTube

I’ve started a play list of resistance/protest songs on YouTube. Some are really good. I would love to have other recommendations about similar songs! youtube.com/playlist?lis...

I have become more self conscious about some of my writing habits that are also found in AI. I LOVE an em dash, even if copy editors hate it. But lately I’ve found myself hesitant to use it.

Partial cross stitch of Max Pigeon’s Boreal Bounty, along with a partial screenshot of the cover of his book, Cross-Stitch in the Forest.

Progress as of Jan. 27, 2026 - Boreal Bounty by Max Pigeon. This is my largest project to date. I’m not fast, but that’s ok. Some of the world’s most beautiful tapestries were created one stitch at a time. Just like change - small steps matter. #CrossStitch #CrossStitchLifeLessons