Patience?

Often people walk into Needle Nicely and remark, "I can't do this, I have no patience."  I chuckle to myself upon hearing this because I am not a patient person.  There are different levels of patience.  I feel very tolerant (patient?) with beginning needlepointers who are sincerely trying to grasp the concept of stitching.  I am very tolerant of young children who are eager to do something for themselves with your assistance.

I am not patient with people who continuously whine that they can't do it--while not even attempting to do it.
I'm not patient with women who play the role of the grande dame and can't deign to wait their turn.  Lincoln did free the slaves, my dear. And please don't tap those false fingernails on my counter.  I do see your diamonds, but as Marcia (one of my seasonal assistants) could tell you, Mary Agnes doesn't know the difference between one and five carats, so don't waste your time trying to impress her!  On the other hand, Marcia can tell you the retail value of that diamond or your car parked outside.  I am constantly amazed and appalled at the breadth of her material knowledge.

Recently, as 5 o'clock rapidly approached, a young customer remarked that now that her mother had made her selection, she could take her time with hers.  I agreed, and then quietly mentioned that my husband did expect me to prepare dinner for him that evening, so perhaps our time wasn't unlimited.  Thank goodness she made her decisions more quickly and everyone was happy, including my "starving" husband.  

Canvases have started arriving for the Florida "mini-season" in October.  These are from Melissa Shirley:

You can never have too many witches around!

 I'm not sure if this is a heron or an ibis--both are white and love to catch fish.  We have several regular ibises who fish in our backyard "water retention pond". 

 And another citrus canvas for those in our area who make their living from the citrus industry.  Though most lemons aren't grown here (Indian River specializes in grapefruit and oranges), the growers have the distribution system and import lemons from off-shore countries like Costa Rica and the Bahamas. 

  And a nice little "weiner dog" for dog fanciers.
This was intended to be a purse canvas but can be easily adapted into a pillow.