The stitchin' swing

Hi to everyone on a sad day for me.  Summer's over.  September starts the fall season for me even if the temps are still high, which they are today.  I'm taking advantage of the warmth, and my swings.  There's something about that slow steady movement that calms the nerves and relieves the stress.  It does it for babies, and carries through to elderly folks.  My mom and dad always had a backyard swing, the first being held by a stand made from shiny black pipes.  The last was a wooden stand with that same black swing, now hanging in my garage.  It calmed mom and put dad to sleep.  They would bundle up even when it was cold and enjoy the soothing motion.  I've found that it does the same for me. 

The single swing we had built for mom when she lived here, is purposely high enough for my feet to swing free.  It starts with a slow but deliberate motion and as the stress melts away, I swing as high as the kids on playgrounds. Really high.  It's so much fun, and I always end in a upbeat mood.  When I'm not reaching for the sky, I stitch here.

I have hanging hooks that I use to hold necessities, and the handle installed for mom to lift herself off the swing will always be in place to hang my scissors.  The big swing is another stitching spot and offers more room, but my favorite is mom's.  So today is when I realize there won't be many more stitching afternoons in my favorite spots. 

My wrist is getting no better and I believe there is a crack, a tendon/ligament tear, or something related that they missed.  I have a new very restrictive brace and holding the fabric is still painful. But I started a sampler that I came across by accident.  Mary Oldfield from SANQ #41.  You can see a finished example from Tempus Fugit here, the fabulous blog!  Mary happened to be in with the santa charts and since I can't hold too wide of a fabric, thought she would be a good choice to start.  And I did.  On three different linens, deciding on the medium shade, and also because the linen piece was narrower and easier to hold.  See that?  A decision!  But that's the only one. I would love to hire a decision maker, but so far haven't found that heading in the Yellow Pages. And when I do, I hope there's only one cause I don't want to be confronted with a hiring decision.  If you're wondering why it's every other letter, I haven't decided on the other floss shade I want to use for this linen color.  I have two other much smaller samplers lined up and may switch to them if I can't handle this amount of fabric.

 I'm going back outside to sit with Bud and stitch more.  I'll leave you with a photo of him in his favorite box.

 My doe is still coming for bread several times a day and her fawns are losing their spots.  She came one night about midnight and scared the heck out of me when I saw a figure moving outside the window!

I hope if any one of you or your loved ones are affected by the flooding, that you find relief and help quickly.  Thank you again for visiting with me, and welcome to new followers.  I hope there's enough to keep all of you interested, entertained, or inspired.  I gain inspiration and the most wonderful finishing ideas, help and instruction, information and new products, or just awesome photos from visiting yours.  And, of course, stash enabling.  So to all of you stitching bloggers, thank you.  Stay safe, enjoy the holiday weekend, talk to you soon.

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