Questions and photos

Good morning.  How was your weekend?  We've had beautiful weather, but it feels like fall.  I have to wear a fleece jacket by evening for several days now.  Almost over!!

 

Progress on Sally has reached the bottom, no more letters or verse.  It's hard to see the house outlined in light thread so I circled it.  Sally's a big girl and needed a big house, it's 6" x 6".  The vase and flowers to the right of the verse are specialty stitches so I will attempt that area after the house is finished, before the other motifs.

 

 

Can anyone tell me what this chartreuse ground cover is?  We had a large patch of it and it just glows in the shade, but our fierce winter killed almost all.  The spring bloom is a small light lilac spike.  I've searched online and can't find it, but you gals always seem to know what I can't locate. 

 

I wanted to show you my Limelight hydrangeas.  HUGE!  They are a creamy white, not stark like the Pee Gee bloom behind it.  This is a bush and I wish I would have purchased the tree instead.  The trees sell quickly in the spring and local nurseries have none by June.

 

Now these are the old fashioned type called Annabelle.  Obviously, the deer prefer this variety which is right next to the Limelight.  It's odd how they pick and choose.  Annabelle suffers every year but never the others.

 

I see lots of stitchers are starting to work with yarn which I haven't done in decades.  But while searching for Acorn wrought iron hinges, I came across another Acorn site that carries clothing and saw these.  I love them and will search for a pattern.

 

 

And what is this little thing?  I see it every year with lacy wings, a frayed butt, and a long snout.   Acts like a hummingbird, quicker than a bee, large and long. 

 

All went well with Carole's epidural.  I almost fell over when the nurse came out to call her in.  She was the nurse, exactly a year earlier, that tried to keep us calm and informed when Carole was slipping away after the Tikosin induced torsades.  One year to the day.  I got all meno weepy and thanked her again, while Carole was listening at the exit desk. Carol did not know the nurse because she was, well, dying over and over again and not coherent.   The nurse did not recognize Carole because she was not part of her cardiac team and there was always someone sitting on top of her waiting to pound her chest for CPR so she didn't she her face. This nurse, Patty, came from the cath lab when the emergency started and decided to be the liaison since Carole's team could not leave her side.  She was off-duty and left after the pacemaker surgery when Carole stabilized.  Neither really saw each other that day but had a little joyous reunion in the office.

 

The king of the swing is still keeping watch over his domain.

 

Have a great start to the last week of August.  You have no idea how crabby I am about that.

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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Done with the over one!

Finally.  Four more short lines over two and it's all motifs and the house from there.  Can't wait to finish this, starting Niky's Primitive Christmas for outdoors.  An attempt was made to work on Big Sally outside (for the politically correct version of Big - she is quite adequately proportioned for the amount of stitches).  I hung the floss ring from the swing's chain, added the magnetic clip for the scissors, and may be organized enough to give it a go. 

 

Have a great weekend.

 

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You're the best!

 

Thanks to fellow stitchers, she has ordered the Four Angel (Scarlet Letter)

 

and also the Life How Short Mourning sampler from Morning Glory Needleworks.   Both beauties.  The latter is very interesting with motifs used representing death and mourning. Thank you all very much for your help.  (Photo from her Etsy site)

 

I just finishing spraying my hand dyed Sea Glass linen with tan/taupe blended dye and hung to dry. Result - stiff and brown/green.  Looks good.  I was afraid it would be ruined since you are not allowed to wet hand-dyed fabric but the fine mist spray worked great.  I also gave a squirt to Robina.  You knew I would.  But she is still bright and happy.

 

This has nothing to do with stitching but I am a fusspot about (well...everything really) dishcloths and towels.  I found all cotton at Kohl's, Sonoma brand, that I love.  I had the 30% off, they were on sale, so I ordered online and stocked up.  They wash and dry so nice!  And there is another source for the old fashioned string type, including matching towels here.  Don't know if you've ever browsed Mast General Store online, but they have a Made in USA tab here with various items including the cloths and a foolproof ant barrier for your hummingbird feeder.  Haven't had an ant problem in years, but still have to use bleach to remove that black bacteria that forms around the ports.  Some items are mighty pricey, others are unique and reasonable.  I love the No. 3 leather key ring.

 

Taking Carole tomorrow for an epidural and we're hoping it goes smoothly.  She never has good luck with even the simplest of medical procedures, so you just never know.

 

Thanks again to you all for your help!!

 

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Any help?

Hello people.   I received an email from a stitcher asking if I knew of any memorial samplers.  She lost her 28 year old daughter several years ago and would like to stitch a piece in her memory to be passed on. 

  I looked back in the posts because I remember someone sending a photo of how they personalized my little free piece.  Denise stitched it for her sister with their parents' names and added her mom's angel pin.  I searched for memorial samplers from real designers for her, but I didn't find many at all.  These two from Midsummer Night designs are very nice. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Does anyone have any suggestions or sources that I could pass on to her?  Are there others that you know of?  Surprising to me that there aren't more or if there is, how hard they are to find.  Would appreciate your help.

 

 

I finished Robina with linen and thread color changes and used the brighter red.  Robina at 13 was playful and colorful, and me at 64 is dull and drab.  I thought it was time for a little fun.  The colors will look great on my lighter paint hanging from a knob.  Hope to finish her in a few days.  When I see it, it will remind me to have fun and be a little more colorful.  The only way I am currently, is with my language.

Thanks for visiting.

 

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ROBINA!!!!

 

Picture Brando yelling that name.  She's a winner this darling little sampler.  I started her on a dark sage green and naturally had to change most of the threads to something lighter.  My dilemma right now - do I use 816 or 355? 

 

I'll get to the winners in a moment, but I want to show you the setup I use for stitching outside.  This holds everything I need so I leave the Magma and move it all to a magnetic board.  I have the plastic stand for it but also use an old cookbook stand when I can't find the other.  Like now.

I use a magnetic clip to hold the scissors and insert a very large hoop between it's claws to hold the floss bags.  It clamps securely to the board.

I made a little heavy denim pouch for the glasses and it's held on with strong magnets inside.

And now....I had to use Random!  I had no idea there would be that many entries.  Thanks to all that participated. So. 

 

The linen goes to Amanda.  Please contact me because your email is not listed and you're no reply.

 

The Nash chart goes to Joan who I will email shortly.  Joan's comment isn't forwarded to my email because she's Yahoo, but I went through all the comments and matched them to my forwarded comments to make sure no one was left out.  Good thing huh Joan???

 

That's it.  Hope you're all having a great weekend.

 

Robina and I will return in a few days.

 

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Sit out back with me

 

After disassembling the swings and chairs, 2 coats of oil base, days to dry, reassembling, we're done.

 

 

Both larger swings

 

the chairs
 

 

my large copper kettle
 

the barrels are overflowing

Instead of purchasing new swing chain sets for $25 every few years because of rust, we decided to spend $59 for the stainless.  Oh my what nice chains.  They look like they may even be chrome plated over the stainless because they are really shiny, but heavier than our standard ones and will last forever.  She said to wipe them down with a rag sprayed with WD-40 to clean them when needed. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have three Pink Diamond hydrangea trees and if you want to attract bees, plant a few!  They are loaded with hundreds of them every day for weeks. 

 All types, fuzzy butts, striped, plain, honey bees, and even the monster carpenter bees.  Easy to spot because of their size and shiny butts, unlike the hairy ones of the bumblebees.  Bumblebees live in the ground, carpenters drill a perfect hole in your house and live in the wood.  We had a colony of the bumbles under our brick patio years ago, never saw them again. 

 

 

It will be very warm for a few days, this middle of August, closing out summer, and I want to sit out and just take it in.  My little sampler charts came and I may pull supplies for Robina.  Sally is too cumbersome for outside.

 

Enjoy your weekend!!

 

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