And now a word from a walking glue stick

  I'm sure you are tired of seeing every little area of this small design's choices but I don't care.  I need your help, I've used your suggestions, and I'm dragging you down with me.  At least you can click to another page.  It's not that I am disliking this stitch, it's just very different for me.  When I change colors on a sampler the effect is minuscule because letters of different colors are common, sometimes clashing, not noticeable if changed.  But changing an entire design where one wrong color could throw the work off, is more involved.   I don't like involved.  This would be great on dark brown linen, more so than this blue.  Just my opinion.  But I'm told often that I am always right.

 

For the roof, most dark grays were very close to this blue/gray linen, so black it was.  Too stark, so I switched to one strand of floss and here is the difference.  Left is two, right is one.  Just enough to soften it.  Original design called for 844 on the roof and the bird in black, and since I saw no other color that was acceptable for the bird, I stuck with black using two strands.  Subtle difference from the roof, but it's good.  Fox - 300 or 400?  Brighter or toned?  I'm sure I won't know until those colors are stitched into the piece. 
Stopped in Volant today.  In James Creek, which has changed a bit, I met the new gal named Judy for the first time.  Usually, the owner is present but not today.  Great personality, we talked quite a bit.  Anyway, they have lots of colonial style fabrics that I can order for the upholsterer.  Good to know.  I also stopped to see Wendy two shops down who used to take care of James Creek for many years. 

Found this little wooden container at Cottage House Antiques. 

 Continued on to the outlets in Grove City, got nothing, and then stopped at another Amish greenhouse finding this 6" hanging basket of tiny burgundy with new growth green leaves.  Looks like a sedum but it's not, she said to bring it inside before frost as a houseplant.  Sweet little ball of ......  this.  I got two, on sale for $4 each (can't pass up a bargain) and will give them to Carole.

It was hot and humid, I was flashing all day, and the greenhouse heat sent me into a fast talking frizzy haired Velma Velcro, Emma Elmer, Mary Modge Podge, Patti Paste, sticking to the world like white on rice.  Pink on a pig.  Fat on my ass.  Sauce on my pasta.  Cat hair on chairs.  Did you know that wiping upholstery with a latex glove will pull up most all of the pet hair?  Does anyone remember the commercials for the Playtex Living Glove?  I never understood the Living part.  

But don't touch her with that glove!  All that food, flea relief, cozy bedding, and I still get that look from this pint sized pain in the petunia.

 

Have a good day.

Thanks for stopping by.
 

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Moving on

Hello people.  I hope everyone had a lovely weekend.  We were talking about family and WWII and after checking online about Mark's uncle, who has an Army Reserve Center bearing his name, we found that he was awarded the second highest honor, the Distinguished Service Cross.  Why didn't we know this?  And where is the medal?  There is no one remaining from Mark's family and we have some paperwork, but no medal.  Needless to say, we are pretty upset, but not surprised at anything that his stepmonsters may have done.

 

 We've been enjoying very warm and sunny days.  The garden is in, the Enforcer is working, the flowers are in permanent positions.

 

Still playing with color on the PS project.  Since I love the grape colors, what am I doing?  Well, the project was lying on the bench and as I glanced at it, the grapes were just a blob of color, not defined.  On the light fabric, the grapes are obvious and very defined, but dark on dark doesn't allow that.

 

So I tried lighter thread, again, which did define the grape clusters a little more.  The darker grapes are somewhat lighter and brighter than shown in this poorly lit photo.  Now I have to decide if I prefer the rich color or the definition.  Moving on to stitch the roof seems logical.  That darkness in the center may make a difference in the look and change the way I see it.  I wonder how many tries before I get that one right.

I rearranged the pantry over the weekend.  We now have, in order,

Friskies Surf 'n Turf
Fancy Feast Filet Mignon
Fancy Feast Chicken & Turkey
Whiskas Meaty Selections
Cat Chow Complete
Meow Mix Seafood
Extra Surf 'n Turf

As for the wet food, which I needed every evening to lure them into the garage, they expect it now.  But they LOVE it only one time and then all the other cans are donated.  The ones they seem to prefer are all chunky with gravy, but they refuse to eat chunks so I finely chop until my arm is numb.  There is a very small food chopper at Walmart that I will purchase just for turning those damn chunks into paté.  With all the cats I know, have interviewed, had for dinner, are living with relatives, none like the bits, chunks, flakes, shreds.  Yet Missy enjoys the non-paté chipmunk head while Nitzy chomps on blue-jay skulls.  Stupid cats.

 

Have a good one.

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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The grapes of my wrath

Hello folks.  How's your weekend going?  Are you stitching, cooking, relaxing, gardening, or all of them?  I made spinach garlic soup.  Lower calories than a green smoothie (which I hate), good for you, and mighty tasty.  Caught a glimpse of myself from the side in a store window reflection and just about tripped over my Crocs.  Do you make a commitment to lose weight and procrastinate the start date?  For months?  I have to do something, nothing fits, and I carry my weight in one area, not evenly distributed.  Hence the soup.  I modified and simplified the one on my recipe page. 

 

After many MANY purples, magentas, violets, reds, and mauves stitched and removed for the grapes, I gave it one more try.  Sometimes when I'm frustrated things fall into place.  It did.  I love these two shades together, 3802 and 3726.  Quite dark for this fabric but still very visible. 

 I've been asked about the leaf colors and can't answer most because of the no-reply, the darker shade is 3012 and the brighter is 734.  But.  I am going to stitch the next few with 733 instead, very similar but a little more toned down, just to see if it's better.  The more leaves I stitch, the more I question that color because I think the pop may be too poppy.  It's perfect under my lamp lighting but quite striking in natural light.  Once the dark roof is on, I think it will be fine.

 

Have a safe holiday.

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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The flower finish

I was a good girl and only bought one vine and one hanging basket the other day.  But I was a bad girl when I changed everything.  I decided on just the pink and yellow supertunias in the barrels which is what was planted several days ago.  But the Royal Velvet purples looked so sad by themselves.  Besides, the four barrel plants had already spread to cover the top which tells me that three would give them more room.  The second (new to me) stop was a shop that had tons of orange petunias and unique combo baskets.  ORANGE!  Fabulous soft and glowing orange.  Hadn't seen offers elsewhere that were so unique.  Too late.  Now my pink looks so ordinary!

So I removed one yellow and one pink, added the Velvet.  Hanging baskets are Vista Bubble Gum, barrels and tubs are Bubble Gum, Limoncello, and Royal Velvet.   If they grow as crazy as they did last year, the pots will be covered in no time.  I will use my weak fertilizer with each watering as I always do.  The yellow Wave petunias are just in small tubs here and there.  Even though the soft orange made me whimper a little, I am happy with this combination.  And since all the large displays are the same, it doesn't look as distracting as last year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I played around more with the sacks, mainly because I am such a nerd.  This one even though aged, stood out way too much on the dark house and door.  If I had a red door ..... fabulous.  But I don't.

 

 

 

 

 

This flag is nylon, perfect for outdoors, dark colors and aging, 8" x 11" on a dowel for only $1 at Pat Catan's.  Wouldn't this look nice with green vines and twigs?  I used hot glue to hold the edges and it may end up on the inside of the door.  Good place for gloves in the winter.  Winter.  Why the hell would I even mention it?

 

Enjoy the holiday weekend.  It's a sad holiday for me, not a good time picnic.  I can't help picturing the gravestones of so many laid to rest here and abroad. Any death and injury from war is heart breaking, but my sadness is more so for WWII victims.  Can't explain it, maybe because of the men I have known from that generation.  I read about the horrific video of Marines beating a sheep to death with a baseball bat a few years ago and the prior video of throwing a puppy off a cliff.  It doesn't matter the circumstances, there is no excuse for the compassionless cruelty and laughter.  Our military should NOT be based on these viral videos because they are not a representation of our dedicated guardians.  The comments left are so full of vile hatred yet they point their fingers and attack anyone who disagrees with them.  They don't see the hate in themselves.  I'm beginning to hate Facebook because of this.

This is what my local paper does every year;  lists the names of the veterans who passed away in the last 12 months from my county alone.  So sad to see that group of veterans dwindling to only a few.  The first three columns are WWII, the last two are Korea.

 

Remember them along with all who served and sacrificed this Memorial Day.

 

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One way or another

I'm having a sack on my door.

 

I'm hooked.  All I did was cut cheap mounting board to fit the inside so it holds its shape, pinned the front to the back to keep it closed.  I could attach the flag to the front as I did the other.  Now I will get another natural canvas bag and stamp or stencil with aging.  The light canvas needs something on it, the denim looks fine plain.  No weight or bulk from the plants, and I can stick a few twigs or silk vines inside.  If I want it puffed a little, plastic grocery bags will do the trick. I have yards of really heavy canvas from JoAnn's that I was planning to sew into sacks and Patti was going to stamp and age.  She's been gone a year already.

 

Here's progress on the PS.  Loving the colors.  The roof will probably be one strand of 310 with 844.  Haven't decided if I will follow the chart on the windows but if I do, they will be a pale yellow as if the lights were on.  If I don't, I will chose a color to outline the panes instead.  That will be last.  Right now I need to choose the grape colors and don't want too bright, too dark, too strong. 

 

It's hot.  Finally!  But with each passing year, I seem to have an internal gauge that gets higher.  Never bothered me before and I enjoyed the heat.  It is only mid 80's and my body is Velcro.  Sticky enough that the bathroom coffee dash needs to be anticipated to give me an extra minute to peel off these pants.  It's not sweat, it's glue.  I have Elmer's seeping from my pores.  I need to start using a body powder again.  But when Elmer's hits it, I may turn a milky shade of Modge Podge.  Very loose men's cotton t's are all I am comfortable in (they hide a lot too), otherwise, the blouses/tops stick to me.  But it's summer and I will put up with it. 

 

I'm not the only one that has gained weight.  Right Budman? And just like me, he hates exercise.

Have a wonderful weekend!

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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Flower power

Simple simple.  Didn't I say that? No more hanging baskets or flowers.  ......  Going back to the Amish tomorrow for just a few little items but why make that trip?  To save a few dollars?  Or am I a compulsive flower buyer and secretly plan on more?  While getting a few more tomato plants today, I was behind a woman that had three huge hanging baskets of minitunias, one hot pink one yellow one purple.  That did it.  I so hope I calm down and don't buy any more but I think flowers have the power over me.

 

I added a flag to the sack and like it.  I think it will sit on a little table by the swing since it won't take up much room.  Love the Creeping Jenny color.

 

I've had this wicker fern stand for 40 years and it's very sturdy.  I am sorry that I sprayed it cream and didn't leave it natural.  Way too much work to remove it.  It's been in the attic for 30 years and thought it might work well for one of the ferns.

 

For some reason, it looks very odd to me.  The fern is too large?  Too tall?  When the fronds grow out they will cover the pot area and look better?   It reminds me of myself 40 years ago, when I was a skinny 125# at 5'10" with long wild hair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The stand is over three foot tall and perfect in that shady spot but .... this just looks wrong!  My first year with ferns and maybe it looks as it should, just quite different from my usual.  Is it just me?

 

I've removed those freaking leaves on the PS several times because of being off a stitch.  Not a big deal on a sampler but you can tell if the edge of the design isn't straight on this piece.  What began as 32 count is now 35 after all the dyeing.  Whether you call it shrinkage or the linen just contracts and can be stretched out with an iron, I don't know.  Too late to press and stretch but I am getting 17/18 stitches to an inch and having a difficult time on this darkness.  But I think it's going to be great.

 

Have a great hump day. 

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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