Ohio Treasure Sampler x 3

Threadwork Primitives Ohio Treasure Worke #4

From the designer's blog HERE .......
on Havana linen

From Sharon at Moosecraft ......
on R&R Café Kona linen

 

From me on dark brown dyed at home.....

 

 

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It's all over but the border

 which I will put off as long as I can.

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Snark and you shall receive

Blogging buds are wonderful generous people.  I thought Release the Snark would be great on a t-shirt, never imagined it could be so cool on the wrist.  Thank you Lauren.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because of my fat wrists that match my fat ankles, I added the leather band to make it fit.  Breaking that wrist a few years ago and then spraining both ankles certainly made them worse.  But my family's Polish women are the real culprits.

 

Haven't decided if the leather will stay, or to add a short piece of sterling chain with a clasp.  Decisions decisions.  Either way, LOVE it! 

 

Bud was whining about it being hot again today and stayed in the shade under the wagon.

Went to New Wilmington to talk to the lumber yard that supplies many of the Amish, they can get cedar in random lengths, not all short pieces.   I almost fell off the stool when I heard the cost.  Without labor.  Without painting.  I will see who shows up from the names they gave us and hear their suggestions.

Have a good one!

 

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Beside myself, besiding myself

Non-stitching post, something that has bugged me for a few years.

Crunch time.  Fall is here and contractors take months to show up.  What should I do? 

Replacing the siding with cedar would cost a fortune and after checking sources, found that it comes in 6 foot length bundles with 3 and 4 foot pieces.  No.  Unacceptable.  What are our choices?   Trying to replace the bad with good ones from elsewhere on the house, would be very time consuming.  Sanding each lap smooth, caulking cracks, priming and painting would be also, but the cedar would be saved.  Would anyone do it?  No.  Not one contractor or painter is interested. 

I love the look of our weathered house, but I don't think we have a choice but to replace with cement board laps, and paint.  The entire back (facing north) is fine and it only needs stained or painted.  The east and south facing sides have some good boards, but most are alligatored, dry and brittle, and paint would be sucked in creating a mottled blotchy house.  Not to mention that the warped and brittle laps would still be there.  I can remove that crackled wood between the grain lines with my nail so how long would paint last anyway.

 

I need expert advice, not the contractor's easiest solution.  Wish me luck.  It's something I've put off for a long time.  The Andersen windows need replaced too.  They were Terratone which faded in the sun to pink, were painted, and now are warped with delaminated vinyl. 

 

This was taken two years ago and from the street, it looks like a weathered house. 

 

But seeing it closer, it's terrible.  I considered using the good boards from that middle section (replacing them with stone) but again, no one will attempt it.  If they don't want to do it, I wouldn't trust them to be careful enough to not break the laps during the process. 

 

By the end of this week, I will have a decision made (come hell or hot flash) and will stick to it until I find a restoration company or a conscientious contractor.  Vinyl is the only material these workers have installed.  Many Amish around here but which one?  They install wood siding on their homes but without phones or ads, how do we know who to trust?  How do we contact them for estimates?  And how do we keep in touch for work status?  We stopped at a flooring shop in Volant and placed our order for the wood, never heard from them, drove out to talk to them and no one was ever in the shop, can't leave a note for them to call because there are no phones!  After several months we got the wood through a lumber mill.

 

You know I'm not good at all with decision making, and not only is this a big one, my preferred solution to replace with cedar laps is not an option.

 

Sampler is almost finished except for the #*%* border.  I hate stitching borders.

 

Have a good week.

Thanks for visiting.

 

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Leaning left

Hiya folks.  It's September isn't it.  You have no idea how crabby I am.

 

In fact, for the last batch of peppers we canned yesterday, I refused to put that month on the lid, chose to stay in August.  Mark took my pen and did the last three properly but what's proper for him isn't proper for me.

 

Does anyone end up sideways when intently stitching?  I find myself leaning so far left I am almost lying on the sofa.  The more I struggle to see an error or the longer I sit and stitch, my body tilts to a 45.  Weird.  Get up!  So here's where I am on the sampler, and when I manipulated the photo to place red where the ABC will go, I think it's the right choice.  The bottom bird will be red also and I wanted it on the left to balance because I am, well.... you know.  That word we don't like to use. 

 

Having two brights on one side and two lights on the other didn't appeal to my idiocy either.  The dark brown was the color I planned to stitch originally and seeing it in this photo, there would have been more frogging.  Using this photo trick is a great help to me.

 

This is Threadwork Primitives' Worke #4

Ohio Treasure Sampler.

 

I should have a piece of this linen left, enough for a small Santa, but I will also try to recreate the color.  Unless I use the same linen to start with, it doesn't dye the same so I don't make notes of the formula.  Most dyebaths are kept in jars in the basement and I stick a piece of fabric in and shake, easier than starting another mess.

 

  

 

The flowers are drying and fading, the boys are sticking around more, the evening light is shorter.  How did it fly by so quickly?  My procrastination notebook I vowed to follow (and have not been able to find since I created it) has not had one project checked off and summer has passed.

My ferns are enormous and have created a cozy area. When they are gone, it will take a while to get used to the openness.

 

The brats are all medicated and hopefully flea free.  Next is the worm pill for the two killers, Missy and Nit.  My brother came over to give the pill the last time, and he had not one scratch.  These cats run from people so it was amazing to watch.  He is feeding another groundhog family, by hand, and the neighbor calls him Noah on land.  She hates animals of any type and has traps everywhere.  When your backyard adjoins a very large wooded area, you see critters.  Go live in a field.

 

I hope you are enjoying this long weekend.  Stay safe.   Thanks for visiting.

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Those little bastardos

AUGH!!!  Such a little item and if it wasn't me tripping and having them fly off the plywood, or sudden rain drops while out back, or a stupid swarm of tiny bugs, or floating cat hair, there was always something messing up or sticking to the little bastards while I was spraying the final sealer.  Use a thinner to smooth the finish, lift the paint, ruin the label, sand it down, start all over!  I will never make these again.  But don't quote me.  Today is the last day I am wasting, and I mean wasting, on them.  For the hours put in they should be $40!  Haven't decided for sure on price but it will certainly be under $10.  This has put a real damper on continuing with the boxes too.

 

I do have progress to show on the sampler.  Starting on the birds and bottom motifs now, holding off on the eyelet ABC (after the last z) until I see the entire piece.  Maybe those three large letters in red would be perfect, maybe not.  I'm not following the chart's color placement and decided to use only three neutrals in the center area so as not to compete with the bright birds in the bottom.  Once the bottom is completed the sampler will tell me which color will work best.  I've had quite enough of stitch removal these last weeks. 

 

 

It's September, it's cooled off, I'm crabby as hell.  Hope to be done with canning by tomorrow so I can put that behind me also.  Someone gave us a jar of hot pepper rings last year and we loved the recipe so asked if she would mind sharing.  Not at all, her sister in law's friend's mother's neighbor's daughter's boyfriend gave it to her.  God bless her for being able to remember the source.  I would have said..... uh..... I can't remember where I got it.  So we spent a day cutting and seeding a half bushel of hot peppers and immersing overnight in the brine, as directed.  Good grief you never saw such twisted faces after testing a pepper.  We had to throw them all out.  Yes, that's the way things have been going.  Frustrating but that's life.  One good thing - I picked up Nitzy, set him on the swing, and the entire vial of flea med was used before my blood was drawn.  He was a good boy.

 

Hoping your September is a good month.

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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