The Lights of Lake Nokomis, The Mermaid of Salem Bay & the Tales of Two Whales

Why is it that the moon always seems impossibly large over a body of water?

Well, at least it does to me.

The last photo was taken at around 10 pm....yet the light from that moon lit up the entire sky.

I have a love affair with the moon.

Mermaids, not so much.

But this little wench is finally done (well, except for the framing).

"The Salem of Mermaid Bay" by The Primitive Hare

"Optional" beading was charted, and I debated, but finally added them.  They aren't showing up well in the photos, but I really kind of like them....they remind me of water droplets .

The floss colors still aren't what I thought they would be, but maybe they will grow on me.

I wonder how long I will overthink the framing.

Moving on to the whales.

I mentioned (in a comment? in a prior post? who knows? who cares?) that I was debating a whale of a new hooking project... Well, I took the plunge... and it is a "whale" project in every sense of the word "whale."

It is whale-ishly large...for me anyways...measuring 24" x 55."  I am, therefore, opting to do it in a large...for me anyways...cut (9.5) of which, truth be told, I am not particularly fond. But hey...it means the hooking will go all the faster. (Ha!)

I opted for a dark, dark, blue background...which reads black in most lights.  So, as soon as I am done over-thinking the framing of the sea wench, I will move on to over-thinking my color choices here.

As I must have been on a whale kick, I finally finished up this little needlebook from Stacy Nash's Nantucket Sewing Set:

The inside:

The finishing of this piece is not something I will jump on to repeat unless I find a better way.

Oye!

Well, that's all the fishy tails tales I have for you today.

I have some serious over-thinking to get back to.

Be well and safe.

Woolgathering.....

woolgathering: n. indulgence in aimless thought...

Emphasis on "aimless" in my case.

I have been meaning to put together a blog post for several days now, but the endless chatter in my head that usually provides more than enough fodder for ideas suddenly got very quiet.

So, today you get a bunch of woolgathering...as in aimless thoughts LOL.  (Sorry to disappoint you hookers and wool hoarders....I bet you thought this was going to be about gathering wool.)

😉

So, shall we get started?

Aimless Thought No. 1:  Yesterday, Saundra of Woodland Junction invited hookers to share the rug or mat of which they are most proud. As usual these days, I wasn't paying proper attention because "most proud of" morphed into "favorite" in my cluttered brain.  I commented that my favorite rug was the one I haven't hooked yet and meant that in the generic: i.e., not referring to a specific rug I plan to hook, just one of those "yet to be hooked."

In any event, I told Saundra that one did surface in my thoughts as a favorite and that I would dig it out.  Well, a promise is a promise.  Here you are Saundra:

{"Quilted Cats" design by Pat Cross}

As I said, I am not sure I am most "proud" of this rug...there is no special meaning about it, no fancy or challenging hooking involved, but it is one of my favorites that I have hooked.  It is one of the largest rugs that I've hooked and I had fun hooking it....and best yet, I still love to look at it.

It looks like it is curling because it is hung right now from a quilt hanger which does not sit flush against the wall....and it had been rolled up and stored away until I set myself up with my comment on Saundra's blog LOL.

Next up in the way of woolgathering...Aimless Thought No. 2:  My daffies:

They...and jonquils...were always my father's favorite flowers and I think of him every time I see them.  (Did you know that while all jonquils are daffodils, not all daffodils are jonquils?? Sorry....more woolgathering....) 

Anyways, as Lauren mentioned, the blooms were prolific this year.

I snapped this photo yesterday evening before it started to snow....again.

Another definition of "woolgathering" is absentmindedness. And I have a Robin who has been doing a HECK of a lot of woolgathering this spring.

Aimless Thought No. 3:  When I came back from the lake a few weeks ago, she had started 3 separate nests under the porch eaves of our house, each about a foot and a half away from the other. 

She was going crazy trying to finish all 3 nests....especially since she was skid-ish about her construction efforts whenever anyone was in the living room (which looks out on the porch).  And by "crazy" I mean CRAZY.  When she wasn't working on her 3 nests, she was trying to get in the house....any way she could.  Front door window, back patio door, laundry room window....all 3 are completely marked up with her relentless efforts.

(White marks she made on the front door glass....I had just washed it that afternoon.)

Well, one of the poundings must have knocked at least some sense into her and she finally decided to combine the 3 half-started nests into one.

Then...abandoned it in favor of a new one on this ladder by the garage.

Hello??? And, yes...it IS the same Robin. Remember....I have a LOT of time on my hands....

I have never been so embarrassed by one of my namesakes in my life.

Well, this could go on forever....there are a great many "aimless thoughts" in this head of mine.  So, I better wrap it up....

Aimless Thought No. 4:   Happy Mother's Day...to all women: those with children young or grown, those who have lost children, those who are mothers to four-legged, feathered, or scaled children, those who have had no children, but have or had a mother.  I am sure I am forgetting someone, but that is all a part of woolgathering I suppose.

My mother as a young girl

Oh...and one more aimless thought:

I actually "gathered some wool"...and yarn.  The latter to bind my Gillford runner and the former for one of those rugs I have yet to hook.

😉