October Skies

 

The last days of September have quickly passed to days of mid-October.

This Robin (and this one as well) has apparently fed well and fattened up for the cold of winter ahead...but, also, like this Robin, seems hesitant to trade one season for another.

The blue is giving over to grey my friend...

The little gathering of hookers at the lake I mentioned in my last post was only a few short days but treasured ones.

{Bald eagle in the sky above}

We ate well, shopped well, slept (mostly) well, laughed well, and, well, some of us hooked well.

Some of us did not.

I was also able to confirm that one very large project could, indeed, finally be crossed off my list. (The "project" was rebuilding the rotted exterior chimney wall, adding window trim and header board, and painting both house and garage.)

The trees seemed confused. Some had lost all their leaves, some were only beginning to change, and some were brilliant.

And some were in full-on spooky mode.

Back in Nod, the trees seem equally out of sorts.

Some have been half-naked for weeks already.

Others are saving their dance cards for other winds (of which we have had plenty the past several days).

The weather has also been untethered - the days caught between seasons and the clouds wandering without conviction. We had several days of gorgeous summer-like temperatures: highs in the low (low) 80's and nights staying in the upper 50's/60's, then a day and night of endless rain, and then a hard, hard, freeze.

  My DIL, the girls and I managed to get in a trip to the apple orchard/pumpkin patch once I got back from the lake. 

It hadn't yet gotten as warm as the following days would get, but it was still perfect.

After the outing, Little Mia requested an impromptu sleepover at Gigi's and we played poolside in our jammies the following morning.

(That water was some kind of cold.)

As for other "stuff" that some people (not calling anyone out but you know who you are MD), expect to see on my blog, handworks remain sadly stalled.

Both my stitching and hooking mojo are still apparently on an extended walkabout (or scamping about with Betty's.)

Until such time, if ever, (as the good ol' Wizard of Oz would say), as either decide to return home, I'm trying to slowly focus on fully/finally finishing a few long-ago completed projects.

This one is "Salem Village" from Lori Brechlin at Notforgotten Farm.

I finished stitching this piece 6-ish years ago but had truly wanted to have it framed in one of the frames that Lori's husband, Peter, had made for the display model. That wasn't possible so I finally just had it framed in a conventional frame.

This piece will eventually take up residence in a guest bedroom (my son's old room) that has become home to my "Salem" treasures.  

As many/most of you know, my great grandmother, 7x removed, Mary Easty (alternatively spelled "Esty" or "Eastey"), was hanged for witchcraft during the Salem witchcraft trials. Many may not know that, at the time, there were actually two "Salems:" Salem "Town" and Salem "Village."  Salem "Town" was a bustling, commercial/merchant port center and is what people now think of as "Salem." Salem "Village" was a small, rural/agrarian farming hamlet about 5 miles inland from Salem Town and was where my grandmother was from. 50+ years after the trials, Salem "Village" was renamed to "Danvers."

(Can't blame them.)

(For those who might wonder, the date on this sample, 1638, refers to the date that Salem (Town) formally granted a group of settlers the right to establish the inland village that would become Salem Village and, much later, Danvers.)

And, because nobody's happy if Mummy D ain't happy, and she's told us she's tired of nature photos and such, here's my progress (term used VERY loosely...since this piece was actually started almost (maybe even over?) a year ago) on my hooking:

{There really are darker rib "lines" in the bottom pumpkin...the photo is very washed out, and the colors are a bit off too. I stopped hooking and photographing after realizing the stem on the bottom pumpkin looks like a wonky crown on the top crow's head. The struggle is real.} 

It is called "Crows and Pumpkins" (clever name, no?) and it is a design by Joanne Page of Wooly Worms Rugs.

The best thing about it? That blue background! I had initially chosen a wonderful piece of old paisley for the background but, while beautiful, the blue was too bold and magnetic. So, Cathy (Red Barn Rugs) showed me this piece of wool she had recently dyed to mimic the endless sky/moon photos I take.

She called it "October Sky."

Perfect kismet.

Speaking of October skies, this was last night's quarter moon:

Wishing you all a week filled with full moons, enchantment, wonder...and good kismet.