Back in the Land of Nod

{The sweetest little collage picture was a perfect gift from Lauren (Rugs and Pugs)}

It's the 20th of July and I feel as though I've been gone - or preparing to be gone or unpacking from being gone - for most of those 20 days.

I spent some time at the lake over the 4th of July holiday.

The days were mostly temperate, but the lake was unsettled and moody.

A few days later, I left for my (now annual?) trip to Country Sampler in Spring Green. 

The skies were hazy from the Canadian wildfires but the rich colors of the fields and 

hills were vibrant and entrancing all the same.

For those of you for whom the names are unfamiliar, Country Sampler is a destination quilting/stitching shop in Spring Green - a village in southwestern Wisconsin. Although small (1,500-people small),

Spring Green may be recognizable to some as the home of the estate and 800-acre sanctuary of Frank Lloyd Wright, Taliesin.

And Taliesin has a famous (and infamous) history all its own.

While "reincarnated" several times, and steeped in history of many sorts, Taliesin's most unfortunate claim to fame is being the site of the tragic murder of 7 people, including Wright's then-partner, Mamah Borthwick Cheney, and her 2 children in 1914.

A disgruntled servant, Julian Carlton, set fire to the living quarters while Wright was away on business and bludgeoned those who attempted to flee with an axe.

While there has been speculation about the reasons for the attack, no motive has been definitively established.

So much unrest in such peaceful surroundings.

But, as usual, I digress.

The purpose of the trip was stitching...and shopping.

I spent a few days with my sister-in-law and her friends, staying in the rooms above Country Sampler.

For my stitchy pals, here are a few snaps of some of the design models that caught my eye:

{Love the Fraktur folksiness of this one! It is "Fraktur Friends" by Shakespeare's Peddler}

{Another Shakespeare's Peddler design: "Mary Bate 1796." This was just beautiful, and I loved the verse. Hopefully you can enlarge to read it?}
 

{"Christmas in July" by Plum Street Samplers - top half of pattern only.}

{"Sesquicentennial Alphabet in Blue - 1874" by Thread Milk Design. This pattern may have come home with me. 😉}

Personally, I, of course, got little accomplished stitch-wise. Nothing to really show there. But I did finish the stitching on this before leaving:

"My Country" by La-D-Da.

I'm working on one more small patriotic piece while I mull over finishing options for both, then I think it will be time to move on to a different topic for a while.

All in all, I've decided I'm much better at shopping than stitching.

I hope all has been well in your corners of the world.

Happy Birthday Americal!

 

249 looks good on you!

{"Parade Sam" by Notforgotten Farm}

Sodden, Soaked, and Saturated

 

{View out my kitchen window}

I guess there has been a lot of this going around, but YIKES!

Enough already!!

I generally love dark, rainy, days but this weather we've been having is more than enough even for a sort like me.

It has rained every day this past week save one, and the past few days it has been over an inch each day.  While the forecast changes as quickly as you can refresh your screen, it looks like rain almost every day next week as well. 

And cold...very cold. "High" temps are in the low 50's - and yesterday, the "feel-like" temp was in the mid-40's. 

Inconvenient for the likes of me, but I feel so badly for the farmers. They cannot get into the fields and the ones they did manage to sow before the monsoons hit are standing in water.

Being unable to do any of things needing done outdoors and tired of my indoor chores, I thought I'd slip in a quick post to wish you state-siders Happy Flag Day!

This design is "Grand Olde Flag" by Brenda Gervais of With Thy Needle & Thread.

I stitched this over 2 years ago already, but it took me a while to get it fully and finally finished since I could not decide whether I should frame it, stuff it, hem it, or chuck it. 

It ended up as a flatfold and I'm ok with that.

I also want to acknowledge Father's Day tomorrow. I don't believe I have many fathers reading my blog; and I know many of my followers are of a somewhat "like" age and have lost your fathers...many, like me as well, way too soon.

I was only 15 when my father died but I still remember him well.

So, the day may be bittersweet but, if you can, reach back and grab a good memory - and hold on tight to it.

Grace and Sovereignty

Grace and Sovereignty...

Sounds like a pretty deep and ponderous post, yeah?

Well, it's not..

"Grace" is Grace Bridges, a piece I stitched some time ago, but she is finally framed and home. (Not on the wall yet...give me a few years.)

The design is by Stacy Nash and was stitched on 40-Count "Boardwalk" linen by Colour and Cotton, using the mostly called-for DMC flosses.  Many liberties were taken with the original design to accommodate my OCD.

(Marly (Samplers and Santas) would be so very proud.)

If the frame looks vaguely familiar, it is. 

This was the second piece I took to a local artist for framing, the first being Noel Sampler by With Thy Needle and Thread.

(Did I share the framed finish of that or not? I can't seem to find it in older posts. In any event, here it is:)

As you can see, they are the exactly same frame.

This was completely unintentional on both my and the framer's part.

If nothing else, I guess I am consistent.

(I prefer "consistent" to unimaginative.)

And Sovereignty...

Sovereignty is the horse that won this year's Kentucky Derby.

For many (many) years, our neighbors have hosted a Kentucky Derby party.

(I know I've posted about at least one of them before, but the posts don't show in the searches as I apparently wasn't using labels back then.)

It's been a few years since I've actually gone to one of the parties, but this year I broke hermitage and went.

Each year they do it up better.

There are mint juleps, horse betting (and other forms of gambling - scratch offs, pull tabs, bingo -all with a horsey theme), and an amazing spread of food.

This year, the track was a muddy mess, and I was grateful none of the horses were injured.

The horse, Journalism, was favored to win but (ironically??), Sovereignty beat out Journalism, and Baeza came in third. 

Although I've been a bit out of the derby loop for a while, I actually did well in the betting - winning the first place ("win") pool, the third place ("show") pool, and even the trifecta pool.

Yeeesss!!

Sometimes walking amongst the living isn't so very awful.

Happy Christmastide

Not only two posts within a week of each other, but three posts in a month.

Shocking, I know.

It is, however, Christmastide after all .... something that is rarely observed in recent decades and all but forgotten.

Recent generations rush to get Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving and, in many cases, rush to pack them up the day after Christmas.

But, in my world, Christmas Day is just the beginning...the beginning of Christmastide.

Christmastide (also known as Christide or Twelvetide) is the 12-day period beginning December 25th and ending January 5th.  (Start singing - in your head please - The Twelve Days of Christmas.) 

While it is, technically, a season of the liturgical year in most Christian churches, it was also, historically, a period of hospitality and celebration with Christmas Day being Day One.

There were religious services, yes, but it was also a secular matter as well with parties and feasts, gift-giving and general merry-making.

Perhaps due to my father's strong evangelical Lutheran background, our family followed the old ways growing up.

Our tree was not put up until Christmas Eve (or Christmas "Adam" - the day before Christmas Eve) and gifts were opened on Christmas Eve after the evening Christmas Eve service.

Christmas Day was a morning church service and then a more formal dinner.

And then...then the round robins began.

We would visit my great grandmother and great aunts on my father's side, then all the aunts and uncles on my mother's side, and a few close family friends - and they, in turn, would come to visit us. 

Each day saw a new visit or new visitors.

Those days are long gone, but I still think of Christmas as a season rather than a day and I (stubbornly) refuse to give in to the notion that Christmas is over and done with on the 25th. 

My decorations and lights will stay up for several weeks yet and, yes, on occasion, I will listen to Christmas music or indulge in a favorite Christmas movie.

I also continue with a few Christmas projects.

This year, I finally pinned and laced "Merry Olde Christmas," a design by Lori Brechlin of Notforgotten Farm which I stitched two years ago.

I finished it in this metal ornament frame because it was on hand.

Jury's still out on whether it will stay there but, for now, I'm calling it done.

I also stitched and finished a new seasonal insert for my hanging clock:

This is called "November Ornament" (I think?) and is a free design from Birgit Tolman of The Wishing Thorn.

I had wanted to do a Santa for it but haven't settled on a design that will work well with the dimensions of the clock case.

I also finished hooking my Stag rug - a pattern by Lori Rippey of Primitives by Lori.

It took me a ridiculous amount of time to finish hooking it, and I am not thrilled with my color plan/wool choices.  I suspect Mummy D. was expecting a photo of the completely finished rug but it has been commandeered by Liza Bean and has not even made it through the steaming process.

I also treated myself to a Christmas read.

This book was outside of my typical genres but a fellow blogger (who no longer blogs unfortunately) recommended it to me. 

Her recommendation turned out to be a beautiful gift.

Ms. Silva imaginatively recreates the inspiration behind Dickens' beloved A Christmas Carol.  Although fiction, Silva seems to channel Dickens himself and uncannily recreates 19th-century London and the streets Dickens perambulated during the six-week period of the writing of his famous tale. (Well, not that I would actually know what 19th-century London or the streets of London looked like but, in my head I think I do. 😉).

Whimsical and charming - and utterly believable...I definitely recommend for a heart-warming holiday read.

And, finally, for "Sissy"...because you asked.

I hope 2025 brings renewal, sees your hopes fulfilled, and makes your heart glad.

Diddling

 No... Not that kind of diddling.

I mean the aimless, unproductive, kind of diddling.

It's been almost a month since my last post, and it is only 10 days until Christmas and I... well, I am wholly and completely unprepared for it.

I've gotten a bit of decorating done. Not as much as I used to do by far, but definitely more than the past several years. Other than that, though, nothing much in the way of shopping, wrapping, baking, preparing.  😳

{Vintage Christmas ornaments on my mantel.  How I wish they were all vintage/antique Kugels but, alas, Lauren has all of those.}

Procrastination is a curse I am most familiar with.

I could post daily about things I have left undone.

Finding things I've done to post about takes a considerable bit more effort.

There are just so many squirrels to chase and rabbit holes waiting for me to fall into.

 So what have I been doing? 

Like I said, decorating. 

I haven't changed things up much so you've seen most everything before.  But I don't think I have posted these before.  

I got them last year on a (rare) antiquing jaunt with the hooker down the road.

Of course, when I first saw them, I immediately thought "Santa and Mrs. Claus!"

But actually, they aren't.

They are The Contented Man and The Old Woman of Capri.

Two vintage prints of works done by two different artists at two different times.

The Contented Man was painted by the Italian artist, Eduardo Forlenza (1864-1931).  The Old Woman of Capri was painted by Sydney Bell (1888 - 1964).

Prints of the paintings became popular as a pair, and they were commonly given as wedding/housewarming gift in the 1950's. (Hence, they are actually quite easy to find.)

My prints are in rough shape - and I paid far more for them than I should have - but I found them quirky and fun.

And I like quirky and fun.

As for the rabbit holes and squirrels, I've been making spun cotton candy canes.

Tedious, yes...but addicting.

...and kringles...

I haven't stitched at all as I've been having some hand issues, but I did get this little tuck finished...finally.

I think I finished stitching it 2 years ago...and just now have it completely done. 

Yikes.

{Love & Joy by Heartstring Samplery.  Stitched on 36ct "Tea Set" by Graham Cracker Fabrics.}

It has been a month of gloom here in Nod so true colors are difficult to catch in photos, but it is stitched in WDW Tarragon - a beautiful green and one of my favorites.

And, I have been wreath wrestling....

It is larger and heavier than it may appear in this photo and, no matter what type of hanging mechanism I've tried, it will not stay on my glass storm door (and I don't have any other place for it).

I cannot use the over the door hanger as my door has a "lip" at the top to open and close the glass and screen.

At this point it has lost so many greens, berries and pinecones I could probably   make another smaller wreath.

As of today:  Wreath 7; Crow 0.

So, as you can see, if one diddles, one ends up with diddly squat.

I have some rustic artisan carrot bread proofing that needs shaping, another rise, and baking, so the diddling continues.

I hope all is well with each of you. I know I owe a few of you a reply to messages. I promise I will get there....

Miscellany

Like the thoughts in my head of late, this post is just a random tangle of things.

My streak of bad luck seems to be continuing...and I'm not willing to believe it' this charming fellow's fault.

I'm still trying to get things back to working order from the lightning that struck the end of September.... The wells, pool system, backup generator, and septic pump have been repaired or replaced and I'm (slowly) adjusting to the new pc.  I'm having problems getting the lighting on garage working though. The contractor has been here three times but was successful in getting only one of the lights working.

For every issue resolved, however, it seems a new one (or two) presents itself.  The concrete sink in the master bath cracked and now leaks...and, on Thursday, the huge vanity mirror glass in my bathroom disconnected itself from the frame and started slipping down the wall.

I seriously think I'm beyond sage and Palo Santo...I need an exorcist.

I've not accomplished much in the handwork department.

I put my needle down for a bit and picked up my hook but don't have enough progress to properly share. (OK...actually, I'm too lazy to take it off the frame to photograph.)

I am trying to focus on getting some things fully finished (ha!) and did get Lucy Nowlen (a Pineberry Lane design) framed.

I initially thought I would go with a very simple, stark, frame...but changed my mind wholly and completely.

What can I say?

While I am NOT an early Christmas decorator (I still have remnants of Halloween up), I transformed some old peach crates into Santa crates and I am (for the most part) happy with them.

(I intended to do only one but the first one, below, I did upside down on the crate, so had to do another.)

I'm not certain what I will do with them but, hopefully, something will come to me.

The weather continues to be fairly mild here - although the nights are cold and days extremely windy it seems.  Tomorrow we are to have winds of 42+ mph.

I am not fond of the wind...it makes me uneasy and make me edgy (edgier??)

Some of the sunsets, though, have been spectacular. 

And since I haven't done one in a while, an episode of what I've been reading:

When you've read as much material as I have regarding the Salem Witch Trials, you can be more than a bit skeptical about yet another telling.  But this...this was a welcome surprise.

As many of you know, Rebecca was my great aunt (7x removed) and her sister, Mary Easty (also hanged as a witch), my grandmother (7x removed).

The book is based on Mr. Gagnon's primary source research (love me a book with footnotes) and while it addresses the myriads of events and circumstances leading to the perfect storm culminating in the trials that other researchers have brought to light, it is one of the few I've encountered that traces the history and biography of the Towne and Nurse families so thoroughly.

Obviously, this is not for everyone...but for anyone with an interest in this historical tragedy, or in legal history, law, and religion, this book is a definite must-read.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

That's all I've got....

Have a great new week ahead! 

{Oh...just a blogger note:  Like everyone else, every single commenter on my posts is now coming up as being from a "no-reply commenter" even though the commenter has their settings configured to allow replies. This means that I can no longer reply to comments personally/privately (when and if they miraculously find their way to my email).  I prefer individual/personal replies (rather than using the reply feature that appears on the actual comment list).  If I have your email, I have attempted replying that way but if I don't, I can't.  If you would care to receive a reply to your comments, please share with me your email and I will do my best to do so. (You can just click the "email me" link on my sidebar and I will keep a list for future reference so you do't have to repeatedly make it publicly available.)

I have received so many wonderful comments and I feel very neglectful when I cannot reply.}