Early Birds, Red Birds, Strawberries and Peaches....

Although I feel as though I am living inside a whirlwind, there is not much blog-worthy going on here in Nod.  I'm certain no one cares to read about tedious (and endless) paperwork, gravestone selections, appraisals, remodel snafus and delays, legal dilemmas, Rajah's ride in the dryer, or the Great Rabbit Invasion of Nod.

However, on the happy side of the road, I am planning my second annual trip to Country Sampler in Spring Green for an unnecessary stash-enhancement spree a stitching retreat (of sorts) this weekend and wanted to post before leaving as who knows when I will be back to sorts enough to post when I return.

So...onto Early Birds:

After almost a year of having completed the hooking on "Early Bird" (a design by Lori Brechlin of Notforgotten Farm), I finally got it bound.

The photo above is a bit dark, the one below a bit light...so imagine the colors somewhere in between. (The upper and lower background wool is actually a rich dark, blackish, brown, not black as it is showing.) I could not get one that was "just right" as it seems we've entered into the rainy season here.

The photo below shows the colors probably most accurately, although it is lying kittywampus across a chair:

And, red birds:

These cardinals have a nest out front.  Something about their faces make me think they look cranky, but they really are such playful, happy, things.

I've been in a baking/cooking slump.  It seems so depressing cooking/baking the way I am used to and used to do, when there's just me.  (Yes, I know...freeze smaller portions, etc....I do, but it's not the same and just doesn't seem worth the effort.)

Adding to my quandary, like in other aspects of my life I tend to get into ruts.  Sometimes it's salads, other times pasta, etc.  The fad of the week for me is strawberries.

Today's strawberry de jour is strawberry soup:

Although I'm not a particularly huge strawberry fan generally, there are times I could eat this by the gallons. This is one of those times.

Lastly, since I haven't done a book report/review in a while, for those few who are interested, here you go:

Go as a River by Shelley Read...

This is Ms. Read's debut novel and I have no idea what drew me to it, but I am glad I chose it.  The book was inspired by the true events surrounding the destruction of the small town of Iola, Colorado, by the intentional flooding of the Gunnison River.  The protagonist is a resident who struggles to run the (dysfunctional) family household following her mother's untimely death in a tragic accident.

It is a tale of love, prejudice, isolation, and resilience...and learning to go as a river - flowing and moving forward even when dammed.

...and peaches.  Yes, it's about peaches too.  😉🍑

I'm hoping all is well with all of you.

To those of you who faithfully visit and comment - and those who even only stop by on occasion - thank you. 

You make my world so very much brighter.

Ducks, Pigeons and Squirrels

Actually, I don't have a row. 

I don't even have any ducks.

I have squirrels....and they're EVERYWHERE.

It's been almost a month since my last post and I have little to show for it.

I start something with good intentions and then get distracted by something else.

I've done a little bit of stitching, and even littler hooking....

but way too much reading.

After an embarrassing amount of time, I finally got my Simple Santa mat bound.

It looks a bit off kilter in the photos as it is propped against the curved back of a rocking chair but I was having difficulties getting the lighting anywhere near right. (And there are two other rugs behind it whose bindings are showing. The binding on Santa is just the lighter colored wool.)

Even still, it looks washed out.

Anyways, it is a pattern by Therese Shick. 

And it's done.

Done is good.

I've not made much progress at all on my stag rug.

{Pattern by Homespun Prims by Lori}

In my defense, I ran out of some of the wool and just haven't made it down the lane to get more.  So it was put aside and I picked up my needle instead.

While I didn't make it down the lane, I did manage to leave the house and actually "fun-shopped" a while back.  On somewhat of a whim, I bought this chair-and-a-half. (There's a footstool too....)

Rajah most usually insists on sitting right next to me, whether I am hooking, reading or stitching.  Unfortunately, one or the other of us has gotten larger (it's him...really), and the fit has been tight in our old chair.  So, this solves the issue and he thinks it's the cat's pajamas.

I also finally found (part of) an old metal heart floor mat.  I've wanted one for a long time, but never found one.  So, I splurged.  

I haven't settled on exactly where it will be permanently displayed, but this works for now.

In other news, I have a new granddog.

This is Scout.  She is a 5-month old Siberian Husky/German Shepherd mix rescue.

Yes, she has one blue eye and one brown and one very wonky ear.

And, yes, that is Mia's Doc-a-Tot that she has claimed as her dogbed.

Sometimes I do a great deal of headshaking.

I am also continuing to work on remodeling the lake house.  Hopefully at least the main level will be habitable by the time the weather warms.

These days, decisions are either made on whim (i.e., chair-and-a-half) or (most usually) are laborious and over-thought.  No happy medium it seems.

Well, how's that for a scurry of squirrels??

It's not easy being me.

Oh, The Things That Can Be Hooked!

 Oh, the things that can be hooked...by 3 Marilyn's, 2 Mary's, a Kim, a Pat, a Cat and a Crow....

Well, by the Crow, not so much.

I was there for the food and entertainment.

Where's "there?"

"There" is "the farm"...

a/k/a "Red Barn Rugs"...

...You know, that place just down the lane here in Nod.

More specifically, a three-day hooking workshop hosted (hostessed?) by

Cathy (proprietress and mistress of the red barn at the farm) and

attended by some very talented hookers.

I have no clue how I ended up in this group.

Talk about over-achievers.

Yikes.

Let's start with the three Marilyns...

{A hooked rendition by ("Good"*) Marilyn of her grandson, Meisha.  Hooked in threads.  Ok, not really...but a 3-cut is pretty much the same IMO.}

{("Good") Marilyn's reindeer}

{("Bad"*) Marilyn's contemporary abstract...also hooked in threads.}

{("Bad") Marilyn's punch needle and hooked combination.}

{("Other"*) Marilyn's turkeys...her original design, of course.}

{Black Squirrels...another of "Other" Marilyn's originals.}

And moving on to the Mary's (ok...a Mary and a Mary Jo...but still.)

{Mary's "Pumpkin Runner" (with (awesome) creative liberties taken).}

{Mary Jo's "Turkey Tyme" (a Red Barn Rugs pattern).}

"The Kim:"

{Kim's "The Gleaners"...another Red Barn Rugs pattern.}

And "The Pat:"

{Pat's "Flower Power" red truck.}

And the Cat and the Crow?

Well, that amazing "Barn Owl" in the first photo is Cat's and her original Red Barn Rug design.

The Crow?

The Crow got nothing accomplished.

Like I said, I was there for the food and the entertainment....

Whether to partake of the entertainment or provide it is something I am still trying to figure out.  🤔

(*The "good," "bad," and "other" descriptors for the 3 Marilyn's was NOT my doing...they were designated as such long before I came into their lair.  But, they fit...oh, they fit.)

Ghosted

 

The word "ghost" is probably better known as a noun than a verb; but it is, in fact, a verb also.

                                                                        ghost /ɡōst/

Learn to pronounce

                                                verb past tense: ghosted; past participle: ghosted

1.  1.  act as ghostwriter of (a work). 

   "His memoirs were smoothly

   ghosted by a journalist."

2.  2.  glide smoothly and effortlessly. 

   "They ghosted up the river."

In relatively recent years, a more colloquial verb usage has also become popular:

      1.  the practice of suddenly ending all contact with a person without                             explanation, especially in a romantic relationship. "He was a victim of                     ghosting." 

         

      2.  the act of leaving a social event or engagement suddenly without saying                goodbye. "Ghosting might be the best option if we want to get home                      before midnight." (Also called French goodbye or Irish goodbye.) 

There are also some "specialty" usages of the word.... For example, painters/builders/etc. refer to inexplicable dark streaks on walls, carpets, ceilings, etc. as "ghosting."  It is also used to refer to the faint double image sometimes left in printing, or on television screens.

None of these definitions or usages, however, are the ones to which I am referring in this post.  I am referring to the intentional "fading" of certain stiches/areas of stitched and hooked pieces to make them appear old or more similar to the fading often found in antique textiles.

   {"Noel Sampler" by With Thy Needle & Thread}

Whether you choose to believe me or not, I intentionally "ghosted" several letters in the alphabet of this stitched samper so that they are barely visible in some cases.

Even though this is not an antique reproduction, I kind of like the ghosting effect.  Either that or I am too lazy to rip out all those "ghosty" letters and redo them...because this sampler is finally done...and done is better than perfection.  You decide.

This (ummm, partially) hooked rug, on the other hand, is an antique adaptation.

Well, it was intended to be; however, I did not realize that the pattern was not drawn true to the original until it was late in the game.  

In my (late-to-the-game) frustration, I was studying the photo I had of the original attempting to determine if there were elements I could change at that late point to make it at least a bit closer to the original.

(Yes, yes...I KNOW! The tails are closer together in the original, the heads and faces of the cats are different, etc., etc.  Did I not mention my late-to-the-game frustration??)

And there it was.... A ball...between the two cats!  I had not noticed it in the gazillion times I looked at that photo, and it certainly was not included in any of the many reproduction renderings of the design that I have seen...and, of course, it was NOT on the pattern I purchased.

But there it was.

So I decided to hook it.  

Not once.

Not twice.

Not even thrice. 

And, no, I didn't re-hook it that many times just so I could use the word "thrice."

I hooked it once and decided it stood out too much.... I wanted it to fade into the background like the (I am sure much-faded) original.  I wanted to "ghost" it.

So I hooked it again.

It was better....especially once I hooked some background around it.

But it was way too far to the left.  WHAT?! I finally hooked a perfect circle (trust me on that one please), but in the perfectly wrong place.

So I rehooked it again.

This time, it is too much to the right. 

But ya know what?

I don't care.  Ain't hooking it a 4th time.

Because there's no cool word for fourth.

 

And because I was tired of hooking circles.

So there you have it.  A "ghosted" cat ball no where near the middle of the two cats.

*******

And since we are on the subject of ghosting, this was my most-recent read:

It's the story of a woman who meets a man with whom she falls instantly and deeply in love.  But when he leaves for a previously planned vacation, she is "ghosted"....  She is certain the relationship they had meant as much to him as to her, but he simply "disappears." 

It came to me on the recommendation from a friend, and I did enjoy it, but wouldn't say it's a "gotta-read" kind of book...at least not in my book (get it?? 😉).

It's a feel-good read in many ways and, while not necessarily "predictable" (at least not until the end - there were several twists I didn't see coming), it was a bit too "happily-ever-after" for me, if ya know what I mean.

Yeah...I can be morose like that.

Or maybe I am just too cranky these days to believe much in happy endings.

*******

In other news, we've been having some kind of changeling weather here in Nod.

We sort of went from winter straight to summer....

But summer was short-lived - only 2 days' worth.

In the past week, we've moved on to autumn.

{Hint: That white stuff isn't petals or blossoms....}

But, hey...we did green up nicely in those 2 days of summer.

When 3 of the 4 seasons are so short-lived here, they make the most of the time they have.

I suppose a lesson to be learned.

But I am thinking my learning banks are full.