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.

Teaching an Old Crow New Tricks...

 I've not much to say...but I finally got the new pc set up and wanted to see if I could actually manage a blogpost.

Fingers crossed.

I know some were expecting wedding photos and I promise I will share some...if I somehow manage to figure out how to transfer what is salvageable data from my old hard drive here...and figure out where, exactly, my photos go when I try to upload them.

Change doesn't come easily to me and I get very attached to old ways.

And, frankly, I haven't had time to experiment.

The lightning damage is worse than I initially realized.  I have managed to get the backup generator and the pool system repaired and, obviously, replaced my pc. This next week will be spent trying to get my wells up and running.

No small task given that replacing the pump for the main house involves cutting down my tree (Lauren...I feel your pain intensely), removing plantings and landscaping and trying to relocate a very large...and very heavy...concrete birdbath.

I sometimes feel as though I just can't handle anything more...then I think of those who lost everything in the wake of Helene...and I feel ashamed.

Anyways....

What you get today is just some random photos that somehow managed to migrate to a place I can find them.

Halloween decorating has been put mostly on hold for yet another year.

I have pulled out a few favorites or easily accessible pieces and will call it good.

One piece that somehow didn't find its way back to where it was supposed to be is this piece I stitched last year.  I don't think I've posted it...if I have, my apologies.

 "Pumpkins Three" by La-D-Da. (Sorry for the glare.)

The frame should have been larger, but it was a premade frame that didn't come larger...and I liked it, so I forced it.

Seeing it here, I may decide to reframe it....

Or not.

On the fun side of things, my daughter-in-law and I took little Mia for her first visit to the pumpkin patch at the orchard.

It was a picture-perfect day and I'm glad to say Mia found a pumpkin she loved enough to bring home.

We are under a frost advisory for tonight and I should move a few plants that are still thriving indoors.

But I won't. 

I'm truly tired of watering.

Hoping your Sunday was good to you.