Beloved October

 If I were a month, I am certain I would be October.

Full of contradictions...bittersweet and melancholy...magic and moods,

and carrying color in my pockets.

It happened overnight... Yesterday it was plain ol' September and this morning it was October - the most glorious month of all.

Those green stalks of corn turned brown and dry, and were whisked off the field today.

I will miss them and their secrets.

One would think that since it has been so long between posts I would have a great deal to share...but I don't or at least I don't have the words for it.

I am certain I have accomplished something(s) over the past month, but I would be hard-pressed to quantify them.  There are the "have-to-do's" before the winter that keeping clogging up my to-do list but I am being pulled by the more temptinig "wanna-do's" of fall endeavors.

I did manage to get some tomatoes canned finally.

My back still hasn't forgiven me and Julia puts me completely to shame.

I have not hooked at all; I have stitched a little...but have completely finished nothing.  

The only thing I have to show for the past many weeks in that regard is this little punch needle box:

{Pattern by Teresa's Prim Treasures}

I struggled to get a decent photo - we are losing light so quickly here, but the box is actually a small candle box of sorts with a sliding lid.

I blame the squirrels...I just set my mind to something and it seems squirrels start running rampant and I, of course, have to chase them.

One squirrel safari led me to playing with paper and scissors.  

I had intended on doing stacks of three boxes but have been unable to find the larger ones for the bottom of the stack.

Rats.

So for now, they are stacks of two.

{Black felted acorns}

I have also been working on perfecting the recipe for 2 (and only 2) chocolate chip cookies. (Don't be deceived by the photo, these are MUCH larger and thicker than they look and than a typical cookie.)  Since I don't need to eat an entire batch of cookies by myself, I have been experimenting...but I think I will need to resign myself to making at least 3...these are just a little bit too thick and chewy in the middle. 

I can't believe I just said that.

*******

And, books....there's always room and time for books in my closed-in little world.

As fall settles in and darkens the nights prematurely; and chilly, dreary days bleed into colder and rainier nights, I find it even easier to lose myself in the company of the best friends I've ever had: books.

This is another debut novel by (another) British author (am I getting in a rut, here?)...and I will be reading more of her (well, yes, yes, I am...and I am enjoying the rut at this point in time, thank you very much.) The book was described as a "gothic" novel...but I am not sure why?  Perhaps because of its desolate, isolated, setting...but it's not "gothic" in the way that I think of that term.

Atmospheric, yes. Very.  It's the story of an orphan who comes to live with her new adoptive parents...in a secluded house on the edge of a marsh, all of whom and which hold secrets the young child struggles to understand.

It was good...very good.  And like I said, I will be back for more.

*******

I wish you all a very merrie month of October...Spooking season has officially begun.

Keeping those who suffered the wrath and havoc of Ian in heart and prayers.

Pretty in Pink

 

{"My Dear Hearts" by Blackbird Designs...Stitched on 36ct "Tango" by Picture This Plus}

I stitched this little heart is from "My Dear Hearts" by Blackbird Designs last year but just now got around to "finally" finishing it...and, no, it was NOT a WWR casualty.  When I got done, I decided it is definitely "pink-ish." 

 I may have to stitch this one again on a red linen like Aztec Red. (Ha! Yeah right!). Until such time, if any, that THAT happens, I just may have to reconsider my relatively recent (last post recent) dislike of pink.

But, for now, it is Thursday.  And, as promised, I have drawn a winner for the needlepunched heart in my last post.  The winner is:

BUT....

Although not exactly the same as the first, I did have another of the hearts and decided to draw a second winner.

The second name drawn was:

Congratulations to both Teresa and Marshel.  Please contact me within 3 days with your mailing address and I will get your heart in the mail.

Thanks to everyone who played along.

 I wish now I had more hearts.

💕

The Elusive Anna Bolen...

I wrote your name in the sky,

but the wind blew it away.

I wrote your name in the sand,

but the waves washed it away.

I wrote your name in my heart,

and forever it will stay.

The elusive Anna Bolen...

...not to be confused with Anne Boylen (who probably should have been a bit more elusive).

Anyway - Long story short:  I stitched this piece sometime before WWR but, true to form, I did not "fully" finish it and it must have gotten packed away in one of the many boxes that still haunt my lower level - just another casualty of WWR.  

Unlike a few other things that I recently "found" while excavating in my basement, I had actually remembered doing this stitching and kept looking for it each time I brought out the hearts for the season.  My mind's eye actually "saw" her completely finished and it puzzled me that I could not find her.

Then, a few months back, I unearthed several "finds" in an ambiguously marked box "down there."

And there was Anna.  

She was not fully finished (as in my recollections of her), but there she was nonetheless. 

I had already stitched the little coverlet heart on the front and had wrapped the remaining coverlet around her before she was entombed, so I did not have to search for a backing fabric.

***Unfortunately, I do not remember whose design this is, or what flosses I used, but I do know it is stitched on lightly distressed Osnaburg.  If any of you know whose design it is, please let me know so I can give proper credit.***

***UPDATE!*** "arcadia" suggested this might be one of Jenny Hoffman's (Country Rustic Primitives) designs.  I had suspected this, but could not find it and did not think to message her.  I since have, and she confirmed that this is her design.  The pattern is currently listed in her Etsy shop.  (If you search for it, it is named "I Wrote Your Name" and not "Anna Bolen."} Thanks "arcadia"!

In other news, I have decided I do not like pink. It's one of those things that just isn't for everyone.  Funny because, when my sister married and left home, I was so excited that I would have her teeny tiny room at the top of the stairs (hey, it was better than sleeping in the "big" room that was part of a storage area and had no doors).  After much pleading, my parents bought me some pink paint and I painted the room pink.  (It was about the only color that would go with the gross linoleum flooring.)  

It was the first and last time I was allowed to paint ANYTHING.

But I digress - that's another story for another time. As I said, I have fallen out of love with pink and so am giving away this punch needle heart and the two coordinating fabric hearts (they reverse so you can display with the solid fabric or the polka dot fabric).

They aren't as "white" as they appear in the photo, as the fabrics have been lightly distressed.  They are lightly stuffed and all three have jute hangers.

If you are interested, just comment on this post (and this post only)...or send me an email with "pink" in the subject line. Please, no sharing on social media, etc.

If there is more than one of you who would like to adopt these, I will randomly choose a winner on Thursday, February 3rd. That person must contact me within 3 days or someone else's name will be chosen. I cannot guarantee that they will get to the winner by Valentine's Day, but I will try.

And, lastly, I intended to post my latest read in my last post, but totally forgot about it. (There's a lot of "last/lateness" in that last sentence 😆).  This is what it was (I've since finished it and moved on...I will share that one next time):

My abbreviated review: I am a bit equivocal about it.  It is a debut novel and has some typical sophomoric "issues" (what happened to good copyediting??) and the "plot" was a bit trite....but there were a few surprises along the way...ok, not along the way...at the end...but even that should not have been totally unexpected.  Probably the most interesting thing I can say about it is that it made me remember the difference between a "sanatorium" and a "sanitarium."  (If you don't care to look it up, essentially a "sanatorium" is a facility for long-term physical illnesses (e.g., tuberculosis) while a "sanitarium" is a long-term care facility for those suffering from mental illnesses.

If you like Lifetime mystery shows, you'll enjoy it.

In my defense, it was left at a friend's house and I "inherited" it.

It is hard to believe that there are only 2 more days left in this wretched month. (I detest January and February if you didn't know.)

I hope those in the path of the winter storm out east stay safe and warm. (Saundra...the cleanup can wait until spring.)

Happy Weekend!

Things Forgotten and Found (and Other Stuff)

I had thought of titling this post "The Things You Find," but since Lauren just did a post by that title, I thought the plagiarism would be a bit too obvious. So you get this instead.

First, some of the "other stuff":

I thought I had posted these in previous posts, but I am not finding any mention of them...not even in the post dedicated to vintage Halloween.  Strange...but, in any event, this is my (very small) collection of vintage black Steiff cats.  (There are more than 3 so, yes, I can properly call it a "collection.")  I haven't met many vintage Steiff animals I don't covet, but the black cats...oh.my.heck.

I wish I had a whole herd of them

Many think they all look alike, but not to me.

And, yes, I have them named.  

 

Some other "other stuff":

I finished hooking "Jack's Crow" (design by Terri Leamer of Winter Cottage Studio).

I mentioned in my last post that Lauren (Rugs and Pugs) thinks hooked loops should look like little soldiers standing side by each...and her army is one of the finest in the hooking world.

Mine, not so much.... Not only are they all different heights (like REAL soldiers Lauren!), mine, sadly, look like they went on a bender the night before.

But, it is what it is.  

Now to whether to finish it with the simple fold forward method Terri used in the original design, a whipped edge, or a wool binding.

As for the "things forgotten and found," please don't judge me...

There are several boxes still unpacked from WWR ("When We Remodeled"). The other day I was looking for something and opened one marked "law books."  Inside there were, indeed, law books...but also a mittful of things I had stitched and/or punched, and other pictures.  (In my defense, I did NOT pack, nor label, that box.)

The scary part? I had not "missed" these things (that I recall) - I apparently just "forgot" about them.

Yikes.

The contents were representative of all the seasons/holidays...and then some, but I will share with you only a couple of the Halloween pieces.  I truly apologize to the designers of the patterns, but I do not recall them and so am not crediting them here. However, if anyone is interested in knowing the particulars, let me know and I will open another box.  I'm sure the patterns are in there somewhere.

The two pieces above are punched (and thinking of it now, am pretty sure they are by Brenda Gervais of "With Thy Needle and Thread").  The piece below is stitched:

Finally, as promised, here a peek at what's keeping me company nights:

{I love this book...one of my favorites.  I've read it before but picked it up again as I was trying to recall a passage that kept creeping around the edges of my memories (yet another "thing forgotten").  Once I opened it, I decided to re-read it. Yup, I like it that much.}

This time around you are getting a two-fer since the above book is one I've already read and I may (or may not) have mentioned in a post somewhere along the way already, and because this book below is just a short "novella."

{This one I did not "love."  It held my interest (after all, it was only a novella and I still have some type of attention span), but....I found it a bit predictable and distractingly sophomoric. However, I do adore the artwork gracing the cover.  It is by Tina Lewonski of 
The Burlap Owl.}

I will try to sneak a couple more posts in yet this month...Until then, be well and good.