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.

I'm Here...

...and so is the funk.

Hence, there is little noteworthy to share with you and, further hence, why long time, no post.

Thinking a change of scenery might be the antidote, I took a road trip with the Cat down the road (i.e., Cathy Stephan from Red Barn Rugs).  

I spent 2-1/2 days hooking with 4 incredibly talented artists thinking, surely, I would find at least a morsel of mojo but, no...I just ended up feeling like the red-headed stepsister.

I think, therefore, that the hooking project I started at the workshop in January is going to be banished to the Isle of the Unfinished (which is growing as quickly as the Isle of Misfits and Castaways) and I will pick up my needle for a bit - although my stitching mojo hasn't fared much better than my hooking mojo of late.

I did finish the hooking on my Simple Santa.

The above photo is reading washed-out on my screen, but the colors are, in person, more vibrant. 

Now I have a whole year to get it bound.  😬

In other news, this little guy has given me several scares. 

He had 2 emergency surgical procedures within 8 days of each other.

It was the same issue he had surgery for almost 2 years ago:

He gets a blockage in his colon and starts shutting down.

He had been on medications previously and put on a prescription diet -

but, apparently, neither worked.

Given that it had reoccurred so quickly this last time, they are concerned that his colon is not working properly.  Unfortunately, the only permanent "fix" is a specialized surgery in which they remove the non-functioning portion of his colon.

😳

It is not a common procedure and would require many pre-surgery tests.

For now, he is on yet another medication (fun times for a cat with claws).

While my mojo is out on its walkabout, I continue to read - books were my first love and they never abandon me.

I have fallen woefully behind on my posting of recent reads, but will attempt to get back to it soon.  But, in the meantime, I treated myself to this:

{"Records of the Salem Witch Hunt," Bernard Rosenthal editor}

It is a comprehensive record of all the legal documents pertaining to the Salem witch trials, in chronological order.  I had been holding out in the hopes of some day getting the hardcover version, but it is no longer available except on the secondary market at crazy prices.

(The paperback version is just shy of 1000 pages, so the hardcover version is in two volumes.)

Since it will be used primarily as a reference book, I suppose it doesn't matter - and I will feel less guilty should I be unable to resist making notes.

Of all the documents within the covers of this book, I was humbled to see that the editor chose a portion of my grandmother's petition as the preface page.

Hope all is well in your worlds.

Thoughts and prayers to the residents of Palestine.

I can't even imagine.

Marly's Minestrone & Other Stuff

I am still holed up at the lake. 

The snows have stopped so I will need to take my leave while the leaving permits.

But it is cold...wretched, burn-your-nose, make-your-eyes-water, skin-sticking, cold.

So I believe I will wait this patch out and hope for a warm-up. Just thinking of loading and packing makes my teeth chatter.  I only hope it doesn't get colder yet and those "feel like" temps become the actual temps...'cuz you know what will happen to the "feel-like" temps then.

To me, cold weather and soup go together like dandelions and daydreams (and, where I live, there is much more of the former than the latter). So soup it is. 

As a disclaimer here, I am a bit of a soup snob.  My mom made the best soups in my world.  So while I LOVE soup, I expect 2 things from them:  (1) That they be homemade; and (2) that they be good...really good.

(Throw in a hunk of good homemade crusty bread and you will have a pal for life.)

I decided to finally try Marly's (Samplers-and-Santas) "Upstate Minestrone" soup.

For some reason, I have never been a huge fan of minestrones but, oh my heck....this.minnestrone.I.LOVE!!!

An unassuming tomato and beef base, complimented by hearty Italian sausage, zucchini, cabbage, and beans, quickly and effortlessly secured it a spot in my top 5 of soups.  Added bonus:  It reheats wonderfully and, like many soups, gets better with each reheating.

You really need to try it if you're a soup person.  You can find Marly's recipe here:

Marly's Upstate Minestrone Soup.

It's hard to believe I have been here 2 weeks (??) already.  Time seems to evaporate here.  I did bring my hooking project along with the thought of, if not finishing it, getting close to finishing it.

But I haven't even put it on my rug frame.

This is where I left off:

{"Simple Santa" by Therese Shick.  Sorry for the wonky photo but it is laying on the top of a curved trunk and I was too lazy to move it.}

I did start a new stitch:

{"Noel Sampler" by Brenda Gervais - With Thy Needle & Thread}

It was a gift from my sister-in-law and I am joining her in a "stitch-along."  Those participating stitch on this design from the 25th of each month until the month's end.  Those participating started already on December 25th (it's a Christmas sampler...get it??), but since I did not get the gift until after the new year (and since I stitch like I do most everything...slowly...) I decided I was entitled to "catch up" out of synch.

And, of course, I'm reading.

I am not certain what drew me to this book as it is not the genre to which I would typically be drawn.  I guess it goes to show how eclectic my taste can be.

It is the, unfortunately, true story of the Galvin family - a seemingly "all American" family with 12 children.  However, over time, 6 of the 12 children are diagnosed with schizophrenia.  The story interweaves the family drama and struggles (and, trust me, there IS drama and there ARE struggles) with the medical field's quest to unravel the how's and why's of the disease in the hopes of developing an effective treatment, if not cure.

I am nearing the end, though, so another reason I need to leave.

But not tonight....not tonight.

Stay safe and warm...and thank you for your companionship during my "purdah."

The View From Where I Sit

I started this post the day before yesterday and this was, indeed, my view looking out as I wrote to you.

 We no longer have a Christmas tree inside (long story), but we have usually had a tree put up outside bedecked in simple white lights...and the snows in Nod, well, they do the rest.  

It was not my intention to have the tree outdoors this year either (another similarly long story), but things were inadvertently not canceled and there it is...or was...until the night before last. 

Then came the Winds of Nod....and it is now no longer.

It seems like things have been so transient for me these days....Christmas trees, Christmas joy, minutes, hours, days themselves...motivation, inspiration, organized  thought.

Anyway...While I have no tree (indoor or outdoor at this point), I did manage to bring out some of my beloved decorations and have intended to do some Christmas-y posts for a while. 

But then the plan becomes as mecurial as the Spirit of Christmas Future.

No, I am not shopping; nor baking, not wrapping gifts (if one doesn't shop, there are no gifts to wrap, are there?) nor writing out cards.  And, heaven forbid, I am not cleaning, Lauren.

Yet it seems that I am paralyzed and stymied by indecision (surprises very few I am certain).  I have posted most all of my holiday decor previously over the years (and little of it changes) and while I realize there are new followers who may have not seen it before and long-time followers who don't recall each and every thing I have posted (and, if they do, they are gracious enough not to admit it or complain of its repetition), I had thought I might present it in a bit different format.  

But then the whirlwinds started - and I am not referring to the ones outside.  (Who heard of tornado watches/warnings in Nod in the middle of December??)

Should I do posts dedicated to Santas? Snowmen? Sleighs and sleds? Sleigh bells and jingle bells? Vintage Christmas?

Well, as I said: indecision set in.

So, here I am: staring at a darkness that used to be a beautifully lit tree and wonder what happened. (Not to the tree...I KNOW what happened to that.)  At the risk of letting the last week before Christmas slip through my hands, I am going to post something.  I will start with a (hopefully) brief catchup and perhaps be back tomorrow (ha!) with something more Christmas-y.

First...as you can see from the tree that is no more, we had more snow.  About 10-11" (it drifted horribly so difficult to be precise) fell last Friday into Saturday (on top of what was already on the ground).

{Under that snow are my back steps and watering cans on the steps}

Then the snows stopped and a few days later the skies turned pink (REALLY) pink - and the temperatures turned mild (REALLY mild).

Yeah, and that's when the winds raged.  

Let me tell you, one day of almost 50° mid-December really wasn't worth it.

Half the shingles on the garage were ripped off, my heavy washtub filled with frozen dirt tossed across the patio, trees snapped, metal garden stakes bent at a 45° angle, etc.

And I am thinking that pretty lit Christmas tree may just be in Vermont about now.

'Nuff said about that.

While indecision and overthinking takes up a great deal of time, I have made some progress on my (not-so-simple-for-me) Simple Santa rug.  Will it be finished before Christmas?

Ummm, no.

{"Simple Santa" design by Therese Shick}

And, for those following along on my "reads," this is what I am currently enjoying:

I posted about this author (Sarah Maine)'s debut novel, "The House Between Tides" previously and said I would be reading more of her.  I am enjoying this one very much also, although there are some incongruencies which should have been caught with careful editing (which I find distracting, but I'm picky like that) and a bit of predictability (then again, I haven't finished it yet so I may be surprised).

I hope this finds you all well and getting your merry on.

{PS...I am not sure how many of you can still hear the music on my blog.  I thought it had disappeared but someone mentioned it not too long ago. Maybe I should try to remember how to change it to Christmas?? Or maybe not.}

 

Salem and Santa

I'm back....

Hard-drive has been replaced (again), power supply has been replaced (again), and my fingers are crossed (again).

I actually have very little to say, but before I roll it up, I thought I'd share a long-suffering (and I do mean suffering) stitching project that I finally finished up.

I started this at the end of December, last year, and worked on it sporadically.  You may (or may not) recall that this is the one that gave my OCD fits with all the inconsistencies in the chart (spacing, alignment, inaccurate listing of names, the seemingly endless ways the same letter was charted, etc., etc.) 

And then I ran out of Carriage Black floss.

Apparently I was not the only one as it was literally months before I managed to get some more.

But, the stitching is finally done.

The design is cleverly entitled "Witches of Salem" and is by The Primitive Hare. 

{Stitched 1 over 2 on 40ct "Old Massachusetts" linen}

The photo is not the clearest, but the names of Mary Eastey and Rebecca Nurse are done in a darker floss than the other names to reflect my family connection.

****

And now I have moved on....

It was a difficult decision to put down my needle and take up my hook, but they tell me change is good.

As you can tell by the creases in the linen, this has been packed away for a while.  It is a design by Therese Shick called "Simple Santa."

(What's with these clever names??? 😶)

Compared to other hookers, my works-in-progress always look messy for one simple reason: they are.

It's just the way I do things... I never know when I will need to make some adjustments so I leave messy tails until they drive me nuts.

Santa's coat, in particular, is going to need some serious tweaking in this case.

****

I have also eased out of the historical fiction genre in books for a wee bit. While I tend to like reading "in season," there isn't much out there I care to read Christmas-wise...and I certainly am not inclined to read about winter, so anything's really game. 

This was a quick book fix from Menard's of all places and I am not far enough along to give a credible review but, so far, it is keeping my attention more than well and the writing is good.  It is a psychological thriller ala Alfred Hitchcock me thinks. (Sorry if this sounds ignorant as I know there is a sticker indicating it is a Netflix film...but I don't have Netflix here in Nod and live under a rock for the most part.  If you've seen it, please don't tell me how it ends.)

****

I cannot hit publish without acknowledging the horrendous tragedy that happened in Waukesha.  I had plans to go there this past week, but had to cancel.

My heart breaks for those injured, the families of those who lost loved ones or whose family members are injured, for all those who witnessed this senseless carnage and the entire community who will never again be able to experience a holiday parade without sorrow.