A Week from Now...

A week from now, the hoopla will be over (for the most part).

I have always left my patriotic up until Labor Day anyway but, this year especially, I think the celebration should continue all year long.

(I won't keep my decor out that long because...well, you know, Halloween!)

I said I might try to post more photos of Americana decor and, since it's hotter than blazes outside, I'm wasting time inside and decided to share more.

There are a LOT of photos here so be forewarned. I'll keep the commentary minimal...with just a brief description under the photo if I think it helpful. If you have questions on anything, let me know. I'll be happy to try to respond if not in a direct email or in a reply comment, in a follow-up post.

Not all are the best as the windows and design of my home make photographing entire rooms/areas difficult.  

First off, Janice (Prims By The Water) mentioned she thought she saw a "Chessie and Me" cross stitch pattern. Yes, Janice you did.

It was done several years back and is called 1864 House Sampler.

Back to "other photos" - in no particular order.

{Vintage blue and red transferware nestled among excavated English meat pots and lids}

{"Centennial Eagles" - a design by Tina Woltman - also stitched years ago}

{Old chicken cage hung on my entry wall. I have a very large, funky, folk art Uncle Sam that I replace the Red Robin Farm barn with and sports and add a red, white and blue bunting or banner along the top, but I didn't make that far this year.}

The next two photos are close-ups from the cage:

{My vintage sparkler collection}

{Sculpted clay Uncle Sam on stretcher board with flag (by Folk For All Seasons), Vintage cross-stitched flag in the background and antique betty lamp on the side}

{Saltglaze Uncle Sam in a little niche of my kitchen counter...and, yes, I know the word "coffee" is upside down on the little canister. You know I love misfits.}

{More misfits: Excavated broken bisque dolls and figurines from Germany...well, I added the hat and flag...}

{Another of my folkart Santo-type angels...this one wearing a vintage (WWII era) "We Support Our Sailors" sash}

{Little wagon filled with vintage ammunition caps, poppers, tops, etc.}

{Vintage eagle snow catcher - used to catch snow from falling off roofs - on top of my mom's kraut cutter}

{Vintage Turtle Creek Pottery Plate}

{One of my only two patriotic hooked pieces...so as to not disappoint Saundra}

I'm leaving it at that.

I promise.

Playing With Angels...

 

Now that I no longer am baby bird-sitting Bébé, I have more time to do other things.

But...nothing seems to be getting done.

If I wait, however, until something does get done, then no blog posts would get done either.

A Catch-21.

(Not really a Catch-22, but close...very close.)

So, here's a quick recap of what I've been doing...(other than Bébé-sitting).

I finally fully finished Centennial Eagles. Wow - did I drag this out or what?  I started it and stitched one eagle, then left it sit for a long, long, time.

I eventually pulled it back out and finished the other eagle, but then put it aside again as I wasn't sure how I wanted to finish it.

I have limited wall space (too many stupid windows) and was set on a flat finish (3/4ths of a yard of fabric "set on") but then decided that it was really too large for a flat finish.

Thought of just backing it in that fabric I had bought for the flat finish, but wasn't completely convinced I wanted that since, after all that time, I wasn't sure I even liked the fabric I had gotten.

So one rainy Saturday, I decided to do a simple turned-under hem.

The hand stitching (sans counting) was soothing, and.it.is.DONE.

And done is good.

And you will never have to look at it again...I promise.

And since I was (briefly) in a patriotic state of mind, I stitched up (and, actually, also fully finished) this little God Bless America tuck.  It is a modification of a freebie pattern from years ago by The Nebby Needle (Bonny Woomer).

{The two smaller tucks in front are older...}

I also started a large Halloween piece I have been wanting to do for some time - Halloween at Hollowberry Farms by Stacy Nash.

{My apologies for all the wrinkles...I don't have a large frame/hoop and this fabric is a hot wrinkle-prone mess.}

But YIKES...that border about did me in and it isn't even half done.

Talk about monotony.  Edgar, I know know how you can love borders as much as you do LOL.

So that got put aside.

(Can you say "AADD" ??)

From there, I moved on to One For The Crow, a With Thy Needle & Thread design.

(This is actually the smaller of two pinkeeps in the pattern. And, yes, I do intend to do the other...sometime...soon...maybe?)

Now that, too, resides in the unfinished pile.  

(Hey, 2 "out" warrants 2 "in," no?)

And now, Welcome Cats is back on my hooking frame.

(AADD is real...and so is the struggle.)

Frankly, that's all it is: Back on the frame - not much further along since you last saw it.

*******

The one thing I do not seem to have any difficulty finishing is books and I am remiss in my "recent reads report," that it will take me a while (if ever) to catch up. 

I finished this one several weeks ago...and it took some willpower to, in fact, "finish" it.  It was some kind of "intense"...not in the action department, but in the head department.  I was hopelessly out of my element on the geopolitical front here.  

It is the (true) story of Abdel Kader Haidara's (and other dedicated archivists') mission to preserve and rescue tens of thousands of ancient Islamic and secular manuscripts first from the trunks and earthen safe rooms of pastoralists and farmers and later from the even more ravaging destruction of war and the rise of Al Qaeda. 

I have to admit that even the tedious Securities & Exchange Commission regulations did not hurt my head as much as this book sometimes did. 

I'm not ashamed to admit that I knew little of this history...or of the geography or culture.  And there is a great deal of detail packed in this book.

I think, though, it was the names that frustrated me the most.  

Everyone has at least 3 unpronounceable names that I struggled to keep straight. 

But...wow...there is a world out there I knew absolutely nothing about. And the beauty of these manuscripts is absolutely amazing. (No, it's not an illustrated book, but I had to do some research you know.)

And, yes, there is a real place called Timbuktu.  At least that part I knew.

Would I recommend it? Ummm...well??  Not unless you are very strange like me.

*******

As for other things I have been doing...well, you know - watching the clouds in the sky, falling in rabbit holes (sometimes literally), and spying on the moon dancing with the fog at 2 in the morning.

Oh and, yeah...I play with angels.

July 4th

Freedom is a fragile thing and it's never more than one generation away from extinction.  It is not ours by way of inheritance; it much be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. And those in world history who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again.  Ronald Reagan

Happy Independence Day.

 

Icebox Hotdish

Sometimes, when growing up, we would have "icebox hotdish" for dinner.  My mother would go to the icebox and pull out whatever leftovers and bits in there and combine it into a one-of-a-kind, never-to-be-replicated, casserole.  (We called them "hotdishes"..."casserole" was a bit too formal a term.)  

And since I have nothing of substance to chat about, that's what you're getting in this post: Just a bunch of "this"-es and "that"s.

About the most exciting thing going on (and this says a whole lot about my uneventful life) is that my wisteria is finally blooming.  I love my cornzebo for many reasons, but one of the primary ones is that it serves as a support for two of my favorite plants - bittersweet and wisteria.

There is much to be said for cherry blossoms, but they seem so flighty.  They are so quick to run off and leave you.  And then just when your regrets are the strongest the wisteria comes into bloom....

{Murasaki Shikibu)

I know in more temperate climates vegetation like wisteria sometimes does not know its place and can overtake entire structures.  But I live in Nod and nothing is invasive here other than the snow and relentless cold.

(Something tells me I just may regret saying that at some point.)

We had some storms come through a little more than a week ago that brought damaging winds (I heard, through the grapevine, that we lost several trees at the lake) and heavy, heavy, rains.

This little hummingbird was marooned on my wanna-be porch during a particularly heavy downpour.

I don't know what I was thinking when this happened, but I DO DEFINITELY know I WILL regret it:

This beautiful butterfly comes to visit every sunny afternoon...I love the blue on his wings.

I have found more time than motivation to stitch some.  I finally finished (re)stitching Centennial Eagles (a design by Tina Woltman), but I am undecided about whether to finish it as a pillow (it is rather large actually) or frame it...or just file it.

(Sorry for the wonkiness...it has not yet been pressed and was simply roughly folded.)

I also finished stitching this little piece - It is part of the "Sea Ornaments" pattern by The Primitive Hare.

(Again, apologies for my lack of ambition in pressing it before taking the photo.)

Of course I did not notice the misspelling of "whaling" until I had stitched the first three letters, so had to frog them all to adjust the stitch count.

I am somewhat wishing I had stitched this one over one but too late for regrets...the wisteria is in bloom.

There is still nothing on the rug hooking frame.  Sorry MD.

Well, I am thinking you've had about enough fun with me for a Saturday night and enough icebox hotdish for almost any night (my mum had an incredible gift for making anything taste good...but you really never knew what was in there and I was always the wary skeptic).

Our weather is supposed to turn, with rain tomorrow and then highs in the 50's for the beginning of the week.  I think it's time for a baking day anyways.  Good thing I have long johns right next to my tank tops.

Red, White and (Still) Blue....

The first words are the hardest it seems.  I know regular readers of my blog may find that somewhat difficult to believe since, most of the time, I have a love affair with words.  But it's true.  Like putting a project or a relationship down and walking away....sometimes picking things up again becomes crippling...at least for me.

So bear with me - I am struggling to regain my balance on that bicycle of life that I keep falling off of.

Pain comes in many forms.

In my time "away" (figuratively speaking only, trust me), I pulled some skeletons out of my closet (again, the figurative ones...the literal ones are still there and thriving).  The first was this RED work piece I started well over a year ago:

("Centennial Eagles" by Tina Woltman)

I had completed the eagle on the left, the 1776, the star motif to the left of it and the center motif before putting it away.  When I pulled it out again, I started on the right side and had to start a new skein of floss.  Clever me had known I would need more than one skein of floss and had purchased two but, yeah...you guessed it, the dye lots were not the same.  The eagle on the left was definitely much lighter than the one on the right.  So, yes....you guessed it again...I am frogging the eagle on the left.   (You can see in the photo below the difference in the floss from the top of the head (redone) of the eagle on the left to the bottom (yet to be redone).  Then the issue will be whether to redo the center tree/flower thing, the 1776 and the star to the left of it (essentially re-stitching the whole thing) knowing full well that, once again, I will have to start a new skein of floss taking a ride on the color lotto.  (You wonder why some things are put side and abandoned??)

I also completed hooking the WHITE Whale (a/k/a "the Beast").  "Final finishing" it will be a ways off.  It needs some serious blocking (it's a large rug and I only have a small-ish Puritan frame and I believe parts of it stretched along the way). I also have to decide whether I am going to just bind it or try to mount it on a frame.  So don't hold your breath for a final finish.

("White Whale Tavern" by The Paisley Studio)

As for something BLUE, I started this pattern from The Tattered Flag: "13 Stars."  Nine of the thirteen stars hooked and no two alike.  Go figure.  (Note to self:  Self does not like hooking stars.)

I hope you forgive my abrupt departure and hesitant re-entrance, and also forgive me that I cannot put into words here all that is going on in my world.  It is a culmination of many "littles" that has broke me and sometimes I feel like a ghost in my own life.

I know that the most necessary part of growing up is figuring out where your empty spaces are and figuring out, too, how to fill them for yourself.

Please be patient with me.  I certainly know where many of my empty spaces are, but the second part is proving to be a bit of a challenge.