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.

The Recalcitrant Grace Bridges

 Long ago, but not so very far away, 11-year old Grace Bridges was newly arrived at Willow Winds House.  She preferred to spend her days roaming the sun-dappled meadows gathering wildflowers and following the creek that meandered through the forest behind the house.

Her au pair, Miss Crowe, however, preferred that Miss Grace spend a little more time with her lessons and a great deal more attention to her stitches.

Even on days when the fog and rain closed in on Willow Winds House so oppressively that Grace could not escape the rambling yellowstone house, Grace fidgeted in her chair and struggled to count her stitches properly.  Her mind wandered to the forgotten garden with its vines tumbling over the old shed she was told to stay away from.... It wandered to the neglected fountain that sat decaying at the end of the garden path.... It wandered to the little cove where the creek spilled into the sea....  It wandered to anywhere but the needlework in her lap.

So, it was only after months of tedious frustration on both Miss Crowe's and little Grace's parts that Grace finally finished her first sampler....

Ok...so absolutely none of that is true; but, like Grace's, my mind is wandering today too.

Anyway...  I finally finished stitching Grace Bridges by Stacy Nash.  It was a stitch-along I participated in.  I think I mentioned in a previous post that stitching this piece caused a powerful struggle between my penchant for primitive wonkiness and imperfection and my tendency for bouts of OCD.  On days that my OCD was in control, complex mathematical computations were done and adjustments to spacing and design made. 

{Pattern design blurred to protect copyright of the designer, but you can see my color-coded math revision notes.}

On other days, wonky won out.

Since this was not an actual reproduction of an antique sampler (at least not that I know of), I felt entitled to make adjustments that would somewhat soothe the OCD ogre.  (Personally, I don't think even little Grace would have been that careless.  😉)

Grace Bridges Sampler stitched on 40 count "Boardwalk" by Colour and Cotton using (mostly) called-for DMC flosses.

* * * * * * *

Now Grace and I are off to look for toads along the creek.

Hooking on the Lane

 

Yes, I'm here...whether I want to be or not.

Truth be told, most days I don't want to be.

That aside, and in an effort to distract myself from the endless picking up of pieces, a few weeks ago I imposed upon the resident hooker down the lane and attended one of the popular Red Barn Rugs workshops.

Unfortunately, I was neglectful in taking photos of the rugs most of the attendees were working on. In fact, I managed only to take photos of my table neighbor, Marilyn (a/k/a "Bad" Marilyn) Denning,'s rug:

While I didn't get a photo of what the other Marilyn (a/k/a "Good Marilyn") (Becker) was working on, I did get this photo of the masterpiece she recently completed of her great granddaughter:

So, the rest of the following photos are just random photos around Cathy's house and studio of a fraction of her rugs:

{This is one of Cathy's very newest designs called "Amelia."}

{I know I've shown "Ol' Jack" before, but since he was peeking through the doorway in the last photo, he deserves to be shown again...}

{Sorry for the blur!}

And my favorite:

Lastly, and only because I know Saundra (of Woodland Junction) would bug me if I didn't, here is the stag rug I was half-heartedly working on.  It is a design by Homespun Prims by Lori.

Yes, it is the same rug I started almost exactly a year ago in the last workshop I went to.  However, I decided I did not like the wool I chose for the stag and ripped it out and started over....only to rip that out and go back to the original wool...which I am still not sure I am happy with.

Such is my life these days.

Maybe I should stick with stitching.

The Weight of Emptiness

 Look closely...there is something there.  Just a weathered shell now, but once it was full.  Full of joy and life and, yes, at times sorrow but, nonetheless, full.

There was a time when no one could imagine that it would be abandoned and forgotten...empty.

 Forever empty. 

This strange and wretched year has left me numb and empty.

In the space of less than 13 months, I have known more death than I care to: My beloved Snowdog, my precious mother, an uncle, two aunts, a cousin, a friend, as well as my sister-in-law's brother and my sister's sister-in-law.  

And, a month ago, my husband of 35 years passed away.

Things had not been well with us for some time, but the circumstances of his passing were horrific and something I still cannot bring myself to speak of.

Each and every one of the passings took a piece of me...especially Mason's and my mother's.

But this one...this one cut me to the quick.

Perhaps it was the culmination of it all...perhaps it was the circumstances.

Or maybe it was what was left unsaid and undone...and what was said and done in equal measure.

In any event, I am not the person I was, nor are there enough pieces left to pick up to put me back together.

I cannot put into words the emptiness it left me with.  It was like a cold, dark, shroud enveloped me.

The utter nothingness is overwhelming and has challenged everything I have believed.  It is a different kind of grief.

I never knew that emptiness could weigh so heavily.

Lie Light

I've always had an affinity for tombstone angels (truthfully? ...tombstones of any sort) and the moment I saw this design I knew I had to stitch it.

It is called "Lie Light" from CozyEgg Designs, The Nocturne Collection.

What drew me to it was the fact that the verse is an adaptation of a poem that Mark Twain had engraved on his (favorite) daughter's (Susy Clemens') tombstone when she died in 1896. 

The original poem, by Robert Richardson, is entitled "Annette" and appeared in a book called Willow and Wattle published in 1893.

I stitched it on the called-for linen (40ct "Eastwick" by Needle & Flax which was gifted to me by a kind blogger friend...thank you Edgar!) with the called-for floss (Fisherman's Wharf by Gentle Arts.)

This is a photograph of Susy's gravestone:

In other news, a few of you have asked for updates on little Mia.  

I've forgotten to whom I've responded so will just update here.

She is doing well and seems to be thriving.

She was not feeling well on Halloween so her first Halloween outing to Gigi's house was canceled, but she made the cutest little bat despite not feeling well.

And because her hair cracks me up, here's another photo:

That's it folks... There's other news, but nothing fun so not talking about it...hoping that by not giving it breath it will go away.

Oh...and Cathy (Acorn Hollow Blogspot), this one's for you:

I see you your moose and raise you a lamb??  😂

All Hallow's Eve Eve

{"All Hallow's Eve" - design by Dulaney Woods Treasures}

Once again, it's been too long between posts.

My back and neck issues are generally managed (by oral medications and bi-weekly injections, physical therapy and chiropractic care) to a nagging, aching, level with only occasional bouts of stabbing debilitating pain.  In the past month or so, the state of pain has been inverted and the nagging, aching, level would be welcome.  At least I would get a few hours sleep from time to time.

Add to the pain and sleep deprivation a garage that has decided to start collapsing, and on-going stressors I prefer not to breathe life into by reducing to writing, I am struggling.

But, all that said, it's the eve before Halloween and I promised myself I would get a post done to wish those who have brought so much joy and comfort to my world a bewitching Halloween-tide.

I haven't much in the way of news...and my days are even more mundane than typical.

Each day starts the same...with my special "brew:"

\

And if I've managed to bake, a treat...

{Butter pecan scone with penuche glaze}

The colors in the above photo (taken less than a week ago) are long gone.

Last week we received more rain than I ever recall getting.  In one 36-hr period, we had over 6" and I've heard the totals for the week were somewhere around 11-12."  This, of course, did not help my roof situation. 

Now, it's turned cold.  

It has snowed once, but did not stick.  Tomorrow, however, we are to get several inches...of the staying variety.  My gardens have not been cleaned but there's not much to do for it now.

Stitching has all but slowed to a halt, but I am trying to keep up with the weekly "assignments" for the Grace Bridges stitch-along.

{"Grace Bridges Sampler" by Stacy Nash}

It is a quirky piece: duplicated letters, missing letters, spacing with no rhyme or reason.  Despite my love of "wonky," I seriously battled my OCD in the second and third alphabets and my OCD mostly won out with many corrections. (It's technically not a reproduction so I felt at liberty to make changes.)

The upside: I know my math skills are not completely dormant.

The downside: It is very time-consuming and makes spacing in subsequent lines difficult.

So, I tucked my OCD neatly (very neatly) back in its box and am trying to embrace the quirkiness of little Grace...who I am convinced was a wild child more enamored of roaming the meadows searching for wildflowers and toads than learning her stitches.

And, yes, I continue to read. This is the book I just finished:

Most of you know my affinity to research regarding the Salem witch trials of 1692.  I have a complete library dedicated to books - both fiction and nonfiction - on the subject.  This, however, is one of the most readable sources I've come across.  Yes, there are footnotes (but not too many) and tons of endnotes/sourcenotes in the bibliography, but it still reads almost like a novel.

That's about it.

One would think that, after so many weeks of silence, I'd have something more to write about.

One would think.

Anyways, wishing you all a magical night of bewitchment ahead.

Stitches and Shadows

Wherever there is light, look for the shadow.

The shadow is me.  Anais Nin

The days have grown short here in Nod, and darkness and dreariness accompany them.  They are like those people who cast shadows even though there is no sun.

The sky is as moody as I am, and my bones are slow to let go of the chill that settles in them.  I try to commit the glorious colors and earthy smells to memory for another year but the winds and rains are so very quick to dull and mute them just as time is quick these days to dull and mute my memories.

Another month, and another death - that makes 8 in less than a year, including my beloved mum and Snowdog.  I am running out of people to lose.

My thoughts and attentions have once again turned inward, and I bury myself in books and handwork.  My hooking mojo is still on an extended walkabout, but I continue to manage to put a few stitches in.

My latest finish is "Shadows in the Night," a design by Theresa Meloon of Dulaney Woods Treasure. 

{Stitched on 36ct "Straw" linen from Weeks Dye Works, 1 over 2, with some limited 1 over 1.}

{Left side motif}

{Right side motif}

The poor lighting made for poor photos again today - the linen color is much "richer," than than it is showing. The little pumpkin on top is make of velvet.

After taking the photos yesterday, I really noticed how wonky the "X's" on the top of the drum were.  I ripped them out today and redid them. They're much better, but the light has gone and I am not re-doing the photos.  You'll have to take my word for it.

Speaking of fading light, it's time I get back to my stitches...and shadows.

*************

Wishing all my Canadian friends a wonderfully blessed Thanksgiving.