It's Book Monday!

 Not too much to report but I did finish The Hidden Staircase.  The #2 book in the Nancy Drew series.  It was very good!

I just ordered  the next 2 or 3 books in the series from Thrift Books.

I'm still reading Backwoods  Home magazine.  I read an article on guns and foraging for foods in the outdoors.

I'm still reading My Grandfather's Blessings.....every page is chock full of wisdom.  Very good and such an easy read....you could just keep going and going...............

Girl Waits With Gun is excellent and hard to put down!  I'm fairly certain this will be finished this week!

I have watched Suzie Reno, Misty Percell, Brian Tyler Cohen and Brenda and the Serial Starter for podcasts this week.  I hope you have enjoyed something entertaining or enlightening this week!

Happy Trails!!!

YOP Week #7

This was not a crafty week although I do have a final finish finally! It didn't go too well although I followed Vonna Pfiefer's finishing tutorial.  I couldn't find my interfacing so I skipped that but her backing method was more complicated than it needed to be in MHO.  I have since seen others sew all 4 sides of the backing to the front and then make a slit in the middle of the back and stuff it that way.  When all stuffed they cut a little square or heart shape of wool or fabric and glue it to the back covering the slit!  Voila!   No blind stitching, no fuss,no muss!  I used Vonna's method and when you stuff it full like she tells you and then you try and blind stitch the hole closed....well, let's just say my back is not pretty!  Vonna does beautiful finishing and I appreciate her tutorials but if there is an easier way to accomplish the same result I am all over it!

   I pulled out my Stitch Maynia project #1 and started working on it hoping I will have it finished for next Sunday..................we shall see...........this is a small St. Patrick's Day bowl filler.

I worked on Brill and Candy Kisses but nothing much to show that you haven't already seen.  The same with the sock.  I've been cleaning and clearing out and going through more paperwork.  I had more of Jim's things to go through and found some more of his artwork which was a pleasure to find.  I had to stop last year as it was just too much.  I made visible progress this past week and that makes me feel very good.  It is too hot to even take a walk.  I go out and water early but I come right back in.

This morning I found a HUGE insect on my kitchen window....on the outside thank goodness!  Does anyone know what this is.....it is about 2 inches long and the biggest insect I've ever seen!  He/she was light green.  Could it be a cicada?  I only see them after they're dead on the ground and they don't look like this one. 

Not much excitement here which is fine with me!  My family has enough going on in Iowa with no power, no phone, no ice, no Fema, no Red Cross...supposedly 100 national guard are coming (the storm hit last Monday, a week ago and no help for them!).......that doesn't seem nearly enough since all of Cedar Rapids and so many other towns and rural areas in Iowa are suffering and literally destroyed.  It is worse than any tornado that's for sure!  Whole towns are destroyed.  My daughter and her family are lucky.  Their car wasn't hurt and they think their roof is okay and no one was injured. Grain bins destroyed and crops, restaurants, libraries.....you name it.....people need medicine and a way to keep it cold.....it is just a tragedy....so sad! Please keep all those affected by that derecho in your prayers.

Happy Trails!!!    

Treasures for sure!!! Thank you USPS!

 I got everything at once yesterday it seemed although I try to stagger my orders to protect my pocket book.

First of all I have a mystery I'm hoping someone can solve.  There is a scrub fern tree growing in my yard and I noticed this yellow mass on it that seemed to attract butterflies.  Does anyone know what it is?  I've never seen anything like it.  Is it seeds?  Blossoms?  Oh!  I think maybe it is a Mimosa tree as they have furry blossoms like what I'm seeing in this picture.  I answered my own question! LOL!

 From Thrift Books I got the 2nd book in the Nancy Drew series; The Hidden Staircase..........

 A quilting book I have looked at for a very long time............

 The rest is from Fat Quarter Shop........

another book I've had my eye on for several years.............

Some project bags............one for my Prim project........

and one for my Mistletoe Lane project..........

floss for Mistletoe Lane.........which will be my Christmas project or at least one of them........

some cross stitch fabric........

and some cute charm squares for the Christmas season...........very vintage!

Here's the ham and beans from last night that I forgot to post and the chocolate chip cookies.........

I hope you are all safe and well and have plenty of whatever you need!

Happy Trails!!!

Bad storms in Iowa and all over!

 My family lives in Iowa and thank goodness they are all okay but they had some bad storms!  It wreaked havoc all over Cedar Rapids where they live and Nebraska, Des Moines, Chicago and Northern Illinois.where I have relatives also.  They have no power and couldn't get cell phone service either for awhile....it's sporadic.   Plus they don't have a chain saw so they have been sawing things by hand.

All over Cedar Rapids it's the same.....it seems no one was spared although some had damaged roofs and Amy and Tracy are waiting for the insurance adjuster to come inspect the roof.  Tracy had just returned to work for his first day and they were on the way home when the storm hit.  They made it inside and they all went to the basement.  Amy said they could hear things hitting the house.

This is the top of a big pine tree in their front yard that got sheared off.

  Thank goodness everyone is alright.  I think there was only 1 fatality and that was in Indiana.  

Amy said they were told not to expect power for a week so they are cooking outside with wood as there was a run on charcoal and ice but I think they have plenty of TP! PTL!

It rained here yesterday and this morning so I made a pot of ham and beans in the crock pot, made some chocolate chip cookies and did 2 loads of laundry.  I'll be back tomorrow with some treasures I got in the mail today!

Happy Trails!!!

It's Monday! What are you reading, watching and/or listening to?

 I don't think I blogged about books last week but if I'm repeating myself I apologize.  I finished several books recently............this one which was not very well written and for a self-reliant woman she sure had a lot of men helping her

Of course, I loved this one from one of my favorite mystery authors

This was an excellent book, well written and it was hard to put down...very good!  Thank you to Lavender Dreamer for recommending it.

This was my non-fiction and it was written by a minister about prayer.  It was very down to earth and actually reflected my views so of course I liked it! LOL!

 I'm still reading my Backwoods Country magazine........I've read quite a bit about sourdough and then how to build an outhouse and the next article is on guns.  I like to learn something new every day or many things..............

These are the books I am reading now..............my fiction...............another recommendation by my friend, Lavender Dreamer

and this is my non-fiction...............

So far they are both very good! As for t.v. mostly podcasts on You Tube of Misty Pursel of Luminous Fibers and Suzy Reno and some other Floss Tubers.   

I hope you had a good Monday.  I have done pretty well since Mondays are pretty busy days after resting over the weekend.  I got some ironing done and I need to wash a load of clothes yet, water outside, vacuum and do my 15 minute cleanup.

Here's a little humor for you......

 

Happy Trails!!!

YOP Week #6

 I have 2 finishes!!!  I've caught up to my goal of 1 finish per week!  We'll see how long this lasts! LOL!  I finished my Liberty cross stitch which was  a SAL with Jeanna of Slamminthescreendoor blog.

This was a fun stitch.   Although you can see the green fairly well in this photo, in real life it is not as bright.  I would use a brighter green if I had thought of it.  Also, I used 'chalkboard' Aida cloth and it is more charcoal gray where I would prefer a black.   Just personal preference but FYI's in case you are planning on stitching it.

 My other finish is the little Dala horse for one of my daughter's advent gifts.  This cross stitch and the one above still need to be Final Finished but that counts as another 'finish' and is a separate project.

I worked on my first sock a bit and finished the cuff and have started the leg.........

I also went down another rabbit hole this week.  All of a sudden I have gotten enamored with cross stitch samplers.  In all my years I have never been interested in them at all.  Something happened and now I want to stitch samplers!  I could not justify buying one and most of them are large so I ran across a free little one on Blackbird Designs and decided  that would satisfy my wanting to delve into the world of samplers; for now anyway! LOL!

Here's my progress.........

I received my silk floss for my Gathering Berries pattern by Misty Pursel and it is a dream to stitch with but this will probably be the only time I do as it is very expensive!

I received more treasures this week too.  In the cross stitch world there's a saying when you buy cross stitch patterns that "no pattern should travel alone".  So, they didn't! LOL!  Here's some haul.....

Remember when I made the little ornament of the little boy skating last year?  Well, it was a Prairie Schooler pattern that was no longer in  print so I did my best to copy it.  Since then they have reprinted it!  So, I bought it..........

I love this pattern as it reminds me of when my children were little...........so cute!

Then "because no pattern should travel alone", I got this one for Halloween.......this will be my Halloween stitch for this year...Misty stitched this one and as in all cross stitch, if you thought it was gorgeous on the pattern photo, it's always prettier once it is stitched.

Since Halloween is like my favorite holiday (no cooking or gift giving or house cleaning involved....hmmm....no wonder it's my favorite!) I decided there would be 2 Halloween stitches.  Mostly because I couldn't make up my mind.  This one was gifted to me.......

This was also done in silk floss but it would take about $60- $80 worth so I'm pretty sure I'll be using a less expensive floss! LOL!  BTW, I dyed my own fabric for both the sampler and Gathering Berries.  I have more fabric to dye and I really enjoy that process.

 So, that's all for this week.  I did work on Candy Kisses and the Brill shawl but there's not much difference from last week.  I've been watching a lot of Floss Tube videos and this week I watched mainly Susie Reno.....she has so many tips and tricks and she also quilts and travels and does lots of interesting things.  She's from Minnesota and they have a cabin up North too.  She's a respiratory therapist so she is keeping busy!  Respiratory Therapists are in high demand nowadays.  Keep her in your prayers along with everyone and anyone who has to deal with the public much less Covid patients.

Stay safe and well everyone!

Happy Trails!!! 

 

 

 

Lawn mowed and it's August!

 How did August slip up on me?  I even noticed some leaves turning.....the real early ones which all of a sudden I cannot remember the name of.  Sassafras?

 I was in my pj's last night getting ready to fix my dinner when the mower man called me and said he was on his way over!  What?  So, not one to question a gift horse...I threw my clothes back on and moved my car.  I left a blank check on the porch and told him so.  He fixed it pretty fast and only charged me $30!  PTL!!!  So, today I finished mowing and I also cleaned out my freezer.  I need to go out and water as the rain has been postponed...those silly weather people.
I've been watching cross stitch podcasts and all of a sudden I am wanting to stitch a sampler.  I have never been interested in them before but now I am.....especially ones with birds!  I have my eye on this one.........isn't it pretty?  Some samplers are huge and take years to finish.  I don't think I have that much time. LOL!

  I need to go out and water my plants now and wind down.  Here's a bit of humor for you........especially since I cleaned out my frig today..............

Happy Trails!!!