Sept 25/18

Whew! I am worn out. My day started out with walking Tillie in the woods with some friends and their dogs. Two of us have puppies who are only 1 month apart in age and who have enough energy to power a subdivision. The other dog is 8 years old and much more sedate in her comportment during our walk. I rushed home to grab some lunch before heading to my hair appointment and then the grocery store to pick up a few ingredients to make chicken and rice soup for supper. Soups are a go to for me in the Autumn when the house gets chilly because I refuse to turn on the heat until November and I use tricks like soup and herbal teas to warm up. While the soup was simmering, I made chocolate chip, oatmeal and cranberry cookies. This is the photo I sent the fella' to cheer him up while he was working because he has been hinting for several days that he would really really really like some homemade cookies. Yes, I used my favourite appliance and new family member, the Kitchenaid mixer!

After supper, I took took Maggie, our Black Lab, out for a walk because she stayed home this morning from the walk in the woods. I knew that Tillie would be a maniac with the other puppy so I felt it best that Maggie the Enforcer stay at home. Mags and I took a quick turn around the neighbourhood so that I could get in my 10 000 steps for today. She made sure that she marked her voyage well so that all of the other dogs in the PMQs will know that she had been there. Once I got her unbuckled from her harness and lead, I settled onto the couch to put a few more back stitches into these ornaments. The owl ornament back stitching is about two thirds complete and then my attention will turn to the french knots and the beading. Arthritis in my hands is making my crafting a bit challenging, especially in these damp, cooler days of Autumn. I force myself to keep crafting so that I keep the strength in my fingers, but the ache in several of my fingers makes it challenging. Ah. The joys of aging.

Happy stitching.

Sept 23/18

The weather has been glorious recently, beautiful days with cool nights and lower humidity. We spent last weekend at a rental cottage and this was my view for 4 days. I spent alot of time sitting on the deck of the cottage with a book in hand, looking up on occasion at this view. We could not help but relax!

The fella' spent alot of time getting into the lake with the dogs where the water was still warm enough for swimming. We had a great time throwing sticks into the water for the dogs to retrieve and horsing around in the lake with the dogs. On day, Tillie went walkabout on us and wandered into a seasonal trailer site that is rented by a guy that has worked with the fella`. Despite the naughtiness of our dog, he let us use his kayaks and dock to enjoy the lake even more. There were few people at the campground because the summer camping season is almost over so it was glorious to be the only people out on the lake with the heron that hung out nearby.

Crafting wise, not much cross stitch has been done recently as my attention has been turned to knitting up dish cloths to replace the ratty and unraveling ones in our linen drawer. Bernat has a wonderful collection of free patterns for dish cloths so I am merrily knitting away while watching the new Sons of Anarchy show, "Mayans MC". I also altered one of my favourite dresses today to make it much more flattering and work appropriate. The dress had an oddly placed tie on it that made it unflattering and caused a big display of cleavage. The removal of the tie makes the dress more like a tunic and I am much happier.

Another project that has been keeping me busy is something I call my Positivity Project. I recently did some therapy to deal with some post traumatic stress that had reared its ugly head  and one of my healing strategies is to journal about 5 things for which I feel grateful at that moment. I am trying to build more positive pathways in my brain so that the negative stuff has less influence and I can better cope with stressful bits in my life.

On that note, I hope that all is well with you and Happy Stitching!

Sept 10/18

The back stitching is now complete on three ornaments. Three down, three to go before beading!

Does anyone else have a preferred time of day to stitch? My stitching urge is at its strongest from 9pm to midnight. I can stitch at other times of the day like all day during a snow storm. I tried all evening to settle in to stitch, but one of our neighbours came over to have her passport application signed and then the dogs needed to be walked and then I finally sat down to stitch after catching up on phone calls. Maybe it is my preferred hour because the world quiets down at that time of day, the phone does not ring, the darkness of night calms things down and it is my way to slow down at the end of the day.

Today was an amazing day. Somehow, I was the first one awake which is highly unusual because the fella' is the morning person in this house. He slept until 10am while I was up and reading at 8am. I am enthralled by the author Lisa Genova. Her books are gripping me in a way that has not happened in a long time. This morning, I polished off "Inside the O'Briens", a novel about a family grappling with their father's diagnosis of Huntington's Disease. This topic hit close to home as the husband of one of my dearest friends has a father with Huntington's. After the fella' finished washing his uniform, we hit the road to explore a part of Nova Scotia we have never seen.

I have often seen the place name Bear River on the highway signs so today was the day to visit this place. We pulled off the highway onto some back roads and followed them down a steep hill into this quaint little village of buildings on stilts along the river, old homes that revealed the shipbuilding roots of the place and signs all over for artists' studios. We had a late lunch of two of the best burgers we have ever tasted before heading out to poke around in some wonderful galleries. I enjoyed learning about the place and enjoying the vibe of the village which was rural and slow placed, but with interesting nooks and crannies tucked into the hillsides along the river. I need to go back to explore more of the galleries as places like that inspire me so much!

Well, tomorrow is a bit of a busy day with Rotary and the Health Auxiliary so I should go curl up in bed with my Maggie dog. Happy stitching!

Sept 9/18

The back stitching in black has begun. A headache, but not quite a migraine, made stitching a slow process this evening because my brain was working as if it were trying to wade through mud. I persevered despite my headache and stitch by stitch, managed to complete the back stitching on one ornament before putting some stitches onto a second ornament. I also found a section of gold filament that had been overlooked and quickly filled in that section around the mailbox of the top ornament.

I had an idea for the third panel of the triptych that I was working on ages ago. The third panel has languished for lack of inspiration, my failing eyesight and lack of motivation to stitch. My brain was in processing mode as I was driving to work the other day when the idea came to me. The idea involves using various shades of the same colour and creating a cascading kind of effect. Christmas ornaments are a priority at the moment, but I look forward to the third and final step of the triptych.

Happy stitching!

Sept 4/18

The gold filament stitching and the back stitching in green are completed. I found a few more spots here and there where I missed stitches so I fixed those spots. Getting off facebook and watching documentaries apparently is good for my stitching mojo as I actually get some things done! My goal this evening was to finish up the stitching with the dreaded gold filament because I dislike stitching with that stuff so much! The documentary on the Vietnam War that I was watching was still playing so I kept going with the back stitching of the pine needles on two of the ornaments. The outlining in black and the red beads are all that remain to do now.

Happy stitching!