View out my sewing room window. The deer and the turkeys take turns dropping by.
The exceptional warmth into the fall added extra life to the blooming things in the garden. Here I've captured the very last rose on our front walkway bushes. Not a bee in sight anymore.
I had lunch out at a little diner recently. Lovely Chai Tea (which made me think why don't I make this at home) and poached eggs on sourdough toast with my favourite...smoked salmon. They didn't skimp on it either. I could have had a green salad instead of the home fries but I eat so many salads at home...
Fitness wise I'm doing well. Our firewood has been delivered and stacking it has kept me busy. Definitely a workout for my arms. I'm still using my Cubii for 15-20 minutes while watching tv. most nights and keep weights by my stitching chair. I've been mostly keeping up my little jogging efforts too while walking Ned. My stamina has improved a little which was not a goal as I'm not entering marathons or anything. But it's good to have fewer stops and with cooler temperatures, I can add another loop now to the lane way run, I've noticed. Mind you I never overdo, 😏
Here is the finished flimsie EPP Tiny 9 Patches quilt top caught in a slight breeze. It still has most of its papers. The same red fabric was used throughout so how strange to see different shades here.
Though I've not added to my quilting stash, I did purchase a cross stitch pattern recently from 123stitch. They kindly offer a $4.99 flat fee for delivery to Canada. I included the 28 count Antique White Cashel linen in the order too as, except for a few odds and ends, I don't have anything the size required for this one. Another Rosewood Manor seasonal design, this one is Summer Quakers. I've been eyeing it for years. I'll use DMC threads for this. With an alphabet on this one, I might personalize it too. This photo is really not doing the design justice...it is very pretty.
Our days follow much the same pattern, being the creatures of habit that we are. I like to think Tony is more entrenched than me but probably not. I've never liked surprises. We are both very content with staying home, tending to our little pastimes and eating on a schedule. Our combined total years on earth equal 158 now! We both loved Lord of the Rings and this just about sums up our needs these days.
I enjoyed reading your thoughts on whether you were goal or details oriented. It is interesting isn't it. Hope all is calm and going well for you!
The late October warmth meant still more flashy blooms into early November. Like the Hardy Rose Mallow.
The center structures are so interesting too. I was surprised to see stamens and pistils here. What would you label this stunning colour?
I've been visiting the pond at dusk to see if I can catch sight of my mystery animal that might be a muskrat. The skies are always interesting at those times of day. I was hoping the pink tinges would show stronger. But it nicely captured the trees' reflections in the water.
Inside, I've turned to my Year at Hawk Run Hallow to add more stitches. I'm working on the Dog Daysof August block and have made considerable progress since showing it last in April. That tree is massive!
And I've appliqued four more of the Everglade blocks. Staying with the original fabric choices of autumn kind of colours and fabrics.
I often stitch to Flosstube on YouTube. My favourites are folks who share both cross stitching and quilting. I grabbed this screenshot of Olivia and one of her autumn quilts that combines piecing and applique.
Her channel is called Pumpkin Hollow Quilts and I've shared it before. Here is her Quilty show where she shares her beautiful autumn quilts.
Process or Goal Oriented?
I was lamenting to my phone friend that I seem to just want to do all the fiddly bits with my projects, that I don't take the pleasure I should in finishing, in having a completely finished item, which is the goal of course. Truthfully there is a small part of me that doesn't want to finish any stitchy thing...I'd love to be handing it off to someone else to fully finish.
I began to think this was a kind of laziness or being slack which defied the fact that I'm undaunted by who knows how many hours of slow stitching I put into some of these EPP and cross stitch projects. And love every minute of it. My friend said there's no conundrum here.. that's easy to explain, you're a process person. The fun for you is in the details, not the overall outcome. That gave me pause- I'd never heard of this and of course, I had to check it out. Read Quin's article here that gave me more idea of what being a process person means and it definitely applies to me. I could think of several things that I engage in that are process rather than goal oriented. The slow stitching for one, loving the details of macro photographs, the love of sorting syllables when writing a bit of poetry. I used to joke I'm a person who sees the trees, definitely not the forest. And sometimes I will miss something big because I'm focusing on the tiny details. It might even apply to how I always thought I was strange because I love baking...mixing the ingredients, etc. but when it's put in the oven, I'll forget about it and need a timer reminding me.
I guess the ideal is to land right in the middle of that process/ goal scale where finishings would be just as enjoyable as the starts. I wish!
Funny how you think you're unique or the only one with some affliction of whatever sort-medical, mental, physical, emotional, etc. and then find out it is an actual documented thing shared by many. We are never as alone as we may think. So do I have fellow travelers like myself whose journey is all about the stops and the smelling of the roses and that tiny little leaf you spy too?
The beautiful mother tree to the left side of the house...taken at dusk when the leaves had a brilliant orange glow and the blue sky turned an interesting turquoise colour. It reminded me of the strange colours old polaroid photos sometimes had.
An angle taken from the laneway, a sunny one, of this tree when the leaves have yellowed and started to fall.
It is a surprise how many people say Autumn is their favourite time of year. Living here where humidity is part of summer, I can understand it now. We'll also be happy to have the panicky feeling of violent thunder and lightening storms behind us. There were a few too many of those this last summer. And the ticks- our count was 7 between the two of us, mostly on me, luckily none attached.
Our last vegetable box had the cutest little pumpkin in it.
Going through my saved feed, I came across a neat scrappy block and surprised myself by giving it a try right away. A variation on a 9 patch block. Susie calls it Little Beauty Scrappy Baskets. You'll have to pop over to Susie's Scraps post and see her cute quilt. It's got a dainty look to it especially with using the whites. Will I make more? Yes especially because this doesn't have to be precise to keep true the look.
Beth dropped off a box of Halloween gingerbread cookies she had made with Robbie's help. They were delicious with a cup of tea. Recipe for My Favorite Gingerbread Cookies found here at Sally's Baking Recipes.
Speaking of Robbie, his hockey league is sorted and the games have begun. We have enjoyed attending two so far. Here he spots us in the crowd and gives a quick wave.
This week I kept very busy. Besides time in the sewing room, I spent time in the library, roaming a thrift store and, while parked in front of my favourite Flosstubers, slow stitching too. It is Halloween here in Canada. We don't get trick or treaters down our long laneway so other than making a loot bag for Robbie, this occasion will pass us by.
I hope you are all feeling satisfied with how your days are going, whether moving into winter or summer where you are. I especially hope for steadiness and calm south of our border for my wonderful American friends as they face their presidential election.
The last flowers to come into bloom in my garden are the Asters. The wild ones are also in bloom and like these, starting to fade. The sunlight lately has been wonderful and has that noticeable October slant. But shines strongly with a golden tinge that makes it beautiful. I've tried to capture it in this weeks' photos.
Lots of things are being illuminated by this wonderful light like a baby Chickadee- so tiny!- trying out the birdbath for the first time, judging by how long it stayed there poking about.
He finally took the plunge and immediately took off so I didn't get a photo of an actual bath.
And last week a tiny creature took all night to create this beautiful and large web at the pond's edge. Did it get tired as it progressed I wonder. Gone the next day. But I had to investigate webs and found out this is an Orb web, a typical wheel shaped structure probably made by a common spider from the Orb Weaver family. In the case of this one, the spider would have had to size up the space beforehand and carefully choose the anchor points. Where the weaving is widening would have had to do with the tall reeds it was being attached to not its lack of skill or tiredness. Spun in about an hour, it had the potential to capture many insects overnight so hopefully it was worth the effort.
The Red Squirrels are extra busy these days gathering and stockpiling. How they all seem to know the season is changing. This one was glowing in that late afternoon light. I wish the photo had captured a crisper image of the squirrel but it appears the twigs were well in focus.
Not just the wildlife have been busy, I too have been keeping myself very, very busy. Besides my daily tramping about outside, here are a few snapshots of what I've been doing inside.
The scrappy EPP Tiny Nine Patch quilt keeps growing and I think I'm nearing an end with this project. The red certainly makes it cheery. This was meant to use up scraps but I still haven't made a dent in my scrap bin. That last bit seems to defy logic.
It is about 48 in by 90 in at this stage.
More simple embroidery stitches on the Newfoundland Redwork Pictures, a project of Mom's that I am finishing. The top photo is of a line drawing of the Newfoundland museum called Rooms and the bottom represents the fabulous jams to be made from local wild berries, Bakeapple, Blueberry and Raspberry. I started stitching the label with two strands which proved to be too big for the space. Will remove that and start over with one strand. Presently stitching with DMC 115, a variegated thread which I think adds a little interest to the basic running stitches.
I'm reading and enjoying another Emma Donoghue book...Learned By Heart. Emma is the author of Room which is on Netflix as a movie now. I read the book when it came out but had to skip some chapters and go to the end; I haven't watched the movie but it gets great reviews.
This story is about Anne Lister and Eliza Raine while at a girl's boarding school in early 19 century England. How an author can create/ bring such varied storylines to life is a wonder ( and The Wonder just happens to be the title of one of her books). I like the title of this one and it is a familiar phrase as back when I went to school there were many things we had to learn by heart. Was that a big thing in your schooling as well? I don't think memorization is as important these days.
I think we have a muskrat in the pond. There was a tunnel into one of the banks when we came here and we've always wondered if there had been a muskrat here as they are very common in small ponds in Ontario. Lately, twice I've glimpsed something much much larger than the frogs moving through the water stirring mud in its wake and going into the tunnel. A lone muskrat would have a field day there having it all to itself.
I got several questions about what was on my turkey before baking in the last post. As many guessed, it was pats of real butter. It was fresh from the fridge which made it hard to cut hence the odd triangular pieces. Happy to know so many are paying attention here and your kind words and encouragement are sincerely helping me through whatever the heck this is I'm traversing.☺ How we all love to know we are not alone on the journey.
On that hopeful note, I'll sign off for today. Staying Steady and Keeping Calm (trying to). Hope you all are too!
I read this line recently...you are a work in progress because life isn't done with you yet. I definitely mistakenly thought the opposite. That at my seven decades and counting age I'd have everything figured out, things would be settled down to a point where life would be smooth sailing through whatever years are left. The thing that might derail that would be unavoidable illness. But no, there are still people/family worries, messy situations and uncertainty. That last thing is creeping into my thoughts more. I've questioned how I'm handling certain present situations which has led me to distrust how I handled things before now...just to make it all the more complicated. And then there's this little point...I've mentioned Be Prepared was my Girl Guide motto and I tried to live by it all my life. How to be prepared for what we don't know about or a possible reality that involves something we think we can't at all manage- that is a challenge. As one of you brilliant people said in a comment, it seems for some of us who are born worriers, as we grow older, we swap out one set of worries for another. How true!
Thank you all again for taking the time to comment, commiserate or share your wisdom and stories to cheer me up. And in spite of what I wrote above, that heavy, generally low, dragging feeling has lifted from my brain. Hallelujah! I mean it now when I write that I am doing better overall.
So what have I been doing? I made the vow to just get up and keep going no matter what I was feeling like. I didn't use a journal to make a list of things to do which I've found helpful in the past. This episode I seemed to know what I needed and that was to just get on with things. With swimming in the summer, I had mostly dropped my morning jog. After the pool closed, for a couple of weeks I did chair yoga, one that gets your heart rate up and I enjoyed it. I followed the exercises but after a couple of listens, started using my own music. Last week I felt up to starting the day with a little jog outside and that too has been great so I've kept that up. I could feel what an energy boost that was immediately and could kick myself for not doing so sooner.
This is the video I found helpful.
I've been spending time each day in my new sewing area (whether I feel like it or not). As you all know, you are not there long and something needing doing will catch your eye and there you are, engaged and even moving a project along and even just a smidge feels good.
The view from my sewing machine table...a side look at the Hydrangeas. I've cleaned all the windows on the outside and paid particular attention to this one. Many birds and wildlife use this area near the bird feeder and I'm keeping my camera handy.
The Hydrangeas in this tree turn pink as the temperatures drop. Taken before window was web free.
So besides admiring the view, what have I done in there? I've machine stitched more of the Tilda Orange Peel blocks together. That kind of stitching, easy and mindless, was great to have ready. And I chose the fabrics and prepped four more freezer paper appliqued blocks of Everglade. Here is one setting possible and I like how it forms the circle in the middle. So I'm feeling a little happier about this project too.
I've added a few more stitches to the lovely Tudor Bee with Miss Bee herself emerging. I always cross stitch with something on the tv. It is a boost to see this project moving along.
My library account showed just how much I'd come to rely on audio books, probably reinforced by the pandemic. I've gotten myself back to reading rather than listening (though audio books will always be used for certain circumstances). I've been getting out of the house and visiting several small town libraries to browse, sit and have a little read of things I don't check out. Things like magazines and reference books. I used to enjoy this outing in my old days when I first moved here and really all of my life I guess when I think about it, since getting my first library card at age 8. It feels good to do so again, like visiting an old friend...the one that gives the best hugs. I hope you all have one like that in your life. One of the little libraries nearby has these comfy leather chairs; they remind me of the famous Ikea Poang chairs.
We just celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving Day, the second Monday in October, and it could not have come at a better time for me. I needed the reminder of all that I am thankful for...I named my blessings and counted them one by one.
I've always enjoyed the preparations for the big meal. Especially satisfying is getting the turkey stuffed and all ready to go in the oven. Since it was just ourselves, this was smallish, about 11 pounds.
And getting it cooked...We enjoyed it so much I've vowed to cook more turkeys.
After a long, glorious walk down in the big woods, we enjoyed our meal and gave thanks for what is, the here and now. That latter bit, the here and now is what has got to be my main focus going forward.
Always thankful for constant companions, Tony and Ned, too.💕
We have been having a gentle ease into autumn with just one overnight frost so far and temperatures reaching into the double digits most days. We did have a terrific thunder and lightening storm the other day that brought unique clouds overhead looking like something AI generated. These are called Asperitas clouds. Even the clouds are fancier these days. I only ever knew of Cirrus and Cumulus clouds growing up.
Cindy Broderick photo
In moving the sewing room, I found, amongst many other things, a couple of autumn pieces to share with you. Crayon colouring and embroidery by me...Crabapple Hill Designs' Autumn Call.
From a thrift store...An old needlepoint piece- date says 1992, worked from a kit many years ago. This would make a great cushion.
I've continued slow stitching the Autumn Quakers design...lots of acorns in this piece and all fun to stitch. That leaf is going to have to come out...I don't like how my threads worked with the called for. Come to think of it, I'm not fussy about that right petal? and how the yellows turned out either. Up very close like this, you can see the 28 ct. Cashel linen has a faint mottled effect which suits an Autumn design.
I moved my outside plants back in and have them all comfy for the winter months. They are sitting in the very large dining area tall window. Speaking of plants, there is still bloom to be found outside. Like the Spirea which is so long lasting. Aren't these pinks pretty!
Last post, I mentioned feeling low. I actually went a little lower after writing about it but am now feeling a bit better. Hard to fit on a scale but have to say I'm getting through that foggy, mopey feeling. I appreciate all your suggestions of what I could do...all of them brilliant. They had a positive effect on me too as it is good to know others have felt similarly...and it is not selfish to feel sad when everything is going more or less well and you know you have it a lot better off than other folks have it. That last bit really applies to my thinking. No it is not my thyroid for those who helpfully suggested that which is something I would not have thought of.
I have experienced a lot of loss (but no more than many, many folks have withstood) and my 3 am thinking sometimes takes me there to those moments. It seems to be a requirement of this brain of mine that I periodically review these old things plus add fresh worry for my family, often in the middle of the night...I sincerely wish all that would leave me alone.
But as my doctor said, we wouldn't be human if horrible events, those personal and even those far away from us, didn't make us feel somber and even sad at times. So still wallowing a little here, big sigh.
Thank you all for writing to me, wishing me well, commiserating and offering so many wonderful suggestions too. 💗
On the drive to our place there are lots of fields, farms and horse ranches. Many of the original zigzag cedar rail fences built by the pioneers have been maintained.
I had my late August birthday too...73 trips around the sun now. Beth made me a wonderful chocolate with marshmallow frosting cake.
The butterflies were edible! Very special and on such an occasion good to take stock and feel so thankful for the folks in my life.
It is my habit to choose a theme for each year and this years' is music. I love music but I don't listen to it as often as I should. So I'm making a point to have music accompany my early morning rituals, my workouts, etc. I used to use music for those times and had gradually moved to listening to you tube videos.
My new sewing area is taking shape. The furniture, two small tables, two narrow storage closets and a bedroom armoire, have been moved into the new space and I've begun filling them up. I'm trying to sort as I go and so far, I've filled a bag to go to donations as well. It is very satisfying to do such a clean sweep, as it were. It really is wonderful to go through every piece of fabric and dream about how it could be used. I'm still on the fabric fast begun last year and probably this will be permanent, not a diet. I have great fabrics on hand that definitely need to be worked into a project.
With that in mind, I put aside a bundle of autumn fabrics...colour wise. I've had Carolyn Friedlander's Everglade Quilt pattern in my drawer for a few years. Seeing it again gave me the impetus to try it out. Here are the first four appliqued blocks. There are a few different options for arranging these unique shapes and I like all of them. An interesting design.
On a personal note...I've shared before how I overthink things, usually at 3 am but something different is going on with me these last weeks. I'm finding it a bit of a struggle to maintain a good mood. I'm not having bad moods, just feel low if you know what I mean. ( While writing that the old Eno commercial jingle popped into my head; remember this....feeling low, take Eno.) For me right now, it's a general lack of interest in things even blogging that is not like me. I keep thinking I will snap out of it. I'm trying out all the usual antidotes especially exercise which always worked for me. Has this happened to you and what did you do??? I'd welcome any advice you are willing to share.
Meanwhile, my hope for you is that you are enjoying every minute of every day!
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