Birds, Flowers and Slow Stitching Summer Days

 As I write this, I can hear the far off sound of a lawn mower and I'm thinking what a wonderful summer sound that is. Our closest neighbour, the one who shares our acreage, is fanatical about his lawn care. And it's not just what can be seen from the street that is always immaculate, but the back areas as well. He sometimes mows our front edging too and we feel badly about that like we are letting him down. However, we share the end of a cul-de- sac so very, very few people see these areas. Mainly the school bus drivers and the bin collectors, and the odd person turning around. It's so rare for someone to be there that the neighbour phoned us once to say a black SUV was parked out there and they wondered if something was up. By the time I walked out our long laneway to the road, they had gone. But it's good to have neighbours keeping an eye out and also keeping their property up too.

It has been very hot with heat wave warnings most of July so far, one night it cooled down to only 28C. It is definitely a good summer to have the A/C fixed. There have been showers though so everything in the garden is looking lush. We had another of those horrific summer storms that come on quickly late afternoon. In just a few minutes it went from sun to darkness needing to turn on the lights. There was crashing thunder and lightening and tremendously heavy rain which our old metal roof amplifies. A little scary while it was happening-they always make me nervous- but after 20 minutes or so, it was all over; the sun came out again. That one broke a record for how much rain fell in such a short span of time. 

The Hydrangeas are so beautiful again this year. Our front walkway this morning...

Dinner plate sized mop heads...

Though they are out of place and some might say ugly, I deliberately keep the Bull Thistles that sprout up in my front flower beds. This year there are three of them. And the American Goldfinches are why. This is a female.

 They are pretty much the last of the birds to nest and wait till the thistles are starting to go to seed. They eat the seeds and line their nests with thistle down which is very soft. And this is another female collecting the down. 

The hearts at the base of the flowers are edible and I've read foragers say they taste like artichokes. 

Male American Goldfinch on a Purple Globe Thistle bud which are just now starting to bloom.

The American Goldfinch is the state bird of New Jersey and what a gorgeous bird it is. 

I've been cross stitching- a lot. Stitching scrolly letters is fun and easy. BTW, there is no J in this large alphabet. Many early samplers did not include a J or U as they were not in the Latin alphabet. ( My father had to learn Latin in high school and regretted our dropping it in Newfoundland as he always said it was the key to all languages...just his opinion I think.) This is a useful feature for identifying the age of some of those found samplers. The pattern doesn't point out this fact. At first I'd thought the I and J were designed to be stitched together as it is a very fancy I. Stitching one over two still and enjoying it.

But after three nights of stitching, I had to give my eyes a rest. So I switched to hand stitching propellers, the sewing of which does not put a strain on my eyes and I love how this is using up larger scraps. 

Tony's hearing aids are on the blink and he has to go to the office for adjustments. I have a few negative thoughts about these hearing aid places. The price of hearing aids these days has become absolutely astronomical here in Ottawa. How are folks able to afford these necessary things! 

If we'd started learning when I wrote this to him, we would be fluent now!

Oh I keep forgetting to talk about the new bread machine. It worked beautifully and had a very simple, easy start up. I decided to make Egg Bread for a little more protein for Tony. It made a dense loaf reminding me of the bread Mom used to make so unlike store bought bread. Below just the "heel" that is left. Here is the link to the Kitchenarm site. (Btw, I am not affiliated with anything I share here on my blog.) 

I will be making more, of course, and this machine can also make baking powder breads which is a great feature- one I didn't know when I bought it. It can handle oranges, other fruits and veg too. Going to give that a try soon.  

We have another appointment at a local hospital for himself to get a CT scan of his brain. About time, I told him, LOL. That should be interesting. 

Hope these summer or winter days are going well for you. Take Care. 

Happily sharing this post with Kathy's Quilts, Alycia Quilts, Quilts Art Whatever, Quilting Patchwork Applique and  Small Quilts and Doll Quilts. Thanks for hosting, Ladies!