Sadness Happens, Blessings Too, Stitching All The Things

 How are you all? I want to tell you something and I feel sure you all will understand this. I debated sharing because I also don't want to upset anyone. Since last writing to you, I had a few days where my mood was deep down in my boots. It came out of the blue; just woke one morning feeling like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. I coped like I always do when this happens with pushing myself to keep extra busy. I vaccumed and mopped all the floors here, made more trips with bringing up firewood, gave the dogs extra walkabouts and dug through more boxes of stored stuff in the lower level. That last is a never ending chore! I also turned to my usual comforts...stitched a lot and drank real coffee to see if that alone would perk me up. (I usually drink half caf or decaf.) Anyway, what made me so down, like deep in my soul sad??? Maybe the state of the world... like all of you, I am sad and scared about that and also worried about the prospect of another world war, which cannot be wholly discounted. Closer to home, Tony's health and watching him fail and not being able to do anything about it, is frustrating, worrying and scary to me. I wondered if it was about something more personal and selfish, like deep down fears of being alone which is not something I ever want to be. I think I'm actually terrified of being alone. But really, there wasn't anything in my mind specifically that was the issue-just my usual jumble of wide ranging thoughts and inner musings about all of the above. Late in the afternoon on Day 3, I felt a little better though still teary but I could tell I was recovering somehow and the weight of sadness was lifting.

 Hallelujah! And now, my mood has pretty much righted itself; I feel in control of my emotions (the tears) and I am myself again-whatever/whoever that is- and am so thankful she is back! Whenever I have this happen to me, which thankfully is not often, it gives me fresh empathy for folks who battle depression. What a horrible, horrible affliction!

On a much much brighter note, we just celebrated Robbie's 13th birthday with a fun evening out at The Keg. Here he is...

And a closer look at the cake Beth made for him; this one featured one of his favourite sports, golf. Our server said the kitchen staff also loved it.

On the way home we dropped him off at the arena for hockey practice. Oh, to have that energy! 

After my brush with sadness, I remembered I'd started to embroider a Thankfulness piece and thought it appropriate I finish it. "Give Thanks Every Single Day" YES!

It is a free pattern from Regina, the Creative Kismet, found HERE.

And to keep me buoyed up, I am beginning my red projects for November and December stitching. To be clear, other colours will be involved, especially pink. But as it happens, I do have one that is predominately red. So up first, and also one of my oldest WIPS, is a project that features my favourite combination which is embroidery and quilting.

This is just one of several Redwork projects I have worked on, with a couple still ongoing. This one is Meg Hawkey's Flight of Fancy for Crabapple Hill Studio ( I still lament their closing) featuring her favourite birds. It combines simple quilting with the embroidered blocks.

I loved embroidering all the blocks way back in 2015 and sewed them into a flimsy a couple years later. It's large, about 40 in x 55 inches, so I used the house to pin it up for a photo. 

I don't think I've shown you this part of the veranda. I'm so lucky here to be able to sit outside on three sides of the house with beautiful forest views in every direction. I never take this place for granted, that's for sure. 

I've chosen the backing from what is on hand here which coincidentally turned out to be what I'd already used for the border. Anyway, it is now all ready for hand quilting . 

I used these Amazon bully clamps and the dining table and these worked well for holding the three layers tight while pinning. 

I've also kept working on my October cross stitching project, the Year at Hawk Run Hallow piece. I've continued stitching more corn cobs which truthfully is a little bit boring. September's block is now looking like this. Soon I'm going to move on to another fall project. 

Perhaps my favourite block in this design is Bring Flowers, the May block.

And here is that wood pile which has given me so much satisfaction to build. I admit to giving it looks of admiration. I almost don't want to use any of it. :)

 Canada Post has decided to celebrate Canada's rich history of quilting by issuing several lovely stamps featuring quilts. What a great idea!

Well, that's my round up for this week. I sincerely hope you are keeping your spirits up and your fingers busy working on whatever you love.