A simple September check-in

Good September morning to you, my friends! I hope the first few days of this new month have been treating you well. I'm sad that summer days are winding down, but hoping for at least a few more weeks of warm, sunny weather ahead. Oh, these nights, though--so very chilly. I think it's time to bring out the flannel sheets for our beds--how about you? 

This will be a very quick post (for me, anyway!), as I only have one ornament finish to share with you today. It's been a quiet couple of weeks since my last post so I have little to report. I did finish my ornament for August, though, and it turned out so cute! To make this sweet piece called "Gathering Holly" (by Annie Beez Folk Art) a suitable size to fit on my tree,  I had to stitch it "over one." (I really prefer to keep my ornaments on the small side and this one ended up being just about 4 inches square). I ended up choosing 25 ct. vintage country mocha Lugana and I love how well the white threads show up on it. 

I used most of the suggested colors, but did make a few changes. I thought the little maiden looked a bit chilly in the sleeveless dress that was charted so I added some sleeves (bonus: the sleeve color shows up much better on this fabric than the flesh-toned DMC 950 would have!). I also added additional snowflakes to the bottom of the design, added eyes (just using tiny straight stitches) to the woman, and used straight stitches for the bird's legs rather than the called for cross stitches. 

After adding the cording made of DMC 3777, I attached a black and white polka-dot bow and some "holly" that I crafted by snipping off leaves from a garland and gluing on some red berries. Everything, including the cording, was attached using Aleene's Tacky Glue (original). I've had several folks on Instagram ask about my cording so I'm linking to my 2019 post that outlines the way I do it (I am certainly not a professional finisher!) right here (you need to scroll down a ways in that post). Here is a close-up which might help you see the details a bit better.

Lyme Disease update: I had several of you ask about the Lyme Disease updates for my husband and myself. I'm happy to report that he is doing fine (so far) after his positive diagnosis and taking the antibiotic for two weeks. If you recall, my doctor didn't test me right away and just put me on the antibiotic. Because I've had some unsettling symptoms for the past six weeks or so, I finally was tested for it and it came back negative. Whether I had had it and the antibiotics took care of it or what, I don't know. But, I'm still having symptoms so more tests are ongoing... Nothing is showing up so I'm hoping it is just residual effects of the virus I had back in July or possibly, anxiety. Hopefully, I'll receive some answers soon--it always shocks me how long it takes to receive certain test results!

And that's it--a drive-by posting today! I am going to be taking a blog break for most of September so, if you don't hear from me on your blogs or through email, please don't worry. I will be working on my September ornament and a charming design by Scarlett House in the meantime. Thank you for all of your kind comments on my previous post--so glad you enjoyed my travel photos from New York and Maryland. I never know whether you'll be interested in them or not, but since this blog serves as a sort of journal of my simple life, I just include them anyway. Wishing each of you a beautiful month ahead! Bye for now...