Another long overdue post...

So much for trying to get back to my goal of twice a month blog posting! I think about posting often and then tell myself: "Oh, I'll do that tomorrow." And then the next day I repeat those exact words again--and again the following day! I always thought that I'd get things done in record time when I retired almost nine years ago, but instead I find myself procrastinating more than ever. Sometimes, I truly believe that I got more accomplished when I worked because I knew my free time was limited. Oh well... at least I've stitched a few things this month which I'll share with you today.

I'm finally caught up on my Christmas ornaments for the #12in26ornamentstitchalong that I host over on Instagram.  My finishes for July and August are by a new-to-me designer, Shannon Christine. Although I've had the chart called "December Christmas Club" in my stash for a long, long time, I'm just finally stitching the duo. Isn't this the cutest pair? 

My ornaments for July and August are finally finished

Stitched 'over one' on 25 count black Lugana, they are so small! The finished stitched area is 2 inches square. They will be perfect for the very top of my tree. When I was growing up, my mom always told us kids to put the tinier ornaments at the top of the Christmas tree and the larger ones on the bottom and I still follow her advice. I used all of the called for colors except for changing the suggested Kreinik gold braid in the stars to DMC 729. I made a twisted red and white cording and hung little silver jingle bells from the very bottom. Here are a couple of close-ups for you.

 

I love to bake--especially cookies! So this was a perfect choice to stitch for my July ornament.

 

These are the first Shannon Christine Designs that I have stitched--love how they turned out!

I can hardly believe that there are only four months of ornament stitching left for 2026...  Time--please... slow... down! Every year I tell myself I'm not going to stitch another dozen Christmas ornaments for my tree, but I can't seem to stop--I'm addicted!

All ready for Christmas--which is four months from today!

Have you ever had a piece flow so smoothly that you felt sad when you were all finished? One where you loved everything about it from the colors to the motifs to the fact that not once did you have to rip out stitches? Well, this sweet design was that rare "perfect piece" for me. The Scarlett House designed "Simple Sampler Series #1" and I truly enjoyed every stitch. I stitched this on 40 ct. woodland brown Newcastle (sadly discontinued) with most of the suggested colors. I did change the gold of the hives and bees to Classic Colorworks "Queen Bee" (perfect name for a bee-themed piece of stitching, don't you think?) and GAST "Baby Spinach" for the green grass, stems, and leaves.

Aren't the colors lovely in this piece?

It is not a large piece, but I'm thinking a simple black frame might show it off nicely. I had hoped to find a frame the right size in my stash, but--no such luck! So, I'm on the hunt for the perfect one. This second photo is a truer representation of what the fabric looks like--I love how well white shows up on it.

Another bee finish for my collection

My six-year-old grandson, Mister B, visited us for a week earlier this month and we had a great time in spite of a lot of rainy weather. We played games (he and I played an endless game of Star Wars Monopoly--he is a major Star Wars fan), went to the zoo, visited a local farm to pet the goats and get some delicious locally grown corn and peaches, and went to my middle son's apartment in the city for pizza, video games, and a visit with Spike, the tuxedo cat. My youngest son (Mister B's uncle) was visiting us that same week and he and Mister B built the best space base and spaceships out of the old Legos that I had saved from my sons' growing up years. I'm not sure who had more fun... 6-year-old Mister B or my 38-year-old youngest son! 

Fun times at the zoo with Mister B! He was fascinated by the pair of cheetahs in the lower left photo. And that is a young wallaby in the lower right. 

 

My favorite animal was this anteater. Such an interesting color pattern and my, was he ever busy searching out ants and termites to eat. Did you know their tongues can measure up to 2 feet long?!

We took another outing to a local farm market where Mister B got to pet the goats. He was a bit hesitant at first, but quickly warmed up to feeding and touching them.

The corn we got at the farm market was locally grown and oh-so-tasty! I can't say the same for our homegrown corn... It was the first time my husband had attempted to grow it and let's just say, it's a "work in progress." The ears were so tiny as you can see displayed alongside the ruler below. The largest ear was just three inches long and the taste--well, let's just say I'm not sure I'd even feed it to cows! I think my husband might try growing corn again next year--we'll see. Do any of you have any tips to pass on? 

Okay... try not to laugh! This was our corn crop. Luckily, we didn't expect much since this was my husband's first attempt at growing corn :) 

Our tomato crop, though, was a whole different story. When I say "our," I actually mean my husband's--he gets all the credit! He had a bumper crop this year with plantings both in his fenced-in vegetable garden and in this large planter next to our house. Just look at how tall these tomato vines got... They would have grown up and over the roof if he hadn't cut them off! He actually had to climb a ladder to pick the tomatoes at the very top.

Sadly, I'm not a tomato eater, but my husband's tomato crop was certainly robust this summer.

 

Looking so pretty after a fresh rainfall.

 

Is it silly to cry over a tree? Well, if so, then I'm very silly. Please tell me I'm not the only one who cries over trees... We had to cut down a 55-year-old tree that had brought so much joy over the years. You see, it was growing much to close to our garage. The huge roots were causing the driveway and sidewalk and foundation of our house to heave upward bringing cracks and uneven surfaces. Cracks were even starting to appear at the corners of windows in our nearby family room. So, out it came... But, boy, did I cry as I sat at my bedroom window and watched the tree cutters dismantle it branch by branch. I think that it represented so much more to me than a simple tree--it meant change. And I don't like change. And I know that in these next ten or fifteen years even more major changes will be coming to our lives as we age and have to think about leaving this wonderful house we've been blessed to live in for the past 42 years. In every season, this old poplar tree on the far right in each photo brought joy. I truly miss it.  

Spring of 2021

 

Summer of 2019

Fall of 2023

Winter of 2020

What remains is a large pile of wood chips, a torn up driveway from the tree's damage to a drain pipe which had to be replaced, and a big vacant spot--both in the landscape and in my heart. We will be installing a new concrete driveway this fall (something my husband has dreamed of for years) and then working on the landscaping next spring. 

And today 🙁😢😔

I was going to take you on a tour of some more of our Italy trip, but I think this post is already long enough! Next time :) I'll leave you with a couple of family photos that make me smile--I hope you'll enjoy them, too!  Wishing you a September filled with sunshine and just warm enough to make for some special last days of summer 2026. Thank you all for visiting, for saying hello via email and your sweet comments, and just for taking the time to read my little blog! Bye for now...

My oldest son with Baby N on his very first visit to the Atlantic Ocean in early August. He absolutely loves the water!

  

This may be my favorite photo from my youngest son's wedding back in June. Baby N (then 13 months) with his big brother Mister B (almost 6). Baby N was with a babysitter most of the time, but he did join us briefly after the ceremony for a few photos.  Is his little outfit with the cap and tiny black shoes not the cutest?

Buzzing in with some mid-August finishes

Another month half over... Can you believe it? It's been so, so dry here that our grass is burning out and our plants are withering on the vine. We got a teeny-tiny bit of rain Wednesday night--the first in over two weeks! But, certainly not enough to make a difference. We've noticed the hummingbirds staying longer at their feeder and even some non-hummingbirds stopping by that same feeder to take a sip of the nectar. I guess the poor things are just parched. I've never seen anything but hummingbirds drinking from those feeders before in my life!

August is normally my month to decorate with bees and sunflowers, but I've been feeling lazy about changing out my cross-stitch smalls so I didn't even bring out the whole collection this year. I did stitch two new bee-themed pieces, though, and created a small display using just them. 

My very small bee-themed display for August

The larger framed piece is by From the Heart NeedleArt and is called "Quaker Bees." I used the suggested overdyed threads on 40 ct. flax Newcastle and am so pleased with the final piece. It fit perfectly in this black 5X7" frame that I purchased from Marshall's--love it when that happens! I wish more designers would chart their designs to fit in standard size frames, don't you? It sure would save us a lot on framing (and leave us more money for purchasing charts, fabric, and threads!). 

"Quaker Bees" finish (with some tiny yellow flowers from our garden)

My second bee-themed finish is part of Jeannette Douglas's charming "chubby series"--may I introduce "Chubby Bee." So far she's designed Chubby Fox, Chubby Bunny, Chubby Ewe, Chubby Bird, Chubby Bee, and Chubby Squirrel. Have you stitched any of them? I have the Chubby Squirrel chart which I hope to stitch this fall. "Chubby Bee" is stitched on 40 ct. vintage country mocha Newcastle using a combination of the suggested colors and some substitutions (the greens and the purples) that simply worked better with my chosen fabric. The year was supposed to be stitched in the middle bottom, but I don't like dates my finishes (unless they are samplers), so I simply substituted a few more flowers and vines to round out the final look.  I also added pale yellow Smyrna stitches to the flower centers.

"Chubby Bee" with a few added vines and flowers

To finish it, I created a flat round ornament and then glued it to a larger round form covered with black and beige checked gingham fabric. Then I added gold cording (just glued it on with a teeny bit of Aleene's Tacky Glue on the end of a toothpick) and topped it with a jute bow.The back is covered with a round piece of black felt. This is a very simple finish and if you're interested in trying the round shapes yourself, I highly recommend this tutorial from Pinwheel Ponders. Give it a try--it honestly isn't difficult. At my age, I don't do difficult (if I can help it, anyway :). 

I just love this little chubby guy!

Finally, I stitched yet another "Remy Rabbit" by Brooke's Books ornament for a new baby. This was the fourth time I've stitched this one! I first stitched it back in 2021 and have used the same fabric (40 ct. water green Newcastle which, sadly, is no longer available) for all four. I left off the charted border and added a variety of snowflakes to make it into an oval. Such a sweet ornament for a new baby girl. 

My fourth finish of "Remy Rabbit" for a new baby girl (I've blurred the name out for privacy)

So, what's next? I'm working on my Christmas ornament for August and another Prairie Schooler which is taking more time than I anticipated! Then, I think I'll start something for fall... How about all of you? Have you begun fall stitching yet? Any recommendations? 

More summer fun... In my last post, I shared the birthday celebrations that we held at Deep Creek Lake in Maryland in July. Today, I'll share a few photos of our week-long visit. It was so peaceful there and easily ten degrees cooler as it's in the mountains. We all enjoyed our visit so much! Here are some of the highlights...

The view from the balcony outside our bedroom.

  

This part of the lake was very quiet--perfect for kayaking and paddleboarding. That tiny figure in the front of the kayak is Mister B! He is becoming much more comfortable with the water and really enjoyed his time by the lake.

We all loved this firepit set-up under the tall shady oak trees. It was a perfect place to read, snooze, watch the water fun, or hold Baby N (definitely my favorite activity!).

When we wanted a break from the water activities, we ventured over to  Swallow Falls State Park which stretches over 250 acres. Of course, we just hiked a tiny bit of it since we had two-month old Baby N in tow. We'll just have to go back again to explore more when he is older! It was quite crowded that day, but I'm sure it must be a beautiful park in all seasons. 

Hiking along the creek

  

One of the pretty waterfalls we spotted along our path

Mister B and nature--two of my favorite things!

 

On our drive back to the AirBnb, I spotted these cute musicians made entirely of old farm machinery parts  displayed in a farmer's field. Aren't they clever? 

Back at the rental home, we all kept busy with puzzles, and Legos, and games. Mister B sure loved having all of his uncles and aunts there to play with. I had brought a giant bin of Legos (saved for decades from when my sons were small) and all the guys had a great time creating space bases  with them and having pretend battles. It really warmed my heart to watch them having so much fun together.  

Mister B playing chess with his uncle, adding to his Lego space base, fishing (no luck), and watching the ducks walk up the dock to say hello. When it came time to leave on Friday, he cried and asked his daddy if we couldn't just buy the house and all live there forever. I'm so happy we can create these wonderful memories for him each summer! 

We got very lucky with the weather and it only rained all day the final day we were there! Hope we can return again next year. If you haven't visited the Deep Creek Lake area in Maryland, I highly recommend it!

Such a happy week with family!

Our garden has struggled this year, but we still managed to grow a few pretty flowers and some juicy tomatoes. 

Such royal colors from our glads this year!

 

The sunflowers in our garden always make me smile with their bright yellow and brown heads. The goldfinches love to visit and eat their seeds, too.

Oh, how I love the salmon color of this geranium. I'm thinking of trying to propagate it and overwinter the cuttings--any advice?

My husband is loving this time of year with all the fresh tomatoes. I don't eat them, but he is in heaven!

And that brings me to the end of yet another post. Oh, wait! I forgot to announce the winner of the "Christmas Sampler" chart that I offered in my previous post... The winner of this sweet design is...

Isabel (from Alromasar blog) 

 

Isabel (from Alromasar blog) you are the winner of this chart! Please let me know your mailing address and I'll get this out to you soon!

We are having a sweet little visitor for the next four days! Can you guess who? Yes, Mister B finally got up his nerve to come visit Nonna and Pampa all by himself. Today, we are meeting our son and daughter-in-law half-way to pick him up and then he'll be staying with us until Tuesday. I love seeing his excitement over coming all on his own (each time we chat on FaceTime). We've been working on this for almost two years now, hoping he would become brave enough to make a solo visit. I think he's very excited to be doing something that his baby brother can't! We have lots of fun plans in the works to keep him busy and, hopefully, to keep any homesickness at bay. We'll certainly be tired, but a good kind of tired at the end of each day.

Thank you to all who take the time to comment and say hello after each post--I truly look forward to hearing from you! I know blogging isn't really "in style" these days, so I'm glad that there are a few of you who still pop in for a vis each month. Hope the rest of August is good to you--stay cool! Bye for now... 

More angels and a visit to mom's past

Good morning, all! How is everyone feeling on this final day of August? Me? I'm a bit down--I will miss summer, especially those longer periods of daylight. As I walk in the garden, I can't help but feel a sense of sadness as the blooms fade and the plants begin to wither and die. The leaves on some of our trees are already turning brown and falling--it seems way too early, but I suppose the hot, dry summer we've experienced has a lot to do with that. The older I get, the more I seem to need the sunshine and carefree days of June, July, and August. The nights are creeping in earlier and earlier and, I have to admit, it makes me dread the coming winter. I know fall is the favorite season for many of you, but I'd love summer to last forever!

I've finished up the remaining two angels from the Birds of a Feather chart "Christmas Angel Ornaments." This chart was lent to me by a most generous Instagram friend and I can't thank her enough! I truly enjoyed every stitch of these little cuties!

Charity and Love angels ready for my tree

"Charity" is my ornament finish for August--absolutely love that shade of green in her dress. I used Weeks Dye Works "Dried Sage." I also made her a brunette rather than a blonde as I wanted all four angels to look similar. The words were supposed to be done in gold metallic, but I honestly think I like them better stitched in the same colors as the angels' dresses. (Plus the less time I have to work with metallic threads, the better, in my book!). I had a perfect green polka-dot ribbon in my stash to top off the cording. And can we talk about those little legs dangling out of her dress--precious!

To make the word "charity" fit into an oval shape, I had to eliminate the spaces that were charted in between the letters.

And last, but not least, comes the "Love" angel which will act as my September ornament. Isn't she pretty in her sweet pink dress adorned with mauve hearts? The dress is stitched with GAST "Victorian Pink" and the mauve is GAST "Pink Azalea." Again, I gave her hair a dye job--I hope she likes her dark brown hair! I had trouble settling on a bow color, but finally chose to coordinate it with the darker mauve color. What do you think?

The little heart she is holding is also surrounded with gold metallic thread like in her halo and wing.

 

And here are all four together! Which one do you like best? I am still partial to the "Peace" angel--just love those colors in her dress and the soft grey dove carrying the olive branch in his mouth. 

A quartet of the sweetest little angels!

I certainly wish BOAF would reprint this one--I know it would sell out in minutes. I am beyond grateful to my Instagram friend for lending me this sweet chart--thank you again! Can't wait to see these on my Christmas tree in December!

So, who is putting out their autumn decor? I just can't quite get there yet, so I've pulled out my bees and sunflower stitching to act as a transition to the fall decorations (which will probably appear in late September). After all, fall doesn't really begin until September 22nd! I found this very small (it is only 12 inches high) woven tiered tray at Target (for only $5.00!) earlier this summer and thought it would be perfect to showcase my tiny bee and sunflower creations. 

Bees and sunflowers now occupy the side table in my kitchen

 

Here are a few close-ups for you... If you would like more information on each finish, just click on the description and the link will take you to my blog post with more details on that particular piece. 

Front hive and pink flowers, alphabet with hive, white birdhouse with sunflowers, round bee and hive

 

Front long pillow with two crows; six hives; sunflower; pink corded bee pillow; lone bee in back was a gift; crow and hive on right

Round bee piece on black; hive in black frame

Pillow on far left with crow and sunflowers

 

GIVEAWAY WINNER... There were a number of entries for the pretty "Summer Time" chart, but there can be only one winner. If you didn't win this time, please keep an eye on this space as I will definitely be offering more charts in the future! The winner's name pulled from the hat is...

EVELYN L.

Congratulations, Evelyn! Please send me your mailing address and I will get this chart off to you as soon as possible!

I want to thank all of you for your well-wishes for my little grandson and his family. Mister B has fully recovered from Covid and is back to his old self... Well, not quite as he has definitely entered the "terrible two" stage! Oh, my! His favorite word is "NO!" (said loudly and with great force). He is wanting to do everything himself and seems to love testing us. (His molars are coming in, too, which is probably adding to his discomfort). But, in between those trying moments, he is just the sweetest, most entertaining little boy! We were down visiting him in Maryland last week and he (along with his mom and dad) are coming today for the long weekend. He hasn't been here since April, so I know he's very excited to see all of the toys and books at Nonna and Pompaw's house that we share with him on FaceTime each night!

Thank you, also, for your nice comments on my photos of our Hocking Hills anniversary trip that I shared with you last time. While we were there, I realized that we were just a half-hour away from my mother's college alma mater: Ohio University in Athens, OH. I knew we'd never get another chance to visit, so we decided to stop there on the way home and I'm so glad we did. 

Ohio University where my mother went to college from 1945-1949

I know this will sound strange, but I honestly felt like my mother was there guiding us as we explored the campus. I wanted to find the School of Journalism where my mother, a journalism major (like both her mother and father had been), would have spent much of her time. After a bit of digging, I found that, at that time (in the mid-1940s), the School of Journalism was in the basement of Ewing Hall. As my husband and I sat in our car in a random parking lot, he put "Ewing Hall" into his GPS and excitedly said, "Carol--it says it's right there!" We looked up and could actually read the sign on the building from our car. Thanks, mom!

Ewing Hall sign where I assumed my mother's School of Journalism was. Nope! It actually was demolished in 1974 and this Ewing Hall is now a residence hall.

We got out of the car and began walking across the college green. I took great comfort (and got a bit teary-eyed!) knowing that my mom had once walked these grounds, too. She loved her four years at college and I can see why. It is a lovely, lovely campus and the setting reminded me so much of western New York where she (and I) grew up!

The beautiful rolling hills that surround the campus are so reminiscent of where my mom, dad, and I grew up!

 

Ohio University buildings and landmarks

After we walked the campus a bit, we decided to get in the car and drive into the town of Athens where the university is located. I was so excited when I spotted this cute, old theater as I just knew mom had spent time there when she was a student. 

The Athena theater has been operating since 1915 and is today owned by Ohio University. "Miracle on 34th Street" came out in 1947--I wonder if mom happened to see it here?

As we drove down a side street, we were suddenly stopped by construction that had blocked the road so we had to turn around. We parked the car on the side of the street and I told my husband I wanted to try to find my mother's sorority house where she had spent so many happy days. I found the address of the Chi Omega house online and my husband, once again, plugged it into his GPS. He said, "It says we're already here!" I looked out the window to my right and (yes, I had shivers at this point), the sorority house was right there--literally right outside my car window! I was so excited as I got out of the car to take a photo. If I had been a braver soul, I probably would have walked up the stairs and knocked on the door, but...

My mom often talked about how much she loved sorority life in this house (except for freezing in her attic room during the winters when she was an underclassman!)

We drove on and I said to my husband, as we were stopped at a traffic light, we can go home now, but I'd just like to find one last building with Ohio University  inscribed on it so I can get one final photo. Just then, the light changed to green and as I looked up, I saw this...

Haning Hall was originally the Athens Post Office, but was acquired by the university in 1964. Surely mom walked those steps as she mailed letters to family and friends back home.

I truly felt that mom was there guiding us as we stepped back into time on her college campus. It gave me such a sense of peace as I pictured her there young and happy and full of life. I'm so glad we drove out of our way a bit to get a better sense of her life during those four special college years. She graduated in 1949 with a degree in Journalism and went on to work for a magazine in Cleveland, Ohio before she married my dad four years later. A real career girl at a time in history when most women didn't attend college, married young, and immediately started a family. She never stopped loving the written word and, until her eyes failed her in her late 80s, she was an avid reader. She will also be fondly remembered for those epic poems she wrote each of her nine grandchildren on their 16th birthdays!

From the top left: Mom (sitting on the left) reading with her sorority sisters; Mom (in the middle) wearing typical 40's fashion with the bobby socks, loafers, and saddle shoes--and don't forget the string of pearls; in the lower left is mom with the all-male editorial staff of her college newspaper. I'm sure she felt right at home since her dad owned and published a small weekly newspaper where she was put to work during the summer.

I know many of you won't be that interested in the above account of my side-trip to mom's university, but I treat my blog as a bit of a personal journal, too, and I'm so happy to have all of these special memories written down to look back on!

I'd like to share one more special photo that I took this month. I've been having a great deal of trouble waking up in the middle of the night and being unable to fall back asleep for hours. On this special night, though, I was glad... Just look at the sight that was outside my window! This was taken at 2:59 in the morning of August 13th. I know--it looks like daylight! The moon was so brilliant and spectacular and the cross formation took my breath away!

It was the middle of the night, but the moon shone so brightly, it illuminated my entire back yard!

Well, that winds up another long post! I hope you all enjoy your month of September and find more stitching time as autumn approaches. I feel like I haven't done nearly as much stitching as normal--part of it is that I haven't been home as much and part of it is getting distracted by other projects (like cleaning out the attic!!).  Enjoy your Labor Day weekend, everyone! Bye for now...