Magnifying stitching

I am happy to say that my new clip-on magnifier works like a charm.

I had no problem cross-stitching the Y of this piece. I can see all of the threads  perfectly. Do you see how large it appears?

 I am in love.
What a pleasure to stitch on 30-count linen with a magnifier. 

I am also still in love with my husband. Today is our 34th anniversary.

 

We will be celebrating with dinner out tonight with our son.

I have also started another scarf. This one is crocheted seed stitch. 

I think this will be another donation scarf, but it is a pretty lavender color and I really like the pattern. 
We shall see, this may stay with me. 

Our son is visiting for the 4 day weekend. I made Tomato Mozzarella Salad to go with our July 4th dinner. Both he and Hubby like this salad a lot.

This little squirrel was visiting our deck the other day.

He/she was warily eyeing the other squirrel on our lawn.

I enjoyed watching both of them square off for a little while. 

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Also, check out this great giveaway at Stitching Friends Forever!

Thanks for stopping by!

Independence Day!

Crocheting, knitting and reading

I finished crocheting the bear wedding dress as well as the headpiece and the bouquet. 

The larger circle is for the headpiece and the smaller for the bouquet. Now I have to add the embellishments. 

Next I want to make some decorations for the bridal shower. Bows and such to hang around the house using tulle and wired ribbon. I will share them once I figure out what I am doing.

I have been adding 4-8 rows at a time on the donation scarf. 

It is growing nicely.

I am just under halfway through Time's Convert by Deborah Harkness. 

I love summertime, when I can just spend some lazy time reading. I have been sitting on my chaise lounge on my deck reading and enjoying some of my flowers.
These that are near the slider into the living room are very lush.

Along side the deck are my day-lilies that usually put on a wonderful show this time of  year.

I am joining Ginny for Yarn Along today. What are you knitting/crocheting? What are you reading. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are up to.

Thanks for stopping by!

Summer Vacation

It's official. I am now on summer vacation from both of my jobs for two months. Ahhh! 

I can craft some things, read some books, sit on my back deck or front porch and cool off in my pool. Oh, I can also get ready for my daughter's bridal shower at the end of July. I have some crafting to do for that.

I am still working on the crocheted wedding gown for my stuffed bear. 

I just have to complete the other sleeve, weave in some ends and then put on some embellishments. I have to make the headpiece and bouquet also, but they should be quick.

I made some progress on the donation scarf during my last couple of days at school. I still love the pooling pattern.

I am going to try to start working on my Advent Calendar again.
Do you remember it?

I have an idea that if I use some form of plastic bottle under the fabric to be able to hold it in my hand without pinching my thumb and fore-finger, I may just be able to work on this without pain. I am going to give it a try today. I know that it is a delicate balance as to how much sewing, knitting and crocheting I can do without aggravating the arthritis in my thumb. Wish me luck!

I also want to make some decorations for my daughter's bridal shower that I am hosting at my home in late July.
I started small with an idea for a game. I will tell you all about it after the shower.

I wonder if she will recognize the fabric. I think I made her a skort from it when she was little. 

I visited the local library on Friday and came home with these.

I am already well into the top novel. I do love the way Deborah Harkness writes. This is a continuation of her All Souls Trilogy. I think this is the 5th book. I have to find the 4th which I have yet to read. 
I never did finish reading The DuMauriers by Daphne Du Maurier. I grew tired of some of the characters and just wasn't interested in continuing with it. This was a "book swap" book that I got from the library and I met a nice woman when I was returning it who said she loved Daphne Du Maurier as an author and used to wait for her books to be published. She encouraged me to try one of her best-sellers so I picked up My Cousin Rachel. We shall see. I have read the first 6 books of the Elm Creek Quilt series so I borrowed #7. The other two books in the stack are past recommendations from other bloggers. I am willing to try new authors any time.

Well my summer is off to a great start so far. We have had two days in the high 80s which allowed me to enjoy our deck and pool. With all the rain we have had, my plants are flourishing. I adore the color of this deep purple astilbe. It is actually a deeper purple than this photo shows.

I always know that the 4th of July is just around the corner when my day lilies start to bloom.

 They frame one side of my deck near our outdoor table. 

They always make me smile.

Hopefully I will be blogging more now that I am home more. I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Knitting, cross-stitching and reading

Now that I have finished my secret cross-stitching I can spend some time on other pursuits. I immediately started knitting this scarf for donation. I needed something easy to work on in the car as we traveled to my daughter's wedding gown fitting last weekend. The yarn is a skein that I have had for many years. I really like the way it is pooling as I knit it.

 

I have discovered that I can't knit for very long at all. Four rows of this scarf at a time is enough, eight is sometimes too much. I must rest my right thumb in between. I even took a whole day off from knitting and it is still aching on and off. Sigh.......


While we were in there, Katie and I saw Miss Saigon at the Boston Opera House. 

She asked for this as her belated birthday gift. We both love musicals.

I resumed working on this Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe piece. 

I find it quite difficult to work on as it is 32-count linen over two. I can't really see the threads. I have to try out my new magnifier and see if I like it. 

I have also been reading "The DuMauriers" by Daphne DuMaurier.

This is a biographical novel of the DuMaurier family, ancestors of the author.

It is the end of the school year. I am sitting in my classroom waiting for students to come who need math help before their final exams. Sometimes I am busy and sometimes I am not. I decided it might be a good time to design a new cross-stitch. This is what I have so far. I am still tweaking it, but I like it.

Thanks for stopping by!

A visit and some planting

A couple of weekends ago my son and his girlfriend came to visit. He lives in PA and she lives in CA so they have a long distance relationship. They spent some time in NYC, but we all made a trip out to the east end of Long Island for some wine tastings. 

These pictures were taken at Duck Walk Vineyards in Southold, NY about an hour and fifteen minute drive from our home.

 You can tell from my hair that the wind was blowing, but it was a beautifully warm and sunny day that was quite welcome after a whole lot of rain.

I like this picture of my son and his girlfriend.

Soon after they visited, my Kousa dogwood came into bloom.

This view is from our second floor. My irises bloomed beautifully this year. It has been a while since they were this pretty.

 I also managed to fill all of my pots with flowers and they are filling in now quite nicely. These are by the sliding door to our living room.

 Once again, I only planted two pots of cherry tomatoes. They are the only vegetable (fruit) that I can ever get a decent yield from.

 I love mixing many flowers in one pot.

 I really like plants that spill out of a pot.

 Here is a close-up of one above with the creeping jenny. I usually try to plant the creeping jenny in my yard at the end of the season, because it comes back up the next year and I can use it in my pots again, but I didn't get to it last year.

I bought this pretty hanging basket at a local grocery store. I love it!

I still can't share my cross-stitching, but I can tell you that I am almost finished with the back-stitching....today or tomorrow. I hope to wash it tomorrow and then get it to the framer this week. 

Thanks for stopping by!

All that is left is back-stitching

I have made steady progress on my secret project and now all that is left is the back-stitching. Here is a pic of a tiny portion of the piece just before I finished the cross-stitching. 

I have already made a good amount of progress on the back-stitching, but I can't share that at all. 

I have also been working on the crocheted wedding dress for my stuffed bear. Doing the same row over and over for the skirt. My hand has been feeling good, but I am not pushing it. Can you believe how wide that skirt is?

I haven't given you an update on my back issues lately. I am no longer in pain (well mostly). I had an epidural shot in April that took away the pain that was running down my left thigh. Unfortunately, it didn't relieve the numbness in that thigh so I had another epidural shot in the beginning of May. I still have the numbness and have decided to just live with it. I don't want surgery unless I am in severe, unrelenting pain. I've been dealing with bursitis issues in my right leg most likely caused by my favoring of my left leg, so I am working on doing all the exercises for both problems each day. All in all I am in a much better place than I was in February. There are times during each day when I can actually forget that I even have a problem (until I touch my leg and feel the numbness).

Hubby and I went flower shopping on Friday. I want to start filling my pots and I also promised to fill my mom's pots as a birthday present. 

The pot that I sit in a "chair" next to the front door is filled with a free geranium that a local real-estate leaves at each home for Mother's Day.

 I usually fill the other two pots that I have for my front porch with the same color geranium as I receive from the real estate. I think they look quite pretty.

I also planted my "vegetable garden", two pots of cherry tomato varieties. 

They are the only vegetables that I have ever been successful in cultivating. I know my limitations.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. I will be busy back-stitching.

Thanks for stopping by.