Hot, Hot, Hot!! Patio furniture, Stitching, Birthday, and a Books

You know it's hot when you actually use the phrase "cool off to 91 degrees" in a sentence...but that's what we have to look forward too.  In theory it should feel better than the high 90's we've been having but.....

We recently purchased new patio furniture to use down by the lake but once it arrived, I decided it would look better (and weather better) up on the porch where it's semi-protected by a roof.  We moved it up there and moved the old patio table and some chairs down to the lake.  We'll probably get an umbrella to use with the table on the lake.  I also ordered a deck box to store the pillows when not in use to keep them dry and out of the sun.  Hopefully they'll stay nice for longer than if they'd be exposed to the elements.

Hopefully soon it will cool down a bit so we feel comfortable sitting outside!  Otherwise they're pretty comfortable.

(The picture, obviously, was taken before we moved them to the porch.

After stitching a bit on the stocking (and not enjoying stitching on 18 count over 2 and deciding a smaller stocking will work out better), I started over on 28 count fabric.   Luckily I had the right color and count here in my stash.  I've been enjoying this one SO much better.  That is, until I discovered that I was off by a row after stitching the 2 reindeer.  Aaaaarrrggghhh!  (I sometimes find that I make more mistakes on the easy stuff than the challenging stuff.  Perhaps it's a matter of my concentration?)

Before mistake:

After frogging and restitching:

I'm going to splurge and send this one out to a finisher who can, no doubt, do a much better finishing job than I can.  (I'm finishing impaired!)


I also have another small finish for a SAL.  (Shhh!  We haven't had the reveal yet.)  It's designed by Prairie Schooler.  I think I'll eventually look for a cute button or charm to embellish it and not sure how I'll finish finish it.  (Bee designs seem so popular now.  I love them!)

I've obviously been spending too much time inside in the AC.  I phoned in a rather large birthday order to Needlecraft Corner.  A little percentage off (and the promise of 12 freebies) is all I needed.  I carefully planned it this year...a few designs and lots of overdyed floss (for projects I want to start soon).  Our daughter also sent me a design I had on my wish list at 123 Stitch (and the floss for it) for my birthday.

I'm hoping to stitch a small Halloween piece so I can make it in time for the July theme...ghosts.  I finally picked out something to stitch today.

Speaking of my birthday, I just squeaked in being old enough to qualify for the National Parks lifetime pass before the price goes way up so I ordered it today.  (Even after the price goes up from $10 to $80 after Aug. 28, the lifetime passes are well worth it.)


I'm expecting another model to arrive soon and looking forward to working on it.  They've all been so fun.

So...it looks like I'll be busy stitching for a while.  What else can one do when it's this hot outside?  ;-)

I listened to One Summer by David Baldacci this week while stitching.  (I love being able to combine 2 of my favorite things at the same time!)  It's a bit different than many of his books and I enjoyed it. I also started The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah after a friend recommended it.  After a brief start, I'm enjoying this one too.

Happy stitching!

Giveaway at Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe

Nancy's celebrating her upcoming birthday by hosting another giveaway.  Click here for details:

Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe

Good luck and...

Happy stitching!

12 Days Finished, Calendar Girl WIP finished, Sampler Wip, Stocking Start, Pool Show, Fun with Instant Pot

Ta Da!  (Now to get inspired to finish finish the ornaments.  In the meantime, they're hanging out in zip lock bag.  Maybe they'll finish themselves?)

I pulled out an almost-finished Calendar Girl and finished it.  Now I have only 2 more to go to finish this series.  Who knows when that will happen?

I almost forgot...the latest model I stitched for Country Cottage Needleworks, Time for Tea, has been released.  It's a small, sweet design that I just may stitch again for myself:

I also put a few stitching in Pink Sparrow Sampler (With Thy Needle and Thread).  The color palette is totally different than what I usually stitch but I like it.

I started DGD's stocking.  It's by Bent Creek and looks so cute on the cover of the leaflet.  I think my procrastinating had a lot to do with the called-for fabric (18 ct.) and stitching it over 2.    After stitching a bit, I have a better idea of the size...and a confirmation that I really don't like stitching over 2 on 18 count (with 3 strands of floss).  Now that I see the size better, I really think it will be fine stitched over 2 on 28 count so I probably will restart it on that.  (I may also finish this one and keep it here for her stocking at Grandma's house so the materials and time I spent on it will not go to waste.)

We and our neighbors have been entertained lately by watching a new house being built on our lake.  The owners also built an infinity pool and (long story) one of the TV pool shows filmed it for one of their episodes.  The episode aired last Monday.  It's a beautiful pool and it was interesting seeing the cameras' views of the construction but (how do I say this?) the episode wasn't exactly what we observed in describing what happened and even the location.  (We're in a small city about 45 minutes from Houston and they showed some footage of the Houston skyline without explaining that it wasn't our city's skyline.  There were a couple of other discrepancies we noticed too.)  In some of the footage of the lake, you can see our backyard in the distance if you don't blink.   All in all, it was an interesting experience and we and the neighbors are wondering what other entertainment we have in store at the lake now that this is over.

We're going to enjoy these new neighbors.  They're already friends with a couple of our neighbors and seem friendly and fun.

Finally, I've played with my new Instant Pot 3 times so far and we've enjoyed all 3 meals.  I think it meets my goal of being able to widen our summer dinner menus without turning on the stove/oven.  At some point I might try making yogurt and cheesecake in it (like I've seen on Instant Pot groups on FB).

Happy stitching!

12 Days of Christmas...on the home stretch

I finished the stitching on Days 10 and 11 and started Day 12:

I'm behind on the Halloween ornie sal so will need to choose what I'm stitching and get going on those.

I also need to get going on DGD's stocking.

But...I feel like working on a sampler so I may sneak in a few days each week on LHN's Elizabeth Hancock and Pink Sparrow (I think by WTNT?  I'm too lazy to get up and look right now.)

What a week it's been!  In addition to my daily (weekday) walking and coffee with my walking buddies, I went out to lunch with different people/groups 3 days, went to another coffee yesterday with another group, went to a movie yesterday afternoon after a friend spontaneously asked friends to go (The Big Sick), and then went to see a local production of Mary Poppins with DH last night.

Annnnnnnnnnnnd, I finally caved and ordered an Instant Pot on Amazon Prime day.  There seems to be a "cult" surrounding the Instant Pot.  I'm already on a couple of IP groups on Facebook.  Aside from getting on the IP bandwagon, my thinking is that our summer menus might benefit from using one since I rarely want to turn on the oven...or even the stove on some days...during the summer.  I've been too busy (see above) to try it out yet but I think today might be its maiden voyage.  Wish me luck!

(Pardon the door.  DH sanded it in preparation to restain it.)

We're blessed to live on a small lake and I often think how I get busy and take it for granted.  I happened to notice a sunrise the other day and took a picture.  We've also taken occasional boat rides on our neighbors' boat and I've made a point to go sit on our deck some evenings this summer to just "slow down" and watch the wildlife.

(We built this deck over an existing bulkhead last Oct. and I need to take some time to shop for new patio furniture down there.  We're also talking about buying a fire pit and installing a deck ladder for anyone who wants to go swimming.  (The house you see under construction is now almost finished our our new neighbors will probably be moving in next week.  They had an infinity pool built there and it was filmed for the DIY show Pool Kings that will air July 17.)

Happy stitching!

Back to "Normal" Whatever That Means

I had a more normal week (for me, anyway) after "coming down" from our Yosemite trip.  Sort of...Since we had July 4th holiday this week a couple of my regularly scheduled things moved to a different day than usual.  So between getting mixed up on what day of the week it was because of the holiday I was confused again because of the schedule change.

It doesn't take much.

My walking group decided to play hooky one morning and, instead, drove up to a You-pick farm with a farm stand.  There was no picking that day but we loaded up on fresh produce.  Of course lunch out was deemed necessary too...and we enjoyed it so much, we're planning lunch out one day next week too.  (A local restaurant that burned down has recently reopened so we "must" go check it out next week.)

Speaking of July 4th, one of our sons was here with us and we enjoyed cooking out.  He was gone for the actual evening of July 4 and DH and I opted to sit out by our lake instead of braving the crowds to watch fireworks.  It was very nice!

I've had more stitching time this week and managed to finish 3 of the PS Twelve Days of Christmas:

I'm not sure what's next but have many planned projects calling out for attention.

Happy stitching!