Hi, stitching friends!
Earlier this month, my husband and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. We had originally planned to go to Ireland and Scotland at the end of September, but cancer and Covid had other plans for us. Maybe next year? We spent a quiet day together and ordered yummy Mexican food (to go) from Jalapeños, one of our favorite local restaurants (he had chicken fajita nachos and I had shrimp al mojo de ajo...soooo good!), and we watched movies. It was quite a nice day. I tell this guy I would rather do nothing with him than something with anyone else, and I mean it.
Life has been pretty simple around our house. My husband has been working, minimizing trips out of town to reduce his potential exposure to Covid and to spend more time with me (yay!). My son and his girlfriend, who has been staying with us, started their senior year online August 17. He says he loves it. I love being able to hear his teachers and hear him ask questions, and I must say I'm pretty proud of the intelligent questions my son asks. He still needs a lot of nudging to get assignments turned in on time, but he likes being able to work on homework while his teachers give their lectures in Google Classroom.
I started physical therapy in July. I loved being able to walk in the pool. Have you ever had a dream where you're flying? It felt like that, being able to walk without a walker or crutches. I could just glide through the water without wobbling or limping or using anything to help me walk. I've had to put it off, though, because I may have a new fracture in my spine, which is making my at-home physical therapy (and simply moving) really painful. So for the moment, I'm taking it easy and will see what my doc says when we have my latest scan results.
Thank goodness for cross stitch, right? If I didn't have this to keep my mind occupied, I think I would go a little nuts.
Some of you have said you wish there was something you could do for me. Well... I do have a request. If you can, please check out Lady Dot Creates on Etsy. Lois has raised $100,000 for breast cancer charity, and she sells a beautiful scissor fob in her Etsy store, proceeds from which go to breast cancer research and awareness. Her shop is taking a break until this Friday, so check back soon. Many of you already know about her gorgeous hand-dyed trims, and she is simply a sweetheart.
La Vie Est Belle
The moment I saw La Vie Est Belle on Etsy, I fell in love. The shop, Stitches Through the Years, is new to me, but wow. The designer, Lana Lenskaya, is very talented and has a great eye for color. I stitched La Vie Est Belle ("Life is Beautiful") on 32-count Legacy by Picture This Plus with the called-for overdyed threads.
I framed La Vie Est Belle myself with a gorgeous antique-silver frame I ordered from Franken Frames. My friend Carol from Stitching Dreams has been ordering from Franken Frames for years, and I finally did, too. I am so pleased with the frames, the price, the service and the free samples. And it is such a treat to have a frame that is exactly the size I need. A lot of frames you find in the big-box craft stores or thrift stores are not deep enough to accommodate foam core because they are made for framing photos, and it rarely happens that one of them is exactly the size I need.
Goodness & Plenty
My friend Robin in Virginia blessed me a while back with a generous number of charts from her stash. One of them, Goodness & Plenty by Plum Street Samplers, was on my wish list for quite a while.
The crow and the goodness & plenty cushions are stitched on 32-count Stars Hollow Blend, and the alphabet sampler is stitched on 32-count Doubloon. I filled all three with crushed walnut shells and added handmade red cording to one pillow before deciding I really like them plain and simple. I backed all three with some red checked fabric that was a gift from my friends RJ and Mary of Stitching Friends Forever. (Aren't stitching friends the best?)
I would like to try using sawdust to fill pillows and pincushions. Any thoughts or suggestions on how it works or where to find it online that isn't too pricy?
Pure Silliness
I downloaded a new app on my iPad the other day that I can't stop playing around with. It's called "My Talking Pet." Every day I've been making a video for my husband. He comes home from work and asks, "Did Scout make a video for me today?" (I honestly think he would be disappointed if he didn't.) August is my husband's birthday month, so the video today is Scout asking about a birthday treat.
Stay Safe, Be Well
You are very important to me, dear friends, so please take care of yourselves during this difficult time. Watch out for your loved ones and your neighbors, and please remember that we will get through this if we look out for one another.
Thanks for stopping by!
