I decided to put my felted piece on a painted canvas. I tried to make it look a bit like stained glass, but not too busy, so it wouldn't compete with the piece. I added a glitter yard, twisted cord for an edge. I am not sure if I love it, so I decided to add a back to the piece, and use double sided tape to adhere it to the canvas.

Then I messed up and ironed onto the front, ugh. I pulled it off as carefully as I could, but the glue pulled up the roving and stitches. I was able to punch it back in to make it better, but I will have to take out the stitches and repack the roving, then restitch it. This photo was before I messed up, but for now the piece looks ok to use for the holiday.

I got over the bronchitis, but it has left me with a cough that comes and goes. I do find that getting out in the fresh air makes me feel better.

We like heading to the coast and driving to the different areas. At the breakaway, it was cloudy but the sun peaked out and beamed down on the trees.

At the marsh, I spotted a few Yellow legs. This one was resting.

This one was scouting for food.

Then we stop at the docks and walk down to the beach. 

Our last stop was the beach down the road. They have a boardwalk that spans the upper parking area, so it is a nice place to walk and still enjoy the beach views.

Another day we went to another beach and walked to the end. There is a house that put up a rock pile, so you can't go past it when the tide is in. 

At the end I got a shot of the lighthouse. Someday we will have to park and walk on the other side to get closer to the light. 

Bill had the holiday off so we were able to get out for a ride. We stopped at the breakaway, which I never get tired of stopping at. I spotted the Blue Heron and got out for a shot, just when a speeding boat came by and scared it off. It is a no wake zone, but he was going so fast the water splashed up on the rocks, that the Heron was fishing from.

After we stopped at another park for a walk. There were a lot of birds in the area, but with the high sun and activity, it was hard to get a decent shot. 

I hope everyone had a good week and I enjoyed reading all your comments. I appreciate them all.

Friday Finish!

 This week I have been fighting off the cough, that seems to linger. So I rested more and worked on my new project. I found the design on Pinterest from a stained glass design. I start with a white piece of wool felt, that is thicker and more spongy. Then I retrace the design with a thick sharpie, so that it shows through with the light pad. The backing is thick so I cannot see as clearly, but enough to get the main designs on, so it's not perfect.

I used a mix of wool roving and then finished it with a thick black pearl cotton. I realize I should have pressed it down more and done the wet felt, before I did the black lines, but it came out ok. Now I just need to decide how to finish it off.

I was able to get out for a bit last week. I always feel better when I am outside, especially at the beach. The island is always a nice place to take a ride, views from most areas. 

The campers are gone, so the hill is a great place to look down to see some of the fall colors.

In the field, the horses were grazing.

Another day we went for a ride on the southern coast. I didn't have as much energy, so more riding with a few stops to walk a bit to get some fresh air. At the breachway I caught a Great blue heron, catching fish as the tide came in.

We also stopped at the dog beach, a great place to let Bean run, off leash. Lots of boats coming and going in the Great salt pond.

I hope everyone had a great week and enjoying the fall weather. Today we had rain and I rested. Hopefully we can get out tomorrow for a ride and some short walks. My coughing has lessened but it still wears me out. Very frustrating since this is the best time to go hiking and biking. 

I also want to thank those who comment and the good thoughts. I enjoy seeing photos of places where others live and I am glad you have enjoyed mine.

No finish Friday!

I seem to have the worst luck lately. Last weekend Bean, our pup was sick. So we couldn't go anywhere without him since he was having accidents in the house. Luckily new food and pumpkin got him back to normal. Then I got sick and have been sick all week, so today I stayed home and still coughing. I guess I got one of the bad flus and bronchitis, so on meds and hoping I can at least get out for a ride tomorrow. It is really beautiful out and this is the best time to go riding and hiking. Next weekend they are predicting rain.

I have not gotten too much done this week, but I started a needle felting project to keep my hands busy. I also have two quilts that need to be done next month, so I hope I can get my mojo back and get to work on those.

Since I haven't posted in a while, I thought I would share a few photos I took from the last weekends.  A few weekends ago we too the boys to Mount Misery. Since the boys can't do heavy hikes, we drove up the fire road to the base of the hill. They loved the climb up and being on top of the world.

Since it wasn't a long hike, we came back down and tried a new path. It was much longer than I thought, and the boys did good, though Alex was a little more tired than his brother and dad. 

It came out to a road and past the old ammunition sheds, which the boys loved checking out.

One day Bill and I went to a preserve near by. It is a nice walk through varying terrain around a pond and past old farm fields. 

The last thing I did, which perhaps was my downfall, was a walk around the paths, at the Boy Scout camp. It is such a beautiful place to walk and usually we are by ourselves. It is also nice since Bean can go off leash at the pond and play in the water. 

I hope everyone is doing well and I hope I can get some time to visit everyone's blogs to see what you have all been up to. 

Friday Finish!

 

It seems like I never have enough time lately. Trying to get things cleaned up this week and filling boxes for items to go to the church yard sale and other items I donate to a local thrift store. I know so many of us have been stashing things and collecting things but we also know, we can never finish them all and don't want to spend our time cleaning up around clutter.

I saw this cute ghost on a Pinterest page, so not sure where it came from but it has finished ghosts and patterns on the same page. I didn't do them as nice as the original, but thought it was something fun to try. I have a prim christmas tree that I decorate for the seasons, so they were perfect to add to my halloween tree.

We have been getting out when the weather is nice and one of our favorite places is the Boy Scout camp. There aren't too many people so we basically have the place to ourselves and lots of different areas to walk around. This time we went to the other side of the camp and to the hidden pond. I found out that they did not know it was there, until a fire cleared the area and there it was. Now it has paths that go around it and it is a beautiful spot to sit and relax.

Another plan we visited was Old furnace. It is a nice hike up a hill to the cliffs with side paths to the other side of the pond. I was hoping for more color in the trees, but it is still a beautiful spot to enjoy the views.

And we finally got on the Connecticut rail trail and tried a new section. It was a nice ride and we passed several rivers along the way.

We also passed several ponds and swamp areas. 

We rode to the next town and on the way back we stopped at the waterfalls for a break. It was a great place to ride and hopefully we can get out more before the weather gets too cold. 

Tomorrow will be too wet from the rains today and tonight, so I am hoping we can enjoy some foliage and a stop at the fabric mill. Today we finalized the sale on our Minnie Winnie. I was looking forward to weekends this year but with the new problem, it would not be fixed in time and I had enough of it costing more to keep fixing it and not getting to use it. I may use the money for a kitchen island or bathroom redo, so next I need to find a good local company and see what the costs are. I hope you all have a nice weekend and get out and enjoy the fall weather.

Working on!

I have been slowly working on my stitchery, but got more done this week. I need to take a photo with a brighter light to show the glitter that I added, here and there. Once the tree is done, I will do the larger snowflakes with the blue floss and a piece of off white glitter thread. Then I have lots of dots, that I am thinking I will do, once I put the backing on, so it will hold it more like quilting. There are also circles, which I may or may not do, or use some tiny buttons.

Another project I still need to start and soon is, a baby quilt. I bought the panel years ago and never used it. My great niece is having a baby and I decided it was a good time to make it into a quilt for her. The problem was adding a border before I quilt it. I lucked out and found a matching alphabet from a vintage seller and got a few yards for the border. She is having a girl and I think this will work for either sex and hopefully she likes it. I am just going to do quilting around the edge of the blocks.

Last weekend we finally made it to the apple orchard, that is down the road. I didn't realize how many apples I could put in that bag. I ended up giving half to the kids. I eat one a day and try to get another batch before the season ends.

After we got Bean and took him for a walk along the new boardwalk at the beach. The wind was so bad that the sand was blowing in our face, so being on the walk was much better.

Today I am finally feeling better so it was nice to get out for a bit. We dropped off bags of stuff at a thrift store that also has a food pantry. Then we headed to the beach. It was warm today and it was nice and cool at the beach. This house takes it to a new level with an Ocean front beach house. It got a lot of damage from other storms and ended up putting in cement supports.

Behind the house I spotted a pond and a group of Killdeers.

And the farm field was full of gulls. I noticed quite a few young Ring -billed Gulls mixed in with the others. It was nice getting out after all the rain and this weekend it will be cooler, so I may try a bike ride or do some hiking and sight seeing in Connecticut. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and enjoying the fall weather.

Best laid plans!

 

Well, you know what they say about best laid plans, they never work out, like you expect. Our plan to go to New Hampshire we squashed since we couldn't leave on time to get a full week in. Then I decided we could go to the cape in the RV. That was a bust when we filled the tanks for the stove and the next day the air smelled like gas. It seems the pipe was leaking and since it was empty at the time, we didn't know. So, we decided to do a stay at home vacation. Day one was spent cleaning out the RV, and taking that in. I also decided I had enough since it seems it is in the shop, more than getting used. We still have the trailer and I plan on using the money to redo the bathroom, which is in dire need of a gut job.

Once things settled down, we decided to go to Newport for a nature walk around the point. The day was beautiful and I enjoyed the fresh ocean air. Lots of birds and butterflies in the fields of Goldenrod.

The birds were not sitting still but with a little patience, I was able to catch another butterfly as it landed on the flowers.

And a flock of swallows, were wonderful to watch as they flew back and forth across the fields.

Our plans to stop at a few places did not work out, since they were closed to the public, so we decided to go to the fort to walk around. When we got there, I said, we have never been in the actual fort, so in we went.

Most of the buildings were closed off, since they were crumbling, but we could peek inside through the gated doors.

At one end, facing the bay, there is a stairway that has a walk along the roof. It was a nice place to take a break and enjoy the views.

A different perspective of the lighthouse, that I have taken from the other side of the bay.

One thing I didn't know, was that they have a tunnel system under the fort. I am not great in tight spaces, but I decided I had to check it out. First you go through an entrance to get underground.

Inside, a guide explained the system and gave us hard hats and a flashlight. The first section was taller and had lights.

Then we got to the lowest tunnel, I was a bit leery about going in, it was pitch black and I had to bend to get through, but I did it. It was a unique experience and fun to learn about the early war days, when the fort was built. 

That was the end of my vacation. We had plans to go biking and kayaking but I got sick the next day. So I have spent the rest of the week cleaning up the items from the RV and all the dishes and pots will go to the charity thrift since I have plenty in the other trailer. I hope you all had a nice week and enjoying the end of the warm days.

Friday Finish!

 

This week I have been doing a lot of cleaning and moving things around. Tomorrow the windows are coming, so one of the big jobs was my sewing room. I had to box up the quilting machine, which I plan on selling, since I never used it. Then a lot of boxes went into my basement room so I could move the big table and my desk that I use for one of my sewing machines. Way too much in one room. 

So, I got the house moved around so they can get to the windows and the last big thing is the couch, which they can help Bill with tomorrow. Hopefully they can work around my clutter. I may have to go hide out in the trailer for a bit, since I have no where to sit while they are working.

While I was cleaning off the table tops, I found a print out and decided it was the perfect project to do, and be able to finish in a few days. It was a nice way to relax during my down time. I am not sure where I got it, but it was a free pattern from Buttermilk Basin. To be able to do it quickly, I kept it all in stitchery. I got it all ready with drawing on the design, then started coloring. Then I realized, I had grabbed my colored watercolors, not pencils, ugh. So, I redid it on another piece and actually liked this backing better, a loose linen.

I hope everyone has a nice holiday weekend. Hopefully I can get out and enjoy some time outside, after I put back all the furniture. Then next week, I may be scrambling again, since we are thinking of doing our fall vacation next weekend, so more planning, packing and cleaning to get the trailer ready.