I hope everyone had a nice week and enjoying your New Years eve. We don't make a big deal of the day, a nice quiet night at home. We did enjoy some time with the boys. Yesterday was a rainy day so we stayed home and the boys enjoyed swimming in the jacuzzi. Today we got a late start but enjoyed some time at the beach. Rain is coming in, so it was good to get out while we could.

During the week, Bill and I got out to the beach for a few hours. The nice thing about going later in the day is, we got to watch the sunset. A few more blues this time.

Another day we spent at the southern beach. Even on cloudy days, it is nice to be at the beach.

And another day at Fort Getty. I can never get sick of going there and Bean loves being able to go, as well. Now that it is getting colder and rainy, I guess I will be doing more crafts and finding ways to use my glass.

And I lucked out while I was sitting with my camera, on the porch. A female Red Bellied Woodpecker stopped for a moment, before she realized she had company. She and the male are very shy and fly off if I go out.

I have been working on a new project, and it seems a lot of new free BOM's are coming up this year, so I will be staying in more and working on projects. Lots of quilts to finish and maybe a few hooked pieces this year.

May the new year bring you good health and many blessings.

Friday Finish and Merry Christmas!

 First I want to bless all of my followers this Christmas and may you all be healthy and filled with joy this season and in the next year. We spent the evening with the kids, a nice dinner and presents which is always fun with the boys. Bean was just as excited, he has been sniffing around in my sewing room all week, he knows a present when he sees one. Tomorrow we go to their house and I save a few presents for then. Tonight I am all done cleaning up and relaxing, while watching the colorized version of White Christmas.

The family at dinner. As usually I could not get any good photos in the dim light. One thing I plan on doing this year, is to learn how to use my camera settings better.

This week I wanted to make one more thing and took out a pattern I have been sitting on for years. It is a design by Bonnie Sullivan from All Through the Night. I messed up a few things and didn't do a scalloped edge, then I messed up the edge on the bottom. Later I will take that off and recut it to straighten the edge. It was fun to make and a last minute decoration for the wall.

Last weekend we went for a ride to get apples from the orchard store. They keep their apples in a climate controlled building, so always better than the store. After we took a ride to stop at a few places to look for birds. At the inlet to the Thames River, I found a family of swans.

We drove down to a few other places and as usual, Bill took a wrong turn, but I am glad he did. We stumbled onto another hidden area with a waterfall and a few birds. There was a Blue Heron but it took off when it saw me. I will definitely go back when we are in the area. I spotted a Belted Kingfisher, that was my find of the day.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend, no matter how we celebrate,  the meaning remains the same, may love and joy come to all of you.

Friday Finishes!

This week I have been enjoying some free time and worked on a few projects. The first is a stocking that I made with Michelle Palmer's free pattern, she offers each year. She has done several and still offers them on her Facebook page with a link to her site.

I didn't add all the stitching that she did and added a few of my own. I wanted to keep it simple but fun, so I added yellow and red glitter threads.

Then I decided I wanted to make something with wool roving, so I made up a little stocking. I will use this to put a gift card in, for the kids. Then they have something to hang on their tree. I added glitter thread to accent the design.

At home I have been enjoying a warm up in the weather. The birds have been visiting more often and I was able to catch the moon as it came up, during the day.

Today I had a me day and Bill took the day off. We went to a town beach in South Kingstown. It is much quieter and has a long stretch of beach. We found a nice spot to park the RV, with views of the ocean. Bean was happy, he got to play at the beach all day and give hugs, to passerbys.

I had wanted to get some bird photos from a beach further down, but by the time I got to the houses, I realized I still had a ways to go and it was getting colder, so no bird photos. But we decided to stay later and watch the sunset. I missed the moon as it rose, but it was still beautiful with the sun setting.

A look down the beach as the sun fell below the ocean. 

The beach doesn't seem to have a lot of glass, but what I find is nice and a few large pieces of pottery. It was nice to get out and enjoy the last slightly warm day. I hope you are all enjoying your week and find time to relax and enjoy the holidays, without the stress.

Friday Finish!

 

Another week has gone by and a few more weeks for Christmas. I have gotten out my packages and most cards, so I can relax now.  I finally got a change to do the stitchery of the month, by Kathy Schmitz. I decided to use up the last of my balsam and making a pillow for my neighbor. 

I used glitter yellow thread on the stars and ties, to give it a fun pop.

At home I am still able to get out, even though the days are cooler, but the fresh brisk air, does wonders for my energy levels. We went to the docks to see what was going on and stumbled onto an event. They were doing a 24 hour polar plunge for Special Olympics. Every hour for 24 hours, they jumped in. Way too cold for me.

While waiting, I caught this guy.  He was trying to break it by dropping it in the sand, but he finally figured out, he had to drop it on the nearby rocks to crack it open.

Then we sat and watched the boats come in. The parking is at the entrance, so we can sit in the warm car and enjoy watching them.

The next day we went to Moonstone Beach. I haven't been in ages and wanted to see what it was like and do some birding. Unfortunately, no dogs are allowed, I thought that was just during breeding season, so we couldn't stay. I got out to take a few picts of the beach and actually found a green piece of glass, laying on the ground. 

We drove down the back road and followed the coastline till we found a private beach that is open to all, off season. If you look at the photo above, you can see the house in the distance, that is where the other beach starts. 

And this is the beach we ended up going to. The tide was the lowest, I have ever seen, so we enjoyed looking through the rock piles for treasures. Not as much glass, but what we found was nice and a few large pieces. The house you could see in the last photo, is at the end of this beach.

And this is the house, it has been through a few hurricanes and been moved a few times. The original area was grassy with a lot of summer homes, but the ocean has claimed all but 3. The one next to it, was a carriage house and all that remained of the main house. 

Today I was out walking Bean and spied a hawk, scouting the area. Once he was gone, my feathered friends came back for the food I had put out. I hope you all had a wonderful week and can find your own ways to get out and explore your area.

The big guy is a Red Shouldered Hawk. Then a Dark Eyed Junco, White Breasted Nuthatch, Tufted Titmouse and another nuthatch.

Friday finishes!

 I have been busy getting ready for Christmas, taking down fall and putting up Christmas decorations. I used less than I usually do and rearranged a few things for a little change. I have definitely have too much and today my sister went home with a box of goodies.

Last year I made up two stitcheries by Kathy Schmitz in two color schemes and I finally finished those off. My son said he loves the blue one, which is my favorite too. The little stars are done in glitter thread. Then I used the glitter thread on the border stitches.

I also used most of the balsam by making simple little pillows to give out or add to a package. I found the moose buttons last year and this was a fun way to use them.

I have been enjoying watching the birds from my porch, a new one I haven't seen is the female, Brown Headed Cowbird in the larger photo. I guess she got left behind when the rest headed south.

And one of the pesky squirrels who steal all the bird food.

A few of the decorations I have put up, a bit of this and that, primitive and fun pieces.  I  hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Friday Finish!

 

Tonight I shut down and it hit me, I forgot to post my blog, lol. The holidays have been hectic but worth it and today I spent all day taking down fall and putting up my Christmas decorations and I am still not done. I think I have too much, so just using my favorite things. 

I wanted to make some balsam pillows for the kids and Ivy likes gnomes, so I found some clipart to copy and made up some stitched pillows for them. They were fun to do and I added glitter thread for the inner stitching, details.

On Saturday we went for a ride and unfortunately, the new park we went to was impassable. The only way to the trails was across a stone slab bridge and the waters have been so hard and high, the river pushed them over sideways. No way was I going to try to walk on that. So, we ended up at another park and enjoyed a nice walk there.

I have also been seeing more hawk activity. This time it was a pair of Red Tailed hawks, flying over my house. Of course they got higher as I came out with the camera, but beautiful to watch them.

And Sunday was another birthday. I really don't like celebrating, so we spent some time at the beach and then the kids came over for a bit. The boys made cards and gifts for me. I found a few treasures at the beach, but it is getting colder and harder to stay out long. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a wonderful week ahead.

Friday Finishes!

 

This week I have been busy, being Lazy. I spent more time working on projects for fun and got a few new things made for the boys. The first finish are a pair of pillows with Balsam filling. I love having some for the house and giving them as gifts, nice for those who don't have a real tree.

The design is by Robin of Bird in the Hand Primitives. She offered this as a free design years ago and again on her Facebook page. It is a fun design to do and would be fun in punch needle too.

I also dabbled a bit with needle felting. I bought a pack of cookie cutters and used them to form a base for some little ornaments. I do find it easier to free hand but it is fun to try the cutters to get started.

I saw a cute little reindeer and wanted to try one for the boys. Mine did not come out the same, and this photo does make it look funny, but it is cute in person. I have a variety of wool roving and some is harder to work with. I think it would have been easier if I didn't use a scratchy wool.

And on nice days we spend our time at the beaches. Not as much glass lately, but just walking along the beach is enough.

This area has another beach we visit, beautiful views of the bay and Newport.

And during the week I enjoy sitting on the porch and watching my feathered friends. This is the brother and sister of the adult pair, I guess they decided to stay. The yard photo was enhanced a bit, but it was beautiful with the setting sun, beaming down on the tops of the trees. This week will be busy, cleaning and cooking, for Thanksgiving. I hope you all have a wonderful week and holiday.

Friday Finish!

Another week has flown by and I hope this post finds everyone, doing well.  With the cooler temps and shorter days, it means more time inside to work on projects. This week I found some fun new projects to do from Farmhouse Friends, on Facebook. 

This design is one of the freebies they are offering each week and a design by Heart to Hand.

I am not great at following directions, but I stuck to the original design and used glitter thread for the leaves and berries, it adds a nice touch to the piece and will be pretty when the lights, hit it.

We also got out for some nice day trips last weekend. We decided to go up the opposite side of the Connecticut river. Our first stop was an old cemetery that sits on the river. Beautiful views but no eagles on this day.

The second stop was another cemetery. A beautiful place to walk around and there were bits of color, here and there.

The next stop was a riverside park where you can launch your boats or sit and enjoy the views. It is also a stop for the tourist trains. 

Our last stop was the ferry, across from the castle. We had the truck so we were able to finally take a ride across the river. A fun way to get across and quicker than going around to the bridge.

On Sunday we were able to get up early and head to Hammonasset Beach. The park is huge, lots of parking areas, walking areas, birding and camping there. I definitely want to go back with the kids. We spent our time at the point which is the main bird sanctuary.

Just that area is so big, we spent all our time walking on the paths and along that section of the beach. The only regret is that we couldn't spend more time there, but we wanted to head back before it got dark.

We left before it got dark but enjoyed a pre-sunset sky.

And we also got to our beach, on afternoon. Another bad thing about the time change, we only have an hour before it gets dark, but the good thing is, we get to watch the sunset. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and upcoming week.

Friday Finish!

 I hope everyone had a nice week. I have been enjoying the cooler autumn days and it seems I have more energy without the heat. This week is our church yard sale, so I was able to clean up a bit and help out with that. I also made a new stitchery, from Kathy Schmitz's Stitch Club.

I reduced it a little and made a lavender sachet. Gift giving season is right around the corner and I like having smalls to add to the boxes. I did make mine simpler, basic stitching and coloring with pencils, but I do like how it came out.

Our weekend wanderings were closer to home. We drove up to the northern end of our state and then into Connecticut, lots of stops along the way and some nice views. This is a few shots from Pulaski State Park in Rhode Island. With all the rain we have had this year, the waterfalls are running nicely again.

We drove across into Connecticut to visit the Thompson Dam and then into Putnam to see the falls. The park had some nice displays along the walkways.

A few views around the park at the falls.

On the way home we took a side road, which has several farms and views of the valley below. 

And even though we didn't get to go out with the boys, I got to see them in their costumes. 

And of course a few days at the beach this week. Now that it is getting darker earlier, we can only walk for  an hour, before it gets dark. I was still able to find a few nice pieces, yesterday.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and week ahead. Hopefully we can get out for a new adventure this weekend.