Friday - almost finished!

 

I worked on my wall hanging this week, something I started over 15 years ago. I can't believe how much time has gone by since I started some projects. I was planning on giving this one to a charity auction for our local shelter, so now I will keep it for now. 

I still have to put some detail on two leaves and I am thinking of putting a saying, Dog days of summer. I have quilted it and done the edge, but I can still work stitches without going through the back, since it is so thick. The bee and grasshopper are designs I got from Wee Folk Art. If you go to her appliqué designs, on page 11, you will see the grasshopper and the story behind it. I was the reader who asked for one.

I will take another photo when I finish the rest. I cannot remember where I got the dog from, the flowers are from books I have and the butterflies were probably from clip art.

This week we missed watching the Viking ship, as it left port from Mystic, so we headed to a beach, further down and were able to watch it as it was making its way to Newport. It will wait there until it is picked up by a cargo ship, to go to Norway. It was far away, so the photo is a bit off.

On the way to the beach, we stopped at the falls. Will all the rain, they are funning faster than usual.

Another day we went for a walk at a nearby park. The falls were heavy there, as well.

During our walk, I was lucky enough to spot another Ovenbird. I use Merlin bird sounds, which is a free app. It tells me what birds are in the area and when I say Ovenbird, I kept looking towards the sound, until I found him.

Today we took a ride around the beach areas, but most were too crowded to bother going to. We decided to stop at Black point, a nice walk along the cliffs and lots of birds. Of course they were all hiding on me, but I enjoyed the walk and the cool breezes coming off the bay.

At home, I have enjoyed all the birds and so far, just sparrows with young, who are quite annoying and noisy. I did spot the House wren making a nest in the old bird house. I also got two blueberry bushes and so far they are doing well with the replanting. I also noticed strawberries on the bushes that Ivy gave me a few years ago, so I am cleaning out the area to give them more room to spread and a fence to keep the critters out.

I hope you all had a nice week and not in the paths of the horrible storms. This weekend is birthdays for everyone, but taking it easy this year. 

Final Finish!

 

This week I finished my wall hanging. I had a few touches I wanted to add, one being the stars I forgot. I also added some buttons to the flowers. Then I finished with an outer stitching on the edge. I also started a punch needle piece, that I started years ago. I had it in a hoop and left it on and crushed some of the floss areas, so I took those out and doing a bit at a time. Another project I found, is an old quilt I made a long time ago, so I just need to add a backing and do some quilting, to finish it. 

I also found another punch needle piece, the exact same one I just did with the sheep. Well, now I have two and the first one is one I like better. It is narrower and better contrast, so that I will keep to make a key rack with and the other will be fixed and sold.

Last week I was able to get a few good hikes in. One place we went was a pond walk. It goes in and out of woods, along the pond, into a farm field and back around the pond. With all the wind storms and flooding, there is also a lot of downfall.

We were sitting on the deck, overlooking the pond and I spotted this guy. A Great Blue Heron, too busy to notice me as he was fishing. 

And a few birds that I spotted; a Hairy Woodpecker, a Black Capped Chickadee and when I got home, I spotted our first Hummingbird.

Our next hike was two new areas. The first was an old road that went along fields and I did notice after, there are lots of trails on the other side, so something to explore another day. Down the road, we found another trail but no parking spots. Luckily I have a trail finder and found another parking spot, on the opposite side. 

It was a beautiful place to walk, lots of birds that I couldn't catch and it opens to a field, where you can do more birding. Another place to come back to and explore more of the trails.

On the way in, I spotted this bird and grabbed a shot, before it flew away. I had to do a lot of editing to get it to show up better, but a first for me, an Ovenbird. 

I hope you all had a good week and not too much flooding this week. Lots of areas here got flooded, so we won't be able to hike in a lot of areas, that are swampy. I also got my garden started and need to do some shopping for more plants, so hoping to get that done this week, while we have nice weather.