Friday Finishes!

This week I kept busy with some new projects. I started with a little hut style house. It is from Lin Wellford's painting houses book, so I basically followed her pattern and added some of my own touches. The roof on hers was done with wood putty to make it stand out, but I just painted mine.

Then I decided I wanted to make something quick and easy, so I did some ladybugs. She also has this pattern in one of her books. The large one is for the garden and the little ones are to hide, when we go hiking. Hopefully the boys will go out with us tomorrow and Nick loves to hide the rocks for me. I really don't hide them, I like people to see them as they walk along a trail.

I also finished a stitchery from Kathy Schmitz's one stitch club. It is not really a design I would use for display and I will be doing americana soon, so I kept it simple and put lavender inside, so I can use it as a sachet.

This week I have a lot of visitors. We put up some peanut butter suet and some cheap wire holders and the birds love it. Of course the squirrels and other critters are enjoying it too, so I won't be replacing them everyday. The other day I saw the guinea hens under the feeder and they had company. This guy is huge and he is all alone, not sure why, but someone said he is an older turkey, the beard which is hanging down in front, is long, which helps to tell their age. I learned something new.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I also wanted to let those who comment know, I do read and appreciate all of your comments, but I cannot always respond if they are no reply or email that I can respond to.

Friday Finish and Finds!

I finished my turtle, that was it for this week. I am working on a new stitchery of the month and other projects and gardening and keeping up with the house and animals, it seems I have less and less time lately, to do it all.

I love how he came out, not perfect but he is fun and makes me smile.

And one thing keeping me busy is, stripping and sewing strips for rug braiding. The great thing is, it will cut down on the old wool stash from the thrifts and I will have it ready whenever I want to make a little rug. I think I will make a mat for the cat dish next, the thinner wools will be good for that. This is just a start, I was trying to sew on my machine and the bobbin messed up again, so I think I need to get my little Juki out and use that, not worth wrecking my good machine, sewing on wools. Sew by hand is relaxing while I watch tv, but it will take me forever.

And of course we went to the beach on the weekend. We stopped at the southern beach after shopping and the tide was almost in, but we still found some nice pieces. The second day we went to our favorite spot, at low tide. There were a few beach collectors that got there first, but I found quite a few pieces that they missed.

And I have been enjoying some time on the porch, my way to relax and unwind. Lots of critters and birds are enjoying the feeder. The squirrels are a pain, they knock all the seed out of the feeders and I have seen them batt a few birds to get it all for themselves. The Guinea fowl have been spending more time in my yard, even taking naps. There were six and now there are only two, not sure if they got hit by cars or predators.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We have rain coming in, but I am s sure I can squeeze in some more beach time.

Friday Finishes and Finds!

This week seemed to fly by, I had lots of plans and didn't get as much accomplished, but I was able to do a few things. I think the heat is getting to me, and it is continuing into next week. Of course we may get showers finally, right at the same time as the boys belated birthday party, lol.

One good thing is the first of the month and a new stitchery from Kathy Schmitz's club. I decided to do some more lavender sachets and I kept them simple, omitting the extra stitching in the basket and some outer pieces.

One I did with pearl cotton and one I did with DMC variegated red. I think I like the red best, the blue is a bit light, but fine for a sachet that I will be hiding in my wool.

I also got out over the weekend to hunt for glass. We found a lot the first day, and we spent 4 hours looking, and I had my helpers. I even found an old rusty hook, not sure what I will do with it. If you look towards the bottom left, you will see a face rock, complete with 3d nose and a smile, that will be fun to paint.

The next day I found less, but some nice pieces and the big rock at the top will be an owls head. I ended up throwing away the piece of bottle, too new and it was cracked and sharp, so not worth keeping.

And as you can see from the first photo, I used some of my rocks. I did some simple ones this time and the hearts were a design I saw on a cookie. The problem is, I was supposed to make the stripes in the opposite direction and my brain went backwards, but they still turned out, ok.

The chick and dog came from the first finds. I have the others ready to go, but wanted to finish a few this week and I can do some more, next week. One the back I write my group name, DSmiles4miles and ask them to smile at the next person they see, that is the payment for finding and keeping the rock. I am hoping to get a large batch made, then when it cools down, I can hide some on our walks and maybe take some on vacation.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. The boys had to postpone their birthday in May, so they are finally getting a party. And Bean is on house rest, though he seems to be getting back to his old self. He injured his leg and had an inflamed tendon, so no jumping for now.

Weekend happenings!

This weekend was a mix of sun and rain, but we did get out one day and enjoy exploring a new area. We headed to Salmon River Forest, the main destination was the Comstock covered bridge in Connecticut. We took a back road down, so we enjoyed new views and old barns, but most were hard to stop and get photos of.

The Comstock bridge had to be rebuilt, but they kept the original bridge, just new lumber and trusses to keep it from falling again. It was a beautiful spot to get out and walk along the river.

The bridge is the route for the bike path, we will have to come back to ride, someday. We walked along the river on the main trail and came up some steep hills to enjoy this beautiful view. We walked a bit more, but it seemed the trail was heading away from the river, so we turned back. Now I wish I had remembered to print a map, there was a waterfall not too much further and I really wanted to see that, next time.

There is a bit of color but not what i was hoping for, maybe next weekend. It is still beautiful though and there was a hawk flying down the river, searching for dinner.

We saw a road on the other side of the river and decided to check it out. Along the road was an old mill, it was wonderful to explore, as I walked around the outside, but a bit creepy since it was so large and filled with places, critters might be living.

We continued on and came out to a parking lot, where you could park and start on the bike path. The old railroad bridge is part of the path, beautiful area surrounding by woods.

We got a late start and it was a longer drive, so we will definitely go back to the area and explore more. The towns above this area are historical and lots of parks with hikes. On Sunday it rained in the morning so we waited till it stopped and headed over the Jamestown and walked along the beach at Fort Getty. I wanted to get a few more rocks for painting and it is a great place for Bean to play. Unfortunately the rain came again, so we rode to the lighthouse and it stopped again, long enough to enjoy a walk around the lighthouse loop and hide a few rocks.

On the way home we passed through the village and the kids were trick or treating at the stores. I couldn't get photos as we were moving, but I did get a shot of this storefront, they always have a decorating contest at the local stores, this one was fun.

And online, I saw a beautiful rock that a neighbor found. It was an angel with the saying, " Your wings were ready, but my heart was not". I thought that was the perfect one for me to find and then she messaged me to see if I wanted it. It wasn't a message that had meaning to her, but for some reason she decided to take it and then thought of me, so I thought that was really nice. Now the angel is in my rock garden, in my beach room and she will stay there for now, someday I will see someone who needs that message and pass it along to them.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. We lost power at 11pm last night and it is still out. We are always one of the first to get it back since we live near a school, but it seems everyone else is getting theirs, but not us. We do have a generator, but it is a pain to have wires all over the house and I really need to wash some laundry, lol.