Friday Finish!

 

Well, I finished my quilting, but then I got sick and it affects my joints, so I wasn't up to trimming and adding the binding, so that will be next week. Since I was down for the day, I decided to make up some simple stitcheries. I cannot just sit, I need to keep my hands busy and it keeps my mind off my misery. 

I took some old designs I had from Robin of Bird in the Hand Primitives. I had done these in punch needle but they work for stitchery too. The boy bunny has always been my favorite. A fun project to stitch in a day. You can still find some of her free patterns on her blog.

We got out over the weekend. We took a ride to Mystic village to check out a few stores but nothing good. I did enjoy watching the ducks in the pond.

Then we rode around the old routes and visited a preserve. It was a short walk and had an old cemetery. This grave was sitting by itself, a sign of the times.

Another day we did the ride around the back roads along the ocean areas. I spotted this Merganser at one spot.

And this Mockingbird was kind enough to sit for a pose.

At one area I spotted a little bird and grabbed a shot before he flew away. It was a Yellow-rumped warbler. Sometimes I can't tell what type of bird they are, until I see the full photo and can see the details, so always a treat. On the way back home I spotted a Red-tailed Hawk in a tree, so stopped for a photo and just as we started up, I saw another a few trees up, so I guess they are mates.

I hope everyone enjoyed their week and hopefully this weekend. We have rain tomorrow, so we are having the kids over for dinner and a little party for my son's birthday. Hopefully Sunday will be nice enough to get out a bit.

Friday Working on!

 I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. We had a nice meal with the kids and for my birthday, they got me a new, larger bird feeder, just what I had been looking for. I didn't get as much work done on my projects, too much cleaning and cooking this week, to catch up, after being so sick.

I have been working on my large piece, a lot more work than I realized, but I will get it done this week, I hope. I am doing the main design and the details will be some glitter threads along with buttons.

Last weekend we got out for some short walks and bird watching. At one beach, I was able to spot a flock of Snow Buntings and a Cormorant sitting on a piling in a marina.

At our next stop, at the breakaway, I spotted a few seagulls on the roof of a restaurant. They know where the food is.

Then we went to the breakers and climbed the hill to check out the views. The lighthouse at Point Judith.

On the way home we went down a side road and noticed something large in a tree, in the woods. A Great horned owl, a first for me.

Today we got out for a ride, a short walk at the bird sanctuary and then a walk at the beach. The beach was

actually warmer with a cool breeze, which was a nice change. It seems most of the birds have left the areas and only a few remain. I actually spotted the hawk down the road from our house. I hope you all enjoy your weekend and can enjoy the upcoming holidays.

Friday Finish!

 This week has been a whirlwind, which I am sure is that way for most of you. The presents are wrapped and dishes are prepared ahead of time, so all I have to do is last minute prep and cooking the main hot dishes. The kids come over after early service tomorrow, so we have a nice dinner and gift giving. On Christmas we go to their house and I save some presents for the boys to open then.

I am still working on my nativity quilt, doing some words and then prep it for quilting. I forgot I had the bowl cozy templates and had meant to make some as gifts, so too late now. But, I had enough time to whip up a couple, one for me, the trees and the birds are for Ivy to use on her table. I like the smaller version better, much stiffer than the larger one.

If you like to make your own, I got the templates on amazon, they have cheaper sets, then the name brands. I also used this video to see, the best way to make them. Shabby Fabric's  bowl cozies.

Last weekend we went out for a little shopping and a ride around the ocean, back roads. No birds at the beaches, but as we were going back, along a neighborhood road, we spotted this Red-Tailed Hawk.

And at a local inlet, we spotted a group of American Black Ducks.

I have also been trying out polarizing filters, still have to learn how to use them better, but Bean stopped and posed for me, so I could try it in bright light. I can't wait to go to some waterfalls next week, to try it out. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas, Hannukah or whatever holiday you celebrate. What is important is the meaning behind the season, peace and goodwill to all.

Friday Finishes!

This week I worked on finishing the new stitchery by Kathy Schmitz. This one was fun to do and I did more fancy stitches, as well as add a border to mine. It is fun having something new and quick to do, each month. I am seriously thing about doing sales again, I have way too many finished pieces, starting to pile up.

For fun, I decided to try some new rocks to hide. With the nicer weather, it is fun to place a few, at a time, in places we visit. With everything that is going on, I felt like sunflower pieces were nice to show our support. With my bad arm, it is harder to do a lot of detail, so I kept them simple.

Our weather is up and down lately, rain, warm and then cold again, so one day we went to the kids and spent some time with the boys and a little party for my son's 40'th birthday. Afterwards we drove around their area to look for an eagle they spotted. No eagle but we found an old mill site.

Remnants from the old mill.

The next day we spent some time at the beach. It was a bit cool but I finally got a pair of Bogs, so I was able to walk along the water without having to worry about getting my feet wet or cold. Bean was happy to go along, and the low tide meant, he had more places to explore.

I found some nice treasures and thrilled to find another marble and a large piece of lavender.

On the way out of the beach, I noticed a bird sitting at the Osprey nest and stopped to take a photo. It seems a Red Tailed Hawk and his mate have made a home in the nest. I am sure the Osprey is not going to be happy when it returns and sadly, it will kick them out, so I hope they havn't laid eggs yet.

I also got a surprise in the mail, a gift from Kathy Schmitz. She has a contest each year and this year was to make 6 of the same items and post a photo. I posted a photo of my pillows and instead of picking a winner, she sent all of the girls who posted, a gift package.

I hope this finds you all well and enjoying time creating and time exploring your area. Warm weather is heading our way, so Bill has two days to take off so we are planning some day trips this coming week.

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 Finish!

I actually had time to finish a few pillows this week. I had a few days of down time from getting sick, so it was nice to relax but then I had to do a weeks work in two days, lol. 

The design is by Kathy Schmitz for the Stitch club. She shows different versions and types of stitches you can use, but I have fun coloring them in and I am lazy. I added lavender to bother and one I antiqued because I had a little red running on a few spots. I plan on selling them at an upcoming camp, yard sale to help defray the costs of camping and a cat sitter.

I do have a hard time deciding on prices, it is a yard sale but these are new, hand stitched and filled with lavender. They are about 6" square, would love to hear what. you think they are worth.

We made it back to camp today and I decided to get out for a little paddle. No matter how I feel, being out on the water rejuvenates me and I was able to paddle and bird watch for a few hours.

I saw this pair of Grackles, one was waiting patiently while the other took a bath.

I also visited the Mother Hummingbird, who is getting used to me watching her, and a Red Tailed Hawk flew over for a bit.

And Bill insisted that he had to have ice cream, so we took a trip down the road, to ButtonWoods Farm to satisfy his craving and I enjoyed watching the cows. I have no idea what kind of cows are what, I think these were for milking and I noticed a few had extremely large bellies, so lots of calves are coming.

I hope you all had a wonderful week and enjoy your weekend.

Friday Finish and weekly friends!

 

This week I finished a piece I was working on, a design by Cheri Saffiote. It is fun to do Christmas throughout the year and I will have lots of gifts for next year. I do plan on selling some things this year, so I need to organize what I have and what will sell.

This piece was done with colored pencils and DMC floss, then I used a bit of glitter floss in each design element to add a pop. I am not sure what the black line by the glove is, but it doesn't belong.

And what is not showing is the edging along the outer border. I did a feather stitch in red and love how it looks on the piece.

Last weekend we took a drive to the ocean and sat at the breakaway. Of course the seagulls were abundant, there are several restaurants in the area, so lots of scraps. They are the same seagull, the darker one is the younger one.

And I always have fun watching the common Eiders, they are great fishermen. The female has a catch and the males are white and black, the other is the younger male.

And we got to watch the seal as it swam in, as the tide was going out. Someday I will get a close up of some seals.

And another thing to enjoy on the docks is, boats, and ferries. Someday I would love to do some art pieces of the fishing boats. I cheated and added a blue sky, not much sun lately.

On the way home, I spotted a few hawks. Bill drives and I saw Hawk and sometimes he actually hears me and stops, lol. This guy was closer, but when I opened the window to shoot, he took off, so I was able to catch him further in the field, high up in a tree. This is a Red Shouldered Hawk.

No sun but lots of snow lately and more today. I enjoy seeing all the birds who come in the snow, they seem to be more active when it is snowing.

And a few sit in the trees, too shy to come to the feeder when I am around. The chickadees are the friendliest, they sit and chatter at me.

And a visitor who is not allowed on the porch, but I let him sit for a photo. I have food in the other feeders that they are allowed to have, but they know there are peanuts upstairs.

And last but not least, time with the boys. Mom and dad were car shopping so the boys spent the day with us. Too cold to go out, so we had fun playing at home. Of course Bean wanted everyone to play with him, he is such an attention hog.

I hope you all had a good week and staying warm. It won't be long before Spring is here, I can't wait.

Happy New Year!

 

I hope everyone has had a nice holiday week. We do not celebrate the new year, just another day for me. I just live for the day, trying to find joy in the moments and keeping busy. I also got a request for masks, 22 of them. I prefer to do a few at a time, it is rough on my arms, lots of cutting and sewing with the 3D masks, but I do like making them. I just wish there was an easier way so I could make more. I see so many people selling masks that do not fit properly and made with thin materials, and they charge more. 

These masks are going to a vet office, that my Niece works at. I made three styles so they can pick the ones they like.

Bill and I have been getting out when we can. The weather is colder and we get rain, but some days are nice enough to do a little exploring.

And we took the boys out,  to the lighthouse. 

It took about five minutes before they decided it as too cold, as you can see from this photo. We headed back to our house and all Nick wanted, was to jump in the hot tub, lol.

Today we got out for another ride and ended up going for a short hike. It was cold but nice to get out and get some exercise.

Along the ride we passed a lot of farms and quite a few Red Tailed Hawks.

And lots of old barns, most were falling down. 

We ended our ride at a pond, where the eagles hang out. We were lucky enough to spot them, but too far away and it was getting dark so I couldn't get a decent photo, but it was still nice to see them.

I hope you can get out and explore in your area, you never know what you will find.