Friday Finish!

 I realized tonight that I forgot to post my blog. It's been a busy week with unpacking and cleaning from the trip, to getting ready for the weekend. We have been taking it easy and getting some things done and spending some times with the kids. I got a bag of fireworks for the kids and let them have some for their house last night and tonight we had them for dinner and outdoor games, then a few more fireworks. I got all kid friendly and from a shop in NH, so I knew they were safer.

I had started a needle punch project a few weeks ago and finished it this week. It's been a while since I have done punch, so I made some old mistakes in my color choices and in the lettering, so not perfect but good enough. It is a pattern in an issue of Primitive projects by Tonya Robey.

Hinsdale, a town down the road from our camp, has a few historic buildings. One is their town hall, a beautiful building but hard to get it without warping, using a wide angle.

Another building is the oldest Post Office, still in operation in the US. New Hampshire has a lot of beautiful towns, historic mill towns that are sadly, run down, but a lot of buildings still remain.

I hope everyone had a nice week and enjoying the holiday weekend. It is sad to see the floods in Texas and I hope you are not affected by that.

Friday Finish!

 This week I worked on my bed quilt and was all excited when I got it all together, then I saw it is too short. The guest bed is a long, so I need at least two more rows, then with a border, it should be the right size. Luckily I found some more old fabrics that I can add to what pieces I have enough of, to blend it in.

At night I do hand work and finished a little mat to put on my old bench. It was from a Need'l love book with a Christmas theme, so I changed it a little to make it more Americana.

I also finished the rose I was working on. As usual, I over painted it by trying to follow the instructions and made more of a mess, so I gave up. The next one I am working on is a design I redid from a photo I took.

I have also been working in my gardens. My DIL gave me strawberry plants a few years ago and this year they are finally producing. Some are growing strangely and a lot have bites out of them, but I still get a few for myself.

On nice days we are getting out for walks. The bird sanctuary is one of our favorite places. Always a nice walk and lots of birds. I caught an Eastern Towhee along the path.

At the end of one point, you can see an Osprey nest. I am not sure what they were doing, but the dad was moving a large stick and the female was helping. 

We also stopped at the ocean to check out the waves and caught this fishermen, coming around on the rough side of the rocks. 

With rain on and off during the weekends, we get out when it stops. We went to another bird sanctuary that is down the road and enjoyed walking around the pond. Lots of birds in the area, but none sit still or are hiding in the bush.

I hope you all enjoyed your week and have a good weekend. I need to get going on old projects and now I have to get ready for a trip in two weeks. We will be celebrating our 50th anniversary this year, but keeping it simple by going camping. 

Friday Finish!

 I finally finished my stitchery. It is a pattern by Bareroots and a fun one to do. I did it on a tea towel, like the pattern, but I think this would make a fun pillow. I used an iron on cloth to cover the back stitches, but it shows through, so not sure if I like that. 

I also did another painting, my first flower. I find it hard to follow the instructions, some make no sense, so I tend to do my own thing. I really don't like copying someone else's style, but I like learning a few new things and practicing techniques.

Last week we hiked at a park, that also has a bird sanctuary area. Some paths are paved, part of the old World War II airport training camp.

Other areas are grassy and others are wooded pathways, so a nice variety of scenery.

We also spotted a few returning birds, but only caught the Eastern Towhee. On the ride home we spotted a  Merlin and a few other things along the way.

Another day we went to the island and let Bean have some fun time at the beach.

Today we went to another sanctuary. There were so many birds and critters, we barely took a few steps before seeing something. Most were shy and ran away when they saw us, but I caught a few along the paths.

A Yellow-rumped Warbler.

A Yellow Warbler.

A Tree Swallow.

And a few more things we spotted at the ponds and path. We have rain coming, but it may hold off tomorrow, so hoping to get out again. It is nice to see signs of Spring at the parks and at home. My flowers and trees are blooming, so it is a great mood pick me up, after a dreary winter. I hope you all can get out and enjoy spending time outside.

Friday finish and fun!

This week I worked on finishing my Christmas mat. I had different snowflake fabrics and I like how they fit together. It still has enough of a prim look to fit in with my decor, and just enough pop to make it festive. The edge on the front is how it looks, the other edges are a bit messed up looking since I use AI to put it in a new background.

 

Last week we did some rides and sight seeing. We headed up state and stopped at the Dam. It is always a nice view.

After, we headed back to another pond. We even spotted the eagle, across the pond.

We got a nice walk along the pathways and stopped at the falls. Most of the falls are starting to slow down, with the lack of rain in our areas.

We went into Connecticut and took a scenic route home. Not as much color as I had hoped, but the farms alway offer beautiful views.

Another day we went to Connecticut since I wanted to get one more bag of apples, before they close. We stopped at the Yantic falls.

Another view of the railroad bridge. Even the falls here were light and slower.

We have been getting some light walks in and today we got a longer walk with rougher terrain and hills. I spotted a lot of birds and heard a lot, but none would stay put for a photo.

It is going to get cooler but sunny here so hopefully we can get more walks in this weekend. I hope everyone is enjoying the cooler fall weather and can get out and enjoy walks in your area.

Friday: Almost finished

 I tried to push my punching so I could finish my piece. It is finished, but a mess. I did use less floss and that tend to be more puffy, so it looks sloppy. Since I am tired and don't want to leave it like that, I will fix up the problem areas and bad contrast on some areas, so it stands out more. The photo makes it look worse, but you can get the idea, this is what happens when you rush.

Last weekend we took the boys fishing. They love to fish, but have no luck. I think it is because they have small lures and no weight to cast out, far enough. Others were catching fish, but they were using live bait, so we will have to get some better gear for them.

The park also has a lot of hiking areas. The boys enjoyed exploring the areas around the pathways. There are a lot of birds there too, but with noisy boys, it is hard to get any shots. 

The next day Bill and I went for a ride into Connecticut. We stopped at a few places and did some hikes, but couldn't catch any birds that day. We enjoyed getting out and Bean got to have fun too. I really want to come here with the RV and spend the day. The problem is, the road has been collapsing so there is no way we can get it there. 

During the week, Bill had to take a day off for an early appointment, so we had the day to get out. We went to a new place that is owned by the college. They have several areas for gardens and fisheries and allow visitors. 

We walked along a path to an area that is full of trees, all types that the students plant and study. It is also a place full of birds. We heard a lot and saw a few that were too quick to shoot, but I was able to catch quite a few,  and the grove is so peaceful, that I enjoyed just walking around, under the trees. 

In some areas they also had bee hives. It was warming up and you could hear them, so we kept our distance. I think I will go back and bring my portable seat and just sit there.

We took the scenic route home and as we were heading out of the Lighthouse road, we saw a few cars and people milling around. This is why, a Snapping turtle was crossing the road. I got out and took a few shots and then a local lady and I walked along his side, till he got back to the pond side. 

And at home, I have seen an influx of new birds and our summer visitors are returning. Today we spotted a huge Woodpecker, so hoping it will come back for a photo. It looked like a Downy, but bigger than a Hairy should be, so not sure what it was. 

I hope you all have a nice weekend and good weather. We have Alex's first communion tomorrow, and possible rain on Sunday. I am looking forward to nicer weather, but not the heat of summer.

Working on Friday!

 I have really missed making punch needle pieces, so this week I decided to make one that has been on my to do list. It was gifted to me by my friend who passed last year. She has gifted me a lot of items over the years, as well as other friends, so I have a long to do list.

This is a design by Yvonne Buss and I like how it is longer, so I can make it into a long pillow or maybe mount it and make it into a key rack. This is the backside, and my hands aren't what they used to be, so not as neat, as I would like. I also am doing it in 4 strands, since using different sized punches will change the heights. I may do the background in a lower height so I can use 6 strands, so it will work up faster. It will depend on how it looks.

Last weekend we got out for our usual rides, this time with the boys. We took them on a walk at a park and then to the beach. They always have fun when we can get out and it is not too cold.

I also got lucky and caught the Great Egret, feeding near the road.

And in the parking lot at the beach, a flock of Brandts. A first for this area.

Before we headed home, we stopped at a small park and I was lucky enough to spot an Eastern Kingbird.

On another day we went on another beach loop and I caught several Ospreys nesting. Lots of birds are coming in this week.

And on the way home, we stopped to watch the surfers at Narragansett beach.

Today we stopped at the kids house to drop things off, but Nick had a sore knee from playing at a trampoline park, so after we dropped some goodies off for them, we headed for a ride to shop and around the beaches.

It was beautiful but windy and cold at the beach, so we just stopped for a look.

We got to see another Great egret in the marsh. They are usually too busy hunting for food, to care about us, watching them. Another day of rain tomorrow, so hopefully it will end early. I hope everyone is getting better weather and able to get out to enjoy the areas where you live. 

Friday Finish and Finds!

 

This was quite the week with the storm, but we made it through without any damage, but we did lose power for 2 days. It was a good week to work on a project so I whipped up some mini sachets that I could work on. It is still hard to do things with my finger but where there is a will, there is a way, lol.

I enlarged it a little since these were minis, perfect for little sachets I can add to packages.

We went to the beach, before the storm rolled in. Beautiful time to enjoy the cleaner air that storms bring in.

The storm bought in a lot of seaweed, hard to find glass under all that mess.

The next day, the beach was a lot cleaner. The temps have been on the humid side but always cooler at the beach.

And of course I found some treasures, quite a few large, old pieces.

And another problem with storms, fledglings fall out of their nests. I found this young Robin on the ground so I put her in the old feeder. She is gone now and the parents were around, so she will be taken care of, no matter where she is hiding.

I hope you all made it through the storm without any damage and have a wonderful weekend.