Friday Finish!

 

This week I worked on another project to get through my patterns. This one is from a Simply Need'l Love book, called Scare the Crows. It was a fun project to do and a great way to use up more wool from my stash. 

Last week we spent time at the island, on the beach. The water was rough, so it was hard to swim, but fun to ride in the waves. Always something going on, on the water. A tug boat pulling a working barge up the bay.

A few sail surfers were out, enjoying the wind and waves.

Today we went for a walk at the bird sanctuary. The state beaches at the ocean were all closed, due to rip tides, so no swimming today. I spotted a friendly pair in the pond.

Lots of chipmunks were along the paths today.

And more turtles sunning on the rock. It was a nice day for a walk, but got hotter as we went along. Warmer weather coming in, so we can get back to the beaches and enjoy the last days of summer. 

I hope everyone had a nice week and enjoying the weekend. We want to get away but have to wait till after the holiday and my husband has to be back at work on the next Monday, so we will have to slip it in, between the holiday and the following Monday, so I need to decide where and what to do. 

Working on Friday!

 

This week I started a stitchery, but still working on it. I am trying to do old patterns in my to do list and starting new ones. Since it is late in the season, I have decided to move to the holidays so maybe I can actually finish some things in time.

I had material that I love, and thought, why not make mitten blocks, using textured wools. So that is the next project I can work on at night, sewing the mittens onto the backing. I will use the mitten fabric and maybe the skates with mittens, as a border, still thinking on it.

Today we took the boys to the beach. It is the pond that we also camp and paddle at, but this time we went to the main beach. It was not crowded and the water was cool enough to enjoy, and there was a nice breeze. We also had a side, all to ourselves with tree shade, so a nice place to spend the afternoon. 

The boys loved playing in the water. This area is not as shallow as the launch area, but not so deep either, so perfect for them. 

I hope you all enjoyed your week. We have nice weather this weekend, so I plan on enjoying it, before the heat comes back in. 

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!

 

This week I tried a new project for Easter. I saw a coloring book design on the web and thought it would be a fun design to needle felt. I used a mix of my good variegated roving with some cheaper ones for the bright colors. The backing is a dyed piece of white wool. I put another piece behind it to stiffen it up and then another thick piece for the backing, finishing with a blanket stitch.

Last weekend we did a ride to Connecticut to visit the owl sanctuary. They had some new birds, so it is nice to see ones we don't see in the wild, but sad to see them in cages. Some will be released when they recover, others have injuries that keep them from hunting, so they live there. The nice thing about the sanctuary is, they have beautiful paths to walk along and enjoy birding and nature. I didn't catch any birds but I did spot a lone turtle in the pond.

The paths have boardwalks and bridges in the wetlands. 

After that we stopped at Barn Island, and got another walk in. No birds were in the marsh, that I could see, but always a nice place to walk and enjoy the ocean views.

Our last stop was at the ocean drive. We spotted an Osprey in the nest, waiting for his mate.

On Sunday we went to Connecticut to shop at the mill store. I didn't find anything I was looking for, but I did get a fun stitchery and tea towel to do. We drove around the river areas but no eagles. We stopped at the park for a quick walk along the river, but this day killed my foot, so we didn't do much more.

This week we went to the island to see what Ospreys were in. A lot of the nests had pairs, but I was surprised that the one at the forts was empty. The nest was blown apart by the winter storms, so I hope he gets here soon and fixes it up, before his mate comes in. A few Ospreys that I spotted along the way.

And when I got home, I saw a big bird fly off, something with large black wings with white bands. I watched the area and finally saw what it was, a Pileated Woodpecker and not one, but two, so maybe this year they will have young that will visit. This is the female, the male has a red band on the side of his face.

I hope everyone had a good week and not in the bad weather that seems to be hitting so many areas. We have rain coming in, but we may get enough dry periods to enjoy being out.

Friday Finish!

 This week I was able to work on my pillow and finish it. It is a design by Whimsical quilts and can be found in the book, For the Birds. The original pillow has a longer side piece, but I wanted to use a material that was not as long, so I modified it to fit my size. 

It is done with a flannel background and wool appliqué. I pinned the pieces in place and did a blanket stitch on them. The background has small stripes that are browns and a blue one, so it fits perfectly with my living room colors. I use it on the back of the couch for decoration and when the sun hits me in the face, I can move it to block the sun. 

Last weekend we went to the island. It was too cold to be out long, but a nice sunny day. A few of the docks and some of the fishing boats.

Today we got out and were able to walk on the beaches, since it got up to a balmy 38. I haven't been able to find as much nice glass, but with the cold, I try to walk more and bend less. There was a ship on a ship next to the bridge. With oversized ships, they cannot get in for repairs, so the larger ship is a dry dock, that they can get on and do their repairs.

I also spotted a group of American Black Ducks.

A male Mallard.

And it's mate. I love seeing so many ducks and other birds that winter on the island. It is a nice way to get out and get rid of the winter blues. This weekend will start out nice and then rain coming in and on Sunday we will get snow in the afternoon. I am not sure how much we will get, since we are always on the line, so hopefully more snow than rain.

I hope you all enjoy your weekend and find ways to get out and beat the winter blues. Making new things to decorate with, is always a good way for me to enjoy my days when I am stuck inside.

Friday Finish!

 

Since I am working on several large projects, I like to have something that I can make up quickly. This Christmas mat is a pattern from BareRoots. I have been gifted a lot of items on top of things I have bought over the years, so trying to finish them, a bit at a time.

Last week we went to the pond, to see if we could find the eagles. None in sight this time, but I did catch a Killdeer at the water's edge.

After we went for a walk at the bike path. Would love to try my new bike there, but it is either too cold or too windy lately. Lots of Chickadees at the park.

Today we went to the lighthouse. It was windy but warmer. Lots of seagulls were enjoying, floating in the winds.

We ended up taking the back paths and found out they go a lot further in the opposite direction, so we got a nice long walk, along with views of the bay. 

Most of the foliage is gone now, but we still see pops of color, here and there. My backyard came in late, so this was last week and now they are bright yellows and falling with the wind. I hope you are all safe from the horrible storms, crossing the middle states. We have good weather this weekend, so hoping to get out for long walks and maybe a bike ride.

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. 

Working on Friday!

 

This has not been a good week for me. I was all ready to have a fun weekend and woke up Saturday, sick with bronchitis. I spent this week coughing my lungs out and today was the first day I could breathe without coughing. So, not much got done, I had no energy and spent more time doing nothing but coughing.

I was able to put together the next pieces for my Christmas hanging. I did some stitching on my other piece, but not as much as I would have liked. 

Today I felt good enough to get out for a bit and I really wanted to get some fresh ocean air. My house has been filling with my neighbor's fireplace smoke, so that hasn't helped with my coughing. It was nice getting out and the island was popping with color.

On the way home, I spotted this Red-tailed hawk, hanging out in the shipyard. My camera wasn't working right and they couldn't fix it, so I got a new replacement. I still need to redo the settings for focus and other things I use to get better shots. I used photoshop to improve the quality.

I am hoping I keep improving and will get out as much as I can this weekend. I feel better when I am out, even if I get tired after. I hope everyone is doing well and avoiding this flu that is going around, not a fun one.

Friday Finish!

 

This hasn't been a great week for doing things, the kids were sick again and I think I have the same thing, since I was feeling better and it came back, so back on meds for me. The good thing is I spend more time working on projects and making progress on my second wheelchair quilt, so once that is done, I can put both together.

I decided to take a break and work up a quick project. This is a design by Susan who offers the free pattern on her site, Downeast Thunder Farm. I used wool from a thrifted jacket, which is thick and fluffy, so perfect for a black bat. I messed up the face on the first one and the second came out a bit better.  I used rusty wire for the feet and have them hanging on my shelve. I took the photo on the rack so you could see them better.

We were able to get to the beach few days.  I was able to get some paddling in, one day, but too cold to swim.

                                        

I found a few nice pieces of glass, the darker one in the middle is red glass. I hope you all have a nice weekend.