More Olympic Stitching Project

Better late than never. I decided to wait to post today until I finished the second Olympic Stitching Project, the pink and white one. The design is by Christine. I have changed the colors. I also have a relatively minor variation in the hardanger section because I miscoutned. As you can see, I have left off the name and date as well as three silk ribbon roses.

The mom will be able to choose between it and the second one which has been finished for quite a while and also is looking for a purpose. The name and date will be in the oval. This design is from Victoria Sampler. I am not certain the sampler on which it is based is still available.

The birds seem to be happy again. I recently read that it is a good idea to wash bird feeders once a month because birds get spit and poop in the trays. Let me tell you that my first thought was eeewwwweeeeeeee. The seed supply was getting a little low so I just let it run out. Unfortunately I left the feeder outside empty for a couple days. There was something about touching a feeder that was contaminated by bird spit and poop that was decided unappealing.

Yesterday morning when it was still covered by the lovely frost, I brought it in. It did not look contaminated. I could not see any bird drops so you know I did not see any puddles of frozen bird spit. We did take it a part and thoroughly washed it. I have to admit that when I filled it with seed, it looked new. Well, that is except for the fact that the squirrels chewed the ring the birds are supposed to stand on while they eat.

Maybe my birds are a little more intelligent and socially adept than the average birds. I hardly ever see them standing in the tray that holds the seed out for them. They really do stand on that ring. If they do that, their drops have to fall on the ground and will not go into the tray of seed.

I was afraid that the birds would shun my feeder because I had left it empty for a couple days. As soon as I hung it and went in the house to look out the window, there it was, a little nuthatch. The chickadees came, the junkos came, and so did the cardinal. In the background, the squirrels were running through the trees.

Frosty Morn

This morning the frost looked magnif- icent as it twinkled in the sun- shine like yellow diamonds. It was not that the frost was so very thick or heavy. It was, rather the sunlight. It is impossible for me to show you its breathtaking beauty as I had a difficult time with the camera looking toward the sun. What I saw is something I will have to remember.




Now that the floral motif is out of my stitching rotation, I have a little more time to spend on the baby sampler.

Currently I am working on the hardanger section. I am not particularly skillful with Greek crosses but am making progress.

As I worked yesterday, I discovered that I had made two extra kloster blocks. After thinking about it, I decided not to cut them out but to stitch a third kloster to balance the left group with the right group. I may embellish the squares that the klosters form.

Here I am back again with my picture. Everything seems to be working. I still have to go to the EarthLink mail website to receive and send mail but I can handle that.

The consensus is that the flower is a poppy. I uploaded two pictures of my orange Oriental poppies for comparison. Yes, it is a poppy.

I charted the year 2010 instead of 1860 just because. The suggested color for the year was a very dark brown but there was little to no contrast between it and the brown border elements. I restitched the year in a very dark red. I still have to think about it. I tried to center the year in the available space and to blend it into the brown border elements. I need to look at it for a little while longer before I decide whether or not it will do.

Questions and Questions

I have just opened a Gmail account and now I am having a little trouble with Blogger and/or my blog account. I am not certain how this will work out as I had a great deal of difficulty reading my blog this morning.

Last night I finished stitching one of my three Olympic projects. Provided I am able to sign-in to my blog, I will post a picture later today.

Please keep your fingers crossed that I do not loose access somehow to the blog. During the process of creating an easy access to my Gmail account, I totally wiped out my EarthLink mailbox and everything in it including my address book. I am currently using the EarthLink website for EarthLink e-mails.

The day seems so mundane. It is cloudy and gray outside although the temperature is not too cold. I have some less than exciting housework to do before I can stitch.

Saturday I cut the hardanger section on the baby sampler. Yesterday I began to do the needleweaving but ended up picking out all that I had stitched. I began stitching with the pink multi-shade thread because the Greek crosses would make little flower like shapes. As I worked with it, I began to realize that it might be better to use plain white. I plan to back the sampler with pink to draw attention to the pulled thread work and withdrawn thread work. It began to dawn on me that the pink needleweaving might blend into the pink backing and that white needleweaving might show up better. I certainly hope that I am right.

Progress Report

Here are pictures of my Olympic Stitching progress.

I am working on the outer border of the flower, I am not certain if the flower is a poppy or wild rose; I like it just the same. It will become the top of a box. I found the design and finishing directions in Sampler & Antique Needlework Quarterly, Fall 2009. When I saw it in the magazine, I knew I had the perfect silk to finish the box.

The baby sampler is coming along. This is the second time I have stitched it. The first time, I remember that the filling in the heart worked up quickly and easily and was fun to do. This time I seem to be struggling with it.

This morning when we came home from the health club, the cardinals were singing out to each other. I think it was the males declaring their territory. We have not seen them very much at the feeder. I guess establishing their territory is much more important to them.

Oh My

I can hardly believe how strangely busy I have become. Right now I am trying to finish some projects that are crying out to be finished before I set out on an entirely new path.

Here are the two pockets I made yesterday. They are a gift. I especially like the button on the red and blue one. The button is made of beech wood. I have two more pockets to finish today. They are not as specifically intended as these two.

I continue to work on my Olympic stitching projects. I probably ought to post pictures tomorrow.

The sun is rising earlier in the morning and setting later in the afternoon. The longer sunlight hours are a welcome treat.

Happy Valentine's Day

Here is my valentine to you, a bright red cardinal that we saw in the trees yesterday. Today we have some bright red, very sweet, and terribly out-of-season strawberries. Yesterday I picked out my valentines in the grocery store, a grapefruit, a container of Simply Orange orange juice, a half gallon of chocolate milk, and some semi-sweet baking chocolate.

The answer is yes, I do eat baking chocolate instead of chocolate bars.

Today I am making Roger his valentine, a couple loaves of gingerbread.

It was not intended to be a valentine but my early sign of spring, a pink hyacinth, is blooming. But more importantly, it started to scent the room Friday.

Did you notice? I just realized that my Olympic Stitching projects all have a shade of red or pink.

You are going to become so extremely bored with me. Overnight lots of fog developed because there was so much moisture in the atmosphere. We even had snow melt on the ground. It really does not look like much snow has melted; we had so very much after this last snow storm. The fog made frost form on every available surface. The high moisture content of the air and free water on the ground made the frost very thick. Just two frosty pictures taken this morning.

I will be following the Olympics. Some stitchers are doing an olympic stitch-a-thon during the Olympics. They began a piece during the opening ceremonies last night and intend to finish it by the end of the Olympic Games.

I have selected three pieces that I had already started and hope to finish by the end of the Games. The first is my little box cover that I have been stitching; you have already seen some progress reports. As you can see, I am now working on the borders. The second is one of Christine's designs, a birth sampler. I have changed the colors and am very close to finishing. The third one is not for me; I am stitching it for someone else and just want to finish it.

It is a frosty, cold morning. Here are a few of the pictures I took. I thought my fingers would freeze while I was out. They are really self-explanatory except for the bottom picture. I took it without flash. The sun was shining through the fence and trees making the frost on the snow glisten like diamonds. Obviously the picture did not capture it very well. I also wanted to show the shadows which are so subtle that they hardly show.

Yesterday was extremely busy. It was the ordinary day for tutoring and we also hosted a family meal for the families of the students and tutors. I baked brownies and picked up ice cream for dessert. I filled in for one of the tutors. The little fellow I worked with is just so cute you would not believe it. The children entertained their families by reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar. They made little props to illustrate the story. Each child had assigned parts to read. They had fun and their families enjoyed seeing the children.

By the time we got back home, I almost felt too tired to stitch but stitched the kloster blocks for the hardanger section of a birth sampler. Speaking of which, the scan above is of the ladder hemstitching row. Christine, I started this variation several years ago and then set it aside. When I hunted it out earlier this week, I discovered I stopped right in the middle of the hemstitching. Your directions very clearly state that I should refer to the Hemstitching Sheet for the ladder hemstitching with interlacing. Guess what?? I cannot find that Hemstitching Sheet. I finished the hemstitching as I had begun it and then just did my own interlacing. Does this look anything like the way it was intended?

No new snow pictures. This morning when we got up I could actually see stars and the moon. The sky was and remains clear. It was fabulous to see color in the eastern sky at 6:40 a.m.

Yesterday I posted a letter; as I was driving away, a bald eagle glided overhead. It swooped into a tree in the tamarack swamp just in front of me. It settled right into a tree with a second eagle. Perhaps one or both are the eagles we have seen in the park and soaring over us.

Our neighbor has a small rat terrier. I wonder if we should tell her there are eagles in the neighborhood. "Oh say Muriel, did you know there are eagles living nearby? Sometimes they perch in the cottonwood behind your home. They look like they are checking everything out. You might want to think about keeping Gorgeous George in the house." If we do not tell her or even if we do, should we tell her if we see an eagle take the dog away, should that just happen to happen? "Um Muriel, I think I just saw Gorgeous George leaving the yard. You really don't want to know how he left."

In the afternoon when I went out to pick up our son from work, there was a hawk down at the end of the street. I think that the new high school in town has a most appropriate mascot, The Raptors.

More Snow

Perhaps I should take another picture or two for you. It began snowing lightly yesterday afternoon and has continued through the night. It is supposed to continue for the rest of the day. This storm is supposed to be moving very, very slowly, in fact creeping over us and stopping for a little bit too. That gives us all the more time for more snow to fall. Right now the flakes are big and fluffy. It looks gorgeous and has covered all the dirty snow.

There is something I need to tell you. Saturday night our local PBS station broadcast The Bridges of Madison County. I had not seen it before. In fact, I decided not to see it because at the time it was out a friend who was from Iowa spoke disparagingly about covered bridges in general and Madison County in particular. I have now decided that I should not let people influence me that much, even ones that seem to be in the know. The movie is a bit of a chick flick so I am certain Roger would not have enjoyed it very much. I am not certain I would have appreciated it very much on the large screen either; our relatively new, somewhat larger than the old television, television screen seemed large enough to me. The movie made me stop and think about Roger and our relationship and how much I value it. It made me think about how much Roger means to me and how often I need to let him know that.

Take a few moments and think about the people who mean a lot to you and then tell them how much they mean to you.

Along the same line, a very dear friend is having a wedding anniversary today.
Hugs all around to the two of you.

This is the picture I had intended to post yesterday but posted another instead. If you look closely, you can see the roof of Ben's black car peeking over the top of the snow bank. For those who are not accustomed to this kind of winter, the snow bank is formed when we shovel the snow off the driveway. We pile all the snow on this side of the driveway, the south side. If we did not, because of the prevailing north and northwest winds, snow would drift back into the driveway. We may lack some sensibilities for continuing to live where we do but we are not completely stupid. It definitely is not nice to reshovel the snow you have already shoveled. :-D

There are subtle signs of spring, definitely nothing to rival Christine's. The primary one is longer daylight hours. Yes, I know everyone in the northern hemisphere has that one but you take what you can get when you can get it. It is a little after 6:30 a.m. and the eastern sky is beginning to lighten. That was not happening even a week and a half ago. The snowfall now is generally wet and heavy. Earlier in the winter it is generally dry and light. The sun is gaining authority; it melts the snow off the pavements much more quickly now. We are even having days where the temperature is above freezing. The birds are also beginning to claim their territory.

We still have a thin cloud cover but it is so thin the sun light is creating shadows. There is no blue sky but some sun effects are nice. The temper- ature is close to freezing so there is melting. The pave- ments, especially blacktop, are heat sinks. A few pictures to remind some of you how lucky you are and for the others, you have my sympathies. Just remember, we know well the effects of snow storms, for whatever comfort that may give you.

Welcome to winter in Minnesota. The first picture is of icicles in the early morning; the sun may not yet be up. I did not take the picture and saw it only when I viewed mine. And yes, you can see our successful squirrel deflector on the bird feeder pole. We have watched the squirrels try to climb up to the feeder. They get as high as the bottom of the plastic and then look up into it. It is now arranged so they cannot see up through it. It is also wide enough that they cannot see around it. We think that because they cannot see their intended goal, they give up and slid down the pole.

It has been several years since we have had snow banks this high.

We have more snow so I think I may take a couple more pictures for you.

I get home from tutoring about 5:30 p.m. so the fact that there is still a little light is significant. I had intended to take notice this morning to let you know what time I saw light but it is cloudy and snowing. Right now it seems like the daylight time is lengthening in the afternoon.

I seem to be very preoccupied and neglected to post a note yesterday and almost missed posting one today.

The best news of all is the fact that there are more, noticeably more hours of daylight. This afternoon when I drove home from tutoring, there was still a little daylight when I got home.

Here is the Snow

The first two pictures show trees and the meadow in the park behind our home.

There are bird tracks in the snow just outside our backdoor.

The picture with the picket fence shows animal tracks inside our backyard.

The remaining picture is a view of the meadow looking north.

My Quarterly Quaker Exchange gift came yesterday. I love it. It is very cheerful and very nicely weighted. It is going to be a perfect pattern weight.

It started snowing yesterday and snowed through the night. It is still lightly snowing. We have gotten more snow than predicted; it seems the storm went further north than anticipated. Also the high altitude conditions were perfect for fluffy flakes of snow. I am going to try to take some pictures for you. The one good thing about this snowfall is that it is covering all of the dirty snow.

Today someone complimented me on my hairdo. I told her it was just my wig. She said that I looked like a cute little pixie. Well, that would have to be a senior citizen pixie. :-D

It is really Monday. I have mopped, dusted, and vacuumed the bedroom. I leave our sons' rooms alone. Actually I would take my life into my hands if I so much as walked into their rooms. It is truly best if I just close the doors and not even look in.

How do you like the progress on my little box lid? You say you cannot recognize it? Don't you remember I told you last week that I discovered lots of miscounts that I could not ignore? Now do you remember that I cut out all of the stitching? I decided that it would be better to begin with the central motif. It will still require careful attention to stitch the border but at least I will have some reference points for it. On the right hand side, can you see how the fabric color changes with the change of direction?

I would have finished that second leaf for the picture today if. . .
if I had set up an exchange for which I am responsible some time before the last minute. I did not and had to do it last night taking stitching time from my floral motif.

Currently we are having a light dusting of snow. It is not supposed to accumulate very much. We are also supposed to have more snow during the week. But, it is supposed to get warmer during the week.