The weather is still hot and humid.  The beetle traps still work; they are supposed to work for the entire summer.  And I stitched a little more. 

This band is supposed to represent little bushes in the woods.  I think they look more like little leaves.  The spacing in the stitch diagram does not agree with the spacing on the chart.  I did my own spacing. 

The little detail is just a little fuzzy.  Maybe I should try to redo it.  

The stitching continues. 

Band 8 appears to be a water interest.  It is three rows of herringbone stitch in a watery color.  I am still going to stitch my hemstitching/pulled thread work band in place of the lettering.  I am probably still going to think of it as a water feature. 

Tomorrow, I will probably post a picture with Band 9.  I am not certain if I will post a picture with Band 10 on Sunday.  We have several activities tomorrow and I am not certain how much time I will have for stitching.  If not, I will catch up by stitching two bands in one day. 

It is Japanese beetles that are attacking our birch, apricot, and cherry trees.  They have been feasting on our raspberries.  When there were just a couple, I thought that they were handsome.  Now there are so many, I think they are horrible.  They are eating the leaves.  Supposedly when the beetles retreat in a couple weeks, the leaves will grow back.  We have discovered some ways to combat them.  They are not wildly successful but it gives us a sense of satisfaction to know that we are doing something to the beetles. 

We have two traps, one in the front and one in the back.  The traps are plastic bags suspended on a frame that helps keep the bags open.  At the top of the frame is a dispenser that has an attractant.  When the beetles fly through the sweet spot, they drop into the bag.  They do not seem to be able to get out of the bag unless it is too full of beetles.  You have to open the bottom of the bag and dump the beetles into another container and then you can dispose of them.  There are so many beetles in the bags that it is quite gross.  Here is a demonstration of a trap.  It is quite similar to the traps that we have. 

Stitching Continues

Here is the next band.  This one symbolizes fog.  It, like the one that symbolizes mist, has metallic fibers.  I noticed in the original picture that some of the glitter shows but I doubt that it will when it is posted here. 

However, it just might if you click on the picture to see a larger version. 

It is hot and extremely humid, not the weather I like.  This is apparently just the kind of weather that a little green and brown beetle likes.  They are multiplying so rapidly that they cover everything and eat everything.  They are eating the apricots and raspberries and then skeletonize the leaves.  They are eating the grape leaves and possibly the birch leaves.  I am seriously beginning to wonder if our trees, vines, and canes will survive to grow next year. 

Time for the next band.  This is a series of four triangular Rhodes stitches symbolizing more mountains.  The thread is Caron Waterlilies in Fir. 

Late Monday afternoon, three raccoon kits popped out of our wood shed and ambled down the path into the garden.  This was not a pleasing sight to us.  One raccoon could make short work of our garden; three might leave a lasting impression.  All three eventually climbed into a young oak and stayed there presumably checking out the garden below.  We decided to let them know they were not welcome to stay.  We threw wood from the wood shed and fist sized stones at them.  I know that some of the missiles came very close to them but they remained firm in their decision to perch in the tree. 

Then we wondered why we were expending so much energy throwing things when we could bring the hose into the backyard and hose them down.  I think we naively expected that they would all fly out of the tree but it did not happen that way. One at a time, two of them backed down out of the tree but the third remained.  We were certain that the two would return.  Whether or not they did, we do not know. 

Yesterday afternoon we watched to see if they would pop out of the wood but they did not.  It seems that they had previously been in the neighbor's chimney.  Those neighbors, of course, were happy the raccoons had left.  We, of course,  were not happy that they moved into our yard.  I just hope they went a little farther away and not to the the neighbor's house on the other side of us.  If they get into that chimney, they could get into the house and make a mess.  Those neighbors are currently on vacation and not due back home for a couple more days. 

When I took the first picture of Band 5, I realized that I had stitched the first two flower stems and leaves, I mispositioned the third one.  Then I stitched all the remaining ones "correctly" in relation to the mispositioned third flower.  Out they came and then they went back in correctly. 

They are stitched with the light green that came with the sampler.  I stitched one of each of the three possible beads for the flowers.  I am going to wait until I have finished stitching the sampler to decided which color bead to use.  There are beads in one other place.  It is funny; I think the color that was my first choice is not going to be the color that I will use. 

Right now, I am not certain I like the light green but I will wait until I have done all the stitching to make a final decision. 

This sampler stitches quickly because it is only about 2 inches wide.  I could easily have finished it by now.  It is still a fun stitch to work one band a day. 

Band 4 represents mist in the mountains.  Right now, I think it looks more like fog.  There is a band that represents the fog; I will have to see if I think it really does. 

The blue and green thread is Fir, Caron Collection Waterlilies.  The pinkish is Kreinik braid; it is sparkly but that does not show at all in this picture.  The five mountain peaks and partial peaks in the back row are also stitched with Fir. 

Yesterday I was so excited to show you my thread substitution for the trees that I completely forgot about the U2 concert Saturday night. 

It did rain; the concert went on.  It was a misty rain that supposedly gave the images on the video screens an interesting soft focus look.  It seems that there was thunder and lightening associated with the storm cell but it leap-frogged the metro area as it headed east.  Diffused lightening could be seen behind the clouds adding to the intended light effects.  All in all, everyone felt it was an exceptionally good concert. 

The mountains need evergreens so here are some done in long stitch. 

I think that the color I selected works out quite well. 

Yesterday as I stitched, I recalled where we stayed the night after we left Calgary.  We had wanted to stay in Banff or some place close.  At the time we tried to make reservations earlier that year, we could not find a place that was within our budget. 

We ended up driving 50 miles out of our way to Golden, BC where we stayed at the Alpenrose B&B.  Of course we were not there in the snow so it did look a little different from most of the pictures on the website.  We stayed in the lodge.  There was a large, light filled common room on the upper floor.  It was the ideal place for me to stitch while Roger rested a little in the room.  The breakfast room is shown in the pictures and I can pick out the table where we ate.  All in all, it totaled 100 miles out and back that were well worth the time and effort.  I love this place but wonder if we could afford it today as the rates have increased. 

The other day, I looked at our journey on a map.  Yesterday I decided that I really need to hunt up the CD with the pictures.