Stitching Continues

This is Vibrant Woodland from Amaryllis Artworks.  I finished it a couple weeks ago and am trying to find the time to mount it in a box.  It is for one of my nieces. 

I have begun a second design from Amaryllis Artworks for her sister.  I am trying very hard to finish the boxes before the end of the year.  They were intended to be high school graduation gifts.  But - - - The younger one graduated from college this summer. 

My life has just become a little more complicated and I have a little less free time.  Friday I received a new model from Just Cross Stitch.  I need to return it finished by the end of the first week in November so they have enough time to have it framed.  Eek, that is almost as much work as it sounds like.  One good thing is that it seems to be stitching up quite easily.  I am not certain when or even if I can ever show it to you.   

Do you want to see the last design I stitched for JCS?  Sampler of Psalms Part I came out in the November/December issue.  I stitched all of it with the exception of two floral motifs, the cross, and one group of 5 small Algerian eyes, all of which are in the spot sampler section.  When I got the first part of the chart, the design was not yet completed.  I love the way they framed it. 

Fall has come to MN.  Our warm temperatures have turned into more normal ones for October.  We have had some desperately needed rain.  It was a little brisk this morning as we drove to the health club.  The sky was still dark when we came back home.  Wispy clouds scudded in front of the moon.  It looks fairly clear right now as the sun shines through the trees.  Here are my six little pumpkins; we hope they will ripen.  We also hope the squirrels will not eat them.  Unfortunately, I will bring the most solidly colored pumpkin into the house.  A squirrel has bitten into it.  I can only hope that we can keep it on the porch long enough for it to fully ripen.  They are heirloom Small Sugar pumpkins and are supposed to be extremely tasty.  I only hope they make good pies. 

The nasturtium are still looking cheerful.  As soon as we have a killing frost, we will take them out.  I think we will leave the sunflower stalks until the spring.  They will provide the winter birds with a place to perch.  They are the hazy background plants behind the nasturtiums.   :-) 

While the pictures uploaded, I washed and cut a grapefruit.  As I did so, I had an opportunity to check the backyard.  Right out there in the grass below the row of pumpkins was a squirrel.  I wonder if it realized that I had taken the prime pumpkin away. 

I hope the raccoons are staying away.  News reports indicate that some raccoons in the general area have canine distemper.  Some have been found just south of us. 

At last, I have been able to wrap up several odds and ends.  You know how it is, don't you?  It's some little thing that you need.  You know where you put it or have been keeping it but it just isn't there when you want it.  I had several of those things going on at the same time.  It was aggravating and frustrating.  Gradually during the past week or so, I found each one.  It felt so good to know that I had them and that I wasn't loosing my mind. 

During this time, I have been working on several projects but did not manage to take pictures of them.  I took a lot of pictures today and have a couple more left.  I hope I can remember to take them tomorrow. 

Here is the little box.  Not only have I distressed the bottom but I waxed the top and bottom with a light brown wax.  Is it instant patina or what?  You do know what patina is don't you?  It's high class, expensive grunge.  I still want to make a lining for the inside of the bottom and top.  I did not wax them for that reason. 

While I was prowling through things looking for missing and or mislaid things, I found a box with the leftovers of a couple Christmas projects.  Using only what was in the box and nothing else except the hot glue gun and some hot glue, I made these three ornament thingies.  I plan to give them to the Holiday bazaar at church.  I benefit by getting a box out of the house and hopefully the bazaar will benefit but I am not certain how successful that will be.  If you can remember last year I covered a set of three boxes with fabric.  No one wanted them. 

I have been busy with several small projects.  Maybe I will stretch this out and tell you about  them day by day. 

I have taken the hinges off the box, partly so I can paint it; partly because I want prettier ones; but mostly because I will turn the direction the lid opens. 

This is the first paint coat. 

The second coat of paint is on both the bottom and the top.  I have begun the next step on the top, sanding away on the top to create instant distress. 

Our weather has been fabulous for October.  The temperatures have been in the low to high 70's.   We might make the mistake of saying this is indian summer but we still have not had a killing frost.  We are preparing the gardens for winter and have begun taking out some of the plants and cutting back others.  We are leaving some of the annual flowers and plan to remove them after the first killing frost.  That little bit of color is extremely cheerful. 

We are supposed to have more normal temperatures beginning tomorrow plus a little rain.  I best not complain about the rain because we are behind on it. 

My friend passed on yesterday morning. 
Right now I am preparing a banner for a baptism this coming Sunday.  She stitched the banner except for the name and date, 
I have some, I am not certain they can be called cute but they are interesting, things that I want to show you.  I think I will begin doing that tomorrow. 
Our temperature is still warm.  The day is a good one to hang laundry outside.  There is a little wind with the warmer than usual temperature. 

I have a little update for you.  The four ornaments have been accepted as a donation to a charity Holiday auction.  They may not bring in big bucks but every little bit helps.

The last post, a rant, and this one are not characteristic of me.  My only excuse is that what has been going on in my life is hardly ordinary. 

A couple days ago, I visited a dear friend who is 90.  She is in hospice; she, my son, and I have struggled to come to terms with it.  The last time I visited, she sent me home with her stitching portfolio, project bags, and the last things that she had to stitch. 

In 2006, I made a small etui for her.  I embellished it with freshwater pearls.  When I gave it to her, I told her that if it wore out, she should remove the pearls.  When I took her things home with me, I knew that somewhere in the packets I would find the etui.  I did and her scissors too.  That made both my son and me tear up a little. 

After struggling through a sleepless night, I decided to go see my friend this afternoon.  My son accompanied me.  When we entered her room, we discovered that she is no longer lucid.  We greeted her and talked to her but I am fairly certain she did not know that we were there.  Her brother was keeping vigil at her side.  We talked a little.  We all hope and pray that she will not linger. 

When we returned home, I found that I was able to incorporate her stitching stash into mine.  I will always think of her when I see her scissors and etui. 

I had such good intentions for yesterday.
1.  Clean the bathroom
2.  Declutter my work table
3.  Paint my little box
4.  Organize and maybe stitch on the baptismal banners
5.  Stitch on a little project for one of my nieces

Such good intentions but that is not the way the day went. 
We found a sale on kitchen appliances so we went to check out the refrigerators.  The findings were not very good.  We knew that if the refrigerator had the same exterior dimensions as our present one, the capacity inside will be less.  It is just a given with the current energy efficiency standards. 

What we found out was not what we had expected.  Given the size of our family, the refrigerators that will fit into the space that is in our kitchen are now much too small inside.  There were a couple that we could manage to use based on their capacity but it turned out they would not work in our space even through they would "fit."  There is not enough clearance with the cabinets directly across for the refrigerator door to open. 

The three guys wanted to try the one with french doors and a bottom roll out freezer.  I am all in favor of bottom freezers, especially roll out ones.  What they guys did not realize and did not want to understand is that the doors will hold significantly less than the door of our current refrigerator and that we depend upon the door for storage of small things like condiments.  None of the three options that might be big enough inside has a meat drawer.  It is a "deli drawer".  It is high enough to hold yogurt containers, lunch meat packages, and cheese.  We could not put a chicken or roast in it. 

Because of issues with clearance for the door/s we think we could not remove the vegetable bins and deli draw to clean the refrigerator. 

The long and short of it all is that if we get a new refrigerator, we will first have to do some major remodeling in the kitchen.  At the very least, we would have to pull all the cabinets from one wall; make a place for the refrigerator where the wall oven and some cabinets are now.  Then make a place for the wall oven where the refrigerator is now and then try to add back as much of the cabinets as possible.  We would probably have to have some cabinets made because the sizes will not be standard. 

If we have to do that much, I think we would be ahead to completely remodel the kitchen.  Right now we are telling the refrigerator that it has to hold out for several more years.  As a preliminary step Dan, who does a lot of the food prep, and I need to sit down to determine what we think works in the kitchen and what we think does not work. 

This is very misleading because Roger still needs to finish the basement bathroom before he can finish the basement which he has to do before he can tear out the upstairs bathrooms to resolve a water problem which is imperative.  I really do not know how much of this we can feasibly do. 

So what did I accomplish yesterday? 
1.  I painted another coat on my little box. 
2.  I stitched a little on my project for one of my nieces.  Maybe I ought to take a picture of it so you can see it.