Memorial Day and Flag Folk Update

Memorial Day was kind of lackluster here. The weather was blah and cloudy, but we did cook out this past weekend. It just wasn't on Memorial Day. My company was kind enough to give us all Tuesday off as well and I really enjoyed it, though I didn't do much. Seems to be the order of the day lately.

Here's my update so far!

Moving right along! I still love this fabric that I dyed. It's not quite as dark or greenish as the PTP Murky, but I still like it. Though not very big, it's the largest piece I've done in a while. 

I wish I had more to report on or share. Our state is re-opening, and it's baby steps, rightly so. I'm trying to fight off being depressed about it all, quite honestly. I am very thankful no one I know has been affected at this time. I miss how things were-being able to take my kiddos out to lunch or dinner somewhere. It's been months since I've been able to do that. Yes, we eat here, but we did love going out too. Who doesn't?

Made myself some waffles with fresh strawberries as a consolation last night. Pretty good if I do say so myself! These are just from the side of the box recipe for waffles using Aunt Jemima Original Complete pancake/waffle mix.

Growing petunias again this year in pots out back. I do love them. I haven't bee able to find true "trailing" petunias in years. I had them ONE year---and then not again. Sure, they may say "trailing", but believe me, they are not. Have no idea what's going on in petunia-world, but someone is depriving us of our trailing petunias, lol. These light purple ones smell so amazing!

Jenny just wanted to say HELLO! This pup is my baby. She's a nearly 14 year old baby, but still! I can't believe she's been with us that long. She makes me laugh, but she can be rotten too, don't get me wrong. Still love her.

Well, that's it! I hope you guys have an amazing upcoming weekend and have wonderful weather and can get outside and get some sunshine! Meanwhile, I'm gonna try and make some more progress on this Flag Folk piece and think about what I want to do next. Until then,

Yup. More stash. Flag Folk progress too!

First, the progress! I did pretty good this week. It was a short work week, so most every day afterwards, I stitched!

How cute is this? I love stitching primitive designs. The simplicity lends itself to a very relaxing experience. I would love to be done with this by the end of the month and move on to something else fun. We shall see!

I try to keep my purchases to a limit every month, and I sure do not need more-but sometimes, a design just speaks to you. I sold lots of my cross stitch things years ago, and have slowly replaced them (though, not in the pristine condition I had them in). Not everything, but you know, the ones I really loved.

This last one is Father Sail Home by Shakespeare's Peddler. It's just a little thing. But this one is special to me. I'm going to stitch this in honor of my stepfather, Jim, who passed away in 2017. He was in the Navy, and he owned a sailboat at one time. He loved the beach, lighthouses, and he fancied himself a seafaring man his whole life. This little design will be perfect. I'm sorry I never saw this design while he was alive. He'd have loved it.

I guess I need to order some clothes for summer. Kohl's still isn't open here, but it may be soon. I'm just so depressed at the state of things. Trying to keep chin up, but wow. The news is so awful, I can't look too much anymore. Until things even out, I think I need to drink more tea and go for more walks. I went to walk a couple times this past week at my old stomping grounds. I took my mom one day for some nice outdoor time. She said it made all the difference. It was absolutely beautiful.

When I am there, nothing seems wrong with the world. All you hear are the insects, and the birds, and the wind. All you see are the green pastures and gently rolling fields. It's definitely one of my favorite places.

Take care, get some fresh air and sunshine if you can. It'll be a chance of rain or raining pretty much all week long here. Still going to sit on the porch a while or heck, maybe even just go to the park anyways. Hope you get lots of stitching done. Until next time,

Happy Mother's Day!

I don't know how we're so far into May, but here we are! I hope everyone is staying well and being safe. I'm doing the old home made no-sew bandana mask when I go out. I kind of like looking like a bandit.

I got a lot more stitching done this week on Notforgotten Farm's Flag Folk. I can tell you I do not like working with the called for overdyed flosses by WDW. Onyx is better than Schneckley for some reason. Portions of the floss are very thin. Some get "fuzzy" on a stitch or two before it evens out for some reason. Maybe it doesn't like being pulled through the aida. It also knots up no matter how long or short I cut the length! Sure looks pretty though, lol.

I am lucky to have my mother still on this earth, and to say I appreciate everything she's ever done for me is an understatement.

Mom bringing me home Aug. 1966 Bethesda Naval Hospital

My mom instilled a loved of crafting, reading, and family. I know everyone's mom is special, but she is really special. I thank her for everything. Everything. I can't say it enough.

My son and his girlfriend (my second kiddo), got me a super sweet little basket with a bunch of sweetness in it. Reese's peanut butter cups (ate them straight away), car air freshener, body scrub, kleenex (yay!), gorgeous diffuser, and a beautiful card. I am so thankful for them, and love them so much.

Spring has really sprung around here. The weather is gorgeous, and trees are all green. We cancelled our vacation and postponed it until next year. It's just what had to be done. Hopefully all will be evened out a bit more with the covid situation. But I just can't see going to the beach in a few weeks without all the restaurants being open, or the pools. It'll wait for us.

Well, you guys take care, and take care of each other. Don't put too much pressure on yourself and just try and roll with it. It's tough, but we'll get through this and come out on the other side, hopefully more grateful, more prepared, and smarter. Until next time,

Flag Folk Update and what's happenin'?

I think I lost a week somewhere and forgot to update. But here's the most recent progress on my Flag Folk with my own version of Murky fabric.

Honestly, after my previous attempts at this one, I never thought I'd get this far. I really really like this one! I left out the WDW "Straw" for his head, which was not listed on the pattern key but inside the actual design. The replacement for the WDW "Straw" which was listed as DMC 422 (online) was just about the same color as this little guy's shirt! So I plucked DMC 543 from my stash and I'm pretty happy with it so far.

I'm taking far less photos of anything else than I ever have in many years. I'm just not feeling it. Life seems so strange, and I know we are all going through this now, even though many states are "opening up" a little at a time. I think that isn't such a hot idea when you are living in an area where illness is increasing, but that's just my opinion.....

Work was very busy this past week and my weekends are FLYING by at lightning speed. I did a major clean up of my spare room/craft room last weekend, and I'm ecstatic about that. My husband painted our laundry room and put shiplap on one wall. I'll update with pics as soon as it's all nice and neat looking. I see those pics on pinterest with people's laundry rooms looking more like their own living room and I wonder if it really stays like that??! I mean, a tiny crystal chandelier in the laundry room? My laundry room gets so dusty, I could never pull that off. But if someone can, then more power to 'em! I'm happy with my pretty simple makeover though.

I truly hope everyone out there reading this is doing well. Hopefully you are getting lots of stitching done, or learning a new dish to cook. I'd love to make some bread if everyone hadn't already hoarded up all the yeast, lol. I need to concentrate on cutting bread out, actually, instead of incorporating it even more into my daily life. Oh well!

Take care of yourselves, and have a great upcoming week! Until next time,