Gladys Taber

The August heat is absolutely withering-

yet I am awed by the butterfly touching down on the tansy,

the two otters making their way across the stream,

away from a scolding mama bird, 

the goldenrod, dusky and plentiful by the road...

August!

And here is my progress on

Good Intentions by Kathy Barrick.

While I loved the colour scheme initially,

I must say that I am tired of stitching BLACK.

I wonder if darkest blue wouldn’t have been a better choice,

but I’ll wait until it’s finished to judge.

My poor hubby has a colonoscopy tomorrow.

It’s not his first, but may I say that it’s 

been his most difficult in that we are close quarters 

in our rv...

And I hesitate to add that I look forward to ditching

him at the hospital door

(a no-no in the past but a covid rule now)

and heading to the shopping centre!

Time alone!!!!

A dear member of my family has a birthday

coming up.

Since April she has suffered anxiety due to covid so 

I am gifting her with a copy of Stillmeadow Road by Gladys Taber.

Taber wrote sweet and easy memories of her life

in an old house (1690s) in Ct.

And she penned very popular Ladies’ Home Journal essays

during the 1960s.

High recommendation for a calming, nostalgic read!

And leaving you with a photo from the porch 

of a friend’s cottage we frequent in the summer.

The porch is so welcoming.

Good Intentions and Voices

We have a stiff breeze coming off the hurricane,

but what a sunny beautiful day!

This is the cool cross stitch, Good Intentions by Kathy Barrick, I am working:

And here is what it will look like:

I love, love, love her colour combos!

Such a talented woman.

I’ve read my favourite blogs over the last couple 

months and noted many political views 

being presented.

Some of these were so opposite of mine that

I considered not reading them again.

But then I thought about what a hypocrite that

would make me.

Because I believe all voices should be heard.

And as an American, I believe there is room

enough for all; and all beliefs. 

Just because a majority believes and lives one 

way does not make it the right way.

In fact, often it squishes out quieter voices who

are just as important.

This seems to be a time in our history that

the marginalized are finding their voice and a platform for it.

I am so grateful for that.

As a Jesus lover, I see this as justice.

I don’t want to stand in the way of that.

My new acquaintance has this tattooed on her forearm:

“When I diminish you, I diminish myself”

♥️♥️♥️♥️

May I not diminish a single one of you

Salem

The cross stitch piece is done! 

Save the framing.

This piece was featured in a Pinterest post as
a freebie but then I couldn’t “refind” it.
Imagine my surprise when I did find it on Etsy being
sold by the real artist. 😞
I emailed her and explained then she accepted my payment
after the fact.
A lesson to myself not to accept free at face value.
If you want to stitch this it is available from
the talented designer
VerbenaCS on Etsy and it is called “Salem.”
The cost was less than $7.

We still have not found a home to buy so we’ve rented
an apartment in the home of a friend for the middle
of August on...
until we find a home to buy.

This weekend we leave our rv resort for a friend’s cottage
downriver.
Temps here are very hot and humid— by anyone’s standards
and we’ve been staying cool by tethering innertubes to river rocks
and floating. Lucy dog sits on them too!

Hoping this finds you taking comfort in creativity and creation.

Home-free

Well it sure feels weird and wonderful 

to be without a fixed address for a while!

The house sold today, we are stationed in a small rv park

by a gentle river, and the house search continues 

from here.

The French Canadian family closest to us have 2 boys around

ten and twelve. No mother.

They like Lucy dog and were all wide-eyed

when I told them we’d been hunting frogs by the water.

They didn’t know they were there.

(Reggie cat is living with a friend until we find a house).

I’m working on another free pattern

There will be many shapes around this gray blackbird

but I will stitch all in black—

except for an orange pumpkin.

A very Fall-y look I trust.

Lunch today was garlic scapes cooked in

olive oil with preserved lemon and salt,

served over rice and a side of bacon.

I’m trying to get creative with all the veggie 

CSA boxes we get— 8 per month!!! 

I think we may have to share with the rv park soon.

Our book club is reading Outline by Rachel Cusk.
She is a talented author, no doubt,
but I was more in the mood for an adventure
thank a character/s study.
Any recommendations for our next book?

Nap time in the rv....
There’s rest to catch up with after days of cleaning
and moving and signing papers.
And the 71 degree temps and cool breeze
make it ideal♥️

New Moves

We sold our house!!

And can’t find another we like

so we will be in the rv for a bit.

Storage seems like a waste of $ but we’ll

have to use it.

I finished up the free cross stitch pattern

And I love the single colour.

It is actually straight.

I’m going to miss the yard

but not the old house issues nor 

property tax. 

So I’m packing and burning candles which

are low on wax so I don’t have to pack them.

My favourite remain those by Gable House Goodes!

Happy new week

Summer Solstice

We’re experiencing August like weather here

in New Brunswick.

Wow.

And a covid setback.

Boo.

My garden is in and I’m already fighting

tiny, winged bugs.
I mixed up liquid Castile, water and a dab of oil.
It seems to be effective. 

I planted tomatoes , peppers, chard, squash, peas,

lavender, thyme and oregano.

And my husband is nurturing 3 cannabis plants
which are not in the photo.
I have mixed feelings on this, but as they are legal
they are here.
I even give them water if he forgets.

We turned our tv in for a projector and huge
screen.
Last night we moved these to our yard and showed
Moonrise Kingdom under the moon!
A big success!

After 20 years I’ve picked up my cross stitch
and out down my rug hooking.

This is a freebie pattern and I wanted it to
look like a coverlet so I’m using all navy blue.

Here are the cool labels going on all
the rugs hooked within our guild during covid:

We accepted an offer on the house!
If all goes as planned we will be out of here
July 15!
We want to stay in town but have no idea where
and there are few houses on the market.
I’m strangely calm.

I sure hope this finds everyone well.
We are glad to see minorities rising up, being noticed,
and protesting for change.
As a person of privilege I’m being challenged
and recalibrating constantly.
May the foundations of North America be
re-laid with justice and mercy! 

Zoom zoom

Happy Wednesday —if that’s what day it is.

Two Zoom rug groups were pretty successful.

Not many glitches and it was so good to see everyone!

Normally this local group meets twice a month thru June but

now we will meet online every week.

Most of the ladies are retirement age+ and I 

think they’re particularly lonely as several have lost partners.
Heck, we’re all lonely.

Deanne Fitzpatrick of Amherst, NS hosts

a free Facebook class every Thursday,

 at 2:00 Atlantic Time...

She has the most laid back hooking style but it seems to work
 as she is popular.

This Thursday people are invited for a casual

hook-in— join us!

My 1840’s rug is coming along—

almost done! 

There’s a big nipple in the middle where the rug

is bulging but I will iron it several times.
Also, I think I will use a brighter gold on the
third ring out from the centre.

The corners have rainbows which aren’t quite
visible and which I did to add color and motif.
Just realized they could be covid rainbow tributes.

New Brunswick has had only two covid cases in three weeks

so we opened retail stores today. 

I went into our local book shop and coffee store
and tried to support them.
There were only two other shoppers.

Why do we feel reluctant to jump back into the world?

For me, I’ve gotten lazy and hate to dig out my bras 

and make-up again.
And yes, the virus has made me cautious.

Perhaps you feel the same?

Our family member is fully recovered from the
virus but continues to check oxygen levels.
Their province is short on hospital beds;
thanking the Lord a stay wasn’t necessary.

Here is what we are contending with in New Brunswick :

We are sooooo ready for warmth.

And after two months this is how our new cat
and old dog have bonded

Blessings of the week and safety to each of you!