When I finished writing yesterday's post, I looked up from my typing to see this:
He wanted me to know that I hadn't opened the door for him yet. He needed to get outside right away and catch him some grub. There isn't much grub running around right now, but with persistence, he usually comes away with something. I love the way kitties wrap their tails around their feet to keep them warm. Unless they're Sadie...then, no tail. Maybe that's what makes her such a good snuggler.
After that, I did a little more work on Cricket.
About that time Matthew showed up. He wanted some help building a bed platform in the back of his van. I'll say more about that in just a minute. While he was there, I traced out the embroidery sampler for the February Stitch-Along.
Continuing on with my "gathering" efforts, the floss came a few days ago. Look at those pretty colors.
I'm not sure why I received two skeins of each color because I only ordered one. But, what the heck, right? It makes up for them leaving out a skein in a previous floss "kit" I ordered. We were traveling when I discovered I was missing one...and besides, it had been years (literally) since I'd ordered the kit. It didn't really seem fair to go complaining so far down the road. And since we were traveling, we were even literally "far down the road."
I was all set to do the tinting on my sampler too, but then I watched Meg Hawkey's video about how to tint with pencils and realized I still needed a few art supplies. I'll have those in a couple of days, and then I'll finish it off and have it ready for stitching.
So the guys took off to buy some lumber, and I took off on a walk. The only green thing growing (aside from moss) is the forest of sword ferns or polystichum munitum, if you insist on using their snotty botanical name. These guys carpet the sides of the road and the forest floor.
There wasn't much to see on yesterday's walk. We were above the clouds, and so I walked up to the top of our hill. Along the way, I noticed the colors in the bark of these wild cherry trees.
As I passed by my neighbor horse and mule, the human neighbor, Larry, was out doing some things in his yard. Even though I held up the horsey treats and shook the bag, they were much more interested in whatever he was doing. I walked on. Getting closer to the top, I startled these guys. There were four of them in all, and they took off running. But then I started talking to them, and they came back. I would have given them the horsey treats, but I don't know who owns them, and I need to ask permission. So anyway...all I did was take pictures of them. Sorry about the fence. I was afraid if I walked closer, I'd scare them again.
This one seemed particularly curious and came right up to the fence to eat his grass, eyeing me all the way.
It was a little foggy at the top of the hill, and so I couldn't take a picture. On the way down, I stepped out of the mist and was able to catch this shot. I had to hold the camera high over my head to get above the fence there. Kind of a weird shot, but it's what I saw.
When I got back to the house, I did a little more work on Cricket. It helps to have the ears there, and Cricket is starting to emerge.
That gave me the boost I needed to stay motivated, and so I added the ear on the other side.
That's where I left it for the day. Today I'll start adding in more details around the ears and filling in the face.
After that, I went outside to see what the guys were doing. They'd finished the platform and loaded in the mattress. Matthew is pretty excited about it because he can sit up on the mattress (rather than needing to duck his head), and there's also storage space under the platform. He's getting his van ready to do some traveling when the weather warms up.
It's a chilly morning, and so I think I'll snuggle under the blankets with Sadie and do some work on my slow-stitching project. I need to get something going in the slow cooker and do some housework. Other than that, I'll just continue on with Cricket's pawtrait. Probably I'll take a break from that and make another block for the Christmas Countdown sew-along.
9 comments:
Cricket is coming so well--the eyes are beautiful..We are not walking today--very cold wind--that always defeats us..since hubster's bypass we avoid cold
windy days outside...
Total rest day from sewing--so will be riding our new recumbent bike and watching Misomer Murders..hoping to get a 30 minute stinit in...hugs, Julierose
Oh to be young again -- I envy Matthew his future travels! Aside from one adventurous trip to the east coast, which included some time on a commune, I never did the vagabond traveling I had dreamed of because, after a bad experience or two, I got either more anxious or more smart, or both. The very fact that he has a platform and mattress shows that he is smarter than I was and I bet he will have a great time.
I love ferns. And bark. And sunshine. And temperatures that allow you to go outside. Sigh.
Cricket continues to blossom. Gonna be another beauty.
I'm looking at your tracing for the February sew-along and trying to figure out how you're doing it. It looks like you're tracing the pattern on to one of those mesh things and then you take the mesh thing to your fabric and do it again through the mesh. Have I got it right.? I'm not quite sure as it looks like you have the pattern on top of the fabric, but that may be just for convenience and placement. Can you clarify?
Also, the colored pencils. Will they run when wet? Most colored pencils do and this feature is used on paper at least to make them blend. That would mean the piece would not be washable. I know that the stump she has listed in her supplies is for smudging the color, just as it is on paper art.
The floss is lovely. I have tried to order items from her--I especially like her background fabrics, but her shipping to Canada is really high. Usually I get most of my shipping for about $15 U.S. or occasionally a high of $24 for a big order. But she was beyond even this. I guess I will have to wait until I visit my friends in Michigan and see if there's something I want/need.
We have having a horrible day in Toronto! Wind, snow and more of the same. A good day for sewing.
Cricket is going to be great. I was worried about that odd coloring on the face but it looks like you're handling it in stride.
Cricket's pursonality is starting to shine thru. Love ferns, so elegant and such a heritage plant as well. No walking here as we head into another snow storm with sub-zero temps - quilting time.
Cricket's pawtrait is coming along nicely. You'll have it done in no time.
I'm enjoying your progress on Cricket. It's looking good. Wilbur is in a heap of trouble at the moment. He got on a shelf about 8 feet up, walking right onto it from right by the stair railing. He was eyeing the fan blades (which were spinning) like he'd like to give those a go, so I coaxed him backwards off the shelf (too narrow for him to turn around. Once I could get ahold of him, he got ahold of the shelf, pulling it off the wall and breaking it. Argh. While I could've left him to his own devices on the shelf, I didn't want to risk him busting the fan. He's a handful, this one. Anyway, you're working on some fun things. I decided not to do the embroidery sew along. I have too many other projects going on. No walking outside for me today, although I will be going out. We are at -9, but it feels like -28, and tomorrow will be worse.
I prefer coloring with color pencils rather than crayon. I learned the technique years ago from Sandra Leichner's blog. I love her needle turn applique birds, I think it's called Nature Studies and I have the Goldfinch pattern. I would love to get the entire set someday. I've been collecting a lot of batiks. I just came in from feeding the birds. The starlings have found us so I'm putting out more safflower seeds and thistle. I know everything gets hungry but they are hogs and very aggressive to all the other birds. I'm feeding them in the morning and this evening because like piecefulwendy posted we are in a deep freeze and I'm not looking forward to the 50 below zero wind chill factor predicted for tomorrow. I also have a little feral cat living in the unheated shed we feed. I discovered he's been sleeping in a milk can I stored out there so I tucked a little dog bed in the bottom of it. He won't let us pet him and he runs if we get too close otherwise I would put him in a cage with litter box for two days inside the heated garage. I have 3 other cats in there and not sure if they would fight but I can't get him anyway. They say any exposed skin could get frostbitten in 5 to 10 minutes so I hope he survives okay. Another Tom hurt him real bad last spring and I didn't think he would live-his shoulder area kept getting what looked like an abscess. He couldn't jump up or down very far but he's much much better now. I feel sorry for him. I'm all achy from shoveling so much too. I'm sick of snow and cold. I just don't like an extreme weather-we had 100+ heat index all summer with very very little rain-so glad to survive that and now this.
I also need a little help if you could with my quilt top. I've been hand embroidering blocks on & off since 2017 and piecing blocks. I thought it would be a throw but somehow I got carried away and it's now about 74 by 75 without the 4 1/2 inch borders all around. I love your plywood set up for sandwiching your quilt but I don't have room for that and I don't have room or the healthy knees to lay it out on the floor. I have a large table for cutting-kind of wobbly though. I thought I could lay the centers on the cutting table, pin and move it, pin, etc. Not sure if that would work. This is a quilt for my Mom with things that make me think of her. She'll be 86 in February so I was hoping to have it done by then after missing so many goals and now I don't think that is possible. Maybe I'll shoot for Mother's Day. She loves red roses and I found some fabric to tie it all together with and I think it looks fairly good with all my mistakes.
Now that I see your Feb. stitch-along, I can tell that it's not so big as I had thought. The pins gave me a clue! LOL Have fun with that!
Love all the no-bloomin'- things pics from your walk, especially the high over your head one. And the horses in their warm winter jammies too. Thanks as always for sharing them with us. :)
Nice job the guys did on Matthew's van bed! I made a custom cut foam bed for the back of my Isuzu pickup back in the day. But Matthew's looks much nicer.
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