Summer's End

I know summer isn't officially over yet but once we reach Labour Day weekend it sure feels like it's over. Our vacation is over and as of Tuesday morning, my DH is back to a full schedule of work and choir rehearsals. 
I'm sitting here feeling sorry for myself because I should be at Kathy's in Trenton this weekend for her annual SAL but instead I'm sitting at home stitching alone. Some costly car and boat repairs over the last few weeks plus vacation expenses have left me broke so travelling right now is out of the question. That goes for spending on some of the new stash from market too. It will just have to wait until a later date. On top of everything else, the change in the weather yesterday brought about an increase in the amount of pain I'm having with my hip and back so that I can hardly walk today. For those of you who don't know, I'm in need of a hip replacement and am scheduled to get on the list next week. My back problems stem from walking incorrectly due to the hip.
So I've propped myself up in my Lazyboy chair with stitching in hand to pass the time, and arthritis strength Tyelenol to ease the pain. Enough of my self pity now and on to some of my recent stitching.

While at the cottage in Muskoka I got started with my Torah Stitch by Stitch. The lakeside is a beautiful setting for stitching this.

The kit I was sent indicated that I'm stitching from Genesis 12: 6-9.  As of yesterday I'm halfway through verse 7.

I'm using an online Hebrew interlinear bible to see what words I'm stitching and to verify that I'm stitching them correctly. I have 9 lines of text so I'm now one third of the way through. When it's complete I have the option of adding a border on three sides so I'm on the hunt for something appropriate.

After finishing off my SubRosa bee freebie, I decided to go with another smaller stitch and save a larger start for when I'd returned home. I picked Blackbird Designs Song of Spring which is a kit which was created for the members of the Ladies Prim Society which I recently joined.

Although this is a spring stitch, the colours tend to fit in better with an autumn stitch. This is a sweet design which will finish up as a small, square pillow after I'm done with it. I still have a long way to go yet.

During out cottage stay I always like to make a stop at the antique shop located at the end of our lane. Last year I found some great buttons and this year I found these.

I figure these lovely wooden spools will make great pincushions. I know that Blackbird Designs has some great patterns that will fit well on these plus there have been some market releases by Lone Elm Lane Designs that will work well too. 

Our cottage visit on Lake Muskoka was fabulous and I'll leave you with a few, some, a whackload of pics from our holiday.

A Fabulous Lakeside View

Morning boat rides to our favourite haunt

Unique watercraft and operators!

Check out the driver on this one!

Visits with friends from near and far. Some even prepared us dinner!

The Bala Waterski Show

Afternoons spent stitching dockside

or watching the scenery from the boat

Wildlife - big and small!

Bell rehearsals on the cottage porch

Note: I have a full video of the final performance and will post it if there is enough interest.

Followed by naps on the porch!

The beauty of the full moon

Pink clouds

Sunsets

And even the rain on our final day

I love the sound of the rain on the cottage roof.

Hope you enjoyed our vacation album!

August Ornament SAL

The last Wednesday of the month and time for my ornament check-in at Stitching Lotus ornament SAL.  This month I actually stitched a Christmas ornament! It seems I've stitched very few of these over the past few months and with Halloween coming it may be a couple more months before you see another Christmas ornie.

My ornament choice for this month is one which I've been meaning to stitch for some time now. I've been a fan of Midsummer Night Designs for awhile and this is one of her freebie designs offered.

I have the perfect fabric for finishing it too. (If I ever get around to my finishing!)
Having just returned home from the cottage, I have plenty of laundry and cleaning to keep me busy for a day or two so I'll check in on all your ornaments towards the weekend. Until then, happy stitching!

August WIPocalypse from the cottage

We're finally at the cottage and it doesn't get any better than this!
The photo above is the view from our front porch. The weather so far has been topnotch and it promises to be a wonderful week. With our arrival at the lake comes time for stitching on the dock, or on the porch and so I've brought several projects with me.

 I've finally got the Torah stitch underway although I don't have enough yet for a photo. Paradis Perdu has also followed me here in the hopes that I get a few more stitches put into this WIP.
For now though, I have three finishes to report for this past month. Unfortunately you'll only see my ornament finish on the last Wednesday of the month. However here's a sneak peek. See if you can guess the designer of this one.

I also finished up my Halloween stitch. This one is Barbara Ana Designs A Wicked Plant.

Unsure as to what my next big stitch would be, I found a lovely new freebie online from SubRosa which I called Beehive. You saw the beginnings on my last post and I'm happy to say that today I finished it up here at the cottage. It's such a pretty little design and I'm planning on a pin pillow finish for this one.

 I have two planned new starts. The first is The Pink Sparrow Sampler by With Thy Needle & Thread Designs and the second is a Blackbird Design for the Ladies Prim Society. Hopefully I'll have a pic of one or the other soon. Until then, enjoy your week!

August TUSAL with a finish to boot!

Yes it's August, can you believe it! Summer really must pass by quicker than all the other seasons. With the beginning of the month comes TUSAL time.

Look closely and you can see my ort jar hiding out above the tablet in this pic. Most of my stitching in the summer takes place in our gazebo which is where this little plaque hangs. It was a retirement gift from my younger sister and is just so appropriate for a morning or evening of stitching in the gazebo.

My orts have lots of blacks and whites from my Wicked Plant stitch. Fruit of the Spirit contributed most of the other orts. 
Here's a pic of my stitching spot in the gazebo.

I wouldn't want to be anywhere else at this time of year unless it's  Muskoka!

The cooler weather we've had here for the past week has been so pleasant that I stitched up a storm and finished up A Wicked Plant on the weekend.

Barbara Ana Designs A Wicked Plant
stitched on 32ct PTP Ancient
using DMC and Gentle Art Sampler floss

I love the way that this one looks on the fabric. I think it's going to look great when it's framed. See if you can spot the little mouse. I hadn't even noticed him until I got to that portion of the chart. He's adorable with his curly tail!

I needed a change after stitching with all that black and the neutrals so I hunted through my freebies and came upon this cute, summer project. It's a freebie from Eszter over at Sub Rosa and it had all the light, summery colours I was looking for. I just started it Sunday night and here's my progress so far.

The white on the bee wasn't showing up on my light fabric so I did a little backstitching to highlight it. I'll be concentrating on this for the next few days since we are travelling unexpectedly to attend a funeral in Sault Ste. Marie. It will be a good travelling companion.

Each year our church holds a silent auction as a fundraiser and my DH offers a boat ride as one of the items for bidding. The Civic Holiday Monday was a perfect day for this ride so he contacted the winning bidders and we headed out to the St. Lawrence for a tour.
Here are a few of the sights along the way.

We spotted this osprey nest first thing and then I noticed Mom approaching in the distance.

She posed very nicely for us. I don't think her young were in the nest any longer but she seems to be hanging around the area so perhaps they were flying nearby.

Next we heard a plane overhead and I suddenly realized it was a biplane!

I didn't realize until later that there is a small airport just outside Morrisburg which offers rides in these planes. We'll have to check them out on another venture.

After leaving Morrisburg, the next location we passed on the river was Iroquois, Ontario. At this location there is a dam over the river and the freighters must use the locks here. The dam isn't often in use and when it isn't, they open a couple of the gates for the smaller boats to travel through.

It doesn't look high enough to pass under does it? However, this is the very gate which we had just passed through. From Iroquois we next approached the village of Cardinal. When we got to this point we decided to continue on up to the International bridge crossing at Prescott. This bridge will take you over to Ogdensburg, N.Y.

At this point we decided to turn around and head back. We had been travelling for over an hour now.
On the way back we had to switch gas tanks and when we did there seemed to be a problem with the connector on the new tank. We couldn't get the motor going at all. This happened last year and they replaced the connection on this tank but obviously it didn't help!
After several tries to get going we decided to transfer the gas from said tank into the empty one which we knew had a good connection. Success! We were underway once more.

You may not be able to tell, but those are dairy cows on that island. Yes, it's an island! Each year they are brought over to graze on this land. I'm not sure how they transfer them over or even if they have a barn on the island. Obviously there must be or how else would they get milked? The island is on the American side of the river and I've yet to see them being moved. This particular day the cows were hanging out at the beach!

For me, a long boat ride always results in a great night's sleep. I woke refreshed and ready for today.Tonight I'm heading into Ottawa to hook up with my Tuesday night group. We are being joined by our contact for the Torah project. I have a few questions to ask her and then I'm afraid I have to head home early and get packed for our short trip. See you in a little while and keep on stitching!

Fantastic Birthday Giveaway

Nancy over at Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe is celebrating her upcoming birthday in a big way. She is having an absolutely fabulous giveaway and trying to share it with as many of her followers as possible. Drop by here and check it out. Nancy's items are top notch and I can vouch for that having been a former winner. Good luck in the draw and don't forget to mention that I sent you her way!

July Ornament SAL

I had a Christmas ornament in mind for this month's ornie but while I was hunting for the chart in my stash I came upon this. It was screaming, "You have to stitch me, you have to stitch me!". I agreed, it was perfect.

This is a Bent Creek design and it called for all three birds to be stitched in the same blue. I dug the colour from my floss and wasn't happy with it so instead I chose three different blues from my stash.... one Dinky Dyes and two Carrie's Creations floss. I'm really happy with how they've turned out. Each bird is unique!

The hunt is on for the perfect finishing fabric and as of this morning I started stitching that Christmas ornament I originally planned. I just know that August is going to fly by with all of our plans this month.

If you'd like to join in the fun, just click on the 2013 Ornament SAL icon on my sidebar and it will take you to Heather's site where you can find all the info. 

Monday's Mail

I've been rather fortunate lately to be the winning recipient of not one but two giveaways! They both arrived in Monday's mail.
First up is my winning chart from Sherry. She has been cleaning up her stash and giving away some gently used charts. This one has been on my list and I was thrilled to receive it! Thank you so much Sherry!

Next are my winning charts from Kaye. Kaye and I are members of the Random Acts of Stitching Kindness blog. I was gifted by this RAK. Being a cat lover it was absolutely perfect! Look at the pretty card she tucked in the package. Love it! Thank you Kaye!

I can't seem to make up my mind as to a new start so I've continued to work on A Wicked Plant. It's really coming along and I'm enjoying it a lot. I'm stitching this on PTP Ancient linen and it's perfect for a Halloween stitch. The grays do show up much better in person. Pictures never seem to get the colours right.

I have some questions regarding the starting point for my Torah stitch so it has been put on hold for now. The contact person in our area for this project  will be joining our Tuesday group in a week so I will wait to start this until after I've checked some things with her.

I really need to get moving on another project though. A Wicked Plant won't take me all that long to finish. In fact it could be done before I leave for my holidays. I need to have another project or two waiting in the wings to pack for my dockside stitching in Muskoka. I should be starting some of the other projects on my WIPocalypse list but none of them is calling to me right now. After all, that list is just a guideline. I tend to stitch whatever and wherever my mood takes me.  After completing Wicked I only have Paradis Perdu remaining on my list of incompletes and I've stitched many other projects up until now. I'm pretty pleased with what I've accomplished. I'll have another quick post tomorrow with my Ornament SAL photo too.

I hope you all have found a few quiet moments for stitching. We all need some time to ourselves and what better way to occupy that time than with needle in hand?