Summer's Over

Warning:  Very Picture Intensive!!
It happens as it does every year. Labour Day weekend arrives along with the unofficial start to fall. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE fall! I just hate saying goodbye to summer with all its warmth and family time which it affords. This one was warm for sure, downright hot but I kept thinking of winter which will knock on our doors all too soon. 
Our summer was a busy one. In addition to paying many visits, we also had lots of visitors to our home whether it was for an overnight or to share a meal. I love spending time with my family and friends and this is a picture show of how our summer was spent.

We started off July with a visit from special friends David & Lonnie who were in Ottawa for a music recital of which David was a part of. This picture was taken along Ottawa's Rideau Canal.

Then it was off to Windsor for a visit with family and friends. We stayed with my Mom and step-dad. We took the opportunity to celebrate my mom's 86th birthday a month early since we couldn't return in August. Isn't Coco the sweetest little dog?

 
 While we were home we had the chance to get together for a coffee with our grade 5 teacher, Ken Stanton. We were the first class Ken taught following his graduation and he has fond memories of us. Ken and Bob attended the same church and Bob sang at Ken's wedding many years ago!

 

We also visited with my sisters and Bob's brother but neglected to take any pics.

Following our Windsor trip I was off to Syracuse to get together with some very special stitching friends. Since we are scattered between the US and Canada, we chose Syracuse as a central place where we could all meet. 

 

I love these ladies and only see them a couple of times a year so our get togethers are very special indeed!

 Following this return I had a bit of a breather and then it was off to our favourite vacation spot, Muskoka! This is our cottage rental on Bala Park Island.

 

This year we invited a couple to join us whom we had not seen since our wedding 15 yrs ago. Vicki and Tim are close friends but live too far from us and off the beaten path on our treks home. Vicki lived down the street from me growing up and we became fast friends in high school. It was so good catching up with the two of them.

 

Below are some pics from our fabulous week together.

 The Peerless II, docked in Port Carling

 Look at how high that thing goes!

 The Bala Ski Show

 Cruising aboard the steamship Segwun on Lake Muskoka

We spotted a classic mahogany launch on the waters

I love the mermaid keeping watch over this boathouse!

Relaxing following a swim

Some cool carvings at a store in Port Carling

Sunset over Bala Bay

Once Vicki & Tim returned home we still had a week in which to visit with a few more friends in the Parry Sound area of Muskoka.

A theme of the visits seemed to be crafts and wine dockside while the fellas took a boat jaunt around the nearby lake.

 A view of Otter Lake

John taxis Bob around Blackstone Lake

Mom and her babe

Heather and I craft and gab

All good things must come to an end though and it was soon time to return home. A beautiful sunset followed by the full moon presented itself to us on our final night at the lake.

 

 

I thought that was my last visit of the summer but I was wrong. My son Jeff and granddaughters Oceanne & Summer invited me for a quick visit before school started back. Grandma jumped at the chance and took the girls shopping for school items.

 

First came the shopping......

 

 

 After which there was a visit to the park.....

 

 

 

An ice cream following supper......

What appears to be a party hat is actually the hat on a clown waste basket!

Followed by a visit to the life size chess board on the return home.

 

 

All in all it was a great visit and I can't wait to head back there again!

 

 

So there you have it..... my summer in a nutshell or a blog post as it were! I hope I haven't bored you to tears. There are several friends and family members who don't do Facebook or Twitter and this is their way to catch up with us. 

Now bring on Autumn!!! 

August WIPocalypse and Smalls

Once again this posting finds me behind for both the Smalls and WIPocalypse posts. Summer seems to have been far busier than usual but for the life of me I can't remember half of what we did, lol! In any case, here's what I've been up to stitchy wise. We'll start with the smalls.

Last month I finished a new design by my dear friend Nan Lewis of Threadwork Primitives called Land That I Love. As it sounds, it was designed as a patriotic piece. Nan was a real dear and designed an alternate version with a Canadian flag in it for me and we decided on The True North for this piece. Here's my finish.

I love the way this turned out and I just received an order of red wool to finish this off as a pin pillow. It's going to look great!

The other small finish I had this month is a Blackbird Design called Thistle House from their booklet, A Stitcher's Journey. This was meant to be finished off as the top of a sewing box. Instead I'm going to use an old spool which I picked up at an antique shop in Muskoka. It's not finished off yet but you get the idea.

Besides these smalls I've been working on two other projects. One is part of a SAL I joined on Prim Stitcher's Society on Facebook. It's by The Scarlett House and is called Penny Pumpkin.

It's being worked on 36ct with one strand over 2 except for those little star motifs which are worked over one. I did most of those at the cottage where I found the natural light was a much better help to complete them. I'm also excited to say that since I picked up my new glasses last week I can now stitch once more without the use of my magnifiers even over one! We'll just see how many years that lasts.

The other design is one I just started at the tail end of August. It's by Stacy Nash and is called Blackwater Hollow Sampler.

This piece was designed by Stacy after her visit to Notforgotten Farm, the home of designer Lori Brechlin. I was fortunate enough to visit her farm last September for her primitive show. I had every intention of returning again this year but found out in May that I will be involved in a wedding on the date of the show. Since I can't return this year and see all my friends, I thought I'd stitch this piece instead as a little reminder of the farm and all my friends.

During my trip to Muskoka this summer I visited all my favourite antique locations and picked up a few items which I can repurpose with some of my stitching or use to embellish it as in the case of the bone buttons. I have a piece in mind for that lovely frame. The washboard is a child's size and will hold a small piece of stitching nicely.

In addition to my purchases I was given a lovely collection of wood embroidery frames. Our family friend Nora has a cottage in the Parry Sound region of Muskoka and we always make it a point to visit her and her daughter. This year she presented me these lovely frames which belonged to her mother and grandmother and I suspect are hand made. Nora herself is 97 yrs young and so I'm honoured to accept these treasures. In the picture below she is seen doing some hand sewing while relaxing at the cottage. 

I'll be back soon with a non stitching post to show pics of my summer activities. 

July Smalls

So I'm a little behind on my July Smalls post. It's just been busy, busy, busy! 

I stitched two small finishes this month. One was given as a gift and the other is a cute little bee... a perfect summer stitch.

This is a design by Prairie Schooler from one of their mini-cards. I finished it off and added it to a small bee skep. I think it's a little large for the bee skep but I couldn't find a bigger one so it will have to do.
The next stitch is by Pineberry Lane and I finished it off as a pin pillow for my friend Cathy's birthday. The back is trimmed with a gorgeous primitive velvet.

As I mentioned in my last post, I also received some lovely smalls for my birthday from my stitching friends. My birthday took place in May but since we were all getting together in July that's when we decided to celebrate. Two of us had May birthdays, one in June and another in August.
Here are some of the lovely gifts I received.

I was thrilled with everything. From my friend Nan I received the most gorgeous scissors with a matching tape measure. Theresa gave me the strawberry on the left which can be worn around the neck along with some silk threads and a Plum Street Sampler kit. They all know how much I love anything with deer in it! 
The strawberry in the middle was stitched by my dear friend Pat. It was her first finish of this type and I think she did an awesome job!
The strawberry on the right was made by Cathy and it's gorgeous. Cathy is a bee keeper and she also brought cinnamon honey for all.

These ladies are an amazing and very creative group. I am so blessed to call them my friends. They are my source of inspiration and they help me whenever I run into a problem with my finishing. Thank you all so much. I love you all dearly!

July WIPocalypse

Ahh July! We're right in the middle of all that summer heat and I'm loving it. From what I can see there is a lot more waiting for us. I must admit though that I'm very thankful for a/c on some of the more humid days. 

Before all that humidity hit I managed to stitch up an early birthday gift for my friend Nan. I'm so pleased with how it turned out. This one is designed by Needlework Press and is called May The Hinges of Friendship Never Rust. I stitched it with one strand of Gloriana silk floss in Winter Woods.

Here is the backing fabric and another front view of the piece which shows the lettering a bit better.

As you can see, Nan loved it and I'm so happy.

I also made a belated birthday gift for my friend Theresa. This is a Blackbird Design called Her Majesty from their Honeybee Hill leaflet. What I didn't know was that Theresa loves bees and collects them!

I do love watching their faces when they open their gifts. It was just like Christmas with the kids!

We exchanged all these gifts, both early and late, at a weekend getaway. This is a group of stitching buddies with whom I've become fast friends. We all live at a distance from each other both in the US and Canada. We chose E Syracuse as a location for our weekend which seemed to be a central location for most of us.

One of the reasons we chose this location is because there is a fabulous stitching shop in nearby Fayetteville called A Stitcher's Garden. I think we all laid down some serious cash there, lol!

During the course of the weekend we also had a staining lesson from Theresa and Nan. They each use different methods but the results are virtually the same. We stained both linen and chenille.

Besides stitching there was also lots of shopping and eating during the weekend. These pics are courtesy of my friends Cathy and Theresa.

Even Theresa's son joined in on trying his hand at stitching. He did a fabulous job, with a little help from mom!

I was also the recipient of some wonderful belated birthday gifts during our trip. There were several handmade smalls but I will share those on my Smalls SAL report next week. In the meantime, here's a couple other gifts I was thrilled to receive. Those silks are so pretty and in my favourite colour! The pattern is one I did not yet have. The girls all know that I love anything with deer in it. I'm almost afraid to use those beautiful scissors and tape measure. They're gorgeous!

I am so blessed to have such an amazing group of stitching friends! The weekend passed by far too soon and we all agreed that we should do it again next year. The count down is on!

Happy Canada Day!

From our home to yours, Happy Canada Day to all my family, friends and blogger friends. Whatever you do enjoy your day and be proud!

June Smalls

My smalls post is short and sweet this month. I've recently stitched three smalls but I can only show you one of them because the other two are for gifts and I don't want to spoil the fun. 

A lot of my time stitching is spent in our outdoor solarium or gazebo. In it I'm surrounded by the flowers in our yard and as I stitch I've been watching the bees stopping by at our planters. This little stitch by Prairie Schooler was inspired by my buzzing friends!

There is no name for this piece. It's from one of the PS mini cards. I simply call it Queen Bee. This is the first time I've stitched on black linen. It's a 32 ct and I found it time consuming. I've only stitched on black Aida in the past and that was bad enough! I have an idea for a finish on this and will share a pic when it's complete.

Continuing on the bee theme I've started another small by Blackbird Designs called Her Majesty - Pincushion. It's found in the Honeybee Hill leaflet. I might just stitch Honeybee Hill as well since I have a shaker box that it would look lovely on top of. 

See you next month!