Someone Please Slow Down the Time!

Each year seems to be flying by faster than the one before.  I cannot believe it's almost October.  It feels like I just put away the decorations and it's time to take them out again.  What's mostly time consuming is dusting and putting away all the every day decorations while simultaneously putting up the Halloween ones.  I don't just toss my stuff into the storage bin.  No no no.  I have to dust and wrap almost every single knick knack in bubblewrap or tissue paper.  This would explain why my stuff is in good condition and has lasted for over 25 years.  

Anywho.  I did want to share some cool sky pics taken at the end of August and this month.

Moonrise on August 17, 2016

August 26, 2016 late afternoon Maxfield Parrish clouds.

Sunset on September 1st

September 7

September 11 sunset

I was outside at the right time to catch the afternoon sun in my glass wind chimes, which are a little worse for wear.

Some have broken.  I had to do a coat of glass paint a couple of years ago and it looks like they need another one.  Or maybe I should just buy a new set.

Full Harvest Moon on September 15th

I was browsing the Halloween stuff in CVS and came across the scariest masks I've EVER seen. *shudder*  Trump looks like he has grilled chicken on his head.  

After I finished the states, I wanted a super quick, instant gratification project so I whipped up this beaded cross stitch fireflies kit.  Took two days.  I gave it to my friend Yvonne as a fridge magnet.

I was kinda sick of looking at these unfinished needlepoints on my craft table so I buckled down and worked for a couple of hours hand stitching each one to black backing fabric and then using fiberfill for the stuffing.  I erred with the sewing on the peacock feathers.  There were still a few rows of white canvas showing at the seams, so I used a black sharpie and carefully coloured them.  Worked out really well too.  

Real life has been rudely butting into my life.  The upswing in 'adulting' I've had to do lately has been unreal.  I'm so exhausted all the time, it's not even funny.  I'm still having issues with panic and anxiety, and trying not to see the glass as half empty.  It's so hard.  Sometimes I just feel so beaten down and I don't want to leave the house.  

I haven't been beachcombing in ages and I have no idea when I can pencil in some beach time.  I think the parking lots are free by now.  I have a rather ambitious "Things I want to do this fall" list and it remains to be seen if I will be able to do all of it but I'll give it the ol' college try!

Just Plain Lazy

This summer has, in a word, sucked.  And the reason it has sucked is the weather.  I do not remember a hotter, more humid year than this one.  It's been too uncomfortable to do anything.  I can't even remember the last time we had prolonged rain.  So as a result, I haven't taken any day trips.  My car is getting old and I really don't want to push my luck when it's this hot out.  I also haven't been super motivated to cook or bake so that I don't have to use the stove and oven.   That has meant a lot of take out this year.  Laundry has to be washed and dried by 9 AM, the latest.  

And the traffic.  Everyone is talking about it.  It's always heavy in the summer but this year has been the worst, with more idiots who drive like shit and don't use their turn signals.  

So in the house I sit.  Doing cross stitch and chores and watching TV.  I'm sorry I haven't been making the blog rounds.  There were quite a few real life issues that have come up the past few weeks.  I promise to visit everyone's blogs really soon!!

This one is called 'Wanda's Witchery' and it was a lot of fun!  So many pretty colours!  I bought the frame already painted and am thinking about doing a little touch up around that bottom star.

Here's a project that I stitched in tandem.  I wanted to make one for me and one for my friend Miki, but I knew I wouldn't want to start all over once I finished the first one.  It got tedious at times but it took about a week to do them both which wasn't bad, and I love how they came out.  

I dove right into this snowy owl when I finished the hippie ones.  This one had way more beaded cross stitch than the other kits.  I bought the frame already painted like that, from the 123 Stitch website.

Close up.  Hard to tell but most of the pine needles are tiny crystal and light green beads. Plus the dark blue and dark blue/grey were hard to see against the blue perforated paper.

This is my latest project.  I have 4 separate patterns for each state I've lived in and I wanted to do them on one piece of cloth.  But how to center them, since I suck at math.  Well I knew I had a 50-50 chance of messing it up and sadly, I fell into the bad 50.  I should have stitched Maine after Mass, but I did California after Mass, and it's all off center.  I have to move it way to the left, closer to the left edge of Mass.  Otherwise Washington won't fit under Maine.  And also, California is too high.  The top of the state needs to be at least 5 rows under the word 'Maine'.  That means ripping out all of CA and starting over.  I'm also making some minor changes in the pattern/stitching.   

Some moon shots, end of July.

Full moon a few days ago.

Been pawing through some shoeboxes of old pictures that I borrowed from my mom.  This is a picture of my dad (left) and Uncle Frank with their pet goat Meggy, probably taken sometime between 1927-29, in British Guiana.  It's one of only 2 pics I have of him when he was little.

This one is from my cousin Sandy's wedding in 1970 in Yonkers, NY.  It's been bittersweet to see these old pics and realize how many people have passed away.  Those are my parents, with my cousin 'Little' Anne sitting on my dad's lap, her husband Carlo behind, and Anne's sister Jeannie on the other side of my dad.  Jeannie & Little Anne were my mom's fave cousins so they always had a wonderful time together and a lot of laughs.  They'd stay at my parents' cottage on Spring Hill Beach for a couple of weeks each summer and we all looked forward to it.  Missing from the pic is Jeannie's husband, Skee, who used to tease me mercilessly when I was little.

Me, September, 1966, not sure if this is Sandy Neck or Spring Hill.  Hard to believe my hair was ever that blonde.

Looking thrilled beyond belief at Santa's Village in New Hampshire, 1973.

First or second day of 5th grade, September 1974.  That's a pencil case.

Intently tearing into a box of flashcubes, 1966'ish.  

Wearing my cousin Jeannie's sunglasses at the beach house, summer 1967

1967 in Yonkers with my Aunt Gloria.

Also in Yonkers, April 1976.  There are so many photos of me in Yonkers that it looks like I grew up there. 

I hope to be able to get out of the house more now that summer is drawing to a close.  Fall in this region is the best season anyway, so it's more conducive to day trips.

Lazy Hazy Dayz

The east coast heatwave continues with horribly uncomfortable temps and humidity, and no end in sight.  We desperately need rain.  Only one day was nice and dry, so I went over to my friend Sue's for a few hours.  She lives here in town on a fantastic piece of property on Bourne Pond.  It's so idyllic that I told her if I lived there, I would literally never leave.  

She has 3 adorable, white fluffy doggies that float around like little fuzzy clouds around your ankles.

Little moppet.

Side of their barn.

I loved the way she had the property decorated.

I'm not sure that anyone swims in the pond, but it's nice for kayaking or floating.

Looking straight up at the tree canopy

When I first moved here, I was driving around taking pics and I'd stopped to shoot this barn.  I had no idea it was Sue's property at the time!

I loooove this view from her front yard.

Besides the Canal walk, this has been the sum total of my summer adventures this year.  I'm just not willing to go out walking around when it's this miserable. Hoping for a cooler, dryer August.