Scratching My Way Back!

Stitching through time

A day of sunshine

followed by a day of rain

Sitting outside enjoying the day

I heard a noisy young crow

nagging his parents for food.

Then I spied him and his parents

weighing down the top of a tall spindly tree.

As I watched

a young merlin suddenly swooshed

in trying to make a meal of the young crow.

Daddy crow shooed young merlin off

but merlin just swooped in again and managed to dislodge them whole family

and they all flew off among the trees in a great hullabaloo.

A day of replenishing all the mason jars.

Beans and seeds and lentils flying everywhere!

Then three busy days allowing only for simple stitched rows.

Testing....Testing....Scratching!

I knew it would be another quiet week

so why not try out some stitches

from old, old, instruction sheets.

Monday it was a stitch called Sprat's Head

described as tailor's finishes that could be useful in embroidery.

Tuesday was thanks to Rachael who did a piece of needle weaving.

On the left is a lace filling basically twisted buttonhole.

Next is a knotted buttonhole

and on the right is Ceylon stitch that ends up looking like knitting.

Wednesday is called Sword Edging Stitch

a good cruciform shape.

Then I tried a Portuguese knotted stem stitch

quite nice but time consuming.

Found this

seemed appropriate

There was a time I thought of doing a heraldic type piece

of symbols for my three boys.

Never went anywhere with it.

Saturday was for playing with Siennese stitch

and

on Sunday Crested Chain stitch

a tough, tough stitch that I won't be using again!

Have a nice week.

Day of Memories

Steven

It's been nineteen years

and we miss you.

Many of you out there

know as well as us 

the pain of loss never leaves

we just learn to live with it.

And we try to remember the beautiful times.

Something Beautiful Remains

The tide recedes but leaves behind

bright seashells on the sand.

The sun goes down

but gentle warmth still lingers on the land.

The music stops

and yet it echoes on in sweet refrain.

For every joy that passes

something beautiful remains.

(Author unknown)

Another Quiet Week Scratched

Another quiet week

though I did scratch one spindly northern spine

The fox must be wondering where the heck those Rusty Pups are

It's been so long since we walked in his territory

Our family of merlin expand their territory every day

though they come back here every night

and at night the porch light

attract a myriad of moths

Some gentle in colour

some just simple white

Some preferring the shiny painted surfaces

and this guy couldn't make up his mind.

Fourteen Whole Days of Summer Just Gone Whoosh!

For the last two weeks

I've been bowled over

by a virus

I've missed my wedding anniversary

hanging a group show

the opening of our group show
My wonderful morning walks along the dike...

....and a good friend's birthday.

Thank goodness I'm on the mend now

and we plan to work at getting my strength back

this week.

Nice to be back!