Goodbye July 2020

Can’t say that I am at all sorry to be saying goodbye to July 2020. And I have to admit that I am a bit concerned about what the remainder of 2020 is going to look like. Praying for healing...for our country and from Covid. God Bless America.

I was able to finish one Mary Brown block this month. 

I had hoped to do another. I have no good reason why that didn’t happen. Except that this block had fifty six tiny leaves.

I had happily posted that this quilt was ready for its first borders. Wrong. When I got ready to add the borders, they didn’t fit.

Because I failed to add the plain strips between the rows. Like this....

So I frogged the rows apart, inserted strips and then added the first borders. Now onto piecing the final borders. 

I received this sweet and fragrant package in the mail.

I had ordered this cutie from The Primitive Heart to add to my growing Strawberry Pinkeep collection. It is beautifully stitched from an old coverlet by Julie. I love it.

This week we put creamed corn in the freezer, tomorrow it will be two kinds of southern peas. And then it will be on to peaches and okra.  We didn’t grow any of these except the okra, but purchased from local farmers markets. Our garden is still producing, and I anticipate more work before summer is done.  And, yes, the girls are providing lots of fresh eggs.

Hoping everyone has a good weekend.

Take care,

Jennie

Checking In

It has been a busy month, as well as a long, hot one. Harvesting veggies from the garden has to be done early or it is just too stinking hot. Yard work amounts to a heroic effort to just keep things alive. Rain has come, but at a minimum. At least it hasn’t been like last year yet, with no rain.

Being inside more has afforded me with the luxury of moving a few projects forward. Except for yesterday when we froze twenty two packages of corn. Thanks for baling us out, Laura. 

I just finished hooking Solomon’s Delight by Dyeanne (the talented Diane Gill) and I love it. Struggled a bit with the reds, but think that I finally got them right. 

Started in a class with Tricia Travis. Such a pretty pattern. 

Next up, I got the prep work done (whipping down eleven large circles) for Kathy Schmitz’s Snowdrift Tablerunner, which is a stitch along at her blog (https://kathyschmitzstudio.blogspot.com/2020/07/snowdrift-table-runner-lets-begin.html?m=1). There’s plenty of tine for you to join in.

In keeping with Jolly July on IG, this Blackbird Designs pattern, Merry Christmas, was pulled from the WIP pile. Around Christmas last year, as I was just relaunching my cross stitch career, I started this pretty sampler with a kit from Country Sampler, Spring Green.  I stitched the bones of the border and then tucked it away. The linen is by Weeks Dye Works prior to them using a Zweigart base for the linens. And while I love the color and the antique look, it is hard to stitch on in my opinion. But, loving the design and having a few more months of stitching under my belt, I was ready to give it another go. 

Getting close to a finish. It is far from perfect, but I am glad that I am going to finish it.

The Newnan Coweta magazine, an off shoot of our local newspaper is published bimonthly. 

This year the Coweta County Master Gardeners were invited to have an article in each issue. This month the article, written by MG Pat Farmer, focused on How to Attract Wildlife to Your Garden. MG’s had submitted random photos of their gardens earlier in the year for use in articles and our annual calendar. I was surprised and honored that one of my photos garnered a full page in this article!!

That’s all for now. Off to a flag football game for my grandson (how can the county allow flag football for 11-12 year olds with spectators, but you can’t go back to school...am I the only one confused here????).

Take care,

Jennie

A Quick Hello

Hi, guys. It has been busy around here, but I wanted to take a minute for a quick post.

This time of year is always hectic when you have a garden and lots of nice veggies to preserve for the coming months. It is no exception here. Our garden is doing well and we have been blessed by enough fresh veggies to share, eat and preserve. So far we have frozen squash and loaves of delicious zucchini bread (I won’t tell you how many loaves we’ve consumed). And we have canned green beans (just don’t like them frozen), dill pickles, bread and butter pickles, blueberry jelly, pepper jelly, and sweet pepper relish. Tomorrow we are doing salsa and tomato paste. And I hope that next week we are able to get fresh peaches.

Here are a few jars of our bounty....

One sleepless night this week I was able to pull up the last loops on The Reader (pattern by Sharon Smith, teacher Anita White).....too many years ago.

The wallpaper background is a dark green stripe, which really doesn’t show up in the photo. I opted out on the airplanes that were on the pattern.  I changed the pup to one of our schnauzers, Roxie, who passed away 4 years ago at the ripe old age of 17 3/4!  I will have to order yarn and whip the edges of this one since the top edge has loops all the way across on the vertical. 

Next it is on to Solomon’s Delight (by Diane Gill, class with Tricia Travisa couple of years ago). I took this one to tweak a bit at Eric’s class last February and then put it away...again. 

I really lack very little on it and can hopefully call it a finish sooner than later. 

Next in the cross stitch arena is Bird in Hand by Blackbird Designs. Just started this one using WDW Merlot, 2 strands over 2 on a scrap of 36 ct linen. 

I love designs with birds, especially when they are redwork. 

I have also picked up a BBDs Christmas sampler that I started last fall,  in honor of Jolly July on IG. No pic of it just yet.

Like most of you, I have tired of this strange day to day living that we are doing. Not having an idea of what our world will be like tomorrow is a stark reminder that WE ARE NOT IN CONTROL. And that is difficult especially for those of us who want and need some modicum of control. I pray that you are faring well through all of this craziness, and are healthy. 

Couldn’t say it better....

Take care,

Jennie