Week not gone as expected

So the week didn't go as expected.  Though to be honest, I wasn't really expecting anything in particular. 

I apologize if the title of this post isn't grammatically correct.  Sometimes I feel the need to flaunt the rules to get my point across. 

Man, I can't believe it's Friday. I swear, this week flew by. 

Okay, how did this last week go ... 

Well, I'm going to get some news out of the way first thing. 

On Saturday we sent the majority of the flock to a new home. 

Yes ... that needs to be done every couple of years. Also, we decided to downsize flock size. 

We heard from the new home that the flock is settling in nicely.  That was good to hear. 

The pullets we brought home a few months back have been moved in to the coop. 

After a fresh clean out. 

The babies were checking out the run straight away. My son had tossed some lettuce and cabbage scraps. 

They haven't quite figured out food scraps and treats just yet. 

They enjoyed all the extra space and they figured out to go back in to the coop in the evening right away.  Usually the youngsters take a few days, at least, before they get it sorted out. 

Here's a short video of them enjoying the new digs. 

We did keep one of the older girls. 

She's still pouting and unhappy.  I'm doing what I can to help her during this transition.  

I've been spending extra time out in the coop. 

Let's see, what else have I done? 

Well, I *finally* made a batch of sauerkraut. No fancy, artsy photo of the jar.  I hand chopped the cabbage. It should be ready this weekend.  I can NOT wait. 

One of the sunsets this past week. 

We still have wildfire smoke affecting the area.  It's been making some spectacular sunsets. 

Oh, I forgot to make the video clip, but I had three or four hummingbirds at the feeder.  All chasing each other away.  I have one bird who keeps vigil over the feeder. 

They are such sassy little birds.

On Wednesday I had a dental appointment.  Beforehand I thought I'd swing by the cemetery and visit my Mother-in-Law.  Yes, you read that correct.  I go visit her. Not go to her burial site. 

Unfortunately, I got as far as setting down my stuff, and going to adjust something when the mosquitoes descended on me in a huge swarm. There was no way I could stay out there. 

I was awfully pleased to see that the shepherd hook and cardinal ornament is still there. 

The rest of the week didn't have anything worth blathering about. Just ... quiet.  We've been picking stuff out of the garden every day. I've been listening and watching the humming birds.  Spending time with the babies and giving my older girl extra attention and treats. 

Crafting has been going on. 

Working on my sock while I was passenger princess. This was on the way to the lake for fishing. 

On the cross stitch front I've been focusing on two projects. 

My "One Stitch at a Time" by La-de-da Stitches. I've reached my goal for August and will share it on the next flosstube. 

And "Daily Reminder" by Brenda Gervais. This is a stitch along I'm doing with Sarah's Stitchy Spot, Hobbies of Holly, Judy, bunny stitcher and another gal by the name of Marcy. The first three people are fellow flosstubers. 

Soooo, yeah. A quiet week that didn't go as expected.  Ha! 

Oh, I saw this on Instagram earlier this week and I thought I'd share it.

Fall is starting to creep in

 Yesterday I had an appointment during my lunch hour. As I was driving back home I saw a tree with that fall blaze orange at the top.  The leaves are starting to change! I'd have taken a photo, but I was driving and did not feel like pulling over and walking back to where I saw the tree. 

Earlier in the week I was walking around the back yard and acorns were dropping from the oak trees. It feels too early for this. 

Then one day, in the early a.m., it felt like a fall morning. Except for the humidity. 

August, when mother natures really shows she's off her meds.  Or something. 

It's been a quiet week, for the most part (keeping the trend going!) I have been mildly productive, however. 

Monday I finished my first summer sock. 

Tuesday I finished the last White Christmas 2022 ornament.  No photo of it.  That one is being saved for my next flosstube. 

Speaking of flosstube, my newest video is here. If you want to see the video, with full show notes, the blog post is here. I can't believe I haven't mentioned something I did to the blog yet. On the right side of the blog I have figured out how to embed the videos of my most recent flosstube and garden chat videos. You can see a tiny version of the videos if you don't want to go all the way over to Youtube. Ha! I felt so clever when I figured it out.  What I can't figure out is how to get the garden chat video to be the same size as the flosstube video. 

I spotted something today and I thought it was pretty neat. 

This whole summer we've been trying to befriend the crows. I toss a little bit of corn in a bowl in the back yard almost every morning. 

I call it paying the toll before I go out in to the back 20 each morning to swap out SD cards.  I don't know how much the crows actually get before the squirrels find the corn, or the chickens realize there's food somewhere. 

Today I was out on the trail, looking down to make sure I don't trip, and I spotted something that had no business being there. 

A dime! How stinking cool!

I kinda recall earlier in the summer my hubby coming back into the house one morning with something he found near by the bowl, but we weren't sure if it was a gift from the crows or if it was just a coincidence. The dime couldn't have fallen out of my pocket yesterday because I had no pants pockets and the jacket I wore had nothing but the SD card in it because I had just washed the jacket. 

It was a beautiful morning, but for the humidity. I was trying to capture the colors in the sky. No dice. 

Since I still had time before work I went out and puttered in the garden for a bit. Got out there and found an open gate. Doh!

It must have been open since last night, at least.  It looks like the chickens got in there and snacked on my brassicas.  Those brats!

I did harvest some tomatoes and cucumbers. Oh and a few peppers. We've been enjoying salads with fresh toppings. 

Before I settled in for the evening I *finally* picked out colors for my "Daily Reminder" cross stitch by Brenda Gervais. 

The colors are certainly bright! 

Flosstube 33 - Monogamy

Thank you for watching my video. I am so glad you stopped by! If you like what you see, please subscribe and click the notification bell to be notified of when I load new videos. I blog and write up more detailed shownotes at AmniconStudio.blogspot.com. You can sign up over there to receive blog posts by email. I'm on Instagram: AmniconStudio Email: AmniconStudio at gmail.com **Current Works in Progress (WIPs)**

❏ White Christmas 2022 ornaments - Gingerbread girl Gingerbread girl started July 31 (overall project started) Dec. 2, 2023 Designer/Source: Primrose Cottage stitches Fabric: 14 count aida opalescent DMC in called for colors

************************************************

❏ Red Panda, part of the Endangered Species club, 2024 Started: July, 5, 2025 Finished: Designer: Lindy Stitches Fabric: Hobby Lobby Aida Color: Ivory Fabric Count: 16 count DMC: B5200, 355, 310, 3825, 3776, 951, 3836,03, 436, Weeks Dye Works: 1236 (Mocha), 4111 (Lucky), 1267 (Kris' Bon Bon) Needle size: 26

Previous update

**********************************************

**Finished Objects (FOs)**

❏ Licorice vanilla socks Started: 5/3/25 Finished: 7/28/25 Needle size: U.S. 1, 2.5 mm Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll "Licorice Tweed Yarn Colors: Charcoal grey, with flecks of color Yarn Purchased: Yarn was given to me

Previous update:

****************************************

❏ White Christmas 2022 ornaments - Bird houses Mailbox started July 20, 2025 (overall project started) Dec. 2, 2023 Finished: July 30, 2025 Designer/Source: Primrose Cottage stitches Fabric: 14 count aida opalescent DMC in called for colors: B5200, 310, 321, 435, 562, 722, 728, 761, 818, 898, 954, 3841 **The big FO**

❏ Dancing stars quilt Started in 2023. Completed 7/23/25 **Other things I've crafted** ❏ Scissor Fobs

The blog entry I mentioned is here: https://amniconstudio.blogspot.com/2023/10/sharing-what-makes-you-happy.html

❏ Needle Minders **Future projects and plans** ❏ Stitching one or two Halloween charts with Gianne and Ashley from we stitch and we know things. Which one do you like out of the Just Cross Stitch Halloween 2025 issue? Happy Malloween Little Mushroom Ghost Graveyard Biscornu Hallow's Even Sampler The Messenger Blessed Be ❏ Neon Cicada, after seeing it on Katherine;s stitching chronicles. https://www.etsy.com/listing/4302044070/neon-cicada-cross-stitch-pattern-summer I purchased the canvas on Amazon: https://a.co/d/2gvO64e ❏ Still need to pick Color for next element on Birthday SAL. ❏ One Stitch at a time ... work on the house and maybe the flowers at the bottom. Thinking about pulling out the WIPs wheel and giving that a go again. There are some WIP s marinating that I should pull out of hibernation and work on. The charity group I mentioned is Make Bundles for Babies - https://www.makebundlesforbabies.org/ There is a Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/makebundlesforbabies/ **Haul** Snowy Season Cardigan - MJs off the Hook designs https://www.etsy.com/listing/1875965523/crochet-pattern-video-snowy-season Owls Cross Stitch Pattern PDF BUNDLE https://www.etsy.com/listing/1794947090/owls-cross-stitch-pattern-pdf-bundle Rescue is my Favorite Breed - AZ Family Zoo https://www.etsy.com/listing/1839478824/rescue-is-my-favorite-breed-quick-stitch Mini Masterpieces - TheStitchPatterns https://www.etsy.com/listing/1035491062/pdf-book-mini-masterpieces-cross-stitch Walk with Nature - SamBrie stitches https://www.etsy.com/listing/1899187751/walk-with-nature-pdf-cross-stitch-chart **Other Channels Mentioned** Patty -  @StitchingWithMyKitties-xe8qz  Gianne and Ashley -  @Westitchandweknowthings  Katherine -  @KatherinesStitchingChronicles  Coggie -  @Thehighfiberdiet  Sarah -  @SarahsStitchySpot  Holly  @hobbiesofholly  Judy  @Stitchingbunny1127  Sarah -  @Sarahthenorthwoodsstitcher  **Shoutouts** New-to-me floss tuber Leslie  @anurseandherneedle  Another Wisconsinite! Kim -  @TheSnitchStitcher  Jessica -  @LumiStitch  Stephanie -  @CrossStitchtheGlobe  Denise -  @BlackRibbonStitchStudio  Dottie -  @stitchingscottie4505  Gary and Ronnie -  @GaRonStitchery  Maddie -  @Kittystitch  Mair -  @sincity_crossstitcher  Caroline, Elizabeth & Aimee -  @Threadgremlins  The easiest ways you can support my channel: * Subscribe * Comment * Give this video a thumbs up * Share with a friend ***Thank you so much for being here. Happy crafting!😃***

Quiet weekend

 In my last post I mentioned " will be quiet around here," has entered the conversation. 

I've gone on about the weather since early June.  We've had so much rain in June and July.  This past week there was no rain and it was a real treat to have a break from what was starting to feel like never-ending rain.  The chicken run is drying out. 

Anywho, the quiet times continued this weekend.  The weather stayed nice. The smoke from the wild fires was around a bit, but not as bad as it has been. 

Saturday we went fishing.  I am proud to say I caught a fish on one of my hand-tied flies. 

I didn't keep it though.  The fish weren't really biting and there were so few it didn't seem worth it to bring them home. I suspect our fishing trips are done for the season. 

My husband worked on his truck for a bit. He's been having a blast "tinkering" with his truck. 

He's *so* gonna say something about my saying the work tinker! I just know it. Ha! He's been doing maintenance-type things, like changing the oil and things that will keep the truck looking it's best and running tip-top for years to come. 

I made up a picnic lunch and we rode our bikes down to the river. There was a group of women who were wearing birthday hats and balloons and one of their kayaks had a "happy birthday" sign attached to the side of it.  I said "Happy birthday!" and the birthday girl said thanks and that they tried to do something really fun and make it be as obnoxious as possible. I bet it was fun cruising down the river and people wishing her happy birthday. 

I spent some time in the evening cross stitching. I was watching car shows on Youtube and stitching away. 

Now I've got to tell you that I've recorded a flosstube video prior to writing this post and it's going to show past progress of this piece in the video. So you are getting a sneak from the future before seeing the video. ... Or something. It's hard to record and then try to not show progress. I figure not everyone is watching the videos and reading the blogs.  If you do see this before seeing the video, pretend to you didn't get a spoiler alert, when you are watching the video, all right? 😃 Thanks! 

Sunday was more quietness and chillaxing on my part.  

We made a quick trip to town.  When we got I made up some sandwiches for a picnic lunch and we rode our bikes to the lake. 

It was a beautiful time at the lake.  The breeze was blowing just enough. Not too many boats on the water. 

I decided to try something I haven't done in ages.  I cross stitched out in the wild! 

It was so fun and the light was good! If you know, you know. 

Then I did something I rarely do.  I asked my hubby to take a photo of me. 

Um, yeah, there was some hilarity in the process. 

So, yeah. A good time was had by all. 

And then my e-bikes battery exhausted on the way home while I was going uphill. Oh my gosh. Fortunately I was less than a mile from home. 

Last year I saw this video of a guy who was riding his e-bike on an off road trail and having a blast.  Then his battery died and he acted like he couldn't hardly pedal his bike and I thought "what a wuss." 

Guess what? Trying to pedal an e-bike with a dead battery is no joke. I think I lasted half a block.  It was like trying to pedal through mud.

Lesson learned.  Make sure the battery is charged up before going out. 

Then, later that afternoon I had a row with the rooster.  I can laugh about it now, but I'm sure at the time I looked absolutely ridiculous.  Then the little brat spent the next hour crowing his head off like he won, or something. 

This morning I woke up, got up and set to writing my to-do list for the day.  I felt ready to grab the week by the horns straight away and ended up getting a LOT done before clocking in for work. Then for work I was knocking things off the to-do list, left and right.  It was a productive day. 

I really like when weeks start off feeling like this. Then I feel like I can get SO much stuff done.

The weather has forecasted rain for several days this week.  I'm hoping to get some outside stuff done before the rain starts up again. Wish me luck! 

Settling in for quiet time

 "It's pretty quiet around here," or "It's going to be pretty quiet this weekend," seems to be a running theme in conversations I've had lately. With the excitement of summer starting long gone, and the Fourth of July passed, things seem to be settling down and "not much going on" is happening. 

All that to say, yeah, it's been pretty quiet around here this past week.

This past weekend we did some fishing. I'm loving this photo I took of my husband. I was trying to take a photo of him but the sun was in my eyes and I couldn't even tell what I was taking a photo of until I got home and looked at the photos. 

While fishing I tried out one of the flies I tied myself. Unfortunately the fish weren't biting. 

We went out for a bike ride to the lake both Saturday and Sunday.  Which also meant picnics. 

Our picnic lunches include simple fare and sandwiches and are easy to throw together. They are SO tasty after biking for five miles, give or take, in what ended up being the two warmest days of the summer so far. Yeah ... we got some heat! 

The breezes while biking felt good. 

This past Monday was publishing day and I've been slowly gearing up for the next issue, which will be a larger issue than usual.  Work has been quiet and I've appreciated it.  I was able to play catch up on some things that have been languishing on the to-do list. And go hang out in the archives for a while one day. 

The smoke from the wild fires has been hanging on all week. It's starting to affect me now in the way of migraines. Ugh. 

It's been making for pretty sunrises and early morning skies. 

One of the mornings when I was heading out to collect the cards from the game cams I happened to see something off in the woods. Can you see it? 

How about now? 

My distance eyesight still kicks butt! 

She spotted me and we both stared at each other before I decided the mosquitoes were too much. 

A Feffer cameo, of sorts. 

He loves corn. I've had that bucket full of corn and fruit and he noses right past the fruit and starts chomping the corn. 

Cherries were picked this week. 

While I was harvesting cherries, I heard one of the chickens in the raspberry patch.  I tried to take a photo. ... 

She can't really be seen.  She blended in to the shadows pretty good. 

And then she popped out and looked innocent, like she just hadn't been trying to nibble the low hanging raspberries. 

The rooster was hanging close by.  Apparently he needs to keep an eye on me? 

No matter, I got the cherries picked without any help from them. 

I'll be making some sort of jam with these this weekend. While I was pitting them it felt nice to be doing something "normal" that I used to do.  My energy levels are creeping back up.  

I spent some time out in the garden this week, trellising the tomatoe, admiring the cucumber plants ... enjoying the view. 

and admiring the hollyhocks that bloomed. It's pink! 

So, yeah ... quiet around here ... I suspect August will be a quiet month. Especially since I won't have the rush of harvesting and preserving produce from the garden.  I've accepted that not all years can be winners. 

Speaking of the garden ... 

Tomatoes. 😃

End of the week catch up

 I meant to write on Wednesday. Really, I did. This week ... it's been something. 

Between the weather, faffing about, and some work stuff that has been going on, I am a mildly tired girl. 

On the bright side it's Friday. Or, should I say "Fri-yay!" Ha!

Wednesday I completed a project that's been going on for around two years.  Can you even guess what it is? 

Dancing Stars!

Holy Hannah! When I hung it up on the clothes line to take a photo, I stepped back and took it in. It was a moment where I was a bit gobsmacked that *I* -- me -- made this. 

I am pretty sure I know what kind of batting I want for it. I still have to figure out the yardage for the backing and the binding.  Oh, yeah, and the color. I'm thinking I'm going to go with a black binding, to help those colors pop. Anyone have any suggestions for the quilting? I'm debating on tying or just going with cross hatch. I've never tied a quilt before. 

What else ... earlier this week my hubby and I installed a new fancy radio in his truck. I don't have any photos.  Now he can connect his phone to the radio and have all the fun apple play things that I have in my car, including a much bigger screen for his back up cam. We learned just how easy-ish it is to swap out the factory radio for something aftermarket.  If we had only known that 25-some years ago. When I was younger I had the impression that swapping out the radio was some mysterious thing that you had to be specially trained in on, or something. 

The weather has been all over the place this week. We've had sun, clouds, wind and rain with thunder.  It made it a wee bit hard to get out to the garden and record a garden update, but I eventually got it done. Look for a video on my Youtube channel this weekend. 

I did a bit more crafting. The last time I was at Michael's I saw butterfly charms and thought "Those would make pretty needle minders.  

So that's what I did! 

While I had the fancy expensive (not really) E6000 stuff out I also finally made some magnetic needle threaders that I've been wanting to make for *ages*. 

My friend Patty sent me a little care package a while back. In it she included this cute needle threader

and I was so inspired by it that I wanted to make some and that way I have them all over my crafting spaces and maybe even in my project bags. 

In other crafting news ... I have almost all my organizing done.  I spent some time moving my yarn around and trying to find a spot for everything that was on my yarn shelf before I decided it was a mess and something needed to be done. 

It's SO much better.  I'm not completely done. I may move some of those totes to a different spot.  My hubby and I were talking about it this evening.  He felt it was important I had my work space freed up.  I thought I'd just be shoving those totes around. Ha! He gave me a few ideas. 

I need to expand the storage I have for my DMC floss, too.  I have a few containers that I can add to my two towers of floss.  

The thing with "airing the stash," so to speak, is that you also get a fresh impression of just how much stuff you have. Along with seeing some things you may have forgotten you had **whistles innocently** I'm definitely set for Aida fabric.  Now that I'm feeling more confident about dying fabric I've definitely got enough materials to start with ... 

Speaking of dyeing, I'm thinking of some bare sock weight yarn that I think I have. If I have it, I bet it's sitting in the closet of the craft room. Yay, more sock yarn. Ha ha ha ha, heh, heh, *groans* oh boy. 🤭

I tell ya, I have stuff squirreled away all over the place. 

Work. Well, when isn't there something going on with my work, right? I love my job. I've been there for more than 22 years. However, there's stuff going on that is not in my control.  It's just ... frustrating. We've had this cloud hanging over us for years and years.  Longer than I care to admit, really. As I told someone this week, you can't really explain my company, you have to experience it. Really, the structure of the organization is definitely one of a kind. When I do try to explain it some are like "huh?" and "Wow."

So, if you would be so kind, please send some positive vibes and prayers my way. 

On the health front, I'm still feeling pretty good.  I've been taking it easy when I can, and pushing myself when I feel I can. Yay! I've been walking out to check the game cams each morning and I can walk out there and back without feeling very much discomfort. It's a win I'm happy to have. 

Why am I checking game cams? Well, hunting season is just a few months away. 

I love how the path into the back 20 looks. To me it is so inviting.

The trail in the woods. Hard to believe that in a few months all that green will be changing to fall colors. 

Really, it feels like summer started not that long ago and the Fourth of July was just last week.  We are heading to August in like a week. 

With August just around the corner the school supplies have started hitting the stores. 

The last time I was at Walmart, I was kind of bumming around and went around the school supplies aisle. 

I saw this: 

... and was hit with memories of when my son was just starting his school years. He wanted *all* the Mario things. He still loves Mario. Is it weird that I miss buying school supplies? He's been out of school two years now. 

Sometimes I think I need to write notes for stuff I want to write about on the blog. I could have swore there was more stuff I wanted to blather about ... Can I remember? No. 

I'm still continuing the trend of "taking it easy" this month.  I don't think I've really touched my knitting this week.  I've knit a little bit on my Red Panda cross stitch and my Christmas ornament piece. 

Weather is supposed to be nice this weekend. We'll be fishing in the a.m. Which, if I want to fish with some of my own ties, I need to get this blog published so I can go work on a few. 

Have a great weekend, dear readers! I appreciate every one of you who takes the time to read my blog. 😃