Monday, November 10, 2025

If we were having coffee ... the quiet time catch up

 



If we were having coffee ... It's been several years since I've sat down and had a "coffee date" on the blog. It's been a while since I've written and I don't have anything framed up, so to speak, so I thought it would be a good time for a coffee date.  I save this type of blog post for when I have a lot of little things, or when I feel the need to catch up. 

If we were having coffee ... I'd say that I felt there wasn't really anything interesting to write about the last month, give or take a week ... We'd been getting outside stuff ready and winterized ... nothing very interesting about yard clean up, making sure the coop is ready for winter, and that everything is in it's place outside.  


It almost looks like I felled a mighty giant and laid it down in the green house.  That's the new fountain. It was too tall to stand up by just a smidge. 

I'm sure there's still things I'm forgetting to do outside. It feels like I'm forgetting something.

So, yeah ... up until more recently, all my extra time was going to prepping for winter.  By the time evening descended I was pretty tired and not much in the mood to do much of anything.  Even go out for a walk on the internet and social media. 

Then the time change happened.  Is it just me, or is anyone else ready for bed at 5:30 p.m.? The chickens have been putting themselves to bed at about 5 p.m. It's crazy how early they put themselves to bed.  They aren't even hanging around out in the run or milling about on the floor of the coop.  Nope, they are up on the roost and waiting for me to tuck them in. I talk to them for a few minutes before shutting the light off. 

Back when I was getting the coop and run ready for winter, I took the solar lights from the garden and put them in the run, so they'd have a little bit of extra light when winter takes hold. 

If you were wondering what was hanging down, those are pine needles. They fall on the coop run and then hang down.  It's too much of a pain to try and keep the roof clear. 


You'd think the girls would appreciate what I did for them and want to hang outside just a little bit longer.  No.  They want to go to bed as soon as the sun starts going down. 

I decided to take the lights I previously had hanging on the run and move them over to the she shed, just to see what it would look like.  


Heh, right? It's something I sort of put up there as a temporary thing. Just to see if the solar panel picked up enough sun to have the lights going for a while.  Then we didn't get any sun for a few days.  I haven't had the opportunity to really see what happens when the sun is out for the entire day. 

If we were having coffee ... I'd share about the Christmas cacti I have.... They are blooming up a storm. 



I brought all the plants in from the greenhouse and they decided it was a good time to start putting out flowers. 



Earlier this year I had rooted some of the pieces that broke off one of the plants when it fell and those are starting to bloom as well. I did not expect that for the first year. I can't kill these plants. I had read they were hardy. I do not do great with house plants.  Christmas cactus, however, is a whole other breed and seeing those bright colors sure brings a smile to my face.  It also reminds me of this lone Christmas cactus my MIL had. In fact, I bought my first one sort of in memory of her. I have no idea what happened to her houseplants. 



Let's see ... what else should I mention .... 

If we were having coffee ... I'd share sky photos from over the last week. 


This was when I was heading out to the back 20 to collect SD cards. 


Photos don't do it justice, of course. 

That brings me back to deer hunting.  I haven't been doing any. I only have a buck tag and all those darn bucks are nocturnal right now. I'm keeping an eye out for anything that looks promising for daytime action.  


I liked the juxtaposition of the clouds and the light in the sky when we were driving to town one morning. 

Speaking of town ... 

If we were having coffee ... I'd share that the Christmas stuff has been up at Menards since before Halloween. 



Christmas will be here before we know it. 

If we were having coffee ... I'd tell you that we have our first snow. ðŸ˜­


I don't think it will stay.  Temperatures later this week are supposed to hit 40 degrees F (5 degrees C). 

If we were having coffee ... I'd say the time change has been mildly kicking my butt.  Give me another week, or two, and maybe I'll feel like my old self. In the meantime I've been feeling like it's 7:30 p.m. when it's only 5:30 p.m. It's sort of affected my crafting.  However, when I was started writing up shownotes for my next flosstube, I realized I've got a lot more done than I thought. I was thinking I had slowed way down.  Not necessarily. My crafting direction has shifted a bit and I've been crocheting a bit more than anything else. 

I've been working on a granny square crochet-along.  It's mildly kicking my butt. 

If we were having coffee ... I'd mention that today, Nov. 10, 2025, marks the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. My friend Becky did a real nice blog post about it. 

Growing up in the city where the ship last left port, I'm quite familiar with this tragedy. 

As soon as Halloween passed the Fitz took over Instagram.  Or at least it did my Instagram. 



Years ago I came across what I consider to be one of the best Youtube tribute videos made for the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. 


Well, that's all for now, I reckon. It's a quiet time for me right now, and I don't quite know what to do with that. 

Monday, October 13, 2025

Tired from the weekend

My week days are still pretty quiet and not a lot going on.  I'm having flashbacks to a few months ago where I was writing that things were quiet. So nothing has changed, really. 

I did work on my crafty projects. 


Crochet Suzette Scarf from Hooked by Robin.  If you crochet, I recommend this pattern. It's good television crochet. 

I am *almost* done with a cross stitch. 


"But Marcy," you are probably saying, "It looks complete. How are you not done." 

Oh, trust me, I'm *this* close to being done with it. 

Little Mushroom ghost
Designer: The Little Stitcher, Just Cross Stitch, Halloween 2025
Started: Sept. 8, 2025
Fabric: Hobby Lobby
Fabric color: natural
Fabric count: 25 lugana

The weekends, though ... when hunting season started up my weekends became more busy. My weekends are almost always more busy than the week days.  I'm sure that's how it is for everyone. 

This time of year, though, usually it's a very full plate of activities. Hunting activities, preserving the harvest, ripping out the garden and getting things ready for when the snow flies. 

Even though I don't have the usual full bounty of preserving I usually have, there are still a lot of things going on. 

On Friday I started ripping out the garden. It was a bit bittersweet.  I thought I took photos after I had put in a few hours of work. Nope. 

Did I take photos on Saturday? Nuh uh. 

I did take a quick photo of some of the chickens peeking in the front door. 


Almost like the one dared the other one to go peeking in the door. 

Sunday hubby and I "played" out in the woods. We were scoping out a new spot. 

I forgot that I took a photo (well, a few actually) while we were out there. 


Both weekend days were gorgeous days. Windy, but beautiful. 

Have you ever wondered just how good blaze orange shows up? 

It was youth hunt this past weekend, so we were wearing blaze orange while we were out and about. 

Sunday my hubby and I did another big project.  Nothing very exciting or thrilling. Just one of those things that inevitably needs to be done and we'd been ignoring it for a long time.  Once we were done with it I felt inspired to go in to the craft room and do some work: cleaning out, purging and tidying up.  Fun times. 

It looks like the weather for most of the upcoming week is going to be somewhat decent.  Which is great, because I still have a decent amount of outside work to do before snow flies. Knowing my luck, I will get everything taken care of and then the family will harvest a second deer and things will get untidy and then it will snow and freeze.  That has happened to me in the past. Let it stay decent enough, weather-wise, until every thing is taken care of. Is that too much to ask for? Maybe. *grin* 

Oh, and before I forget, I put out a flosstube last week. Did you watch it yet? If not, I highly recommend you do so. You might win something. 






Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Flosstube 35 - It's a WIP parade


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

Projects I share, not in any particular order. No photos this time around. 

*A daily reminder
Started: June 25, 2025
Designer/Source: Brenda Gervais, purchased at Farm Girl Dry Goods
Fabric: Stash Aida
Color: Hand dyed by me, brown and splashes of green
Fabric Count: 14 count
DMC: My own conversion: B5200, 435, 947, 355, 321, 562, 435, 3776, 700

I'm participating in a stitch-along with Sarah at Sarah's Stitchy Spot, Holly at Hobbies of Holly, Judy at Stitching Bunny, and one other gal named Marcy.

* Little Mushroom ghost
Designer: The Little Stitcher, Just Cross Stitch, Halloween 2025
Started: Sept. 8, 2025
Fabric: Hobby Lobby
Fabric color: natural
Fabric count: 25 lugana

Part of a start along with We Stitch and We Know Things. Though I don’t know if they are doing anything after a few life things have popped up. 

*Red Panda, part of the Endangered Species club, 2024
Started: July, 5, 2025
Designer: Lindy Stitches
Fabric: Hobby Lobby Aida
Color: Ivory
Fabric Count: 16 count
Floss: called for DMC and fancy floss

*Crested Porcupine
Started: June 27, 2024
Designer/Source: Purple Stitching on Etsy.
Floss: Called for DMC
Fabric: Half yard of 14 count Aida purchased from Forbidden Fiber Co. 

*Mother’s Garden
Pattern by Black Bird Designs
Started: Jan. 1, 2025
Fabric: Belfast linen
Fabric color: white
Fabric Count: 32 count
Floss: DMC conversion


*Vanilla sock
Yarn: Knit Picks Felici
Started: Sept. 9, 2025
Colorway: “Buddy”
Colors: red, green, very light blue.

Other channels mentioned:

Ashley and Gianne @Westitchandweknowthings

Sarah  @SarahsStitchySpot  

Holly  @hobbiesofholly  

Judy  @Stitchingbunny1127  

Sarah  @Sarahthenorthwoodsstitcher  

Store I ordered my half yard of fabric from: www.forbiddenfiberco.com


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!

Remember when we used to have blog circles? This is the same, but with Youtube Channels. You should check out these fun channels!

 Patty Penn  @StitchingWithMyKitties-xe8qz  

 Linda and Susie  @yarnoverwithus  

 Alison  @Mrs.AZfamilyzooStitches  

 Kezie  @mudpuppystitchery  

Cat  @StitchinWiththeGriffin  


Etsy and other shops you should check out

https://www.forbiddenfiberco.com/

https://www.etsy.com/shop/azfamilyzoo

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MudpuppyStitchery

https://www.etsy.com/shop/LumiStitch

https://www.etsy.com/shop/DisorderlyStitcher

https://www.etsy.com/shop/BlackRibbonShop

https://www.etsy.com/shop/LadybugStitchesShop

https://www.etsy.com/shop/SamBrieStitches

https://www.etsy.com/shop/SweetAutumnStitch

https://www.etsy.com/shop/StormyBlue

https://www.ebay.com/usr/northwoodsstitcher



Monday, October 6, 2025

Weekend shenanigans

 The weather was surprisingly warm on Saturday. ... According to some. 

I have to be a bit cheeky about that one because I felt the temperature was okay.  The boys said it was warm and my son wondered why the air conditioning wasn't on. 

There was some strong breezes on Saturday, so I was fine with having all the windows open. 

I was razzed about it on Saturday, don't worry. 😆

Because it was warm and windy we didn't do much outside. Instead we did a project in the house and it was a wee bit frustrating.  I'm being mildly sarcastic, of course,  it was VERY frustrating. One of those things where everything has to be just so -- and it was -- until the end, and it would fall apart. 

Eventually, we persevered and got it done. 

On Sunday the weather was still nice, but still windy. I thought "Hey, this would be a great day to wash the outside of the windows."


And you want to know what happened after I roped my son into helping me and we were washing the windows? It started raining.  Not a hard rain, but still.  Annoying. 

Especially after the morning was really pleasant.  Even if it was windy. 

My boys were bonding. 


Aren't the trees beautiful? 

I even made brownies. 


I worked on my "Hope is a thing with feathers" cross stitch project and *finally* completed it.  Now to figure out how to finish it. 


And then I decided to work on a crochet project I started the other day. 


This is called "Harvest table runner" by Sara Sach. 

Today was not as warm. Fall is here. Well, weather-wise, it's definitely here. I think it stayed in the 50s F for the high. 

It was also publishing day. It went very well. Like I told a few friends, the day was done before it even started.  LOVE that. The office received so much local stuff that it filled the paper. 

Some lovely mail arrived today. 

I won a giveaway over at Crafty Cat Stitcher's channel.  The kit I won arrived today, with a lovely note from Cathy. 


It's such a darling kit. Too late to start and have for this year's Halloween.  I'll have to figure out how to add it to the projects for next year.  







Sunday, October 5, 2025

Flosstube 34 - A long catch up


Thank you for stopping by and watching my video. My show notes for this episode are way late. Sorry! If you would like to be notified of when I post the shownotes, or regular blog posts, you can sign up to receive blog posts by email over on the right side of the blog.

I'm on Instagram: AmniconStudio Email: AmniconStudio at gmail.com


 Finished Objects


❏ Project name: One Stitch at a Time

Started: Jan. 10, 2025
Finished: Aug. 19, 2025
Designer/Source: La-D-Da Stitches, purchased at 123stitch.com
DMC conversion: 501, 3799, 315, 3826, 169, 05, 832, 3787, 3859, 640; used different color for house, 3777
Fabric: 28 Charles Craft DMC "Tea Dyed"

I'm participating in a stitch-along in the Across the Pond - Stitch and Chat group on the book of faces.


❏ Project name: Beach Cruise socks



Started: June 1, 2025
Finished: Aug. 29, 2025
Needle size: 2.5 mm (U.S. 1)
Yarn: Knit Picks Felici "Beach Cruise"
Yarn color: Yellow, orange, blue
Yarn Purchased: 2025 Knitpicks order

Ripped second sock out after the heel. I realized the gauge was too tight.  Discovered I had been knitting with two different sized needles. 


Works In Progress



❏ 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)

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




❏ Project name: A Daily Reminder

Started: June 25, 2025
Finished:
Designer/Source: Brenda Gervais, purchased at Farm Girl Dry Goods
Fabric: Stash Aida
Color: Hand dyed by me, brown and splashes of green
Fabric Count: 14 count
DMC: My own conversion, as I go along. What I have so far will be listed in the shownotes

I'm participating in a stitch-along with Sarah at Sarah's Stitchy Spot, Holly at Hobbies of Holly, Judy at Stitching Bunny, and one other gal named Marcy. 

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

I've been on a dishcloth tear 



Free knit dishcloth pattern: https://whileberry.com/blog/parsley-dishcloth-free-knitting-pattern


Haul 

* Knitting needles I heard about from Yarn Over With Us. I ordered them off Amazon 

* Chart from Patty Penn. Thank again, Patty! 

* Chart purchased from Kenzie - Mischievous Eucalyptus

Kenzie's links

* https://www.patreon.com/c/mudpuppystitchery/posts - free frog chart on her patreon.

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmwKIegja-w&t=200s

Charts from The Stitching Porch

* https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheStitchingPorch

* A Simple Life

* Lord of the Rings Cross Stitch Pattern: Romantic Quote - DH and I are planning on listening to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy together, as soon as the audiobook becomes available. 

* New Just Cross Stitch magazine has arrived. 

Audio book - Three Bags Full

Other channels mentioned: 

@Stitching with my kitties
@yarnoverwithus
@Sarahs' Stitchy Spot
@Hobbies of Holly
@Judy Stitching Bunny
@Mrs.AZfamilyzooStitches
@Mudpuppystitchery
@Stiching with the Griffin

Etsy shops you should check out

https://www.etsy.com/shop/azfamilyzoo

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MudpuppyStitchery

https://www.etsy.com/shop/LumiStitch

https://www.etsy.com/shop/DisorderlyStitcher

https://www.etsy.com/shop/BlackRibbonShop

https://www.etsy.com/shop/LadybugStitchesShop

https://www.etsy.com/shop/SamBrieStitches

https://www.etsy.com/shop/SweetAutumnStitch

https://www.etsy.com/shop/CherryHillStitchery

https://www.etsy.com/shop/StormyBlue


Friday, October 3, 2025

Hello there, October


And just like that ... September has left the party and October has joined the chat. Love how I mixed things up there? 

It's a quiet start to the month so far. That's how September started, and look what happened there. I'm feeling cautious about what may come during this month.

What happened this week? Thankfully not much.  My craftjo seems to have returned.  I'm still feeling the yarn crafts more than the cross stitch. 

Fighting with a cross stitch project is not helping that sentiment of "I'd rather be yarn crafting." 


This is where I was a few days ago.  I started working on the border and it's not lining up correctly and I can't figure out what the issue is. So annoying when that happens. 

Project: "Hope is the thing with feathers
Started: 9/9/25
Designer: Mojo Stitches
Chart purchased: Just Cross Stitch, Autumn 2025
Fabric: Mystery stash aida
Fabric Color: White
Fabric Count: White
Floss used: 434, 3820, 3012, 3011

Wish me luck. 

I had a quiet morning before work earlier this week. It was so nice to have a bit of decompression time before starting work that day. 


I didn't make a project card for this project. It's Knit Picks Felici yarn. "Buddy" colorway. I'm following the crazy sock lady method, hence the stitch markers in the sock. 

Last night I cast on for a crooked cozy coffee from the Oombawka Design Crochet site. It's going to be a quick stitch and super cute when it's done. 


In my last blog post I wrote that I've been reading. Not as quick as I would like, but progress is being made. I started using my GoodReads account again, and made a widget for the blog, over on the right. 

I'm listening to Lord of the Rings, book 1,  I have Wuthering Heights and The Obituary Society on my Kindle. It would seem I've been setting myself up for any scenario where I need something to read or hear. I was listening to Lord of the Rings while I was waiting at my doctor's appointment.  I didn't have my knitting and was glad to have something to occupy my time. 

The weather has been lovely this week. 


The fall colors are really starting to pop. 



I've been taking photos of the trees almost every morning.  I'm debating on either posting them all on the blog, or making them into a video. Anyone have opinions? 

My sweet little Feffer has been sort of enjoying the weather. He also has been shedding. A lot. His winter coat is starting to come in. 


I haven't sat out all week. I have been going out the morning to grab the SD cards, keeping an eye on what's coming through. 


I realize there hasn't been a chicken update. 

The babies and the older hen, who I've been calling "Mama," are slowly starting to get along. 


They won't sleep by each other, though. Mama is usually way off to the other side of the roost.  When I go out there at night to tuck them in, I give them all pets and tell them what good birds they are.  Mama will move towards me, like she wants pets, too.  But she doesn't want to be too close to them. Ha! 

The babies have figured out this whole coming up to the front door thing. They come visit and stare at me like they want something.  Then run away as soon as I open the door a little bit. Yesterday they were at the door and I asked "Are you pooping on my stoop?" They turned and ran like they were guilty of something. 


Garden update ... well, a month ago the garden was in better shape. ... then ... stuff, man, stuff. It's definitely winding down. Frost could technically happen at anytime. I think the first chance of it, officially, is Oct. 18.  I need to get out there and harvest what's ready and preserve what I can, and then start prepping it for winter.

I did take a few more recent photos and a quick video overview, so I can mark the end of the season. I suppose.  This year didn't really feel like much of a garden season. There's always next year, right? The weather will hopefully be better. *Fingers crossed* 

Here's a bumble bee sleeping in one of my hollyhocks. 


This meme was spotted in Book of Faces land. I thought it was hilarious.  Maybe not enough people have seen the movie? It's like a running joke with the husband and I. 


No firm plans for the weekend.  I'm *way* overdue for posting shownotes for my last flosstube on here. I will try and get that taken care of.  I also need to write notes for my next video. I need to pull things together and remember what all I've worked on this past month. While it doesn't seem like I've done much, I'm sure it will be more than I realize. 

Until next time. 


Monday, September 29, 2025

Fall is here

 It's been a minute since I last wrote.  September has been a bit of a rough month. Over the course of the first part of the month I've thought how I was going to write this blog post.  Events at the national and world level got me such that I shared this on my book of faces ...


and disappeared in to the woods. So to speak.  


A wonderful place to be when you want to get away from the noise of the world. 

Hunting season started on Sept. 13 and I've spent a fair amount of time out in the back 20, disconnected from social media, by choice, and thinking, knitting, listening to audiobooks and staring out at the trees. 

A little bit of the knitting while I was out there. 

Not a lot of fall colors out there yet. 


Just a lot of brown. 

I am happy to share that I have filled one of my tags.  I also had a hunting buddy one of the days I was sitting out there. 

It's hard to tell, but that is a tree frog hiding in my blind. Oh, and he was loud when he croaked. 

Then I saw this meme. I have no idea where, and decided I liked it. Seriously. There really isn't anything good on social media anymore. 


When I wasn't out in the woods I was re-watching Fr. Brown Mysteries, and even started a few books. 

Crafting slowed down.  I've barely touched my cross stitch.  I've done some knitting and crochet. 

Look at this sweet little Octopus. 


I made it for a little girl who keeps trying to sneak away her baby sister’s Octopus. The mom told me they “fight” over the one I made for her baby girl, because both daughters love it so much.

Started: Sept. 24, 2025
Completed: Sept. 25, 2025
Yarn: I love this yarn
Colorway: Sugarplum stripe
Hook size: 3.5 mm

I have a few other things I'll share on my next video. 

Soooooo ... if anyone was wondering, that's where I've been. Offline for the most part. I'm slowly dipping my toes back online.

I have been keeping an eye on the number of views/hits on my last blog post. I'm at more than 2,500 views. My friend Becky said it's probably bots. Which, is another reason to dislike what's going on with social media and the Internet. 

Anywho ... I've never written on this blog for hits. It was to hopefully meet other crafters and let family know what's going on. Unfortunately, I doubt family reads the blog, because it's not just a quick post on a social media site, and crafters are mostly on social media sites that are now too busy to make real connections.  

Fortunately, the connections I've been making with other cross stitchers and crafters has been through Youtube. Or I've already known them for 100 years. 

So this blog post ends on a more light note, here's a photo of bee in one of the garden hollyhocks. 


Oh, I almost forgot. If you want to receive notifications of when I write blog posts, there's a sign up on the right side of the blog. Thank you for reading!