Wednesday, July 16, 2025

I'm still here!

 I didn't fall off the face of the earth, I swear! 

July is speeding by on me. I got the text notification that my paycheck was deposited and I was like "Oh snap!" Two weeks, or so, have sped by me. 

The last few weeks have been a bit atypical and definitely not how I expected July to be going.  Events mentioned in this blog post may be out of order.  Because, well, I can't remember what order things happened.  This is what I get for not sitting myself down and writing.  I've been kind of all over the place this month.

It started with the long holiday weekend. We were able to get out and do some fishing. 


Proof that I've been successful fishing this month. 


Something wonderful happened. 

Way back when, either for a Mother's Day, my birthday or Christmas, my husband promised me a new fountain for the back yard.  We were waiting for it to go on sale, for at least a year. I was beginning to think it was never going to go on sale. 

Then it finally went on sale! My husband checked the Menard's website, just on a lark, saw it on sale and said "Guess what we are getting today?" 


I know, the box isn't so great to look at. This is the one we've been waiting for. It's over 6 feet tall and it is perfect for the space by the deck. 



It's so pretty at night, too. 



The cherries finally started ripening. 


I still need to get out there and harvest them before the birds spot them and eat them. 

The sweet, darling, little babies ... 

Well, they started getting their feathers in and stinking up the house. 

This girl in particular ... she is so smart. Any time I opened up the tote to do anything she immediately flew up and out of the tote and then I'd have to give a quick chase. 


Out they go!


It was kind of a job to get them an outside space set up.  See, I wasn't really anticipating getting chicks this year. 

I got them in a big open space and they were SO happy. 


The big girls were hanging out next to the open air coop, checking out these new neighbors.  Then quickly lost interest. 

The big girls are doing well. 


I saw these girls laying in the grass when I was looking out one of the windows.  What a life they have.  Laying in the grass, in the shade, without a care in the world. 

I haven't done much cross stitching this past week, or so.  I got to a certain point on my projects and then decided to iron them and have them all pretty for my next flosstube. (Yes, I know I'm late recording)

I did decide to pull a project out of hibernation. 


Project Name: White Christmas 2022 ornaments - mailbox ornament
Started: Mailbox started July 9, 2025 (overall project started) Dec. 2, 2023 
Finished: 
Designer/Source: Primrose Cottage stitches
Fabric: 14 count aida opalescent
DMC floss in called for colors
B5200, 310, 321, 435, 562, 722, 728, 761, 818, 898, 954, 3841
Needle Size: 26
Made For: Myself. 

Since I haven't had a lot of cross stitching going on I have been paying a bit more attention to my quilt project. 

It's the Dancing Stars quilt I purchased from Fat Quarter Shop, ... I think in 2023, but didn't start until 2024. I'm finally closing in on the finish line. If you do a search on my blog for Dancing Stars Quilt you will see previous updates.  I've been so picky/careful/whatever you want to call it, about making sure the points are good and everything is as lined up as it can be that I've been dragging my feet on this one. 


It feels good to have made lots of progress on it. 

Oh, I also *finally* tied my first fishing tie. 


I forgot to retake a photo after I got the eyes on it and it was all done. Once I decided to do it, it was so much fun. My hubby took it on a work fishing trip this week and he caught fish with it. I was pretty stoked to hear that. 

What else ... 

This past weekend, the warmest days of the year, so far, I decided it was time to organize the yarn stash. 


This isn't the full stash, of course. ... I have more than 6 totes full of yarn. I had it all out on the deck, spread out, and I was sorting it by acrylic yarn, wool yarn, cotton ... sock yarn. (Told my hubby sock yarn doesn't count as stash. He looked at me funny. 😆 ) 

It's all back in the she shed and I need to decided how I'm going to stack the totes and where to move what where. It wasn't nearly as overwhelming as I worried it would be.  I saw I have a TON of handspun that I need to do something with. Problem is it's my really early handspun and it still feels precious.  

I also need to expand on the containers that I'm using to hold my DMC floss, and figure out a way to store my cross stitch fabric and charts. 

And then ... the Mother Nature decided to keep us on our toes.  The area has had a few days of really warm temps and humidity. Then yesterday it stormed and rained the entire day.  Well, today as well.  Today's temps were much cooler. 

This is a photo from yesterday.  The chickens wanted to stay outside, in the rain.  This girl was walking in front of the house and she was SOAKED through. 


In other news: Independence day weekend I started having what I thought was a flare up.  It got bad enough that I contacted the doctor's office and discovered my body decided to be extra, or something.  Despite my body trying to remind me who's in charge, I managed to get some stuff done. It was (as still is a little bit) painful when I bend down or stoop down to do anything. I took it easy whenever I could. Last week I wanted to record a flosstube in the early part of the week. Things were just too hectic and then the latter part of the week I needed to focus on publishing deadlines. 

I'm feeling improved now.  Actually, probably the best I've felt in a few months. Every time something happens I feel like I'm gaining a little bit of knowledge about what's going on and what is not going on, and I try to use that knowledge and keep the healing journey going. I keep telling myself that at some point this will all be a memory.  (Gosh I hope so).

Hoping to record a video this week.  I thought I'd be able to record today. However, since it was raining I knew the lighting would be bunk. Also, I need to update my show notes. 

So that's what is up with me. Thank you to all who take the time to read my blog posts.  It means more to me than you know. 🥰



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