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! 

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. 😃

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 ... 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. 🥰

Vacation!

 I feel like it has been forever since I've had some honest-to-goodness time off for vacation. At least a year, anyways. 

As I mentioned in my video this week, I've been working to get things taken care of before I go on vacation this coming week. I almost got all I wanted to accomplish done, too. I was *so* glad when I was able to close things up and shut notifications off for all the work things.  One thing off the plate while I go have fun this coming week and finish putting the garden in. 

Yes ... the garden isn't in all the way. Rain kinda wrecked my plans. 

Almost everything is in. I'm not pushing too hard to get it done because, well, I have time and also because I'm old and busted. (Not really, but sort of true) so some things are taking me longer than I'd like. 

*ahem* 

Yesterday once I was done with work my hubby and I went out and did our first fishing trip of the vay-cay. He lucked out.  I did not.  That's okay, cause I did good this morning. 

The girls were *very* happy he was successful with catching a couple fish.  They crowded him until he made the right decision. 

This morning the alarm went off at 6 a.m. and it was a rude awakening. It took me a bit to process being awake and I managed to get down one cup of coffee in me before I went and started doing the things that need doing. 

Then we decided to go do a morning fishing trip because it was so pleasant out. 

There was a couple fishing off a dock that was near by me.  They were not successful with fishing and when they heard me land a fish they disappeared.  A short bit later I heard noises and realized they were getting their own kayaks ready to put out on the water.  I thought it was pretty funny. 

While I was waiting for fish to discover my bait and bite I spent a lot of time absorbing all the sights and sounds around me.

It was so peaceful out there this morning.  

The water lilies are starting to bloom.  At least that's what I think they are. 

And I caught a bass!

I don't often take photos of my catches.  I'm a bit paranoid about accidentally losing my phone in the water.  I wanted to send this photo off to my hubby and son.  My guy was over on the other side of the lake.  He made out better than me.  Fish lunch for him! Yay!

On the way home I took a shot of my summer sock progress. 

It's a nice amount of progress for not spending a ton of time knitting on it. 

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

After lunch and a quick cat nap we went out to "play" in the garden. 

The weather was playing nice and the sun wasn't beating down. It's not too often that I'm glad for overcast skies. 

The tomatoes were all planted .... I can't remember now. Thursday? Rain earlier this week derailed my garden plans ad I think I would have had everything taken care of already if it wasn't for that darn rain.  They were in need of being staked or trellised.  That was the main project today.  Then I started planting my pepper starts and have almost all of them planted. 

Halfway through the planting I got a little garden visitor. 

Sweet little Feffer. My husband brought him over for a quick visit.  Feffer had a blast.  I have some cute video clips.  Just need to pull them together and load them to Youtube. 

Tomorrow's weather is supposed to be the same as today.  Maybe I'll get the rest of the garden in? That would be lovely. 

Until next time, here's a video of my time out at the lake this morning. You're welcome. 😉 

Memorial Day weekend

 Memorial Day weekend, the weekend we remember those who have fallen while serving in our military. It's also the unofficial start to the summer. 

This past weekend was a quiet one for us.  My son worked.  My husband worked today and I had the day off. 

Oh, but let me rewind a bit. 

Friday I worked ahead a bit on work stuff because I have appointments this week. Fun, fun. ... and after work my husband and I went out to the lake to fish again. We went out a few weekends ago and the water was too cold. 

Guess what? The water is probably still too cold.  My husband caught a small sunny and I caught a small Northern. I was not amused. 

 Friends know I'm not a fan of catching Northerns. This one lost my hook and then got stuck in my net. After that no other fish nibbled our hooks.

After this I saw a crane on the shore, among the dead trees in the water.  We had a bit of a stare down, waiting for the other to make a move.  I took a quick video but you can just barely make the crane out. It was a cool experience. 

It was a beautiful time on the water. 

We cut the trip short and went home. 

Saturday eventually turned into a nice day.  I say this because it was nippy as heck in the morning. 

I was out and about, futzing with things, taking care of the animals and working on tidying up the back yard.  There was still downed branches.  There will never *not* be downed branches. 

Feffer was enjoying the sun after letting me know he was ready for hutch cleaning. Which he got. 

He's such a sweet boy.  He has his moments, but he's such a good boy.  He's officially 7 years-old now.  His "gotcha" memory showed up in my Facebook memories recently.  He's had a good life.  He's had mates, roommates, the opportunity to be a free-range bun, a house bun and he seems to be happiest right where he is. He's super friendly in the morning and I give him all sorts of lovings.

Saturday involved some "homestead-ey" type things. This will be the subject of a blog post later this week. 

We went out for a bike ride Saturday, too.  After the bike ride I cleaned my husband's vehicle for an early Father's Day gift. He was extremely appreciative. 

Sunday there was more homestead-ey type of things and it wore me out.  I was still a bit tired from Saturday. We made a trek up to Sam's Club. Not very exciting. 

Today I was home by myself and thought "Oh, I can do this, and this, and this. ... Then reality set in and I said to myself "This day will go super fast and I should pick one thing." 

I was right, the day did go by fast.  Like, crazy fast. 

So what was the one thing? 

I did the second roto-tilling of the garden. 

While I was roto-tilling I had some time to think. I decided I *was* going to make a garden chat video, but it wasn't going to be the video I was thinking of doing a few weeks ago. This is the start of my garden for the 2025 year and I wanted a record of it. 

Here it is: 

Since I decided spur of the moment to make a video I didn't have a mic, my hair was a mess and I was slightly squinting in the sun.  (The glorious sun). Real life. And then this afternoon I was watching Sarah's most recent video and she was all "I didn't feel like combing my hair today." and I felt like I was watching one of my tribe.