September Sailing by…

 Time for a quick catch up before I sail away, quite literally.   I flew into Boston yesterday and met up with my traveling companions.   We enjoyed a lovely evening on the Boston Waterfront and had a fabulous dinner at Giacomos in Little Italy.    Today we leave the Marriott and head to the port to set sail.      

I am so fortunate to be going on a New England Cruise.   What could make it better?   It is a stitching cruise with Jeannette Douglas!   Winner winner, the best chicken dinner!   We had a meet and greet with Jeannette earlier tonight and we are in for a real treat.  Bon voyage

But let me go back to the stitching things and other things I have been working on.    I stitched little gifts for my 3 travel buddies.   Using a Jeannette Douglas Pin Pillow pattern, I made scissor fobs for each and personalized the back with their initials and the date.   

I didn’t finish but did make great progress towards finishing Harvest Time from Lila’s Studio.  Really just another couple of  stitching sessions and I will be down.   I have the bottom border, a cat in a wagon and, oh, she needs another arm.   Hmm, maybe it should go in my luggage?   Not if you could see how stuffed my luggage is!

My Temperature Tree is a wee bit off track but I have no concerns.  August is done and a couple of September leaves are in - without their branch.  No worries, this is an easy one to catch up on.

I have been able to ‘police’ all the flower beds and gardens around the house.   Cutting back lilies and Iris, dethatching them as well.   Spraying weed killer on that unruly Spiderwort that just won’t give up.   Trimming bushes and branches. Spraying for spider mites.   I was encouraged by both the beautiful weather we had for about 10 days and the fact that I came across a copy of the order form I submitted to Breck’s Bulbs back in the spring for 100 bulbs that are due to arrive in a couple of weeks.    What was I thinking?   And what were my thoughts on where I was planting them?   IDK

Now, back to the cruise…..This will mark my third class with Jeannette Douglas and I am just as eager for this one as I was for my first one with her 20+ years ago at Celebrations in Nashua, NH.  Our project is a secret until it is handed out so that adds to the anticipation.

Packing has proved to be a challenge.  I did a 10 forecast to check out the temps of everywhere we will be and out came the sweaters and in went more capris and short sleeve shirts.  Another challenge was what projects to take.  Didn’t want anything over 1; nothing on 40 count; nothing too complicated or else I would be froggin as much I as put in; something new; something old?   To stick to my pledge to work my number of WIPs done, I settled on July, August and October from the Year of Celebrations from Hands on Design.  These are the last three of the series I need to complete.   Simple, small and on my WIPGO board for January  and I didn’t get to them,  Now I have the  trifecta of projects.  

Last night we strolled along the harbor front after dinner.

Beautiful plantings just add to the experience

I am not sure which tower this is.

Outside dining at it’s best.

City architecture always gets my attention.

Faneuil Hall in the distance

Just love the al fresco dining

It was a lovely evening to walk around the harbor even though the tops of the buildings were shrouded in fog.

I thought this was so funny

Not a bad view from my room.

We ending our walk with a nightcap and dessert.   Crème brûlée, my favorite 

Good night Boston

Thanks for stopping by and hopefully I will have lots of stitching work and haul to share next time.

August 2024 is in the books

Again, another photo heavy post.

Stitching accomplished in August?   I laugh in my own general direction!  Truly a WIPGO fail.  And what crazy thing was I thinking when I packed 3 or 4,  but probably 5, projects to the Outer Banks with me.    That said, we had a fabulous time on vacation.    It was so good that we have booked the same house for the same week next year.     More on the Outer Banks further down.

I was able to fully finished the Christmas in Williamsburg biscournu which was a Christmas in July project and not a WIPGO project.  It was stitched so I only had to assemble it.   Easy to do and no pattern to have to refer to.

I fully finished three heart ornaments for my grand-daughter.   I’d told her the color I wanted and she picked the beads for me to add.  

I did get my temperature tree up to date.  Somehow I was 5 weeks behind.   How does that happen?   Exponentially I believe.  With one of my WIPGO August tasks  being spend 10 hours on a WIP, I say this qualifies  ✅.   My board, my rules, right?  I only have the last 3 days of month to do.  

The other assignment of WIPGO was 14 hours on Land That I Love (LTIL)  sampler from Teresa Kogut……Well LTIL has apparently been swept away into the tornado of my WIP basket.   Hopefully it will land in my hands before year’s end and I will be able to check off this August WIPGO assignment.

I somehow managed to squeak in the necessary pre-stitch for my September Guild Meeting.     The project is a simple stitch but the class will be on painting and finished the tray.   I am sure I can pick up some tricks!  Am I pretty sure I can fill in the sheep and add the letters before the weekend is over.  

I put in a day on stitching on Jeweled Baubles.  I found I could stitch on this in the car while my daughter drove.   That is until I began working on the half stitches.   It wasn’t the stitches as much as keeping track on the pattern that was the hard part.    The empty spaces are for beads which will be added last.   I’ve seen my friend Diane’s  completed version and it is stunning.   If only mine can be half as nice as her’s, I will be happy.   

 

Actually, now that I look at what I’ve listed, I did some a good amount of stitching accomplished in August even if I didn’t complete the WIPGO assignments.   Sometimes, what I call “Obligation Stitching” gets in the way.  For this month, it was some stitching gifts for an upcoming trip and stitching on the Round Robin I am working on that occupied my stitching time the most.  Once they were done, I could muddle through some of the other projects.

As for the Outer Banks - we did the beach of course.  The waves were fierce and two days there were red flag warnings - heavy undertow and rip currents.   It is hard to tell with no reference in the foreground but those waves were an easy 6 to 8 foot as they were rolling in.

We started the week with a visit to  Bodie Island Lighthouse and we took a dolphin boat ride - that wind in my face brought back my memories of boating and skiing on the open water.  Love the feeling of the wind.       

Each night I figured the little ones would be exhausted and fall asleep early,  No such luck.   My bedtime was just minutes after theirs.   

Bodie Island

We were unable to climb the lighthouse because we needed advance tickets to do so.

Walking the ‘boardwalk’ through the marshland provided beautiful views.

I don’t know why I always think pine trees only grow in the north.   This one is loaded with big fat pine ones

Beach days were great

My son and D-in-L took an early morning walk before the kiddoes were up and about.

Me, I decided coffee and cross stitch were my idea of a great start to the day.

We took the ferry to Ocracoke Island and spent the day driving golf carts around the island.      

Ocracoke Lighthouse

Beautiful weather and beautiful harbor views.   Reminds me of Camden. ME

Visited the museum and the house used by William Teach, AKA Blackbird

Section of the museum was dedicated to Blackbeard and his exploits

 

 

We all came home wanting to watch Netflix, Black Sails

The rest of the museum contained countless treasure of early life on Ocracoke Island

Of course, I can always find handwork

The crib was referred to as a ‘kiddie coop’.  The kiddie coop was screened to be able to put it on the porch and kept the infant safe from insects.  

The women’s shoes on the shelf are from Eugenia Wahab Hill, 1838-1926

The children’s shoes on the shelf are from Hettie Goldie Wahab, borne 1910, decreased 1915 from encephalitis

The crocheted dresses are from the 1950’s.

Yes, I took chances on the quilt raffle.

Typical mid 20th century island kitchen

William found Blackbeard and had it out with him

Our view as we approached the return ferry.  We were in line for the 7:30 ferry back to Hatteras but alas, when they send the small ferry, only 20 cars fit and we had to wait for the 9 pm ferry.    The hour ride back in the dark did not disappoint!   The stars in the sky were awesome.   It was a long day starting at 7:30 a.m. leave time and not getting back until 11 pm.   The kids were troopers.    

That turned to this.  Not a bad way to spend the evening.

Another beach day and then we were off to Manteo and Roanoke Island but not before Aunt Amy and Reagan were mermaids

Earlier this summer, I read The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare.   It is a fictional account of the descendants of Virginia Dare, the first English child born on America soil and a member of the lost colony of Roanoke Island.   Interesting to visit Roanoke Island after just reading the story.   

I still marvel that people were brave enough to cross the ocean in a ship this small.

Kids took turns swabbing the decks.    It is hard to imagine this tiny ship carrying 50+ crew managing to cross the Atlantic.   These were some tough, brave soles.

The interactive museum was fun.    Raegan as the Queen and Amy the Indian Princess.

More dress up time

Sunrise and Moonrise, both beautiful views from our deck

Funny aside…..I was less than 5 miles by Dying to Stitch on the way down and less than 2 miles from Salty Yarns on the way back.   You guessed it.  I stopped and shopped at both.    

Hopefully, September will bring more stitching time but I am not putting much hope out there.    I have a full travel calendar yet again.     So thanks for stopping by and reading through my adventures.    Keep on stitching.