And I was in class. September saw me in OCMD for a Jackie DuPlessis class. The project is beautiful albeit intense. I debated back an forth about signing up knowing I have scads of unfinished class pieces in my forbidden closet of stash. I also have so many projects in rotation right now and I want to finish up some WIP’s before going astray. But sign up I did and it was all worth it. What a great piece and what a fabulous teacher and person Jackie is. I'm afraid I have crossed over to the dark side. I can't wait to start but need to tame the hoard I already have. If all goes well, this will be my January 2023 project. Me thinks I need to sort and purge my current project basket again.
I also met Ann from Stitching Foolishness at the class. So nice to put the face with the name and blog I follow.
Fall is around the corner. School has started, pool is covered, flower beds are getting cleared up, cooler temps have come and the beauty of the changing leaves will soon be teasing our senses. I’ve said it before but I just love the change of seasons. I enjoy the weather of each season, yes even the heat and even the snow. Seems to me when you have had enough of one, the next one is around the corner. I am waiting for the arrival of some summer bulbs so I can get them in and will then patiently anticipate their beauty next summer. That said, I feel that each year I am less interested in yard work. This upsets me as gardening was my passion before stitching. With the lack of rain we have had and the heat, I lost a few plants in my back 40. Seems I just have more on my-want-to-do-list that keeps jumping ahead of working in the garden. ….to everything there is a season…..
August also brought other great news. Both my son and daughter got promotions at their respective jobs. My son is now a lieutenant in law enforcement and my D-in-L is, well, she is an Electro-Chemical Engineer specializing in corrosion and instrumentation so I don’t know what she does but she is apparently doing it right!
August ended with the Annual Thompson Family Crab Feast. All the family was here and the food was fabulous. These times are great: the heart swells, the kitchen shrinks, the memories created, the pounds on the scale increase, the laughter abounds, left-overs were endless and sent off in all directions. It was the first time both grand babies spent the night without mom and dad. For Raegan, let’s just call is an UN-sleepover. She suffers from night-terrors so it was interesting. She went to bed without any issues and was up in the morning happy as could be…..it was just the in between part.
I spent some stitchy time on Christmas Rules from Primrose Cottage Stitches. "Go sledding" and "Believe" are the last two sections to be done. I'm feeling confident I can get this completed and fully finished for this holiday season.
I also put in some stitches on Red February from Sassy Jacks. It is a good piece to work on when with friends as the count is large and there are no color changes. I've got 70 more rows of the pattern to finish. I'm not sure if I want to continue to work on it, or put it aside until next February. I probably just ought to finish it since I am so close.
I participated in the HOD Mystery Halloween Costume Party. Sign ups were in July, supplies gathered and then September 1st, Cathy, Mrs. HOD herself, started the emails. It was a great project. Although I didn’t keep up with the every other day assignments I am working on finishing the project.
Even though I said I ws swearing off SAL's I have signed up for Moonfeather Advent SAL as well as Carol Ridyard’s Advent SAL. Both start December 1st and continue until the 24th. This is all I plan to work on in December; let’s hope I keep up with both. For Moonfeathers, I signed up in late August fearing that mail from Denmark would take some time. To my surprise, I received my package in under a week. This is an embroidery project with each day doing a new section on what will eventually be a Christmas tree. Carol’s i-Stitch Advent works much the same but with her emailing you each morning the next part of the pattern.
I continue to daily thank the stars above for the wonderful life I have. I can come and go as I please. I have the means to attend retreats. I have tons of stitching friends and a few that don’t stitch but I still talk to ….lol. I can take off for girl’s weekends at a moments notice. My grand babies live only an hour away. I have a happy healthy family with grand babies that think I walk on water. Kids are successful in their jobs. Retirement is great! Life is just plain good.
Up next month…..10 days in OCMD. First weekend is my guild retreat and the second weekend is Jamboree at Salty Yarns. And hey, why not spend the four days in between at the beach stitching with friends. The ‘plan’ is for extra days of stitching progress and NOT more time for more items to jump in my shopping bag.
Hope everything is going well in your little corner of the planet. Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching.