July - Coming in hot

and going out on one of the more beautiful days of summer.  Low humidity, temps in the low 80’s, wonderful breeze…..I’m staying outside ALL day.  I may go in and bring out some stitching this afternoon.   We so need this after weeks of oppressive heat and humidity.  

A quick flashback on my two weeks babysitting.   Some of the fun things I did with the kiddos.  We did underwear panting - keeps the clothes clean;  A trip to Chick-Fil-A  playground; rock painting for leaving along the trail on our next hike; Raegan helps me stitch; and, Damma does Twister!   And there was more.   I thoroughly enjoyed the time but my own bed did feel good after 13 days.

What’s about as exciting as watching paint dry?  Waiting for grass to grow.   So much of the seed washed away with the heavy heavy downpours we have had. After having the first spring in YEARS….and I say that because for the last decade it seems like we have gone from winter to summer in about 5 days time…..we were very fortunate with warming but yet cool and crispy days you expect in the shoulder seasons……now July is hot, hot, hot and I am missing having a pool to jump in more, more, more. I digress…..

  

The pavers were finished while I was at my son’s and I need to figure out how I want to ‘furnish’ the area.   A couple of years back I ordered some outdoor furniture from a company called POLYWOOD.    I love their quality and the fact that they are made from recycled plastic.  Although, quality does come at a price.  Mr. Wonderful picked out a large picnic table and has ordered it from POLYWOOD.  Umbrella ordered from Amazon.    I am in no rush to ‘outfit’ the area especially since stores are now sporting back to school and fall items.  Geez!    Mr. W. did paint my park bench a deep brown and my planters, a seaside blue that matches my existing chairs.  I did pick up a couple of bright orange Gaillardia to brighten up the area.   Choose them with the idea that come fall, I will plant them in the back 40.   

Ah, the Back 40……I am still working on the area.   Between being down with a summer cold for two weeks, then two weeks at my son’s, the Smokey skies and the heat, the Back 40 is suffering.  I spent 6 hours on the 4th tidying up all the flower beds.  And now that we are at the end of the month, it is time to do it again.    I try to bring stones home from my son’s each week.   All his flower beds are stone lined and they don’t want that look.   Hence, dump them in Mom’s Back 40 path!  As they say, one person’s trash is another’s treasure. When they lament over the long list of things they want to do in their house, I keep telling my son and D-in-L…..Rome wasn’t built in a day.  Heck, it wasn’t built in 42 years either since I still have projects at my house.  LOL

Since it is so hot I try to get outside around 7:30 a.m. and work until I’ve had enough of the heat and humidity.   I usually don’t last much after noon so come in, shower, eat and do whatever.   I find if I don’t shower and change, I am too tempted to go back out and putz about until sundown.   This gal is getting too old for all yard work and no play.  And worse, it leaves no time to stitch.  

Veggie garden was doing well.  Lots of cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes and beans.   Seems I have ground hog that likes my garden too.   I came home to only the beans, rosemary and tomatoes left.  Mr. Wonderful mended the fence to keep the darned whistle pig out! 

As for being crafty, I managed to fully quilt and attach the binding to my hexagon quilt.  I am super happy with it!   One down and four WIP quilts and many more on the drawing board to go!  Ugh!    

  

 I forgot to share this finish from last month.    This is my June Summer Camp piece.   It is "Stitcher" by Luminous Fiber Arts.   Used WDW Turkish Red, mystery linen and a consignment store $4.50 frame! Winner winner - Chicken dinner!  As for July, I didn’t complete the project.   Hopefully I will in August.

WIPGO for July was part challenge/part month of progress.   The challenge for the month was to fully finish Betsy Morgan’s Pioneer School Girl.   Stitching has been done for three years.   I knew the smalls would be no problem but, the two hinged boxes on the left and right inside of the ‘book’ were scaring me - which is why the project has sat for three years.   So in that respect, it is a good thing it was called on my WIPGO board.  I’m not quite there yet and I knew I could do it but it was just taking that first step to start. 

Using that curved needle.   I’m getting there.

Using all the clips and had to resort to pulling out the cheaters for this one.

Assembly has not been hard, just fiddlily trying to wrap clumsy fingers around the pieces.  I am in the homestretch now.  I may have to dedicate an early August post to just the Pioneer School Girl when it is finished.

The second call for the month - Work on a WIP.   Liking the progress I have been making on Cornwall Cottage, I just kept at it.  With other things going on, I didn’t get as much time to stitch on this in July, but forward progress is forward progress.   

The sunshine’s shows the wrinkles; the shade dulls the colors……

For August WIPGO my assignment is to stitch and fully finish an Erica Michaels Strawberry and to fully finish two stitched pieces.   Let’s hope I don’t go down a rabbit hole when I am picking out a strawberry pattern or when I dig into the finishing basket which I have promised myself I WILL NOT do until I fully finish Pioneer School Girl finishing.  Here’ hoping.

Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching!

Finger Lakes Visit, Part 2

There were so many pictures, I had to break this into two posts……….

We traveled the last half hour of the ride to Pittsford and arrived around 4 pm.   First stop, Hobby House for a little perusing.   Then to the Air B & B to unload, unpack and head off to the hotel where our friends were taking classes.   They were having a Happy Hour after class which we were invited to join.  It was great to see, Vikki and Denise, Diane and Jennifer, and Dana of course, and to be greeted with a big hug from Jackie DuPlessis herself!  

Back to our house, we settled into pizza and wine around the round oak table and chatted the night away.    As for me and my silly expectations of stitching to be accomplished over the weekend, not much stitching was completed.  The girls did manage to do their homework for their Saturday morning class.

Saturday we walked over to the store to shop.  Regretfully, I shopped and purchased.  There were two wool pieces in Hobby House Woolworks that I liked.  There was one woman in the shop snipping her fingers to the bones to kit up the charts and supplies as fast as she could for others.   No sweat, I’ll be back in October and pick them up.  She was pleasantly relieved.   One - which I didn’t photograph, was a wool penny Christmas Tree and the second a winter table runner.   I ordered the blue one; Stacy the red one.  

So if it is not bad enough having a Cross Stitch Store and a Wool Store, David and Kathy are opening a Quilting Store sometime in the fall in the same shopping center.   Oh boy!   One stop craft shopping for me for sure!   

Following our unnecessary purchases, we were off to Fairport, NY where we had booked tour on the Erie Canal.   Another beyond adorable, quaint little town.   

See that red boat….you can rent them for the week. You get boating instructions (?!!) Sounds kind of sketchy to me.  (Not everyone realizes there are NO brakes on the water!)  The boats include sleeping for two, four or six, living area, kitchen and come with bicycles as well.   Sounds like fun to me!

Below, it is hard to see, but the bridge does not open like a typical drawbridge would.   Rather it slides about 8 feet upwards on the four corner posts to allow boats to pass under it.  It is called a vertical lift bridge.  

 

Leave it to Robin to have to picture the landscape.  

Skies were cloudy when we headed out on our canal tour.

Construction started on the canal in 1817 in Rome, NY.   The Canal opened in 1825.  In 1825, the Canal was 363 miles and cut the travel time of 2 weeks by stagecoach to five days from Albany to Buffalo.  

We were not quite as close to the bottom of the bridges as it appears but we were close enough to be told not to stand up or raise our hands to touch the bridges when we went under them.  The Captain warned us at each bridge and actually could be seen ducking down herself under a couple of them.

Several railroad bridges, still operating, cross the canal.

We traveled through Lock 32 on the canal.  

Doors closed, and water is added to raise us up to the top.

 

Once at the level of the other side, off we went. 

There were so many wonderful public spots along the shore to be able to sit and watch the boats go by.

And even more, private docks.   

And the houses to go with the docks were beyond beautiful.   To be able to live on the water, there were a number I could suffer through living in.

It is a marvel to me that the canal was constructed and then opened in 1825.  No modern machinery like today.

The old tow path is a walking trail the ENTIRE length of the Erie Canal.

Sunday night dinner and “speed dessert” at Label 7.  Again, walking distance from our house.   Speed Dessert, you asked.   Well we didn’t know what to call it.   There were six of us at the table and three signature desserts.   Crème brûlée, Chocolate Mousse with Raspberry Sauce and Bread Pudding made from donuts.    We ordered one of each and six spoons.   Take a bite and pass the dish to the right.   We all got several tastes of each one and really enjoyed it.

Beautiful bed of cone flowers outside the restaurant.

Walking the path under the bridge on the way back to the house.

Some did not get enough dessert so we walked past our house and down the street to the creamery.   The Pittsford Dairy Farm.    Look at how awesome the ceiling lights were and the stools to sit on were.  There was the cutest little old man, 93, who was working the store counter.   He said he had worked there since 1961 when he was dating his wife, the dairy farmer’s daughter.   Imagine the changes this man has seen!

Sunday morning saw us eating breakfast al fresco.   

Back to the store before we headed out on Sunday morning.   I  had this project kitted up and picked it up from the store on our way our of town on Sunday morning.   This is the first of four parts of the Mary  Allcorn Sampler.   Since the owner, Kathy, is charting these, it is a Hobby House Exclusive.  The second piece, expected in the fall, is smaller and will go on a wooden spool.  The third pieces will be a needlebook.  The final piece of the series will be the sampler itself.   Look at that fabric - 40 count!   I hope 40 ct is as easy as everyone says it is.

On our ride home, we stopped in Skaneateles, a town on one of the Finger Lakes of the same name.  I love the unusually nooks and crannies of a waterfront town.  It was a beautiful little town with a Main Street filled with shops as well as dozens of Victorian homes in full glory.

Ducking into an antique shop, I spied this as a souvenir of our trip.  A cool little find.  It appears to have served someone with many years of good service.

Lakeside in  Skaneateles. 

So that was my “speed weekend” in New York.   And trust me I know how fortunate my life is to have such experiences.   I thank the universe every day.   Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching!

Finger Lakes Visit, Part 1

 I spent a long weekend in Pittsford, NY.   And we all know what is in Pittsford.   Friends were talking a class at Hobby House and had rented an AB&B and welcomed us to join them in the house.  Don’t have to ask Stacy and I twice.   Off we went and, in true Robin and Stacy style, we hit some sights on the way.  

Our adorable little Air B & B just steps away from both the Erie Canal and Hobby House Needleworks.  Below, out our kitchen window you could see the canal.   This really was the perfect location.  

Before arriving in Pittsford, NY,  we stopped in Canadguia where we visited the Sonnenberg Mansion and Gardens.  

Image, this is ONE of several summer homes of the Clark-Thompson Family - no relation.   This one is said to be their favorite.    Before the town and trees grew, there was a view of the lake from the house.

We entered the grounds passing the Caretaker’s House and the greenhouses.

The asparagus fern above and the jade plant below were HUGE.

From the Caretaker’s we walked to the grounds and the nine formal gardens that Mary Clark-Thompson designed using her trips abroad as inspiration.   From 1902 until 1919 she employed hundreds of workers to make her vision a reality.  

We passed the deer park which was acres of open land.   Rounding a corner, we were at the Japanese Garden.  

The Tea House was constructed in the traditional way with shoji screens.

A 12th century Buddha is featured in the garden.

There are four gates to enter the garden; this is what was the front gate.

From the Japanese Garden, we entered the Italian Garden and so did the rain!

This is the Italian Garden from the balcony of Mrs. Thompson’s sister’s bedroom.

This is a small view of the Blue and White Garden.   Best I could get from the protection of the porch because of the downpour!

We entered the house to a fabulous tile floor.

Straight ahead from the entry, was a round room with the same tile on the floor.  

A well appointed Library with a tin-type record player and a portrait of Mary Clark-Thompson

Needlepoint pillow on the sofa.

Mrs. Thompson’s desk in the Study.

Fireplace in the Drawing Room

Same room from the opposite end of the room.

The Billiard Room - The placard for the room said that Mrs. Thompson had the walls adorned with samplers.   We asked the Docent about the samplers and she said they were all at the Ontario County Historic Society….conveniently about a mile away.    We called the Historical Society and unfortunately they do not have any on display.   Fortunately, when she found out she was talking to the Vice President and the Treasurer of Delaware Valley Historic Sampler Guild (a little name dropping doesn’t hurt) and they we have a Conservation Grant we give each year, the curator was happy to arrange a visit for us.   She said she would need a week’s notice and we are setting up a visit when we return in October.

Dining Room

Crazy Quilt on the best in a guest room.

This handwork was extraordinary!

Surface embroidery pillow on the bed.   This is the only bedroom that DID NOT have an en-suite!!

This next bedroom was Zilpha’s bedroom. Sister of Mary Thompson.   Zilpha was a school teacher in Canandaigua and spent a lot of time at Mary’s home.  This was a HUGE bedroom, actually larger than Mary’s own room. 

Awesome balcony off of her room that overlooks the Italian Garden.

This is the first oriental rug of this color I ever remember seeing.   It was stunning.

Some of Zilpha’s closet finery.

The next bedroom, real Tiffany lamp?  

The door on the right is one of two that open to the balcony above the drawing room.

Another en suite bathroom.

With double sinks even in the late 1800’s!

Sitting area of same room

Balcony view 

Mrs. Thompson’s bedroom.

The sewing room off of Mrs. Thompson’s bedroom.

Bedroom from the opposite wall.

The Double Arched bedroom, complete with double arches and two full bathrooms.  

One of the two bathrooms

The Port-Cochere bedroom was added during renovations in the early 20th century.  

This bedroom also included a bathroom and a shared outside balcony.

Mrs. Thompson loved peacocks.   This tapestry was hanging in the upstairs hall.

The back of the home.   The row of doors on the ground floor enter into the dining room.

The Carriage House

The Peacock House/Aviary

Mrs. Thompson had several aviaries which were heating with hot water piping to keep the bird comfortable in winter.   She house hundreds of birds from up to 250 different species.  Construction of the aviaries began in 1902 and the cluster of buildings was completed in 1912.  

Woodland Garden

I would be just as happy as can be to sit and watch nature from this bench.

We ended our tour with a delicious chicken salad wrap lunch at the cottage restaurant onsite.  

Halfway through Day 1 and there are so many more photos, I had to break this into two posts.    Stay tuned………