I have really enjoyed most of these summer days especially since the humidity moved out. The swimming and dog walking and playing have kept me on my feet and moving. As a happy consequence, my body is feeling fairly energetic and free of aches. I feel like I've kept on top of the indoor chores too; it always gives me satisfaction to know the house has been tended to.
We have our first basket of Ontario peaches for the season. Hubby loves crumbles and crisps so that's what will be made of those not eaten as fruit.
Jackrabbit's ears continue to grow. This is a fun cross stitching project and so much smaller than the last one, the Floral Motif Sampler. Seeing steady progress is encouraging.
I bought one of those magnetic Needle Minders and wish I'd bought one before. Any loose needle is caught by it which is a good thing for me. This one has an old fashioned lady in a field of poppies. Needle minders can get fancy and you can buy them to match your actual project. You can see examples of that HERE at 123Stitch.com.
Recently I showed you a photo of the Pileated Woodpecker I spied in our side woods as I call the area to the back right of our house.
Another of Cottage Garden'sA Year in the Woods series- this is #9, is that very woodpecker, the Pileated. Very neat.
Think I should order it? I am very tempted. Look at those wonderful autumn colours.
Our I Like Prompt from LeeAnna for this week was to share foot wear that we enjoy in the summer time. I have two favourites to share. I consider shoes comfortable if they stand up to a lot of walking in them and both of these did and do.
First, are these espadrilles that are kind of fancy with two kinds of leather. Over the years, these have been to Newfoundland, the Dominican Republic and in May, to Toronto. I like that they are very comfortable for lots of walking and also look fairly stylish. They were expensive, from Brown's (for those who like trivia, that would be Jessica Mulroney's family business), but have paid for themselves by longevity.
My second and fun summer shoes are these pink/fuchsia Skechers below. I'm really proud of these because I think they are my second or third best thrift purchase. I don't buy shoes at a thrift store but these still had remnants of a tag on the bottom and looked brand new. And when I saw they were labelled Goga Mat, I had some idea of what they cost...very expensive. Though I wished they were a different colour- pink shoes are bold for me, I was torn as I do love Skechers. They work so well for my feet somehow. Anyway, fitting perfectly and with a $10 price tag, I decided they were coming home with me. These are very, very light-like having nothing on your feet and of course, so comfy with what Skechers calls "rebound technology", LOL. I've also washed these in the washing machine once and they came out perfectly.
Thursday's Three Free (and I always find more to share)
Sewing With Scraps has a wonderful cache of free patterns, just right for using scraps including very small ones. I went to that site for the Mini String Quilt tutorial and wound up straying far exploring all their material.
Ann Wood Handmade That is the link to generous Ann's wonderful cache of free patterns to stitch her whimsical and interesting items. She has added a quilty book since I last shared her work. Just love her chickens.
Jennifer of Elefantz writes one of my favourite blogs on the web and I've been following her for years. She is a talented designer of very cute patterns and a skilled embroiderer. Besides sharing her gardening, recipes and stories of her life in northern Australia, she shares many free patterns. Like this one which is called Books and Roses and she has worked it into a bookmark.
In fact Jennifer is offering a free pattern for each month in this series.
She just recently shared that all 6 grandchildren got Covid and lost their fingernails. I'd not heard of that as a side effect. Had you?
Not free but really really neat. I love this idea from clever Deborah at Fish Museum and Circus. Fabric with imaginative stripes that can be used as fabric or cut on the straight lines in it to use for amazing looking bindings. Very brief video shows what it is.
And at her fun filled site you can find a free PDF pattern for her colourful Circus Tent quilt.
I hope I've shared something that struck your fancy and that you'll come back again to see what else I'll be sharing- a post of my latest thrift finds will be up very soon.
