Friends Gather

We have a small group that meets at our home once a week during the school year. (we actually take turns with another couple) This small group is called a flock. When I saw this pattern, I thought......how perfect....a flock of birds..friends gather....our flock....friends gather.
The pattern is called Friend's Gather & it is by The Trilogy. I used PictureThisPlus fabric. This one is called Pickled & it is a 32 ct. lugana. I used DMC flosses for it.
I love how this small piece turned out & I decided a pinkeep would be a nice way to finish it.

Finished Piece

Stitched Piece

Thank you for stopping by my blog! I appreciate each of you!

Orioles Framed

yippee!!! I actually got a frame for me, in a timely manner...
My husband has been downstairs making frames so I said I want one right away for the Oriole picture. He asked what I wanted. I said I wanted one like a 'test' frame I did a while back....he looked at it & said it was oak. I asked him if he had any & he said yes. So, he made the frame & I did the staining on it.
I found the 'recipe' for the stain on Pinterest! It is a steel wool pad, vinegar & used coffee grounds. Simple enough, right? It makes a weathered look finish on the frame.
I thought it pulled out the dark grey of the male real well. Now, I will be able to enjoy my orioles year round, not just in the summer months!
Also this week, we had a second dog here. She was here on trial. I really wanted her to work, but it just was not meant to be. She & Dudley got along great. That was not the issue......the issue was, she thought my house was a great bathroom. I was told she was potty trained, but um......not!!!!!!! (she is almost 3 years old) So, I called the lady & told her it was not going to work out. We met in town & she found someone else to take her.
I have been working, very slowly, on a small project. I am hoping to finish it this weekend, but we shall see...might not happen!

Orioles

Dudley & Maggie chillin out!

Have a great weekend & thanks for stopping by!

Orioles are finished & library project

Happy Monday to you!!!! We had a very busy weekend & I had very little stitching time. I had decided for sure & for certain I was finishing the oriole project over the weekend. Well, guess what? It didn't get finished!
BUT.............Monday mornings are my 'at the library' morning. I take the little guy I babysit to preschool on Monday mornings. Rather than come all the way home, just to have to turn around again, I go to the library!
I have a project that is a new start & I am calling it my library project. I am only working on it at the library on Monday mornings (so far!!!)
Today, I didn't work on it. I took the few flosses I still needed to use for the Oriole piece & I finished it!!! I knew I didn't have much left.....and I didn't.. It took an hour to finish it.
I am happy to have this one done. It seems like it took forever to do, but I LOVE how it looks!!!! It will be a great reminder all winter of the lovely orioles that frequent my feeders in the warm months.
The library project has very little done on it thus far. It is Countryside by Bent Creek. I am attaching a picture of the little start. I think it is going to be a fun to work on project.
My summer canning has officially started. I was beginning to think I would not get any tomatoes to can, but wow! They came on strong all of a sudden. We picked a LOT last night......
I got 28 pints of tomatoes canned. I had enough for more, but I knew this would put me to bedtime, so I stopped with that.  Now, if the frost holds off, I will have a whole lot more!!!

ORIOLE FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!

Countryside just begun!

Thanks for stopping by my blog & have a great week!!!

Doing the Math

I must admit, that over the holiday weekend, I was feeling the jealousy bug. So many of you were posting about your great deals on DMC floss at Joann Fabrics....
Now, you must know, I am a bargain shopper to the max.....and this bothered me that there was a great sale, on something that I use a LOT of & I couldn't get to a Joann's.
But then, WE DID THE MATH........
to make it worth it for us to go out of town, to get to a Joann's, I would have had to purchase over 100 skeins to even break even........due to gas prices!!!!
I can go to my local Walmart & pay 30 cents per skein & only drive 5 miles to get there.....and I go there once a week anyway, for groceries!!!
I no longer felt bad that I couldn't get to Joann's!!! I felt so thankful that we have floss back in town....when Walmart stopped selling it, I HAD to go out of town for floss.....
On Sat., we did use some gas & go out of town, but not to a town with a Joann's. We visited a State Park we have never been to. It is called Ouabache......I bet most of  you have no clue how that is said! I sure didn't.....
The first trail we chose was a 6 mile trail, that wrapped around the entire outskirts of the park. We started by a pen of bison...they probably had a dozen of them in this huge pen. We passed a lake, a pond, several different types of trees, just nature's beauty at it's finest.
As we got back to the bison, we saw a family looking for the bison...We told them they were at the back of the pen and asked if they were going to walk the trail. The man just laughed at us.....no way was he walking a 6 mile trail. He showed us the radar on his phone & there was a huge storm rolling in....he said about an hour away.
We ate our lunch & decided it was probably time to call it a day. We didn't want to risk getting soaked. We had no more than loaded the car up & started to drive to the park office & the rain started....
It was a great morning walk.....I could have walked a lot more, but oh well!
No stitching most of the weekend, but I hope to have an update soon....I have gotten about 1/2 of the female oriole stitched but do not want to show her like she is.
I will post a couple of my favorite pictures from the state park for you to enjoy. The last picture is a fire tower. This was used for watching for fires in the town, many, many years ago.

thank you for visiting my blog & have a wonderful week!