The Stream

 Good Morning to another Hot day in NoAla. A wade in a cool stream would be very refreshing. But I live in the South...it is supposed to be hot in August so I will remember this when I am freezing in January.

1. Mother turned 90 yesterday. What a milestone. Thanks to everyone who sent a card. We are headed to  Grimmwood so I will have some pictures next week.  In these last months Mother has told me many stories of her growing up years. It seems she remembers those stories while completely forgetting what has happened thirty minutes ago.  She was telling me about her grandparents. Her Grandfather Henderson had a pocket watch that he allowed her to play with while she stood beside him. Mother's Henderson Grandparents had 14 children. While not all  the children lived to adult hood, there were many grandchildren in the family. Mother says she cannot remember much about her grandmother. Bless that poor ladies heart, she was probably tired of children by the time the grands came along! 

2. I am slowly learning the new blogger platform. Thanks to Meg at Stitch to Live for sharing a tip that helped her. She puts in all the prose then adds the photos. I am finding that works for me too. Is it just me or can you load more than one photo at a time without losing them? I used to upload all my photos then I could just add them to the blog. Now I have to upload one photo at a time. This is very frustrating and like many others I think the old platform was much better in this area. Icons are a problem for me. I did not grow up using them and I spend a lot of time figuring out what each icon is supposed to stand for word wise.Any tips would be appreciated.

3. My other grands head off to school this week. I am praying all goes well.  There are many opinions about this issue. I have to remind myself that I am not the parent and I have to trust my children will make the best decisions for their children. The grandchild who has suffered most from virtual learning is Baylor. He is autistic and there is no such thing as virtual learning for him. He needs the structure and discipline of attending school. So this nana is doing a lot of praying for this little man, especially.

4. Marvin and I will be on car line patrol for Kendall and Landon every other week. I used to complain about this but now I am happy I can go to a carline. Landon started soccer practice last week and his games start later this month. Again, I complained about sitting in the heat etc. Remember I am INDOORSY.  But Ben and Katy got me a camp chair with a canvas top so I will have some shade...that should help. So I am looking forward to another little bit of normal.  Landon's season is short...only six games so lets go team!

5. Speaking of normal....I was watching some old SEC football games with Marvin and I wonder if there will be football this fall. I think it is still up in the air. But will the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade be cancelled too? That is something I look forward to each year and it really ushers in the holiday season for so many of us.  

6. Charles and Nancy are coming to Huntsville for a wedding on Labor Day weekend so we will get to baby-sit Audrey and Joshua. Charles was afraid we might not be up to it. I assured him that we can handle a day with no problem. I found a recipe for Fluffy Cloud Dough on The Southern Plate's facebook page. Christie Jordan is a local celebrity chef and she has so many wonderful recipes on her page. You dont eat fluffy cloud dough....it is for pure play. 2 cups of cornstarch and 1 cup of conditioner...the kind you use after shampooing your hair.  Mix together ....then put it in a ziplock bag and continue kneading it until it is smooth.   Christie's mom happens to be a member of my North Alabama Stitchers group. Both ladies are good cooks. Check out Southern Plate if you are looking for some new recipes. 

Armchair Travels

 Last summer we traveled every month. In June we went to Savannah for Marvin's high school reunion. July found us on the road to Arkansas and Oklahoma. The Steel Magnolia house in Louisiana was our August destination. And finally in September we were at one of our favorite places, Gulf Shores, Alabama. 

Since we cannot travel this year, (well I guess we could but a lot of the fun has been taken out of traveling) I thought I would take imaginary trips. 

My first destination would be Yorkshire, England. I would love to visit the small village of Tankersley where my ancestors hailed from long ago. When I see the mountains of Yorkshire, I think of how much it reminds me of North Georgia where many Tankersley's came to rest.

My second trip would be to Avoca, Ireland. One of my favorite British tv shows is Ballykissangel. The village of Avoca was the setting for this series and it would be fun to see it in person.

While I am over the pond, I would travel to Oxford, England. Again, because of my love the British detective shows, Endeavor, Morse and Lewis. 

Now we will come back to America. I admit that I would love to return to Natchitoches, Louisiana. But I will plan my trip for December when it is not so hot and the Christmas Festival of Lights is in full swing. 

I will end my trips with a day trip to New Albany, Mississippi where I will eat lunch at the Talahatchie Grill then walk over to Sugarees for some caramel cake. And lets be honest I went to New Albany for Sugarees.  Of all the bakeries I have ever been to, Sugarees is number one in my book. 

Oh , if I lived too close to Sugarees it would be my undoing. I would be signed up for Free Cake Friday for sure.  Thanks to Sugarees Facebook page for this image. And yes this cake tastes as good as it looks.

Thanks to Wikipedia for the pictures from England and Ireland. 

The best thing about arm chair travel is that it saves you money and calories.:)

Saturday Stitching

Here is hoping my photos show up in the right places. 

I had some excitement at my house this week as I thought I had thrown out my Ebenezer's Blessing. I could not find it anywhere. And there was a LOT of 16 count tarnish left to use so I was on the warpath. Finally I remembered I had been upstairs stitching while Audrey and Joshua were visiting so I checked and there it was on a high shelf in the closet. Whew! what a relief. Because you know I hardly have any fabric to stitch on.:)

I did finish up my November word play. The colors are not coming out as vibrant as they are in person but I was pleased with it.  I have already FFO'd October so now to lace up September and November. Maybe I will have these to show you next week

Here is the first of my Jolly July pieces all FFO'd. The little ice skate if from the first six of the Annie Beez Christmas ornaments. She did them as a club last year and they were recently released to the needlework shops.  I did not want to stitch the black and white checkerboard frame as charted so I just did the ice skate. Then I was off to Hobby Lobby to find a rustic snowflake.  I am giving this as a gift and now I kind of want it for myself. That is the struggle for the needleworker.

I got a start on the latest Hands on Design release. I am using 14 count aida from Hobby Lobby. I am not having any trouble seeing the holes so yeah for me.

I had some stash enhancement this week. Nell at Little Yellow House Crafts on Floss Tube recommended this family owned store as a source for Finishing Fabrics.

 In addition to the fabrics I ordered they sent me a fat eighth with this nice note.

I was very pleased with my bundles of fat quarters.  

A little shipment from Jen's Stitching Niche on ETSY. I needed some threads and a piece of stormy white even weave and as you know, those fabrics and flosses do not like to travel alone. That is my story and I am sticking to it.

Fat Quarter Shop got some of my business as well.

I blame my cousin Dewilla (at Southern Lady on my blog roll) for this purchase. I had been thinking of stitching the big red Cardinal that I have seen so often on Instagram and Floss Tube.  While I was wavering Dewilla found out which Blackbird Book it could be found in and sent me the link. This is a beautiful book and it contains Christmas Garden as well. That is another sampler I have had my eye on so now I have two Christmas charts for next year.

I also ordered a bit of fabric from FQS.  I truly do not need ANY MORE FABRIC.  ( Well Christmas fabric anyway!!!!) 

Thanks for bearing with me as I figure out this new blogger platform.  I have been so frustrated with it that I have thought of throwing my hands up in the air and just quitting the whole blog.  I do think the old platform was much more user friendly. I am going to keep at it....it takes a while for an old dog to learn new tricks.

Happy Stitching.

 

Friday Five

1. A new Cross for the Cross Wall. A friend of my sister, Leta, did one of these for her and of course I wanted one as well. Made from clothespins....It reminded me of the art we did at Bible School when I was a child. I added a bit of blue paint to it but just a dab. 

2. I found these drawer organizers on sale at Target.  A tidy drawer does my heart good. Of course keeping it tidy is the true challenge.

3. I could not wait to put these out in September. I purchased the orange clove scent from Grove when they had it on clearance back in the spring.  This smells so GOOD. It reminds of the old Aromatique Fall scent that was popular back in the 90s. For the life of me I cannot think of the name of the scent but it just says FALL.

4.4. August Decor

This is the only August Decor in my home but it adds a spot of color to the breakfast bar.  The oranges, cinnamon sticks and small pine cones came from a potpourri my sister, Leta gifted to me last fall. I saved all the pretties from it knowing I would use them.5.  Audrey at School. Audrey's teacher sent this photo to Nancy. Audrey had a great first day and her report was that they had PLAY DOH!

APlease pardon me as I continue to learn this new platform. I hate Icons.:)  

The Stream

It is hard to believe that August is here.  My stream has about dried up but I  will try to post something worth reading.:)

1. First off....my mother is turning 90 on August 11th. Since we cannot do a party we are doing a card shower. If you would like to send her a card wishing her a happy birthday, email me at agrimm55@hotmail.com and I will give you her address. We hope a flood of cards will make this day special for her. One of our childhood friends suggested we get a bigger mail box.

2. School is starting back here next week. Little Audrey went off to school in Georgia on Monday. Wearing her little mask and carrying her lunch box. Amelia reports that back to school shopping for her two includes masks that are cool. Cool as in hip....I would love to have a mask that is cool. My glasses fog up and my nose starts to run when I put on a mask. Here in Alabama we have been under a mask law since mid July and it is extended to the end of August. So far it does not seem to have done a lot of good which is puzzling to an old nurse. 

3. I have to give a shout out to Farmhouse Vernacular. Paige and husband, Brandon, are  restoring a farm house in Kentucky. You can see her blog on Blogs I read bar. You can also find her at You Tube. She shared a tour of her new old kitchen by making a Peaches and Cream pie. She will email you the recipe if you click on the link at You Tube. Paige proves that having a huge kitchen with lots of storage is not necessary to turn our some good cooking. It took me back to my childhood days when my grandmothers had small kitchens but oh the memories of the things they made back in the day. 

4. I have been reading some old Agatha Christie mysteries as I have not made it to the library recently. Right now I am reading The Body in the Library featuring my favorite female sleuth, Miss Jane Marple. Agatha Christie has stood the test of time. I just finished The ABC murders which was one suggested by mystery writer, Peter Swanson.  When I turned the last page in that mystery, I read, And Then There Were None. I think it was a better mystery than the ABC mystery. But it is a stand alone mystery by Ms Christie. Foolishly, I kept waiting for Jane, Hercule or Tommy and Tuppence to show up!

5. I enjoyed some stitching time with my friend, Brenda. She came by to drop off some project bags she had made for me and we enjoyed visiting, social distancing of course. It is so good to see a face and here a voice in person.

6. Marvin has spent this week preparing his doctoral thesis to be sent off to get a bindery. He has had a soft bound  copy for years but he has always wanted to get a REAL book.  We  found a book binding company in Wisconsin and it is Grimm's Book Bindery! Located in Madison, Wisconsin, it has been a family business since the mid 1800s. Well of course we had to give them our business. I look forward to seeing it when it returns to us. Of course, I am not a physics whiz so I will not understand it at all. However it is dedicated to me so I will see my name in print.

Hope everyone is staying well and staying busy. 

Down on the Farm

We spent the week at Grimmwood and enjoyed seeing the beautiful crops that Bruce has planted for his cattle. This is a type of sorghum that is planted for the cattle to eat. Bruce turned the cattle into this pasture last week and he said that they probably thought they had died and gone to heaven.:) Even the livestock deserves a treat. This is a great foraging plant and high in nutrients as well. 

The corn was looking good too.  Kristi took these pictures and shared them with me.

This last picture is of Bruce bush hogging in the pasture near the driveway to Grimmwood. Bush hogging is just a way of life for the farmer in the summer time.  It sure was hot last week. Farmers are to be thanked for the job they do for our country.

I am trying to get used to this new Blogger platform so pardon me while I learn how to orient photos etc. It takes me a while to adjust to new things!

Saturday Stitching

Well as you can imagine I did not get much stitching done last week! I did finish one piece.

This is Ebenezer's Blessing from Erica Michaels. I did change a few things on this one. I used Cupid and English Ivy as my flosses and it is stitched on 16 count tarnish that I purchased from Jen's Stitching Niche on Etsy.

I also got some work done on my November Word Play.

I have changed all the colors on this one....just using colors from my stash.

I received this in the mail....

Cathy Habermann has another winner in my opinion. She plans to do a chart for each season.  My Halloween Issue of Just Cross Stitch arrived as well. I have to say this may be the last time I purchase this edition of the magazine. I was not impressed with the designs. I am hoping the Christmas issue does not disappoint.

I plan to order this chart from The Housewives.

It is adorable. I will probably make some changes as I will not be stitching on black.

I have two Christmas charts I plan to order as well.

 Douce Nuit by Tea La La.

I have been eyeing the cardinal from Blackbird and my cousin finally talked me into ordering it. She is getting it as well. ( And really it did not take any arm twisting.!) I have seen this big red cardinal stitched by a fellow North Alabama Stitcher and it is incredible.  When you see the charts stitched they are quite impressive. The photos on the charts do not do them justice.

Have a good stitchy week Friends.