WORKED ON 'THE CROCHETER' WALL HANGING.

Its been saved in WIPS (Work in Progress) box for a few months, but today I worked on "The Crocheter" which was formally named "The Knitter" since I think it will be a gift to a neighbor who crochets on afghans nearly every day.

Two reasons had it stalled.  One, it needed something more added for interest.  I decided to go with a painting.  I found just the fabric for that addition.  Second, should it be a knitter or not?  The scene certainly works for a lady busy crocheting so I changed the title.

Of course, though the satin-stitching is done, there is lots more to do before its finished; border, layering, quilting, binding.  For now I will set it aside so I can concentrate on doing some cooking this afternoon.

Have a good day.

I WAS ABLE TO HARVEST A LITTLE TODAY.

 I checked thru my garden plot today.  I actually tried to pull out my tomato stakes but not enough energy.   My son tells me he will do that for me this weekend when he visits.  He put them in for me and they are certainly solid.  Its nice to have a son who will do little things for me now and then.

Today I harvested a few things......

I was lucky to get 3 more tomatoes along with Italian parsley, thyme, and chives.  The thyme's aroma is so delightful.  I think that may be the last of the tomatoes.  But on a sweet note, I found 1 sweet pepper growing on each of my 2 plants.  They are still small and green.  I checked the weather report and we may be pretty close to frost temps next week, maybe even on Sunday.  If it looks like frost, I will quickly pick them.

My neighbor who has several Marigold plants posted a note for anyone to harvest what they like.  He will be pruning them out this week sometime.  I cut myself some to brighten my apartment.  They are colorful, but sorry to say they are not aromatic.  Still, its a nice fall look.

One vase of Marigolds.

Have a delightful day.

'GHOST IN A PUMPKIN' WH IS FINISHED.

 Thank goodness I finished another Halloween door hanging.  I have some others, but these are the newest and will be displayed this year with a couple of others.  "Ghost in a Pumpkin" finished at 11 1/2 by 1 1/2 inches so just the right size for my front door.

It always feels good to get another project finished.

Have a good day.

GHOST WH IS PINNED

I finished pinning my "Ghost in a Pumpkin" so next I need to quilt it.  This should measure about 12 by 18 inches when finished....

After this one is finished, I will venture into Xmas Holiday wall hangings.  I know Thanksgiving comes next, but what can you make beyond turkeys and cornucopias and I have enough of those.  My sketching hand is working on Xmas already.

Have a nice day.

MY '3 PUMPKINS' DOOR HANGING IS FINISHED

 Its finished, my "3 Pumpkins" wall hanging.  It measures 18 by 24 inches and is hanging on my apt. door right now.  I am all ready for Halloween.

It always feels good to finish a project.  Next will be another Halloween door hanging.

Have a good day.

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER IDEA.

 I have been getting ideas for new quilt projects.

This one is "Ghost in a Pumpkin" all tacked down.

This one is "Helpful Moose" with 2 Xmas balls dangling from his antlers which he is bringing to help decorate the Xmas tree.  This caption may read, "Can you use these?"

I made a moose wall hanging a couple years ago which I enjoyed making.

I took a different route this time.  This big guy got himself in trouble.

I have also been thinking about little houses in winter.  I have one which I really like so thought a few more wouldn't hurt.  They will work well during winter after Xmas is behind us.... like this one......

Winter can be long and drawn out here is southern Maine.  I could use more winter subjects.  I am thinking also more birds wearing muffs and hats, too, like this one which are chickadees but maybe something in cardinals or blue jays......

My mind is clicking today.

Have a good day.

FALL IS HERE. SEWING AND CLEANING UP THE GARDEN.

 It's been cooler the last week or so.  Temps here in southern Maine are ranging in the 50s and 60F daytimes and nites drop to 50s and 40s now.  It's just lovely outdoors.  To date I do not see red leaves on our trees.  We usually see lovely color by the 10th to 15th of October, unless we have lots of rain.  That seems to put the brakes on having good leaf color.

I worked in my garden lately cleaning it up and getting it ready for bed for the winter.  Pulled out all the cucumber plants and most of the tomato plants that have given up the ghost and put the cucumber cages in storage.  I got 3 cukes before pulling them out and a few tomatoes.  Today I harvested 7 nice carrots.  My thyme, parsley, and chives are still doing just fine and my sweet peppers are still trying to grow some fruits.  They are tiny so far so I don't think they will get much larger before we hit a frost.

With the garden becoming a thing of the past, I have started back into sewing again.  With Halloween coming up soon, I drew a couple of Halloween pictures.

Here is "3 Pumpkins" all satin-stitched.  I still have the layering, quilting, and shading to do (eyes, crease shadows), along with adding the binding.  This will finish around 18" by 24" when it's done.

I also drew a 2nd sketch since I also love ghosts, the friendly and cute ones, not the horrid ghouls.

This one is titled "Ghost in a Pumpkin" and will be much smaller.  I hope to get them both finished before Halloween rolls around so I can have something cute for my front door.

The rest of my life is rather dull.  I clean house a little, cook a little bit and share with an older neighbor who does not do much cooking these days, and do lots of TV viewing, reading, and there's always the jig saw puzzles and crossword puzzles.  Once a week I am the Bingo caller here in the complex.  I enjoy doing it.  I do not do my own grocery shopping since I live daily with vertigo to some degree, some days better than others, so my darling son shops for me twice a month.  I could order my groceries in but he says he likes to do it so he can come visit with me a couple times a month.  I think I will keep him.  

My daughter, thank goodness, gets me to doctor appointments.  Thankfully they only happen every 6 months so though I get to see her now and then, it's not often. 

My life as I live it is pretty good.

Hope you are having a good day.

3 PUMPKINS DOOR HANGING STARTED

I am finally getting back to my sewing.  I started a new Halloween project, an 18 by 24 inch door hanging.

This is the sketch.....

I named it 3 Pumpkins.  

This is it as of today.  I managed to sew some of the parts to the background.  I still have the black cat and the fence to add and maybe something more when my little brain thinks about it.  

It feels good to be sewing again.

Have a good day.

JUST A QUICK CHECK IN

 Sorry I haven't checked in lately.  My routine has become rather dull of late.  

I check my garden daily to pick any fruits.  I have been getting enough tomatoes and cucumbers to share with other residents in my apartment house and with my family.  Also a few carrots since my plot was only a 12-inch square.  But darn they were tasty and super fresh.

                           A little of this and a little of that.

For herbs I have thyme and Italian parsley planted so those have been harvested the last few weeks as well.

Our Maine weather has been marvelous.  Our days have been from the high 70sF to the high 80s for the most part.  We only got a couple of hits at 90 plus this year so far.  That's a blessing.  I have not had to water my garden too often since we get rain at least weekly, and most of the time at night.  Living alongside the river, even on hot days we get a beautiful breeze which is so welcome.

Now temps are cooler with days in the 70s and nights in the 50s.

My pepper plants did not do well this year.  I only got a couple of sweets and so far, only one hot pepper.  There is one hot Surena growing now but am waiting for it to turn red.  My son loves hot peppers.  I won't touch them with a ten-foot pole.  I have no idea why I had a problem with peppers this year.  They did fine last year.  Maybe some pathogen in the soil from the store-bought Black Cow compost I added to my garden bed this spring.  It seems that end of the bed did not produce well at all.  Even a couple of tomato plants and the chives in that area did poorly and one cuke plant gave me only a few fruits this year.  Yup, there is something wrong in that half of the bed.

With cooler days coming all my plants will be slowing down to a crawl and I will soon have to put my little garden plot to bed for the season and hope for a better year in 2023.

With fall coming I will be back to making quilted art projects.  I have a few ideas burgeoning in my head and will work on them when it is cooler.  There is no a/c in my sewing area so I rarely do any sewing in the summer.

I hope you all had a good summer and wish you a better fall.