Poppies Poppies Poppies

Hurricane preparations are complete.  We have tons of tuna and chef boyardee, all the gas cans are filled, and we've got batteries.  There was no bottled water to be had.  We'll be brushing our teeth with seltzer if need be.  The gas station ran out of gas - and the storm isn't supposed to be here for another 30-36 hours.

We pulled in all of the potted plants.  I am thinking that we may have too many.  But they had to come in because we don't want airborn tomatoes.  I hope the lack of tomato plants will make the chipmunks pack up and go elsewhere.

We picked about 50 nearly ripe pears and nearly 50 nearly ripe apples.  I'm not sure how they would have fared if we left them out in the storm but I couldn't bear to lose all of them.  I think the pears were close enough to ripe that they'll soften up somewhat and if they aren't sweet enough, we'll poach them.  The apples aren't as sweet as we would like but they should be good for pectin.

I needed a break from stitching on paper.  I didn't realize that I missed stitching on linen so I started this little project.  I'll go back to Moonlit Kitties in a bit.

This is my start on Poppy Biscornu from Faby Reilly.  These designs are beautiful.  We'll be adding more to the Needlearts Gallery website next week.  I have not been able to find the little poppy button in the center of the biscornu model, but I would bet that I can make it with FIMO clay.  I'll have to look for a good color match and give that a try.  Here is what it should look like when it is complete.

Happy Stitching.  Stay safe.

Ready for Beads

So, I think my Moonlit Kitties is ready for beading.  The stitching took a little longer than I expected.  It's hard to see, but there is a good amount of blue stitching on the blue background which isn't difficult - I just didn't realize it was there when I looked at the photo of the model.

Moonlit Kitties Buttoned and Beaded kit from Mill Hill

It is finally raining here (without hail or tornado warnings) and cooling off.  Tomorrow the boys and I will brave the giant weeds that have grown up near the tomatoes in the garden and have at them.

I hope cooler weather is in store for the countless folks who have been dealing with 100 degree days for weeks now.

Look! It's Hogwarts!

It has been a big Lego summer at our house (and beyond).  Both of my boys went to camps with Legos this year.  My younger boy built Bash 'em Bots with Lego Technics while my older boy built a whole list of robots with Mindstorms.  They both had a great time and it seems to have re-kindled an interest in their Legos.  So, without further ado - Hogwarts.

It probably needs more mist and fog but it's hard to find that around here lately.

The Great Hall still needs building and that will probably happen on the next nasty hot day - likely tomorrow.

Stitching pics tomorrow.

Stay Cool as best you can!

A Little More Progress

Here's a little more progress on Moonlit Kitties.  I really like how easy it is to stitch on the perforated paper - especially if you need to grab your work and go.  It has been really convenient - although I guess that will stop when I get to the beading.  Otherwise, I envision tiny little beads all over the car.

While sorting through some charts today I found some Brooke's Books charts for Fauna the Fairy Witch, Trixie the Halloween Witch and Polly the Pirate Witch.  I found an even older Gwendolyn the Great chart as well. I think I'll start on one of these next.  They're all really cute though I'm leaning towards Fauna or Gwendolyn.