Tuesday, January 24, 2017

lately

Mother Nature has been having her way with us in SW Wisconsin, and as a result we have been mostly housebound. Many days the ice made walking to and from the chicken house a risky venture.


Lately it has been fog and mud. I miss the sun.
We've finally removed the last of the outside Christmas decorations. Always, always Dovey takes her roll as supervisor very seriously.



Being housebound has its advantages to be sure. I'm spending lots of time in the kitchen keeping our physical fires stoked. Jerome, who is active on the antique tractor club Facebook page, just couldn't resist posing a recent lunch to share on his page.


(The miniature tractor was a gift from the man who sold Jerome his his first two cylinder tractor, a 1947 John Deere B.)
Beef barley soup is just the thing. It's full of vegetables and  I'm happy to say some of them are from last season's garden.
Another advantage of being inside most of each day is lots of time in my sewing room. My quilt guild is running a season long challenge of personal round robins. I described the project in an earlier blog posting. Here you can see some of the progress I've made on each.


The pineapple block now has its second border, sawtooth.


The 8 point star has been given two coping strips and then a few chevrons on each of the four sides. I am now working on appliqué ideas as the second border motif. I'm playing with this round, a nice break from the fussy requirements of piecing the other borders.
Unfortunately, our guild meeting for January had to be cancelled due to ice and fog. An email arrived announcing that the two borders for the third round are flying geese and piano keys. I've never done any of these and find it all a good workout for my little grey cells and actually quite good fun.
In the evenings I still like to do handwork so I don't feel totally guilty about spending time in front of the tube. I've just finished a cross stitch piece that required every lamp in the living room turned on. Working on black cloth is not easy!


This little book of cross stitch designs has an inscription in the front inside cover which reminded me that I bought the book at Half Price Books while visiting Anne and Matthias in the Cleveland area years ago. There are so many lovely patterns included. Since finishing this one I'm working on others in a series that are done on a light ground, thank goodness,
Two of my seed orders arrived in the mail yesterday. It'll soon be time to sow the onions and leeks. Joy! Rapture!
A winter storm is on its way so I best be about tending to last minute things.
Thanks for visiting.









3 comments:

  1. Snowdrops!
    We won't see those in the yard for months yet, but they are so lovely in your cross stitch, Sharon.
    Your round robin projects are looking good. I've never done a round robin, but I think it might be fun some day.
    We are getting your snow, sleet, freezing rain here today. Thank goodness for all the bulbs blooming on the windowsills...hyacinth, amaryllis, paperwhites and a few stubborn Christmas cactus.
    Sending some cheer from Vermont! xo

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  2. Such beautiful projects, Sharon. I'm always so impressed by your precision in doing complicated needlework and quilting.
    I had no idea your weather has been so bad. Hope this last storm was not too bad.
    Love those John Deere soup mugs! xo

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  3. Gorgeous header Sharon! I am glad you are keeping busy and warm while the weather is so bad. Soon we will be at Imbolc - half way between the winter solstice and spring! There is so much to look forward to. Your quilts and cross stitch are superb!

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