Making My Bed

 

I've never been a tip-top housekeeper -- it seems like such a thankless exercise -- but I do try to keep up with some things: the dishes (I'm the dishwasher); the laundry; the bathroom; the vacuuming...that sort of thing.

And I always made my bed -- until about 20 years ago, when my husband died.  I'd been sleeping in a twin bed in my daughter's room for some years before that, as Howard was in a hospital bed -- with a special mattress for his fragile skin and poor circulation -- for more than two years before he died.  

During that time, I'd tried to keep my room in good shape -- it was at the front of the house, after all -- but after he died, I moved back into what had been 'our' room, and it didn't seem to matter much any more.  Even after I moved out of the city to this wee rural hamlet, well...I'd make my bed before I left the house for any length of time, but if I were at home, I just left it.

That seems to have changed in the last few months...since the fall.  In August I posted a special post about what would have been our 50th Anniversary -- and the 19th of his death (same day, different year).  Sometime in the weeks after that, and after my 73rd birthday, and a visit with good friends who let me work through all that those weeks had brought, I began to make my bed again.

Pretty much every morning -- after whichever cat was sleeping on it, got up and left.

I still have my weepy days, my grumpy days, my angry days...but they're less frequent now.  I found a new faith family that I'm still uncertain about joining, but one thing I know is this: they are kind and friendly and want me to stay.

And while my 'art mojo' has been unsettled, this month I'm back into a better groove, making time for it again.

My word for this year is 'Enough' -- and I think that somehow, somewhere deep down inside, I found I'd had enough. Enough of the mess of the bedroom every night at bedtime.  Enough of feeling like I was never accomplishing anything.  Enough of bringing the uncertainty of the outside world into my home.

I'm sleeping better, longer and with fewer unsettling but unremembered dreams.  I'm drinking more water and tea -- even herbal tea! -- and less alcohol.

I'm losing my resentment for the short winter days, all the snow shovelling, and the unpredictable sidewalk and road surfaces that make daily walks difficult.  And when I'm out in the cold, crisp air, I take deep breaths and thank the Creator for the sunshine.

So my making is more a pleasant routine than a boring rote exercise -- and I've found the courage to apply (again) for a booth at the local Art Show/Sale in April.  I'm making new hooked work, including a piece for another fund-raising silent auction for the local performing arts centre.  I gave my 2025 Warm Things box to the church for its mitten tree, and have begun new pieces for a 2026 box.  I'm listening to more quiet, lovely music and less to the news.  

And it all began with the simple step forward: making my bed.

Here are some photos of what I've been working on:

Quilting

I'm making steady progress on Bonnie Hunter's latest Mystery, "Lupines and Laughter", inspired by her 2025 trip to Iceland.

I finished the units for Clue 5:

And I started those for Clue 6:

Shortly after my last post, Sherri posted the first of her blocks for her annual Block of the Month (BOM) at A Quilting Life.  She's doing hers in colours that honour the US 250th anniversary.  Being Canadian, well...I've decided to dig out red and white from my stash -- including fabric left from Canada's 150th Anniversary of Confederation.  I don't have much of the red-and-white print from that fabric line, but I'm going to stretch it as far as I can.  Here's my version of the first blocK:

If you want to make it, and haven't yet downloaded the pattern, it's still free for the taking, HERE.

Knitting:

You all know how I get 'startitis' every January, and (truth be told) again in September with "back to school" -- though I've not had to worry about that for decades now! LOL!

Well, this year, a couple of the knitting podcasters I watch have joined in something called "The 12 Days of Cast-Ons" (or "Christmas Cast-ons"), to which I referred -- briefly -- in my last post.  This originated some years ago, apparently, with a podcaster named Rainbow Ange -- her YouTube channel is YarnNYarns.  The project calls for folks to cast on 12 new items between Xmas Day and the end of January, and then try to finish them by the end of the year.

That said, the "rules" are...well...loosey-goosey.  One podcaster is casting on 6 new projects and dug out 6 Works in Progress (WIPs) to make up 12.  And the craft can be knitting, crochet, spinning, weaving...whatever.

Me?  I decided to cast on a few new knitted things, start a few new projects in my other crafts, and toss in a few languishing WIPs.

The quilting?  My 'new projects' consisted of the Block of the Month, that began January 4, and a funky scrappy log cabin I'm making as a leader/ender project.

In the knitting vein, I cast on a pair of socks (since frogged because though I liked the pattern, I didn't like it striped); a cowl -- mentioned in my last post -- red and white with maple leaves on it.  Sorry; I've still no photo to show you because although I'm past the ribbing and some of the first colour-work, the darned edge rolls up such that I can't photograph it!

And then...my first ever top-down stranded colour-work raglan pullover.  I am loving it!  Even the short-rows!

Pattern: "Feel the Bern"
Designer: Caitlin Hunter
FREE on Ravelry
Yarn: a stash assortment

I finished my 'Simple Handspun Hat'. and it's going into my Warm Things Box:

2-ply -- hand-painted Falklands wool
marled with black alpaca

And I continue to work on the 'Sylph Cowl', which is now my carry-along project.

Cross-stitch:

Except for my Sunday Stitch -- "Cattle on a Thousand Hills" from Plum Street designs -- I've set aside the other projects mentioned in my last post, in favour of focusing on a languishing WIP and a new start (part of my "12 Days" informal plan).

The WIP is the first section -- "Winter" -- of a four-seasons kitted cross-stitch project I got sometime after it came out in (yes) 2005. It's from Elsa Williams, and is done on 14-count white aida, with specially kitted DMC floss.  I really didn't have much left to do, and now all I have is a bit of straight stitching "tree branches".  It's very pretty, and I'm delighted that I'll have it finished by March, when I can start the "Spring" section:

The other piece is my new start -- mentioned in my last post -- the 2026 Stitch-ALong (SAL) from Modern Folk Embroidery, entitled "Little Acorns".  I did indeed start it January 1st, and here's where I am now:

Floss: "Pippy" from Roxy Floss Co.
Fabric: 40-count "Platinum" from Roxy Floss Co.

I took Jacob's suggestion as to how to divide up this year-long SAL, and then decided to further divide the first section into four -- one for each week this month Jan. 1st, Jan. 8th, Jan. 15th, and Jan.22nd.  What you see above is where I got to last evening, just past the half-way mark, so into the fourth week, which is really 10 days.

Finally, in stitch, in light of the events of the past week, I dug out "Disagree" from Rebel Stitcher, and have put in a few stitches.  Here's where I left it in May, 2025:

                              And here's where it was as of last evening:

Thread: 12-wt. Sulky variegated in blues and greens
Fabric: unlabelled 40-count something! 

Rug Hooking:

These are my newest projects.  In my last post I mentioned that I'd received Deanne Fitzpatrick's latest book on landscapes.  I've now read most of it, and taken inspiration to get back to the frame(s).

On my made-over embroidery frame, I started a small piece (8" x 10") that's a floral, inspired by a water-colour from my cyber-friend Holly Maclean of New Brunswick -- and used by permission:

There's actually more been done on it than the photo shows -- but I've put it on pause until I receive some more yarn in shades of maroon that I discovered I was lacking.  They should arrive next week.

And on the Cheticamp frame, I drew two landscapes.  One is an adaptation of an art quilt I created in 2012, but I've not started it yet. Stay tuned!

The other is the landscape I plan to mount on canvas (provided by the venue) for the 2nd "Piece-by-Piece" silent auction fundraiser to benefit the Lacombe Performing Arts Centre (LPAC):

Working Title: Underneath a January Moon

Again, I took some inspiration from Holly -- a watercolour she did of a large bare tree in winter -- again with her permission -- but I've made it my own with the other trees and the moon etc.  I have yet to finish the sky and the foreground snow, but it'll be finished soon.

Those of you, Gentle Readers, who've been following along, might remember that in November I was accepted into "Winter's Night", a small group exhibit also at the LPAC.  It closed last week, and on Monday this week I picked up my piece, "Love Lives in the Stars".

It won't be home long, though, as "my" gallery, Curiosity Art and Framing in Red Deer", has accepted it for their next themed exhibit, "Starry-eyed" -- so I'll be taking it there next week.

Riding a wave of inspiration and hopeful ambition, I've sent in my application for the 2026 Lacombe Encore! Art Show and Sale in April, and am giving consideration to answering an Open Call at LPAC for later this year or into 2027, a solo show of my quilted work.  I've talked it over with the young woman in charge, and she's encouraged me to apply...so stay tuned for news on that too.

I think that's enough for this go 'round, Gentle Readers.  Just reviewing it all makes my head spin a bit. The evening is getting late, so perhaps it's time for me to close this off and crawl into that well-made bed with a cuppa and book.

Until next time, I'll leave you with a link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  She too is in a whiriwind of new making -- requiring her to deal with the...um...state of her studio.  I think you'll agree that for most of us, it's easier to make our beds! 😉

A bientot!

All the Pretty Poppies

 The majority of my time in recent weeks has been spent here:

Pookie in the Outdoor Studio West

Or here...

Outdoor Studio East -- in "The Grove"

And sometimes, here...

Yet another stitchy spot - moving with the sun

We've had a pretty nice summer -- though, truth be told, it's been far too dry, and often, far too hot, resulting in an inordinate number of wildfires all over the country, and precipitating an agricultural crisis here on the prairies.

Today it's chilly, damp and grey, with overcast skies that have yet to make good on their threat to drop much-longed-for rain.

A perfect day to catch up in a blog post!

As the title of this post implies, once they recovered from the frying, drying heat wave we had in June, my gardens have been coming along nicely.  Under the big double willow in The Meadow, I scattered poppy seeds -- a gift from my neighbour -- with abandon in the spring, and they've not disappointed:

First double poppy under the willows

All the pretty baby poppies under the willow

My first bird-planted daylily in the Grove

As a result I've been doing well with my stitching endeavours, making good progress since my last post.

"Here Be Dragons" from Modern Folk Embroidery, is finished -- and needs a frame:

A Dragon in the Sunshine! 😉

I've just finished a little red sampler from Thames Path Samplers on Etsy.  Note: I got this as a PDF download; I'm not certain, however, that it's still available.  Sorry.

Modification: replaced part of the bottom border
with my initials and the year.

I really enjoy monochromatic stitching; I've kitted up a few more of these -- and the next one, I think, will be done in variegated blues on a tan or caramel-coloured background.  I set aside Thursdays for these, so stay tuned...

My current Sunday Stitch is "Keziah Campbell 1796", which I'm personalizing to memorialize my father's family, descended from the Rennies of Kilsyth, Scotland.  I've moved down to the house and lawn, full of -- as Brenda of Brenda and the Serial Starter would say -- "the damned grass!" 😉😆

Given the adjustments I had to make to fit in the initials of my father's immediate family, there have been more tweaks made in the spacing but it's all working out.  And yes, that's a cat you see next to the lady in red, as befitting my status as a Certified Cat Person!

In other progress, "Shalom" -- a Hanukkah/anniversary gift for friends -- is coming along nicely (though I haven't an updated photo to show you!)  And I made some progress on "Nevermore" -- but am now waiting for more floss.  That's what happens when you fail to read that you need two skeins of something and order only one...sigh...

Since this photo was taken, I've finished that second motif, and have found a third that I can do with the floss I have on hand...but it will require serious counting and concentration, so I've left it for now.

In my July 2nd post, I showed my progress on "Barnabee's Quest - Part I" -- a 22-year old pattern from Just Nan Designs.  I've now finished it, except for the beads and charm, and have dug out Part II, which I want to stitch on the same piece of fabric.  (These are teeny-tiny!)  I erred and did the verse in black instead of bright purple, but I like the effect so I'm going to be consistent and use black for the verse in each of the three pieces:

Last week I spent a few days with friends south of Calgary -- both very fond of textile arts.  One's current focus is hooking rugs and art "mats" and the other's current love is black work so we spent some time sorting their stash and sharing supplies.  I made some progress on my canola scene which is my first attempt at my own design:

I began by updating the colour of the grain bins to a more accurate silvery-grey, and the fence posts to a more solid brown.  I then finished the grass in the foreground.  Now I need to tackle the sky, for which I'm using this photo I took locally some years ago:

I'm procrastinating a bit...so I must take courage and just get on with it! LOL!

On the knitting front, I finished the Balvraid hap and gave it to my friend Anne, who loves it!  Here she is modelling it...

You can tell by her outfit that the hap suits her colours!

I also finished a simple hat for the giving box...and have put the last bit of this green yarn into my rug hooking stash (it's also in the grass in the landscape shown above).

With all the wildfires going on here -- the latest being the evacuations in the NWT (Northwest Territories) and B.C. (especially Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley) -- I've started another hat, the fourth in this batch, and am determined to also add to my pile of comfort quilt tops, in the hopes of getting them finished and sent to where they're likely to be needed as the fall and winter approach. So many people have lost everything.  I have more stash than cash, so am doing what I can and live in hope that it will be of use.  

I was horrified by the wildfire that took most of Maui, but am unable to manage to send fully quilted quilts that far away, so have decided to try to help those closer to home.

This new hat is the "Morning Coffee" pattern, free on Ravelry; I'm making it from more Paton's Classic Wool Worsted, and have omitted the rolled brim:

As today is rather cold and gloomy -- still no rain and now the air is smelling smoky -- it's just right for heading into the Indoor Studio for some time working on my scrappy Butter Churn blocks.  I've finished 69 of a desired 80, and that would make -- with borders -- a perfect comfort quilt to add to the pile.  These are small enough I can sandwich, baste and quilt them myself, and so make them available when needed.

I continue to have an art quilt idea percolating...but am not "there" yet -- that point at which it wants to be brought into the world.  Time will tell!

I'll leave you with a link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday -- wherein this week she's reminiscing about publications and blogs gone by.  Do you have favourite blogs that you miss?  Favourite websites that are now a thing of the past?  Check out what she misses, and take a walk down memory lane.

Blessings for the waning days of summer and until we meet again here on this page... a bientôt!