"Be Productive...Yet Calm"

 Those are the words of Lizzie Kate, one of my very favourite cross-stitch designers and now, reportedly, retired.  Regular followers of this blog might remember that in the last several months I've been working on patterns she designed, the latest being "My To Do List".  Last week, I finished this phrase:

"Listen to My Heart"...

And this week?  

Yep.

"Be Productive...Yet Calm"

Both of these reminders are apt for what's happening around me these days. 

I know that some of my Gentle Readers are in the U.S., and their world has opened up somewhat -- for better or for worse -- even as other countries struggle with the onoing pandemic.  Canada (dare I say it?) "as usual", is somewhere between a Much Better Scenario and...Horrific.  

The latter is probably personified by the dire situation in India, and even though we don't produce our own COVID-19 vaccines here (YET -- a long story), we, being Who We Are, are indeed sending aid to that country, so devastated by this virus and its variants, even as it, itself, has done research and produced some of the vaccines against it.

That said, right now my province is experiencing a Third Wave, and has retrenched into stricter regulations, which -- at last -- are being taken more seriously by Those in Law Enforcement.  

Close to home (as in, within a few blocks), a local truck stop has rebelled over the past few months.  The owner didn't want to keep open only his gas pumps and convenience store.  No.  He wanted to keep open his indoor cafe, and to allow freer movement outdoors on his patio...etc.  He didn't want to enforce mask wearing among his staff (in the kitchen, waiting tables), or among his patrons.  He enlisted support from outside sources (I won't go into this here), some of which had already faced consequences in other provinces, but travelled here to support the "resistance" here.  Sigh.  ("After all, it's just the flu!")

After several months of its patience being tried, Alberta Health Services put its foot down.  In recent weeks, the establishment in question has lost its liquor (beer & wine only) licence and it's operating licence.  Despite this, the owner kept the place open and openly publicized what he was doing.  A few days ago, the AHS had enough.  The locks were changed on the premises and the operation was technically closed.  As of today, a court order confirmed that and pre-empted a planned "protest rally" as a result -- not because Canada bans protests, but because NONE of the participants would be masked or at distance, clearly contravening current public health protocols (no contact info either -- for contact tracing) during a Global Pandemic.

It's called "entitlement" and "my freedom to operate my business trumps  your freedom to stay healthy/alive".

Today, the police showed up and the rally was pre-empted.

"Be Productive...Yet Calm"

Ah yes...thus I've tried to be -- both in the yard/garden and in the studio.

So...what have I been up to?  I'll start with the yard/garden...

My indoor seedlings continue to grow.  Depending on the weather, I've put them out into the sunshine, fresh air and wind on and off for a while now, to get them used to the idea.

I've planted leaf and Bibb lettuce in my raised beds -- and after a brief bit of rain a couple of days ago, they've started to poke through the earth, but are not yet photogenic,  Stay tuned!

I've had no luck whatsoever with the daffs and narcissi I planted on the "East Lawn" last fall...but in recent days -- whoo hoo!  Crocuses!  (Croci??)

Crocus #1!

Crocus #2!

Though #1 was allowed to fade on its own, #2 was attacked and chomped by something -- perhaps a deer (though research before I'd planted said they didn't like croci), but I'm thinking a rabbit.  As a result I've put the lot under cover at night for now...and hope for the best.

To put these tiny blooms in perspective, here's the long view on my "East Lawn":

See what I mean? 
Find the crocus!  ;-)

The other Momentous Thing I did this week was to plant a tree.  I've ordered 3 apple trees and 3 Saskatoon berry bushes from a local nursery, but they're not available just yet.  However, undaunted, I decided it was time to transplant a small spruce, which had planted itself several years ago into a large pot near my garden shed, into a spot on my "East Lawn"...

Preparing the ground to plant -- removing sod

Planted!

Planted -- side view

In the course of the digging, I found several "treasures"... 😉

There were the dandelion "trees"...

And the ephemera, including rusted metal, 
broken china and glass shards...

...and something my neighbour tells me is probably
left over from an old water pump of some sort...
it's a valve or something...

I'm just happy to have the tree planted, to have cleared the errant grass out of several flower beds, to have the lettuces showing signs of life in the raised beds...and...to continue to pray for rain.  It's been in the forecast for days but hasn't materialized to any extent.

And so...I wait, I water, and I quilt!

I've been joining rows of "Bali Sunrise" blocks (sorry, no new photos), to be sure, but...last weekend I spoke with a friend of mine from university (we were room mates in first year).  She and I were never BFFs, and for several years we lost touch -- but recently reconnected.  She's been chronically unwell for some time now, and I've decided to make her a lap quilt so, since my last post, I've undertaken a 'Disappearing 9-Patch' piece, composed mainly of long-stashed 4" squares -- the kind one could get by subscription in the years before "Charm Squares" were created -- and which I've finished off with borders of 2" squares (1.5" finished):

On the design wall: the central motif with 1 border

Now...top and bottom border and one side

As of today, I've attached the 3rd side (seen in part on the right of the photo above) and have constructed the 4th...just have to sew it on.  It's not a large piece (44" x 42") but the recipient is also a tiny person...so I am hoping it will make her a bit cozier when she puts it over her lap.

I've also been inspired to make a new art piece.  You already know the extent of my scrap stash (and if you don't, consider yourself blessed! 😉)  Inspired by an artist I very much admire -- Cindy Grisdela -- and an interview she did with art quilter and former SAQA President, Lisa Walton -- I started a new "crumbpilations"* piece -- all in greens, golds/yellows, browns, creams and a touch of dusty blue...

Under construction

Prairie on My Mind - horizontal orientation
22" W x 16" L - before quilting

Prairie on My Mind - Vertical orientation
16" W x 22" L - before quilting

I'm leaning toward the vertical orientation.  It'll be machine quilted with straight lines and less-than-obvious thread, then faced.  So...we'll see how it works out.

I have no inclination to make it larger.

And so...another few weeks have gone by.  I survived my 1st COVID-19 vaccination -- Pfizer -- and the second is booked for mid-August.  I'm not going to push; we have challenges in Canada with the supply, and I'm happy to wait my turn.

For those interested in my knitting, I've almost finished a summer tank top which, truth be told, I want to use as a layering tunic.  I've washed and blocked it, but have yet to finish it because it needs a bit of crochet around the armholes and neck, and the back has an overlap closure that's included in that.  Here it is as it dries on my bedroom floor:

Pattern: "Split Back Tank"
Designer: Allison Griffith
Yarn: Schoeller & Stahl "Micro Cable"
Colour: #08 - Dark Purple

I decided to try a pair of socks for the Ravelry group, Socks from Stash, May Challenge -- knit a pair using at least 2 different colours -- from two different skeins/balls of yarn.  My choice was to try stranded colour-work (yet again) with a new pattern.  Below is the first sock with the first pattern chart completed.  I've now completed 2 charts, the heel and the gusset, and am making my way down the foot of the first sock:

Pattern: "Funfetti"
Designer: General Hogbuffer
Yarns: assorted stash in cream, navy, burgundy and bright gold

It's an adventure...but I'm hoping that by using more stitches than usual and sizing up my needles, I might actually manage a pair of stranded-knitting socks that fit me!

What's up for the next while? Who knows!  I'm hoping for rain for the garden, time to do more quilting ("Grassy Creek has been sitting idle while I work on these other things) and knitting...and when it gets warmer and the wind dies down, I might even get to play outside with fabric and paint.

Meanwhile, the apple trees and berry bushes I've ordered should show up soon...

A gal can hope, eh?

I'm linking this up to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday, wherein this week she dips her toe into the art/not arena...I'm squarely in both camps...how about you?

Have a wonderful weekend -- stay well, stay creative, stay safe, stay productive, stay calm! 😊

Loosening Up...A Bit...

William Wordsworth (1770 - 1850)
Source: Poetry Foundation

"The world is too much with us" wrote poet William Wordsworth a very long time ago.  Very often these days, I feel very much the way he looks in the drawing at left -- and I know I'm not alone, not at all.

Prairie Quintet - September 2019

A couple of weeks ago -- a few days before I wrote my last post -- I received word that the dear elderly friend who'd commissioned the bed-cover-from-an-art-quilt, "Prairie Quintet", died in mid-May, at the age of 99. 

In her obituary her doctor was thanked for his care over the prior two months.  I'd written her at the end of April -- a practice of mine for decades now, as her late husband's birthday was May 1 -- so she'd have received that note.  I've never expected her to respond because of her advanced age, but she usually did within a few weeks, and now...

I am thankful for her friendship all these years, and am comforted to think she may be in a place where she is again well and surrounded by those she loved who'd gone before.

On the heels of that came the murder of Mr. Floyd in the U.S., bringing with it demonstrations, responded to with government-sanctioned violence...going on for almost two weeks now.  All in the midst of an ongoing global pandemic...

It has been a charged and grief-filled time. 

Juggling anger, grief, tears, uncertainty, I've managed to put one foot in front of the other, thanks to having to mow a lot of grass -- twice in the last two weeks -- and to the self-imposed discipline of reading (Psalms -- one a day; The Genesis Trilogy by Madeleine L'Engle (she of A Wrinkle in Time and The Crosswicks Journals); and gardening memoirs), as well as the ongoing work of my hands.

In the yard -- besides mowing! -- I've been watching my seedlings pop through the earth in my raised bed: lettuce/mesclun mix, zucchini (2 hills), broccoli and Brussels sprouts.  And in the flower beds, the Bachelor Button seeds seem to be growing a good 1/2" a day!  Basil and cherry tomatoes too. 

Late last summer I spray-painted an old steamer trunk -- which I'd (sadly) allowed to develop rust (😟).  It's now a wild shade of purple, courtesy of Rust-Oleum -- "Grape" colour-way.  I don't generally like to use spray cans but this is so much easier to use and to clean up after -- and if I am careful, the can is easier to dispose of than a regular can of paint, plus brushes. 

I've put the trunk on two-by-fours in the new part of the yard, near my budding honeysuckle.  I put a folded plastic piece of tarp in the bottom, plus 3 recycled styrofoam meat trays, and on each tray, a large plant pot, recycled from prior years when I brought home roses for the flower bed:

All I need now is some plants!  I'm thinking annuals...perhaps pansies or marigolds or whatever.  The challenge will be to find them, because they are in rather short supply this year.  One nearby nursery has already closed (they usually are open till at least the end of June if not longer), and another has a very picked-over selection -- mainly vegetables (except tomatoes).  I'll keep looking...

In the sewdio, I've been constructing a gazillion 1/2-square triangle units for Round 4 of Bonnie Hunter's "Unity" quilt.  The pattern is now complete, but I'm only partly there (it has 8 parts), and I'm taking my time.  It's official: I've decided to name it "Star Crazy"! 

My sister visited for an hour or so earlier this week -- the first time we've felt it was safe to get together -- and she said she really liked it, so she may end up with it eventually.  Although I'm enjoying the process, this particular pattern is not really my cup of tea, so I am glad it looks like it has a home to go to once it's quilted!

At the same time, stitching continues on the Toronto Sampler from Jeannette Douglas Designs.  I ordered bell pull hardware recently, and have just received word that it'll be in the post tomorrow; though there are postal delays due to COVID-19, it's only coming from Calgary (2 1/2 hours away) so I expect I'll have it by the end of the week.  I must keep plugging away at this because the gift has to be finished and mailed in early August.  Here's what it looks like right now, with fourteen of twenty-one "lines" completed:

I still have a way to go!  😉

In all of that, there have been stirrings -- nudges to 'play' more, to loosen up in the hopes of returning to making some original work.

I took a leap and signed up to take a webinar with one of my very favourite artists -- Joe Cunningham.   Yesterday he gave his first "Zoom" webinar: "Quilt Freedom" -- and it was a tonic!  I can't say that I'd adopt this style of free piecing, but I can say that I enjoyed it, and that it might just be an approach I'd use in the future now and again, should a subject call for it.

I decided to warm up for the class by digging into my scraps and creating a few 'crumb' blocks. I'd made a few some months years ago, when I thought I might like to make an entire quilt of them -- and ended up turning them into a quartet of abstract pieces I call "Crumbpilations".  After that, I went on to other things.  Yesterday, while waiting for the class to begin, I dug into my scraps and made some more.  I now have 3 that are 6 1/2" square, and many more 'under construction', as I used them as "leaders and enders" while I sewed what Joe had us work on during the webinar.

 

The focus of the class was how he uses the inspiration of old quilts to create a new expression of the ideas behind the blocks used in them, how he chooses his fabrics, and how he puts a new quilt all together.  The pattern he used for the class looked like a star sitting on a chalice, but I've located a version of it -- complete with free pattern, called "Vase of Flowers" -- for obvious reasons... 😉  

I was so engrossed in the process that I didn't take any photos as I went along, but here's what my 'impression', using Joe's approach, looks like:

"Blue Pot Too" - in progress

I'm undecided about 'squaring up' the piece by dealing with the angle of the right side...I kinda like it.  I thought too that the pot/vase is a bit over-sized, but if I make it shallower, it will be overwhelmed by the 'plant'.  

Joe's idea was to make a piece about 36" square but I confess that, while I continued to slice fabric with relative abandon, as the afternoon wore on (long after the 3-hour class finished!), I found myself cutting smaller pieces, and then trying to be more focused on the design/lay-out.  Hence the narrow side strips, which are far more deliberate than the rest of it.   Joe did say that while he starts out not having any idea what a piece will look like, as he works into it, and it starts to take shape, he does become more intentional about the work -- so perhaps I wasn't so far off the mark after all, even though it's less than half the size Joe had in mind for us to make.

The class was an apparent success, so Joe is setting up to teach one per month -- usually on the first Saturday (except in July, when it's moved from the 4th to the 11th).  You can find out about it HERE.  I'm not sure I can manage it yet (the CAD exchange rate is a factor), but I'm thinking about it, for sure.  Joe says he believes that quilting is a way to 'be free' -- to find freedom of expression, because there really are 'no rules', and I like that very much.  

I've always been a rule-follower, but if there are no rules, I don't have to feel guilty about breaking any!

I've longed to bring more abstraction to my work; I'll only know if I'm "there" when I can take what I'm learning and use it more than once.  Not simply in response to a class, but in an ongoing way, fitting my style (not "being Joe") but with a freer, looser approach.

I'm linking this week to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday -- wherein this week she too talks about abstraction in art, but from a different perspective than Joe.  Check it out...and see what you think.

And may the coming weeks find you well, safe and ever more able to find 'comfort and joy'.

Yard (Again!), Yarn (Again!) and New Art!

It's a blustery day in this neck of the woods, so I thought I'd share with you my progress in the few days since my last post.

I begin each day with this routine: journal pages (in the manner of Julia Cameron, but usually 2 instead of 3); coffee; knitting; news and breakfast, and more knitting.

I mentioned in that last post that I'd decided I had to do something about my shabby collection of old dish cloths.  It was 2009 since I'd replenished the lot -- and that's far too long! 😆

I'd set aside one that was on the needles and discovered last week -- thanks to my Ravelry records! -- that I'd started it in September 2016, with left-overs from a series of 'spa sets' I'd made for Christmas 2015.  The pattern is even older -- originating as one of a series of "mystery" patterns, two per month, created for a Knit-Along for a long-forgotten Yahoo/Ravelry group.  You can tell...if you look closely...just how old this first pattern is...

The second pattern is from the same era, but it's more generic.  That said, it turned out to be reversible, which made it rather fun to knit up:

Side 1

Side 2
(or vice versa!)

I've decided to knit up one more -- a plain cloth in a purple variegated cotton -- and call it "done" for now.

Next in my routine -- around 9 a.m. or so, if it's temperate enough and sunny (as in 8 C to 10 C; that is, about 50 F) I go outside and get to work.

I knew this cycling combo of rain-wind-sun-swirling-clouds was in the forecast, so I've spent most of each morning this week moving bark chips and leaves around!  The stack of bark chips left by Mike the Tree Guy is now reduced by a bit more than half, as I've spread it thickly around what I'm loosely calling "the copse" or "the haven":

Pussy willow, honeysuckle and lilacs surrounded by bark chips.

Having finished this Wednesday, yesterday I spent my time raking the leaf mulch off some of my flower beds and transporting it to the area around my very-trimmed willow.  While I was at it, I harvested some willow rods to dry out -- with the hopes of learning to make a simple basket or two -- and pulled out marauding grass and dandelions from the flower beds.  Everything is perking up -- and these ladies greeted me in the south bed:

Tulip surprise!

I'm thrilled to see them, as I've not planted new bulbs for several years.  I'd begun to despair of ever seeing more than one lone yellow one; this year, it would seem the conditions were right -- and I have half-dozen up, and several blossoms.  I smile just thinking about it!

On the quilting front, this week I finished assembling the "Strip to Shore" top, and located enough fabric for a pieced back.  It's about 48" x 60":

Once that fabric is washed, I'll sandwich and quilt it -- probably with free-hand straight lines.  😉  First off, however, I'm going to quilt "Elvira Wears a Red Hat" for my friend E., a Red Hatter.  I got it sandwiched and pinned this afternoon:

And yes...there's been some art making going on.  I had the idea for a while, based on the view out my front window, where an old ornamental cherry grows.  I've used this tree as inspiration for other pieces.  This year, it was laden with berries that have been enjoyed by the deer and the birds throughout the fall and winter.  On one bleak morning in late March, when it seemed the snow would never stop, and we'd fallen under the new protocols demanded by COVID-19, I spied a flash of red in the tree -- and found to my delight that there was a newly-returned robin there, looking for dinner.

It inspired me to create this little piece, which went off in today's mail for the 2020 SAQA Benefit Auction:

The Thing with Wings (C) 2020
Commercial cotton, machine quilting,
thread painting, hand beading

The title refers to Emily Dickinson's poem about hope:

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune without the words,

And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;

And sore must be the storm

That could abash the little bird

That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,

And on the strangest sea;

Yet never in extremity,

It asked a crumb of me.

Spring, the sunshine, the welcome rain, the gardening, my morning routines, the work of my hands...all of these have been nourishing "the thing with feathers that perches in [my] soul".  What's giving you hope these days?

I'm linking this to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday -- where this week, she seems to be feeding her soul by sprucing up her studio!

Here's to all those out there who are mothers or who have mothers and grandmothers and surrogate mothers whose love gives us hope.  Have a wonderful weekend!  😊

Yard and Garden, Yarn and Fabric

Just over a month ago, I wrote that I was so glad to see the back end of March.  That month had been full of snow storms -- conveniently every Saturday, meaning getting to church the following day would have meant taking my life in my hands -- and then, COVID-19 made it's nasty presence known and church gatherings were cancelled altogether.   Just when we could have used the community more than ever.

Enter April...and the unexpected passing of a good friend, followed by a continual stream of COVID news, a horrific mass murder by a madman in Nova Scotia (Canada's largest) and more loss of life when one of our navy helicopters crashed into the sea near Greece while on a NATO mission.

Aaargh!!  Restoratives needed!!!  I've been finding it here...

Faith

Our priest -- a self-professed avoider of social media -- has taken on the challenge of recording mosiac services from each of his two parishes, helped by parishioners who are mainly over 60.  We've all had a bit of a crash course in recording and creating YouTube clips which he then turns into a wonderful mosaic and shares each week.  Each parish takes a turn; last week (April 26) it was ours and next week (Mother's Day) it will be our turn again.  (If you're really interested, you can see the links on our parish weblog.) 

The other surprise from our priest is his creation of a weekly "Happy Hour" for parishioners using Zoom -- every Wednesday afternoon around 4:30 p.m.  And yes, a bit of tipple is encouraged!  This began last week.  In addition, folks have been asked to share news in a weekly parish newsletter he sends out via e-mail to our parish list.  Then there are the parishioners who phone others who are elderly or might not be on the Internet, to ensure they're doing okay; still others who live in town (I'm out in the country) are making sure that seniors who can't get out get their groceries and pharmaceuticals.

It's all been a lovely way to practice what our faith calls us to do: to care for each other with love, patience and kindness.

Fabric

Every day I try to get in some sewing.  The yard work has interrupted that because our weather's been unexpectedly mild, but my "Strip to Shore" quilt top -- from GE Designs -- is slowly coming together.  When I took this photo, I had 9 columns finished.  Now all 11 are done, and just need the last bid of joining together.  Now I'm trying to figure out if I have anything in my stash that will serve as a backing, or if I'll have to find an outside source:

As for the "Unity" project from Bonnie Hunter...well...I'm collecting the patterns and like how it's evolving, but I've not assembled any part of it past the first two "clues".  It may wait for the fall...or at least a couple of very rainy days!

And the sketch for my 2020 SAQA Benefit Auction piece remains on my cutting table...best get on that!  It's got to be sent off in a week or two!!  Aaaack!!

Fibre

There's always knitting.  😍

In an attempt to have some sort of routine, I begin every day with an hour (or two) of knitting as I check the weather, read my e-mails, catch up on Facebook and take in some of my favourite news commentators.

I finished my April Socks from Stash socks...

Pattern: "Hermione's Everyday Socks"
Designer: Erica Lueder
Yarn: Bouquet Sock & Sweater

And I'm making steady progress on the ones for May.  This month's challenge called for each participant to select 5 or 6 stash yarns and put them up in a poll on the Socks from Stash Ravelry group.  The yarn that won the most votes from the group members is the yarn that had to be used for the May project.  These ones will be given as a Christmas gift; getting them made early is a bonus! 😊

Yarn: Reinvent from Ancient Arts, Calgary, AB
Colour-way: "Calico Cat"
Pattern: "A Nice Ribbed Sock"
Designer: Glenna C.

As well...more progress is being made on the "Tegna" top -- the pullover I'm making using the pattern I won for participating in the March Socks from Stash challenge.  I've finished the lace hem, and am making my way steadily up the body.  In the photo, I'd done only about an inch above the lace, but I'm a good 3 1/2 inches up now.  There are 238 stitches to every round so though it's mindless knitting now, there's a lot of it!

Having discovered this week that my collection of dish cloths is getting very shoddy, I've picked up one I've had languishing on the needles for who knows how long, so that's added to the mix.  It's in a rather bland tan cotton, but I'll show it to you when I finish it and have a photo.

Further Afield...

(Or at least, out in the yard)...Some of you may remember that last October I purchased the vacant lots next door to my property.  At that time, they looked like this -- with a ginormous willow "bush" in the centre, and two other clumps of trees randomly placed -- on the left side and to the back.

I managed to get a bit of pruning done on one of the tree "clumps" before it snowed...but then it sat until last month, when it finally got warm enough for me to do more pruning.  Of course, that's when I discovered there was no way I was going to clear the mess on my own.  I have neither the equipment nor the strength.  So...I called Mike from "All Tree Care".   When he came out to give me an estimate, I decided to "go big or go home" so in addition to helping me prune the willow, I had him cut out a pesky Manitoba maple, had him remove two unhealthy branches from a Mountain Ash (Rowan) on the NE side of my house that were threatening to fall on my roof, and to remove entirely another Mountain Ash on the back end of my property that was getting more unhealthy by the year.

Willow trimmed!

In order to remove the stump of the unwanted maple (which I discovered was already rotting) I drilled it and each of the large cut branches surrounding it, and applied Epsom salts.  The whole thing is now covered with a piece of an old plastic tarp.  I'll check it every month or so; eventually I'll be able to dig out the rotted stump myself, and it won't have harmed the surrounging shrubs (those are lilacs you see at the back).

Maple extracted!

Here's all that's left of the Mountain Ash on the back alley...and yes, it's stump has been similarly treated as of this writing.

Meanwhile, my new lawn mower and my raised bed kit were ready for pick up at my LHS (Local Hardware Store) earlier this week.  It was an adventure fitting them into the trunk of my car, along with a new jerry can (this is a gas mower), two bags of topsoil and two of composted sheep manure!  The hardware fellows had to take the mower out of the box to do it, but it worked.  When I got home I blessed my neighbour across the street, because he came over and helped me heft it out of the trunk.

I've spent the last couple of days preparing a spot for the raised bed by removing sod from an area approximately 4 feet by 6 feet:

Assembling the bed was simple -- but not particularly easy for a small person alone.  Still, I managed to "git 'er dun" and (almost) filled.

Choosing to "make my own dirt", I layered a variety of things into it, starting with a layer of the sod on the bottom, followed by chopped branches, dead leaves (raked from the nearby raspberry bed where they'd been acting as mulch all winter), compost (I have a rolling composter), composted sheep and steer manure, and top soil.  I dampened each layer with water as I went.  Mike left me a beautiful pile of wood chips when he removed my trees, so I created a pathway around the bed.  First I took apart most of the box the kit came in and laid the cardboard down on the bare earth; then I applied a thick layer of wood chips.  Et voila!

I have a depth of about 6" that still needs to be filled in (more inexpensive top soil) before I can plant, but it's early days yet, so I have time to get that in place. 😊

The forecast for later today and most of tomorrow is rain -- which we definitely need! -- so I'm happy to take a break inside with my fabric and fibre...and some floss too.  Yes, in addtion to all of the above I've dipped back into an embroidery UFO -- the "Toronto Sampler" from Jeannette Douglas Designs.  Intended as a 25th anniversary gift for some friends who live in TO, I didn't get far along when life took over.  This year, they'll be celebrating 45 years together in late August; perhaps I'll manage to get it finished in time!

This is where I'll leave you this week, Gentle Readers...with hopes that this new month finds you healthy, safe, hopeful and happily creating...whether it be with friends, family, fabric, fibre, floss or field and stream!  I'm linking up with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday, and wish you all a wonderful weekend!