This week has been hotter than a firecracker in our area. The humidity is very high and there hasn't even been a hint of a breeze. Even the hummingbirds seem to be resting in the big maple tree where they can guard their feeder.
On days like this I keep the living room curtains closed to keep the heat out. This gives our living room an eerie glow that's not pleasant. My ambition and creativity are at a low point right now.
On days like this our meals are very light and are eaten later than usual. Tonight's meal will be a chef salad and rolls. We were fortunate to have good leftovers for dinner last night. I have to smile when I call our late meal dinner. In our family we refer to our meals as breakfast, lunch and dinner. Forget all about brunch ~ Hubby thinks brunch is nothing more that a trick to cheat him out of one of his meals! Around here the oldtimers eat breakfast, dinner and supper. When we moved back to Missouri in 1991 I invited some new friends from church over for dinner on Saturday. Much to my surprise they showed up at 11:00 am. To them they showed up for dinner ~ but they really showed up for lunch! Now whenever I invite someone for a meal I give them a timeframe just to be safe. By the way, these friends stayed for lunch and dinner that day! Friends are friends no matter the time of day. This practice of these friends coming to spend entire days with us became a weekly event for a few years and I can't tell you how much I enjoyed my weekends because of their visits.
I have been taking a Craftsy quilting class on Strip Paper Piecing. It's absolutely fascinating and I can't wait to try making a few blocks. It feels good to be learning something new about my favorite pursuit.
Another of my favorite pursuits is counted thread embroidery. For a few years I did a huge amount of x-stitching on beautiful linen fabrics. I had many of them framed and they hang in our home. Now that my eyes are getting older it's a bit harder for me to count the tiny threads. Here are a couple of pieces is completed in the late 80's and early 90's.
It took almost a full year to stitch the 1940's bride. The fabric is bone color Jobelan. I had piece of convex glass put over the stitching. This type of glass was typical from this era. There are over 50 shades of flesh in her face.
The bridesmaid above was an enjoyable piece to stitch. Other than the flesh tones everything else is in shades of grey.
One of the things I love about counted thread embroidery is its portability. Also, when I am finished stitching for the day I can drop my work in a basket and it is neat and tidy the next time I pick it up. This is in contrast to the major messes I make when I make quilts. The newly organized sewing room is helping me greatly in this respect.
I have a very large map of the USA that needs to be framed that I finished stitching about a year ago. It will take a full day trip to Springfield to visit the frame shop and choose the molding.
Wherever you are today keep cool.
I wish you a day filled with the blessings of Peace & Plenty...Barb
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