An Historic June Heat Wave

 Hi Everyone! Let me turn the fan facing you. There is that any better??? Here in Massachusetts we have had our seventh day of 90+ temperatures this season, and it isn’t even July yet. We get on average nine days with  90+ temperatures, and we will reach that by Wednesday. Yesterday at 9:00 Mass the fans made the air cool enough, but the humidity was something else. I had to peel myself off the pew or kneeler each time I moved. (We, Catholics, do a lot of standing, sitting, and kneeling, and I stuck to everything! :-()

You will not hear me complain though as I have central air. My thoughts are with those in the Southwest and especially those in the Northwest where they are experiencing record high temperatures. 115 degrees is unheard of there. I don’t remember the Northeast ever being any higher than 105, and that seldom ever happens. It makes our 97, 98, 97 temps this week seem much more tolerable.

Yesterday afternoon was awesome as I went to my cousin Freddie’s 12th birthday party where we celebrated all four members of the family with July birthdays. I cannot tell you how happy I was to head out back at my cousin’s home and see all seven of my young cousins who range in age from nine to fifteen. They are getting so big!!! It was a warm, but totally wonderful day seeing everyone in person. My cousin Brian took this photo of the gang.

Another sign of a return to some normalcy . . . this afternoon I had my first flute lesson since March 5, 2020. Here’s Emma monitoring one of my practice sessions earlier this week.

Don’t tell my teacher, but I was considering giving up my flute lessons which I have been taking for many years. Why didn’t I? Every article that you read offering tips on keeping your mind sharp as you age lists playing an instrument as one of the top five recommendations. Now, don’t tell my teacher, but over the past fifteen months I was not a very dedicated flute student only picking up my flute from time to time in spurts. I just didn’t have the heart for it. The good news is that my teacher at no point dissolved into tears during today’s lesson. In fact, she seemed to be doing a whole lot of laughing. . . gee, I wonder why????? I have been taking lessons from Donna for at least fifteen years. She, too, was a teacher in Weymouth. She has moved several times during that period, but I have always managed to find her. :-()

On my way home I made a quick stop at Hobby Lobby, and what to my wondering eyes should appear but a few Christmas items on the shelves and bins waiting to be unpacked. Get your lights now before they are gone. Can you believe that! We haven’t even had the 4th of July yet! It’s nuts!!! 

I’ll leave Emma fans with a photo from last week after her visit to Pooch Paws in Rockland. Her groomer always does a great job.

Keep cool everyone. Take it easy, stay hydrated, and please stay safe.

Thrifting Fun on Cape Cod

 As I mentioned in my previous post, our group enjoys visiting thrift shops on the Cape. According to a brochure that we picked up, there are thirty-seven thrift shops on the Cape; we visited seven of them. This six inch vase ($2.00) was one of my finds. Rather than build suspense, let me show you my favorite find.

It is marked Haviland France with the initials PW. Did I need this? No, but I loved the colors, the design, and it was only ten dollars. It is now on my dining room table.

I do have two rules that I try to follow. First, do not buy anything big. Second, think about how you will use the item and where you will put it. I made the first rule after having brought home a heavy, solid mahogany bureau a few years ago.  It barely fit in my Rav 4, and I had to hire someone to move it upstairs for me. Still and all, it was a good purchase.

Note: the bureau did have a somewhat funky odor. Here is how I solved that problem. I bought a can of coffee and put coffee on a tray or in a bowl in each drawer and closed the drawers. I replaced the coffee with fresh coffee after a week, and by the following week all traces of the odor were gone. That’s your tip for the day.

In no particular order, here are the rest of my finds.

The shape of this bee platter ($6) was unusual, and I may use it as a serving piece, but it will be great to display small, bee-themed cross stitch pieces when my tiered tray is full.

Speaking of stitching, I added this never opened zip purse kit ($2) to my stash.

This cross stitch kit ($3) contained a pattern which I do not intend to stitch, but there was floss and a nice piece of light blue 14 count aida fabric which is the count that I prefer.

The mug rack was $3.00. The red tomato teapot and cookie jar had belonged to my Aunt Alice who was an excellent cook and baker. That cookie jar was always filled with yummy treats.

I will display small cross stitched pieces on this red, metal recipe box ($5) by glueing a small magnet to the back of the stitching. The pieces can then be stored away inside.

I never look at clothing, but this scarf ($2) caught my eye.

Finally, I’ll add this plate ($5) to my Easter/spring decor. 

The prize for this trip went to Linda B. who found a lovely black,  cocktail dress for $3.00 marked down from $5.00! Bargain!!!

I did pick up a few small frames which I will show you when I put them to use.

Keep cool wherever you are this weekend.

The Best Week I Have Had in Fifteen Months

 Last week was the best week that I have had in fifteen long months! It started on Monday when I had a group of my quilting friends come for dinner. We had met a few times for masked, socially distanced gatherings last summer outside and had kept in touch by texting throughout the rest of the year, but nothing beat actually seeing them in person sitting around my dining room table on Monday night. Yes, I had cleared all the many quilting, applique, and other projects off the table and put on a pretty tablecloth that I had purchased in Italy a few years ago. It was fun to set a table once again. 

On Wednesday, I headed down to Cape Cod. Kathy, third from the left, hosted a wonderful group of friends at her family’s summer home in Eastham. All of these ladies were teachers in Weymouth.  We brought sleeping bags, lots and lots of food, and a desire to have fun, and we sure did! What did we do? We laughed, ate, laughed, played games, laughed, enjoyed the sunsets, laughed, talked, and visited thrift shops in search of treasures. :-() (In my next post, I will show you the treasures that I found.) 

On Friday, two more of Kathy’s friends joined us.

Though we have all been fully vaccinated for a few months, we did ‘take-out’ meals. (The exception was on Wednesday when we started the getaway with lobster rolls at a small restaurant.) 

A favorite image . . . 

Welcoming??? sign of the times . . . 

Caution . . . Not to worry, we were too busy shopping to do any swimming. :-)

Kathy is a remarkably generous hostess, and we all had a truly awesome time. In case you are wondering, Miss Emma was on her mini vacation at her home away from home with Auntie Annemarie, Uncle Bruce and Cousin Kara and with her canine cousins Bailey and Harvey. She, too, had a super time!

Yes, I know how truly blessed I am. Life is good.

A Bluebird Salute and This Week in my Garden

This adorable cross stitch piece is “A Bluebird Salute” which took me about a week to stitch. The designer is Misty Pursel of Luminous Fiber Arts on Etsy.  I substituted gold DMC etoile floss to give it a bit of sparkle. I’m currently stitching a few more patriotic pieces. 

Here is the back. On this piece, I followed Lori Holt's method of stitching around all four side, making a slash on the back, turning it right sides out, stuffing it, and covering the slash with a bit of wool and buttons. She has many tutorials on Youtube.

 Cuteness Alert! Cuteness Alert! My neighbor has been making cat and dog planters featuring different breeds.  I, of course, ordered a schnauzer one. 

If that doesn’t put a smile on your face, I do not know what will. The pink is its little tongue sticking out. 

My gardening mojo is still going strong. I went to Lowe’s last week to see if they had any peat moss; they didn’t, but a woman walked by with a stunning rose in her cart and you guessed it. . . Yes, one just like it came home with me :-() Isn't it  gorgeous!

 

A few other spots of color this week . . . 

A Stella D’Oro daylily after the rain . . . (If you click on this photo or any of the others, you will see a larger image showing the raindrops. I'm not sure about photographing whiskers on kittens, but I do love photographing raindrops on roses and other flowers. 

Two old fashion flowers. . .  Rose campion with its striking magenta color. Once you establish a plant, new plants will pop up absolutely everywhere. I cut it back after it blooms, and I will get a rebloom later in the season. (This plant is said to come in white and pink though I have never seen it in any color other than magenta.)

This is spiderwort. The plant is a bit floppy, but I do give it space in my large garden.

This is the time when the strip alongside my garage is bursting with color. If only it would look like this all summer.

Well, that’s all for now. Next time I will show you a couple of recently completed larger cross stitch pieces.

Have a colorful, happy, safe, wonderful week.

Garden Progress and “West with Giraffes”

Greetings from a very hot, very humid Massachusetts! We are in day three of a heat wave with one more day to go. (Or as the weather folks say, "We are under a heat dome. Don't you just love how they come up with new ways to describe weather conditions.) It’s definitely way too hot for gardening, but I thought I would show you my progress. Yes, put a gold star on my forehead as I have finished the 9’x10’ garden and the 4’x20’ strip across my large garden which is 20’x24’. If the weather will only cooperate, I should be able to finish the rest later this week. (There was no gardening over the Memorial Day weekend as it was raining with temperatures in the forties and low fifties for the entire weekend.)

Emma approved and carefully supervised my work.

The small iris bed was spectacular this year.

This gorgeous yellow iris came from my godchild’s garden.

On one of my visits to a local garden center, I spotted this iris, and it definitely had to come home with me. ;-() “Edith Wolford” is the name of this exquisite iris.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading, but nothing worth recommending until now. West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge is a great read!!! What a marvelous storyteller this author is. If you think the story of transporting a pair of giraffes cross country during the Depression doesn’t sound engaging, you would be wrong. It is wonderful. I cannot recommend this novel more highly.

Another recommendation: Lisa Walton, quilt artist from Australia, was a recent zoom presenter for a meeting of the Quilters Connection Guild in Watertown. Her talk was very entertaining. She also told us about a series of Youtube interviews she has been posting. You may find them by searching for “Lisa Walton Quilt Stories.” What makes these short interviews so interesting is that she interviews a quilt artist about one art quilt.  They discuss the inspiration for the work, the planning, and the constructing of the art quilt. You may pick up some wonderful ideas and inspiration watching these videos. I particularly enjoyed the interview with Gloria Loughman. While I was acquainted with many of the American quilt artists, it is interesting to learn about other quilt artists from down under. Definitely check out Quilt Stories. I was even inspired to sign up for an online class with Lisa Walton. I chose the Aurora - on demand class.

That’s it. Stay cool and stay safe.

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Covid Update:

Deaths in the World: 3,739,884

Deaths in the United States: 598, 094

Deaths in Massachusetts: 17, 915

As of last Friday, all Covid /Pandemic restrictions have been listed in our state. Masks are optional although stores and other businesses may still require them. There are no longer restrictions in houses of worship. In my church, you may choose to sit in a area where everyone wears masks and seating is socially distant or you may choose to sit in an area without any restrictions. One small happy change, hymn books are back in the pews and everyone is encouraged to sing.

From my observations, it would appear that many are being cautious about mask removal. Most people who are outside are not wearing masks, but about half the shoppers I have seen are still choosing to wear masks. For now, I fall into the later category.