FFO Fresh Cut and Friesian Horses

 After the rain . . . 

Today may be only our second day in July without a trace of rain. With the amount of rain we have been having, the weeds have been growing like . . . well . . . weeds! Still if you don’t get too close, this garden still looks lovely.

This rose of sharon which grows against my porch was not planted by me; it just appeared a few years ago. I notice there are a couple of tiny offshoots which I may transplant down back if we ever dry out a bit. Rain is in the forecast for tomorrow. :-(

Mind you, I am not complaining as there are parts of our country that are desperate for rain. The drought conditions are devastating. The wildfires are again raging in the West and Northwest. Heat domes are causing high temperature records to be shattered in some area as well. So, all things considered, I am happy right here in the soggy Northeast.  (Update: Driving home a little while ago I heard the announcer explain that our grey sky is due to all the smoke in the jetstream from the fires out west.

 I was driving home after meeting some retired teacher friends for lunch. We determined that the last time we had been together was December of 2019. I also met another group of retired teacher friends for breakfast last Friday. Yes, I know I am a lucky lady. Members of each group have a sense of foreboding about the rises in  Covid cases across the country and what that may mean for us in the fall, but we are determined to have fun while we can.)

Here’s my latest cross stitch FFO, fully finished object. “Fresh Cut” was the Fat Quarter Shop Stitch Quarterly from March. I actually finished it last month, but I only got around to framing it over the weekend. I had purchased the frame at Hobby Lobby during a 50% off frames sale. (Note: never pay full price at Hobby Lobby since if the item you want is not on sale, it will be in a week or two.) I try to frame as many of my pieces on my own as I can. The frame is a deeper green and the background fabric is white, but I was not able to get a  photo that records the colors accurately. Doesn’t it go well with my $2.00 thrift shop vase from the Cape? 

I laughed when I saw this in last night’s paper as it sums up the weather that we have been having.

Recommendations:

If you like Diane Keaton, check out Hampstead on Netflix. It is not a great movie, but it is a pleasant enough way to spend a couple of hours. I’d give it a B-, but then I always was a tough grader.

Also, let me tell you my secret Youtube pleasure. . .” Friesian Horses  Follow the Herd, “  short videos posted by a stable in the Netherlands. I cannot begin to tell you how calming it is to see these big, black, beautiful horses out in the meadow. This Youtube channel has extremely high viewership around the world. The other day the owner and the workers at the stable did a live question and answer session. Yvonne who films and posts the videos wondered on behalf of her coworkers why so many people view their videos. I can tell her. The horses are magnificent, the people all seem to love working with these horses, and in a world such as ours, it good to take a few moments each day to see something wonderful. Try it; you will like it. By the way, I now know more about horses than I ever did before. :-()

Question

Is it just me or do you think two of the richest men in the world might have found a better use for the money it took to send these would be astronauts into space for a few moments of weightlessness on their joyrides? Make that astronuts! Think what that money might have done to ease hunger around the world. This morning on one of the news programs it was suggested that this was just the first step in an attempt to commercialize space. Good grief! Just what we needed. . . 

Stay safe. Stay cool and dry and have a good week

One more thing: As you may have read on many blogs, Feedburner will no longer be sending out a notice of any new posts. I have added a Follow.it box in the top right column where you may sign up to continue to receive these posts. Fingers crossed that it will work. In any event, I would suggest bookmarking . . . 

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