If It's Sunday...It's Not Friday...

 Howdy from the rancho.  I would say happy Friday, but I missed Friday and it's Sunday.  Sigh.  

California is hot, smokey and miserable.  As of this morning, at least five people have lost their lives in wild fires and one MILLION acres have burned.  Most of these fires were started by lightening.  This makes my heart so sad.  Our town is 100 miles from the closest fire but we did not see blue skies from last Tuesday until yesterday.  I cannot image how people are doing that are so much closer.  The weather forecast is for more thunderstorms through Wednesday.  Scary.

As the smoke was horrible, I spent most of last week in the house with all the windows closed or in the car with the recirculating air on.  At one time, our town had the third worst air in the United States.  I finally had to mow the lawn.  I wore an N95 mask that my husband uses to paint cars.   

While watering, I found a little friend hiding in my plants.  

On some days, the temperature was over 100 degrees.  I decided that it was time to make some raisins.  It's been more than three days but they're coming along.

I worked on my son's washcloths.  I want to make at least three to send in a few weeks.  Since I'm caught up on my SAL, I worked on some more finishing.  These are my friend's stitching.

This was a kit using wool.  I really like how it turned out and am thinking of making one for myself out of my wool stash.  The Jingle pin came with the kit but I made the other two pins.

These are a few of my stitches/finishes.

My garden is still hanging in there but production has slowed down.  I had enough zucchini and carrots for a BBQ.  This was the day that was 102 degrees.  Hot outside but would have been much worse if I'd cooked chicken in the house.

Have a good week.  Stay safe.  Be kind to one another.

Showing Off for the Crowd

Happy Saturday from the rancho.  For all of you that love hot weather...I am living in your paradise.  It was 106 degrees today.  Rain in the morning, misery this afternoon.  I am too old for this kind of heat.  Dinner was mixed green salad with turkey, homegrown watermelon and cantaloupe.  Didn't have quite enough lettuce in my garden but with the heat expected to last for at least a week...I am hopeful.  LOL

I try to do all my outside chores before 10 am.  Then I can spend the afternoon stitching.  Or napping.  Or snacking.  My Covid 15 may be going up to Covid 20.  LOL

Caught up on my SAL from Linens and Things 2020.  Loving the way the pattern and colors flow.

I promised to show some of my finishes.  This sewing purse was one of the most difficult items I have completed.  It took me two days to understand the directions.  LOL  My biggest fear was to slip and ruin the silk.

My friend loves Halloween stitching.  This is one of my favorites.  It was a simple face.  I made it into a mask and put it on a Dollar Tree burlap pumpkin.  I think it is so cute!!

These were mounted on comic board with fabric on the back.  She put them on a Halloween garland and hung on the stairs.

I love to stain, paint, distress, oil any and all types of wood.  I was practicing aging paint on this paddle several months ago and found it perfect for this project.

A little hanger for a door or cabinet knob.

Thank you for letting me share.  I have stitched for over twenty years but really got into finishing about five years ago.  I've went to a few retreats for finishing and spent hours on YouTube.  I am definitely not perfect but getting better with every project!!  And I have found that I am willing to try new things and have a blast stretching my talents.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend.  Stay safe.  Be kind to one another.

Passing Time at the Rancho

Happy Friday evening!  Time marches on here at the rancho.  As we enter month five of the pandemic, I've realized that I love my home, my garden, my stitching...but I sure would like to get out of the house and head cross country. There is something about new scenery that makes me smile.  

It's been in the low 80's here, so much nicer than 100 degrees.  My tomatoes all decided to ripen at the same time.  Thank goodness I'm a good sharer.  LOL  My grape vines are giving me a bumper crop this year.  I have two vines and have already picked about 25 pounds of grapes.  There's at least that much left on the vines that need a few days to ripen.  The birds are not that interested this week.  Not sure why, the grapes are pretty good!  Shared those with the neighbors, too.

Here is a picture of the tomatoes I have growing:

I've got cherry, regular and zebra.  The green with stripes are the zebra.  And yes, that is the color when they're ripe.  LOL  They are sweet with a lot less acid than regular tomatoes.

With the cooler temperatures my roses are happy, happy, happy.

At least once a week, I try to cook a meal that is entirely from the garden.  I had corn on the cob, butternut squash, carrots and zucchini.  Since I have now become the BBQQ (Bar B Que Queen) I put everything on the Traeger grill.  My husband absolutely, positively HAD TO HAVE A TRAEGER GRILL!   As men are apt to do, he kinda lost interest.  As women are apt to do, I pulled out my phone and googled "how to cook on a Traeger".  LOL  Because of the way this grill works, it is almost like an oven.  Note the carrots and squash are in a cast iron pan.  Yep, works well.  It is said to work with pizza...hmmmm...maybe next week. 

Nothing much on the stitching front.  I've been doing finishing for a friend.  She loves to stitch, not so much the finishing.  LOL  I get to keep the patterns once I'm done, so it's a win-win.  Here's a few of my finishes.  Some are per the instructions, others just from my head.  

I have started going to a craft get-together once a month.  There is social distancing and masks.  I am  picking up some tips for embroidery and crocheting.  It is nice to sit with others and have some inspirational time.  

Okay, off to get ready for bed.  Wishing each of you a good weekend.  Be kind to one another.