God Paints the Best Pictures!

 His paintbrush makes grand gestures across the sky, no mere mortal can achieve the beauty of the sun as it rises or sets, or the moon shining in a black velvet sky.  

To Be a Cat, is to Be Comfortable!

 Doesn’t it make you want to take a little nap?

Bit of a Blow

 What a lovely sunrise this morning!  Last night  it was a bit of a different story. We had 30mph sustained winds and gusts over 50!  A big tree limb broke and came flying across the yard onto our deck.  Into our breakfast room, where we were sitting! This is our first big storm...I think it won’t be the last!

It snagged on the deck railing, whew!  If it hadn’t, it would have come right through the glass doors.

No Rain!

 This sky, the blue that is seen at this time of year, shone in all its joyousness.  It was a welcome relief from the rains, but tomorrow will be rainy again.  It fills our reservoir and softens the ground for winter crops, but I do enjoy a brilliant sunrise.

There are blossoms on my impatiens!  A gift from a childhood friend of HD’s that he found lives just down the road!  They hadn’t seen each other for more than 60 years! Finding an old friend is so good for him, as an extrovert, he has suffered more than I from near isolation.  

Sourdough Is.....Messy!

Cover it, they said.  Keep it warm, they said.  Ha!  Well, we’ll see how it turns out, it’s in the fridge now.  No yellowing clear liquid yet, but it’s only been in there a couple hours.  
I am figuring out the wood stove, little by little.  After the initial burn, as above, I can keep it going with just one or two pieces of wood.  Still puts out lots of heat.  This winter it will be nice to have a wood stove, it’s been way to long.  Decades.  Funny how the place I’ve lived the longest is the place I liked the least.  Ah well, now I am home at long last. 

Apparently I live in.....

Brigadoon!

 The mist was rising slowly, revealing the hills and dales of the South Mountain Range.  Each sunrise is a wonder, even grey and rainy days.  It’s amazing how much lovelier the countryside is than the crowded, overpeopley area I came from.  There must be beautiful sunrises there too, but I never saw one in amongst the buildings and noises.  I have waited way too many years to come home.  

I discovered a wonder today.  Off season, there aren’t as many people working at the smaller farm stands, and my favorite one, the one that has the Best Eggs Ever, was not staffed when my dh stopped in for eggs. On the counter was a box with money in it and thank you written on it, and it was self service.  Having spent the last 25 years in suburban hell, it was a joy and a pleasure to see trust in our neighbors.  After he had paid the owner bustled in with produce, unworried over the money.  In northern VA someone would have taken everything portable, including the money box.  I live amongst humans again!  

It is much too rainy to make bread today, and we finished our loaf this morning (good pain d’or) so I stopped in to a larger farm stand.  Really a sort of farm type convenience store.  As I was leaving with tonight’s soup and bread, the clerk stopped me and asked if I was a veteran.  When I responded yes, ten years in the best Navy worldwide, she handed me a bag with a half dozen apples and chocolate!  A material “thank you” indeed.  

The leaves are about down now, and I can see South Mountain through them.  This is the view out my sewing room window.  The shed we are using for storage, but will be used for dyeing fabric and yarn too. I have a lovely camp kitchen inside just waiting for a propane stove and hanging racks.  I can’t wait! It’s been far too long since I’ve spun and dyed and woven.  

 

 I have not been here in a while, FB and Instagram sort of coopted my time.  In the hiatus, many things happened. 

 I retired! I May teach but no more standing 8 hours a day.  

I had knee surgery! Twice!  I now have a matching pair of bionic knees.  So so good!

I have moved!  From Northern Virginia to south central Pennsylvania.  It is like leaving an overcrowded jail and going to Paradise!My new house rock, and because it faces east I get to greet the day each morning.  Even when it is foggy or cloudy, the sun still shines on  me.  

And I am now treating my back, since my knees are done.  Not surgery, not that, but shots and in a week, radio ablation.  I am so hopeful the ablation works.  There are still more things to do if not, but I am hopeful.  I can't walk far, and the road we live on has fast traffic, so walking on the side of the road is a bit scary, so if my back responds to the ablation, I can start on my recumbent bike again.  I moved JUST before the lockdown, and I am afraid the homemaking includes baking, and I have....grown.  Sideways.  Sigh.

My best friend lives just 14 miles away, and has been such a blessing.  Not only were both my surgical recoveries done at her house to avoid stairs for three weeks, but her husband replaced two tub/shower combos with easy to enter showers.  He does all the little things (and some big) that Gil and I can't do.  

Oh yes!  Today I am getting a new stove/oven!!!  I can't tell you how exciting that is...the one that came with the house doesn't close all the way and we are bleeding heat....and therefore propane.  Man, cooking on a gas range ROCKS.  

Time to get the stove unhooked from the propane.... more when I figure out how to get my Mac to share my iPhone's pictures!

Pennsic 48!

Another Memorial

This was a gift for my boss who lost her sweet dog a year ago.  It is machine embroidery, and I put it in a shadowbox.  She added the collar Gracie wore and it hangs next to her desk.  It makes me smile, and better yet, makes her smile too.

Memories

My goddaughter has just lost her second deerhound to cancer.  She is heartbroken, and I wanted to make her something she can look at and remember him with a smile.

Camper ReDo and Pennsic War

I just got back from my favorite two weeks of the year, Pennsic, a medieval war amongst friends from all over the world.

Over the last few years I purchased an old camper and have been working on it.  Mostly it was safety and habitability, and there is always more to do when you do it piecemeal.  Because it is stored 300 miles away and I only see it once a year (for now)  I still have to do a lot, but I am so happy with how it is coming.

Here is where we started, along with about 50000 stink bugs.  Dead, fortunately.  I wanted the inside to be pretty light and airy looking, since I would not be hooked up to electricity or water while using it in August in western Pennsylvania.  Hot and Humid!

I wanted the outside to look plausibly medievalist, so as not to be a huge eyesore for the rest of the folks camping.  That is still ongoing, with two more years planned to get it finished.  

The inside is okay, I like it, but still needs some work.  On the whole though, I am pretty happy.  A new closet in the shower stall is planned, and some new furniture too.  I love my friends, I am so blessed to have muscle and concept help.  

Here is where we are now.

If the artist looks tired, it is because she is!

Like I said, still lots to do, but way better than when I started.  I do have valances up now, and some shelves, I resealed the roof, and ripped out some stuff.  

Next year, power washing the exterior, and painting the base coat and as much of the stones as can be done, the new closet, a new coat of paint on the ceiling, and a new chandelier.  Not wired, battery.  Or solar. A new drape for the storage area, and a new awning.  Squee!

And this is the beautiful setting where I play my game with my closest 10K friends.  

 See why I love it?