Family, pugs, garden harvest, and sewing...

 

CROSS STITCH - another finish

I am genuinely loving my return to cross-stitch this year. Before I ever taught myself to hand embroider and design, I used to do cross-stitch, and taught all of my children to cross-stitch as well. My eldest girl, Kezzie, has done the most beautiful pieces, and gifts them on special occasions. 

You previously saw the large strawberry design I completed in July, and here's the one I completed in August...gorgeous folk art style ducks. 

I have decided to finish the ducks as a cushion cover for our bed. The colours and design are perfect for this spring and on into summer. Still deciding on the fabric for the borders, but over coming days I intend going through what I have on hand and choosing from them. 

Now I am working on another cross-stitch, and this one will hang in a hoop when it's completed. The rabbit is surrounded by a blueberry wreath, and I think it will be lovely hanging in the living room...or perhaps the bedroom... we shall see when its done. ;-)

GRANDCHILDREN & PUGS

Yesterday I headed off to spend the morning with my grandchildren and Ross. Blossom is working as a house cleaner these days, and as Ross has been unemployed since last November, he is the one now homeschooling the children. Both Ross and Blossom are amazing parents, and an amazing couple, who put God and family above all else, so they accept the blessings and challenges of life with grace, and do what they can to care for their three cherubs, working with whatever season the Lord has them in. 

Cully May, Rafaella and Charlie David, as well as the two pugs - Barney and Tucker - cover me with hugs and kisses, and we have the best time together! 

Ross has a chess table set up all the time for the kids because they love to play, even 5yo Charlie David has become a chess addict!

You can see the cat poles in the background above, but I rarely see the two cats - Kiki and Howl. They sleep all day in hidden places, then come out to play all night. The pugs and the cats get along wonderfully, which is nice because our 2½ yo dachshund Kelly hates our 16yo Sophie cat and goes after her. It has been very sad having to keep Sophie up the back in the pool enclosure, though we have made it into a safe and comfy sanctuary for her, and spend time every day with her for long cuddles and brushing her fur. 

Cully May is learning French now, and this has made me think it could be time for me to brush up on my high school French so we can have conversations...though to be honest, I only did one year and wasn't all that good at it. Ha ha! Perhaps she can teach me in time?

GARDEN 

We pulled the remaining carrots last weekend, along with the white sweet potatoes. The carrots are delicious and I'm finding ways to use them, other than just roasting or boiling. Hubby loves my pickled carrots, and I will make a carrot cake for Rafaella before I see her again next week, but I was thinking I'd try fermenting some as well. Have you fermented carrots before? Any tips??

We had rain yesterday afternoon and into the night, our first rain in six months. Oh it was glorious!! Apart from us getting a break from all the watering each day, this gave all our trees a deep soak, and may help the grass come back to life. Currently I stand on hard dry dirt whilst hanging the washing, although Kelly thinks its great and digs holes all over the place which I have to mindful of as one unforseen foot fall into a hole sets my leg and knee recovery back many weeks. 

SUNDAY DRIVE

Last Sunday we went for a drive along the coastal side of Crystal Creek...

It was a glorious day, not too hot and very peaceful. The creek, though I do think of it as a river because it's very wide as it nears the ocean, is a popular spot for locals and tourists alike. On the mountain side there are waterholes where many come to swim. On the coastal side there's a track we drive along that takes us past many tiny shacks, privately owned for many decades, where the owners come for weekends to fish and relax. 

We drove until we found the one spot open to the public where they can access the beach. We didn't go walking there as I am not stable enough to walk on sand yet, but there were a number of tents and BBQs set up where people had stayed the night. We get a lot of backpackers in our part of the country, and they know where the free camping areas are so as we drive around we see a lot of them in tents or sleeping in the back of cheap old vans they buy on arrival in Australia. 

You can just see the ocean in the distance as we turned off the track to go home. Such a beautiful day. 

SOCKS 

I wrote recently about learning new things, and I've been going through my list of skills to learn, things to do, or things to make, deciding which one to do next. One of those things was the rice bag I shared back HERE and HERE, and another thing, a skill actually, is to knit socks. I asked Lin about 'where to start' as she is a prolific and very skilled sock knitter, and she suggested beginning with the free beginner pattern from Christine at Winwick Mum in the UK. So I have that downloaded and printed up, and am just deciding on the yarn to use (gosh, I nearly died when I saw the price of sock yarn online - Australian prices are around $40 a skein). I have plenty of the cheap 4ply merino yarn I bought from Temu, which I used to knit fingerless gloves for Blossom and the grandkids this past autumn, and think I may use that as my practice socks. Apparently socks wear better if there's nylon mixed with wool, but my yarn is 100% merino wool. Anyhow, using what I already have is the best option, especially when learning something new.

If you'd like to see Lin's socks, just go HERE to visit her blog and scroll through. So many gorgeous pairs! Thanks for the help Lin. :-)

FINALLY, another Japanese sewing skill to learn...

I thoroughly enjoy stitching the occasional Japanese hand embroidery patterns by Yumiko Higuchi and Yula. I also enjoy repurposing old clothes into Boro style tops, and sewing Sashiko blocks. But recently I came across something I'd not seen before - mosaic darning. This began with a talented young woman, Tomomi Mimura, who elevated the basic art of darning into something beautiful and artistic. 

This was to become a new skill for me, and once I'd purchased a PDF copy of her book, Darning Embroidery, I could not wait to begin working on her practice samples. The book is in Japanese, but there are photos throughout, and if you already hand embroider, as I do, it's easy to figure out. 

The hardcover cost was too high for me, but I have purchased a number of great Japanese embroidery books from KaylieBooks for around $6 -7 USD (currently $10.20 AUD) and that's how I bought this one.

The first practice sample was completed today, and the photo tutorial was excellent.

Fortunately I had linen, 4ply cotton yarn and a darning needle on hand to use. The first sample is a square darned with two colours, and I chose red and white. 

Normally I never use an emrboidery hoop for anything, but as this is weaved across the fabric and hardly ever goes through to the back, I prepared a small hoop, drew a 2" square with a Frxion pen, and began. 

I LOVE the feel of texture in embroidery and patchwork (a reason I love to hand quilt), and this has a beautiful texture. 

This is the back once the piece is finished.

I've begun the second sample, a circle that is not made as easily as the square, and I chose a thicker yarn, but I'll show you that one next time. In the meantime, it's such fun to be cross-stitching, and darning, each day. Each is slow, each is pretty, and each one is incredibly peaceful to work on. 

What are you working on that gives you a sense of peace and joy? 

As I was doing that square darning sample my mind kept going back to childhood, and the evenings when Nana would be darning Pop's thick woollen socks, the ones she had knitted to keep his feet warm on cold nights down at the wharf where he unloaded cargo from large ships. 

As I progress with the darning, it will become a mosaic style and I cannot wait to do that and show you. 

In Closing...

I had decided not to share about the unexpected switch from Ross to Blossom as the breadwinner when it began about five months ago. It felt strange to them, as it did to her dad and I, and we all questioned God. But with so many jobs applied for, Ross still had not been successful, and a friend of the family offered Blossom some work in their house cleaning business so she accepted. It turns out Blossom is their best employee, and she loves cleaning...though she spends all her non-work time with Ross and the children as they are the lights in her life. She knows this is for a season, and accepts that in God's perfect timing things will change. 

From Ross's perspective, this was a huge life shock, but also an unexpected blessing. He is a natural teacher, enthusiastic about encouraging each child's individual skills and interests, and over time has discovered what it really means to be there for your children, to listen and hear what they say, to be a more intuitive husband and able to use his own skillsets to add routine and order and fun to each day. He is currently working at night on building a business of his own online, but his first priority is Blossom and the children. He is Blossom's greatest supporter and is so very proud of her for stepping out and trusting God in their current season of life. 

My husband and I are VERY proud of our daughter and son-in-law, and we know God has used their situation to teach us some things as well. 

In our mind's eye, we plan our way and visualise how it will turn out if we do this, or that. We offer it to the Lord, and if you're like our family, we ask Him to close any door we should not walk through, and swing wide the doors He would have us proceed through. None of us expected that Bloss would do what she is now doing for her family. But God knew, and it is God alone who has strengthened her and carried through. It is God alone who has used this time with Ross to bless their family in ways there had been no opportunity for in the past. God carries them both. God leads them both. And God will change things in His perfect timing, if it be His will. 

I have been reminded to step aside and let God be GOD in every way. All through the Bible He surprises us with the unexpected, and He is the same God today as He was thousands of years ago. Have you needed a reminder to step aside, or to let go of your own ways in order for God to have His way?

(pattern duo here in shop)

Have a lovely week ahead my friends. Posting on Thursdays seem to work best for me, and I'll send out a weekly or fortnightly newsletter as well on that day. You can sign up for the free newsletter HERE, and that way you won't ever miss a blog post. 

Much love!!

Until next time,

PS: My Etsy Shop is always open, so please drop by if you are in the mood for something new to stitch.

CLICK HERE