Stange Things

Do we have wee folks living here?

I bought a bag of sewing odds and ends at the thrift store for $1.00. I only wanted some needles and this box of threaders. I break them on a pretty regular basis.

We have a game camera set up near a shed. It is on the edge of the woods. No electricity goes out to the shed and there are no outside lights on that side of the house. So what the heck is this? This was after 11 p.m. We were both in bed. It does make me feel unsettled. It has a heavy tree canopy, so I'm not sure a drone could get in there.

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My name is cathy. I have met a lot of new people lately through mahjong. If someone gets my name wrong they always call me Carol. And as I think back it has happened most of my life being called Carol. Was I a Carol in another life?

So that's the strange things from here.

Staying Home

My rose bush smells so heavenly. 

The colors are not right in this picture at all but I did some dying. On top, the cotton fabric on the left is the "before." The blue is very much like a denim blue. The wool pieces I threw in because I put way too much dye in my pot. (The green was a bright orange.)

A few weeks ago I bought this vest at a thrift store intending to stitch on it. It is jet black linen, J Jill, so expensive in its day, but for $3.00 I am giving it a try.

    

Tomorrow my daughter and family are coming for brunch. She wants to sell her old Barbies. My granddaughter never had any interest in them, so I'm happy to get them out of my attic.

There were some very long-time special friends who moved away who were in town. Six of us gathered for a nice long lunch. So wonderful!

But as you can see, it wore him out, lol.

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It is motorcycle week here and it is noisy and much to busy.

We have one VRBO in our neighborhood. It's a nice, quiet, dead-end, wooded neighborhood.

On Wednesday afternoon, here came 11 bikers and a camper! Well, the camper left, but the 11 bikers stayed. Much too loud and much too fast in this little neighborhood. Looking forward to Sunday when they all leave.

Have a great week!

Like All Good Things

Like all good things, our friends' time came to an end, which is always so hard. I am so blessed to have this pure friendship.

We exchanged gifts, ideas, and amazing craft projects. This was a kit Donna put together for each of us. Now to get stitching.

Some of her amazing ideas and work. 

When I got home, my plants had been busy growing. This amaryllis was sprouting when I took out my wintered-over fairy lilies. Very happy now!

Fairy lilies.

Peony is beautiful.

On the way home I stopped at the thrift store and church sale and spent a total of 2.00.

Great cookbooks.

My sweet grand texted she needed more tags. She paints or embroider on them and gives them as gifts. I coffee stain them and add a little cinnamon to scent them. A great day for them to dry outside.

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Our weather has been very hot and humid, not bad at all, with storms coming in tonight.

Motorcycle week is here, so we'll stay tucked in the woods until it's over. It's too busy on the roads for us.

Packing My Bags

The other end of my porch where we have all our meals in the summer. 

A local restaurant in town opened their outdoor deck. This scene was in a very famous movie 40+ years ago. Do you know the movie?

And this is the best shot I could get of a baby eastern bluebird before the parents started chasing me.

I finally got my fairy lilies out for the summer. It hasn't even been a week, and it's starting to bloom.

I am stitching on a napkin I was given. I ordered a Michelle Palmer slow stitch pattern to work on. More on that when I get started.

I am meeting up with 3 sweet friends at the beach for a few days. I am looking forward to seeing them so much; we will have such a great time together. We are all from different states, so we only gather a few times a year.

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The movie was "On Golden Pond," and it was filmed on the lake here.

Have a wonderful week!

Superstition

My first iris of the summer. I have lots of buds in lots of colors to bloom.

I was on our back deck, and a wasp wouldn't leave me alone!

So if the old wives' tale is to be believed, if the wasps build a low nest, a mild winter ahead, fingers crossed!

There was a chipmunk making all kinds of noise. I went out to chase him off, and I guess he was just warning the world that a turkey was here. The poor turkey is all by itself. We see it off and on.

And this rat is at my daughter's house. He has eaten all the buds off her stargazer lilies.

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I am playing mahjong a couple of times a week. On Tuesday, I was not winning, so I got up and circled my chair to change my luck. They were laughing (a thing my mom did when she was not winning at cards). I won the next two hands!!

Who is laughing now? Lol.

Do you have any folklore or superstitions?

A Blue Moon

A little bouquet to make dishwashing more fragrant.

I made some rhubarb compote. It's delicious!

An afternoon tea because it's raining again.

I found a couple of things at the dump this week.

I took this plate thinking I would use it under a plant. But somehow I can't. I think it is too pretty. 

We've been getting crazy weather. Pounding rain and cold, frosty cold, brrr.

And snow in our mountains! On our mount Washington, it was 5.5 inches with gale-force winds and minus 4 degrees.

I did the viral thing. Bought a man's shirt and redid it. And now I don't like it lol. 

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Happy June! Enjoy that blue moon.

Are You Watching Me?

Lily of the valley by the walkway. It smells heavenly.

This little bird, I think a sparrow, has been enjoying the bird bath.

He was flapping, and water was going everywhere. I had to refill the bird bath.

On my walk today, I had a spy.

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These past few months I have put on weight. I have kept the 50 lbs I lost off for 5 plus years. But this winter I have put on 8 lbs. So I am now back at it. It is never easy. But I feel better already.