Another month comes to a close.

Really, July is over? Where did it go? I just put in the final stitches for one of my finishes. This is for the Name Game Swap Round Two. My partner was very specific about what she wanted, so I can't show much before she receives it, or she would know immediately. You say you want proof that it's finished? Okay, here's a little peek.  It's new home is not far away, so perhaps I'll be able to show the entire thing by the end of the week.

I also finished a mug rug for a swap, and guess what- I can't show it to you either!  But to prove that I really did make it:

These will both count for OPAM for July.

I didn't finish a Christmas gift for CTTY, but I have finished a cross stitch, and it will be made into a small cushion for a very special recipient.  So I'll have an easy finish for August.

Here's the August BSA block I made:

And I'm not sure if I posted the July block that I made. 

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but I'm really distracted by watching the Olympics.  We have a time delay, so I'm watching events that occurred earlier today, but I didn't know the results, so it's exciting to watch.

I've been a little under the weather for a few days, so we didn't go kayaking this past weekend.  But I did partake of my second favorite summer activity - buying fresh produce.

Mmmm...just look at all that yummy goodness.  DH is making eggplant parm tomorrow, while I'm slaving away at work.  Luckily for me, not only is he a much better cook than me, but he really enjoys it, too.

I'll leave you with one last picture.  Our bird feeder usually only attracts house finches and sparrows, but we had something a little more colorful today.  Keep in mind that the picture is taken through a window.

See you back here is July!  Thanks for stopping by for a visit.  ........   Sunny

One Flower Wednesday

It's been a very lazy week in Quilting Dreamland.  I did manage to get a flower made, but there's not been a lot of progress on other projects.  Maybe next week?  If you want to see more pretty flowers, go visit Karen, who keeps us motivated each week.

As I get older, I find that my memory (or my mind!) is almost gone.  A few weeks ago, I signed up to send some orphan blocks to someone who was planning to make quilts for the fire victims in Colorado?  Does anyone remember this?  I can't find the email, and I don't remember the blog.  Help, please?

Contentedly stitching away....Sunny

Change of plans

That is all.......Sunny

Mango Pungo

Rain on a Wednesday is a good thing.  Rain on a Thursday is a beautiful thing.  Rain on a Friday is a wonderful thing.  Rain on a Saturday - Not so much.  No kayaking again this week.  All week long, the forecast for Saturday was good.  They were wrong.  Again.  But DH has been shopping online for a new kayak, so we hit the stores today.  As we were approaching our first destination, we drove by the Air Force Memorial.  I've never seen this before, and it was pretty cool!  Keep in mind that this picture was taken from a moving car on a rainy day.

We spent over an hour at the kayak store, and tried on the boats that we (yeah, I'm thinking I might need a new one too)thought we might like, but they didn't have exactly what we wanted.  We enjoyed lunch at a noodles-n-company, which I 've never tried before.  I can't wait to go again - super yummy.  I just decided that this picture may not look as appetizing as it could, but it was a very tasty steak and mushroom stroganoff.

And then we were off to store number two.  They had DH's dream boat, so he became the proud owner.  I didn't see anything that I was interested in, so we went out to the car and made a few phone calls.  Smart phones can come in very handy on a shopping trip like this.  After calls to three stores, we learned that the boat I had my eye on could be located in Annapolis.  Having nothing better to do on a rainy day, we decided to drive down.  The GPS took us through DC to get there, so here's the Washington monument from a moving car.

We were within two miles of our destination when we came upon a traffic jam.  It took us over a half hour to go a half mile.  Notice our speed in this picture. 

At long last, we made it to the store, and I found the boat I was looking for.  And then I found an even better one.  So I became the proud owner of a mango Pungo!

Unfortunately, we didn't take the car with the racks today, so we have to go back to pick them up.  But DH made it easier because he found a boat that he liked even better at this same store, so he bought it, and cancelled the earlier purchase.  He may go back this week to pick them up, because he has lots of free time now.  Yes, he was laid off on Thursday.  

I'd like to say that our drive home was uneventful, but we saw three accidents in about 15-20 miles, and there was almost a fourth - involving us!  Fortunately, by the time we stopped for dinner, the rain had nearly stopped, and we made it home safe and sound. 

My standing appointment for Sunday morning has been cancelled, so there will be stitching happening at this house tomorrow!  Yeah, and laundry too.  Have a a nice Sunday everyone!

Stitching to my heart's content.....Sunny

bye-bye green kayak - it's been fun

for Allie!

You're all welcome to look, but I took these pictures specifically for Allie.

Glorious rain fell for almost an hour today!  And then another light shower later.

I have another flower to share with you for One Flower Wednesday.  Click on the link to Karen's blog if you want to see what other 'gardeners' have made this week, or join in the party yourself!  Anyone is welcome to join at any time.  There are no commitments, just make one flower a week, and post a link to it on Wednesday. 

I don't have anything else to share today, because I've been slowly working on a few mystery projects.  Once they're mailed off to a new owner, and I know they've been received, I'll show them here.  Pretty cute stuff, if I do say so myself.

Keep on stitching.....Sunny

The Weatherman was Wrong. Again.

The weatherman predicted rain on Saturday.  Showers in the morning and thunder storms in the afternoon.  So we made no plans to go kayaking.  And we certainly don't need to do any more shopping.  Did it rain?  Nope.  Nada.  Not a drop.  So I had time to do some stitching.  I worked on a little of this:

And a little of this:

and some of this:

We even tried a new recipe for dinner, and it's a keeper.  If you have access to some zuchinni, (and who doesn't this time of year) and some fresh herbs, you'll want to give this a try.

Just for the record, it did finally rain on Sunday - at 8:00 pm.  Another wasted outdoor day.  Lucky for me, I have plenty of indoor activities to keep me busy!

Keep on stitching.....Sunny

I lost Wednesday.

Driving to work on Thursday morning, I realized that I lost Wednesday!  I didn't post my One Flower Wednesday, so here are some flowers on Friday.  I needed a few black and white flowers for a special project, so I tried some minis.  The pink flower is the traditional inchy.  There are three 3/4", and one 1/2 inch.  They're very difficulty to handle, but oh so cute.

I took a couple of quick pictures of some purple cone flowers outside my office today.  I've never been on one side of the building before, and was pleasantly surprised to find these.

And now I must get busy stitching for FNSI.  My friends down under are all finished, but I'm just getting started!

Contentedly stitching............Sunny

Traveling Stash

Are you interested in winning the Traveling Stash?  Super Sara is ready to send her box back out into the world again, so stop over to get your name in the drawing!  I had one of the boxes several months ago, and it was a lot of fun to look through the box, take out some goodies, and add a few things of my own.  You never know what you might find.  Due to the weight of the box, it must stay in the US.

It's Hot. H.O.T.

How hot is it you ask?  It's so hot we didn't even attempt to go kayaking today.  It's so hot I had a salad for lunch and a salad for dinner.   It's so hot this is what an outdoor seating area at a popular restaurant looked like on a Saturday evening.

This is a degree less than the high we saw on my car's thermometer today, but I didn't think to get out the camera earlier.

I'm sorry, but I really prefer temps in the 70's and 80's.  This is just totally unnecessary.  And then my Aussie and Kiwi friends blog about the cold.   It's just not right.

Some other random shots from today:  I saw this in a Macy's store, and thought it was interesting.  This is all made from folded copy paper.

We spent most of the day in the DC suburbs.  We saw several downed trees and a lot of utility workers on the job.  I know it's awful to be without power for over a week, but those people have been working around the clock and are to be commended. 

We had dinner in Frederick MD, and didn't realize until we were downtown that today is First Saturday.  They have a different theme each month, and today was the Frederick Float down the little creek that flows through town.  After dinner, we walked over and watched for a few minutes.  There were several kayaks/canoes/paddle  boats, etc. all decorated patriotically.  They didn't paddle very far, but it looked like they were having a lot of fun!

One more day of this crazy heat, and then I think it's supposed to cool down a bit.  Fingers crossed!

Stitching in the cool.....Sunny

One Paddle Wednesday

The weather forecast for today was for blazing heat and stifling humidity.  DH and I had talked about doing some shopping so we could stay cool.  But when I got up this morning, the outside temperature was 67!  So we loaded up the boats and headed for the river.  I didn't see any spectacular photo ops today, but it was nice and peaceful being out on the water.

This is the remnants of an aqua duct that carried the C&O Canal over the Conococheague Creek, where it empties into the Potomac River.  At this spot, we usually stay on the river, but today we paddled up the creek.  We saw a couple of turtles, and some herons, but they didn't want their photos taken.

While we were putting the boats away, I snapped a few shots of the flowers (and weeds) in our backyard.

And it's Wednesday, so you know there are flowers blooming indoors, too!

One final note - we bought our first watermelon of the season today!  Yummmm....

And now it's about time to watch some fireworks on TV.  It's way too hot to be outside viewing it live.  Yup, I'm a wimp!  But you already knew that, didn't you?

Happy Independence Day!!    Sunny

June FInishes

Deadlines make me so productive!  Because of the excessive heat on Saturday, we made no plans to do anything outdoors, so I was able to get a lot of stitching done.  I had to stay up late to get it done, but I finished this quilt for Margaret’s Hope Chest.  When I saw that they were looking for someone to make a quilt for Sonny, I knew it was time to ‘step up to the plate’.  It will get washed later today, and in the mail tomorrow.  This counts as a NewFO, and OPAM.

I put the finishing stitches in this little Christmas pillow, and it will go into my gift basket.  Like last month’s gift, this is a kit that was purchased several years ago, and I had only made a few stitches before it was stuck in a bag and forgotten.  This will count towards Christmas Through the Year and Sew It’s Finished.

While we’re on the subject of Christmas, here is my Ornament of the Month.  It’s another Little House Needleworks pattern.  Later today, I’ll kit up my next ornament so I can work on it during my lunch hour at work.  These are a perfect size to carry in my purse, so I never leave home without a project!  I finished the cross stitch for another project, but didn’t get it sewed into the final product, so I have a head start on July’s Christmas gift.  

Are you my partner for the Name Game Swap?  We received our assignments on Monday, and on Tuesday I drew out a sketch and made a special trip to the LQS!  I know I know, it’s a sacrifice we all have to make sometimes.  I knew exactly  what I wanted, and which quilt shop would have the best selection, so I’m ready to get started.  I’ve already been playing with some of the components and I’m anxious to put it all together.  Now that my June obligations are finished, it’s time to get to work on July’s.

Contentedly stitching the hours away.....Sunny

Coming soon...Black-Eyed Susans!