~ Friday Morning Musings ~

Good Morning Friends & Folk!

you know it's going to be another hot day 

when the locusts start scratching out their late-summer songs by 8:00 in the morning…

I'll try to savor these days, although I really am wishing it away.

{so sorry summer-lovers, I am an October girl.}

The heat has been miserable for our farm-friends.

Daisy & Pinocchio have been sweating awful, and the flies this year are biting like crazy.

A fly-spray made from herbals is a good remedy, but just not enough ~

our handsome sweaty-boy Pinocchio {"Nocchi"}

what a mush face!

as big as he is, he's gentle as a kitten with us ~

especially loves Peter.

:)

little Daisy is done with this weather.

she said it makes her hair frizzy.

the rains have been a boon to the earth & our well,

but the grass & gardens have overgrown.

we have fairy rings of mushrooms & fungi all over the farmyard,

and the mold spores are wreaking havoc with my allergies.

even though they are deadly poisonous,

i find them beauty-full.

 withering flowers and yellowing leaves are showing sure signs of change ~

hinting at perhaps an early Autumn?

{hoping for an early & lengthy one!}

there is beauty among the weeds, and even the weeds themselves hold magic

if we just look close enough…

Hannah & I went to see the Dixie Chicks in VA Beach on Wednesday night!!!!

oh my stars & garters! what a fabulous time we had ~

 my beautiful daughter gifted me with tickets for Mother's day ~

we have love 'the Chicks' forever and Hannah grew up singing their songs!

best. time. ever.

although it was HOT HOT HOT ~ the concert was filled to the brim…

thank goodness we had lawn seats & enjoyed the cooler nighttime breeze.

LOVE YOU HANNAH ~ thank you for making that dream come true for me!

back home, it's just too hot & muggy to be outside stitching,

so I just stay in this old farmhouse and stitch in the artificial air ~ 

{{...yes, it's cool but I prefer to breathe fresh air,  thankyouverymuch.}}

I have been putting the last stitched embellishments on "Jack's Folly'

and will be backing/binding it today…

I am loving it!

using wool, cotton fabrics and variegated threads

make this a fun project ~

I've mentioned how I love to do 'double appliqué' before, 

~ instead of needle-turn appliqué or freezer paper method…

 and for those that may not know what I mean,

 it is simply where you place your paper appliqué template, in this case a leaf, like the ones below,

 and trace it onto the wrong side of doubled cotton print fabric. 

Then you machine-stitch it completely around, cut a slit into one side and turn right sides out…

so now you have a leaf that looks like it could be stuffed, BUT instead of stuffing it,

you pin it {in my case staple it} to your background fabric and then appliqué it into place.

… clear as mud?

makes for a nice, clean-edges and dimensional motifs 

that adds a little oomph to our projects.

This will be a pattern available soon, in our Etsy shop ~

along with the 2 cross stitch designs and 2 punch needle designs

they will all be available as PDF patterns for you to print yourselves,

~  as well as regularly mailed patterns if so chosen.

:)

In Other News:

I am working on creating a NEW website where you can go to purchase our patterns, 

supplies & finished goods for the needleworker…this is something that Peter & I have been wanting to do for a while, but like all Good Things, takes time.

We think it will be more user-friendly for our customers, and it will be like visiting us here at our own little farm shop….more to come on this, so stay tuned :)

Primitive Punch Needle Club Kits are shipping,

 although I am waiting on a backorder of threads ~ and a backorder of linen has arrived too…

Peter & I thank you kindly for your patience

xoxoxox

and

I have not been feeling well lately.

I don't know what it is ~ my jaw hurts, my muscles are cramping and I am sometimes feverish.

yes, the heat takes it's toll, but me thinks it's something more.

I will be seeing the doctor today, so please keep me in your thoughts?

talk again soon!

 ~ Blessings from the Farm ~ 

 Lori