The project for this week is G. Leger by Reflets de Soie. For the start this week, there are 2,265 stitches made and that's 5.52% completed.
This is likely the least stitches I've made in a week in a long time. I'm blaming it on my finger! Tomorrow I see yet another doctor for that uncooperative finger! Let's hope there's good news and new meds that do the trick.
I made a total of 1,081 stitches in six days! My goal for every day is 400 stitches. I will still get a few stitches made tonight but not enough to make much of a difference in the numbers.
I thought I would completely fill in the moon. Nope - didn't get half of those done.
You may remember that the elderberries I planted when we first moved here are gone. They didn't die a natural death and it was not a happy day when it happened. The only reason it was not "less happy" than it was already is that I had planted 7 more elderberries outside the fence.
Our ground here is rock. We cannot dig more than an inch in most places without hitting rock. Planting anything is almost impossible. That's why my garden is all planted in raised beds or in mineral tubs.
There's a retaining wall - I think the original owners made it big enough they could use it for growing some things so there was the wall, and then as it sloped down, there was a lot of dirt added. I don't know how it got there but that's how it is. It's this area right here and the trees are no longer there.
There were two large Bradford Pear trees there when we bought the house. One of the trees was way too close to the house. We thought about just trimming the other one back and keeping it but when the tree guy started trimming it, the inside was hollow and it was not going to make it and we certainly don't grieve the loss of a Bradford Pear! That was all near the end of 2021, that's where I planted three elderberries in the spring of 2022. They grew and produced within a couple of years, as elderberries do. When I cut them back in probably February or March of 2023, I stuck some of the cuttings in a bucket of loose soil thinking Chad might want elderberries. I think everyone should have them . . Chad didn't think so. They grew like crazy so in 2024 when I cut the elderberries back, I thought . . what do I have to lose? I went outside the fence, between the fence and the solar panels, which is maybe about 12 -14 feet of space, and I poked 7 cuttings that were maybe 20" long down in the ground. I didn't dig . . I just poked them in the ground. If I hit a rock, I pulled them out and poked them a few inches over and got all of them deep enough that I thought they would stay.
Last year, they were scraggly. I wasn't sure if between the wood fence on their north side and the solar panels on their south side . . maybe they weren't getting enough sun but I left them alone.
Since my other elderberries were gone, I went out in late winter and pruned them, then I fertilized them. It's been such a wet spring that I haven't needed to water them so I just left them alone. A month or so ago, Vince said "Have you seen the elderberries?" I had not but when I went out there, I was shocked at how much they had grown. They are way over the top of the fence now and when I walk out my back door, the fragrance of the blooms is amazing!
That's what I see when I walk over to that side of the house and it makes me so happy!
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The red raspberries are in the back yard. This is their second year to produce and they're doing great. I had to put bird netting over them. I don't mind sharing a bit but they were getting them all.
I've mentioned that Cooper is seeing a dog trainer. It hasn't gone smoothly. It's our fault. He's such a sweet and loving little guy but we never have people over. We don't take him anywhere. It's kinda sad . . our life . . it's hard to socialize a dog when we aren't very social and I feel like we failed both dogs. Taking Oscar to the vet this last time was an eye opener and that's when we decided to take Cooper for some socialization/training.
This week, our assignment was to take Cooper to three places. We did. We took him to Walmart (of course!). Cooper and I sat in the car with the windows down while Vince went inside. People passed by the car, talking, laughing. Cooper paid very close attention but he didn't bark or growl and he wasn't afraid. A lady parked next to us and said something to him and he seriously considered growling but I kept telling him he was a good boy and he was fine.
We took him to the park. That wasn't bad because he's used to being walked on a leash down our little road and around our yard and that wasn't much different. There were no other people out where we were and no other dogs. We walked over near the playground and he watched the kids but didn't growl. There are geese out there and they make such a mess but Cooper was very interested in them. I kept the tension on his leash and he never tried to bolt after them.
Last, we went to Atwoods. They allow dogs inside but we had planned to just walk around the garden area with him. He did so well, Vince suggested we take him inside. He did great! He wasn't afraid at all. They have those big sliding doors that open when you walk up to them and I thought he might panic with those but he didn't pay any attention to them at all. He didn't pay any attention to the other people in the store. I'm so happy with how well he's doing. We have two more sessions with the trainer and once we finish those, we're going to start working with Oscar ourselves. The trainer is an hour away and it's pretty expensive so I think we've learned enough that we can do it ourselves and, if not, we'll get Oscar registered and take him to class too.
It isn't a two month education period - it's something we're going to have to keep up with both of them. Maybe that means Vince and I can improve on our social skills also. :)
When Vince and I met, the first thing he talked about was Italian food and I told him I don't like Italian food but later admitted it's just the red sauce I don't like. I grew up where there weren't many (very few!) Italians and there was a real Italian restaurant in Lake Charles but it was high end and that wasn't the kind of place we ever ate. So, Italian food for me was my mom, who didn't like to cook and was not a good cook, opening a can of tomato sauce, pouring it over browned ground beef and serving it over spaghetti with grated cheddar cheese.
Vince has always told me that if I had good, authentic Italian food, I would love it and, he's probably right. We ate at Maggiano's in Overland Park, KS a few months ago and it was delicious but, as far as I know, there's no place around Joplin to get outstanding Italian food.
Somehow last week, Vince came across this YouTube channel - Pasta Grammar. I think Vince watched half a dozen of their videos, then he shared them with me and we have been binge watching. I want to cook everything they make! They also have a website where they share some of their recipes. And, they have a cookbook! I ordered the cookbook and it arrived today and I can't put it down!
Today I made Pesto Alla Trapanese. It's in the book but it's also on the YouTube notes for that video. My book arrived after we had gone to the grocery store so I had to do some subs.
Almonds - I didn't have almonds so I used pistachio nuts.
4 cloves of garlic - I used some of the garlic scape pesto that I made earlier this week. It's all frozen in cubes - 2 T. each.
Pecorino cheese - can't get that hebure so I used an Italian blend from Sam's.
Busiate - Didn't have that so I used bucatini. It was so delicious. I think I now love Italian food!
Tomorrow I'm making the Italian Stuffed Meatloaf. We watched her make that on the YouTube video and I haven't stopped thinking about it!
I'm having fun cooking the recipes and, of course, Vince is thrilled to be getting lots of Italian food!
Today was such a good day! In order to keep this post from being too long, I'm going to make several posts. This first post is going to be about cross stitching. The second will be about cooking and the third will be about Cooper (it's good!)
This morning we went to Sam's Club, got what we needed there. Vince asked me on the way to town if I wanted to go by Hobby Lobby and I said no . . didn't need anything but we were going right by there so I said "OK! Stop!!" We did and I got some inexpensive pieces and decorations to help finishing some of the patriotic pieces I've been working on. I'm still not 100% sure exactly how I'll finish them but I've had fun today playing with them all.
This is the first stitched piece I started working with:
The one on the left is a deep blue. I thought I would use it on the round piece but then decided I liked the brassy looking one better. There's a light pink one that I thought might work on something for spring and the rabbit - I have several pieces by Brenda Gervais that have rabbits on them. Maybe I can use it one of those.
I thought I could paint some of the stars and use them somewhere along the way. I thought I could paint the spools and glue them on to a wood piece and maybe hang old keys or buttons on something.
Last of the patriotic pieces in this batch is this one!
This last one is one that I finished in 2022 and had never framed it. I know there's more space at the bottom below the stitching than there is at the top but I laced it back in 2022 and wasn't going to re-do it.
Now . . the journal. I've tried The Book of Days and I like it ok. The last couple of years I've purchased pages off Etsy that have all spots for all kinds of info - new starts, finishes, purchases, pans, progress, etc. I print them, put them in a Happy Planner cover and I like that it's kind of a lot of trouble setting it all up and by the end of the year, it's pretty ragged with all the pages printed on plain paper. I know - I could use better paper but it would mean changing paper in the printer every time I add something and I know I'm not going to keep that up.
Last year, near the end of 2025, Hobby Lobby had some of the 52 Agenda planners marked way down so I bought one. It's actually an 18 month planner. That one was July - December, 2025 and them all 12 months of 2026. Since I only started it in January, 2026, I kinda felt like it would never be finished so today, when I saw that the 52 Agenda planner was on sale, I got this one - July - December, 2026 and then all of 2027. My plan is to use it through 2027 and then hopefully find a 12 month planner like. That's a while . . I don't have to worry about it for now.
Yesterday I was going through some pictures and came across two the breeder had sent me when we were thinking about getting Oscar.
I can't tell you how many times I would tell him . . it's a good thing we got you because not many people would have kept you. He was so destructive but, I don't think he's had an accident in the house since he was five months old. Cooper . . we won't even talk about that. He'll be three years old in July and I don't trust him at all.
It's very hard to believe Oscar will be five years old this year. Hard to believe we've had him that long and hard to believe he's half of ten years old! Time flies!
We sure love our little boys!
The project for this week is G. Leger by Reflets de Soie. For the start this week, there are 2,265 stitches made and that's 5.52% comp...
