Ahead

"There are far better things ahead 

than any we leave behind."

- C.S. Lewis

Photos taken on our end of Summer beach trip, while visiting Fort Clatsop.

P.S. I chose my linen and threads for the Ever Blessed Stitch-Along...

*Ever Blessed* Free Chart and Stitch-Along

Who wants a free Autumnal sampler chart?

You do?

Well, how about a free sampler chart that you get to customize and stitch along with me and hopefully lots of other people?

You can find and download the chart by clicking right here.

Welcome to my very first official Stitch-Along. I can't wait to get started!

This little design came together pretty quickly, in just an hour or two this weekend. My intention was just to offer it as I usually do my free charts, just a stand-alone that you get to do whenever you want. But then I started to think that I really want to stitch it too (I often don't get around to doing up my free charts), and thought it would be fun if I could get a few others to stitch along with me.

I decided to chart it in all one color, with the intention of letting you make color changes and choices so that all of our finishes are as unique as we are one from another.

You could stick with the monochromatic color scheme if you want, but you could also go with a variety of Fall colors. I currently have six colors pulled that I want to use, and plan to make it up as I stitch, where the colors will land. Here are a few examples of ways you could lay your colors out...

There's even enough space in there for you to sneak in a few favorite motifs from your arsenal, change the initials to your own, or leave out the initials and date so you can add in more motifs. And then comes the fun of deciding how to finish it! Will it be framed? Turned into a pincushion? Appliqued onto a piece of wool to make a wall-hanging? Stitched to some cotton fabric to form a pocket or needle roll? Let's be creative together!

I added a page especially for sharing our progress. You can find it by looking up under my blog header; click on the words "Ever Blessed Stitch-Along" to be re-directed. Once you're there, you'll find more complete instructions, and that page is where I'll be posting photos of our progress.

Ready, set... GO!

Autumn Comes

It comes with drop and gust and mist and web;
        with cloud and color and damp and blaze;
        with crackle and waft and drip and blow;
        with rustle and fall and cozy and glow.

Autumn comes.

Just a little Autumn celebration courtesy of the last 24 hours captured on film, and the wanderings of my brain.

That last photo is meant to be used as a wallpaper for your computer monitor. Left click to open, then right click to save to your computer. For personal use only please (no commercial re-prints), but feel free to pin and share.

Lately...

Plums and sunshine and bumblebees and a much-needed new roof. Berries and firewood and canning and ice cream to celebrate the first day of school. Turning leaves and crescent moon and two mountain kids waiting patiently through yet another step in our forestry journey.

Just some of the many snapshots from the past weeks. Moments captured and added to the mosaic of my life.

Reward

I've been knocked out of my blogging mojo by the new school year and its schedule. I'm typically a morning writer, but I've made the decision to spend four mornings a week at the school helping my kids' teachers. The Kindergartener is only there from 9-11:40, which also happens to be the start of the Second Grader's lunch. So I stay and help teachers, then we eat lunch together, then I take the Girl home for a few hours while we wait until the final bell ring. I'm very happy with this arrangement, but have felt a little guilty for leaving you wondering when I will ever start leaving notes for you again.

Your favorite news will be that although my blogging has been scarce, my stitching and designing is still operating at the same pace. I'm nearing the end of a trio of samplers that will be offered in a booklet together. I love it when a project is nearing an end. Other than finalizing the designs, perhaps my favorite part is choosing which will be my next model.

As I find myself within a day or two of finishing, it is such a delightful reward to make the final decisions on threads and linen, pulling them and readying them so that I can put in the last stitch, then move immediately to the first stitch on my next baby. You can relate, can't you? That feeling of having a brand new something just waiting to be started. Somehow it motivates me to stitch even more quickly than before, my needle practically begging me to start weaving its way through a new piece of linen.

Under Pressure

"When we long for life without difficulties,

remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds

and diamonds are made under pressure."

-Peter Marshall

Adjusting

I might be a little scarce around here for a week or two. Mainly because these two are now in school, as of today, and the new schedule is a bit grueling.

Half day Kindergarten and full-day 2nd grade. Which translates into three trips a day for me. Don't feel too bad for me though, I'm the one making the choice to spend the time in the car with them rather than put them on the bus, and its only four and a half miles each way (following photo taken on our driveway while driving 10 mph... just so you don't think I let her hang out the window while driving down the highway for pete's sake!)

That extra mid-day trip does feel awkward and leaves me without any long stretches for involved projects.

Speaking of involved projects, the other reason I'll be playing hooky from this blog is thanks to umpteen pounds of apples and pears to put up as quick as I can so that I don't miss out on the bumper crop of green beans that just now started to come into season.

Wishing a bit for the old days when it was kosher to keep the kids out of school to help with the harvest! Not that they're any good at peeling pears yet, but being able to keep them in pjs all day while I preserve like a homesteader might be nice...