Devil or Angel?....

Halloween Workers

I've told you I don't do Halloween, but when I got to work on Friday, these two were already wearing their "costumes". Actually, Kim (my boss/friend on the left) bought these get-ups for her two Golden retrievers' photo shoot. She brought them to work for her and Teresa (my pal and Tuesday work mate) to wear. The silly baubles I was wearing were waiting for me when I got there.

I will say, my headgear had me laughing all night. I'm usually running around quite a bit on Friday nights. I answer the phone for takeout orders of fish or chicken (and the rest of our menu), but I'm also a runner for the kitchen and to help Brandon (the cashier) get orders out when our customers come in. Every time I moved my head, these balls bounced around and were making me wObBLy. Understand when I say "run", I don't mean literally, although I do get around remarkably well these days.

So, this is how I looked Friday from 3:30 until 7 pm. My "regulars" thought they were amusing, but I was glad to take them off at the end of my shift. 

The weekend was dedicated to a little baking and a lot of laundry. I really felt accomplished when I went to bed last night.

Kim asked me to cover for her a couple hours this afternoon, and I'm working four hours for Sara tomorrow (my usual Tuesdays resume next week), so I'll have my days chopped up a bit this week. I'm going to try to start the cutting and piecing for my bluebird hanging today and tomorrow while I'm home, and then I have some more canning on my agenda Wednesday. I'm as interested as you are to see what I can actually accomplish. For today...It's off to the races! See you tomorrow.

Sunday Scripture...

Isaiah 40:11

 

Freebie...

Brynwood Needleworks - "Brynwood Deer" Chart

Today marks the end of my little skip down Memory Lane on Facebook, so I thought I'd share the free chart I posted over on that platform. This was a chart that I created to give to customers in my shop in 1994. I realize that the year is now 2025. 

Most stitchers can change the numbers on their own, but if this is a challenge for you, please send me a private message and I'll chart it out for you. If there are enough weekend requests, I'll post the new numbers on Monday. 

Perhaps you only want to stitch the deer and branches, I think they'd make lovely motifs on napkins, or even on a table runner.

I hope you will enjoy this little gift today. In order to download it, just click on the image and safe it to your desktop or into your download folder on your cell. From there you can print it out.

It's the start of a new month. I keep saying it, but I can't believe how quickly this year is passing. Now, it's November. I feel like it's going to be a greased slide all the way to the New Year. I've been invited back to Touchmark's Winter Craft Show in Appleton (early December), and believe it or not, I'm seriously considering participating.

Of course, the holidays are almost upon us, so I'll have sewing projects to make. I guess it's going to be like previous years. I'll be busy right through December, and I love it that way. No moss growing on this ol' stone! Don't worry, though. I'll be taking plenty of breaks, and enjoying time with family and friends along the way. What do you have planned?

Sweetness...

My Kilner™ Pot Filled With Hickory Nut Pie Filling

It was a perfect day to preserve some hickory nut pie filling for the pantry. This stuff is so delicious, and I can use it to make pies, tarts, or simply use it as a topping for homemade vanilla or butter pecan ice cream. In fact, last time I did this (it's been a few years now), I made four pints and it was all used as ice cream topping!

First Batch Out Of The Canner

I had more than enough nut meats to make two double batches of pie filling. Each batch took seven cups of nuts. When all was said and done, there were a total of 15 full pints, and two half pints of these gifts  from our trees last year. Don't worry, I let the squirrels have most of this year's harvest. We share.

Lined Up Like Soldiers On The Shelf

 

By late afternoon, all the jars were sealed and cooled, and I could put them on the "pie filling" shelf in the pantry. Usually I preserve these fillings in quart jars, which are pie sized, however, because not all the jars will go toward pies or tarts, putting the hickory nut filling in pint jars was more prudent. 

 

The two smaller jars are going to Teresa and Kim at work to try. I can always share larger jars if they love it, and I have more nuts to be able to make more filling if needed. It's almost time to make hickory syrup again, too! Maybe next week, if I get my sewing done. For now, I'm just going to enjoy looking at more farmhouse goodness on our pantry shelves.

October Classmate Dinner...

Front row: Cal, Mary, Deb, and Dan Back row: Donna, John, Deb, Karen and Brad

We had our monthly classmate dinner yesterday and were told to come dressed like the '70's. I figured they meant age. (Not really. lol) I wore my class ring. There were actually only two who came dressed up and you can probably tell from the photograph.

We did have fun, like we always do, and a nice bonus was that all the music the restaurant was playing was '70s music - even though we never mentioned or asked for it!

The photographer said, "Do something silly now".

Yeah. I learned a long time ago never to make funny faces for the camera. They always come back to haunt me. However, there were some who were perfectly happy to comply. I'll let you click on the image to enlarge it, so you can get the full effect of the silly faces. sheesh. lol

Deb (center, back row) brought the felt flowers and painted peace signs for everyone, and if you look at the table, she also brought peace sign ornaments that were made out of sparkly pipe cleaners. She was all-in, for sure.

As usual, we gathered at 3 pm, and like good old-timers, we were all headed home by 5. Two hours spent telling stories, getting caught up on medical and life issues (thankfully, not mine, for a change!), and eating good food. 

We've set our November dinner for the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Someone said something about dressing up like pilgrims. I can guarantee you that's not happening! I'll just take some Indian corn to decorate the table and maybe some autumn-themed cutout cookies, but I am looking forward to seeing them all again. Until next month...

Photos From The Scrapbook...

Stitches' Grand Opening

Liam and I spent a little time going through boxes last weekend. We were looking for photographs of his mom (Jen), her mom (my sister, Lyn). In the process, I unearthed my scrapbook from when I owned my needlework shop in Fond du Lac, WI. I've been sharing photos this week in the Brynwood Facebook group (HERE).

I did write about the shop in one of my first Memory Lane Monday posts ages ago. HERE is what I wrote about it in February 2011.

Stitcher of the Month - August 1990

Each month, I featured one of my customers as "Stitcher of the Month". I had a table set up near the entrance to the shop, and that's where I would display some of their needlework along with the newspaper photograph of them. I loved that I was able to make each one feel special for "their" month. There were women and men who were featured over the years.

Laura and Me

 

This photograph is from 1992. I always bought space in our local newspaper to highlight special events, projects, and people. I wanted to do my part to keep the needlearts alive...not only in my world, but also in our area of the state.

Laura and I have spoken often of our love for the shop, and nostalgia for those days. Sadly, I closed after ten years. I turned my focus to designing as I became Brynwood Needleworks, and running both businesses and traveling was taking its toll. I closed the shop and that wonderful chapter of my life in 2000. A year later, Handsome and I moved to Florida.

I'll be sharing photos from the scrapbook all week on Facebook. If you're not in the group, feel free to join and enjoy the memories with me.

The Gift...

"Sisters and Friends" Book and Presentation Box

This is a difficult post to write, so please bear with me. Sunday was an emotional day when my dear niece, Jennifer gave this book (back) to me. I've been emotional over it ever since.

I created this book for Jennifer's mom, my sister, Lyn in 2005. I took photographs of every page after I finished it, thinking I'd give it to her and never see it again except when visiting her. That was true until Sunday.

"The Village of Hidden Wishes" by David Fletcher

The "bones" of this book was a book titled "The Village of Hidden Wishes" by David Fletcher. Mum and Dad believed their kids should read, and we were always gifted books which we loved dearly. This particular book was given to me, so I wrote my name on the inside cover. My sister and I shared a room, and it often happened that my name would end up crossed out and Lyn would write her name inside instead. Once my other younger sisters came along, they too signed their names into childhood books I'd left behind. I always smiled to see that.

Anyway, this was a story about twin sisters who traded places with their dolls and went on merry adventures. Lyn and I both loved the story. So, in 2005, I took this book and turned it into a book about us.

Inside pages

I added photos of the two of us as little girls, favorite places, and favorite shared memories. Here, I added album covers from our favorite music from that year, and pictures from a party she and her husband had at their home, as well as a picture of her when she came home from traveling all over the world. I called her "Sister Goldenhair". I even added a pocket to hold a cd of music I'd recorded for her.

Lyn's (First) Wedding

Over the years, my sister married four times in search of happiness. In 2005, I placed these photos from her first wedding to my niece's father. When I painted the pages of the book, I always kept a few appropriate lines unpainted. On this set of pages, I left Fletcher's words "far too confused and dizzy with all the excitement and changes that had taken place to properly notice the passage of time". Looking back, those words still ring true.

Lyn - The Day I Gave Her The Book

This is the photograph I took of my sister the day I gave the book and box to her. I'd even decorated the inside and outside of the box, so there was no doubt it was a set. She loved it and cried when paging through it.

The Box Today

When my sister died in 2023, I only asked for two things from her personal belongings. There was a bottle of liqueur that Dad kept in his "liquor closet" that had a dancing ballerina inside. He would occasionally bring it out, wind it up and the two of us would watch her spin around. Lyn had the bottle for years. 

Her daughters gave me that bottle, but told me that, sadly, the ballerina didn't dance anymore. As they handed the bottle to me, the mechanism started on its own and that ballerina danced in my hands. We all wept together, taking it as a sign from Dad and their mom.

However, they were unable to find the book. I showed them photos of what it looked like, and said that even though she'd spent years angry with me (it was a stupid family thing), I just knew she would never destroy it. I was right.

Sunday, her husband said he found it tucked away in the back of one of the drawers in her room. My niece told me she'd added precious other things to it over the years...cards from me, a single seashell from when she came and stayed with Handsome and me in Florida, baptism records of her girls, and a few other things. The fact is, she kept it safe for the past twenty years. Thankfully, we reconciled before she left us, so I do have her sweet, final "I love you" to hold on to, too.

The paper on the outside of the box, as well as the individual beads I made to embellish it are faded to white now, but everything else is intact. 

The Keeper of the Book - For Now

I asked Handsome to try to recreate me posing with the box and book as Lyn did all those years ago. I'm smiling through tears. I've added a few more photos to the back of the book, and added the date she left us under the date that we celebrated her birth.

I'm going to add the cards I saved from Lyn to the box. Even when we weren't on speaking terms, we each held those memories close. When I opened the pages in front of Jen and her two kids, I explained each and every photo. Where we were together. What the notes meant. The shared secrets and laughter behind every element saved between its covers. Jen thanked me for sharing and being our memory keeper. That meant the world to me.

I've told Jen that I'll hold the book until it's time for me to be with Lyn again. Then it will go back to her and her daughter for safekeeping. Lyn always used to say, "Look to the stars". That's why I chose the handmade paper that was used throughout her book.

Now she rests among the stars and watches over her two beautiful girls and their families. I'll do my best to watch over them from here, and be the keeper of the flame that keeps her memory alive for them. I have lots of wonderful stories, and I intend to share them all. 

Cool Beans...

Goddaughter #1, her son and daughter, and yours truly

They arrived by 10:00 Saturday morning, and we were off to the races. I had baked breakfast pizza that we all munched on while we worked. My eldest niece, Jen, her son, Liam, and her daughter came to learn and participate.

Great Aunt Donna and Liam

They made a special trip last weekend, just so this young man could deliver venison for his aunt and uncle. He harvested a beautiful ten-point buck during Minnesota archery season the previous weekend, and then froze about ten pounds of meat to share with us. As it was still hard frozen when delivered, we went to Plan B for the day.

Filling Jars

I had all the supplies to make a baked beans recipe (sans baking, as it's all done in the pot), so we got busy with that. Liam loves to cook and he wanted to learn how to process food with the pressure canner. 

Good to the last drop!

Liam's little sister sat across from us, watching the entire process as she did a little coloring with her mom. As we went through the process, I explained the whats and whys. 

First we made sure the jars were washed and clean with no chips along the rims. Then we placed them in the canner so they could warm up. Lids went into water and onto the stovetop so they'd be ready when we needed them. 

One pot held the navy beans, where they first boiled and sat for an hour. Then, they were rinsed and simmered for another thirty minutes to be ready to go into jars. While they were simmering, we measured out the tomato juice, tomato sauce, spices, chopped onion and vinegar, along with a bit of brown sugar. 

Liam - who loves all things culinary - was in charge of chopping up the raw onion, and stirring the combined ingredients until everything was ready to put into jars. Then, he did the heavy lifting to empty out the very last drop of sauce that topped the beans in each jar.

Our portion of the day's work

By the end of the day, we had processed a total of nineteen pints of beans. The recipe had an error, calling for 1-1/2 cups of beans for each quart, so the first batch of jars only had 3/4 cups of beans in each pint. I realized that we were going through a lot more tomato mixture than beans, but those jars were already in the canner. We adjusted for the second batch by putting the correct 1-1/2 cups per pint into the jars and ended up with leftover mix. I'll be doing more beans later this week to use up all the ingredients. Anyway, the second batch of jars processed perfectly and were brimming with beans as they should have been.

Handsome with Jen and Kids

Of course, we took lots of photographs before they left late day. We agreed to meet up on Sunday before they left Wisconsin because the beans were still too hot to jostle around in the car for them to go to my mum's house where they were spending the night.

Proud Aunty and Uncle

Jen was complaining about how she looked in the photographs, and after looking at them, I told her that she was gorgeous, but I looked like I'd been canning all day. lol

Then I shared another lesson with her. In the end, the only thing that matters is that you stand for the pictures. They're proof that you lived. These are memories of a wonderful day spent with family. Some day she and her children will look back on them and remember the time they spent with their aunt and uncle. Her mum - my sister - is gone now. All we have left are our photos and memories...and the love. That's what matters. Not that we weren't wearing makeup or it was just sunny enough so that we were squinting. Not that I'm wearing a comfy, old baggy pair of jeans and weigh more than I'd like right now. We lived, loved, and spent time together. These pictures are proof.

Jen with two of her three children

Here's my beautiful niece with two of her three children. The eldest doesn't come often. He has other things to do at his age, but he's always welcome. 

I met them all again at their stepdad's on Sunday to hand off a box of sealed and cooled jars of beans. I also sent them home with some of our previously canned venison, jams, relish, and other tasty treats. Liam was shopping in our pantry. I showed him how to save the empty, clean jars so they could come back here to refill later.

Jen had a very special gift for me, too, on Sunday which left me in a puddle of grateful tears. I'll tell you all about that tomorrow. This is a wonderful weekend, indeed.

Sunday Scripture...

Habakkuk 2:3

Saturday Silliness...

 

Debuting Fabrics...

What do you think of these? I don't want to go full-on orange to match the bluebird breasts, but think that first pair of fabrics on top are a nice nod to that colorway. I also think too much blue will overpower the birds completely. I love the batik on the bottom. It even has a bit of blue mixed in. 

I'll sort through more fabrics tomorrow or over the weekend, and I'll probably go back and see if there are any fabrics I might pull from the last assortment that might enhance this design. Then, I'll need to start drawing out the quilting design to really make my birds shine. I really can't wait to see where my ideas might take me next as I work to finish this piece.

Another Friday is staring me in the face. I work my three hours tonight, and I told Mona (who does the schedule) to put me back on my Tuesdays starting the second week in November (the start of the next schedule). I told her those two weeks will be a good indicator for whether or not I can work those six-hour shifts. I really hope I can, for a number of reasons. It will mean I've worked hard enough and healed well enough to be there. It will also mean that I can get back to pulling my own shifts so they don't have to find others to cover for me. Plus, I've been missing my "regulars". They're all great folks.

Tomorrow, my goddaughter/niece and her kiddos will be coming for a visit. I'm going to teach them about pressure canning, as they're bringing venison for us. My great-nephew (her son) is fourteen, and he shot a ten-point buck last weekend. He was bow hunting with his dad. His stepmom won't allow them to bring, let alone cook, the meat in their home, so they usually end up donating all the meat. This time, Handsome and I are the recipients, and we're very grateful. I'll teach them how to pressure can the meat, and then sent some home with him that he can just reheat at his mom's. It's going to be a fun day with them, and I'll absolutely remember to take pictures to share next week! See you tomorrow with a new Saturday Silliness!

I'd Hop Up & Down - If I Could!...

On this date - October 22, 2025 - I hereby celebrate completing the main embroidery for the third in my Songbird Seasons series. My next step will be to measure and square up the fabric to prepare it for sewing into my wall hanging fabrics (yet to be chosen).

I'm also sharing a close up of the male bluebird because I added legs and "lunch" to complete him. While my sister, Diana and I were chatting on the phone yesterday, I told her what I had in mind for the male to be feeding the babies. She found an image of a male with a flying bug in its mouth. I'm quite sure the image was a female mayfly. I loved it, but when I said "I'm not sure how I'd do that.". Her reply was "You took classes with the Royal School of Needlework! You can figure this out!" Well, that was all the motivation I needed. Challenge accepted.

I wanted this element to be dimensional, too, so I stitched one wing to the ground fabric. I made the tail (actually the ovipositor) coming out the front of the bluebird's mouth. Then I created the other wing on a stiff base and stitched the wing details onto it. I attached that separately after I completed the needlework, and now it stands off the fabric. I finished my bug meal with a French knot for a head, and declared my piece finished!

Once I assemble the pieced top with the bluebirds as my central block, I will need to embroider a small motif into each corner. I did red berries on the cardinal wall hanging, and leaves on the robins. I'm leaning toward small bluebird feathers for the corners of this one. Do you have any different suggestion? I'll certainly consider them.

I'll be cleaning up my studio, repairing a couple garments for a friend (something I almost never do!), and then pulling fabrics to preview for the quilted part of my wall hanging. I'll show you a couple of contenters, and probably have made a final choice by the time I share them with you. We'll see.

Happy Thursday! 

Fencing Finished!...

Completed exactly as I planned! I'm very happy with the way it looks now. All I have left to do are bird legs and feet, as well as a grub/moth/bug for the male's beak. I'll be finishing that today, and then I'll choose the fabric for the wall hanging in earnest. 

I'm feeling pretty accomplished, even though I still have a little bit to go. I can definitely see the end of this project now. I started it last September, and although I took a few breaks during that time (the holidays and my surgery), I estimate I still have about nine months of work on this piece...so far. I can't begin to imagine how many stitches! It's my plan to complete it before the end of this month. 

I'll show you the completed embroidery tomorrow, and I can hardly wait!

October Artist Trading Cards...

October ATCs - Theme: Indigenous

I completed this month's ATCs over the weekend, and they're in the mail today. The theme was "indigenous". Handsome actually came up with this idea and found the image. I really liked it, so I went with it. 

"Indigenous" Theme

I have an unpublished counted thread chart that's still on my To Do List to make available in my Etsy shop. It features a buffalo/bison charm, and I have a lot of them. I set aside enough for this project, so in addition to showing a map of Wisconsin and which tribes lived (or still live) where, I also included this charm.

My doctor's appointment went really well, with a new appointment scheduled for a year from the surgery date. I won't see him before spring unless "BoB" needs to be replaced sooner. I'm keeping my fingers crossed in that regard.

I was only at work for about two hours yesterday morning, so that was an easy shift for me. Especially since it was a quiet night at home after all the running was accomplished.

I haven't decided yet what I'm going to do today, but I know a few loads of laundry are on the list. Once I get that going, I'll figure out what's next. Hope you have a great day!

Let's Dance...

I sat with my needlework stand in natural daylight all day as I watched the sky change from cloudy to partly cloudy to sunshine on Sunday. I stopped stitching as the sun was going down, and the light cast shadows on my work.

I think I accomplished quite a bit in about four hours. I felt the rhythm of the needle and thread as we moved across the fabric. I took breaks to stretch, grab a cuppa or a sandwich. I also did a few loads of laundry, too, so I moved around quite a bit.

I'm confident I'll complete my fencing soon. Now that the end is in sight. I'll pull more fabric choices, too, to see if I like something better than the colors I shared last week. Although I keep going to that assortment, I guess I'm really not sold on that as my final choice. We'll see.

I completed my November artist trading cards over the weekend, too. I'll share those with you tomorrow. The theme was "Indigenous", so I'll show you what I came up with thanks to Handsome's input. I'm happy with the way they turned out.

I'm going in for a couple hours to work for my boss this morning, and I have my "see ya later" appointment with my knee surgeon this afternoon. I think I'll just stitch a bit more after I finish all my running around. We'll see. Gotta run now, though. I'll be back manaña!

Sunday Scripture...

I Corinthians 2:9

 

Saturday Silliness...