August 2025

Things have calmed down to a quiet roar.   Like everyone, once I catch up on yardwork it seems it is time to make the circuit around all the beds again.  I was opting for early morning weeding and tending to avoid the brutal heat but we seemed to be in the midst of a nice cool stretch right now.   My vegetable garden has not produced that well for me this year.  Both zucchini plants got some kind of bug and withered and died before anything grew.  My green beans are doing OK.   This is the third year in a row that my tomatoes have not turned red.   A little research and I found out that when the temperature is too hot they will not turn red.  I picked some and put them on the windowsill with hopes.    My back yard is like a box - arborvitae hedge on one side, woods on a second side,  across a third side is the back of my house and on the fourth side, a story and a half out building. No air flow.    If across town, a friend says her backyard thermometer is 95, I bet mine is 103.   Highest I noticed this year was 107.    Another reason I so dearly miss my pool.   I digress……..

I was in the mood for my quick stitching gratification so I stitched the Faded Flag from October House as one of my patriotic stitches for the next year.  This is such an EZ-PZ piece to take along and work on while chatting with others.  I plan to finish this up later today and hope the flag is less lumpy when I am done.  If not, all the stuffing will come out and I will start again!

 I also stitched this pattern from the French Giraffe on Etsy. Start to finish in a couple of days.  More quick gratification.  All Smyrna crosses.   I have to decide how I will finish it.  

When I took a photo of the completed Land That I Love, something was missing.   Hope you like the idea Stacy and I can up with.   The piece is too stitch heavy to have these two empty spaces - either side of the word “America”.

I found two little projects when I was sorting about.   First, this little stitch book that I got from my Advent Exchange.   I decided to do one or two pages a day until I was done.   For the first few pages, it was easy to do.   Stitches got more time consuming as I navigated through the book and things got in the way.  Setting the goal of my September EGA Meeting to be done.

I also found this EGA project from several years ago.   We had a meeting on embroidery and the effect you can achieve with various stitches.   I hope to do a few lengths of thread a day on this one.  I really would like to have this one also finished by our September meeting.  

With going to a retreat and planning a retreat, I did not sew on my Civil War quilt in either June or July.   I had hope to make it to some sewing time in August but it wasn’t to be.   Now I am 12 blocks behind!!!   Just keep telling myself how you eat an elephant, one bite at time.   Like so many other things,  I know once I get going it will be alright.  September…..that’s it.  I will work on it in September.   Maybe dedicate Fridays to it since my Friday babysitting job has ended.  Darn that girl had to grow up and go to full day Kindergarten.  

I have been working on this stitchy piece, A Cabin in the Woods for a November Retreat  Although I should be picking up Cornwall Cottage when I am done, I am just not in the mood for work on another massive sampler right now.  

I kept pushing that “month of finishing” but somehow I got a few pieces fully finished in August.  Tiny Modernist Halloween Witch finished as an ornament to hang on my Halloween tree.

Statehood Series of Thread Milk Designs - New Jersey.  Stitched and finished in August.  Fit right into my tiered tray of patriotic pieces. 

July from A Year of Celebration, Hands on Design - fabrics picked, matte board cut and ready to finish.

 August from A Year of Celebration, Hands on Design.   It has been fun to dig through all my trims and embellishments and USE them.

And another flag - this was an EGA project a few years back - blackwork flag.  I finished as an ornament for my patriotic tree.

I am not sure but this may be a pattern from Fat Quarter Shop.   It’s out of the finishing basket and marked complete!

Mid-month, I made my second trip to the Outer Banks with two of my children and the grandkids.   It is now becoming an annual summer vacation together.  Pop pop even made an appearance this year.  And then Erin came.   We got the evacuation notice at 6 pm on Sunday night to start evacuating by 10 am on Monday.   We made the most of the rest of the day with a walk on the beach to the pier where the ice cream truck was parked. We were on the road by 5 a.m. Monday.   We had a great time in the time we were there and managed to cram a lot of fun into the 36 hours we had there.    It was beautiful when we left but there was no need to be stranded on the barrier islands if the roads washed out as anticipated.  I made sure pop pop got in the hot tub……hoping against hope that he would get  the idea to put one in our back yard.    So glad my middle daughter and I rode together so we could switch up the driving on the way home.  That is always the worst for me……tired and facing  8 hours behind the wheel. 

Get lemons, make lemonade.  The kids went to Hershey Park for the day.  We all did the Aquarium another day and finished the week with fishing and kayaking.   All and all vacation week did not disappoint.

As always, thanks for stopping by.  I do enjoy your comments and reading your blogs as well.   As a funny aside.  My last post where I talked about the Jello Museum had over 600 hits.   A lot of people looking for Jello recipes must have been directed to my blog!  Keep on stitching.

July - Part 2 - Jell-o and Hobby House

 Before leaving the LeRoy House, we visited the basement.   

Scissors!  What stitcher is not fascinated with scissors?

Lighting from the era.

Pottery

Cold storage.   The day we were there it was in the 90’s and this basement felt so cool and comfortable.

Basement kitchen

There was quite a collection of Morganville Pottery.   Circa 1829-1900.  Among the longest produced pottery of the area of Genesee County, NY, it was documented in the 1850 census with Fortunatus Gleason and his son listed as potters.  During the 1870’s, the pottery was operated by Charles Ford, nephew of Gleason and by James Johnson. Cousin to Gleason.   The Morganville Pottery site was excavated in 1973 by the Rochester Museum and Science Center in cooperation with the Royal Ontario Museum.   The site features the foundations of the pottery building and two floor kilns.  Also a large amount of pottery fragments were found.

Crossing the back yard lead us to the LeRoy Academic Institute that was erected behind the house.   Built in 1865, the house became a  boarding house for teachers and students of the Institute.   

The original school bell.

The school house now houses the Jell-o Museum.   Leave it to us to find the quirkiest places.   Only bad thing was we were in the mood for Jello by the time we left and they didn’t sell any!  

In 1897,  Pearls Bixby Wait trademarked the name  Jell-o.   Created by he and his wife, May, they had four flavors - strawberry, raspberry, orange and lemon.  In 1899, Wait sold Jell-o to Orator Woodward of the Genesee Pure Food Company.  Woodward marketing Jell-o by sending out salesman to promote Jell-o.   At one house they would give samples of Jell-o and at the next, they would give Jell-o cookbooks.  

Tee-shirts in all the colors of Jell-o 

Yes, there is always room for Jell-o

Paintings of the iconic dessert

Can you guess which state consumes the most Jell-o per capita?    Keep guessing.   I won’t reveal until the end.   LOL

Jell-o cubes at the museum entrance.

Delivery wagon from the early 1900’s

Everything from Baseball cards to Barbie’s!

Hockey players

Three little kittens ate jello!

Mid-century factory workers.

The best hostesses brought out the Jell-o dessert.   Jell-o salads were a standard item brought to dinner parties during the 50’s and 60’s.

We made it to Hobby House by late afternoon.    We had a Meet and Greet in the Lounge at 8 pm with all the stitchers.  

Beautiful samplers displayed everywhere.

Great collection of Winterbury cases in sumptuous colors.

Fibers from all the different providers.

Wools in every color.

A beautiful building inside and out.

 And then the little tricksters that were attending….somehow found out it was my birthday and Todd brought out a cake for me.   It was Lynda’s birthday the next day so I had her blow out candles with me.   They got me for sure.  

Not a lot of purchasing was done.   A wool pattern, two pieces of wool, scissors set (to put in my yet to be completed jewelry box/sewing box) and a patriotic chart.

We had a couple of Mike-it/Take-its.   Here the stitchers were making beading scissor fobs.  

Amy and Becky brought the Delaware panel for the America’s Tapestry.  They are coordinating the drive to have the panel stitched in time for the 250th birthday celebration.

Each of the 13 original colonies has a tapestry that will depict a lesser known contributor for the Revolutionary War.   This is Major Henry Fisher.    He was a pilot boat Captain from Lewis, Delaware.  He devised an early warning system to alert Philadelphia when British ware ships entered the Delaware Bay.

Games were played, stitching was done and fun was had.   Now after a few days rests, I am up for saying we will do this again.  It was a lot of prep work but the enjoyment was worth it.  

Utah.   Utah residents eat more Jell-o than residents of any other state.  Who knew?

Between everything do on, I was able to start Cabin in the Woods.   This is from Flossibility.   It is the suggested piece for Stitching in the Smokies in Gatlinburg in November.  

July was supposed to be a month of finishing.   That didn’t happen and hopefully, it fit into my August plans.  We all know that no magic little fairies are coming in the night to finish is for us so it is going no where.  Again - giving myself the grace to know it is ok to change plans.  And I made no progress on my Civil War quilt at all.

Thanks for stopping by and traveling along with me.   Keep on stitching!   And now I rest until the next trip.