My End of July Update and Slow Sunday Stitching

 On Monday at 7:20 in the morning I was still sleeping rare for me but it happens, I heard mowing and I was thinking who the heck is cutting their grass so early. Then I heard the mower go past my bedroom window and I knew believe I wasn't happy. I know it's our rainy season and also very hot later in the day but geez I hadn't had much sleep all weekend so a rare sleep in was nice.

On Tuesday morning the Tree Service arrived and began working without so much as a knock on the door. I heard all this noise looked out and pieces of a tree were being fed into a wood chipper.  Well midway through the job a piece of machinery broke down so they went onto another job while waiting for the mechanic to fix the truck.  They returned about 90 minutes later to resume the job.  They had to move one of the limestone boulders to get the heavy equipment in and assured me they would move it back after the job was done.

A few hours later it was real quiet so I looked out the door and there wasn't a soul in sight. They left, forgetting to move the boulder back (which would be okay), they left a 5 gallon bucket of hydraulic fluid and the payment.  My son and I looked around the yard to see how well the work was done and what may need to be done next.  The company called and asked if the men were still there and I told him they were gone, but needed to come back to get the hydraulic fluid and if possible to put the boulder back and get paid.  
Everything looked good, of course there is a few clean up jobs needing to be done, where the heavy equipment was.  I did notice all of the branches of my pear tree were cut off which I'm sure was do to the heavy branches coming down.  The backyard looks so empty even though there are still quite a few good size trees there.  My heart is heavy at the loss, but on a positive note I think the pear tree may do better next year with all the sunshine it will be getting, though one of the men said it was partially dead. Time will tell and this autumn you can bet I will fertilize it again.

The removal of the dead cedar tree was crucial because it was so tall and I worried it would either fall  on my house or my neighbors.  The tree service cut down the stump that was next to it and all I have left are two little pieces which I will make into spirit dolls one of these days.

Well onto other happier subjects, For today's slow Sunday stitching I am going to continue the work on Moon Crystals for the Stitch Along. I stitched quite a bit yesterday for World Embroidery Day.

The first stitch used is the Split Back Stitch, which at first I wasn't much of a fan but as I continued to stitch I began to like it.

The second stitch is the lazy daisy and mine tend to go wonky and I pull out more then I put in. So I am slogging along at a slow pace. I do like the overall look so far and plan to have all the leaves done today.

The Lolli and Grace and Snarky & Modern Stitch Along – Moon Crystals began on July 27th, I didn't start stitching until the 29th. You would need to join the FAcebook Group in order to get the free pattern and links to videos.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/snarkyandmodern/posts/3370873249800290/

You can read more about it here if you are interested in the SAL 

https://lolliandgrace.com/blogs/blog/moon-crystals-a-new-stitch-along-for-the-snarky-modern-facebook-group

Anyway I purchased the Afterglow Workshop hand dyed floss for the SAL but I supplied the other materials from my stash.

The colors are so pretty and I'm sure to have quite a bit left after I finish the pattern, I have an idea or two brewing in my head for them.

If you don't want to buy a kit or the floss Anne of Lolli and Grace posted the DMC floss conversion on her website and I took it a bit further and came up with a list for Anchor, Cosmo and Sullivans because as we all know not everyone has access to DMC floss.  Here are my conversions including the DMC #906 that is required for the pattern.

DMC 704 Bright Chartreuse

DMC 955 Light Nile Green

DMC 996 Medium Electric Blue

DMC 553 Violet

DMC 3837 Ultra Dark Lavender

Anchor 256 Parrot Green

Anchor 203 Light Mint Green

Anchor 433 Electric Blue

Anchor 98 Medium Violet

Anchor 100 Medium Dark Violet

Cosmo 271 Lime

Cosmo 333 Opaline Green

Cosmo 413 Azure

Cosmo 284 Amethyst Mauve

Cosmo 285 Violet

Sullivans 45164 Bright Chartreuse

Sullivans 45290 Light Nile Green

Sullivans 45315 Medium Electric Blue

Sullivans 45125 Violet

Sullivans 45435 Ultra Dark Lavender

Also required is DMC 906 Medium Parrot Green which would be Anchor 256 Parrot Medium Green

or Cosmo 326 Foliage or Sullivans 45255 Medium Parrot Green.

I printed the pattern on Pellon’s Stitch and Wash Away product. I don’t trust my eyesight to trace the pattern and my hands aren’t as steady as they used to be. 

I should order this stuff by the case I love how easy it is to use and how simply it washes off.  My needle doesn't get sticky and it goes through the product and fabric smoothly, and all those black lines disappear after washing.

The New Moon on the 28th had me sharing my orts on the TUSAL Facebook group, not much for July but I was stitching again so each ort is a blessing, the orts are on top of the Moon Flow and Greenman two projects I have been working on since May.

I am linking my post at Kathy's Quilts, click the link to see what Kathy is slow stitching today as well as other talented stitcher's around the globe.

https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2022/07/slow-sunday-stitching_01064196367.html

I had to unravel my granny square afghan again but I have it on track now so it should work up rather quickly when I have the time to work on it.