Summertime is officially here. What does that mean in today's world? Well, there are people who are going about as though nothing has changed, and they have been doing that all along. There are people like me who are very timid when it comes to going out or doing much of anything outside of the home. Then, there are those people in the middle who do a little bit outside the home but also stay inside most of the time. I shake my head when I see pictures of people out on beaches and on grand vacations acting like nothing has changed. Maybe it is okay to go out and about. As for me, a vacation isn't such an important thing. Of course, I am a lot different than a many people. So, I am content to stay home, ride my bike, and cross stitch.
I made progress on my three angels, even though I only work on it every now and then. The angels are completed, but the back-stitching/outlining is not finished. I also need to stitch the halos. Those will be the last part, though. The gold thread is real thin, and it needs to be the last part that is done. I did finish one bicycle. I made a green one for my cousin and a pink one for me. The pink one will be finished, when I stitch the spokes. I am not sure if I will outline it, though. The green one has the outlines and is finished.
This piece was fun to stitch. The picture was taken before I finished the outlines and trimmed off the extra fabric.
This little piece is one that I made for my granddaughters. I tried teaching them how to cross stitch with this little pattern. Each one made about six stitches on it, and they were thrilled! However, they were finished at six stitches! I will try again with them at a later time. I could try a stamped cross stitch pattern for them. That might be easier than having to count the squares!
After making the green bike, I felt more comfortable stitching this one with different colors. The green bike used all of the called for colors. I chose the bright pink for this bike, because it looks like my tricycle. Yes, I ride a tricycle. It is really fun to ride. I can go as slow or as fast as I want to go. Plus, I can stop and 'smell the roses' without getting off the bike! haha I also added different colors for the flowers, made more flowers, and changed the blackbird to a redbird. I made my own style of french knots for the flowers, but I think they are pretty. I sound like I kind of know what I am doing now. HA! The bike will look a lot different, once the gray spokes are added.
This little angel project is truly a labor of love. I have several figurines of these three angels. For several years, I sent out Christmas cards with these little angels on them. I just love them! I am sorry about the quality of the picture, but I just wanted to share it. The outlines on the sleeves and hands are finished. I did a little bit of outlining on the hair and face of the left angel. It is the most complete angel. The angel on the right has her toes crossed and her eyes opened. Once I have the outlines on her feet, you will be able to see the crossed toes! She is the mischievous one!
The wings are made of a shiny, silver ribbon. They are hard to see in the picture. I did outline them with the called for blue thread, but you cannot see the outlines. The heads of these angels took a long time to stitch - hours and hours for just one head of yellow hair! The outlines of the hands were difficult, because I had to stitch over the threads that were in there already. I had to rip out, or frog, those outlines many times. I think that is why I keep putting this one away and resting from it! Other than the outlines and the halos, the angels are complete. Yippee!
Our weather has been kind of nice. Yes, it gets hot here in the summer. However, the sunshine is really nice. I do like riding my bike on a bright sunshiny day, even if it means that I am also riding in the severe heat! Of course, the summer storms have also arrived. We have storms almost every day now. The grass is really green, though!
I am puppy-sitting this weekend. That is because my children are some of those people who decided to go out on the road and take a trip. I will simply pray that they are all going to be okay. I have the little tiny dog that belongs to my granddaughters. He is a cutie pie, that is for sure! He is usually very fluffy, much like a teddy bear. As a matter of fact, they are often called the Teddy Bear dog. Thus, our little one received the name of Teddy. He got a haircut a couple of weeks ago, and his fur is growing back. It is not all fluffy and fuzzy, though. He looks kind of like a short hair dog right now. It will get curly again soon! My daughter got him from a friend whose neighbor's dog 'accidentally' had puppies. A toy poodle and a shih tzu got together and produced a litter of tiny puppies. We didn't know it at the time, but there are breeders who put those two types of dogs together, call them a Shi-Poo, and sell them for lots of money. The blend of the two dogs supposedly creates a hypoallergenic dog, due to the low shedding of fur. These dogs are also excellent pets. So, my daughter got a free, normally expensive, love filled breed of dog! He is a joy to their whole family.
Here is a picture of a baby ShiPoo. He looks just like a teddy bear!
Teddy is one year old now, but he is still small. He and I took a ride in the car yesterday, just to get out and about. I didn't want to go on a bike ride and leave the dog at home alone for too long, so the two of us went on my normal bike route in the car! Teddy usually has very fluffy curls, curls, and more curls! He got a haircut a few weeks ago. You can see some of his curls coming back on his face, though. When his fur is cut, more of the white shows on him than the brown. I think he enjoyed the ride. 😍
I am not sure what type of adventure to two of us will have today. It would be nice if I still had my cat crate for him. I could put him in my bike basket. I think he would enjoy riding around outside!
Have a great Saturday!
