I have a story to tell you. It is the story of a cross stitcher
and it demonstrates how much the love of a hobby can
draw people ... often complete strangers ... together to
create joy and happiness.
I have a dear friend named Mary who works as a
secretary for Knox Presbyterian Church here in
Georgetown. Often I pop into her office at the
church to say "hi", catch up on news and so forth.
A while ago, when I popped in for a short visit she showed
me a lovely little round cross stitch ornament that a lady
who sometimes goes to her church had made for her. It
was a cardinal in the boughs of a tree and had been neatly
finished into a round ornament which Mary kept on her
desk to enjoy.
Knowing that I was a stitcher Mary showed it to me and
I expressed my delight with it. How sweet the design,
how well stitched it was and how nicely it was finished.
Whenever I was in her office after that I would see the
piece and enjoy looking at it ... as one does when seeing
another stitcher's work.
Well, in July I once again stopped in to see Mary and
when she saw me she smiled broadly and said that she
had something for me and she handed me a small
tissue wrapped item. Curious I carefully opened the
Apparently Mary had told the lady about me and how much
I'd admired her stitching and then told her that I was a
stitcher too and a few weeks later the lady had brought
this in for me .... even though we'd never met!! Can you
imagine?
I cried! Yes, I did. I was so moved and awed by the
lovely, generous thoughtfulness of someone I'd never met
who would take the time to make me something so
personal just for me. Mary had also told her that I loved
cats and that my first cat had been a grey one which is how
she choose to stitch this particular design.
So now this sweet ornament has a home in my craft room
where I admire it every day and it reminds me of how
wonderful cross stitchers (and people) can be.
And speaking of the spirit of giving .....
We celebrated Christmas last weekend!!!
Hang on now .... don't get excited. We haven't lost our
minds up here just yet! It's just something that we've
been doing for quite some time now in early August.
We have a party ... a Christmas in August party .... and
invite as many of our friends as we can.
Here's Phil all enthusiastic and excited before the start
of the party. He is wearing a t-shirt that had been a
Christmas gift from friends of ours last year.
If you blow up the picture you'll see that the picture on
the shirt is of Phil singing in the Children's Christmas
Pageant two years ago. (they'd apparently needed someone
to play the role of an "old man" in the story - hehehe)
And the caption reads: A Star Is Born
Me on the right and my dear friend Darlene on the left
just before things got busy ... and note Santa Claus
on my left. Hohoho!!!
We decorate with some of our favourite Christmas
decorations and put Christmas lights up around the
back deck. I spent two days baking and cooking
and our friends all brought their own favourite pot
luck foods as well so we always eat (stuff ourselves
actually) very well.
A picture of our yard taken from our deck which
Googlephoto then randomly chose to turned into this
lovely picture.
Close up of the flowers that we bought for the tables.
Love Gerbera daisies!
We lucked out on the day of the party because the
horrendous heat that we've been having took a
break that day and we just had normal tolerably
warm weather that allowed us to be outside all
day without worrying about anyone passing out
from the excessive heat.
The past month has not been a good stitching
month for me. I guess that I needed a break.
Instead I was bitten by the doodling bug again
and have been working in my sketch book
filling the pages with floral patterns.
And a bit of Zentangling as well.
I haul all my markers and pencil crayons and
other drawing "stuff" out to the back deck and
sit there all day .... unless it gets too hot like it
is today.
More.
And the rest.
We went to Stratford on July 13th which is something that
we try to do at least once a year. We love it there because
it is such a lovely town, with neighbourhoods full of old
homes, beautiful gardens, a fabulous downtown area for
shopping, a peaceful river to picnic by and ... of course
... the plays and musicals that are performed there every
year.
Above is the Festival Theatre where we saw A Chorus
Line this year. It's the main theatre where most of the
Shakespearean plays are performed and it was the first
theatre built in the town. There are many more now.
One of the lovely, gracious old homes ... many of which have
been turned into B&B's.
Frustratingly the day we went was an absolute scorcher!
It was literally too hot to do much of anything because
to move was to sweat and to suffer. We tried a bit of
walking but even on the tree shaded streets it was
unbearable and left us feeling sick and light headed.
So we found a bench beneath a tree by the river Avon
and we parked ourselves there until it was time for dinner.
Then went back there after dinner to sit some more until
it was time for the 8:00 pm show.
We got home that night around 11:40 (Stratford is an
hour and a half drive from here) and about 20 minutes
later a tremendous thunderstorm roared through so our
timing was perfect. I love a good thunderstorm but not
while out driving in the dark of night on unfamiliar
roads.
Not much reading going on either last month.
I did read the above fantasy and I am now
reading it's sequel Froi of the Exiles and then
there is the third book to be read Quintana of
Charyn.
And that's about it from me. C
