Real July weather is happening here in Maryland this month. Hot alternating with thunderstorms and overall humidity. We haven't had any 'swamp weather' as my daughter calls it just yet but things have come close. My friend/neighbor Patty had to do without her air conditioning in the middle of this - I had real sympathy for her plight as I went through that, too, several years ago. Our a/c failed in early July some summers ago - we endured five nasty, sticky days without coolth. :P
When I was a child, we generally lived in rented houses - often old farm houses as we needed ample space (for a family with five children) and my parents preferred to live in more open places like the country. Those farmhouses were usually pleasant even in hot weather - they were built with cross ventilation and thick walls to keep the heat out. Our house now is nowhere near as sturdy and weather resistant!
There has been enough rainfall here that the green plants are shooting up - all of them, beneficials and 'weeds' alike. I have a considerable crop of poison ivy growing in our front flower beds sadly. I treated them with weed poison (carefully!) recently but it does not seem to be working; I am resigned to retreating them soon. This means carefully painting each leaf with the liquid plant killer while wearing gloves ... and thorough washing up of tools and self afterwards. Shades of Agent Orange. :P
I am actually allergic to poison ivy (swollen glands, hives, etc as opposed to the more usual skin rashes) and want to discourage the stuff whenever possible. Ick!
I have managed to do a little needlework while still working to clean my sewing room. This past Monday was Mimi's Dietrich's Grad Class monthly meeting at Bear's Paw Fabrics in Towson. We had wonderful show and tell (even better than usual and that is saying a lot:). And Mimi gave out another block for us to make. I did mine quickly as I expect be traveling soon. Here is my 'fall leaf':
It's laying downstairs in the 'outgoing' mail place by the front door so I can drop it in a mail box to Mimi when I go out next.
This past month's block was an apple applique that I apparently neglected to share here. I made a patchwork apple in red/green/pink that I hand quilted. We had 15 blocks finished for the swap and my friend Barbara won them all, lucky woman! :)
The other thing I decided to sew on this afternoon was one of the kits I found while picking up in my room - a large sized project bag. I managed to sew the entire front - zipper with fabric placket, clear vinyl front and checker square patchwork bottom - today. The next time I sit to sew I will assemble the back and finish the bag. That will give me something new and pretty to use for taking whatever handwork I choose on my trip. :)
Of course, one of the benefits of cleaning is that I have found any number of forgotten treasures as I have gone along. Each issue of any magazine I find I look through to see if there is an article or pattern I want to keep from the ones I decide not to archive. In a knitting magazine from several years ago I found a pair of socks I thought might be fun to make ... so I took a trip to Catonsville last week and stopped in at Cloverhill Yarn Shop to buy pretty sock yarn to make these:
The yarn I bought is a pretty variegated sock wool in rainbow colors. Can't wait to see the finished pair! :)
As I drove out of Catonsville that afternoon, I saw this along main street:
It gave me a real giggle and then some thoughtful introspection. Leo has it right, I think - what better way to use sword metal than to build community? There is an extra 'in' joke to this, too. Catonsville is an old town (possibly pre-revolutionary? It was a summer retreat place for the hoi-paloi of Baltimore in the 1800's). There is an elaborate parade every fourth of July along the main street. The town's people put out chairs and space reservations along the parade route starting more than a week before the fourth - it's a local tradition to see chairs and ropes lining the street indicating reserved spaces well ahead of the date. I've been to two or three of the parades - always a fun, rousing sight!
Finally, on my way home that afternoon I went through the main street of old Ellicott City, too. Another recent tradition (two decades old maybe?) is the bubble blower at the east end of the street, in front of one of the local consignment shops:
I always love to see the iridescent pretty things. :)
I managed to help my brother Kevin buy a new TV for his bedroom last weekend - one of the wandering thunderstorms sent an electric surge down his lines that blew out the cable tv box (which the company came and replaced) and his tv at the same time. That was a pleasant adventure, finding, buying and installing a new tv. Figuring out how to set up the accounts/passwords for his Disney+ and Netflix connections. Surprised myself, truthfully, as I am not the brightest bulb with technology. :)
He and I also took yet another car load of goods from Kim to the Goodwill and a second one to the recycling center (hmm, really that was mostly his old tv and some broken plastic bins). Busy, busy.
:) Linda
