The current fiberwork WIP is cross stitch--and a very large project (11" x 19"). Love the detail work and the precision, but I have to confess that without my magnifying lamp, I couldn't do this. It's 18-count Aida cloth, so the stitches are very small.
Here's what it will look like when it's finished.
The previous WIP--Calico Stars, a needlepoint--is finished!
If you'd like to see what I've done with it, look here: http://www.storycircle.org/raffle/
Book report. Also in progress, the 2018 China Bayles mystery, Queen Anne's Lace--working on Chapter Four. But I need to put it aside this week and work on the copyedited manuscript of The Last Chance Olive Ranch, which flew here from New York yesterday. I'm hoping to wrap that up by Monday. Another WIP that you'll see next April, as a book.
Homestead report. Rain, rain, 7" of rain so far this month. The fire danger is down, and everything is a green jungle. The garden is in its usual summer dormant state, but The Girls are laying nicely and Bill is looking forward to a giant pecan crop. We're keeping an eye on the Gulf of Mexico, which is likely to send us even more rain next week. If it does, that may cool the soil enough to allow me to plant the fall potatoes.
We live in a culture that thrives on thrills, craves crises, and delights in debacles. What goes on here at Meadow Knoll in the summer may, in contrast, seem boring and blah. But for me,these days of quiet, slow, measured life offer opportunities for finding small pleasures. The gleeful cackle of a chicken who's just laid an egg. A silent visit from two does and their four spotted fawns. The sight of a Cooper's hawk on the fence post, of a painted bunting at the feeder, of a spiral of buzzards riding an invisible thermal into an infinite sky. The remarkable, extraordinary variety of very ordinary days. This is my world, a work in progress. I love it.
Reading note. Everything happens in life. Some of what happens is terrible. We know this is true because it has always been true. But there is another truth available, an inexplicable and sometimes crazy truth that is no less compelling. The living of a life, day by day and moment by moment, is also wild with joy.--Reeve Lindbergh, Forward from Here