Forced "Resort" Needlework Retreat

 I had great plans for this week - catching up on neglected housework, staying caught up on harvesting, and cleaning the rabbitry, mulching around tomatoes, maybe even getting to sew some. But, that all changed when my daughter who is temporarily back with us while she apartment-hunts and who was  house- and dog-sitting for some friends caught a nasty cold, thinks there's an allergen in the house, and needed to come home to bed.

So I became the sitter at this lovely house just around the corner from ours:

I haven't yet made use of the indoor exercise pool or theater room, but I'm really enjoying the upstairs bedroom's view of the marshy lake and have set up a little embroidery/cross-stitch station in such a way that I can glance up now and then and watch the loons cavorting on the lake.

I finished the cross-stitching for the #myshepherdsal challenge by @Annmakesthings on Instagram. The challenge was to cross-stitch something referring to sheep, shepherd, and/or something with a Christian theme. I compiled several patterns to come up with the Christian theme and a tiny sheep in the corner.

My plan is to mount it to my dad's desk sign that he was given as a missionary in the Philippines. I'll just glue it to the name part since that's not my name and I'll still be able to enjoy the lovely carving and the tie to my dad.

I've also been able to finish another birthday cross-stitch, this one for the daughter who spent some time helping refugees in Ukraine, where they grow lots of sunflowers. She will be coming to live temporarily with us this weekend as she plans to find an apartment with the daughter who is already here.

Twice a day I've scooted back home to take care of rabbits and quails, water gardens, clean house, do laundry, harvest and freeze beans, and whatever else little jobs need doing, including taking chicken soup to the sickie. 

When I leave the big house, I have to crate the dog since he's smart enough to unlatch some of the doors. I don't like to leave him crated for more than 3-4 hours, so I try to get my housework done quickly. 

I've also gotten to pull out my neglected Everyday Embroidery that I started in 2022 and only got half done. That will be my focus over the next few days as well as doing some reading.

I embroidered a heart near the June block to celebrate our anniversary.

I finished a partially done embroidery that was the May 2022 BOM from Jennifer Reynolds.

So, despite plans suddenly changing, it's turned into a quite pleasant thing and I hope to report lots more progress.

If only I were a dog-lover. 😏 Actually, he's a good dog and we're getting along pretty well.