Golf + Needlepoint

La Quinta, California: I mean, really, is there a more exciting headline than Golf and Needlepoint? Try to contain your anxious anticipation, Dear Reader, setting the tone to the constant thrill of my daily life.

The club groundskeepers and landscapers have been busy adding a fancy swirly feature to the tee boxes on hole #14. We can see this from our verandah, and curiously watched (binoculars!) their daily activities, trying to decipher the layout and scheme this new feature. A pretty spot of color, and it sits above a large pond/small lake, making for a lovely view from our house.

I'm golfing 18-holes at least twice a week. My Driver is getting a game together at least one other day, and often will head out late-afternoon to jump on the course wherever he can find an opening. It's super good exercise for me, as I walk (DT carries my clubs on our golf cart), and always have at least 13,000 steps on a day I golf. We had temperatures in the high 70s/low 80s all week!

In other news: our orange tree is dripping with fruit (Lucile counted 53 oranges... and she gave each a name), but they are still not very sweet. Each weekend, I pick an orange (Bridget was consumed yesterday), but she was still a bit sour. Soon. However, our tomatoes are still going strong. Producing flowers and fruit. We harvested one golf-ball sized beauty last week and will get another nice tomato soon.

The herbs are all flourishing! We now have dill, cilantro, thyme, basil, Italian parsley, rosemary and mint. Now that the temperatures have cooled, the herbs are less likely to bolt. They are resting, and keeping our meals bright.

And now for a needlepoint report. Before we left for our trip to Europe in August, I sent finished canvases off to my finisher (along with the fabric and trims). Finished projects were returned a few weeks ago, and photos will be posted as I give them as gifts. Sebastian received his Christmas ornament at Thanksgiving, and here is one I made for Lisa & Lenny's Hanukkah bush:

If you recall, the kids went to Greece this summer to attend Sebastian's christening in Athens... then visited a few islands with friends (including Sebastian!). So... while I was riding around on trains in Europe this summer, I stitched this little ornament as a remembrance. (Purse Project - always keep a little project in my bag.)

But not all projects are gifts. Rarely, something is stitched for our house. I found this canvas in Eugene, at the famed Mindy's. Mindy hand-paints canvases of her own design. They are notoriously difficult to stitch, but only because of the amount of detailing. I love her well-stocked shop, find her so interesting, and her designs have become some of my prettiest finished pieces.

It must have been more than 20 years ago I stitched the above canvas for our very first motorhome. It was finished to a pillow in a cream-colored heavy fabric, with off-white "dingle balls" as the fringe - giving it a very retro vibe. When we moved out of our bus, I really noticed the off-white fabric was trashed. The stitching itself was still in great shape, so I cut the canvas from the pillow fabric, washed it in a garment bag, blocked-it, dried it, bought new fabric and colorful trim - and sent it off to be finished into something fun for our NEW RV. (Still RV shopping, narrowing it down, waiting until early Spring to purchase as we are not going anywhere needing a RV for the time-being.)

And that is it (for now) for the Show And Tell portion of this program.

Until my next update, I remain, your callused correspondent.

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