squirrelly all around

you may recall during the heat of summer I was puzzling over a plant that was growing outside the garden fence

I knew it was a melon or a squash -- distinctive leaf shapes -- but since the squirrels planted it, I had no idea what it was

for a while I thought it was a cantaloupe

nope, its an ornamental white pumpkin!

while I was picking tomatoes I picked it too

I have no idea where these seeds came from -- obviously carried by the squirrel from somewhere else in the neighborhood since I've never had one of these -- either the fruit or the seed -- that I know of

it's kind of cute

now I'm trying to figure out what to do with it (besides take pictures of it and babble here about it)

we'll see
the thimble problem has returned

on the right hand side of this picture is a sterling silver thimble that I bought back in the 1970s and used for years

the center thimble is just metal -- I bought it about 3 years ago

and the thimble on the left hand side is made of some flexible new tech material that I bought in July (of this year)

what do they all have in common? they all have a hole (or more than one) in the side of the thimble

which means that as I'm sewing I'm getting stuck because I push the needle with the side of the thimble, not the tip

it also means that I need yet another new thimble

I'd love to be able to go buy one to replace that first one, it lasted a long time -- but it also cost me $25 at 1970s prices -- I can't even consider being able to do that at today's prices

guess I'll be getting another cheap metal one and just knowing that in about 3 years I'll have to replace it again
finished the third of the four hats for fencing

this one is a watch cap style for the oldest of the boys -- nice hat!

so today I'll be casting on the light blue one which will be the same style, just slightly smaller


I've finished stitching down the land masses and the clouds on the blue planet and I'm about half way around stitching the edges of the circle -- yippee!! -- little paper doll people can be cut out -- and then the embroidery of the different symbols that I want to put on there too -- we're doing well on getting this one done

time to get to the studio!