The Longest Day of the Year

I absolutely love the north and our long summer days. Last night I went right around midnight to take some pictures. To tell you the truth I did not go willingly, my mother-in-law made me do it... It is her first summer in the Yukon and she is amazed with northern beauty. Mom has Alzheimer Disease and tries to capture every moment on the picture so she can enjoy these later on when her memory will start to disappear.  So far she is doing extremely well and fights that disease with all her power.

Our sun after sunset stays just below horizon until rises again in a couple of hours:

And really, believe me, it is bright - you can read outside without extra light.

On the stitchy note - I received a beautiful chart from Bianca, our RAK member

 

It's a lovely companion to Computer Catastrophes. I had no choice to pull out my CC and work on them. This is where I left off some time ago:

and today:

For some unknown reason I was very anxious to start something new... In my stash I found a lovely chart by La-D-Da:

If you guess correctly name of this chart, the chart could be yours. Are you up for the challenge?

And finally my Mind Independent and Free. It's going slowly, kind of boring - working for now just with black silk. The second row of alphabet is completed!. Did you noticed that J is missing? I did not make a mistake, this is how it's charted...

So long my friends,
Evalina

Stitch from stash

Another month went by and I did not buy any stash. This month I mainly worked on 'Mind Independent and Free' designed by Carriage House Samplings. When is done it will look like this:

 and this is my progress so far:

I'm stitching this piece on 40ct linen with silk floss. I guess my eyes are getting older because sometimes it's hard to see these tiny threads...

And look what I saw last week:

a mama bear with a little cub! I didn't dare to leave the car and the picture I took with my phone. Unexpectedly it turned out not bad at all!

So long my friends,
Evalina

Celebrate the small things

Spring must be somewhere in the world but not here yet... Nights are still very cold but days are amazing - blue sky and sunshine! And they are very looong - soon there will be no darkness at all!

Here is a pic of Marsh Lake taken a few minutes ago, still solid frozen. I was trying to capture my Frosty Girl but she was having way to much fun in the snow - did not stop for a second!

And I stitched a little! Here is progress on the Vultures Welcome and Rabbit Run:

 

I absolutely love that racing rabbit. While stitching it I realized that rabbits make me happy but I have no idea why... Rabbit Run is my new start, I just could not resist that chart. And isn't only me. Vickie of stitchymcfloss fell in love with that chart too and it looks like we will have a little SAL going.

So long my friends,

Evalina

My winterland

In the last few days my world got covered with lovely white blanket. Each time I look outside or go for a walk my heart is singing and beating a little faster. I love my Winterland!

the road to my cabin

 

wild rose hips waiting for the birds

Somewhere behind these trees is my little cabin with warm wood stove

Lately I was working on my latest project 'A Baby A Manger' 

I love the border, here is a close up

So long my friends,

Evalina

Hello December!

Beautiful sunny day in the Yukon, though a little chilli I would say... Yeah, who I'm kidding eh? It's f?#@!g cold! Thank goodness I'm working from home and do not have to stick my nose outside. Frosty has very short walks today, believe me.

Would like to know what I was stitching lately? I worked a little on Door Hanger 'Jingle as Ye Enter, Jingle as Ye go' from Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe

 and on the ornament. Here is the front:

and the back:

I'm using lovely silk floss from Carrie's Creation 'Holly Days'.
I also have finish stitching freebie from Plum Street design (scroll down for the link)

For some reason my camera can't grab the right colors, this piece is stitched with a lovely turquoise - it looks perfectly blue on the pic...

And I was making some stitching  plans for the next year. Of course all my WIPs are the top priority but (shh...) I signed up for a couple of SALs: Just Nan and smalls. For smalls I have plenty charts and supplies, for Just Nan I chose 'Queen of the Needle'.

It's a lovely design but I couldn't find recommended fabric. I've bought 28 ct Cashel linen in baby pink but after looking at it it was just too much baby and too much pink...

A while ago I was reading on Nancy's blog about archival inks and decided to give it a try with some pale ochre and sepia color over that baby pink. Here is the result (in real life it's a little bit lighter than on the picture)

 So, the floss needs to be put on bobbins and I'll be ready to go when the SAL starts. (Check my right side bar for links to these SALs)

So long my friends,
Evalina

New week, new friend and more progress on Halloween House

I love my morning walks with Frosty. Today we were blessed with a beautiful sunrise. Despite chilliness (14° F) we had a great time.

Cheerful and happy I dived in into my inbox and there it was - an offer from Nancy from Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe. How could I resist a free chart and beautiful floss? I did not now how to order so I sent her email and in the mean time links from her blog directed me to eBay. Believe me, today is not a good day to shop on eBay (well, at least for me)! There was a battle that ended up in a new friendship. From now on I'm buying directly from Nancy.

My weekend also wasn't bad. I was working on the Halloween House and even made a progress! And I finished 'The good house' too!

So long my friends,
Evalina

IHSW

Last night was snowing here. Can you imagine? Its May 20 for god's sake! I was hoping that the white stuff will be gone by the morning, but I was just dreaming...

Doggies did not mind at all but I would like to do some gardening! Believe me or not - The Maritimes look closer and closer to me...

Frosty Girl is growing nicely and I can't hold her anymore the way Freddy does. My little puppy is too big and too heavy already.

I've made some progress on M. Quertier 1799 last weekend. Can you see? I've done two motifs!

Unfortunately the 'M' had to go. It was too big and in the wrong spot. Now I need your advice. Look on the picture below - I think it is a little too crowded where the writing is. I think I would like to move the motif above the writing a little lower, place the writing in the marked area on the bottom right and move the motif above the area a little higher. What do you think?

So long my friends,
Evalina

A to Z challenge: Y

Yukon, the land of the midnight sun and Aurora Borealis that I call home.

Yukon is not for sissies, that's for sure. It requires some adjustments to the lifestyle because of the cold, harsh climate and the wilderness right on the door step. But I love it! I love it's beauty, long summer days and fluffy snow in the winter, wood crackling in the wood stove and night sky full of stars (in the winter only).  If you have never visited north - do it! It's an amazing experience.

So long my friends,
Evalina

Full moon update

It's WIPocalypse time! I did not stitch a lot this month... shame on me... I worked a little on Ol Harvest Moon

Topaz and I decided to look for some signs of spring

No luck... snow is everywhere and the lake still solid frozen...

except a tiny opening by the docks

hmm... not much room for swans to land...

So long my friends,
Evalina

Turtle Trot

Did anyone said that spring is near? Well, not here! That is what I woke up to this morning...

 And I've completely forgot to post my Turtle Trot update. I'm a day late but here it is:

The poor 'Halloween House' was neglected for way too long. It started as a SAL with Linda of Stitching with my Furbabies  over a year ago. There is eleven of stitching same project and so far only one was finished so I still have a chance not to be a last one to finish it... It is back on Q-snaps and has a few more stitches in. From now on I will work on HH every Friday.

'Good Morning' got the writing done and from now on I will stitch this project only once a week on Thursdays

M. Quertier 1799 has another motif done and from now on I'm dedicating Sundays to Scarlet Letter projects.

So long my friends,
Evalina

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Winter solstice

I had an urge to start something new (I guess it's the Winter Solstice to blame for it) and here it is:

It was a quick stitch, I love these Rhodes Hearts! Now I have to finish it. Any suggestions how? The stitched area is about 6" by 6".

So, tonight is the night of the Winter Solstice, the shortest day and the longest night and tomorrow is a first day of winter. Hmm... not here - the winter already started in October! Just before yesterday we had the coldest day (so far) of this season. And I'm sure mercury will drop down some more...

Way to cold to go outside so I took a few pics from my windows

 a lovely sunrise at 10:08 in the morning

snow on the picnic table (accumulated since October)

 Icicles that decorate outside my windows

 

 And the view from my kitchen window.

The visitor on the tree that's a magpie - I absolutely adore them.

If you like to celebrate Winter Solstice with me, just take a moment to reflect on the massive amount of energy that is generated by the planets and the sun and the potential that energy has to affect us all at the moment of alignment.

Take a moment to reflect that the ancient cultures of the World recognized and held sacred astrological alignments such as the solstice and equinox as a gateway for self enlightenment.
The message I am attempting to convey is simple; don’t worry about the calamities of the 21st! Instead, focus on your inner practices, keep your intentions, meditations and prayers positive, chant mantras if you know how and envision a better World for all.

So long my friends,
Evalina