Rayen

Recently I read some fiction in which a terribly abused character regarded death as a dark, quiet room. She doesn't die during the story, and in fact her life turns around in a huge way shortly after that. The imagery of death as she viewed it was what stayed with me. In a bright, loud world where life is perpetually coming at you (and constantly subjecting you to some form of abuse) death as a dark, quiet room seems quite appealing. Being done with all these exhausting people seems very peaceful. All the pain stops. You're finally alone (and I do understand that longing more than I realized I would.) As a writer I've thought of death in a zillion ways, probably, but I keep coming back to crossing a finish line. The end of a life is that kind of end -- we're finished with this whole beautiful, disastrous mess of existence. I don't want to debate what happens after death, because we'll never know until after we die, assuming consciousness survives. Al...

It seems like the latest hurricane will slide by us without much fuss, but folks in the Big Bend and nothern Gulf aren't going to be so lucky. Please do visit the National Hurricane Center for the most accurate information on Hurricane Isaias, and if you're in the strike zone, please get ready and take care.

After making the pearl wave kit and having more fun (and success) than I'd imagined, I jumped on the Halloween diamond painting kit ($9.99). This is a children's kit, btw, but I am not ashamed of getting it for myself. Often children's kits are easier for my arthritic hands to manage than the huge, complicated adult versions. Plus it's Halloween themed, what's not to love? This picture wasn't difficult, as expected, and while it got a bit monotonous with the black drills I mostly enjoyed putting it together. It also came with its own frame, so once I finished and trimmed it to size I could frame it right away. It made me happy, which was the whole point. I definitely need to do more Halloween projects. :)

I decided to invest in a simpler diamond art kit to practice some hand-eye coordination. This kind of craft, like mosaic art and paint by number, is great dexterity therapy. At the time I bought the kit it was on sale for $5.59, so pretty cheap, too. This wave picture is only highlighted by the pearl drills in the kit, so it took only about an hour to complete. The trick for me was not dropping the pearls, at which I was fairly successful, and placing them where they were supposed to go, at which I did much better. I applied some glass coat mod podge over the pearls to hold them permanently in place, and this is how it came out the next morning. Quite happy with the results.

When summer ends every year it seems like the whole world gets excited. There's the arrival of Fall, which everyone loves for the dying leaves, the chilly temps that force them to wear too many clothes, the dubious charms of Pumpkin Spice everything, the holidays of too much indulgence and over-eating alongside family members they avoid for the rest of the year. At the very end of it Santa doesn't arrive but everyone spends too much money on gifts and pretends they're happy while lying to their kids. Fall is, in my opinion, a season that brings out the worst in people. I tolerate it rather than go along with everyone else and pretend I like it. The only reason I welcome Winter, a season that I also don't care for, is because it means Fall is over . It's easy to become depressed when you're trapped in a time of year filled with things and holidays that make you unhappy. The trick, I've learned, is to focus on the few things you do like and let those ...

Since I was recently diagnosed with yet another health problem, it's become even more important for me to exercise as much as possible. I like walking with my guy by this lake near our home at sunet. No matter what happens, nature always manages to restore my calm. This time of year the sky tends to be spectacular, too. The new diagnosis did not surprise me. It's been a long, rough, and pretty ugly year, and the pressure on me has been constant, unrelenting (and at times overwhelming) for the last nine months. Naturally there would be fallout from that. I'm finally free of what caused it, and my life has returned to the quiet serenity and simplicity that I will forever onward appreciate. If I can spend the last three months of 2026 in peace, I will be grateful.

While we were in Cocoa Village I stopped by Hello Again Books , where for the first time I discovered their clearance section way in the back of the store. When it's "buy two, get four free" (which is their wonderful idea of clearance) you know I'm in trouble. Six of these came from that section. :) They also gave me this reusable bag for free. I love this bookstore. I'll have to show you the fourteen books I picked up in two batches; otherwise they won't fit on the table. I didn't need another cookbook, honestly. That said, I am not going to be eating red meat any longer due to the diciness of what it being dumped into stores these days, so I figured why not try more chicken recipes? The Louise Penny and Anna Stuart books are new editions from the front of the store, and I paid full price for those two. :) So I have fourteen more books to read, and there are thirteen weeks left in 2026. Can I get them read before 2027? We shall se...

Last month we took another day trip to Cocoa Village. If you'd like to walk around town with us and see what we had for lunch, check out my album of pics here .

I'm looking at the possible quilting and slow stitch projects I'd like to make this month, and mostly they will be practice pieces and/or something for the house like table hot pads, dog bowl mats, market bags and so forth. I also should make some holiday bags. For the backing and linings I'll be using up more of this thrifted fabric bundle. I've gone through two-thirds of the basket of vintage fabric making my September tote, and I'd like to use up what's left. For Halloween I'd like to make some primitive stuffies out of old quilt pieces. I quite like these two that I acquired this summer, and I can see them and a few more having a Halloween party on the mantle or the coffee table.

For my calendar project's October tote I wanted to do a Halloween theme, of course. I'm trying to stay away from black totes for this project (I've already done two) so I purchased an inexpensive orange bag from Amazon to serve as the foundation. For the elements and embellishments I went shopping over at The Fabric Path on Etsy, and saw a lot to love. I picked two bundles with a Halloween theme; this being the first. Here's the second. If there is enough fabric I may make a crazy quilt type tote, or I may just stitch the elements in layers slow-stitch style. I'll know more once everything arrives. Image credits: tote image from Amazon.com; the two slow stitch pack images from The Fabric Path's listings.

My first quilting project in September was a simple hand quilted mug rug. I crocheted a little pumpkin out of thrifted variegated yarn. I made the September tote for my calendar project out of vintage fabric strips and thrifted fabric. For the first time ever I did the sewing and quilting entirely on my sewing machine. I hand-stitched stamped fabric embellishments to this tea-stained muslin bag and replaced the drawstrings with hand-dyed ribbon. On the crochet blog I demonstrated three ways to make an inexpensive DIY Advent calendar. I crocheted this hexagon blanket, Happiness, because I needed some, and that's what it brought me. I made a clone of my favorite winter hat in gray, pink and silver yarn. With all of my caregiving duties this month I didn't get a lot done, but I'm happy with what I was able to accomplish -- and having these projects really helped me get through a terrible time. On to a hopefully happier October!

I decided to quit Netflix after not watching it all summer, so that's one less monthly subscription. I've long disliked how they kept me from watching everything due to my basic status (I refused to pay more when they got greedy), inserted commercials in everything I could watch, and kept jacking up the price. I can watch Tubi for free, and plenty of content on Youtube as well, so why would I waste my money on them? One subscription I am keeping is Viki, which doesn't overcharge me or bombard me with commercials. Admittedly all their content is Asian, but that's what I like to watch, so we're good there. Onto the rewatch: a few years back I originally watched and reviewed Road Home , and I wanted to give it another go because I really like Jing Bo Ran as an actor, and I thought I would finally settle on whether or not I like this series. Verdict: I do like it. It's grown-up and features realistic, grounded conflicts that you don't expect from Ch...

The Autumn 2026 issue of Art Quilting Studio has arrived on the magazine stands, and I invested in a copy to give myself a little quilting inspiration for fall. Cheryl Lamon's article Fabric Art Using Hexagons certainly gave me a boost; I'm using hexes in my crochet at present, and it might be fun to try the same with fabric (she has instructions on how to make your own that look pretty simple.) Sacred Seams by Kim Alexis Newton showcases the artist's beautiful and intricate portrait works. All those tiny pieces! Carrie Payne's article and project Resurfaced Fabric was one that resonated with me on a couple of levels. I've often repurposed vintage fabric (I am right now, in fact) in my quilting although I've never tried to alter it; going instead with layering and embellishment. I might have to try this one, too. There is a whole lot more in this magazine, so check it out if you get a chance.

I picked up a copy of Red City by Marie Lu after Maxine from Knotty by Maxine recommended it. I knew almost from the beginning that it wouldn't be a happy story, and it wasn't, but the excellent and intricate if very dark world-building kept me absorbed, and the storyline, while pure fantasy, grew more engrossing (and harrowing) with every page. In the universe of this novel alchemy, the ancient, secretive tradition and early branch of natural philosophy with goals of turning base metals into gold, discover cures for disease, and ultimately achieve immortality, is real. This is not the stuff of Harry Potter -- or, it's the Sopranos version. Into this dark and greedy world are dragged two kids: Samantha, whose mother brought her to America from China to give her a chance at a better life, and Ari, a boy taken from India because of his natural charisma and potential talents. The kids are recruited by syndicates that are enemies, but as they befriend each other at ...

Last week my guy and I went to walk Snooky Park in Lady Lake, and then just went wandering. He's got a bad case of cabin fever and is really happy to be out and about. We stopped at one thrift store and two antique stores, and I was able to acquire some fabric pumpkins for my fall decor, a small handmade journal, a mystery bag of jewelry and a picnic basket and a holiday tin bucket for a project on the crochet blog. The little journal is awesome -- small enough to tuck in my purse. The mystery bag had a glitzy black, gold and rhinestone set with earrings, necklace and bracelet. These will be fun to wear on Halloween. Lovely day. :)

Figuring out how to put together hexagons may seem easy, until you lay them out on the floor and realize you're not sure what shape to sew them together in, or how many more you need to crochet, or you're me. This is also a dilemma for quilters making hexiquilts, so I'm posting this here. One of the great things about the internet are the free online tools you can use in a browser to figure out such things, like this one with a hexagon grid generator . Although my blanket won't look exactly like this, it did help me tremendously with figuring out what I did want to do with the layout, and how many hexes I'll need to do my version of it.

As a reward for putting in all the extra hours so I could get three weeks ahead on my work schedule I invested in the Fall 2026 issue of Quilting Arts magazine. This is a lovely issue, with lots of art quilts to admire. Although I'll never be a modern quilter I enjoyed the Art Meets Modern Gallery, especially Rachel Derstine's Rhythm and Flow quilt (on the right) -- such tiny pieces! Noelle Foye's article about Canadian textile artist Lorraine Roy was particularly wonderful, especially in regard to the artist's aesthetic. Her work is awesome. I always like the reader challenges, and this issue's "Into Nature" theme had "Nature's Seascape", a mini quilt by Patricia Caldwell (on the right) that made me sigh. I've never thought of incoporating driftwood pieces and stones as well as beads as quilt elements. Must try that someday soon. This is a terrific issue for anyone needing some quilting art inspiration, highly recommen...

My guy and I went to walk The Mercantile in Altamonte Springs, and I picked up some free doodle art from Durkart , a postcard and a Blind Date with a Book. The proceeds from the latter go to support a pet rescue. Very happy with my blind date -- I love nonfiction, and this wartime era is one I've only read about lightly. We also walked Altamonte Springs Mall, where I stopped by Barnes & Noble to pick up two quilting magazines. Lovely day.