Long Days of Summer

It's been awhile since my last post, obviously.  I haven't been functioning very well, with a poor, unhappy mood, feeling very stressed and having unusual bouts of tears.  My dear husband, once I admitted my difficulties--aside from my obvious lack of motivation to do anything, see anyone, or go anywhere--rallied the troops.  Dear daughter Elaine and husband Chris came over for dinner with the grandsons.  Always a mood booster to spend time with sweet Cove and Hunter.  There were a bunch of new things to play with, as my parents had been sorting through things and passed on a lot of toys. We also played a game of Trouble and of course there is always a piano solo. 

Dear daughter Erica invited me for a walk during the week. I met her at the office where she works, and we walked down to the pier. 

I spied a flowering vine in a palm tree on the way--must have come from a seed a bird left. It was a very windy day but sunny and not cold.  We walked to the end of the long pier. 

Very cool cloud formation--someone charmingly described it as looking like Anacapa Island was blowing bubbles towards the city.  The wind blew us back to the beach and we turned onto the promenade for more Vitamin Sea. 

There were a few surfers but more wind-sailers.  It was late in the day so hardly anyone was on the sand.  We turned back at the palm trees and took a  windblown selfie before finally leaving the beach. 

We had a quick dinner at a favorite fish taco place and then said our goodbyes, feeling very good.  I drove home by the foothills, and stopped to catch the sunset--always my favorite time of day. 

It was only a couple of days after solstice so the moon was still pretty full.  Loved the sketchy clouds above the Eucalyptus trees. 

Lovely colors and island view as dusk began.  I had the road practically to myself as I headed home.  As I passed by an orchard, a coyote came out of a ditch and crossed the road into the foothills.  I have driven this road literally thousands of times and that was a first!   

Tomorrow we will get to spend time with son Nick and his family--we will be helping to watch grandson Dane at his other grandparents' place while Nick and Ashley move house. Looking forward to seeing him walk--he has taken after his Auntie Erica and cousin Cove by walking early, just barely 10 months old. 

Although I have not done any sewing since my last post, I am still putting stitches in the Blackbird Designs Loose Feathers cross-stitch.

I like portable projects so I can stitch upstairs or down!  There has been more added since this pic was taken.  This time last year, I had just purchased the threads at my local fabric shop. 

Last year, because of the lockdown, other than a couple of days vacation when we went to Del Mar, I lost numerous hours at the close of the year, and have not taken any vacation this year as yet.  I just put in for the Sewtopia retreat trip with my sister coming up in early October, and also added a day to the upcoming long Independence Day weekend.  My plan is to use every vacation hour this year---I earned them and deserve the time off.  It definitely boosted my mood to see the approval of my requests!  

Blog business: Feedburner is being eliminated in a few days and therefore the ability to have signups on my site for email delivery.  I only follow a few blogs that way myself, choosing mostly to follow through Bloglovin'.  So far I have not decided whether to sign up with FollowIt, though I have received communication from that service and looked into it--it is not a new service and has a track record. I'd better decide in the next day or two...