Dutch Beauty and the Golden days of Fall

Thankful for many things ... the skill of many people, good friends and family and the beauty around us  are just some of   those things
Here are some pictures taken around our home last Wednesday
and continuing on with simple cross stitch - page 2 complete

A slightly modified plan - and a new sampler start

So, I know some of you were curious to see which samplers I would start on my birthday in October.

I had them all prepared and had even picked three of them, had decided to just stay home and enjoy a
relaxed day of stitching at home after some busy weeks...

And, by the end of the day, even though I got as far as framing up and getting the starting point
figured out etc .... I did not start anything!

It just did not "feel" right.

You see, during the past few weeks I could feel the tension caused from my worried mind transfer through my hands to my embroidery, as I worked initially on Frances, then Loara ...
So, on a total whim, I pulled out a sampler pattern that had been languishing
in my 'someday surely' pile, pulled 40ct sandstone colored linen and DMC threads. This was a quick
decision after my husband's surgery ( after years of wondering about if I should
change colors/use silk/which type of fabric etc etc )... and then started this new sampler on September 26th and have continued on until now because I just needed something easy during this busy time.
So, this newly started, "Stress Relief sampler is ... drumroll - Dutch Beauty by Permin - I know some of you know that it is a big one - even on fine 40 ct. but it is all cross stitch.
My goal is to work one page every month or whenever I cannot get the results I would like to see on my other embroidery. It feels good to be working on this after years of having the chart and thinking about it and so if I finish this in two or three years that is fine. The colors are soothing and muted with a quiet splendor.
Here is the progress so far

I will not start new more complicated samplers yet, and will focus on finishing Frances and Loara first. Then depending on how I feel I might start a new sampler but I think I will most likely focus on my already started samplers and spend about 20 hours each month on samplers.

My main focus will be changing over fully to my silk embroideries starting tomorrow.