Cowboy Murph

Hi friends! Thank you so much for your sweet comments on my last post. I greatly appreciate them. And YOU!😊

We have had nothing but really hot, hot, hot weather here for days! I have been hiding out inside in the A/C as much as possible to avoid migraine headache spikes.

Here is Cowboy Murph all stitched up!

How do you like him? He is a bit different than the rest of my poodles, right? That is because he was designed by Madeleine.😃How did she do? I, of course think she did GREAT!!

I love this cartoon of Murphy she drew over a year ago, and keep it hanging on our refrigerator.

So for July I asked her to PLEASE create a Cowboy Murphy in cross stitch if she could. The hard part is that it has to be tiny to fit in the designated cubby square. She did it didn't she?! A different look, but he does look like our Murphy, and he does look like a cowboy.

If you should like to stitch him for yourself, here is the pattern.

Backstitch with 310 Murphy's mouth.
See stitched piece for placement of b5200 in kerchief, as it does not show up well on chart.

I am still stitching Super Emma. Or as I am calling it Super Bridget. I am gifting this to my physical therapist whose name is Bridget. She looks very much like "Emma". Except her skin is darker. I spent ONE HOUR! figuring out her skin tone, if you can believe that! It is true. I am still not totally happy, but it is the best solution. I also redid her hair. I made that up as I went along.  I am putting in a phrase at the bottom. I will let you see when it is done.😉 Do you chart out entire lines of words when you put in such things? Or do you wing it? I must figure it all out AND  chart it all out. If I don't I will mess it all up. Every time. I will get it off center still sometimes! I am terrible with these things.

I am going to tell you about TWO BOOKS I listened to here since they go together and they were both recommended to me by our friend Carol.  The first one is The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Frye and the second is The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy: A Novel both by Rachel Joyce. I really enjoyed LISTENING  to these. Rachel Joyce is a British author. The narrators were British. Such fun listening. This American learned new vocabulary. The only problem I had with these stories was "certain language"!😮I was NOT expecting such words and repeatedly. Especially in the second book. There was an old woman who needed her mouth washed out with soap!! The stories were great though.
Meet Harold Fry, recently retired. He lives in a small English village with his wife, Maureen, who seems irritated by almost everything he does. Little differentiates one day from the next. Then one morning a letter arrives, addressed to Harold in a shaky scrawl, from a woman he hasn’t heard from in twenty years. Queenie Hennessy is in hospice and is writing to say goodbye. But before Harold mails off a quick reply, a chance encounter convinces him that he absolutely must deliver his message to Queenie in person. In his yachting shoes and light coat, Harold Fry embarks on an urgent quest. Determined to walk six hundred miles to the hospice, Harold believes that as long as he walks, Queenie will live. A novel of charm, humor, and profound insight into the thoughts and feelings we all bury deep within our hearts, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry introduces Rachel Joyce as a wise—and utterly irresistible—storyteller.

A runaway international bestseller, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry followed its unassuming hero on an incredible journey as he traveled the length of England on foot—a journey spurred by a simple letter from his old friend Queenie Hennessy, writing from a hospice to say goodbye. Harold believed that as long as he kept walking, Queenie would live. What he didn’t know was that his decision to walk had caused her both alarm and fear. How could she wait? What would she say? Forced to confront the past, Queenie realizes she must write again.

In this poignant parallel story to Harold’s saga, acclaimed author Rachel Joyce brings Queenie Hennessy’s voice into sharp focus. Setting pen to paper, Queenie makes a journey of her own, a journey that is even bigger than Harold’s; one word after another, she promises to confess long-buried truths—about her modest childhood, her studies at Oxford, the heartbreak that brought her to Kingsbridge and to loving Harold, her friendship with his son, the solace she has found in a garden by the sea. And, finally, the devastating secret she has kept from Harold for all these years.

A wise, tender, layered novel that gathers tremendous emotional force, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy underscores the resilience of the human spirit, beautifully illuminating the small yet pivotal moments that can change a person’s life.

You are such dear friends. I have had so many of you asking after Brian. He is healing well. He is doing his day job of  currency trading but still cannot return to the bakery, as he cannot lift more than 10 pounds yet. He still cannot lie down flat in our bed. It hurts. The mesh that is in the muscle in his abdomen from the double hernia surgery causes this pain. The doctor said it may take months. He sleeps in the recliner every night.

I hope you have a super week my friends! Thank you for stopping by today.

But my eyes are upon You, O God the Lord; In You I take refuge; Do not leave my soul destitute.  Psalm 141:8

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Madeleine's Summer Murphy