Off Task, Again...

I should've been planting these.

Or pulling these.

Or capturing these.

 

But was I?  No.  I was working on this.

Remember this doodle from many moons ago?

 

 

I finally turned it in to a Glory Bag.  

 

I would've stitched this together a long time ago but for the fact that I lost the linen I needed to create the bag.  How do you lose a yard of linen?  I looked in my green fabric stack.  Not there.  Looked in the linen stack.  Not there. Looked behind the craft table. Not there. I moved my whole studio to a different room in the house...The linen was not there.  So the little doodle sat, and sat, and sat just waiting for something exciting to happen to it.  I finally admitted to myself that I had lost the fabric and would need to purchase a bit more to finish this little beauty.  Luckily my favorite local shop still had the same bolt of linen and the glory bag finally came to fruition. 

And for those of you who are wondering why I am capturing squirrels...Well, they taste just like chicken.  Just kidding.  I'm not making squirrel coq au vin. I'm involved in a covert mission called Operation Squirrel Relocation.  These little squirrel-y guys eat the bark off the giant willow trees in my back yard. Their gluttonous feasting makes huge limbs on my trees die.  These little villains cuties are killing my trees. The tree man that came to my house to diagnose the problem recommended that we, ahem, "knock them off" since they are not a native species to the area even though they inhabit almost every neighborhood in town.  Well, as you can imagine in a house with six girls, squirrel extermination is not an option.  Instead, we catch them and release them in the willow-tree-free park that is about a mile away.  I don't know if there are any rules prohibiting such activity, or not.  Just to be sure, I only take the squirrels to the park under the cover of darkness. Just kidding, again.  I do feel a bit funny, though, when I am letting them go in the park--kinda like I'm flushing a pet alligator that's not so little or cute anymore down the toilet. This is different than that, though.  Really. It is. The squirrels already live in the park.  I'm just bringing more to the party.  

I won't take the time today to tell you about the squirrel that got loose in the car when we were relocating it.  Just know that there was a lot of girly screams, followed by million-mile-an-hour chatter and fits of giggles. We know there is a squirrel out there somewhere with a nervous tic and a tale of high-stakes adventure that he tells his squirrel buddies when he visits the local watering hole.

I best get back to what I'm supposed to be doing.

Toodles,

Cassie

Comments

[Sarah]

We have loads of very naughty annoying squirrels in our yard too. I suspect though that you could keep moving them until the cows come home and there would always be more?

Curious about whether relocation works or not....lol.

[Terriaw]

You are too funny! I really love your new glory bag. I wonder if you will ever find the lost linen. I know what you mean about sewing instead of chores - much more fun. I love your funny squirrel stories too. We have a similar problem with chipmunks digging in my flower containers. They may be cute but they are little buggers!

[Nanna mary]

Hi Cassie Love your bag its lovely.and your story of you and the squrrel's made me laugh I can just see you in the park looking over your shoulder looking to see if any one is watching.then letting them go and running for your life.LOL
Hugs Mary.

[Rachel]

First of all, that is an absolutely gorgeous bag. Wow - beautiful stitchery! I wonder, though, where did that green linen go? Stolen by the linen elves, no doubt.

Second - hahahaha - I'm still laughing over your squirrel story. Nervous tic. That's hilarious. I think it's very sweet that you and the girls have chosen a humane method of dealing with your squirrel problem. ☺

Have a great weekend!

[laura]

That's a very pretty bag; perfect embroidery. Many years ago, a local lady (and Titanic survivor BTW) went away for a couple of weeks. Upon returning, she found her home nearly destroyed by a squirrel that was trapped inside while she was gone.It chewed the ornate base board and the antique trim on doors and windows, ripped through her furniture, tore the curtains etc... Thousands of dollars in damage and they never did find the little bugger.

[Amy @ parkcitygirl]

LOL - I can hear the screams! Love your bag!!! Your doodles make me smile :)

[Kelly O.]

you're a riot! love the bag.

[Sheila]

What a wonderful bag!!!!
Don't even get me going on squirrels!!!!! At least you didn't have them coming in your front door looking for peanuts....thanks to my hubby fedding them out of his hands (which ended the day the squirrel smelled the peanut oil on his finger tips and latched on....and wouldn't let go!!!! It still makes me chuckle. :)

[Serena]

Oh, but it's beautiful!!!

[Tina]

those doodles look perfectly at home on that purse!

[Kiki Craig]

OMG!!! I'm laughing my pants off!!! My parents do the SAME thing and my grandparents did before them! The problem with the varmints at my parents house is that they eat all the bird food from the feeders that are attached to the deck. My parents relocated them too, but they also tried, get this, to zap the metal pole that one of the feeders hung on. They took the end of an extension cord , cut off the end and tapped it to the pole and plugged in the other end to the light....when they saw a squirrel on the pole, they'd flip on the light switch! Don't think it ever really taught the squirrels a lesson, though.
BTW - you need to relocate your squirrels more than a mile away - they can find they're way back when they're that close.

[Jenn]

So cute!!

[Michal]

Oh my. That bag is amazing. I think it's one of my favorites I've seen in Blogland. How did you do that? embroider on linen and then sew it into a bag? I love it. I want one. Can we buy them or will you have a tutorial or pattern.

Take care. Awesome blog.

[Thimbleanna]

Aw, man, I love visiting your blog. You always make me laugh -- you're so darn funny! I need your squirrel relocating skills. For squirrels, chipmunks and bunnies. They're SO cute, but oh, so destructive!

And that bad is ADORABLE! Maybe the squirrels are partying with your original linen at the park!

[randi]

Oh my gosh! The squirrel in the car sounds TOO FUNNY! Some things are just worth the funny story that you get to tell! :)

Great bag! Your embroidery skills are top-notch.

[Rachel]

Ahhh, those blasted squirrels. They really are distructive. They have torn up my bird feeders countless times. My little dog, Sparky would love to get a hold of just one. :)

[Barbi]

What a great bag! Love it and the fact you made it makes it even better.. I often find myself steared away from the things I should be doing... currently blog surfing instead of my to-do list :)

Barbi

[Cheryl]

Love this bag. Is it your pattern or someone elses?

[Vanessa Filan]

I love all your sewing projects! And I really love this purse pattern, can you tell me where I can find it? I thought it was an Amy Butler pattern, but I can't find it anywhere.
Thanks!