June?

What happened!  It's the 4th of July! I miss June already.  Ahh well.  It was a beautiful month.  A little hot but not too bad.  Before we get to the stitchy stuff, I'm going to make you suffer through some flower pictures from around my yard.  The roses and flowers have been gorgeous this year.

I got this hosta 12 years ago for our 25th wedding anniversary.  It's called 'silver anniversary'.  It is huge now.



I was scouting out some new flowers at my local nursery/fruit stand and kept smelling the most wonderful lily smell.  I followed my nose and found the source.  It's a proven winner 'Bonaire'.  Heavenly.  I will be planting it now that the flowers are done blooming.

This is part of my front walkway.  The large rhododendrons are covered in purple blooms in the spring. 

I love my pee wee oak leaf hydrangea and the newest blue one in the back was planted last summer and has taken off like crazy.  I think those proven winners are worth their somewhat expensive price.

On a whim I decided to start stitching another round of Prairie Schooler monthly ornaments.  I decided since I have three children maybe they'd each like a year of pillows that I made. I have LHD's monthly series and Prairie Schooler's first series. 

A relaxing, comfort stitch as my friend, Lisa, The Inspired Stitcher says. These will all be done on 32 ct. natural linen, two ply DMC. Jam packed with stitching.

This week I pulled out Penny America by Tree of Life Samplings.  I think I started last July and only got a few flowers done on the left.  For some reason, this year I got all the flowers, basket and fireworks completed.  The penny borders on the right and left will be left for another stitch fest. Who knows, maybe by next July I'll finally get it finished.

I was hoping for a brighter day to take its picture, but it's been pouring most of the day here.  This is done on 36 ct macadamia nut linen from Tree of Life Sampling.  She did not have the 40 ct. at the time that I ordered.  It's a gorgeous color linen.

This is a picture of it completed.  That's a lot of border stitching but easier to do.



And now for the fun part.  In all the years I've been buying charts (starting in 1976), I have very rarely bought duplicates.  Maybe 2 or 3 times.  But I did it in May and surprised myself.  I have one whole binder of Prairie Schooler and was sure I did not have these designs.  Silly me, I had them both.  What a banana head.

Well now, it's your lucky day.  I recently celebrated my 60th birthday with a great party.  I tried to get it together to have a giveaway at the same time and draw a winner on my birthday but I'm not that organized anymore. You know, being 60 and all. Sooo, I'm having a giveaway now!  You will get both of these wonderful Prairie Schooler charts.

 You'll also win ALL the DMC threads that are used in the charts, the floss bags to keep them in, and a nice big ring to keep them all together.



Oh, and one more thing.  I've been trying to get to 100 followers.  So, tell your friends, neighbors and countrymen (that stitch and would like to win) to sign up as a legit follower.  I will be pulling a winner on July 15th.  If I have 100 followers by the 15th, I'll also add enough natural color linen in 32 count to finish all of these ornaments. ( by that, I mean, the front side.  You'll need your own fabric for the back) I only need 8 more followers!

Happy Stitching!

Marsha

Birthday Giveaway etc.

This is what I won in the silent auction at Art in the Garden. I was so excited when I saw them. I have no idea what they were used for but if you follow BBD's blog you've seen one in a LOT of pictures filled with antique buttons. They come in handy by the sewing machine holding pins, seam ripper etc. So, here's the fun part. My birthday is on the 29th and I will give one of these lovelies away. You have to leave a comment so I have names to pick. Good luck. I'll include a few other goodies too.

I bought 6 ounces of wool to use for stuffing pin cushions.

Last Friday I went to a quilt show in South Lebanon. It featured the works of an elderly woman that lives in the area and has quilted a long time. A long hall way was filled with her work and some are pictured below. The gym area featured other quilters.

This woman did so much hand stitching on many of her quilts. It's a wonder the hours and hours of work in all her quilts.

I love this cathedral window quilt. It looks so different up close but soft and muted when viewed some feet away.

I'm partial to sunbonnet Sue quilts. My first quilt made for me by my grandmother, Hattie, was a sunbonnet Sue. I remember admiring it on my bed many times as a little girl.

My Mom has tons of hankies. I thought this was a pretty way to use them. There were actually two butterfly quilts made from hankies.

This yo yo quilt was so cool.

Last weekend Rich finished up repairing and renewing the blueberry house. The birds were already stealing them. Who knew snow could stick to bird netting, pile up and cave it in even pulling posts out of kilter. Sadly, we found out, or, Rich found out. He spent a good 4 days out there with a new improved plan - removable roof netting, more posts, larger area and the door moved. Thank you Rich - good work!

The blueberry house was repaired just in time. Here is my first picking.

My bread maker bakes a mean loaf of bread. The semolina bread is a favorite. It's wonderful toasted with home made jam.

I got a brand new camera delivered to me yesterday. Whoo hoo. A panasonic FZ35. I was trying it out for a minute after the batteries charged and before dinner. The pictures are nice and sharp. Can't wait to try it out on some stitchery.

Marsha

Edit: Yes, I will ship overseas, so please comment!

Happy Memorial Day

We are having a good weekend this holiday weekend. The flowers are planted. The blueberry screen house is complete. What you ask is a blueberry screen house? Well, I have pictures. One of my first posts last year was the framework being installed by my husband and sons. This week my husband and son, Ryan, finished it with bird netting. Over the years the birds have learned that our 9 blueberry bushes provide them with a feast. The humans harvested less and less with only a handful left for us last year. We've tried netting the bushes individually but they've gotten too large and the robins still manage to get under the nets and then need to be rescued. So, here it is:

And here is what we are protecting:

The peonies this year are gorgeous. I've been picking them and putting them all around the house. There's nothing like waking to the scent of peonies. I love them. After lily-of-the-valley, they are my favorite flower. In this bouquet is cherry bomb, raspberry sorbet and the old fashioned white that my neighbor across the street, Denny Falgner, gave to us when we first moved in 23 years ago. You can see the blueberry house in the background.

I love flowers so here are a few more pictures to enjoy.

The rhododendron and peonies are almost done now. Others will take their place. Have a safe weekend.

Marsha

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADAM!

Today is my middle son, Adam's, 28th birthday. I hope he is having a wonderful day.

I had a nice brunch for Mother's Day. It was my weekend to work and since my son works on Sundays we opted to have a Saturday brunch. My daughter and her family were also in attendance. It was yummy. Ryan made a couple of bacon mats, pancakes - blueberry and plain and scrambled eggs. What is a bacon mat? Why, I'm happy to show you! Here it is uncooked.
And here it is all crispy and ready to eat. It has a lovely crunch and then woosh of bacon fat. It's worth that woosh.


The rain eased up for a couple of days and while I had the chance, I bought my summer flowers:
I got my flowers from one of my favorite local growers Blooms and Berries Farm Market Loveland. Here are some more views of their lovely farm and great flowers. They have a great pumpkin festival every fall too. And new this year is a butterfly house.






This is a picture of Monarch butterfly chrysalis's. They are a beautiful color with a small strip of gold that looks like a couched gold thread. Really awesome. These were going into the butterfly house.


Yesterday was planting day because today and the rest of the week it is going to RAIN!

Marsha