I had a soap business for 10 years called eScentially Yours. It was a lot of fun and a lot of hard work. I closed up shop and luckily sold most of my equipment two years ago. I haven't had the need to make soap in those two years. (lots of leftovers) Our lab celebrates 'National Medical Laboratory Week' in April. One of the activities we look forward to is a Chinese Auction. This year I donated 2 batches of soap for 2 lucky winners. Two of my friends won. Over this past holiday weekend I made their batches of soap. It is addictive so I went ahead and made my own batch yesterday. The last time I made a batch 'just for me' I ended up allergic to the lemongrass essential oil I used to scent it (love that smell). What a bummer. I sure hope I'm not allergic to this batch. Here it is fresh out of the mold. It will need to sit for a month to harden up and cure. I used to make 42 - 84 bars at a time so 9 bars is really small to me. If you ever get a chance, try it. It's great for the skin.

While grocery shopping with my DH this past weekend, he got me this:

I see the new shuffles are 4GB's. This one is 1 GB. It still took most of the day to load iTunes, learn what to do, download 30 cd's and then figure out how to make the playlist load up. I've been enjoying the fruits of that labor. A lot. I wanted something small to start to see if I even liked it. I sure do! New earbuds are being shipped as we speak. (who can wear these things anyway?)

Today was book club day. I always look forward to it. Our members are/were co-workers in the hospital laboratory where I work. We were always talking about books we read and decided why not start a book club. We each take a turn picking a book. I was the book picker for our meeting today. We read The Lace Reader. Very interesting with a nice twist at the end but I wouldn't rate it as excellent. Do you have old lace passed down to you? This is a box of lace given to me that was my grandmother's.







So here we are (missing 3 members and one extra 'not reading yet' member):

I said I would post my WIP but I haven't taken the time to take their pictures. I would have to get it all organized and I'm not in the mood yet. Anyway, here is a small part of a WIP for the Christmas in July swap I'm in.

I wonder what it could be?

Marsha

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

More Needlework from Guild Members

This is a closeup of the house in the previous post. I love the colors.

Here are more pictures from the Queen City Sampler Guild members from our stitch in last week. Some people are way ahead on their Christmas ornaments.

I've been working on my 'Beneath the Sunlit Sky' and 'From Sea to Shining Sea'. Both required some frogging. I'm working on the borders for both. Today is haircut and watch my grandson day. I'll take pictures of my W'sIP later. We are back to gray skies and rain.

They announced the sampler winner over on Blackbird Designs - One stitch at a time. Congrats to the stitcher that won the goodies from France.

Marsha

Been a while

I can't believe it's been a month since I posted anything. Time sure has a way of slipping away.

All I can say is when spring has sprung the garden calls - very loudly. Things need raked up, cleaned up, cut back etc. I had a field day with the clippers (the big ones that required both arms). Messed up all the work my chiropractor and I had accomplished. Oh well. The yard's in pretty good shape now. Soon it will be flower planting time. It's been a beautiful spring in this area of the world.

I've been really busy stitching this past week. I've been trying to finish a sampler for Blackbird Designs - One stitch at a time . They've been in France this past week shopping. Doesn't that sound like a blast. They will pick a winner and that person will win some items that they shopped for in France. If I were a little kid, I'd be jumping up and down - a lot. So, here is my entry:
I used cream linen from Vicki Clayton and Needlepoint silk in the Chinese red range. I could have done a better job centering but I figured the person that stitched the original wasn't perfect either. Hattie Bauer was my grandmother. She was a quilter. Our family still misses her. She died on my 10th wedding anniversary, May 1st, so I'm especially pleased to have it completed.

April 23rd was a Queen City Sampler Guild stitch in. We had a fun time together, stitching, talking, and making tassels. We have two stitch-ins a month. One in the morning and one in the evening. Here are a few pictures of things people have stitched and brought in to show.

Isn't this glove awesome? The cuff side opens as a needle book. One of our members, Judith, has stitched on the jacket in Plimouth. She is very talented. You can't see the gold work very well or the sequins in the ruffle. It is gorgeous in person. The Embroiderers’ Story » 2008» January has a lot of wonderful information on the embroidered jacket that's being stitched. I will post more pictures later of other stitchers' talented work.

Hope you're having a great spring.

Marsha

Winter Vacation

My DH and I went to PA last weekend to visit our parents. While we were in Erie, we took a short jaunt to the penninsula. It juts out into Lake Erie and is a pretty drive with the bay side and the lake side having their own personalities. My husband and friend took a walk and I tried out my metal detector on the beach side. There is still a lot of ice on the lake and beach.
The only thing I found was a spring and after 30 min. I was COLD.

Here is an over-view of the bay side,



Here are a few of the lake side,

















After Erie, we traveled to Pittsburgh to see my parents. We had nothing planned so my Mom and I went to The Quilt Company. If you ever have the chance to go there, do so. It is fabulous. Bright and airy with lots of room to move around and shop in. We picked out a purse pattern that we both liked, 'cause it looked simple, and then the fabric to make them (with no promises on when it would be done).
Here's the purse pattern with my Mom's fabric choices on the left and mine on the right.




Fat quarters etc.








It was a good trip. The weather was nice and sunny (unusual for Erie, PA).

The mail man brought our vacation 'hold' mail on Thursday and I had lots of goodies. The linen of the month from Hand Dyed Fibers which has been one of the best things I ever signed up for. It has a soft feel and the colors are perfect for samplers. A new file-a-floss box. I spent Friday night and part of Sat. bagging up my silk threads and filing them. ('ll show pictures later) I also received a gift from my secret stitcher. What a wonderful surprise. She included everything to make it and green pins so I can make a pinkeep. Lucky socks too. How awesome is that!










While I was working on organizing my sewing supplies and Queen City Sampler Guild
papers, Clark found himself a cozy place to take a nap.

Marsha

Fun Day

I had a busy Saturday 2 weekends ago. My DH attended a day long class so the hours were mine to fill. My first stop was Keepsakes Framing and Floral Home Page my LNS. They had finished some framing for me. Annie Beez Folk Art 'Sunflowers!' and Sheepish Designs 'Meg's Bunny'.

The Sunflowers piece will go in the new guest room. The frame matches a Workbasket piece I had done a while ago.

The Sheepish Designs I've had a LONG time. I've always liked it and knew I would stitch it eventually. I stitched it for my niece's birthday. I hope she likes it. (she will know why the bunny is green) This was stitched on a linen I had on hand. I converted the DMC colors to Vickie Clayton's hand dyed silks.

From Keepsakes, I went down the road to the Valley Thrift store. I've found some great bargains there. From fleeces to linens to old sewing items - some days better than others. This day I found an old crocheted piece and I have no idea what it was used for. I will show it in another post. Then I found a table runner that has huck weaving. The color is different but I couldn't pass it up. In all, I spent $1.79 there, and that includes sales tax!

I haven't been to an antique store in years. I found an antique mall, even better, just down the road from the thrift store and the LNS. I've been looking for the smallest fire king bowl to finish my set. I bought this one but it's the same size I already have. I love these bowls. I'll keep looking.

I also found a cool crochet covered pincushion and another small bowl with my favorite flower.

I also saw a chair that would also be perfect for the guest room. I couldn't decide whether to get it or not so, I left it behind. The next day I mentioned it to my DH. He said 'Let's go see it'. So we did, he bargained and the next day picked it up and brought it home! I love it!

It was a great day!

Keep stitching. Marsha