Books in Bloom 2025

This amaryllis which had taken so long to bloom is now in full bloom. It looks lovely against this quilt piece that I made way back in 2009. Three months after I retired, I flew to Italy for a workshop with Esterita Austin in Tuscany. It was a wonderful week. This wall hanging depicts the view from an upper window at the villa where the workshop took place. This piece was started at the workshop and completed when I returned home.

Speaking of flowers, after a fun lunch with friends yesterday, I visited the “Books in Bloom” exhibit by the Weymouth Garden Club at the Tufts Library in Weymouth. It will be up until tomorrow. In case you are not able to see it in person, let me show you a few of the displays.

Out of Africa

The Children’s Room also had some delightful displays.

It was a lovely break from the onslaught of horrible news coming from the Oval Office. I recently wrote that politics would not be a part of this blog, but this is not the time for any of us to keep silent. Today’s shameful, disgraceful treatment of President Volodymyr Zelensky was just the latest outrage in what has been a horrible few weeks. 

Slava Ukraini/ Glory to Ukraine!

A Strange Day on the Estate or the Joys of Home Ownership

 We have been having wet, snowy, freezing, windy weather. It seems as if we have had a storm every few days. That all played into today’s adventure on the estate.

Emma could work for the postal service as she is never deterred by the weather; it never stops her from completing her appointed rounds. Sunday’s sloppy mess froze solid overnight. 

This morning it was very cold but the sky was a lovely bright blue. Emma had just gone out when I spotted a large hawk circling over  the woods behind my house. How awesome I thought. That was this morning. After lunch when I let Emma out, she seemed inordinately interested in something behind one of my gardens and ignored my repeated calls for her to come in. It was far too cold for her to be out for a long time, so I grabbed my boots, my phone, and a snow shovel and headed out praying that I wouldn’t fall.  I used the snow shovel to help me navigate the frozen tundra digging it into the snow along the way to steady myself. (Yes, I know it was crazy, but I didn’t have any choice. I did wonder in passing how I would explain it to my orthopedist if I fell and broke a bone or two or three. ) I would soon need the snow shovel for another purpose. The object of Emma’s interest was a very large, eviscerated rabbit! Obviously, it had been too big for the hawk to have carried it off after his breakfast. Yuck! Make that double yuck! It was gross!!! Using the snow shovel, I managed to get it up and I launchd it over the fence into the woods.  It was not a proper woodland burial, but it was all that I could manage. The hawk was still in the area, and the rest of his meal would be easy for him to spot. Then I slowly, thankfully, made it safely back into the house.

On a happier note, let me show you my progress on “Un Jour a Paris en Hiver / A Day in Paris in Winter.” My plan is to stitch exclusively on this piece until it is done. This stylish lady is walking her little black dog which I am eager to begin stitching. Around the Q snap is a grime guard to keep the edges clean; I made two of these grime guards yesterday. 

Well, that’s it for today and don’t worry: nothing but nothing will prompt me to take chances on the ice again. Until it melts, Emma will be restricted on a short tie-out. I checked and Alexa just told me that spring arrives on March 30th. :-) We will all be happy on that day.

Happy Valentine’s Day 2025

 

I have said repeatedly that my goal this year is to stitch strictly from stash. Unfortunately, it is not working out according to plan. I have not purchased any yardage so far, but I’m weak and when I see cute wool applique pieces such as this, I’m sunk.  “Love Birds” was a pillow kit from My Red Door Designs. Honestly, how could I resist. . . wool applique, heart shaped doily, and pretty buttons??? I love how it turned out, and I finished it today on Valentine’s Day.

After Christmas, I usually purchase a few amaryllis bulbs on sale and plant up a bulb every couple of weeks. This one was very, very slow to start, but today on Valentine’s Day one bloom opened with more to come.

In my cellar, I have my Aunt Mildred’s music cabinet filled with vintage, and I do mean vintage, sheet music. Since this is a day for romance, I thought I would share one of my favorite pieces.

Gee, they just don’t write romantic ballads like this anymore. This catchy ditty was by composer Ray Henderson. Aren’t the graphics wonderful! I had plans at one point to feature some of these fun sheet music covers in a crazy quilt piece; for now that project is on the back burner. 

While I’m mentioning crazy quilting, I might as well confess that I also purchased a crazy hearts wall hanging kit. Shabby Fabrics will be my undoing as they always have wonderful quilting and wool projects. Since I have so little self control, I considered unsubscribing from their emails, but I didn’t. After all, it never hurts to look. :-)