Sunday Stitch Back from the Framers

Last week I picked up “This Is the Day” which had been my Sunday cross stitch piece for the last two years. I seldom take my pieces to be professionally framed, but I wanted this piece by designer Paulette Stewart of Plum Street Samplers to be protected with conservation glass. It’s always difficult to select a frame, but I think that it turned out great. 

You might be wondering how I’m doing on my current Sunday stitch, “324” by designer Arlene Cohen of Works by ABC. Well, I have stitched fifty-two motifs and squares so far with only 270 more to go!!!  While I do stitch on it on Sundays, I also work on it sometimes during the week. I was getting a bit tired just working in purples, reds, and pinks so I’ve worked my way over toward the blues and greens. It’s an enjoyable stitch. 

In case you are new to my blog, 324 refers to the number of colors in the piece: half are designs and the other half are blocks. Joanns had a sale on DMC on Thursday and Friday, so I purchased a number of skeins that I needed. By the time this piece is completed, I will have a very large stash of floss. :-) Fortunately, floss is fairly inexpensive.

In my previous post, I showed the poppies which grow under my deck. These blooms are super fragile, and they didn’t even last twenty-four hours. I turned around yesterday morning just in time to capture Miss Emma framed by the remaining blooms. The rain and wind had reduced them to orange confetti decorating the grass.

The irises are, however, putting on quite a display. 

One last photo of Miss Em in position beside me as we admire how pretty everything looks in my yard this spring. Though I have put together hanging pots and planters, I cannot wait to tackle my gardens!!! 

Happy gardening and have a fun, creative week.

In My Garden This Week - 5/29/22

My vintage irises are in bloom. My brother bought the peach irises for Mother’s Day at least thirty to forty years ago. The two-toned purple irises have been in the same spot for as long as I can remember. The iris in the bottom left is really a light blue. I brought a few of them home when I sold the home that belonged to my aunts probably thirty years ago. This year the stand of these irises is spectacular. The gorgeous yellow iris came from my godchild’s home. Unfortunately, a beautiful two-toned yellow and purple iris that I purchased last year did not survive the winter.

Other spots of color. . .

A friend is getting ready to move, and so, a group of us recently helped her prepare for a yardsale. Among other things, I came home with a pink iris, this cute birdhouse, and a watering can. The watering can had a hole in the bottom . . . no problem,  I added an inch or two of stones for drainage, compost, and a red mandevilla. :-)

For a number of years, I would meet these ladies at Brewed Awakenings in Hingham where we would practice our Italian conversation skills. It has been two years since we last met. When one of the ladies suggested we get together, I offered lunch in my backyard. (I’m still much more comfortable meeting outside, and besides, my gardens are really quite colorful now.) The weather was perfect, and as long as one doesn’t look too closely, my gardens look lovely. All my planting is done, so next I will tackle the weeding. 

They were not the only visitors to my backyard this week. Peter, who lives down the street, was walking by and stopped in with his two Great Danes. (Peter was once one of my eighth graders many years ago . . . make that many, many years ago. :-) Anyway, they were in the backyard when I let Emma out. She went tearing down the stairs barking away and then suddenly came to a full stop. If you know my Emma, you know that she is usually fearless, but she was soon hiding behind my legs. When the BIG dogs wandered down back, she dashed over to Peter. She has met these dogs individually before, but never have they been in her backyard together. I did manage to get this one photo.

Emma stayed that close for all of about three seconds!!!

Raven is four and Vada, below, is nearly a year. They are sweet, gentle, very large dogs!

Hope you have a great week. 

In My Garden This Week . . .

I don't know about you, but the crushing news of the last two weeks coupled with the global pandemic is almost too much to bear. Therefore, today I offer few words, just pretty photos from my garden to soothe your soul.

 

 

  

  

Have hope. Stay safe. Stay strong. I wish you peace.

Blooming in My Garden This Week

 

A bed of these two-toned purple irises have been blooming in my yard for as long as I can remember. I know they should be divided every seven years or so, and I will definitely try to do that this fall. 

 

The orange poppies originally came from my aunt's garden. I thought for sure that last night's rain would cause the paper thin, fragile petals to fall, but they survived and their gorgeous blooms will last a few more days. I shot a number of poppy photos, but this one was my favorite.  These images were taken with my Tamron 100mm macro lens. As you can see, I love photographing flowers. :-) 

 Please click on any photo to see a larger image.

A few months ago, I signed up for Netflix because I wanted to watch The Crown. I loved it at first, but my interested waned after a while as the members of the royal family in this series are not portrayed in some cases in a very favorable manner. I did find a program on the royal family, however, which I really enjoyed, the BBC documentary, Elizabeth at 90:A Family Tribute.  If you are watching The Crown, it showed Queen Elizabeth often using a movie camera on her travels. Elizabeth at 90:A Family Tribute presents actual royal "home" movies. It is narrated by Prince Charles and what makes it special is that it shows various members of the royal family including Queen Elizabeth viewing and commenting on the movies. One section shows Prince William and Prince Harry laughing at the antics of their father as a young boy. My favorite scenes featured the daughter of Princess Margaret viewing her mother as a very little girl dancing and playing with her sister the future queen. The expressions of sweet delight on Lady Sarah's face are wonderful as she repeatedly remarks that she had never ever seen those images of her mother. It is an hour documentary which you would  enjoy.

Speaking of gardening, if you have Netflix, I have another recommendation, "Big Dreams, Small Spaces."  I saw this program mentioned on a blog that I follow so I checked it out and I'm glad that I did. It features horticulturist Monty Don who travels all over England helping folks create the garden of their dreams. It's amazing to see how ambitious some of their plans are. He guides, encourages, and sometimes helps them design more realistic plans. If you enjoy gardening, you would enjoy this Netflix program. It is very relaxing and enjoyable to watch, and I have picked up quite a few gardening tips. Lord knows what Monty Don would say about my topsy turvy, jumbled large garden!  By the way, have you ever heard of putting a mud head in your garden? I had never heard of mud heads and neither had Monty Don, but if you watch the series you'll see one determined lady create one in her large garden. :-)

It's been a busy week so far. On Tuesday, the Crosstown Quilt Guild had a lively and fun speaker, Beth Helfter of EvaPaige Quilt Designs   who presented a trunk show and talk entitled, "Give It a Scrap Slap." Yesterday, I met friends for lunch and then last night met another group of friends at a local restaurant to celebrate a friend's birthday . . . one of those BIG ones that ends in a zero. :-) All in all it was a fun busy day!!!

Spring Beauties

         Early Monday morning I spent some time photographing in my backyard. This stand of irises has been blooming faithfully in the same corner of the yard my entire life. I follow the guidelines in Crockett's Victory Garden, to keep them going.  [Jim Crockett was the host of a very popular gardening series on PBS, and I always refer to his book when I have gardening questions.]

         Lilies of the Valley grace another corner.

       

     The iPhone camera is wonderful for quick grab shots, but for photos like these you really need something more. My equipment is simple. These photos were all taken with my Nikon D60, 18-55mm lens with a 3T close-up filter, and a tripod.