June???

I just have one question . . . 

Where did June go??

I told Honey Do the other day that it seems the busier I am the faster time seems to pass. I know, logic :)

 

 

For a change though, I do have something to show for my passage of time.

I've been working on the main garden in front of my house and the "butterfly" garden. I purchased 25 bags of mulch and used 24. 

The more I work in my gardens, the more I want to be there. I just walk around and smile :)

I pulled some plants and moved them to the fence in the backyard. These are things that multiply quickly and I won't mind them growing along the fence.

There are two smaller gardens behind the main in the front of the house that I will work on in the coming week between prepping for Vacation Bible School.

Super simple project :)

Empty cans with craft sticks adhered to them. This one is tied with floss, but I've done some with yarn and we'll see what we have to work with at church for the kids to use - might be ribbon or yarn. I've made several for samples for the kids to see.

I spent the last two night cutting out 300 paper plates that will make "clams". I still have shopping to do for supplies, but nothing odd. Everything should just come off the shelf.

No sewing or quilting or embroidery happening here. I have managed to collect two kits for the Row by Row Experience. I was hoping to get the first one done this week, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen.

Other than that, you'll find us in the backyard :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you countless blessings.

Relaxing Saturday

What an absolutely gorgeous day it is. I started my day out with making breakfast for Honey Do and myself. Then I started the laundry and I started my goal of sewing today. As the laundry finished going through the washing machine it got hung outside to dry. With each load out I took the dogs to let them run and play. Nina couldn't get enough of the baby deer.

 

My goals for sewing today where a heart block and nine patch and to assemble Maggie's first dance.

I started with Maggie's First Dance.

 The nine patch and heart block are for a community quilt project that will be mailed on Monday. Maggie's first dance will be put away until the second block is published.

I spent the afternoon and evening outside with Honey Do and Newton and the dogs. We had a beautiful afternoon. Sunshine, clear skies and temperatures in the 80-82 range. Not a hint of humidity in the entire day.

We didn't come in until the mosquitoes started biting. It has been a very relaxing Saturday.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with countless blessings.

It's the weekend . . .

Time is just flying around here. Not only is it the weekend, but it's almost the end of the month.

I'm feeling pretty good about what got done this week.

Wednesday, Newton was home from school in celebration of the Cavaliers winning the championship. It was unexpected, but I took advantage of the help. He helped me clean out and organize the shed.

My happy place :)

He helped by mowing the lawn while I did some weeding.

 

Thursday, I went to Mom's. Look at her cacti !!!

They are almost done blooming and still gorgeous. It almost looks like you are stepping into the desert. I was amazed.

The sedum in the foreground of the photo on the right are getting ready to bloom. I've already put my order in for some of those. I don't have any in my garden.

On the way home, I stopped at the local quilt shop.

The Row by Row Experience began again this week so I stopped and purchased my first block. I decided this year to purchase the kits. I'm hoping to be able to work on them as I purchase. We'll see how that goes for me :)

I finally finished stitching the center of block one of Maggie's First Dance. I'm going to spend the weekend putting the rest of the block together. 

I also have a couple more blocks to make and mail for a community quilt project. Looking forward to working on those. 

Friday, I received long awaited for squishy mail.

I joined a new block of the month that's coming out of Australia.

It's sponsored by Patchwork Angel. This is round two and thanks to some very diligent help from them, I was able to get signed up this time (credit card chips kept getting in the way). It finally arrived and I've seen this Japanese embroidery on Pinterest, but hadn't tried it yet. I'm trying it now. I'll keep you posted :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with countless blessings.

Sunday rolls into Monday rolls into Tuesday, etc., etc., etc.

(image found on Yahoo)

That's pretty much how I feel at the moment. This week has been flying by.

I spent most of Saturday doing laundry and working in the garden.

 

My efforts are starting to pay off.

Sunday began this way :)

Honey Do enjoyed his Father's Day gifts.

He and Newton put new fencing up around the vegetable garden.

So far, the deer are staying out.

I finished weeding that first row on Tuesday - finally. It takes a long time when the temperatures are in the 90s. I'm not as young or resilient as I used to be.

 

With leftover chicken wire, I wrapped this precious rose bush.

It was a Mother's day gift from my mom several years ago. It was always 4-5 feet tall and full of blooms. A couple of years ago when the deer starting being regulars in the neighborhood, they discovered the tender buds and that was then end of it.

This year I'm fighting back. As of Tuesday morning it has 12 buds and blooms on it. Again, my efforts are paying off.

Sunday evening ended like this . . . 

The whole city, region, state are super excited to finally have a national championship.

It's actually the third one this year. The first went to a professional wrestler. The second went to our minor league hockey team (from which they call up to play on the main team) and now our basketball team.

They made all kinds of records to get to the championship. Among them, coming back from a 3 to 1 game deficit and also winning the final game at the opponent home court.

It was a very close scoring game, but most importantly, these guys played fairly and honestly and decently. We are all very proud of them.

I also spent my weekend cutting out a new quilt.

It's called Maggie's First Dance and you can still sign up for it here.

Jacquelynne is a wonderful, generous designer.

The design is made so that you have three choices (you could end up with three quilts). I'm choosing to do the applique. 

What I really like about this BOM is that all the blocks are cut out with the first month. When #2 comes out, everything is ready to go.

I've done other BOMs and I've had to pull everything out every month and start from scratch. With Jacquelynne's design, next month I just have to pull out my scraps and cut the pieces for the applique. I'm very excited.

Wednesday is Newton's 15th birthday. It's amazing to believe that he is almost grown !!!

Thank you for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with countless blessings.

Friday Night Finish

I've been fortunate enough this Friday evening to participate in the Sew-In with Wendy and the gang. Saturday will be spent following up on the participants to see what everyone got up to.

As for me . . . 

I listened to a book (Escape by Barbara Delinsky)

And finished my pillow. It still needs a pillow stuffed inside, but it's a finish :) It was quick, easy and I love the end result :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with countless blessings.

Our resident watchdog.

Watching a deer in the backyard.

This and that

(image from Yahoo)

It's that time again . . . 

Have you signed up for FNSI with Wendy?

I have and this is what I'll be working on to finish.

Not the best photo, it really needs pressed. But I managed to get all the stitching done and some embellishments. I'm pretty pleased with how well it's turning out.

My goal is to make it something romantic and feminine. It's almost bridal, isn't it with the the birds and the hearts? I pretty much knew where it was going when I started it the other day. Now I just need to finish it up.

Can you see the hoof prints?

I had an unwanted visitor in my vegetable garden today. The higher fence hasn't helped. She's discovered the edibles. 

I'm really nervous now because the cucumbers, zucchini and beans have all sprouted and I don't want her eating all my hard work.

Honey Do suggested adding another row of fencing to see if that will help. I sure hope it does.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with countless blessings.

Mid-week motivation

(image from Yahoo)

I'm finally finding some much needed motivation - at least where crafting is concerned. I finished the "bathroom" stitchery over the weekend. Monday, I spent most of the day cleaning and doing laundry.

Tuesday I spent meeting to work on VBS and ran errands.

Wednesday, I finally carved some time out to get started on a new little project. This one shouldn't take much longer than the "bathroom" stitchery did.

I found this idea in a book and really liked it. So I rummaged for fabric and tried to match up threads. The design in the fabric has little blue flowers, but also blue birds.

I did some digging through my Stitchery Club patterns to see if I could find anything that might work.

I found this design. I took it to the library and had it enlarged so that it could be the center of the pillow.

I drew it off this morning on white cotton and will be spending the evening stitching it. Excited to see my ideas come to life.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with countless blessings.

It's a finish !!!!

It took me about a week to do this project from start to finish . . .

in between household chores and yard work.

All of the components are things that I had at home. I didn't purchase anything for this project.

And I LOVE it.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with countless blessings.

Saturday Fly-by

(image from Yahoo)

I was amazed at how quickly Saturday flew by.

I didn't have any specific plans, things just kept cropping up that kept me busy.

I splurged and bought two bags of mulch that was shredded and had a weed prohibiter built in. I emptied them and have discovered I need a whole lot more, but that's ok. I'll go again on Monday and get some more. It looks too nice already to not push it.

I also planted the two surviving lavender bushes I purchased the last time BF and I got together.

Next up, a bird bath.

This was gifted to me by BF. It was a found treasure that she didn't need or have space for - lucky me :)

I purchased a couple of small hummingbird feeders at the local dollar store and placed them near the bath. I've always wanted them but couldn't justify the expense at the big box stores. Granted, they are made of glass and my version are plastic, but if we are successful then maybe I can justify the expense.

This is a relatively small garden and the up keep shouldn't be much if I can get this mulch to do its thing and just keep adding to it every year.

I need to figure out a way to get rid of the thistle that's in the neighbor's yard, that goes to seed every year and manages to transplant itself in my yard and gardens. It's very frustrating. I've been cutting the tops but they just seem to keep coming.

I've also decided that when I start weeding my front gardens again, any over flowing plants will be transplanted into my back yard. Not necessarily the butterfly/hummingbird garden, but the back yard - where the dogs and deer roam. We'll see how well it does. It's worth the shot. Worst case scenario - things don't survive the animals. Best case - I have a beautiful back yard :)

Since the temperatures are just scorching today - 90s,

I decided to work on some projects in the house.

Gathering up my patterns for another quilt project 

and a wall hanging.

And finishing up my little bathroom stitchery.

So Saturday flew-by, but it was a good, relaxing, productive day :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with countless blessings.