First, I really need to tell about something that has still has me speechless. I have a dear online friend that lives miles and miles away. I'll probably never get to meet her in person, but she still touches my life in so many ways. I received a box the other day from my favorite needlework shop, and it contained the following gifts from this wonderful friend. (she made me cry)
1. Hummingbird w/accessory pack - The Victoria Sampler
2. Living Free w/accessory pack - The Victoria Sampler
3. M is for Mother w/accessory pack - The Victoria Sampler
4. Snow Sisters w/carrot noses & buttons - Wildflower Stitchery & More
5. Sparky & Friend w/carrot nose & buttons - Wildflower Stitchery & More
6. The Vally of Peace - Thomas Kincade
How do you say thank you and make it sound as grateful as you feel? And what do you do to repay someone for this much kindness? My last purchase of anything cross stitch was the JCS Ornament issue and I can't even remember what it would have been before that. This package certainly made me feel special :) With all that said I had to stitch one as soon as it arrived and after I found the perfect fabric in my stash for it.(Can you guess which one? see below)
Garden season has started, and I've been spending some time getting things planted, plus getting the garden ready for all the seedlings that will need to be put in soon. The garlic is growing nicely, the onions are doing well, and so is the rhubarb. The peas are peaking out after being in the ground since Easter weekend, and I'm impatiently waiting for them to really grow! I'll be putting more onions and potatoes out today, and will try to get the Swiss chard and lettuce planted.
We've had a few days of 90(F) degree weather, and the nights have unseasonably warm. It has been nice for hanging out clothes and the weather has made things bloom quickly. Sadly, today is the last day of this weather, and we are going to see a 20-30 degree drop in daytime temps starting tomorrow. I'm worried that we are going to see frosts that are going to hurt the plants in bloom. That would be awful for the apples and berries that had a quick awakening.
DS was accepted at all the colleges he applied to, and has finally decided on the one that he wants to attend. Surprisingly, it's quite close, so we'll get to see him more than expected. He was looking at a few outside the state, so this was a very nice surprise!
The paperwork that we needed to do has been ...ummm... interesting. As a homeschooling mom, I've come to appreciate all the the school district did when I went to college :) We've made it though, and after the evaluations this year, my son will be officially graduated, and then we send off the end paperwork for his state approved diploma. YAY! He made it!
Stitching
I ended up with an abscessed tooth, which put me down for a while. Between the pain and the antibiotics that made me sick, I had a bit of time to stitch since I couldn't do much else. So I have a few finishes to post :)
I had promised to post a picture of my Helga Mandl and Barbara Anna SAL, and totally forgot to put it up. I'm not quite as thrilled with it as I thought I'd be when the SAL first started. My problem is that I need a picture to make sense. At first this one did, but as I stitched the other parts, it felt more like a bunch of cute pictures thrown together without any type of a story behind it. I tried and tried to make sense of it, but haven't been able to. If someone knows or has any suggestions of how it all ties together, I'd appreciate hearing from you. You know, it's funny. I never knew why I picked what I do to stitch until doing this piece.
My goal was to get 4 WIPs/UFOs finished this year. I'm going to make that and pass it. For some reason, I'm really drawn to finishing things from "The Box" that holds those pieces that have been put aside for one reason or another.
This finish is called "Sneak Zucchini Nite" and was a free chart from Just Another Button Company with the purchase of the buttons. The Needlecraft Corner had the whole kit on clearance last year that cost about the same as just purchasing the buttons. Well, since it was such a reasonable price this design just had to be stitched for our home! There has always been a standing joke in our area, that when you are tired of your squash, you would sneak and leave it on your neighbor's porch to get rid of it. :) Thus, the reason it just HAD to be stitched. This design was stitched on 30 ct. R&R No Longer Blue linen. I started it last summer, and had put it aside thinking I'd have it finished by August.
I pulled out another UFO - SanMan Originals "Blooms", and was happily stitching away, when I realized that I was going to run out of thread for the lettering. No where in the instructions did it state that I would need 2 skeins of thread, and now the thread is discontinued. I did find another skein, but being hand-dyed, there was a BIG difference in the thread colors. I matched up the orange but got very frustrated, and tossed it back in the UFO pile. The worst part is I don't even like the color of the lettering threads and it doesn't look like the colors at all on the chart. The chart doesn't show any orange in it that I can see. Oh well.
This is probably on of my favorite finishes so far this year. It's "Hummingbird" from The Victoria Sampler and is stitched on Silkweaver's Potpourri 28ct. Jobelan. I've had the fabric in my stash for a long time. It was a piece that I got from the FOTM club (that was QUITE a while ago!) This piece was a real joy to stitch. I decided to leave off the word "Hummingbird" that went along the bottom left under the branch.
After that lovely new stitch, I went back to the WIP/UFO pile, and pulled out the Bent Creek Monthly Snappers. This makes my 7th finish on that piece - only 5 more to go!
