Not much to say

We have had work done in our front garden,it looks great, however the picture that I took was not very good so I am pictureless at this point.  This is something that we have needed for a while now but everything costs money and we saved for the bathroom and did that first.  The back looks good as well, but it is not done yet.  The decking pathway is gone and there is brick pavers in it place now.  But the stone patio is not put back nor are the potted plants.  The fountain is going to be put further back, directly in front of the side of the deck instead of its current place, the electrical problems that we have had are also fixed (hopefully!!)  Everything should get finished sometime next week, can't wait to see it.  It hasn't been worked on for a week now so I have been waiting to blog until I had pictures but that hasn't happened.

It has been a quiet week, lots of work for both of us, Bjorn is getting ready for a conference today and I am overwhelmed with this and that at work as usual.  You would think that things would get easier after all these years but with all the healthcare changes it is just becoming more and more difficult to get the job done.  I don't like to be pessimistic but it is hard to try and stay positive sometimes. 

Stitching is good, I have been working on Autumn and Hawk Run this week, I put away the sampler for this week.  I am going to cycle some things through weekly I think, see how that works.  There are so many things I would like to get out and start but that is kinda foolish, they just sit unfinished somewhere.  Although it does solve the problem of getting things together with threads and material and then losing the thread or getting out the fabric and ironing it to get it ready to work on, put it in the closet and then can't remember what project the fabric is for!!!!  Really, I have a large piece of linen in the closet, very neatly pressed and ready to go, but can't for the life of me remember which project it goes to.   Now that is pretty sad.  I periodically go through some things trying to figure it out but haven't had any luck so far. 

All the Easter things finally got put away, nothing really gets decorated now until Autumn which is kinda boring.  But since I really don't like summer very much I can't get excited about summer things (whatever that would be).

We leave next Friday for two weeks in England, staying in Oxford and Warwickshire for a week and in Somerset for a week, we're looking forward to just being away from work and its problems.  Not to mention it is always fun to explore.  We are staying a couple of night in London at the end of the trip and have tickets to visit a needlework exhibit at the Royal School of Needlework.  That will be awesome!!

Happy Easter

Not very good picture of deck with jasmine blooming on the deck cover

Easter Frills

How original is that?? But Happy Easter anyway. I have had a nice three day weekend, it has been a much needed rest. Got some work done (a little, not too much) but of course many more projects that I needed to do that went undone. I planted some flowers and pulled up most of the violas, I think they are my favorite winter flower and I hate to pull them up but a couple of weeks of high 80's has made them pretty limp and lifeless. I think we have summer already. So I pulled them out and put various other things in. I will take some pictures but right now the back patio still looks too weedy.

We are having the decking sidewalk that runs through the middle of the patio out to the deck pulled out and replaced. And the patio will be power washed and will be weeded and some new crushed gravel put in. However that hasn't happened yet (hopefully this week) and so the back garden isn't quite what it should be. However the jasmine is blooming on the deck covering so it does smell good and everything looks good (except the weeds!!)

Other news, not much really, just the three day break that has been great. Another Easter finish and I have been working on a sampler and started the Amy Mitten threadwinder project. I have only worked on it a little but it has been sort of fun to stitch. Monochromatic (black) but I think I will really like the finished project.

I need to get Autumn at Hawk Run out and work that into a rotation of sorts, if I don't it will never get finished to be hung by autumn. All the squares are pretty full of stitching so I need to get cracking. I also worked some in my sewing room, it is,as ever, a work in progress. I am getting nowhere fast in my organization attempts. I am trying to not make any more purchases but I don't know if that will really help!!! I may be too far gone already!!!!

Easter Finishes

Inside of La Vie En Rose Etui

Front Panel of Etui

Bunny Love finished with purple ribbon and propped on the mantel, this is the cutest thing, turned out so much cuter than I even thought. I like smaller cushions so when I realized it would be so big I wasn't sure about it. I did it on a 36 count linen I think and with the colors that were called for. I made a huge mistake on the border on the left side and didn't realize it until I was too far into it to fix it, so I went on and I don't think anyone but me would ever notice it.

This is the front portion, the rose on the front is a pincushion, it attaches on the bottom and opens to the little pocket and the needle page on the back of the pincushion. Those little rose things on the ties are sweet and easy to make. I may try that one again. The top picture is the etui opened to show the little pocket, there is a bead bottle and a waxer attached on the outside panel, you can see them outside in the second picture. This was a Shining Needle Society class and I am proud to say I did it and finished it in the alloted time!!

I have been overwhelmed as usual with work, stitching and my life in general. I really do think about blogging but always have something that I have to do before I can get to it. Then this weekend I had to angst over the Final Four game, Louisville vs Kentucky. Thank goodness UK won, go Big Blue!!!! Now tonight I will angst over that game, don't know if I can stitch and angst at the same time!!

Since I finished a couple of things that were weighing on me I have gone back to Autumn at Hawk Run. I was working on the second block when I put it away months ago. I finished that this weekend and then wanted to start a sampler, so I got out an oldie, Anna Flemings Performance. It is a reproduction sampler from a private collection. The collection is owned by some friends of Lauren Sauer and I got the kit from her a few years ago. It is a beautiful sampler with some great colors so I am excited about it.

I am going into work late today because the plumber is here to try and get the leaks in our bathroom sinks sealed. This has been an ongoing problem since the bath was re-done in December. But I think we have finally found the problem and he will get it taken care of today. (But I thought that before as well!!!) So I took advantage of a couple of hours this morning while waiting for him to straighten up my sewing room a little. I still have a long way to go but I was able to find some things I have been looking for!! LOL That room is a constant problem, can't keep it organized, what does that say about me and my hobby??

The plumber is finished and I am off to work, that is it for now!

GO BIG BLUE!!!!

Spring thoughts and etc.

I am taking an on-line class, La Vie En Rose sewing etui. I have finished the pieces and am waiting on the next lesson to put them together with all the silk ribbons, etc.

Ignore the weeds, but the flowers are very pretty.

My new acquisition from E-Bay, 1820's English sewing chest, it has a "royal patent" plate on it and a name plate on the bottom of the maker. It was from Brighton. It is Burled wood, with brass fittings on the top and sides, in great shape. It even has a handerchief with bobbin lace on the edges. A set of bone tools are inside as well as a silver thimble, a wooden needle case and a little round box of boot buttons!!! Who could resist??

Bunny and Co. I have been working on this cute Easter pillow from Country Stitches, got it last year but didn't get around to getting it started. It is bigger than I thought it would be but I love it, there is a new piece this year with the same bunny, don't you love him?? He will go on the mantel below in that basket over on the left side, it is on its side with some eggs falling out of it, he will be a cute addition to it.

It is definitely spring, my eyes and nose will tell you that for certain. Rained all weekend last weekend and that was supposed to make the allergy problem better but I can't tell that it did. My eyes are still itching and watering and my nose is still drippy, what fun.

I have been in an organizing mood, when I get it finished I will post a picture (maybe), I have been working in my kitchen pantry. I have a very big, nice pantry and it is still overflowing and I can't even find what I have. I think I have organization issues. So I have bought a bunch of clear cannisters with lids that supposedly keep out all the air and I am working on filling and organizing them so I can see what is there. A work in progress to say the least.

On the stitching front, I have finished a little Blackbird Design project, Naughty or Nice, put some buttons around it and am not sure exactly how I will finish it. Some sort of stitching pouch/bag, we'll see what happens.

Casket Progress

Isn't this bird adorable?? A Christmas present, 3 cuties to put in my pots. And one of my favorite flowers in this pot, Violas!!

Betsy Morgan Casket picture, this is the front panel of the casket.

This is Breath of Spring from Blackbird Designs-last year I think. It is a pincushion and after I ironed it I thought, maybe I will frame it!! So I put it in here and put it on the mantel, I think it looks pretty so maybe I will keep it like this.

The Betsy Morgan casket etui. I am hoping to get it finished soon so I can move on to other things. I used to be able to hop around on my projects a little more than I do now. There is always this feeling of urgency to get a particular thing finished, I am not sure why. Maybe there need to be some changes made in my madness!!

A big part of the madness is the compulsion that I have to have something that I have happened across on the internet. I spend time on all these "needlework" blogs and I see so many great projects and then I find that I can't rest until I find where I can buy the pattern, kit, etc. And I am not just content to get the pattern anymore, no, I need to immediately get the linen, the silks/threads, etc. Even though I have absolutely no intentions of starting the project in the next, oh let's say, 30 years!!!!! But I know that I am not alone, there are a lot of people with my particular mania. Everytime I decide that I am not going to buy anything I find something that I HAVE to have and there it goes, on and on and on!!!

I did get out a little project from the Blackbird Christmas Garden leaflet, I want to do that little bag that is in it. It has a zipper in it so I want to get it stitched so my sister can help me with the finishing when she visits next month!!! It has been a million years since I put a zipper in something so I need some professional help with it.

There is absolutely nothing else new going on. I think I will get out my easter/spring stuff this week. The weather is definitely spring-like, not that we have had any winter weather anyway. But I am resigning myself to spring so I may as well get on with it. I do love Winter!! I know there is something essentially wrong with me, I love the winter nights, the short days, gloomy and rainy weather. I tell myself to enjoy it while it lasts!! But spring comes every time. I do like spring, just I know that summer follows and summer here is just so awful. But the good thing is that I can re-do my pots and have some pretty flowers (if it doesn't get hellishly hot and dry like last summer...that is all I will say about that!!) and replace some of the dried up stuff that is currently residing in some of my pots.

We will probably have the patio right outside the backdoor worked on this spring. There is a wooden decking walkway out to the deck but it is in sad shape and needs to be replaced. I think that we will just have stone put in and make the whole area patio without any walkway. More area for pots!! We got some large ones this weekend to re-pot the lemons and the orange tree, but that will happen next week. I still can't lift much and that is a job that one person can't really do alone. Plus Bjorn's back is not so good either!!

My eye seems to be ok, I still have some brightness at the periphery but it is not worse and I don't have any more floaters. I will go back in a few weeks just to make sure it is ok, plus I need a regular eye exam anyway. I am so thankful that it not worse, the fear of blindness (even in one eye) is just terrible, probably because my two favorite things are needlework and reading. Here's hoping it will stay ok.

That is it for this week, hope you are having a good one.

Mary Wigham

It has been forever since I posted because I have been crazy with Mary Wigham. (and some other issues!!) But I finally finished her!!! I am not super pleased but I am happy to close the door on that one. The stitching was not bad, but I never want to make drawers and shelves again. I made some mistakes, like I saw: Be sure and leave a 1/2 inch border" when it actually said "be sure and leave 1 1/2 inches" Oh well. So the drawers and shelves are not quite covered in silk the way they should, but whatever. You really can't tell when you open it up, but don't pull anything out, there will be a shock for the eyes!! Now I can put stuff in it but I don't want to becasue the doors will be closed and I don't want to not see my stuff, does that make any sense?? I have ordered some ribbon for it, I bought some over the weekend but it didn't work. I have some gray ribbon on it now, just to see what it would look like completed.

When I wasn't having a fit over Mary Wigham I have been stitching on the casket etui from Betsy Morgan's class. It is going to be gorgeous when finished (do I really want to put together another box??? Are you kidding me?????) I have had issues with it, however. Each of the box pieces is framed with long arm cross, not something I usually have a problem with. However, I have had more mistakes in this piece than I really want to admit. Can I not count?? Sometimes I do wonder.

Between the two projects I haven't done anything else, I have some spring things I had put aside to start after Christmas and there is Autumn at Hawk Run that I have started. But no progress on any of that. I had given myself until July to finish Autumn at HR, but that will be pushing unless I just stitch solely on that. I have too many other things that need to be finished or started. I always like to start a sampler the first of the year and I haven't done that yet. Not sure what I want to do first, so many options!!

I had an eye scare this week, I started seeing flashes in my left eye and a funky floater. Went to the opthamologist and I have a vitreous detachment. Thankfully not a retinal detachment which is what I feared. So I have to be careful for 6 weeks, no straining, lifting, running (exercising!!!!) and hopefully it will be ok. Other than that, no big news here. We went to Cincinnati last weekend and enjoyed ourselves with the visit.

We have had practically no winter, we have covered the plants twice. I want to get some primroses out in the pots and some things need to be repotted but unless I get Bjorn to help with that I can't do it, too much lifting. It is amazing how you need to do exactly the things that you are not supposed to do. So maybe next weekend we will get to that. The orange tree and lemons really need to be put in bigger pots and soon, they are blooming already.

That is it for now, hopefully I will get back to a weekly post now that Mary Wigham is off my back!!

Beatrix Potter

Not a good picture but you can see that she is gorgeous, at least I think so!!!!



t has been a lazy day, went to breakfast at La Madeleine and then to the bookstore for a little bit, back home, walk and watching some football. I admit I like football on Sunday and now it is almost over. The Texans had a good year and it was fun following them, hopefully next year they will be good again and with no injuries.

The accreditation survey is over, thank goodness, but there is still a lot to do at work, so it was a busy week. I feel as if I will never get caught up and when I think I am caught up something happens and I get behind, I guess that is normal.

We are thinking about vacation, we missed being able to take off for Christmas so we are anxious to get to our summer vacation. Thought about doing a spring break trip but we will save our money and go in May for a couple of weeks. We are discussing Germany for a week and then back to England for a week. Somehow we can't get away from England, I know that I am obsessed but I can't seem to get away from it. So we will see, I want to make a decision soon so I can get all the plans made.

On the stitching front, I have been working on the Betsy Morgan casket, I think we are planning to get together for a finishing weekend in April so I want to get it finished by then. I am actually doing well on it, lots of taking out of stitches last week but still it goes fast.

I haven't worked on Autumn at Hawk Run for a couple of weeks now, but I plan to do some on it this week. I have to finish two blocks a month to get it finished and framed by September. Well that is not quite true but that is my goal, to finish it by June or July. I got a lovely package from Attic this week, I ordered Ann Dale by Shakespeare's Peddlar as well as Harriet Tingley from the Scarlett House. So I have two huge samplers to add to my unstitched collection. At least I can stitch like a mad woman during my retirement and not spend an enormous amount of money!!!! I am not happy now unless I not only buy the pattern but the linen and all the silk or whatever. And I don't even bother to see if I have the color in my stash, I just get new thread. How spoiled is that???? That is my retirement planning, lots of stash, I think I am doing very well with it by the way.

Nothing really new this week, planning to visit the kids the first of February, we are looking forward to that. Hailey's 10th birthday was a couple of weeks ago and we are planning to celebrate hers and Scott's birthday that weekend. I have gotten a really cute Vera Bradley purse for her and today I filled it with stuff, nail polish, lip gloss, etc. I hope she will like it, it was fun to get a bunch of stuff that I thought she would like.

I have some pulled pork in the crock pot and it is smelling pretty yummy so I am going to go make supper, the best thing is that I will have leftovers for the next week. Yay for me!!!!