Summertime Summertime...

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Popping in quickly to share a couple happy pics of summer...

  Have a wonderful weekend, friends!  Summer is fleeting...

Wisteria Lane

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The wisteria has taken over the hillside where I live and the aroma is intoxicating.  I couldn't help but take the camera for a long walk tonight and try to capture some of the beauty of it...

I haven't made enough progress on "The Rain Fell" to warrant an update pic.  Maybe I'll sneek in a few stitches after dinner on Sunday.

If you are still looking for a fabulous Easter dessert, you might want to give this one a go.  I whipped it together in a jiffy last night and it was spectacular!

   Lemon Curd Trifle with Fresh Berries...

(save some time and use store bought lemon curd and cool whip!)

Have a BLESSED weekend, friends!

Hello Spring!

bubblebee making busy with the cherry tree

Here's hoping you've had a chance to enjoy some of the beauty of Spring this weekend!

Shots of Spring

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Amen Brother Ben, it's almost (officially) Spring!  The trees are in bloom, the grass is starting to green up, and time has sprung forward already.  I couldn't be happier about it if I tried.  

Daffodils:  harbingers of Spring

It's been a hectic month with my father in the hospital so I haven't stitched as much as I could have, but here's an update on Flower Bed:

I've made a couple of color substitutions but nothing dramatic.  I think if I can carve a couple of hours out this weekend, I'll have it in the bag.  It's been fun stitching with the seasons and if I'm really lucky, I'll get "The Rain Fell" started soon!

Happy Weekend Friends!  Hope yours is happy, relaxing and stitchful.

Pinecone Update and Retreat Report

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Hello Friends.  I'm back from Retreat and feeling lazy.  REALLY Lazy!  Must be the time of year but all I find myself wanting to do lately is lay around and watch the leaves turn color. 

Retreat was wonderful, as always.  Packed room with good friends, food and enough stitching to sink a battleship.  Instead of taking three projects (one per day), like my normal, I only took Pinecones.  Mainly because I was too lazy to pack more than one project but also because I wanted to get moving with this piece.  My goal was to have it finished and framed by now, but ...  (see lazy remarks above).

Gathering Pinecones

Hillside Samplings

The missing pinecone (in the 2nd position from left) was fly stitched and finished at one point but ended up twice as long as it was supposed to be sooooo out she had to come.  I'm talking to myself about starting it again.  It could be awhile...

Funny how I was drawn to all the specialty stitches in this piece but am not so sure about all of them now.  My lighting has to be just right and I still find myself squinting to get all the over-one stuff just right.  Once I finish the fly stitch pinecone, I might have to put it down for a solely cross stitch ornament, or something else along the easy lines.  Like I said, I've been in lazy mode for awhile...

In closing, let me share my Christmas cactus with you.  It's decided to bloom early this year:

Happy stitching to you, wherever you are...

Looks like Happiness to me..

Without fail, these yellow and orange flowers cheer me up immediately, no matter what...

I hope they bring a little cheer to your corner of the world today, too!

Wishing you happiness...

All things are new..

Here's wishing you all a Happy Easter!

dogwood in bloom

Picture post this time. 

More words (and a little stitching to share) next time! 

Spring Arrives

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HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY

Enjoy the weekend and the first glorious days of Spring, friends!

Clinging to Hope...

It's almost March.  Right? 

Would anyone like to reassure me that Spring is 'right around the corner'? 

Stargazer Lily

I triple heart Easter

I was going to make my TOP TEN REASONS I LOVE EASTER list, but I think these photos say it all:

Neighbor Kay's flower garden

Hubby brought me this beautiful bouquet about a week ago and it just keeps getting prettier.  O the colors, the fragrance, the shapes and textures.  The wonder of the anatomy of a lily, rose, daisy, carnation.  I think I could stare at it for hours.  Hubs likes to bring me flowers but is "vase challenged", so I always cut them and plunk them in a vase.  These have turned out to be exceptionally pretty.

Although some might accuse me of rushing the season, but after the winter we've just had, I feel justified celebrating the season as early and often as possible. 

So, here's wishing you all the joys of the Easter season!

P.S.  feel free to click on and use these photos for any of your non-profit endeavors.  They make pretty greeting cards!

Snapshots of Summer

Fleeting images of summer...what color, what beauty, what blessings!

Sorry for chopping off the right hand side of the collage. I would love to know how to edit this template to widen the content area and minimize the side borders, but alas, I am not a techie. I really like the template but am quiet sure if I started tinkering with it, I would create some kind of "fatal error", I'm experienced in the "fatal error" arena. I've got the brand spanking new profile at work this week to prove it. What that means in plain English is my computer forgot who it belonged to. All my shortcuts, documents, email, etc were simply lost, no, not lost, just misplaced the IT guy assures me. The actual machine still works like a charm, it just has amnesia. Supposedly it is more likely to happen when you log into the system from remote locations. Blah blah blah. Since I've got about 20 days to write employee performance appraisals, I hope it regains it's memory soon. All my notes for the whole year are in there, somewhere. Sing it with me now, "Somewhere, Out There, Beyond the World Wide Web, .... "

Christmas stitching and other stuff too

Twas the night before Christmas Stitching and all in my brain, a buzz was a roarin' as loud as a train! "Stitch this or stitch that?", was the question I asked. "Stitch it ALL", someone answered, (the small voice in my head). A floss tag, a pincube, a biscornu for sure, all in bright colors of green, red and azure.

As you can see, I'm a little preoccupied tonight, so this post will be short and sweet.

I'm making steady progress on the withdrawn thread bands on Assisi peacock. Actually, I finished the middle section:



I still need to cut, withdraw and re-weave the last section (ugh), and figure out how exactly to work that punto gigliuccio stitch for the upper band. Trick-ee! If you have any suggestions for me, don't hold back.

My away game (dragonfly checkboard) is flying! I'm still only stitching on it during lunch breaks, so by some standards, it's not flying, but it's moving pretty darn quick for my liking. I'm working the fill-in stitching in the non-dragonfly squares, just making stuff up as I go, and it is turning out quiet nice if I do say so myself. On the days I can't walk up to the shop and stitch, I've been emailing the shop owner to encourage the other sit-n-stitchers to do a couple of squares for me, but they seem to think I'm kidding. No takers so far.

I also snapped a couple of fabulous amaryllis shots tonight. Sharing a couple, (unedited):

Weekend Update

Easter weekend is always chuck full o'activity, but somehow I always seem to squeeze in a little stitching between the grocery shopping, cooking, baking, laundry, family functions and general household chores. I have fond memories of finishing some of my most favorite pieces early early on Easter mornings past. There isn't any chance of me finishing anything this Easter, but I'll keep up the tradition of slipping a few stitches in before church tomorrow.

Before I give you the Stitching Update, I just have to share this easy peasy Paula Deen mini-cheesecake recipe. So few ingredients, so little time, yet perfect little cheese tarts. I've been making it for years, but just had the brainstorm today to put a little different twist on it. Who doesn't love a little cheesecake with either cherries or blueberry topping?

Well, that's always good, but how about a little Hershey syrup, caramel sauce and a healthy sprinkling of pecan pieces?

Oh yeah baby - Turtle Cheesecakes!!! What's not to love?

Stitching Update: Dragonfly wings have proven to be a little more demanding than I thought, so I may be keeping this project (a.k.a. my away game) home for a while, until I've moved on to the less thought-demanding fill-in blocks. There are only 12 whole stitches in each dragonfly, but lots of 1/4 and 3/4 stitches. In such a small area, there is no room for fluff.

Last, but not least, my lovely peacock. I've nearly finished the cross stitching. I have three withdrawn thread bands to work. The first (above the lettering) is ready for the filling, the second (below the Assisi section) is in the "unweave/reweave" stage, the third is the big blank area between the two flower borders (just below the second band). It's in the "nothing is happening here yet" stage.

So there we are. I do hope you all are enjoying the joys of the season, some beautiful weather, some family gatherings, some delicious dinners and some quiet stitching time. I can't imagine a better way to spend the weekend.

Palm Sunday