Making the Most of Summer Days

Finally! Out for Summer Break, and I am trying to make the most of my time. Previous summers have been pretty much spent sitting in a chair looking at what everyone else is doing (fb, blogs, tv). This summer I am determined to have a productive summer. "Productive" meaning out of the chair. Another difference this summer is that we joined the local gym. I've enjoyed swimming and exercising on the machines, and playing tennis on the many tennis courts. The heat of summer has arrived, making an early start necessary for the tennis. The unhurried days allow leisurely breakfasts, especially with all the beautiful berries available now. Goodness! Already a week down! Only 4 more to go. It's amazing how fast the time will fly!

I'm also in a sewing mood. I started the Farmer Wife Quilt for my daughter and it is quite the project - a little more involved than I like, so I'm not sure if I'll do all of the blocks. I may just choose the easiest ones and do them several times. I need 50, I think, (they are 6 inch blocks). I've got about 10 made, so still a ways to go. I would like to complete the blocks by the time I have to return to school in late July, and have the quilt completed by the first cool fall day. That doesn't allow much sittin' time!

I hope you're having a great Thursday, thanks so much for stopping by!

JUNE LOVE

 Nature shelf

 Journals

 Pretties

Long days here. Once school dismisses, we start working 10 hour 4 day weeks. I only have to do it for one more week, thank goodness. Work is slow, trying to stretch the load for 3 weeks is tiring;  but it's great to work uninterrupted in the quiet.

The garden is starting to bloom again. The daylilies aren't far off and I think the white coneflower will be in bloom tomorrow! Can't wait for that. Trying to keep the gravel clean and weed free is a learning process. I will probably have to accept the fact that it needs to be blown every day. We had a big storm last night, which makes it even more necessary. But, oh! the happiness of thunder and lightening! The lightening was unbelievable, and I know this is going to sound crazy, but I was asleep and woke to the lightening and a current running through my body! I thought I must have dreamed that and lay there listening when it happened again! Just a small current, nothing painful.  Really odd, though. Never had something like that happen before. There also was a strange and beautiful sky over Atlanta and surrounding area (where I live). I didn't get to see it, unfortunately, but there were pictures all over facebook and even the local news spoke about it. It was almost dark and there was a double rainbow and deep pink sky. Below is a picture my friend took.  All in all, it was a strange night!

I hope you're having a great Friday, thanks so much for stopping by!

Hello Saturday, Oh How I Needed Ya!

Never a weekend was more welcome! As school winds down, activity increases. Two weeks left (with children, I still work another 3 weeks after their last day). Field day was Friday, what a long and tiring day...and I only work in the office! Some of the aides had to be outside the whole day. I think I would have cried!

This weekend I have begun to move into my new sewing room. I am very excited, feeling like I have a clean slate to work with!  I really don't have much to put in there right now. I'll have to go to some yard sales in hopes of finding a nice size table to use for cutting. I have a smaller table to use for my sewing machine. I've been collecting inspiration from Pinterest (you can see what's caught my eye here).

I'm slowly working on The Farmer's Wife Quilt. I'm using the paper piecing method and loving it. All the points come out perfect! It does seem to waste a lot of fabric, but I think it's a fair trade-off. I'm struggling with the way the blocks are looking next to each other. I think I have some fabrics that are so rich in color that they make the other blocks look cheap and uninspired. I've just ordered a jelly roll in fall colors. I'm hoping to get it this week. Maybe it's fabrics will work better with the rich in color that I have.

We've had a bit of rain today, but looks like it will be clearing out for Mother's Day. I hope you all have a lovely day with family. Thanks so much for visiting.

THANK YOU WINTER!

Thank you Cold Winter!!! I love you so much!  

When we have a cold winter, my garden is always so pretty. This past winter we were blessed with cold, snow, and more cold. February had very few of the warmer days that we usually have. By March everyone was complaining of the cold, but I knew what it meant for my garden and was secretly saying RAH!  The pea gravel we put down is still fabulous, though we had a huge wind storm this past week, and I've yet to collect all the debris that is completely covering it. I also need to take care of the weeds starting to come up through the gravel. This will be a busy weekend!

The Columbine blooms are in decline now and the Iris are almost done, too. The Salvia, May Night has been gorgeous and is always being visited by a cute little bumble bee. The large Viburnum dropped many petals in the big winds, and now the remaining ones are starting to decline. I love the look of the petals on the ground and floating in the little water feature. 

The garden is getting a little quiet right now, before the move into the next phase of blooms. Can't wait to see how the rest of the year goes.  

I hope your having a great Saturday, thanks so much for stopping by!

The Wooded Walk

How still it is here in the woods. The trees 

Stand motionless, as if they do not dare 

To stir, lest it should break the spell. The air 

Hangs quiet as spaces in a marble frieze...  

From Solitude by Archibald Lampman

This is a great time for a little jaunt in the woods. I unexpectedly found the Trillium blooming. It has such a sweet little pink bloom.  I've found them before on the property, but not for a while, so this was such a delight!  There are also a lot of Solomon's Seal around - graceful little plants with a tiny little drop of a flower.  My favorite tree in a tree still doing well - I wonder how long it will grow.  There was  lots of fallen limbs about, I was a little worried about one falling on my head! I knew the Sweet Shrub was in bloom, but they are so hard to find. Their little brown bloom is very difficult to see, but I looked until I found one. I think they smell like cantalope. 

Go find a wood to walk in and see what you can see and smell. I promise you won't be disappointed!

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you're having a great Friday.

Garden News

I'm so excited to show you my "new" garden. After years of trying to get grass to grow, we finally decided to go a different route. Now we're all happy, because there is a reduced area to mow, and it honestly looks soooo much better.  Here is a before picture, red dirt in all it's ugliness...

And here are a few shots of after...

I am so excited about this. My dear, sweet husband did all this by himself. I have been sick all week and wouldn't even come outside until today! The pollen has been terrible this year, and I've really suffered. But I have my beautiful garden to make it not seem so awful!  Now he's nursing a sore back, but I gladly rub ointment on it, after all he's done for me this week!

I hope you're having a great Saturday, thanks so much for stopping by!

Don't Do It...

Don't do this...

While taking this...

Or you'll get this...

Sigh. 

I've been on Spring Break all week, and have been taken down by a Pollen Attack. Determined to do something fun and creative, I tried to do a block of the Farmer's Wife Quilt. I was so excited to get my  block done, only to be horrified to realize I had a big hole staring at me. Fixable, but still, a big disappointment!  

I've been sick all week. Not able to work in my pretty garden or cook or clean or, apparently, sew.  Not that I was going to do any cooking or cleaning:)  Now here we are, Friday, and almost nothing to show for my week off. I finally got to feeling a little better yesterday, but still didn't seem to have the energy needed to accomplish, well - anything. 

I hope your week has been fun and accomplishment-loaded! Thanks for stopping by!

Rain and The Farmer's Wife

No amount of nasty weather is going to keep a quilter from her appointed rounds...namely, going to bff's house to start The Farmer's Wife quilt. One block done.  Sure hope it goes better with the other 110 blocks! This was my first try at paper piecing, and I felt like a second grader trying to learn borrowing. I made two major mistakes with the block, though it still works and I didn't have to correct it. The side pieces should be turned the other way, and I didn't have enough of the center strip fabric and had to use something different for the lighter triangles. You figure it out as you go, I guess (hope!). This is going to be a lap quilt made from some of the fabrics I used in the table runner I made last year. Lovely fall colors (my favorite!). This one is for my daughter. I will make another one for my son (whose color choices will be much less to my liking!).

The rain has moved on and sunshine is abundant today. Hope I can get rid of this allergy/cold/misery soon! I've got so much to do! 

I hope you're having a great Tuesday, thanks so much for stopping by.

Pretty Days

 Ah Spring! With it's unfolding dogwoods, and pretty pink and frothy cherries,  the emerging fresh and bright new greens, the oddly hued reds; Oh Spring! How we've longed for you!  At last here you are! The birds are celebrating with singing and twittering, and my friends, so am I!

Finally our days are warm and sunny and beautiful! This week I took my Dad on a little picnic.  Our mode of transportation was his golf cart. The paths wind through beautifully landscaped areas in the little town he lives in. I especially love the cherry trees in spring. They were in full bloom the day we had our picnic. Unfortunately they drained the lake over winter so home owners could work on their docks and such. It's interesting to see the lake bed. It's strangely shallow looking, but perhaps it's deeper than it looks.

The garden is slowly coming to life. I am finding several empty spots - plants that didn't make it through this cold winter we had. Several lilies didn't survive, which really surprises me! I know they do well in much colder climates. Sometimes I feel like I take one step forward and three step back in the garden. Sigh.

Spring Break is next week, woo-hoo! I am excited. Lots to do in the garden plus I'm starting a small lap quilt. Can't wait to drag the sewing machine out and start piecing the blocks. For the first time I am going to try the paper piecing method. The quilt I am making has 6 inch blocks and some of the blocks actually have 60 pieces. I think the only way possible to stitch it accurately is with the paper piecing method. Can't wait to try my hand at it. Below is a photo of some of the blocks from Pink Caramel on Pinterest. Each block is 6 inches. Amazing!

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/261349584599531726/

I hope you're enjoying these early days of Spring. Thanks so much for stopping by!