Yesterday I finished all the machine stitching on the three banners. I really need to settle down and do the hand finishing today. Yesterday afternoon I finished this little box topper. The heart flowers are made of queen stitches. The light pink buds are satin stitch.

I picked up the empty box at the hospital when I was in for my volunteer time. I made the topper and lined the inside. I brought it in with me this morning to give it to the nurse who left it. She was not there but everyone will see that she gets it.

One of the other nurses wants some of my orange Oriental poppies. This is very good for me because I was going to dig out some of mine and throw them out.

Our weather continues to be miserable. But the weather seems to be good for Ben's oak trees. He had two seedlings in the front yard but something, probably a squirrel ate both of them. It looked like both had buds that would grow again so Ben made hardware cloth protective fences for each. By Sunday both had sent out new growth; one look healthier than the other. Mid-afternoon yesterday, both had visibly grown since the day before. I imagine that both should grow well today too.