I am baaaack

It seemed so difficult to come in to post even a short comment.  The longer I was away, the easier it became to put it off.  But I am back, at least for now. 

This is just a little teaser.  It is from an exchange gift.  I will show you the completed project when the recipient has it. 

I have been stitching, just not taking pictures.  I have been giving myself the excuse that the sun is not out so the light is not good.  That is true; we have had a lot of gray, rainy days lately. 

This is a little project I have been working on.  I think that I need to make some more parts for it.  For now, this is what I have accomplished.  After I added the first picture, I decided I needed to show you the backs of the thread winders because the paper is so wonderfully colorful. 

In addition, I began working on a baptismal banner for a friend.  The baby will be born in about a month so I have to get busy.  I began it last night and will show you progress when there is a little more to see. 

Yesterday we worked in the garden.  I still have winter cover on the iris.  Out weather has been so strange.  We had such warm temperatures earlier in the spring that I took some of the winter cover off.  Then we had temperatures below freezing.  We tried to protect the iris but unfortunately it looks like we will have a sparse bloom.  Just the same, I will enjoy every iris.  The daffodils were unbelievable this spring; I think it was because the winter was so relatively mild. 

Easter Blessings

May the blessings of Easter and spring fill your heart

Getting Ready for Easter

First thing this morning, I planted twelve pansies in the front garden.  Yes, it is a little early to do this but the pansies will take cold temperatures.  I had hoped to pick up some sweet alyssum too but there was none available. 

The spring flowers in the back yard are putting in an impressive appearance.

The little purple finch that built her nest on our backdoor light had a near catastrophic experience today; I am not certain that she is even aware of how close she came to loosing all her eggs.  We looked out the window to see if she was in her nest and discovered that the nest was falling off the edge of the light.  Two of the eggs had rolled out of the nest and smashed on the doorstep.  We shoved the nest back into place and then braced it with some tape.  She gets in and out of the nest on the opposite side so we think that she may have shoved it over the edge as she got out of it.  As we anxiously watched for her return, we hoped that she would not abandon the nest.  She still had three eggs.  After her return, she seemed to be aware that something was different but probably could not define the difference.  She seemed to be rearranging the nest around the eggs.  After several hours, she began to settle down but is still a little more active in her nest than previously.

In order to put the webcam video on my blog, I understand that we must maintain an open connection to the internet.  That does not appeal to me so I have decided to not pursue that idea.

Baking has been the order of the day.

Two loaves of bread.

At the moment, I am waiting for the chocolate frosting/filling to thicken;  I really do not want it to all ooze out from between the layers.  This is the fabulous Café Latté Turtle Cake. 
Café Latté
Turtle Cake 

  It does look decidedly decadent, doesn't it?  You would not believe how heavy it is.  It probably will give me a couple pounds just looking at it. 

Here is a picture of my little helper.  The lighting was not very good but I still think it is worth showing you. 

Spring Seems to Be Here

I can hardly believe it.  The lilacs have buds showing color; the cherry blossoms are coming out; my daffodils are beginning to bloom.  The rule of thumb is that we can always take lilacs to the cemetery on Memorial Day.  At the rate everything is going, we will be lucky to have peonies and iris still in bloom on Memorial Day. 

Another rule of thumb is that we should not plant tender annuals before Memorial Day.  Tomorrow I am going to pick up some pansies and other annuals that can take cold to plant in the front of the house.  In two weeks, we will host the extended family for a combined birthday party.  It would be nice to have some color in the front and especially nice if the flowers look fully settled in the garden. 

I feel like I do not have time to sit down and catch my breath.  I feel like I am constantly running. 

A little progress on the Quaker Winder Keeper. 

A little progress on the needlebook too

My sewing machine is still out for repairs; I may be able to have it back next week.  But, I am not holding my breath.  I wanted to make a silk chiffon scarf so I pulled out the old Singer Featherweight.  I had forgotten how nice it straight stitches. 

Stitching on the Quaker Winder Keeper

For the past month, I have spent so much time designing and stitching the lake cottage sampler that I have ignored my Quaker Winder Keeper.  I have worked on the lake cottage sampler so intensely that I was not certain I wanted to stitch yesterday.  I picked up my QWK and am very glad I did.  I finished the partial motif in the upper right corner.  Today I plan to work a little more of it, perhaps one of the small motifs. 

Ben and one of his friends mounted my little webcam so it monitors the finch nest.  Right now, the finches know that we have done things to the nest area; I hope that they can settle down and forget about the camera.  I also hope that they do not abandon the nest.  There is at least one egg in it.  Supposedly I can send video from the camera to my blog.  It remains to be seen whether or not I can actually do it. 

Yesterday I learned that I probably will not get my sewing machine back until the week before Easter at the earliest. 

Spring Is Here

Yes, spring came this past week; but what is more astounding is that weatherwise, spring is here in Minnesota.  Our unseasonably warm winter morphed into what appears to be an extremely early spring.  We have broken many past high temperature records during the week.  Leaves are coming out; grass is green; flowers are blooming; birds are building nests.  This does not happen in Minnesota in March.  The major bad thing is that it has been a poor year for collecting maple sap.  The maple trees need an extended period of night temperatures below freezing and day temperatures above freezing.  We just did not have enough for the trees to produce the usual amount of sap. 

I am going to post some pictures of spring 2012.


A pair of purple finches has begun to build a nest on our backdoor light.  This has all happened in less than a week.  They are using lint from the dryer that blows out the exhaust vent.  The female is in the nest while the male perches on the shed and sings.  He is staking out his territory which is essentially our patio.  I took the picture through the kitchen window so the quality is not particularly good but you can see her head and tail. 

White Crocus 

 

 

Apricot Tree

Wood Squill 

 

 

 

Lilac 

Trilium 

Bleeding Heart 

Dew Spangled Bleeding Heart 

Alpine Currant 

Purple Crocus

For the curious which is probably only Christine, I did not return to the estate sale last weekend.  It is just as well because I really do not need to augment my stash. 

I am Back

I feel like I have been away forever.  At times I felt like I was so busy I could not take a breath without having anything to show for it.  When I sat back to think about it, I realized that I had accomplished quite a bit. 

I have taken the 1912 princess line slip as far as I can for now.  It remains to be seen if I will translate it into a modern day garment for myself. 

While I was working on the slip, I picked up a little project for the local hospital.  I made a set of vinyl covered pads that are used to protect patient's arms.  I think that with the pad is wrapped around the patient's arm with the IV so the arm can be kept closer to the body during transport within the surgery suite and to the room following.  After I assembled 6 pads, my sewing machine stopped working.  We made a quick run to the shop to drop it off.  It is now in Chicago as it needs major repair work.  At this point it is in otherwise very good condition and is worth this repair.  It should be back in a couple weeks. 

The next project was a finishing job for Patricia Ann Designs.  I finished Tricia's ornaments for the Just Cross Stitch ornaments issue.  Right now, I cannot show you the fronts because the design not published.  As soon as the ornaments issue is out, I will show the fronts to you. 

Next is an exchange gift. 

I have selected the fabric and threads. 

As much as I want to be working on my Quaker Winders Keeper, my attention has been diverted.  I want to get back to the Quaker. 

Yesterday we went to an estate sale and it was positively scary.  The woman did cross stitching, needlepoint, and knitting.  The sale was essentially liquidating a literal Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy.  I cannot begin to estimate how many 1,000 dollars retail value was in the stash, knitting yarns, knitting, cross stitch & needlepoint magazines and books, cross stitch and needlepoint kits, cross stitch charts, canvas, cross stitch linen, needlepoint yarns, fibers for cross stitch.  There were extremely expensive cross stitch kits; there were charts that had been kitted with fabric and fibers.  It boggled the mind.  Unfortunately, the people conducting the sale priced everything much higher than is customary in these situations in this area.  I think it will be a zoo on Sunday when most of the prices are reduced. 

The scary part is that this could easily be my things. 

One morning last week as we were coming home from the health club, a small herd, yes, I said H-E-R-D, of male yearling deer galloped across the road in front of our car.  There were nine deer and they stayed in close formation as they quickly crossed the road.  It was quite a sight.  Yesterday four wild turkey hens ran through the park behind our home.  They were trotting along and not dawdling.  We wonder if they were looking for nesting sites.  The robins are back.  All of the birds have been singing to claim their territory.  The weather has been unseasonably warm.  We can still have snow in March and April so we are enjoying the fabulous weather but wondering if/when we will have a heavy, wet snowfall.