Bits and bobs

I am working on bits and bobs. My crafting is all over the place, so very little is getting done. I have made some progress on my night-time plastic canvas craft, which seems to be my only crafting time lately. I am almost done with the top of the tissue box.

I really like the pattern.

My Kousa dogwood tree is in bloom. 

I love looking at it from my living room. 

I finished planting almost all of the pots for my deck.

 I used mostly petunias, impatiens and begonias with a smattering of trailing vines and tall celosia.

 They will look great once they fill in.

Look what finally came in the mail! I ordered the ball winder a couple of weeks ago from a major retailer and it just arrived.  My son ordered the swift for me on Amazon and it came in two days.

Now I can wind this yarn so that I can start knitting that cowl.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching today. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. I am going to spend some time with my Advent Calendar. I want to be able to show all of you some progress next week.

I am still having trouble getting any comments sent to my e-mail. I am really amazed that it is taking Blogger so very long to find a fix. I have changed my settings so that I can reply on my blog, but I think that may prevent some of you from commenting. I am sorry about that. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Gardening

A week ago Saturday was sunny and hot. Of course that was the perfect day to pay a visit to a local nursery and buy plants for the pots on my front porch and my deck.

I potted the cherry tomato plants first so that they have a chance to get going.

I didn't buy any other vegetables, because past experience has taught me that these are all that I can grow successfully.

I always put geraniums on my front porch because it faces south and they look nice all summer. I chose three different colors this year.

First two Salmon colored.

This red one I didn't choose. One of the local real estate agencies gives out geraniums to each home on mother's day. I added two pink impatiens to the pot that you can't currently see.

This is what I have left to pot. I bought the other red geraniums for my mother as her Mother's Day gift. I will pot them for her. There are also pink geraniums for my front porch too.

I doubt that I shared my Mother's Day gifts since that day ended horribly.

Hubby bought me these two hanging baskets.

My MIL bought me this very large basket.

The angel below was a gift in remembrance of my FIL last year. I bought that pretty glass flower in HomeGoods today. 

We just have to be sure to put it in a safe place when Hubby and my son practice golf in the back yard.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hot and cold

Yesterday was a scorcher....almost 90 degrees. I bought some more potting soil to finish planting my flower pots but it was too hot to do so. Today we are not supposed to get out of the 60s and it is a real dreary day. Maybe I will get the rest of my flowers planted today if it doesn't rain.

Because it was so hot yesterday, I spent some time in the air-conditioning working on my Advent Calendar. I finished the second Christmas tree during the week. 

The last two pieces at the top went quickly.

Now I am working on the snow that goes at the bottom of the trees.

Here is a close-up of the sequins and outline stitch that I am adding before appliqueing the piece to the background.

I am glad to have moved on to a color other than green. 

I have also been dabbling in a few of my other WIPs this week. I have been trying to find something to work on at night while I wait for my yarn ball-winder to be delivered. I have a knitting project, but the yarn needs to be wound into a ball first and it is too delicate to do by hand so I ordered a ball-winder and swift. 

I tried working on Jingle As Ye Enter, Jingle As Ye Go, but the 32 count linen is too hard to work on except in bright sunlight. I made a little progress there.

I may need to purchase a magnifier. Any suggestions?

I also picked up October Morning again. I finished the yellow that you see in the middle and added some of the medium green near the bottom.

For some reason, I just don't enjoy working on this.

So in my quest for a night-time, "watching the baseball game" project I found this.

I have been wanting to make a cover for the tissue box in my first floor bathroom for a while. Plastic canvas and yarn are easy to work with while watching TV. I have a pretty lavender yarn and I think I have enough plastic canvas to cut out the needed parts. I may even have some appropriate ribbon in my stash. I will cut the plastic canvas today to be sure I have enough and then I will have yet another WIP. This should go quickly though.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Plastic Canvas and finishing that snow piece for my Advent Calendar will be what I am working on today. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Finally, I will leave you with a picture of this sweet little bunny who was checking out my front flower garden, right under my living room window.

I wanted to mention that since the new European Union law has gone into effect, something has changed on Blogger and your comments are not coming through to my g-mail account. If I don't reply to you, please note that it is not for lack of trying, but I first have to find your e-mail. Please know that I appreciate any and all comments and I love reading them. 

Thanks for stopping by!

An Engagement!

My daughter and her boyfriend just moved into their first house together this past Thursday. That evening he proposed!

Hubby and I are very happy for the two of them. We wish them many happy years together. It is so nice to have some very happy news to share!

On another note. I finally finished the Granny Square Rose Afghan.

I love how the border came out!

I am seeing lots of flowers right now as my azaleas are in bloom.

My favorite lavender azalea wasn't as pretty as it usually is. 

This little one enjoyed a corn-cob snack in front of it though.

I have one rhododendron bloom so far...

and a few irises.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. I will be working on the Advent Calendar again. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are up to.

Thanks for stopping by!

A New Start

Those of you who follow my blog know from my last post that my brother-in-law, my husband's only sibling, passed away unexpectedly on Mother's Day. This past week has been hard on our family, especially my husband and his mother. My father-in-law passed not quite 14 months ago.  We were a small family to begin with. Now our family is just 6 people.

This year has been one of losses. My Aunt Emma, an artist, passed away earlier this year. Then last month the father of one of my daughter's best friends passed away from pancreatic cancer. He was one of her early soccer coaches and we have been friends with the family for years. He was my age. Two weeks ago a friend's 25 year old daughter passed away after battling a progressive disease since birth. It has been a difficult and sad year.

Yet, Spring has sprung today with sun and warmer temperatures. It spurred the need in me to start something new, something small.

This is "Jingle as ye enter, Jingle as ye go" from the Victorian Sample Shoppe. It is a small banner stitched over two on 32 count linen. Sitting on my porch in the sunshine with a new craft started is just what I needed today.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching today. I am also linking with Kate at Life in Pieces. Pop on over to their sites to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

A new member has joined our bunny family also.

Can you see how tiny it is. That is a small cardinal statue in my back yard that is bigger than the bunny!

It makes me smile just looking at him/her.

I am hoping for more smiles and less tears for the rest of this year.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sad news

On Mother's Day my brother-in-law passed away somewhat unexpectedly. 

He was my husband's only sibling. My children's only uncle. My mother-in-law's baby. He loved Walt Disney World so I posted this happy pic from his last vacation. He was an esophageal cancer survivor for over ten years. Please pray for my husband and my mother-in-law. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!

My mom and my children make Mother's Day special to me. 

Wishing all the mother's out there a special day with the people they love.