8 down, 2 to go!

I was waiting to update you on my Baker Beach progress until I finished the 8th page! I beat my end of June goal by almost a week.

I have turned the scrolls and already used that bright green floss to make the grid for the next two pages.

The left edge of this project is one column in from the green line you can see just by the shadow. Page 9 has a little bit of blue started at the very top. 

When we came home from CA my tiger lilies were blooming profusely. 

Unfortunately, I didn't realize that bunnies love to eat them. These two, baby and parent, have absolutely decimated them. 

Next year I will have to put a small fence around them to keep the bunnies out. 
Isn't the baby cute though?

I hope the don't like the day-lilies that are about to bloom.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching today. I think I will continue to work on Baker Beach. On Monday I will join the Stitchery Link Party at Super Mom - No Cape. She showcases vintage embroidery patterns that are really something.

Speaking of embroidery, I have joined the San Francisco School of Needlework and Design "Stitch at Home Challenge". The theme is "The Summer of Love" as it is the 50th anniversary.

I chose the challenge floss of "Peace and Love". I just started designing my piece. I have had this book for ages, but have never really used it. I always embroidered using kits. I will be winging it with this Challenge, but I am just going to enjoy the process. Since I really want to finish Baker Beach, I am not sure whether it was a smart idea to join, but I will make the most of it. Now I have to order my fabric. I am hoping to mostly use floss that is in my extensive stash although I may not have enough psychedelic colors. We shall see.

Thanks for stopping by!

Proud parents 2

Now Hubby and I have to congratulate our daughter who just passed her 11th and final actuarial exam making her a full-fledged Actuarial Fellow. She spent  2500 hours studying over the past 5.5 years to pass all those exams.

I also want to share a few more pictures of our trip to CA.
On our last day in CA our flight was delayed early in the day, so we were able to spend some time looking around Stanford University. Hubby wanted to re-visit Stanford Memorial Church.

There are inspirational panels around the church. This was my son's favorite.

The stained glass windows are beautiful.

We also had time to visit the Rodin Sculpture Garden. All of these are reproductions.

 These are The Gates of Hell.

An up close view of the Gates of Hell.

 The sculpture garden is outside of the Cantor Arts Center. If you ever get to visit the Palo Alto area, this is a free museum. There is an area for Asian art.

 The Jade items were gorgeous.

Look at the delicate carving on this plate.

An Asian exhibit is not complete without a dragon.

 Can you believe the beauty of this blue and yellow urn?

 Being an avid tea drinker, I had to take a photo of this teapot. 

Blue and white porcelain has always been a favorite of mine.

 There was also an Ancient Americas exhibit (Peru and Mesoamerica)

 Almost all the bowls had holes in the bottom.

Aren't the decorations on these pots just gorgeous?

 I was fascinated by the juxtaposition of this beautiful black pot and the small graphically decorated one below it.

 Hubby and I posed by a Totem Pole in the Native American Art Exhibit.

 A ceremonial mask.

 We also visited an Art & Its Histories exhibit.

 There were also some Egyptian items.

 There was even a wool and linen fragment of fabric from the Byzantine Era of Egypt circa 330 - 641 CE (also known as BC)

 You know that I would find and share a piece of pretty fabric.
That was the end of our trip. We are home now and my school year will be done on Friday. I am so looking forward to summer vacation and a whole lot of crafting.

Thanks for stopping by!

Proud parents

Hubby and I have returned from California which is why my internet access was limited. We attended our son Matthew's defense of his thesis for his PhD in Chemistry from Stanford University.  

 He passed and celebrated with some champagne....

 and some cake.

That night we went to dinner at a steakhouse that had this menu for him.

They also treated him to dessert!

We are so very proud of him. 

He will be moving to PA to work as a Chemist for a major pharmaceutical company.

This was a fairly quick trip as work and family obligations prevented a longer vacation. We did get some sight-seeing in though. On our first day we visited Loma Prieta Winery. This vineyard is in the mountains. You drive along a winding two lane road. At one point, half of the road was blocked by construction cones as the upward lane had collapsed down the mountain. 

 Aren't the views beautiful.

We enjoyed a tasting followed by a bottle of chardonnay.

The view from the vineyard was beautiful, but the drive had me on edge the whole way up. I sat in the back seat on the way down the mountain and didn't look out the windows.

On our second day we visited the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, CA. You can read the story of this house here, it is quite fascinating. You aren't allowed to take pictures in the house, but you can take photos of the gardens and of the outside of the house.

The fountains were pretty.

 My two favorite guys.

This topiary will be pretty when she is covered with ivy. 

The following day was my son's defense which I highlighted at the beginning of this post. On our last day we visited parts of Stanford University which I will update in my next post.

I managed to stitch a little bit of my Prairie Schooler Santa on the plane. 

 I had a great view of the Rocky Mountains.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. On Monday I will join the Stitchery Link Party at Super Mom - No Cape. I will be working on Baker Beach this weekend. Pop on over to these sites to see what other bloggers are stitching.

Thanks for stopping by!

Quick update

This is just a quick update on Baker Beach. I won't be able to link up with any blogs this week, but I have made significant progress on Baker Beach. Here is where I was last week.

I was able to stitch a whole lot of that sand during the week. So here I am now.

I am really getting closer to finishing this page don't you think.

I am joining Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching, but I may not be able to join The Stitchery Link Party this week as I won't have access to my computer, but I will be busy stitching my Prairie Schooler Santa. Please visit these sites to see what other bloggers are stitching and to link up yourself.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sand

I am working on the sand on Baker Beach. This is the last swath of sand that is a whole lot of confetti stitches. I am sure this will take some time, but as you can see from the pictures below I have already made some progress. This is where I was at the end of last week.

 This is where I am now.

I will put some more stitches in this afternoon.

I have been working on my Prairie Schooler Santa a little bit too. I sat on the front porch when my son was visiting and stitched while he edited his thesis.

I will be saving this right now for a long plane ride that I have coming up. It is the only one of my current projects that is small and easily portable. I will give you more info on my trip at a later time.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. On Monday I will join the Stitchery Link Party at Super Mom - No Cape. Pop on over to these sites to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by!