Happy Independence Day!

 

I hope you are all having a wonderful Independence Day!

We have been just hanging around the house working on a DIY project

Not finished yet but I'll show it soon.

 For now I'll just show a few of my patriotic stitched pieces I have sitting around.

Some of these I stitched last year 

but didn't get around to 'finishing' them until this year

The one little stitched piece in my tiered tray was a gift from a friend. I hope to have some of my own stitching to put in there next year.

Some gnomes on the mantle

And of course some weenie dogs!

I would like to get a few more small pillows done for my bowl. The two on the left were stitched last year and 'finished' this year. The others have been finished for a few years. 

If you want to learn how to stuff a pillow nice and tight, look up Vonna, The Twisted Stitcher - she has a great tutorial!

Thanks for stopping by!

What's the buzz?

 

I didn't realize how bad these photos were until I pulled them up on here. 

These are projects from a retreat in 2009. I finished the stitching part that year but never got around to the 'finishing' part until this year.

My finishing skills leave a lot to be desired. (framing, I can do - sewing, not so much)

I guess since I'm not entering any kind of contest, they will do. At least the front looks better than the back!

There is a piece of wool felt on the inside for needles - didn't get a picture with it open.

This was supposed to be a scissor pocket but it always bothered me that it would be upside down so I decided to make it into a stand-up. I watched Vonna's video years ago - maybe I should have watched it again before tackling this. Again, just for me, it'll do.

We are having some strange weather. It goes from sun to rain and back again. Did it all day yesterday - the rain part caught me while I was out - twice - I'm staying home today! LOL

Hope you are having a great week so far!

It's Quiet Around Here Today

        

We've had the kiddos around since Saturday

Which means it was noisy at times

but it was lots of fun!

Hubby spent a lot of time at the grill - we didn't go hungry! LOL

I didn't get a lot of pictures but I wanted to make sure I had one of all my guys together. This was Father's Day. Daddy was here but he left before we got around to taking photos, dang it.

Jason was here from Saturday until yesterday afternoon, Brian (and Brittany) were here from Saturday until Tuesday afternoon and Timothy was only here for a few hours Sunday afternoon.

The weather co-operated nicely and we got to spend some time outside but it's back to being hot and humid. 

The kiddos have scattered again and hubby has gone back to work. I have piles of laundry and lots of cleaning to do but that's okay, totally worth it! Having them all together at the same time is so rare these days. I can't wait until we get to do it again!

Hope you are all staying cool!

It's me again!

 

These are the companion pieces to the box I posted last time.

I had stitched these way back when but just now got them finished off. The one on the left was supposed to be a scissor fob and I had already trimmed it down before I decided I didn't want to make it into a fob so I made a tiny pillow. The one on the right is a needlebook. I should have put something beside them for scale. The needlebook is roughly 2.5" x 3.5".

Stitched in 2008, finally finished in 2021 - not much grass growing under my feet, huh?

At this pace, I will have to live a very long time to stitch and finish all my stash! LOL

Hope you are enjoying your summer so far. 

I don't care what the calendar says, when it's this hot, it's summer!

I'm still here!

 I told you next time I would show some stitching.

 I've only got one this time, but next time I'll show my patriotic finishes - I have several! 

This was a get-away piece from 2008.

It was designed by Redbird and Company

(I have no idea if it is available outside of the get-away)

I finally got around to stitching it and it is mounted in a box from Olde Colonial Designs. (It was included with our supplies so again, no idea if it is available)

I don't know why it took me so long to stitch it!

My Mother's Day included hubby digging up some plants that bit the dust during our freeze this winter and replacing them with gardenias. There is a hibiscus coming up in the back and the Mexican petunias are coming up. There is also another plant that I can't remember what it is but it has orange blooms on it. They were all up and blooming by this time last year. They completely fill in this spot. I put some lantana in the blue pot. You can't see all the brown shrubs in this photo. They are showing a little growth on the very bottom so we will leave them for awhile and see if they can recover.

I also got two dwarf limelight hydrangeas. This is my first time to try these so we will see how they do. The hostas are finally coming up. There should be two more in there somewhere. I thought I had dug out all the elephant ears but there are a few of those coming up in this corner too.

Hubby also weeded the whole flowerbed and put out fresh mulch!

My mother's day surprise was getting to see this guy!

The other two called Sunday morning. We will see the oldest soon and baby boy took me on a (video) trip around his new neighborhood and new apartment. He also told me he is planning a trip this way in June! and I didn't expect to hear from Mr. Middle until afternoon (he works on Sunday mornings) but instead of a phone call he drove all the way here to surprise me! (my laptop battery died a few weeks ago and he is making sure we order the right replacement) Since he always works on Sunday, I haven't actually seen him on mother's day since we moved to Houston and he moved to Lewisville in 2009. 

He ordered my battery and showed me how to replace it when it comes in, then he took hubby to buy mulch since he has a truck and it would take a several trips for hubby to get it all in his SUV. He stayed until after dinner then headed back. It was a short visit but I loved every minute of it! 

We still have the back flowerbed to mulch and we are having a new bed built in the front but it's not finished yet.

It's been storming here this afternoon. Not sure how long it is supposed to last but at least my new plants are getting some water!

Well, hello there!

It has been a minute since I've been here! 

We worked on the half bath. Painting and shiplap is done. We changed the light fixture and mirror and put shelves on the back wall.

Sorry about that crooked picture - it's a tiny room! Still planning to have a new vanity built in there but not sure when that will happen.

My hydrangeas are coming back nicely

and I have a few blooms on the azaleas. I'm afraid everything else is quite brown.

Tomorrow marks two years since we said goodbye to my beautiful mother. 

Miss her every day. 

I'll do a stitchy update next time. :)

 

A Little Green

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

Just a little corner in my kitchen. 

No green stitching to show today 

but there is a little green in the flower bed (besides the weeds - I think the weeds liked the ice and snow!) This is the base of one of my hydrangeas. There is hope!

Have a great day and don't forget to wear your green!