A Walk to the Garden.....

In our never ending quest to keep deer out of our garden, we have now added a scarecrow.  We decided that maybe they would think it was my husband and be frightened away.  This guy, however, has more hair than my husband!!  Sorry honey. 

He's a rather handsome fella standing guard out there! 

A friend told me that you should have borage in your garden so we have a couple borage plants.  I think this is to help with pollination. 

Our first zucchini of the year.....almost ready to pick. 

Fried green tomatoes anyone? 

Mr. Scarecrow is also watching over the bluebird house. 

Speaking of bluebirds, look at this little guy peeking out of his nest.  I don't know how many are in there yet.  I know Daddy has been close by as well as Mama Bluebird. 

I love the color of this butterfly bush.  I believe it was called Midnight Purple.  In certain lights it almost looks black. 

Two busy little bumble bees doing their job, having a tasty meal.

You never know what you might find on the way to the garden..................

Progress

Well, another week has flown by but I've been super busy working on those projects I shared with you last week.  The hours just go by so quickly!!

Here's the Farmer's Market mat.  I did lots of stitching on this piece.  I still need to add the carrot tops, the tomato tops and the corn husks.  Then I will do a little embroidery embellishing.   

Three more quilt blocks completed.  I think 13 to go!  Lucky 13!! 

The recipes have all been chosen and typed for the upcoming cookbook class.  I have also started gathering rubber stamps, clip art, embellishments, etc. to use in the book.   

Kits have been cut and put together for Saturday's classes.  Looking forward to the two classes.  The ladies are all bringing potluck dishes to share for lunch.  That's always loads of fun. 

I invited a group of neighbors and friends to spend the evening on Thursday for a Pampered Chef party.  I have never been to one of these parties nor do I own any Pampered Chef so this was a new adventure for me.  It was so much fun and very entertaining. 

Judy was our demonstrator and she did a great job.  She had so many products to share and was so knowledgeable about everything in the line. 

And, of course, she fed us.  This was a lava cake that she was preparing.  I chose orange for the flavor.  It was absolutely delicious.  And only 12 minutes in the microwave in this wonderful stoneware casserole.  I may have to have one of these!!  She also made homemade potato chips and mini pesto pizzas.  I was quite impressed with all of the products and am struggling with what to order now.  I think all the ladies had a good time and everyone except me had lots of Pampered Chef products.  So I guess that speaks highly of the company and their products. 

I wish you all a very safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend.  Eats lots of good food and be thankful for our military.

Bumblebees.................

Have you ever watched bumblebees as they flit from flower to flower, not staying in any one place very long?  That's what I'm feeling like these days!  A fat little bumblebee just flitting around my house, from one project to another...............flit, flit, flit, buzzzzzz, buzzzzzz..................

Hopefully all this flitting around will get things accomplished in the end.  I am working on new class projects for July and August as well as a myriad of other things.  As I walked around this morning, eating my hard boiled egg, I decided to take a few pictures.  Everywhere I looked there was a project in the works.  That's when I decided I was just like a bumblebee, busy, busy, busy, buzzing from flower to flower, working as quickly as I can, with so many flowers still waiting to be tended to. 

This is a huge piece that I am trying to re-create from a bag design in a recent publication.  I think it is qoing to be quite fun and will make a great centerpiece on a table.

Speaking of bees, I'm working on this sweet little embroidery project which I am stitching on a towel.  Did a little coloring to enhance the embroidery.

Also have bunches of recipes out, trying to create a summer themed recipe book for class.  These books I put together take lots of preparation but in the end they are so much fun. 

We finished up the May and June recipe card classes yesterday so I decided to put together the left over June recipe cards.  Anyone who misses the class can purchase the cards and I am trying so hard to get them done promptly. 

And of course, another quilt block for the never ending quilt.  Actually, there is an end in sight for me.  Once this block is done (TODAY!) I will have a total of 15 blocks to complete.  That sounds so much better than 83 blocks to complete, which is where we started in this journey.  They have been so much fun and I can't wait to get it done. 

These are a couple of pics of some of the blocks I have completed for the mystery quilt that my group is working on.  Each one is unique and different and has been quite the learning experience for this inexperienced quilter!!  I feel like I could tackle anything after this.  Well, maybe not anything! 

So now you know where this bumblebee has been the past week, just flitting around the house.  And inbetween these projects I have had quite a few classes with lots of wonderful ladies visiting.  And class projects with my granddaughter, and some babysitting.  So never a dull moment nor a dull needle around here.

Hope your week is a good one and that you find somewhere to settle and do a little stitching.

Graduation and Mother's Day

What a super busy weekend my family has had.  Not only was it Mother's Day weekend, but our oldest son graduated from Campbell University on Saturday.  He's worked long and hard to make this dream become a reality and we are so proud of him and his wonderful accomplishment.

The family met at the ball field where Reagan had a baseball game to start the day off.

While Reagan played in her game, Raleigh hung around in the trees........... 

Brothers Eric and Paul (the almost new graduate) watching the game.  Eric flew home for the weekend.  We hardly ever get to see him so that was a special gift for Paul and me for Mother's day!!

Who's cuter...........This was Eric's first time to see little Joshua.  Any family resemblance? 

Joshua playing in the grass.  Looks like he was saying "ooooh, what's this?" 

As Scotty McCreery says in his new song "A water tower town"! 

Joshua couldn't stay awake for the graduation ceremony. 

There's Paul in the crowd.....front row.....tall guy...... 

Paul gave a speech during the ceremony which was quite entertaining.  We all decided he was much better than most of the academic speakers!! 

All done now!!  So proud of him. 

Back at the podium, this time for fun. 

Oh Daddy, thank you so much for my new teething rope. 

We had a surprise party for Paul and a few of his favorite people. 

The cake was yummy.   

All done, all through, all graduated, free at last!!!! 

Oh what will he do with his time now that he doesn't have so much school work?  I'm sure he will keep very busy with three children and all their activities. 

Congratulations Paul.  We are so, so proud of you!!

Well, I was scolded for not updating my blog during class today.  I swear I don't have time to, well never mind, I just don't have any free time lately.  Between classes, prepping for the classes and babysitting the grandchildren, there's not a free second for me.  Not to mention the rest of "life".  So here you go ladies.  A quick, sweet (literally) update.

I was inspired by a pincushion from a quilt magazine and decided to do a patriotic version. I am so hooked on the paper pieced hexagons. They are just mindless. A great take-along project too.

Betsy and Barbara, sisters ( Barbara is visiting from PA) working on their English paper pieced pincushions. Barbara has taken a couple of classes with me whenever she comes for a visit and I so enjoy seeing her each time. I am so blessed to have such nice ladies around me. I truly appreciate each and every one of you!!

Several of the gals working on their hexagons.  I think it's too soon to tell if they love it yet or not. 

Today we had recipe card class and a pot luck lunch.  I made the dessert that was featured on the recipe card which was shared by my friend Sally.  Oh my gosh, what a delicious dessert and the tallest cake I've ever made.  It would not fit under my cake cover.  Fresh strawberries (which are in season), brownie mix and whipped topping......what could be better.  I said all we need to do is add bananas and we would have a banana split! 

I have quite a few bird feeders around the yard but several are located in one grouping.  Well, I also have several squirrels that like to visit the feeders and get quite creative in getting to the feeders.  We have baffling up to prevent them from climbing the pole and that works.  But they climb on a nearby fence and leap through the air and land on some part of the feeders.  This squirrel is about to stretch himself to the limits to empty this feeder.  We have a problem however. 

Mama and Daddy Bluebird are not happy with Mr. Squirrel.  They have built a nest and have babies in that little red birdhouse in the background.  We have taken down several of the feeders so the other birds don't visit the area as often so the bluebirds are not so stressed over protecting their little ones.  Mr. Squirrel, however, doesn't seem to care that he is in imminent danger from the bluebirds.  They ended up dive bombing the squirrel several times and Mr. Squirrel just ignored them.  Finally the bluebirds settled on top of the pole and carefully watched the squirrel to make sure he wasn't going near their babies.  It was quite a sight to watch. 

He is stretched about as far as he can go for this seed. 

Mr. Bluebird keeps a watchful eye on Mr. Squirrel.  And Mama is sitting on the water cooler watching also.  I have enjoyed watching the bluebirds so much this spring.  They are just beautiful.  I have had them nest in one or two of our houses each spring. 

The babies are now gone and the bluebirds are back again.  I guess we're about to have more babies.  Here go the battles again.  I think this time the bluebirds are choosing a house that is out by the garden, away from the feeders.  It will make me happier and I won't have to go chase the squirrels away all the time. 

Hope you all have a great week.  We're having our wonderful 70ish temperatures again.  Good riddance to the 90's!!!  Of course we know the 90's will be back.  Just not this early in the season please!!

Happy stitching...........................

Well, the room is all put together and I'm trying to catch up on some projects and well, just look at that mess, or lovely stuff, on the table.  It seems no matter how many surfaces I have, I can fill them all.  I have a class here tomorrow so I will be cleaning up my "piles" this evening.  I love, love, love the new space.  It just seems so much roomier than before and I think I have created a space for everything that came out of there.

I have a round robin group that created wool mats a few weeks ago.  This is my mat, in progress.  I've done some decorative stitching but have lots more to add.  Can't wait to see how everyone's mats have progressed next week. 

March recipe cards......once the classes are over the kits are turned into cards for those people that missed the class or those that can't take the classes.  I've been a little under the weather since Friday so I thought what better time to do a little catching up on some of those projects.  One down and several more to go.   

A sneak peek at parts of the May and June recipe cards that will be starting next week.  I have a couple of groups that meet every other month and they do two cards at once and then a couple or three groups that meet each month to do one card.  So a little preview of what's to come.  It was so nice to sit in my "new" space and create these cards. 

I think this must mean a corn recipe is coming up!!

Hope you're all having a great week so far.  Our weather is about to soar into the 90's and I'm sure not looking forward to that.  We've had a pretty warm spring as it is but I'm not ready for summer yet!  We do live in the south so I guess we should be used to warmer temps. 

Hope you're finding some creative time in your day.