Up On the Housetop

Yippee! I'm one third done with Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow! Block 4 seemed to take f-o-r-e-v-e-r. I felt like I was actually building this mansion brick by brick...all of those browns and tans are my least favorite colors to stitch with. But, I think the end result was worth all the hours I spent on it. (Is it just me, though, or does each of those peacock tails bear a striking resemblance to a traffic light?) Block 5, which I'll be stitching this month, is much less "stitch intensive," so it should go fairly quickly. I might actually finish it before the last day of the month for a change...

Below is the entire piece so far. For any new readers--I'm stitching it on 32 ct. flax Belfast linen using DMC threads.


I can hardly believe that it's May already...one of my favorite months. When I was a child, we celebrated the first day of May (May Day) in a very special way. We would decorate paper cones, fill them with flowers, and leave the flowers at a neighbor's doorstep. After ringing the doorbell, we would run and hide and then peek out as the neighbor retrieved her surprise. It was such fun! I especially recall doing this for a pair of elderly women who lived two doors down from us. They were always so kind to the neighborhood children, inviting us in after school for cookies and milk. I still remember sitting in their warm and cozy kitchen, munching on the best sugar cookies, and telling them about my day at school. Do any of you remember this May Day tradition? I wonder if it is still practiced anywhere...Times have changed and I don't think most neighbors are as close as they were back then. Or, even more likely, parents are afraid to let their children roam around the neighborhoods by themselves...


Can you ever remember a prettier spring than we've had this year? At this point many of the flowers and flowering trees have begun to fade, but I did manage to take a few photos of them at their peak. I wish you could smell the white vibernum--they just scent my entire kitchen with the most delightful fragrance.









I can hardly wait to begin Blackbird Design's "Something Sweet" this week. Don't you just love the start of a new project? Everything is so fresh and untouched--the fabric just waiting there for you to add some color... I'm stitching it for a very special person--hope she likes it... I love the colors in this piece and that giant violet next to the yellow house. It seems like the perfect piece to stitch during May. Thanks again, dear Kim for passing on this chart to me!

Well, that's about it for this week. I hope you all have relaxing, stitch-filled weekends. Thank you so very much for all of your wonderful comments each week. It just brightens my day each time I read a new one!