Two Finishes on a Special Day

Wow! Isn't it hard to believe we are almost half-way through the merry, merry month of May? I hope your month is going well and you're managing to fit some stitching time in on top of all the gardening and outside chores that seem to demand so much of our attention this time of year. I only have two small finishes to share with you, both of which will become part of my bowl of May smalls which I've been slowly working on...




First up, is this darling spring scene from Prairie Schooler's Book No. 69: "A Prairie Village I." When I saw this, I knew it was the perfect thing for me because of the pond and the swimming swans. As most of my long time readers know, our backyard pond is a constant attraction for birds--especially herons and ducks (no, we've never had a swan!!). I just loved everything about this one--even that crazy looking creature racing up the tree. Is it a mutant squirrel or a crazy fox? My middle son thought it resembled a tiny horse!


I've always loved small yellow houses, so the only change I made to this chart's suggested DMC colors was to make the house a bit more yellow by substituting DMC 676. It is stitched "over one" on cream Monaco fabric (can't say enough how easy it is to stitch over one on Monaco--I love that stuff!). I had originally thought of a gingham fabric to pair with the toffee colored ric rak, but when I held the yellow and brown polka dot material up to my stitching, I knew I had found the perfect accent. Thanks to my dear friend, Lois, who sent this fun fabric to me last year--I'm so happy I finally found a lovely use for it.

I think the little squirrels that visit my yard are much cuter than the one in my stitching, don't you? They've had the best time all spring sitting under the bird feeder and hungrily chowing down on all the seed spilled by their feathered friends! Sometimes, the ducks even waddle the 50 yards from the pond to the bird feeder and join in on the fun. Partners in crime, I'd say! Just look at that sneaky cardinal (in the photo on the right) tilting the bird feeder so the food drops down to his pals the ducks...Mr. Duck is always so protective and watchful while Mrs. Duck eats first--a perfect gentleman!

May 14, 2012...a very special event happened 85 years ago today. My dear mother came into this world and quickly became the apple of her father's eye! In honor of mom and her birthday month, I stitched this little Lily of the Valley pillow. You see, when I was growing up and learning to bake, one of my favorite things to make was cakes. Mom's birthday cake, since it fell in mid-May, always included Lily of the Valley and tiny purple violets sprinkled over the top. Lily of the Valley will forever remind me of my sweet mom. I'll be thinking of you today, mom, and hoping you have a most ♫♪♫ HAPPY BIRTHDAY ♫♪♫ !!



This is a freebie from Les Chroniques de Frimousse which you can find by clicking here. As you can see (if you look at the original chart), I substituted the lady bugs that were charted for some pale pink Algerian Eye stitches with pink beads sewn in the middle. I just wanted a more feminine, spring look...I've always loved gray and pink as a color combination, so I stitched this on 32 ct. gray touchstone linen with the DMC colors white, 225, and 367. I tufted it in the center with a square shell button, turned it on the diagonal, added some handmade cording and a soft pink ribbon and...voilà! A beautiful ornament in honor of my beautiful mom...

Best Laid Plans...Do you ever have days when all your plans go out the window all because of a single event? Well, we had one of those this past Saturday. It all started with what was supposed to be a quick trip to a plant sale that a local garden club was having. After we purchased some geraniums, snapdragons, and petunias, we made our way to Lowe's to buy some ferns to hang on our front porch. Once there, our plans for the entire day suddenly changed when we both fell in love with this wispy Japanese Maple tree. Once we got the tree home, we realized, that in order to showcase it, we would have to dig up our entire patio garden and move and divide, all of the plants and rocks (except the ferns growing against the fence and the hydrangea which remained in their old locations). Whew! What a job... But, we are so pleased with the result! We still have a few "bare spots" to fill in, but it makes us smile every time we look out at it... Below you can see a collage of all of our hard work after it was freshly mulched and watered.. The Japanese Maple tree is now a lovely focal point in our garden and I can even enjoy it from my kitchen window while washing the dishes.

Purples and pink blooms seem to be popping up all over our yard this month...Below are two varieties of Clematis, Korean lilacs, chive blossoms, and a bright fuchsia rhododendron (complete with a buzzing bumble bee). What a glorious time of year!

I hope all of you moms out there had a lovely Mother's Day yesterday.. Only my middle son was able to visit (the oldest was enroute to Canada where he spends half of each month working on a wind energy project for the province of New Brunswick and the youngest was hard at work in Washington, DC.), but one is better than none, right? I received some very sweet gifts (oldest son's gift is a new eggplant colored iPad case which hasn't arrived yet and my middle son gifted me with a 123 Stitch gift certificate-yippee!!) and lovely flowers (the yellow blooms are from my oldest son and the fuchsia and white arrangement came from my youngest). I'm so proud to be your mom, guys--thanks for all the smiles you've brought me through the years.


I thought all of you would really enjoy seeing a close-up of the cute card that my middle son picked out for Mother's Day. Perfect for us stitchers wouldn't you say? I just love it and think it is so thoughtful of him to choose a card that reflected my love of stitching!






I also want to thank a new blogging friend, Barb, who sent me a gift representative of her beautiful state of Washington. Isn't this the prettiest coffee mug ever? I just love the pretty umbrella covered figures, Barb, and plan on taking it to work with me to use in my office. If you haven't visited Barb's "Wicked Stitcher" blog yet, head on over--she has some lovely stitching as well as the prettiest nature pictures of her beautiful state. Thank you again, my friend--your gift is almost too pretty to use (almost!).

Looks like a busy week ahead for me with more work hours than normal, a mandatory In-Service Day, and then a trip up to New York to clean out my childhood home which was recently sold (in less than a week!). I'm sure that will be a very bittersweet time for me and my siblings...I get pretty misty-eyed just thinking about saying goodbye to it and the small town where I spent so many happy years. Wish me luck...

I want to thank each of you for stopping by to visit me today; I wish you a week filled with smiles and time for stitching! Bye for now...