♣ ♣ ♣ Seeing green ♣ ♣ ♣

Hello all! How are you enjoying March so far? We've been extremely blessed with many sunny, warm days here in western Pennsylvania lately (even though it rained here today). My husband is thrilled as he's been able to get out on several bike rides with his biking buddies after a long winter of being cooped up inside. Exercise can be such a mood lifter, can't it? I've been slowly ridding the house of all things snow and winter related and have spent time brightening up my decor with lots of green and lighter colors. Another instant mood lifter! We were also able to escape to Florida for a few days at the end of February/beginning of March--a real treat as the last frigid days of  winter wind down here in the northeast. 

I try to add at least one new piece to my St. Patrick's Day stitching each year. As soon as I saw this charming design in the monthly newsletter from Primrose Cottage Stitchers, I knew it would be my piece for 2025. Even better--it is a freebie! You can sign up for their monthly newsletter right here to get the free designs and see what is going on in their shop. Just scroll all the way down and click on "Stitching Newsletter" to have it delivered via email. They've generously offered so many cute free designs in past newsletters!

My finish of "Happy St. Patrick's Day" by Primrose Cottage Stitches

I didn't have any of the recommended threads so I chose my own and am very pleased with the outcome. My color conversion is as follows if anyone is interested:  

Dark Green: WDW Lily Pad

Black: CC Black Coffee

Gold:  GAST Gold Leaf

Lettering: GAST Chamomile

The fabric for this latest St. Patrick's Day finish is 40 ct., but I'm not sure what brand as it was just a scrap. I used two different accent fabrics on the front and joined them with a decorative stitch. Just popped on a large black button topped with a polka-dot yellow bow to finish it off. I really love the way Primrose Cottage Stitches does their lettering--so whimsical and fun!

And below is a photo of most of my St. Patrick's Day stitching together. I used my grandmother's old dough bowl to display them this year--a quick, easy vignette to pull together! If you would like close-ups and more information on each finish, you may want to click on "St. Patrick's Day" under "Labels" in my sidebar. Do you put out a display for St. Patrick's Day? I love how it brightens up our kitchen side table--even though it will only be out for another week or two when the Easter bunnies take over. 

All shades of green appear in my March stitching

 

I had one other wee finish this month--a small, but sweet birthday card. I stitched this sweet design called "Bird and Strawberries" which I had pulled from a British stitching magazine (unfortunately, I forgot to record the name and date of the magazine). This was stitched on 40 ct. white Newcastle linen with most of the suggested colors. I did have to darken the bird's belly so it would show up better on the white fabric. I also added another "swirly" motif on the left side to fill in the otherwise empty space. Hope the recipient loves it!

A simple birthday card stitched for a friend

So, I'm wondering how all of you store your printed off freebies and downloaded PDF designs? I've been struggling with them as they seem to multiply overnight and are difficult to sort through. I finally decided to put the freebies I've printed off into magazine boxes organized by holidays and seasons and to place my nicer Etsy PDF charts in plastic three-ring report folders (similar to these). I add photos to the front of the report folders to easily find what I'm looking for. I think this will help ensure that I actually stitch these and that they don't just end up in a stacked up pile somewhere. I need to go through my old Etsy downloaded print-outs and put all of my nicer PDF charts in more plastic folders soon!

I'm using these plastic report folders to organize my special Etsy PDF purchases. Hope to get all of these stitched this year!

As I mentioned above, we flew to sunny Naples, Florida a couple weeks ago for a few days of fun with the extended family. My entire family was there (except my middle son and his girlfriend) along with two of my husband's brothers and some of their family. There were 20 of us in total. Some ventured off to the annual Naples craft beer festival, but I had an even better time staying right at our AirBnb and playing with my grandson. While the others were gone, Mister B and I played many games of the card game Uno, colored, did puzzles, built Lego creations, and waded in the pool (I didn't dare take him swimming by myself as I'm not a strong swimmer). Another day, we all enjoyed some beach time and explored the Saturday morning farmer's market. And, of course, we ate lots of delicious food at our favorite restaurants. It was a wonderful five-day visit and everyone seemed to love the feeling of the warm sunshine on their faces.

Mister B in the airport as he heads to Florida (with his brand new Spiderman-themed roller bag in tow)

 

Mister B and my husband watching the boats come in

My grandson loves animals of all kinds--even this sheep statue!

My niece's friends own a helicopter and did a fly-by on Naples Beach as we waved them on! 

Love this nighttime silhouette

When I got home, I began putting away the snowmen and winter decor and pulling out St. Patrick's Day and spring pieces--fluffing the nest so to speak. One of my favorite things to do! Here a couple of photos of spring scenes around my home...

I found a new large round tray at Marshall's--perfect for our round dining table. The blue design on the bottom looks great with the new blue color on our walls and I'm having fun decorating it for the seasons. The stitched piece is "Robin's Wreath" by Just Nan which I stitched as a gift for my dear mother on her birthday way back in 2008. She was always so proud of my stitching and such a wonderful supporter of my blog.

This little shelf in my kitchen corner cupboard always brings a smile. The framed print at the back says "My favorite weather is bird chirping weather."

In an effort to eat healthier, I've been making most of our bread this year. I've shared this recipe with you before and it is my go-to for a nutritious loaf of bread with little effort. I do use my bread machine which makes it quite easy. The recipe for this Multigrain Bread can be found right here if anyone is interested...

I can't resist fresh, warm homemade bread, can you?

 

Is anyone else watching the bald eagle cam in California? I've found it fascinating and I so admire the eagle couple (Jackie and Shadow) as they sit protecting their tiny eaglets through howling winds and the snowstorm that recently dumped two feet of snow in that area. Sadly, one of the three babies has died...  The snow is melting now and I saw the remaining two being fed pieces of a freshly caught fish by one of the parents today, so I'm hopeful they will be okay! If anyone wants to take a peek at them, you can find the live feed on YouTube right here: Bald Eagle Cam Live .

The Bald Eagle Cam in Big Bear, California is so interesting to watch!

I had planned on continuing my travelogue of our trip to Italy, but I just didn't feel like sitting down and going through the many photos while the weather is so nice. We'll get back to that in my next post. I hope the second half of March is good to you! Thank you, as always for stopping by and saying "hello." I do appreciate the fact that you take the time to visit and read my little stitching blog. Take care now, my friends--and happy stitching! Bye for now...

♣♣ Wishing you a Happy St. Patrick's Day ♣♣