♣♣♣ Seeing green ♣♣♣

Hello, my friends! Everywhere I look, green is popping up and I love it! I honestly think St. Patrick's Day with its accompanying green theme comes around at the perfect time of year. The days are longer (hooray!),  thoughts of Easter and renewal are on our minds, and gardeners are beginning to see tiny green sprouts popping up from the brown dirt. (Well, I won't dwell on the fact that we were hit with over 7 inches of snow on Saturday! The good thing is that it will melt quickly as our temperatures are going to be in the 60's this week). Green is everywhere and guess what you're getting in this post? Lots of green--hope you like that color!

I talked about falling in love with the sweet Perrette Samouiloff designs in this post from 2019. Those little children just capture my heart and when I saw this St. Patrick's Day design I couldn't stitch it fast enough. I mean--how cute are those little Irishmen? I have to say that is the first time I ever stitched a mug of beer! Or a fiddle!

My latest St. Patrick's Day finish

 

This one was stitched on 40 ct. Woodland Newcastle (have you noticed how often I use that fabric?) with DMC colors. I used most of the suggested threads, but moved them around a bit and added a few more ferns and plants to fill out the bottom. I had the frame in my stash ($3.00 from Goodwill) and I originally was going to chalk paint it white. However, I ended up leaving it just as it was and I'm so glad I did. I love the little gold band around the inner edge. I added the ecru colored ric rak to just the top and bottom of the finish to even out the margins of green gingham a bit--love how it turned out! 

 

I love the endearing designs of Perrette Samouiloff!

Here is a better photo of the piece before I mounted and framed it... Isn't is charming?

Looks like they're in for a fabulous St. Patrick's Day celebration!

 

Unfortunately, I believe the chart is only available in the book, Un Air de Fête by Perrette Samouiloff, which I purchased on Amazon a few years ago and no longer see listed... Those of you living in Europe may have a better chance of finding a copy of the book, though. It is a darling book with charts for celebrations throughout the year. 

 

Even more green stitching appeared in the form of this sweet chart by Carol Hodge in England. The chart is available in her Etsy shop called "Samplers and Stitches" which you can find right here. Isn't it sweet? She has designed a chart for each season so I plan on purchasing the others soon! I used the suggested overdyed colors for some of it, but substituted DMC threads for the word Spring, the vine, and the yellow flowers. Can you spy the tiny chick popping out of his egg in the bottom middle? Just...too...cute!

My latest Spring finish from "Samplers and Stitches" Etsy shop

I stitched this one on 40 ct. white Newcastle linen and added mini pompoms to the bunny tails. Doesn't it look sweet in my kitchen corner cupboard? I've been gradually decorating for Easter and this was the first shelf I finished.  Bunnies and chicks and lots of bright green and yellow really brighten my kitchen!

Those pretty pastels are such a treat after a long winter

 

In other stitching news... I'm almost done stitching the special Christmas piece that I've been teasing you with! Hope to share it with you in my next post. I've also been working on my Christmas ornament for April and another special project using Aurifloss threads by Aurifil which I'll tell you more about next month. I will give you a hint though--shades of blue. 

Giveaway winner... I had quite a few entries for the cute Lizzie Kate Sampling Easter chart. Unfortunately, many, many of you forgot to include your email address. I need your email as I have no way of contacting the winner if you don't already have a blog. Anyway, the name pulled from the hat as the winner of Spring Sampling is...

CATHY H. (from Arkansas)!

Congratulations to Cathy H! Please contact me with your mailing address, Cathy, and I'll get this cutie to you as soon as possible!

 

Imagine my surprise when a reader (and now a new friend!), Janet from Texas, emailed offering to send me some charts that I could use in my giveaways. Not just some--but a giant box of over 60! I was gobsmacked (I love that delightful British expression!) to say the least. She said she just couldn't bear to give them to Goodwill and she had no local friends to share them with. Just look at what came my way...there are so many cute designs--something for everyone's taste, I'd say. Thank you so very much, Janet--that was incredibly generous and kind of you! I know my stitching friends will be so appreciative to have a chance to win these over the coming months and I'm sure they will keep the kindness going by passing them along to other stitchers.

An abundance of charts from my new friend, Janet! Thank you again from the bottom of my heart!

So, why not start spreading the kindness right now? This sweet "Spring House Trio" chart by Waxing Moon Designs was one I received from Janet. Who would like to win it? To enter the giveaway please: 

1) Specifically mention that you would like to win the chart in your comment 

2) Be a follower in my blog's sidebar (to the right)

3) Make sure to leave your email address in your comment if I don't already have it--(this is very important as I have no way of getting in touch with the winner if you don't)

4) Answer the "Getting to Know You" question below.

To enter the giveaway for this sweet spring chart, please follow the four guidelines listed above.

Getting To Know You... Today's question is: Are you a saver or do you like to clear things out? Have you saved anything from your childhood or your children's? My answer: The only things I own from my childhood are my (slightly) creepy looking Santa doll, a little prayer book from the early 1960s, my beads earned from my time as a Camp Fire Girl, and a lovely handmade ceramic heart made by one of my maternal grandmother's dearest friends on the occasion of my birth. I do have the baby book where my mom recorded a few of my milestones and some old photos, of course. 

 

A few remaining treasures from my childhood

 

As for the second part of the question--yes! I've saved many toys and books from when my sons were little and I'm so happy I did! Mister B loves playing with the toys and reading the books when he visits--in fact he'll be here for a visit later this week and I can't wait. My sons actually love seeing the old toys and books come out of the attic, too, and reminiscing. If you have the room, I highly recommend storing at least a few special books and toys for possible grandchildren. Being a retired librarian, I kept three very large cardboard boxes full of books from my sons' childhoods, of course :) 

Mister B (enjoying the snowfall in Maryland on Saturday) is coming for a visit this weekend! These cars and books (and more!) will be waiting for him. He hasn't played with the cars yet, but when we showed him this basket filled to the brim with vehicles of all kinds on FaceTime, his eyes grew wide and he exclaimed, "Wowwww!" 

Baking... I'll leave you with one of my very favorite recipes which I've been making for years: Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. 

One of my favorite cookies ever!

The plate I have them on is so cute and I thought it was perfect for St. Patrick's Day. I got it from the "free" table at the library when I worked there many years ago. 

Look at the festive dancers surrounding this plate--so darling--(along with the lady milking her cow and the man plowing his fields). I absolutely love this plate.

Here is the recipe if anyone cares to bake some! Don't skip that first step--I truly think that's the key to the wonderful taste of these cookies...

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I've gone on far too long, as usual! I hope you enjoyed this "green" post and if any of you are celebrating St. Patrick's Day, I hope you have a wonderful day. I have a tiny bit of Irish in me according to my middle sister who has dug up some genealogy that we were unaware of, but other than wearing green, I won't be doing anything special on that day. 

A gentle reminder... I receive so many comments with questions that don't include your email address. Unless you have a blog, I can't reply to you. Please, please, please make sure to include your email if you would like a reply!

I had hopes that peace talks would be achieving some success in Ukraine, but things are still so tragic and terrifying. My husband and I have made donations to humanitarian causes including World Central Kitchen, Unicef, and United Way that I hope bring at least some comfort to the refugees and those trapped inside a country at war. I wish I could do more... those images shown on television of the innocent children bring me to tears every time. Hoping and praying for a peaceful resolution--and soon. Bye for now... 

♣♣♣  Enjoy Your Day! ♣♣♣

"May you always have... walls for the winds,
a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire,
laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,
and all your heart might desire." ~ Irish Blessing

A pair of Prairie Schooler Santas (with pears to pare)!

And here we are again--the end of another month! How have you been? I'm sure most of you have watched with heavy hearts as, yet again, parts of the world descend into war. My thoughts and prayers go out to all of the brave Ukrainian people--I honestly can't believe this is happening in the 21st century. The young mothers walking for miles while carrying their small children across the borders into the safety of neighboring countries especially break my heart. And then there are the elderly, many of whom lived through WWII only to see madness and evil swoop into their country once again. It is all so senseless... This certainly puts things in perspective, doesn't it? The little things we worry about on a daily basis seem so silly and inconsequential when compared to what the Ukrainian citizens are dealing with...

When I am anxious, my needle and thread offer a great deal of comfort and I have been stitching a lot over the past four days. I've finished my ornaments for February and for March. Both are Prairie Schooler Santas and both have a pear theme. 

My ornaments for February and March--Prairie Schooler Santas, of course!

 

For February, I chose the Prairie Schooler Santa from "Santa's 12 Days of Christmas 1-4 (Book No. 125). I am not stitching all 12 so I'm leaving the large numbers off the ones I do stitch; in this case I left the number 1 off the right side underneath the pear tree. I stitched this one on 40 ct. vintage country mocha Newcastle and made a few changes. 

♪♫♪  A Santa with a pear tree!  ♪♫♪

The main change I made was to substitute DMC 221 for the suggested color--in my mind, that is the classic PS red! I also changed the border from a solid backstitched line to an alternating one and changed the shape of the top pear in the middle. My finish was the same as I've done in the past--a simple border of handmade cording and a gingham bow. 

My ornament for February 2022

And, in keeping with the PS Santa/pear theme, I went ahead and finished my ornament for March as well. This one is from the Prairie Schooler Mini Card Set A which you can see right here. The set offers ten mini-cards for only $8.00. I used 32 ct. black Belfast linen for this finish and again, changed the red in Santa's suit to DMC 221. I also changed the pear color to DMC 832. 

And yet another PS Santa with a tiny pear tree!

For the finish, I used a square of green gingham in the background and bordered the stitching with green cording topped with a festive checked bow. I also added a couple of sprigs of artificial holly (cut from a garland) and tiny gold bells which pick up the color of the pear. To back this sort of ornament finish, I simply use a square piece of black felt cut to size.

My ornament finish for March 2022

 

It's nice to have my ornament for March done early as I'm working on a couple of larger projects this month. What are they? Well, you'll just have to wait and be surprised!

I had a lovely surprise from another stitcher who reads my blog! Linda, from North Carolina, sent me two Lizzie Kate charts that I can use for giveaways. Wasn't that sweet of her? Thank you so very much, Linda! She knew one of you would want to stitch them and our hope is that after you've stitched one, you'll pass it along to another stitching friend. So, for spring (hooray!), I'm offering this cute LK chart called "Sampling Easter" (and the included rabbit charm) as a giveaway.

If you would like to win this chart (with the rabbit charm), please leave a comment and follow the guidelines mentioned below...

How do you enter to win the chart? 1) Specifically mention that you would like to win the chart in your comment; 2) Please be a follower and make sure to leave your email address if I don't already have it and; 3) Answer the "Getting to Know You" question below. 

But, before we get to the question of the month, let's talk about the title of my blog post today: "A pair of Prairie Schooler Santas (with pears to pare)!"  Oh, my--did you notice all those homophones (words that sound the same, but have different meanings and spellings)? It is said that homophones are one of the hardest ideas to understand for people who are learning English. In the case of my blog post today: pair means two or a set of two, pear is a fruit, and pare means to cut off the outer skin or reduce in size. And yet they all sound exactly the same! OH, MY!!! My hat goes off to you amazing folks who have learned to speak English as a second language. 

Getting To Know You...  So, my question today is: Can you speak another language? Was it hard to learn? Can you speak even more than two languages? I so admire those of you who leave comments in English and even blog in English when it is not your native language. My daughter-in-law is bilingual and she and my oldest son are raising my grandson to speak both Spanish and English. It's just fascinating to watch him pick up both languages so quickly at his young age. As for my answer... well, yes, I can speak a bit of Spanish and an even tinier bit of French, but am, in no way, fluent in either. I took Spanish for 6 years in school, but then made the big mistake of taking French when I went away to college (or university as many of you call it). Oh, that was a huge mistake... Here I was trying to speak French and all I sounded like was an American trying to speak French with a Spanish accent! So, all these years later, I remember some basic words in both languages, but not much else. How about you?

We made a quick trip to Maryland to see our grandson,  Mister B, last week--oh, my, how quickly he has grown and changed in just one month! Word after word after word just comes out of that tiny mouth of his. It's amazing how quickly little ones pick up new words at this age. Since he loves airplanes (and really anything that moves--buses, trains, cars, trucks, etc.) we took him to the National Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. Planes and helicopters and rockets and satellites galore! Mister B loved them all.

Airplanes everywhere the eye could see!

 

Mister B spent much of his time trying to scale the gates around the exhibits to get up close and personal with the aircraft!

The massive space shuttle Discovery was first launched in 1984 and completed nearly 40 missions.

The umbrella-like things hanging from the ceiling are tracking and data relay satellites. They look so delicate, don't they?

 

Baking is another thing I do when I get anxious and, luckily, I had a good excuse to bake cupcakes for my middle son's girlfriend, who celebrated a birthday on Saturday. I've made these before, but I know many of you are new readers who might enjoy making this small batch chocolate cupcake recipe. I used this recipe from the "Celebrating Sweets" blog and it made seven cupcakes--so yummy and moist! There is a bit of brewed coffee in the recipe which really brings out the chocolatey taste! For the frosting, I made a batch of the vanilla (from that same blog) and also a half batch of the creamy peanut butter from the "Peas and Crayons" blog which you can find right here.  Hope you enjoy them--let me know how they turn out if you do end up making them!

Which one would you choose? For me, it will always be the peanut butter and chocolate combo!

Thank you for visiting me today! I appreciate each and every one of you--I hope you know that... Do take care and, hopefully, my next post in mid-March will be under more peaceful conditions around the world. Bye for now...