Summer Surprises!

And here we are nearing the end of June--almost half of the year is over! Can you believe it? Summer has arrived very tentatively as we've had more than our share of rainy, cool days here in western Pennsylvania. This past weekend was perfect, though--sunshine and blue skies with no rain or high humidity! A real treat--in fact, the local weatherman reported that we had not had a precipitation-free weekend like that since February! I can believe it... I do hope the warmer weather is here to stay because it feels just a bit strange to still be wearing my winter bathrobe on the chilly June mornings that we've had this year, that's for sure!

So--here's some good news! My wrist and thumb pain that I mentioned in my last post is 95% better. I so appreciate all of your well-wishes--they helped! Since I had some of you emailing and asking about the exercises I did to help overcome the pain, I thought I'd give you a link to them for any others who may be suffering. I did not go to a doctor, but am quite sure I had developed a condition called De Quervain's tenosynovitis which is common in people (especially women) who do repetitive activities such as playing the piano, typing, and, of course, our beloved stitching! Mine got so bad that I could barely grip a plate or pick up a jar. But, between wearing a brace like this one every night and doing the 12 exercises that are outlined in this article, I seem to have bounced back nicely. I am only putting this out there to offer an idea of what helped me... Always consult your doctor for anything serious!

A summer finish... My stitching time was limited in June due to my wrist issues, but I did manage to finish an older (2012) Chessie & Me design called "Scarlet's Summer Sampler." I am making a concerted effort to go through my older charts and stitch them instead of being lured by the exciting new designs out there. I'm so pleased with this one--I mean who doesn't love a sweet red house, a beehive, and four gentle sheep grazing in a flower-strewn meadow on a lazy, summer day?

Scarlet's Summer Sampler finish

Here are a couple of close-ups for you. I had to convert every single color as it was charted for silks...  I simply chose some similar overdyed colors--much less expensive and I think it turned out great!

Just look at those tiny buzzing bees!

Unfortunately, I have no idea what fabric was used for this--it is a piece of 40 ct. "mystery" linen that I've had in my stash for a long time. It was a great color to use because the sheep show up so well. The date in the upper left was charted for 1822, but that date meant nothing to me so I changed it to 1895--the birth year of both of my grandmothers. If you've ever stitched a Chessie & Me design, you know to expect specialty stitches. The roof is done in satin stitch as is the bee hive. The sheep are all smyrna stitches and the four-sided stitch in black borders the entire sampler.  

Lots of specialty stitches in this one!

Two new Christmas ornaments... What's a stitcher to do when she is blessed with not one, but two new great-nephews in the past six months? Why, stitch them each a Christmas ornament, of course! This is the fourth time I've stitched this sweet gingerbread boy ornament and I'm pleased to say that the parents were so excited. The design can be found in the JBW Designs "Baby's First Christmas" chart and is stitched on 32 ct. black Belfast linen with DMC threads. Rather than stitching the words "Baby's First Christmas" as were charted, I stitched each baby boy's name.

Two new Christmas ornaments for two new great-nephews

I included a tiny white pompom and red beads on his hat

I'm so happy to have met both of my great-nephews while they are still young. They both live far away so who knows how often I'll get to see them. Here is a photo of my dear 92-year-old mom cradling her 2 month old great-grandson... so sweet! It's amazing how much time we all spent simply gazing at this little cutie when we all got together in New York earlier this month... No television, computers, or phones are required for entertainment when a new baby is around!

The oldest and the youngest in my family

I was so touched to receive a gift from dear Mary at Stitching Friends Forever last week. She wanted to let me know she was thinking of me and hoping my wrist would start feeling better very soon. In her note, she explained that she had come across this cut of linen printed with a rabbit and thought of me so she sent it my way along with a beautifully handmade card. Mary, that was so kind of you--you know how much I love rabbits and I'll have to find the perfect way to use your pretty fabric. She thought he would make a nice project bag and she's right (if I can get up my nerve to try making one!). Thank you again, my friend...

A thoughtful get-well gift from Mary at Stitching Friends Forever

And over on Instagram, I won an amazing getaway from Tracy (handstowork). Tracy was having a birthday and offered these beautiful skeins of Weeks Dye Works to the first person in the U.S. who guessed how old she was going to be. I mean--just look--66 gorgeous shades of stitchy goodness! Thank you so much, Tracy, for your very generous gift--you know these will be put to good use! If you aren't on Instagram, please consider checking it out--such wonderful inspiration and so many supportive, kind stitchers are there. You can follow me on Instagram right here! 

My fabulous rainbow of threads giveaway win from Tracy on Instagram!

Chart Giveaway... Recently, I was leafing through old cross stitch magazines when I spotted this charming patriotic chart called "A Pride of Patriots." Isn't it cute with the colonial-garbed citizens celebrating freedom in a 4th of July parade?  Would any of you like it? If more than one person wants this, I will have a random drawing. This is just a few pages removed from the (Cross Stitch & Country Crafts July / August 1990) magazine--not the whole magazine. I will be folding them and mailing in a legal sized envelope to save on mailing costs. I'll keep the drawing open until the 7th of July and announce the winner the following week. Important: PLEASE make sure to include your email address if you are entering (and I don't already have it) and make sure to specifically leave a comment that you want to be entered. Good luck to all!

If you would like to win this patriotic chart, just leave a comment stating so along with your email address!

A great movie... My husband was on a bike ride for much of last weekend, so I took that time to watch a romantic comedy on Netflix (something he is not into!) and was very pleasantly surprised by it. "About Time" is an older film from 2013 starring Rachel McAdams (whom I love) as the wife of a man who can travel back in time. I don't want to spoil it for those of you who haven't seen it, but it is one I am going to persuade my husband to watch with me as I actually think he'll like it, too. 

It really makes you think about how you live each day... Are you a glass half-full or half-empty person? If you had the chance to re-live a day, would you? Are there things you would have done differently over the course of any given day? I am a bit of a "glass half-empty" person, I'm afraid, as I am a terrible worrier. My husband always says that if I didn't have anything to worry about, I would invent something!  And he's right... But, something my youngest son said to me way back when he was about 15 really made me think. He said, "Mom, you're so negative!" I was shocked as I had never thought of myself that way, but from that point on, I've really made an effort to be more positive-minded and hope for the best. It definitely helps to "think positively"--I've seen it in action. So, if you have a spare couple of hours, sit down with a friend or loved one and watch "About Time." I think you'll be glad you did! 

We're going to be doing a bit of landscaping this fall as everything is now over 20 years and is looking rather wild and overgrown. Outside our kitchen window are three hydrangea bushes which have barely bloomed except for the first year or two... Lots of beautiful foliage like the one below, but few (if any!) flowers. 

Lots of healthy, green foliage, but no flowers on this hydrangea bush

So, our landscaper suggested digging them up and trying something new. We were all ready to sign off on the final plans (that included digging up the hydrangeas) when I said to my husband, "I just can't do it--I keep  hoping they'll bloom again." Well, just look at this--two of the bushes are still almost barren of buds, but the third one (the one that was the worst performing of the three all these years!) is just loaded with flowers! I'm in heaven as hydrangeas are probably my very favorites!

But, just look at this blooming beauty not even six feet away!

Big, beautiful flowers... I might add. What do you think? Did the positive thinking on my part help in any way? I like to think so!

This is one giant single flower!

It always delights me to see two totally different colored flowers on the same hydrangea bush!

With so much rain, all of my flowers are looking wonderful this year! How is your garden doing?

I'm sure all the rain and the diligent use of deer-away spray have helped our garden this year. Clockwise from the top are pink mandevilla, white astilbe, yellow tuberous begonias, and purple and white alyssum.

So, that's about it for June! I really hope to be back with some finished ornaments in July now that my wrist is better. I hope your summer is off to a great start and will be filled with lots of relaxation, reading, and stitching time. We have some big travel plans coming up which I'm excited about (a bit nervous, too!) and I hope you'll get to take some trips of your own this summer--even if it's just a day trip here and there. It's always nice to explore beyond your own backyard, isn't it?  Thank you, as always for visiting me today and for taking the time to say "hello" and leave a comment. Please make sure to include your email if you're entering the drawing for the patriotic chart, too! Bye for now...

The end of a busy (and bit painful!) month!

Good morning on this final day of May, my dear stitching friends! I'm sure your month has been just as busy as mine, hasn't it? So much to do at this time of year and I've been trying to manage everything with some sort of hand / thumb tendonitis going on. Not fun at all--in fact, downright painful at times, but I'm hopeful that it might be improving. I've been wearing a brace on my left hand at night and faithfully doing thumb exercises hoping to keep it from getting even worse. I'm a bit behind in commenting on your blogs as typing is one of the many things that aggravates it (stitching is another, sadly)... I think the tendonitis began due to general overuse of my hand, and unfortunately, I do believe stitching is a prominent cause (along with holding my phone, typing, gardening,and lifting my light weights--basically anything that involves a gripping, repetitive motion). I've pulled back on all of these activities and hope that I'll be back to normal in 4-6 weeks.

I do have three small finishes to share with you this month. Many of you have seen this one on Instagram (if you wish to follow me, just click here!) and I was thrilled with all the sweet comments I received. This finish, called "Berries In a Basket," is a design by one of my Instagram friends, Jenny, at Homestitchness and is available on her Etsy shop right here. You all know I have a very special relationship with cardinals that began soon after my dad died so the minute I saw this darling piece, I knew I had to stitch it. I love that both the female and male cardinal are featured as you so often see them as a couple in nature. The basket of berries just says "summer" to me so I added the gold cording and red gingham bow to reflect that. I have it hanging in my kitchen now and it always makes me smile when I spot it!

The fabric is closer to the color in this second photo below. I used 40 ct. vintage Cedar Plank by Lakeside Linen and although I love the color of it, the holes must have shrunk during the dyeing process as they were very tiny and close together... In other words--it was very hard to stitch on! But, I persevered and ended up with this lovely summer finish!

In my last post, I mentioned how far behind I am on my monthly ornament finishes! Well, I did manage to get two finished... For March (yes, March--I told you I was behind!) comes one of my very favorite Prairie Schooler Santas from way back in 1999. I stitched him for a friend at the library years ago and I'm so happy to have one for my own Christmas tree this year.

I just love the quartet of gingerbread men and that cute gingerbread house he is carrying don't you? I kept the finish very classic as I really think he should be the star of the show--just added some handmade cording and a simple gingham bow at the top. I've been using 40 ct. vintage Country Mocha Newcastle linen for the yearly Prairie Schooler Santas for the past few years and just love how well the white shows up on it. The called for DMC threads were used except for the green which I substituted DMC 520. I think I'll be finishing all of my yearly PS Santas this way from now on.

My April ornament is another Prairie Schooler design. For this one, I stitched only the top third of Book No. 190 called "Happy Christmas." It is very tiny as I stitched it "over one" on 28 ct. black Monaco. I did make a few changes to the colors--used DMC 221 for the red and stitched the reindeer and tree trunks in DMC 610. Let me tell you, stitching that lettering over one was not an easy feat! But, look how cute it turned out!

The finish was fairly quick and easy--I simply surrounded the little pillow with DMC 221 cording and hung a quintet of rusty bells from the bottom.

Unfortunately, I was not able to finish my May ornament (although it is stitched!) due to my wrist / thumb pain. Hopefully, I'll have that to share with you in June!

Giveaway winner...  I'm happy to announce the winner of the pretty hummingbird chart is...

MINI !!

Congratulations, Mini! Please send me your mailing address and I will get this chart to you as soon as possible... And for those of you who didn't win, keep an eye on this spot. More charts will be given away in the near future!

So, what kept me busy in May? Well, I mentioned our trip to Washington, D.C. to visit our youngest son in early May in my last post, but I wanted to share a few photos with you. I absolutely love visiting the D.C. area as we lived there for a year back in the late 1980s; in fact, my youngest son was born there! I always feel like I'm "going home" when we drive down I-95 and into the city. As many times as I've been there, we did two things on this trip that we've never done before. One, was to see the monuments at night. It was a beautiful, warm spring night--the perfect evening to enjoy those special sights by moonlight.

The beautiful Lincoln Memorial--can you spot Abe sitting inside?

The Washington Monument, at just over 554 feet, is the tallest building in Washington, D.C. and the tallest obelisk in the world!

The World War II Memorial is especially striking at night with its 56 pillars, fountains,  and arches of water.

Of course, I had to locate the pillar for Pennsylvania!

If you look closely to the right of the Washington Monument, you can spot the dome of the U.S. Capitol in the distance. It really is quite an inspiring vista!

The other place we visited during our Washington, D.C. trip was a hidden treasure that I had never heard of and I know we'll be going again. Far removed from the tourists and the hustle and bustle of the monument area is a delightful gem known as the National Arboretum. Have any of you visited? Oh, what a wonderful surprise this was--over 400 acres of gardens and paths and special features located right in the District of Columbia. We only saw a fraction of it (and walked nearly 10 miles while doing so!), but we thoroughly enjoyed our visit. If you visit, try to go in the spring... The azalea garden had already bloomed, but we still saw so many gorgeous spring flowering plants and trees.

Scenes from the National Arboretum all dressed up for Spring!

Some of the beautiful dogwoods in bloom

The peonies were at their peak when we visited and made me want to rush out and buy some peony bulbs to plant at home.

But, the highlight for me was the beautiful National Capitol Columns... These 22 Corinthian style columns were once part of the United States Capitol built way back in 1828. These stayed in place until they were removed in 1958 in order to build an addition to the Capitol. In the 1980's, the columns were brought to the National Arboretum where they now stand like soldiers watching over the gardens. Apparently, there were originally 24 columns, but 2 were damaged and lie somewhere on the grounds of the National Arboretum's Azalea Gardens. It was really quite a sight to see these giant sandstone columns in the middle of a flower-strewn meadow like this--they almost looked like ancient ruins!

The National Capitol Columns on a cloudy D.C. afternoon

Don't they look majestic?

The intricately carved sandstone columns rest on a foundation of steps once used on the east side of the U.S. Capitol

The reflecting pool at The National Capitol Columns

My husband and me taking a breather!! If you visit the National Arboretum be advised that a lot of walking is involved!

After our trip to DC, I went up to my mom's in New York to help her celebrate her 92nd birthday.  Just look at all the cards and flowers she got! The pretty calla lily was sent by my oldest son and daughter-in-law. And her friends at her senior living community had her all decked out with a light-up crown and a bright lei for dinner one night to help her celebrate. She felt very much loved--which she is!  Thank you all for leaving such sweet birthday wishes for her on my last post. She enjoys reading my blog (especially the comments!) and I know she appreciates your kind words.

Happy 92nd, dear, dear mom!!

I wasn't home for Mother's Day this year so I saw none of my sons. To be honest, it felt a bit lonely, but they each remembered me with a phone call and some wonderful gifts--trekking poles for our next hiking adventure, ranunculus bulbs to plant in my garden, and this sweet reading rabbit statue which I adore.

Could this be any more perfect for a former librarian who loves bunnies?!

Memorial Day was quiet with none of our sons home so we did a lot of gardening. I'm not sure if it is all the rain or what, but our ferns are going crazy and are now nearly as tall as me (which isn't hard as I'm only 5'1"!). They just keep growing and growing. For some reason, I seem to be taking more of an interest in my garden this year--not sure if it's because I have the time now that I've retired or what. My husband has been faithfully spraying the plants with "anti-deer" spray (horrible smelling stuff!!) and it seems to be working. For the first time in years, my hydrangeas are absolutely covered with buds...

If only our gardens could look this lush and green year round!

We transplanted some of the giant ostrich ferns to individual planters and placed them on our patio.

A view out to the garden shed and the vegetable garden beyond.

I've put my patriotic stitching on display for the next few months and am so happy to see all the red, white, and blue again! I'll probably leave it up through July and then begin to switch to sunflowers and bees for the rest of the summer.

Honoring all those who served our country on Memorial Day

And, just like that, another month is over... unbelievable! Thank you so much for visiting me today and a special thank you to those of you who take the time to say "hello" in your comments. I truly appreciate each and every one of you and love reading your comments. I know blogs are not the "in" thing these days as Flosstube has taken over, but I so treasure you faithful friends who are still hanging in there with me! As always, if you have a question about a finish of mine, please, please leave your email address so I can get back to you. I have no way of responding to your questions if you don't. See you in June! Bye for now...

Sunny Days and An Amazing Coincidence!

Well, hello there! Have you missed me? It's only been three weeks since my last post, but it seems like much longer! That's what happens when you are traveling (and boy, have I been traveling!). You seem to lose all track of time and current events when you are on the road (or in the air!). We flew to San Diego to visit our oldest son for five days, flew home, then three days later, we drove to Washington, DC to visit our youngest son last weekend. And then this weekend I'll be driving to New York to visit my mom for Mother's Day and her 92nd (!!!) birthday which is next Tuesday. That will make three weekends in a row that I've been away from home! To say I've had limited stitching time is an understatement, but I would gladly give that up for a chance to visit with our sons and my dear mother. 

Stitching update... I'm afraid I don't have much in the way of stitching to share with you today... I do want to show you this cute bunny who flew out to California with me and liked the climate so much that he is now making his home with my son and daughter-in-law. I mean, can you blame him? The weather out there is so much sunnier! This is "The Little Bunny" by Bent Creek and is stitched on 32 ct. flax Belfast linen with overdyed threads. The frame is part of a set of about fifteen 5" X 5" frames that I bought used on eBay years ago. (I remember the seller advertising that they had been used to display his insect collection. Hmmm...) Anyway, I painted the once-brown frame off-white and distressed it and think it showcases Mr. Bunny very nicely! The bunny is mounted on sticky-board covered with batting and then glued onto the fabric covered green and white polka-dot backing. A very simple finish that will make a nice addition to my son and daughter-in-law's Easter decorations.

The Little Bunny by Bent Creek finished for an Easter gift

Here is a close-up of his face--I think he has the cutest expression! He looks a little bit lost and just a tiny bit wistful, don't you think?

That face--who could resist it?!

Before we left for California, I framed two older finishes by Country Cottage Needleworks. "The Bakery" (finished in 2015) and "The Flower Shop" (finished in 2016) have been languishing in a dresser drawer just waiting for me to stop procrastinating and frame them. I bought the frames from Franken Frames online and think the black was a great choice! As always, I used the framing tutorial that you can find right here. It seems that I'm becoming more confident in my framing abilities--guess the more you do it, the easier it gets!

Country Cottage Needleworks "The Flower Shop" and "The Bakery" are finally framed after 3+ years!

You can read about my finish of  "The Bakery" right here...

I'd love to have a taste of everything in that pretty bakery!

My changes to "The Flower Shop" finish are detailed in this post...  I totally changed the sign at the top as I wanted it to match the one on "The Bakery." It originally was charted to look like this. I so enjoyed stitching both of these and think they will be a wonderful addition to my kitchen right next to my back door!

Country Cottage Needleworks "The Flower Shop"

Those lovely flowers in the photo above are columbine from my garden and a branch of the gorgeous (and fragrant) crab apple tree near our patio that blooms so beautifully each spring. And below are some of the gorgeous tulips that my husband planted for me last fall--such a welcome treat after a cold winter!

Amazing that such pretty flowers grow from ugly brown bulbs!

I won a giveaway on Instagram recently from a very kind stitcher in England. She sent me three sweet JBW Designs charts which I know I will enjoy stitching! Thank you so much, Linda--I really love them... The Instagram community is so supportive and encouraging. If you would like to follow me on IG, just click here. There is an amazing amount of beautiful stitching from around the world to tempt any stitcher--I love it!

Three lovely charts from Linda in England

So, what did we do in sunny San Diego? Well, I have another hiking story to tell you--but, a good one this time (unlike the "hike from hell" that we went on in Panama!!). Garnet Peak Trail is located in  Cleveland National Forest and we decided that it would be a moderately difficult hike for a hot, sunny day. The hikes in southern California are mainly in desert areas--very little greenery like we have in the East. The pictures below give  you a good idea of the topography as we hiked and I've included a photo of the four of us relaxing at the top of the peak enjoying the views...

Scenes from Garnet Peak hike

Anyway, we had reached the top of Garnet Peak and were resting there chatting when another couple appeared. I asked them if they were from the San Diego area and the man said they lived in a nearby county and asked where we were from. When I told him we lived in the Pittsburgh, PA area, he replied that he had relatives in Bradford, PA which is on the very northern border of Pennsylvania and New York. I was shocked and told him that I had grown up just over the border from Bradford and he said, "Well, actually, I spent the first twelve years of my life in a tiny town called *******." (for privacy reasons, I've choosing not to give the exact name) I almost fell off the peak right then and there when he named it--that was my home town!! I spent my entire  childhood there from age five until I left home to get married at age 22 after college! Honestly, what are the chances that I would meet someone on a mountain top in California who grew up in my teeny village on the other side of the United States?! I mean this was one tiny, tiny town--a single traffic light and a few side streets--really just a blip on the map. Blink and you miss it--that sort of town. Unbelievable, really...  We reminisced about what a lovely place it was to grow up and just marveled at the coincidence... his street was just two streets away from mine! As far as I can tell, he must have left our town right about the time my family moved there in 1960. Anyway--what a fun discovery!

We also spent an afternoon on the USS Midway--an aircraft carrier commissioned right after WWII and decommissioned in 1992 after having seen action in both the Vietnam War and the Operation Desert Storm. What was once the longest serving U.S. Navy aircraft carrier of the 20th century that housed 4100+ soldiers, is now a highly rated museum. Today, there are 30 restored jets and helicopters on the flight deck that provide visitors with an audio history of each aircraft--often narrated by one of the former pilots. We got to tour not only the flight deck and captain's bridge, but the below deck areas that included a chapel, barber shop, laundry, sick bay, and the kitchen / food galley (which served an amazing ten tons of food each day). It was really an impressive and educational experience and I highly recommend visiting if you are in the area.

This isn't my photo, but I'm including it to show the huge size of the ship (in the middle) with the city of San Diego in the background

Here are a few photos I took onboard--I can't imagine landing a jet on an aircraft carrier out in the middle of an ocean, can you? Well, let's face it--I can't imagine landing a jet anywhere!

Scenes on the USS Midway aircraft carrier

My favorite experience of our latest San Diego trip was to see The Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch. Oh--such beauty everywhere! The Flower Fields are most known for the beautiful ranunculus flowers that cover much of the 50+ acre farm. I think I may just have a new favorite flower and I'm planning to plant some bulbs soon! The farm is only open for two months each year and will close for this year after Mother's Day. I'm so glad we were visiting San Diego at the right time of the year!

The entrance to The Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch

A rainbow of radiant ranunculus!

Wouldn't you love to have the view that the people living in those apartments have?

There were small gardens of other spring flowers, too--these delphiniums were my favorites (of course!) with all the blues!

Sitting in this giant Adirondack chair makes everyone look like a kid again! And notice the little birdie perched at the very top, photo-bombing our picture.

Memories of The Flower Farm ~ April 2019

San Diego truly is one of the prettiest areas of the United States--cool and sunny most of the year, its climate is nearly ideal (although a bit too cool for me this visit being in the low to mid 60s!). Just walking in my son and daughter-in-law's neighborhood was a feast for the eyes with all of these beautiful flowers blooming that I've shown in my collage below. I think I would enjoy walking for miles and miles if I lived there! Everything was green and lush as they've had more than the usual amount of rain this year...

Southern California beauties

If you've never visited the area, I highly recommend it. Living there is another thing altogether with the very high cost of houses--oh, my, I was shocked at how much they cost! Anyway, we loved our visit with our oldest son and daughter-in-law--just wish they lived closer as it takes almost a full day to get there since we have no direct flights available.

More goodies! Here is yet another fattening, but delicious recipe that I made for Easter. Since it was just the four of us, I made cupcakes rather than a large dessert. These are carrot cake cupcakes and you can find the recipe right here--very, very tasty and easy to make... I only made half of the frosting recipe and it was plenty! I am slowly learning to decorate cupcakes with the Wilton Cupcake Decorating Set that I purchased on Amazon last month. I think they turned out quite well for my first try!  

Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

GIVEAWAY TIME!  In honor of Mother's Day, I found a pretty chart to give away to one of my stitching friends. Since my mother's favorite bird is the hummingbird, I thought this lovely chart would be perfect to give to one of you. This is a chart removed from an old "Cross Stitch & Country Crafts" magazine from March/April 1990. If more than one person wants this, I will pick a name out of the proverbial hat... The deadline for entering will be May 24th, 2019. To enter, please: 

 a) Be a follower of Stitching Dreams

 b) Leave a comment below telling me you want to enter and make sure to include your email address (if I don't already have it)

 c) Answer one of the following questions: What is one of your fondest memories of motherhood? or What is one of your fondest memories you have of your own mother? 

I think it's only fair that I answer the question, too--don't you? For me, my fondest memories were lying in bed and reading to my three sons each and every night--I absolutely loved those times. All of my sons (now in their 30s) are avid readers now and I like to think that those early days of reading to them before bedtime had something to do with that. (Rocking them in my old creaky rocking chair and singing them to sleep when they were babies comes in a close second in my list of favorite memories!).

I'm giving away this beautiful hummingbird chart

I hope all of you who are mothers have a wonderful Mother's Day this coming weekend. This will be the first Mother's Day in 37 years that I haven't been with one of my sons... But, I'll be with my own dear mother and I so look forward to our time together. I hope to be back with my Christmas ornaments for March, April, and May by the end of the month--yes, I have never been this far behind in my monthly ornament stitching. Wish me luck! Thank you all for your wonderful comments and emails--I truly appreciate each one.  Bye for now...