Goodbye Merry Month of May

At the risk of boring you all to tears with my posies.. here is a little corner right next to the deck, where my rose bush is just starting to bloom. The sun was so pretty this morning peeking over the fence.. I just had to show it. Melanie's cotoneaster is full of flowers and butterflies.. but mine..(that bush in the background).. was done flowering a week or so ago.. and all I got were bees.

I brought a vase of peonies up to get them in the picture too, because they are yards apart in the garden.

No matter what stage they are in, I love these two flowers with their wonderful scents. At times it's hard to tell what we're breathing in, because the air is thick with both fragrances.

If any of you noticed.. that one rose bud looks pretty sad. But they were fighting a case of those nasty black aphids last week. Fortunately some Ladybeetles laid their eggs and the larvae have pretty much taken care of them. Have you ever seen a ladybeetle larvae? They don't look like what you'd imagine. But I'll spare you the details if you don't want to click.

..more rosebuds by the birdbath. Can you imagine when all these pop open?

There are only a couple that are fully opened..

That's it for roses right now.

All those flats of flowers on the porch a couple weeks ago are planted in their designated spots for the summer. Here is one of my favorites.. this strawberry pot under the Honey Locust tree.

And there are pots of impatience hanging all around. This one is underneath the humming bird feeder. The hummingbirds actually eat from both. So pretty to watch.. but I never have my camera when I see them! These flowers will get very full.

So now all I need to do is keep up with the weeds. And I can get back to my fabrics and thread! Can't show my sneak peek yet from last week.. have to wait until the recipient receives it. But today I'm going to start on a raggedy ann for a little girl's birthday next month.. some friends of ours. This is all I done have so far.. gathering of the fabrics. The flowered stuff is from "In The Beginning".. but the name of it escapes me right now..

Hitty Club is tomorrow too.. and I have nothing ready. But there will be cookies baked this evening.

Then after that, I have my baby elephant quilt to finish. Then my Black and White quilt for Jackie's challenge. Then we'll see what's next.
Hmmm. So tempting.

This, That and the Other..

This past week really seemed to go fast, didn't it? Memorial Day.. I have pictures but they are in my daughter's camera. I'll have to ask her for them later.
And the days have been busy with lots of silly little things that take time, like taking cars in to get serviced, getting haircuts, doing banking before the end of the month comes and it's forgotten about, etc. But I am working on a couple Little Somethings.. can't really show right now.. but here is a sneak peek of the pretty vintage fabrics I get to use..
The Lavender seeds that Melanie sent me from England are really coming along. I have Eleven teeny little lavender plants..(I only count 10 in the photo, but I'm sure there are 11). I just hope I can keep them going after they get big.. and year after year. Not sure where their permanent home is going to be.. but I keep looking. They are still in a pot in their seeding soil. I used acid fertilizer when I planted them, so I'm going to keep using that on them since they seem to like it!

Really been enjoying my pansies. There are several pots all around the place.. I keep looking at them while they last. I know the soon to be hot weather will make them wilt away. But right now their little smiling faces are brilliant and cheerful to me!

I have Garden Roses and Peonies blooming now too, and the scents are heavenly.

Thank you all for the wonderful comments about my trip to Florida and my yard and stuff. Everyone has such good ideas, and I owe you all a nice email or a visit soon... (maybe if it rains for a few days instead of this glorious sunshine and 75 degrees)...

I Love My Porch & Backyard

No sewing or fabric anything going on here lately. The outdoors have been just too pretty.. and there were several flats of posies that needed put somewhere.
This is the side part of my wrap-around porch. We don't usually sit out in the front part because there is too much traffic. But this is a cozy little nook. The morning sun is just shining across.. and I had to bring my flats of flowers up a couple nights ago because we still had frost warnings.

So now that we're probably not going to get any more freezing.. I hope.. I've been out putting the pansies and things in pots and planting all around the beds. Kinda shabby.. but I've noticed that's the way most things are around here..

Floral fragrance is everywhere. Along with the pansies in the pots and our neighbor's honeysuckle bush, this Fringe Tree in my front yard is delightful.
My new Spinner.. he's out in the front too. I have a little island with a couple of small trees and some hosta.. and some Snow-on-the-Mountain. I also plant geraniums after the tulips are done. We had to take out one little tree that died.. so I thought it would be a good place for my new Robin. You should see his wings go when the slightest breeze blows by. This was a Christmas gift from a lovely friend. ☺I love spinners!

We also love to sit on the deck in the back. Our yard is partially fenced in, and it's so private and quiet back here. We were having our brunch here this morning and Mr Attic asked me if I got a picture of the Irises. So I ran in and got the camera. This is the first year they've really bloomed here in this new spot in front of the Burning Bush.. so pretty to look at from where we sit.. (never mind that garbage can! My back yard.. and everything out here is kinda scrappy.. like my quilts. ☺)

Then I decided to show you the Blueberries. My daughter and I planted them last year.. they have a lot of blossoms, and some have already started to turn to tiny berries. So exciting.

And this is a new Raspberry bush we just planted. I found this little bamboo thingy yesterday at the close-out store.. to hold it up.
And if you were reading here a year ago.. you might remember that I thought I killed my daisies..? Well.. I didn't! Yippee!

And I thought I'd show you this old birdbath. It's been here forever. But lately I've noticed it's been a "bee bath" more than birds for some reason. Our neighbors just got some Honey Bee hives, and I have been noticing a lot more of the little buzzing creatures on my flowers.. they also love getting a drink in the birdbath.

It simply has been so nice out.. I'm not getting anything done indoors. But I'll try to have something more textile oriented in the next post.

Hope you're having a lovely spring!..(or fall if that's the case) ☺

This is a holiday weekend in the USA, Memorial Day.. and there is a parade that goes right in by our house. Lots of people stop and sit here to watch it.. and we never have to leave our front steps.

Florida Visit

My Dad has been up visiting from Florida for a few days last week. He drove himself up, and we thought it would be nice for me to drive him down as it is around 1300 miles, plus I really wanted to spend a few days with him in Florida. It's been a couple years since I've been there.

The drive was absolutely gorgeous through the mountains of West Virginia and Virginia..


There was one place where we actually climbed so high that we were in the clouds..

And the grades were very steep. It was necessary to have "run away truck ramps".. where they could pull off and get stopped by going back up the mountain. We saw many places like this..

The Carolina's were beautiful too. I wish I would have tried to take pictures of the poppies and cone flowers growing all along the highway there.. it was stunning. I looked it up HERE and learned that LadyBird Johnson was responsible for these beautiful fields of wild flowers.

We stopped overnight in Macon Georgia, where my youngest son lives. Had a really nice visit with him and he took me out for pizza that evening. Macon is such a cute town.. I love it there. Saw this mural painted on one of the buildings there so I snapped a picture..

Then the next morning we continued on to Florida. This is the little community where my dad lives. It isn't near the coast.. but they have a little fishing lake..

And it is definitely Florida. The first morning I was there I took these pictures as the sun was just coming up..

Dad lives on one of the back corners next to some thick vegetation and a little creek. This is his back yard..

He has a couple of small fish ponds, and has built little bridges across them. He also loves feeding and taking pictures of the birds. ☺

Here is his Kumquat tree.

I don't really like to eat them, but they are sure pretty.

One of the days we took a tour of Echo. It is an Agricultural training center and experimental plant nursery that works towards ways of feeding hungry people of the world. I really can't explain it all and do it justice, but you can read about it HERE. Dad volunteers at this place, so he took me around and showed me things. I met these little guys (anoles) along the pathway.

And this fellow was just getting ready to crow..

I didn't really get to do any shopping.. so no quilt shops. Plus I was flying home.. and couldn't really take much back with me..

....this beautiful sunset was outside the plane window coming into Pittsburgh Airport..

...but this was waiting for me when I walked in the door. ☺I completely had a weak moment last week and put in an order in at Whittles.

No plans for this yet.. but I'm sure I'll think of something! And oh.. I got lots of compliments on my bag.. so I was HAPPY I had made it.

I spent today just catching up on things here.. so I'll try to make it for a visit soon...

All My Bags Are Packed..

I've been having such a fun time with my dad who is up from Florida to visit. No time at all though for visting all my blog friends. :-(
We are leaving early tomorrow, I am going with him to Florida for a couple of days to visit his place, and to share the drive down. Then I'll fly home Sunday night. So all my bags are packed.

I realized I did not have a new cute summer bag, so made this one up today. Actually I cut it out last night and sewed the strips.. then finished it this morning.

I'm really happy with it. Nanette's wonderful "Mixed Bag", and this bag made by my new friend Xue from Tokya inspired me to sew the strips of fabric and quilt them. It really was quick and easy to make!

Many of the fabric samples came from my blog friends.. (do you recognize any? ☺).. and there are a couple Japanese prints that I ordered last year. I think this is such a FUN way to showcase small bits of special fabrics!

But anyways.. I'll have limited computer access for a few days... so won't be able to answer comments or emails, unless I can find someone to loan me a laptop.. but I'll catch up with everyone next week!

Some Rummage Sale Finds Today

Each year, sometimes twice a year, one of the big churches up the street holds a rummage sale. I am always one of the first in line, and usually find all sorts of treasures.. I'm sure I've shown you them before. Well today they were holding it so I went up. And thought I'd share my glee with you ☺ This could also double as a Vintage Thingies Thursday post because probably most of the items are considered that.

Remember this? The Spirograph? I remember getting this once for Christmas when I was a girl, and spending hours and hours making the designs. All the little circles and pieces are there except the pens.. (which never really worked well anyways).. and the box was marked a quarter. A gleeful moment!

LOVE the graphics on the box.

I had added that Spirograph on my way out.. but the first room to visit was the craftroom. Not a whole lot this year.. but somebody had cleaned out their cupboard full of trims..

This bag of embroidery floss was the most expensive thing I got. But lots of nice colors!

And I couldn't resist this yarn. Been seeing so much crocheting of granny squares lately.. maybe I'll do something with it. And I thought this was such a pretty shade of blue. Love the lady on the wrapper too..

Lots of scraps of sparkly trims.. I could have used stuff like this when I was making the Christmas Cottage blocks..

And how about this Dutchy looking stuff!?

Ric Rac. Hope you're not all tired of me showing my ric-rac finds. But the best part about these packages are the prices. Hope you can see them all. ☺especially the ones marked "free".

This one was my favorite.. simply because of the package!

There was not much fabric. I did grab a stack of scraps with mostly cheap Christmas novelty prints.. but this one was tucked in between.. and it is what actually caught my eye. anything with girls and flowers is good.

And the last thing from the sale.. these little nakie beauties. I had to wrap them in the first thing I saw to take their picture..

Wish I would have thought to scooch the fabric up so you could see their adorable shoes. Hope I can get around to making them something to wear. I have tons of patterns to make clothes for dolls like these. They are from the 1950's and 60's.

Anyways.. I've been working on my plants all week. Here are some hanging baskets Mr Attic picked out for me to hang on the porch. I thought he did a terrific job! I see the Buckeye horsechestnut tree is starting to bloom!

I got some geraniums planted, but none of them have flowers yet so I'll show them later. And a pot of pansies..

The lavender seeds Melanie sent are just starting to pop up too. I tried for a picture.. but they were still so tiny my camera could not find them. I'll try for those later as well.

And my Lily-of-the-Valley is just starting to bloom. I only have one stalk with flowers.. but there are some more stalks starting to spread around.. so I hope next year there are more.

Think I will head out before it rains and see if I can get some more plants in. My dad is coming up from Florida for a week.. so I will be super busy. ☺ Can't wait to see him!

Hope you are all getting some nice weather, or some nice creative time. See you soon!