Drink your tea!

A lot of smiling faces around here!

We've settled into a more "typical" Southern weather pattern - temperatures in the 40s and 50s.  This is perfect hiking weather, so we've been able to get out quite a bit.  Some nice discoveries, like this white-tailed deer jawbone...

...and many signs of spring.  Not only did the Eastern Towhees start singing their spring song this week, I see shoots coming up everywhere. 

I love going to the Botanical Garden this time of year to get ideas for "winter interest" plants, both those with color and those with interesting seed pods.

I've been moving along nicely on indoor projects.  I started a cross stitch weeks ago and have been slowly plugging away at it evenings.  I stitched on a water-soluble grid.

It washes away, leaving only the stitched image.

I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with it...make it into a pillow?  Frame it?  No rush.  I'll fold it away until I figure it out.

I finished my Farm Girl Sampler quilt!  It's hard to take a photo of the whole quilt, but...

Some pictures of the various sections:

I quilted 1" horizontal lines.  Since it's a little less densely quilted than my other quilts, it's wonderfully soft.  I absolutely love it and I'm so glad I went the extra mile to add those 100+ red gingham flying geese around the body of the quilt.  It really makes a difference! 

I've already picked out my next quilt and am just waiting for the fabric to arrive.

Meanwhile, I'm working on other little projects and enjoying the nice weather.  We all are, even though the cats pretend that it's still cold by curling up on quilts and hot water bottles.  They're a little bit spoiled.  :)

Have a great week!

Early Risers

It's a couple of weeks early, but we're getting some beautiful color outside now.  The trees are still bare and grasses are dormant, but many bulbs are starting to come up.

Daffodils...

 Hyacinths...

...and snowdrops are all showing their faces.

It's almost crocus time!

Strangely, many of our azaleas are budding out.  They really don't get going here until mid-March through April, so hopefully they don't all blaze out and wither prematurely.

 

I love seeing all the green.

I planted tons of muscari (grape hyacinth) and peonies, but the ground in front was so churned up by machines when our trees were felled, chopped, and carted away that I don't hold out hope that any survived.  Still, we have our "old faithfuls" in the helleborus:

Carolina Jessamine:

And, of course, camellias:

I don't mean to pick more flowers when I go out to take photos.  But they're so beautiful and plentiful, and those not picked just fall to the ground in a few days.

So I pick.

And every room, from late February to mid-May, is full of bouquets.  Big bouquets, small bouquets, single stems, whatever. 

I read a story about a famous gardener who regularly cared for over 60 bouquets in her house in spring, so at least I'm not the only one who's crazy for them! 

I've been too busy to do any crafting, but I did find time in the past two weeks to start and finish a mini-quilting project.  Eight wedges are sewn together separately and then pieced together.  I did make ONE mistake:  I used a white piece instead of tan.  Overall, though, I don't really notice it.

I decided to hang it over the back fireplace.  It blends in well, I think.  

I found more vintage craft books at a thrift store this weekend, so hopefully I'll have time soon to pull some design ideas from them.

Have a great week!

From Winter to...Summer?!?!

My computer is still not back from the repair shop, and I've got well over 1,000 photos on my camera from the past few weeks. I broke down and uploaded some of them onto Todd's computer. It's hard to believe that just over two weeks ago, we had snow on the ground!

But spring came rushing in, and...summer? It's going to be 91 degrees this week! The windows have all been thrown open. Tabitha spends her days on the windowsill, nose tilted into the breeze.

She's got some company there!

All at once, my crocuses came up.

The sudden heat shriveled them, but for a while, they were majestic.

I love crocuses.

My daffodils are blooming, too!

Weeks early, purple, pearly lilac buds are pushing through their enclosing green leaves.

All the hydrangeas are budding out.

Tulips are everywhere!

The mild winter means a surplus of insects this summer. This young mosquito must've hatched out recently. He's a young male - note the feathery antennae.

I ordered a little treat for myself to celebrate the warm days. It came two weeks ago.

The little brown package was tied up with string and accented with a little acorn...felted wool body and a little acorn hat! So cute!

Voila! Naturally-dyed, wool roving-covered rocks...embroidered with some of my favorite flowers. Morning glories, asters, and lilies of the valley were flowers that my grandmother grew in our little garden. I love having them around...they're so cheery.

I found a long wooden bowl at Goodwill ($2!) and stuffed them with moss. I carefully laid the rocks on top. Ahhhh...spring!

On a beautiful spring day recently, we were invited to attend a baptism. I couldn't resist making more cookies. More roses...

Crosses...

Perfect for the late-morning brunch!

I've become a total cookie addict this year!

Only about 1/3 of my photos uploaded on Todd's computer...it didn't take me long to fill up his hard drive! So most of my photos aren't available. But I was glad that the following ones did. Our business, Toy Chamber Collectibles, hit a real milestone! One morning, we were just a little eBay business with a 9,999 feedback score.

The next, 10,000! Woo hoo! Now we're members of the 'shooting star' club! :)

Hope you have a great week!