I Like Thursday: May 10, 2018

Happy Thursday!  

Spring is in full bloom here and we are enjoying more outside time!

How are you doing this morning?

We've had a busy week.  Scout met a new friend, Ginger.  

She is a poodle about Scout's size!

 There was a lot of playing around.  Ginger could be a little rough.

 But Scout held her own😄

This is our special friend Carol.  Carol is my neighbor and accomplice in fabric accumulation.  

She has had a special relationships with all my dogs and especially Scout.  Carol babysits Scout these days while I am out lecturing.  On Tuesday, Carol was binding a quilt while hanging with Scout.  Typical poodle, Scout made herself comfortable on what she considered was a new bed:

I had two bookings for my sunbonnet program this season.  The program is one of my most popular and keeps the audience engaged and laughing.  Anyway,  it got me in the mood to embroider.  It also doesn't hurt that my shoulder is doing better in this warm weather.  No matter how many years I do a program, I'm always adding or tweeking it.  I like this piece.  It's a wallhanging I call it Swing into Spring!  

The border fabric is an old Hoffman fabric (no name on the selvage) but I love it.  I can't even begin to count all the projects I've used that fabric.

It's beautiful outside right now but we are expecting a rainy weekend.  I need to get into the garden while I can.  Have a wonderful day!

Link up to LeeAnna for more positive posts!

Finished and handed in

Camp Erin quilts were turned into my guild last week.  

 Terri Trotter did the machine quilting.  Look at the magnifying glass pattern she used for the I-spy quilt!

 These were fun!  I have a second I-spy to take to Terri that I'll donate to the local children's cancer center.

I like Thursday: May 3, 2018

Greetings and I hope you are having a wonderful spring!  Today is the neighborhood edition of Leeanna's "I like Thursday" posts.  You can read more posts and get more good energy by visiting LeeAnna here.

We've been doing a lot of walking and while we were disconnected, I took a lot of photos to show why I like my neighborhood.  I didn't really want to move her 21 years ago; my husband said this was always his dream home so here we are and I've learned to love my little community.

I love the interesting architectural features of the homes here.  Many of the older homes were built in the early 1900s:

Below: This is the place we refer to as the "castle" .  This is a view from the alley.  It has an interesting turret out front and we featured in an antique postcard:

The castle is the photographed in the center of the postcard.  It is now apartments and the tenants love the old architecture of the building.  Do you know what else is neat?  It has a courtyard in the center of the building, accessible only to the residents.

We may be a small city but we have something for everyone here.  

Mysterious grass alleys of yesteryear:

Do you have grass alleys where you live?

Parks!

Even some wooded areas to explore!

Best of all, we have great people living here!  We love our neighbors and many have become family! 

 No morning walk would be complete without Scout directing us to her "Nanny and Pap's" home!  And of course our friend Carol is a second Mom to Scout!  This is Nanny with her baby:

Many of our locals are quirky--and we like that.  Artists, antique dealers and people with an interesting perspective:

It's hot now, spring just bypassed us somehow so we are getting up early to do walking.  We just never know what we may find when we explore a "new to us" alley or street.  Like this beauty we found about a week ago.  Isn't it a lovely backyard?  It reminds me of Italy...

What's it like where you live?

Have a wonderful week!

I like Thursday. I'm ba-a-ack!

Greetings friends.  After many weeks of my cable/internet/and phone problems we are finally back online.  I'm still catching up with emails and blog posts so excuse me if I haven't been in touch!

Fortunately for me, it's the time of year when I'm so busy I'm barely using electronic devices so welcome to the garden edition of I like Thursday!!!

I like freshly mulched beds! 

I mulced the back yard last week and it looks so much better!

 

 I love windchimes in the garden.  

We might have a half dozen of them around the backyard.

 I love daffodils and this year is a bumper crop!

 The tulips are beginning to bloom!

I like that Scout now shares a trait with our first female dog.  She is a good squirrel hunter.  The squirrels are constantly ripping the bark off my trees, digging in flower pots, or trying to rip up my tulips.  All I have to say to Scout is "SQUIRREL!" and she goes running out to chase them away.  It is wonderful!  Scout is doing well except when she is making a mess while I'm making taking the shower.

Yes, we have to hide the toilet paper.

I ordered some perennials from Bluestone Perennials and I"m very satisfied with what I received.  This year I am adding pincushion flowers and sea holly to the garden and some irish moss as well.

I did get a lot done in the garden in the last few weeks which is wonderful because the tree pollen is falling now and that is one of my worst allergies.  

Anyway, I'm glad to be back online and hope to visit everyone's blog!

Have a wonderful week!

Experiencing Technical Difficulties

We are experiencing technical difficulties.  Will be blogging again once the situation is resolved.  In the meantime, be well and stay safe!

Happy Talk: April 5, 2018

It's "I like Thursday!"  Be sure to link up with LeeAnna!

What is there to like this week?  Well we had a wonderful Easter with family and friends and lots of good food and laughter.  I like bunnykins china and used them to serve small things on Sunday!

I like pansies!

I love Scout!

She makes me laugh with her antics!  She's young enough to find things very interesting yet and old enough to not be afraid of them.

She can make cleaning a bit challenging.

She gets herself into interesting dilemmas--like when she discovers her toy has become attached to her collar...

  Last summer my husband lined up our bookshelves with toys she had ripped open.  I've carried them upstairs to the sewing room.  Scout focuses on toy carnage while I sew!

Well we are preparing for more snow so I'm going to head to one of my favorite places--the farmer's market!  I'll stock up before the wintry weather returns!

Have a safe and happy week!

Mo' snow!

Saturday I walked Scout without a jacket.  Sunday was cooler until mid-afternoon when the temperature rose to 60F.  Today we woke to this:

It's a bit ironic.  Many of the local schools had lost their vacation day of Easter Monday in order to make up days lost because of the various storms we had.  Yes, some of the schools are closed today, others are on a delay.  I expect it will melt soon as most spring snow does.

I'm just grateful that it didn't snow yesterday.  We hosted Easter dinner and the weather would have ruined it a bit.  We had a lovely day full of friends and family and lots of laughter (and lots of eating).  Last night I looked at my husband and said, "Do you know what I'm doing on Monday?"  He laughed and said "Absolutely nothing!"

Scout is exhausted as well.  Greta the poodle also was here for the festivities and Scout really didn't know where to turn she was so excited by all the activities.  

I hope you had a wonderful holiday!  Have a great day!

Happy Easter and Passover!