A rainy Saturday. . .

It might be a rainy day but I had to share this picture I took of Jacqui and her Mama recently.  They’re both so beautiful.  When I saw them “together” I thought it was a great opportunity to catch mother and daughter in one shot.

Rain is such a soothing sound.  There’s been so much thunder and lightning lately that this very instant is nice, just the simple sound of rain. . .   What a perfect day to just sit and stitch.  I dropped off one model at the framers this week so I will have a new release to share with you very soon.  Hoping to finish another model in the next few days. 

Zack is doing great and I hear he’s such a good baby.  Gavin turned one last week.  And last weekend Callie was in a dance recital!  If I get any pictures I’ll share them!!  Liann, my stepdaughter, went to Bethel College’s Music Camp the first week of June for the third year, she really looks forward to this camp, and is currently at a Chamber Music Camp.  I’m hoping she’s having an incredible experience with all the extraordinary musicians at IWU.  While we were dropping her off we heard a faculty concert that was phenomenal!  We told her to be a sponge while experiencing this music camp.  I’ll let you know after she gets home! 

The wheat was harvested in the fields on each side of us.  My plan was to take a picture of the combine cutting the wheat but totally forgot my intentions when it was finally happening.  Oh well, a post for next year then.  Once harvest is over the golden stubble will be plowed under and in September the new winter wheat will be planted. 

I’m leaving you with a picture of pure relaxation and sleep.  Wouldn’t it be great being able to be this comfortable? 

This is Hunter! His mama and brother are napping at the base of this big flower pot!  Can you even imagine being so sound asleep? 

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend! 

My grandson has arrived!!!

Just had to share that my grandson, Zack Ryan, arrived Monday, June 9th, at 8:25 a.m. EST!  He is 6 lbs 14 oz and 19″ long!! 

Mommy and baby are doing great! 

His Daddy already calls him “laid back Zack”.  Derek said they had to wake Zack up for a feeding!  Sleepy little guy!

My son told me when Zack’s big sister Callie, who turned 4 in March, came into the hospital room she walked right over to him and said “He’s out?!!!!  He’s so cute and fragile!”  Then she reached out and touched him.  That is such a cute story!

Here’s Mommy, my DIL Heather, with Zack’s brother Gavin who’ll turn one this month on the 17th.  Funny story about Gavin is that he was taking everything in stride according to Derek until he looked over and saw him holding Zack.  He said the look read “who are you and what are you doing in my Daddy’s arms?” 

And here’s another cute shot of Zack sleeping in Mommy’s arms.  I am so excited!!  Can’t wait to go visit them and see my grandbabies!!  Thanks for stopping by to visit!

Had to share this piece with you. . .

 

Pam W sent me a pic of her completed Spot of Halloween over one!!  She left it at the framers so I’ll add her framed picture to the gallery when she sends it to me!  Pam used Fire by Sugar Maple 25ct lugana and it is so sparkly.  Very pretty!!  Thanks for sharing it with me and allowing me to share it with everyone else. 

Here are the columbines, wanted to share how the flowers have just taken over my shady garden.

Well back to stitching on my model that is just about finished.  Looking forward to sharing this one with you.  Hope everyone has a great evening and thanks for stopping by!! 

 

 

Wishes for you. . .

Wishing everyone a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend!  Enjoy your family and friends!!  Make sure to take some time for yourself to stitch.  I have a goal of finishing up a model for a new release.  Take care everyone! 

Happy Monday!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!  We did alot of yard work and even got to ride last night!  The columbines are really beautiful this year.  I took several pictures of different areas blooming in the yard and thought I’d share them with you.

So many stunning colors in the columbine garden!  I’m still waiting to see the hummingbird moths now that the columbine are in bloom.  Hubby said one landed on  him the other evening.  I was hoping to see them myself yesterday evening but I didn’t catch a single glimpse of one! 

You can see the columbine just wrap around my little shade garden along with the hostas, daylilies, bleeding hearts, and coral bells.

The roses that wrap around the deck are so fragrant and plentiful.  When I was at the Botanica on Mother’s Day I noticed they had the same roses and the sign said they were English Roses. 

This is the view from the dining area overlooking the deck with the roses and the pasture. Ras is at the back gate in this shot.  It overlooks the woods and is very peaceful.

The peonies are definitely starting to open up!  They are beneath the window in the dining area and you can smell their fragrance wafting through.  So pretty! 

This is pretty much the last of the iris.  I couldn’t resist cutting them last night to enjoy them.  Actually was pretty surprised I had another color other than the purple!  It was a nice treat to find these behind the cedars.  They smell heavenly.

I leave you with a picture of a sweet doe that was munching on bushes and grass.  She was actually in our backyard the other day but by the time I grabbed the camera she was wandering behind the horses’ pasture. 

Enjoy your day!

 

Happy Mother’s Day!

We took Vince’s Mom and Dad to the Wichita Botanica Gardens for Mother’s Day!  What an incredibly inspiring place.  I wanted to share some of it with you. 

These are azaleas on the woodland walk.  Probably one of my favorite areas in the Botanica.

In the same wooded area is this gorgeous brook they’ve created filled with azaleas, hostas, and various other plantings amid tumbling water over rocks.  Soothing. . .

The peonies were in full bloom at Botanica and what a riot of color.  Just stunning.

Vince got an awesome shot of a bee in this gorgeous peach colored peony.  Such a fragrant shrub. 

None of us had ever seen a yellow peony so I just had to share this pretty flower with you.

These cranes are one of many eye catching statues scattered throughout the Botanica. 

This area full of iris, pansies, and water flowing past was right down the path from the cranes. 

One of the last shots I’ll share is this pretty flower that I must research to find out what it is.  I took this picture off the beaten path. 

My day at the Botanica made me want to go play in dirt!  I have some spiria bushes to plant this week and need to find some moss roses.  Maybe tuck a begonia or two in some spots.  Hope everyone’s Mother’s Day was special. 

Flowers and Friends. . .

 

The lilacs are blooming, the irises are happily swaying in the breeze and everything is green.  Today I saw I have columbine starting to bloom.  Roses too!!  The bleeding heart has some flowers and the shade garden is really coming together.  Peony should be in full bloom any day now. . .

This is a picture of our iris patch in the front yard.  I love irises and these are so fragrant.

The lilac next to the front porch was very nice this year.  Another beautiful fragrance that hits you when you step outside.  

 

I had to share my Betty Ann dollie with you.  She looks just like she is off a covered wagon going through the Flint Hills.  Made for me by my friend Betty of primitivebettys.  Her apron says “friend”, I love it Betty, thank you.  Betty Ann looks so at home on my desk’s shelf along with Stacy Nash’s  pretty Robin Pinkeep and the Quaker Box I made at Stitch Camp!  That was such a fun project by the gals from Blackbird Designs and a pinkeep to go along with it.  There is a cross stitch piece that sits on the bottom of the box, but it’s not quite done yet.  When it is I’ll upload a picture of it.  Hmmmm, still have to tell you all about stitch camp.  It’s been a very busy three weeks. 

Pam W shared her Quaker Row finish that I uploaded to the gallery.  The piece and framing turned out beautiful.  The frame definitely looks old.  What a great job Pam!!!  And thanks for sharing the picture with us!!

Ending this with a picture of Momma Cat with her four babies.  They are so cute.  And they are so round!  I am guessing she is taking really good care of them. 

Thanks everyone for stopping by!!

 

Added another pict to the Gallery

I just uploaded Kathleen D’s Dragonfly Sampler on the Gallery Page.  She stitched it in a gorgeous mauve thread on the palest of mauve fabric.  Thank you so much Kathleen for emailing me the jpeg.  We ran into each other at Stitch Camp a couple of weekends ago and I asked Kathleen to share her finished Dragonfly for the Gallery!  Turned out beautiful. 

And yes, I am aware I haven’t posted my Stitch Camp report nor pictures - yet!  Will try and remedy this over the weekend.  Sorry for the delay but it’s been so busy with the Online Needlework Show shipping.

Am off on the Heartland HOP tomorrow.  Visiting five shops in the Kansas City area beginning with the Sunflower Seed in Topeka KS, Stitch On Needlework Shop in Lawrence KS, Old Mill in Liberty MO, CC’s and Co in Blue Springs MO and Two the Point in Overland KS.  Should be a fun HOP and the freebie sampler to collect this year has a Halloween theme!   You can see a picture of the one offered at Sunflower Seed on Kathy’s blog.  The other shops have wild card blocks that you can interchange on this sampler. Sharon H is currently on her flight from North Carolina to do the HOP with Sharyn R and myself.  It’s going to be a fun day!!

On that note I’m off on errands and then pick up Sharon H from the airport.  Have an awesome day everyone and thanks for stopping by!!

 

 

 

Online Needlework Show!

I wanted to thank everyone that stopped by Midnight Stitching at the Needlework Show!  And many thanks for all the orders!!

I had three door prize winners. . . drum roll please. . .  Melissa Senter, Mary Jo Sidwell-Murphy, and Sandie Bonczyk .   Congratulations!!  Thanks for signing up for a door prize!!  Charts are on their way ladies!  If you can remember, please send me a picture of the finished piece so that I can post it in my Gallery!

I am grateful for all the kind comments and encouragement from both stitchers and shops.  Thank you!   

So much to catch up on!

Hey everyone! I’ve been both busy and remiss in posting.  Let’s brew a cup of tea and visit! 
 

Hope Spring has actually stopped and stayed with all of you.  Since I last posted it has stormed, hailed (to the point of having a white lawn in the morning and the kids thought it had snowed), severe thunder storms, very high winds and just cool temps except for a couple of days here and there.  That’s the hail picture I took about 12:30 a.m. two days after I last posted!!  What extreme weather that night!!

Tuesday evening I enjoyed three deer in the backyard just grazing and wandering towards the wheat field. On Wednesday I heard hooting at the loft window and looked out to find the Great Horned Owl just sitting there and calling out. Wow, so magnificent! It flew off to perch on the owl tree along the road with another big owl. Alot of wild turkey activity too lately. My birds have been abundant and I’m just enjoying all the wildlife activity.

We’ve had alot of music activity as well.  The kids had HS concerts to ready them for the competitions (so in one evening we had Bethel College Wind Ensemble rehearsals for DH, HS Orchestra Concert, HS Band Concert, and HS Wind Ensemble Concert).  Liann, who plays cello, did her Regional Solo Competition last Saturday and got a ONE!  Yea!!  This means she goes to State on the 26th.  She played the Sonata in G Minor by Eccles.  HS Orchestra got a one as well when they went to competition on Wednesday.
 

Midnight Stitching is in the Online Needlework Show!  I’ve had some very kind comments about my designs and it’s been busy on the page!  So excited about this show.  Alot of stitchers commented in their door prize emails that they’ve not seen my designs before so this is great exposure. 

I finished another page on the RR I’m a part of.  Just one more page to go.  This has been such a fun piece to do with my stitching friends.  Here’s Lavon’s page I finished!  Think her thread choice was so pretty to work with, Hummingbird Wings by Soy Luster. Next to stitch on Sue’s block.

And here’s my last piece of exciting news. I will be leaving shortly for Heart’s Desire’s Stitch Camp! I’ve never been to a stitch retreat so really looking forward to this one. Heart’s Desire is my LNS and such a wonderful shop. Blackbird Designs will be doing our class tomorrow. I love their designs so this makes the camp extra special. Planning to take their Thank you, Sarah Tobias book with me because I have a pincushion from there all kitted together. And the last Loose Feathers too just in case. Wish I could bring my model and stitch on it but that wouldn’t be a good idea. I can’t even imagine having this much time to be able to stitch and chat. Will let you know how it was!!

On that note I’d best go pack and grab my stitching. Just a few quick errands I have to run and then start the two hour drive to the camp! Everyone have an awesome weekend and thanks for stopping by!!