Hey everyone! I need my blog mojo back. I’m hoping we can catch up together, since my last post, and once again I’ve got the pics to prove I thought about blogging, just never got to the loft to post on my computer. I’ve got a cup of green tea by me and ready to visit with you!
This was the scene just ten days after my last post. Yes, mother nature remembered we didn’t really have a winter and finally gave us a beautiful snowfall. February is still good for a good snowstorm and goodness knows we needed the moisture after two years of drought.
You know me, I love snow and it was depressing I couldn’t “play” in it this year. It’d only been five months since my back surgery and I wasn’t able to get out there and help clean up, build a snowman, or just pop hubby with a good snowball. hehe But it was pretty coming down. 
Hubby was plowing our driveway and taking some wonderful pictures for me to share with you.
Before he plowed this was what the driveway looked like with the cedars heavy with snow. Always looks so magical after a snowfall doesn’t it? 
When it’s chilly out, snow on the ground, doesn’t it make you think “time to bake something wonderful”? It did me but of all times the oven finally decided it was time to die. Stove semi worked but the oven was finished. Desperate times called for desperate measures, or something like that, and I found a dense chocolate cake to make in the crock pot. Yes, it had to be chocolate!
And when served, hot warm from the crock pot with vanilla ice cream it was heavenly. We couldn’t get over what an awesome dense chocolate cake it was. Full of semi sweet chocolate chips too I might add. Yum! About now that would go great with my cup of tea. Another new favorite from the crock pot was fruit cobblers made with pie filling.
You never realize how much you use an oven until it’s gone. Not only baking but cooking meals. I had to rethink what to make cooking on a stove for dinner. Talk about getting creative! But a few weeks later the new stove arrived and it was amazing to realize how long I must have baked/cooked with an oven that was malfunctioning. Those of you that know me well can imagine my first meal with the new stove. Yup, a pot of homemade sauce with my garlicy meatballs and homemade foccacia! The bread being one of the most important parts of the meal. Comfort food!! Breakfast the next day were my chocolate chip muffins. More yum!
March and April brought us ice storms. It seemed like every couple of weeks it was warm days with the promise of spring and then more of Winter. At one point I know it was both snow and ice. Our red bud tree never bloomed after one of these ice storms. I thought I’d lost all the flowers at one point. 
March was also a fun month as my Guild had a retreat at Maple Memories in McPherson. These are always so much fun. Great comraderie, wonderful meals prepared by Marietta and Connie (neither have a blog), and stitching from Monday afternoon to Wednesday noon. I managed to finish up a Blackbird Design piece for my Bird Block Exchange. Yes I’ve actually been stitching some too. And started BBD’s May Basket while there which is almost finished but it’s been set aside for a bit with finishing up a RR piece. Five of us are doing LaDDa’s Live Laugh Love. It’s a fun Round Robin. 
Luckily nature was good to us even if she couldn’t figure out her hot and cold flashes as I had some gorgeous lilacs and irises this time around. We had snow in April and yes even early May! We’re pretty certain now it’s Spring for sure as we had the Spring storms to prove it this past weekend. 
With the warmer weather I’ve been spending alot of time on my front porch. I have a stitching spot with table and chairs that just happens to be by an electrical socket for my table top magnifying light! The picture of my outdoor stitching spot was taken earlier in the year on a warm day as I worked on finishing up my model. And the other side of the porch beckons to snuggle with a book and read. The songs of different birds, hammering of the woodpeckers, gobbling of the wild turkeys, and occasional deer stepping out to eat or coyote running through in the early morning mist add a peacefulness to the porch. In the evening watching a sunset with the hooting of the owls is magical made even more special when we see them fly by in search of their night time adventures. Hubby and I like to take breakfast out on the porch during weekends and dinner on the deck in the evenings to enjoy the nice weather before the heat of summer. 
Speaking of stitching a few paragraphs above, I had joined in on a Mystery Exchange that was so much fun. The partner I had loved Spring and Bunnies. I stitched up this cute bunny freebie, it had to be something she didn’t have yet because Nita owns every bunny chart there is I think, and added some little extras as well. She loved it and hadn’t seen that freebie as yet. Mission accomplished. And while I’m sharing that pic I’ll also add BBD’s Dear Friend that I finally finished and had framed. Love the antique feel to this frame. 
My cup of tea is long gone. I managed to overload on pics but so wanted to share what’s been happening. I left you with a teaser on my porch stitching of a model which hopefully will be releasing later this week. Can’t wait to share that pic with you. It’s A Prairie Schoolgirl’s Sampler and would make a nice companion piece to A Prairie Girl’s Sampler. Thanks for the visit and enjoy your evening! I leave you with a picture of Hunter, who if you remember was the miracle cat that survived, looking robust and healthy. Until later. . . 
Stitching, tea and me 