Block of the Month - May

The last day of May will come early in the morning so I’m jumping the gun and posting my Hop-to-It Block for May.

From my Garden---- this is the block to remind me of my Blueberry Bushes. When I pulled the wool pieces I kept grabbing a red and a pink… But I kept putting them back….It’s about the blueberries.

My new blueberry plants added to the garden.

The difference one month can make. My garden is planted. A row of perennials has been added. I still have to gather stones to line the edges.

The front flower bed is almost full of impatients . Maybe tomorrow evening after work it will be completed.

The Bleeding hearts seem to tell me that winter has been put on hold for a while.

I found this old chair at a junk store--- five bucks. It’s going to hold a basket a flowers real soon.

Something to Talk about…..

Don’s home. He’s been out of town for three weeks. I’m not a whiner, but that’s a long time. The Garden is not planted, but it’s not his fault. The weather has been horrendous. We’ve even had three deep freeze warnings. The Old timers always tell you not to plant until after Memorial day--- I see why this year.

I’ve bought flower baskets for the front and back porch--- which I have continued to haul in at night religiously to protect “my investment”. When I was potting geraniums into pots I looked at the front door and knew it needed something.

I remembered a project I had purchased on a whim because Mary told me I needed the year’s worth of coupons and the free projects that went with “Any Purchase”. So--- with the longer daylight hours I sat on the porch with fabric and scissors at the table and put my welcome sign together. It’s from the Summer Gatherings Book by Lisa Bongean. I bought it in the dead of winter--- confident there would be a season of flowers again.

A three day weekend ahead…. Maybe that garden will finally get planted. We’ve got a grad party to go to and three days of sleeping in.

Garden Watch 2011

I have had all week to be downstairs in my sewing room quilting up a storm and I just haven’t. We’ve been plagued with thunderstorms that have knocked out power two separate days. Growing up in Louisiana this was a normal occasion, but it’s been twenty years since power has been lost due to rain around here.


Sunday evenings are spent rounding up some hand sewing to work on in the evenings. The days are longer and the pups keep the screen door banging as they bounce from outside to in. My garden quilt is pieced and my Hop to It block is done. I decided to pull out an old project.

My Primitive Garden project was designed by Lisa Bongean. All the blocks are completed. I’m not great at needle-turn appliqué. I exhaled after the blocks were complete ---but got completely discouraged with the border packages came in.

A few month ago Chelsey and I were playing downstairs and she pulled it out, “Mom, you really need to finish this….” Well, Sunday night I pull it out and prepped a border. I’ve been stealing moments working on it here and there this week. It’s not as hard as it was a few years ago. This may be the summer to finish it.

Garden watch 2011 continues.

She’s been tilled. I think next week may be the week to get her rowed up and planted. We have two days of freezing nightly temps but later in the week it’s supposed to be gorgeous. After a week of rain, I’m ready.

Last week I really needed something to babysit. Tired of winter, I found these perennials on sale. Yes, I’m toting them in and out and watering them—But it keeps me from planting that garden too early.

Last Monday I purchased vegetable seeds… I just have to be patient. I did the Wal-mart run yesterday evening – so after a run with the pups…. The rest of the day is for fun.

Gratitudes:
my new love Vege-pizza
Hostas faithfully returning after winter
A New Apple Pie Candle

Mother's Day

It's Mother's Day--- My first Mother's Day without my kids.  A funny feeling.  I turned down three dinner invitations... not out of melancholy moods... just because I wanted to have a day to reflect on all the Mothers' Days in the past. 

I had kicked around going to Appleton for the day, but this is truly one of my favorite holidays teaching Sunday School.  We plant flowers for our moms in terracotta pots-- trying to get more dirt in the pots than ourselves.  We discuss in great detail the wonderful things about our mothers and why they are such a gift to each of us.  This year's comments ranged from-'She makes me macaroni and cheese' to ' she reaches for things I can't get to..." I wouldn't want to miss it.

Here's my mother's day gift to myself:

I had two clay pots left over from church along with a handful of petunias.

I've been running the pups in the woods early in the mornings because it's been below forty degrees and it keeps the wood ticks at bay.  I ran them this morning and came home with four hitchhikers crawling on me.  I swear I have felt bugs all day.  So needless to day-- for about the next ten weeks we'll be walking the side of our winding road.  I did a practice run this evening and laughed at how we've had 3 days about sixty degrees and the snow blowers have been tucked away and the tillers for the gardens have come out of storage.--- Yep - My garden got tilled as well, but we've got a week's forecast full of rain.  Maybe in a couple of weeks we'll be able to plant.

I'm off to set up some hand sewing for the week and read my books.  Enjoy was is left of the day.

Gratitudes:

Telephones that link us close to our Moms---- and kids.

The furnace is off and the screen door open.

A pot of vegetable soup simmer for this week's lunches