Hi Dear Blogger Friends!
my front garden
Gosh it's been a while! There's lots of catching up to do!
Since I returned from Charleston, SC so many things have been going on I've had to attend to it was hard to sit long enough to write ~ termite and ant party in my house come to think of it you don't want to know!
It was a wonderful trip to South Carolina!
Charleston is one of my favorite places and to be there with Pat,
then my precious parents when the girls left ...well it was heaven!
with beautiful statues...
and alligators...
and roots that form cool formations.
We wrote in the sand...
ate at outdoor cafes...
we went to graveyards..
..
and peeked down garden gates.
This is my parents condo where we stayed....
and the porch where we sat late in the starry night talking.
Pat forgot to bring a project to stitch so I gave her mine to work on...
see her pretty bullions and garland of silk flowers.
Dawn and I worked on the kumihimo that Pat taught us to do.
That's a whole different blog post but folks ~ it's so much fun!!!
My first one was a disaster ~
Once I got the hang of it I couldn't stop!!!
The funny thing was we hardly talked about crazy quilting at all.
It was much more like catching up with a friend I had known all my life, sharing the deeper things and baring our souls.
It was one of the nicest times I have ever had and here's to lifetime of similar adventures Patsy Girl!!!
When I got home after almost two weeks, Teddy was full of dirty looks as I gardened and mowed...
and redid my garden to look like a Charleston garden.
I painted these mahogany benches from Mom....
got in a little pickle trying to drive a new addition to my garden home in my convertible.
Hey I promised Frank I'd only buy ONE thing and I did ~ one big thing ~ lol!
I pictured Frank and I sharing coffee on week-end mornings here but truth be told...
it's Teddi who sits across from me and stares deep in my eyes as I stitch here...
waiting for his treat.
This is my garden looking down from my front yard.
As you can see, we live on hilly terrain!
My first week end home I found this gorgeous Gwen Pennington hat from 1952 for $10.00 at a tag sale ~ those are the same vintage millinery leaves I get from Tinsel Trading!
I was in New York City the following week for an appointment with Dr Braverman and found this beautiful display of tulips near his office at Fifth Ave near Park in Madison Square Park
The striking red is a huge "fence" made of rope!
My dear friend Lori Weiss was visiting the city from L.A. so we met at the rooftop eatery 230 Fifth
and took in the amazing view!
We were wrapped in the red robes they provide to stay warm ~ what fun!
Grama and Mom
Vintage Forget Me Not print with Grama's pin
Grama and Grandad pregnant with Mom
These photo's are sideway ~ sorry!
My beautiful babies came over for a yummy brunch my daughter Ashley made ~
This is Cheri who is pregnant with my first granddaughter Juliana Lee and my son Franky
My daughter Jaci and I climbed a tree at White Flower Farm.
and Jaci
and Mom ~ my Mom...sending me flowers on Mother's Day :)
Ya know the repo. Blue Ball jars lots of the bloggers have been talking about?
I found a case of 6 for $10.00 at a local store. They had these jar covers for straws for just $1.69.
I stuffed some of my hand dyed seam binding in here and it worked great when I need a piece of ribbon in a hurry!
This was much less expensive than what they are charging on the Blue Ball web site when you figure shipping, if you have Christmas Tree Shops in your area ~ that's where they have them.
A little obsession Pat (Pat's fairy garden) and I have gotten ourselves into is Fairy Gardens!
It seems we were both picking up bits and pieces for each other without knowing ~
This is my Gnome Garden ~
that is Pat's bike to the right ~ her fairy came for a visit and hasn't left yet ;)
This is the Fairy Garden...
isn't this the dearest little fairy!
She's grown a garden of seashells ~ see the one under the cloche?
Can you see the chandelier hanging to the left?
I have this garden in my favorite Wolfe Pottery.
I've been spending days, make that weeks getting my garden in order.
Do you remember the Victoria Garden furniture by Martha Stewart that was at KMart back in the 1990's? Yup that's mine ~ my 26 year old daughter helped me carry it down to the back and she was in middle school then!
Well new patio furniture isn't in the budget and the replacement cushions for this set would have cost almost $450.00!
Pretty nasty huh?
Holy Mole' Miss Molly! It was my exact furniture that she
I was all hung up on using the same style cushions but she used just the bottom cushion and it looked great! (check out the link to her blog)
I went right out and found this AWESOME spray paint! Oil Rubbed Bronze Spray ~ I LOVE this color.
Everything metal in my garden ~ head's up I'm coming for you!
Look how pretty this color came out. I lightly sanded and wiped clean...then sprayed right over the rust.
I bought these cushions on sale at Walmart for $14.99...
...and these at The Christmas Tree Shop for $14.99.
They only had these four, that's why I got different ones for the love seat.
Before
After
I am so happy with the results ~ three cans of spray paint at $7.99 each and seven cushions at $14.99.
The accent pillow were $4.99 for a Grand Total of approx. $140.00.
It feels like a new patio set and I think it has several more good years left!
I've been carrying this plastic basket divider all over the garden and house so I can stitch when I sit for a bit.
It actually works out kind of nice ~ I have a separate tray to work on but I like having a lot of supplies in front of me even if I'm not going to use them.
The colors and texture somehow inspire me ~ look at Pat's pretty ribbons in there!
This is the block Pat and I worked on in SC.
Nicki Lee gave me the fabrics and lace for my birthday so this is a really special block I will treasure!
These are three different pouches I am working on ~ one at a time might be easier but sometimes I'm in a pink mood, sometimes lavender....green...
This is a little pouch I made for my Mom's acupuncturist in SC.
Dr Lea Krier is amazing!
This was a tiny ragged strip of my daughter's friends wedding dress.
I made this flower for her to use for her daughter's christening headband.
Frank and I having fun after a concert with Pete and Brenda.
I told them to just pretend they were talking to someone and not to pose and Brenda immediately put her hand out ~ she's a politician so this picture just cracks me up!
One more picture ~ this is my grandchild dog Jayke ~ what's so funny don't your dogs wear nylons?
I am doing lots of cool redo's in my house this month...laundry room where my bathroom closet is, wall of closets in my bedroom, new entryway and front door.
I'll be back soon with lot's of idea's, pictures....can't WAIT to share with you!!!
WAIT~ STOP~ Hold the presses!!!!
Have you checked out the latest issue of
Don't miss it!!!!
