I found myself in the garden today warbling 'Summertime' in a voice not unlike the famed Kiri te Kanawa. Well OK, not that much like her, but the sun was shining, my step was light, the neighbours were out and the fish were jumping! No high-growing cotton - this the the north of England, after all.
I decided about 5 years ago that although I loved the idea of myself as a gardener, you know - worn old straw hat, tanned healthy features, sensible shoes, in fact I hated gardening, so I invested a small sum of money and had my little corner of England landscaped into an accessible, peaceful, stress free zone.
Here it is.....
See - the fish were actually jumpin'!
I have quite a bit of 'show and tell' for you. Mostly stitch related, a bit of dog, some stained glass and some amazing maths. I know!!! What can that be?
(Not sure what Blogger is doing this morning. This post might be problematic!)
Anyway, I am very enamoured of Stacy Nash designs at the moment and this is her Butternut Tavern.
I used the recommended GAST but linen from stock which was a little paler so needed to change Lexington Green which didn't show at all to Endive - which did.
My lovely friend Carmen Sutton made me a gift of My Name is Lidya, Stacy's latest book and if you haven't seen it, it is delicious and I am sorely tempted to begin something from it. I have always fancied a drum pincushion.......
Carmen also sent two of her unused projects by Lauren Sauer in the hope that my friend Anne and I might actually make them. Let me tell you Carmen, Secret Garden is on its way.
Then we have
H is for Honey by Prairie Schooler.
My sister Karen's friend lives in a cottage called Beehive and Karen asked me to make a door hanger for her so I chose this and adapted it for the purpose. I stitched it over one using DMC on a darkish 30 (I think) linen. It is quite small as you can see, only 7 cms ( just under 3 inches wide).
Had you forgotten about the amazing maths?
Well, here we go.
The little bee on the back measures 1 1/2 cms x 2 cms.
Stitch count 17 x 22. Therefore there are 374 cross stitches in it.
Each cross stitch requires 4 passes with the needle, making 1,496 stabs.
What do you think the recipient will say?
" Aw look. There's a bee on the back"
Oh, little do they know!
I have just discovered why Blogger is so different today. I normally use Blogpress, not Blogger.
Is that the men in white coats I hear marching purposefully up the path?
So, to press quickly on.
This is a very crumpled 'Diligence' by Scarlet letter. The border is finished as is all the lettering and I have just started the house. Then an urn with flowers and initials et finis!
Mmm better not celebrate just yet.
You haven't seen much of my dogs lately, but here here they are now.
Shush, quiet, or we will get nothing done!
Almost there now. A relief to a lot of you, I know.
After it took so very long to make the stained glass panel for my shower room, I decided to make some smaller items, like this dragonfly.
I gave this one to Anne for her birthday. I used to give her stitched things, but her stitching is so much better than mine now. Hey ho!
I am making butterflies to hang from the trees in my garden. They are simple and quick to make and I have about 5 foiled and ready to solder. Stained glass can be leaded or foiled. For smaller items, foiling is easier and is just as weatherproof as leading. You just wrap thin copper tape around each piece of glass and solder them together.
One last picture. In the garden of the house next door to me is a cherry tree. It is far too near to my house. The roots are probably snaking through the foundations as we speak, but for a few short days, my son opens his bedroom curtains to this.
The blossoms are there, in fingertip reach. Absolutely glorious. We'll worry about the foundations another time.
After all, tomorrow is another day.
I hope yours is beautiful.
Love
Irene xxx
