Summer Bouquet - Purple makes an appearance!

What another beautiful week it has been! And the appearance of purple in this sampler just made me so happy. The color is gorgeous. It's DMC 791 and it's an ultraviolet purple. So so gorgeous and nice to work with too! 

It's been a wonderful weekend too. We had some downpours yesterday but nothing like the apocalypse they had been predicting. The perennial garden is taking some shape with a few plants put in and the moonflowers are beginning to come out of the ground from seeds we planted a couple weeks ago. Ah, Spring!

My kids and I saw John Wick 4 this weekend. I absolutely love Keanu Reeves and these movies. I know, super violent, but I can't help it. Just love them. LOL. 

The sweetie Grand Dog, Franklin, had his ONE YEAR birthday last week!!!! He's a ball of energy and just super happy and sweet. He got lots of toys and love on his birthday--all in all, not too different from any other day, but he had a banner and some things that made it special. We had fun watching him open his presents.

And my little girl, Jenny, has been good. Her birthday is in a couple months and we will have a nice one for her! She loves to sleep in, as evidenced here on Saturday morning.

This baby has such a routine. She knows in her bones what time breakfast and dinner is and she sticks to it, regardless of what the daylight savings time says. She also knows what time bed time is (8pm at the VERY latest), and she will do laps around the house and then look up at the staircase leading to the bedroom to let me know that "hey mom, have you lost your mind? It's time for BED!"

Well, that's it for me now, but I hope you all have a lovely upcoming week! Temps back down in the 60's with some rainy days this week, but the plants need it, so it's all good. Take care of one another and get some stitchy or crafty time in if you can!

See you soon with more Summer Bouquet!

Summer Bouquet Update and Unofficial Summer!

This was a beautiful week in VA! Temps have been awesome, no rain to mess up the days, lots of eating outside and listening to music. I should have worked this weekend, but couldn't bring myself to do it.

On to the stitching update! I had initially cross stitched the areas on the red flower that were supposed to be filled with french knots. I looked at it and mulled it over for about 20 minutes and decided I really wanted to do those french knots. So I brushed up on them in a little corner of the fabric and then went to town! There are 4 smyrna stitches right in the middle. The black-eyed susans also are filled with french knots. So pretty!

Been enjoying this one so much! I have a bunch of Cedar Hill charts and am always on the lookout for a few of the seasonal "bouquets" that I don't have. Just so pretty.

I know it's still early Spring, but my mind is in Summer.

We've had some hummingbirds already, bought petunias and ferns, and started the digging for a perennial garden! I can't wait to fill it with coneflowers, black eyed susans, daisies, and other beautiful things. We also put in the moonflowers and got some trellises for out front. We had tons of bees in them when we had them out back, so we'll change it up this year.

I really hope everyone has a fantastic upcoming week! I plan to stitch some more and see how far I can get this week. Be back then for more updates!

Chocolate Mousse Pie and Cedar Hill Summer Bouquet!

Well how was everyone's Easter? We had family over, and had a great time. I made a couple new recipes and they seemed to go over very well! One of them was a chocolate mousse pie from HERE. It earned rave reviews and I wish I had taken a pic like she had on her blog, but here is the full pie before I put it in the fridge for a day.

It was so so easy and fun to make! Hard to tell here, but if you use an 8 inch pie crust or pan (if you make your own crust), this thing is really an impressive height and gorgeous on a place with whipped cream.

Got a bit more progress on my Summer Bouquet last week. It was kind of a slow work week, so I was able to sneak in some stitches after work. 

She's shaping up nicely! This one has also inspired me to do more of those "old" or vintage designs that I've held on to for years in favor of newer, shinier, ones. Don't get me wrong-I LOVE seeing and buying new designs! But I stitch so slow, I think I need to go back and pick out some of my favorites from over the many years I've been stitching and get to work!

How do you feel about older and vintage designs? I have so many that I really love and tons of old magazines too that have great designs in them that I have forgotten about over the years. 

I hope your Easter was fabulous and everyone is enjoying lots of stitching and crafting time! See you soon with hopefully a lot more progress on my Summer Bouquet!

Cedar Hill Summer Bouquet Progress Update

Happy April! It's been a busy couple weeks but I did manage to work on my Summer Bouquet.

Spring is good here so far. We've had some really nice and enjoyable weather. Last night, we had the most beautiful and interesting lightning clouds I've seen in a long time. 

We celebrated my lovely daughter in law's upcoming birthday at a nice restaurant downtown this weekend. We had a nice time, and I'm so thankful she is a part of our family. Such a wonderful young woman and I'm happy to call her my friend as well! She and my son are the icing on the cake of my life. 

They take such good care of each other, and I'm so glad they have one another.

I hope everyone is getting some nice stitching time in! The longer days are such a joy now. I love it! We are all on a wellness journey around here, so it makes it nice for doing things outside, like walking. My little girl doesn't like to walk around the neighborhood anymore, but my grand dog sure does! So he's giving his pawrents a nice workout in the evenings when they get home from work.

I'll be back soon with another update on Summer Bouquet. I'm a row off here, a stich off there, but I'm going with it, lol. We'll see how it works up!

Until next time!