"Buttons and patches and the cold wind blowing,
The days pass quickly when I am sewing"
~Author Unknown

Monday, March 7, 2011

I'm in the garden.....

...the front garden that is. Time has been passing too quickly and I had a couple of blog entries to write which I never got around to. We spent two weekends working on our front garden of our new house. It was a big job as there seems to have not been much maintained in this garden in the 16 years since it was planted. It looks like the only thing done was trimming the beech hedge and even that was not done well resulting in a hedge that is far too high and too deep out onto the street. We worked on cutting out dead wood from the tree, trimmed some plants, weeded out the moss which was everywhere and turned the hard and compact soil. We also created a larger path so that we can enjoy the evening sun there when spring and summer arrives.

Gardening must be on my mind as I was persuaded by Hazel to start working on a crochet flower blanket. My first flower is sitting outside on our bench but it is too chilly to crochet out there just yet. I will be attaching the next flower to this first one today so I am excited to see how it comes out. I decided to work from what little yarn stash I have to try a flower out. Seeing how it work up and the yarn matching my couches well, I decided to go ahead and make the flower blanket from this yarn. I have 8 skeins of this yarn so I will see how large the blanket will become as I go along.

I will be planting up my crochet flowers along with real ones out in the front garden as the temperatures allow.

With all this gardening, you must be hungry? How about a cookie and a cup of tea? I love cooking and baking. I have been trying out many new recipes for the last two months.

When I do not have a needle in my hand, I have a book instead. I finished reading a young adult historical fiction series which I really enjoyed. It is The Quilt Trilogy by Ann Rinaldi.

The first book is A Stitch in Time introducing you to the Chelmsford family. Sisters Hannah, Abigail and Thankful are each stitching their part of the family quilt which goes with them as their lives take shape far apart from each other.

In Broken Days, Thankful's daughter returns to the family with her piece of the quilt. Thankful had been captured by indians in the Ohio territory so will her daughter be accepted by the family?

In the final book, The Blue Door, Abigail's granddaughter returns to the North to visit a family she has never met. These books combine quilting with American history especially the history of the mill houses of Lowell, Massachusetts.

Speaking of gardening, here is the stitching UFO that I finished recently. I had mentioned it but wanted to share it after I had sewn it into a finish. I have not had time to do it yet and thought I would go ahead and show you the piece. It is from a SAL I did last summer. I had been waiting for the last email when I realized that I had missed it. I got the email but it ended up truly getting set aside. There was so little left to do that it was a shame it got pushed aside. Now it is done and I want to have it totally finished well before the summer this year.

Jos and I have both been sick. We have bad coughs that keep us up at night. He has a terrible cold along with it and I have lost my voice. It was a whisper for the last four days but today it is starting to get stronger. You don't need a voice to garden, crochet, read, stitch...do you? *wink*

24 comments:

Jackie's Stitches said...

You are so busy! I'm not much of a gardener but really admire those who are. It's hard work...and lots of it! You've turned your new house into a lovely home.

Elizabethd said...

Your house and garden must be preening itself with all the love and care that is going into it.
Get better soon.

Pondside said...

All the work now will pay off big dividends in the late spring and summer.
I'll have a cookie, please and tea with a little milk.

Nancy said...

No, you don't even need a voice to talk on skype. We worked it out. You typed and I talked, along with many smiley faces from you. LOL
Today your voice is a little better.
You can say you worked in that garden, it looks totally different from when I was there in Nov. Wow, great job.
Your flower is super nice. Very pretty color too. Have fun making them now.
Love you, Mom

Willy said...

Ik kom even bij je op het bankje zitten met een kopje en koekje. Mooie vrije voortuin heb je en zo heerlijk het zonnetje.
Een handwerkje bij de hand, wat wil je nog meer. Mooi borduurwerkje heb je gemaakt.
Fijne creatieve week

Anneke said...

Sounds like your have been really busy! Hopefully your garden will look better and better as spring and summer arrive.

hope you and Jos will feel better soon!

Anonymous said...

Hoi wijfie, hopelijk zijn jullie weer een beetje opgeknapt.
De voortuin ziet er geweldig uit, nog even wat zonneschijn dan kun je daar lekker een kopje thee drinken.
Liefs Bep.

barbara said...

Oh my goodness, Heidi, you are a marvel! Your garden is going to be splendid!! You aren't overdoing it though, are you?? I hope you and Jos will be back in the bloom of health very soon - to match those lovely crocheted flowers!

Jenny said...

Oh my dear friend you have been busy, busy, busy..... your garden will look lovely when Spring and Summer arrive and I know you will spend many a happy hour stitching and reading and spending time with Jos and many friends in it. Your crocheted flower is lovely and your stitched piece is beautiful too. I have read the Quilt Trilogy that you just finished and really liked it. I am so into the Amish now while I work on my TIAG sampler, that I am reading a Beverly Lewis series and loving it. ( It all started with Carolien's Farmers Market sampler LOL ) Take care of your cough my friend....and I hope you have a happy day....Your cookies look delicious too.....grins....hugs

Carolien said...

O dear Heidi, maybe it's better when I visite you another day then? I don't wnt you to loose your voice again because of me ... I'll ring you tomorrow morning before leaving.

Hugs, Carolien

Anneke said...

hi Heidi
the basket I made was indeed a online pattern:

http://orangeflowerpatterns.blogspot.com/2008/08/crocheted-basket.html

they're easy to make and you can great varieties.

Deborah said...

Where do I start. The garden looks great. My weather isn't warm enough for gardening yet. I can't wait. I love the idea od a flower blanket. look forward to seeing the progress. When can I come for cookies and tea? :)

faerieeva said...

Such wonderful projects!
I sent you an email recently, with a link to a wonderful free pattern that I thought you might like. Can you tell me if it arrived?

Be loved and blessed,
Eva

Mary said...

The cookies look yummy! Your garden is lovely and so is the little flower for the blanket!

DonnaTN said...

I know that it is a lot of hard work, but you will have a beautiful garden by the time you are through. I like the crocheted flower and the color is pretty. No wonder you haven't had time to blog with all you do each day. Hope the coughs get better and both you and Jos are back in the pink soon.

Christine said...

Your garden looks like a beautiful place to relax and stitch or crochet.
I love the crocheted flower, looking forward to seeing the whole blanket

Sonja said...

Wat wordt jullie tuin mooi nu jullie er zoveel ruimte hebben gecreëerd! En is het een beetje windvrij? Want dan kun je er vandaag al lekker in het zonnetje gaan zitten. De laatste dagen zit ik iedere dag wel even buiten, wat door Brummel zeer gewaardeerd wordt.
Volgens mij heb je nu ook de iets ingewikkelder (raar woord) haakpatronen onder de knie. En ja, dat is echt een leuke ontspannende hobby erbij.
Het borduurwerk is mooi nu het af is. Ben benieuwd hoe je de ronde vorm gaat inlijsten, of heb je al een ronde lijst?Zou je mij het laatste deel van l'été kunnen mailen, want bij mij ligt het ook maar UFO te zijn...

angelasweby said...

Wow Heidi, you have been so busy even when you haven't been very well. I'm glad your voice is returning and hope Jos begins to feel better soon too. Coughs are horrible as they seem to hang around long after you begin feeling better.
I'm glad the weather is improving enough for you to get out into the garden. It's already beginning to look lovely. I love the little bench and clogs :>)
The crochet flower is really pretty, such a lovely colour.
The Trilogy sounds like a really enjoyable read. I am into the Jane Austen detective stories, a bit like the Beatrix Potter ones , good but not quite as good as Susan Wittig Albert :>)
Angela xx

Barbara J said...

So now it's a crocheting frenzy? You're a multi-crafter! AND a multi-chef! :)

Ginny said...

You sure have been busy! We still have snow here, so no gardening yet. Your cookies look so delicious, wish I could have one right now! Do take care of yourself.

Patty C. said...

I love a beautiful garden !!

Carolien said...

Hi Heidi,

A second comment on this entry but I must tell everybody these cookies are so yummie :) I had the pleasure of tasting them :)))
Thanks for everything and for those very attractive books ... I will finish my Brunstetters first (they must go back to the library) and have to make a lot of 'lamb stitches' ... but then they're 'on'!

Big hugs, Carolien

Daniëlle said...

What a great garden you have!!! Love the music btw, the cookies look yummy, gorgeous cross stitch and those books hmmm, thanks for your visit!! have a great day, hugs, Daniëlle

Jo said...

Lovely photos, and beautiful finish. Your garden looks like it will be lovely to sit in this summer!