Pulled in too many directions on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello all!  Well I'm proud of myself for getting back here in two weeks and I'm feeling much more chipper... probably because I've been doing a bunch of different things... probably  pulled in  too many directions but I've such is life right now. I've been cross stitching and working on a quilt top and gardening along with a couple of unexpected doctor appointments... no worries... everything checked out.  The weather has been getting better and better... suppose to have a nice week coming up ... sunny... maybe a bit too warm... low 80's and no rain. A forecast that will have me watering every day... oh well.

So first off lets talk about cross stitch. Last week was Mother's Day and each year I allow myself a guilt free new start. This year I picked The Primitive Lady by Ewe and Eye and Friends. Now my Mother's Day started on the Friday evening before  and I was able to finish this by the following Friday... the perfect little interlude to the BIG projects I've been working on.

Here's my lady... and yes she does bear an interesting resemblance to the stitcher. 

I loved doing those french knots for her hair.

The Sunnyside Sampler had another issue... but I was able to fudge a bit and I got another house constructed.  

Need to work on the over one stuff... don't want to leave it till the end.

As for sewing I got back to the quilt I'm making for my son. This is the Cinnamon Twist pattern that I was only able to get if I purchased a Jolly Bar of the Fig Tree fabric from Fat Quarter Shop. I just checked and it doesn't appear to be available any more. Maybe they will release just the pattern. Anyway this top has given me fits. It is only squares and HST but I've managed to put them together incorrectly numerous times. Can't wait to get this off to Delinda to quilt. 

I have one more seam to do... the one where I put the top and the bottom half together... I'm a little worried as when I pinned it to the wall the bottom half seems bigger... and it shouldn't be... fingers crossed I can ease in any excess. 

And oh the gardening I have done!!!  My son has been a HUGE help digging holes. We've planted several flats of zinnias and marigolds and about 2 dozen one gallon perennials. I had a $100 gift certificate to a local nursery that I received last summer when I won a beautification award from my little town. I'd been holding onto it because you had to spend the entire $100 in one trip... and I just realized last Friday that it was going to expire at the end of the month... yikes!!  So being one of the more upscale nursery I knew it wouldn't get a lot of plants but I sure didn't want to pass up any free plants. I got 4 or maybe it was 5 one gallon interesting  perennials and a couple of small dahlias... and I spent $99.97 cents... cha-ching... certainly got my money's worth.  

Then I had another $100 gift card to another nursery ... a present from my older son that I'd been hanging onto for a while... so I went there and spent ALL of that card and another $60... plants are super expensive this year. Almost every perennial I got was at least $16 and a couple were $22... but I did get some really pretty plants. When they are in bloom I'll show some pictures. 

 Here is the petunias as of the end of April when I was just potting them up...

Right now this is my showiest display... the petunias... and they are gorgeous if I say so myself ... and I do!

The window boxes are coming along nicely. I checked and I planted them about 5 weeks ago... but I forgot to take a picture... maybe next time. 

I'm having trouble this year getting the plants and the pots to come out even...  and my new infatuation is with coleus... so many varieties ... I had to get a second pot to accommodate what I found... I think there are about a dozen different kinds here. 

Friday I planted up my big raised bed. I lost count of how many dahlia tubers I put in, but I guesstimate about 100.  I'm trying this new idea for "staking" them. I've suspended this plant netting... I got it on Amazon...you can see it here. I've used zip ties to attach it to stakes about every 4 feet.  The plan is that the plants will grow up in the openings and that it will support the stems... and somehow I forgot to take a picture... oh well, when the dahlias start growing  I'll show it in action.   I will say that I was disappointed in the dahlia tubers I got from Costco this year. There were less in a bag, 8 tubers versus 10 and they were more expensive... I think about $2 more a bag... and that would be okay as EVERYTHING is more expensive this year, but several bags had tubers that showed NO signs of life... so I didn't plant them.  I suppose if I wanted to take the whole bag back, Costco would refund my money... but I want tubers not dollars.  If there isn't a bit of an eye bud showing I don't have much hope the dahlia will grow.  I did order a lot from several online places,  Longfield Gardens and K. van Bourgondien and Breck's. And the tubers I got were much nicer... only one or two bad ones. Yes the online places were more expensive. I held out for free shipping and two-fer sales... but you get what you pay for, don't you? 

I am planning on digging up the tubers in the raised bed at the end  of the season. I'm thinking I can store them in some hay in plastic bins (without the lids) and put them in my basement.  Even if they don't all survive, there should be more than I ended up with this year.  Of the almost 150 tubers I planted only 8 came up.  In planting the bed this year I couldn't find any of the tubers. I think they rotted... insert frowny face... however the dahlias that were in the ground have come back nicely. Maybe not every one but a substantial number are already over a foot high and look very healthy.  Well that was more than enough gardening talk... more for my benefit to look back on next year and remember what I did.

As for decorating here's the display out on the sunroom porch... more birds... cause I love the birds!

A close up....

In the living room is my large shelf unit... and yes I do have quite a flock of bird knickknacks... 

from the top is at tulip pincushion chart from  the BBD Thank you Sarah Tobias...

next shelf down has 2 new finishes... first is Good Deeds from WTN&T... I stitched this over a year ago but just got it framed recently... 

my BIG bird cookie jar perches in the middle, then there is Bobbin' Along from Notforgotten Farms, and the other newly framed piece  Tribute from the BBD book Women of Charm & Grace: A Quilting Tribute to the Women who Served in WWII.  

Next shelf is Because It's Spring from Wendy Peatross and more bird knickknacks.

Below Brite Birds by Kathy Barrick, it is a freebie you can see here... the Hello Spring pincushion from Sub Rosa Designs... 

and 2 little pillows that a snippets from the chart A Saviour's Praise by Shakespeare's Peddler. I have one more pillow to add but I haven't got it FFO'd yet. 

I finally got over to the framer and picked up O Joyous Day! by Blackbird Design... I LOVE how it turned out... now to get it up on my sampler wall. 

So the next couple of weeks are surprisingly open... no doctor's appointments or engagements... at least nothing yet. I'll be happy to stay close to home. There will definitely be yard work to be done. I've spent  3 full days cutting back daffodils  and planting stuff but there are still some that need attention. I haven't put any seeds down ... need to get to that. Finishing Nick's quilt will let me start something new... maybe something Halloween-y... and there is plenty of cross stitch I want to do.  Was mindlessly scrolling through IG and an old old old piece I started popped up... Birds of a Feather Mystery Sampler from WTN&T... you can see it here.  I started this when if first came out... 2011... twelve years ago... OMG... it doesn't seem that long ago... but it is... anyway I'd like to get it done before the end of the year.  Here's where mine is...

oops the picture is sideways... and I'm too tired to fix it... you get the idea...

LOTS more to do, but I really like this piece. Not sure if it is still in print or not.  

As you can tell I will still be pulled in too many directions... but then I almost always am... I bounce from project to project... I was ADHD before they had a name for it... good thing there aren't many deadlines in my life any more...

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today..and while I've worked in the yard the past 2 days for waaay longer than I planned, I think I'll go out again today for a while. Feel like I need to take advantage of the weather.... yesterday was perfect...low 70's and a bit of a breeze ... what I have left to do should take as long today... and then I can come inside and sit on the sunroom porch and stitch... the good life!!

happy stitching-

carol fun