The porch is coming together nicely! The hubs had to pull down a few ceiling panels from the porch to put up a more substantial beam to hold the swing . . . don't want to be falling on my bum!
just swangin' . . .
Bon ~*
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
The Grass Is Greener Over The Septic Tank
Erma Bombeck was right . . . it IS greener . . . at least over the leach field. Looking out on the front yard from my porch swing (yes, it's finally hung after 30 years) the front lawn has a somewhat striped look. The grass grows longer and thicker in these areas . . . who knew . . . first septic system we've ever had.
The porch is coming together nicely! The hubs had to pull down a few ceiling panels from the porch to put up a more substantial beam to hold the swing . . . don't want to be falling on my bum!
We were going to put the hammock on the back porch (which we plan to screen in) but it wouldn't fit! It used to sit in the side yard at our last house and I guess we didn't realize how BIG it is! It now takes up the other half of the front porch! (See the hub's train planter?)
When we decided we wanted to move a couple of years ago, my priority was a porch. I found a cross stitch pattern from Cross-Eyed Cricket that I thought would be perfect to hang on that porch. It says: "You don't have to have tickets to listen to crickets" with crickets crawling over a tea cup. I used buttons from my grandmother's button box to embellish it. I had them seal it well when they framed it since I knew it would someday be hung outside. (Love my spider web at the front door window?)
I also have my little "grouping" at the porch rail in case you get tired of looking at the pine grove across the street or the view of the lake peaking through the trees to the right.
Things purchased over time just waiting for that "someday porch". The yard and porch are looking pretty good . . . the
house? There are still boxes to unpack . . . pictures to be hung. I
did start on my craft room yesterday . . . think I'm going to start
calling it my studio. I've always wanted a studio. Sounds more "artsy"
don't you think? ; )
So . . . I'll be here . . . sittin' on the porch . . . not getting much done . . .
just swangin' . . .
Bon ~*
The porch is coming together nicely! The hubs had to pull down a few ceiling panels from the porch to put up a more substantial beam to hold the swing . . . don't want to be falling on my bum!
just swangin' . . .
Bon ~*
Monday, May 28, 2012
Embelished Clothing and Landscape
I purchased a plain linen jacket . . . I think at T.J.Maxx . . . several years ago. A neutral, it goes with anything and everything. I usually wear it with jeans and a t-shirt. It needed some "jazzing up" with more than just accessories . . . so . . . I embellished it with some Quaker motifs from "A Quaker Christmas" by ByGone Stitches. The motifs are not Christmas-like and I think it perks the jacket right up! What do you think? Should I keep going . . . add some more . . . cover the entire thing? Been eying a few other linen things in the closet . . . hmmm.
Loving the new house! Unpacking is a very slow process. Well, it would be moving a lot faster if I wasn't spending so much time in the yard. Can't help it . . . it's planting season! Since we're in a somewhat rural setting, we have deer (and other animals) to deal with. Our neighbors (who saw 14 deer in their yard a few days ago) have already lost their tomato plants to the deer. Eight deer ran through our yard the other evening. So . . . to protect my tomato plants, basil and marigolds we strung fishing line around plant stakes and tied cut up grocery bags to the lines to blow in the breeze . . . it's so attractive . . . not. Think it will scare them away? So far so good!
Of course I couldn't just plant veggies and herbs (tomatoes, zucchini, gypsy peppers, basil, parsley, sage, rosemary and dill). I picked up some flowers too. The previous owners have planted a lot of shrubs . . . most of them much too close together and I have been moving things around. Most of the flowers are just annuals this year . . . oh do I have plans for next year!
I found these petunias that start out a fuchsia color and quickly fade to an antique looking pink . . . I love them! The butterfly bushes are blooming too . . . see them behind the bicycle planter?
The previous owners also planted 6 hydrangeas along the back of the house . . . they're blooming their little hearts out. I LOVE hydrangeas! So how could you not spend time out in this yard!
Maybe next time I'll have a room completely unpacked and put together to show you . . . don't hold your breathe!
Until next time...
Bon ~*
Loving the new house! Unpacking is a very slow process. Well, it would be moving a lot faster if I wasn't spending so much time in the yard. Can't help it . . . it's planting season! Since we're in a somewhat rural setting, we have deer (and other animals) to deal with. Our neighbors (who saw 14 deer in their yard a few days ago) have already lost their tomato plants to the deer. Eight deer ran through our yard the other evening. So . . . to protect my tomato plants, basil and marigolds we strung fishing line around plant stakes and tied cut up grocery bags to the lines to blow in the breeze . . . it's so attractive . . . not. Think it will scare them away? So far so good!
Of course I couldn't just plant veggies and herbs (tomatoes, zucchini, gypsy peppers, basil, parsley, sage, rosemary and dill). I picked up some flowers too. The previous owners have planted a lot of shrubs . . . most of them much too close together and I have been moving things around. Most of the flowers are just annuals this year . . . oh do I have plans for next year!
I found these petunias that start out a fuchsia color and quickly fade to an antique looking pink . . . I love them! The butterfly bushes are blooming too . . . see them behind the bicycle planter?
The previous owners also planted 6 hydrangeas along the back of the house . . . they're blooming their little hearts out. I LOVE hydrangeas! So how could you not spend time out in this yard!
Maybe next time I'll have a room completely unpacked and put together to show you . . . don't hold your breathe!
Until next time...
Bon ~*
Monday, May 14, 2012
Calling TN Home
We've moved . . . finally . . . from the Pittsburgh, PA area to Piney Flats, TN just outside Johnson City on Boone Lake. We're not lakefront, but you can see the lake (river actually) from our house. We live on a peninsula with the river winding around both sides of the house about a block away on either side and in front of the house about 1/4 mile down the road. No through traffic . . . just local residents and, of course boats!
You can't imagine how excited I am to finally have a front porch (there's actually a back porch as well). I bought a white oak porch swing back in 1979 when I was single and living in Blowing Rock, NC (in the mountains). I lived in a tiny house with a small front porch and really used and enjoyed my swing. We have been dragging this swing around since then . . . never having a covered porch to hang it on . . . until NOW! Can't wait to get that baby hung up!!!! I will sit and listen to the birds . . . and boats . . . and enjoy the glistening water in the distance . . . with my glass of wine . . . wrapped in my "porch quilt" I'm making . . . when I find it . . . it's in one of the many boxes I haven't unpacked yet . . . oh, the boxes . . . and boxes . . . and boxes.
I have actually unpacked a tremendous amount of boxes (we have a tremendous amount of stuff) but the weather has been so nice that I've been visiting greenhouses buying plants (flowers as well as veggies) and weeding and planting and cutting grass. Guess we won't get settled unless it rains! (Actually I think I hear thunder in the distance.)
We closed on the house here in Piney Flats, TN, on Thursday morning, April 19 (our 26th wedding anniversary). We became great friends with our realtor and she was so sweet to give us a gift certificate to a local restaurant in Jonesborough that she had taken us to lunch to when we were looking at houses. Jonesborough is a cute town south of us (the oldest town in TN . . . and was once the capitol of the lost state of Franklin; look it up, very interesting). You'll be hearing a lot more about Jonesborough. The International Story Telling Festival is held every year in October; 10,000+ people converge on Jonesborough to tell stories for three days and nights. Friday nights from May through October, Main street is closed for Music on the Square (we went this past Friday night and had a great time. It was a little chilly so we left a little early).
Anyway . . . we wanted to do a little celebrating Thursday evening for the closing and our anniversary. When we arrived at the restaurant "The Dining Room", we were told that there would be a 45 minute wait. The place is no bigger than our family room. They had a group of 12 that had turned into a party of 20, and then they received a HUGE take out order. Yes, the place has great food. They could serve us soup and bread . . . not quite the celebration we were looking for. So, we walked a block or so over to another place, The Creekside Grill.
Very good local food at the Creekside as well . . . still not quite the celebration we were looking for, but it was relatively quick. When we had finished, a lady was walking around and looking at various paintings and prints on the wall. We started talking with her and pretty soon she sat down and we had a little mini Christian witness session. I don't know if she was physic or what, but she told us we were going to have the most amazing next 3 years and we were right where we were supposed to be! She had been sitting with a group of 7 or 8 people a few tables away; they were a meeting of the local Tea Party. We went over to talk with them and they invited us to a local Republican group dinner meeting for Thursday night. At THAT dinner, we were talking with a couple that were sitting near us, exchanged telephone numbers (they know some folks that are into model trains . . . you know the hubs and his trains). They called the next day to invite us to join a Friday night dinner group of about 50 people (only about 20 make it to any given dinner), so we went to dinner Friday night as well. So, we had barely been here a week and are now part of at least a couple informal groups that meet every week!
The following week, we went to Clarksburg WV for a dear friend's wedding on Saturday, April 28th. And, since there was a TCA train show in the Pittsburgh area the next day, Sunday . . . and only a couple hours from Clarksburg . . . we drove up. The hubs had a chance to pick up a some O gauge track and a Standard Gauge 22 degree cross-over (very necessary items for a train guy) and see some of his train buddies. We drove back to Piney Flats that afternoon and got home about 9 p.m.
The next day we drove to Mt. Airy, NC to visit my Mom and Dad and to see their new place, a very nice 2 bedroom apartment in a retirement community called Ridgecrest. They have breakfast and dinner in a large dining room with the other residents each day. They select meals from a menu and are served on real china with real silverware at their table! They have a small kitchen in their apartment with small refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, etc. where they usually eat their leftovers from the night before for lunch! There's also a full size washer and dryer in the apartment. Housekeeping comes daily to do whatever they want done. Our daughter said it sounds like living in a dorm without having to go to classes.
That afternoon we drove to Charlotte, NC to visit with the hub's Mom and Dad and to celebrate his mother's 80th birthday . . . and, to pick up some more train stuff that had been in their garage (there's still more to get . . .). We stayed a couple of days (to rest) and then back to TN.
Our daughter is a senior at Quinnipiac University in Hamden CT . . . a film and media studies major. For her senior project she and a group of 5 other kids made a documentary on a rock and roll bar called "Toad's" in New Haven CT, right next to Yale (lots of big name bands have played there over the years). We drove up to Hamden CT on Friday, May 4th, to see the screening of their project. As we were watching this, we couldn't help but think we were watching a show on the Biography channel . . . it is OUTSTANDING!! Her group was told they should send it to the local public TV station and to film festivals. These kids did such great work and we are very proud. The link to the documentary video they filmed is below:
Link to the Toad's documentary:
We drove part way back to TN and stayed in Carlisle PA overnight getting home last Monday . . . it's a long drive from CT to TN! And guess what?? We go back up to CT the end of the month to help our daughter move from her house to an apartment to finish her senior year . . . graduating in December!
Enough for now . . . stay tuned for the continual unpacking updates!!! Have a great week y'all!!!!
Bon ~*
Our TN house
You can't imagine how excited I am to finally have a front porch (there's actually a back porch as well). I bought a white oak porch swing back in 1979 when I was single and living in Blowing Rock, NC (in the mountains). I lived in a tiny house with a small front porch and really used and enjoyed my swing. We have been dragging this swing around since then . . . never having a covered porch to hang it on . . . until NOW! Can't wait to get that baby hung up!!!! I will sit and listen to the birds . . . and boats . . . and enjoy the glistening water in the distance . . . with my glass of wine . . . wrapped in my "porch quilt" I'm making . . . when I find it . . . it's in one of the many boxes I haven't unpacked yet . . . oh, the boxes . . . and boxes . . . and boxes.
I have actually unpacked a tremendous amount of boxes (we have a tremendous amount of stuff) but the weather has been so nice that I've been visiting greenhouses buying plants (flowers as well as veggies) and weeding and planting and cutting grass. Guess we won't get settled unless it rains! (Actually I think I hear thunder in the distance.)
We closed on the house here in Piney Flats, TN, on Thursday morning, April 19 (our 26th wedding anniversary). We became great friends with our realtor and she was so sweet to give us a gift certificate to a local restaurant in Jonesborough that she had taken us to lunch to when we were looking at houses. Jonesborough is a cute town south of us (the oldest town in TN . . . and was once the capitol of the lost state of Franklin; look it up, very interesting). You'll be hearing a lot more about Jonesborough. The International Story Telling Festival is held every year in October; 10,000+ people converge on Jonesborough to tell stories for three days and nights. Friday nights from May through October, Main street is closed for Music on the Square (we went this past Friday night and had a great time. It was a little chilly so we left a little early).
Anyway . . . we wanted to do a little celebrating Thursday evening for the closing and our anniversary. When we arrived at the restaurant "The Dining Room", we were told that there would be a 45 minute wait. The place is no bigger than our family room. They had a group of 12 that had turned into a party of 20, and then they received a HUGE take out order. Yes, the place has great food. They could serve us soup and bread . . . not quite the celebration we were looking for. So, we walked a block or so over to another place, The Creekside Grill.
Very good local food at the Creekside as well . . . still not quite the celebration we were looking for, but it was relatively quick. When we had finished, a lady was walking around and looking at various paintings and prints on the wall. We started talking with her and pretty soon she sat down and we had a little mini Christian witness session. I don't know if she was physic or what, but she told us we were going to have the most amazing next 3 years and we were right where we were supposed to be! She had been sitting with a group of 7 or 8 people a few tables away; they were a meeting of the local Tea Party. We went over to talk with them and they invited us to a local Republican group dinner meeting for Thursday night. At THAT dinner, we were talking with a couple that were sitting near us, exchanged telephone numbers (they know some folks that are into model trains . . . you know the hubs and his trains). They called the next day to invite us to join a Friday night dinner group of about 50 people (only about 20 make it to any given dinner), so we went to dinner Friday night as well. So, we had barely been here a week and are now part of at least a couple informal groups that meet every week!
The following week, we went to Clarksburg WV for a dear friend's wedding on Saturday, April 28th. And, since there was a TCA train show in the Pittsburgh area the next day, Sunday . . . and only a couple hours from Clarksburg . . . we drove up. The hubs had a chance to pick up a some O gauge track and a Standard Gauge 22 degree cross-over (very necessary items for a train guy) and see some of his train buddies. We drove back to Piney Flats that afternoon and got home about 9 p.m.
The next day we drove to Mt. Airy, NC to visit my Mom and Dad and to see their new place, a very nice 2 bedroom apartment in a retirement community called Ridgecrest. They have breakfast and dinner in a large dining room with the other residents each day. They select meals from a menu and are served on real china with real silverware at their table! They have a small kitchen in their apartment with small refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, etc. where they usually eat their leftovers from the night before for lunch! There's also a full size washer and dryer in the apartment. Housekeeping comes daily to do whatever they want done. Our daughter said it sounds like living in a dorm without having to go to classes.
That afternoon we drove to Charlotte, NC to visit with the hub's Mom and Dad and to celebrate his mother's 80th birthday . . . and, to pick up some more train stuff that had been in their garage (there's still more to get . . .). We stayed a couple of days (to rest) and then back to TN.
Our daughter is a senior at Quinnipiac University in Hamden CT . . . a film and media studies major. For her senior project she and a group of 5 other kids made a documentary on a rock and roll bar called "Toad's" in New Haven CT, right next to Yale (lots of big name bands have played there over the years). We drove up to Hamden CT on Friday, May 4th, to see the screening of their project. As we were watching this, we couldn't help but think we were watching a show on the Biography channel . . . it is OUTSTANDING!! Her group was told they should send it to the local public TV station and to film festivals. These kids did such great work and we are very proud. The link to the documentary video they filmed is below:
Link to the Toad's documentary:
http://vimeo.com/41337352
We drove part way back to TN and stayed in Carlisle PA overnight getting home last Monday . . . it's a long drive from CT to TN! And guess what?? We go back up to CT the end of the month to help our daughter move from her house to an apartment to finish her senior year . . . graduating in December!
Enough for now . . . stay tuned for the continual unpacking updates!!! Have a great week y'all!!!!
Bon ~*
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Quilt Updates
I am quickly becoming a quiltaholic!!!
I finished my two Dresdin Plate quilted pillows. This is the Christmas one:
And this is the "everyday" one:
I have now moved on to a crib quilt that will be put into my "Grandchildren Hope Chest" for that someday grandchild . . . hope at least one of them is a girl! I need to figure out what quilt design I will stitch and put the binding on it. My youngest brother made a wooden cradle for my daughter when she was born with a hand carved headboard . . . it's beautiful! When the cradle quilt is finished I'll post a picture of it in the cradle.
I haven't given up on cross-stitch . . . oh no. I still cross-stitch every night after dinner and have a new design almost finished . . . there's a pom-pom idea I'm thinking of incorporating in it . . . intrigued? You'll just have to wait . . . soon . . . ~*
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
My Heritage Sampler
I spent several months on Ancestry.com working on my ancestry. It was a lot of fun and I discovered some very interesting relatives. Seems my ancestors have been in America since the beginning of our country. I have one who came over on the Mayflower in 1620 (on my mother's side). His name was Degory Priest and unfortunately he died the first winter. His wife and two daughters came later on the ship Anne in 1623. She had remarried and traveled with her husband and infant son as well. On my father's side we have Niccolas Martiau (a frenchman who obtained his denization in England before coming to Virginia) who arrived in Jamestown in 1620 and served in the House of Burgesses! I also found out that we are distant cousins of George Washington and Queen Elizabeth (also on my father's side)! Most of my ancestors were from various parts of the UK...heavy on the Brits on my father's side and Scotch-Irish on my mother's side.
So, this prompted me to create what I call my Heritage Sampler. It's loosely based on a Scottish sampler. They were usually stitched in bright colors ... mostly reds and greens ... I chose a lighter palette: CC Mauvelous, GA Sweet Pea, GA Parchment, GA Evergreen, GA Old Brick and GA Lambswool. The colors just pop on R&R Reproductions 18th Century Rook fabric (30 ct.). I LOVE this fabric! There's a light streak across the center and a real "aged" look to it. One of the women at the framer's thought it was an antique!
Scottish samplers very often had peacocks (usually with seven tail feathers), illuminated lettering (those are the letters with the fancy curlycues), a house or mansion and sort of geometric looking trees. I've placed crowns in mine to represent my "cousin" the Queen! ; )
My next "mission" is to find out more about Margaret Matilda who married Samuel Tennyson in June of 1840 (making her 18 years old at the time) and had 8 children!
~*
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Can You Say Biscornu?
First of all . . . I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and a Happy & Healthy New Year!
Biscornu is a French adjective that means "that which has an irregular form, with projections" or "complicated and bizarre." This Biscornu was a lot of fun to make . . . it's not complicated . . . maybe a little bizarre! Makes a great pincushion or as shown here, an ornament:
Here is the chart. You will need to make two of these. Backstitch around the outside of the designs (this is where you will stitch them together) I used Weeks Dye Works - Gun Metal Linen 30 count and stitched it with The Gentle Art (Sampler Threads) - Bluebell floss . . .one strand over two linen threads for the cross-stitch and back-stitch over two linen threads for the outline. Any dark fabric with a light thread or vice-versa would do. I used a small snowflake button from Just Another Button Company for the center of both side of the ornament.
Once you have the two squares complete, you will begin stitching your biscornu together along the outline stitching. You will begin stitching the two threads at one corner to the center outline thread on one side of the other square. Finger press along your backstitching to make the joining stitching easier.
Continue matching each stitch, whipping them together until you reach the center/corner matchup. Be sure to catch the two corner stitches of one square with the center stitch of the other and proceed matching stitches until, again, you reach the next center/corner juncture where, again, you will catch the two corner stitches to the center stitch . . . repeat this all the way around.
You will begin to see the zig zag design take shape as you proceed around.
When you get near the end, begin stuffing. You will need to stuff it full enough to fill in the corners.
Add a ribbon or cording (if making an ornament) at the very end as you close up the biscornu. Once closed you will add a button or bead to the centers of both sides . . . pulling tight as you secure them.
TIP: If you are making this into a pincushion, you don't need to stitch the larger center snowflake on the bottom piece, just the four smaller corner snowflakes . . . unless you want it to be reversible.
HAVE FUN!!! If you have any questions, please comment and I will try to help you.
Biscornu is a French adjective that means "that which has an irregular form, with projections" or "complicated and bizarre." This Biscornu was a lot of fun to make . . . it's not complicated . . . maybe a little bizarre! Makes a great pincushion or as shown here, an ornament:
Here is the chart. You will need to make two of these. Backstitch around the outside of the designs (this is where you will stitch them together) I used Weeks Dye Works - Gun Metal Linen 30 count and stitched it with The Gentle Art (Sampler Threads) - Bluebell floss . . .one strand over two linen threads for the cross-stitch and back-stitch over two linen threads for the outline. Any dark fabric with a light thread or vice-versa would do. I used a small snowflake button from Just Another Button Company for the center of both side of the ornament.
You will begin to see the zig zag design take shape as you proceed around.
When you get near the end, begin stuffing. You will need to stuff it full enough to fill in the corners.
TIP: If you are making this into a pincushion, you don't need to stitch the larger center snowflake on the bottom piece, just the four smaller corner snowflakes . . . unless you want it to be reversible.
HAVE FUN!!! If you have any questions, please comment and I will try to help you.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
My First Quilt Attempt
I've always LOVED quilts! I had a fake one on my bed as a child. It was quilted, but it was a printed piece of material with baskets of tulips all over it...no applique going on there. So...I've always fantasized about making one. I have quilting magazines, books, patterns....but I know myself....big projects seldom get finished. When the opportunity came up to take a FREE quilting class I thought...why not...maybe with a little motivation! I had the choice to make a table runner with basic square blocks surrounded by a strip boarder or the Dresden Plate appliqued pattern wall hanging...let's just dive right in and applique! I have some material scraps (always have some fat quarters on hand for cross-stitch pillow/pincushion backing) and I made a visit to my local fabric/craft store. They have matching fabric bundles all ready for quilting projects and "jelly rolls" and "charms"...pre-cut shapes...isn't that cheating?! Let's shoot for Christmas! With one bundle of coordinating fabric and a couple fat quarters I already had...I began:
Got my basic Dresden Plate all cut out and arranged on my center fabric...ready to hand applique! Cut all my little triangles out and stitched them together on my ancient Singer which was bought used in the mid 70's...still hanging in there! (My Daddy built the sewing machine cabinet for me...years ago!)
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