An Update and a Road Trip

We woke up to a beautiful spring day here in the Pacific NW, so the DH and I decided to take a short road trip to a small town just south of Tacoma.  They have a few shops that I love to visit. Tacoma has a wonderful walking trail along the harbor so we decided to stop there for our walk and have lunch at one of the several restaurants along the water front.  Then we went on to Sumner, our final destination. 

 First, a quick update on "Slicker Bunny." All that is left is the cute flower umbrella, the whiskers, and the rain drops. My linen is more gray than the blue that shows in the photo.

 All for only $6 dollars at the Safeway!

When we got out of the car, this is what we saw as we looked up.  I think the trees are a variety of maple as they are beautiful colors in the fall. Look at that deep blue sky!!

 This is the view along the very long paved walkway.

 Lunch time! It was very good!

The view out the window of the restaurant! I think he gets hand outs during the summer when the deck is open.

 Here is one reason we went to visit Sumner.  This is one of the best antique shops in the area.

 Along the sidewalk there were several little areas of plantings.

The plums are blooming.  We saw them everywhere.

Thanks so much for joining me today!!!!

Linen and a Spring -Like Walk

Thanks so much for all your comments concerning my linen problem.  The good news is that I have all the pieces that I had to order.  So I put Halloween aside in the WIP pile and have started "Slicker Bunny".  It is the perfect project for Spring in Seattle.  I think you will agree that the Lakeside Linen, Flagstone, is a great gray color!! All of the Mardi Gras decorations came down today as is the tradition.  Next year, we will put them up a bit earlier. The DH and I hated to take them down, they were so festive.
It rained all night and we woke up to fairly warm sunny day.  It was a beautiful day until about 3 o'clock when our next rain storm moved in.  We took our camera on our walk.  I hope you enjoy seeing all the signs of spring!

It doesn't look much like a bunny yet but I do love the color!

The hyacinths are coming up.  They are right outside the front door. I think they smell wonderful!

A double hellebore.  It has to be held up as this variety looks down.  We are now buying only the ones that face upward.

 Company for the goofy daffodil.

Blooms of sorts on the contorted filbert.

 Such a  fresh green color after a night of rain.

 Raindrops on emerging tulips.

We walk this way many times a week.  Why did we never notice this before!!
 

A very early Rhododendron.

We saw so many crocuses.

This is called the Lilly-of-the-Valley bush. The correct name is Pieris.  There are several varieties of this plant.

Such pretty little iris.

Last but not least, here is a planter we bought in Arizona.  I put it  just outside the door to the deck.  We can see it clearly from the kitchen.

Thanks for joining me today!

Frustrations and Mardi Gras

Thanks so much for taking time to read my blog!  I appreciate all the nice things you said about my Olympic Stitch.  Ever since I finished with that one, I have had problems.  First, I wanted to stitch "Slicker Bunny" only to realize I had purchased the wrong count linen.  It was the perfect gray color of Seattle skies so I really wanted to use the Lakeside linen -Flagstone.  I went to the trusty computer and ordered the right size.  Next, I decided to work on the antique sampler.  If you have been following my blog for awhile, you will remember the antique sampler my sister gave me and we charted (we meaning my DH who helped chart).  I had tons of trouble with the linen color and the floss color.  I made some decisions on what I thought would fix the problem.  It didn't!  So back to the original linen to start over- oh dear, I forgot that I had cut it up for another project-back to the trusty computer to get more of the original linen.  What to do while I wait for the linen??!!  pick up an old Halloween WIP! I will be glad to get the linen! That's the problem with not having a LNS!
Last week we had a few lovely Spring-like days so the DH and I decorated the front of the house for Mardi Gras. Many of you may not realize  that Mobile and the surrounding little towns celebrate the holiday.  In fact, they tell you that Mardi Gras actually started in Mobile not New Orleans.  We were down there visiting my step-Mom a few years ago and I bought the decorations right after Fat Tuesday as they were all half price! I think the folks up here wonder what on earth we are doing with all the beads, etc. on our front porch.  The people down there take this holiday very seriously and have wonderful decorations.  I hope you enjoy seeing them.

 Current WIP, I think it is called Witches Nine.  It is an old design by the Primitive Needle. I so miss her wonderful designs!

Our front door.  I won't tell you the problem my DH had getting this 1/2 price wreath home-or what the cost was!!!!

We have bags of beads! So we used the hooks for Christmas lights and hung a few strings of beads!

 Now we are in Southern Alabama.  Enjoy! This parade was in the delightful town of Fairhope.

 There were very elaborate floats!

The rest of the photos show you how various homes and businesses were decorated. Most pictures were taken in Fairhope and Daphne AL.

 Thanks for joining me today.  I hope you all have had a great week-end!

An Olympic Finish!

Thanks so much to all of you who enjoyed seeing  the family treasures. When we finally decide where to display them, I'll show you in a post.  Right now they are hanging in my craft room.  I am enjoying them a lot. I did get my Olympic project done on Sat. evening.  That was one night before the Closing Ceremony.   Paper snowflakes was such a pretty stitch.  Now I will be putting it away until next winter.  We have had a much milder winter than many of you, but I'm still ready for spring!

"Paper Snowflakes"  by Country Stitches- With Thy Needle and Thread. I used 32 count antique ivory linen and the floss that was called for.  The only exception was the white.  I used Oatmeal by GA.  It seemed brighter than the Weeks Parchment.  This was the first time I used Valdani floss.  I loved the colors.  The reds are so much prettier than they show in this photo.

 We have had several days of rain.  I took these pictures one morning while I was sitting in my family room having coffee.  The little Annas seems to be saying, " Is it raining again??"

You can see the raindrops on its little beak and on its back.  I'm glad we had some delicious sugar water for this little bird.

Thanks for joining me.  I hope you are all enjoying your week!

Very Special Things

Today  I want to show you some very special things that the DH's sisters have given to us.  We have an assortment of baby things from his family.  The problem is that we have no idea who most of the tings were made for.  Our best guess is that one of his Grandmothers made several of the items because  both loved to crochet. I washed them carefully and we made special hangers for the clothing as they were very small.  Even some baby hangers might have been too big.  I have seen old baby clothes displayed in rooms so that is what I hope to do with them.

 This appears to be a Christening gown.  There are tiny old buttons on the back.

 This shows some of the detail on the top of the dress.  There is also lace around the neck.

This is a sweet little coat with fairly large pearl buttons .

This little dress is more of a toddler size. The DH covered wooden dowels with ribbon after putting a hook from and old white hanger on the top.  That is how we are hanging the items.

 His Dad was very premature and fit into this little doll size suit.  My DH remembers a pictures of his Dad in this suit with his head fitting into a tea cup.

The gloves are beautifully crocheted and would fit a small child's hand.

 I just love this little baby hat.  I wonder what baby this was so lovingly made for.  

The pink in the ribbon makes me think it was for a girl, but who knows.  We so wish that the DH's Mom were still with us so we could ask her about these special things.  

I am closing in on my Olympic finish.  I hope I'll have it ready to show you as the Olympics are finishing up.

I hope you are all having a great week-end.  We are having a cold rainy one, perfect for finishing my stitching!