A Trip Down Memory Lane

FYI ,I'm actually typing this! Thanks so much for all your well wishes,they mean a lot! I never knew how useful teeth could be getting things done.  Since I'm not able to show any cross stitch updates, I decided to share the first sampler I did after moving to Washington.  First, I need to say that while living in Louisville, I was spoiled with a very good LNS.  Out here, I have to travel almost all day to get to a shop.  That includes a thirty dollar ferry ride. The first summer we were here, we took a day trip to Victoria,BC.  I found a cute little shop called Buttons&Needlework Boutique.  I bought the biggest sampler I could find not knowing when I would get back.  I'm showing you that sampler today. I have now discovered the wonderful world of on-line cross stitch supplies! Life is good! I love Victoria so I'm including pictures of this lovely town. These pictures were taken when a dear friend and her husband were here at Christmas.  We went up to have Christmas tea at famous Empress Hotel.

Rhoda Hastings 1863 by Samplers and Such.  I used the recommended linen and threads.

This is at the bottom.  She included many family names.

This is the top portion.  Stitching this took several months!

 To get to Victoria, we have to drive to Port Angeles ,WA, then take a ferry across the Straits of Juan de Fuca.

Victoria is the capital of B.C. so there are many government buildings.

 This was taken inside the Empress Hotel.

 Getting ready for the tea.

We are on the ferry going home. You see many of these little sea planes.

Thank you so much for taking a look at my blog.  I hope you all have a wonderful week-end!!

Problems

I had a great post ready for today and blogger won't let me put my photos on the post.  It says that I have reached my limit. I have no idea what to do Any ideas??

Milwaukee plus

Thanks for all those wonderful comments from yesterday. Plus - Thanks to all of you who take time to read my blog. Day two without use of my right hand has proven to be less problems than expected. That is mostly thanks to the S.B.A. who continues to be my typist and all around assistant. Have I mentioned the poor man has to do all the dishes until June 18th? !! Who knows, I may be able to do cross stitch before I can submerge my hand in water ! Today I'm going to share a few pictures we took while in Milwaukee. Also , we picked up the framed version of "Penny America".

 I love the old and new together.

 The details on old architecture is amazing.

 Whenever we travel, we try to find an Antique shop. We had a few hours in Milwaukee and found this cute Patriotic Song book. In 1903, it cost 6 cents ! I will use this as part of my 4th of July decorating. This cute little book will join the following booklets that I put on our desk.

 Penny America turned out very pretty. The frame is actually a dark blue. Hope you are all having a good week. I sure miss my stitching!

Back Home!

We arrived home last evening from the Memorial Service for the S.B.A.'s brother. I would like to thank each of you for your wonderful comments of condolence. I wish I could respond to each comment personally.  I was able to get home in time for the Carpal Tunnel surgery today. At this point , I am unable to type, so the S.B.A. is typing this for me. I have to brag a bit about the him. He gave a wonderful eulogy for his brother at the service. I was extremely proud of him.

I worked like crazy on the John Foster during the trip, especially on the plane. All that I have left to do is the Bee skeep, the flowers on the right side and the border. It will have to wait until the hand heals. Thank you again for taking the time to read this blog. I appreciate it so much.

A Robin and John Foster

Thank you all so much for looking at my Memorial Day Post. I e-mailed my Daughter-in-law and told her to read all the wonderful comments you  made.  She e-mailed me back and asked that I express her thanks to all of you for the kind things you said. 
Last Fri. my Daughter and I took a Mother-Daughter trip to the city to celebrate our birthdays that are only 1 week apart.  We had a great time.  Her gift to me was one of her wonderful wool sculptures.  She has an amazing collection of  children's books so we found a great  children's  book store and she picked out her gifts from the SBA and me.
Our family did get some bad news the end of last week.  My brother-in-law(the SBA'S brother) passed away.  That means we are making a quick trip to Wisconsin.  I'll make it home for my hand surgery but things are a bit chaotic right now.  Good old John Foster will be going with.  I do like to stitch on the plane so I may get more of him finished before my hand surgery than I expected .  If you don't hear form me for a few days, you now know why!  I hope you all have a good week!! Thanks again for taking a look at my ramblings!

My birthday gift!! You can see more of her work at "Woolpets".  They have both a blog and a web site.

I working my way up on John.  There are two big flower vases at the top, plus a bee hive and some bees.

I stopped that middle  part when I realized we'd be making a trip.  I think it will be easy to do on a plane.  I prefer filling or some other type of repetitive design on a plane.

Thanks again for taking a look!

Memorial Day

 Today as we honor veterans, I would like to introduce my blog friends to the two Iraq War veterans in our family. We are thankful everyday that they came home safely.  Today we send our thoughts and prayers to those who did not and their families.

 Our Daughter -in-law.  Debbie spent time in Iraq when the war started.  She served as a signal officer.

 Our son  Jeff.  He served two tours as a Blackhawk pilot.

This is the family today.  Jeff is now a Major in the Army and Debbie is in graduate school and a wonderful mother to our Grandson , Caleb . They will be having another child next December.

We have so much to be thankful for!!!

The Beach-Part 2 of the Amazing Walk

Now we have arrived at the beach.  I apologize that I don't know the names of most of the things you will see on this post.  For me, the joy is that in less than one hour, I can be at this beach.  Yesterday was beautiful as it was warm and sunny. It was great because we could take our shoes off and get pictures of things under the water.  It was a very low tide.  However, we have walked on this beach when it is very cloudy and even a bit misty.  It is still beautiful.  This beach is located at the very top of the Kitsap Peninsula, where Admiralty Inlet meets Puget Sound.  Please enjoy the sights!

 The children were having a wonderful time!

 So were the dogs!

What a dream to live where water and mountains meet!

And this just made the walk perfect!

Thanks you so much for checking out this blog! I hope you are having a very special Memorial Day Week-end.  I think that tomorrow I'll get a a bit more serious about this holiday!

An Amazing Walk

I hope all of you are having a wonderful week-end.  About 2 this afternoon , the SBA and I decided to go for a walk.  If you have read this blog for any length of time, you will know how I love living in the beautiful Pacific NW.  My sympathy goes out to all of you who are living with 90 degree temps this week-end, that is, unless you like the heat.  I happen to dislike it very much! Anyway , we decided to go for a walk at the beach near the lighthouse.  We walked through a great old forest to get to the beach.  This day was so amazing and I took so many photos, that for today I can only share the walk through the woods.  Tomorrow,  I'll share the wonders of the beach!!

 Wild beach roses

 I just saw one berry.  It was so pretty in the sunshine!

 Pacific Blackberry

 Western Thimbleberry

 This old cedar had a trunk of over 6 feet.  The SBA was willing to serve as a size comparison!

 Maybe a fairy house??

 Our destination

 We had to go down all these steps to reach the beach.

 Wild sweet peas called leafy peavine

 These roses grow right near the beach.

 Thank you so much for taking time for my blog !  I hope your week-end is going well!! Join me tomorrow to see what treasures the beach will provide.

The garden and John Foster

Even though we have had a very cool wet week, the garden is making slow progress.  I'll show just a few things that have started blooming this week.  I'm making good progress on John Foster.  Tonight I'm going to start on the quaker like maze that looks like it is in back of the house.
If any of you are like me with no LNS a web site called JJ"s Collectibles is having a great Memorial Day sale.  Everything is 20% off.  I have already picked out a few things that I just can't live without! I have ordered from them many times and find them very reliable and nice to work with.
Once again I thank you great people who take time to read my blog! Thank you so very much!!! I love and read every comment.  Glad several of you like "Penny America" it was a great stitch!!In fact I ordered all the WDW threads that I used in that project  from JJ'S during their last sale. Have a great Fri.

 Even the bees like my allium!

 Isn't this a strange little mushroom??

A white rosa rugosa.  We have two of them in the front of the house.

 This is called Catmint.  I have gotten 6 plants by dividing one! I believe it is "Walker's Low"  It's not very low!

 This hosta is huge!

I used the SBA's hand so you could see how large these leaves are!

This is called "Ghost" weigela. It is covered with buds and should be beautiful soon!

 Here is John Foster.  I have done the things above his name since I finished "Penny America"

 Here is a close up of this strange little house.  It is fun to wonder why these sampler workers from the past chose certain motifs.

Have a great evening!