Roses in the Rain

It is only the first week of June but the roses have been blooming for over a week.  I am hoping that we'll have a long enough summer that we might see another flush of bloom before the first frost.

These smell heavenly.

Rain - and lots of it!

It is raining.  It has been raining on and off since Sunday.  That isn't so remarkable.  The remarkable part is that it is supposed to keep raining for another 5 days.  And when it rains - it doesn't joke around.  It comes down in buckets.  And it still hasn't warmed up.  I guess it's a good thing that I didn't get the pea seeds into the ground last weekend.  I think they would have rotted.

I have a photo of my son's Brandywine tomato plant.  He wants to document it's life and how much it produces over the course of the summer.  So far so good.  Not a great picture - remember it's raining outside.  But we do what we can.

From Garden

Plants don't smile but this one looks pretty happy - especially compared with some of our indoor seed-starting efforts in past years.

The rain this week is discouraging mostly because we had great plans to be outdoors building raised beds.  At this point the kids are trying to figure out a way to still plant the seedlings this weekend in high hills and then build the walls of the raised beds around them.

On the stitching front, I hope to do some more work on Mirabilia's Fairy Idyll today.  Maybe not on Mr. Rabbit, maybe some more dress sections.  I also need to start Poppy from the Pixie Couture collections for a little girl's birthday coming up.  And - I really want to stitch the fruits from Samsarah designs for myself.  They're really cute.

April 22 came and went

April 22 came and went and Mr. Rabbit still isn't done.  I did make progress but not as much as I'd hoped.  And due to a whole bunch of goings-on, I haven't picked him up since Easter.  Hopefully, things will start to calm down soon and I can get some stitching done.

From Midnight Stitcher

Even baseball isn't conducive to stitching this year.  We have so many games that we aren't having practices and the games are actually interesting and fun to watch - so no stitching then either.  There has been at least 2 fields trips a week between the two kids since the middle of April.  Plus, we're dealing with broken bones (not my own) and a terrible accident involving local teens.  It has been hard to focus on something like my stitching.  (I am so ready for summer vacation.)

So, not that I've been able to work on it, but I did finally choose a piece to work on during baseball season.  It is a nice small piece and I chose it in honor of the baby birds who took up residence by our front door.  A nest appeared there in April and the little birds spent their days flying to and fro and working on their nest.  Then we noticed that the little female bird didn't leave during the day.   Aha!  There must be eggs!  She stayed there for days - almost two weeks.  Then, one morning I checked and I didn't see her head (the nest is up high so I can't look down into the nest).  A few minutes later, the male came swooping in and bunch of little beaks popped up.  It was so fascinating to watch them that even when the school bus came and went, no one moved.  It was also amazing how quickly they grew (and what a mess they can make).  From the time that they hatched until they flew away earlier this week was only about 3 weeks.  Our little bird neighbors were a type of finch rather than chickadee, but I chose to start on Chickadee - a Little Friends design from Valerie Pfeiffer.  It's really cute and I should be able to finish before school's out.

Our seeds have all sprouted and are coming along nicely.  The garden itself is a wreck.  We've been invaded by mugwort which has been impossible for us to control.  And, somehow over the winter, an ornamental strawberry seems to have spread over a large portion of the garden.  Their bright pink flowers are really showy and pretty, but they're hanging out where the tomatoes are supposed to be.  But the asparagus is wonderful and the rhubarb is on the menu for Friday night.  The peach, pear, apple and cherry trees are in full bloom and overall it is just gorgeous!

So, it's too bad about Mr. Rabbit, but I won't put Fairy Idyll away this time.  I think I have a little girl in mind who will really love it when it's finished.  So there's a little incentive to keep going.

Prayers for those being affected by the historic flooding along the Mississippi and its tributaries.  For the rest of you, enjoy the sights and sounds of Spring!

School Vacation and ...

Rain.  I am guessing that in June when it's 95 degrees and we're sweltering through a little league game this week might look more appealing.  But right now it just looks soggy and chilly.

I haven't made much more progress on the rabbit in Fairy Idyll but I do have plans to work on him today - a lot. Easter will be here in just a few days and I would really like to have him done.

We did spend yesterday planting seeds and a few plants.  The soil is still really cold but some things have started poking through the ground.  The daffodils are already up but even some perennials are showing signs of life.  I have a terribly invasive "weed" that has already started spreading even further.  I know some people intentionally grow mugwort but I am open to any suggestions as to how to get rid of it.  Even the family of rabbits that were out in the garden yesterday haven't kept up with it.

So far this spring we have planted parsley, tomato seeds, pepper seeds, eggplant seeds and potatoes.  We have big plans for the garden this year and we were so looking forward to working out there this week.  Instead we're inside testing just how important it is for the soil to be warm for a seed to germinate, what happens if the soil is too dry or too wet, and do the seeds need lights over them to germinate (some do, some don't).  And, we are very impatiently checking each day for signs of asparagus.

Thanks for visiting.