Sunflower Pincushion

We're on vacation - more on that in a later post - but before we left, I finish-finished a project from The Sampler Girl's Summer 2010 booklet.  I don't have the booklet with me, but as I recall, it's called Sunflower Pincushion.  I chose to finish it to hang on a door or wall hook.  I searched all my ribbon for a suitable color, but couldn't find anything until I remembered this rustic twine.  I ended up cutting it a bit short, but I'm not taking it apart now.

Summer Gardens

The heat and humidity have departed for now, so on Friday I headed outside to replace the bulbs in three of our four outdoor light fixtures, then did some gardening.  I was shocked as I rounded the corner of the house:  the Black-eyed Susans are taller than I've ever seen, the Candytuft is out-of-control, the Russian Sage is falling over, and there were weeds galore.  I cleaned up a bit, and bemoaned the fact that I've never taken the time to put edging around that garden.  I guess there's still time to do it this season.

 The Black-Eyed Susans after I cut quite a few branches to bring inside.

We used to have two Russian Sage plants here, but dug one up and moved it to the back yard.  Its purpose here is to hide the air conditioning unit.

Our beautiful Rose of Sharon at the front of the houe.  This started as a stick five years ago.  Now we have to severely cut it back every spring!

Sarah discovered this Black-Eyed Susan Vine in a catalog several years ago.  It hasn't started blooming yet, although it looks like it will soon.  The blossoms are minatures of the full-sized plants.

Sarah's garden.  She has many different plants - Sunflowers, Daisies, Bee Balm, Calendula, Cosmos, and other flowers I don't know the names of.

I forgot to check our newest garden, which is a wildflower garden.  We were very late planting it, so I'm not sure what we will get by the end of the growing season, but hopefully many of the plants will come back next spring.

I leave you with these words from Henry Ward Beecher's Star Papers: A Discourse of Flowers:  

"Flowers have an expression of countenance as much as men or animals.  Some seem to smile; some have a sad expression; some are pensive and diffident; others again are plain, honest and upright, like the broad-faced sunflower and the hollyhock."  

Drapes!

In my last post, I mentioned that I made drapes for Anthony & Grace's apartment.  I was able to get some pictures of them tonight. 

This was my first time  making drapes.  I used blackout lining, which I quickly discovered is VERY heavy, and made the drapes difficult to maneuver.  They are about 81" long, and approximately 44.5 inches wide.  Since they attack to the curtain rod with clips, I did not sew a rod pocket, although there is just enough room in the top hem to do a narrow one in the future if needed.  The fabric is "Pen Pal" from Jo-Ann Fabrics.

I couldn't resist including the monkey in the last picture.  I'm sure I've mentioned before that Grace loves monkeys and has them all over the apartment, in her car, and in their study.  Secretly, I love looking for new and unusual monkey items to give her!

I'm Still Here!

Truly, I am!  Our van died, and we had to find a new vehicle in a hurry.  This week, we've had doctor's appointments.  Oh, and last Saturday, I made one of two curtain panels for Grace and Anthony's apartment.  (That's another post, though.)  So unfortunately, all I have to share with you are some pictures of Callie doing what I want to spend more time doing!

Blogger seems to be having some issues tonight.  At least I hope that's what the problem is.  Let me know if my background is loading for you, please?  Thanks!

Hostas

It is unfortunate that when a developer begins work on a new subdivision, the first step is to raze all the trees.  I suppose it makes the job of installing sewer, water, electric, phone, etc. lines, not to mention creating roads, and bringing in construction materials easier, but once the houses are completed, residents are left without mature trees to shade their homes, and are forced to settle for sun-loving plants.  When we built our home almost six years ago, we paid extra for a lot that backed up to a wooded (or should I say, weedy?) area, and after clearing out some of the mess and planting more grass, we now have two shade trees in the back part of our yard.  Around one of them, we have planted hostas.  These grew from larger plants which were divided, and the larger ones are now in need of dividing again.  The two smaller plants were in pots for the longest time, but now that they are in the ground, I expect them to flourish as well.

Floral Beauty

Our neighbor has some lovely flowers.  I snapped these pictures the other day.  You can see that the insects are eating the blooms, but they are beautiful nonetheless.

Coasters

At Christmastime, I won some lovely coasters in one of Heidi's giveaways.  So when Sarah needed a wedding gift that wasn't going to cost much, I immediately thought of the coasters, and contacted Heidi for the instructions.   Sarah's coasters were lovely, and I was inspired to make some of my own.  I did mine with triangles instead of squares, which was more challenging.  On two of the coasters, I had trouble with the triangles in the corners, but since they are just coasters, and just for us, I'm not going to fuss.