A Postcard Afternoon...

Schatzi - 11.5 weeks - 28 pounds

Life in our household has been a little more hectic than usual...trying to balance a home-based business with a new puppy in the house is "insane" to say the least. I am working on finding a better balance...but for now, I have just accepted that things are going to be a little crazy in the coming months. Today I feel a sense of relief, as (late last night) I finished a gigantic deadline for a publisher that was completely stressing me out...and I actually got the Blue Ribbon Designs June Newsletter emailed this afternoon...and (fingers crossed) later today, I am really hoping the dogs allow me to do some much needed model stitching!

Yesterday afternoon, we took Schatzi to Raccoon River Park, to see if she likes the water...we walked her down to the lake, and after just a bit of gentle coaxing, she actually walked right in ...luckily I had my camera to commemorate the moment. It was a postcard afternoon, which was most welcome, after more than a week of severe weather, thunderstorms, and rain....I got a lovely photograph of the clouds reflecting on the lake...

I have had several messages asking me about my perennial garden I planted last year....first a photo from last year...then several photos from this year. I am happy to report, I just may have inherited my mother's green thumb after-all. Everything I planted returned this year, with the exception of one shrub....and I even moved a few things around a couple weeks ago to make the bed more eye-pleasing. My Knockout Roses are just starting to bud...and I am thrilled that my Spiderwort, Dianthus, Pincushion Flower, Cranesbill Geranium, Valerian, and Coreopsis are all in bloom...everything looks healthy and happy!

Perennial Garden 2012 - just planted..

Perennial Garden 2013 - after one year...

Valerian

Knockout Rose Bush

Coreopsis

Cranesbill Geranium, Chives, Lavender

It feels good to finally take a moment and catch-up with my blog readers...I have been missing you...I will do my best to get back to regular updates! I do have some sewing I *must* get to this week, as we are attending a wedding next weekend and I am making the gift...hopefully I will be back soon to share the project with you! I should also have some stitchy updates soon - I have a bunch of projects in the works...plus (if all goes well), I have a special road trip planned for Friday that will have lots of fun photos...
Wishing you a cheerful and productive week...

Planting Perennials

I know my posts have been few and far between this month - seems I have been busy from early morning until late at night each and every day. This week I made time to get my perennial garden planted. Those of you who have followed my blog for a while, will remember this flower bed was constructed last spring when we were doing a bunch of outdoor construction on our home. Before we had all our siding, windows, doors, and deck replaced, we removed the old hedges in the front our our home and built a retaining wall flower bed - when the outdoor work was completed last October, it was too late in the season to plant...so the bed has been pretty much empty (with the exception of some lavender I planted last spring). I knew I wanted a perennial garden...and my dear friend Kimber gave me a wonderful book on perennial gardens for Christmas - which I put to great use in my planning...and both Merry and Kimber gave me some wonderful advice on types of plants. I decided on a mixture of herbs and flowers...along with a knockout rose bush (which I LOVE) and barberry shrub. Everything is finally in the ground and the mulch is down...and I am thrilled. All of the plants have been thriving and starting to bloom/flower....I couldn't be happier (especially since my gardening experience is pretty minimal)! I took a few photos to show you this evening...

I also planted two large containers of annuals and three pots of geraniums this week for the front porch front steps....here are a couple close-up photos I snapped while I was outside with my camera this evening...

I am still plugging away on the project for the Salty Yarns class - the framed portion of the project is nearing completion and there are a of couple coordinating needlework smalls (one of which is a brand new design concept for me) that I will begin later this week. I am also almost finished with the needlework smalls for "Berries, Birds, and Blooms", so I will share those with you soon...

For those of you waiting for more of my Decorative Pin and Button Packs - I listed 55 more in my Etsy shop today - the first batch of 25 sold out before I could even get them all posted in the shop, so if you missed out, now is your chance. I do not have plans to make more in the near future, as I have a pile of items ready to sew and quilt...so when they are gone, it may be a while before they are restocked. More needlebooks, needlecases/pockets, and pincushions will be posted in the next week or so...