A garden rich in flowers

Hello Friends....nothing like a good night's rest and sunny day to turn a frown to a smile ;) I'm feeling much more like my good 'ol self today! Plus it never hurts to get up and remember: HEY it's the first of the month that means The Gift of Stitching comes out today! And this issue doesn't disappoint! Congrats to Tanya of "The Sampler Girl" and Monique for her exclusive Jane Austen thread holder featured with Tanya's pattern. Lovely things girls!

I wanted to share with you what my sweet husband gifted me with for our anniversary:

Two Dozen Red Roses

Then when I was purchasing a gift for a dear friend's birthday I thought it may as well be my birthday too and I bought myself this:

Old Fashioned Hydrangea Bush

(hopefully to be transplanted in my flower garden)

And then I had my last Girl Scout meeting on Monday and my sweet BFF Kelly gave me this:

If you can't tell....it's a rose bush - Kelly says everything dies that she buys in the way of flowers

I'm nursing this one a long and there is one viable bud near the top of the bush...fingers crossed this one will go in my garden too!

And finally, a sweet mother of one of my Girl Scouts last week came to our door bearing this for Katie:

Flowers for Katie from the Forrest family

Here's the garden rich in flowers on my dining room table:

Lastly I'm not much into meme's but I shamelessly stole this one from dear Kendra over at the Stitching Hour....I liked it and thought I'd participate....Kendra and I grew up near the same city/town and I feel a special bond to her for that reason. If you've never visited Kendra go give her a holler!

Stitching Meme:

Who taught you to stitch and were there any special circumstances/memories surrounding this?

I taught myself to stitch at the age of 15 (1985). I was visiting my Dad for a couple of weeks at his house and I think I must of looked bored or something. My step-mother gave me two little kits of Teddy Bears that she had gotten from K-mart I believe. One said Good Night and one said Sleep Tight. I took those kits and read all the directions and off I went stitching!! Here are the finished products; even in some little yellow plastic frames that my Mom bought at 3-D (like Target):

What's your favorite kind of thing to stitch? (A project, kind of stitching, etc.)

Well I know you all know I'm nut-so over Little House Needleworks, but I also enjoy Blackbird Designs...I like rustic, primitive looking items that compliments my home. But really most anything appeals to me, besides cartoons, etc. What it comes down to is: my home is my castle and I treat it as such, I want it furnished with items that make me happy. So everytime I start to stitch something for myself, I think of what I'm going to do with it, how it will look, etc. So my favorite stitch is anything that will accent my home and personalize it and make it mine.

What do you stitch?

Stitching for me is my "Calgon moment". I'm centered by it, it quiets my mind, soothes my soul, it is my friend. The "what" of the stitching means little to me - it's the "why" that I'm most interested in. (plus this question is sort of answered above in question two)

What is your special stitching time?

When lunch is done, Ellie is napping and it's me and my needle and thread. I stitch from 12 (noon) until 3 p.m. basically every day. Of course there are days that this doesn't happen...but I strive for this daily. And really I stitch basically all day long whenever I get a few spare moments. But the 12 - 3 stretch is Mama's time :)

Where is your special stitching place? (an accompanying picture would be nice)

My Special stitching place is in our family room right by the window. We recently were given a couch and chair from my Dad and Stepmom so I put the chair by my stitching chair. Now Keith and I have a "conversation" area for when we want to talk in the evenings. My chair is by a window and I look out on the goings on of the neighborhood as I stitch. Plus I have all my little accessories and personal things I need to stitch right there handy....

You can see my stitching table has the "Lemon Recipe Box" that holds my scissors, I have my Ball Jar "orts" bin, my current book on CD (which is The Constant Princess by Phillipa Gregory) and if you look on the floor there is my selection of varying Q-snaps just waiting to be used.



Also beside my stitching chair is a sweing chest that my Pap made in 1927 for my great grandmother (his Mother). He was 14 years old and it's weathered many a years and my Mama gave it to me when I got married. She and my Granny (her Mama) decopauged it and added some fancy gold stuff (my Granny liked flash) sometime in the 70's...If you see that little girl on the horse there on the side...it's not me, but I always thought it was when I was little. It's so quaint that I love it just like it is...it sits beside me as I stitch and is a special heirloom I'm proud to own!

Alrighty then folks, that's all I have today....I got a gift certificate to Subway, for my last ever Girl Scout meeting...and I think I feel a hankering for a sub today! Until Next time....stitch with joy for it's the small things in life that bring fulness to it!