Nice Warm Day

Here's a quick snapshot out the front window that was taken the other day. My husband took some time to rake the leaves out of this part of the front yard. How amazing that after just a few days of warm weather to melt the snow that we have so much green foliage showing up now. This ground cover is what was hidden under all those leaves.

My friend said she and her husband stopped at one of the local garden centers to check on availability of new garden plants. Apparently there's not a whole lot in stock just yet. As soon as I get some plants and flowers I'm going to make up this big clay pot in the front. I'll be checking out my garden books and magazines for ideas over the next several days.

Here the yard looks so good after it was raked. It didn't take long with all the wind we've been getting to have more leaves blow in. Looks like my hubby will wait a while before he gets out there again. It's been pretty breezy lately and we're forecast to get rain over the next few days.

It was such a beautiful sun-shiny day outside today! I was out a few times. Took the dogs out for a good walk. I was out a couple times just to enjoy the day. I went to visit a friend for a short time, walked the dog, then went for a Mocha Frappuccino. When I got home I took another walk with all three dogs. Thus I had a fun visit with a friend, got some exercise to stretch my legs and a yummy, frothy drink to top it off. I'd say it was a perfect day!

Later in the afternoon I had an opportunity to gather together some of my machine embroidery designs and do a little sorting and organizing. I have some projects in mind, and wanted to locate the designs I want to work on. The other day I picked up some pleather (that's faux leather - if you didn't know - the artificial plastic leather) and also some real leather. I will be doing some pillows as a sample test-run of a few machine embroidery designs. I want to eventually put the designs on a jeans jacket. The pillows are my practice run to make sure I have the machine applique technique down and catch on to any 'surprises' in the way the designs are digitized before I commit to the actual jacket. I looked around a little bit at the mall for a jeans jacket and didn't find one I wanted to spend money on. I may go check out our local farm and ranch store tomorrow to find out their price on a jacket.

While I was at the mall I stopped at the RCC Western store. When we were there last weekent I fell in love with a pair of cowboy boots I saw. They've been on my mind ever since I saw them. I hesitate to pay the price that's marked, but I do really like them. I just might consider it a good investment if we spend much time on my husband's motorcycle this summer. They would protect my feet and ankles a lot better than the tennis shoes I've been wearing lately. I'll be giving it some thought.

Meanwhile, after much requesting from my dear hubby, I took a ride on the bike with him today. He kept insisting it would be less bumpy (from the potholes this spring) on a motorcycle than in the car. After our ride and a few serious bumps, I'd say it just isn't so. It was still pretty bumpy. Perhaps it's just too soon after the surgery to give a good objective opinion on this. My vote right now says it is just as bumpy, if not more so. Although it was a fun ride (we saw two wild deer along River Road coming back into town) I think I'll wait a few more weeks before I take another ride. A few serious bumps made me feel really tired out from that ride. I came home, took some Motrin and then settled into my easy chair for the rest of the evening.

Hopping the Bunny Trail

I've been away blogging for awhile, but now am back. One of the things I have sewn recently was wedding ring bearer pillows for my niece's wedding that took place last Saturday. I embroidered the designs on my Pfaff Creative Vision then stitched the pillows together. This photo shows one of the pillow in progress.

I made two pillows for my niece to choose from. I have not heard yet from her which one she decided to go with. It was fun to do both of them since they turned out looking so different with the finishing touches on each one.

We have bunny rabbits living near us every year. It doesn't seem to matter that we've got three dogs, the bunnies have been coming around every year for some time now. Here's the evidence to prove it.

I find it kind of hard to believe that bunnies are able to squeeze under the bottom edge of our gate. It sits so close to the ground. I heard they were able to slide through very narrow gaps in fencing to squeeze through to an area they want to get to. I just never realized it was quite this narrow. There just doesn't seem to be much room to get past this gate.

It was absolutely beautiful outdoors this morning. I woke up to find a winter wonderland of ice and frost on all the trees. I just had to grab my camera to get some pictures. Granted these are not the best photos. They fall far short of ever capturing the beauty of the glittering scenery that was our yard.

The snow has been piled high all winter with shoveling off snow and ice from the back steps and the walk-way that allows the dogs to get out and about in the back yard. This view of the back door shows how high that pile is at the moment. There is actually a bit less than there had been a few weeks ago. We were blessed with some warmer than normal temps for a few days that brought on a wee bit of a melt of some ice and snow. No fear! There's still lots more outside! It'll be winter here for a while longer.

Decks and Roses

My husband's work on the deck and back steps is coming along nicely. I think he's done such a great job on this project. He's staining the boards as he goes. The rails were going up today along with the floor boards. The dogs were out enjoying the sun, notice Ginger relaxing nearby. She didn't seem to care that sawdust was flying. And the sound of the saw and assembly work were no big deal.


The little dogs were enjoying their time out in the sun today. Earlier this morning it was bright and sunny and quite warm. They just love to soak up the sun. I call this one "Squinty Sparky".


And here's "Squinty Sugar" to match. She seems the least thrilled with the noise and commotion of deck building. Sugar constantly indicated her desire to go back indoors.


I looked out the window this morning to find lots of blossoms on my Prairie Rose bush. They look just gorgeous with a delicate pink shade and a light floral scent. I love seeing them all blooming right now.


And so do the bees. This big bumblebee was a delight to watch. I mean that in a funny way, I had to start laughing at it. Poor thing, the wind was blowing the rose branches around and with its poor coordination it had a lot a trouble aiming and landing on its little rose petal 'heliopads'. Numerous times it seemed to almost fall right off. Here I was able to get a shot of it hanging on for dear life while trying to gather pollen. There were two bumblebees working their way through these blossoms.


A bit later another type of bee came swooping in on the roses. It was very accurate about landing and more methodical about pollen gathering. But it didn't stay long on each flower. I think the bumblebees managed to gather much of the pollen beforehand.


Another look at the roses, here's three in a grouping. Such a pretty flower.

I have a few machine embroidery designs of prairie roses digitized by Sue Box. Check out her website, SueBox.com for some very nice designs. Seeing these blossoms makes me want to get out those designs and stitch up a few things. Sue Box calls them Briar Roses in her Golden Classic Collection, but they're the same flower.


I am very pleased with the growth of my honeysuckle vine this year. I was afraid I might have killed it last year with the lack of rain and my neglect to routinely water it. Apparently it was working more under the soil putting down roots because it came out in full force this year. One little trumpet flower has opened so far. I just love the smell of honeysuckle!

Random Studio Photos

Okay, so I thought I'd get out my camera again to take some random Sewing Studio photos. These, in no particular order, are some of my interesting collection of "stuff".


My Designer 1 was purchased many years ago as my first embroidery machine. I have always enjoyed this machine. Even though I have a newer Pfaff model, this one is still a favorite of mine. If you have ever considered purchasing a sewing/embroidery machine I would definitely recommend this brand and model. Of course they have since made an update where the floppy disk drive is now replaced with a USB port for a memory stick. I decided not to have mine updated because I have so many designs on floppy and the slightly slower loading time doesn't bother me.


This is a purchase I made when I attended a Husqvarna Viking Convention for machine and software training some years ago. I managed to get it and a few other items in my luggage and it survived the airport attendant handling to grace my Sewing Studio wall. It had been stuck at the time shown in the picture for some time until tonight when I inserted a new battery. I have moved its location to another wall above my desk to hopefully help me better track my study time. It's happily ticking away as I blog!


I mentioned this Jeans Quilt in a previous blog earlier this month and also posted a link to the pattern I submitted to About.com some years ago. Here's a photo of some denim circles cut from recylced jeans, ready to sew. You can see the plastic coffee can lid on the rear left pile. It's the same one I've used for years. These will go to make a new car quilt I'll use later this fall when the weather turns cold again.


This orange banner was something given away at a Husqvarna Viking convention when they rolled out the new Viking Designer SE. The million machine march was a play on the slogan once used for the million man march several years ago. This was a fun convention, very lively as everyone in the audience had banners to wave, balloons with the Viking logo were released, bells to ring and whistles to blow at the new machine unveiling. Lots of excitement and lots of noise. I have wanted to sew a string of banners in this same size to decorate my Sewing Studio for quite some time. That's another idea on the back burner awaiting some free time.


I've seen weekly photos on some blogs that show "What's on my Desk" and thought I'd start one in a similar vein. This one will go up on Wednesdays - "What's on my Cutting Table". I want to try to do at least some sewing every week. So far that has been pretty minimal while I've been busy with my on-line classes.


Okay, while I'm at it, here's the answer to "What's on My Desk". As you can see I'm well equipped with iced tea and what's left of a frappacino while I was studying for classes. Here I had just opened my blog page to make this update. As soon as I'm done taking the "Blog Break" it's back to studying. Nose to the grindstone and all that.


I was looking on-line for some material for a class project and happened upon a news report about Starbucks changing their logo recently and how the logo change is stirring up controversy, apparently it's causing some uproar. This is a picture of a mini taste-testing cup when I tried a new flavor over the Christmas holiday last year. It is currently holding a batch of fortunes from fortune cookies consumed during a few Chinese food meals. I keep thinking I'll use them someday in a collage or in a fabric journal. Just another idea rolling around in the back of my mind.


Anyway, the controversial new logo design hasn't shown up in our local Barnes & Nobel Starbucks yet. I never paid that much attention to it before. It's interesting how one of my classes this week covers images used in advertizing and how they need to be chosen carefully so as not to offend various groups and those from different cultures. The article I read said Starbuck's sales have slumped considerably since gas prices have increased so much lately. They suggested this remake of the logo is an attempt to stir up interest and increase sales. Very interesting!