Thyme for Gardening

This morning when I woke up it was a glorious day! The sky was vivid blue and crystal clear.....the birds were singing.....the air was pure and sweet smelling. I thought to myself, "what a beautiful gift from God".

I was so inspired this morning that I got excited (finally) about doing some gardening this weekend.....but I made the mistake of listening to the weather report. The forecast is clouds and showers for the entire weekend. As I sit here right now, after lunch, the clouds are rolling in for forecasted showers tonight. I am waiting for my granddaughter Norah to awake from her afternoon nap so we can go for a walk before the raindrops arrive.

Below, I am sharing some of my photos of a garden vignette that I created last year. I purchased a few old, rusted pieces from my friend's antique shop, "Log Cabin Antiques". I love to use "olde junque" as artistic pieces among the beautiful blooms of planted annuals.

I created this verse for the garden and painted it on an old piece of wood. I hung it using rusty wire to match the rusty old crib rails that it hangs from.

I had purchased this old box with a lid that someone had attached hardware cloth to. I tucked a potted annual into an old rusty flower sifter and set it inside the box. I also planted an ivy in an old rusty funnel and hung it from the left side of the box. I just love old junque!

"Tickle it with a hoe and it will laugh itself into a garden"

Whatcha Working on Wednesday

Last week, I pictured several doilies that I had crocheted over the previous weekend. I put my thinking cap on and came up with a couple of ideas for how to use them. Pictured below is a candle mat completed with a tea-stained doily attached to black wool.

These two candle mats below are a simple patchwork design using my favorite Thimbleberries fabrics. One of the doilies is a vintage one from my collection.

Another project that I pictured (incomplete) last week was a slate. I have completed "Rise -n- Shine" below. I used acrylic paints to complete the simple rooster silhouette. I finished it with a coat of matte varnish so it can hang outside.

For the third week in a row I am picturing my partially completed needle punch project, "Pennies and Posies". It is about 75% complete. I still haven't decided how I will design it into a completed project. I have several ideas I'm considering, but can't decide yet!

Another project using one of my doilies is this one mounted to a band box. I painted the base of the box black and distressed it a bit. Then I mounted the doily to a wool-on-wool circle with a wool center to create a flower for the box top. I just have to trim out the rim of the lid with either a strip of black wool or some 1" black grosgrain ribbon. I'll see what I have in my supplies.

To see what other creative friends are working on for "Whatcha Working on Wednesday", visit Leslie's blog at "My Country Home".

Happy Birthday, Sis!

Today is May Day, and it is also a special day for my sister, Patti. It is her birthday.

As I sit here writing, I am thinking back to our childhood days when we would go to the store with our mother and buy yarn and fabric to start new projects at home. Mom and Grammy taught us so much when we were young girls. We used to make our own clothes for school and we'd make afgans, mittens and scarfs with the yarn we bought. Did we ever really finish any of our afgans we started? Remember the yellow, white and purple granny square one we started for our bedroom? I have so many wonderful memories of times I spent growing up with my sister.

Today she lives in southwest Florida and I am way up here in southern New Hampshire. Patti, I am missing you today . . . . as you celebrate your 5?th birthday, think of me and know that you are loved!

Hugs,

Deb

Check out my sister's blog, "Wild Berry Primitives" to see the things she is creating (and finishing) today. She is very talented!