A Monday Update

I think summer is in full force here; the woods are too thick to see through, mosquitoes are out in full force, and it has been freakin' hot (though we did have a few days of overcast, and actually got a bit of rain at our house). My red lilies are almost done, but the wild day lilies are blooming like crazy as are the cannas, many of which escaped their bed (more work for me to do in the fall - I HAVE to this year, soccer or not).

We went to Home Depot yesterday and bought a new butterfly bush to replace the one we pulled out a couple of months ago. We'll see how it does with the watering restrictions (though we are allowed to water new plants for 20 minutes for a week). Also got a few blanket flowers to put around the base of the lilies - hopefully they'll get established and stay around all summer... Trying to find drought-friendly plants is a hassle. But the fire ants are under control for the moment, so I guess I better make an effort....

On to the stitching. First off, I will have to edit this later as I have no idea where one of my pictures is - I got some more progress on Lyne's wedding sampler, but I didn't upload the photo to Multiply, for whatever reason. So I will do that when I get home tonight (assuming I really did save it).

I finished that DD Mermaid ornament that I started way back during HS soccer season; it's just been sitting there, totally untouched, for weeks, so I picked it up as soon as I got home Friday, and got all the cross stitch done. Then when Lucy got me up Saturday, before my eyes were even fully open, I picked it up and did the bs. That puts me up to 8, I think - I think a finishing day is in order (dependent on if I decide to enter into a fair this year or not). Here she is:
As Tanglewood has really been screaming at me lately, I decided to work on Natalie's Tanglewood on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, and picked up where Shawn left off. Man those branches go really quick, once you get into them - and now I realllllyyyyy want to work on mine! I will work down to the peacock, and hopefully get at least that much completed on Natalie's before it moves on :) Need to finish up the blue sky too, if I have time... Here is what I've done so far:

(click on the picture, which SHOULD take you to the RR album, and then go to the Previous pic, so you can see where I picked it up from Shawn)

My main focus piece for the week was Knotgarden, and I was really hoping to finish the whole right side - which I thought I would do last time, but for some reason, it went really slowly, and I only got it about 1/2 done. Well, I am happy to report that it went much quicker this time, and the entire right side is now complete, except for the few beads that go on the gate and in the grass between the pots. I even went over the first blackbird again, making him even darker - they are both pretty solid looking now :) Here's the overall:

And then a detail of just the gate:

I was so happy that I met my own goal, and with time to spare, that I put this away as soon as I got that bottom right topiary done last night (instead of working furiously to 10:00 to get as far as possible before having to go to bed), and got out Celtic Banner for a couple of hours! I might even work on it a bit tonight, before I get out this week's rotation, Foursome Reel. Here's the little bit of progress I made on Celtic:

As I said, this week is Foursome Reel, or more appropriately, Sampler Week. So I might even work on Samplar 4 Saisons, too, if the mood strikes me (or if my eyes are too shot to work on that 1-over-1 36ct :) ). I will be out of town over the weekend, again - my 16yo has a game in Cary, NC, and as I have family there, I am taking the 12yo up, and we'll go visit over the weekend and see the game, and come home Sunday evening or Monday morning. DH is staying home with his princess dog, and possibly another dog that he is trying to talk me into adopting. We'll see how that 2nd dog thing goes - he's a beagle mix, so another hound dog, and the two of them together will probably be much too smart for their own good. I needed another damn thing to take care of, though might as well do it now, while we know the carpet is trashed and the furniture has about had it. Someday, I'll have non-puppies and no cats, and new carpet & furniture without holes (though, in the furniture's defense, it was already wearing when we got it from my mom - surprised, really, the fabric lasted this long). Well, that's the news - I will edit this tonight to add Lyne's piece in, since I brain-farted that (I even got the lint roller out before I took the pic - Lucy's hair is like picking eyelashes off of stuff :( ) Happy stitching this week to everyone!!