Some projects...

So this is the area that is under that 

beautiful crabapple 

that I showed you on my last post.  

This is on the corner of my property 

and is very visible from both streets. 

 I like to keep it looking nice 

because of that location.  

I love all the colors of the shrubs that are in there.  

All shades of green and lots of texture for interest.

There is hosta in the pink pot. 
The other one has ferns in it.

The yellow shrub is a Gold Mound Spirea...
And next to it is a purple Columbine...

Just look at this! 
A columbine has seeded itself in the trunk
of this Cedar tree,  and it's going to flower! 
Love how that looks!

This is my Grandson's Tonka dump truck. 
He loved playing with it when he came over to visit.
 He's 29 years old now.

And yet another "new" project. 
This little Japanese Maple has been growing here
for 6, 7, or 8 years now.
 Every year I've given it a trim
because I don't want it to grow into a full size tree.
It's 23" now.
I've recently been watching videos
on YouTube about making Bonsai trees. 
So here is my dilemma. 
I can't leave them outside
for the winter in containers,
or they will freeze and die. 
I don't have a greenhouse to keep them in
and I don't have enough light in the house
during the winter for them. 
So I decided to do my Bonsai outside
and leave them in the ground. 
That seems to be the only way to keep them alive. 
So this one has had some more trimming. 
I put some moss around it
and have been watering it a lot
to get the moss to "take". 
And I found a tiny little fern to put next to it.
This is a little spot at the end of the backyard. 
Out of the way, and a good meditating spot. 
(If I ever wanted to do that.) haha

I love this time of year the most and I'm
so happy to be able to work outside
and be creative with my gardening. 
I am also working at putting
in a succulent bed in one of my borders.
With the shutdown,
I am waiting to go the the plant nursery
for plants, soil amendments and such.
The last frost date here is around the end of May,
 so I have to wait a little longer for that too.

So for now,  I'll just keep busy... 
mostly clearing out the weeds, 
getting the pond in shape,
working on my compost,
edging the gardens,
and enjoying the sunshine!

'Til next time. 
Love ya,  Jean

Playing Catch up...

So,  I've been really,  really busy...

(Click pictures for a closer look)

Grape Hyacinths,
in front of the Barberry bushes...

It is beautiful this year... 
I was advised by an arborist
to take it down 8 years ago!
Glad I didn't listen. 
It has Fire Blight, 
but seems to be under control now...

A closeup of the blossoms,  so beautiful!
This is a Crabapple.
 It was here when I moved in
 50 years ago!
I'm pretty sure it was planted
when the house was built in 1957!

This is a lap quilt that I made recently. 
I gave it to my daughter,
  as she loved the color combination!

I've also been sewing masks.
I gave some out to my neighbors,
 and I donated some to my city,
 to be given out to those who need them.

Some examples of the ones I made...
I made about 55-60 altogether...

So that's about it for now.
I am working on a little project I call
"Hunter's Village" for my Great Grandson.
 (He's 7 already!)
  It's a little truck run that he can play at
when he comes over this summer (maybe)...

'Til next time,  

Love ya,  Jean

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to all!

May your day be filled with Joy!

He is Risen!

'til next time,  

Love ya,  Jean

My Postage Stamp Quilt

My Postage Stamp Quilt is finally finished!

I worked on it,  off and on,  for about two years...

I knew it was a long term project when I started it.

It has over 4,000 pieces on it. 

I hand stitched the quilting. 
It's called "big stitch quilting".
I saw it on Youtube.
It goes much faster than
the traditional quilting.

I absolutely LOVE it!
I guess that's what matters,  right?

'Til next time,  Love ya,  Jean

Mr. Robin was here...

He was on my lawn on Monday!

I was very happy to see him.

Spring will be here officially tomorrow.

We had some snow here yesterday,

 and it's predicted for tomorrow.

After that,  quite a few days of rain,  maybe! 

I'll just wait and see.

                                        I have another amaryllis blooming.

This one is a beautiful shade of orange.

This one was a brilliant red,  

knock-your-socks-off red!

It bloomed in January.

They are so beautiful!

I have 4 other baby bulbs 

that I grew from seed

 last year that are doing fine.

I forgot to take a picture of them.

It'll be years before they flower.

I can't wait to see what color they are.

I took them from a red plant,  

but I am hoping that they revert 

to some other color.  

We shall see!

So,  the rule of the day and this post is:  

Be patient!

Wait for the flowers to bloom...

Wait for the new bulbs to grow up...

and wait for warmer days, 

 when I will be able to get out there 

and work in my garden.

I will not rush! 

 Time is going by too fast anyway!

Enjoy every moment!

'Til next time,  Love ya,  Jean

An early Valentine's Day!

It was a memorable day...

Our Valentine's Day 

was on Thursday, not Friday.

He thought it was that day...

We are getting older and we are retired, 

so one day seems to be the same as the next!  haha

I love flowers as you probably know by now,

so I was very pleased with the beautiful bouquet

 of roses that he got for me.  

The chocolates and strawberries were awesome, too!

I hope your day was good!  

'Til next time,  Love ya,  Jean

January is finished!

Wow!

Where did this whole month go?

It was just Christmas and New Year's celebrations!!!

I've been relaxing and taking time 

to reflect and appreciate all that I have.

we now have two new babies in the family.

They are my great grandchildren.

Grayson Edward and Everleigh May.

I had planned on showing pictures of them but,

I can't get the pics from my phone 

to upload to my computer.

I need one of my grandchildren to help me,  

so I need to wait 'til one of them are free...

So,  this is what I am working on now.

I started making this quilt about two years ago,

 and knew that it would be a long-term project.  

It might even be longer than that.  

Anyway,  I have started doing the hand quilting on it. 

 I saw a "new" method of  quilting 

called "big stitch" that appealed to me.  

Since I don't have room here to try to quilt this on my machine,

 and it wouldn't fit anyway,  I decided to do it this way...

So here it is on the end of my dining room table.

It's big...  86" square.

They say to start in the middle
and work your way out to the ends.

Here's a closeup of the patches.
 This is called a postage stamp quilt. 
The patches are cut at 2",  and finish up at 1 1/2".

This is a look at the stitches.
 I need to do them both ways, 
so the quilting ends up at
 approximately 5" square all over.

The tools that I am using...

I am using # 8 DMC cotton perle thread.
I will keep you posted on my progress.
I also have two pillow shams to do,
 when I get the quilt finished...

So now for some flowers...  (below)
My Amaryllis is blooming again.
So reliable every year.
Just like clockwork!
This one was growing on it's own
in a corner of my workroom.
 It couldn't wait for me to start watering it.
It started on it's own! 
Now I have an offshoot from the main bulb
that has flowered for the first time!
And these are the flowers from the "baby" bulb!

Here they are a day later! 
So big and beautiful!

This is the bud on the "mother" plant.
 Waiting to see how many flowers it has this year.

And my orchid flowers are back. 
They love this east window where they live.
So pretty...

The weather has been great here
in New England this winter. 
We've had snow a few times,
 but the ground is bare now
and temps are reasonable.
 So far,  so good! 
We do have February and March
to get through though!  haha 
Who knows what they will bring with them!
We will wait and see!

I am anticipating maple sugaring season,
 which will be coming up in about 2 or 3 weeks! 
I'm hoping for a lot of sap this year! 
The temps are about right now, 
but it's still a little too early.

So that's about it for now.  
I hope you have a lovely day,  
wherever you are!

'Til next time,
Love ya,  Jean