Bacl Agaom

 

Ten days is really, really a short time for machine service, but it seemed like a very long time.  

There wasn't anything wrong with it, but it just needed a regular service to keep it happy.  And to keep me happy.

I tried using my machine-before-this-one, and it's a lovely machine, it's just not this machine.  This one threads the needle with the push of a button - magic.  And this one has an integratd dual feed foot - if you know, you know.

So this morning I hemmed a pair of pants, put binding on a potholder, and stitched a portion of a quilt block.  All long, long overdue.

And there was a needed mental reset in my mind, that maybe, just maybe I can do things, I can be pracical and I can be creative, and I can complete things.

This Is Lucky

 

How lucky am I?  My granddaughter's college job is working in a flower shop and she brought me Mother's Day flowers.

One of my own favorite part time jobs was working in a small town flower shop.  It was next a grocery store - not like now, when a floral department is part of the grocery, but a stand alone shop owned by the same person who owned the grocery store.

When Mothr's Day came, part of the grocery cold storage turned into flower and bouquet storage.  It was a sight to see.

Sometimes I drove the delivery van, in the days before GPS.  That would have made it so much easier.

But the best part - stepping into the shop's cold storage area on a winter day.  The smell was heavenly.

But just as good, was working with the floral designers.  They were happy, they were friends, there was lots of chatting.  It was the best. 

Or Maybe Yellow

Or maybe yellow roses are my favorites.

I had a call from the sewing store this morning, and my machine service was finished and ready to be picked up.  Just like that, my other plans for the day seemed less important.  

I need to ask someone to carry my machine into the house and put the steps and my life will feel more normal once again.

I got updates from Aaron's track meet and that was fun.  He was first in discus, pretty good for a kid who's thrown for like two weeks.

Tomorrow is Mother's Day and I'm making a simple dinner to take to Steph's.  She's the mom in the trenches and I'm just enjoying.

Pink Roses

 

My favorite garden flower is whatever is in bloom, and right not it's pink roses.  

The iris put on a pretty show, and are now gone.  

Some of the new pollinator plants were slow to come up this spring but everything is accounted for now.  I'm on the lookout for a few more milkweed plants, maybe one for my neighbor too.  He's been enjoying the morarch activity on either side of him.

I'm also on the lookout too for a a post so I can hang out the Cincinnati Zoo pollinator garden sign.  It's pretty small.

A few different pollinator plants are on my list too.

Christmas in April

 

Every few days, a new bud or two shows up on my Christmas cactus.  And then later produces the largest, prettiest bloom.  It's almost like the the Christmas cactus is competing with the spring blooms starting to show up outside.

The milkweed plant has emerged and I'm so happy about that.  The iris are blooming.  Some late emerging plants are starting to show up.  I think there's a life lesson in those plants that show up just when I've given up.  

(Did anyone else read Leo the Late Bloomer to their kids?)

There has been a weekend out of town - but not very far.  More about that later.  Sarah and Winnie are traveling back home.  I always hope they will get home before dark but that rarely happens.  I guess it's a mom wish.

Collaborative Baby Quilt

A different kind of baby quilt, with blocks made by several people and  pieced ogether by another,  I was luckky enough to do the quilting and binding.

The women who did the piecing were Arboretum friends, and that was reflected in the fabric choices.  Some of the fabrics were used by everyone, some were added by the individual quilters.

I'm so pleased with the way this turned out.  Thanks to June Jollu for making everything fit together so nicely.

Weeding

 

Granddaughter Nora came a couple of times to weed the front yard beds,  She did a good job, and they look better.

The Felco pruners are here, a Christmas gift from aunts Sarah and Winnie, with her name engraved.  She's landed on landscape design as her major so it was an appropriate gift.

It was such a win/win.  I could pay her, over her objections, and feed her.  And I'm sure the neighbors are grateful.

I'm still hopeful, but it loos like a few of my favorite plants didn't make it through the winter.  Still, the ones that did are filling in nicely.

Except for some top soil, I've put off any visits to the nursery.  Probably just as well, there are frost warnings tonight and tomorrow night.