Top o' the morning!

I don't know that quilting will ever be a great hobby of mine.

Yesterday I shared my 'oops' moment. I realized I should've used a quilting frame or embroidery frame to hold the quilt and border tight.

But who wants to tear everything apart and start over? Not me!

I did tear out the 'stitch in the ditch' basting stitches, and then opened up the bottom of the piece and stuffed in some batting.

I also used embroidery thread to 'tie' my quilt.

It is still not perfect, but much less lumpy looking. I'll take it for a first effort!

Still have to fix the stick and hanging tabs. They are too red neck even for me.

And next time I'll put my mini quilt in a frame of some sort. Next time?

Yes, I think I'll try again. :)

Crocus in March -hurrah!

I thought about the fact that this is the 15th, and thus, Garden Blogger's bloom day.

I had little hope that I had anything blooming yet.

I have been out, raking up the pine needles (there seem to be SO MANY this year!)

We stack the needles on one of our walking paths. And, then I noticed (look on the left, up the path) that we really DID have flowers already! Every year spring is such a wonderful surprise.

Although it shouldn't be a surprise. I see last year in March, my crocuses were blooming.

Saint Patrick's day decorations, or will the luck o' the Irish hold?

I bought some small remnants with shamrocks on them several years ago and then didn't know what to do with them. It didn't seem right to make a bag out of them. Finally I decided to try to make a wall hanging. This seemed like a small enough project that I just might be able to finish it.

Step one, find some fabrics in my stash that would look good with the two shamrock fabrics.

A shamrock template off of the internet was easy enough, and then..........

cutting out the squares and sewing them together went along very quickly.

I appliquéd the shamrock and added tabs............

Things started going wonky when I put the border on and then the backing, though.

You can see from this picture that the squares are not flat and tight. bah.

I hung it up for a few days to think about what to do next. I didn't want to take the whole thing apart again. (I'd already tried to make it look smooth by sewing basting stitches across the quilted pieces. I'll show you what I did to fix it tomorrow.

Snow day in March

We got about 5 inches of snow last night

not much fun to drive in, but beautiful to look at!

I love how lacey these snow covered branches look.

Another Flicker sighting

I saw the flicker again!

This time it looks like he/she is wondering where the tree went -

we lost the tree in a bad windstorm in December.

Here's a great shot of its wings. I wish I remembered if the bird was taking off or landing.

Fall Flicker ?

From my kitchen window, I've been enjoying the color of the Virginia creeper.

Then I heard some rustling, and saw a bird eating the berries....

I'm guessing it's a flicker of some type. But I don't know a lot about birds!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday -check it out!

Iris Week wrap up - 'Dear Dorothy' blooms

"Dear Dorothy" was a bonus iris from Blue J Iris.

I've ordered irises from them more than once, and always been pleased.

It's one of those 'too many colors' for my taste, but not bad, for a freebie.

Anytime an iris has brown, tan or copper listed as colors, I am a bit wary.

I have some yellow/brown irises that I love some days and hate on others (don't tell them).

Blue J describes Dear Dorothy as a bi-color with yellow-orange selfs (upper petals) and light powder purple (or almost brown!) falls with yellow orange edges and hafts

This closeup shows the light purple falls and yellow beard. Nice. Almost rainbow-colored in the range of colors. And, of course, 'free' is always nice.

Iris Week - Mystery Theatre, featuring 'Copper Lustre'

One of my new irises is "Copper Lustre."

It is a Dykes medal winner (1938),

with delicate coppery-pink standards and darker falls with veining and a yellow-orange beard.

Here is what Copper Lustre is supposed to look like.

Then we come to what I have in my garden, bought with the understanding that this is supposed to be a copper /pink combo:

You can see we are talking about something that is definitely NOT copper-y. Wine? yes. Purple-red? yes. but copper? no. So now I wonder what this lovely iris is called? Maybe I should just save some time and rename it myself.

Any suggestions?

Iris Week- lovin' the blues

Irises make me happy, so lovin' the blues is more accurate than singing the blues today.

This is a closeup of Chico Maid, a tall bearded iris.

You can see the beautiful blue beard with a bit of bronze.

Chico maid again. It is such a beautiful color and the blue beard just adds to the thrill for me.

unnamed pale blue

This iris is a lovely deep, periwinkle blue that's blooming in several spots in the yard today.

Iris Week - Yellow beauty, big and small

Looks like Mama iris and babies, doesn't it?

The tall yellow ones are named "New Moon," and are a rich lemony color.

The 'babies' are a smaller variety, and I don't have the name for them. My yellow bed is getting crowded, I'll have to do some thinning when my iris get done blooming.

GBB Day for June 2011

One of the highlights of spring is the dogwood blooming. Here in hot , dry Utah, I don't remember when the dogwood has bloomed this late before. We've had a very cool and wet spring.

The yellow splotches on the leaves are the pine pollen from our Austrian pines.

Also blooming: mullein, IRIS!!!!!, allium, the last of the tulips, perennial geranium, thyme, vinca, IRIS!!!, and

did I mention, IRIS?

This is a 'space ager,' which I featured a few years ago.

Be sure to head over to May Dreams Gardens to see everyone's blooms today!

Iris Week - too many to count

Too many to count -

This bed is from some beauties I got from a wonderful friend. She had to clear them out of her yard, and so now I have them.

Lucky me.

Would love to see your irises??? give me a link in comments!

Yep, It's time for Iris Week! - one more reason to love irises

DH brought these irises home in a plastic shopping bag,

and they sat there for about a month. Then I noticed they were budding, then blooming.

Gotta love a tough plant that won't give up.

More irises tomorrow!

GBB day for March 2011 !

Back! I saw these little croci out the kitchen window today, and thought I'd add my part for Garden Blogger's Bloom day.

Happy Spring to all!

Zucchini- the endlessly versatile veggie!

I missed National Sneak a Zucchini on your Neighbor's Porch

day - which was August 8th.

(We won't talk about the last several months I've 'missed' on this blog, either.

The excuses are lame and the reality

....Farmville addiction ??!! is too embarrassing for words.)

But I digress. I enjoyed a recent story about a brave woman from Montana who defended her home, and saved her dog, with the most humble of vegetables, yes,

you guessed it, an overgrown zucchini !

yes, this is THE zucchini used to fight off a bear!

Here's an excerpt from the AP story,by Matt Volz, posted on Yahoo:

"She kicked the bear with her left leg as hard as she could, and she said she felt like she caught it pretty solidly under the chin," Maricelli said.

But as she kicked, the bruin swiped at her leg with its paw and ripped her jeans.

The bear then turned its full attention to the woman in the doorway. She retreated into the house and tried to close the door, but the bear stuck its head and part of a shoulder through the doorway.

The woman held onto the door with her right hand. With her left, she reached behind and grabbed a 14-inch zucchini that she had picked from her garden earlier and was sitting on the kitchen counter, Maricelli said.

She threw the vegetable. It bopped the bruin on the top of its head and the animal fled, Maricelli said.

~~~~~~~

Now that is one brave woman, to be sure.

But one shudders to think what would have happened if she hadn't grown zucchini that year. :)

Finishing up Iris week (month?)

I may have mentioned Beverly Sills before. Here is how this iris is described on the Shreiner's webpage:

Exciting coral pink all over,

Beverly Sills is one of the most talked about and sought-after pink Iris of all time.

She is THE BEST Pink iris, according to almost everybody. I have several pinks, but have wanted this famous and supposedly fabulous iris.

So I bought one, and it was NOT Beverly Sills.

Somebody made a mistake somewhere.

The iris I bought labeled Beverly Sills was NOT even PINK.

Oh well. Sometimes that happens, and so, last year, I tried again,

and bought another "Beverly Sills"... imposter!

Although I will have to say, this light lavender with tangerine beard (name???) is very attractive.

Maybe I'll try again in a few years, and buy another iris labeled 'Beverly Sills.'

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day- June 2010

What's blooming at my place? Irises, of course..

This little fledgling robin snuck in here somehow. Hope he finds a safe spot for the night!

My blue perennial geranium.

The thyme is blooming! Not so many bees, yet, though.

This is a 'sun rose' called 'Dazzler' -a pretty red Helianthemum.

Last, but never least, another iris - this is a closeup of Oriental Design.

Happy blooms! Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens, who hosts Bloom Day every month!

Joyous Morn - no rain!

"Joyous Morn" is a new iris in my garden this year.

As it unfolded, I remember thinking, ' why did I put this in the pink bed?'

It is described as rose-apricot falls with dusty rose self, and tangerine colored beard. My plant seems to have more brown tones to it than I had anticipated. It is not bad, just not as pink, rosy, or apricot as I had thought it would be from the picture and description. heh. I guess I am feeling a bit luke warm about this one. But at least it is not raining today!! That is joyous news.

Ready for my closeup!