Wednesday, June 25, 2014

A Spring Stitch As Summer Begins


Design - "Spring"
Chart - "Seasonal Stand Ups"
Designer - Brown House Studios
Fabric - 28 count Twilight Blue linen
Fibers - DMC - 2 strands over 2 threads
Started - 15 June 2014
Completed - 18 June 2014

Love the colors and the big fat bees on this. I've been trying to be good and sign and date most of my stitches this year.

Oh but it smells like Summer now!  Cut grass and ripening berries.  
Let's take the first walk of Summer and explore.  

The Ash trees are still a startling bright green.

While most of the blackberry blossoms are white, there are a few plants that sport pretty pale pink blooms.

Lush, dense clumps of Horse-tails line the side of the driveway as it passes over the Big Creek.

Ocean Spray...

...and still more Ocean Spray.
I love all the colors from pure white, to cream, to taupe.

Pretty Spirea 

I found more oxalis in bloom in the damp shade of a roadside ditch.

I also saw lots of this mystery plant.  I think it is some kind of wild pea.  It has bloomed and the seed pod are splitting open - very funky looking.  

One or two Columbia lilies brightened the edge of the forest.  

Any day now the Thimbleberries will begin to turn red.

The earliest of the blackberries already have.

Our bitter cherry has a bumper crop of fruit this year!

I do not remember ever seeing so many ripe berries.

Take a look!

The Robins are more than looking, they are gorging on the cherries!

We never have very many hazelnuts, and those we do the Jays munch right down as soon as they ripen.

I found one very small clump of Oregon Sunshine (Eriophyllum lanatum). We used to have a nice sized area with it, but it tromping around I did not see any sign of the plants there.  So I am thrilled that we still have a couple of plants anyway. It is growing on the steep side of hill in sunny sight in rocky soil as it prefers.  

On the other had, it appears that we do have lots of Elegant Brodiaea (Brodiaea elegans) in bloom.  It likes grasslands and meadows.  We even have a nice clump growing in our small Triangle Meadow near our Big Birdfeeder.  We have a small triangular area that we leave unmowed all spring / summer / and early autumn to provide extra cover for the quail and bunnies from predators like hawks and Bob-cats. 

I hope you enjoyed today's walk.  I was pleased to find a couple of new wildflowers in bloom to share with you. 

One year ago today Mom and I visited Christopher Lloyd's garden at Great Dixter.

11 comments:

Barb said...

What a cute wip. I love it. Great job so far.

Maggee said...

OOH--now I LIKE those bees! The whole chart in fact! Not to say that I didn't like any of the other finishes, but that one I would consider stitching! Your gardens are so great--filled with so much beauty everywhere you look! Hugs!

Carol said...

Another cute bee finish, Beth--love those chubby bees. I am really bad about remembering to sign and date any of my stitching. I tend to only do it for the larger pieces these days for some reason.

Great summer's walk--I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Barb said...

What a delightful walk! I especially love the Columbia Lilly and the Elegant Brodiaea, both so pretty! Your spring stitch is lovely!

Margaret said...

Cute finish! Such a profusion of beauty on your walk!

linda said...

My favorites from our walk were the oceanspray and elegant brodiaea. Both beautiful in different ways. And I enjoyed seeing the hazelnut, so unique.

Brigitte said...

Such a nice little finish again. You come up with so many little patterns that I have never seen before. And so my list of bee charts is growing more and more :)

Ann at Beadlework. said...

A very neat and crisp design. Summer is so lush and lovely - a beautiful season.

Melissa said...

What a lovely walk. I particularly like the Brodiaea elegans. That colour is a fav of mine.

I like your finish too - bees, bee skep and flowers and wee bit of grass - so perfect!

Andrea said...

A lovely bee finish. Mmm mown lawns, one of my favourite smells.

Chris said...

Gorgeous!