A is for Acer B is for Bee Skep

Chessie & Me - "Quaker Summer Sampler"

The good news is that my frogging is done!  I frogged out and then restitched the "capital" alphabet A-L; and it is now perfect (or better anyway).  I then moved on, and stitched my initials and the year (incentive to finish it up!), and began work on the "lower case" alphabet. 

This week Jami is ending her Garden Party @ An Oregon Cottage with a "Best Of" compilation of previous contributions.

I will miss posting and reading the posts of other gardeners. 

Monday was lovely so I went outside.  This time of year, I look at gardening on a larger scale - the trees that we've planted on our property.  

I don't think the Sweetgums have ever looked prettier.

Our young Crabapple is beginning to turn - the fruits are a wonderful feature.

  

The Paperbark Maple (Acer griseum) is one of the last trees to turn color.  Its vibrant green leaves make a great contrast to the rusty colored peeling bark.

 (The cage around it keeps the deer from rubbing their antlers on the bark).

Our young pines shed a few needles, but otherwise Autumn exacts no toll on them.

I don't know the name of this maple, but it is remarkable how much it has grown in the five years since it was planted.  It must be 25'-30' tall now.

   

I like this picture.  The Sweetgums explode with color in the foreground.  The young Douglas Firs in front are lighter and brighter than their older (and taller) brethren in the back.  And the ubiquitous Blackberries in the underbrush are beginning to turn yellow.  Autumn in Oregon!  

Not a Bee in Sight

I've been working on the border and interior of Chessie's "Quaker Bee Sampler" - I also stitched up a couple more alpha letters.  So far everything is stitched using WDW Pea Coat - I'm about ready to tackle an over-one bee just to use another color!

Lately, I've had the feeling that I'm being watched!

From up high...

and down low...

Everyone is staring...

Right...

at...

me!

I'm not imagining it!

Truly I'm not!

Even my Guardian Angel - though she blinked when I took her picture!

September Wednesday Walk

I'm plugging along on Chessie's "Quaker Bee Sampler" - still working on the border.  Though I couldn't resist stitching a few letters just to add some interest.

Boy oh boy has September ever been unseasonably HOT around here! 9/3 was 93F, 9/4 92F, 9/5 89F, 9/6 92F...Today is to be 93F, followed by 91F, 91F, 95F, and 89F on 9/11.  I know that the east coast is suffering from too much rain...and that Europe has moved straight into Fall weather.  But around here, Summer is letting out one last HURRAH!  Because of that today's Wednesday Walk is going to be a short one...Heat and I are not good friends! 

  

The forest canopy is starting to change colors - the Cottonwoods and the Ash turn first.

The Madrone (center of pic) is still green and shiny...

This was my most interesting "find" on the walk.  These green berries/seeds belong to the Western Trumpet Honeysuckle which bloomed a bright orange earlier this summer. 

This Honeysuckle is wrapped up all around a young Douglas Fir tree right at the edge of our road - and no, I'd not ever noticed it before.

This is what caught my eye!  The Honeysuckle wrapped up around and above the "leader" of the young tree.

We are in the midst of a Blackberry Explosion!  My sister has picked well over 10 pounds and there is no end in sight.  She competes with the jays, and the deer, and lots of other critters, but it appears there is more than enough for everyone.

This too is a new discovery for me!  An apple tree on our property.  My sister professes to have seen it in past years, but no one else in the family has.  The poor thing is growing right next to a fir and a dogwood and battling something fierce to find some sunlight.  It did nonetheless, have a nice crop of fruit - that's what caught my eye.

So pretty!  I'm sure the deer will polish them off as they drop from the tree. 

Hope you enjoyed our September Walk.

As I mentioned it's going to be hot - Tom-Cat's advise?  Take it easy!

Bee Skeps and Filbert Husks

I Hope you noticed that "Free Bird" was on my 2011 Stitching Goals List.  I actually finished something on the list for the first time since May 3rd.  So to celebrate that accomplishment, I've kitted up my August Goal - Chessie & Me's "Quaker Bee Sampler" (it's still August after all!).  As I did so I noticed that Quaker Bee has the dreaded stitching over one for some of the motifs!

  

It's the last day of August, and the colors outside are hinting at Fall.

Tom-Cat says it's a fine day to Take a Walk!

The big old Cottonwoods have begun to turn color...

And someone, Steller's Jays perhaps, have found and eaten all the ripe Hazelnuts.  The path to our driveway was littered with empty husks.

There are plenty of ripe blackberries.  My sister has already picked and frozen over 10lbs worth.  

I recently notice a new variety of Oak. I think it is a California Black Oak (Quercus kelloggii).  The leaves are much larger than those of our Oregon White Oak.

I walked to the quarry pond in hopes of seeing some turtles.  No turtles, but oodles and oodles of frogs. We think maybe they were bullfrogs because they "yelled" as they hopped into the water.  In Oregon, bullfrogs were introduced in the early 1900s, and were probably brought here as a food item.  The males have a booming call; juveniles give a chirping call when startled—often as they retreat into water.  I went to this website to listen to "Alarm Calls" and it sounded just like what we heard!    

The thistle seeds make lovely clouds before the wind carries them off one by one.

The wild honeysuckle is still blooming.

We'll end our walk today at my sister's garden gate.  This glass art dragonfly decorates the bright blue gate entrance to her Dahlia Garden.

Farmers and Quakers

Well I'm back from Portland, with a small finish too.

Design - "Summer Stars Pincushion"

Designer - Blackbird Designs

Fabric - 30 count WDW Parchment linen

Fibers - GAST Simply Shaker

Started -6 August 2011.

Completed - 7 August 2011

   

It's time for the Tuesday Garden Party at An Oregon Cottage.

I thought I'd share photos from the Portland Farmers' Market.

The Saturday Portland Farmers' Market has a lovely location on the Park Blocks of Portland State University.

The Market is shaped in a "U" with a couple of aisles connecting the sides of the "U". It is a large diverse market as befits a city the size of Portland. 

Fresh cut flowers from Swan Island Dahlias...

Fresh fruits from local orchards...

I have a soft spot for cheery sunflowers!

Blueberries, peas, and beans - all freshly picked.

There were food cart vendors, meat and eggs, cheese-makers, fisher-folk, bakeries, dairies, plant nurseries, and lots of farm fresh veggies and fruits.  

This group (I think brothers and a sister) was my favorite entertainment.   The three from the left were quite good, the youngest on the right was there simply for the "cute" factor! 

I succumbed to a variety of fresh seafood - shrimp, crab, and salmon.

Oh and salami and cheeses too!

We spent a couple of hours touring the market, sampling many of the items, and making our purchases.  It was a great morning!

Merry Winter

I finished "Merry Winter"!  I haven't gotten around to researching Quaker motifs, but it is certainly on my To-Do List now. 

Design - A Quaker Year - "Merry Winter"

Designer - Homespun Elegance

Fabric - 28 count Amber linen

Fibers - Belle Soie Silks - 2 strands over 2 threads

Started - 15 December 2010

Completed - 19 December 2010

I love the "one color" clean lines of the design - it makes the reindeer motif really "pop".

On the Christmas front the house is decorated - trees included.

This is my mother's display of snowmen.

I'm mostly done wrapping...

I have a new strategy - I wrap a dozen packages in festive paper with the gift tag.  Then I come back later, and in a 2nd sweep add the ribbons and bows!  It feels like the wrapping goes faster than way...whether or not it really does...