I'm Done! I'm Done! I'm Done!

Design - "The Heart House"

Designer - Ewe & Eye & Friends

Fabric - 32 count Savannah Rose linen from LC Kramer Co.

Floss - Anchor

Started - 6 June 2010

Completed - 19 June 2010

I really, really, really like this completed piece!  It got to be a bit tedious to stitch all the green grass, but the end effect made it worth it.

 

I also like the border - alternating Rhodes and Scotch stitches.

This morning my sister and I went to the Lane County Farmers' Market.

There were flats of fresh strawberries everywhere.

And all kinds of greens...

and new potatoes - a personal favorite!

For breakfast, I had a salmon and chevre hash with egg from Field to Table.  The dish was made with ingredients sourced from the Market.

  

The market is now open Saturdays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.  I've yet to go on Thursday and must put that on my "To-Do" list!

Cloudy With A High of 70F

I've made a bit of stitching progress on "Wee Chicken".  Very usual color combinations - I will be interested to see the finished product.  I have three projects going right now and I'm beyond anxious to have a "Finish".

On the gardening front, my doe continues her nightly walk around the perimeter of the front porch.  She's decided she likes fennel and parsley.

    As yesterday I bought parsley to replace a coleus, this is not a good thing!

I've told Tom-Cat he should lay off the rabbits and chipmunks, and start stalking "Big Game" like deer.

Instead he remains mesmerized by "Chipmunk TV".

Coming Down the Home Stretch!

I've made a bit more progress on "Heart House" - I'm enjoying the new-to-me Scotch stitch at the top and bottom of the border.

And hey, thanks to everyone for all their kind comments on my "Oh Darned Deer" post of a couple of days ago.  As you can see from the photo above, she pretty much annihilated my coleus.  The fencing across the porch does seem to be working.  I have two very small sections of the porch along the front steps which are not fenced.  On one side I had three pots of herbs - untouched - on the other I had two pots of herbs - untouched - and a coleus - eaten to the ground last night. 

Poor Hostas!

So this morning I went to Bloomer's Nursery and bought some replacement coleus, and a few other plants not on my list, but then that is the nature of gardening, right?

Let's end on a positive note with a photo of a lovely, uneaten begonia!

   

Wishful Wednesday

I wish it would stop raining (0.2" last night).

I wish the cats would stop killing baby bunnies and chipmunks.

I wish the pollen count (990 yesterday) would plummet.

I wish the deer would stop eating my plants.

I wish Summer weather and temperatures would arrive.

Okay enough of that!  

The on-going battle with the deer...We win!

At least for the moment!  My family helped install a fence around the front porch.  That, with chairs blockading the stairs, should keep out the pesky critters.

You can see what they did to my poor coleus!

While not esthetically the prettiest thing going, I'm hoping to enjoy my plants behind the fencing.  The nice thing about it, is that the wire is low enough so that when sitting on the the porch, you look right over the top of it.

 To brighten up my spirits I bought these pots at Micheal's.  They were two for $5.00 - not sure how I'll use them, but I could not resist.

Not much progress on the stitching front.  I did hear today via an email that I'd won (I never win!) a $50.00 grab-bag from JJ's!  I'll share the loot via a post on the blog, when it arrives.  I did begin my Heart in Hand chicken - just the border so far.

  

Tuesday Morning Report

I purchased a GAST Limited Edition collection appropriately called "Summer Time".  The colors from left to right are:  Blackberry Pie, Ladybug, Saddle, Blue Sky, Outfield, and Thunder Cloud.  

I also was taken with some new offerings on Kathy Barrick's Etsy site.  The six charts arrive yesterday.

The outdoor cats have been enjoying the warmer weather.  I think there is no one more self-indulgent than a cat.

We have several chipmunks living in our wood piles.  It is a struggle to keep the carnage to a minimum as Tom-Cat, pictured just above this photo, can tag one whenever the spirit moves him.

His daughter, Parvati, also lurks in the tall grass...waiting, waiting.

BTW - last night as our family project we fenced off the front porch in an effort to thwart the deer.  I'll post more about that tomorrow.

Chickens and More Chickens

Back on April 28th I posted about a friend who had just bought four baby chicks.  She just sent me a photo of her girls - formerly named for the characters in "Little Women", now renamed from left to right:

 Grace Slick, Alice Waters, Julia Child, and Lily Marlene.

Unfortunately Julia turned out to be Julio, and no roosters allowed in the city limits, so Julio has moved to the country. 

  

In honor of the clucks, I've kitted up "Wee Chicken" by Heart in Hand.  This should be fun!

On the gardening front, I am most discouraged.  It is only mid-June, and a deer has discovered my front porch plants.  Despite applications of deer repellent, she is munching on coleus, and hostas, and fuchsias, and most anything else she can reach. I am bummed.  I haven't decided how to combat yet - fencing - a motion detector...that's gardening in the country I guess.