Boy, do I miss gardening this year!!!

Don’t know why it all of a sudden decided to hit me, but I missing gardening. We’re in a rental house, so are not at a place that we want to “make our mark” in the garden. Now, we’ve been here 5 years, and this is the first year it’s hit me.

Since Jim and I bought our first house, we’ve always enjoyed getting in the dirt, and making a mark. I’m also a water garden junkie, and actually love the acrid smell of the water garden the beginning of every season. Call me weird! Back in our Atlanta days, I’d come home from a hard day, and play in the garden until dark. Jim worked late into the evening, so it kept me sane. My fish and I got to be great friends, and I think they’d actually play games with me while I cleaned the pump.

Anyways, I think I started getting the bug when I rambled through the Oxford Botanic Gardens while we were in England…

Of course in March they were in the preparation stage of the year, but I still started feeling the bug hit. Our trip out to Brandon certainly didn’t help either.

Well, whatever the source, I want to play in dirt!!!!!!!

Well, guess I’ll see about figuring out a way to play a little in the dirt this year. I’ve never been a big container gardener, but maybe I’ll give that a try.

Have a great rest of the day!

As I write this, I am being attacked by the smell of brownies cooking in the kitchen. Boy, I’m starting off my day healthy, aren’t I? I was supposed to make brownies and a salad last night, but after a day of getting the June releases out, grocery shopping, and playing with my spinners, I just couldn’t look an egg or oil in the face. Our church is having a church picnic today to honor our graduates, so it must be made.

Other than the brownies, which might end up being our breakfast (LOL), I’m making one of the easiest, and most tasty salads, in my repertoire. Wish I could remember where I found it, but it’s my Mexican Corn Salad. Here you go with my “recipe”:

Open up how ever many cans of corn you need to feed your crew. I prefer using the mixed cans of white and yellow corn – it’s so pretty and sweet. Just pour this corn into a mixing bowl.

Find your favorite salsa, and add enough that makes the salad pretty, but not too red or runny. I love the black bean salsas, but you can choose whatever hits the spot.

Chop fresh cilantro, and add as much as you feel finishes off the salad. I like the flavor and freshness that the cilantro adds, so I add a ton of it. I also don’t mince it, but just roughly cut it. I like the look of the leaves.

After mixed, put it in your favorite serving bowl, and take it to the table.

How’s that for easy? It would be great even adding a few fresh veggies – green peppers, tomatoes, whatever floats your boat. But… having a husband who’s not a fan of anything resembling salad… I tend to stick to the basics – which he will eat a little of.

Well, the brownies are out of the oven and are perfect! Whoo-whoo!!!! Off to get ready, and get going.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday. Our’s will be wet, as good ‘ole Barry will be shooting through Richmond. At least he’s just bringing us rain – which is much needed.

Happy stitchin’!

…at least in our household.

For some unknown reason, I’m sitting at my computer at 7:00 in the morning of a Saturday, typing away. Well, it’s really not “unknown”. You see, our lovely 4-legged boy Jack loves to get up bright and early on Saturday and Sunday mornings. During the week, when the alarm clocks go off at 6 and 6:30, he grumbles and complains that it’s too early. But come Saturday morning – IT’S PLAY TIME! Yes, 5:30 this morning my little black alarm clock began his pestering, ever so slightly waking me up so that he could go outside and see what all the birds and squirrels were doing. I guess you can see who runs our household – and they don’t have 2 legs.

One thing about Jack, though, he plays at 200%. Even at 11 now, I’m still waiting on our little Lab to calm down. Friends had promised that he’d slow down at 2, but we’re still waiting…..

Have you ever watched a Lab at play? In many ways I wish that I could live life like Jack lives his. When he wants to do something, he puts every single bit of energy into it. He just lets loose, and doesn’t hold back. Ever watch a dog “wallering” in the grass?

As he’s gotten older, Jack’s really perfected the technique. When I see him wallering, I have nothing but envy about how he just goes for it, and doesn’t worry about form or modesty. He just plain enjoys himself. If only I could attack life like that.

Well, as he’s now decided it’s time for him to take a nice weekend nap, I’m wide awake and getting my list together. Go figure!!! Today’s plan is to get a few model kits out to model stitchers, and finalizing and releasing the new June designs and Needlework Building Blocks. Yeah!!!!

Have a great Saturday! I’ll be back in after the releases are ready.

Today, I start another wonderful year with Jim. Yesterday, you see, was the anniversary of our first meeting 14 years ago. Did I just say 14 years? Wow!

You know, that morning back in 1993, I had no idea about the man that was going to be walking into my life, and what a huge impact it would have on me. That day, I woke up looking forward to another exciting day in my new town of Atlanta. It also, I might add, was Memorial weekend Sunday, so I was happy to know that I wasn’t going to work the next day. Nothing exciting was planned, my roommate and I were just going to catch a movie with some friends. Amazing isn’t it? You never know when God has amazing things planned for you. I love how He holds our lives in His hands, and how He molds us into His children.

Looking back, it’s such an amazing life He’s woven for me. Now, it always isn’t beautiful and easy, but I now find those challenges He puts in our way exciting (for lack of a better word). For, all the hard times that Jim and I have worked through, have ended up being pivotal times and events in our lives, setting up for something even more amazing that we’d seen before.

I do hope that you have a wonderful day, for it could be the first day of an amazing life!

Holiday weekends are just the best – aren’t they? I don’t know what it is, but that extra day away from work just really does make it perfect. Jim and I spent the day in complete laziness, taking a picnic to our favorite Virginia plantation – Brandon. Here’s what we saw for much of the afternoon as we napped the afternoon away.

Brandon (the plantation) was the inspiration for my beginning the Garden Traditions series. The series isn’t meant to recreate gardens, but simply to catch the inspiration from these gardens. Take a look at the borders of my blackwork Brandon, and you’ll find an urn, a pineapple, and bushes surrounding the formal gardens.

Take a look around Brandon (the plantation), and you’ll find an urn…

… a pineapple (sorry, didn’t get that photo), and bushes…

surrounding wonderful garden rooms…

AAAAHHHHH!!!! Just writing this I can feel my blood pressure dropping, and I almost can feel the breeze from the amazing James River.

These pictures just don’t do the garden justice, but I wanted to give you a peak as to what awaits anyone who visits there. If you’re in the Richmond area, don’t miss stopping by Brandon, and taking a look at it’s wonderful gardens.

PS – For you history buffs, Brandon’s farms are believed to be America’s longest continually running agricultural enterprise. This year Virginia celebrates 400 years since the US was first settled at Jamestown, and Brandon’s farming began just a few years after…

Well, this past week has been another busy one, but this time – it wasn’t all about either Jim or I. When we came back from Columbia on Sunday, we had 1 additional traveller with us. Jack, much to his chagrin, had to share the back seat with my sister’s Corgi puppy – Max.

Even though they live in the same town, we hadn’t had a chance to get the 2 boys together. They met for the first time in Columbia, and seem to get along fine. Max, knows how cute he is, and thinks that everyone (including all other dogs) thinks he’s adorable as well. Jack, on the other hand, is his normal “nothing exists around me except for my football and my tennis ball” self. Max runs around him in circles, while Jack just runs after the balls.

What a cutie he is!!!!

It’s been 12 years since we had a puppy. Boy, had I forgotten what that entails. Today, for example, I woke up to hear rain coming down pretty good.

Jack’s version of this morning: Stay in bed until absolutely necessary. Get up once Sally begins moving around. Sally opens door. Jack goes out by himself, does his business, and hightails it back to the kitchen. Sally grabs nice and soft towel for a wonderful massaging drying off session. Jack makes sure food and water are in appropriate containers, then crawls up onto the sofa to continue the interrupted nap. Snore…..

Max’s version of this morning: As soon as the dining room starts getting light, begin a low whine, gradually getting louder as room gets lighter. If Sally doesn’t appear, turn volume up again, and continue whining session. After Sally has finally gotten dressed, shoes, umbrella, leash, and has lassoed Max in his kennel, they BOTH go outside. Now, time to play!!!!! “Rain is sooooooooooo much fun. And, it’s nice and cool outside, so I could stay out here forever….” After much prodding, coaxing, and patience, Max finally does his business, but decides it’s time to do a full tour of the backyard. Finally, Sally gets Max inside and feeds him. After Sally finds a little time to get ready for work, it’s another trip outside. This time, we’re doing speed test loops around the back yard. Run-run-run – as fast as the wind… At the end of each loop, Max stops for just a moment right in front of Sally, pretending that he’s ready to go inside. As soon as Sally reaches down for him, let’s go again….. After 30 minutes of chasing a wet puppy, Sally finally gets hold of him. Then, instead of being dried with a towel, let’s play with said towel, making it impossible for Sally to get a good dry in. Once Sally gets Max back into his kennel-castle, then begin the low whine again, making sure to enstill as much guilt into Sally as possible, as she walks out the door for work. As soon as she’s out of ear shot, immediately begin to play with all the fun toys around, and think about when the first nap of the day will be.

MMMMMMMM, I had thought I was ready for another puppy, but I think I’m rethinking that one….

Fear Dreher!!!!

This past weekend, we headed home to Columbia, SC, for a very fun event. Dreher High School – my alma mater – had an All Class Reunion. The school district is building a new building for Dreher, and this summer, the hallowed halls which I roamed for 4 years will be coming down. In recognition of the long years, and many students, that this building has been home to, the school had a special weekend for all alumni. We were able to take a tour of the old school on Saturday morning, and then attended the big All Class Reunion Gala (graduating classes from 1938 to 2007) on Saturday night.

It was quite the experience going back to see the old school. I don’t think that I’d stepped foot in it since graduation, so it really was a trip back to the past. We met a good friend of mine there, and roamed those halls. It was eery that it smelled the same and looked the same. Well, when I attended we had no air conditioning, and the heat was provided by huge radiators in all the classrooms. Those are gone, and students now spend their days in cool air during the hot South Carolina springs and falls. Dave even was able to point out to me all the different locations where my lockers were (a little scary, but pretty funny at the same time). We not only ran in to more of our classmates as we roamed, but I also ran into people from my home church. Funny, one of the couple met at Dreher in their junior year, back in the 1950s. I believe that Dreher has now graduated some third generation students.

The reunion was quite an event. What a great time, also, because there were so many generations of students – spanning all ages. My sister and I, having graduated 5 years apart, went together, and what a fun night it was.

With all that history, the old school will soon be gone, but the new school is fast nearing completion. How exciting it will be for the students to begin classes this fall, but my heart for some reason is hurting, thinking that those walls with all those stories will soon be torn down.

The State newspaper has had a special series going on celebrating Dreher’s history, and one of the submissions has a copy of the epilogue found in the 1960 yearbook. I think that it’s perfect for this time…

“The doors of Dreher High School will soon close for the last time for the class of 1960. Those doors have seen the face of every emotion pass through their portals — sorrow, joy, defeat, triumph, elation, and remorse. All these emotions have touched the hearts of the departing seniors. The door will close, but in the forthcoming year they will open to new joys and sorrows, new faces, new hopes for the Class of 1961. So here’s to Dreher, our alma Mater, hail to thee always.”

Here’s to you Dreher. GO BLUE DEVILS!!!!

Well, my exciting add to the blog today is the new Today in History bar on the side. I’ve always enjoyed history, and love to find out what happened on this day back in xxxx. Looking back at where we’ve been, and what we’ve done, I feel, is important. If we don’t learn from our mistakes, then what do we learn. If we aren’t familiar of the terrible things that have occurred, there’s a possibility that history will repeat itself. Looking back also gives us a great opportunity to remind ourselves of the great strides we’ve made in the past, and the amazing things that have been discovered. Having grown up in South Carolina, and now living in Virginia, I’ve always been surrounded by history. It’s just a normal thing for me to be surrounded by monuments, stories, and ghosts of the past. Actually, it feels a little lonely to me when I go to a city, and don’t know the history as well.

Here’s a joke for you…

How many Virginians does it take to change a light bulb?
19 – 1 to change the bulb, and 18 to discuss the history of the old bulb.

This year Virginia celebrates the 400th anniversary of the first settlement in the United States. Just about an hour from here, in Jamestown, some very brave souls travelled from England to land, and establish the first colony in the States which has continued to this day. What an amazing feat that was in it’s day!!!! Today, at a time where American’s have been to every inch of our country, it’s hard to put ourselves in their shoes. What was it like to land on foreign soul, not knowing what to expect. While Mom and I were in London, and amazing exhibit opened up at the British Museum. A New World is an exhibit of beautiful watercolors painted by John White, and explorer in the 1580s. These paintings were painted during his travels to Virginia / North Carolina, and gave the British their first view of what this “new world” looked like. Going through this exhibit in England, now as a Virginian, really took my breath away. If you’re in London before it ends in June, don’t miss this exhibit. It truly was a view into the past.

Here’s a picture of Mom in front of the museum during our trip.

Have a great rest of the day! Off to finalize some Needlework Building Blocks designs!