Marvellous May!

 This has been such a marvellous month with the warm temperatures & no mosquitoes! However, the black flies are starting to wake up & annoy us as we do work in the garden.

The gardens look so good with various beautiful colours of yellow, pink, purple, & white!

And the dead-looking lavender plant is alive & slow-growing from our long harsh winter.

The plants are all coming alive!

These are sweet pea plants & marigolds that are growing until the threat of frost is gone.

For our 4b zone that is after the first full moon in June, which is June 14th. These wee guys will be hardened off before being planted.

The top of the birdbath was just placed on yesterday as it was painted a soft grey colour to help with the cleaning of it. The lovely urn will have to wait until next month to hold its summer flowers.

Although it may be filled with annuals & I'll place a blanket over them on frost warning nights.

The grass is greening up nicely but the ice did damage to some areas under the trees.

This climbing hydrangea bush made it through the winter but the other one did not.

The five Duke blueberry bushes are the newest in our food garden!

They have already flowered so we're hoping for berries this year!

Another new addition in the backyard is this Siberian cypress that is a zone 3. The backyard faces north & the winds off the water, everything must be very hardy to live there!

It adds a nice interest point to the corner of the house which will also make it easier to ride the lawnmower around the corner.

The daffodils really multiplied this year & the tulips are really enjoying the sun!

Blue skies & blue water makes my heart sing!

The purple grape hyacinth really pops in the front garden. The Anniversary Garden had been divided as they are plentiful there!

With the bulbs all coming to life I really thought that lavender plant was dead!!

We have so many lambs ear that we use them for edging & the bees really enjoy them when they flower later in the summer.

Again it too helps make mowing easier at the edge of the deck. June is the month of mowing as it grows so fast that month!

The orange daylilies are thick this year too & nice to view outside the bay window. 

This jellyroll Tula Pinkerville fabric collection really brought back memories to me as I looked at the pattern & colour choice that was used in my borrowed dress from my cousin for my grade eight graduation. I found the pattern a few years back at a thrift store & placed the photo of me at 13 with it. So many memories with fabric & style as I was already making my own skirts back then but not this dress that was borrowed for this special graduating day back in 1970.

What is old is new age!

The colours are exciting & alive, just like they were back in the '70s.

Sometimes I just like to play with something & make it my own. This was an embroidered piece that Liz Vicent did & made a mistake in the word Aster & was going to throw it out! I said I would use it in some form even if it was just cutting the flowers out to applique them. I've held on it this piece for years!

But it came to me... I would make a lumbar pillow out of this embroidery!

It really enhanced the tulip wallhanging as I used a scrap of purple batik for the ruffle to enhance the aster embroidered flowers!

I really like how it turned out!

I also played with some scraps & orphan blocks to make this table-topper & again see the Tukla Pink roses that mimick the 70s colours?

It is so nice to sit on the front porch right now & listen to the birds & frogs mating. lol

I finally sewed the white pussy willows down on the Wild & Wonderful wallhanging.

It now is hanging on the landing in the great room.

These were sample pieces of stained glass that I put together for the gnome home's window that Bill is making, complete with a window box underneath it!

This is the iridescent side of the glass & will add to the mysticism of the gnome home in the tree.

This is the other side of the glass window. Bill is looking for outdoor timer LED solar lights to put behind the window so it will glow at night. It is going to look so good, I'll post photos to show the finished home.

This orphan block was made into a mat for the sun porch.

Rexton was so happy with a gift from Leslie, so catnip bomb toy!

She gets to play with it at night when the Boston terriers are sleeping! lol

I  jingle the bell on the toy & she comes running!

Rexton is now eight years old & is still as playful as a kitten.

Thank you for stopping in for a visit & do stop by again!

Have a wonderful week & enjoy this time of spring, I sure am! 

Cynthia xXx

Spring In Full Force!

 It is so glorious these days with no snow in sight & blue skies & blue water again!

Each season has its own beauty but the wonder of nature is truly in spring.

Beneath the lilac bushes, the tulips & pink ground cover are showing the signs of spring's arrival!

The ground cover is loaded with bees with a red stripe on them! 

The green emeralds have been released of their green fencing to hold them together during our harsh windy winter. Buds are getting larger & soon there will be leaves!

The little rhubarb patch is coming to life too! 

    

Blue sky & blue water, it doesn't get much better than this!

Bill has cleaned the yard of thousands of pinecones that had fallen from our trees & landed from the winds in our backyard. He then aerated the lawn to help lighten it to breathe better after the huge blanket of snow & ice for several months.

I spent some time in the potting shed on Mother's Day, such a happy place for me!

I put the spring wreath on the door & brought the small bistro table out.

Our pond is alive with so many singing frogs right now! Bill got this photo for me as I have never seen them!! I watch the tadpoles grow & watch their legs appear, I've heard them but never have seen them!

The hola plant is in bloom inside, this plant has the most surreal look to its flowers that I've ever seen!

I brought in more forsythia stems to see this sunshine yellow flower. The ones outside are just starting to show their colour. In the bin behind them are the orange & yellow marigolds that we saved the seeds from last year. The marigolds have started to grow!! We also planted sweetpeas from last year's seeds.

Next week the road trip to Scott's Nursery in Fredericton will add five Duke blueberry bushes to our garden boxes! Mmmm blueberries.

I worked on using a gifted Kansas Trouble jellyroll up with the Slides & Steps block, it was so easy to do! It is only one block! The border is also Kansa Trouble backing that I had & there was enough for the back too!

I played to make the cornerstones fit & added applique squirrels & roosters to create more movement & interest in the border.

Each pair of squirrels had an acorn to share. I enjoy working with the Northcott Canvas as it has shading to it creating even more interest & depth to the applique.

My tulips have not bloomed yet so the tulip wall hanging gives a colour of welcome to the front porch.

The tulips are all batik fabrics & the vibrant colours only enhance the feeling of the tulips & what is to come from our garden blooms!

The Walk-Through Grandma's Garden really gives off colour too!

I used a Tula Pinkerville jellyroll with great fantasy colour & broke it up with 2 1/2" squares.

I cut out sparkly unicorns for each corner &  a white metallic dotted border to encase all that colour.

The jellyroll was wrapped in the manufacturer's twill tape Free Spirit & I thought it went well within the 2" finished block.

I finally finished The Neighbourhood Quilt on Saturday!

The finished 4" house cornerstones took most of the time.

I put stained glass windows in the door & a kitty has a drink of tea in the shutter window.

This is such an easy quick sewing caddy to make with just two fat 1/4s & batting the same size.

The directions are on YouTube on Tiffany's Quilting Life channel - Sewing Caddy.

I added the white pompoms because I did not realize that the bobbin had black thread in it. Grrr after sewing around the whole edge with 1/8" stitch. So rather than unpick it all, I covered it with the trim!

So many sewers are talking about wrapping fabric in Comic Book Covers, so I thought I could use that technique to help organize my collection in the sewing room.

You really can see the fabric & it takes less space!

This is my organized chaos sewing room that I create in, it now has one shelf very neatly organized & I will do more when I have time.

There are just so many projects on the go right now!

The sun is so warm inside as the wind off the water is still quite cool. The foyer's sun through the top window is a popular spot for this trio. 

The wool New Brunswick tartan blanket is everyone's favourite & right now it belongs to Rexton. lol

Then Bridget gets her cozy spot on the leather wingback with the blanket!

With the Canadian flag, the MOD Bearpaw unfinished quilt, & Walk Through Grandma's Garden quilt on the back of the chair, she is warm & cozy in the blanket on the chair. 

Thank you for stopping by this glorious spring day!

I hope you too are enjoying the rejuvenation of the earth after this cold winter.

Enjoy life - you only have one opportunity, make the best of it!

Stop by again for a visit, it is a wonderful life!

Cynthia xXx