It's a bit blurry, but here's a little project that I stitched last
week. It's from the Big Book of Cross Stitch Designs published
by Readers Digest. There is also a cat, a duck and a rabbit
to be done, and I'll no doubt do the cat soon. But I sort of
liked the design of the dog best and so stitched him first.
Shhhh...don't tell Rupert or Phoebe.

I've started another project, and got a bit done on it
during my holidays, but I don't want to post a picture of
it just yet. I want to get a bit more done on it first.
And I've been working on Cottage Garden again since
returning to work and I'll post a picture of that some
other time as well. Don't want to overwhelm you all
at once with my needle prowess. Lol!


The irises have begun to bloom in the front garden, and
here they are in all their glory. The front garden gets
the afternoon sun, so it's often a bit ahead of the rest of
the yard/garden in developing. We have two clumps of
white irises but only the one has fully opened blooms
so far.

This past weekend was lovely. Warm and sunny weather at
last!! This of course meant that a trip to the garden centre
was in order, and that we did on Saturday morning. It took
me two hours of wandering around before I had all the little
plants that I thought I'd need for my pots. Then it was home
to start planting.

My planting style is simple. I pick up plants in the garden
centre which catch my eye and look pretty. Sometimes I
remember favourite plants from previous years and I get
more of them. Most times I just wing it. Geraniums are
a certainty every year, preferably with variegated leaves,
and so are various types of Petunias, marigolds, strawflowers
(got one white, one yellow and one red strawflower this year)
and heliotrope (one white, one purple).

Above is a picture of some of the newly planted pots.
At the moment all of the pots are huddled up against
the side of the house because the weather report for
tonight is warning of the possibility of frost for this
area. Swell! So DH moved everything near the
house for shelter, just in case. Hopefully this will be
the last hurrah for frost.

The annoying part is that yesterday the temperature
reached around 76 degrees. It was incredible. Of course
it was also yesterday that I returned to work after a weeks
vacation. During my week off it was a little cooler then
normal for this time of year, so I didn't have much of an
opportunity to sit outside and stitch or read. Did go for
some nice walks in the neighbourhood though.

The big event of the week was Saturday night when DH
took me to the pub for dinner to celebrate my 50th
birthday (May 28th) and it turned out to be a surprise
party. Now I have to be one of the most gullible people
ever. Or I'm just plain oblivious to what's going on
around me. Either way I had no idea that this was in
the works so got the shock of my life when I walked
in the door. It was a blast, and so wonderful to get
together with so many friends and family.

My DH, my SIL and my dear friend Darlene were the
main conspirators who arranged everything. My poor
mother knew about it, and spent several anxious weeks
trying desperately not to put her foot in it whenever
she talked to me on the phone by accidentally letting
something slip. Knowing me I probably wouldn't have
caught on anyways.


Yesterday DH and I took the cats to the vets for their
yearly checkups and needles. Although they are not
outdoor cats we always make sure that their shots
are up to date, and we like to get their back claws
trimmed and just have the vet check them over and
make sure everything is okay.

It was a hair raising time trying to get everybody into
their respective carriers to transport them to the
appointment. Rupert was lured into his carrier with
food (works every time for him) but DH made a
strategic error in letting Phoebe see the carriers being
brought up from downstairs.

She took one look and bolted for the upstairs and
under our bed. When DH came close to reaching her
there she shot out of there and took cover under the
heavy, bulky captains bed in the spare room. It took
us five minutes of concerted effort to herd her out
from under there, grab her and pour her into her
carrier, howling all the while. Poor baby. Thank
goodness we only have to do that once a year!!

Thanks to everyone who left nice comments about
Cottage Garden during the past week. And yes,
Phoebe is as cuddly as she looks. She's sleeping
by my elbow here. Apparently all is forgiven.

Cheers!