Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Spring is Everywhere


Greetings and welcome blog friends.

In the past few weeks the weather has settled down and
warmed up a bit, the snow has left us for good (well, until 
next November or December or whatever anyways)  and 
things are greening up nicely.

Phil has been out in the garden raking, mowing, mulching
and digging, getting muddy and wet and grass stained
 and basically enjoying himself thoroughly.   And as goes
the season so goes my stitching mindset.   A theme of
green growing things and gardening outside inspires the same
indoors with my stitching.

Or I could be honest and admit that I just wanted to have a
new start.   Whatever.


So here is Little House Needleworks design "Garden Pleasures".
I have been working on this since my last blog post and as is 
always the case with LHN designs I've been enjoying it so much!

While I've been stitching I put on Flosstube vlogs and listen to
the stitchers chat away and so many of them have multiple projects
on the go all at once .... and by multiple I mean LOTS!!!!   The idea
has a certain appeal to it, and I can be a chronic starter if I don't 
watch myself anyways sooooo .... away we go!

As long as I have a finish once in awhile I can handle that.


We've been making plans on how to enhance the enjoyment
of our backyard during those precious, short months when
the weather is kind and warm and welcoming.   Our old
gazebo's awning shredded itself last Fall so we have to get
a new gazebo this year for the deck.    We've been looking
at other garden furniture and stuff and decided that we 
really, really just had to have a garden swing!

So we went out this week and picked one up and Phil spent
yesterday afternoon setting it up.    And we're thrilled and
delighted with it!    That corner of the yard is sheltered from
the wind and gets the afternoon sun and has a great view of
the bird feeders and the rest of the garden looking toward
the house so it's a perfect fit.

And it's just the thing for any book lover!!   I took it out
for a test run with my latest book and it works beautifully!
It also suits napping and chatting and the consuming of
beverages and meditation (another form of napping for me)
and bird watching.    I love how versatile it is.


And speaking of books (as I often do) above is my latest
finish.   I devoured this book in two days and could not
put it down.

Jennifer Robson is a new to me author who has three books
published, all of which take place during the early part of
the 20th century.   A favourite time period for me.   I'd
seen her books around, had read the descriptions for them
and knew they'd be right up my ally so I got all of them at
once and I'm so glad that I did.   

Jennifer Robson manages to write a fascinating story with
emotional impact,  she presents well researched historical facts
woven expertly into the narrative and her characters are 
so real and clearly imagined .... no matter how big or small
their roles are in the story.

I did not realize that Jennifer Robson lives in Toronto until
after I got the books but that's pretty cool too .... being able
to support a local author who so clearly deserves it.

I can confidently say that Jennifer Robson has been added to
the list of my most favourite authors and any new publications
from her will be automatic gotta-haves ... right-NOW!!!! 


Walking around Georgetown, camera in hand, enjoying the
sight of everyones gardens bursting into colour.   It's  mostly
tulip time now and we're slowly easing into tree and bush
blossoming season as well.


We're nearing the end of the daffodil season but there
are a few still popping out here and there.   Not as 
colourful as tulips perhaps but when it comes to their
shapes it's amazing how diverse they can be.


The summer movie season has begun and my movie
viewing partner Darlene and I began it on the weekend
by going to see two highly anticipated movies that
headed our list of must sees.

I'm a Marvel geek and love to see whatever might be
released from that stable of super heros.   The Avengers
are a great favourite and the Captain America movies 
have always been fabulous!    We could not wait to see
"Civil War" and it did not disappoint.   WOW!   Great
story and lots of action both of which were well balanced
with great performances.    I'm team Captain America by
the way.


And then there is the magic of this newest production of The
Jungle Book.     Again the story and the performances were
spot on but it's the seamless blend of real and CGI that is 
jaw dropping amazing.   You can't even tell what is live and
what was created in a computer lab.   And the young boy who
plays Mowgli was wonderful.   And Bill Murray providing
the voice of Baloo is just perfect casting.   I mean ... who else?


Did you know that over on Flosstube the one and only Vonna
of The Twisted Stitcher fame has just posted her very
first vlog post?   You must go and watch it.   

And as always we finish off with a picture of the cats.
Rupert with his face buried in Phoebe's fur.   I have no
idea how he's breathing in there.

Cheers!!!


7 comments:

Kaisievic said...

Wonderful post, I love your new start and your garden swing - so comfy looking. Enjoy your spring and thanks for the book suggestion and the movie reviews and for the link to Vonna's vlog - all good things to check out (although I have seen the Captain America movie already - I am team Cap, too.) hugs, xoxox

Maggie said...

Oh that garden swing looks so comfy, we nearly bought one last year but with our weather it would probably spend more time covered up than open so decided against it in the end. I'm hankering for a summer house at the moment I keep showing Mark photos, I don't want anything grand, just a cute little place to sit in the afternoon when i finish work and have a cuppa, whether it will get done this year i don't know, we'll see.

Looked on Amazon for the book, sounds like a good read, i love anything set during the wars, i might request it at the library. I have fallen behind in reading these last few weeks, these light nights are playing havoc with my time, i keep finding things that need doing, I really need to set myself a cut off time for doing chores, by the time i've finished most nights it's almost time for bed!

I haven't seen any Flosstubes vlogs but i have been quite addicted to podcast lately, there are quite a lot of knitting ones out there which i have been watching or listening to when i go to bed, (when i usually do my reading). One thing that is common with everyone, knitters, crocheters, and stitchers is that they all have lots of WIP's, it's just a crafter's things, lol.

Oh my, you would get on great with Oliver, he loves all the superheros, he has most of the Marvel figures, i think the Hulk is his current favourite. We bought him the hulk buster for Christmas and the figures interact, they are pretty cool really.

Phoebe and Rupert look like best buddies, Millie and Molly sometime snuggle up like that, until one get fed-up then a scuffle breaks out, lol.
Love the new stitchy start, (almost finish), my stitching has fallen by the wayside these last few weeks, i might try and do some at the weekend.

I still haven't managed to sort out a new computer yet, i hate choosing these things, there are so many different choices out there, and i really don't understand all the techie speak, i'll have to make a decision though because i'm quite lost without a lap top.

Anyway, loooong comment, lol. Enjoy your Spring weather :-)
Speak soon, take care xx

Andrea said...

So glad you are enjoying better weather. After 3-4 days of lovely summery weather ours has gone to typical a typical May, sunny but chilly with quite a few downpours.

Phil looks very relaxed in the new gazebo. It does look comfy and just right for an afternoon nap along with the gentleness of the swing. :)

Your cats look so content lying together.

Pleased to see that the stitching is going well still. I often think LHN and CCN charts for that matter are an easy relaxing stitch. Nothing is difficult on them and you just seem to get in to a rhythm and ..... stitch.

Have a good weekend.

Unknown said...

Sweet swing!!!

PNLima said...

I hope all is well with you after the operation! your garden looks great and that swing must be great for reading. Thanks for talking about Vonna floss. I just had a wonderful half hour!
Best regards

Brigitte said...

When spring comes I always feel the urge something flower or garden related, too. And Garden Pleasures is also one of my kitted projects. And there is nothing that I wan too do more than starting new projects. So, you are not alone with that temptation. And I often give in. Why not?
I also watch floss tube while stitching and mainly while ironing and folding the laundry. There is no housework that is more boring for me, so with the help of all these stitchers that show their WIPs and talk about stitching I forget about hoe boring this kind of housework is. But the downside is that these people show so many projects that land on my wish list that this wish list has doubled during the last weeks after staying on a status quo for a really long time, lol. I even ordered a kit after a floss tuber was presenting it as one of her projects for Stitch Maynia.
After reading about your books and after looking at this gorgeous swing in your garden I think I have to close my blog reading session (although I'm so much behind) and go outside into the garden and continue reading my book while lying on my chair. Have a great weekend!

Judy S. said...

Love your kitty photo and of course, your newest stitching project. Great photos, and thanks for the book recommendation.