Thursday, February 17, 2011

Do Guys Dig Chicks

With porch sitting skilz? Because of all the skilz I have, I'm my very best at porch sittin'. Emma Lerch
Scarlet Letter
32ct cream linen
DMC
(click pic to make bigger)

It's that time of year, day time temps are hovering around 66°F, the sun is calling me out to soak up some of those full of Vitamin D rays, and the wicker on the porch, left so empty for the last couple of months, is yelling for me to plop my behind right here and stitch. So who I am to argue with the wicker?
I sat outside for a little while and used the time to put in a couple of lengths of DMC 352 on Emma's house. My friend Tanya mentioned that I had outlined the house and how different we all stitch, and days like this are why I save my filling in for later. You never know when opportunity knocks and you can steal some front porch time and why bother with a chart when there's all this filling in to do?
I've managed to work the border down the right side and am now keeping my fingers crossed that it meets up properly along the bottom.
Emma is a simple sampler but her bright colors make me so happy I'm finding it hard to set her aside to stitch on anything else. Once I get the border finished I'll complete all the stuff in the middle with the exception of the house and the grass and I will devote my porch sittin' stitchin' time to those areas. I can get back to outlining on Jane Atkinson and working on Isabella Johnstone when I'm forced to stitch indoors.
In other news, I've been planning my front flower bed, it's a narrow little space and I think I'm going to plant sunflowers along the back row closest to the railing and then fill the front with all kinds of cut flowers. I have two packets of cut flower mix here along with snapdragons, cosmos and zinnias. I'd also like to plant some daisies and dahlias.
I've been making lists of all the things that need sprucing up around here and I've filled up one composition book already. I started painting the patio table and chairs last week. I still have two chairs to go and then I need to get some new cushions. The table was a roadside find a couple of years ago and then the chairs the Spousal Unit found, yet again, on the side of the road. We are definitely upcyclers/recyclers so I don't feel too bad wanting to splurge on purchased chair cushions and a new umbrella.
If you like Frappuccinos but hate the price, I found a very good recipe here:
Since the mornings are warmer I've decided to give the coffee pot a break and start treating myself to a morning frappuccino. This morning I even topped it with some Reddi-wip and chocolate syrup. Of course this treat caused me to add one more thing to the to do list, replace icemaker in the fridge. My ice is full of black rubber shreds from the icemaker. I hate it when that happens but my frappe was just as tasty without the ice.
Hope each of you are seeing a bit of spring in your corner of the world, unless of course you are enjoying being snowed in, which come July and August I'm going to be dreaming of six foot high snow drifts instead of 95° and 100% humidity.

15 comments:

Maryann said...

Hi!
Siobhan iphoned (with Prudence)about the beautiful gifts you sent her. I asked where she got that great skeleton needle minder beside your beautiful needlework in the pic on her blog.
Please could you tell me where I can get one?
Thank you,
Sincerely yours,
Maryann

Michelle said...

Emma is so beautiful, I am in love with the bright colors! I like to save fill in like that for when I don't want to think. And porch sittin' sounds like a good time to not think!

Chocolates4Breakfast (Terri Malinovich) said...

I am loving your Emma! She is so pretty and bright. What a glorious thing to be able to sit outside once again. We haven't gotten quite that warm yet, but here's hopin'!

Melissa said...

I get you on the outlining the house and doing the filling in later. I'm the same way. I try to do the outlining when my brain is 'fresh' then the filling in later. Emma is looking great!

Sitting on the porch, soaking the rays, and filling in with lovely colours - well, that's quite a happy picture in itself!

Deb said...

I really love your Emma Melissa. I think this is going to go on my wish list soon. The colors are so pretty.

We're getting a little warm here - 50 - but it's going to get cold again. But the sun has been out so that's a great thing.

Katrina said...

I am so jealous, we are headed into our snowiest, coldest and windiest part of the year. Vitamin D and 66 degrees sounds wonderful.

Love Emma and I do the outline fill in thing too :-).

Margaret said...

I want to stitch Emma too! Your Emma is gorgeous! I think outlining the house first makes sense to me!

Dona said...

I love the bright colors in Emma, too! How nice to sit on the porch stitch.

Your flower bed plans sound very pretty!

Laurie in Iowa said...

Emma L. is such a pretty sampler. I like doing the outlining of large fill-in areas too.

Barb said...

Emma is such a pretty sampler. I might have to add it to my stash. I do the same thing. I find that filling is also great for boring meetings!

The Scarlett House said...

Hey Melissa, I am right there with you on the porch sitting, even though my version is patio stitching. I love the peace and quiet and chatter of the birds.
Emma is really a bright, fun sampler and I can see why those colors cheer you up.
Anyway, we both need to enjoy the time we have outside while we can...good luck with your planting and home improvement projects. Goals are good!

Susan said...

Porch sitting and stitching sounds wonderful!

Happy Stitching!

Sue said...

I wish it was warm here in NH. I love Emma Lerch. I never thought about stitching the outline of something solid before. How long have I been stitching?????? That's a great idea and exactly for the reason you said, lol ;)

Siobhán said...

I need to invest in some better patio furniture so that I can sit out on the deck when the weather is warmer. Our stuff is so weather beaten that I rarely go out there.

Nice progress on Emma!! I like to save the filling in for times when I don't want to look at the chart, too.

cauchy09 said...

umm...how did i not know you have a blog?

i love Scarlet Letter charts. and you're making great progress!