Blessing of the Fence Day

This is a view of our house from our driveway .....
This is our neighbor's view of our house and property. It will be even nicer once I plant some grass in those bare patches that were caused from the storm damage.

And this, my friends, is the reverse view from our house down to what we see of our neighbor's property.

I've complained before, I know. But complaining does make a difference, because you see, my absolutely, almost perfect husband is making sure that I won't have to complain ever again about the view.

The fencing is being installed!!

Yesterday, he rented a machine that would dig out the post holes for him. It was a tough job because he not only had to dig through rock, he had some major tree roots to get through too. The machine doesn't do tree roots.

Thankfully, friends came over to give him a hand, otherwise, I would be dead right now because I would have had to help him with the machine.

It was really tough work and I'm so thankful for Curly, who instead of being out on his bike on a gorgeous day, with his woman, he spent the morning helping Jimmy.

Then I was thankful for Benny, who came up in the afternoon to help Jimmy plant the posts. Benny is a retired construction worker so he knows how to work hard to get the job done right.

What did I do yesteday?

Well, mostly I watched and offered up tools when needed or fetched ice water....easy work compared to what they were doing.

There's still lots of work yet to be done, but it's coming along nicely and in a few weeks, we will be able to sit on the swing on our sideporch and enjoy the view once again.

Their house really does have so much potential. If they would only take care of it. It could easily turn into a cute little cottage with just a little bit of work.

The fence and trees that we had there before the big storm gave them about 10 feet of our property to use.

We decided this time to put the fence about 10inches away from the property line. Their little boy would always ride his dirtbike along the tree line which wore down the grass and damaged the trees, so this will prevent that destruction.

So today, I'm ever so thankful for fences but I'm especially thankful for my Jimmy, who works so hard to make me happy .... or he's just so tired of listening to me complain that he's doing it to shut me up!

Happy Day everyone!

Fruit of the Day: GRAPES!

It's looking like I'm out of the flower making obsession and making my way into the fruit making obsession.
The blueberry pinkeep turned out so nice that I think I'll continue on with fruit to make some grapes now. I've dyed the wool for a nice concord. I'm finishing up another strawberry pinkeep to list on Ebay, hopefully tonight. They've been selling well so I thought it would be fun to make a few assorted fruits to go along with the blueberry pinkeep.

Looking at the grape embroidery pattern, I remembered that I do have grape plants growing outside along the one border of our property. I planted it years and years ago and simply forgot about it until last year when I was trying to weed through the mess of vines that had grown up and around the trees. I was so surprised to see that it was thriving amonst all the other wild vines. Had I known it was there, I would have been more careful not to pull out most of it.

So, I went out this morning to check to see if it was still there and oh LOOK! it is still there! It's difficult to see in the picture because it's mixed in with that nasty Virginia creeper that seems to grow EVERYWHERE. That will probably be my next outside project now, once the rain clears. ... cleaning out that area again so that the grape vines are more easily managed. I'm thinking that a nice trellis over there would be nice so that I can train the grape vine and try to keep out the Virginia creeper.

I also have a huge mess of Bittersweet. And I know that that plant, because of it's lovely berries in the fall, is so nice to use with prim decorating, but it really is an invasive vine that can easily get out of control ...Which it is definitely out of control all around our property. We have 4 acres and that Bittersweet vine can be found just about anywhere on our property.

So, seriously, anyone that wishes some free bittersweet vines, please stop over and help yourself. My sweet husband just told me he's getting rid of the huge mass of it that's growing down along the main road. I don't think he realizes that once you have it, it never really goes away!

So I'm going off to watch the grandson over at his house today until after his nap. Then I'll bring him back to our house to play until his daddy gets done working tonight. I try to gather things to sew while he's napping, so I better get busy getting the grapes ready to cut out. Maybe I'll have some grape pictures to show tomorrow.

Happy day everyone!

Blueberries!

Oh, it's been such a wonderful weekend with beautiful weather, it's such a shame to wake up to rain today. It's good for my vegetables and flowers that I've planted so I'll accept it.

Rachel, my baby, is no longer a teenager. She turned 20 on Sunday. Her dear boyfriend, Carlyle, came to stay for the weekend and now I'm wishing that I would've thought to get some pictures. Darn. But anyway, Jen, Jason andthe grandson came for dinner and birthday cake.


Yesterday, I spent the morning with Jimmy at Home Depot, purchasing the supplies for the fencing that he will be putting up over the next few weeks.


I have a blog post about our horrible view of our neighbors that the storm downed trees created. We will have fencing ... SOON!


The rest of yesterday afternoon I spent planting veggies and flowers. My weather predictor husband warned me of the impending rain so I wanted to get it all done.

So with all that going on, I really didn't get much sewing done ... GO PENS! ... sorry, that reminded me that I was able to do some sewing during the Pens game on Saturday. The Pens won again! (Sorry Lisa)


Last night, I was looking at a blueberry embroidery pattern by Bareroots. I don't do a lot of embroidery, preferring instead to do wool applique. So naturally, I try to figure out in my head how to turn the lovely embroidery into wool applique. Making wool blueberries look real is important, so when the lightbulb lit up in my head, I put all other projects aside and started on the blueberries. I'm just thrilled with how they are looking but I can't decide if I want the blueberries to be on a navy blue background or a mottled brown background.
I know! I'll make it both ways!


Tomorrow, if I get the time, I will take pictures of the blueberry making process.

I'm really not that much into making americana but I do have an idea for a candle mat that I'd like to try. I made this little star pincushion to get me into the americana mood. I just need to make some cute little wool straight pins to go with it and it's going up on Ebay. I've a billion old vintage buttons but I'm so greedy with them ... never wanting to use them in my projects. I don't know why I save them ... I'll never use them and it's not like I ever really look at them except when I contemplate using them for a project, only to put them away again because I can't bring myself to use them! Oh it's really a silly inner struggle for me.
So last night, after making the star, I knew it would look so much nicer if I could only force myself to part with a few old buttons. So upstairs to the sunporch, where I store the button tins, I went. Right away I found that big clunky deep red button and right away I felt that urge to not use it. It was threaded in with 5 others that were exactly the same, so there would still be those 5 left to admire in the future. But even with the duplicates, I really had to talk myself into using it. I'm kinda glad I did because it really adds a nice touch to the star but I'm still so tempted to cut it off and save it. Someone tell me what's wrong with me? Ok, I hoard buttons, I admit it. I'm trying to work on my addiction but if you happen to see this listed on Ebay without the buttons, you'll know why!
This is the Lily of the Valley pincushion that was Ebay listed as well as the Pussy Willow pinkeep. I have a set of these that I made a few years ago for myself so I thought I'd make a few to Ebay sell .

I really think this might be the last of the Pansies for this year. I know I've said that before, but unless more special orders come in, the pansy dye pot will be put away.

This post is really getting long but I have to show the climbing clementis that is growing by our front walk. This is the view of it from our upstairs spare bedroom window. Every year it just grows bigger and bushier. I just love it.

We used to have a wonderful Golden Retriver. I could never grow Clementis when she was alive. I remember so many years trying to grow it and every year, she would dig it up and eat it. It must have been a delicacy for her because no matter where I tried to plant it, she would find it. Oh, I'd get so angry with her! I finally just gave up.

These are as-big-as-your-face blossoms!

After she died, I planted them and you can see, they are flourishing. I guess I can consider this plant a memorial to that precious dog because everytime I look at it and see the beautiful blooms, I think of how much she would enjoy those tasty leaves!

She was always a hungry dog. She loved summertime, because there was always something outside growing that she could eat. We have apple trees and pear trees so when they were in season, she had a feast on the dropped fruit. I remember one time, she came inside with tomato seeds on her snout and I knew she was in my garden feasting on the tomatos. She'd get this guilt expression on her face that kept us from scolding her too much. She really was just an exceptional dog. I really miss her.
Goodness gracious this is a looooong post!

happy day everyone! GOOOOOO PENS tonight!

More Pansies for Ebay

This week has been just so busy for me. I've not had much time to check out blogs, so I'm really behind on reading too. Playing our grandson is so much more fun than sitting at the computer, browsing blogs, so that's my excuse ! I've one more week of babysitting him so things should go back to normal after that ... although I'll probably have grandson withdrawals, so I'll have to force my daughter to let me babysit him during that time too!

Oh look, I'm making even more pansies!

So, my last post, I said I was going to make a few more pansies and then put away the pattern for next year. It looks like that's not going to work out as expected. I made 6 more, thinking I'll put 3 on Ebay and accumulate a group of pincushions to put on Etsy too. I have an account with Etsy but only tried it with a few things because I found that my sales were better on Ebay. After suggestions from my fellow bloggers, and being so unhappy with the Ebay laws, I want to give Etsy a try again.

However ...

I put two pansies up for sale on Ebay as BIN, sold them right away and then I got so many requests for more that I decided to keep making them as long as the buyers wanted them. I ended up selling all the extras that I had intended to sell on Etsy, so I'm just thrilled that they are selling so well again.

So the dye pots came out again and purple wool is now waiting to become pansies.

Oh and by the way, Colleen, the wonderful blogger who reads and comments, asked me what kind of dyes I use.

I use cushings wool dyes but sometimes I use the unsweetened kool-aid for wool dyeing. I like the bright yellow ... lemonade and I use that most of the time for the yellow pansy petals. Sometimes I mix a little orange kool-aid in with the lemonade to give it a more of a sunset yellow color. Or if I want a golden yellow, I'll add some coffee to tone down bightness of the yellow. It's fun to experiment and the smell of cooking kool-aid is so much nicer than the smell of the regular dyes that I use!

I've been asked about how I'm able to part with some of the things that I make. It's never really difficult to sell and send away something that I've made and I think it's because I know that I can always make another if I really wanted it. I just told a someone recently though that I regret selling a pumpkin penny rug that I made a few years ago that I've had hanging over my rocking chair. I didn't feel like making yet another one and a customer was begging me for one so to take the lazy way out, I sold mine to her. I loved that penny rug and now I really miss it.

But anyway, what I normally do, after something I've made is finished, is hang it on my wall while it waits for it's new home. This is my dining room and that wooden thing is an old saw ... the blade is covered with a sheath to make it safe ... but using straight pins, I pin the candle mats to that background strawberry penny rug (mine and not for sale) and I know it looks messy, but that's how I like it.

You can see the pinkeeps lined up on it with the sheep penny rug hanging behind it. That sheep penny rug is my keeper and I won't sell it anytime soon. I can admire anything that I've made because it's right there in the dining room on display. I really love those pansies hanging there though. Sometimes those candle mats look just as nice hanging on the wall as they do laying on a table.



Here's another view of my dining room table. Anyone that steps into that room will know that I do most of my sewing construction there. The table usually always has some kind of project going on and this is actually less messy than it usually is. Our dining room is the hub of the house and it's the perfect location for me to do my work. The computer is to the right of the chair and I have my iron right there ready to iron some freezer paper patterns onto my wool. If I'm making dinner, I can quickly get up to check something and likewise take a few minutes to sew while cooking. The living room TV can be seen and heard from that chair too, so I can easily sit and be entertained while sewing.

This is the view walking from the living room into the dining room. The good thing about the messiness is that I can quickly clear the table by loading everything onto my wooden sewing board and then I can stash the sewing board out of sight.

I do have a sewing room converted spare bedroom upstairs that I could use, but it's not convenient for my needs so it's mostly used for wool storage or for the few times that I have to use my sewing machine.
Happy Day everyone! I've got some cleaning to do ... Rach's 20th birthday is on Sunday and the boyfriend is coming to visit for the weekend. Gotta clean up that spare bedroom/sewing room!

Oh noooo ... Frost warning tonight!

Ya know, we don't have a lot of free time around the Wagner home. There's always grass to cut, weeds to pull and doors to paint. So, when we take the time on a Saturday, in between raindrops, to plant flowers and tomato plants, we don't like it when we hear that mother nature is going to attempt to freeze and kill those poor little plants that struggle to survive in their newly planted homes.
Sheesh, it's the middle of May ... that's just not fair to give us frost on our plants.

So tonight, during Survivor commercials, I went outside to give my sweet little plants a blanket of protection with some old bedsheets. I brought in all my planters of impatiens and geraniums and petunias too. As long as it doesn't get windy and blow all the sheets off, they should be ok. Now the cherry tree ... I'm a bit worried about that.

I've finished up the pansy candle mat, finally. It's been tough trying to get sewing done while watching our grandson, so I'm really behind. I listed it on Ebay tonight.
I know Ebay has it's flaws but I've just the best customers anyone could ever hope for on Ebay. I've never once had any kind of problem with a single one of my buyers. (knock on wood)

I get kind messages quite often from people that just want to let me know that they really like a particular item. I am so touched that people will take that few minutes to send kind words and it just makes my day.

I have sent messages to sellers on occasion to let them know that I love their item or just to congratulate them on a really successful sale. I'm going to try to do it more often now though. I've been blessed with some pretty good sales but I've seen some sellers of beautiful handmade items sell for what could be slave wages. With the economy the way it is, sales have been slow and sometimes it does get discouraging. But just one kind message telling me that they love what I've done, just makes the discouragment completely disappear. I'm going to share that encouragement. During these tough times, kindness can make a big difference.

This is another set of pansy pincushions. I was going to list them but I ran out of time ... couldn't miss Survivor!

Tomorrow night, the Pittsburgh Penguins play the Hurricanes. Just to warn y'all ... the Pens will win. :)

Happy day everyone ... although it will be much happier if we don't have FROST in the morning!

Pink Saturday

For those who don't know, Pink Saturday is hosted by Beverly . Go visit Beverly to find other pink blog goodies.
I have a small but treasured vintage tablecloth collection. I've pulled out the ones with some pink to show their loveliness.
I'm really particular when it comes to purchasing vintage tablecloths. First, they have to have little to no stains. I've found that holding it up to the sunlight will show stains that don't show at all when laying flat on a table. I want no sunlight stains! Second, the tablecloths have to be either hand-sewn embroidered or appliqued OR they have to be high quality fabric.

So this first one, I don't know what this type of fabric design is called, so maybe someone can help me ... It's one of those that when flipped over, it shows the opposite colors. Like in this picture, the roses are white on one side and the same rose is pink on the other.

I like this tablecloth because of the pretty hand-embroiderd flowers on all four corners. Those little yellow things ... I'm puzzled as to how they were made because they're like little ropes formed into a ball shape but it's obvious they were handsewn.

This tablecloth, I found at Goodwill for about $5. It's in absolultely pristine condition and the detailed applique on this is just amazing. Such tiny little stitches are used to attach all the flowers make my eyes hurt just to try to see them! I have matching napkins for this too!

Here's a closeup of the flowers and the detailed cross-stitched edging. I think little sewing elves with teeny tiny needles must have made this because I can't imagine anyone taking so much time to do this exquisite detailed work.

The one bad thing about this tablecloth is that the white fabric is just cheap cotton sheeting. I don't know why someone would take so much time doing such beautiful work and not want to have it done on quality fabric but I still love this tablecloth.

Here's another hand appliqued one. Again, the tiny sticthes just simply amaze me. It's a work of art. The stitching is done on gorgeous linen that is so thin and delicate, I'd be scared to wash this.

Here's a closeup of the detailed flowers ... look at those tiny rosebuds!

Gosh, I love this one!

And finally, this lovely tablecloth, done on beautiful linen fabric was a wedding gift from a family friend. She wasn't even a close family friend . I treasure this tablecloth because so much time and love went into making this ... just for us.

The embroidery on it is so beautiful. The picture shows the center of the tablecloth but it doesn't show all the handwork that is on each of the four corners as well.

Here's a closeup of the this work of art. The pink scallopped swirls are perfect satin stitching. Again, I could never ever do intricate work like this and I'm so amazed and appreciative of the time and eyesite that is involved with making this.

Now, there's one last pink thing that I'll share with you even though I'm not happy with it...

It's this wool pink rose that I made. I have this wool candle mat with roses design in my head that I really REALLY want to make, but I just can't get the rose petals to look right. Sure, it looks like a flower, but I want it to look REAL. I've tried all different ways to get a more lifelike looking rose, but this is the best I can come up with and it's just not good enough!

Now, Rachel, my daughter, whose sewing skills are limited to using my Aleen's tacky glue on fabric for her latest project, and saying "mom, can you fix this please?", suggested that the colors are wrong. She also suggested that I should tighten the center petals. I think she may be right, especially about tightening up the center a little more. So, it's back to the drawing board to try it one more time.

If it doesn't work out, I'll just have to settle for the easier rosebuds instead of the full bloom rose.

Happy Pink Day!

Can we ever tire of Pansies! Yes

Remember the picture of the pansy petals drying on the cookie sheet from a few days ago? Here's what they turn into...click the picture to see them bigger! I decided to try a black background for them this time instead of using white. I like the look so far.

I am getting to the point of getting weary of looking at pansies though. I've made a lot this year ... more this year than any other year that I've made them.

Every spring I make them until I get so tired of cutting and dyeing those petals, I have to put the pattern away and stop until the next spring. I have to be able to enjoy making them so it's best to quit before HATE sets in! I still need to cut and dye about 5 more pansies to make into pincushions and then I'll put that pattern away until next year.

I'm experimenting with making wool roses now. I don't grow roses and don't really know much about them so I have to rely on web pictures for the colors and shapes.

gots to go ... the grandson has arrived!
Happy day everyone!

GO PENS!

Pansy Petals!

No, those aren't potato chips on that cookie sheet. Those are my wool pansy petals. I dip each petal in purple dye and then let them lay on foil until they dry. This is the start of yet another Pansy Candle mat ... like the one that is shown in my profile picture. The petals always look almost ugly when laying out like this but once they are sewn together, it's just like magic ...they become really pretty flowers. That's probably why I like making these so much ... it's always so rewarding to watch them turn into lovely pansies right before my eyes.
I've not had much time lately to blog. Partly because it's spring and there's so much to do with gardening and spring cleaning but it's also because I've been watching our grandson quite a bit lately because of his dad's job schedule change. This week, I'll get to watch him a lot too, so the blog gets little attention during that time.

He has his favorite things he likes to do at his mommy's grandma's house.

We spent most of this morning doing one of two things: In the kitchen playing with a spinning top toy that I bought at the dollar store or .....

In the living room, playing with buttons! Now, I know what you're thinking...little ones should not be playing with buttons. Little ones can easily EAT buttons and CHOKE! I know, I know, but I watch him every second that he's playing with them. He loves those buttons! He's very careful with them and for a kid who virtually never sits still, this keeps his attention for a good 15-20 minutes at a time.

He loves to put the buttons in different containers and spends most of the time trasferring them from one container to another.

After he tired of the buttons, we'd put them away and go back into the kitchen to play with the tops. Back and forth we went between the two things all morning, until Rachel woke up. Then the fun really began. Oh how he loves his aunt Rachel.

Ok, I'm off to make some pansies while watching the Pens, hopefully win and finish off the Washington Caps tonight in game 6.

Oh yes, mustn't forget : I've Ebay listed the geranium candle mat and a matching pin cushion. HERE

I'm going to list another Strawberry pincushion tonight too. They seem to be really popular and this one was actually ordered by a customer's son and daughter as a gift to their mother, but I never heard back from them after they ordered it and I don't know how to contact them directly ...SO, Nikki, if you happen to read this, I'd love to sell this to you, just email me!

Happy day everyone and GO PENS!

Almost done!

I just need to attach this to the green background and then add a backing, and I'm done! Finally! It's one of the times that a design has turned out nicer than I hoped for. This one might just be difficult to part with.

I haven't had a lot of time to sew lately so I'm getting a little behind. Because of Jen and Jason's work schedule change, all this week and next week, I'll be watching our grandson all day. I'd much rather play with him than sew and he would much rather me not sew too. I can squeeze in a little bit of sewing now and then during the day though because Rach helps out. He adores Rachel and she can get quite creative with her playing.

This picture is titled "Squashed Baby" because that's what he was saying in between his giggles. Rachel took all the cushions off the couch and love seat and they made a padded playground with a slide and a fort.

I was going to put "Squashed Baby" as my subject line up there but then stopped because it sounds pretty bad and I didn't want to traumatize anyone.

He was squashed, but in a good way!
After Rach removed herself from the pile, he didn't want to get out. He giggled "more squashed baby"
Happy day everyone!

Red Geraniums!

Does anyone else have a camera that has PMS days? I swear my camera just doesn't feel like taking good pictures some days. Today, the camera doesn't want to get that green right on this picture ...
But anyway, here's the red geranium candle mat so far. I get myself into so much work sometimes because I was just going to put two geranium flowers on the mat, but then I thought it would probably look nicer to have three flowers. Now, I've lots more little flowers to cut out. I always intend to make an easy, simple design, but it ALWAYS grows into details details details. It's going to look nice though, so I will put up with calloused fingers just because it gives me satisfaction seeing the finished product.

So, last night, I had a big battle with Ebay. The strawberry candle mat that I had listed last week was ending last night. It had bids on it with lots of people "watching" it, so I knew that it would end at a pretty decent price. However, two hours before my auction ended, Ebay took it off, cancelled it, made it completely disappear, taking the bids and *Poof* it was gone.

The reason: They didn't like my wording. Two sentences apparently are against the law ....Ebay Law, that is ... "Ebay is forcing me to accept only Paypal payments. If you have a problem with that, please let me know."

I was told that I'm not allowed to discourage customers from paying with Paypal, therefore they removed my listing.

Oh well, ya can't fight their laws so I have to obey. But, for those future customers that don't know, I will accept money orders or personal checks. I had a few customers tell me that they've had issues with Paypal doing naughty things with their money so they only use it if they have to. Do I tell these customers, "sorry, I can't take your money"? No, I will not turn paying customers away from a sale.

*heavy sigh*

So, I've had to relist the auction and it's a shame.
I'm not going to dwell though. Last night, I was furious that they did that to me, but now, it's like my husband said....Ebay is allowed to make whatever rules they wish and I have a choice of either not selling or obeying the rules.
I shall obey the rules.

To my customers who had bids on that auction, I'm so sorry for the inconvenience and hope that you'll try again on the relisted auction.

Happy day everyone! Our grandson is visiting with me for the day, so it's more likely that I will be playing today instead of sewing!

It's the day of the Pink! Pink Saturday!

It's Saturday already. My how fast the week flew!
Saturday in blogland is special because some people ... quite a lot of people as a matter of fact, celebrate Pink Saturday.
Pink Saturday was started by a lovely lady named Beverly, at How Sweet the Sound.

It's simple how it works:
Let Beverly know that you'd like to participate, and then on Saturday, post something PINK in your blog.
Then go back to Beverly's site and start clicking on the links to other Pink Saturday Bloggers. I guarantee you will be enchanted! Even if you don't want to participate, just take a few minutes to go over to Beverly's and check out the pinks.

I know some of you Prim collecting people are thinking, "what??, Pink? what is pink? I don't know if Pink should be admired other than just a touch of it in a dirtied up sheep's ear!" Ok, I understand that thinking, really I do! But, I've come out of the Prim closet and I am now admitting, that I do like a touch of it now and then.

So, c'mon, you primfolk, join me in celebrating Pink today.

My Pink offering today is this little wool pink geranium shelf pillow that I just finished making yesterday.

I love geraniums, especially this time of year. When I begin to see them for sale outside of stores, I know that it's getting close to flower planting season and Spring is here, finally!

I had a request a few months ago for a geranium pincushion, so I thought I'd give it a try. I just listed it on Ebay, Friday night, so we'll see how well it does.
Red geraniums are next on the list to make.

Thanks for visiting and come back anytime. :)

Unpacking, But Where?

I finished up the violet candle mat last night so all it needs is a light steam pressing, some de-linting with a lint roller and it's ready to mail out to its' new owner.

I have enough purple dyed wool to make one more candle mat, so if anyone is interested in buying one, please let me know. It measures about 10 1/2" across and I sell these for $50 including shipping costs.

Rachel is home!!

****THERE USED TO BE A PICTURE HERE BUT I'M BEING DAUGHTER-CENSORED!*****

She was able to tightly cram the rest of her things into her car and got home around 6pm.
Thankfully, I thought to buy her some of those as-seen-on-tv storage bags that flatten things like pancakes after a vacuum sucks all the air out. Unfortunately, I bought a cheaper and probably thinner plastic CVS brand instead of the more expensive real ones so one acquired a puncture right away. I don't know if the more expensive advertised ones would hold up better, but they are so nice to have that I think for her next semester move, I'll spend the extra $ to get the real ones instead of generic ones.

I didn't expect her to have so much stuff and there's really no more space to put her things on the sunporch without some major moving/shifting of things already in there. So ... everything is on the living room floor for now. I guess she and I will work on that today.
It's rainy and dreary outside anyway, so a little inside cleaning certainly will be easier because of that!
Happy day everyone!