Thursday, June 28, 2012

What I did this week

The front wall of House of Beautiful Dogs is all painted:
Storm windows are back on, window panes are glazed, windows are caulked. Whew!
The inside plants are outside . . .

Pots are planted with flowers and herbs . . .
Sage, dill, rosemary, thyme
and basil - all ready for those tomatoes!!!
The path is weeded - spiders!!
Sunny is thinking about a belly rub . . .
And I am lying on my back, taking pictures of trees and thinking about resuming painting next week.
Marley of the Jungle.
What are you working on??
Love, Linda

Friday, June 22, 2012

And now . . . a commercial message:

Thought I would share some of my new handkerchief bonnets:
And Sunny's nose (she bumped the camera).
Available on Etsy (not Sunny)
Have a fun weekend! Love, Linda

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Pondering Peas

I have never shelled peas.
I remember my Aunt Olive sitting on the back porch with a big bowl of pea pods to open and a paper bag for the empty shells. I couldn't figure why somebody would go to all the trouble when you could pick up a package
 of frozen peas at the store.
My mom was a 1950's housewife and loved all the modern conveniences. She picked up her peas at the store
 - it gave her more time to iron my father's underwear.
So on the way home from doing canine massage at the golden retriever rescue I saw a sign for fresh-picked strawberries. During strawberry season I eat enough strawberries to turn into one. Strawberry shortcake, strawberry jam making, and mountains of fresh strawberries.
While stocking up, I noticed fresh peas (in their pods)
 and bought a bag to experiment with.
I took them outside to take the shells off. It took a bit of figuring out - the peas inside were light green. The sun was warm, with a slight breeze,
 the dogs were lying beside me - not like work at all . . .
I pictured the farm wives of yesterday sitting on the porch after
 a hard day of work - shelling the peas they had picked that morning.

Sunny helped, but she wasn't interested in trying one.
A lot of pods yielded enough peas for supper. One supper!
Now, how to cook my precious peas!!??
I could boil them or steam them, but I decided that these peas
 deserved a quick saute.
Olive oil, a touch of butter and some fresh minced onions.
 I added the peas and they turned bright green!
A sprinkle of sea salt and they were done!
They were wonderful!
I'm getting more tomorrow!
And strawberries for dessert.
So, this week, try shelling some peas!
Love, Linda

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Christening Dress

I'm so pleased to join Anita's Paris Party, even if I couldn't figure out how to get her badge!
I have been doing French Handsewing for about 15 years -
 now it's French Handsewing "by machine."
About six years ago, I made this baptism dress for one of my friends.
I've been asked to show some photos and thought it would be fun if I showed some of the process as well, so after much digging in the "archives,"
here it is. The third baby boy is being baptized in it on Father's day, and I just embroidered his name and dates on the slip and pressed the beast - takes an hour and a half!
First, a pile of laces from Martha Pullen Co.
and more . . .
and more . . .
The fabric is French batiste.
Many yards of it!
Lace to insertion to entredeux to fabric . . . with embroidery on the yoke, and front band.
All French seams and endless gathering!
Slip and bonnet. Now the photos I took last week:
The names, birth and baptism dates of each baby are embroidered on the slip - 3 boys so far. We need some pink ones!
the bonnet:
I had so much fun making this!
Have a great week, Love, Linda

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

New Needling

The house painting is ongoing.
In the meantime, I have a new small section of my cloth
to show off.
I made tucks in cheesecloth, backed them with plain cotton, and cut squares in some of them. I put pieces of lace and stuff inside the squares.
Old lace, gathered cotton with French knots, web stitches.
Incorporating old tatting, needle wrapping, More French Knots!
Hope you are having a great week, Love, Linda