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Good morning, my friends!

I hope you are well this Sunday morning. I am sitting here in the quiet with my cup of coffee, with only the clock ticking. It wont be long until everyone— two legged and four legged alike— are up and inquiring about their breakfast!

Here we are in mid May, and the garden is really coming to life. The roses are a bit past their first flush, but I’ll keep feeding them and sweet talking them. We’ll see how long they’re inspired! I’ve been inspired lately by watching Gardener’s World via Britbox, and every time I watch it I feel like I have to get out to the garden. In these quarantine days, I find myself trotting out to visit the plants a few times a day, and there’s always something new to discover. I am happy to report that the hydrangea that never bloomed last year now has 4 buds! And I spread the larkspur around to a few other beds (literally just shaking the old dried seed pods from spent plants onto the new beds) and the larkspur has been completely inspired– I’ve got some about 6 feet tall!

The roses were beautiful this year, and I happy to have amassed a nice collection of English roses from David Austin— thanks to the fact that I usually get one for Mother’s Day and we have a fantastic locally owned nursery who always gets in a good supply (Southwood, if you’re local and curious!)

The very last rose to bloom, almost like Cinderella coming late to the ball, was “The Alnwick Rose.” This is a special rose because I actually found it in a clearance bin at Lowes and when I saw it was a David Austin I COULD NOT LEAVE IT BEHIND, lol. I planted it in a corner of the cottage garden, without too many high hopes, but when she started to bloom, goodness….what a gorgeous face…

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Aside from walking around my garden oooing and ahhing like a mad woman, I DID teach my first online workshop class yesterday! It was part of “The Beginner’s Guide to the 18th Century” workshop weekend and I think it went well! Most of the students got a very good start on their stitching and I hope they have a nice finished product very soon! I gave the students two patterns, one a small pin cushion and one a larger sampler roll. Some of the students have already gotten fancy and made a few color variations, and I love it! I love seeing a pattern I made go out into the world and develop into something meaningful for someone else.

The patterns that were used for the workshop are also now available as instant PDF downloads in my etsy shop, so you can make them too! And speaking of patterns, I have added a new one to the shop as well, in celebration of spring— this Forget Me Not inspired primitive stitch pattern:

I got a little creative and turned this stitching into a pillow, but you certainly can do whatever you wish with the stitching— it would look pretty framed as well! Or sewn as a patch on a bag, even. There’s so much you can do with stitching. I like to show suggestions, but really– your imagination is the limit!

Well, I am off to finish this coffee. Hope you have a relaxing Sunday. I’ll be back soon!

H